it's all good...

Well thank you so much for your prayers. Micah did so good today and we are already home. Everything went smoothly, thank the Lord. I will spare the details for now because we are all going to nap since it has been an emotional day for us all! Thanks again!

Please pray

Well tomorrow is the day...
We get to go to the hospital and get tubes put in Micah's ears. It is minor surgery and I have heard about a thousand times "no big deal"! While my head knows this to be true my heart feels so anxious. I mean we are responsible for this little life and he can't tell us what he thinks is best (not that I would neccesarily listen to a 9 month old). But I just want whats best for him and I pray we are doing just that... So, please say a prayer for Micah and I tonight (oh yeah and Mick too, but he handles all this much better:)). The hardest part is that my little porker can't eat breakfast...and lets just say you can tell he does not miss meals.
Ok, so I wont continue on with my anxious worrying that is all from Satan but I would be so thankful to have you pray for us tomorrow. The surgery is at 8 and we should be home by 10. I am debating on taking any pictures because I don't think Micah is going to want to remember this day nor will I; but we'll let you know how it goes for sure! Thanks for being great readers and friends!

My best friend that is Micah

For those of you who know me well you know that I have about 27 best friends. All of you that were in my wedding and many who weren't all have best friend titles. My best friend since birth, my best friend from high school, my best friend that was my roommate...etc. You get the point. Well, today as I was holding Micah the thought hit me that he has become one of my best friends too. I love just hanging out with him. While our communication is much different than my other best friends he has become one nonetheless. Today has been a Monday in so many ways. I have tried to work today but had to stop and take these pictures, I mean by him doing these things I was already interrupted. So to all of you that say oh it must be so nice to be able to have him with you while you work(which it is and I am thankful, BUT) ...sometimes not so much. This is Micah's bandstand. It kept him occupied while I cut things our for a bulletin board at work. He loves to dance while I sing "play that funky music white boy.."
When I work on the computer I pretty much let Micah have free reign in the office so I can finish emails, etc. When I looked down today this is what I saw. The boy ate half the paper in the trash can I think.
This is the big jumbo box of goldfish that I unashamedly go through in a week. They are my guilty pleasure and if you don't put them in a bowl you have no idea how many you just ate....like half the box. Mick makes so much fun of my little snack addiction and he is going to die when he finds out Micah has joined me. Probably not one of my better choices but my child still only eats baby foods...he likes it to just slide down no work involved. We have been working on a few pieces of bread or the puffs but still there is lots of gagging involved. So, I thought lets just see what he'll do with goldfish...he is my son. He just kept coming back for more. Not a gag or even a cough in site. It was so funny both of us sitting there on the couch eating our snack together.

Well, this post has ended up way too long and I should be working right now. The boy is finally asleep. The last little snipit of his day is when I was trying to put him down I would stand outside his door and I kept hearing a grinding sound. I thought he is chewing a whole in the bed (his gigantic teething ring) Well, I walk in and look and low and behold he is grinding his teeth! He is getting two up top and I had no idea...they just crept out. He had been downing teething tablets but I hadn't seen a sign of teeth until today...Ok, enoughs enough! Have a great week and if you are still reading thanks for your love! There must be lots for us for you to read this novel!

Go Panthers!

Today is Mick's first baseball game but unfortunately Micah and I are not going to be in attendance. This is kind of sad to me because I never miss games. But there is a new priority in the house and his little ears come first. Since we are doing the tubes thing on Wed. I couldn't risk taking him out in the wind to get sick again...so we are stuck rooting them on from home! We hope daddy wins and that he doesn't need a coming to Jesus meeting after the game. Mick sometimes gets a little overzealous on the ball field. Shocking, I know. We did get to have lunch with Aunt Amy and that was great. We are relishing our just Aunt Amy time, because it is dwindling fast. Before we know it we wont even remember a time without all our boys! So, happy Saturday everyone from the Homebound Harpers!

proud of my boys

I'm always telling you about things that Micah does that I am proud of...but his daddy is pretty special too. I don't tell Mick that very much because, well he tends to get a big head. No, really we just don't have time.
Today Micah had a great day just being a good baby. AND he stood on his own for 19 seconds. You know with the Harper's everything is a game so we must time him in order to judge his progress. Yesterday he only got to 10 ...today 19. At this rate he will be standing for an hour in no time.

Ok, back to my other boy...baseball has started and today Mick had his FCA leadoff dinner. Chick-fil-A caters it...because he has connections there, so I was able to work and be a wife at the same time. Mick had the opportunity to share the gospel with about 100 students. Because Nana kept Micah I was able to go and listen and be apart of things. Mick got to share with most of his team in a way he usually wouldn't have been able to...and he did it so clearly. Usually I am pretty critical of him so I wanted to take the opportunity to praise him instead of make fun..which is usually what I do in public. Seriously, we are so blessed to have lives where we are able to impact young people. We have one little life we are responsible for at home but it is neat to get to know so many teenagers from so many different back grounds and have an opportunity to help raise them as well. So, thanks Mick for making our ministry! If you are still reading I don't plan on very many of my posts being so puffy so you can stop reading if it gets too boring...but if no one else reading care's I know Nana does...

Rites of Passage and Randomness

I guess what happened today would be a rite of passage. For those of you who slipped through the diaper stage without this blessing let me say you don't know what you missed. Today Mick had the day off from school so I got to have some help while I worked. Mick fed Micah at the chicken house while I did some work and then we ate lunch there...yes, I still eat there every day even though I work there.

After lunch you could smell that Micah had done some business over the lunch period. Mick immediately passed the bundle of stank to me. We went to the changing table and well you know how the rest goes. It was everywhere. By the time we left the boy had on one sock, a diaper and a tshirt. My little redneck baby.

As a sidenote I will say I have never not noticed when Micah was filling his pants. It is very obvious, but somehow his father missed these blatant signals. Or maybe he didn't but didn't want to scrape you know what off the bathroom walls.

Ok, I know most of you didn't want a page of crappy writing but I know Micah will enjoy reading that to all the ladies one day!

The other rite of passage made me cry for a sentimental reason. Micah moved out of his little carrier today into a big boy car seat. He is almost too big for his other one and he is 1/2 pound away from being to heavy so we made the swap. For some reason it made me sad..seeing him sitting up like a little toddler. He is still a baby though...just in a large body with a pretty big head.

This picture is just one of the funniest faces to me I have ever seen Micah make...These picture are just silly ones I took of Micah. He pulled a picture of my cousin Redmond off the frig and kept eating it. I thought it would be funny to show Red. But Micah would never hold the picture just right when I took the picture. It was so funny though, because it looked like he was biting his head off...

you take the good with the bad

Well, it has been a good and bad weekend all in one. Mick and I had a date last night for our late Valentine's Day. Nana watched Micah while we went out to dinner. It is only the 3rd time we have done that in the 9 months of Micah's life. I am usually pretty sad to leave him when I go to work but I'll have to say I wasn't that sad to leave him knowing Mick and I were actually going to be able to finish a conversation without passing a wipe or plugging a mouth with a paci. We did talk about him, but not the whole time. Having a child makes it fun to date again. You almost forget how to act just the two of you...at least it felt that way to me. So, thank you, thank you a million times Nana for making our Friday night. So that was the good and the bad was Micah went psycho last night at about 10:30. He woke up screaming and did so for quite a while and woke up the same way again at 6:30. Who knows why...is it ears, teething, upset tummy, or all of the above? We'll never know but he seems to be ok now.
For personal chronicling(I don't think that is a word) Micah has gained a few new tricks. I know he isn't a dog but that is what we call them. When you ask Micah where his belly button is he smiles and pulls up his shirt. This is the first of us knowing he actually gets our communication attempts. Micah also has started to clap. This one we haven't been working on, it just happened. Yeah, clap, clap for Micah! The last thing is that he likes to point this week. Mick says he is saying that Daddy is number one but I think not. It is funny because now he points at people as we pass them in the store, it looks kind of rude but oh well you can't squash an attempt at something new for the sake of rudeness.
Ok, well there aren't any pictures on this post just boring words. I am sure we will be taking some cute pictures again soon but the Vday photo shoot really wore Micah out!

valentine's photo shoot!

Micah wanted to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day. He can't talk or type on the computer but he is very advanced. He wrote this message for all of our friends. (Especially Charlotte:))

The rest of his messages were just for his daddy. Sof those of you who aren't interested feel free to stop reading now.
I helped with this sign. We love you much Daddy! Thanks for all that you do for us and for working everyday so that we can stay at home and play...sometimes!
Hope that you can read this one! We love you and hope that you have a great day! Hope to see you for lunch! After the photoshoot Micah isn't exactly the happiest boy that I know.

Seriously, thanks Mick for all you do. It is sad we communicate through the computer but I might not have time to tell you if I don't write it down. I love you, not just on V day but everyday! Thank the Lord for our family!

finally smilin'

It has been a long two days in our house. Micah has been the sickest yet. Yesterday he was in a big haze and all he did was lay on me and sleep. It broke my heart to see him so sick. I know that God blesses us with children because it gives us a glimpse at the empathy and way that our Heavenly Father looks at us when we are hurting. When Micah is sick I physically feel ill. I feel like he is such a part of me that I take on his pain. I finally understand how my Momma felt seeing me sick. And I can't even imagine what Jesus felt on the cross as he took on all our sin and pain...

About my first boy...after seeing the ENT doctor Micah is going to get tubes in his ears. They did some kind of test and he has fluid in his ears as well as behind the ear drum. His fever and sickness yesterday may or may not be related to his ear issue. But today is a new day and Micah is finally smiling again! Praise the Lord! He is so much better. It is amazing how their tiny bodies deal with infection so quickly. (except for where his ears are concerned)

I am not excited about the prospect of tubes but from many other sweet mamas I have heard it isn't as bad as it seems. We'll see though. Feb. 27th is the day I am sure there will be much to write about in the days leading up to this minor surgery.

I went to the doctor with my other boy today. Mick's back has unfortunatly gotten worse at the exact time that Micah has been sick. We talked with his doctor today and surgery may be the best possibility for him as well. But his surgery would be anything but minor.

Sooo, we have alot of praying to do in our house and we are focusing on the positive and what we are thankful for: good insurance, my health for today, great family help, friend that love us and a God who sees how needy we are and loves us just the same. Praise Him for that!

this is no time for pictures...

Well, it turns out the reason Micah was so sweet on Sat. is because he was getting sick, AGAIN! I thought that I was nursing to keep him from getting all this sickness but apparently not. I am feeling very overwhelmed with life right now. I wont write anymore because I don't feel like crying anymore. Please pray for Micah. We are going to the ENT today to see if they can help us.

seeing the precious in the usual

Today we have done the usual. Mick worked in the morning. Micah ate and napped and then we did our weekly lunch at the mall. Those of you that live far from family wont believe how we just happened to end up eating lunch with my parents, mick's parents and their friends Hank and Betty and of course my nephew Hayden. It was an unplanned event but we all ended up at the mall and ate lunch together. What a blessing to be able to spend time and for Micah to be able to be loved on by so many people. The other precious part of today is how loving Micah has been. He is all boy and I have said that the main reason I will be sad to give up nursing is that is the only time he is affectionate. Otherwise he is twisting and turning and now crawling away from my hugs and kisses. But today he has been content to talk sweet babble to me while I carried him around the mall and then on the way to the car he even rested his big ole head on my shoulder. There isn't much better than that. We also discovered we didn't give him his pacifier at all today. This was so nice not to have to pick that thing up off the floor 97 times. Well, the day is only half over and I am looking forward to seeing what precious thing Micah will do when he wakes up from his nap! This seems a bit much, even as I reread I think how corny...but I am thankful for these sweet little gifts that God gives us through Micah and I need to write this down because tomorrow may be one of those days that I just wish he might nap a little bit longer instead of anticipating his awake time!

fun visitor...

Micah got to meet one of my friends from college yesterday and he loved her. He has been sick all week so I was anxious that he might make our afternoon with my friend Stacy a little less than pleasant. But that was definitely not the case. He loves to smile but especially at Stace. I had not seen Stacy since my wedding and she was passing through Dville and managed to have a few minutes for a boring mom and kiddo. We so enjoyed her company and once again I was reminded how precious that time in college was...I say this all the time but it is so hard to make close friends that you can be real with(or who like you once you are real) in this grown up world where I now reside. Stace, please come back and stay longer. We promise to actually leave the house next time. We still love visitors so anyone going through the ATL please stop by and say hello.

my child

Today we went for our second shot. This time Mick got to do the honors of holding Micah down. He is so strong when he is five we are going to have to have a few people to hold him down.

After the doctor Mick went to start baseball tryouts and Micah and I went to work. The picture above shows you what Micah did while I was trying to write down a catering order. He ate my business card. This wouldn't be as silly if the child would eat other things but he wont even try. He loves his baby food and eats 10 containers a day! But if we try to get him to eat a cheerio, a puff, some mashed potatoes, oh heck no. He wont even attempt to put them in his mouth and when I put them in he gags and throws up on me, I know, lovely picture. So, today I look down and he has my business card and there is a bite taken out of it. I search his mouth and he has chewed up and swallowed the paper. When I tried to get my finger in there to make a sweep he locked his mouth so tight I couldn't even think about getting in... Some people are writing about there child getting a good grade at school, making the team, etc. No not me, my kids just busy eating paper!

poor micah

As a mother I think we doubt our intuition too much. For the last two days I felt like Micah was getting another ear infection but I kept talking myself out of it. He is such a good baby and I got fooled two weeks ago by him teething. When we came home from lunch he was screaming...something he does not do for extended periods of time. Off to the doctor we went where we learned he had another stinkin ear infection. This time we went straight for the shot antibiotic because the 3 rounds of antibiotics last time did not do the trick. Of course I know the shot was painful and for Micah to look up and see his Mommy crying too didn't give him much reassurance. Nana tried her hardest to get there to help but we did it all by ourselves and we have to do it tomorrow and the next day too. I am not sure what we are going to do about this but we'll see. Pray for his little ears and pray for my big heart, they both heart real bad.

lil' cuz

Unfortunately I think Micah sees Hayden, his cousin, coming and starts crawling for his toys. It is tough being the little cousin. Hayden is 3 and a half and all boy. For a long time he was like my only child so he is having a hard time adjusting to Micah always being here when he stays with us. Hayden constantly thinks Micah needs a nap or that Mick should watch him while we go play. I took Hayden to get his haircut today. I wish that I took a before picture because it was terrible. Hayden was very scared but he managed to sit still the whole time. These are some pictures of after...the mohawk is courtesy of me of course, not the hair stylist. Micah is eating his fist in this picture to keep from saying something ugly about his cousin I think...

hide and seek

Micah learning to crawl has brought about some major changes in our house. It also has made alot more work. No longer is he ever anywhere close to where I leave him...even if I just walk out of the room for a second. While this is a great milestone I am rethinking the whole walking thing. One fun thing about it though is that Micah can now play hide and seek. I go hide...around the corner and he crawls his way to find me. Here are some pictures of him on the move. Gotcha!
Can't you see the determination...