Then...and now

*I promise I tried to post this last week when we were at the beach and could not get it to cooperate.

So this is my tiny girl on her first day. We didn't know it then, but we soon figured out that when she slept with her mouth open like this, she was really asleep. I have figured out a lot about my sweet Harper in the last two years, but she is going to keep me on my toes for the rest of my life.
Here's what she looked like exactly two years after the picture above was taken.
Oh my goodness, I love this child. I bought her a "princess hat" (very similar to the one you had in college Sally!). It was pink and shiny with ribbon coming out the top and it said "birthday princess" on it. It was fabulous. But like most things I get really excited about, it didn't work out quite like I expected. It was a bit top heavy and the elastic wasn't strong enough. But I'm fully confident that she would have slept in that thing could we have gotten it to stay!

So this was Garrett and Harper's first meeting...
And here they are two years later...
Truly one of the greatest joys of my life is watching these two. From the moment we put her in his arms two years ago, Garrett has been in love. And Harper, though she is loathe to show it to him, utterly and completely adores Garrett. He helps her put on her backpack before school-and it's the backpack we had to get her so she could wear it and be like Garrett. She tried to carry the diaper bag, which is about as big as her, in an effort to be like him. Precious.

This birthday was strange because it is so hard to believe that she's been with us for two years. But not in a "time flies" (though it has) kind of way. More in a "I can't believe it's only been two years since we became a family of four" kind of way. I spent the entire week before her birth crying about the fact that these were my last days with my little man. I was so worried about how he would react to not being the only child. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to manage two on my own. Now I can hardly remember what it was like to just have Garrett. Don't get me wrong, I still vividly remember what it was like before we had any children. But our days as a family of three are very hazy. It just feels like it's always been the four of us. I like that.

Happy Birthday Harper! We're so glad God chose us to be your parents.