november / 14 months / happy birthday, harper!

What an exciting month we have had!  While counting down to Thanksgiving, we enjoyed a visit from our Seattle friends; celebrated Harper's third birthday; and our sweet little Hunter turned 14 months old.  And the holiday season is only just beginning!  We are so grateful for each and every day.  Here is a story in pictures of our month…

We love the fall!  Every year, we anticipate fall, and then it seems like it's over in the blink of an eye.  This year, New England has graced us with a long, beautiful autumn.  We have enjoyed weeks upon weeks of brilliant foliage, crisp days at the park, and all the fall art projects we could possibly dream of.  Even special moments like walking together to the donut shop in the morning are beautiful.  We feel so lucky to live in a city that we love and for the chance to enjoy our favorite season.

Hunter's new trick:
face first down the slide!

Cheers!
Friends who eat at
Shake Shack together,
stay together.

We were so excited to welcome our Seattle friends, the Kirks, for a visit earlier this month.  We are lucky that Annie visits us nearly every year, but this was Justin's first time in Boston.  That made this particular visit extra special since we were happy to show him around.  They arrived on the red eye early Friday morning, and over breakfast they shared some really amazing news: they are expecting a baby of their own this spring!  Another reason to celebrate throughout the weekend!  We jammed as much into a few days as we possibly could.  Some of the highlights were: dinner at Shake Shack, a trip to Harvard Square and walk around the Harvard campus, hot chocolate at LA Burdick, a play date at our favorite park, and even a tour of Fenway Park.  We had such a fun time together that saying goodbye was harder than ever. The silver lining is that on the next visit, there will be a little baby Kirk in tow.  We seriously can't wait.

Chasing Justin around Harvard Yard!
Or we we Bostonians say,
"Haaavaaad Yaaad"

Yum!
Hot chocolate from Burdick's is our favorite.

Fenway Park selfies!

The following week was Harper's third birthday, and we extended the celebration throughout the week.  Unfortunately, Dallin and I both had to work on Harper's birthday, but that didn't stop us from celebrating.  In the morning, we treated Harper to her favorite breakfast: a pink donut, complete with birthday candle. She also got to open some of her presents, the most fun being her new easel.  She and Hunter got to work quickly, collaborating on their first easel project.

    

Birthday breakfast for our girl!

The next day, Harper celebrated with her friends at school, which is always a blast.  Harper loves birthdays and especially singing the "happy birthday" song--so having it sung FOR HER is an even bigger deal, especially by the friends that she loves so much.  It is a special group that means the world to our family, and we can't imagine celebrating a birthday without them.

On Friday, we saw our pediatrician for Harper's three year check up.  Harper loves going to the pediatrician because it means the chance to see Mimi at work.  Mimi is nurse in the same practice where our pediatrician is, and it is infinitely exciting to Harper to see Mimi out and about in the world.  At her visit, Harper weighed 41 lbs. 6.4 oz. and measured 41.25 inches high: a perfect little square!  These measurements put her in the 100th percentile for height and the 99th percentile for weight.  She is happy and healthy, and we are so grateful for that.

Then on Sunday, we had our family and friends celebrate with us!  The theme of Harper's party was confetti, and so we had confetti and sprinkles everywhere.  In fact, we even made Harper a homemade fun-fetti cake!  On top of all the celebrating, she got soooo many fun presents: new clothes for her baby dolls, a new dolly, books, art supplies, cool clothes, and even a special handmade necklace.  This little girl might be just a little bit spoiled, but gosh she deserves it!

Harper loves the special
necklace that Talyn
made for her!

Our little three year-old's favorite things these days are: anything having to do with Frozen, building "structures" with Legos, dancing along to music videos on YouTube (especially Chandelier by Sia), coloring, playing dress up, tackling Daddy, play dates with friends, play dough, art projects, practicing her letters, the ball pit at Ikea, trips to the park, her baby dolls (which finally have names!--Lizzie and Flora), and being silly with her little brother.  Harper meets each moment of every day with a smile.  She is kind and energetic, always looking for a friend or a fun project.  The last three years have been filled with more joy than we knew possible, thanks to Harper and her sweet spirit.  Every day with our little girl is a celebration.  Happiest birthday to our little h!

We love this silly girl!

Hipster boy

Hunter is growing up fast too!  He turned 14 months old this month, and his little personality continues to emerge more and more each day.  Hunter is such a funny, expressive little guy.  He is not walking yet, but even so, we know that he is definitely going to be an athlete someday--he is continuously excited by any and every ball that he spots.  The other day, at a friend's house, he spent 30 straight minutes rolling their basketball around the hallway.  Like his sister, he also loves to dress up, and hats are his favorite accessory--no matter if the hat belongs to him, Harper, Dallin, or even me.  In true little brother fashion, he happily inherits Harper's devotion to just about everything, like the movie Frozen or her love for baby dolls.  It's also interesting watching them play with the same toys so differently.  Hunter is definitely a very physical kid, always on the go.  When he takes a pause, he loves snuggling too.  It melts my heart when he lies his head on my shoulder, or cozies up for a hug or cuddle.  Harper is still his favorite person to cuddle with or be silly.  They are two peas in a pod, and we will never tire of watching them play together.

It has been a very full month, busy and fun.  Having just celebrated Thanksgiving, our hearts are full with gratitude for our family, especially our two little Hs, and our friends.  We look forward to sharing the rest of the holiday season with them, especially Christmas!  After all, it's the most wonderful time of the year.