Mystery Solved!

At 10:08 pm last night, I finally found my cell phone. Harper hid it in the closet. I should have known to look there - one of her favorite activities is pulling out all of my socks from the sock drawer and putting them in the closet. She's a tricky one. I am so relieved to have found it. I even surprised myself with how worked up I got when I thought it was gone for good. The funny part is that I don't even use my cell phone all that often. I just like knowing that I have it if I need it. Anyway, the mystery is solved. My phone has returned to its rightful place in my pocket. And I am now aware that my daughter has sticky fingers...

In other news, I am going to pick a winner in the naming contest this weekend. So if you haven't gotten your suggestions in yet, hurry up already! 

Incomplete and Naked

Today, I feel totally naked. I left the house without my cell phone because I have no idea where it is and therefore it's not in my pocket where it normally resides for 12+ hours a day. Not knowing the whereabouts of my phone is completely unlike me. I am a creature of habit. I put my keys in the same place every night, I put my wallet in the same place every night, and I put my phone in the same place every night. Except last night. And now I don't know where it is. I'm sure I'll find it when I get home tonight, but as for today, I feel incomplete and naked. Can you relate?

Book Worm = Good Morning

For the last few days, Harper has been getting up exceptionally early. Which is fine, except for the fact that it kind of throws a monkey wrench into our morning routine. Rob and I usually like to get up and shower before Harper wakes up - it's just easier that way. But for the last couple of days, Harper has been our alarm clock which means that our entertaining and multi-tasking skills have been put to the test. 

In a stroke of brilliance last night, I put a book in Harper's crib when I put her to bed. Genius! This morning she was silent. At 7am, I started to get a little worried because I literally hadn't heard a peep out of her. I went to her room and peeked in the door. She was sitting up in her crib reading her book! I love it when I feel like a super parent! 

Oh yeah... this picture has nothing to do with my post today. It just makes me laugh, so I thought I'd share it with you. The back story is that on the plane ride home from Florida, Harper was insanely active. She was being good - not crying or fussing or anything like that. She was just super busy saying hi to people, taking one bite of food, playing with a toy for a second, playing peek-a-boo with the woman sitting behind us, reading a book, saying hi to someone, taking a bite of food, playing with a toy... You get the picture. It wore me out. And apparently, it wore her out too. The instant we put her in the car to leave the airport, she zonked out. Nice timing. Oh well. 

A Day at the Park

Sunday afternoon, we hung out with some friends at Centennial Park. The weather was beautiful and it was so nice to just be outside for a little bit. 

We played a serious game of wiffle ball. Harper was in charge of the game balls. 

Classic Harper shot - tending the grass instead of playing with the ball.

This is Harper's friend, Stewart. 

Harper likes to hug Stewart but he's just not that into her. 

He wants to keep their relationship simple and just be friends. 

Another classic shot - I think her cheeks are filled with strawberries.

Main Street Festival

On Saturday, Katie, Harper, and I ventured down to Franklin, TN for the annual Main Street Festival. The weather was beautiful, the food was good, we got a good parking spot, it wasn't oppressively crowed - all in all, a great day.  

Harper was rather taken with the lawn art

Taking a break on the cannon

Lunch time photo shoot

Do you think she's hungry?

One of the rare mommy and me shots

On another note, don't forget about the contest. Leave your name suggestions in the comment section, or facebook message me, or tweet me, or snail mail me, or smoke signal me...

Science Friday - Naming Contest Edition

It's contest time again! Science Friday needs a new name. I don't want to keep ripping off the real Science Friday, and frankly, we can come up with a better name anyways. So here's where the contest part comes in. Suggest a name for my weekly science-related posts. The one I pick will receive a gift card of some sort. Put your thinking caps on, be creative, and leave your suggestions in the comment section. 

People Who Are Way Cooler Than I Am

Today I am stealing an idea from friend and fellow blogger, Waddie. Lately, she has been posting profiles of her friends and family (in addition to some pretty insightful parenting advice - check out her blog when you get a minute). This made me think that I know a lot of great people that are way more interesting than most of the posts that I come up with. So... here's the first installation of what I am tentatively calling "People Who Are Way Cooler Than I Am". 

Meet Michelle (and you already know Harper, who is feeling better by the way). 

I met Michelle in grad school and had the privilege of working in the same lab with her for a few years. There are so many things that I could say about Michelle. For one, she tells the funniest stories of anyone I know. Her everyday life provides her with comedic material that makes people laugh so hard that they can't help but do the ugly contorted face laugh. For instance, there was that time in grad school when her water bra had a blowout during an exam and leaked all over her and the desk and the exam. Or how about the time she was riding in our boss' car and opened a bottle of Mountain Dew which sprayed everywhere - including all over our boss (and the National Enquirers that she brought to read to our boss on the drive up to Michigan - extremely funny if you knew our boss). Or how about the fact that she has 2 bull dogs, a bassett hound, and a parrot all of whom can do more tricks than a twelve year old boy. 

This is her husband, Floyd, who definitely deserves a post of his own (and Harper again).

Michelle is the most helpful person I know. She always puts herself second when interacting with co-workers, friends, family, strangers, etc. Michelle is also the most thorough person I know. She is that person who reads the manual cover to cover for every piece of equipment in the lab. She is also the one who knows the reason why we do each step of an experiment instead of just knowing the steps. If I had a science question, Michelle was the first person I asked. Even now, I occasionally call or email her to ask a question. The bottom line is that Michelle is wonderful. It would do me well to follow her example of service to others. I miss working with her and I'm excited that I get to see her in a few weeks at a conference.