Right now, Quiet Company/Taylor are involved in a very important contest that they’d very much like to win. So, I want them to win too.

Austin Chronicle (big publication in.. you guessed it.. Austin) holds a Best Of issue and it’s a big damn deal to get featured. Quiet Company came in the top ten in a bunch of different categories last year but they’d really like to get some BEST OF’s this year. You know?

It’s super easy to vote and you only have to do it once. And we’d be so happy and thankful for you doing it.

Please go here here here and this is how we’d like you to fill it out:

AUSTIN BAND OF THE YEAR: QUIET COMPANY
AUSTIN SONG OF THE YEAR: “YOU, ME & THE BOATMAN”
… AUSTIN ALBUM OF THE YEAR: QUIET COMPANY – WE ARE ALL WHERE WE BELONG
In the BEST PERFORMING BANDS category:
ROCK: QUIET COMPANY
INDIE: QUIET COMPANY
In the BEST AUSTIN MUSICIANS category:
MALE VOCALS: TAYLOR MUSE
ELECTRIC GUITAR: TOMMY BLANK
BASS: MATT PARMENTER
DRUMS: JEFF WEATHERS
HORN PLAYER: CODY ACKORS
SONGWRITER: TAYLOR MUSE
PRODUCER: MATT PARMENTER for WE ARE ALL WHERE WE BELONG

On Friday, I am choosing to leave my 70 degree weather and go to a land of snow. For fun. I’m waking up at 4:30 in the morning to start my trek to New York along with Lindsey and Julie. We’ll be there for 3 days and we plan on… being cold? I’m realizing now, while pre-packing in my brain, that all of my sweaters are short sleeve. Mayday.

I’m excited about exploring and taking pictures for fun and hopefully seeing a show and getting frostbite.

Dear Harper,

It’s 2012 now. Can you feel it? This year, I want to have even more fun with you. I want to go out on a whim, explore new places together, and laugh our heads off. This past weekend, we wanted to let your Dad sleep in so we took off to the Austin Zoo for the first time with our friends Cara and Posey. I’d never been to the Austin Zoo and hadn’t heard the best things about it but we decided at the last minute to go find out what it was all about. The first thing we were witness to was a monkey drinking it’s own pee. We also saw our fair share of blind pigs, one eyed cats, and more wolf hybrids than you could ever hope to see. I absolutely loved spending the morning with just you and watching you love everything. Well, except the lions. As soon as they started roaring you said, “I want to go home. The lions are trying to get me and they are too scary for me.” Besides that, you were an absolute joy and even let the goats eat straight from your hand.

Speaking of eating and goats, you are a terrible eater. This is something that’s plagued you since as long as I can remember. You take two bites of something and then you are done or sometimes, you don’t even take a single bite. It’s constantly frustrating and an inner battle to not freak the heck out every time you say, “All done” with not even a spoonful missing. I’m trying to relax about it at all times because you are little and healthy and if you are starving, you’ll eat. But really, it’s something that gets under our skin almost every day. So, at the zoo, we had pb&j sandwiches. You took about three bites and then said you were all done. I wasn’t going to fight you so we started making our way to the goats to feet them their little foods. I gave you one to carry and you said, “I’ll eat goat food?!” I said okay to you because really, if I can’t force you to eat a french fry on most days then what was the chance of you eating a piece of animal food?

You put it in your mouth and you chewed. And you said it was tasty and swallowed it. And I was in such shock that all I could do was laugh my head off and think about how you’ve got to be, hands down, one of the weirdest little kids ever.

You say and do the most hilarious things. Like most parents, I think my child is the smartest child in the universe. But really Harper, you do seem pretty darn smart and on with your comedic timing. Last night at dinner you pointed at your Dad and said to me, “That guy likes french fries.” Never in your life have you referred to your Dad as a guy or especially that guy but last night, you did, and it was the funniest thing I’d heard in awhile. And also true, he really does like french fries.

You are absolutely obsessed with, “The Little Mermaid” right now. When you were at your grandparent’s over the holidays, you watched it every day on their VHS. You came home and every day, you asked to watch it and I had to explain that we don’t own it. About a week later, I realized I should see if I could find it to watch on the computer. You about lost it when the opening credits came on. Since then, we’ve borrowed the movie from John and he gave us the sequel as well, much to your delight. Harper, The Little Mermaid 2 is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen and it’s ALL you want to watch right now. Literally, you wake up and the first thing you ask is if you can watch the mermaid movie with the baby. And before bed, that’s the last thing you want to do. And pretty much every hour in between, it’s Little Mermaid. I am hoping this phase moves along super quickly because I’m not a big fan of the mermaid franchise. The only good thing to come of this is how you sing the, “Aaaaaaaah, aaa aaa ahhhhhh”. I like to tease you and sing it way wrong and have you correct me. You have a sweet little voice.

The other day, you were throwing a fit. We had plans in the morning but I could not, for anything, get you to leave the house. You cried, you whined, you were not having it. You told me that you would go after nap time and that you promised, so I gave in. When you woke up from your nap, I told you that it was time to go. Holy crap, you freaked out. I told you very calmly that you promised and that we switched plans around to satisfy you and how we needed to follow through. You started flapping your arms (you do that when you are freaking out and it makes me crazy) and crying as hard as you could. I just sat there beside you, calmly, staring straight ahead of me.

After you had calmed down and you could tell how unhappy and frustrated I was, you started cuddling me and looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. When I didn’t smile, you started petting me and smiling and hugging me some more. When I didn’t smile, you said, “Okay, let’s go! You can be happy at me!”

I WON.

I love you. I love you so much. I love you every day, forever and ever, amen.

Quiet Company played a show at a beautiful theater to ring in the new year. I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for us.

I just made a collage of the last year in instagram pictures over on my photography blog and I love how it turned out!

Our 2011 in review. Looks so nice, all wrapped up in a bow.

So yesterday was day 3 of being sick. Before our trip any time she was feeling under the weather, she’d ask to have medicine. Since we’ve gotten back, she cries if we even mention it. Not sure what happened but it’s not good. She was at her worst yesterday morning, runny nose, warm, fever, runny eyes, hacking.. but no medicine. By the end of our lazy day after barely any eating and a whole lot of coughing, I was fearing there was no end in sight. We went to Walgreens and I asked her if she wanted a NEW kind of medicine.

“Yeah! That will be good for me! I’ll have some and I’ll feel better!”

I swear, she was enthusiastic. We went and found some blue raspberry flavored stuff and she was excited that it was blue. “It’ll be so tasty!” She was actually saying this stuff.

(Side note: as we checked out, she pointed to the cooler and said, “Mama, you need a diet coke.”)

So we drive home and the whole way back, she’s telling me about the medicine and how it will be good and make her not sick. I had won. As soon as we got inside, she told me, “I don’t want medicine.” Too bad. WAY TOO BAD. I JUST BOUGHT YOU THIS NEW MEDICINE AND IT’S BLUE AND IT WILL TASTE GOOD. She started to cry and I was way defeated and showed it. For the next few minutes, sensing my mood, she told me again and again to be happy. “Be happy at me! Please mama?!” Then she asked for milk.

So I dumped a serving of her medicine in to her milk and shook it up real good. I felt like a genius. I sat with her on the couch and gave her the milk. She took a big sip and smacked her lips abnormally. “Is it good?” Yeah, it’s good. She drank some more. After a few seconds, she put it down. Every so often, I told her to have some more milk and she’d take a sip then smack her lips. She decided she was done after only a few mouthfuls which was not good for me.

I just wanted her to finish the milk. One, because she hadn’t had a lot to eat or drink all day. And two, because I wanted to trick her and have her take medicine and have a good sleep. That’s all I wanted.

“Just finish your medicine, please!”

Woops. I tried so hard not to laugh at my mistake. She put her milk down immediately and a sudden realization spread across her face. I could actually see her understanding what had happened.

She passed me her milk and said that she as all done. Point blank.

She wins.

A few pictures from our quick trip to Florida:

Oh, blog. You are so neglected. Maybe we will fall back in love in 2012?

Taylor and I just got back from a trip to Florida for the holidays. My mom was going to spend some time with her mother and sister’s family and invited us along. I decided that it’d make more sense to leave Harper behind with Taylor’s family so that we could do some proper relaxing. You know, traveling with a little one is not a vacation. Every time we told someone what we were doing for the holidays, they acted a little shocked. You won’t be with Harper for Christmas?!?! Well, no, but I didn’t think it was a big deal since we aren’t Christian and haven’t decided how we are going to celebrate the holiday and still figured Harper young for it all. So, off we went in to the sun.

We had an amazing time. I didn’t grow up very close to my mom’s side of the family so it was really nice to be around them and learn how much we really liked them all and got along. We spent our first day at the beach and the next two days by the pool. That is literally what we did. We also had a few shuffleboard tournaments which is my new favorite game. I, of course, got a sunburn on our first day there and spent the other two complaining. But really, it was an awesome time.

Seeing a video of Harper waking up on Christmas morning and going to look at her presents under my in-law’s tree gave me a little twinge of jealousy. Next year. I think we’ll do a tree and put some lights up and talk the crap out of Santa Clause and celebrating the season.. because that’s what we’ll be doing. And of course, we’ll air our grievances and make a blanket pallet in the living room. Our traditions will begin.

Now, we’re all back together and Harper is feeling under the weather. Right now, she’s putting sunscreen on her legs just for the heck of it and that’s fine by me.

I am currently obsessed with sprucing up our home. A year ago, I would have told you that shoes and throw pillows didn’t matter. Now? I’ve seen the light. Details are important, guys. Or at least, as important as a detail can be?

I’m on a mission to put new life in to our home and bring some color in. I have gone through every room and made a list of easy and hopefully inexpensive ways to do just that. I’ve been finding craft projects online and actually DOING them. That’s a big deal.

This is taking over my brain. It’s all I think about. It’s all I probably will think about until I’m done.

Next up: new artwork for the walls and more frames. I’ll be posting an entry when I’m done with all of the little ways I switched things up! HOW EXCITING?!

Dear Harper,

You are such a person now that sometimes it catches me off guard. Every drive home from school, I ask you questions the whole way to learn about your day. You tell me about where you played, who you had fun with, if everyone was nice to you. Sometimes you surprise me with a new word in Spanish and sometimes you surprise me with a song you just learned. Tuesday and Thursdays from 1 pm to 1:30 pm is some of my favorite Harper time of all because you have so much to tell me and you really think about what you are saying.

Lately, when we are at home during the day, you don’t like me to be anywhere but by your side. This is so different from when you were a baby because you used to not care less where I was, or at least I thought. Now, if I step in to my room for a minute to do something quickly, I can hear you yelling from the other room, “MAMAAAAA! WHERE ARE YOUUUU?!” I yell back, “WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” (nicely, of course) and you 97% of the time reply with, “I WANT TO SNUGGLE YOU, COME HERE!!” I honestly don’t think there’s any way to adequately describe what that feels like. Sometimes when I prompt you to go somewhere with me you tell me, “I just wanna stay here and snuggle you.” It breaks my heart because it’s in these moments when I fully can tell how much you love and need me. It’s in these moments when you’d rather be by my side instead of anywhere else. And you know what? It’s not going to be that way forever and it might not even be that way in a week from now.

You have a lot of friends that you love to play with. At school, your best friend’s name is Riya. Every day when you see each other, you hug. You brought a little unicorn to school the other day and as soon as you saw Riya, you let her hold it. That’s a big deal in your world because you don’t share so easily with other kids, especially if it’s something of your own. After school on a lot of days, you tell me about how Riya kissed your cheek or about how you chased each other outside. It’s pretty adorable.

Yesterday, you were laying on the couch and randomly told me, “I need my friends.” What friends? “My friends.” What are their names? “Alex and Max.” I called John to see if we could go over for a visit and I had him tell you that he’d see you after dinner time so that you would be satisfied. Except, that didn’t satisfy you at all. You whimpered and pouted and eventually full on cried because, as you told it, “I need to see my friends right now.” It was so pathetic and the first time you’d done anything like it that as soon as your Dad got home, we went to visit the Hollands. You absolutely love every person in that family and so do we, so we spend a lot of time with them. Your best friend of the bunch is Alex. He’s 6 years old and pretty much lets you pull him wherever you want and tell him what to do. He makes you laugh more than anyone and is so sweet to you. You two can play for hours and you are entertained. I absolutely love watching you play together and crack each other up.

Last weekend, your Dad and I took you to see, “Yo Gabba Gabba” Live! I was hesitant to buy the tickets because I wasn’t sure you’d enjoy it or if it’d be a train wreck or if it’d be worth it at all. But eventually, I gave in. I told your Dad that I shouldn’t be held accountable for whatever happened and that we should just give it a try. We arrived at the venue an hour early and realized that we definitely could have stayed at home until the last minute. But to my surprise, you sat in your seat almost the entire wait and were patient as could be. When I tried to explain to you what we were going to see, I realized how hard it was. We’re going to see one of your favorite shows.. but in person.. what?! As soon as the music started and the lights went out, you had your eyes locked on the stage. When DJ Lance came out, you covered your mouth in astonishment with both of your hands. When each new person entered on to the same stage, you looked just as shocked as the last. When everyone was present, you started nervously laughing and dancing. This continued for an hour. I’m not going to lie, watching you love something and be so excited made me tear up. I think my eyes were on you more than they were on the show. You wiggled your booty with a fever and tried to sing along as best you could. I loved that we were able to all do that together as a family and I also love more than anything that it was only the beginning of our adventures together.

You’ve been doing something lately more and more that cracks me up. You say how things will or will not “be great for me.” Just two seconds ago, you said to me, “Put a pillow on your lap and it will be great for me!” Sometimes I’ll put a certain article of clothing on you and you’ll say, “This is not great for me!” It’s one of my favorite phrases that you say and every time, it makes me laugh.

I’m not going to lie, it’s just pretty great, all in all, being your Mom. Sure, sometimes you go to bed way too late and sometimes you wake up way too early. Sometimes you skip your naps when all I need in the world is to have a good lay down. Sometimes you don’t eat to the amount that it drives me crazy. But really, you are the best thing in the universe and are a pleasure to be around every dang day.