The perfect gift for a perfectionist is LIBERATION!

In order to keep my "go-getting", intense, and (for the lack of a better word) perfectionist husband sane, I am always on the lookout for stress relieving gifts for him. Well I hit the jackpot this year...A JOURNAL THAT GOES AGAINST EVERY "RULE" HE IMPLEMENTS UPON HIMSELF CONCERNING JOURNALING. I have to admit, his first glance at his gift wasn't exactly what I had in mind..."you want me to do what with this.".
Like I said, this goes against every journaling experience he has ever had. But since then, we have had so much fun!!! Here are a sample of some of the pages he has already "journaled" in.

NOTE: "Dedicated to perfectionists all over the world"

I think this one was my absolute favorite to watch so far. He had to think about it for a minute.





He did it!

"burn this page"--this one wasn't hard at all for him- pyro!





That is a handprint of A1 sauce that he had to smear all over the page.


So...


what's Dave's next adventure with his journal.....




Sorry, there will be no pictures of this one!

We are changing our last name to Harper.

Well....our current news is that we are trying to rent out our home, but are running into some problems. We do own our townhouse but 3 months before we bought it, a new bi-law was made that no one after that date could rent their property (we were so close!). So, we are in the middle of the process of appealing to the board of our association to let us rent short term. After our first letter for permission, we received a call saying they couldn't honor our request but we could further pursue the issue with the board. So, we did :). We were scheduled to meet with a lady at our home on Tuesday but she never showed up, so now we are back to the waiting game. It's hard to communicate through blogs but the situation is still hopeful based on our conversations with the association. Probably most of you are wondering why we want to rent and where will we move to...and all I have to say is two words-

Mama's Family.

You can just call us the Harper's! We would move into the basement at my (Danielle) mom and dad's house( sorry mom- Mama doesn't do you much justice, and dad...you aren't pictured) We have prayed and prayed and thought about how to pay off our student loans fast and this is the best option we have thought of. There are plenty of pros and cons to think about (none of which deal with any negatives of my parents or in having our own space or privacy). But it does kinda seem humorous that there is potential to move back home. This move would only be for 1 year and then we would either move back into our townhouse or sell and buy a house.

So, as humorous as it may be, we really really want to get out of debt and hate being enslaved to a bank. Please pray that our dreams come true(hehe) and the association lets us rent. Thanks!

This will be a L-O-N-G blog...here goes...

FYI....I am sitting here trying to kill time as I wait until about 10:30am to vote (it's 8:30am). I figured that would be the best time to take Mikail and I hope I figured right...if not, I think my vote should count double due to having to entertain a figety, very independent 9 month old while waiting through the lines (which have been taking an average of an hour and 30 min. to get through---I know...lifes tough right. :)---at least I just have 1 to take!

Anyway...alot has happened over the past couple weeks in our home... Mikail went to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard for the first time, Aunt Amy came in town to play, Mikail was dedicated at church, Dave went out of town for 4 days, Mikail dressed up like a monkey for Halloween(we had two options but the butterfly outfit was too big for Mikail), I continue to make my own babyfood *sigh* and lastly, Mikail had her 9 month old doctor appointment yesterday.

The doctor appointment yesterday went well and Mikail is still teeny tiny. Her height is 26 1/8 in. tall (15% for her age), weight is 15lbs 5 ounces (5% for her age), and 3% for her little head circum. She is still in 3-6 month clothing.

I figured the rest of the updates will mostly speak for themselves through pictures:



Mikail giving her cousin Ashley a kiss at the pumpkin patch.


Our fun outing at a Trunk or Treat


I counldn't resist putting this in the mix. I think Dave and I have more fun during bathtime than Mikail. Her bath shapes stick to her body so we have contests to see how many we can stick to her.



Mikail's baby dedication outfit minus her bow :)



Mikail's baby food...yes she eats tofu and likes it :)











These are fun pictures I took the other afternoon when it was soooo nice out. She is such a sweetie!!

The BEST double date night EVER!!

Our church sponsored a double date night contest on Friday night. The contest rules were to come up with a creative double date while spending the least amount of money. It was such a fabulous idea!! And then at 10pm that evening, we would meet up at our pastor's house to have dessert and share our dates. Our date ended up being the best date I have ever been on. I am pretty sure we laughed the whole time. So this is what we came up with....

...a Drop in Progressive Dinner!

It gave the traditional progressive dinner a twist by stopping by unexpectedly to people's homes for each course (appetizer, main course, etc.) The "unexpectedly" part was hilarious! Our targeted appetizer home was to a single former youth pastor who had just heated up his left-overs for dinner when we surprised him with a little "knock-knock." When he answered, we explained that we were in a double date contest and decided to do a "drop in progressive dinner" and we were here for the appetizer. It took a minute to register and then he burst out laughing. He was such a great sport! We had quesidillas, broccoli and cheese, and "stuff" on shingle. Appetizer down...on to the main course. I am not going to lie and pretend that we weren't nervous every time we knocked on each door. It is one thing to drop by someone's house unexpectedly, but it is totally different when you stop by AND ask for them to prepare and feed you a meal. SOO FUNNY! OK....back to the main course...so when the door opened to our next targeted home- a family favorite of Dave and I- we realized that we had woke them up from dozing off on the couch- woops! They also were equally AMAZING as our first home. You should have seen the look on their face when we announced that we were there for dinner. We got a blank stare and then a hearty welcome and they wipped up the best french toast. They even dimmed the light and lit a candle while waiting on us with a white towel around the arm. They wouldn't even let us clean up. Seriously, there was not one single moment when we weren't laughing. OK, so at our last stop, we seriously woke them up from REM sleep (it was only 9:30 but they fell asleep with the kids while putting them to bed). You know the marks you sometimes get on your face from sleeping on creased pillow cases or whatever...well, yeah they were visible from our sleeping victim. We were yet again welcomed in and spent the last 30 minutes with our last home. All in all, we spent $0, but yet had dinner and entertainment!! And thankfully all of our "hosts" had a great time as well.

Woops!

We turned Mikail orange- literally. Guess we need to hold off on all the carrots. I would post a picture but it wouldn't do her orange tint justice. The hilarious thing is that it isn't evident to only Dave and I...we have had several people ask us if her face needs to be cleaned off- like that she ate something and there is just alittle evidence from it left over on her. Funny story, but maybe we could just keep up the carrots for a couple of more weeks and she could be a carrot for halloween!

"What did we do before ______?

What did we do before the internet?
What did we do before cell phones?
What did we do before PODCASTS!!!!??

So the real reason for this post is not to be sentimental about "what we did before" but to talk about podcasts. I think that Dave and I are on podcast overload (and we love it!). We have been hooked on two great sermon series that we thought we would share---this means you should check them out :) ! The first is Mark Driscoll's series on the Song of Solomon: The Peasant Princess. And the second is Matt Chandler's series on Luke. Both of these guys are going through these series now. I don't think that there has been anything we have looked forward to so much since last seasons LOST. haha-anyway, if you check them out or have been already listening to them, let us know what you think.

I am going through the big "D" and don't mean Dallas

...NOT divorce...DISCIPLINE *sigh* Well, here we go... I FINALLY pulled out a book from our shelf, blew off the dust, and began reading "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp.

*In my best 6th grade bookreport voice.....

It's an awesome book on how to train up your child in a biblical, Christ centered way. It explains concise and realistic ways to impliment discipline in a way that personifies the Gospel and our submission to it. This book is so rich!* [haha I just had a flashback to the bookreporting days of standing in front of the class- so funny-although I don't think I would have used the word "personifies" back then]


Anyway...today, it finally hit me as I was reading the "when to discipline" that Mikail is ready for it. Several examples Tripp gave about disciplining young children all were rooted in rebellion and resisting directions. Mikail is definately and very openly in this stage of willful resisting- she "understands" but yet resists. Realizing this has created so many emotions as a mother. I love her and know that because of my love for her and even more important my love for Christ, she needs this but on a very selfish level, it would be very easy to just "overlook" her disobedience at the age...she's way to young to know right from wrong, right?....haha NO. So, the Kuntz family is getting ready to embark upon not just meeting our daughters needs through food and sleep ( which have been the most obvious needs thus far) but meeting the need of discpline. Pray pray pray...this is a toughy! :)

Mikail doesn't have a poker face

true story. mikail gives away every time she poops. no, not because of the smell-although the smell isn't pleasant, but she rapidly crawls away immediately upon the "arrival." do you remember my post about our first game of tag, well she has the game conquered now and that is what she chooses to play when she is dirty. squealing and laughing all the way, she will suddenly dart off, and then i know...time to grab a diaper. this type of behavior may or may not prove to be helpful someday. :)

only time will tell.

1...2....3....4 TEETH!!

Yes, little M now has not just two but four teeth. (*Sigh*- from the breastfeeding mom) The first two( the bottom ones) were so cute and the two top ones are hilarious. You know the look....for Mikail, a little head :), and two HUGE teeth that haven't been pushed together yet leaving a sweet little gap. I guess her body will just have to grow into her teeth :) . Here are a few more updates on the little girl:


She crawls and is getting faster everyday
She pulls up on things to stand and even holds on with one arm
She has entered the stage where her toys aren't fun anymore and is more interested in all the "no" things
We are getting ready lower her bed for the second time in two weeks
She can climb 1 step
She claps and is getting close to waiving "hi"
She is LOUD- especially when we are out

Hope you are having a wonderful Monday. Thanks for reading!

Do all little girls HAVE to wear bows??

I have to admit, when I first found out I was pregnant, I decided that I would make a much better "boy mom" than "girl mom." For those of you who may not know my family background, growing up, I was the only daughter, sister, niece, and granddaughter on both of my family sides. Needless to say I played GI Joe and built forts when most girls were playing Barbies and dress up. I took pride in my bruises from climbing trees and dresses were only worn on Sundays because I HAD to. For one of my birthdays I even made my mom take back my little cabbage patch girl doll and get me a boy doll- little Emerson. :) Thus leads to my original statement about being a better "boy mom." So when we had our big ultrasound to find out what we were having, I kept looking and looking for something between the legs...but there wasn't anything. I was still very excited to hear that the baby was a girl, but knew that I would have alot of learning to do :). Fortunately, I am really close to my adorable niece and used her as my training ground. I became quite successful at playing tea party and even put on pretend make-up. The one thing that was yet to be determined in my mind was...will Mikail wear bows? I think that they are cute on other babies/ girls but am I up to putting them on Mikail. That, to me, is the ultimate little girl thing to do- and one that I HATED growing up. So for the last 7 months (the entirety of Mikail's life) I have been trying to pump myself up to be ready to use a bow when her hair was long enough. And today was that day...and she looked absolutely ADORABLE. Now the only thing that makes me sad is that it makes her look like a little girl, not a baby. Guess I'll have to get over that one too. Here are a couple of pics from today:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY!!

happy birthday, amy!!!

we love and miss you so much.

sorry that we couldnt be there with you today to celebrate.

you are such an important person in our lives, and no one can make us smile like you do.

eat some cake for us!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxcedvxb --that's from mikail!

sorry so short but she's crying because she wants the computer again. love ya lots!!!

birthday smile 4 aunt amy

I am addicted to teething biscuits!!!

Yes, it's true, I have fallen helplessly in love with "Healthy Times Maple Biscuits for Teethers." I am not kidding. For those of you that see me pretty often, you may notice that I am always tasting Mikail's food. I could blame it on wanting to be an informed mother that knows what my daughter is eating, but while I do seek to be "informed".....that's not why I try her food. The truth is that I like it. (wow I feel so liberated getting that out in the open :) - and so that is where my love for these biscuits began; needless to say, now I am hooked. I can easily go through a whole box in one day!! I am sure the person at the grocery store thinks I have a child with some major teething problems when I strut up to the checkout with three boxes, but in my mind I am thinking, "two boxes for me, and one box for little M." So I will humbly end on this note, to those of you (mostly my family) who have always thought I had the most interesting eating preferences, I am beginning to think you are right.

Ransom Note

tO WhOm IT mAy CoNcErn:

wE ArE hOLdInG yOUr GiRaFFe RaNsOM.
iF You wAnt tO eVeR sEE hIm AgAiN,
yOu WilL sEnD uS YoUr aDDreSs (and we will kindly send him back :) ).

I *heart* Mikail

Today was so much fun with our little M. It seems like everyone keeps telling me that starting at 6 months old, babies begin to become more and more fun. Well, it's true! I have started writing Mikail little notes about our time together. I figure she won't remember our time together yet and it would be fun to give notes about it to her someday. This was my little short entry from today (I have some video footage that I hope I can add later somehow):

"Mikail- Today was the first day that we really played together. It was so much fun. You and I were in your room sitting on the floor when you looked at me, pulled up on your hands and knees and began moving away from me as fast as you could laughing the whole time. When I didn't catch on immediately, you stopped and looked again at me until I realized you were waiting for me to come get you. I finally caught on and you went crazy trying to continue to move away as fast as you could. You initiated our first game of "tag." I am not sure where you learned it from but for the next 10 minutes, we played and each laughed the whole time. I love you and will cherish these little moments in my heart. You make me smile"


Thanks for enduring my sappiness. It was a great day. -Danielle

Everyday is so much fun with Mikail...

This is my fav fav
FAVORITE picture!!!!




















This is how Mikail was when I walked into her room the other morning. She somehow managed to pull her arm out of her shirt. Imagine my surprise when I peeked over her crib to see this. It made me laugh out loud.































...so the very next morning, I walked in and her little foot had poked through her pj's. I laughed again. :)

















Mikail loves dogs also!! This was her first time being around a dog that was just her size- a beagle puppy! :)

Pray Pray Pray...

I just visited a friends blog and noticed one of her entries about a family whose daughter died this past weekend. Now that I am a mom, these things hurt more to read than before Mikail, but in the same way lead me to my knees in prayer quicker. I didn't know any details, but noticed a link directly to the blog of the family who lost their girl. I clicked on it. Almost immediately I began to cry because their page looked like it could have been mine, or any of my friends. The parents looked my age- the sadness I felt for them was becoming overwhelming. Prior to finding out details, I guess I half hoped (if you can even use that word) for the parent's sake that this little girl would have died from losing some sort of battle that would have allowed "time" to maybe help the parents cope with this reality before actually losing her. But their blog clearly didn't let on to the fact that this little girl had any health problems. I dug a little deeper and found out that this little 18 month old girl drowned last weekend at a lake. The tears began to flow harder. I am a very empathetic person (a blessing and a curse) and my mind immediately replayed everything they must be dealing with and how they had no clue that morning how their life would change. I am soo sad for them.
I guess my purpose for writing this was two-fold. The first is that for Dave and I, blogging gives us the opportunity to be real and raw on a regular basis- giving those who read this near and far a window into our lives. This is where I have been lately- burdened and sad for this family. I can't shake it. The second reason for the blog is for Prayer for this family. I keep putting myself in their shoes and know that I would embrace any and all prayers- even those from people I have never met. We get the opportunity to be a part of their healing story. Though we will never be mentioned by them, or even known, the Lord is allowing us to take part in their journey via prayer. Please pray for them.

Just me and little M

Dave left today to take some youth and college students to a camp in Arkansas. This won't be his first time away from home since Mikail but will be the longest so far. This wouldn't normally be a big deal but lately little M has been teething. Getting her to take a nap has not been very easy...AND with that being said, the only person that has been able to get her to sleep is...DAVE. Since he is gone, I am sure there will be at least a couple of days where I will wish more than ever for him to be home. Honestly, this "stage" of needing her daddy to put her to sleep will be one that I will cherish in my heart mostly because of the gentle smile that comes across Dave's face when she melts into his big arms. I love my man!!
Onto other news...Mikail just turned 6 months and according to the doctor she is in the 20th percentile for her height and weight and her head circumference is in the 10th percentile...she is definitely our Little peewee.

Teething...

I am not a fan- in more than one way. Need I say more. -Danielle

Almost 6 months!!! Can you believe it?

It's so hard to believe that Mikail is almost 6 months old.



It has been so much fun watching her grow and see God shape her personality. She is such a great baby! When she is not fighting sleep or teething, she is the happiest thing in the world! She absolutely loves to jump and has been doing so for a while now.



She has the greatest laugh and smile...but we're supposed to say that right :). She has been swimming quite a few times in her young life and loves it.



Also, she cutting her second tooth...and if you don't know much about babies and teething, well let me just tell you...we'll be glad when it's over. We only got...what?...20 more to go?

We just got home from 5 days in Las Vegas vacationing and seeing family. It was tons of fun! Mikail woke up at 5:30 every morning ready to go...too bad her parents weren't quite ready yet...she would actually wake up, play and finish her first nap of the day just about the time we were ready to get the day started. Vacationing with a baby definitely changes things. But it is pretty nice when your sister and parents are staying in the ajoining room. We did take advantage of having built-in babysitters...handed off the monitor at night and went out on the town. Here are a few of our highlights.



Mikail had a great time modeling at Baby Gap.




















Mikail met Elvis!




















Yeah, Mikail is definitely the daughter of a personal trainer!!! And yes, she is actually holding herself up. She is very strong. (Ignore the man in the robe)















The view from our room on floor 30.



The Fam!

(By the way...no she didn't wear the same outfit everyday...guess it was a good picture day!)

Little Baby Gumby

Growing up, I loved Gumby and I guess never outgrew it because I find myself sitting around and laughing at the poses that Mikail can do. Here are just a couple.



Look familiar? Karate Kid- you can't really see it but her leg is bent forward too

I'm sure we'll see this pose later on when she really wants something.

Stay posted because we will have her Easter pics up soon!