First Bath!

Mike and I absolutely love being parents!  We are enjoying every second with our sweet girl and every "first" for her is a HUGE deal for us!  So after 5 weeks of waiting for her stubborn umbilical cord to fall off, we were so excited for her first bath!  At first, she wasn't quite sure what to think...

It didn't take her long to realize that she did kind of like her bath!

She was quite content in her little bath and Mike and I just giggled and took in every moment!

Check out this face?!?  See why we are giggling?

Bath time success!

See her cute little towel with her name on it?  Sweet right?  We bundled her up with the cute towel with her name on it right after getting her all clean and dry.  And then... she pooped in it!

So we got her all cleaned up...AGAIN!  And then she got some good cuddle time with her daddy before bed.

My prayer for our daughter

Have you ever talked with a mom and heard her mention how often she prays for her children?  I can recall several conversations where mothers talked about faithfully praying for their children on a daily basis.  This always seemed a little extreme to me- mostly because I am not so great at praying for anyone on a daily basis.  But now I get it..

There is a certain innocence in a baby's face that can melt your heart.  I often find myself caught up in such a tender moment looking into Abigail's eyes, only to be quickly led to tears as I think about how this world will corrupt her someday.  When do children lose that innocence in their eyes?  It hurts my heart so much that all I can do is pray for her.

I am currently doing a Beth Moore study of Esther for my daily devotional.  It has been great for me since I haven't been able to get out much for Sunday morning worship or small group during the week.  The focus of this particular study is on women and more specifically how tough it is to be a woman.

If you are familiar with the book of Esther, then you will recall that the King in the story ordered a search for the most beautiful young women to be gathered so that he could pick his new queen.  It then goes on to say that beauty treatments were given to each girl before they were presented to the king.  WHAT?  It doesn't say that the ugly girls needed beauty treatments, but the most beautiful girls.

There is so much pressure on young girls to be beautiful these days that I just want to shield my daughter from the world.  I know the day will come when she feels she isn't pretty enough of good enough because of what our culture says about our women.  This mama is praying hard now that she will find her value in Christ and that He will strengthen her character to fight this temptation.

I also have to admit that it is a daily struggle for myself as well.  Ladies, if you are reading this blog - you are beautiful!  I love This post because she hits the nail on the head.  Beauty and what is considered beautiful by our culture is always changing.  Take a moment and read it - I guarantee it will challenge you!

For now, I am going to go stare at the sweet face of my baby girl and whisper to her how beautiful she is!

" A piece of furniture should tell a story...."

" A piece of furniture should tell a story...."  Those were the exact words from a dear patient of mine that owned an antique furniture store in Nashville.  Shortly after Mike and I bought our first home, she told me to be patient filling our house with furniture and that each piece should have it's own story.

 Of all the random pieces of furniture that we collected from family basements and forgotten rooms, there is one that stands out as my favorite!  Its story began with my sweet grandmother,  Shirley Napier.  The antique white chest once sat in the room that my " Nana" was born in.  It had been in her family for many years and eventually was handed down to my dad.

Years later, the same white chest ended up in my brother's nursery.  I remember thinking it was so pretty even though it was a little beat up and the doors didn't shut well.

Now, it sits in my living room and is my absolute favorite piece of furniture in our home.  We recently took newborn pictures of Abigail so I knew I wanted to get several of her in our old antique chest.  We get lots of compliments on it so I try to make sure that I always tell IT'S story!

One cup of coffee changed everything..

Five years ago today, Mike asked me out for a cup of coffee.  I remember sitting in a coffee shop in Memphis, Tennessee across from this tall hunk of a man and slowly watching my life fall into place.  FINALLY!  Life has only gotten sweeter since that day!!  Here is one of the earliest pictures I have us.  We look like babies!

I started this blog so that I could keep a record of pictures and events to remember and share with Abigail, our family, and our friends.  I want her to be able to look back through this blog one day and see how precious she is to all of us.  I also want her to know how incredible her father is.  Mike Harder is the real deal and I am so thankful that he is her daddy.  Here are just a few of the reasons I am so thankful for my husband:

1.  He loves Jesus more than me and Abigail.  That may seem odd - but it is the single thing I am the most thankful for.  The fact that he loves Jesus more than us, gives me HOPE that he will serve his family and love us as Christ loved his bride, the church.

2.  He is patient with us.  He is patient with me when I am tired and short fused ( maybe I have had a few moments!) He is patient with Abigail when she cries and as we learn how to take care of her.

3.  He is my partner.  I know that I am not taking care of this little bundle all alone.  Mike has probably changed more diapers than I have!!  He also walks her round and round our house when she is wide awake and fussy so that I can eat my dinner.

4.  His family comes first.  Mike first showed me how important this was to him while we were in Israel this past summer.  I was 11 weeks preggo and SO sick when we led a mission trip to Israel.  I was blown away by his leadership, because even though he had so many responsibilities with this trip, he put me first.  He also took a full 2 weeks off from work to be at home with us after Abigail was born.  This time has been so precious for our family and I am grateful for the sacrifices he has made!

5.  He is my best friend.  I absolutely love doing life with him, whether it's hiking along the Amalfi Coast in Italy, serving in a third world country, or lounging on the couch in our pajamas.  I am blessed to call him my husband.  Abigail is also incredibly lucky to have him as her daddy.  She will learn this for herself one day, but I plan to tell her often..

" Every good and perfect gift is from above" James 1:17

Wow..  I can't believe that Abigail is already 10 days old!  My days are a little blurred and I have lost all concept of time, but I am so in love and every second is worth it!  Abigail is such a good baby and she is already bringing so much JOY to our home.  The name Abigail means " Joy to the Father".   And that she is!  Can you see how she melts his heart?!?

We are both feeling incredibly blessed to have our daughter home with us.  I feel like I poured my heart out to the Lord and prayed specifically about my labor and her birth - and God was gracious to us.  I was able to deliver her naturally and thankfully I had a FAST labor!  I didn't share with many people that I wanted a natural birth because most people tried to discourage me.  Even after delivery, most conversations started out with : " Did you do that on purpose!?!"  However, if you are interested in learning more I want to encourage you.  Preparation and education is the key.  This book  was very helpful to educate me on labor and the natural birth process.  This book is also a great encouragement because it focusses on how to eliminate the fear that is learned from our culture.  


Finally, I can't say enough about the incredible Midwifery practice at Vanderbilt!  You can learn more about their philosophy Here. My sweet girl was worth all that preparation! 

I found this list on another mommy friend's blog and wanted to share it.  I can already see how much my world is about to change!  Stay tuned for more pictures!  We may or may not be obsessed with our new camera now..


1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body ... finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8.Your heart breaks much more easily.

9. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

10. Every day is a surprise.

11. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

12. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

13. You become a morning person.

14. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

A peek at the Nursery!

I'm not sure that " nesting" can describe the recent activity at the Harder house!  The bonus room is finished.  The garage is organized.  And in case you were wondering, the cabinets under the sink and in the laundry room are in order!  I think I am almost out of stuff to clean and organize..

The fun part has been Abigail's nursery.  Here are a few pics to show off our hard work!

I am so excited to pass down a few of the pieces of furniture that were in my room as a little girl.  We used my old dresser to serve as her changing table.

Emily, a very talented friend from my home town painted this adorable painting for Abigail and I love it!!  Sweet little touch to her room!

I can't wait to rock Abigail in this chair.  I have spent many precious moments already sitting in this chair and thanking God for her life and praying for her future.

I also need to get a better picture of the quilt on the ottoman.  My super crafty friend Rebekah made this for me and it is gorgeous!  I'm pretty sure it will show up in more pictures very soon!

And now we have what I like to call " Miller's greatest temptation"!  Miller is my golden retriever puppy and this box of colorful, squeaking toys is a magnet for her.  She tries to sneak into the baby's room and scope out the toys.  She especially has her eye on Sophie the giraffe..

Pitiful right?  She is so sad when we tell her no!

" Here I am to Worship" ~ A look back at 2011

Each year on New Years Day I look back through my journal and reflect on what God did in my life the year before.  It's really easy for me to just start making a new list of goals and prayer requests, but I have made it a discipline over the last several years to pause and give God all the Glory for what He has done for me.  As I sat at my kitchen table yesterday morning, flipping back through my 2011 Journal, all I could do was worship.


" I will sing the Lord's praise, for He has been good to me"  Psalm 13:6



I drove to church with tears in my eyes thinking back over 2011 and remembering each prayer that I poured out in my journal and how God proved to be faithful to me.  I tried to think of one specific memory from 2011 to really sum up what my heart was feeling.  That's when I remembered tasting the Jordan River.


I was blessed to go to Israel this past year and on one of our many adventures, I hiked through Tel Dan to the origin of the Jordan River.  This river represents LIFE throughout scripture and as I stepped into the cool water, I was reminded of all the good things the Lord was doing in my life.  I was reminded of my salvation and the life the Lord had called me to in Nashville, TN.  I was also reminded of the tiny new life that was growing inside me.  I remember kneeling into the river that day and worshiping my Savior.

We sang one of my favorite worship songs yesterday at church and the words of this old song really sum up my ONLY response to 2011.

'Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
All together worthy,
All together wonderful to me'