Monday, January 31, 2011

Mellow Day




Our Sundays have been pretty mellow around here lately.  We snuggle in bed for quite awhile in the moments after waking up, taking it slow.  I've found myself looking for the sun throughout the houseCabin fever has hit me hard, my friends!  I try to treasure each moment of every day, but I find that I want winter to be over, like, now.  But on days such as these I try to remind myself to slow down, relish the time we spend together, and find the beauty in the now. 

Friday, January 28, 2011

Corners from my home

(My post from earlier was supposed to be yesterday's post.  We had such a lazy, relaxing day that I just didn't get around to publishing it.  Oops!)

This is my new (old) favorite piece of furniture in our home:
(For the life of me I couldn't get a good shot of this.  It's very cloudy out, yet bright because of the snow.  I took pictures with lights on, off, flash, no flash.  This is, sadly, the best picture I got.  It'll have to do, though it doesn't do it justice!)

Ah, my Barrister Bookcase (and yes, it does need to be capitalized!  It's THAT important).  I have been dreaming about one for quite some time now, but have never been lucky enough to find one at a decent price (and they are pricey to say the least!)  Lo and behold, this was my Christmas/birthday gift from Wade.  Can I admit that I burst into tears when I "opened" it?  I say "opened" because the only way of concealing this massive bookcase was to cover it in sheets secured with heavy books.  A dream come true, I tell you.  Slowly it's being filled with books (I have 16 on their way here, 14 of which are for ONE of my classes.  Yikes) with the bottom shelve dedicated to children's books.  I love love love this bookcase.  It was such a present from his heart (seriously, he was going to MAKE one of these for me.  Alas, the tools he needed far exceeded the price for an antique one) and it was definitely a surprise!  Thanks again, my love :0)

Wintertime and the Livin's Slooow

Harper and I have decided to take it easy today.  No running around.  Very little household chores (minus the laundry I have to work on and any dishes that arise. Oy.)  No, instead today is a day for cooking and baking and possibly some crafting (I started some crafts prior to Christmas for Christmas but ended up getting way too sick to finish them).  On our list to make today:
:: Wade's Chili recipe


:: Amanda's Blueberry Banana Cake



:: These.  Yummy.

::  Possibly even some bread

January and February are quite the long months and there has to be a way to make it through the winter without going crazy with cabin fever, right?  Well, I think eating and crafting our way through it is one way!  Along with some playtime and music, we just might make it to spring!

Also, look what came in the mail today.  Heavenly!  (Nikki McClure for anyone who's interested.  Love her work!)
 Here's my little laundry "helper."

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Breastfeeding

::Then

::Now

I've been nursing Harper now for almost 10 months.  It's been more than I ever thought it would or could be.  It's wonderful to look back on her just a few short months ago and remember.  (And yes, looking back at my 2 month-old baby brought tears to my eyes.  SO TINY).  I remember the "shark attacks" as I called them when she'd lunge at my breast or helping her to latch on over and over again.  I worried then about smothering her during feeding because her nose was always pressed RIGHTUP against me (see above picture for proof).  She was so little that I only needed one arm to hold her while nursing.  Now Harper's all about finding different positions to nurse in (upside down, standing or sitting).  Sometimes I have to offer up the milk because she's too busy playing to remember to eat.  It's sad to think that these nursing days will eventually end, though at times I selfishly wish it was over some days so I could get more than a couple of hours sleep at night.  But this time is fleeting and I have to remind myself of this often.  She won't always nurse, she won't always sleep nestled up next to me in bed, rooting for milk.  She won't need me in this way for comfort.  Eventually she'll only need a hug or a kiss or words to comfort her.  Frequently I remind myself how precious this time is; how special it all is.  I cherish these nursing moments so much.  They're special moments between just the two of us.  And as she grows I hope we continue to carry on moments like these and forever and always have some kind of a special bond like we have now. 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Snow Day

When it looks like this outside:
Why not make some of this:


And then spend some time with her:


Ah, a perfect snow day!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Ordinary Day

It's a chilly, rainy and rather dark day around here.  Harper and I have spent our time playing, cleaning, and while she naps, I cook (or study for class tonight).  I lit some candles around the house, set Pandora to play some Michael Franti (had never heard him before...pretty good), and we've just had a mellow kind of day.  In a couple of hours I will be in class and Harper will be at Gramie and Grampie's, but for now we are playing, laughing, lounging, and smelling delicious potato soup simmering.  Despite my ever growing cabin fever, I like the feel of slow winter days.

My little chunk getting dressed this morning.

Just a little bit of dishes (from last night, I might add. ahem.)

Some ingredients for potato soup.  Yum!

Final product.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Corners from my home

Corners of my home was something Soulemama used to do on her blog.  It's been ages since she has, but I always loved it.  I love seeing a sneak peak into the homes of others, to see where and how they live and decorate.  To see the love, time, and energy in their homes.  So, I thought about sharing some corners from my home and Fridays are generally a low-key day so what better way to end the week?

So this is a corner (literally!) from Harper's room.  This is where we read stories and where I rock her to sleep 99% of the time.


This is a close up of her shelf.  We love bunnies! The drawing on the left in the blue frame is a Christmas present I got her from Tollipop.  The girl in the picture's name is Harper!

This is a close up of her bookcase.  This was built for Wade by his grandfather.  Love!

This is our yard sale rocker.  My mom and I recovered the cushions.  It's a squeaky rocker, but I love it!


What about you?  Anyone else have a corner from their home that they'd like to share?

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Recent Development

Let me start off by saying that Harper is, 99% of the time, a really good, really happy baby.  But lately I feel like the only thing I say to her is "NO" or I'm taking things away from her or pulling her off of things.  In essence, I have been feeling like a horrible momma.  She's into pinching (hard, tiny pinches), biting, pulling hair, throwing tantrums (rocking her whole body and throwing herself around), laughing and looking at me when she's touching something she's not supposed to (i.e., chords, dog bowls, laptop keys), and yelling at me ( she goes into a string of "eye, eee, eye, eee, eye, yi, yi, eye....!").   And if you don't pick her up Right when she wants you to, she gets angry REALQUICK.  She is also very difficult to photograph.  This is the meat of my post, dear readers.  Here is where I post the not-so-great-but-the-only-photos-I-get pictures.

Pretty blue eyes

As she usually is...attached to Momma (that's my knee by the way)





And so, for everyone who keeps asking where new pictures of Harper are, there's your answer.  No more smiles for the camera.  No more sitting still for pictures.  I swear I take pictures of her quite often.  But the pictures I get are more for me (I like blurry ones!).  I figure these are the type of pictures only a momma could love!  Oh, and I promise I didn't just let her stand there and cry while I took a bunch of pictures of her.  That's just Harper getting mad because she couldn't have the camera.  All she wanted to do was eat the lens cap.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

First Christmas

We have been ill with something (stomach flu, cold, strep) for the past two weeks so please forgive the lack of updates.

Our tradition is to spend Christmas Eve at my parent's, then on Christmas we open gifts at home, and then return for a Christmas/my birthday dinner at my parent's.  This year Wade's parents and sister traveled from Vermont to be here for Harper's first Christmas.  It was a really great time and wonderful for her to get to visit with them (Wade and I had such a good time with them, too!).  Unfortunately, my poor baby was sick (and is still sick) with a cold that pretty much zapped all energy from her.  It was unbelievably sad, but I think she had a good time.  We tried to keep presents to a minimum since she's only 9 months and the child wants for nothing.  So she received books, clothes (for our Florida trip in February!), a few toddler toys (stacking toys, puzzles, a crawl ball, etc.), a couple of stuffed animals, and grammie and grampie bought her a spot in a KinderMusic class.  I was trying to help her open her gifts while also opening mine so I didn't get quite as many as I wanted on Christmas Eve.  We didn't take any on Christmas morning because Wade's parents video taped the whole thing (and Harper napped through much of it).  So, here is Harper's First Christmas:

Poor sicky baby!  You can see her little runny nose!

Such a beautiful baby!





We don't do Santa, but these jammies (from Grammie and Grampie) are so cute on her!