Harper Leigh

{Silly girl!}

{Her first two teeth!}

 {Crazy hair}

 {My beautiful baby girl}

Sunday Celebration

This past Sunday was my mom's birthday.  Harper and I went over to my parent's house in the morning to deliver her a card (which Harper promptly spit up on as we were about to go inside) and make blueberry scones (DELICIOUS!).  I dressed Harper in a lovely and slightly frilly dress because my mother has a weak-spot for them.  We spent the rest of the day at a wonderful family friend's home eating and visiting.  It was a really lovely day and I think my mom thought so, too!  (Unfortunately I did not take any more photos that day.  I was trying to conserve my camera battery since I hadn't been able to find my charger.  Thankfully I discovered it yesterday!)  Harper was a happy camper, especially standing up like a big girl!  I'm so thankful to have such wonderful, loving family and friends to create great memories such as these!

Let the Fun Begin!

I was nursing Harper last night (or was it this morning?  Who knows?) and she bit me for the first time.  Like really bit me.  She's pulled on me before, enough to make my heart skip a beat, but this was real biting.

That should have been my first clue that something was up.

We had a good day of nothing, really.  We played and sang and even went to the grocery store.  She was happy, talkative, and good.

Then, around 4:00, all hell broke loose.

She was whining then crying then screaming.  She didn't want to play or sing or lay down.  She didn't want to be in her swing or on the ground or on my lap.  I thought it strange that she didn't want to nurse.  Harper's not one to refuse a boob.

That should have been my second clue.  But, in my defense, I'm new at this.

I tried walking around with her.  Wade took her outside while I pumped (no nursing for 4 hours = rock hard boobs).  He gave her a teething ring and she was quiet for about 20 minutes.

Ah ha!  Finally, my light bulb upstairs went off.  The poor thing is teething, I thought.  She has days like this every so often.  Lately it's been quite frequent.  In fact, she's been super grumpy the past 4 days.  So I stuck my finger in her mouth.

BINGO!

I felt the sharp, little bugger that has been causing my poor baby such agony!  And boy did she let out a wail when I touched it!  So, I decided to try:
- a cold, wet washcloth with an ice cube
- a teething ring
- nursing
- tylenol
- oragel
- a pacifier

and nothing helped.  For over an hour she cried and cried and cried.  I felt absolutely HORRIBLE.  She didn't want anything coming near her mouth, but the poor thing was hungry (she was doing her giddy laugh every time I put her into position to nurse :0( but she just couldn't eat).  Finally, I took her outside and she got distracted by the dogs.  I think eventually the tylenol (or knock-off brand since tylenol was recalled) started working because she stopped crying and eventually started to be happy.  In fact, the rest of the evening was pleasant. 

Let me just say that I hope I'm not this dense with the next baby.  Mark one on the "Dumb Momma Moments" for me!

Moments I Treasure

For the past few nights, Wade, Harper, and I have been sitting downstairs watching movies until we're ready for bed.  It's a nice way to wind down and spend some quiet time together.  Well, it's not always quiet, per se.  Harper is starting to cut teeth and has been whiney quite a lot lately - especially at night. 

We were spending our evening on the couch last night, me holding Harper and trying to keep her entertained.  For the longest time she was licking my left shoulder, cooing and staring at the quilt on the couch.  She was being adorable, like always, and I begged Wade to run upstairs to get my camera.  I asked him to take pictures of her looking all cute and whatnot.

My husband, God love him, is apparently not very good with my camera.  He did not get one good shot of her.  They all came out looking something like this:

Unfortunate, but he did get a couple of cute shots of me holding her:

{This is her gnawing on my shoulder.  Whatever makes her happy, right?}

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{And her "talking" to the quilt.  Not sure why I'm grinning like that?}

Maybe for our next family couch night I'll teach Wade how to work the camera :0)

Harper's New Trick

Before we left for vacation, my parents expressed concern regarding Harper.  They said when we returned she wouldn't look the same.  It's true.  She changes in some way, either big or small, everyday.  When we came home her (crazy) hair was a little longer and blonder and she had fattened up (but that's to be expected when she was eating or comfort nursing every 2 hours).

But she also learned something new: blowing raspberries with her mouth.  I'm not sure how or where she picked up this ridiculously cute, albeit gross, new trick, but she learned it nonetheless.  And I think she's pretty darn proud of herself, too.  She'll CooCooCooAhhhhAhhhSPITSPITSPITAhhhAhh right in your face.  Seriously.  It's super cute.

What's even cuter (maybe only to me, though!) is that she's started to do this while nursing.  Granted, it's not so easy to raspberry with a boob in your mouth, but she tries anyway.  She Coos and Ahhs and Raspberries at the end of her nursing with my boob in her mouth.  Kind of like she's saying thank you for filling my tummy! Oh, Motherhood!  How you make me think so differently!

{This is actually a picture of Harper mid-raspberry}

Today

Harper and I woke up to dark skies and thunder followed by lots of rain.  It is now ridiculously humid and hot outside so we must stay indoors.  It has been the perfect day to laze around doing nothing.  Especially since I did a full house cleaning Sunday night.  So we stayed in bed until 11:30 after her morning nap.  I talked myself into taking a shower while she was playing in the pack and play.  And then we did a little dress-up photo shoot (even though my camera was dying so the pictures aren't the greatest).  I put Harper in a dress that I wore at her age that my mom had saved.  Here are just some of the (many) pictures I took:

Good grief.  She's just too cute for words!  And now I'm off to cuddle with my little love bug for the rest of the day! 

Four Months

My Sweet Baby Harper,
    It has been four ridiculously wonderful months since we first welcomed you.  Even though we spent many hours in the beginning trying to soothe your cries, I wouldn't trade one millisecond for anything.
    You have definitely become quite a little person over the past month.  We no longer have to contend with your colic (AMEN! for both you and us!).  In fact, we have fallen into a routine that helps you settle down for the night (food, bath/singing, jammies, more food while being rocked).  You're beginning to giggle at the silly faces and noises we make at you.  You're "talking" more and more everyday and sometimes you like to sing along with our songs; one of the many ways you melt our hearts.  You finally found your feet and get closer everyday to putting your cute little toes in your mouth.  You still love bath time and being outside.  You've also started liking being on your tummy and back so you've been playing more often (usually with someone down there with you!).  You're rolling over more, but only from your back to your front.  Oh, and you've also been able to lay down by yourself to go to sleep.  You don't always have to be in your swing (even though you don't take 3 hours naps anymore!  Usually they're only an hour if you're laying down).
    The biggest milestone you hit is one I wasn't planning on until you were six months or older: food.  Real, smooshed up baby foods.  But you have been SO COMPLETELY interested when we eat near you, including reaching for our food, that I decided to let you try natural foods, like blueberries, watermelon, and cherries.  Since you giggled so much and got a little angry when we didn't feed you when we ate, I decided to mash up some bananas and organic cereal to see how you'd do.  Gramie and Grampie said they had never seen a baby eat so well off a spoon their first time.  So far you've eaten bananas, pears, sweet potatoes, and carrots (which have been your favorite so far!).  You're much happier in your car seat when you're being fed and last night you slept 5 hours straight (though that was the first night that's happened since we started you on food last Friday).  So, the one thing I swore I wouldn't do until you were older turned out to be a good thing!  You're a natural! (You're still nursing quite a bit during the day and at night, though!  We call you a little chunker cause you're always eating something!)
    We are going on a long trip next week so you can meet Daddy's side of the family.  You're going to have so much fun and get so much lovins!  I just hope the car ride there and back isn't too horrible!
    We love you so much, baby girl!  You are our everything!

At a Loss

For those of you who read this little blog, I'm in need of advice!  In about a week and a half we will be traveling about 16-18 hours away.  With a four month-old.  Who LOATHES her car seat.  How is this going to work?!

Harper does well in her seat for about 10 minutes at a time.  Then she starts to fuss followed by whimpering and ending in full-blown crying.  This is difficult for me to bear and it's not going to be possible for us to stop every 10 or 20 minutes.  I've got a pump that can be used in the car so hopefully she'll take a bottle (which has been pretty unsuccessful so far).  She usually calms down when we play The Wheels on the Bus; however, 16 hours of that song and we will be committed.  We have toys on her seat, but she gets bored with them pretty quickly.  Obviously we will be stopping every couple of hours to let her out of her seat to play and stretch.  But how are we going to be able to get her to stay in her seat without screaming the entire time?

Do any of you have babies that don't like their car seat?  Have you ever taken them on a long road trip?  How did it go?  What did you do when they cried?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

{This is her new goofy smile.  LOVE. IT.}

This Week

This past week has been a flurry of activity with, sadly, very few pictures to show for it.  Here are just a few of the things that kept me from writing:

::Last Friday and Saturday were normal...slumber party at my parents, usual running around, same ol' fun!

::Sunday was spent cleaning the ENTIRE house and doing laundry and trying to keep Harper happy so I could do both of those things

::Sunday was also the day my in-laws came into town.  It was late when they arrived, Harper wasn't having a very good day, and so bedtime was exhausting.

::Monday was spent catching up, cooking out, and staying indoors/out of the rain!

::Tuesday was pretty much like Monday.  Good food and good company!

::Wednesday was my husband's birthday so he chose the activities and food for the day.  We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and a local BBQ place for dinner.  He also wanted homemade apple pie, blackberry pie, and jalapeno poppers so I spent a few hours making those.  A very good day!

::They left yesterday morning.  I met my mom for lunch, cleaned when I got home, then went to my parents and joined them for dinner since they had company.

And that was my week, more or less.  Harper had a pretty good week.  She's starting to giggle more, play with her toes, and she's getting really good with her hands!  She also started "talking" a little bit more this week.  I sing her this one silly song and she starts to sing with me!  I love it!

I hope everyone has a lovely and relaxing weekend!

Right Now

Right now it is a beautiful, warm, sunny day.  I couldn't waste the whole day just sitting inside, especially when Harper was full of smiles.  So we ventured outdoors armed with a blanket, my camera, and two crazy dogs.  These are just some of the many (many) pictures I took for Right Now Wednesday:

Everyone Can Say "I Told You So!"

The one thing every (and I do mean EVERY) parent I've encountered has told me is to treasure each moment because IT FLIES BY.

Now, granted, I can't believe Harper is 3 and a half months old.  It really does feel like I had her yesterday.  But so far time has moved at a very nice pace.  I've been able to enjoy each and every second with my little darling one.  I understood what those parents were saying, but it didn't fully sink into my brain.

Until this morning.  That's when I sat Harper on her diaper changing pad and she did this:

{Silly face, but I was trying to hurry and capture the moment}

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{Not completely sitting up, but close enough!}

Where did my little baby go???  I didn't think this was supposed to happen for a couple more months.  But this is what she has been trying to do for awhile now.  She has been trying to crawl, walk, sit up, and roll over for the past few weeks.  She gets incredibly angry when she realizes she can't.  And I'm okay with that for now.  I'm not ready for her to be such a big girl!  But Harper is very independent already so I guess I'm going to have to get used to the idea.

{Harper just 6 days old}

I have to admit that I blubbered like an idiot this morning.  I fear this won't be the last time I do that.

Weekends

Even as a stay-at-home momma, I still look forward to the weekends, even though Wade works A LOT during them.  Friday nights you can usually find me and Harper next door at my parents watching old black and white movies.  And since Wade bartends on Fridays and Saturdays, he doesn't get home until 4 or 5 in the morning.  I do not like to be home all night alone.  With a baby.  I'm chicken, okay?  Even with two dogs.  So we have been having slumber parties at my parents on Friday nights.  And we're usually up pretty early on Saturday to go to the Farmer's Market (yay!) and then do our thrifting.  Or book sale-ing.  Or whatever else the weekend brings.  For the most part, our Saturdays look like this:

:: Wake up, change/nurse Harper 3 or 4 times (HA!), get dressed
::  Breakfast of our choice
::  Head to first thrift store about 5 miles away.  Not the greatest place in the world, but Dad and I have been known to find some great treasures buried there (like my $3.99 canning pot with rack!)
::  Farmer's Market is usually the next stop (and if it's the second Saturday of the month we go down the street to our library's book sale!)
::  By now it's lunch time so we head to Wise Pies.  YUM!
::  Third thrifting stop is usually Goodwill.  Say what you will, but this is where the majority of Harper's clothes have come from.  And many items in  my home.  You wouldn't believe what people donate!  And it's waaay cheaper than buying anywhere else.  Plus, we're reusing items and reducing our carbon footprint this way.
::  By early to mid-afternoon we have listen to "The Wheels On the Bus" 1,346 times, Harper's had enough of her carseat, and we head home.
The rest of our day is spent napping, cleaning, cooking, gardening, and enjoying the outdoors.  We spend the night watching old movies (and sometimes newer ones), playing with Harper, and reading/eating (hey, it's that what weekends are for?)  Then Harper and I head home to cuddle, nurse, and read some more.
Sundays are never the same.  Though we usually have some sort of family meal and Wade generally has this day off so Harper gets some quality time with him!

For those interested, here are photos of some of my recent thrifting finds:

{My dad makes fun of me for buying this duck, but I absolutely love it!}

And for some baby spam:  Here's Harper on Saturday morning before we left, talking to her Grampie:

I hope you all had a great weekend as well!

A Day In the Life of Harper Leigh

8:15 am - I wake up hungry!  Silly Momma forgot to put her camera next to the bed so she didn’t get a nursing in the morning photo!

8:30 am - Time for a diaper change and to get my clothes on!

8:40 am - It’s story-time!  Today we read “The Rainbow Fish” and I love looking at the shiny scales!  (I also get another diaper change ‘cause that’s how I am in the morning!)

9:00 am - Momma and I have play time!  I sit on her lap and she sings me songs like “Patty Cake” and “Little Bunny Fufu.”  I love songs with hand gestures!  Then I sit in my Bebe Pod because I think I’m a big girl!

9:30 am - It’s time for my mid-morning snack before going in my swing!  I love to sit in my swing!  I do this so Momma can eat breakfast and shower! 

11:30 am - Momma changes my diaper and clothes.  Then I get a little snack before we head out the door!  Today we’re having lunch with Grammie and some of her co-workers!

2:00 pm - After a long day of being out (and yet another clothes change!) I am worn out!  Momma and I cuddle while I nurse and then it’s time for a nap!

5:00 pm - I’m ready for another diaper change!  Momma loves to take my picture while I’m on the changing pad!  Sometimes I like to smile for her, but usually I just stare at the big camera!

 6:30 pm - Time for more nursing and another nap!

9:00 pm - Momma wakes me up (nurses me!) and we go to Grammie and Grampie's so I can say goodnight!  It's been a long day!

10:00 pm -  I get to say goodnight to Daddy and get my jammies on!

10:15 pm - Time to crawl into bed!  One more nursing and then I'll be sleeping!