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?}

{

{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}

Vacation Part Two

Lots of family, pool time, food, and just fun in general!  We're having a great time!

Vacation Part One

Here's a recap of the first three days of our trip so far:

Friday (Day One): Packing and organizing.  Left home around 7, got on the road at 8.  I am proud to report that Harper was WONDERFUL.

Saturday (Day Two):  Car broke down around 4:00am about 45 minutes from Pennsylvania.  Slept in car until 7:30am when the auto parts store opened and Wade could get parts.  After the delivery men made three trip and we sitting in the Shell gas station parking lot for 8 hours and no improvement on the car, we finally decided to chalk it up as a loss.  We were able to move the car to a hotel nearby where we had decided to stay.  It was not the greatest room, but it was cheap, thankfully.  After ordering a pizza and showering, we were all asleep by 6:30pm.

Sunday (Day Three): I woke up at 7:30 feeling very refreshed to say the least (after 13 hours of sleep!)  Harper woke only twice to nurse during the night which was  fabulous.  We were packing up our things when the electricity went out.  I was just glad we were leaving!  We took the hotel shuttle to the rental car place (my first time renting a car by the way!) and after stopping for breakfast we were on the road again!  As I type this we are in New York, about 4 or 5 hours away from our destination.

I have been taking pictures...of Harper no doubt.  I didn't take pictures of the broken down car (I can when we go back to pick it up) and there really aren't any of Wade and I (yet).  I wanted to take pictures of the state signs, but we're going to fast for my camera to take a clear picture.  So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some (more!) pictures of the lovely miss Harper.  *NOTE* Harper is in her carseat without her straps on in a few of these.  This is when we were sitting in the parking lot waiting for help.  I would NEVER have her in a moving vehicle without being strapped in.  That is all.  Thank you.

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!