Two Days!!!

Wow-it has been over a week since I last posted...guess we've been busy...AND preoccupied with the idea that in TWO DAYS we will be heading to Galveston!!!!!  I've been counting down the days for pretty much the entire month, and now it's down to TWO.  Harper finally gets to meet her awesome Aunt Alyce and see her adoring Gramma and "Grandude" :-)  Can you tell I am a little excited?!?!  It will be so nice to get a little family vacay after a long, busy summer.  I am pretty nervous about flying with the baby, so stay tuned to see how that goes.  Fingers crossed for the best scenario possible: baby *peacefully* eats on the way up, sleeps while we're in the air, and either continues to sleep or *peacefully* eats on the way down.  Fingers crossed--reallllly tight! 

In other news, Josh and I have been trying two new things in parenting.

Number One: we've been working on getting Harper to fall asleep on her own without soothing.  That is going really well!  I am so proud of her.  For the last two days she has gone to bed on her own and  also fallen asleep for naps on her own.  Good girl.  After watching the funny scene in American Reunion (yes, we watched it...for nostalgia purposes!) where Michelle bounces their two year old to sleep-I said to Josh, NO WAY is that going to be us!  We've got to move on from bouncing/rocking/nursing/soothing to sleep.  Learning to self soothe is SUCH an important skill for little ones.  I know it can be a fight, and I'm glad she just kinda eased into it without any problem. 

Number Two: we've been working to get the babe on a more predictable schedule.  This one has been a little tougher.  Because for me, I would ideally like her to take 2 hour and a half naps during the day.  HA.  This girl never sleeps longer than 45 minutes at naptime.  I've tried all kinds of different tricks to help her stay asleep, but nothing has worked.  Right now I just leave her in the crib for an hour and a half whether asleep or not.  She's awake for a little bit before she gets bored and goes to sleep, wakes after 45 minutes (like freakin' clockwork), and then just kinda hangs out for another 30 minutes or so until I come get her.  I've been hoping she'd fall BACK to sleep of boredom after she wakes up at the 45 minute mark-and today she FINALLY did during her first nap!!!  YAY!  The second nap was not successful.  That's okay!  Baby steps for my baby girl!  One nap at a time :-)

Alright, signing off until we return from our beach vacation!  Praying Isaac steers clear of the Galveston gulf!  Will report back next week with some fun stories and some inevitably adorable photos of Harper's first trip to the beach! 

Does Anybody Know What Time It Is...?

TUMMY TIME!!!

She's Supa Strong!...

She's Supa Cute!...

She's SUPA BABY!!!

Phew!!!

Water Babies

Today, we had a great idea to go to WMAC before it opened to play with our babies in the pool.  Thanks to my water-lovin' husband!  It was so much fun and the babes had a blast.  Kyle even went down the slide!  Growing up so fast!  Check out these cuties:

Three Months Come and Gone

Happy Three Month Birthday, Harper!

What a magical day it was, three months ago.  Josh and I still talk about the day of your birth all the time.  But, three months has come and gone...can you believe it?  Summer is coming to a close (thank goodness) and my favorite season is just around the corner.  I don't know if there's anything better than autumn in Albuquerque.  The best weather-crisp and clear, the best smells-green chile roasting, just THE BEST all around.  At the end of every other season-spring, summer, and winter-I'm always ready to see it go.  Not the case for fall.  I'm always happy for its arrival and never ready to say goodbye!  The balloon fiesta, the fair, the pumpkin patch!!!  I really am so excited to share this great time of year with our little girl for the first time.  She's in for a treat. 

So, what's Harper up to at the three month mark? 

First Quarter Report:

Weight: As far as our crappy scale can tell-somewhere between 12-12.5 pounds

Height: Haven't measured lately, but she is definitely LONG.  She was wearing a 6 month onesie yesterday...granted, it was a very small six month onesie, but it was the perfect length for her long body!

Cuteness:  Off the charts, obviously! ;-)  And *they* say she favors her father.  She does.  But sometimes I get a glimpse of baby Jane in her, as well!!

Eating: She is still exclusively breastfed.  It's gotten MUCH easier and it's really great.  I am so ready for her to stop spitting up though.  Hopefully soon.  That is what is wearing me out feeding-wise right now.

Sleeping: Not the best right now.  Lots of wakings during the night recently.  Seems like the days of sleeping through the night are something of the past at the moment.  Again, hopefully those days will return again soon :-)  Probably just a tough growth spurt.

Skills: Harper loves to make sounds and 'coo.'  We have lots of interesting conversations, the two of us.  I am trying to be diligent about signing-but the only one I am SUPER consistent with is "mommy."  But, I also try to throw in "hungry", "diaper", and "all done" as frequently as I remember.  I also try to remind Josh to do his sign for "daddy" as much as possible, too.  Ever since my days studying linguistics, I have always been SO fascinated with child language.  For me, this is the most amazing part of Harper's development.  Language development in children is AWESOME!  

Physically, I feel that Harper is just dying to crawl/walk/run around.  Maybe every baby is like this-I just don't know since I don't have much to compare her to.  But, I feel that SHE is REALLY eager to get moving.  She is happiest when we are helping her stand.  Even sitting seems to make her crazy sometimes-but once I help her stand up then she squeals with happiness.  Her upper body is getting much stronger now, too.  On her tummy, she can push up onto her forearms for brief stints.  I'm proud of her!  She also lifts her legs up and places her hands on her knees, which, for some reason, Josh and I find it SO adorable.  And, her biggest entertainment right now is bringing things to her mouth-plain hands or toys in hand.  

Nom, nom, nom!

What a sweetheart.  We love you, Harper.

More Giggling Cuteness!

Babies giggling and smiling just NEVER gets old!

So the story here is that I actually sneezed and Harper apparently thought it was funny-so I continued to "hachoo" to get some more giggles on camera!  It worked :-D

Four Years Later...

And we're still going strong!

But really, I can't believe it has been four years since 08.08.08 when we were having the time of our lives at our wedding in Hilton Head--

dancing ((THRILLER)),
eating ((COCONUT SHRIMP...LOBSTER BISQUE...SEAFOOD GALORE)),
drinking ((LOTS OF THAT HAPPENED)),
laughing ((LOTS OF THAT HAPPENED, TOO)),
swimming ((THINKING OF JOSH THE NIGHT BEFORE OUR WEDDING...I'VE HEARD THE STORIES ENDLESSLY)),
getting stung by jellyfish ((DAD, LISA, ALLY, WHO ELSE?!)),
full of joy ((SO FULL)),
and sharing it all with our closest friends and most awesome families  ((THE BEST PART)). 
Wow! 

On the other hand, so much has changed since then.  Houses, doggies, careers, graduations, BABIES!  We've made lots of strides.  Our life was actually VERY different back in '08- and I am so thankful that through all of the changes, we have been able to change together.  SO thankful that we made HER:

Unexpected side effect of having a baby--the love I felt for Josh.  Obviously, the moment you lock eyes with your child, you are overcome with feelings of LOVE that resonate to your CORE.  You hear about this from every mother in the history of mothers.  And when you actually feel it--indescribable, really.  I knew this would happen.  However, I was surprised by the overwhelming feelings of love that I had towards JOSH immediately after Harper's birth.  They were almost like feelings of grief the love was so deep.  I honestly cried for days over these profound, raw emotions.  Having a baby IS trying on a relationship-there is no doubt about that.  ((For real friends-it is no walk in the park.))  But it also binds you together with your husband in a NEW way.  And the connection is SO real, so physical, more concrete than saying your wedding vows even.  The love I have for Josh now is on a completely different level-it feels like our souls were on a parallel path before, but now they are literally, physically intertwined together through our daughter.  We really are ONE now.  It is a tangible change that happened with the birth of Harper, and I could actually physically FEEL the merging of our souls happening.  It's amazing.

Happy Anniversary, Josh.  I can honestly say that I love you more than ever before.    

Happy Thursday!

Okay, it's been one week since my day from hell!  Basically that day consisted of a very sad baby (for reasons unknown) that only wanted to be held and walked...this meant no sitting down, no putting her down to play so I could, oh, I dunno-PEE or SHOWER...only holding and walking...A.L.L.D.A.Y...When Josh came home I was an unshowered, exhausted puddle of tears.  But, after a day like that, things can only get better.  Thankfully, this week has been a LOT better :-)  I went to yoga on Sunday which always makes me feel like a new person after "sweating it all out."  Also, I was under a lot of pressure to get my work project finished by Monday afternoon for a mediation on Tuesday-and thanks to Josh, I made it happen.  I think the stress of my first week back at work, the pressure to get stuff done at home, brought a lot of tension into the house.  But, now that I have officially successfully finished a project, hopefully I will feel less stress over "when is this girl going to take a nap so I can get some work done?!"  Now, all of that aside, here's a little nugget to help fill up your cuteness-tank for the day:

Awww, she's so sweet!!!

So, after starting my own blog, I have become sort of a blog-reading-junkie.  I just love coming across new blogs and adding them to my reading list.  Recently I have come across a couple of gems in the blogging world. 

First of all: http://www.kellehampton.com/ - check her out.  This past week I have delved into her story through her blog.  Her life was turned upside-down when she learned her second daughter had down syndrome at birth.  Inspiring, touching, raw writing, and great photography.  It is crazy to think that some stranger could stumble upon your blog and be so touched, reading post after post about your life...

The next blog I have been binging on is http://theardentsparrow.blogspot.com/  LOVE her stuff!!  Just the layout and design aspects of her blog are GORGEOUS.  She does this amazing 'digital scrapbooking' stuff that I have GOT to learn how to do.  A real design maven-absolutely adore her vintage style--inspiring in an aesthetic sense. 

Okay, just a couple of diamonds in the rough of the tangled internet blogging world!  Hopefully you can add those to your list too if you're a junkie like me!  And sense my baby IS actually asleep right now-I better actually get a little work done...until next time...