Ten Months!!!

We are a couple days late on this, but........

Happy Ten Months, HJH!

Has it really been 10 months already!??!  In retrospect, it has gone by so fast.  Too fast.  I can already see Harper transitioning from baby to toddler.  Look at the difference!!!

Wow.  What a wild ride we are all on!  So what is Miss Harper up to at 10 months??

-Height and Weight...not exactly sure since we haven't had a well-baby appointment recently.  But probably around 20 pounds and around 28 inches long.  She's just a lil squirt!

-Not walking yet!  She has taken steps and is SO close to taking off.  Only a matter of time until she works up the courage.  But not quite ready!

-She loves animals, especially dogs!  She loves to hear dogs barking and will start mimicking them whenever we are out and about and one is yapping.  She can tell you what a dog (woof), cow (moo), chicken (buck buck), and duck (quack) say.

-She can also say dog, ball, fan (yes, she loves the ceiling fan-haha!)...probably some other words, but I can't think of them right now!  Her language skills have definitely developed this last few weeks.  Her current obsession are balls, so she says that one a LOT!  She also likes to say 'roll' (when she rolls the ball), and "whoa" or "wow".  C-u-t-e.

-She is starting to enjoy books a lot more.  Her favorites are a Baby Touch and Feel Farm Animal book and a little cardboard, Peek-a-Who book.  She loves to turn the pages when we read to her!

-She enjoys being outside and I cannot wait for some consistent nice weather!  Whenever we come in from being outside she cries.  Holding out for some warmer temperatures, and crossing my fingers for very little wind this spring...a girl can hope!

-She eats just about everything and likes to feed herself.  We even gave her salmon last week and she loved it.  She loves cheese and yogurt and her favorite baby food pouches are actually the veggie ones (I think spinach, peas, and pear is her favorite).  We also continue to breastfeed.

-She still just has her cute two bottom front teeth!

-She looks SO much like her wonderful daddy!  But people often comment on her dimple in her chin (that's from me!).

-She is *currently* sleeping a lot better than she has in the past.  We had to night wean her to make this possible.

-She recently decided that she likes to dance to music.  Absolutely adorable!

-She is bright, busy, silly, opinionated, beautiful, and sweet.  We love, love, love you, Harper!  Happy 10 months!!!!!

March Madness!

I'm baaaack!  Hi blog world :-)  It's been a while...and boy do I have some stories for you...so many updates!

We'll start with the biggest doozie:

This last 10 days or so has been quite the adventure. Just filled with ups and downs.  Two weeks ago, Harper and I left on a visit to Galveston while Josh ventured off to Honduras for a once in a lifetime scuba dive trip.  I was so excited to get away for a little bit!!  Harper was a terrific traveler and we started our vacation off having a blast.

Harper absolutely loved Gramma and Granddad's house.  So many new toys.  So many new places and spaces to explore.

She loved walking on the seawall, and going to the neighborhood park everyday with Gramma!  Sliding down the baby slide and swinging in the baby swing is TOO MUCH FUN!

However, about four days into our trip, MY fun stopped!  I broke out with a horrific case of hives.  For those of you that remember the alleged 'alpaca' incident....this was like that...but significantly worse.  My mom and I ended up in the Galveston emergency room at 1:30am Monday morning with my entire body COVERED in welts, eyes nearly swollen shut, hands, feet, and face swollen too.  Ugh.  Not cool.  Even more not cool?  These hives did not stop after the steroid/antihistamine cocktail they fed me via IV on Monday.  Oh no.  I continued getting waves of welty hives and swelling body parts day after day.  By Thursday we were desperate for anything to make these outbreaks stop.  They were just progressively getting worse and worse--pretty scary.  We fanangled our way into an appointment at my mom's primary care doctor and she ordered me a handy dandy EPI pin, and advised that I get the hell outta Galveston to hopefully stop my body from going into full fledged anaphlactic shock.

So, several hundreds of dollars of medical bills and last minute plane tickets later...my mom (seriously, thank GOD for my mom) flew with Harper and my hyperallergic-self back to Albuquerque.  Needless to say, this vacation was nothing like either of us had envisioned for a lazy beachy Galveston getaway!  Unfortunately, my outbreaks did not totally stop when we arrived back in Albuquerque.  They have definitely tapered off, and seem to finally be allllll the way cleared up as of today.  I went to my doctor on Monday and he took tons of blood work.  Now just to wait for some answers.  After this ordeal, I really hope they can find some.  That way I can avoid whatever (((it))) is like the PLAGUE!  Enough about all that.  The end!

Sweepy Baby

Over the past 9 months I have taken countless sleeping baby pictures of little miss Harper.  Seeing her sweetly sleeping is one of my favorite things in the entire world!  Chunky cheeks smushed, pouty lips, stuffed animals and blankies snuggled...I could watch forever.

Sweetness and Cuteness Overload...

On another subject--diving season is FINISHED!!!!!  We survived 12 hour days and several one-day weekends for four long months.  I was tearfully dreading diving season once it turned fall in Albuquerque.  I really didn't know how we would both do it...it's hard every year; but this year, with a baby?!  I was skeptical if we'd all three make it out alive.  But as the season went on, Harper and I attended several practices, almost all the meets, and were really having fun and got to know all the divers pretty well!  It turned out to be an amazing season for all the kids and of course, Josh.  Yesterday was the State meet and his divers kicked butt.  So, not only did we survive, but it really ended on a high note.  Still, so glad it's done!  Time to celebrate!  Woowoo!

Park Date

We went on an outing to the park on Sunday with our friends and their sweet babies!  The weather was gorgeous and the company was perfect, too!  Here are some photos from our park date:

Nine Months of Harper Jane!

Big girls like me only sit up now, Mommy!
You can't make ME lie down for your silly photos anymore--mwahahahaha!

NINE MONTHS!  It really is a magical age.  I am loving every minute of it.  She is just so adorable, sweet, and bright.  Our days together are so so fun.  She is developing so much--I feel like everyday she is doing something new.  Whether it's making connections with language, playing with a toy a new way, or advancing physically--everyday it's something different!  So, what IS going on these days?!

Weight/Height: We have a check-up on Thursday, so we'll know these things for certain.  But, weight, probably around 18 pounds...and height, I dunno...pretty tall!  She's wearing some 12 month stuff now in addition to her 9 month clothes.

Language: She's not much of a talker yet, but she loves to point at everything!  She jibber-jabbers in her own wonderful baby-talk.  She can say all the main consonants, and right now she loves to stick her tongue in and out while making a noise that sounds like she's saying 'giggle giggle giggle.'  The one word that I do think she is making a connection with now is 'dog.'  She will point at Mitch or Mia and say 'daw.'  She also waves her arms around when she is either excited/happy or upset because she WANTS something!  Yes, she is quite opinionated already!  We are still signing some basic signs but she hasn't quite caught on to do them herself.  But, she knows what "mamma's milk," "more," and "all done" mean.

Teeth: Still just those two cute bottom teeth!  Where are those other toofs?!  Stay away, I'm not complaining :-D

Play: Harper has loved to take things out of boxes/containers for a few months now, but recently she's interested in putting things into containers or on other toys.  She was even 'stacking' a block on top of another block the other day.  She also loves to pull several of our DVD's of the shelf and then stack/shove blocks into the loose spaces.  Pretty clever, if I do say so!  She also loves to play peek-a-boo, look outside while inside, and put toys on her head :-)  I'm telling you, nine months old is SO darn cute!

Mobility: Okay, if you saw the last video, you know she's working on walking.  She can walk while just lightly holding onto something with one hand.  And she can stand for a while without assistance.  But, she's super fast at crawling, so that's obviously her preferred mode of transportation still!

Food: We are still breastfeeding!  And she is eating lots of solids now.  She won't necessarily eat large servings, but she has tried lots of foods and likes them!  Favorites right now are yogurt, eggs, waffles, apples, pears, mangos, sweet potato fries, noodles, and little 'puff' snacks.  Yum!

Other Cute Stuff:  She will sometimes give mommy or daddy a kiss when prompted.  This consists of a wide open mouth latching onto our cheek!  Wet baby kisses are the besssst!  Our friends also note that she is getting much more hair on her little baldy blond head.

HAPPY HAPPY NINE MONTHS, BABY!!!

Pics from a beautiful park day with our best friends!  More photos to come!! :-D

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yea, it was two days ago--I feel like I haven't had a moment to write and complete an entire post in weeks!  I have several posts started and unfinished...this post included was sitting in my 'draft' section.  So, yes, it was two days ago--but I'm finally able to finish it and post it today!  Phew!
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Happy Valentine's Day to you all!  And especially to my most sweeeet forever Valentine, Josh!  We've got an unbreakable bond, a solid marriage, and a very happy companionship.  I love love love you.  We don't do grand, romantic gestures often-but Valentine's Day is a great excuse for some theatrical expressions of love!

I made these cookies today...((thanks again, Pinterest!))  I've never made sugar cookies before on my own.  Wow, it was a lot of work!  Especially with a baby around.  It was another "I Love Lucy" moment for me in the kitchen today.  OMG.  It's a long story--for another post--but I pulled it off in the end!  I'm just now getting 'good' at cooking--baking is a completely different story!  But they came out so cute (sort of).  One of those instances when 'it's the thought that counts' trumps my 'first grade penmanship' frosting job.  My favorite was "I love you more than...Harry loves Ginny."  And Josh attests that they are the best cookies he's ever tasted.  Alright then-success!  We also had a delectable lunch date with the three of us at our favorite New Mexican spot, Duran's, and exchanged some gifts.  All is good on V-Day 2013.

But, when it all comes down to it, our love for each other and our family is in the small things.  Those small, thoughtful acts are what really make up the framework for our loving life.

*making each other a meal
*bringing each other coffee in the morning
*a back rub
*a phone call or text message
*a love note on the bathroom mirror
*remembering to buy you a delicious brew at the grocery store
*giving some 'me' time (that's usually yoga or a shower for me, and running for Josh)

I love you for those little things everyday, Valentine.  Xoxoxoxoxo!  Of course, the lovely turquoise earrings Josh gave me for the holiday don't hurt either!  Love you :-D

Okay, enough mushy stuff!  Check out Mz. Harper.  She is well on her way to being a little Frankenbaby Zombie Walker!

Searching for SPRING!

Okay, I know it's still February, but I am definitely looking forward to the warmer weather of springtime.  Warm weather makes it so much easier to get out of the house!  And, as a mom, getting out of the house daily = fun, and mental sanity!  Well, despite it still being a little chilly, we went to the park a couple of days ago for a swingin' good time :-)

Weeeee!