Holiday Photos

Heidi was nice enough to take some Christmas photos of Harper yesterday. I thought these were very cute.  (:  She may be ready for the big day, but we sure aren't--got some shopping to do!

All dressed up...

Gobble till you Wobble!

Spencer, Forrest & Harper

We haven't been good about updating the blog lately, things have been crazy! We had a great Thanksgiving with lots of family around to share Harper's first big holiday! With all the chaos, she got a bit off schedule but seems to be back on track. My friend, Colleen, is in town for about a week and leaves tomorrow... we're bummed. It has been so great having her here, she has been such a great support! We want her to move in as our nanny, cook, housekeeper, etc. but she has to return home to her hubby. Harper adores her and it's been great having some social time while Tom has been at work. We went to her award gala on Thursday night where she received a silver medal from the United States Dressage Federation! Pretty big deal in the horse world & we're so proud of her!

Last night we ventured out for Tom's company holiday party and Colleen baby sat. It was nice to get out & know Harper was in good hands.

Not much else is going on right now, just gearing up for the holidays, a trip home for New Year's and then our trip to Kauai in January. We're determined to pass along the travel bug to Harper. (:

I'm Not a Little Squirt Anymore!

When I was pregnant with Harper, we called her "Little Squirt" because we didn't know if she was a boy or a girl until our 5 month ultrasound.  The name kind of stuck throughout the pregnancy.  My mom sent a little turtle from Finding Nemo, named Squirt, which started the ocean theme for her bedroom.  We took a picture of her at 2 months next to Squirt the Turtle so we can compare month to month (we forgot at 1 month, but did have a picture with Squirt when Harper was 2 weeks old).  This was taken 11/3/08.  We'll be sure to post at her 3 month birthday next week!  We're gearing up for a pretty big Thanksgiving here at our house, 11 adults and 3 little kiddos!  Tom's sister is coming with her husband and two boys, Forrest (3) and Spencer (1).  Harper is very excited to meet her auntie, uncle and cousins!  Tom's mom and Crow will also be here, along with Karen, Sal, Max & Sal's friend Wyatt and Sal's Mom Marilyn (Grandma).  It's going to be a great, chaotic time!  We're so glad we're in the new, bigger house.  There's no way we could do this in the old house (as much as we loved it... it was tiny!).  Stay tuned for pictures and a blurb about the day!  

While Daddy's away, the girls will... play?

Harper had her 2 month appointment last week and she was a whopping 10lbs. 9oz.! She sure is growing! She also got her first round of vaccinations and it was absolute torture. I'm still not sure she needed all of them, but they group them together so there are fewer shots. We'll need some for travel, so we just had to go with it. It was very hard to see her scream when the gave them to her. She was also 'not right' for a week following the shots. I'm not sure if she was just tired and off in her routine (we stayed with Karen & Sal for a few days), or if her tummy was upset from the Rotovirus and Pertussis vaccines (that was my guess). Poor thing! Thankfully, she's back to her mostly happy self now.

She has been sleeping great through the nights with only one feeding around 3-4am. This has been pretty consistent for almost a month now and we're all thrilled! Such a good little sleeper... we hope it continues FOREVER!

No pictures this time, Daddy has the camera in China with him. It's been hard having him gone, but we're trying to keep busy. We spent 3 nights at Karen & Sal's house... it was so nice to have the company and support while we were there! Julie was here Sun-Thurs, which was amazing. Just to have some social outlet was key for me, and we even made it to the Med for dinner one night. We're very sad now that she is gone. We're on our own for a few more days until Tom is back. Cana kindly called & offered to watch Harper on Sunday for a couple of hours so I can go do something for ME! I'm going to go get my poor horse moving and spend some time at the barn. I am badly in need of some horsey time!!!
So, while Daddy's away, the girls aren't really playing... just surviving till he gets home! Come home soon Daddy, we miss you!!!

Halloween Fun!

The Halloween gang

Harper is now two months old! Time has flown by! We dressed her up as a pumpkin for the neighborhood Halloween parade... her friends Tucker & Haley joined in the fun. Tucker's mom, Christie, got some great shots of the two little punkins! Harper dressed up again on Halloween night to hand out candy to trick or treaters. She got rave reviews from all of the kiddos who visited!

Today, we have her 2 month check up and the first round of immunizations. I have been so torn on what to do about them, but we decided to go ahead and give them to her. We'll need them for travel, and, they give them for a reason. We'll take our chances, I guess.

Harper continues to sleep through the night, with one feeding, usually around 3-4am. This time change is terrible, she's sleeping by 8pm, and I'm not ready to go to bed yet. Then she's up at 6am and I'm definitely not ready to get up yet! At least she's consistent, and still sleeping for hours at a time. I really shouldn't complan (but I will anyway!). Hopefully she'll get on the new time change soon (why do we still do this anyway?!).

We'll be staying up late to check the election results tonight. Tom leaves early Thursday for China... so our last couple of evenings together before he leaves. I'll pack up and head to Karen & Sal's until Sunday, then Auntie Julie gets here for a few days! We're so excited, but I have already told her Harper is NOT going to the Bobbi Brown counter at Nordstrom's until she is AT LEAST 17 years old (or even better, never)! Ha! Still hoping she'll be a bit of a Tom Boy... I dress her in cutsie things, and all that is pink, in the hopes that she will grow up to hate pink and anything too girly. Ha!

I'm growing!

Harper is now nearly 8 weeks old and is settling into a nice routine! She has had over a week of good nights, sleeping for 10-12 hours a night with 1 or no feedings! She's going longer in between her daytime feedings too. The "witching ours" in the evening are much shorter in duration, and some nights, she is as content as can be. We realized changing things up seems to work best for her... going for a walk at 5:30, going to dinner, doing tummy time, etc... anything to break of the monotony of the evening. Mommy & Daddy are trying to be better about relaxing and enjoying each other's company--we remembered that we have a wonderful hot tub in the back yard and we try to go in it when Harper goes to bed at a reasonable time. We are also getting good nights sleep too, which is so helpful! Last weekend, we ventured up to Wild Basin for Ryan & Cara's wedding. It was so beautiful and it was our first extended time away from Harper. She stayed with Auntie Karen, Uncle Sal & Max and was great! We stayed over and she even slept through the night at their house. We're hoping we're onto something... (picture of the 'family bed' before we put Harper down in the pack & play--she's hidden in there somewhere with the dogs & Daddy).

This picture is of Harper in what was supposed to be her going home outfit after she was born, but it was WAY too big. Look how much she has grown! This outfit is snug on her now and she has graduated into size 1 diapers! (After 2 major blowouts of the newborn size, we figured it was time to move up!) She is very healthy & happy--cracking smiles and cooing all the time! She still loves to be on the move all day... she won't nap in her crib, but will pass out in the swing, bouncy chair, Moby, car or stroller. BUT, she sleeps great in her crib at night, so it's working for us. I feel like we're getting into a good routine (we hope!).  She especially likes going for walks with her baby friends during the day--it's great to have so many mommy friends who are also home (for now anyway).

Harper has her 2 month appointment next Tuesday, Nov. 4th. Still debating over what to do about an immunization schedule... we have to do some becuase of our plans to travel out of the country at some point but we don't want her little body to have to undergo 12 immunizations at 2 months!!! Crazy! We'll see....
Also, on Nov 4th, Harper says don't forget to VOTE!
(Unless you're voting for McCain, then she says just stay home--ha!)


Harper is very sad about the Red Sox... she rallied and tried to stay up to watch the games but it didn't work. Maybe next year. You've got to suffer a bit (or a lot) to be a true fan.