Harper's First Christmas!

Harper had a great first Christmas and enjoyed "opening" all of her great gifts--by opening, I mean she watched intently as I crinkled the paper.  She got all dressed up and sat in her new Bumbo chair in front of the TV.  Heidi's two dogs were visiting for a few days so it was energetic and pleasantly chaotic.  After gifts and baking some goodies, we headed up to Karen & Sal's.  Karen prepared quite a spread, just like we remembered from when we were kids... Christmas at Granny's with enough food to feed an army!  Harper did great and even napped amongst all of the company.  

Harper has been sleeping through the night for the past THREE nights!!!  She wakes up at 5am, like she had been doing, but instead of feeding her, I give her a binky and soothe her for a minute. After this, she falls back asleep.  She basically sleeps for 12 hours, so if we put her down at 7p, she's up at 7a.  It's great!  We have a couple of hours to ourselves at night and now I don't feel like I have to rush to bed anticipating a 5am feeding.  We leave on the red eye flight to Boston tonight, so hopefully our trip doesn't ruin this good thing she's got going on.  She is SUCH a good baby!  She may have started teething, but we're not sure.  She's not quite herself, very fussy and tired, drooling all over the place, sucking her hands and anything else she can get in her mouth (my shirt, her stuffed animals, binky, etc.).  I'm hoping this is not the case, but all signs indicate we're in for it!  (;

I'll post Christmas photos later today if she takes a good nap...

Getting ready for Christmas!

Harper had fun putting her very first Christmas ornament on the tree last weekend.  We were a little behind getting everything up and ready, but we finally got to it!  Memere sent her a cute ornament which we'll keep for her over the years.  The picture on the far left is of Harper in an outfit Joe from Burma sent for her.  We wanted to be sure to show off her nice big belly!  She was very interested in watching Daddy hang her ornament in the next photo.  The last one is of her favorite new thing... kisses on the cheek from Mommy!  It's guaranteed to make her smile!  She's looking forward to tomorrow morning so she can open all of her presents!  (;  We're looking forward to it too... curious to see if we get a reaction out of her with all the crinkly paper and new toys.  

Wishing everyone a very happy, safe, fun filled holiday!

Lots of new things!

I haven't been good about updating the blog regularly, simply because the computer with software for photos is way down in the basement! But I'll try to be better in the new year! Harper has had a lot of new things going on lately. Most recently, we're working hard on getting her naps more consistent (thanks to help from Taryn!) and as a result, she is almost sleeping through the night. She's getting up between 5a-6a instead of 3a-4a for her one feeding. Hopefully, she'll go just an hour longer and make it a full night! This weekend, she started sticking out her tongue which is the cutest thing ever. We'll have to try to get it on film soon. She is becoming more and more aware of her surroundings and really likes to look around. Her favorite toy is her Gymini, where a monkey, giraffe, parrot, elephant and rooster hang down for her to pull on and coo at. She LOVES it! We got her a Bumbo chair for Christmas, but she might not be quite ready for that just yet. She needs to get a little stronger first. She may be almost done with the bouncy chair Cana lent us... she'd much rather be held or under the Gymini. She used to sleep through meals at restaurants, but now, she wants to be at the table and in on all the action. Last week, we had dinner with Derek, Monica and Levi (4.5 mos old). Levi was VERY into Harper, trying to reach out and hold her. It was very cute! Unfortunately, all I had was my camera phone, so the picture didn't come out all that great. Harper has been spending Tues & Thurs mornings with Daddy so I can get back to my favorite spin class. I've also managed to get back in the pool twice a week. I used to have to drag myself to the gym, but now, it's time to myself and I look forward to it! Swimming has especially been fun, because it's easy on the joints. Tom has been wonderful about making sure I get this time! Yesterday, he got to go to the Broncos game, 15 rows up from the 50 yard line! Great seats, but it was so cold! I stayed home with Harper and drank hot cocoa and watched a movie while she napped. I enjoyed being home much more than I would have enjoyed freezing my butt off at the game! I watched the last half from the comfort of the couch!

The cold weather has kept us from going out for our daily walks. If it's under 32 degrees, it's too cold for Harper, so the poor dogs have been going stir crazy. Hopefully today will be warm enough to get out.

We're looking forward to our trip to MA next week so everyone can meet Harper! Shortly thereafter we leave for Kauai! January is a busy month, we just hope Harper can handle it!

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!