Our Saturday Mornings

5:30 am - mommy gets up to go to the bathroom for the tenth time. House is silent. Pitch black.
6:00 am - Harper begins to stir.
6:10 am-  We start to hear "ilk. Ilk. Ilk." From Harper's room.
6:20 am - daddy gets Harper and Riley milk.
6:30 am - Daddy brings Harper into our bed. She thinks its play time. I'm waking up to baby kisses.
6:32 am - Riley comes in, grabs her milk, and steals Daddy's spot in bed. Daddy makes her go back to her bed.
6:35 am - The room turns bright. Riley stumbles into our bathroom and leaves the door wide open. Mommy - "is this really happening?" Daddy - "yep"
6:38 am- Daddy takes the girls downstairs and lets Mommy sleep in.
Sunday...repeat...Mommy takes the girls downstairs and lets Daddy sleep in.

Please tell me that someday my kids will like to sleep in till the sun comes up!

Fall 2012

It's that time of year for playing in the leaves!

 Riley's an old pro and Harper's catching on quick!  Love this time of year!

Pregnancy #3 Update

It's about time for another update on how this little boy is doing.  Today I'm 29 weeks and a few days.  The countdown to December 17th is officially on.  We've got just a little over 2 months to go!  Like everything else in my life this pregnancy is flying by!  Seems like just yesterday Brett was on the verge of passing out in the garage as he learned that we were adding a fifth member to our family. :)

• This pregnancy seems to be lining up more closely to how things went with Riley.  I've started second guessing our decision to not take the progesterone shots this time around. 
• I've gained about 30 pounds so far.  I had high hopes to keep my weight gain down this time.  But, I've come to the realization that my body just likes to gain weight when I'm pregnant.  I'm hoping that the next 11 weeks only brings 10 more pounds (or 0!)!  It's never a good feeling when you contstantly grow out of your maternity clothes.
• Overall, I feel pretty crappy.  Ask me though, and I'll say "I feel ok."  I'm just tired and sore and cranky most days.  By the end of the day I'm ready to sit on the couch and veg out.  Now that the weather is nicer we have been spending more time outside with the girls, but I'm pooped!
• The baby is moving constantly.  I don't think there is an hour in the day where I don't feel some sort of movement.  I think he's a stretcher because he is always pushing his bum out.
• The swelling has begun.  I thought that maybe I wouldn't swell as bad since the hot months were in the middle of the pregnancy.  Unfortunately, my body swells in any weather. 
• We have moved on to two week appointments.  This is when the realization of a new baby really begins to settle in. 
• We are still undecided on a name for this little boy.  We have struggled more than ever coming up with the perfect name for our boy.  So far we have a short list of 8, or so names, but only one that we both really like. Brett is decided on the name we agree on, but I'm still on 80% sure.  Hopefully by the end of the week we'll have it nailed down.  I hate not knowing!
• I barely passed my glucose test this time.  I had the highest score possible to still pass.  My iron is low this time around so I'm taking an iron supplement.  My thyroid medication had to be doubled a month or two ago.  So, it's safe to say that this baby is sucking the life out of me! :)
• We still have a lot to prepare for our little guy's arrival.  We need to paint the baby room.  Bye bye pink. We need to wash all of our gender neutral clothes and baby gear.  We need to buy new blankets, sheets, gowns, sleep sacks, pacis, and the list goes on.  We do have the double stroller, Hawkeye apparel, Wee Wee tents, trumpette socks, and a few cuddly outfits under control!
• Riley understands that Mommy has a baby in her tummy and is very excited to have a brother.  She is very opinionated on what we name the little guy too!  Harper wants to see the baby in my tummy all the time and then loses interest as soon as she sees my belly button!

24 Weeks

Harper Grace: 16 Months



Harper is 16 months old today.  I look forward to writing these monthly updates because it seems that she is growing so quickly these days.  I love looking back and seeing where Riley was at this age and seeing how they are similar.  Here's what she's been up to:

• She still has just her 4 teeth.  I swear that she's been teething for months, but nothing seems to be happening.  We talked to Riley's dentist who said that if she doesn't have any more teeth in a few more months they will begin to question what's going on.  Most likely, she is probably just going to get 8 teeth all at once.  Yippee!  She'll go for her first dentist appointment in 6 months when Riley is scheduled to go back.
• She has an appointment with an allergist in November.  She has had a reaction to eggs several times and they seem to get worse with each exposure.  It seems crazy that we have to wait two months to get her in to be seen.  Until then, we'll just have to really keep an eye on what we are feeding her.  Luckily, we haven't noticed any issues with eggs cooked in baked goods, but we're trying to limit as much as we can since we really don't know the severity of the allergy yet. 
• She is rambunctious!!  She is super busy and it is impossible to slow her down!  She is definitely going to be the one to keep us on our toes.  She still loves to climb and wrestle.  She will now move toys next to chairs and couches to climb her way into them. 
• She is in a hair pulling stage.  I'm not sure why she started, but she will pull hair and laugh or she'll pull hair when she's mad.  It's to the point that we tell her no and get her to let go and she runs herself right to timeout without any prompting.  I don't think that it's a good sign when she thinks it's fun to sit in timeout. 
• The only show that she will sit through is TLC's Baby Story.  It's the funniest thing.  I take advantage of it since I seem to gravitate toward the show when I'm pregnant.  She now points to the TV and yells baby when she sees the show.
• Words: Baby, Riri, Mommy, Daddy, DDDAAADDD!, cheese (for picture taking, of course), ilk, ease (please), Uh-uh, up, bye, kitty.  She's got the head shakes down for no and yes, and will usually answer our questions correctly.
• She loves babies.  She love to carry them around and hold them right up by her neck. 
• She is wearing mostly size 4 shoes.  She's wearing 12-18 month clothes, but can still fit into her 9 month onsies.
• She is still sucking her two middle fingers on her right hand.  She rubs her pointer finger on her cheek to the point that she has her second sore on her cheek.  How in the world do you stop finger sucking??  If we take her fingers out of her mouth she laughs and thinks it's a game.  She only sucks them when she's tired or bored, but we're ready to see the habit go.
• She loves to steal her sister's toys.  Riley hates this and always cries or chases after her which makes Harper think it's a game.  So we're in this nice circle of sisterly love...already.
• She has a fascination with socks and shoes.  She LOVES them.  She is always putting random socks and shoes on.  It's not surprising to see her wearing one Christmas sock and one hello kitty sock.  Needless to say there are socks all around the house and finding a pair has become harder and harder.
• She loves the cat.  She will find him and grab his tail or plop down right on top of him.  We're lucky that she is really the only person that Sam has never bitten.  There have been plenty of opportunities.

Center Grove Apple Orchard 2012

We took another trip up to the Cambridge Apple Orchard this year. I love this time of year and going to the orchard is always something that we look forward to each year. Last year we skipped the trip with Harper being so young.  This year both of the girls had a blast.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any apples that we could pick, but there were plenty of fun activities to keep the girls entertained for a couple hours.  Plus, we came home with apple cider donuts, an apple cider slushy (my favorite), fresh honeycrisp apples, and some Redfree baking apples for my batch of apple butter. 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Little Sister

I've been thinking a lot lately about Harper missing out on being the baby of the family.  Yes, she'll always be my baby and loved and hopefully feel special, but I worry about her missing out on the attention that she receives as the "baby of the family."  I find myself rocking her at night as she goes to bed.  No, she doesn't need to be rocked to fall asleep.  Really, she'd prefer to fall asleep on her own in her crib.  But, she's my baby and I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel a little guilty and sad that she won't be my youngest for much longer.  I've always found myself pushing the girls through milestones and realizing later that things will happen in due time. A few months ago I was talking about how hopefully we can get Harper potty trained before she's two and moved into the bunk beds with her sister by then.  Now, I find myself backtracking and questioning my urge to push her along.  Yes, it will be a pain to have two in diapers, but she's only one...surely we will manage.  She's a climber and adventurous.  Is it really safe to have her wake up in the morning and climb up to the top bunk and fall over the edge?  So, as excited I am to meet my new son I pray that these next three months slow down for her sake!

 

Riley's First Day Of 4 Year Old Preschool

Riley started 4 year old preschool today at Westminster Preschool.  This is her second year attending Westminster and all but two of her classmates from last year are in her class this year. She has been very excited ever since we went to the open house last week.  Just in the past couple days she asked if I could go with her and play with her there...nerves were setting in.  We set her clothes out last night, found her backpack, and talked about all of the friends she would see.  She did great getting ready this morning.  As we walked through the church she hid behind me and kept saying "I'm  so nervous."  We went into her classroom and she went straight into shy-mode - hiding her face and not saying hi to anyone.  She found her cubbie and hung up her backpack and jacket.  Washed her hands.  Colored her name tag.  Then we checked out the fish and hermit crab.  From there we had a few tears and a lot of hugging when it was time for me to leave.  She finally joined the class on the rug and listened to the good morning song and name game.  When I left there were no more tears, but a very quiet Riley.  Daddy reported that she talked the whole way back to Hedy's.  She had a great day and got a sticker for playing nicely on the playground.  Overall, success. Let's hope that Monday's drop off is a bit easier.