i'm growing!

harper's 9 month (she is really almost 10 months) check up went well. she is 50th percentile in weight (18lb) and height (27 inches), 75th in head circumference. her head is the exact same shape as her dad. we are hoping she got his brains too. the doctor was pleased overall.

she moved into a new room this week. she went from being a lamb to a turtle. most of the kids in this room are able to crawl and move around. lots to see and do in that room. it is full with 2 teachers and 8 babies. she is exhausted when she gets home. they say she crawls around and stands up all day long.

i can't believe she is going to be one year old soon. so much is going to change. no more breastfeeding, she will be drinking milk, eating most of the foods we eat and maybe only taking one nap at day at that point. it's going to be strange and exciting all at the same time.

madison, georgia

in may we went to visit amy's mom (meme) and bill. we always enjoy visiting
the cute historical town of madison georgia. our visits remind us of
staying at a resort because we certainly get spoiled while we are there.
great food, wine on the porch, swimming in the pool, etc. oh the porch!
don't get me started on how wonderful the front porch is. sitting in the
comfy chairs while the fans are going with a glass of wine in your hand,
waving to the people as they pass by. i made my request for the best fried
chicken ever and couldn't wait to get there!
harper's first plane ride could not have been more perfect. or maybe i
should say we got really lucky? she didn't seem to get upset when i woke
her up at 4am to feed her. we headed to the airport and crossed our fingers
that everything would go smoothly. besides me getting pulled aside to be
checked both times, it went well. i nursed her during take off and landing in hopes that the pressure did not hurt her ears. we entertained her and gave her some snacks. fellow passengers even commented that she was an angel. but i am sure they would be saying otherwise if she was screaming the entire time.
they were having a house tour while we were there which was a wonderufl treat. the houses were walking distance so we strolled to a few houses a day. all houses were historical and beautiful! meme is usually very involved in this tour so she knew all about each house and introduced us to everybody in town!
the trip was wonderful and very relaxing. mom/jan made it super easy for us borrowing a high chair, toys, pack and play, bouncer and other things that made harper feel at home. i miss sitting on the front porch and hanging out on the back sun room. harper can't wait to go back. she misses her meme and bill.

yep, she is crawling!

mom/jan (aka meme) has stated that harper officially crawled at her house last weekend. this is true. we witnessed a few knee scoots, but she was limited that day due to wearing a dress that day.
on wed, harper's teachers told amy that she crawled across the room. when we got home, she wasn't interested in it all. but yesterday, we all played in the living room and she was moving around like she had been crawling for weeks! her new adventures have even made her more vocal too. it was exciting, cute and now it is scary! we need to baby proof the house!
she decided to practice her new tricks by waking up at 5:20am this morning. i looked in the monitor and could see that she was standing, holding on to the rail. she would stand up, sit down, look around, clap her hands and played quietly in the dark for about 1 hour. didn't talk, didn't cry.
and so begins an entirely different adventure for all of us.

in the evenings...

evenings can get kind of hectic for us at times. by the time we get home, it seems like we have such a small window to get in some quality harper time. it usually involves us making dinner, getting her dinner ready, feeding her, bath time then nursing her to sleep. last night was an exceptionally busy one.
we both got home around 5pm. i played with harper while amy started on making some apples and pears for her. she also made some brownies for her teachers at school. it is teacher appreciation week. 6pm, amy took H and i started on dinner. we had pork chops and mock mashed "cauliflower" potatoes. we all sat down to eat together, as we do every evening. H had some sweet potatoes w/ rosemary and blueberries. note to self...blueberries are messy! she liked them, but my oh my are they not fun to clean up. 6:45pm, i played with H a little longer while amy cleaned the kitchen. we also made a nice little care package for the teachers at school. then it was 7pm. bath time! after a nice bath in her new big girl tub i nursed her to sleep and then headed outside to mow the backyard around 7:45pm. amy was tending to the garden and the fallen jasmine while i mowed the high grass, trimmed and pulled weeds until i could not see a thing anymore. by that time, amy had finished washing both dogs! wow, i am tired just writing about what we got accomplished last night. 9:15pm and we were headed upstairs with H still fast asleep. i ironed my work clothes as i do every night and got ready for bed. 9:45pm my head hit the pillow and i don't think i moved until the alarm at 5:45am.
i think we will take it easy tonight.

reasons why i can't wait to stop pumping/breastfeeding

* i can get rid of my nursing bras

* i don't have to wear pads that go along w/ the bras

* we can get a babysitter and maybe have a date night once she can be put to bed by someone else

* i can have more than 1 drink at a time

* no more pumping at work

* harper will hopefully be eating what we are eating by then

* did i mention that i can have more than one drink?

* i can drink caffeine again


so it has been almost 9 months since i started breastfeeding. i have been pumping for about 4 months. overall, i have enjoyed breastfeeding because there is nothing like being able to be that close to your child and knowing you are providing her with all that she needs to become a healthy, happy baby. but man oh man, it is tough. i am blessed that she took to it on day one in the hospital. those are the toughest days, usually when most mothers give up. you are faced with trying to feed a newborn and process everything else at the same time. most babies lose weight, become jaundice and are expected to thrive on breastmilk alone. having the babies latch on is also an entirely different challenge you are faced with. talk about some painful moments in the beginning. i used to look at other mothers feeding their children formula in a bottle, jealous of how easy that must be. not having to worry about if you could find a place to breastfeed in public, the pain you experienced every time she latched on, the pain from being engorged and being able to share the duties of feeding. when we used to feed every 3 hours, i used to think that it would never end. every 3 hours, over and over and over again. and it was all you. as much as amy wanted to help in the middle of the night, she couldn't.
pumping became my enemy at one point. i was having trouble at first and mostly psyching myself out. i just couldn't comprehend tyring to pump in between feeding harper every 3 hours. mentally i was exhausted. having a personal lactation consultant was definitely helpful. thanks kriss! once i began to go back to work, the pumping turned out ok. i pump twice a day at work, but still needed to supplement her bottles with some formula. lately, i haven't been successful when i pump. it has been very frustrating. could it be from the stress of the upcoming trip? or am i mentally blocking myself again? or maybe i am not drinking enough water. it is 94 degrees outside today, after all. i'm hoping to stop pumping after all of our vacations, around july 1st. then we will be transitioning her to real milk at that point. i can see the light. i will continue to breastfeed her in the morning and evening. there is going to be one big celebration on the day i stop breastfeeding. it may involve me drinking the entire day so i think we may need a babysitter. : )
i do know one thing. i am doing this for harper and that is one big enough reason to power thru all of the challenges i am faced with.

lolo and lola

harper is enjoying the time with her lolo and lola. she is sad that it took them 8 months to meet them, but is enjoying her time with them. they love to sing and dance with her. mom is constantly loving on her...well, actually annoying her in a cute way. she likes to pinch harper's nose. sometimes she will laugh and other times she will grunt at her. it makes us laugh. i think they too are enjoying her time with little miss. come to think of it, i don't think i have ever seen my father hold a baby. in the mornings i usually hand harper off to amy after i feed her so i can finish getting ready for work. it is their fun time in bed before she gets ready for school. since lolo and lola have been here, they have been taking her and entertaining her in their room. i like hearing the laughter from my parents in the guest room when they are with her. it's nice. i hope she gets to see more of them.

harper's first easter!

harper had a wonderful easter. she was able to spend time with her grandfather and grammy (bob and rhoda), gran (merrily) and meet her wisconsin family (john's sister and family). she got showered with lots of lovely easter gifts, of course. grandma marie made a really cool giraffe for her that everyone tried to steal. she now has lots of cute outfits for the summer too.
we went to our annual easter celebration out at sibby's and shelley's. wonderful as ever. the weather was picture perfect, great food and surrounded by family and friends. it certainly was different this year with harper, making sure she ate, got her nap in, etc. luckily, the grandparents offered to stroll her around while she napped so amy and i could eat. she had a super cute dress and bonnet on. you couldn't resist wanting to take a picture of her. it was like the paparazzi was out in blanco snapping pictures of her.
overall it was a busy but fun weekend. i'm still tired but have to prepare for the upcoming visit from MY PARENTS!