Family Fun at the Farm!

Man, we've had such a fun weekend!

We celebrated Harper's One Month this weekend by getting her out to the Mall Friday night, putting her in a pumpkin Saturday, and taking her out to eat Saturday night! {which she did GREAT...so we see that in our future more!}  She celebrated by having 3 great nights in a row and 3 great days! Yay!!!

On Sunday, my family decided to go to our farm for a little bit while the weather was nice still.  The cabin was still pretty cold when we arrived so all the kids had to keep their hats on --- hello photo op! :)

It was a little too cold to get Harper outside, so we took shifts in holding her inside. Nobody seemed to mind. ;)

Wish every day was the weekend!!! But looking forward to seeing all the cute kids in their Halloween costumes Monday!

Happy Halloween!

{there goes our cute pumpkin photo shoot!}
HAHAHAHA
I know, I torture my child for a photo opp!

One Month!

Harper Alan is 1 Month Old today!! :)

We've had a very exciting few days around here.  On her 4 week birthday, we ventured out to eat with my friend Kathy for lunch! Harper did great but I was a bit nervous! Kathy even showed me how to use the restaurant bathroom changing table! haha  She did so good, we went shopping the next day and we even convinced Daddy to go to the mall on Friday night! :) It was so fun to get out with her {finally!}.

Play-Date Saturday! Saturday Harper slept in so we got to, too! Thanks girl! :) We did a little photo shoot with her which you can tell in the above pictures she did not love... We are also planning to take her out to eat tonight!

Harper's 1 Month Stats:

Weight: 8 lbs 6 oz (up a pound and 6 ounces from the hospital!)

Eating: Harper eats right on the dot every 3 hours. She's eating between 2 1/2 to 3 ounces every feeding! She's not the best burper...so we really have to push it out of her! :)  As far as her feeding schedule goes...I let her wake up through the night to feed. Sometimes she can go 4 hours instead of 3.  From whatever time she wakes up in the morning time, I begin her eat/wake/sleep schedule from there.  But I'm not trying to be as rigid as I started off.  If she falls asleep before the 45 minutes...oh well.  If she doesn't sleep, but she's just awake and hanging out...oh well. :)  I'm not the one who wakes her during the day either...she usually wakes up right at 3 hours and is ready to eat.  I'm sure we'll try the BabyWise thing again, but right now with a baby who is colic and has major gas issues, it's just silly to wake her when she's actually comfortable and sleeping!

Sleeping: Harper has continuously been getting better and better about sleeping.  She first started only sleeping about 12 hours in a 24 hour period...but since we started her on some hypo-allergenic formula (Sunday), her stomach and colic has settled down some for her to actually take more naps throughout the day.  We've also gone back to trying the Velcro swaddle which she's had a love/hate relationship with. Currently, she's in the love state and we are too!

Sizes: Harper is still able to wear her newborn clothes but has also been able to wear some 0-3 month clothes, too! She's still in newborn size diapers and we are buying a TON of those! Her little head has gotten so big it seems!! And...she's losing her gorgeous hair! It makes me so sad!! I love her long curls!

Social Butterfly: We like to call her this because since I've been taking her places (or just to my parent's house or sister's house) and when people come over, she instantly wakes up! She does not want to miss a beat! She loves looking around and is still just as alert or more than when she first came into the world! :)

Play: So, yea, a newborn doesn't really play...but she has been able to be fascinated by the Little Einstein play mat and of course loves to look around.  She loves kicking around her legs and arms!

Parents:  We are getting better and better at this every day! :) We are both learning how to handle her colic episodes and have gotten some great advice and encouragement from others.  We are able to usually get the spell under control much faster than we first were.  We've also started a new thing where my parents watch her for about 2 hours one night a week so Brian and I can go to dinner one on one.  I know that seems silly, but our schedules have been so off with one person being up with her while the other goes to bed/ vice versa that we felt we needed some time to re-connect.  We've only done this one time (and I had wine! YUMMO!) but we are hoping to make it a weekly or bi-weekly staple.

Party with the Cuzzies

*this may be a fluke...but my BABY is sleeping in her bassinet without me holding her?!?! What, what?! I don't know if this is a one time thing but I'm embracing it!!!!!!!!!!!

A few Saturdays ago, Aunt Kelli and Uncle Eric asked Harper over to have a play date! So, with all the cuzzies, our date lasted 5-7pm so everyone could get baths and feedings! haha But it was a fun time! Here's a few pictures from the night that we staged! :)

loves x10

Harper-2 weeks
Colby- 2 1/2 yrs
Cameron- 10 months

*ps- short lived bassinet, I'm holding H now! haha

Family Visitors!

Harper has had such wonderful family members come and love on her! Here's a few pictures of Harper's family...

Her Great-Granddaddy {meg}

Grandpa Burton {brian}

Aunt Heather {brian}

Great-Aunt Anabel and 2nd cousin Missy {meg}

Great-Granny {meg}

Great-Aunt Dorothy {meg}

Grammy {brian's Mom}

Cousin Hope {meg}

Great-Granny {brian}

Aunt Kelli, Uncle Eric, cousins Colby and Cameron {meg}

GG and G-Daddy {meg-my parents}

cousin Hayden {brian}

cousin Colby {meg} {PS-Colby LOVES his cousin Harper! It's the sweetest thing ever}

2nd cousin Kelley {brian}

bad blogger?

I do love my blog. :) But I just can't seem to find the time to give it lovin' right now!

Life with a sweet newborn has completely overwhelmed me in a way I never thought! With Harper's colic and tummy issues, I seem to spend my days {and nights} walking and rocking Harper.  It absolutely brings tears to my eyes to see her cry out and there be nothing I can do.  And while I realize there are much worse things than a baby with colic, this right now is just so hard on us.  I worry she's not happy; even though all the papers from the doctors say it's not the reason for colic.  I worry that there is something else, and I think I'm driving our pediatrician insane asking him to check for more things with her belly at our weekly appointments.

Anyways, here's just a few pictures to share, and once again, I hope to get back to blogging soon.  I feel like I'm missing out on writing important moments with our sweet baby that I don't want to forget {and yes, new Mommy brain is WORSE than preggo brain!}.

Harper Alan is such a kissable, sweet baby. We just love her so much!

2 Week Check-Up

Daddy's home! So I have a minute to blog! I'm thinking for a little while, my blog's purpose will be to document some specials and pictures of Harper right now until I can get a handle on a daily schedule for us! :)

On Wednesday, Harper had her 2 week check-up! I can't believe she's been here for 2 weeks! (well, Thursday was her official 2 week bday!)

Stats:

Weight: Harper left the hospital at 7 lbs.  She weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz!

Length: Harper was 20 inches long and now she's 20 in 3/4

Everything checked out great with Harper, but I wasn't exactly satisfied when we left.  Harper has been only sleeping about 12 hours in a 24 hour period.  She also doesn't have very many BM's and I just felt like there was something wrong with her belly.  I could hear it all the time grumbling, but not in a hungry way.  I also felt like she seemed to have a lot of gas! Well, when I mentioned it to the doctor his answer was that babies cry. Done.

So...move on to Thursday, when we had yet another sleepless night and day in about a row of 5-7 days of this and I just couldn't take it. I knew there was something more! So, I called the office and asked for another appointment.  Only, this time, Brian was at work and Mom was watching the nephews so I had to go on my own! UM, scary!!!!!!  Once we were there I expressed my concerns in a possibly crying hysteric mess because I was so tired and we got her blood drawn and an x-ray.  Let me tell you, that x-ray was kind of scary! However, it showed exactly what I thought it would....her tiny little belly is filled full with large gas bubbles, like the size of half-dollar pieces! It was so sad.  So, the doctor said she's in pain and that was causing her to have colic-like symptoms of not sleeping, being uncomfortable, etc.  So, he put us on a plan to help start reducing *hopefully* the gas in her belly and making her more comfortable.  And I can tell you that only after 2 days, I can definitely tell a difference already!  On the same note, we've decided to put down the BabyWise for now and just do what our pediatrician and what I feel comfortable with.  I'm a creature of schedule and routine, but my baby is not yet.  She's been in so much pain that the poor girl probably didn't know what I was trying to get her to do! So, yes, we let her wake up to eat {please, no emails about this if you don't agree} but we do follow the eat/wake/sleep schedule once the eating begins except for night.  Maybe we'll revisit in a month. :) For now, my sweet baby girl is already sleeping better and longer and now when she cries I know why and know it will be for a short bit while she gets her gas out.  The doctor said there could be a number of reasons to cause this, possibly her melaconin from birth, or, what I like to say, is that she inherited my dumb stomach issues!!

New things:
Harper likes her tummy time on her play-mat for a little bit at a time!
Harper loves to sleep on her side {thanks Mom for figuring that out!}
Harper will love a paci one day and hate it the next...we never know!
Harper is beginning to like her vibrating chair, but doesn't love it!

And of course, I had to share some new pics!

little prayer hands

first trip to GG and G-Daddy's!

sweet girl

reading our chapter out of the children's Bible

got my party dress on!