Harper, Three Months

Sweet Harper, you’re three months already! This has been such a fun month for us because we’ve been able to witness your first adorable giggles. There’s nothing in this world cuter than your little baby laughs and you make my day whenever you explode into a fit of laughter. You are always still so happy and good-natured that I’ve started calling you Happy Harper, and the name couldn’t be any more fitting. Sometimes you get so excited and smile so big that your whole face becomes one big smile. Sorry to tell you this, but I don’t think you can smile any bigger no matter how hard you try.

You cry very rarely, only really to let me know that you’re ready to settle down for for a nap, and though of course I don’t like to see you get upset, MAN are you cute. You do the best cry-baby face ever, complete with the most picture perfect, adorably pathetic boo-boo lip I have ever seen.

Avalon has finally started to pay you more attention lately since you’re more interactive these days. She loves to lay on your play mat with you and sing songs; and when you’re sad she will always lend you her most prized possession, Miss Bunny, to make you feel better.

Apparently this is the month of threes – you’re finally starting to wear three month clothing, you eat every three hours, and you take three naps a day. At night, though, you sleep a big fat twelve hours straight, which is major awesometown. You still love your swaddle at night, but during the day you prefer to nap on your tummy with your feet crossed and your cute little butt stickin’ up in the air.

You’re a joy and a true gift, Harper; I remind myself that every day. I’m so blessed to be your mommy.

Harper, Two Months

Harper, happy two-month birthday! I didn’t know that it would be possible, but somehow this month you have gotten even cuter and sweeter than you already were. You started to smile this month, and I can’t even begin to tell you how much joy it brings to me, Daddy, your sister, or really anyone to see your sweet, lopsided, gummy grin. It’s so fun being able to play with you now, with me looking like a goofy idiot, making funny noises and doing whatever it takes to see your face light up with a smile. Avalon loves laying next to you, saying, “Smile, Harper! Smile for me!” And of course there’s almost nothing better than watching my two girls interact with one another. I know that down the road that will change for a couple of years, and that you’ll want nothing to do with each other, except to maybe sneak in each other’s closets to steal that killer pair of jeans, so for now I will soak up the sisterly sweetness while I can.

I hope that as you get older you will stay as sweet and lovable as you are now. You melt my heart on a minute-by-minute basis and are still so mellow and easy going and also MY GOSH at your cuteness. On the occasions that you’re not very happy, the easiest fix to calm you down is to simply snuggle you up close to my face and just cuddle. You’re going to need a very large garage, because whenever you do this with your daddy he promises to buy you a new car. Wrapped around his finger? I think so.

You’re a superstar at your job; eating and sleeping like a professional baby. I am following the Moms On Call  method this time around, and with you on their suggested schedule you are sleeping from 8pm-5 or even 6am, then you eat and go back to sleep until 8am when I wake you up to start our day. You nap beautifully during the day as well, which is a huge blessing so that I can still spend time with Avalon while you are getting your beauty rest. So thanks for that, and keep it up, would ya?

And one last thing…did you know that I think you’re really cute?

Harper, One Month

Harper, it’s only the first month, the first time I’m writing a monthly letter to you, and I’m already a day late. Second kid syndrome, much? I’m sorry, I promised myself I wouldn’t do that; that I’d take just as many photos of you as I did of Avalon, that I’d blog about you with the same consistency as I did with her. I also promised myself I wouldn’t eat that delicious cupcake today either, and well, ask my love handles how that went.

The truth is, my negligence is absolutely no reflection on you or how much I love you, it’s just that life with two little girls keeps Mommy extremely busy. But Harper, you are the sweetest baby. I’m amazed that, at only a month old, your personality is already shining through. You’re very laid back and easy going. There’s not a lot that ruffles your feathers, aside from sitting in poop or wanting to eat, and I can’t say I blame you on either of those fronts.

You’re very portable and are a social butterfly, having already accompanied me to book club, birthday parties, Target, picnics, the grocery store, and the mall. Frankly you don’t really have much of a choice but to go with the flow, as we’re always pretty busy running errands and taking your big sister to school.

I’m eternally grateful that you’re such an easy baby. I think that God wanted to give me a break this time around, knowing that I might spontaneously combust with a fussy baby and a two year old on my hands.

You’re sleeping in your own room now, and have been for the past couple of weeks. I didn’t plan on moving you out of our room this early, but you sleep so well  - usually sleeping from 9pm-9am and only waking up once, maybe twice – that I figured you were ready to be in your crib. The video monitor we watch you on helps me cope with you being in your own room, too. Did you know we keep an eye on you all night long? And we probably plan to have your room on surveillance until the day you move out and get married.

As far as the eating goes, we make a good team. You are exclusively breastfed at this point, and I’m really enjoying being able to do that with you. The whole thing is going a lot better than it ever did with Avalon, and I’m hopeful that we’ll make it several months with great success. It’s somewhat of a full time job, of course, and can be challenging at times (like in the middle of your lunch when Avalon informs me that she NEEDS TO POOP!) but I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide for you in this way.

Ever since the day your were born, I have been anxiously waiting to see a smile spread upon your face. Not one of those feel-good-farts type of smiles, but an actual happy smile. And it happened! Just a few days ago. You’ve only smiled a handful of times since then, but when you do it absolutely warms my heart to see your little gummy grin and I can’t wait for all the smiles I have yet to witness.

I’m certainly no expert, but I do feel that as a second-time mom I have a little bit more of a handle on things than I did two years ago as a newbie. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is how quickly the time is going to move forward and how fast you are going to grow up. And it’s such a double-edged sword; on one hand, before I know it you’re going to be a fun, giggling, interactive Gerber baby. On the other hand, you’re not going to be such an itty bitty, adorable newborn for much longer, either. So I know how important it is to soak up each day with you and to enjoy each and every stage of your life and I’m going to do my best to do just that.

I love you, little peanut.

Teacher’s Pet

Only a couple of weeks ago – very much on a whim – Rob and I decided to send Avalon to preschool this fall. The thought of school hadn’t occurred to us prior to that point, and instead I was planning on signing her up for a Mom’s Day Out program at a local church, just like she had done last spring.

I don’t know what it was that really lit my fire the day I decided to find out more information about preschool, but the same day that I called the school and then talked it over with Rob, we were 100% on board with starting preschool this year.

As expected, even though we were certain this was the right choice, I went through the entire spectrum of Motherly Emotions: from guilt (am I pushing her out of the nest too early?) to sadness (MY BABY! GROWING UP AND STUFF!) to anxiety (ZOMG, I have to get both girls up and out the door by 8:00 in the am?) to excitement (she’s going to be a genius!). And as I was riding this emotional roller coaster, I came to the conclusion that she is ready. She will love it. We would actually be doing her a disservice by not sending her to preschool and allowing her to meet and interact with new friends, learn new skills, and just generally broaden her little horizons.

Also, let’s face it: what do we do at home between the hours of 8:30-11:30 am? Um, drink coffee? Watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in our jammies?

So she has been going to school twice a week for the past two weeks now, and wouldn’t you know, she already has nailed down her multiplication tables.

Not really. I don’t even know if she has nailed down her teacher’s name yet.

But I do know that she enjoys herself, and whether or not it is evident to me yet, she is learning and growing by leaps and bounds every single day.

In addition to going to school, Avalon and I have been having a lot of educational interaction here at home too. (And, wow, doesn’t that just sound like  A BLAST? Totally just made our house sounds like Boringtown.) We’ve been playing a lot of Memory and putting together her new ABC puzzle, and just generally trying to put more effort into our time at home together.

I was discussing this with my mom yesterday, and she commented on how, when we were younger, she tried to make an effort each and every day to teach us just one thing. Only one thing! And my response?

“Wow. That’s a lot of work.”

Sounds lame, but it really means making every minute with my kids intentional. And it’s not easy; it’s a heck of a lot easier to just slap ‘em down in front of Sesame Street and let them do all the work. But I’m really taking this idea to heart, and trying to teach Avalon just one new thing every day.

It’s a major challenge (Moms, am I right?) but is also extremely fulfilling to hear her say “you’re welcome” for the first time after I thank her for putting her shoes on or hearing her say “U. Uhh.” while putting the U piece into the puzzle.

Little kids are total sponges, soaking up every little thing that they hear.

Including four letter words that we’re not going to mention.

Too smart for their own good.

Two!

She’s been acting two (as in, “two,” as in, “I CAN DO IT!” as in, “NO!” as in, “ZOMG, MOMMY NEEDS A DRINK”) for the past few months.

But today, she is official.

Two years old.

And I swear on a stack of Bibles, this has been the fastest two years of my life. I remember back when Avalon was only maybe a month old, during the very difficult stage when I was positive she was going to cry for not only the next hour but for the rest of her life, a friend of my mom’s was comforting me and offered up some solid gold wisdom. She said that as a mother the days are long, but the years fly by. Isn’t that the truth?

I’m so grateful for these past two years, and am so blessed to be Avalon’s mommy. Seeing her grow, change, and evolve into her own little person is nothing short of amazing.

She is my little Punkin, and no matter how old she gets that will never change.

Happy birthday, sweetie.

1 week, 2 kids, 3 pounds

It’s already been a week since Harper made her way into the world. On one hand it seems like just yesterday I was still pregnant; but then again, she fits in so well to our family that I can’t remember not having her here with us.

Easing into life with two kids has been amazingly easy. I mentioned to my mom that when we brought Avalon home from the hospital, I remember sitting on the couch while Rob held her in his arms and thinking soooo…now what? My life had changed so radically from Before Avalon to Now and I didn’t know how to deal or what to really do with myself. It was as if the pause button on my life had just been pressed and I was frozen.

This time around though is much easier – we just keep going on with life. There’s no chance to wonder what we need to do. Rather, we move forward and keep keeping on, doing the laundry, making Avalon’s breakfast, and constantly asking both the dogs and Avalon if they need to go pee in the midst of also breastfeeding, cleaning up spit up, and writing one-handed emails while the other gets a six-pound workout.

Granted (and this is me whispering verrrrrry softly so that no one actually hears this and jinxes us), Harper has made life very easy on us. She’s the polar opposite from Newborn Avalon, meaning she is content! And doesn’t constantly cry! And is pleasant to be around! I honestly didn’t know they made babies this way, but I’m thrilled that I have one of my own who doesn’t make me question what in the world I did to to my life by having a baby.

Dude, I’m just being honest. And Avalon, I love you very, very much…now.

So what’s the three pounds about? That’s how much baby weight I have left to lose. I know, that was fast, and no, I don’t know how that happened. I only mention this because 1) posterity and record keeping and whatever and 2) seriously, Harper is awesome. I can really only attribute the weight loss to her awesome nursing skillz because other than that I clearly have not been running any marathons lately and don’t know how else to explain it. The third (and fourth?) baby is going to have a lot of competition with Harper when it comes to this area because Mama really likey. However, I gotta admit that my hips have expanded to such extremes that they can reach from coast to coast while the rest of my body is in Indiana. Eh, you win some, you lose some.

All in all, life is great and we really couldn’t be more blessed.

Welcome, Harper!

As Courtney said, she is here!

Harper Brielle, our beautiful new baby girl, was born on Wednesday at 11:14am.

She is just a little peanut, and weighed in at a fun-sized 6 lb 2 oz. I’ll get into all the details later, but whoo boy, I am a FAN of six pounders; they make my job easy.

Thank you – all of you – for all of your sweet comments and support. We’ve been blessed beyond what we could have imagined and are excited to begin our life now as a family of four!

It’s a girl!

YIPPEEEEE! I know nothing other than she’s here

Go Time!

Update from Rob:  epidural was a little late.  It is kicking in, but the hospital staff has had a “very busy night” and they should have started the epidural significantly earlier. BUMMER! But at least she got it, thank goodness.

We were hoping to see her again before she delivered, but Rob said that this baby is ready to come, so they are going head first (no pun intended) into delivery. Next time I post there will hopefully be a baby!

Courtney here

Greetings, Cheap Therapists!!!  It’s Courtney here, blogging on behalf of the boss.  You know what that usually means.

If you guessed that Kaley is unable to tend to her blog because she is birthing a child, you would be correct!!! Here’s the scoop so far:

Kaley’s water broke last night at about 11:15 while she and Rob were climbing into bed, so she called the doctor on call to get some next-steps, was advised to get showered and get things together and head into the hospital.  At that point, the “contractions” were nothing more than some mild abdominal cramps.

Fast forward to the 2 o’clock hour and she was still having very mild contractions, doing her best to bounce on the ball, walk around, loosen things up a bit, but not really to any avail.  The doctor checked in, and despite Kaley’s best efforts to expedite her own labor, the advice given was to try to get some shut eye (“it could be a long night”).

::::::shut eye in progress, la la la la la:::::::

WAKE UP (from not really sleeping anyway) and decide, yes, alas, it is time for Pitocin to speed this process up a bit.  The pitocin has been upped ever since about 7am, and Kaley is currently getting her epidural.  The most recent doctor checkup revealed that Kaley is 5-6 cm dilated, 100% effaced and baby is at zero station.  Meaning (and I quote) “If you want an epidural this is the time,” to which Kaley responded “YES , NOW, GIVE IT TO ME, DAMNIT!”

More updates to come – I’ll keep y’all posted with the up-to-the-minute stats.  Doc says we’ll have a baby around here in a few hours.  YEE-HAW!