Looking back

It struck me today -- I have had some wild summers over the past few years. Four summers ago, I went to China with three other ladies. Our school trip was cancelled due to the earthquake in Chengdu, but we decided to go anyways. 4 girls and one Lonely Planet travel book. We stayed in hostels and planned on the fly. It seems like a lifetime ago. I felt like, for lack of a better term, a total badass.

 The following summer, John proposed...well, it was actually May 16. We went on a cruise to Alaska shortly thereafter. He also surprised me with a trip to Turkey (as an engagement present.)

L: Mendenhall Glacier. TR: horseback riding in Alaska. BR: lounging on the beach in Turkey

We got married in January of 2010 in Marietta. Honeymooned in Playa del Carmen. That summer, we took it easy. We went to visit one of my best friends, Adam Schaefer, in Chicago.

We are the threesome in the middle.

Last summer, we traveled to St. Lucia. It was a wonderful trip. Our resort left a lot to be desired, but the island was gorgeous. John is the best travel buddy.

And this summer? Well, I think I am experiencing the greatest adventure of them all. I know, that sounds over-the-top cheesy. It is a little hard to write that knowing how many people will read it and sigh, thinking I am full of it. But in all honestly, having Harper around has opened my eyes to the things I overlook. Everything she sees and experiences -- it is for the first time. She is mesmerized by our dogs. I think about it -- these are animals who live in our house. The love us, chase tennis balls and bring them back to us, sleep in our bed and lick our face. That is pretty awesome. Every morning when she wakes up...she whimpers -- it borders on a cry. When I get to her crib, she lights up. And her smile...it is the biggest, sweetest smile I have ever seen. She shrieks. She is so excited. What if we all woke up like that? Recognizing that everyday is so special -- so excited to see our loved ones?

A few weeks ago, John joined some of my highschool guy friends in a weekend golf tournament. It was 72 holes of golf in three days. On the second day, Adam Schaefer's parents hosted a dinner at their house. I absolutely adore his parents and I really wanted them to meet Harper. So, I decided to join them. It was fun introducing Harper to my friends from highschool. One friend, Sam, kept commenting, "Alyson Perry...you have a baby!" It was an absolute delight. As usual, Adam and I delved into one of our deep conversations and this time Sam joined in. We were all talking about their plans for children, about children...just children in general. Sam said he was at a museum one day and saw parents with their children. They were at a dinosaur exhibit looking at the bones of a t-rex. The parents were busy on their phones, but proud of themselves because they took their kids to the museum. Meanwhile, their kids are bored out of their minds playing on their phones. Sam had a huge problem with this. How could the kids ever be excited if their parents weren't? He proceeded to tell me how he would handle the situation. "You see this -- this is a HUGE f-ing dinosaur. It lived millions of years ago. This actually lived on earth. Can you believe it?!?" He went on and on. Clearly, you would leave out the expletive, but hearing his passion motivated me to see all situations with Harper with the same enthusiasm.

So, the locations of my adventures have changed. I don't need a passport for my current one; but, I won't let the distance traveled gauge the magnitude of the adventure. Because this is one hell of an adventure.

Heading to Church

My precious family. Harper is so great at church. My mom just loves showing Harper off to her church friends. My dad is an usher at the church, so he always makes silly faces at us. Our hope is to have Harper baptized by Dr. Sam Matthews in October. He is the same preacher who married me and John. It will be so special!

A Day in the Life

Before having Harper, I really didn't know what people did when they stayed at home with their child(ren). Since I am one of the first of my friends to have a child, I thought I would share what our everday looks like.

morning: if Harper wakes up before 6:00am, I can usually nurse her and get her back to sleep for a bit. If she wakes up after 6:00am (even 6:05), then she is up for the day. We go downstairs and start our day.

She will usually nurse between 6 and 7. She will play in her swing or in her exersaucer while I eat breakfast, take vitamins and WAKE UP!

8:30ish -- we start to get ready for leave for our morning walk. We go to the Mud Creek Soccer Complex. Harper is usually asleep by the first mile -- so I have some time after that to walk and clear my head. The morning air helps me to wake up and start my day. 

After our walk, she will sleep a little in the car, so I drive around for about 10-15 minutes. Harper only naps for about 45 minutes. It is absolutely exhausting. She will sleep longer if I hold her, but she needs to sleep on her own.

10ish -- Harper is awake and it's time to nurse. She will eat some rice cereal about an hour after she nurses. She had been doing very well eating rice cereal, but that is not the case so much anymore. She is so distracted while she should be eating.

11ish -- it's play time. Harper loves our dogs -- I mean, she LOVES them. She squeals when she sees them. It is so fun for us to see. Lately, I have been taking her swing outside so that she can watch me throw the tennis ball for the dogs. She could stay out there forever.

12ish -- nap time. I change Harper and put her in our new Halo Sleep Sack (thanks for the tip, Evan!) After her typical chanting sounds, she falls asleep. I have to make sure the dogs are outside because they like to flap their ears and that wakes Harper. I turn on Harper's sleep sheep and she naps...for 30-45 minutes.


1ish -- it's playtime again! Harper will either go in her exersaucer or on her playmat. I have to stay close by when she is on the playmate because she likes to roll onto her stomach and SCREAM because she is stuck. Also, the dogs like to lick her -- a lot. I let them lick her feet/legs, not her face.

1:30-2:00 -- time to nurse Harper again. She will fall asleep while nursing. This is apparently a bad thing -- but this is the longest nap she takes all day. She will sleep for 1-2 hours if I hold her. So, I let her nap in my arms...for both my sake and hers. I need a little break and she needs to rest.

4:00 -- Harper will wake up and it's playtime/time to eat my first vegetable. I made a batch of sweet potato baby food. Yes, you read that correctly...I made it. OK -- all I did was steam the sweet potato and puree it. It just sounds like I did a lot. Harper is slowly getting the hang of this "solid food" thing. It's making it really hard for her to poop (TMI?), so she is very fussy.   (sorry for the poor quality of the picture -- it was on my phone.)

5:30 - DAD COMES HOME FROM WORK! Hearing the garage door open is a welcome relief to the dogs (who are waiting to be fed), Harper (who wants a break from her mom), and me...who just needs a moment. This is when I will start dinner. John and I enjoy cooking together, although I sometimes like the kitchen to myself. He might put Harper in the Baby Bjorn or in the Bumbo so that she can watch us.

6ish -- time to nurse Harper again. She will fall asleep shortly after we eat dinner. This gives John and I a moment to talk about our day.


9ish -- it's time for Harper's bath. We now give her a bath every night. She loves it. After her bath, we lotion her up, read a book (sometimes...if we aren't too exhausted), put her in the sleep sack and give her a bottle. I just like giving her a bottle at night so that I know exactly how much milk she is getting. If she nurses, she will fall asleep fairly quickly which means she will make me up around midnight because she is hungry. So, I have to pump every morning so that I have milk for her at night. John and I alternate nights -- one of us will give her a bath while the other gives her a bottle and puts her to bed.

10ish -- Harper is in bed. We bring her monitor downstairs so that we can hear her. I like to clean the kitchen and get everything ready for the next day. John will work on HOA stuff (ugh!), relax or find a project to work on. Sometimes we get a chance to watch a  movie or play with the dogs. Soon we are just too tired and must go to bed.

Harper has recently been waking up several times before midnight. We will alternate who goes in there to coax her back to sleep. After midnight, if she wakes up, I go in there and nurse her back to sleep. Sometimes she will wake up every two hours. Sometimes she will sleep through the night.

So -- you've read about our routine. Is it perfect? No. Am I doing everything that I should  be doing the way I should be doing it? Definitely not. I guess we all do what works for us. Maybe if/when we have another child, I will have a better idea of how to do things. As for now, my daughter is awesome and such a good sport. She never makes me feel bad about being clueless. Add to that, I have such an amazing support system. This is just a wonderful adventure.
       

A Visit to Charlotte

Hunter put a toy bug on Harper's head. I imagine (in this moment) she wants to be an only child.

 

 

John's sister, Erin, lives in Charlotte with her husband, Johnny, and three children: Hunter, Caroline and Mason. We went to visit them this past weekend. Harper woke up every two hours our first night there. After a day of playing with cousins, she slept through the next night. In Charlotte, I was able to hang out with my dear friend Meghannnnn (okay, it's just Meghann.) I have not had a girl's night out since Harper was born, so it was a much needed (and appreciated) night.

Hunter just loves wrestling with his Uncle John, and Caroline likes to participate by just jumping on them. It was absolutely heartwarming to see what an amazing uncle John is because I picture him playing with Harper. Seeing John interact with Erin is great because they are so similar. It's no wonder that we always have a great time in Charlotte. To top off the weekend, Harper slept the entire way back to Marietta. Molly was so excited to see Harper...and by "see," I mean lick.

4 months

I am a little late in posting this, but Harper is now (a little over) 4 months! She did a great job at her check-up, and here are her latest stats: she is 26 1/4 inches long (95 percentile) and 16.5 pounds (85 percentile.) We had fun taking her pictures -- I hope that you enjoy!

Does anyone think that she looks like me or that she looks like John? It is hard for us to see, but I would be interested to hear what people think. (Yes, she gets the ears from me. :)  )

Harper tried rice cereal for the first time tonight. The picture says it all.

priorities

as i type this, i have harper in my arms. i hope that explains the lack of capitalization. i have debated keeping a blog for a long time. i technically started one a little over 4 years ago when i went to china...but that only last for the duration of my trip. harper is now 4 months old and i can't believe how much she has changed. everytime she does something adorable (which is once every 7 minutes), i run to find my notepad or text john with the details. so much has happened in the last few months. i am not my priority any more. harper's clothes are washed more frequently than mine. she is bathed more frequently than i. i have been able to dry my hair with a blow dryer about 5 times since she has been born. makeup stays in the drawer. yoga pants and tank tops make up my wardrobe. sometimes even when i am so motivated to work out -- it just does not fit into our schedule. i am ok with that. i know that this will change as she gets older. i know that i will get my body back, but it is not my priority. john and harper are my priority. i am so blessed to be able to stay home with her so that i do not miss a moment. her first smile. her first giggle. rolling over. it's all worth having a dirty house and greasy hair.