A Day in the Life -- Updated

Harper is almost 8 months old and SO MUCH has changed. Our day looks completely different now. That being said, I am still completely exhausted at the end of the day and and just thrilled to hear the garage doors open. Not because I want to get away from Harper -- I just need a minute.

Morning:
Harper wakes up between 6 and 7. If she wakes up earlier, I nurse her and she goes back to sleep until maybe 8...if we are lucky. John will usually get her in the morning and change her. She goes in the swing in our bathroom while he gets ready for work. This gives me a little more time to rest. Once that bathroom door opens I know that I am on the clock. I take Harper downstairs, she nurses and then plays on the floor or in her bouncer. I use this time to pump. Without going into too much detail, I am a producer and must pump ASAP in the morning. I have been told that this is a good problem to have. (I have also been told that this is why not all of the baby weight has come off...that and chocolate.)

About an hour after Harper nurses, I give her oatmeal mixed with some veggies. She does quite well eating. She really loves the cereal puffs that she can feed herself. I still have to be careful that she doesn't a) choke on them, and b) feed them all to the dogs.

Two (or so) hours after she wakes up, Harper goes down for her morning nap. This is at least 1 hour, but no more than 2 hours. I would like to say that this is when I go on the treadmill or clean the house...and sometimes I do. Sometimes I like to nap. [side note: the dogs know when I put Harper down for her morning nap. they are usually waiting for me in my bed. honest. they need cuddle time, too. i don't want to neglect my dogs. i am just resting for their sake, not mine.]

Afternoon:
Harper is usually awake between 10:30 and 11:30. We like to go to story time at the library. We have three different ones we go to...on Mondays we go to the Central Library, Tuesdays are at Kemp Memorial Library on Due West Road and Wednesdays are in downtown Kennesaw. Wednesday is the best day. There are a many more kids Harper's age at Wednesday story time. Now -- here is the problem. The end of story time sometimes marks the beginning of her nap time -- meaning that I have to keep her awake all the way back home. Sometimes I win this battle, but more often that not, Harper is victorious. If I can keep her awake, she eats when we get home (mixed fruits and veggies) and then goes down for a nap. This nap can last anywhere from 1-2 hours.

Harper will usually be awake around 3. We will go get the mail, play with the dogs, visit Nana and Popi....find things to keep us busy. She is a happy baby as long as she is doing something. Lately, we have been making many trips to craft stores.

John gets home around 5:30. Sometimes I will start dinner as soon as he gets home or we might cook it together. SOMETIMES dinner was cooking all day in the crockpot. Those are glorious days.

Evening:
Harper will start to get sleepy/fussy around 6. We usually let her nap for 30-45 minutes. We don't want to her to sleep too long and mess up bedtime, but if she doesn't take a little cat nap, she will be a nightmare until bedtime. Once she wakes up, we prepare her dinner. This consists of banana oatmeal and either a fruit or veggie (depending on what I gave her for breakfast.)

7:00 means it is time to start our bedtime routine. We give her a bath every other day, although sometimes we do it everyday. She loves bath time. We play music for her (the Raffi station on Pandora is the best. hands down. If you don't know Raffi, get to know Raffi.) She loves to splash and play with the 6 ducks, 1 squirrel, 1 whale, 1 octopus and fish that she has in the tub. (I know there are more but I can't think of them.)

Once Harper starts getting visibly tired, we take her out of the bath. It is lotion and pajama time. We will let her play for a little bit before we give her a bottle. Now -- since I pump in the morning I have a whole bottle for her. She will not nurse very long at night...giving her a bottle lets me know exactly how much she is taking. Some people says that it doesn't matter, but I want to know. (This also means that I have to pump before bed -- but I just use that milk to make her oatmeal the next day.)

Since I also pump at night, it gives me the chance to go on the treadmill. Like I said before, I am a producer, so jogging is not fun for too long. Jogging at night is also tough because I am so exhausted. I try to jog every couple of days. I try.  I also try to straighten up the kitchen at night before bed -- a messy kitchen messes with my head.

If Harper wakes up at all, it is just because her pacifier came out. If we pop it back in her mouth, she goes back to sleep. She may wake up at 3:00 or 5:00 to nurse, but that doesn't happen everyday. She is a wonderful baby. A sweet baby. We adore her.

Thanksgiving Day

This year marked the 10th anniversary of Marietta's Gobble Jog. John and I decided to sign up...no, not for the 5k (which would have been more appropriate), but for the 10k. I have been running 2-3 miles every few days as I begin training for my half marathon. I have yet to get to 6 miles. John said we should just go for it. Well...we did.

Ricky's fiancee, Keri, and her brother, David, joined us Thanksgiving morning and we drove to the Marietta Square. I was so nervous. I hadn't run this far since before I got pregnant. Yikes! My goal was to finish. 

Before the race. So excited for Keri to officially join the family in October 2013!

Just...so....cute!

Just finished the race. David and Keri were patiently waiting for us. My parents were volunteers at the event, so they were waiting for us with bottled water and bananas.

Keri and her brother, David

The Clark Family

As we were approaching the finish line, the kids participating in the Tot Trot turned the corner. I started laughing because I knew this meant that we will be finishing in a sea of children. Watching these kids run was precious. I just know my finish photo looks like I ran the kids race. :)


After our 10k, we raced home to shower and pack up the car to head to Macon. We timed it perfectly so that Harper would nap on the way down. Hooray! We were looking forward to spending time with the Millers and the Conklins, and Grandmama and Grandaddy Clark. 6 kids in one house was crazy, but fun.

I had seen this turkey dress online and I felt like I could make it. With John's mom's help (and lots of it!) we made the turkey dress for Harper. Donna then made dresses/jumpers/shirts for the rest of the cousins. 

all the cousins

Hunter, Mason and Caroline

Baylee and Madison

Harper

Harper and Madison

After a delicious meal, there was lots of shopping, lots of napping, lots of crying and laughter. The next day there was a family portrait session, shopping, playing, napping, crying, a bonfire -- a fiery blaze that made the Clark men proud, smores and bedtime.

[Perry] Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. We had a great time. The Perry Family celebrated the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. My Mewmaw and Uncle Doug were unable to attend because Memaw had shoulder replacement surgery a few days earlier.

It is always nice when we can all get together. We all live close to each other (the furthest away being in Atlanta), but that doesn't mean we always spend quality time together. I feel very blessed that I have such great relationships with my brothers and their spouses (or soon-to-be-spouse!) My parents have always told us that it comforts them to know that when they are no longer here, we will have each other. 

Philip, Harper and Kelly

Ricky and Keri

Happy Jason and Happy Harper

Fussy Jason and Fussy Harper

Betsy and Harper

John, Harper and Alyson

Unfortunately, the nap schedules of Hadley, Hayden and Harper did not coincide, so we didn't get any pictures with them before we had to take Harper home. All in all -- the day was a success. It was my first time making the dressing and pecan pies with my mom. I am very excited to carry on that family tradition.

Nashville

Friends of ours were getting married in Nashville. We decided that it would be nice to attend this wedding and spend a night away from Harper. John's parents were so kind to drive up from Macon to take such wonderful care of Harper. I cried...a river...when we left Harper. Eventually I get into finding music on XM and shopping at the outlet and was able to get past leaving her.

Arv and Jess' wedding was on Sunday, but we left Saturday morning. We met up with some friends at our lovely hotel bar, then we went to dinner.

After a great dinner (one to which John and I are not accustomed) we met the wedding crew at a bar. At this point I realized that I am a) not as young as I used to be, and b) stubborn as always.

This was the first Hindu wedding that John and I have ever attended, and it was great. I remember going to my first Bar Mitzvah and wanting to be Jewish. This wedding made me want to be Hindu. I love my religion -- I just really like how other religions celebrate various occasions.

I would also like to add that I am so thankful for GE. John met Kevin through GE. Kevin is married to Cindy. I love them both. They are great people. Kevin introduced us to Allan and Leah Sicat. The Sicats are also wonderful people. I feel very blessed to know such great people and to call them our friends.

John, Me, Al, Leah, Kevin and Cindy.

At the wedding

John, Jess, Arv, Me

7 months!

Again, I am a little late in writing this, BUT HARPER IS 7 MONTHS OLD! It is hard to believe that much time has passed. So...updates on our little lady:

-she now eats apples, pears, prunes, peaches, bananas, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
-she sits up on her own
-she rolls and rolls around the floor and her crib
-she is excellent at taking her pacifier out of her mouth and she is getting MUCH better at putting it back in her mouth
-she babbles "ba ba ba ba" and "da da da da" are common
-she loves making sounds with her lips and her tongue
-she is in love with Molly and Jackson. 

Halloween

A baby's first Halloween is all about the parents. I mean, the baby isn't aware of what is going on, can't eat candy and probably hates being put in costumes. That being said -- I was very excited about Halloween. Unfortunately, GE had other plans for John. He was in Greenville, South Carolina the whole week of Halloween. It was the first time he was away for so long.

We went to a church Halloween get-together the Sunday before Halloween. Then, on October 31, Jason and Betsy invited me and Harper to come to their house for dinner and trick-or-treating.

It has turned into an unplanned tradition -- carving pumpkins with Keri and Ricky. Next year at this time THEY WILL BE MARRIED!

We let Harper play with the pumpkin innards -- and she loved it.

Eating her nom-noms.

At the church Halloween get together.

With her cousin, Hadley on Halloween.

Hayden, Hadley and Harper.

Harper loved playing with her cousins -- Hadley and Hayden will tell you that Harper is very loud AND that she accidentally poked Hayden in the eye. After dinner, we took pictures and then Harper and I went home. I was worried about no one being home for trick-or-treaters. My mom was sweet to come stay the night with us and help with all 12 of our trick-or-treaters. We missed John, but we were able to Facetime with him.

Beach trip!

We wanted to take Harper to the beach this summer, but we were worried that she might be too young and it might be too warm. So, we decided to take her to the beach in October. Now, where to go? We decided to take her to Panama City Beach because that is where I used to go when I was a child. My parents owned a condo at Edgewater Beach Resort....that is where I learned to dive. I remember a college student asking my Big Mama to dance at the Palapa. We used to buy the big, chewy Sweetarts at the giftshop, and spend lots of money at the arcade. We always ate at Sweet Basil's, and got salt water taffy from The Candy Basket. It just felt right to take Harper (and John).

My parents came along with us. It was such a special trip. Panama City has changed so much from when I was 14. That's when my parents sold our condo and bought a place in Destin.

The weather was gorgeous and Harper, as usual, was an angel. She slept a lot and my parents looked after her, so John and I were given a good bit of beach time. Harper loved the sand. She enjoyed the ocean water -- not the pool water. 

Did I mention that John and I got sick at the beach?! Who does that? I haven't had a cold in over a year. It was a bit disappointing -- but if you have to be sick, be sick at the beach. Luckily, Harper didn't catch it -- maybe just a  slight runny nose.

We ate lunch at what used to be the Palapa, but is now called Ocean's.

  I think that my parents are hysterical...and OH SO cute! I was taking pictures with the condo in the background and I said I wanted one from the other side....haha.

After dinner at Captain Andrew's, we walked around the dock and looked at boats.

Harper had a great time with Nana and Popi.

On our last morning there, John took Harper up to the 12th floor and took a picture.

In case you were wondering, yes, Harper had a different swimsuit for each day. Actually, she had more that she didn't get to wear and some that we didn't capture with the camera. I certainly over packed for her, but I had several months to get precious outfits for the beach. She has so many outfits that she never got to wear. Solution? We will just have to have another girl. Clearly we want a boy, too....but another girl is a must.