Announcing Harper

We are so in love with this beautiful baby! 

Harper is One Month old

Harper is one month old. I finally feel that we are getting into a good routine and its hard to believe what life was like without her. In one moment its hard to believe its only been a month and then the next it feels like she's been here forever! Here is a little about life with Harper right now:

Sleep: We definitely have been blessed with two very easy going and sleepy newborns. Harper is very chill and pretty much only cries when she is hungry. I've been starting bedtime at 9:00 or 9:30. She gets a fresh diaper, is swaddled and eats and then will usually sleep until 1:00 or 2:00. This feeding takes a while and she does take about an hour to get back into a good sleep and will want to wake up around 6:00 to eat. (The last few nights she hasn't been sleeping good from the 1:00 feeding until about 5:00- I think she is going through a growth spurt and hope this ends soon!! We are exhausted!!) We both go back to sleep until Hadley wakes up but Harper will stay in bed until about 8:30 or so. She has been sleeping in the Fisher Price Rock and Play and will probably stay in our room for the next few months.  During the day she naps in the MamaRoo and in my arms. No matter what time of day it is, I can put her in my sling and she will fall asleep instantly! She is just like her big sister!

Eat: We've had some difficulties with eating since she was born and our pediatrician has diagnosed her with a short tongue. She has difficulty sucking and is thrusting her tongue instead of curling her tongue.  Because of this eating takes a looooong time and she isn't super efficient. She is gaining weight at a great rate so we know she is getting food. The sucking is getting better and hopefully this problem will correct itself without any intervention! She eats about 3 oz every 3 hours and she has to be hungry to eat. She definitely isn't a baby that will just eat for fun- it takes her way too much work!!

Play: Right now she loves sitting in her MamaRoo swing and laying under her play mat. Her favorite thing to do is lay on our chest and look up at us. Her neck is getting so strong!

We are really trying to enjoy every second with our baby. Its much different the second time around- easier in so many ways. Instead of dreading her getting older, we are excited for what is to come. It only gets better! It feels like a dream come true to call these girls our own!

I don't think Hadley and Harper look very much alike, but a lot of people say they do. Here is a picture of both girls at one month old:

To celebrate Harper's one month birthday, we went on a walk to the park. This summer they completely re-did our neighborhood park (Coyote Creek Park) and it is amazing! We stayed for over an hour! 

                          

Beautiful big sister!

Girl's Day

Today we had a fun girl's day! My mom was watching Emily (Mark and Caroline are on a weekend get-away!) and our "cousin" Kelly was in town, so we went to Sweet and Sassy for haircuts and manicures for the girls. 

We started our morning by going back to the hospital for Harper's newborn screen. She did great and Hadley was a great big sister, comforting her when she had her heel pricked. I loved showing Hadley the nursery and we got to watch a new baby get a bath. Can't believe its been over three weeks since I was there. Harper already looked so big compared to the day old babies. Slow down!!

Sweet baby slept through the whole thing! 

Then, we drove to the mall and met Nanny, Emily and Kelly there. Sweet and Sassy is a store in the mall that does hair cuts, nails, fashion shows, and all things pink, sparkly and girly. Hadley was a little slow to warm up to the haircut, but Emily showed her exactly how to do it! Both girls wanted princess braids!

After their hair was done, the girls picked out nail polish and they got mini-manicures. 

Harper was perfect while the big girls were being pampered. Can't wait for her to join in on the fun!

Walking with Nanny. Emily and Hads looked like twins!

We ate lunch in the food court and played at the played at the play area. It was a great girl's day!!

It was a long, fun morning and now everyone is taking a nap!!

Perspective

Last week, I had a very special moment that I will remember for the rest of my life. Maybe its the hormones, but I can't tell this story out loud without bursting into tears!  I want to remember this story and I thought you might want to hear it too.

Last Wednesday Hadley was with Jessica for the day and Harper and I ran a few quick errands. One of our stops was Trader Joes. Harper was in her carrier and I had a thin blanket covering the car seat to keep prying hands off of my two week old baby!

I was wandering through the aisles and I had a very tiny, very old Asian woman stop me and quietly asked if she could see the baby. I pulled the blanket back and the woman gasped and held her hand to her chest. "How old?" she asked and I proudly answered 2 weeks. She began tearing up and said "Bless you all, Bless you all."

I said, "You must love little babies like I do" and she said, "Everyone I know is so old, and all the babies are grown. I may not ever see such a new life again. It makes me so happy and so sad. Thank you for sharing your beautiful baby with me." 

She squeezed my arm and patted my back and started to walk away.

I have been replaying this moment in my head for the last week especially in those middle of the night moments when she will not go to sleep and I think "Someday I will be old and my babies will be grown and I will yearn for this moment." I hope I remember this lady's words for forever!

**These pictures are from Harper's newborn shoot that I took when she was 4 days old**

Sisters

The first night at the Hospital is a sleepless night. Between nurses coming in to check on me and Harper's nurses bringing her to me to eat, I didn't get much sleep. We woke up for good around 7:00 when they brought us breakfast (I could get used to hot breakfast in bed every morning!!), and we watched some TV until Jessica brought Hadley to see us. Derek went down to the lobby to meet them and he walked Hadley up to our room. 

I put Harper in her bassinet so that I could snuggle with Hadley for a bit first. We didn't want to scare her and we both wanted this to be a fun experience for Hads!! 

She wanted to go straight up to see her sister and give her a "baby kitty" as her gift. She didn't want to get too close or hold her but was very interested in seeing her. She kept saying "she's so cute"! 

We got Hadley some big sister presents and she was so excited to open them. 

Then she just wanted to hang out and watch cartoons and tell me about her sleepover with Aunt Jess and the girls. I loved having her there!!

**Hadley did so great at the Hospital (and continues to do so at home!) She isn't jealous, doesn't whine when I have to feed her or hold her and she absolutely loves her sister so far. She tells everyone who comes over how cute her sister is and when Harper cries she tries her best to make her happy. 

Derek and our families have been so helpful with Hadley and I think that is why this transition is going so smoothly. She has loved the special time with Jess and our moms. 

I'm so excited for Harper to get older so that Hadley can play with her. I'm so excited to see these sisters grow up together!**

After a few minutes Jessica and the girls came up to our room so the could meet Harper!

Hadley spent the whole week at Jessica's and I can not thank her enough. It was the last week of summer for the kids and I'm so appreciative that they sacrificed that last week to have Hadley over. Going over to the Euting house is one of Hadley's favorite things in the world. THANK YOU! 

When it was time to leave Hadley waved goodbye and just marched right out of the room. We were all shocked and were expecting a huge tantrum when it was time to leave! She was just excited to be going with Abbey and Zoey!

Abbey sent me these two pictures from their week- can you tell how much fun she's having?!

Hadley, we are so proud of you and you are a great big sister! I hope you always love your baby sister as much as you do right now. Having a sister is so special and I pray for your relationship every day.

Hadley's 1st Day of School

Today was Hadley's first day of school. This year she is going two days a week and is in the older 2's room. She did so well in school last year and we can't wait to see how much she learns this year!

She was a little nervous at drop off, but walked into her room like big girl. There are several friends from last year in her class, so I know that helped!

When I picked her up she was very happy to see me and Harper and asked if we could go on a lunch date. (The first day is a half day) So, to celebrate my big girl's first day I took both girls out to lunch by myself!

Its going to be a great year!

*Blog post about the girls meeting and our first days at home coming soon!*

Harper's Birthday

August 20th is tied for my favorite day ever! Both of my girls' birthdays have been wonderful days that I am already nostalgic for. I am so happy to have Harper in my arms, but miss having her all to myself. I want to remember every detail of my baby girl's birthday.

We really wanted Hadley to spend the night at home the night before and it was such an emotional night for me. Rocking her to sleep for the last time as my only baby is something I'll never forget. We talked about where mommy was going the next day and she kept saying "I love you so much, and I'm happy"! I couldn't comprehend loving another baby as much as her and I had such guilt for that and for rocking my big girl's world! (Its true what ever parent says...as soon as you lay eyes on your baby you fall in love. Praise God that he makes rooms in our heart to love all of our babies.)

I took one last belly picture before it was time to head to the hospital.

Driving to the Hospital

We checked into the Hospital at 7:30 and Dr. Michelsen came to check on me at 8:00 and got things started. Our families came to the Hospital to hang out with me and I loved having them all there- it makes the day go by so much faster! I had planned on getting my epidural around lunchtime (like I did with Hadley) but at around 10 my nurse checked me and I was already close to 5 cm. I went from 1-5 very fast! She recommended I get my epidural then.

The rest of the morning was about the same. My epidural was "working" but I was still very uncomfortable, especially in the afternoon. Harper was facing to the side and that was causing me to have back labor- which I could still very much feel! Again, I progressed very quickly and was fully dilated shortly after. The anesthesiologist was able to get my pain under control right as Dr. Michelsen was called at about 2:30. I was so shocked that it was happening so fast- I thought I'd have the whole day to prepare myself! But Harper had other plans!! 

After about 30 minutes of pushing, Harper was born at 3:53 pm. She was placed right onto my chest and I couldn't wait to see what she looked like. She was perfect and Derek made sure she had 10 fingers and 10 toes (and was still a girl!!)

We had my sister stay in the room while I was pushing to take pictures and to be a support person for me (and Derek!) I'm so glad she was in the room and I know its an experience the both of us will never forget! Thanks for the great pictures Aunt Caroline! 

They let me hold her for a while and I could not stop staring at her. The nurses took her to get cleaned up and weighed and I was shocked to hear that she weighed 8 pounds 2 ounces!!

As soon as we could, I wanted Derek to go get our parents! I couldn't wait for them to come back to the room and meet their new granddaughter! This moment is one of my favorite parts of the day. 

After about an hour I was transferred to my post-partum room and I was ready for a change of scenery! Harper's bassinet and door were all decked out for our new room!

Our families left for a bit and Derek and I settled into our new room and had a few quiet hours with our new daughter. She ate and had her first bath.

Everyone came back and my parents, Mark, Caroline and Emily brought us Palio's pizza- best meal ever! I was SO hungry!

Emily really made herself at home!

We had a toast for Harper Christine!

Then everyone left and Derek, Harper and I settled in for our first night together. I was exhausted! Hadley was with Aunt Jess and the Euting kids all day and was having a blast- Jessica was going to be bringing her up the next morning and we were so excited to see her! (And Jess and the girls!)

We are so glad you are here Harper! We love you so much. Our family feels complete and our hearts are full! Praise God for you!