Learning to crawl

Sorry for the lack of blogs lately - not a lot going on. We've just been hanging out around the house playing peek-a-boo and patty cake, eating lots of yummy baby food (avocado and apples are new to the menu), spending time outside, and working on our crawling skills! We're not there yet, but getting closer!

Enjoy the videos!

Like Mother - Like Daughter

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is Wheel of Fortune! I would LOVE to be a contestant on the show! Harper loves 'the wheel' as well! She is mesmerized by all of the colors and sounds. She does not look away from the TV until commercial time! It is so cute! I think she recognizes Pat's voice from being inside my belly! It looks like I may have a partner some day! Maybe we could go on during mother-daughter week! Do you think if I send in a few pictures and a video I could get on the show?!?! It's worth a try, right?!?!?!

Homemade Baby Food

Now that Harper is 6 months, she is eating baby food. I decided that I would make an attempt to make my own baby food for a handful of reasons.

1. It is WAY CHEAPER than buying the jarred food. For example, I bought a bag of carrots for $0.88 and I was able to make 12 servings, which is less than 8 cents/serving! At the store, you can buy a 2 pk of baby food for $0.94. Because I do not work full-time, I feel like it is my job to save money where I can. (more about that later, I am starting to become frugal)
2. I have the time! Since I only work part-time, I figured it's the least that I could do!
3. It is FRESH and HEALTHY! Have you ever stopped to think about why the shelf life for baby food is 2 years?!?! The ingredients in most commercial baby foods have been heated to a very high temperature and then cooled, in order to sterilize them. This gives them a very long shelf life but destroys a lot of the flavor and some of the nutrients in the process. By making my own food, I am able to pick the freshest ingredients with full flavor!

I highly recommend the book, Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel. It is very easy to follow and has a wide range of easy 'recipes.' Everything from simple fruit/veggie purees to chicken/fish dishes and even some pasta recipes!

Making the baby food is simple~ you steam the veggies/fruit, then puree them, and finally freeze the food in ice cube trays. So far I've only made carrots and pears. I will still use jarred baby food when traveling for the sake of convenience. I'm not anti-jarred baby food by any means, but since I have the time to provide Harper with freshest and healthiest baby food, I will try my hardest to do so!

So far, Harper loves baby food! She has tried sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, green beans and pears - and has loved them all!

6 Month Pictures

Here are a few pictures from Harper's 6 month photo session with her great-aunt Jodie! I'm still patiently waiting for her to send me the rest of the pictures. We had a lot of great ideas but Little Miss Cry Baby had other plans for us! Like I've mentioned in other posts, Harper is a very sensitive baby! So the unknown of the studio and all of the equipment left her rather uneasy ~ but Jodie did her best! More to come soon!

In her pretty Easter Dress

H is for Harper :)

Look at our pretty, matching toes

Family Pic (that I hate- luckily she took more) This picture was actally unplanned, we were trying to get Harper to relax and smile and she just started snapping pictures

Proud Panther!

All I can say right now is.........

I am SO proud to be a PANTHER!!

6 month check-up

Yesterday Harper had her 6 month wellness child check ~ she's doing GREAT! For whatever reason, she is always so good at the doctor! She had a great time showing off for all the nurses and the doctor! She was a very good girl! She only cried for 30 seconds after her shots and then she went back to babbling and blowing bubbles! EVERYONE loved her chubby cheeks! :) Hopefully we won't have to go back and see the doctor now until she turns ONE! (that is just crazy to think about ~ makes me sad)

Weight: 17 lbs 13 oz (90%)
Height: 27" (95%)

She's a big girl :)

Sorry - no pictures! My camera battery is dead and I keep forgetting to charge it!

PS - Harper got her 3rd tooth this week!

Grandpa's Birthday

Happy Birthday Grandpa Gary!

I wish I could take you out for a banana malt!

Love,

Harper

not so Grand Piano

FYI - we are selling/giving away the piano that came with our house. I have it listed on grisliest for $50 OBO, but I am more than happy to give it away to a friend, as long as they can haul it out of our house! The piano is wooden and does not include a bench. I am unsure of the brand of the piano. It also needs a tune up. All of the keys work, but it would also make a nice decorative piece in a formal room. Let me know if you or you know someone who may be interested. It serves no purpose for our family and takes up too much space.

Head bands

As I was looking around Hobby Lobby the other day, I came across a section of crochet hand bands and bows!!!!!!!!!!! Every color of the rainbow, different prints, etc. But the most exciting part is that they were super cheap! A LOT cheaper than the ones my mom bought at the Pink Hippo. The headbands were only 99 cents each! The most expensive bow I found was $3.99. So, the most you would spend on a complete headband would be $5 - but if you wait until they go on sale for 50% off, you could get them for a steal! Go here for a 40% off coupon on any one item in the store! Even if you do not have a little girl, they would make a great inexpensive gift! Here are a few pics of my little cutie donning her headbands:

2 weeks

6 weeks

6 weeks
4 months

Blogs to watch for this week:

• My attempts at homemade baby food
• Harper's 6 month pictures (they are adorable!)
• Harper's 6 month stats/check-up
  
  
  

6 MONTHS!!!!!!

Happy 1/2 Birthday to my little Harper!!! We CANNOT believe that she is 6 months old already! We've been giving her a sippy cup lately just so she becomes familiar with a cup and while she was trying to drink out of it today, Adam and I looked at each other and agreed that we are a little sad that she's getting so big! But we are also ready for her to enter the next stage of her life - crawling, cruising furniture, etc. She seems to be getting bored with just laying on the floor - she rolls all over the place and you can tell that she wants to crawl so bad! She has gotten up on her knees a few times, but only for a few seconds. It is so much fun to watch her learn new things.

Harper has her six month check-up next week due to her four month check being postponed because of her fever. I'm anxious to see how big she is now! I will post her stats next Friday after her appointment. Here is what she's up to now a days....

Weight: 17+ lbs

Diaper Size: 3

Clothing Size: 6-9 months

Teeth: TWO!! Both on the bottom

Mobility: rolling over both ways - EVERYWHERE - she usually ends up on the opposite side of the room

Speech: more laughing, lots of squeals, blowing bubbles

Eating Habits: 4 oz of formula every 3 hours - oatmeal cereal for breakfast - veggie baby food for lunch - veggies and rice cereal for supper

Sleeping Habits: Bedtime b/w 7:30 and 8 - usually wakes up b/w 4 and 6 for a bottle and then goes back to bed until 8 or 9 - takes three 1/2 hour to 1 hour naps throughout the day

Favorite Toy: vibrating teether

Favorite Activity: scooting around on the floor and bathtime

Firsts this month:

• drinking from a sippy cup ( well...we're practicing)
• eating baby food - so far she eats carrots and sweet potatoes
• rolling over from back to tummy
• 2 new teeth!

$10 off shutterfly

Shutterfly is having another great deal right now - expires on Thursday 3/11

Get $10 off your order
Promo Code = MARCH10

I plan on spending $10 and then only have to pay for shipping!!!

Adult Prom

Last weekend Adam and I went to the Adult Prom in Grafton. We had a GREAT time!!! It was so nice to have a night out as a couple again! We spent the night dancing and enjoying a few drinks. We definitely plan on going back next year.

We clean up nice!

We just had to take a cheesy prom picture :)

The theme this year was Mardi Gras

Accepted!!!

Hello Everyone! I'm back after a week of no blogs. Nothing exciting happened last week - so I didn't have much to report. I do have about 4 blogs that I need to post this week, so check back.

I do have exciting news - I officially got accepted into the nursing program for fall 2010!!! I got my letter in the mail on Saturday - it was a huge sigh of relief! I wasn't too worried about not getting accepted, but lately I have been hearing my classmates say that the college only accepts a certain amount of students each year and that most people don't get accepted the first time they apply. I am very excited to become a full-time nursing student!!!

Check back later this week to read blogs about Adult Prom and Harper turning SIX MONTHS!!!

March is FINALLY here!

We have been looking forward to March 2010 in our house for a long time now! No, not because of March Madness, daylight savings, the first day of Spring, St. Patty's Day, Gary's birthday, Harper turning 6 months, spring break, or the 2 year anniversary of renewing our vows! All those things are great, but what is even more wonderful is that March 2010 is the month that Adam is OFFICIALLY done with the military!!!

After six LONG years, Adam's career in the military has finally come to a close! Bitter sweet. Adam is so excited to not have to serve one weekend each month with the National Guard anymore. Harper and I are just as excited to have him home more often as well. We feel so blessed that Adam is home safely with us! Even though the past two years of the National Guard have been a pain in the butt, we are very fortunate that Adam chose this option. More than likely Adam would've gotten called up to deploy again if he hadn't chosen to enlist in the National Guard for two years.

On the other side, I will miss seeing Adam dressed in his BDU's - gotta love a man in uniform! :) The military was a big part in Adam's life and I know he will secretly miss it. Maybe not the Army so much, but definitely the friends and memories that he made!

Our families are VERY proud of Adam and his service to our country! THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU'VE DONE, ADAM!!! The world needs more men like you!