1st Day of School

1st Day of 3-year-old Preschool

Harper's first day of school was on Tuesday!!!  How is that even possible?!  She will attend school every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.

Adam and I were a bit nervous to leave Harper on the first day in fear that she would cry.  But much to our surprise she didn't shed a tear!  Just mommy!  A few of her classmates started SCREAMING when their parents left, which I think made Harper a bit nervous because she started looking pretty sad and asked us for a hug and kiss in a very sad voice.  It broke my heart.   I told her that I had a present waiting for her when she got home if she was a big girl and didn't cry - that seemed to do that trick!  When she got home I had a gift bag for her that contained Scooby Doo fruit snacks, temporary tattoos, and cheerleading pop-pom's.  In case you didn't know - Harper LOVES tattoos - she currently is donning 8 (you can see a few in the picture above).

We bombarded Harper will dozens of questions about her 1st day, but she didn't have much to say other than that she had fun....and she went POOP!  I guess she doesn't have a fear of going to the bathroom in public places!  She is very excited to go back.  She was supposed to have school today but didn't because the school let out early due to the heat.  We still enjoyed the afternoon by spending it at the pool!

We look forward to watching Harper develop intellectually and socially throughout the year.  We will keep you updated on any of her school happenings.  Go Cowboys!

3 Year Check-Up

Harper had her 3 year check-up/preschool physical on Friday.  She is a healthy little big girl.

Weight: 37 # (90th percentile)

Height: 38.5 " (b/w 75th - 90th percentile)

The doctor discussed the issue of when to send Harper to Kindergarten, as she is right at the cut off.  He thinks she'll be ready in 2 years, instead of 3.  This means that she will be FOUR during the first few weeks of school.  And my main concern, she won't turn 16 until the beginning of her junior year.  The doctor said because she is a girl, and is already a smarty-pants, she will more than likely be bored with a 3rd year of preschool, and will be ready for kindergarten.  I guess time will tell.

The other issue under discussion at her visit was the size of Harper's adenoids.  Over the past few months I've noticed that her adenoids appear rather large.  Dr. Nagel agreed.  Because Harper doesn't have recurrent sore throats, he doesn't think this is an urgent issue.  However he did refer us to a Ear, Nose, & Throat doctor for a 2nd opinion, only because Harper does snore, which could lead to sleep apnea.  She will more than likely need her adenoids removed at some point, the sooner the better in my opinion. 

Other than that, Harper is a thriving and healthy girl!  We feel very blessed and fortunate for her good health, it is not something we take forgranted! 

My first {real} job

The time has finally come......I have accepted my first REAL job.  By real job, I mean a FULL TIME job with benefits!  It only took 10 years of being out of high school and 6 years of college ;)

I have accepted a job at Iowa Specialty Hospital - Belmond, working nights as a registered nurse.  My hours will be 7p-7a, 3 nights/week.  This includes working every 3rd weekend and every other holiday.  It will be nice to be home 4 out of 7 nights/week.

Adam and I discussed the pros and cons of this job for a few weeks.  We understand that it is not the perfect fit for our family, but we are willing to try to make it work.  In fact, those are the exact words I told my boss. 

The plan is to work full-time for the next year.  Hopefully at the end of next summer we will be welcoming baby #2 into our family.  At that time, the plan is to work PRN after my maternity leave ends.  I would love to work PRN or part-time until both kiddos are in school, and then I could go back full-time.

Adam and I understand that the next year is going to be absolutely crazy, but we know that it is only temporary and is benefiting our family in the long run.  Besides, we have survived much more difficult circumstances during Adam's Army career!  Thank you to everyone for all of the support and encouragement to help us get to this point.  We are going to need your help and support even more in the next year.  Thank you in advance! ;)

Only 10 more days until I enter the working world.....I am so nervous and excited at the same time!  (And maybe a little sad!)  Adam, on the other hand, can't get me out the door fast enough!

Mommy's Tummy

The other night we were watching some TV show that featured a pregnant woman.  I told Harper that a baby was in the woman's tummy.  

Harper said "I used to live in your tummy."

I asked her if she remembered what it was like in my tummy, which she replied, "It was dark.....and windy."

Okay???????????????????????? 

10 years

A few weekends ago I celebrated my 10 YEAR CLASS REUNION!  

It's crazy to think how fast time really does pass us by.

In the past 10 years, I have:

graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a degree in education...

gotten married (have been married 6 out of the 10 years)...

learned how to cook...

became a home-owner...

learned that I am NOT a very good housekeeper...

gave birth to a beautiful and smart little girl...

learned how to be a parent (and am still learning)...

traveled to Jamaica and Mexico

graduated from Iowa Central Community College as a registered nurse...

and will hopefully be landing my first 'real' job soon.....VERY soon ;)

Class of 2002

My BFF's from high school...the morning AFTER the reunion 

Reflecting back on the last 10 years, I feel like I've accomplished a lot.  However, I know that the future has much more in store for me and I can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings!

{90}

Adam's grandmother turned 90 years young at the end of July!  The Nerlien family hosted a nice celebration to honor Judy.  There was a great turnout, despite the pouring rain, it goes to show you how many people care for Judy.

It was nice to see family members that live out of state.  All of the immediate family was able to attend the party and church the next morning.  Here is a picture of Judy with her grandchildren/spouses:

Judy is a strong lady!  She still lives on her own, does her own cleaning, cooking, etc.  I hope I have her energy if/when I turn 90!  

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma Judy!  We love you!

Birthday List

Here are some birthday ideas for Miss Harper this year:

Headbands/bows/hair clips (Harper LOVES headbands)

Puzzles

Books

Bubble Bath

Twin Babies

Games: Candyland, Elefun, Gone Fishing

Little Tikes basketball hoop

Little Tikes t-ball set

cute fall school clothes (4T bottoms & 4T/5T shirts)

Alvin & The Chipmunks Tee (at Walmart - size S)

shoes/socks (size 9)

anything Caillou or Scooby Doo

Scentsy warmer/night light for her bedroom (the girl loves her Scentsy's!)

fall PJ's (4T)

cheerleading 'stuff'

Fall Jacket (4T)

Alvin and the Chipmunks Movie(s)

Bambi

Doc McStuffins 'stuff' (Disney show)

Paint

"A real baby" 
(Sorry Harper, mommy & daddy will not be giving you a 'real baby' on your birthday - maybe next year!)

Red font indicates the items that she really wants

Free Hair Cut

I'm sure you've seen the cute JC Penny commercial by now about FREE haircuts for kids during the month of August.

If not, JC Penny is offering FREE haircuts for all children in grades Kindergarten - 6th grade.  This offer is only good for the month of August and the parent must be a JCP rewards card member.

I love JCP - this is such a nice thing to do for parents because the price of new school supplies and clothes is  expensive.  We are going school shopping for Harper this weekend - I am so excited!  Her school list for 3-year old preschool consists of just a few items: 1 backpack, 1 folder, 6 glue sticks, 2 packages of disinfecting wipes, and 1 box of Kleenex :)  How cute!  We are also going to buy her some new fall clothes :)  It doesn't seem possible that we are school shopping already for our little girl!

Quiz - almost 3

Ask your child to recite her name: "I'm Hey - that's my name."  (Instead of saying Harper - I said "hey" to get her attention)

How old are you: 2 - and held up 2 fingers

What is your favorite color: grey

Who is your Best Friend: Lia

Favorite Animal: duckie

What do you want to be when you grow up: "I want to be Scooby when I grow up."

Favorite Movie: Tyson's movie (she watched a movie at our neighbor's (Tyson) house ONE time

Favorite Book: Elmo Book

What makes you happy: "Duckie make me happy."

What Makes you sad: She made a sad face so I repeated the question and she said "go to the next one."

Favorite Food: hamburgers

Favorite Song: "Happy and I know It"
Favorite Game: blocks

As you can see, Harper is a very silly little girl :)

I first did the quiz with her when she was 28 months old, today she is 35 months old...meaning she'll be THREE in less than one month!!!!!!!!!!!!!

State Fair 2012

Adam and I ventured to the Iowa State Fair yesterday with a deputy that Adam works with and his wife.  It was a gorgeous day to walk around the fair, 80 degrees/partly sunny/slight breeze.  It sure beats the weather the last time we went! (I was 8 months pregnant and it was 100 degrees) 

Our main purpose of going to the fair was because we had tickets to see Larry the Cable Guy.  Holy cow---he was HILARIOUS!  Within the first 5 minutes of the show I was laughing so hard that I had tears streaming down my face and my abs were sore!  If you ever get the chance to see him perform, I recommend going to his show!  It was great!

I had another purpose this year at the state fair - trying one of the new food items...a deep-fried pickle dawg!  It was basically a deep fried pickle roll...Heavenly!  It is definitely worth the $3.50!

The "Pickle Dawg" - this year you had the option of getting it deep fried ;)  Which of course I had to try!

Another new food that is supposed to be awesome is a Double Bacon Corndog - a hot dog wrapped in bacon and battered with bacon infused batter...yummy!  What is your favorite fair food?

June Visitors

{WARNING: This post is WAY overdue}

WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY back in June we had our first (and only) visitors of the summer.  The Masters family made a trip up for Oklahoma to see us!  Adam and Kyle met in the Army back in 2004 and instantly became the best of friends.  Kyle married Heather in October 2009 and then they were blessed with a son, Duke, in March 2010.

Adam & I with Kyle & Heather on their wedding day

We didn't do anything exciting while they visited - just enjoyed each others company and watched the kids play.  We grilled out, went golfing, made a few trips to the park, went roller skating, and had game night while enjoying adult beverages.

Duke & Harper rollerblading

We wished we lived closer to the Masters' family, it is never any fun saying goodbye.  We agreed that an adults-only vacation is needed for the 4 of us!  Hopefully that is on the agenda for 2013.....

New Title

This is old news to many of you...........

BUT.......

As of August 1st, 2012, Brooke Marie Nerlien is a REGISTERED NURSE in the State of Iowa!

Man if feels great to say that!

Now the job hunt begins!

Wish us luck that the perfect job falls into place for our little family!