Mimi!

Continuing my trend of being about a month late on posting... Mimi came to visit!!! It was so great to have her here. Well, it wasn't great. It was FABULOUS! All of us absolutely loved the time we had with her. As usual, we ate a lot, we visited a lot, and Harper and Mimi PLAYED A LOT! Harper was thrilled to have someone's (almost) undivided attention, it was too cute. Jon and I were thrilled to have our third player for Hand and Foot. And Jasper was so excited to finally meet his Mimi. We loved it!!

Everyone was clamoring for Mimi's attention!

We went with Mimi to the MayFest in Downtown Fort Worth. They didn't have too many things for kids Harper's age to do. But it will definitely be more fun in a couple years. We made the most of it and Mimi got to see how much fun Harper has in bounce houses. She got a kick (as we all do) out of Harper's reckless abandon and the giggles that come from her as she throws herself around in there and has not a care in the world. Such fun!

Daddy's the Champion Burper.

We took a little trip up to Decatur to see Aunt Nancy because we love her antiques shop so much. Lucky for us Cousin Diesel was visiting for the day! Uncle Eddie also stopped by, so it was a great visit. We walked around the small town square and went into the children's clothing shop we had gone into when Harper was about Jasper's size. They had some really cute bows, so Mimi got Harper all stocked up since her hair is finally long enough for them to look good. :)

Harper was a bit of a pill here and didn't want to pose for this picture. But Diesel is so stinkin' cute, I had to include it!

Here we are on Mimi's last day with us. Harper is sporting the adorable outfit Mimi bought her, along with one of her new bows. Oh, and here's my new hair!

So cute!

Here's Mimi saying goodbye to Sarge. He might miss her the most when she's gone. When she first walked in the door, he had so much to tell her! He barked and whined about all that had happened since he had last seen her. It was pretty cute, but pretty pathetic at the same time. We were sure he was telling her that we had brought home another one of those little crying creatures, so now we had even less time for him! Mimi always gives him great massages and he turns into a little puddle for her.

We rented a minivan for Mimi's visit since our car only holds 4 people. It was a fun treat and Jon and I were both surprised at how well it drove. We both knew we would probably really like it, and we were right. I think a minivan will definitely be the next car we get. I can't believe I just wrote that!

When we dropped Mimi off, we all had a hard time saying goodbye. However none more so than Harper. We were telling her that we were taking Mimi to the airport and she was going home, but once Mimi got out of the car, the big, giant tears came and she didn't want her to leave. It made all of us tear up and made saying goodbye that much tougher!! We cant wait for her to come back. And we hope she brings Poppy with her too!

We love you Mimi!!

What We've Been Up To

Posts like these are going to become more the norm rather than the exception I think. I went back to work on May 7th (boo!) so time has been very hard to come by. I went back to a new company, a new job, a new position and a new location! Needless to say, all of this on top of Jasper sleeping in 3-5 hour stretches, and a bad case of Mommy Brain, I'm having a hard time making time!

Here's a quick rundown of us!

Right before I went back to work, we tried to do a few little fun things with Harper. We took her to Sonic and let her get her first slush. She absolutely loved it. The whole way home she kept saying "yummy" and "thank you!". It was too cute.

Daddy is a much more fun bath giver than Mommy.

Daddy has also been spending quality time with Jasper.

I've found a great banana bread recipe and have been making lots of it.

I decided to cut my hair off and donate it to Locks of Love. Hopefully some children will get some good use out of it.

And... I'm still taking lots of pics of this adorable little guy.

Unfortunately Harper and I have been sick for over a week now, and it's spread to Jon and Jasper. It's her first ear infection and the first time on antibiotics for her, and it's my first time on antibiotics in probably 15 years to treat a sinus infection. We're on the mend finally, so hoepfully we can get the rest of the family well.

Jasper's 2 month appointment

Jasper had his 2-month appointment on May 10th. It was my second day back to work, but I really wanted to be there so I could hear what the doctor said and ask the questions I had. So I met Daddy at the Pediatrician and took a long lunch. It's tough squeezing it all in sometimes!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 12lbs, 11oz (75%)

Height: 22 3/4 inches (50%)

We were all amazed at the weight he had put on (3lbs, 3oz in 1 month!), but more amazed at his growth - 3 inches in 6 weeks! Crazy!

He's been holding his head up well since he was in the NICU, so he passed that milestone with flying colors. I'm not sure the doctor believed us when we said he rolled from tummy to back at 7 weeks, 1 day. So needless to say, he's doing unbelievably well. We are so proud of his amazing progress!!

Harper's 2 year appointment

Nevermind that I'm over a month delayed in posting this. The point is that I'm posting it!!

We took Harper to her 2-month appointment on April 6th. She doesn't have the best track record at the Doctor's office, and tends to freak out when the nurses or anyone else touches her to take her temp, or even to get her on the scale. Jon and I tried to prep her well in advance, telling her what was going to happen, and that everything was going to be great. To our joy, she was awesome!! She stood on the scale like a big girl and sat calmly while the doctor checked her out. What a relief! Harper's stats at her 2 year appointment were as follows:

Weight: 31 lbs (75th%)

Height: 35 1/2 inches (90th%)

Of course her doctor was very pleased with how she's doing. She commented that she's finally growing hair, and we have to agree! Jon remarked that she's exactly half of our heights! Crazy to think that.

The doc said they look for about 12 words at this age. Jon and I looked at each other amazed because we think she says about 200, let alone the sentences she's putting together. She reassured us that some of the words she pronounces wrong consistently (instead of "cup" she says "puh") is totally normal and it's just her figuring out pronounciation. We got the go ahead to give her 2% milk now, which we were happy about.

The best part of the appointment was -- no shots!!! Woohoo!

We are so proud of her and how well she's growing and developing. It's amazing to know how far she's come. We are so blessed!

2 year/7 week pictures

Yesterday we took the kids to get their portraits done. We had Harper get her two year pictures taken and they were Jasper's first professional pics on his 7 week birthday.

I was a little nervous about taking a temperamental 2-year old and an unpredictable 7 week old and trying to get a shot. But I was happily surprised at how well it went! We tried to get a picture with the two of them at the beginning, but Harper wasn't having any of it. After trying for several minutes and her not cooperating, we decided to go ahead and capture Jasper since he was in such a good mood. After she saw him do it, she was much more willing to participate, so we were able to get some really sweet pics.

Here's the results. I also posted a picture of Harper at her 7-week shoot at the bottom to compare she and Jasper at exact ages.

What We've Been Up To

We celebrated the 70th birthday of this guy...

Happy 70th Birthday Papa!

Harper rode a train...

Harper and Mommy went on a lunch date while Nana spent some time with Jasper...

We shared an ice cream sundae...

I've been enjoying this curly/wavy hair she got from me (since she didn't get much else!)...

And I've been taking lots of pictures of this little man...

And finally...

I got a smile... and captured it.

Life is good!

Big Sister

Harper as a big sister has been a welcomed surprise. She has taken to Jasper immediately and absolutely loves him. All of my fears of her being jealous have not been realized-- yet, at least. I allow her to be involved and help out as much as possible. She loves to fetch diapers and throw dirty ones away. She pulls a chair over to observe his baths closely and loves to try to comfort him when he's crying. We're obviously being careful to not let her go too far, but not restricting her access to him. It's a fine line sometimes, but I think we're all doing well with the adjustment.

She absolutely loves it when she gets to "hold" him. Here she is telling Mommy to "shhh" because the baby is asleep.

She felt Jasper needed a blanket since he was sleeping. This is obviously where Mommy steps in so as to make sure she didn't smother him! :)

Harper has a type of greeting and farewell she does where she bumps elbows. Here she is giving brother "elbows". I suppose he's been inducted!

The only sign of jealousy has been when Daddy holds Jasper, which is interesting to us. This is a picture of one of those times where she wanted to be held by Daddy as he was cradling Jasper. Thankfully Daddy was happy to oblige.