Beach Trip

Well, we officially survived our first road trip to the beach. On Tuesday evening , Will and I decided to go to Myrtle Beach to celebrate the end of Will's month long travel for work. Getting ready for this trip however, was kinda crazy. My parents were helping me this week so we had to say our goodbyes to them and get everything ready in a matter of an hour to make sure we were on the road before dark. So, we quickly packed everything into the 4Runner which included 2 sets of golf clubs, a pack-n-play, all of our luggage, the stroller, and Lilly's crate which made for a full SUV. Our thoughts on getting a minivan are closer than ever due to this road trip.

Harper did great and slept for the whole ride! We only stopped once and that was for Will and I to grab something to eat. Once we got to the beach we decided to go ahead and play with Harper for a few hours to ensure she would sleep, which worked thankfully. So, in the future we will always try and leave late at night.

Arcadian I

On Wednesday morning ,we did our usual while in Myrtle and went to our favorite pancake house. It was so nice to enjoy a breakfast out of the house for once :)

After our breakfast we decded to take Lilly and Harper for a walk on the beach. Let me tell you this was not an easy task but we did it. Trying to get the stroller to the beach with an 90 lb. Lab is a little tough. We looked like a clip from Griswold's Family Vacation. However, once we were on the smooth part of the beach where I could walk Harper it became easy. Harper loves her stroller so she slept the whole time we walked.

Will walking with Harper.

We forgot the carrier cover so we had to improvise with a cute blanket
so Harper did not get the sun in her face.

Lilly also enjoyed herself while playing ball and swimming in the ocean. This trip was much needed for Lilly as well since she has been a little neglected since Harper's arrival. It is amazing how much a dog is like a human. She has been acting a little depressed and at times will have a very sad look on her face while looking at Harper. So, we felt that she needed to have some time with us this week.

Later that evening, Will and I decided to take Harper out for her very first golf experience at a golf course near our condo, Arcadian Shores. We contacted the course before hand and told them we were going to be bringing a newborn out for 9 holes which they said was no problem. So, around 5:30 we went out to the course for her first golf round. The first hole was a little rough. Harper was a little cranky but by the second hole she was very content and let us enjoy our round of golf. 

Since, my "push gift" was a new set of golf clubs it was so nice to finally get out on a course and try them out. I must say that this was the best gift because I did much better with these clubs than my old ones. Later this week, Will's Aunt is going to be here in Myrtle and will be watching Harper while we go play a whole round of golf. 

First hole of golf in 6 months :)

Really cannot stand how white my legs are. Looks like I will be tanning this upcoming week.

Midweek Confessions

~ I have a pretty big confession this week. Will and I have decided that I will not be returning to teaching. With Will traveling so much and not having family near we feel that it is very important for me to be home with Harper. I have loved teaching the last 5 years and will never forget many of my wonderful students. It is so funny how things change when you have a little one.

~ I am also starting a new career. I will be working from home for my father-in-law for his marketing company.  Tom (my father-in-law) owns an embroidery, screen-printing, and promotional products company which I will be helping him run from my home. So, if you need any of these products please email in the contact section of my blog and I will give you details on how to buy products from me.

~ I really enjoy all the help I have received from my family. However, one night last week Will and I went out with some friends  to come home to a sleeping baby who decided to stay up for 4 hours straight that night. Reason this happened is that these sweet family members did not wake Harper at all that night instead, they just held her and let her sleep. See we have a BIG routine in the evenings. We always try to keep Harper up at least 3 hours starting at 9 or 10 so we can get a good 4-5 hours of solid sleep before her next feeding. Since, this routine did not happen she was off schedule and stayed up later in the night or should I say morning. So, I was not happy.

~ We are taking Harper to Bermuda with my family in June for my parents 35 Wedding Anniversary. Since, my  whole family will be there we are not worried about traveling with her since we will have help. However, right now we are waiting on a correction on her birth certificate because whoever submitted Harper's Vital Records at the hospital put down Will as "Will" instead of his legal name "William." So, we are waiting for that to come corrected so we can get her a passport. So , this has been frustrating for us.

~ Yesterday, I took my 4runner to our local Firestone to get my oil changed. When I went to pick up my car they told me that my tires were worn out and I needed 4 new ones. Now our problem is what we are going to do with my car. Since, we do travel a lot we are concerned we will need more space in a vehicle. For example, when we travel we will have Lilly, her crate, Harper's pack-n-play, stroller, our two golf bags, and all of our luggage. So, we have a lot to squeeze into a car. We are trying to decided if we should pay for new tires or just trade in my car for a bigger SUV or van. Cannot believe I just said van but it is pretty practical and nice.

~ Will is taking us to the beach this week and I am so excited but nervous on how we are going to do with a 5 hour drive and getting all our stuff down there. So, I will let you know about that tomorrow!

Thanks for reading my confessions.. I feel much better :)

Now tell it is your turn..

Six Weeks!

The past six weeks have been pretty busy in our household, as you can imagine. Not only have we been busy with Harper but we are also adjusting to Will's new travel schedule for work. Will has had to travel the last four weeks to North Carolina from Sunday- Thursday. So, we have had to get some help from each of our families.  This past weekend my parents came to help for a few days. While my parents visited we decided to take Harper out for her very first trip to the mall and Target.

Harper did so well on her trip to the mall. All she did was sleep while we tried to find her a Easter dress. This was a very challenging task since she is still in the newborn size and the options are limited. However, we did find her a dress at Macy's (which I will reveal on Easter Sunday). After the mall, we adventured to Target since I had not been there in six weeks and needed to get it out of my system :)..Harper loved this store because of all the bright lights and signs. The whole time she was wide awake looking around. So, I see many Target trips in our future.

Loves the Target cart :)

Yesterday, Harper and I both had our 6 week appointments and they went very well. My doctor told me that I was able to workout , play golf and do anything I did before labor. At Harper's 6 week appointment her pediatrician did the normal checkup and said she looked great  weighing 8 lbs 4 oz.

Harper before her 1st bath in her whale bath tub

To our surprise, Will was able to come home early this week so we decided to take our first family neighborhood walk with Harper and Lilly.

Getting ready for our family walk

After our walk we decided to take Harper out for sushi at our favorite local spot. It was wonderful. For all 9 months, I craved sushi and I finally got it out of my system. It was so good!

Eating my much craved Tuna Roll..It was so yummy!

Now, stay tuned for my Midweek Confessions! 

Spring Fever

It is my favorite season of the year..

The street I live on is absolutely beautiful this time of year with many blooming trees and flowers. The view just gets me into the spring mood. 

Another thing I love about Spring is that it starts the golf season for me. For my "push" gift , Will gave me a new set of golf clubs!!!. This was the best gift I could have received. I have had the same set of Cobra clubs since I graduated from college. ( As you know that has been awhile :).. So, to my surprise Will got me the 2012 Cobra driver and irons. I cannot wait until next week when my doctor gives me the go ahead to play golf and workout. 

Harper is also ready for golf this year. She got her very first set of golf clubs from our friends, Mark and Janet. Before I know it she will be beating me!

1 Month Old

Dear Harper,

You are already 1 Month Old! It is so hard to believe how fast the time has gone by. I must say, that I love being your Mom even though it is a tough job. You have brought all of us so much joy and we love you! 

You have grown so much this month. You were born weighing 7 lbs 8 ounces and I am sure that you must be at least 8 lbs by now.  You are still little and petite but you are also starting to fill out. However, you are still only able to wear newborn size clothing, since the 0-3 months fall off your little body. But that's OK . You will grow up soon enough to wear those clothes. You are also still only wearing newborn diapers. We have had to go out and buy more of these newborn diapers since we only thought you would be in them for a little while. 

You have really started to blossom in the last few days. You have started to stay awake more throughout the day which has made your sleeping through the night better. One day this week you actually slept from 1am to 8:30 am.  So, we are hoping that this happens again :)...Your dad and I joke that you got the "Frazier" sleeping gene since my family loves to sleep. You  pretty much sleep all day until you are hungry or need changed. You are now eating a 3 ounce bottle about every four hours. In the evening, we feed you a little more so you sleep longer. 

You have the sweetest personality that I just love. The only time you cry is when you are hungry and when you need changed. Other than that, you are really content and easy going. You also love to be held and talked to. The other night, we had on American Idol and you watched it from your boppy. I think that you are going to love music when you get older. You have also started to smile and it melts my heart. You are just too cute!

One Month Ago..You Changed Our Lives Forever.. You Made Us A Family!

I love you so much my little girl! Happy 1 Month!

Love, Mom

Top Things For A New Mom

Now that I an experienced mom (hah.. yeah right) I would like to share baby items that are UNDERRATED and items that are OVERRATED.

My Top Items For A New Mom

1. Boppy

           This has been our #1 item for Harper. She absolutely loves her boppy. She pretty much is in it all day long whether she is awake or asleep. We think she likes it so much because she is held up and feels protected.

2. Mini Co-Sleeper

                 This is the perfect bassinet for anyone! We love it so much because we can at all times see Harper and are able to reach in and get her if she needs feed or changed. It is so convenient with the one side being open to an adult bed. With Harper being so small she does much better in this bed than the pack -n-play.

3. Bottle Sterilizer-

              Since, I am bottle feeding this has been an item I could not live without. Harper goes through about 7 to 8 bottles a day which is a lot. So, about once or twice a day I have to wash all her bottles and sterilize them. This is so much easier than placing the bottles in the dishwasher or boiling the bottles to sterilize them.

4. Swing-

          This was a lifesaver during the first week. I found myself many nights putting Harper into this swing to to calm her down so I could get some much needed rest.  

5.  Bright Starts Play Gym

           I believe that this is one item that has given me some sleep. Harper loves to play in this gym. With all the colors and music she loves to stay awake and stare at everything. Sometimes she is under this play gym for an hour. With her being more awake during the day has made her tired at night. So, I love this mat!

Top OVERRATED Items For A Newborn

1. Wipes Warmer

                   Seems like a great idea to have one of these. However, it is not necessary. Harper does not seem to noticed whether they are warmed or not. Actually, it always seems that the wipes are dried out instead of just being warmed.

2.  Swaddlers-

          Swaddling was something I was fully prepared to do with Harper. However, she does not like to be swaddled. Instead, she likes to have her arms and legs loose. We tried to swaddle her the first few nights and all she did was cry. When we would take the swaddle off and put on a regular sleeper she would be content and fall asleep. So, for my sanity we decided to do away with the swaddle and only use sleepers. The sad part of this is that we have 8 brand new swaddlers from various stores and brands. I feel like these were such a waste. Too bad, I already had taken the tags off and washed them. Maybe our next child will want to be swaddled

3. Diaper Genie

           I really thought that this was such a neat gift when we got it at one of our showers. However, I have not really enjoyed it. The thing that bothers me about this item is that when you put diapers into it you actually have to push it down meaning you are touching other dirty diapers. Then, the other day I tried to empty the genie and realized that the bag holding them had broken leaving dirty diapers at the bottom of it.. So, I had to empty them into the trash which was disgusting.  If I could make one adjustment it would be to have an automatic suction where you do not have to push the diapers down.

     

         

As you can see, there are many more UNDERRATED than OVERRATED items for newborns.  So, if you are expecting a newborn take these items into consideration.

Harper's First Night Away From Home

This week we had a few firsts for Harper. On Tuesday evening, Will and I took the trip with Harper and Lilly to southern Virginia to visit with my father-in-law. We had a very enjoyable night and even Grace ( Tom's dog) really liked Harper.

Tom (my father-in-law) with Grace and Harper

Proud Dad!

With this being Harper's first night away from home our goal was to have her up for most of the evening so she would sleep through the night. Yet, this did not happen but for 20 minutes. Which meant that it was going to be a long night for me and it was. 

For most of the evenings, she only wakes around 4 am and if we are really lucky (like last night) she will sleep until 6 am. This night she decided to do neither. At 11:30, she feel completely asleep after her feeding. Only sleeping until1:30 when she was hungry again. Right after her feeding she went right back to sleep but woke up again at 3:30 until 4:30. So, needless to say this was a really LLLLOOOONNNGG night! 

I think I have gotten so lucky with her sleeping that it really threw me off that she did this. Luckily, my father-in-law was not going into work unitl noon so he was able to watch her for a little while so I could sleep in. Later that day, we decided to stay one more night since Will did not get back from NC until late in the evening. This night was completely different for her sleeping. Harper actually went to bed at 11:30 and slept until 5:30. So, I got plenty of rest and made up for the loss of sleep the night before. Hopefully, Harper is now more adjusted to staying away from our home.

Harper's First Night Out

Well, I got my wish.. We ate Mexican ( my favorite) tonight!

Harper did so well! The whole hour we were there all she did was sleep. Luckily, it worked out that she was feed right before we went out to eat so she was content. We decided to make the most out of our Friday night  It was such an enjoyable night!.

One of the best things about tonight was I finally got what I had been craving for 9 months, a Texas Margarita. It was really tasty and hit the spot.

Happy Friday!

Midweek Confessions

I know I am a day late but better late than never. Here it goes...

~ I am so excited about March Madness. I enjoy filling out the brackets and watching the games. Normally, I do not get to watch all the games since I  am teaching 15 year olds (who are on their own laptops watching the games thinking I don't notice it) However, this year I get to watch them all and see how I am doing on my bracket after every game. See,I got addicted to March Madness when I was in graduate school at JMU. I entered a bracket pool where there were 18 guys and 2 girls in the pool and ended up winning the bracket and $350.00. So, I keep hoping it happens again but haven't been so lucky since.  


~ I really have to give it to single moms. I have SO much help and I feel like I am always busy with Harper. Will has been beyond helpful and always is feeding , changing diapers or playing with Harper when he is home. And of course both our families have been around to give us breaks and help out. The bummer is Will has to be out of town 12 nights the next 3 weeks and I'm not looking forward to it :-(.


~ Last week after I confessed about how great of a sleeper Harper is I got a nice reality check :-).. Harper decided to wake up at 2 and 4 that night. However, she has continued to be a great sleeper but for that night she exhausted me. That's what I get for being naive..


~Last night,  I was so tired that I took out my eye contacts and could not remember where I put them. So, this morning I had to wear my glasses until I found another set of contacts.


~ Even though we have decided to go on 2 "date nights" we have not gone to our usual Mexican restaurant. For the 9 years we have been together we have always gone to Mexican each week. It has been 3 weeks since I went out for tacos and queso dip and I am really craving it!! I am thinking about burning dinner tonight, so we can go to Mexican. Yes, I said that! 


~ There is this street near our neighborhood where the residents decide not to park in their driveways, but on the road in front of their houses instead. This really drives me nuts! Every time you drive down this street you have to pullover to let people pass you because there is no room left on the street due to the cars parked. We understand if you have family or friends over that may need to park in front of the house from time to time, but some people treat the street like a parking lot and they actually have room in their driveways to park. I mean the same van has been parked in front of this house for 2 years. Really??


~ We took Harper to visit Will's dad (aka Pops) and stayed the last two nights. It was not as bad or as hard as I thought. I assumed Harper would not do well staying in another house but she did fine. As long as she has this pillow called a boppie she is content. This pillow has been the best. Harper is able to sit in this pillow throughout the entire day when she's asleep and awake.

Harper in her boppie

First "Mini" Road Trip

We have had a really busy schedule the last few days. On Friday, Will and I decided to take Harper and Lilly on a ride. It was quite the experience.  For the longest time, we both wondered how Lilly would act with someone taking up her space, since Lilly gets to have the entire backseat all to herself on any road trip.

She is a diva when it comes to this. She does not like to be cramped up in any space or share it with anyone. For instance, in October we took my father-in-law's lab Grace and Lilly to Myrtle Beach. The entire trip Lilly cried and had her face on the consol looking at Will and I. She was pretty much saying with her eyes "Why did we invite Grace to go to the beach with us? She is cramping my style!"

So, we knew with Harper now taking up a portion of the backseat that there may be problems with Lilly.

Harper before her ride. We left our head cushion at home (oops)
so we had to improvise with blankets.

However, Lilly did much better than either of us expected. At first, she was a little annoyed but then got adjusted. By the end of the ride she actually had her head on the carseat looking at Harper. It will be interesting when we travel to places far away.

Lilly keeping her eye on Harper

This weekend my parents decided to come for another visit and to bring my grandmother. It was really special to see my "Grandma Wanda" with our daughter. Growing up , I was always close to my grandma. My parents would often travel and my Grandma Wanda would be the one to stay with me and my brothers. She was always a cool grandma who was fun to hangout and talk with. Needless to say, I was really excited to have her here and share this experience with us.

Grandma Wanda, me with Harper, and my mom.

Will and I also went on another "date night." It was really nice to just get away from the house for a few hours. We went to my favorite local restaurant, Carlos. They had my favorite appetizer as a special  Fried Lobster Bites. It really hit the spot!

This is the Before photo not After :)

Tonight we are traveling to Southern Virginia to see my father-in-law, Tom. This is a new milestone for our family since it is going to be the first night that Harper is away from home. I will let you know how that goes :)