Week from HE (double "L" hockey sticks)

Last week was not a good one. That is why I did not blog. I was not in good spirits. However, it started out wonderful with us all going as a family to a really nice resort called Primland.

Primland Resort

This is a beautiful resort located off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is primarly for golf, hunting, and spa activities. They have a great lodge and spectacular separate cabins for guests. Our cabin was a beautiful one with breathtaking views. 

Beautiful Living Room View

The deck of our cabin

Beautiful bath view

Beautiful Kitchen ..

Janet drinking some champagne. 

Dang,.. look at my hair .. It is huge :)

Harper loving the day

 On our way home from Primland we started to see smoke coming from the hood of our van.  So, we called our local Toyota dealership and they had it towed in. At this time, I assumed we had a faulty issue with our van but that was not the case! The mechanic informed me that someone had hit our van against a rock or animal ( or drove way to fast over a speed bump) and bent a rod under our front bumper which caused the radiator to explode. So, now we are vanless and waiting for it to get repaired. This came to a total shock to Will and I. Neither of us hit anything and if we did I  am sure we would have realized having Harper in it. So, the only conclusion we could come up with was that the valet at Primland hit something. So, this was such a bummer for us. On a good note they will be done repairing the vane while we are in Bermuda.

This is what my van looked liked!

  On Memorial Day,  we decided to lighten up and head to a pool party. Our friends, Jay and Carrie, have a great pool that we all love to enjoy. It was Harper's first time and she loved it. I am hoping that next week in Bermuda is the same.

Harper loving pool time

Worn out by the pool party

Harper's 3 Month Photo Shoot

(Warning ..Photo Overload)

Happy 3 Months Harper!

Dear Harper,

  Happy 3 Months!

3 Month Smile

Trying to figure out what I am doing.

You are growing and changing every day. You have really started to show your sweet little personality. You are always making cute noises and coos towards your dad and I. You are even following us with your eyes and are starting to watch tv. (You are now in love with Dancing with The Stars.. Thanks Mom and Dad..haha)

Daddy did your hair today. ( He did a mohawk)

Starting to smile

One of your favorite things now is music.  Everytime I sing you a song whether it is a lulliby or one of my favorite songs you always smile and giggle.   I cannot figure out if you are laughing at me or if you think I am actually a good singer.

Laughing at me sing

 You have also found your hands. You just love to play with them. Pretty much at anytime I can find you moving your hands, putting them in your mouth, covering your eyes, or just staring at them. 

Doing your new favorite thing

It also amazes me how observant you are. You love to play on your Bright Stars Mat and to be in your swing. You have also started to really grab the toys on your playmat. One night your father did not know what was going on with your mat because all you could see was it moving back and forth. He could not believe that it was all you just kicking and grabbing the toys.

Playing with your mat

You are starting to establish such a great schedule. You have been sleeping through the night until 5:30-6:00 each morning, which I think is great. We still have some nights where you wake up once for a feeding but for the most part you sleep until early morning hours.

Taking a nap in your swing

You are now wearing size 3 clothing and size 1 diapers. You have now reached the size where we have so many cute outfits that I just love dressing you in. I got a little sad when I had to put away your newborn clothing but I love the stage you are in right now.

3 month cutie!

This past Sunday, I was able to celebrate my first Mother's Day due to having you. You have been such a blessing and your father and I love what you have brought to our lives. I cannot even imagine life without you.

Best Mother's Day!

We love you so much , Harper!

Love,
Mom

Home Is Where The Heart Is

Today, I woke up and wondered where the last few days had gone. We just got home from visiting my family in Winchester for this long Mother's Day weekend.

Harper ready for the ride to Winchester, Va

We arrived in my hometown on Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a beautiful day with my entire family including my brother Brandon and his wife Anne. Since, they live in Atlanta this was the first time they had meet Harper, which was so special! 

My sister-in-law Anne with Harper on my parent's back porch 

We also were able to celebrate both my brothers birthdays which fell on May 11 and May 15. We have not been able to celebrate their birthdays together for a couple years, so it was nice for all of us to be home. 

Happy Birthday Bryan and Brandon! We are all getting so old :)

On Sunday, I had the BEST Mother's Day! To start the day , we enjoyed coffee on my parents back porch and took family photos before heading to church. The weather was so gorgeous that after church and lunch we continued our day on the porch listening to Bryan play the guitar and opening our Mother's Day gifts. Harper gave me a beautiful card with gift cards so I can get a new summer wardrobe and get my hair and nails done. Pretty much everything a girl could ask for!

Harper and I on Mother's Day

Will, Harper, and I before going to church

Harper at church..(Between the car and church we lost her one sock and  shoes)

For Mother's Day dinner we decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants, Carrabbas. Even though this is a chain restaurant I think it has some of the best Italian food and they did not disappoint.

The Lovelace Family outside of Carrabbas..

My parents

Bryan and Will looking "cool"

All the ladies...

Enjoying my first Mother's Day

For the last few days, Harper and I have been able to spend more time with my parents and Bryan who is home from college. Will however, had to go to work at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, WV. While Will was working, my mom and I took Harper to her very first photo shoot, Even though she did not fully smile we were able to have up wide-eyed and in a pleasant mood. (Photos to come soon!)

Lilly also enjoyed her weekend. She loves when we visit Winchester because my parents have a very large yard that she is able to explore and run around in it. As you can see, she found a new toy. All weekend, she continuously carried this stick around the yard and even tried to take it into the house numerous times.

Lilly's new toy

Today after lunch we had to go back home, since Will has to travel south for work tomorrow. As you can see my mom did not want us to go. My parents just love having Harper around and spoiling her with love. We are very blessed to have such a great family.

Harper sleeping on Grammy before heading back home

Midweek Confessions

Here are my Midweek Confessions...
~ This past weekend I was terribly sick with what I thought was "food poisoning." I had purchased ribs from the grocery store and within 6 hours of eating them I got sick. Yet, Will did not get sick until today. So, now were thinking we caught the stomach flu. I am really hoping that Harper will be fine, since I have been disinfecting everything in the house.


~ I had a bottle leak the other day in the diaper bag which ended up "almost" ruining my new blackberry. My phone would not turn on and was not working. So, I decided to try the "rice" trick and see if it worked. Which it did! :) The only problem was that I only had Uncle Ben's seasoned rice which does not smell that great. So, now my phones smells of this stinky rice. I have even caught myself wondering that smell is while on the phone. Hopefully the smell disappears over time or people may start to think I smell like seasoned rice. 

~The other day while shopping it hit me how old I have gotten. It is so funny how clothing stores kinda show your age or maturity level. See, I used to love to shop at Express but now the only thing I buy there is jeans. I feel that if I wore some of their clothes people would think I was trying to act too young. Now days, my favorite store is Ann Taylor Loft. I think this shows my age , since I would not had bought their clothes while in college. I guess being a mom has aged me a little bit. 

~ I am really looking forward to this Mother's Day weekend. We are travelling to my hometown to visit with my family. My brother Brandon and sister-in-law Anne are going to meet Harper for the first time. So, it will be a special weekend. 

~ This week I keep thinking about my students and Prom. This is the very first year that I have not been a part of Prom. Earlier this year I helped plan, decide on the theme , choose the food and even bought all the decorations. However, since I am on maternity leave I do not get to decorate and be at the event. This is one thing that I am really going to miss. It is always so fun to watch your students all dressed up and having a good time.Hopefully, I will get to see photos of the event
.
~ I feel like I am already a "helicopter" parent. If someone other than me is taking care of Harper and I hear her crying I always run right to her to make sure she is fine (which she always is). Will gets frustrated with me on this topic. He is really a great dad and loves to help out all he can when he is home. So, when he is feeding or changing a diaper he does not want me to interfere. This is one thing I really need to change or I may become one of the those annoying parents I did not care for during my teaching days. :/


~ Now link up and tell us your confessions~

Going International

Harper's Ready For Bermuda

This is Harper's Passport Photo
(She is being held up by Will and I)

Harper's passport was fully approved and we received it in the mail yesterday.  This has been a very touchy subject for me the last few weeks. If you have been following my blog you know that my family is traveling to Bermuda the first week of June to celebrate my parents 35 Wedding Anniversary. So, it is very important for us to get Harper's passport so she can travel . However, we almost were not able to get her passport due to a mistake a person made in the hospital. See, the Vital Records person at the hospital recorded Will's name wrong. His full legal name is William Gorman. The Vital Records person wrote down William's name as Will. (We are still trying to figure out if they asked me Will's name before or after I had been given the epidural because I may be to blame depending when they asked :/ ). So, when we received Harper's birth certificate Will's legal name "William" was not correct on it. The problem with this is that in order to get a passport for a newborn you must have the birth certificate and two forms of identification showing the names of the parents. Since, Will's name did not match his two forms of identification I feared we would not get a passport. 

I immediately contacted the Vital Records Department and they stated that it would take at Least 12 weeks to have a birth certificate changed. With our trip being in early June this created a huge problem. So, I also decided to contact the US Passport Agency and they stated all I needed was an affidavit showing the name was wrong on the birth certificate but that it was going to be corrected.  Luckily, Will was able to get the affidavit signed and notarized in time for our appointment at the passport agency. Next time, I will make sure that the Vital Records are correct before leaving the hospital.

Now we are getting ready for our trip to Bermuda. (More to come on this topic)