On the road again...

Harper can now add the Great White North to the lengthening list of places she's been...or the great white midwest, to be more precise. Last week, we loaded up the Jetta and set off for Ohio. It was a long drive for a little girl, but we met my mom in Nashville and took it slowly from there.

About 30 minutes outside of Cincinnati, Harper decided she'd had enough (and I'd exhausted the emergency bottle supply), so we did have a few tense moments. But, as soon as she stretched out in front of the fire at AB and UT's, good humor was restored (Mom and I found our good humor with a little help from our friend Kendall Jackson)

We had a great night in Cincy, Harper had so much fun she couldn't stay asleep - she was up and laughing with everybody until almost midnight and thankfully slept in the next morning. No harm done in staying up late once in awhile.

While in Cincinnati, we were able to visit with my Giagia and introduce her to Harper. Sadly, Gia's Alzheimer's has progressed way beyond foggy to say the least, but she was happy to see us and to meet Harper. And a fellow resident told me what a "beautiful babydoll" I had...unfortunately, she actually meant babyDOLL. Needless to say, it was a tough afternoon.

On to happier things...we also spent a couple of days in Dayton at my sister's. We had the best time visiting Melissa's favorite haunts, having lots of girl time and planning for the new baby. Uncle Chase gets MAJOR points for putting up with his mother-in-law, sister-in-law and a baby...not to mention letting us rearrange much of their loft. Can't wait to go back and visit when their baby girl arrives in April!

Rollin on the River

We have movement!!! Harper FINALLY rolled over tonight! I've been working on this daily for quite some time, but Harper didn't seem to have a bit of interest in rolling over. She loves tummy time, but when she tires of it she either cries or just puts her thumb in her mouth and lays her head down. Though the doctor has assured me it's fine not to be rolling over yet, I've been new-mommy worried since several of our friends with younger babies have been rolling over for awhile. All in good time I suppose. But after tonight, it appears we're back in the game!

Everybody's working for the weekend

It was a busy weekend at our house. On Friday night, we had dinner with Wentz cousins Heidi and Trei and their sweet little boys, Brady (3) and Bo (1). Though we've gotten to see Heidi and Trei several times since having Harper, this was the first time Brady and Bo really got to "play" with their new cousin. Brady especially loved being around a baby, though his feelings were hurt at first when Harper wouldn't talk to him. He was a little skeptical when we explained that babies don't actually speak when they're that little, but he gave her another chance and they were good buddies by the end of dinner. Bo, however, was way more interested in his trains.


Saturday morning, Robbie left for an impromptu boys' weekend in Charlotte, so Harper and I found ourselves on our own for the first time. I was a little nervous to be by myself for the weekend, but also curious to see if I could go it alone without going crazy.

I'm happy to say, we did GREAT!!! We missed Robbie of course and were so glad to see him when he came home, but had fun being just the girls. On Saturday we met Megan and Becky for a fun brunch followed by some good mommy and me time at the mall.

Sunday afternoon, Harper crashed my Jr. League committee meeting. Not sure bringing the baby was the best way to end my four-month Jr. League hiatus, but oh well, at least I finally made a meeting.

I'm also working on getting Harper on more of a sleep schedule (according to the book I'm reading babies are supposed to go to bed before 8pm, rather than the 11pm-ish schedule we've been on). So, Harper and I spent some time this weekend regulating naps and bedtimes. Though I'm not exactly delighted with my new role as sleep police (isn't being in charge of her tummy enough!), we have made some serious progress and for the last few nights Harper's seen the backs of her eyelids before 9pm...and stayed that way for a good 11 hours or so! Unbelievable!!!!!

Rice Rice Baby

While Harper napped this afternoon, I decided it was high time to put the highchair together. And once it was together, I figured we might as well try it out. So, following a quick run to the Target baby aisle for rice cereal flakes and heat-sensing baby spoons, I was ready and waiting when Robbie got home from work.

All in all, Harper seemed to enjoy her first taste of actual food (well, if dehydrated rice flakes count as actual food). She was definitely intrigued by the spoon and liked sitting in the highchair like a big girl. Not so sure how much of the snack actually made it into her mouth, but for a first try it went pretty well.

Plus, we got to break in the sweet porridge bowl...and yes, we do have a monogrammed silver spoon to match (much to Robbie's chagrin), but I thought the plastic Target spoon added that certain something to her first meal...plus, I'd run out of silver polish......

These times they are a changing

Robbie and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary Saturday. We had wonderful day together...with our sweet Harper of course. However, it did vary a bit from what we envisioned when we married.

Over dinner we both shared a vivid memory of the 25-year-old version of us, lazing away on the beaches of St. Lucia (tan and S-K-I-N-N-Y thankyouverymuch), picturing our fifth anniversary, so far in the future. We made a deal that we'd be back in that particular paradise for such a monumental anniversary, both secretly certain that we'd never wait FIVE WHOLE YEARS before returning to such a romantic place. Unencumbered by babies, pets or general reality, we figured that marriage was pretty much an extended honeymoon, and surely in five years our wrinkled old selves would be hopping to get back to the Caribbean before we were too old to go out in bathing suits ever again.

Well, reality has once again knocked on our hiding door, and though we've taken several vacations of both the tropical and non-tropical variety, we've yet to catch another glimpse of that sacred St. Lucia sand.

As a four month old doesn't exactly equal "week in the tropics," we went to Plan B and made reservations for a romantic evening out. However, apparently holiday travel with a four month old does equal "raging cold," or the snots, as our pediatrician so delicately put it. So, at the last minute we canceled our grown-ups only dinner and instead introduced our teeny girl to late night sushi in Vinings, where she of course quickly became the center of attention and charmed the staff. St. Lucia it may not be, but this is our world at the moment and neither of us could imagine much better.

In lieu of vacation photos, please enjoy this shot of Robbie and Harper waiting for our table at the restaurant.
And another highlight from the evening...while I was dressing for dinner, Harper decided she'd had ENOUGH with entertaining herself and would settle for nothing less than being in the middle of things. At a mothering loss, I padded the sink with towels and plopped her in - she proceeded to sit in the sink for the next 20 minutes, happy as a clam. Desperation is truly the mother of invention....though to be fair, my mom did patent this move the last time we were in Memphis. Regardless, we'll take it. But the minute Harper gets into my Bobbi Brown, it's over.....

Blue jean baby queen

There's nothing like a sweet pair of jeans to make a girl feel good. Thanks to Great Grams, Harper is super stylish today in her very first jeans - the baby girl version with pink rosebuds and ruffled bottoms...we'll save the skinny jeans for when she's worked off those cute baby thighs. (And no, we didn't teach Harper the "gangsta lean" she's exhibiting so nicely in these pictures...she did that all on her own)