Harper Jane Turns ONE!!!!!

HARPER JANE IS ONE!!!

I cannot believe it. My tiny 6 pound baby is now a ONE year old twenty pound hunk of amazing-ness!

This has been the best year of my life and every day since the day of her birth just gets better and better. I really could not have asked/imagined a more perfect baby! She is beautiful, smart, sweet, perfect, everything!

Harper Girl, thank you for choosing me to be your Mommy. You are the light of my life and my pride & joy. You are my best friend, mini me, soul mate. I love you more every day which I don't know how that is even possible because my heart just explodes with exceeding amounts of love for you every second of the day. You will be my baby forever and you will always hold a special place in my heart because you made me a Mommy. Thank you for the best year of my life and I am so excited to watch you grow into the most amazing/adorable little person I have ever laid eyes on. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU MY LOVE.

I made this First Birthday sign to simplify YOU in to one sweet package (exactly like you my love).

I hope you had a great first birthday dolly. We woke up and you ran through pink balloons to your new shopping cart filled with goodies and Grandma and Grandpa sung you Happy Birthday and you looked at them like they were crazy! ;)

You then ate your powdered sugar donut cake and I think you liked it! You pretty much like anything sweet though! The hat would not stay on your head and all you wanted to do was eat the candles... Lovely HJ! Silly girl!

We had to go babysit for a couple hours but when we came back home we of course had to go take some one year old big girl pics outside!

{Dress} {Crochet Crown} {Shoes}

Then we went to dinner with cousin Bri and Traegan. We wish Daddy could have come but he had to work. It's ok though because we are going to celebrate on Friday when we all have a day off together!!

I love you to the moon back my princess. I hope you had the best first birthday and I cant wait to celebrate the rest of this week and next weekend at your party!!!!

Happy Birthday EVE!!!

  Today is Harper's Birthday EVE. I cant believe it. I will probably say that a hundred times but I really cant... Funny silly story; I was watching TV a couple days ago and the commercial for the hospital that Harper was born at came on and it shows a lady walking in pregnant, her in the labor room, and then with her doctors, and then with her baby and I always get sentimental when I see this commercial just remembering back to the best days of my life but this time Harper was sleeping on me and I was watching it and just started bawling. It was just so surreal that I had just brought my baby home from that very same place and how could it have already been a year ago?!? I know it's a silly story but I'm sure you mama's can understand the emotion. Anyways on to Harp's birthday EVE. This morning I made muffins (and slightly burnt them of course) so that we could have a little muffin cake!

What is this Mom??

For Me??

Ok, I'll eat it!

The rest of the day we are just going to be lazy and Mommy has to do some last minute shopping (of course). I just want to be in the moment and savor every moment of my baby.

 

Weekend Recap and Randomness!

 Another weekend gone, wah. This is a very rambly mess of a post but its pretty much my brain right now. I am still in disbelief that my sweet princess will be ONE in six days... oh my oh my. In. Shock. I could go on all day about "where has the time gone" "we just brought her home yesterday" etc. sigh... tear.

Me and Daddy went to the CWS and drank our butts off and had terrible hangovers the next day it was freaking awesome!! (Not the hangover part but the fun part!) We met up with friends and saw so many old friends. It made me feel my age again for a couple hours until I was wasted on like 3 beers and a fishbowl thing haha! Loserrrr!!! Of course I didn't take one picture which is so annoying to me now but in the moment I am just in the moment and I forget and blah blah I suck. Saturday Harps got a new pair of THESE Sperry's that are so damn cute!! She loves them and was walking all over Von Maur like she was hot stuff. (Well duh she is). Hehe. ;) and that is all folks. We have been pretty low key lately but it doesn't really feel like it because I am in full blown crazy party planning crafting mode! Yikes. It is stressful planning a first birthday party. And I only invited OUR friends, no family except my mom and dad and sister, niece, and uncle TK because they are in town for that weekend. But I just wanted to keep it simple and little. I hope it all comes together like I am seeing in it my head but we will see soon! That's all for now I spose.... I have so many things/ideas/thoughts I want to blog about but they get all jumbled in my brain and when I finally sit down to type I forget and so now I rambling about nothing. Oh random thought. I want to get Harpers ears pierced next week. I thought I wanted to wait until she was two like my mom did with my sister and I but she notices everyone's earrings and is gentle with them so I think she is ready. But now I am nervous and not sure.... What should I do!! Love you lotsys ladies!!!

Gorgeous Nebraska sunset I captured from my deck. I love summer!

Happy {belated} Father's Day!

H A P P Y  F A T H E R' S  D A Y!

Harper and I are extra lucky to celebrate so many amazing men in our life. My Dad, my step dad, three grandpa's, and of course Harper's Daddy!! Harper is one lucky lady to be loved by so many! (Perks of step-families!) Nick had to work all day so we didn't do anything for Daddy's Day but he knows we love him very much and hopefully next year we will be able to celebrate on a bigger scale. (Suckiness of a hard working Daddy).

Love at first sight.

smitten.

silly Daddy!

I love this guy so much. He is the best daddy to Harper and I am so thankful and proud of him every day. He does everything and anything for us and we are so blessed. He truly is the sweetest guy ever and Harper has him wrapped around her finger. Also he is pretty handsome and we make the most beautiful baby (babies) if I do say so myself :). I think we'll keep him!!

Another one of Harper's favorite guys is my step dad. He loves her so much, it melts my heart whenever they are together. It's so amazing that he loves her as his own flesh and blood and I, we are so incredibly thankful for this great DAD.

My Pretty Princess is almost ONE!

If you follow me on Facebook or IG you already know I'm obsessed with these pics I took of Harper!! (Sorry for the over share). She is wearing we new Tutu Du Monde dress and her Jameson Monroe headband. I am so proud of these pics and of course my beautiful model made this so easy!!! :) I can't believe this doll will be ONE in 10 days!! Oh my!!

                           

                               

Weekend Recap + Amazing mail day goodies!!!

I don't know where to begin. Hmm. Our weekend was low key. We went to lunch at our favorite place, Kona Grill, for sushi and margs with my friend Ashley and that was pretty much the only thing we did all weekend. Eh, boring but the goodies we received in the mail the last couple of days has made up for our low key weekend!!

Saturday morning Starbucks run. In cute pjs and a crown of course ;)
{Carter's Pajama's (Similar)} {Crochet Crown} {Starbucks Chiseled Tumbler}

Sushi lunch with Ashley!
{Gap Romper}  {Gap Bow}  {H&M Sweater (old)}

On to the exciting stuff! Don't you just love the anticipation of waiting for packages in the mail?? Love these days!! We have been ordering so much stuff for Harper's birthday and party so my happy mail days are sure to continue!! Wooo!

First up, I finally won a giveaway and a effing good one!!! I won a TUTUDUMONDE dress!! I am still in shock. I have been swooning over this brand for quite some time now. They make amazing luxurious children's dresses inspired by dancers and tutus. I'm pretty sure we were meant to win this given the fact that we are OBSESSED with tutus! I am planning a photo shoot with this dress but I am waiting on Harp's custom Jameson Monroe headband that I had made for this dress and her birthday party dress. I cant wait for the next happy mail day. :)

{Madame Butterfly Tutu}

The next thing that arrived today was our Freshly Picked Moccs!! I am more in love with these than I thought. They are so soft and beautiful! But Mommy made an oops and ordered the wrong size so they are way too big... I am so sad because I was hoping these would be our go to shoes this summer now that Harp's is walking. Bummer. But I am going to keep them and just wait for her to grow into them. So now she needs some every day shoes which calls for a shopping trip this weekend. Yay. I think this is sort of a win win ;)

I think Harp likes them ;)

{Platinum Moccs (Sold Out)}

And last but not least, Harper finally upgraded to a big girl car seat!!!!! We decided on the Britax Pavillion 70-G3 Convertible Car Seat. I am so happy with our decision on this. I am planning on doing a post about it this week after we test it out but so far I am impressed with Britax. And I am so in love with the print that we picked. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend... Look for a car seat review soon in case you are in the market for a 'big kid" car seat!

Sleeping like a Baby... more like a Daddy ;)

Now that I have all this free time at night, I can finally blog like I want to but now I'm at a loss of blogging topics...

UPDATE: If you read Harp's sleeping story you know that I have been her sleeping slave for the last eleven months. BUT, we I (why do I always have to do the mean jobs) have been putting her in either her pack and play in our room or her crib upstairs at night. At first it suckkkked! She screamed and cried and I felt like she was ripping my heart out and stomping on it telling me I was the worst mother ever, it was terrible but she would eventually stop and just sit there. Literally sit there, paci in mouth clutching her baby listening to her lullaby's for a good 30 minutes. And then she would all of a sudden just fold over. Mom-1 Harper-0. It was a very light sleep because as soon as I would go look at her she would wake up so I would bring her to bed with me. I did this very loosely at first. Mostly when she just did not want to go to bed even though I knew she was tired because she hadn't slept in like 5-6 hours. duh. But every time I did it, it got better and better. Last week she had been waking up when I get up at 6 a.m. (I have to get our stuff ready to go nanny for the day) and that was just not gonna fly with me... That makes for a grumpy Harper and no time for me to get us organized. So I would just put her in the PNP, go do my thing and I would go back down to check on her and she was sleeping again... (See I knew you were still sleepy Harper!). So starting on Monday I decided I would put her in the upstairs crib for her morning nap. She of course sat in there with paci, baby, and music for a good 45 minutes and then she folded. (She hasn't figured out that she can sprawl out, and if I go in and move her she wakes up. Any suggestions??) I folded laundry, played on my phone, loaded the dishwasher, this was the most I've been able to in one time period since she use to sleep soundly in her swing: Like six months! It felt awesome. She did wake up and whined twice but then seconds later fell back asleep. She finally woke up and she seemed so happy and so was I because I actually got to do stuff, it was amazing!! For her afternoon nap I did the same thing and she slept again (after her little routine). I also did this at nighttime too and it took her a lot longer than earlier in the day but she did eventually sleep and then when I was ready for bed I went and got her and she slept with Me. I am so proud of her! I feel like we both felt a lot better and happier yesterday because we kind of got a break from each other and so our together time was so much better if that makes sense. She is now sitting in the crib again as I type this. It's taking her a little longer tonight but I know I need to be consistent so I am not going to go get her until she sleeps in there for at least 20 minutes. I really hope this helps someone if you are having sleeping issues and I'm sure I sound cray cray to you Mama's who have sleeping crib babies but this is a huge step/milestone for both of us!! 

{One}  {Two}  {Three}  {Four}  {Five}

First crib picture ever! So proud of my girl. xoxoxo

Harper's Sleep (or lack there of) Story

My baby doesn't sleep. OK, she sleeps but not on her own and when she does decide to close her lids, its not for long, and she needs me, always. Let's start from the beginning...

Harper was born at 1:27 in the morning almost a year ago. From that moment her sleeping story began. I remember in the hospital at around 5 a.m. after we had got settled in our postpartum room and we were on a high from our new bundle of joy but also extremely tired from a full day of baby having. It was time for us (Mommy, Daddy, and Harper) to all get some shut eye and the nurse said if we wanted Harps to go to the nursery so we could sleep it was no big deal and they would bring her back when she needed to eat. Of course I didn't want to do that, she was my new three hours old princess. I tried laying her in the bassinet while she was sound asleep (only a few hours old) she immediately woke up and fussed so I picked her back up, (fell asleep again) and tried laying her back down. She was not having it! So I called the nurse in to come and get her because I felt like a zombie. I felt so bad but knew I better take advantage of the help.

Hours old, sleeping in Mommy's arms.

One day old sleeping on Mommy's chest. 

I probably slept one hour before they brought her back and needed to check vitals etc. It was OK because I was so full of adrenaline that I couldn't even tell I was exhausted. So the first day of her life began and she slept the whooole day. Like literally I couldn't even wake her up to eat. She slept through all the visitors, nurses, everything! Of course she was being held all day so I didn't even think twice. Then the night came again and I tried laying her in the bassinet. NOPE. Hates that thing. So I held her and watched infomercials and stared at her until probably two a.m. and then had the nurses come and get her again so I could try to sleep. They of course brought her back about two hours later and my day pretty much started. The second day was not as peachy as the first. They had warned me that after the first 24 hours she might be fussy all day and that its normal and boy were they right... She pretty much cried all day, could not get happy so she was just  pretty much attached to my boob. And of course we had lots of visitors that day so they all saw me but I didn't even care at that point. (All my modesty went out the window when I had her...). Anyways it was a rough day and night and again I think she went to the nursery that night again. From these couple days I knew instantly that we were going to have a rough time with sleeping. The next day it was finally time to go home and she was good that day, slept, liked the car seat, and when we got home we just held her and loved on her. My plan was for her to sleep in the Rock and Play next to our bed at night. She would sleep but wake up every two hours which was expected with a newborn but after about two weeks she would just not stay asleep.

This is how I took showers for months!

Rare moments of napping without being held.

She was not liking the swaddle at night time...

She loved the swing!

Every time I put her down she would wake up, it was exhausting, so that somehow resorted to her sleeping in the bed with me, propped up on the boppy because I was so nervous of her turning over in the bed or something. Which also left her poor Daddy to having to sleep on the couch... So from that moment on she has slept like that till this day (minus the boppy at around 6 months old). And this ordeal is only for bedtime...

For naps, she use to sleep either in her swing or sometimes Rock and Play, or being held. As she got older she would only nap in the swing or being held, and then the swing got the boot and now she will only nap if someone is holding her...

Some of the first moments of her sleeping on the boppy in bed with me. 

This is how we slept for the first 6 months.. cute right?!

Very rare moment! 

So funny how she use to sleep on the boppy!

Napping on Mommy.

Getting a little too big for the swing...

This is pretty much what our nights look like... sleepy mom, not so sleepy babe. 

A sweet moment of bliss.

She has also been attached to her "baby" lovey since she was about six weeks old. It is still a MUST at bedtime and nap time.

Remember that one time when she was watching tv in the rock and play and she was being  way to quiet so I looked and she was sleeping?! Yeah this only happened once!

That one time when I was sick and we napped together, Love these moments!

Our current sleeping situation. :)

I love sleeping with her at night time and holding her on my chest for naps. It is our time to be snuggly together. It is so much easier to nurse at night because I can just whip it out and fall back asleep. (Oh and did I mention that she has never slept through the night and has woken up every couple hours for her whole life. Yup, don't mess with this tired Mama. I blame it on the NO sleep for a year...). But it is also so wearing mentally on Me... At bedtime I have to be holding her or laying in bed with her because if I want to get up and go do stuff she eventually wakes up and notices I'm not there anymore. I can't get anything done during the day because she will only nap on Me. This is so incredibly frustrating for Me because I have absolutely no Me time. I feel so bad saying that because I know I am a Mom and I am not just a "Me" anymore but I hope you know what I mean... I am so envious of Moms who put there babies to bed and they get to do whatever they want, watch TV, spend time with their loves, have adult conversations... I love you more than life itself Harper Jane but it is time for you to be a big girl and sleep without Mommy!

I have recently started putting her in her pack n play in our room at nighttime and she will just sit in there for about a half hour and listen to her music and eventually she will fall asleep. (Poor girl falls asleep sitting up and folds over because she fights it so hard). I then go and get her when either I'm ready to lay down or she wakes up crying. I have also been doing this for naps during the day when we are home and today she slept for almost two hours. I am so proud of her and I know she can sleep on her own, I think honestly I am the one who needs to let her be a big girl but its so hard... She has been my sleeping companion for almost a year now and I do absolutely love co-sleeping. I do plan on bed sharing for a little longer or at least till we move out of my parents house and she has her own room. Now I sound a little contradicting but she is making huge improvements and I am finally getting a little Me time which makes for a happier mommy and baby. This also makes my Nick seem like he is never around and has never helped which is so far from the truth but when it comes to sleep it has always been kind of my thing because of breastfeeding and the role that it plays in Harper actually falling asleep. Sorry for the long post but I just want to remember this and maybe help another tired Mama out there. You are not alone! Tired mamas unite!!
The most recent sleeping Harper pictures... Has anyone noticed that there is no pictures of her sleeping in a crib? That's because she never has until today... Yippee!!

So damn cute in her shorts!

Swoooon!!!