Did I fall off the face of the earth, you may be asking yourself? No, I’m still firmly planted on the face of the earth, for now. So sorry that I haven’t been in touch for a while. I will try to catch you up. I went back to work a month ago (April 16), and Harper began her journey through The Children’s Campus. She is loving her classroom, which is the same one that Carson was in and has 2 of the 3 same teachers (the 3rd was actually a teacher in C’s toddler room who moved down). She is doing very well. She loves her teachers– she smiles at them and talks to them, and snuggles up to take very long naps for them. Some of you may recall that upon beginning in Infant A, Carson screamed for days and refused to nap for the entire year she spent in the room (I mean, 30 minutes at a time once or twice a day was all she would allow). I’m happy that Harper’s transition was easier.
Speaking of transitions, Carson has moved to the Preschool class. She had an easy transition this time, which was a happy surprise for all of us. She is like a little grown-up now. Her latest obsession is showing off her ballet moves while shouting, “watch me!” She is so sweet to her baby sister. She loves playing outside and will be happy when we get a new swingset to make up for the one that’s smushed under the tree in our yard (so sad).
What else is new? We have hired a new real estate agent, who is putting us through our paces in terms of getting Third Ave. where it needs to be. He created a five-page list of projects for us. Shane has been over there every night after work and all weekend, every weekend for the past three weeks. The house looks gorgeous, so much so that it makes me sad that our own new (old) house won’t look that way for years and will certainly never smell that fresh and new. We are hoping that all of the scrubbing and polishing, coupled with a price drop, will bring a sale soon. we are tired of spending all our energy and money on that place with everything that we need to do on Adams (like, we really, really need to re-do our bathroom, from the tub with its chipping finish to the sink that needs to be replaced with a double vanity to the shower that appears to be leaking, and don’t even get us started on the condition of our front yard). I am trying to hold down the fort mostly by myself, which ain’t easy given that Harper isn’t sleeping through the night (she seems to really enjoy our 2:30 am girls’ time) and Carson just plain won’t nap on the weekends.
This past weekend we went to the Delta Block Party, where we dodged the rain for the second year in a row, but C was happy to visit daddy’s office and eat funnel cake. The weekend before, we went to the zoo, where Harper took her first train ride (she was nonplussed) and Carson spent the majority of her time on the playground and in the jumpy-thing. Almost an afterthought, we took a quick peek at some animals on the way out. It’s great being zoo members and having the zoo so close by.
Hope everyone is doing well. Here is a picture that’s a bit old now, but it’s cute. At her 4 month checkup, Harper was 15.6 pounds and 25 inches long. For comparison’s sake, at four months, Carson was 16.6 pounds and 26 inches long, so a bit bigger, but both of them were/are round, healthy chunks of babies.
I know, I know…
My own husband is griping at me about not keeping this blog up to date. It’s just that every time I try to upload pictures, our wireless connection crashes for some reason. If you are on Facebook, feel free to add me as a friend so that you can get quick updates more frequently, if you want.
Anyway, Harper is growing like a weed and so cute. She and C had a little photo session with Elizabeth this week. C did great. H screamed, and I mean screamed, the entire time, plus the extra time we waited around to see if she would stop screaming. She definitely has her own little personality and is not a fan of being dragged all over town or messed with.
I’m putting on a few assorted photos from the past few weeks, hopefully. I know I still owe you birthday photos. If you want to be on my list for Shutterfly shares, let me know. One of these days I will find the time to consolidate all of my various technologies, because right now it’s all just too cumbersome!
Carson is three!
Carson celebrated her third birthday on Sunday (and Saturday, and Friday). She is 33.5 pounds, 37 inches tall, and 100% fun!
I’m attempting to post a link to Shutterfly so you can see pictures of Friday and Saturday’s festivities. Photos of Sunday to come (we took over 300, so it’s taking me a while!).
Harper is 9+ weeks old, and Carson watches the sunrise
I am belatedly providing an update on Harper… last week at her 2 month checkup, she weighed 11 pounds 12 ounces and was 22 inches long. She’s a bit smaller than C was at the same age, but not significantly so. She loves to smile, giggle, and talk, go for walks, sleep in her swing (the bouncy seat is now a fun place to hang out, but not to sleep), and lounge on the deck. Shane claims to have seen her roll over from tummy to back on two occasions, but I haven’t seen it for myself. She also seems to be moving toward having a somewhat manageable bedtime, which is nice. Several times both girls have been asleep by 8:30, which gives me about half an hour of my own time before I can no longer hold my eyes open. So luxurious!
Carson is eagerly awaiting her third birthday and her party at the jumpy place. This morning we were in the upstairs hall just as the sun was coming up. She ran to the window and pointed outside, shouting, “Mama, what’s that?” I discerned that she was referring to the beautiful orange and pink clouds heralding the sunrise. I said, “That’s the sunrise, Carson. Do you see the beautiful orange and pink in the sky?” She said, “I do!” and she stood and watched for a good five minutes. When we left the house a bit later, she asked, “Where did the orange and pink clouds go, mama?” We talked all about how we might be able to see them again at sunset.
Carson is also very excited about the prospect of riding in her new double stroller, which came yesterday, and of sitting “right next to [her] baby sister.” Shane has quite the assembly project on his hands. Happily when he is finished he can take advantage of the double cup holders and special Blackberry pocket that the Bob Revolution Dualie has to offer.
Pictures soon. I promise.
Pictures
Harper smiles in her car seat, which never happens.
Harper lounges on the Boppy.
Is the above picture Harper or Carson? Can you guess?
Carson enjoys her Curious George coloring book.
More coloring fun…
The Harper Chronicles
Harper is now 6.5 weeks old. What is she up to, you ask, and, more importantly, what does she look like? First things first…
Harper has really started smiling. She will smile for about 5 minutes before she inevitably breaks down into a fuss. But it’s a really cute smile. She also makes those cute little baby noises and kicks her arms and legs excitedly. And last night, she slept from 9:30 until 5:20. Yes, that’s right, she slept through the night. I actually had to wake her up a bit at 5:20 because I suspected we might be in for it today if she slept longer than that. And so far today, we do appear to be a bit fussy and trying to make up for lost time on the eating front. But sleeping through the night at 6.5 weeks ain’t so bad. I wish I could sleep through the night. In other news, she hates her car seat and hates being in the car. So, going places is a bit of an adventure.
I would be remiss not to send a report from Carson. Carson reports that her imagination is working overtime lately. As an example, on Monday she prepared a picnic outside her tent consisting of chicken, bagels, and pie. Said chicken, bagels, and pie were represented by diapers (clean ones, of course), a Boppy pillow, and shoes. She continues to enjoy giving everything and everyone check-ups with her doctor kit. She is excited that, as she says, after her birthday party at the jumpy place, she gets to go to the doctor (for her 3 year checkup) and start going to the preschool class (not sure if she totally gets the implications of the latter).
And soon for the pictures… I will keep you hanging for a second post on those, as duty (Harper) calls at the moment…
Harper is a month old!
Harper had her one month checkup today. She is 10 pounds, 1 ounce, and 21 inches long, making her 75th percentile for weight and 50th for height. Carson was consistently 95th percentile for both, but I need to pull out her stats and refresh myself on her size at this point. She is doing well and sometimes will sleep for up to 5 hours at a stretch at night, which is lovely. She likes her swing, but she loves her bouncy seat most of all. Carson liked her swing more than her bouncy, so go figure.
Hopefully we’ll get some new pictures up soon- as perhaps you can imagine, it’s a bit tough to find the time with two little ones and two dogs who seem determined to eat every kid toy in the house when unattended for even a second…
Harper’s first photo shoot
Go to www.ebsphotography.com/slideshows/Jones to view the images from our photo session with Elizabeth! If you’d like to order prints, click on the little cart icon and use the password b93f0391.
Enjoy!
Harper and her family
A few pictures for your enjoyment…
Carson greets her baby sister with the most precious gift– Curious George band-aids.
Harper Caroline is here!
On January 3 at 12:56 pm, we welcomed into the world Harper Caroline, measuring up at 7 pounds 12 ounces and 19.75 inches long. She has a little bit of light fuzz for hair but otherwise appears to us to look just like Carson, albeit with a bit of a smaller head. We are all doing well. Carson is very excited about being a big sister, but it’s definitely an adjustment in progress for all of us.
I’m not sure how many of you care to know the details of Harper’s birth, but I will sum up (and if you don’t want to know you can skip this part): on January 2 at my regular office visit, Harper’s heart rate showed signs of dipping and not recovering. I had fully expected that that day I would schedule an induction for the next week, then go home and continue piddling around with the various projects I had going on at the house. Not so, as I was sent straight to the hospital to be induced. The rest of the day was spent much as day 1 of Carson’s birth process was: sitting in the hospital bed unable to move around and hooked up to drugs I didn’t want. I sobbed and, when we saw that Harper’s heart rate was just fine the rest of the day, begged the doctor to let me go home. He would not. That night no progress had been made, so the drugs were pulled and I ate a great dinner (Houston’s– mmm) and went to sleep.
The next morning we started again, and there was not much sign of progress by mid-morning, at which time I finally agreed to let the doctor break my water, recalling that with C things had started moving fairly quickly after that occurred. Immediately I started having intense contractions with no space in between, and I got an epidural maybe around 11. My heart rate plummeted, and I dozed in and out through an oxygen mask while nurses swarmed around and Shane paced the floor listening to the alarm going off over and over again. Things eventually stabilized, and I was taking a nice nap when the doctor came in to check on things before he went to lunch, around 12:30. He announced, to my great surprise, that it was time to have a baby. I complained that I wanted to finish my nap (perhaps I knew it might be my last one for a while). Instead, I pushed 4 times and Harper was here. I can truly say that I did not feel a thing, and other than sitting in the hospital bed all day Friday, which was no fun, and the hour or so of intense labor I endured, the whole experience was wonderful. Nurse Nadaene was so fabulous. I wanted to take her with me over to recovery, where the nurses basically vacillate between leaving you for dead (i.e., making you call to ask for Motrin over and over again) and endlessly harassing you right when you’ve fallen asleep (someone please, please tell me why they can’t figure out how to check your vitals at the same times that they come in to check your body or belatedly give you Motrin, as it makes absolutely no sense that they do this separately). The recovery room period was so awful that I was counting the seconds until we could go home. Piedmont, which is otherwise a wonderful place, could really use some review of its recovery room processes and some training for its nurses on appropriate bedside manner.
Anyway, none of you are here to hear my ranting about the hospital– all you want is pictures and stories about little Harper. As for the stories, she is a pretty easy baby most of the time, except for the period from around 9:30 pm to 1 am, during which she tends to scream non-stop. This is hard, as I would really like to be asleep during that time. I wonder if this is what people refer to as colic, and I hope it will get better. Carson is a fabulous big sister– so sweet and gentle and full of love. She is doing really well with the whole thing– I think we’re over-compensating a bit as we want to make sure she’s happy, but I’m sure that’s normal, right? The pictures will come soon– we are having some technical difficulties but I will do my best.
Happy New Year to all!!
