Better watch out!

If you're a wrascally wrabbit, Harper's got a super fun hunting hat! We thought it was too cute (in an Elmer Fudd-ish sort of way) and spent a while giggling with her. Harper is a ton of fun these days as she has begun to play with us more!






We also had some fun playing with her new dolly (thank you Grandma W), finally - a toy that Harper is bigger than!

Enough already...

What we need is a full on snowman revolution, similar to one Dan and I saw on Starry Arbat a few years ago in Moscow.



This would be in response to all the hullabaloo around Snowzilla this past week. Follow this link to read all about it if you haven't already heard. There appears to have been some lame attempt of building many snowmen in front of Anchorage's City Hall.

If you're going to protest with a mass of snowmen, take some lessons from the Russians and do it right.

Merry Christmas & Happy Boxing Day!!

Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning to me as a parent. I got as excited about it as I did as a kid, maybe even more excited, decorating the tree and hiding and wrapping presents for Dan and Harper. When Christmas Eve arrived, I was like a little kid, singing Christmas carols and tracking Santa on the NORAD website. I was being as silly as possible to get Harper to laugh, which resulted in many silly photos and lots of giggles.

Hooray - Santa did come!

Harper's first Christmas was awesome - she got me up at 1 am to see if she could finish all the gluten free brownies we left for Santa (he forgot to eat them all so I had to). I got her to go back to sleep until 5 am, when she was hungry again, and we found another GF brownie. But she fell back asleep until 9 am, so we got a late start on opening presents (and she proceeded to sleep through the opening of all the gifts and Dan and I had to do most of the work). Santa was very good to Harper, considering she's 8 weeks old, and brought her many books and interactive toys. I am totally biased, but there was one present that trumped everything else in the world, and that was the red story book from my childhood (THANK YOU DARCI!!). My sister called to hear us open up here present, and buried inside the box at the bottom was the red book. Dan was great as he read my favorite story, The Highwayman, to Harper and me, just like my dad used to do. Great memories from my childhood came back, and I hope to make many more memories like this with Harper. We rounded out Christmas Eve with watching 'A Christmas Story', a old family tradition.

Sweet Bumbo chair from Santa


After presents, we had a wonderful dinner with friends who were also without extended family. We had a deep fried turkey, and in true Irish style, cooked carrots, parsnips, boiled potatoes, stuffing (GF and regular), and ham. Dessert included two non-GF items (including plum pudding that arrived on the table in flames) and Byrd's custard for me, which was fabulous!! It was great food, great company and a great baby girl who was super-well behaved! We are really looking forward to next Christmas!

New Christmas Dress from Grandma


Awesome Christmas hat from Auntie Darci & fun in the swing & Bumbo



Christmas fussies


Napping with Dad

Did you hear? Santa's comin' to town!

So happy!!

First Time for Everything

Even though the next year will be full of 'firsts' for Harper, it's been amazing to me how many she's had these past two weeks.

First ski at nearby Hillside.



First 'jog' around the neighborhood, it was a gorgeous, clear sunny winter day and 12 degrees F! (I say 'jog' because one could argue that due to my extremely slow pace, I was not actually running, but it sure felt like it to me!).



First bonfire (see previous post), to be followed by her second this coming weekend. First sleep for 6 hours during the night was last week (my favorite!!), but alas, it was not to be since then.



Her first play date with friend Jada (3 months) at Snow City Cafe was great fun for me to get out of the house.

First decoration of the Christmas tree/house & first singing of the Chipmunks Christmas album (she told us that she wants her two front teeth and a hula hoop).



We worked her so hard she fell asleep and wound up back in the stocking.



First Santa Day at BP, although we didn't actually see the big man (due to the horrendously long line and an impatient mother), we did see Harper's name on the 'good' kids list, so she's expecting Santa to deliver the goods this year.



First time we left her with a babysitter while we attended a Christmas party - slightly heartbreaking for us, but she didn't seem to mind!

First video conference - yes, this one was quite unexpected, but I stopped by the office and our team located in Arcadia, CA wanted to see her. First moose sighting - well okay, maybe Harper didn't see the moose but I sure did! No photo since it was 3 am and I was trying to get Harper back to sleep by walking her around the house, and I happened to see the moose staring right at us from our living room window - just a couple feet away - with his beady huge eyes! It sure freaked me out and I was glad Harper was awake to keep me company until my nerves calmed down!

and last but not least...

Harper's first SMILE!!! Truly, this one was not gas. She had smiled a few times before and I wasn't sure if it was gas or not, but this one was a true smile while we were playing with Harper's new activity gym. My heart melted - and I still get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I look at this picture or think of her toothless grin. What a darling girl we have been blessed with!!!



And, a smile that was probably just gas

Sub-zero

This past weekend brought the first subzero temperatures to Anchorage this winter, so what better time to try out all the winter baby gear? Dan wanted to burn the wood he was storing in the garage so that he could finally park his truck back in the 'heat', hence shaving a good ten minutes off his morning routine, now that he doesn't have to warm up the truck before work. Some of the cedar that we took out of the house this summer went up in smoke, but provided a wonderful smelling fire to keep warm by. Harper's first bonfire was baby sized and a success, she seemed to like being outside.

On a bender

As I sit back and take in the scene before me, I wonder what the heck just happened. Can a one month old really binge drink milk? It was utter mayhem, and now bottles and Medela parts are everywhere, and my emotions severely bruised after not being able to console Harper in her first real, true fussy bout.



Could this sweet little sleeping angel lying next to me really have just screamed for the past five hours straight? Yes. Yes she did. But it is over, and we both seem to have survived, even if I'm a little worse for the wear.



And all this happened after not sleeping last night as well...I'm half tempted to try and keep her awake as long as possible today but something tells me to join her in a nap instead. Now I have a total different respect for all mothers in this world - especially those with fussy babies!!

Harper is still the sweetest little being I have ever seen though, crying fussies and all. She is getting to be more and more fun every day - making better eye contact and tracking Dan or me as we walk around the house. We have been having fun playing with a couple stuffed animals and Harper - she loves the chimpanzee and even is giving him a high five!



We took our first family walk in ~20 deg F last night around the neighborhood. Harper rode in style in the Chariot and Dan walked el Guapo. It was so great to get out of the house and test out our new gear (Chariot).

Happy Thanksgiving!

We have so much to be thankful for this year, most of all our little girl. These last three weeks have been wonderful even though we are both sleep deprived. I'm thankful Dan has the next four days off of work! I'm pretty sure he is thankful that I get up all night with Harper when she's fussy and try to let him sleep (although I know he wakes up and hears us!).


Harper with mom in her Thanksgiving dress


Harper with dad




Harper is doing fabulous, gaining weight like a champ and eating pretty regularly. She is making some great faces at us, our favorite is the Zoolander-esque 'Blue Steel' (see below):



We had a great visit with my mom, although she left way too soon and I was on my own with Harper for a couple days while Dan worked. It was a great visit & we can't wait for her to come back soon. We are looking forward to our Hawaiian vacation in January with Grandma Willman (and hopefully with Grandma Daugherty too!)

Two Weeks Old!

Reinforcements have arrived! Grandma showed up late last week to help out with Harper and it has been wonderful having her around to hold and play with Harper. Today was bath day and we gave Harper her first bath - it was a great experience and I'm happy to report that Harper seems to enjoy the water as much as her mom does!





Harper enjoyed her first infant massage too, post bath.


Cute photo of Harper and her new best pal Chimpanzee!

One Week Old - lots of cuddles!

One thing I love about having a baby in November in Alaska is all of the cuddle time we have! el Guapo is being a good big brother so far - he is always looking on and when Harper sneezes he comes over to her to make sure she's okay, just like he does with me and Dan.



Harper has made it through her first week with us - it has been such a joy to share our home with the little angel! Tiring of course, she needs to be woken up every two hours for feeding, but hopefully we'll be on a 3 or 4 hour schedule shortly once she gains some more weight. We have a pretty strict regimen to keep Harper gaining weight - breastfeed for 20 minutes and then feed her breast milk by syringe for 10 - 15 min, and then pump more breast milk. I feel like a food machine!

As you can see from all the photos, Dan has been in charge of the camera, but one of these days I will get a hold of it and get him in one of these! My first attempt is below:



Photos of Harper and her belly cast:

Day 4

Harper has been a with us for just a few days now, and we're having difficulty remembering what we were doing last week. She's been highly entertaining, even though she mostly is a lump at this point. We're finding the hours are passing too quickly as we are engrossed by her engaging eyes, long fingers, and wrinkly feet! Holly and I spend our conversations debating whether her shrieks sound more like a teradactyl or a velociraptor and Guap just watches with curiosity from his bed. So far her best skill has been perfecting the Zidane, directly headbutting Holly's sternum- looks like we might have a soccer player on our hands.

Here's some photos!


Bundled up and wondering what's next-


Kinder interactions with mom-


Here's my view of Harper in her sling while Holly gets a well deserved nap-

Time to Vote

We took Harper for her first trip to the polls today - it was about all the movement I could handle but I think Harper had fun getting fresh air and seeing the sun. She is modeling her 'polar bear' outfit in her car seat.


More photos from her first 48 hours: