Crazy, Wonderful Life!

So sorry that it has been almost 8 weeks since my last post announcing the arrival of Harper. Between settling into life as parents and not having internet at our house for a while, blogging has just not fit in!

Nick and I are adjusting to parental life fairly well! Harper has been an overall pretty good baby (of course she has her ups and downs), but a JOY all the time. Even when we resort to driving her around at 3:00 am, I still feel so blessed to have had this opportunity! The first 2 weeks were a breeze! All she did was sleep and we had food galore brought by sweet friends and neighbors and Nick had the first week off. Real life set in at week 3 which included not wanting to ever be put down, napping no more than 10 minutes at a time during the day, and general fussiness. She hated her swing, she hated her play mat, she hated her crib, she hated to be held while sitting down. The only thing that was always a winner was bouncing on my exercise ball with her! I couldn't help but laugh when I walk in the living room at 1:00am to see Nick in the living room in his boxers, watching ESPN and bouncing on my exercise ball! Even to this day, though we seem to "be out of the weeds", the ball is still our go to:)

She also LOVES bathtime!

...and going on the boat:)

Now I have to brag a little. Starting at 6 weeks Harper started sleeping 8 hours fairly consistently at night!!! It was the best thing ever! At four weeks she did her first 8 hour stretch. Of course, I got NO sleep watching the monitor and going to her room several times to see if she was breathing! After a few a few nights like that, we have become spoiled into our new sleep routine. When we occasionally have a not so restful night, I have to remind myself of the many friends with one year olds who get less sleep than we do:)

The past 2 weeks have been a lot of fun! She has started recognizing people and noticing her surroundings. She will now tolerate her swing and playmat, and will even bat at some of the toys. She will reach and grab for things within reach, her favorite of which is MY HAIR!!! The most fun thing so far though, has been the beginnings of purposeful smiles! It melts our hearts when she looks straight at you and lights up with a big smile full of gums:) They are still rare, but she is starting to figure her body out and how it interacts with her environment! It is such an amazing thing to watch:)

The dogs have adjusted well with the new addition, and we try to still give them some attention (or at least remember to feed them:). They were fairly disinterested at first, but are slowly acknowledging Harper with occasional sniffs and licks. I think they are saving most of their attention for when she walks around covered in food and can clean up her high chair:)

Here is Harper with Abby before bed.

Playing on her playmat.

I can hardly believe that Harper will be 8 weeks old tomorrow! It has flown by and I am already getting sad with every ounce she grows feeling like the next time I blink she will be heading off to college...ok, so that is a little dramatic but It does seem to fly by already! She goes to the doctor next week for a check up so I can't wait to see how much she has grown. At her two week appointment she had already grown an inch and put on a pound and a half!! (20.5 inches and 8lbs 12oz) She had her first out of town trip last weekend to Memphis to see Nick's family and some of our Memphis friends. She did great, so we are venturing on a slightly longer trip to Arkansas the weekend after next! Jenn and Kyle, my sister and brother in law, are coming in town from Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday and we get to meet our neice, Reagan Faith, for the first time. She was born two and a half weeks after Harper. It will be so much fun to have them here and spend time with another sweet baby!

This is Harper with her Big cousin Kate from trip to Memphis.

Here are a few fun "photo shoot" pictures:)

Sorry this post is so long! I will try to post more often so I don't write a novel each time! Thanks for checking in! Click here for a link to our picasa site for more pictures!
We love you!
Nick, Rachel, and Harper