Monday, February 29, 2016

Hard Workin Weekend

This sweet little lady was working hard with some new tricks she decided to show off


Aside from blowing endless amounts of the most adorable raspberries, rolling onto her side and moving 180 degrees on the floor, her biggest trick is....



And of course Madden added in a cute little booty shake at the end!
I love his excitement at her new skills :)


Happy Leap Day! 

Monday, February 15, 2016

My Little Love Bugs

Happy Valentine's Day!!


This little Valentine made Monster Love cupcakes for this daycare party.
He did an awesome job helping decorate them (and eating the extra frosting/candies!). He was so pumped about this treat at drop off and made all the kids come upstairs to see his cupcakes. 
I spy a little hand trying to steal a cupcake ;)

He just loves her!!
He didn't even know I was watching him which I love even more. 

These two just melt my heart!!


And of course the holiday is not complete without a Valentines photo shoot!
They are even more fun with a girl and all the accessories!
Here's a flashback to MJ's photo shoot from his first Valentine's Day 


Saturday, February 13, 2016

Babe Comparison

I love comparing their pictures to remember what Madden looked like at Harper's age and to see what similarities and difference they have at each stage. Time for some baby overload!

Madden is on the Left and Harper is on the Right

The first picture is some fresh new baby, each at the hospital within their first 24 hours old (or less)
The bottom pictures are them each at around 2 weeks sleeping in the pack-n-play bassinet in our bedroom. Sleeping the exact same way.  

 Madden at 4 weeks and Harper at 2 weeks. 

 Gotta love that pouty lip!! haha They both started perfecting it by 2 months old. 

 If I remember right Madden was always a little unsure about baths but Harper seems to love them.

Here we are at 3 months old! 
Clearly MJ was unimpressed with our monthly photo shoots, HR is a little more cooperative. I can't believe how much more hair MJ had at this time compared to Harper. Her hair was so much darker and longer when she was a newborn, she has lost a lot of it. 

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Harper Three Months

This little lady is THREE months old!


Age: Three Months Old

Weight: At two month appt was 11 lbs 4.5 oz, currently in the 63 percentile 

Length: At two month appt was 22 3/4 inches long, currently in the 64 percentile

Size: She is currently filling out all her 3 months clothes and pajamas pretty nicely. She fits perfectly in them right now which means they won’t be fitting her too much longer. We have a couple 3-6 month pjs in the mix but they are a bit big.  Size 1 diapers but those I see moving up from too very 
soon.

Hair: She has lost a ton of hair compared to when she was a newborn! I didn’t realize the difference until just recently comparing picture, it’s so sad. But she still has some at least, its thinned out and lighted up.  It is a light/medium brown and she has a beautiful bald spot/halo going on around the back of her head. Dave tries to blame it on the all the bows but it’s in the middle of her head and they go much lower. He just doesn’t understand accessories! I still see come waves forming right around that bald spot when her hair is wet or after sleeping.

Eyes: Blue is coming through!

Health: Her cough that she’s had seems to have disappeared and the cold I thought that might have been brewing, thankfully never amounted to anything. She just started daycare this past week so I’m sure her first cold will be coming soon unfortunately, darn germs.

Teeth: Nothing yet.
  
Sleeping: Little lady is still a cat napper BUT her night time sleep has been amazing!! She definitely prefers to catnap throughout the day and of course typically always wakes up as soon as put her down. Occasionally we will get a nap longer than 20-30 minutes. I have found she loves a head blanket, meaning snuggling with a small blankie against or over her face to help block out the world. She will take longer naps if she has one. I only will do that if she sleeps in her bouncer where I can see her moving at all times. Madden was the same way! This month she has definitely gotten her night sleeping down much better. Typically bedtime was 8pm but have been moving it up since going back to work. We now start our bedtime ritual around 7pm. She is getting better feeding at this time, sometimes will still fight eating but really had calmed down during eating unless she is extremely overly tired. It usually takes about a half hour to an hour before she is finally out for the count, one of us usually have to go back in her room 2 or 3 times to bounce her and put her back in her crib. She usually only gets up ONCE (everyone once a while twice) a night now and sleeps until I wake her at 6:40am – ish. She loves to sleep in. On weekends she will sleep till 9-9:30am!! Over the past week and half there have been 5 nights she has slept the ENTIRE night through, 10-12 hours straight!!! The first couple times I still woke up and ended getting up to pump. But since back at work I try to get in a workout before work so I get up at 4:50am and pump a little before my workout.

Eating: Her first week to daycare and she decided to start the week off refusing to eat from a bottle! The first two days Rachel struggled to get her to drink 3 ounces all day. On Monday she finally drank an additional 3 ounces at 4:30pm and on Tuesday it took her till 3:30pm. Then finally on Wednesday she must have given in and took down two bottles no problem. Typically Harper has been eating about every 3-4 hours during the day. Her night time feeding at bedtime has gotten a bit easier just the past week or so.



Movement: She’s got some good head control going on and actually puts a lot of weight on her legs when I stand her up. She is starting to wiggle around when laying down that she’s not always in the same spot I put her down. She’s moved an entire 90 degree angle on the floor and just lately I have started finding her against the crib rails after putting her in the middle of her bed. And she just started pushing herself up more during tummy time.

Milestones: Finding her hands and eating/sucking them. Sleeping through the night! Moving around on the floor and pushing up during tummy time. Staying awake in the car AND being context.


Favorite Toys/Activities: Her bouncer, eating her hands, sticking her tongue out, baths, watching TV (particularly Bravo), blowing spit bubbles, being held, watching her brother, and diaper changes.  
Dislikes: Being alone, she really prefers to have people close by and paying attention to her but is getting more and more content. Naps, she loves fighting naps and catnapping throughout the day.  

Words: N/A

Sounds: Squawks, cries, cooing and "talking" to people



Favorite Moments

  • Madden was super excited to have Harper FINALLY start daycare with him! He was in charge of showing her Rachel’s house, making sure to help when she cries, get diapers when she needs to be changed, remembering to play with her, showing her all the toys, and having her meet all his friends. He took his job very seriously and was very adamant about showing her all the toys and play room as soon as I dropped them off and was yelling at Rachel to “bring my baby down here” while other parents were dropping off. 

  • Of course my favorite moment is Harper sleeping through the night!! The first couple times I still woke up at 3 or 4am to check on her and pump. But I am super proud of her for giving me a couple nights break and would love for her to keep it up although only having to get up once  night with her is still okay at only 3 months old. It typically doesn't take her very long to fall back to sleep and I am able to put her down in her crib without her waking. This is the only time that if she does wake up a little when I put her down that she usually makes some noise but will fall back to sleep on her own. That is the main problem we have with naps that as soon as she is set down she wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep on her own. We're working on it!

Monthly Highlights
  • Starting daycare!
  • Occasionally will take a 3-4 hour afternoon nap
  • Sleeping through the night a handful of times
  • Spent the evening with Grandma and Grandpa Gorsh while Mommy and Madden had a date to the movies
  • Daddy had both kids by himself for the first time (for only 3 hours)
  • Started refusing to take a bottle
  • Took a 3 hour nap at daycare one afternoon
  • Went to Happy Joe’s Jungle Bungle for a lunch date with Grandma and Grandpa Dexter
  • Found her hands and loves sucking them
  • Started perfecting her lip out and quiver
  • Stays awake and content in her car seat on the way to daycare each morning
  • Went to Monkey Joe's for a daycare playdate and got to meet all her future friends. 
  • Still breastfeeding


Wednesday, February 3, 2016

21 Day Fix Week 3

Week 3 and it's Doubles Week!!

So week 3 has the option to get two workouts in each day for an extra fat burner or more dramatic results. The majority of everyone in our wellness group was on board for it and I was too! Ideally your suppose to them at different times of the day since you continue to burn calories for several more hours after your workout. But life happens as sometimes in order to get them both in you just have to do them back to back. I failed day days to get my workouts in but was able to complete doubles on the other 5 days I did get my workouts in.  


This week I actually tried getting up earlier and earlier each day in anticipation of returning to work next week. It was definitely a bit tougher getting two workouts in a day. Friday (Day 19) I had the best of intentions to get my workouts in, I was up at 5:30am but just as I was getting dressed I hear a little voice yelling "Mommy mommy, come cuddle me!" How many more times is he gonna want me to cuddle him or will I have time in the morning, so I cuddle him...and we fall back to sleep. Then Dave's uncle make an unexpected trip to town and took us out to eat. Then daycare had play date at Monkey Joe's for all the kiddos and we picked up ice cream on the way home. Friday was a bust. But I didn't let it get me down and started over on Saturday. 


One of the new recipes I tried out this week was Turkey Chili found here. The last time I used ground turkey Dave said whatever it is I had made tasted funny and he didn't like it (which is his feeling about almost anything remotely healthy!) so I made sure to not tell him and actually hid the package from his eyes. When I asked him how it was, he said it was okay but then proceeded to go back for another bowl so I call that a win! I thought it was really good and even added a yellow container of sweet potatoes to my bowl just because I needed another carb for the day and that was even more delicious. It was also toddler approved :) 

Turkey Chili, Lean ground beef, whole wheat spaghetti with cottage cheese and parm: tuna wrap on flat out with spinach and avocado dressing and side grapes; and an omelette with sweet potato and turkey bacon. 

My Results:
I took all my great "before" pictures on my actual camera which I barely use currently so now i get stuck using sweaty unshowered before and after pics.  


I decided to wear the same clothes to be able to compare better. At first glance I really didn't think I could notice much of a different but upon closer look I CAN tell in my tummy, butt and chest. 

After just 21 days I lost a total of 5.8 pounds and lost a combined 4.45 inches!!
I am pretty darn happy with my results in just 3 short weeks.

My coach started another wellness group challenge for the month of February which started on the 1st and I decided to join in for Round 2. I figured it would be great motivation to keep going through what could be a tough week returning to work. I see myself making too many excuses to not get up early workout, say I'll go to the gym over my lunch break but not go,  order lunch with my coworkers, or not prep any lunches because I'm "too busy" or "too tired". Being in another group challenge will help keep me accountable for my workouts and healthy eating, plus I really want to start fitting into some of my non-maternity pants!!!