One Month Old

Weeks 1-4

Is Harper really a month old today?! It's hard to believe! It's exciting but sad at the same time to watch her grow into the sweet girl she is. We love her SO much and wouldn't know what to do without her! We have done so much this past month and I can't wait to see what next month has in store. We love you Harper!!

At a month old....

 *Still wearing your newborn clothes (I think you will still be wearing these for a few more weeks)

*Still in newborn diapers 

*You eat 3.5 ounces every 3 hours during the day (when you were born you went from 1 ounce to 3 ounces in a matter of a week or so. We thought you were going to be a big eater but you have kept around 3-3.5 ounces for 2.5 weeks or so)

*You love for us to hold you and just walk around! You just look and look!

*You seem to be a good sleeper:) Momma LOVES this!! You sleep 3-4 hours at a time...wake around 1ish and 4-5ish. We try to follow a schedule and that has helped so much!!

*You went on your first walk March 10 and your second walk the next day:) Of course you slept!

*You don't mind bath time

*1 week follow up you weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces

*2 week follow up you weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces (mom and dad took bets on your weight and momma was right on!)

*We went on our first adventure to the mall, Texas Roadhouse, Target and to see one of your new friends Alayna Claire that was born last week-end! I think I over booked us. lol. You did GREAT but we were so tired when we got home. 

* You went to church the first time on March 16th and slept the entire time.

*You don't like to get dressed....when we change your clothes you just scream. We try to go fast!

*You love to smile after you get done eating! It's the sweetest!

* You got to go to your shower on March 15th

One Week Old

Two Weeks Old

One Month Old

Stretch

Harper's Shower

Last weekend we had Harper's shower! I was so looking forward to it and everyone being able to meet her! It was a lot of work and this momma was tired afterwards but I loved every minute of it! Jarod brought Harper towards the middle of the shower so she could sleep and eat before coming. But, she still slept majority of the time. Party popper. lol. She stole the spotlight when she arrived and was eating it up;) 

My world 

Num 

With my sweet girl:)

I love it:)

One of the centerpieces I made. Most of the decorations I made during our "wait". It helped pass the time and anything crafty I LOVE doing!

Some of the gifts

With one of my best friends!

My sister-in-laws

Eat time!

Some of my good friends from high school and college

My parents or g-ma and g-pa:)

The aftermath! It was so fun going through everything! Harper sure did get spoiled with this shower! I had been looking forward towards this day and it went by way too fast. It was so much fun though...and a little tiring with a newborn. But wouldn't trade a thing in the world for all that has started with our little girl:)



We are a family of THREE

I have a BIG announcement!!! We are a family of THREE (plus Khloe:)) Now!!!!!!!

We have a little GIRL!!

We can't believe it!

Harper was born a couple weeks ago and we are beyond excited!!!!

We have been getting settled pretty well and adjusting just fine to being mommy and daddy these past couple weeks:) Harper is such a sweetheart and we just LOVE her to pieces! You will be seeing LOTS of pictures! Be prepared! 

Our prayers have been answered and our dreams have come true. She weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. She is perfect and the most beautiful little girl!

I would have posted sooner but I debated back and forth quite a bit about staying public or going private. For now I decided to keep my blog public but I won't put a ton of details on here until a couple months later. I won't be shy on the pictures though:)


At the hospital

Our neighbors put balloons out to welcome our little girl:)

Our first family photo

Melts my heart

So little and precious

We got everyone to smile:)

Khloe meeting Harper

A Grand Journey is About to Begin!!
                                          -winnie the pooh



Thanks to all that have prayed for us and kept us in your thoughts!!!

Prayers Answered

I have been debating on when I wanted to post this. But, I can't hold back the excitement any longer! A birth mother chose US!!!!!! We have known for a few weeks now after our agency gave us "the call". I will never ever forget that moment. I always wondered what it would feel like it and words can't describe! I have felt such a weight lifted after so many years of trying, hoping and praying for a child. I'm not going to go into any detail but everything feels like it is meant to be. I keep thanking God everyday and always will for this gift and opportunity. No papers have been signed because the baby isn't born yet but the birth mother that chose us is AMAZING and everything I had prayed for in a birth mother. Almost too good to be true. I'm not going to say when the due date is just because of my blog being public and for the protection of everyone. I do know we are on cloud nine though:) He/she is going to receive an abundance of love! Love we have been wanting to give a child for so long! I hope everything continues to go so well.

Weekends

The past couple weekends we have been able to go skating, celebrate Jarod's 33rd Birthday and one of my best friends had her baby shower! She had a gender reveal shower and we found out she is having a GIRL! Yay! Except all of us girls thought she was having a boy. We thought we were 99% positive. I guess that is why we don't bet. lol

First time skating in over 10 years!!

Family skating! 

Grandpa skaters of the group. lol

So sweet

The guys

Best friends

Love surprising him!!! New binoculars for hunting:)

Mini Kitchen Remodel

Who follows pinterest?

Well, that is where part of our kitchen remodel idea came from. I can't take all the credit;)

I always thought our kitchen cabinets and the ceiling had a huge gap between them. I love our nine inch ceilings but always wished our cabinets were made taller. I came across another kitchen remodel where they added an extra 9 inches of wood on top of the top cabinets. It made a difference and didn't cost as much as othere projects! I thought about it for a long time and decided I wanted to go for it! Hubby was on board and after months of dealing with a cabinet shop that frustrated me and made me want to just forget about it we finally got it done!

We also added bead boarding around the island because I always thought it needed a little extra than the plain wood and added on a little bar. The bar is my favorite part and I just LOVE the wood top!!! And, a new coat of paint can make a worlds diffence. LOVE this color! It is from Sherwin Williams and is called Silvermist.  

Here are some before and after pictures!!

After

View of the entire kitchen from the family room

Love this tile with our countertop. Now I want to take down the plain white tile backsplash we had and add this. There is always something, right?! lol

Before

In the next couple weeks I will have pictures of the NURSERY!!! I have part of it done but I still want to add a few more things! It doesn't seem real that we are actually getting a nursery ready because we have wanted and dreamed for this for so long and now we are actually getting one ready!! Makes me so happy!

Not Just Blogger World Anymore

We have told lots of people about us adopting and many know but we finally made it public!

And, Facebook official. lol

This is the picture we posted to announce that we are on the adoption waiting list! 

We took this picture in our future babies room with the crib we put up a few weeks weeks ago:) I buy things here and there and just ordered our glider chair last week. I think we have all of the big pieces of furniture now. Last week we went to Evansville and I told Jarod I wanted to go in Babies R Us to look at strollers and car seats. I narrowed it down to 2 strollers and carseats!

I really liked the Graco Modes Click Connect Stroller because of it's many options and the Baby Jogger City Mini Stroller because it was so light and you can fold it with one hand. I have reviewed them and both received good ratings but I wanted to test them out. I thought trying them out in person would help me decide...nope. And, Jarod was like whatever you decide on. He wasn't much help. ha.

 And, I like the Graco Snugride Car Seat and Chicco Keyfit Car Seat! Any recommendations?? I think with any of these we won't go wrong.

Is there anything that you other mommas recommend we get/look into??