Santa's Helpers

Happy Holidays from the Whittleseys!

As we prepare for Christmas, our house is full of holiday cheer. Grady has been supervising all of the wrapping

and Harper has been being extra adorable!

2 Months Old

Harper celebrated turning 2 months old this week. In honor of her milestone, we visited Dr. Peterson for a well visit check up. Harper is up to 11 lb, 2 oz and 23" long - which puts her in the 60 percentile for weight and 76 percentile for height. She eats approximately 4 ounces every three hours and her cheeks are becoming quite chubby! Dr. Peterson was pleased with her growth and said she was a beautiful little girl (Yup, doc, we agree!). At the end of the appoinment, Harper recieved three shots as a present. Although the nurse did an excellent job, Harper wasn't a fan of the shots and demonstrated her vocal ability to let the entire building know that it hurt. Poor kiddo. That evening, we snuggled and she took a nap on both Ross and myself before bathtime (one of her favorite things).

Silent Night

In the last few days, Harper has figured out that she should sleep at night. Previously she was a night owl - often staying up until past midnight. She was often overtired and cranky so getting her down at night was tiring for us. However, just this week, she decided that 8 pm is a good bedtime. Ross and I are loving the change in schedule - and that there is a schedule! We have also discovered what happens if you try to change her nap schedule - you get a very cranky baby!

Alice in Wonderland

We read to Harper as part of her bedtime routine. We started out with some of the books she recieved as gifts. However, recently Ross has reading her Alice in Wonderland. Everynight he sits down with her and reads a chapter of the story. It's a nice way to unwind for Ross and Harper loves hearing her dad's voice. Ross found an application on his phone with some classic stories so he has been using it to read her the book - ahhh, technology! No matter where the book is coming from, storytime has become one of the best times of the night.

Salt Dough Ornaments

On Sunday night we got a little crafty and made salt dough ornaments. We hoped to get some good hand and footprints from Harper to hang on the tree. I have to admit it's a little challenging to press an infants foot into the dough. It's even more challenging to get them to open their hand before pressing it down! We had fun trying and did get a few good ornaments to hang!

Daddy's Helper

One of Ross's hobbies is brewing beer. He has been brewing for a few years now and likes trying new recipes. Last weekend he started working on a New Castle clone . While the brew was simmering, he grabbed Harper and proceeded to educate her on the brewing process. Although she might not be able to recall helping him brew this batch, it will be a fun memory for Ross.

Cousins

Harper and I went to visit Stephanie and Reid this week. It was great to see Steph is doing well and Reid is flourishing. His color is amazing and he is very alert. He was constantly looking around the room and cooing. It was shocking for me to see how big Harper was in comparison to Reid. Both kids were 8 lbs 2 oz when they were born and Reid was 3/4" longer than Harper. While Ross and I thought Harper had been growing quickly, it was surprising to see how BIG she seemed when laid next to Reid. Although the kids didn't seem to notice one another, it was fun to get them together for their first play date.

A Weekend of Firsts

This weekend Harper had her first babysitter and attended her first wedding! On Friday, Ross and I attended my company's holiday party. We had a nice time - it was refreshing to get out of the house and have adult conversation. And, of course, it was fun to catch up with my coworkers. Harper was lucky enough to have Aunt Emilie come over to watch her. Kirk and Linda also stopped by for a quick visit. Harper was well behaved for Emilie so we hope she will be willing to babysit her again!

The next evening, we attended Karl and Heather Stoa's wedding as a family. We were pretty brave (or stupid) to bring a 6 week old baby to a wedding! Harper did awesome - she didn't make a peep during the ceremony and was a happy baby during the reception. Ross commented that he felt like a celebrity because people kept turning around to stare at Harper and were constantly coming over to take a closer look.

"Fixing It"

When Harper gets fussy, she can be hard to please. Typically she is just overtired, hungry or in a little pain from acid reflux. Sometimes just changing how she is being held will satisify her...other times she is more difficult to please. For those situations, we use the Fix It Walk. The Fix It Walk (which was named by Grandma Judy) is simply walking very quickly through the house. Harper seems to think that we are hurrying to fix whatever problem she has....and will immediately calm down!

Relief

Harper has been having a rough time lately. She hasn't been sleeping well and would fuss and scream when awake. No matter how much we tried to console her, Harper would cry for hours. We would walk, bounce, pat her bottom and rub her back. We would rock in the chair and "shhhh." We would offer the binky or the bottle. However, nothing seemed to make her feel better. Sometimes she just seemed fussy and overtired - other times her screams sounded like she was in pain. So, back to the doctor! (We've been there almost every week.)

Dr. Peterson listened to our description of Harper's behavior and looked her over. Of course, Harper was an angel at the doctor's office - the happiest baby in the world! Dr. Peterson wasn't fooled by her cheery disposition and diagnosed her with silent reflux and prescribed ranitidine (Zantac). After just one day, Harper's attitude improved. After a few days of taking the medicine, she is like a brand new baby - happy and content! She is already sleeping better and we hardly see any tears now! It's wonderful to know she is feeling better.

Thanksgiving 2011

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Ross's family in Humboldt this year. We first visited Grandpa Kirk and Grandma Linda's house. The visit was extra special because Ross's grandparents, Joyce and Don, were visiting from Arkansas. They had driven up with Ross's uncle, Dave, and his wife, Yvette. Linda made a delicious meal and it was wonderful to see Ross's grandparents. Everyone was excited to meet Harper and she spent the day being held and loved up by family. Afterwards, we spent a few hours visiting Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Dennis where Harper was loved up even more! She's a very lucky little girl to have so many people who adore her!

Welcome, Reid!

Reid Hamlin Harper arrived on November 22nd (11/22/11). Reid was 8 pounds, 2 ounces and 21" long. Dave, Steph, Abby and Sydney were so excited for their new addition. Reid spent a few days in the NICU, but is healthy and happy now that he is home with his mom and dad! Harper is lucky to have a cousin the same age - I'm sure they will be great friends! Welcome, Reid!

One Month Old!

Harper is already one month old! On November 19th, Harper celebrated her 1 month birthday.

Harper celebrated her birthday by doing things she loved - eating, playing and sleeping! She normally eats around 3 - 4 ounces every three hours. She loves dancing with mom and dad - she is partically fond of Christmas music and enjoys it when we sing while we sway with her. She has gotten quite strong - she kicks and punches the air. Her neck control has gotten much better and she will look around the room. She has begun seeing better and enjoys watching the mobile on her swing. Sleeping at night is still a challenge - but she is starting to realize that it's more fun to be awake during the day. Our little pumpkin couldn't be sweeter!

Our Little Model

Harper had her first photo session with our friend Missie from ML Photography. Missie takes amazing photos so we were very excited to have her photograph Harper. We spent a few hours at Missie's studio. It was interesting to watch her work - each shot took around twenty minutes to set up. She had a space heater and a white noice machine to help keep Harper comfortable and sleepy. She would slowly pose her body for each shot. It takes a lot of patience to pose newborns! She got a lot of fabulous photos. Here are a few of our favorites.

It only comes once a year...

It's that magical time of the year - for a brief period of time the McRib is back at McDonalds! Ross, who practically lived off McDonalds food for a few years, recently disclosed that he had never eaten a McRib. So, of course, I wanted to be there to witness his first bite of the famous sandwich. Ross rated the sandwich around a 5.5 (on a 10 point scale). His inital reaction that it was good, but not great. It reminded him of  the "Mister Rib" sandwich from elementery school. While he is happy he tried the famous McRib, he won't be rushing back for seconds anytime soon.

Acceptance

Harper has been home for three weeks now. It’s been an exciting period of time for our entire family. Our cat, Grady, is often slow at accepting change. He hung out in the basement for a month when we brought Riley home. He disliked most of our foster dogs and would only interact with them if they got too close (meaning he would slap their face and hiss!). He is very social around us – he hangs out with us in the evenings and can hold a decent conversation. He is quite vocal and will talk back to us. But, anyone who has visited our house knows that he is very shy and will often hide from new people. Grady is especially shy around children – they are too loud for him. He will hide behind the furnace until they are gone. Since we knew Grady was so shy, we were curious about how he would react about us bringing home a baby.

Grady was pretty low key for the first few days. He would walk through the room, but wouldn’t stop to hang out with us. For the most part Grady stayed in the basement (where it was safe and quiet.) He even stopped sleeping on our bed for the first two weeks.  Eventually he came back upstairs and decided it was time to check out the new addition to the family. He has sniffed at her a few times and decided that Harper is harmless. He now enjoys spending time rolling around her rug and enjoying the soothing sounds of the white noise machine. Although she might be a little loud at times and interrupt his sleep, but he has accepted that Harper is here to stay.

3 Weeks Old

Harper had a check up again this week. She had been having some difficulties gaining weight, so we have been to her doctor every week for a weight check. Harper was 8 lbs 2 oz when she was born and 7 lbs 4 oz when we left the hospital two days later. We visited her doctor, Dr. Amy Peterson, a few days later to weigh her and she was back up to 7 lbs 14 oz. However, over a week later, Harper was only up another few ounces - weighing exactly 8 lbs. So, Dr. Peterson, asked us to come back again in a week for another weight check.

Harper and I worked really hard at eating over the next week. Harper even put herself on a 3 hour schedule. This schedule helped her gain some much needed weight. The schedule was tough on me and Ross - sleeping for an hour or two at a time doesn't leave a person well rested! But, all the sleepless nights and big meals paid off - Harper weighed in at 8 lb 15 oz at her next check up! The goal for newborns is an ounce a day - so gaining 15 ounces is a week is awesome. Ross and I were super excited that she was back where she needed to be in regards to weight. She isn't the plumpest baby (yet!), but she is in the 57% for weight now! Now that we figured out what she needs, I predict lots of growth in the coming weeks! 

Diaper Talk

People always say that once you have a baby that all you talk about is poop. I wouldn't say that it's the ONLY thing we discuss at our house - but, yes, some conversations do revolve around what is in Harper's diapers. Miss Harper is talented at using multiple diapers during a changing. The record is 4 diaper diapers in a single changing! Before she arrived I thought we had a lifetime supply of diapers. We had tons of newborn diapers from Ross's Diaper Party - "way too many to ever use" I thought. Ha! In the two weeks she has been home, we've gone through 90% of them. And most of a giant box of wipes. It turns out that infants use way more of these supplies than we ever thought - lesson learned!

Being a Big Sister is Tough

Riley has been our baby for the last 5 years. Although she has been around our nieces and nephews, we were a little nervous about how Riley would handle having a little sister. To our delight, she has adapted to the situation better than we expected!

Emilie, Ross and the neighbor had taken turns checking on Riley during our two-night hospital stay. After being locked in the house alone for so long, Riley was very excited when we returned home. In addition to greeting us, Riley got to meet her baby sister. She was extremely interested about who was inside the car seat. Although she was very excited, Riley did a nice job of greeting her new sister and kept her kisses to a minimum. (If you know Riley, you know that’s hard for her to do!)

Once we got settled in, Riley began her Big Sister duties. She found out that having a baby is a lot of work! Riley has been present for all of the feedings and diaper changes. She gets up with me in the middle of the night and will sit with us until the feeding is finished. She looks worried when Harper becomes fussy and will oversee the situation when she hangs out in her bouncy seat. By the end of the day, she is exhausted!  

Coming Home!

We came home from the hospital on Friday, October 22^nd. We had a great stay at the hospital – the nursing staff was very friendly and helpful. We met with Anne, the lactation specialist, four times during our stay. She helped teach Harper the basics of eating (opening wide, latching, etc) and provided me guidance on the best positions for holding her and keeping her awake during nursing. Even with all Anne’s hard work, Harper was down to 7 pounds, 4 ounces by Friday morning – not too bad considering how much we both learned during that time!
 

We had lots of visitors during our brief hospital stay – Grandma Judy and Buppa, Grammy Ruth, Uncle Dave, Aunt Steph and her cousin Sydney. Our friends Seth and Amber and the Deacon from church also stopped out to meet her! Harper is very popular for being so little and new!

We arrived home shortly after noon on Friday. Ross was a cautious driver on the way home – no speed limits were reached during the trip! We were greeted by Riley who was very anxious to have her parent’s home and meet her new sister. It’s great to have our family home!

Harper Olivia

Harper Olivia Whittlesey has arrived! Harper made her big entrance on October 19, 2011 at 2:58 p.m. She weight 8 lbs, 2 ounces and was 20-1/4”.

I began having contractions around 10 PM on Tuesday night. At first I thought they were nothing more than Braxton Hicks, but by 1 AM, I was pretty sure that they were the real deal. Since I couldn’t sleep, I did some laundry, showered and slowly got ready for the big day. Riley seemed aware that something big was about to happen and followed me around all night.  At 4, I woke up Ross to help time my contractions and finish packing our bags for the hospital. We checked into the hospital around 6:30 on Wednesday, October 19th. I was dilated to 5 cm and contractions averaged a little over 5 minutes apart. We walked in circles on the delivery floor and excitedly talked about how our family was going to grow in the next few hours. I got my epidural around 9 am - which made me much more comfortable! Dr. Dassanayake, also kown as Dr. T, came in to break my water and found  meconium so they knew they would have to be extra diligent checking Harper over when she was born.  To pass the time, Ross and I watched a movie and napped. By eleven, I was still at 5 cm so the nurse started me on pitocin to help speed up the process. The medicine began working  and shortly after 2 pm the nurse started to prepare me to start pushing. After a few practice pushes with the nurse, the top of Harper’s head was visible so the doctor was called in. Ross and the nurse held my legs and coached me along. A few short pushes later, Harper arrived! Ross cut the umbilical cord while the doctor and nurses were cleaning her up. They checked her over in the room and she was held briefly by both of us. Then she was whisked off to the nursery (with her daddy!) to finish  checking her over and to make sure the meconium didn’t causing any complications – luckily, she was just fine! Harper is perfect – beautiful, healthy and happy. And, most of all, LOVED!           

  

Mom's Birthday Party!

My mom, Judy, has a big birthday this year – she is turning 60 later this month! Because of Harper’s approaching due date, we had an early birthday celebration for her in Iowa Falls. Renee and Joe graciously opened up their new home for the party. Joe smoked a pork shoulder and a turkey and the rest of us brought delicious sides – it was a feast! After we’d all had our fill, we rode the Scenic City Empress, a double-decker boat. This was the first time on the boat for all of us. It was a perfect fall day for a boat ride – the sky was clear and sunny. The fall colors were gorgeous making it a memorable ride for everyone. We finished the day up with cake, ice cream and presents back at Renee’s. It was an awesome way to celebrate Mom’s milestone birthday!  

Three Weeks - The Countdown Begins!

Our household is ready and excited for the new family member! Harper Olivia is due in 3 weeks – and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome her into the world. It’s hard to imagine how much our lives will change in just a few short weeks. Every night we find something else to do to prepare for her arrival like putting the finishing touches on her room, organizing her closet and getting a diaper changing station set up in the basement. If she decided to make an entrance tomorrow, we would be ready. But, we are trying to be patient and wait until she decides to arrive.


Ross is incredibly excited to become a father. He has been great at helping around the house and talks to Harper every day. He can’t wait until he can meet his little girl! He will be a wonderful father. I am also ready and excited. Getting up and around is getting increasingly difficult, but I'  enjoying the last few weeks of carrying around Harper. It has been an ideal pregnancy thus far and I am excited to be in the home stretch. My cheeks are starting to resemble a chipmunk’s (don’t worry - my description, not Ross’s) which is common at the end of the third trimester. We’ve had three showers for Harper already – and have another one next week! We are so grateful for our family and friends who want to celebrate with us. Everyone has been very generous and Harper’s closet is bursting with adorable outfits. She already has an impressive shoe collection and a hat or hair bow for every occasion!

The pets (also known as our kids) don’t seem too worried about the changes around the house. Grady tried to claim the changing table as his new bed – if he only knew what kind of stuff will happen on that in the future! However, removing the table from the window has eliminated any interest he has in it. Riley has already been sneaking kisses to Harper – she loves kissing my belly whenever it’s exposed. Hopefully they this easy going once Harper arrives!  

As I finish up this post, Harper is wriggling around - I think it's her way of saying she can't wait to meet us, too! Hopefully you enjoy following our adventures - because there will be lots of changes and excitement in our future!