Blizzard of 2013

On Friday morning it started snowing and it didn't stop until about noontime today.  35 years (almost to the day) after the Blizzard of '78, we got about 2 feet of snow in one blizzard.  The first thing we did this morning was to get Harper dressed and out in the snow!

She was pretty excited to go out and helped Daddy force the storm door open through the snow drift. 
 

While Daddy shoveled the walk way Harper loved to just throw herself into the snow bank on either side. 

 I call this next one "Snotsicles". 

 Once Piper fell asleep, I joined them outside. 

We climbed in the snowbanks and across the lawn.

Yes, I did try to zipper her up to her chin, but it was a losing battle.  She never complained of being cold though and she was so busy I'm sure she worked up some body heat.  I honestly thought she'd last 10ish minutes out there and then get some snow in her face and want to come back in.  But we were outside for about an hour and Harper loved every second of it!

Penny was desperate to join us.  She's always been an indoor cat and mostly that doesn't bother her.  But when all of us are outside she becomes very upset to be left behind.  

Did you find her?  She's at the bottom left corner of the storm door.

  

  Harper ran up and down the walkway once Rob had it pretty much cleared.  She went back and forth a number of times and any time she slipped and fell she'd say "woah!  I wiped out!"

   

Sometimes she'd crawl up over the snow bank and into the deep snow covering the front lawn and then kick her legs and windmill her arms.  She'd yell" I swimmin!"

We took a walk up the middle of our street, too.  Harper got a kick out of being able to walk in the road (there was a statewide ban on driving from 4pm Friday through 4pm Saturday).

  

And she even made a snow angel! 

We were supposed to have gone to the town's Winter Festival this morning, but it has been postponed until tomorrow because of too much winter.  Tomorrow should be a great day for it though and I am really looking forward to going!

Once Piper woke up we headed back in.  She didn't go out in the storm, but she did get a peak at the snow!

  

Big-Girl Beds and Other Milestones

It was time.  Mostly because Piper is starting to want to sit upright, and because she can almost roll all the way over from her back to her belly.  Beginning to be mobile made me think it won't be long before the sleeper she uses won't be safe to leave her in overnight.

That means she needs the crib, which means Harper gets bumped into a big-girl bed.  So Grandpa went with us to pick out her mattresses and frame (we needed his pick up truck to get them home) and we set them up.

It was a Sunday and Rob and I both had to work the next day, so the plan was to just set them up and not push our luck that night, but Harper was adamant.  She wanted to sleep in her bed.

She was pretty excited!

She wanted her sister to snuggle in her bed with her, so we obliged.

 

Most of the time I don't see much resemblance between the girls, but every once in a while they look like sisters.

 

I love these next two pictures.  I imagine they're a sneak peak into the future - snuggled together in one of their beds, chatting away, sharing secrets.  I love it!

And I am thrilled to report that she did great!  She needed a little bit of Daddy's help that night to get to sleep, and he gave up a little bit of Super Bowl Sunday to help her.

Not only did she make it through the night okay, but so did Piper.   I was a little worried about her staying asleep flat on her back all night after becoming accustomed to the sleeper she was in, which had a bit of a recline to it.  In any case, they have both had a very easy transition and a wonderful week.

But that's not all!  That very same day I was in the basement starting the laundry,  Harper's outside toys are down there (in for the winter) so she plays with them in the basement whenever we are down there.  She walked over to her tricycle, sat down and pedaled her bike right across the floor!  It was as if it all suddenly came together in her mind and she could just do it!  We were so excited for her and she was definitely proud of herself.

 January 17, 2013

And that same day at the grocery store she decided she wanted "dinosaurs" - which are the dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets.  Generally I would prefer she eat organic, hormone-free chicken breast, but I decided in that moment that if she wanted to try meat at all, I wasn't going to get in her way.  (She has completely refused any meat up until this point.)  And that night she ate 2 dinosaur chicken nuggets (which we are referring to as just "dinosaurs", as we figured that the mere mention of chicken would cause her to refuse them and say "I no like it")  Later that week she asked for them again and ate two more.  She has since learned that she doesn't like ketchup or honey mustard on them.  They go down plain, but at least they are going down!!  She's no longer a vegetarian-by-birth Evie, sorry!

AND!!!  On Tuesday night sweet Piper decided to bless our evening meal with her first case of the giggles! Oh my heavens that was the most precious sound.  And totally unsolicited.  I had been trying to tickle her earlier in the day, but she finally laughed that night just when I smiled at her.  It was so wonderful!

 January 17, 2013

And Harper has started singing.  Sometimes she just talks to herself in a sing-song; making up the words and the tune as she goes -and sometimes she tries to remember an actual song.  She likes "Tinkle Stah" and "Bye Bye Oh Baby".

We've had a great week, a really great week!

Holly & The Train Show Weekend

Holly came to visit this past weekend.  She went to the train show at The Big E with Rob and Harper.  And I went bridesmaid's dress shopping with the girls for Cassie's wedding in May.  Piper came with me for her first girl's outing!  I didn't get any pictures of the dress shopping because it was crazy crowded in there and Piper was a little overstimulated.  Overall she did great, but when she did eventually melt down, I couldn't blame her.  Saturday afternoon at David's Bridal was crazy!!

Harper, from what I've heard, loved the train show.  So much that it exhausted her.  This kid never falls asleep in her stroller when we're on the go.  So glad she decided to nap and not have a melt down - that way her Daddy got to enjoy some more of the train show he's waited all year for. 

 January 26, 2013

And its a good thing she took that nap!  She had lots of playing ahead of her that night!

I ordered the cat food and litter from wag.com for the first time. The boxes arrived that day and Penny could not resist.  So, of course, Harper joined her.  I love those two playing together!

Then Auntie Holly made Harper a fort!  They spent the better part of an hour in there playing Legos together!

A quick break to kiss her sister...

...and then right back at it!

 

 

 
Piper got a new binkie from her family in Virginia and it actually has the right kind of nipple on it, so she likes it!  So we don't have to "encourage" her to use it to make us laugh.  She's happy and we get the giggles. It's a win-win.

 
Back to the boxes!

 
Harper's favorite game lately is to take some combination if the pillows and blankets off the couch and play "sleeping". 

 
She got Holly to climb in and play with her, too! 

 
And then they moved it to the hallway!

 
What I want to remember about this weekend is how very much Harper adored having Holly all to herself and Holly playing all of Harper's favorite "games".  And how much the train show made an impression on her.  She's been talking about it non-stop, carrying around her two Thomas engines (you can see then in the picture above) and wearing her Thomas shirt.  She's been playing with her big O-guage Thomas engine that was a Christmas gift and she asks Daddy every night if they can play trains in the basement.  It is so fun to see her preferences for things - her favorite toys and interests. 

Holly, thank you for indulging her non-stop for 2 days.  I'm sure you went home exhausted, but I hope you have some special memories of your time with Harper this weekend.  I sure do.

3 Months Old

Dear Piper,

You are now three months old!  The time is flying!  You are wide awake to the world now and you seem to like it here!  Your eyes are big and bright and your smile is warm and lights up your entire face. 

You love to talk to us and I *love* to hear you talk.
 

You are just melting your Daddy's heart lately and I am right there with him.  You are a snuggler and when I hold you up on my shoulder (your favorite position) you hold yourself completely straight up and study the world around.   Or you snuggle into the spot that seems to have been made perfectly to fit you; right under my left ear between my chin and my shoulder.  That is my favorite thing right now.  If I wear earrings you scratch your head on them, so I've given them up!  I love earrings, but I will be so sad to wear them again because you don't want to snuggle there.  I'll give up earrings for the rest of my life if you keep snuggling there, it is a gift from heaven that just makes my heart feel full. 

This month has been really fun with you- you are starting to awaken from your hazy newborn slumber.  You found your hands and first just enjoyed holding them clasped together,  But now you are either waving them excitedly or gnawing and slurping on them.  Your fingers are very long so you gag yourself multiple times a day.  It seems to surprise you every time. And on New Year's Eve you even started using them to reach for your toys hanging from your little gym.  Your legs have started moving with your hands, and when you get really excited your arms and legs both get going and you talk talk talk!

Just the other night when I lay down with you in front of the fish tank you turned your self onto your left side.  Your legs were kicking and moving and after a few minutes you had spun yourself about 90 degrees.  You almost rolled from your back to your belly.

All of that action is helping you sleep at night!  You are a wonderful sleeper.  Right now you go down at about 9pm, give or take 30 minutes.  You are sleeping regularly until about 6:30am.  I have no idea if you would sleep later than that because you started sharing a room with your sister right before Christmas and she never sleeps last 6:30!  But I'll get you dressed and feed you and you then fall back asleep until you're hungry again around 9:30.  The rest of the day I just follow your lead, I've never really made a set routine for you.  Sometimes you sleep for a good 5 hour stretch of the day, and sometimes you cat nap on and off all day.

The beginning of the month had some painful and gassy days again.  On New Year's Eve I learned that in addition to broccoli, you also can't tolerate banana.  It doesn't really surprise me, I get stomach aches from banana, as does your Grandpa Trussell and so did your Great Grandpa Trussell.  Avoiding that won't be too tough for me, but I am missing broccoli like crazy!

Also on New Year's Eve, Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Eric came over and Grandpa brought a folder full of old family pictures that his cousin Don had shared with him.  Don has a lot of family treasures, as he has spent years doing our geneology.  In any case, all this time we've been trying to figure out what family members you resmble.  Turns out, in addition to your Grandpa Alix and your Great Uncle Ken, you look a lot like your Great Grandpa Trussell when he was a baby.  How amazing to see a resemblance four generations apart.  I know you and he were never on this earth together, but I know each of you, and for me it is so special to see a connection between the two of you.
   

This month also brought the end of maternity leave.  I was anxious about it because you are a bit of a Momma's-girl.  You tend to fuss when you are passed around and you do not care for a bottle.  But we didn't have a choice.  I went back to work on January 7th, but I'll only be working 3 days a week.  This makes sure we meet all of our family's needs and that I get to be with you and Harper four days a week.  You are going to Erica's 2 days a week to be with Lincoln and you are with Grandma Trussell for the third day.  Also, Lincoln comes to our house two days a week.  Erica discovered that you will take a bottle just fine, as long as it's warm enough - what a huge help that was!  I was so relieved that she discovered that preference of yours, as my first day back at work I was so worried about you not eating all day that I stressed myself out to the point that I barely made any milk that day.  It took the week, but we built the supply back up again.  And now I make milk and you drink bottles without any trouble and all is as it should be!  Pfew!

Speaking of bottles, you take a 4 ounce bottle and you seem to go through 3 (sometimes 4) of them while you are away from home and another bottle for your Daddy in the evening.  When I get home you are still up and I'll nurse you one last time before bed.  You generally fall asleep then and I have a hard time taking you upstairs and putting you to bed.  I prefer, instead, to snuggle you for as long as I can.  I smell your head and hold your hands and your long skinny feet.  I kiss your forehead a million times and breathe you in and play with your floofy hair.  I watch you sleep and try to memorize everything about you in that moment.  You are so sound asleep, cradled in my arm.  Your belly's full, you are completely relaxed and I am reminded of being small and the feeling of safety and comfort and love I had when held by my mom and dad. I am so humbled to be that for you and so thankful for parents who made me feel that way. 

I love you so very much, Sweet Piper.  More and more every day.
Love, Momma