6-Month Stats!

Harper had her 6-month pediatrician appointment this week, and according to our pediatrician, she's in "excellent health." Here are her stats for those of you that are interested in that kind of thing:

Weight: 14 lbs, 1 oz (15th percentile)
Height: 24 1/2 inches (10th percentile)
Head size: 16 3/4 inches (50th percentile - again, she takes after her dad)

Here are a couple of pics from her appointment - hanging out in the waiting room with her dad and lounging on the exam table waiting for the doc.

Rice cereal?! I thought we were having fajitas!

Sorry for the lack of recent posts...again. We'll try to be better.

On to the fun stuff...Harper had her first taste of solid food today, and she seemed pretty disappointed that it didn't quite live up to the hype. She's been intently watching us eat and practicing her chewing motions with her mouth for weeks, so she was really excited to have a taste of the real stuff for herself.

Here she is all geared up for her first real feeding - of course Saber was insistent that she wear her Giants bib the first time.

Now for the big event:

And the aftermath - she was doing everything she could to let us know that she was not interested in the rice cereal that we were serving today.

She did seem to take a liking to the water that we put into a sippy cup for her - she was holding it herself and everything - Go Harper!

A frequent flyer is born

Harper took her first plane flight recently when we headed up to Boston for a reunion in Cape Cod with some of our great friends from Kellogg (I need to post pics from that fun weekend). She did really well and seemed to have tons of fun playing Curious George at the airport and on the plane, checking out all of the people and the sights.

Saber and I have logged a ridiculous number of miles over the past few years, and have been looking forward to introducing H to our love of travel - we're off to a great start!

The family that votes together...

Harper had her first taste of the democratic system today when we headed to our local polling station as a family. She is thinking pretty seriously about throwing her hat into the ring for the 2048 election, and she knows that it's never too soon to start campaigning, as you can see from her bodysuit.

I was worried that people would think she's a boy because she was wearing blue, so I added the pink and yellow leg warmers to her ensemble and we were on our way.

Did you vote yet? If you're reading this and you haven't, quit jacking around on your computer and get going!

Happy Halloween...and May the Force be with you

Definitely a successful costume - 90% of people knew who she was and thought it was hilarious. One person asked if she was a baby ram.

Since H is too young for trick-or-treating, we all headed out for a walk around the neighborhood and then to a nearby bar/restaurant for happy hour. She loved it - a great first Halloween!

And of course, she had an adorable pumpkin outfit to wear during the day - isn't that required of all babies under the age of 1?

The Sweetest Pumpkin in the Patch

We started what we hope will be a yearly Fall tradition and headed to the pumpkin patch with Harper today. She had a great time and was really interested in all of those crazy round orange things that were lining the walks and piled up everywhere.

Harper loves to be "worn," so Saber popped her in the Bjorn and we were on our way. It was a beautiful Fall day and a great way to spend a Sunday morning as a family.

4-Month Stats!

Harper had her 4-month pediatrician appointment last week, and in addition to getting more vaccines (the not-fun part), we also got new stats (the fun part). Here are her latest numbers:

Weight: 11 lbs, 7 oz (10th percentile)
Height: 22 3/4 inches (5th percentile)
Head size: 16 inches (40th percentile - she takes after her dad)

Big news - she's finally on the charts! Our petite little one has up until this point been "below the 5th percentile" - but she's growing like a weed and has made it onto the charts - good job, Harper!

She's only 4 months old, but the girl's got lots of friends!

Harper's been spending as much time as she can getting out and meeting people, and here are a few pics of her meeting some of our favorite peeps that we're lucky to call friends.

Bris was in from Denver for a night this weekend, Kelsey popped up from Austin a few weeks ago, and last week we had a really fun time at brunch with Hannah and her adorable twin girls Laura and Sophie (who are featured above in the midst of enjoying a couple of Halloween cookies - yum).

Tiny Dancer

"Every little girl should have a tutu" - that's what I told myself when I was picking up an adorable pink tutu with gold bows on it for Harper - and boy, am I glad that I did. H's Nana and I had a great time dressing her up as a little ballerina, and you should have seen the look on Saber's face when he walked in the door from work that day.

H loved to look at herself in the mirror in this ensemble, and she even put on a little performance for us with the help of her dad.

Make sure to take note of the little socks that look like laced-up ballet slippers - in my humble opinion, those completely make the outfit.

Nana's back in the house

We spent the last week hosting Haper's Nana again, and she was as fabulously loving and helpful as always. I realized when she left that I hadn't put H down to sleep in three days or changed her diaper in two, and I spent quite a bit of time promising H that we would try to take as good of care of her as her Nana does.

Saber and I were able to get away for a couple of date nights (translation: Lily practically threw us out of the house so that she could be alone with Harper) and I had a partner in crime during the day that loves to play "dress-up" with H as much as I do.

Here are some pics from the visit:

3 Decades of Nita

This is the first of many "catch-up" posts, since I am quite delinquent in my bloggage. I'll (or WE'LL) try to be better.

I turned the big 3-0 on September 27th, and we were lucky enough to spend that weekend on a company-sponsored getaway that was a reward to Saber's project team for the great work that they've been doing. We stayed at a fantabulous spa/resort just outside of Austin, got in some great spa (me) and golf (Saber) time, had a couple of yummy dinners (Salt Lick and Jeffrey's for those of you that know Austin), and enjoyed some "adult time" with friends.

Where was our little Harper, you ask? Luckily her Grandma and Grumpy were more than happy to take her off of our hands for the weekend and smother her in love and adoration. A great time was had by all!

My birthday dessert

Harper on her weekend getaway with the grandparents

Just a great picture of H in all of her cuteness

Another Eliason! The Kellogg family continues to grow!

We're so excited to report that Baby (#2) Eliason has made his debut!

Zander Kyle Eliason arrived at 9:07 AM this morning weighing in at a whopping 6 lbs 11 oz. If he's anything like the fireball that is his older brother Asher, parents Katie and Nic are sure to have their hands full! No pics yet, but I'll be sure to post one as soon as they send them along.

Congratulations Eliasons - Harper can't wait to meet her new playmate!

Just something amazing to think about - when our guys graduated from Kellogg in June of '07 (so just 16 months ago), between the 6 couples featured in the pictures below, there was only one baby in the bunch. Little Zander Eliason brings the count up to 7 - that's one for each of us, and the Eliasons lead with 2...WOW!

BabyLegs in the Bumbo

Our Little H is growing like crazy - we're pretty sure she's up to 9 or 10 pounds now, which is about the size that a lot of babies are when they're born. She's also a really strong little thing, and she has taken to sitting up in her Bumbo seat, which is a little plastic contraption that helps babies learn to sit up on their own.

H has also been sporting BabyLegs lately, which are basically leg warmers for babies. Saber thinks they're kind of ridiculous, and Harper may curse me for dressing her like this when she's older, but I think they're adorable, and I pick out the clothes around here. In my opinion, when you're three months old, pink and yellow striped leg warmers go with everything.

And a shout out to our former Gap "work family" - the Gradys gave H one of the bodysuits she's wearing in these pics, and the McDonalds gave her the other one - hopefully they're proud of how she's rocking them with her warmers.

3-Month Birthday!

Last Friday was Harper's 3-month birthday, and she insisted that we go out to celebrate, so we headed to Mi Cocina for some Tex-Mex and Mambo Taxis (that's a frozen concoction that's part margarita, part sangria, and pure yumminess). She's a really curious baby, and she had a great time looking around and taking everything in - AND she got tons of compliments on her snazzy plaid pants!

Rolling and Drafting

More firsts for Harper this week! I know, I know...that's not too hard when you're only 12 weeks old.

First, the big news is that our little peanut has started rolling over. She had no witnesses to her first time, because I laid her down on her blanket on her tummy, walked out of the room for 30 seconds to get something, and came back to find her on her back. Thinking it was a fluke, I flipped her back over to her tummy, and she promptly rolled back onto her back. She'll do it over and over, rolling both ways - we're pretty certain that it's because she absolutely HATES tummy time and has now found a way to avoid it. Here's a video:


Also, this week Harper had her first fantasy football draft. It was really Saber's draft, but she decided she didn't want to take her evening nap and would rather help him out - so she sat with him, coo-ed at the lights on the screen, and got excited every time she heard the beeping that signified it was their turn. I'm pretty sure Saber just let her help out so that he'll have someone to blame if his team doesn't do well, but whatever - she had a great time.

Baby Shower and Buffalo Stampede

We made the trip down to Austin for Labor day weekend and had a great time with family and friends.

I went to a baby shower for our friend Brittany - she and her husband Tim are due to welcome their daughter Presley this November. Here is a shot of me with a couple of my oldest friends - and by oldest, I mean for the longest time, not that they're middle-aged or anything. I've been buddies with these girls since we were 14, and boy was life different for us then than it is now! Dawn's son Ethan is almost 10 months old, our Harper is 12 weeks, and Brittany's Presley is on her way.
Harper had a big first this weekend (well, Saber thinks it's a big deal) - her first CU Buffalo football-watching experience. Saber got her all dressed up and they watched the Buffs beat the CSU Rams together. I'm not sure what we're going to do when the Horns play the Buffs this year - I may have to learn to sew so that I can create some sort of half-UT / half-CU onesie.

H's Three Newest Loves

We made a trek down to Houston this weekend and Harper spent time with three of her newest loves - her great friends the Farvers, her cousins, and her sling.

Harper and Will Farver actually first met a few months ago, when she was a bulge in my belly and he liked to park his little 12-week old butt on the shelf she created for him...but it was nice for them to spend time together now that she's joined him in the outside world. Melissa and I did some shopping with the kiddos while Saber and Adam played golf, and Adam gave Harper an awesome tour of their house, complete with detailed explanations of what each appliance is for (apparently the oven is specifically for cakes, pies, and casseroles...who knew?).

We then headed out to Katy (Houston suburb) for H to meet her cousins for the first time, and she was graced with tons of love and lots of compliments about how beautiful she is. I think her head may be getting little big based on how often she's told how lovely she is - at her 2-month appointment she weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs, 1 oz, which is less than the 5th %ile, but her head size is in the 25th %ile!

H has also been loving sling time lately - she gets to be all snuggled up and look around, and I get to feel like I'm pregnant again, just this time carrying an infant ON my belly instead of IN it. That's okay - she's worth it.

Pics from the weekend:

Hangin' with more fam

Harper's had a lot of family visit in the past couple of weeks, and she definitely hasn't been complaining about all of the cuddling and love that's been directed her way. She got to spend more time with Nana and Grandpa Gale, as well as meet Great-Grandma Margaret and cousin Jessica.

Harper's also been spending more time riding around in her sling lately - and as you can tell by the smile on her face in the photo, she's been loving that too.

Harper's Portraiture Debut

We had portraits done with Angie Weedon, who is an amazing portrait photographer here in Dallas. She posted some "sneak peeks" on her blog - have a look!

http://www.weedonphoto.com/blog/

Last weekly posts - 8 and 9

We were only posting by week to get caught up with where we are now - we'll try to be more creative with our posts from here on out.

A couple of big events this week - Harper's two-month birthday and her first round of immunization shots. Watching your two-month old baby get shots and scream like she never has before - NOT FUN. Saber bravely helped to hold her steady and comforted her, but I couldn't handle it and had to walk away - I'm a big baby.

Not a ton of pictures this week, but here are a few of our continually growing little one.

This pic proves that Harper is more than Saber can handle -

she successfully knocked him out.

The Sherrard girls (Thanks Melissa Burns for Harper's lovely outfit!)

One of Harper's signature moves - sleeping with one eye open.

When Harper saw this picture she demanded we comb her hair immediately.

Week 7 - On the go and meeting more people

Just straight to the pics!

Harper making faces with Nana

Spending some time with her friends the Paulsons...

Don't they look great with a baby?!

Harper's typical response to being put in her car seat

Helping Dad with some work (note the ever-growing belly...on Harper)

Bath Time!

Unlike what we've heard about some other babies, Harper does not love her bath. Our first attempt began with a nice present in the water that would have been better-suited in a diaper, thus requiring us to drain the bath and start over. Our next few ended with a screaming, slippery, wiggly baby that was not enjoying herself AT ALL.

We are now to the point where she tolerates it and makes hilarious faces while she wonders what all this wet stuff around her is...and it's all worth it to Saber because he loves to style her wet hair into this ridiculous mohawk.

Week 6 - Nana's in the house!

Harper's Nana (Saber's mom) came and stayed with us for a week and was beyond helpful. Again, I cried like a baby when she left. It truly is amazing to watch grandparents with their grandchildren. Harper is so lucky to have so many people in her life that love her so much.

Harper with her Nana - boy, do these two adore each other.

With her mom - am I boring her?

Headed out to a BBQ -

she let us put that hat on her for about 10 seconds

Harper and Dad - on her way into her crib

Harper's not the only one that looks tired here

Watching her new mobile - she LOVES it!

Week 5 - 1-month Birthday!

How quickly time flies. Our Little H flew past her 1-month mark in what seemed like the blink of an eye. She really does grow and change every day - everyone told us that would happen, but I don't think you really understand it until it's happening to your own child (which, by the way, still sounds very strange to say - our child). Crazy.

Harper's "I just created something in my pants" face

Baby yawns are adorable

Many of you know Freddie (he's been with us for years) -

Harper is really working hard at growing to be bigger than him.

We'll keep you posted.

Another power nap with her dad

Grandpa Mike came for a visit

Harper says hello to her fans on her 1-month birthday. She wore a dress and everything.