Baby Dedication

We had Harper’s baby dedication a couple Sundays ago and it was such a nice day. About 15 parents and newborns participated in the parent/child commitment ceremony at Second Baptist Church. This was an opportunity for Grant and me to commit ourselves to raise Harper in the discipline and instruction of our Lord. It also provides an opportunity for our church to commit to partner with our parents and assist us in laying a strong spiritual foundation for her. Everything turned out perfect for that day. The weather, her dress and of course excellent company. Here are a few pictures of Harper’s special day.

Hemangioma Update

Thank you for all of the prayers and support. We had a very good visit with Dr. Metry of Texas Children’s hospital this morning. Although Harper’s hemangioma is growing rapidly, the placement and shape of it is actually doing great. Until it moves down onto the eyelid, it will not cause any damage to her vision. We have a follow-up appointment with the pediatric ophthalmologist in a couple of weeks just to be sure all is on track but we’re not expecting anything negative to come about. Dr. Metry said that Harper’s Hem. has very little surface area (which is the red part) which will leave very little scarring later on once it does go away. She said it is deep but that it is not growing into the bone and should flatten out nicely. The tricky part is knowing how long it will take to flatten out. Most Hem. grow for about 5 to 6 months then gradually flatten out by the time they are 2 or 3. If it hasn’t gotten better by this age then they will surgically remove it. Our options are pretty cut and dry right now; let it flatten out on its own or give meds twice a day (propranolol) to speed it along. While the medication is not FDA approved to treat hem. they use this on patients every day and have seen significant results. For now, Grant and I are going to see what it is going to do on its own to try and bypass introducing any medication to her. For those of you wondering, the Dr. also confirmed that it does not hurt or cause any harm to her in any way, even if she bumps it. She said it could split open and you would treat it as if it were any other wound. So, now we are scheduled for an appointment on May 26th to re-measure the growth and will give you another update then.

Great news for us! God is Good!

5 Months!

Our sweet pea is 5 months old! She is growing up so fast and changing daily. I have no idea as to how much she weighs these days but I know she's getting heavier when I'm toting that car seat around plus she has moved up a size in diapers to the 2-3s. My right arm is going to be huge by the time she's a year old :) Who says new moms need to pump iron? Harper is still in "snack mode" as I like to call it. She eats every three hours and if we're lucky she'll eat 4 1/2 ounces. Dr. Lange would like for her to make it to 6 or 7 so she will sleep more through the night but hey, I'm not force feeding her nor do I want to develop bad eating habits. For now, mama is perfectly fine taking an hour twice a night to feed our little pumpkin.



Harper laughs and babbles away every day. Makes Grant and I smile every time and she has developed such a sweet little personality. She is in love with her feet and her cute little toes and sometimes they make it into her mouth. Pawpaw says she better enjoy that now because when she gets older, no can do buckaroo. Some of my favorite time with Harper is in the morning right after she wakes up and her bath time. Every morning Harper wakes up goo and gaaing away. We sit in her rocking chair and rock for about 20 minutes to make sure she's good and awake before I plop her on the changing table. She is so cuddly in the mornings and every day my heart pours out for her. We've introduced rice cereal into her diet and that can be quite hilarious too. The other day she decided she was over the cereal but I kept trying to offer it so she clinched up both fists and make this face with a squeal to say, "no more"! Can we say Attitude?!







Crawling and sitting up have been the latest on her agenda. She can get anywhere going backwards and pretty darn quick. She will get up on her hands and knees but I don't think her legs are strong enough to do the rocking back and forth. She is doing a pretty good job at sitting up as far as support goes but she is very wobbly.

Learning to hold her own bottle



Harper brings such a joy to our life and we thank God every day for our little miracle baby!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter with the family this year. Harper didn't have a clue as to what was going on but next year should be a lot of fun! The Easter bunny brought Harper some new play clothes since she is quickly growing out of her wardrobe. Allie and I took the kids to the mall to get their picture taken with Mr. Easter Bunny. Walker was SO not impressed and Harper didn't have a care in the world. 15 years from now, they will look back at the picture and just laugh. Mom's side of the family had a picnic out at Meyer park so we all met for lunch and had an egg hunt. It was a beautiful day; we couldn't have asked for better weather. Here are some pics of the bunny and park.

Walker and Harper at the park



Uncle Stephen



Aunt Meesh



Harper loves to put everything in her mouth now



Cousins!



Walker trying to share Harper's favorite toy, Sophie



Uncle Stephen and Ashley



Good Ole Easter Bunny



My love!

Happy Spring!

Time is flying by fast. Can you believe it’s April??

Little Harper Caroline is growing up so fast! She went in for her 4 month appointment last week and did very well. She is 15.7 pounds, 26 inches long and in the 85th percentile. Harper is a very strong-willed little girl. She already knows how to be sweet on her daddy, knows how to manipulate mom a little when it comes to going to bed on her own, and knows how to persuade Gigi to buy her fun toys all of the time (okay, not yet but that’s coming soon). We can tell that she is eager to sit up and explore. She is always bright-eyed and attentive to what’s going on around her. Harper is extremely alert and if she were able to get into everything, I guarantee she would. Occasionally I get a snap shot of this unmistakably mischievous look she gives us. My, we’re going to have our hands full! I’ve noticed that when sitting down for a meal I can no longer let her get close to my plate or else her hands would be all in my food. I wonder if the smacking of her lips means she’s ready for food?! Not yet, Dr. Lange says. We have to wait until she’s 6 months old for cereal and baby food.



An update on the Hemangioma…. Dr. Lange feels that it is continuing to grow pretty rapidly so we have been sent over to a specialist with Texas Children’s. Our appointment is April 29th at 9 am. There are several options for treatment but most have moderate to severe side effects. Something I am not looking forward to. I will continue to pray about this….. and I know God is in control.

Harper and Walker have gotten to spend a lot of time together and I can’t wait until they are able to interact a little better. For now, Walker steals her binkie or bow, swats at her and the dogs with wooden spoons or sometimes gives her this look like “what are you crying for, missy?” I’m sure they will be great friends – we are so blessed! Speaking of bows, I might have a small obsession with them. Harper has one in every color imaginable and I keep buying them. I’m sure you have noticed that she has one on in almost every stinkin picture. But they are so darn cute!



Work is going well for Grant and me. A 40-hour work week doesn’t exist for Grant but he’s trucking along and making the BEST of this new opportunity. There are lots of kinks to be ironed out but very soon, his hard work will all pay off. He is very good at what he does and I know he’ll be there for a long while.

Grant and I celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday. We had some excellent sushi and quality time together. Happy Birthday, my love.

The Nail Family is in the process of making some big decisions on where to raise our family. There are a lot of options in Houston but it doesn’t seem that we’ve found exactly what we want just yet. Who knows what the future will bring?!

She loves her new swing!



Sportin the baby legs from Mimi and Uggs from Aunt Meesh



My baby love

Auto Pilot

This morning while driving to work I realized that I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in 5 months! I’m a warrior – no really – no one needs their sleep more than I do! Hats off to all of the mothers out there….. we are absolutely amazing!

This weekend wefinally got meet sweet baby Audrey Potter. She was so tiny and beautiful. When I held her it brought me back to when Harper was only a month old. How tiny and uncontrolled their little bodies are. So needy yet so easy. Eat and sleep – a lot! Harper is 10 weeks older than Audrey and she towers over her. Amber mentioned that when they turn a year old you would never even know but my how those 10 weeks make such a difference right now. Harper is such a busy body. She loves to stand up in my lap and has very strong legs. I am thinking she will be sitting up before we know it. Gigi bought her a toy that goes across the handlebar of her carseat and she loves it. I didn’t think she would actually “play” with it but when she’s awake in the car she bats at the frogs and spins the mirror. She’s growing up so fast! We have her 4 month shots on Monday and I am not looking forward to that!

On Saturday night Gigi and Poppa watched Harper so Grant and I could go to the John Mayer concert. It was fabulous! He is such an amazing musician. Although it made for a late evening and crazy morning for church, it was so worth it! His music will melt your heart. On Sunday I prepared our garden for the planting of new platns for the Spring. We pretty much lost all of our flowers in the freeze and the yard was looking pretty puny. I'm really looking forward to planting!

Dr. Young is preaching a series about healing the family over the next couple of months. He has delivered such a strong message about marriage being a profound and marvelous relationship - a mystery, established by God for his glory. Grant and I are so eager to hear each message and what a fabulous way to start out our week.

The Itis

This past weekend mom and I picked up a stomach bug or food poisoning -- can't figure out which but it was brutal. We were both up all night and day and couldn't eat or drink anything. In fact, tonight was our first meal and it was soup and vermacelli noodles. We were both scared to eat after the whole ordeal but we're finally feeling back to normal. Weird thing is we never get sick, especially mom. Praying for all who come down with the nasty stomach bug that is going around.

Grant is super busy with his new job and traveled to Vegas for a big meeting and presentation. He is doing so great at the company and I am so very proud of him!