Bye Bye Mazda....

Alas our lease is up...

This is actually a very sad event for me. We've had our Mazda CX-7 for a little over 2 years now. We went out and leased it the same week we found out we were pregnant. It was what we considered a "family car". We loved it. Well, I loved it for the most part. For the first half of my pregnancy, the new car smell made me throw up. But other than that, it was an awesome vehicle.

It was the car that went on many road trips. We've jammed to many tunes, had tons of laughs, and on once particular trip with John and Becca, I almost peed my pants (I was preggers and John was being, well, John). Good times.

It was the car we brought Harmony home in. I think that's what is the saddest to me. I cherish those moments, those memories like gold.

Since we haven't sold our house in Pittsburgh yet, we need the extra money, so we decided to not extend the lease, and just be a one car family. I'm close enough to walk to work, and for Father's Day I got Mike a road bike, so he will ride that to work on some days too. I'm not to worried or stressed about it, but time will tell when we find it too difficult.

Farewell old friend.


Harmony helping me clean out the car


She helped me wipe off the seats too.


Wanting to wash the mats herself


But then found it much more amusing to play in the puddles


I recommend this car to anyone!

This and That

I couldn't resist posting some new pictures of my cutie for all to see. My sweet, smiley cutie...



I was so excited to find some new hair bands for Harmony from this blog, who buys these for her little girl, and I just had to get them for Harmony. I love them because the flower can come off so you put a different color flower on the band. I bought four of them, and I am LOVING all the combinations I can use for her many outfits. And I got them all for under $30! And of course.... i took pictures.





Don't mind Harmony's wild hair- I can't control it. Hence the need for hair bands.


Enough about hair accessories...

I haven't updated you all about Harmony's health "stuff" in a while, so I thought I'd give you skinny (get it- skinny) on the latest.

The last time we went to the doc (about 5 weeks ago), Harmony gained a good amount of weight, which brought her back up to where she should be on her growth curve. But they gave me little time to celebrate because she was concerned about her head circumference. I guess her head hasn't grown in a while, so we began to talk more about harmony's development, which is more than fine. She's as smart as a whip, and learns more everyday. So once we explained that to her, she began to feel like it was an error on their end, that they may have written the wrong measurement, or something along those lines. SOOOO we have to go back next week for ANOTHER weight check, and also to check her head. If it's grown, case closed. If not, then we go see an endocrinologist. Blah. I have tremendous faith that it's fine, and that we won't have to entertain the thought any further. But still... I felt like we made "progress" (tho I think Harmony is just destined to be little, and that's that) with her weight, and that joy was completely ripped from me. But I know more than anything that my doctor is on our side, and that she too, wants to see Harmony grow healthy and strong. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tho Harmony is gaining (and according to our scale at home, she has cracked the 20 pound mark! Yippee!), she can still be a pistol when it comes to eating. I still, at times need to let her watch Monsters Inc. on TV while she eats, so she will sit long enough for her to eat a full meal.

Yesterday was one of those days, and Harmony just wasn't having it. My best friend, Jaime was here, and kept telling me that Harmony was too tired to eat. I was persistent because it was 11:00, and i didn't want her to go down for her nap without having lunch. So Jaime took pictures as evidence that she was indeed, just too tired.


Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Exhibit C


She rests her case... get it... rests. :-)

Bec came over, and we all hung out till Harmony woke up. And since Becca was a bad aunt, and decided to leave Harmony for a whole week to gallivant around Jamaica doing Lord knows what (yes, my jealousy is rearing it's ugly head), Harmony wanted to cuddle...


Awww...


What else has Harmony been up to...

She talks ALL. THE. TIME. most of the time we don't know what the heck she is saying, but to her she is telling us very exciting stories. Words that we do understand? She says:

Mommy
Daddy
Doggy
Hi
Bye
Night Night
Uh Oh
Ball
Drink
Ba Ba (for bottle)
Pa Pa (for Grandpa)
Amy
Aunt Becca
Ball
Happy
Sad
Na-na (for banana)
Nose
Eyes
Mouth
No
Yeah
Duck
Ready. Set. Go!
Juice
Up
Down
Thank you
Walk


And I'm sure I'm missing more, but I just can't think of them. For the most part she says "Daddy"- whenever she sees something exciting, or wants our attention, that's what she yells. And of course, Mike LOVES it. :-)

She climbs on EVERTHING- she is living up to her nickname (monkey). furniture, shelves, our bed, stairs... if there is a way to climb it, she figure it out. So far, no serious injuries. Knock on wood.

She is sleeping a lot better these days. She went two weeks with not waking up at all in the night, but after we came back from a trip to Lancaster, it stopped. Now she is up every couple nights wanting a bottle, but goes straight back to sleep. I don't mind it too bad on the nights she does wake up, because she tends to sleep in longer. So either way, I get my eight hours in. YESSSSS. Every once in a while she'll cry, but she isn't fully awake. i think she may be having bad dreams. All she needs is for me to hold her for a second, then she's back to sleep. But after the craziness of those few months, this is nothing! So THANK YOU for all of your prayers, your encouragement, and your kind words. They meant more than you'll ever know. It's awesome to know that Mike and I have so much support surrounding us.

Speaking of sleep, it's time for this lady to hit the hay. Blessings to you all!

I know I'm biased...

But I think that she is the cutest 19-month-old around.... but that's just me :-)

For some reason lately, I've been having this urge to look back at old pictures of Harmony, in desperate attempt to solidify as many memories of her at that age as possible. I never want to forget any moment of her first precious year.

And just the other day, I came across some pictures that my mom took of Harmony when we would visit, and I just HAD to show you some of them.

I'm telling ya, she was, and still is such a happy little girl, and as I looked through the pictures, her smile melted me all over again....

It's Hard to Remember...

Was she really THAT little?




Where is that little baby who fit so perfectly in the nape of my neck?
Who would gaze around for hours, just taking in the world?
Who HATED baths but LOVED getting her diaper changed?
Who would snuggle next to me all night?

When did that little baby grow up to be so big?



Now she's my little girl who gets harder and harder to fit in my arms.
Who never stops and always explores the world.
Who LOVES baths but HATES getting her diaper changed?
Who would much rather her own bed to mine?

IT. GOES. TOO. FAST.

Dancing with Daddy

Tonight we had John and Amy over for dinner and Idol, and while we were waiting for the show to come on, Mike decided to get his guitar out and sing with Harmony. She went WILD dancing and clapping, and I just HAD to get some pictures of it. She is our true Joy, and she gets better and better every day.

This is Me. Venting. Again.

I'm not gonna lie- the past few months have been tough. Ugh.

Need. Advice. Please.

The never ending battle/process with Harmony's weight "issue" has officially become annoying. I know they don't know it, nor is it really fair, but every time someone tells me that my daughter is soooooo tiny, I want to scream. I feel (and what I feel and what is true isn't always the same, but let me vent) judged- like I made her that way, or that I neglect her nutrition. I know not everyone thinks that, but there have been some women who give me "the eye" when I tell them that she is 18 months old (she looks about 11 or 12- or so they tell me so matter-of-factly). Has no one ever seen a petite child???? BAHH!!! I go back to the doc this week to see how far she has come weight wise since she started the Pitocin, and I'm trying not to get myself worked up over it. Every time we have to go it for a weight check, I have so much anxiety. What if she gained nothing? What if they make me do more tests? I can't do more tests. I don't have it in me. We have to go for an upper GI (which is a lot like her gastric emptying test- drink a liquid, take pics of her stomach, throat, and all that jazz), and then at the end of May we meet back with the GI specialist to see what they think about the results.

Who knows where we go from there. Just depends on what the tests show.

They have me so paranoid. I literally think about her eating schedule all day. Am I giving her enough? How can I get her to eat more if she doesn't eat a whole lot? Can't force her for pete's sake. How many snacks should I give her? Am I giving her enough choices? How much independence should I give her when she eats? The questions go on and on. Never knew it was going to be this hard to feed my baby.

But there is a time when she eats (well drinks) really well.

Yep.

You guessed it.

Middle of the night.

Except for a couple nights here and there (like 5 tops), she has not slept through the night since September. SEVEN. MONTHS. AGO.

Seven LONG months of getting up AT LEAST once, and AT MOST 6 times. She slept better in her first month of life than she does now.

So here's the million dollar question.

Wait for it......


WHY!!!!!??????

What is the issue? Is it habit? Is she truly hungry?

Let me sidetrack just a minute and say that before the Pitocin, she drank maybe 6 oz at night. Now sometimes it's still just 6, but some nights it's 10-12, or on rare occasions, 14 oz of Pedisure- that is what she is on now instead of formula.

So if she is hungry, how do i get her to eat all her calories in the day and not at night? Or is she just waking up a lot, and the only way she knows how to go back to sleep is by having some of her bottle?

I'm gonna tell you this right now-
I'd do anything for that little girl, and if that means getting up 3-4 times a night then so-be-it. But it's NO FUN AT ALL. I don't function well on little to no rest, and the sleep deprivation is catching up with me BIGTIME. I'm no fun to be around.

Just ask Mike.

And to add a monkey wrench into things- wedding season officially starts next weekend, and Harmony's naptime (which is usually my naptime too) will now be filled with editing. hmmmmmmmmm

So here's where I need the advice. What the heck do I do? I see no end in sight, and I can't find a solution. My child is 18 months old, and should be sleeping through the night. Once again, I feel as tho I've failed...

Question: could the two be linked?
Seven months ago Harmony began to walk. Walking=burning more calories
About that time her growth curve plateaued. Hence the concern by the Dr- hence the testing.
Seven months ago- Harmony stopped sleeping through the night.
Makes me think.....

This is a question I will be asking her Ped next week.

Any advice would be great.

I know in my heart of hearts that this is all just a season we're, and she will eventually sleep well again, and that the testing will soon be over. I do really know that. But right now, it doesn't make the nights where I only get 4 hours of sleep any easier.

And I apologize to anyone who I may have been impatient with (sorry Mike), or rude too (my husband is a saint). It's the exhaustion talking- not me :-)

Promise.