One Month Old!

My baby girl is growing up, and I don't know how I feel about it! I want her to stay my tiny peanut forever! I look back at the pictures of the day we brought her home, and she looks so different now. She is getting bigger, chubbier, and looking more and more like her father every minute.

We are loving this holiday season with her. It's been a little hectic trying to get ready for Christmas with her here, but in the same sense, I love watching her stare at the lights on the christmas tree, and to watch christmas movies as she falls asleep in my arms. There is nothing better.

She and I are starting to get on a routine together. It's nice to know how my day is going to go with her- although she does like to throw me some curve balls every once and a while. The girl is a monster when it comes to eating! I'm surprised that she isn't chubbier than she is!

Can't wait to spend the holidays with my family! Miss everyone so much!

Three Weeks!

I can't believe that my little girl is 3 weeks old!!! She gets bigger and bigger everyday!

I was laying in my bed this morning with Harmony, and I realized that I never officially told the story as to why we chose the name Harmony. So here's the scoop:

Back when Mike and I were dating, Mike wrote me a poem for Valentine's Day called "The Sound I Have Waited For", and the poem said that I was "The harmony to his melody" and how together we made a beautiful song. Later he took that poem and wrote me a song for the night he proposed. The bridge to that song says this:

And as we get older
And our steps are slower
Harmony will grow stronger
We will sing the same tune


Harmony is another part in our love song- and she makes it so much richer and beautiful than I ever imagined. We love her more and more every day, and are truly is awe of the life we made!

So there you have it- the reason she is named Harmony. Her middle name is Joy, after Mike's sister, Alyson Joy.

So-
This week Harmony had her first official bath! Her belly button is finally healed, and we no longer had to give her sponge baths. I was a little nervous about doing it on my own, and since I didn't have my mom in close proximity, I called on her pseudo grandma, Linda Cordle, who is my pastor's wife. She came over, showed me the ropes, and Harmony did awesome. She really didn't know what to think of it, but she didn't cry at all. She scowled, as you can see in the pictures, but no tears were shed.

Doesn't she look so big!




Not really sure what she thinks about this whole bath thing...



She looks like mike when she scowls like that!



All clean and warm again. Big girl!

Two weeks old

It's hard to believe that two weeks ago Harmony was born. On one hand I feel like it was just yesterday that I went into labor, but on the other hand I feel like she has been with me forever.

So how are things going with the Shipmans after two weeks? Well...

1. My mom went back home to Allegany on Sunday, which was really hard for me since i relied on her for advice and for help with taking care of Harmony since Mike had to go back to work. But I am lucky that I'm feeling a lot better, and that i can do pretty much everything for her now. It's still hard to go up and down the stairs a lot, so Mike is doing a lot of the chores around the house (and he just LOVES it....right honey?)

2. Harmony is finally on somewhat of a predictable schedule now. She wakes at 7 or 7:30, and eats every 2 1/2, 3 hours until bedtime. At night she only wakes up once for a middle of the night feeding, which is so nice! I actually don't mind getting up and snuggling with her for a half an hour or so. After she's done eating she goes right back to sleep.

3. Evenings are her fussy times. From about 7-10PM she doesn't like to sleep, and she gets SOOO overtired that she works herself up so bad. I hate it! I have to let her cry it out, and it's torture. Pure torture to listen to my baby girl wail. But she can't rely on me to rock her to sleep all the time. I hope this little ritual goes away soon!

4. When she first was born i thought she looked just like Mike. And she still does. but I'm beginning to see a little of me in her eyes, and unfortunately her nose! We swear it gets bigger every day! Poor girl!

5. She is so curious. She turns her head toward any noise (especially daddy's voice), and is always watching. She LOVES to watch kemper when he is sniffing around her. She'll be torturing him in no time. He's starting to get a little jealous of her now that it's just me and Harmony during the day. He's been whining a lot, and has been very needy- wanting to be near me all the time. I feel terrible when I'm feeding her and he is at my feet whimpering, wanting to be cuddled too. But overall he has been WONDERFUL around her. He loves to lay on the end of the bed and watch her sleep. It's so cute.

I really really love being a mom. She is such a good girl, so she makes it easy! I love our quiet time during the day when it's just her and I. We snuggle, we nap together, I sing to her and talk to her, and she just watches me. It's so wonderful to see this little life grow before your very eyes. On one hand i can't wait to have her walking and talking, and making us laugh, but on the other hand i never want her to get any bigger than she is now. She's my little cuddle bug, and I want to remember these first days forever. I can't wait for all of you to meet her!