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.