What a difference 2 years makes

Valentines Day 2008




Valentines Day 2010



I see very little of that baby in her today.
Now, she's my little woman.
Happy Valentines Day!

Late night painting fest!

Last night Mike and I were sitting by the fire, relaxing, waiting for 9:00 to come so we could watch The Office, but as we were chatting, we started to get the "itch" to finally change the face of our new place. Aside from unpacking, we've done nothing. Not one blind is up, and our curtains are hanging by thumb tacks, and all our pictures are stacked in storage. We had the paint already, so we said, "lets do it!". This was the paint we chose:


So our original thought was to just do the trim work. That way we could just roll the next day, and it would be easier to get done while Harmony napped. But of course, we couldn't leave the job half done! We were up till 12:30 getting it all painted! I admit I got a little cranky at about midnight- I was so tired, and H was up quite a bit with come congestion, so I knew it'd be a long night with her. But I sucked it up and stayed awake till every inch was painted. Aside from a couple trimming accidents, it was actually quite easy and fun! We're so pleased with the result!

BEFORE


AFTER


BEFORE


AFTER


Finished result!






One room down! Harmony's room is next!

The Curious Ways of a Toddler...

Yes.
I Know.
It's been a while...
Forgive me.

Life has been about weddings these past few months, and every free moment that Harmony gives me is spent in Lightroom and Photoshop, and of course, Facebook.

So my blog has been super duper neglected, and since all my weddings are edited (aside from about 4 coffee table books), my work is pretty much done. But of course, tomorrow I have another one, and then 2 more this month, so I'll be running at warp speed to have them all to my clients by Christmas. But my goal was to have all my pictures to the printers by now, and I did it. Pat, pat.

Also on my list of things to do, it making some shower invites for some of my favorite ladies. And I guess i didn't put everything away because this is what i found H doing yesterday...



These are some jewels that I used on our favorite bride-to-be, Sabrina's shower invitations, and H got her sticky paws on them, and decided to make herself sparke.


So so funny


Even though i knew it would be mild torture to get all of them out of her hair, I let her do it for the sake of some pretty funny pictures.



She put every last one in her hair, and then went to our room and looked in the mirror.



Silly silly girl. But she's MY girl. :-)

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.

My Little "Helper"

Since we haven't sold our house yet (grr) a lot of our things are still in storage, including a lot of clothes that were given to us for Harmony. The little peanut is growing (slow and steady) out of her 9 month clothes (and yes, she is 17 months old), so I asked Mike to stop by the place where we store our things (thank you Rob and Missy!) to pick up her 12 month clothes. We are so so lucky that most of her 12 month clothes are for summer (she should have fit into them last year), so we now have this whole new wardrobe for Harmony. Seriously, it felt like Christmas here at the Shipman home. Mike brought 3 tubs worth of clothes back, and I spent a majority of the day on Wednesday washing the clothes, packing up all the clothes that no longer fit, and putting away the new ones. It was A LOT of work, but i was so glad to get it done. Harmony was awesome the whole time, happy to play in the boxes, helping me put away clothes, and of course getting them right back out. Here's a pic of her "helping". And that is a new dress she is wearing. :-)




Oh, and BTW, Harmony was put on some meds to help with her stomach issues (her belly empties out a little slow), and after 2 weeks of being on them, she gained almost 10 ounces! YAY!

Lists

Last night as I was attempting to fall asleep (and failing miserably at it), I was making a list in my head of all the things I need to get done this coming week. And as I was doing this, I became aware of all the things I'm really not fond of doing, and thought I would share. This is me venting, so don't judge people.

I'm Tired Of:

Doctor's appointments. For me and for Harmony (Mike all but refuses to go so I don't deal with him much). If I'm not going to one, I'm scheduling one. If I'm not scheduling one, I'm researching doctors to find out what one I want to go to. Blah.

Laundry. There is nothing in me that enjoys doing laundry. I put it off (sometimes for 2 weeks) until Mike tells me he has no socks or underwear left. And even then I sometimes just do a load of those so i can put it off longer. Sad. But true.

Bills. They stress me out.

Not selling our house in Pittsburgh. You don't even want to know how much money we've spent on an empty house. Makes me mad just thinking about it.

Changing diapers. Is there such a thing as potty training a 16 month old? :-)

Being tired. I know some of it's my thyroid, but i know i would feel much more rested if Harmony would just sleep through the night. Ugh.

Having so much of my belongings in storage. Can't wait to get a house.




And even tho there are probably many other things I'm tired of, there are also things I'll NEVER tire of. Such as:

Naps. I'm a super napper, and probably take more than I'll ever admit. There is nothing better than a long Sunday nap.

Facebook. I'm addicted.

Harmony saying my name. Tho she says it A LOT now (and usually when she really wants something), I never tire of her little voice calling me to where ever she is, knowing I'll get her what she needs (but not always what she WANTS- hence the tantrums- oh add that to things I'm tired of. When will this phase be over?)

Kemper. My lovie dog who is the cuddliest dog EVER, and I love him so much. I admit my love changed for him when Harmony came along, but he still is my loyal pup whom I will never tire of.

Mike's jokes. Even tho i usually shake my head and roll my eyes at most of the nonsense that comes out of his mouth, i truly believe that he is the funniest man alive... and he's all mine.

Taking pictures. Even tho its my job, I always enjoy capturing both big and little moments in life, whether it's my life or someone else. And tho i dread wedding season (life becomes a little unmanageable at times), I get excited about all the memories I'm going to be a part of.

And speaking of work, I NEVER tire of teaching with Becca. I love seeing her every day, but even more, the kids we teach are AWESOME. They are so smart, and SO funny.

And lastly, I never tire of watching Mike and Harmony play. There are times when I am moved to tears as I watch them giggle and laugh together. Those are the moments that outshine every tantrum, every uneaten meal, and every sleepless night. I have the greatest little (quite literally) family ever.

Harmony's Baby Dedication

Our sweet baby girl got dedicated yesterday at The Father's House, and it was so so awesome!!! Mike sang a beautiful song (and got a little choked up- so cute), and then each parent read a letter to their child (or children) as part of the dedication. We spoke a promise over Harmony that we would raise her in an environment where she can't help but know the Lord, and where we will pray her through whatever circumstance life will bring her. It was awesome to speak those words over her life, and to have family there to hear it and to keep us accountable to the promise we made.

We all went out to lunch for a celebration where Harmony decided to be the entertainment. She was so so silly the whole time, and it was just so much fun! And in true Shipman fashion, i posted pics. But I have to say that Becca took most of the pics (and the ones at the dedication Jaime took), and I totally stole them. So give them the credit if you like them!

Sad and Funny at the same time

I was getting Harmony dressed yesterday and came across her I Love Daddy shirt and though it would be funny to see if it would fit (totally thinking it would be way too small). Um... yeah it still fit.

Her at 5 or 6 months


Her at 16 months


Off to the hospital tomorrow morning to see the GI and nutritionist. Pray.

More Doctors Appointments... More Good News!

I promised to keep you all updated, so here it is:

After all the tests came back fine, our doctor wanted to do one other test to rule out Cystic Fibrosis (something that PA didn't screen her for, weird...), so on Monday we went in for what they called a Sweat Test. All we had to do is check for how salty her skin is (a symptom of CF) and also to put this contraption on her arm and put her in her winter coat and let her run around (and for those of you who know Harmony- this is not a problem) until we collected enough sweat to run the tests.

We went early in the morning (got to see our fav nurse ever -sorry Beth!) and were told the results would be ready by 2. So i called at 2. Not finished. Called at 3. Still not finished. That's when my mind went crazy and I thought it was going to return positive, and Harmony was going to be sick her whole life. I was in a panic by the time Mike got home, and it was not a fun scene. But he, being the amazing husband he is, reminded me of God's faithfulness, and that no matter what, Harmony was going to be fine. So i took a deep breath and called one last time, asking as nicely as I could that I really wanted to know the results that day, and that i didn't want to have to wait until the next day. So one of the nurses stayed late to wait for the fax, and called me to tell me the great news that it came back negative!! WOO HOO!

So what next? Well, we are still focusing on her diet. The girl HATES to eat. She is too much of a busy body to be bothered with it. I am so lucky that so many people reached out to us and gave us so much advice and encouragement, and I am forever grateful to you all! It's getting better, but no where near what i want. It takes me a good hour to feed her at meals, and most of that hour is spent waiting for her to stop throwing fits, and wanting to get down. We really want her to know that her high chair is where she eats, and setting up healthy eating habits. so we now make an effort to eat together, and to let her see us eat. It's been helping. Also, if she is really fussy, we put on her favorite movie and let her watch it while we feed her. This helps SO MUCH, but we hate doing it because that isn't something we want her to get used to. But for now, if she eats, I'm happy. I can correct the behavior at a later date, preferably when she isn't labeled "failure to thrive"! So don't judge!
:-)

I'm convinced that she is just going to be a peanut. But I am trying lots of new, fatty foods to bulk the child up. Her favorites are mac and cheese with hot dogs, meatballs, organic sausage patties, yo baby yogurt, ham, high fat cheese, buttered veggies (she could eat just veggies and not bat an eye- so NOT her father), french fries, and Pediasure (we have her off formula and solely on that-it's much higher in fat, but still has so many nutrients).

Other than that, Harmony is the poster child for a "thriving" toddler. She is so smart, so social, and so so funny. I need to start taking more videos of her craziness so you can see what I'm talking about. She now points to everything she wants (which is nice because now I know when she is thirsty, or what food she wants to eat. But now she also says "no" to me all the time. It was really cute for the first day, but now- not so cute. She LOVES to dance. We have a ipod dock in our living room, and when she wants to dance she points to it. There are certian songs she loves most, and if I don't play those songs, she looks at me like "you think I'm dancing to THIS?", and once a song she likes comes on she spins, claps her hands, she "drops it like it's hot"!, so funny, you don't even know!

She's still teething like mad... I can't wait for this stage to be over. She gets so congested and her mouth is so sore. I'm sure that doesn't help with the whole eating thing either... but she got her first tooth in May, and it hasn't stopped. I feel so bad for her- it must hurt so much.

That pretty much is what's going on in the Shipman home. Mike is tearing it up at The Father's House, and I am the proudest wife around. I'm LOVING teaching Pre-K with Becca, and my kids are amazing. Harmony loves going to her "class" for the mornings, and is now transitioning from the baby room to the wobbler room. Her teachers are so amazed at how well adjusted she is, and how independent she can be. She is only there for a little under 3 hours, only 3 days a week, but she gets so excited when we get ready in the mornings. She stands at the door and says "Bye? Bye?" until I'm ready to put her in the car. Love it. It makes it so much easier to put her in day care when I know she loves it so much.

Speaking of the peanut herself, I hear her playing in her crib- throwing every toy, and every blanket on the floor, so I must go tend to her.

Oh, and BTW- congrats to my blog buddy and friend, Beth on getting knocked up again! I'm so excited for you!