Busy week!!!

Harper and I have had a very busy week! We went grocery shopping on Monday, watched it snow on Tuesday, walked to Central Market and the bookstore on Wednesday, went to lunch with my old co-workers and visited C on Thursday, and met a friend for coffee on Friday!! We were all over the place! This weekend we are looking forward to just hanging out with Daddy!

Oh, and thanks to Daddy for giving H a bottle for her last feeding last night, it have Mommy an extra hour or sleep! And thank you baby girl for letting Mommy sleep for almost 7 hours straight last night...the most I have slept in one night since we brought you home, yeah!

Happy Weekend to everyone!!!

Snow in Austin?!?!

I have to admit, I didn't believe it when I heard the weather report...actually, I just didn't expect to see snow at my house, but I was wrong!!! I watched snow fall in my backyard all day long and it was such a beautiful sight! During Harper's nap time in the morning I curled up in my robe (yes, I have a robe now, does that make me old???) on the couch with my cup of coffee and watched the snow fall. I only wish that Harper was old enough to see this and experience it, I hope it will happen again when she is old enough to appreciate it! It was 70 degrees on Sunday and it snowed here today...only in Austin, you gotta love it!

Mommy's first night out!!

After numerous outfit changes, lots of kisses on my beautiful baby and directions for my hubby for the night...I was off to enjoy my first evening out with my girls since Harper was born. We were out to celebrate my friend S's Birthday and thanks to her awesome husband, we were doing it in style! The girls met up at the Omni hotel where we hung out in our room waiting for the Birthday girl to arrive so we could surprise her! We all crept down to the bar in the lobby and had fun surprising her...then it was up to the room to get the party started! We drank champagne and chatted it up until it was time to head to PF Chang's for dinner. Dinner was very entertaining thanks to our very energetic waiter J, some of the girls had met him the week before and took a liking to him so we made sure to have him take care of us while we were there! We had lots of laughs and lots of drinks...when we were done we headed back to the hotel to continue the evening. Once back at the hotel room we turned up the music, drank some more champagne and danced around with our friend Bert (he's a blow up doll that comes to all of our parties!)...I called it a night soon thereafter (time to get back to all my babies at home!) and I heard that the girls went out for some dancing fun after I left...the Birthday girl likes to get her groove on! It was such a fabulous evening, I love my girls so much and couldn't imagine my life without them!

Breakfast Outing

So we decided to "rip off the band aid" and venture out to a meal...our first since H has been born. We love breakfast so it was a no-brainer to head out to Curra's to test the waters. Usually H falls asleep right away when we get in the car but we went out during her "awake time" and when we got to Curra's she was wide awake...this made me a little nervous that she could burst out crying at any time but she was completely content! We settled at a table and slowly her eyes started to get heavy and she eventually fell asleep, not a peep from her the entire time we were there, yipee! Chris got migas and I got Chilaquiles and we were both in breakfast heaven!

We like reading!

Harper & I are really enjoying our reading time (not reflected in this pic)! I have to admit, it does seem a little silly reading to her at 1 month old, but she does seem to look at the book and listen to me. I started by reading to her in the glider but that wasn't working out so well...so now I read to her after we tummy time...I just turn her over on her back and lay on the floor with her and read to her there, this is during her happy time so it works out perfectly. I have a collection of books from my childhood that I got from my parents and I also picked up some books from Half Price to start Harper's library. This week I have been reading books from when I was a kid and it is crazy how much I remember...I had some really fun books and it's so much fun to share them with Harper now! I am looking forward to when she gets a little older and we can go to the library and check out books too, you can never read too much!!!

Harper is 1 month old!!!

Exercising

I haven't realized just how much I have missed exercising. I mean, I did workout through my first 2 trimesters of my pregnancy and I did lots of yoga in my 3rd trimester but I haven't done any real exercising for awhile. And until my 6 week doctor's appointment post partum I still can't do too much...but until then...I have found some things to keep me moving! At home I am doing squats and lunges while holding my baby girl...funny enough, when she gets fussy these moves actually calm her down! I also have hand weights so I get some arm exercises in whenever I can. And when we are doing tummy time on her activity mat I get some yoga moves in too! I have been also doing lots of walking which is always a great exercise and it feels so great to just get out of the house and be outside! Yesterday we took a walk to a nearby grocery store to pick up a few things and today we met C and her baby girl at Town Lake- so much fun! I currently have a freeze on my gym membership so I have some decisions to make soon about whether I want to go back to my old gym or possibly try out another, more family-friendly one...hmmmmmmmm????

Cute pic of the day- Golden Doodle Puppies!!!!

Good Recipe

I wanted to share a recipe that I made tonight for dinner...very simple, healthy and good!



Turkey Tenders with Cranberry Yogurt Dipping Sauce

-2 whole wheat pita breads

-1 tsp kosher salt

-1 tbsp chopped fresh sage

-1 lb turkey tenderloins

-2 tsp olive oil

-1 cup fat-free Greek-style yogurt

-1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place pita breads on the foil and bake until dry and crispy, about 7-1o mins.

2. When the pita bread is cool enough to handle, break them up and grind them into coarse crumbs with a food processor. Stir in salt and fresh sage. Place the seasoned crumbs onto a plate.

3. Dry off turkey tenderloins with a paper towel. Cut the tenderloins into strips. Add olive oil to bowl and using your hands mix until the meat is evenly covered with the oil.

4. Roll each piece of turkey in the seasoned bread crumbs until well coated and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 375 degrees for 15-2o mins until the turkey is cooked through and no pink remains. Serve with warm Cranberry Yogurt Dipping Sauce.

Cranberry Yogurt Dipping Sauce:

Combine yogurt and dried cranberries in a food processor and blend until cranberries are finely chopped. (I added a little sugar to sweeten it just a bit)

Good Day

My day started out just fabulous...my baby girl slept great last night! She went 6 hours and 3 hours between feedings overnight which gave me 8 total hours of sleep, I woke up feeling awesome! The rest of my day was busy, busy...between feedings I did some dinner prep, bathed my girl and gave myself a shower so I was ready to meet up with an old co-worker for coffee right after our afternoon feeding. It was nice getting out of the house and having a nice visit with a friend...we met up at a spot called Genuine Joe's that reminded me of my college days hanging out and studying at coffee houses, so fun! Oh, and how could I forget...the other great thing that happened today was that I think I have successfully transitioned H to her crib for naps...thus far she has been sleeping exclusively in the bouncer which we have basically used as a bassinet, it was time to get her in the crib, next we will be working on getting her in the crib at night...but I don't think I am ready to move her out of our room yet, I like having her close by at night!

Visit with Granny & Papa Wilson

As promised, I wanted to share the weekend we had with Granny & Papa when they came to visit for four days. We all had such a wonderful time, the only bummer was that my hunny was sick and had a reaction to the medicine he was taking...but he was a trooper and still managed to get through it, love you babe!!!

G & P couldn't get enough of Harper, no surprise there, but I honestly can say she hardly spent any time not being held the entire time they were here...can we say, SPOILED! Another member of the family who was spoiled was our dog Jack, my dad took him on multiple walks per day...Jack is really missing his friend now! I have to admit though, it was really great having extra hands, it gave Mommy so much more freedom! Mom & I got out of the house to do a little shopping and Chris and I even had a date night...we went out to dinner and enjoyed spending time together, but we missed our little girl even though we weren't gone long at all! We also tried an awesome pulled pork recipe in the crockpot and it turned out amazing, we all enjoyed pulled pork tacos for dinner Friday night, super yummy!

Overall, the visit was a bit bittersweet...it was so nice having my parents around and seeing them with their first granddaughter, but it was very sad seeing them leave and realizing they won't be around as much as we would like them too...but we are hoping this blog and Skype will make them feel closer to us and those outlets will allow them to see Harper grow even when they live in CA!

We love you Granny & Papa and miss you already!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been a very busy 4 days...Granny & Papa (Grandma & Grandpa Wilson) were visiting from CA and left today...Harper & Jack (the grand kids) were very spoiled while they were here and everyone had a great time! More on their visit later. This Valentine's Day I have 3 babies to love on- my doggie, my hubby & my baby girl! I can honestly say that there has never been a Valentine's Day where I have had more love in my heart! I hope that everyone had a fabulous V-Day and you were able to spend time with the ones you love!

My sick girl

Oh my goodness, I wasn't ready to be dealing with my daughter already being sick for the first time! On Monday she seemed to be sneezing a little more then normal and that turned into congestion overnight...I called my dr's office first thing Tuesday morning and they told me that because she is so little there isn't much to do for her in terms of medicine...they suggested saline nose drops & a humidifier. I had the saline nose drops (which have really helped) but I had to go out and buy a humidifier. Night time is the worst, she just sounds so miserable, but she is still sleeping fine. Today we had a lot of cuddle time, I haven't put her down very much...so I have been catching up on some TV shows and watched a movie. I think today will be my first day since coming home with Harper that I won't be getting around to taking a shower or be getting out of my pj's...oh well, my sick daughter is my first priority and she isn't wanting to be too far away from Mommy today!

Hoping that Harper will start feeling better soon since Grandma & Grandpa Wilson are coming from CA tomorrow to meet her...very much looking forward to their visit!!!

Fun weekend!!

This weekend was a very fun and busy one for us! It started with Friday night at my friend E's house for our annual Valentine's Day gathering...this year was even more special because we brought all the kiddos! E made a fabulous paella dish and we just sat around and enjoyed each other's company. What a fun tradition, my girls are the best Valentine's ever!

Saturday morning Grandma & Grandpa Lucas came to visit Miss Harper for the first time...Grandma didn't want to put her grandchild down, which is to be expected because she is so darn cute! Grandma & I even had a chance to escape for awhile and go shopping at a children's consignment store for some clothes for Harper, I was finding that I don't have enough "warmer" clothes for her...we scored some really nice stuff and Grandma was nice enough to treat us, thanks Grandma!!! I also picked up Harper's first toy guitar which is super cute, I can't wait to see her play with it!



Today my hunny and I had fun hanging at the house and watching the Super Bowl at home as a family. We made yummy guacamole, queso and chicken drum sticks...AND I had my first alcoholic beverage in months and I enjoyed it very much!!!

One more feeding and Harper and I are going to call it a night...she has had a fussy day today so I am hoping she got it all out of her system so she can sleep peacefully for Mommy tonight, keeping my fingers crossed!

Getting out of of the house!

Today wasn't the ideal day to venture out of the house with Harper for the first time...it was rainy and yucky, but that didn't damper my spirits, I was ready to get back out in the world! I realized rather quickly as I was running around trying to get ready to leave that I am now officially on Harper's schedule and I better get used to it! By the time I got in the car I have to admit I was a little tired, the process wore me out! We drove over to my friend C's for our weekly "play date" and got to hang out with Auntie T too! As we prepared to leave C's house our next adventure was about to begin...going to the grocery store for the first time! Harper slept through the whole thing, thank goodness...and we got out of there without a hitch!

Now we are just waiting for a friend to get her with a much anticipated dinner, KFC!!! I have been craving fried chicken forever and I am finally giving in and eating it tonight...I can't wait!!! I can already smell the fried chicken, biscuits, mac & cheese and mashed potatoes...ahhhhh yeah!!!!

Sling time, pumping and SLEEP!!!!

So yesterday I decided to try out the sling with Harper and she seemed to really like it! Mommy really likes it becuase it gives her free hands to do other things...for example, right now Harper is all cozy in the sling while Mommy does her blog! I think I am really going to like this thing.

Another "first" from yesterday...I had my first pumping experience. I have a double pump but I decided to start out slow and just pump one breast. Feeling like a cow about to be milked, I got myself situated while Chris sat next to me equipped with the instructions and he was ready to work the machine. I successfully pumped 2 oz and will be introducing a bottle to Miss Harper sometime soon...time for Daddy to start helping with feeding time!!!

And....drum roll please...the best news I have to share...I got SLEEP last night...almost 4 blissful hours in a row, twice, and it was pure heaven! Of course, I might have just got lucky last night, but I want to thank my precious girl for being so good to Mommy...I think she probably felt bad for being such a stinker the night before!

Harper's 2 week dr's appointment

Our 8am dr's appointment for Miss Harper came VERY early this morning...Harper and I had a long night...we slept on the couch together for most of the wee hours of the morning...so needless to say, I was thinking about a much-needed nap even before we left for the appointment! We got good news at the appointment, Harper now weighs 6 lbs 9 oz, so she is 3 oz more then her birth weight! This is very important for several reasons: 1- She is eating enough and 2- If she wants to sleep through the night I can let her now, yipee!!!! Our doc also gave me the go ahead to start pumping and I can even introduce a pacifier now if I want, yes please! When we got back to the house Chris left for work and I laid down for a nap (thank goodness Harper was cooperating!!!), got up to feed her and then took another nap...now I feel much less like a zombie! :)



We have some friends of ours coming by tonight with dinner...looking forward to introducing them to Harper and spending some time with them. Maybe I should take a shower before they arrive????

Hello, and welcome to my attempt to blog!!! Be patient with me, I don't have a clue what I am doing! First I want to thank my sister for setting this up for me, I needed someone to light the fire under my butt! After the birth of our beautiful daughter 2 weeks ago life as we know it has ended and our new life as a four-some has begun! I wanted to start this blog primarily to be able to share our new life with our family and friends that live far away...hopefully this will provide an outlet to allow you all to feel like you are right here with us in Austin! So stay tuned, I look forward to sharing our life with you!