This is my little black dress

You can't read it in the pictures, but Harper's onesie says "This is my little black dress." How appropriate for ringing in the new year. Of course she has no idea, since she is snoozing away. Ken and I have toasted our sparkling grape juice and are hitting the sack. I'll have to do reflecting on 2008 another time! Welcome 2009!

5 Weeks Old Already!

Harper is just a growing! She had a wonderful time with all of the family for Christmas and absolutely LOVES all of her presents! Thank you all! All of the excitement got her a little off her non-schedule-schedule, but we've been getting back into the swing of things now that we are back home. Actually, she's probably bored with Mommy & I can't seem to hold her just like Papa J or Uncle Kevin...must be something about the flat chest  & that Mommy can't offer! 

She is growing so fast! I'm just trying to get her in all her cute outfits before she outgrows them! It's like racing the clock, one day things are huge and the next they are already starting to get tight! That's just the 0-3 size, of course we got so many sweet things in all sizes, so she will never be stuck without a thing to wear! 

It was warm today so we sat outside for just a bit. The fresh air was great! Now that Harper is older, it will be fun to get her out and about a little. Well, it's about time for the afternoon nap to end. Mommy over and out!

About to outgrow the Moses basket already!

I Am 32 Days Old!

These photographs were taken by my brother, Brian. I will be adding a link to his website so you can check out his other awesome photos. He lives in Charleston, so if you are nearby and need a photographer, he could be your man! This was his first session with a newborn, and we kind of did it on the spot when we got Harper in a good mood, but I think they turned out great! Of course he said she was a pretty good subject to work with:)

Christmas!

We headed to my parents' on Christmas Day! Brian & Karen were in from Charleston, and Katie, Kevin & Sara up from Auburn. We had good family time and even made a visit to Iuka to see MaMa and PaPa Hudson. 

Mirror image? 

Her eyes are still blue...

This was the gown I wore my first Christmas. 

Whew, actually got a picture with her face not all scrunched up! Grandmother Hollis smocked her this Christmas dress. Maybe her daughter will wear it 32 years from now...:)

Meeting MaMa and PaPa Hudson

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve with the Hamners, eating some yummy barbeque at Gammy's, then heading over to exchange presents at Grandmommy's & Daddy Ray's house. We had so much fun visiting with the family & it was fun for them to see Harper some more-even if she slept the whole time! 

Susan, Mary & Rachel

Gammy holds a sleeping Harper

Our Christmas Family :)

With Alyssa & Maya

With Daddy Ray and Grandmommy...being a little fussy!

Harper's First Christmas!

Present for me?

My sweet baby

Harper & her first Christmas doll:)

We've had a great Christmas with Harper! She just loves her "My First Christmas" sleeper and First Christmas doll! 

Time Flies!

I can't believe that our little Harper girl is almost a month old! She is doing so good and growing by the day. It has been a miracle to watch her each and every one of them. I really hope not to jinx myself, but she is such a good baby. She eats good and sleeps in between. She only gets fussy when she doesn't want to lay by herself anymore. I love that she is having more awake times now. I just hold her and stare at her sweet face. She seems to be taking it all in and I swear that she smiled at me today! Even if she didn't intend to, it still melted my heart:)

We are having more success with the back sleeping. I've been able to get her used to napping that way, so when it's bedtime it only takes a little soothing to get her to sleep. Ken and I have really been pulling off some great teamwork to make it through the nights. I will get up to feed her and then he will comfort her/get her to sleep. Sometimes that includes letting her fall asleep on Daddy's chest before "fliparooing" her over in the bed! 

Harper is starting to make new sounds, some grunts and coos. We think it's really cute when she "misses" a sneeze and makes this little "Uh!" sound. She is starting to look less like a newborn and fitting into more of her clothes. We'll have to have another dress-up day soon!  Well, speaking of new noises, she is making some now. Hope everyone is getting excited for Christmas! I'll leave you with a smile!

Weekend Stuff

Mom, Dad & Grandmother came to visit us on Saturday. They just HAD to see some more Harper! It was a fun day of oohing and aahing and very nice for Ken & I since we had lots of extra hands to hold her for a while! 

Shady keeps an eye on Harper.

Just chillin' with Daddy

Four generations! 

Great-Grandmother Hollis holding Harper in the dress that she made for her. 

My Little Dress-Up Doll!

This is so my favorite outfit on her yet! This is the first time I've put any sort of bow or headband on her & she didn't seem to mind. She was just an angel confection in this cashmere sweater. She will definitely be better dressed than me! 

The Hamner Gown

This gown has been worn by all of the Hamners: Ken and his brothers and all of their children! Now it's Harper's turn. I took these pictures right after her bath. She smelled so good and sweet! 

I am 2 weeks old!

Way to stimulate Baby Einstein! I think the fabric was just so soft...

Little Angel napping

Playing with rattle from Aunt Peyton

Lots of napping! 

2 Week Check-up

Harper had her first visit at the pediatrician's office today. Getting out the door is a story in itself that I will not bother you with...I was excited to be able to get out of the house and drive at last! Everything checked out just great and she weighs 8 pounds 15 ounces! Also measures 21 inches! So we know that feeding is going well-yippee! Wow, at this rate she is going to be a big girl soon! Dr. said she should gain about an ounce a day for now. The doctor also said that she was his best dressed 2 week old! I was going to snap a picture, but she's been napping so good since we've been home that I haven't been able to get one. I'll see what I can do! 

Sweet Shots

This is my favorite face in the world!

Our Little Doll

Harper is such a good sport. She lets us dress her up and take pictures any time. Her expressions are so funny. Like, you people are weird! I just want her to get to wear all of her cute clothes while she can!

Look at that ear sticking out!

Our little sunbather! We were giving her some recommended sunshine to help with any jaundice, and she loved it:)

I should have rotated this one, but you can see how she just stretched out and soaked it up!

Week 2 so far...

Well, it's hard to believe that Harper is already a week old. It seems like a bit of a blur...a wonderful blur! The lack of sleep almost reminds me of college finals week...nah, this is much more joyful than that!

I am breastfeeding Harper so since she's was born we've been tracking her "output" since we can't measure her input. I wonder if a year ago Ken and I would have thought we'd be referring to the "poopy chart"? The first few days I was all gung-ho to write down the times I fed her and how many of each diaper. I think by day 2 home I was over that! It doesn't take long to hit that "at least this many" number! When you see yourself replenishing the diaper caddy so frequently, you know it's "at least" enough "output"! Who ever thought I would obsess so much over my babies' bodily functions?! So anyway, after all of this output tracking we were due to take her to the Breastcare Center for a weigh-in on Monday to make sure she was gaining back her weight.  She weighed 8.3 at birth and 7.11 when we left the hospital. Monday's weight in: 8.4! They said whatever I was doing, keep it up! Yea Mommy! Yea Harper! (Sorry Daddy, not much you could do here!) I  was so proud of my little chug-a-lugging girl! She is doing such a good job.

She has been napping really good today. I think she's had to adjust to sleeping not being held since that's pretty much the only way she slept for the first few days of life! She hates sleeping on her back, so any advice you have on that would be welcomed! Many people say just let her sleep on her tummy, but that gives me heart palpitations! 

I let Ken give her a bottle for her 2am feeding last night so I could sleep. It was amazing! I think I got 6 hours of sleep last night! We all slept great, so today has been wonderful! 

Well, that's about all of the catching up I can do for you now. Other than I love her more than anything in the world and I can't seem to stop looking at her, even as I type. Oh, and I can't stop taking pictures. I think I need to get more memory for my computer before it crashes! Thank goodness for digital cameras! Kodak or Snapfish is about to make a good buck off of me when I order like 300 prints---for the first 2 weeks! 

Hope you are all great and had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Off for a nap of my own, maybe!