Colic/Reflux Baby

Two Thursday nights ago and leading into Friday was the roughest time of a family of four yet...Harper had a terrible night of no sleep and lots of crying and discomfort which equals mommy up a long time trying to soothe little one. Daddy was able to come home early from work so I brought Harper in to the Dr to get some tips or see if she had acid reflux problems since thanks to facebook we learned plenty of our friends assumed this was the case. Well they were right. Harper is now on Zantac to help with the reflux...it has helped decrease the spit up but she still seems super gassy and uncomfortable most of the night so now I'm thinking it is colic and we will be dealing with it for months, just like I made my parents deal with it when I was a baby. She is generally calm and sleeping during the day and quite the opposite during the night. She rotates between sleeping in our arms, the swing or the bouncy seat at night. Or just crying and not sleeping.

 On a happier note that morning I did muster enough energy to make new pumpkin muffins for our Halloween party on Saturday. The recipe is so simple...a can of pumpkin mixed with a yellow cake mix! thats it! so easy and quick and Linnea can easily help! After they cooled, we frosted them with chocolate or orange frosting and then decorated them with reeses pieces. Very festive, quick and easy! Thank you Pinterest! On another happy note I have watched plenty of my fav girly movies during the late nights! I thought I had a picture of these creations...but I guess not.

And on an even happier note Friday evening was spent at our neighbors house with a few other families and their kids. Linnea had fun doing some crafts and playing dress up and dancing with the girls, Harper enjoyed being passed around and Chris and I enjoyed being with other adults! One funny story about the night happened when the girls all came charging down the stairs ready to tattle on "Linnea", only it wasn't our Linnea, it was the other Linnea in the neighborhood, yes there are two. So the girls went and told Linnea's mom that she was hitting them and our Linnea comes to us in a very worried voice saying, " those girls keep telling me I am hitting them, but I'm not hitting them, I'm a nice girl." We had to remind her without giggling that there is another Linnea in the group and that is who they are talking about. We don't have any pictures from the evening but here are some of Harper from throughout the week that I have randomly taken:

Thrifting, Lunchdate and Jammie Day!

The Monday after watching the Marathon was Columbus Day and as on most holidays or around them, the thrift store had their half off everything sale...we desperately need pants for our growing big girl L so we attempted the store...we survived but I was in there probably a record short amount of time since it was so busy and I had a full cart of carseat and preschooler, or if the preschooler was walking (which she did most of the trip) it was quite hard to keep up and keep an eye on her among all the people. 50% off days are CRAZY! But we did go home with some pants, shirts and Halloween stuff! We stopped at McDonald's on the way home for a lunchdate.

 Tuesday I contemplated going to the Mall of America for their toddler Tuesday event but chickened out on doing that alone with the two. If I had a carried I liked for Harper maybe I would have or if we had a double stroller but we dont, so then if Linnea decides to be done walking I would be in quite the pickle! Or if we needed to leave quickly it would also be a challenge. SO I asked L if she wanted to go anywhere and she said no, she just wanted to stay home. So we did. and we did it in our jammies and had so much fun! I got a pile of dishes done while Linnea worked on some art on the kitchen floor and Harper slept in her bouncy seat. I just gave L some supplies and let her go at it...she ended up making a sparkly ghost on a paper plate. We also had "pumpkin" PB sandwiches for lunch. We did get dressed after supper to go to the Choo Choo Park with the neighbors for a bit.

Wednesday we stuck with our routine of the preschool storytime at the RedBalloon Bookshop.

That's Linnea above in the pink holding onto one of the many puppets at the shop that she is OBSESSED with! She plays with them for like a half hour after each storytime!

Thursday I had a nice early morning reading and snuggle time with Harper but then needed to get up because we had registered ourselves for a free MacPhail Music Sing Play and Learn event at the library. We have gone to these before and Linnea just LOVES them. Her face lights up at the songs and dancing and parachute play they do!

There she is in the purple. She picked her outfit out all by herself..purple dress and purple pants. She did not care one bit the patterns were completely different!

1 Month Old!

Harper is already 1 month old! Here are the weekly pictures with Linnea's stuffed pig. We used an elephant for Linnea and wanted to use something different for Harper, so the pig it is. There are some more fun ideas on Pinterest that I may switch to in the coming months, but for now it is the pig!

1 Week Old!

1 Week Old!

2 Weeks Old...an owl and a pig.

   

I forgot to do an actual 3 Week Picture with the pig but this is around Harper's 3 week bday with her big sis.

  

4 Weeks/One Month...a butterfly and a princess. This was all L's idea!

Happy One Month Birthday! Where did that month go??? We are so happy you have made us a family of four
Miss Harper Marie!

Go Runners Go!

An owl and mom's morning out!

This past Sunday was the Twin Cities Marathon! I didn't know anyone running it but still thought it would be a fun lil outing for Linnea and I. We ended up meeting a childhood friend of mine who did know someone running and cheered with her for a little while. Linnea was very good at shouting go runners go and clapping!

She was also good at running back and forth along the sidewalk "training" for her "race."

beautiful fall tree in MN...no wonder they call the TCM the most beautiful urban marathon! I have run it and have to agree! Watching it made me more anxious to get out running again!

 We collected leaves on the way back to the car which she painted when we got home and tried to stamp with them. The project didn't go exactly how I wanted it to but she enjoyed it anyways!

Nathan's Wedding

Our sister in law's brother Nathan got married this past Saturday and the girls and I went to the reception. Chris came down with a migraine that started in the morning and didn't go away til Sunday morning. I brought the girls to Saturday Live at the Central Library for a puppet show of the Three Little Pigs in the morning so Chris could get some quiet rest time. Linnea loves the events of Sat Live but also loves the toys that come out afterwards...esp the puppets and dollhouse. I think I know what she will be getting for her bday/Chistmas.

So after the library and lunch the girls had naps (well Harper just continued sleeping) and then when they woke up we got ready for the wedding reception and headed out the door. It was so fun to see the cousins all dance together!

yummy cupcakes!

getting the hang of it...

Chris went back to work half days last week so the girls and I were on our own in the mornings. It is going to take some getting used to but we did manage to get out the door and to an event everyday but Tuesday!
Tuesday we stayed home in the morning and just hung out watching shows and probably coloring. Linnea and I went on a leaf hunt together around the block before we headed to Stockholm, Wisconsin to have dinner at a Pizza Farm with Chris' mom and sisters and nieces. It was Harpers longest ride in the car and she did great! So did Linnea. We listened to some books on cd and sang funny versions if the chicken dance song which Linnea refers to as the turkey song. The pizza farm was pricier than we expected but it was delicious and beautiful and a fun way for Jenny and the girls to meet Miss Harper.

Wednesday we went to the Red Balloon Bookshop for their preschool storytime (which we will do most Wednesdays) and a nearby park.

Thursday we checked out Como Zoo's  Lil Explorers program which was awesome and we will end up doing most Thursdays! About 10 tables are set up with different actitivites set up on them to match the theme of the week. There is also storytime during it. We walked around the conservatory afterwards since it was way too cold and windy for the zoo.

animals on parade!

water play with a new "friend"

That evening our friends Megs and Pat came over with their 3 month old Hattie and dinner for us. Linnea and I made some cookies in the afternoon before they came too. It was a fun evening!

the new moms and their girls!

Linnea doesn't look thrilled in this picture at all but she really LOVED Pat and even got him to "nurse" her baby.

Friday we met up with Alison who is visiting from Colorado and her mom  Jan. They were so nice and met us at the Merriam Park Library for storytime and then treated us to lunch at Damico. They had some presents for Linnea and Harper too, Lots of adorable clothes, two Twins bottles, note cards and a coloring book from Jan and homemade cookies and cute cute cute owl hats from Al! It was so wonderful to spend the day with such great friends!

"whooo's" that cutie?

That evening we went over to GG's nursing home so the GG could finally meet Harper. We had tried a few other times but it just didn't work out for one reason or another. Uncle Brad was also visiting so he got to meet Harper too. My parents treated us to Chinese food while there too.

sleeping beauty.

Harper meets Erik and family!

Last Monday night we headed out to Woodbury to my parents house for chicken tacos and introducing Harper to Erik, Lisa and their boys. After dinner, the kids watched Octonauts, had ice cream and took turns holding Harper. It was another nice evening!

shes so tiny he said!

cousin love!

papa and 2 of his girls

yum ice cream!