3 Months Old

Mia is 3 months old today!  And she is so happy that today is an icy snowy day and her daddy got to stay home with her.  A couple of things to remember on her 3-month birthday:





Snow day with Daddy!


• We had a dr. appointment yesterday where Mia weighed in at 9 lbs 5 oz...that is only a 6 oz gain from last month's appointment, and it puts her at only the 3rd percentile.  So we are instructed to work towards fattening her up!  That means replacing 2 of her feedings with formula bottles every day...that way she's still getting the benefits of nursing but with some guaranteed calories throughout her day. 



Happy baby!!





• So a couple of weeks ago, Mia found her hands.  Since then she has been putting them in her mouth every chance she gets.  Well, now she has discovered that she can hold onto things and put those magical things into her mouth as well!  She has this cute little stuffed crab that is her new favorite chew toy.



Crab claws are delicious!

• This past weekend my parents - Nana & Papa - came in to visit and they babysat while Brock and I went out with our friends Sean & Christina.  While we were dressed up, we decided to take a family picture.  I don't know what it is about him, but Papa has a way of making her smile some of the biggest smiles she'll give! 





Family pic - smiling big for Papa!





Uncle Sean & Tia Christina

• Also while they were in, we had a little picnic in the backyard on Saturday...only in Texas can it be 80 degrees on Saturday and 20 on Tuesday.  So with the absolutely gorgeous day, Mia got to wear her sun hat and her silly looking sun glasses that Nana insists she loves...but why does she always cry when she has them on??  Fancy loves them so much more!

"These sunglasses make me look ridiculous...I'm giving them to Fancy"



"I'm so Fancy!"

• Even though she is small, Mia loves her jumperoo.  We have to put something under her feet - a kitchen pot, some magazines, the box for the scattergories game...it's really cute to see her when she gets going...we've got an active one on our hands!

Look at me...I can stand!



So Far Behind!

So much has happened since the last blog posting! I feel like a bad mom for not keeping up better, but here goes:


December was a whirlwind! Lots of family time and fun around the holidays.

• My mom surprised me and came in to babysit so Brock could take me on an overnight date to Ft. Worth for my 30th birthday. We saw a Cirque show at Bass Hall, had some great food and spent our first night away from Mia. It was fun, but we missed our little girl! But she had fun hanging out with her Nana. Thanks to both of them for pulling off such a wonderful surprise!

The best birthday gift!!

• The very next weekend my friend Whitney came in from San Francisco to visit. We had such a great time catching up and hanging out. And with Whit's help, we were able to have a few successful outings...what a much needed visit from a friend!!

Mia hanging out with her new friend Whitney

• Christmas was spent two weekends in a row. The weekend before Christmas my brother Dustin flew in from Colorado to meet his niece for the first time. He wants her to do more tricks, but even he couldn't help falling in love.  The rest of my family came in too, including Brady and Jenna (my brother and sis-in-law) who are expecting in July!  Mia will have a new cousin that will be very close to her age...so fun!!

Uncle Dustin and his new sidekick

• That Sunday, Brock's family came in to join us for a special celebration...Mia's baptism.  She was baptized in the United Methodist Church, and she slept through it all!  The service was really nice, including the Pastor taking her out into the congregation to introduce her to people individually, and afterwards, the whole family came back to our house for a barbeque feast. 

Grandma with Mia in her Baptism gown


• The next weekend was Christmas in Longview to celebrate with Brock's family.  Mia's first Christmas was really nice...her aunt Mei Mei, cousin Adrianna and Grandma Iris spoil her with love...all weekend, the 3 of them "fought" for baby time to hold her.  Going to church on Sunday was especially fun for Grandma where she got to introduce her and show her off to some of her church friends. 

Cousin Adrianna with Santa baby

• Mia's first New Year's was spent having a low-key night at the Hanna's with the Bimmerle's and Claire making an appearance.  For her, it was just another night, but it was nice for us to get out and have a wonderful dinner with friends!

January has flown by!  But it has been a month of milestones!

• At her 2 month appointment, Mia weighed 8 lbs 15 oz (10th percentile) and was 22 1/4 inches long (50th percentile).  Our little munchkin is long and skinny...Brock thinks she's going to grow up to be a model...what pressure!!

• She is maturing so much...including holding her head up better, smiling tons (we just love her smiles...it makes it all worth it!!) and doing some fun new tricks...she has found her hands, which are in her mouth quite a lot these days - not just a thumb or a finger, but the whole fist!...she has also learned to roll over (11 weeks)!! 
• We also had 2 weekends away in January...both were a blast!
• The first was a weekend in Franklin where Brady & Jenna live...she had lots of firsts there including her first pearl snap shirt (yes, it was from the feed store), first time on a tractor, first time to see donkeys and goats, and first picture with a baby goat (we feel like there are boud to be more...)

1st time on a tractor



1st time to see donkeys



Uncle Brady brings out the country in Mia



I luv goats!

• The second weekend away was Brock's mom, Grandma Iris's 60th birthday party.  That was so much fun - you know how much I love party planning!  So with Melissa's help and Brock's aunt & uncle coming in from Canada to surprise the birthday girl, we pulled off a pretty fun weekend for her.  And she was of course proud Grandma getting to show off her little granddaughter to all of her friends.

Lookin' good at 60!

• We had more visitors come to meet Baby Mia...Brock's cousin Dorea and her friend Wenqi came in from Pasadena, CA where they are studying at Cal Tech.  They hung out with us the weekend of the birthday party and had fun doing some traditional "Texas things" including trying chicken fried steak and eating at Whataburger.  It was also a fun surprise for Iris to see her niece at her party!

Yummm...chicken fried steak!

Phew!  I think I got it all...I promise to be better about keeping up with this...it's much easier to do in smaller chunks than this novel of a post. 

Next week Mia turns 3 months! 

Until next time...

1 month old

So much has happened in the last month...our little girl is growing before our eyes!...and totally changing our lives.  She has made me laugh and cry (thanks post-partum hormones) and smile more in these last few weeks than I ever have before.  And although the only thing I am sure of is that she is the most precious thing ever, everything else makes me question myself.  The big thing that no one can for sure tell me is "Am I doing this right?"  I guess we'll have to wait 20+ years and see what she tells her therapist...

Dec 1st - 1 month old

Since I'm using this blog as a memoir for her to try and remember all the little things, here are some updates from the last post:

• She now weighs 8 lbs 2 oz...the doctor was happy that she's finally getting "some meat on her bones"...that probably won't be a compliment in a few years, but we're excited now!
• Bath times have gotten a little better...she's still quite a wailer, but it's getting less torturous. 
• She travels really well.  As long as the car is moving, she is very content in her car seat...definitely made the 5 hr drive home for Thanksgiving not so bad, even though we had to stop twice for feedings.  At least we had quiet time while we were moving
• Speaking of Thanksgiving, she had her first one in Garden City where she got to meet her great-grandmother and her two great-aunt Carol/Carole's...and the rest of the crew...everyone of course loved her (when she wasn't screaming) :)
• She's a pretty good night time sleeper.  We still have to wake her up for feedings (so she can keep gaining weight), but she is doing fairly well at going back to sleep. 
• She started getting baby acne.  I thought we were going to be lucky and skip this phase since the doctor said it usually hits around 3 weeks, but this week we've had some breakouts pop up...hopefully it goes away and her clear skin reappears...but don't worry...she's still pretty :)

Here are some pics from this week...

Happy after bath time with ducky

How you doin?

This is what happens when Mommy takes a nap...NANA!?!?

2 weeks old

Yesterday was Mia's 2-week birthday.  It's safe to say life has changed a TON in the last couple weeks!  But all for the better, of course.  Miss Mia is doing much better with feeding, and she's really a pretty good sleeper.  And now that I've gotten out the baby sling, we are hands free during the day!  That has made a huge difference in our daytime routine!  I can actually do laundry or load the dishwasher or even take Chloe for a walk now that we're mobile. 

Daddy with Mia in the sling

A couple of fun tidbits for this week:

• At her 2 week appointment, Mia weighed 7 lbs 8 oz...because the dr. wants her to be back up to her birth weight, we are going to try to "fatten up" her milk by "fattening up" her momma (that's me).  The dr. told me to be eating more red meat, especially ribeyes and filets 2-3 times a week...I think we can handle that!  Postpartum diet...out the window!!
• She still hates baths...and to prove that, she peed on me after her bath today.  I was trying to calm her down after the hysterics she put on while in the water, and before I could get a diaper on her, she peed on my shirt.  It's a good thing she's so cute...I just can't be mad at her!
• She really likes the sling.  Anytime we need to calm her down, put her in that and walk around and BOOM - she is out.  Great invention!  Will recommend it (the Moby Wrap) to all my new mommy friends! 
• Her daddy misses her during the day...when he gets home, all he wants to do is hold her. I think I may relegate bath duty to him...getting screamed at and peed on a few times may help cure that!
  
  

  

  Tummy time on the boppy



Wide awake

More Mia Pics

We are so proud of our new baby girl.  Our dear friend, Lyndsey Shillings offered to take some pics of Mia.  As you can see Lyndsey is very good at what she does.  These are too adorable for us not to share w/ everyone.

Mia is HERE!!!

So after a very long day in labor and delivery (I'll spare you the fun details!) Mia Brooke Harlow finally made her entrance into this world at 10:30pm on November 1st.  She weighed in a 7 lbs 12oz and measured 20 1/4 inches long.  We made it home as a family on Wednesday and the last week has just flown by.  She is beautiful, precious, amazing, and we really can't believe she's ours!  So far everything is going really well...some things that we've learned about her (and us) this week:

• she really hates baths
• actually, she really hates any time she's completely naked...if she's being changed, you need earplugs!
• she loves being held...by pretty much anyone...other than in the middle of the night, she's only been put down a total of maybe 20 minutes
• she's very alert when she's awake.  Her Nana and Christina have already declared her GT...hope that's not too hard for her to live up to!
• she konks out when she's swaddled tight...nice feature for after night time feedings!
• she already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger
• she toots a lot...I call her "tooteriffic"
• we've never been so excited about poop before!!

We have really enjoyed this week of family and friends coming to help and visit.  I know this will slow down soon, and Brock will have to go back to work...so next week will be the true test.  Hope mommy-hood is good to me!  So far, I'm loving it!!

Here's a link to more pics if you just can't get enough!! :) 

http://picasaweb.google.com/btharlow/IntroducingMiaBrookeHarlow?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_1iv355YqweQ&feat=directlink



In the hospital - the nurses bathed her and added this little bow and mohawk



Tummy time in the sun

Wide awake!

Today's the DAY!!

I am writing this blog sitting in my hospital bed, hooked up to an IV feeding me Petocin.  Baby girl did not want to come out on her own, so we are inducing.  It's still kind of surreal to think by the end of this day (hopefully!) we'll be holding our precious little bundle!  We're so ready!!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers today as we get ready to meet our baby girl!

One last pic to show you just how big I got...YIKES!  Glad I'm not growing any more...