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...

The Nursery is DONE!

And good timing, because I feel like I am too!  It seems like we started the nusery really early in the pregnancy, but of course we wait until the last minute to finish it up.  But we are very happy with it, and we hope she loves being in there as much as we do! 



37 weeks



Baby bedding & book shelves



From the moment we found out we were pregnant, we wanted to do an ocean theme for the nursery.  When we found out she was a girl, it got to be much more difficult...they don't make cute girly ocean bedding.  But that wasn't stopping us!  We found a cute kids quilt at target in turquoise and pink with some bright accents and went from there.  We decided to paint a wave on the wall in a really bright turquoise and a very light shade of the same color (the pics don't do it justice...it was hard to get the lighting just right).  And then from there, lots of splashes of pink and fish decor and the room came together! 





Lots of thanks goes out to several people who were key in pulling it all together: the bedding was made by our friend Laura, who did an incredibly amazing job making a bumper and bed skirt out of a twin quilt! 

Word wall & MIA letters above changing table

The shelves were made by my dad, (Papa), to match the furniture perfectly!  The word wall inspiration came from Deb, my mom's friend and my second mom growing up who had the quote framed at my Garden City shower.  The "MIA" letters were meant to be a joke from my college friends, but Christy went over and above and made them too cute to throw in the closet!  And then some of the decorations include gifts from Brady & Jenna (Uncle BB & Aunt Ninna) with the scuba piggy bank and maternity pics, the picture frames and lots of books from my mom (Nana) and others, and the adorable monogrammed blanket on the back of the chair from my friend Amy.  It all came together so perfectly, and we love the way it turned out!  Now we just hope she comes soon so she can enjoy it too! :)  



Comfy glider from Nana & Papa with personalized blanket from Amy



Wanting her to be here to enjoy it with me!



Quick update...

I had my 37 week doctor's appointment today, and I'm already dilated 2 cm.  The doctor says I could go a few days early!  YIKES!  Very exciting, but also makes me realize just how much stuff I wanted to have done before she got here that is still, of course, not done!  But we can't wait to meet her...so baby Mia, we'll be ready when you are!

Also, for those of you asking for more maternity pics, here is the link to the re-touched ones.  Jenna did an awesome job both in taking and in photo-shopping!  http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/12907444/1/Harlow?h=b0831b

Here is one of my favorites...I think it turned out so cool!

Sorry it's so short...gotta get back to my to-do list!  Promise we'll post nursery pics soon...