7 Months!

Baby Harper is SEVEN months old!  Crazy.  I mean it really seems crazy that it's been that long since I had her, since we lived in St. Louis, since E's second birthday.  Crazy.  Time sure flies!  That being said, we have thoroughly enjoyed every minute we spend with this little lady.  She's such an amazing, sweet and happy baby girl.  Strangers even exclaim about how sweet she is and what a great personality she has.  She's one mellow girl, that's for sure.  As she gets older she's becoming more independent, playing on her own and content being by herself.  She's not crawling (yet!) but rolls and scoots every where now!  She can maneuver herself all over the family room (which is scary) and gets sooo frustrated when something is just out of reach.  She'll be crawling soon.  She loves to babble to her toys and in her crib (even to strangers) and smiles at everyone.  Her hair is getting a little longer, but still a reddish, blonde and those eyes are still a bright blue.  She's beautiful.  Overall, she's a healthy, happy girl and still a little on the small side, but growing and eating perfectly!  We saw the eye doctor today, who said her eyes look fine (perhaps a little far-sightedness, but nothing of concern) and go back to the cardiologist next week for a follow-up echo.  Then back for a weight check and flu shot at the pediatricians office a couple weeks after that.  Poor little thing has been from doctor to doctor, but they all seem to think she looks great, which is good news! Of course we think she's perfect!  How could you not?

ROLL TIDE!

The University of Alabama won it's 14th National Championship on Monday, January 9th, 2012 against LSU - 21-0 for the 2011 college football season....and E, H and I were here in Tuscaloosa to watch it!  Dr. M was on the west coast for work, so the kids and I put on our crimson and houndstooth for the first half of the game (before bedtime).  Though I have to admit that I didn't catch much of the first half, I did see the whole second half after the little ones were asleep.  I know Dr. M would have loved to be in Tuscaloosa with us to see the game and feel the excitement in the city and even hear the fireworks in our neighborhood after the game.  This Saturday is the community celebration at the stadium, but I'm not sure we'll make it as it falls right during nap time, but we'll be cheering the on from home.  Roll tide roll! 

Wherever we move next be sure to bet on the local team to win a national title because that's been the case for us in the last three cities we've lived in (Jayhawks, Cardinals and now the Tide)!

Happy Birthday and New Year!

I had a wonderful 34th birthday.  Really, it was perfect!  I had no expectations (which is good with two young children).  I actually slept in a little and when I got up Dr. M had both kids up, made my coffee and had gifts and cards waiting, which E was very eager for me to open (he's been obsessed with gifts since Christmas).  Dr. M and E also made a yummy breakfast  for everyone and we all got ready to go to the park.  It was an unseasonably, beautiful and warm day (73 degrees) so all 4 of us went for a stroll by the river and then to lunch downtown.  During afternoon nap I decided to take some of my birthday money and go shopping for a few hours alone.  I love getting the good after Christmas deals on things and spending two hours shopping alone is priceless!  When I got home Dr. M had made a cake and even had more gifts waiting.  That night we put the little ones to bed early and Dr. M made a spacial dinner for me, candle and champagne included!  We had more cake and snuggled down to watch a movie and even made it until midnight!  

New years day we took advantage of the nice weather and got the whole family (dogs too) out for a stroll at the arboretum.  Though a little windy, the weather was beautiful.  That afternoon I made the traditional black eyed peas and cornbread and that evening we watched another movie.

The perfect way to end 2011 and a great way to start 2012!!  It's amazing to think back over the past year and think about all the places we've been and things we've done and can't help but wonder what 2012 has in store for us....bring it on!

Birthday morning with my babies!

Happy girl enjoying a stroll in the beautiful weather.

E enjoying the river with "Dada"....

...and "Mama."

 So much going on in this picture.  E with frosting on his lips, trying to blow out the candle on my cake that's not lit, the cranky baby in the bouncer, the beer, the stockings, the presents, the cake.....welcome to our life.

Collecting sticks (as usual) at the arboretum on New Year's Day. 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

Christmas Day 2011

It was a magical holiday season at the Moen house, filled with lots of "firsts."  It was our first Christmas in T-town and as a family of 4, baby Harper's very first Christmas and the first time E experienced Santa.  Grandma K and Sadie drove down to spend Christmas with us.  We made sugar cookies and chex-mix, had chili and hot dogs for dinner Christmas Eve (a Wedman tradition), monkey bread for breakfast (a Diggs tradition) on Christmas day and a big turkey dinner the day after Christmas (we were too stuffed to eat it the day before).  We listened to Christmas music, watched movies, played with new toys and didn't leave the house for two days!

The family tradition of decorating cookies on Christmas Eve continues with E in his apron and very first time helping (the cookies were even dairy-free so all of us could enjoy them!).

We listened to The Night Before Christmas (recorded by GG and Grandma Wanda) on Christmas Eve.

Santa came with LOTS of presents for our good little boy and girl.

Stocking Christmas morning!

H opening her very first present, all by herself.

E opened all the presents by himself (even some of Harper's) and when he was finished asked for more!

Newton among the inevitable mess of Christmas morning (my favorite part!). 

Our Happy Harper loving her very first Christmas! 

 

E showing Grandma K his awesome iPad skills (of course).

It was beautiful Christmas Eve, so all of us (dogs too) decided to get a little exercise at the Arboretum.  It rained non-stop the next two days, to glad we got out while we could!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

The Christmas season in T-town

This was our first Christmas in T-town so we were anxious to seek out all the fun, holiday events in the area (weather-permitting).  There was so much to do, the days seemed to fly by.  Just as soon as Thanksgiving ended, holiday events were starting.  Christmas party with the math department, Christmas parade in downtown Tuscaloosa, Dickens Festival in downtown Northport, a friends neighborhood party, E's Christmas production at school, Christmas party at the Bryant museum and of course Christmas with family.  Yes, it was a busy month for the Moen's!  

Decorating the Christmas tree.  A two-year-old and Christmas trees are a tricky combination, so we had to take precautionary measures like....duct taping the base of the tree to the floor and only using non-breakable ornaments.  E thought the tree was magical - "we have a christmas treat with lots of toys."   

The parade in downtown Tuscaloosa.  It was your typical small town parade.  Lots of local businesses with girl/boy scout troops in the bed of trucks wearing santa hats and local churches/choirs singing Christmas carols.  The fun part was that it was at 6:00 in the evening so all the cars and floats were covered in twinkle lights.  I was disappointed, however, that they didn't throw candy - what's a parade without candy!?

Baby Harper bundled at the Dicken's Festival.  It was a cold, very rainy night, but we all had fun!  The streets were filled with people dressed up from a Dicken's novel, singing Christmas carols and the shops had warm cider and treats  for everyone AND they even had a snow machine!

Bundled up and headed to a Christmas party!

So handsome (even has his hair done) and ready for a Christmas party!

E's holiday production at school was, well....you know how there's always one child who's petrified of being on stage, cries for his mom and can't remember anything they had practiced - well, that was E!  He was a mess from the minute he stepped on that stage and saw me.  I loved his handmade t-shirt and the little jingle bells on his wrists, but he just wouldn't shake 'em.  Poor little guy.  He wouldn't even eat any birthday cake or pizza at the classroom "happy birthday Jesus" party.  Maybe next year!?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  

Harper is 6 months!

Happy half birthday, baby girl!  Can't believe she's 6 months old already.  I know I say that every month, but for some reason 6 months seems more shocking.  It feels more like a milestone that we've ALL reached.  I never thought I would say this, but she's truly a dream baby!  She's perfect and soooo mellow.  If every baby were like this one, we would have 10.  In the beginning she was difficult, but now that we've figured her out (and she us) she's a different baby.  She goes to bed around 7 and sleeps until 7, but I feed her before I go to bed, around 10:30 and again around 4am (I'm not complaining!) and she takes two naps, which I've strategically correlated with E's afternoon nap.  We've been trying "solid" foods (homemade, pureed foods) and so far she's had rice cereal, avocado and sweet potatoes (her fave so far).  She's been sitting independently now for several weeks and is rolling over from front to back and back to front effortlessly now.  Her hair is still very blonde, but is still downy and light and her eyes are still a radiant blue.  She's been "speaking" in more consonants now, like "M" and "B" and loves to babble and stick out her tongue (adorable).  She thinks her brother is the funniest thing in the house (the dogs are a close second) and loves watching all of them.  Unfortunately, she's caught several of her brother's colds and seems to have a runny nose and some chest congestion constantly, but is always in good spirits.  She's still taking her reflux medication, but we hope to wean her off of it soon.  I'm still avoiding dairy, nuts, chocolate, eggs and some soy in hopes to help her reflux.  She's also showed symptoms of food allergies to these foods (via green, dirty diapers) so we hope to have her tested for allergies in the near future, which I have a feeling may be the answer to her reflux and weigh-gain issues.  I feel like, however, she's put on some weight recently, but haven't been to the doc for her 6 month appointment yet (long story), but I'll add the stats when we get them.  Overall, she's a happy, healthy baby girl!  Her FIRST Christmas is in just 4 days!!!!

Avocado!

Such a good little sitter (and cute too)!!

Sweet Potato!

ETA:  

6 Month Stats:

Weight - 14 lbs 1 oz (5%)

Height - 26 1/2 in (65%)

Head Circ. - 16 1/4 in

We had an appointment with H's doc yesterday (it was delayed because we had to reschedule due to E's Christmas program at school).  Overall, she seems to be doing well.  Developing, physically and mentally right on schedule.  The doc was a little worried about her weight, which continues to drop, so we plan to go back in a month to have her re-checked (and to get her flu shot booster).  At this point, she wasn't concerned about the possibility of food allergies and wants to wait to have her tested.  She did, however, say that little H's eyes were a little out of line, which she said could mean that there's a vision difference in them and suggested we see an eye doctor (sheesh!  What's next for this little girl!?).  We also go back to the cardiologist a the end of this month for a follow-up echo.  She got 4 immunizations (3 shots and one oral), plus her first flu shot yesterday.  Poor little thing.  She's had an ongoing slew of doctor visits and shots since the day she was born.  To me she seems healthy and very happy!  She's our little "Happy Harper."

The E-man Lately...

E is 27 months now, but who's counting?  I've been told that you don't count in months after they turn two, but I really miss doing my monthly updates on the little guy.  Having a baby around the house who seems to change daily, I sometimes forget that E is still growing and changing too.  It's amazing to see how much he's changed since he started school in October.  He's learned so much from the kids at school (both good and bad) and has been working hard with Dr. M to learn many new (and impressive) subjects on the iPad.  Lately....

- He refers to himself in the first person (this is a big step, socially).

- He's, however, learned the stereotypical poor manners of possessive preschooler like "No! That's mine!", "Let go!", "Gimme that", "I want it now!" and the lovely "NOOO!".  Fun times.  

- He loves to paint with water colors and is surprisingly good.  Really.  He is also drawing in circles and "shapes" rather than just scribbles (I don't know if this matters, developmentally, but makes his art more interesting). 

- He now knows all of the planets (in proper order, of course), his 3D shapes (cone, cylinder, prism, etc.) and almost all of the 50 states!  He's crazy good at memorization and is very visual.  This kid is going to be sooo bored in kindergarten.  

- He can sing the whole alphabet by himself and also the Caillou theme song.

- He still loves letters and numbers of all shapes and sizes and impresses us when he finds them in a creative way in unassuming places....like the lines in the middle of the road he said were "11" and the parking lines at the store were "H" and also a "4".

- He loooves the Christmas tree but affectionately calls it the "krispy treat".

- He recently went through a faze of being scared of the bath and refusing to take one, but quickly moved on (thank goodness) after a week when we lured him with lots of bubbles and crayons to play with while in there. 

-He's had a regression of his food allergies.  Which means he's still allergic to dairy, peanuts and tree nuts and we recently discovered that he's allergic to lentils (they're in the peanut family, who knew?).

I feel like he's gotten taller in the past couple months.  His hair is long again, but I kinda like it, so we'll wait a little longer on another haircut.  I also think he's slooowly getting his 2-year molars.  So far it's been a long, slow, painful process.  He'll be great one moment and then crabby and have a low fever the next.  Poor guy.  One thing is for sure, though, he's a GREAT big brother!  He loves "Baby Harper" and is so gentle with her.  He even says "hi pretty girl" when he sees her.

This isn't the best shot, but it's hard to get this guy to slow down for a photo these days.  He's a busy guy!

His first (of many I assume) peanut butter and birdseed bird feeder.

ETA:  It's official, E now knows ALL 50 US states!  Seriously!  He and Dr. M have been working on the iPad recently, which E loves and in just a few days, he knew all of the states!  He's amazed even his preschool teachers.  What's next?  Not sure....presidents, countries, flags.....ideas, suggestions???

A Southern-Style Thanksgiving!

Well, we are living in the south now, so what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than with southern food?!  Not only was this my first time preparing a whole Thanksgiving dinner, it was my first time preparing many of the southern dishes.  With the help of Grandma D, however, everything turned out amazing!  I made homemade sweet potato, buttermilk and chocolate pies as well as gouda cheese grits, cornbread stuffing, braised turnips (from the farmer's market), spiced cranberries, homemade green bean casserole and turkey, of course.  YUM!  It was Harper's first Thanksgiving.  Grandma and Grandpa D were here to celebrate with us and spend time with the babies.  The weather was amazing as we all wore shorts and flip flops, played basket ball out back, walked at the park and relaxed in the sun.  It was a great 4 day weekend!  I'm so thankful for my amazing children and family.  We are truly blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Cardiology Update

On Friday we took Harper in for a follow-up cardiology appointment.  We met with a doctor in Birmingham (about 45 mins away) at the UAB Children's hospital, Women's a Children's center at the Pediatric Cardiology Specialists.  She had an EKG and ECHO done by the doctor to listen to her heart murmur and check the status of her pulmonary valve stenosis and two holes (ASD and VSD).  The good news is that the two holes have closed and no longer of concern, but the stenosis which was originally classified as mild, but has now changed to moderate.  The doctor said this is common and not really a cause for concern.  He suggested, however, that we come back in two months for a follow-up appointment.  He said that this is not a life-threatening condition or something that will get bad quickly, but needs to be closely monitored for her first year of life.  He said worst case is that she would have to have a simple surgical balloon procedure that would help open up the valve.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't get worse and heals on it's own.  From the outside she looks and acts like a normal, happy, healthy, beautiful baby girl!

Patiently waiting at the doctors office, chewing on moms scarf.

5 months!

Our beautiful baby girl is 5 months old and completely amazing!  Though it's been a busy month, I feel like she's grown and changed so much.  Everyday, it seems she looks bigger, has more hair and is doing things she wasn't just the day before.  She can now roll over, both directions, front to back or back to front.  She still prefers sleeping on her tummy and sucking her middle two fingers.  Her reflux doesn't seem to bother her as much which we still give her Zantac for twice a day.  Her eyes are still an amazing light blue and her hair is blonde (maybe a little strawberry too).  She loves to babble, squeal and grab her toes and toys which go straight into her mouth.  She's able to sit with support, but feel like she'll be doing it on her own soon.  She's still taking two naps a day and sleeping great at night.  Though she started rice cereal last week she's still nursing on demand.  I forgot how wonderful it is having a baby in the house and this baby is a great one!  She's pretty easy going and content just sitting on my lap or in napping in the sling.  She's still measuring small at just under 13 pounds and 24.5 inches, but I'm working on nursing her more often and think the rice cereal will help.  Overall, she's happy, healthy and developing, which is what counts!!

Look at those BIG blue eyes!!

Her brother is one of her favorite things (the dogs too).   She loves watching him run around and talk to her.  He's so sweet and gentle with her and so good at sharing his toys.  I think these two are going to be good friends :)    Oh how they warm my heart!

Rice Cereal!

On Monday, November 7th, Harper tried her very first solid food.  Rice cereal mixed with a little bit of breast milk.  I actually think she liked it!  She may have had more fun just chewing on the spoon, but she didn't seem to mind the cereal.  She made a few classic, cute "yucky" faces as we spooned it into her mouth, but didn't fuss and actually appeared to swallow a good part of the cereal.  The pics are the best part.  Her little face is classic (and oh, so cute!).

In the Bumbo and ready to go!!

Super excited about this cereal stuff.  Our happy girl :)

 Here we go....

 Not too bad.

I just like chewing on the spoon. 

Bama vs. LSU

We decided to brave the crowds this weekend and venture down to campus among the thousands of tailgaters to get a glimpse of the football madness.  This was slated to be the "biggest college football game of the year."  ESPN Game Day even set-up in front of the University of Alabama's Bryant Denny stadium where thousands of students/fans cheered all day.  Needless to say, Tuscaloosa was a madhouse!  A couple of our good friends were in town for the weekend, so we decided to show off the true football religion.  We loaded up the stroller and some beer and trekked downtown to campus for the morning (until nap time, we were home by 2:30!).  We didn't even have tickets to the game, but got a babysitter (woohoo! our very first sitter) for the game.  So, we put the kids to bed and went out to dinner - Dreamland BBQ baby - to watch the game.  We were home by 10:30, just in time to catch the end of the 4th quarter and overtime.  Unfortunately, the game didn't end in our favor and our hopes for a national championship diminished, but overall it was a wonderful day.  Awesome friends,  great food and good times had by all!

An ocean of tailgating tents among the Crimson Tide!

ESPN Radio tent.  The Game Day tent was closed when we got there, but this was pretty cool.

 E was having too much fun and finally crashed in the stroller, mid-drink and snack time (there's a cracker in his hand).

Miss H was loving her "big girl" seat in the stroller, but I stopped to feed her and she opted for a nap in the sling on the way back to the car (I don't blame her).

 The boys.  Just taking in the madness, enjoying the beautiful weather and chatting about football (or beer?).

 All of us (E was still sleeping)!

ETA:  We're also SUPER excited about the recent news of Mizzou joining the SEC!  Woo hoo!

Proud Mama!

Yesterday when I picked E up from school his teacher said she couldn't believe "how smart he is."  Of course I already knew this, but it felt good coming from his teacher.  She said he found something on the floor in the classroom and brought it to her and said "octagon."  She was very impressed, but wanted to see if he really knew his shapes and asked if he knew another one..."trapezoid" one of his favorites.  She was so impressed that she took him around to all the other classrooms showing him off to the other teachers!  I was beaming, but of course, but didn't tell her that that's just the tip of iceberg...  ;)