My time with Harper is coming to an end.  This is my last week at home with her.  I’m sad about it but I know that we have had a good 11 weeks together.  She has been such a good baby since her arrival in EVERY aspect.  She has been efficient at nursing since the first moment she latched on at the hospital and her sleeping patterns have been excellent since the first night in the hospital as well.  She rarely cries…only if she gets VERY hungry (which doesn’t happen often) or if she gets very constipated (which also does not happen very often).  She is just a happy little baby who loves being spoken to and smiled at.  So while I am not looking forward to going back to work (primarily because of the administrative BS that occurred as a result of being on disability at the time of the split), I can say that I feel like Harper and I had a lot of quality time together during our 11 weeks together.  Ana still worked her regular 3 ½ day week schedule while I was on maternity leave, so for much of the week Avery and Emerson had their special time bonding with Ana, while I truly did get to focus on Harper.  Harper and I went for a lot of walks mostly in the stroller, a few with her in the Baby Bjorn, and a few with her watching me on the treadmill.  We ran errands to the grocery store, to the drug store, to buy clothes, and many other odds and ends.  We spent a lot of time nursing and cuddling and even took a few awesome naps together.  And of course we did spend some time with Avery, Emerson, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, and friends which was pretty awesome too. 

My time with Harper was much different than with the girls.  With the girls, I think it was more about survival.  Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoyed them but there wasn’t a lot of time those first few months for me to really just sit, relax, and enjoy them all at the same time.  With Harper, not only was the difference that she was 1 baby verses 2 babies, but also she was so easy to care for.  A feeding took no more than 20 minutes maximum with the average feeding being 10 minutes.  She goes to sleep unassisted and only one night to date have I had to get out of bed multiple time in response to her weak little cry.  At night when she wakes she is slow to come out of her full sleep so she is quiet and wakes no one in the house.  After she nurses for 10 minutes she falls back asleep right away.  There is even no middle of the night diaper changing making the night time routine that much easier.  When her sisters are throwing tantrums, wanting attention or just requiring basic parental duties, Harper patiently waits for her sisters to have their turn until Mommy or Daddy have a free hand.

And here we are at 11 weeks and two days old to be exact, one week until I go back to work.  In preparation for my return to work and coming up with a schedule, the day she turned 11 weeks we put her in her own crib in her own room. (Until then she had been sleeping in a pack n play in our room). It was much later than when we put the girls in their crib but Harper was so good and only waking up once a night (and not waking Justin when she woke) that it wasn’t a big deal to keep her in our room that long. Even as I sit here in bed after putting the girls to sleep, Harper lay on her boppy pillow cooing and smiling as her daddy and I both work separately on our laptops.  And as her content little body starts dozing, I start to tear up thinking about how great our time was together.  I have no regrets about how any of our days were spent and I wouldn’t change a thing these past 2 ½ months.  Baby Harper, Mommy loves you so much.  You are the perfect addition to our family!  

I decided to turn my shoe shopping trip into Avery’s day out.  Separating the girls is usually exciting for the girl that gets to go with mommy but the girl that gets to stay home with Ana and Harper is only excited if the experience is presented properly. I didn’t tell the girls of my plan in advance purposely so I think they found out from Ana because when I went downstairs both them were requesting that they be the one that I take shopping.  I had to remind Emerson of our day out last week and all the fun we had.  Before I could even finish telling her what a fun day she was going to have with Ana, she was telling me to leave….so I siezed the opportunity and Avery and I left before either girl had a meltdown. 

Once at the mall, we shopped for shoes first.  Mommy had some success pretty early on and found some silver pumps for the wedding.  I also purchased the pair of Uggs that I tried on the other day.  So now I have a pair of Fryes (the one’s I bought on Friday) and Uggs that are similar and I’m not sure I really need both and at $300 a pop, I really should return one.  (Don’t worry hubby, I used my own credit card:)  I was able to keep Avery in the stroller at Macy’s shoe department but once we got to Nordstrom’s shoe department she wanted to get out, so I let her.  She had a great time roaming around and looking at the shoes.  She was pretty well behaved and kept talking and the sales man and customer’s were drawn to her.  

She was well behaved so I let her walk as we made our way through the mall. 

Next stop was going to be to Bloomingdales to buy some panty hose; however, along the way I saw the newly opened Spanx store and decided my thighs and butt were more worthy of Spanx than anything else.  Avery was exploring the store as I was making my purchase and I caught her feeling the mannequin’s tushies (Avery is infatuated with tushies….she loves being naked and checking out her own by bending over…lol….and she loves to taunt mommy when we go on walks the 5 of us….when my stroller is in front of her she continually repeats ‘mommy’s tuchas’).  

Anyway, meanwhile as I was paying, I pulled out my camera and the saleswoman has this mortified look on her as she turns around and  asks me if I had the urge to take a picture…I think she thought I was about to take a picture of her.  So I explained to her that Avery is a twin and also has another baby sister and that this was her special day out and that I was documenting it.  She thought that was awesome and went to get a boa for a photo opportunity with Avery.  Avery wouldn’t sit still for the picture and wanted nothing to do with the boa.  The saleswoman was nice enough to snap some pictures anyway. 

The American Girl store was across from the Spanx store so we went there next.  Avery loved the dolls and kept wanting to hold them.  I’m not sure if you are supposed to really play with the ones on display, but I figured what the heck this is Avery’s day out and I let her.  She had a great time holding the dolls and doing what she does best, running around the store. 

By the time we left it was lunch time.  I thought about trying someplace other than Nordstrom’s cafe, but I wasn’t certain what Avery would eat anywhere else.  So like many times before, we went to Nordstrom’s cafe.  Instead of the chicken fingers, I ordered Avery the kids grilled cheese and tomato basil soup combo.  It also came with fruit so I thought even if she didn’t eat the grilled cheese, she would at least eat the soup (as she has eaten some of Mommy’s many times before), the fruit, and the bread.  For $5.50 I was impressed with the kids meal.  It was a whole grilled cheese sandwich that was very good (and I don’t even really liked grilled cheese), a cup of soup, grapes and a strawberry, and a cup of milk.  Avery refused to even try the grilled cheese or eat the soup.  She drank her milk of course, ate the grapes, some bread, and a couple bites of Mommy’s risotto.  I tried to give her a bite of my shrimp and asparagus but she refused it as well.  

Our server took a special liking to Avery.  She used to run a daycare and especially loved kids ages 1-3.  She also had 15 year old twin girls.  Anyway, Avery would hide her face every time she tried to talk to her….I know that is normal for kids her age, but a first for Avery.  

After lunch we walked by the new cupcake place “Crumbs” that I have walked by several times before.  This time I decided to buy a few as I told myself we were bringing a special treat back for Emerson.  It was nearing Avery’s nap time and she was starting to not listen by then.  I only had one more stop that I wanted to make and it was at Hallmark so I figured I would be quick. Avery wouldn’t get in the stroller so she was walking beside the stroller that was carrying several bags.  Meanwhile I was also holding a cup of coffee.  I still felt in control but by the time we got into Hallmark and Avery started taking entire sets of cards out of their spots, I felt like “that mom” and decided it was time to go.  Avery had a great time as did mommy.  She was worn out and fell asleep on the short 10 minute ride home. 

Justin and I are going to two weddings in the next few weeks and since none of my dresses fit, Harper and I headed to Tysons Mall with the primary goal of dress shopping for mommy.  I am not a huge shopper and don’t really ever have the desire to shop until I step foot in the mall.  Once in the mall, the desire to be fashionable takes over….it is a relatively short lived feeling though because once at home, I just want to wear my sweats.  Anyway, Lancome was having a giveaway and I needed mascara so I purchased some along with some lipstick in order to get my freebie.  Here is Harper’s first make-up experience.

We walked by the shoe department on the way back and I couldn’t control myself…thus Harpers’ first shoe experience. 

Then we made our way to Bloomingdales so mommy could by some socks.  Harper wanted a picture with the purses before we left.

Harper was hungry as was mommy so we stopped at Le Madeline for some lunch.  Mommy managed to eat and feed Harper at the same time!

Next we headed to Victoria Secret….Harper’s first  pantie experience…sorry Daddy…lol!

Finally we made our way to Naarajte and Harper thought “finally some clothes for me.” 

By this time it was late and I had yet to go dress shopping, which was the primary purpose of my trip.  I wasn’t in the mood to look anywhere in Tysons so we headed to the parking lot, packed our belongings, and drove to Tyson’s II.  The first stop was a visit to Grandma’s store Eileen Fisher for a surprise visit.  

Also, finally a picture with mommy!

Almost 4 hours since we left home, I tried on my first dress.  I didn’t have much success at Macy’s but I did find two dresses from Anthropologie.  I took 4 dresses into the dressing room and was in there for a half hour and never once did they check on me.  I think they must have known that I was nursing Harper in there also.

And one last picture of the two of us!

Anyway, I bought both dresses and need to decide in the next day or two which one I’m going to keep. Anyway, a successful and fun day out by all accounts!

A few months ago, I decided that while I was on maternity leave, primarily the second half when I was cleared to pick up the girls, I would spend some one on one time with the older girls.  They are almost always together and it has become apparent that they do want their alone time sometimes.  Avery especially can be mean to Emerson sometimes and tells her to go away or to stop talking.  Emerson is very sensitive and her feelings get hurt; for the most part she responds by just being quiet.  

Last week Emerson had a doctor’s appointment at a pediatric orthopedist to check out her legs.  It was confirmed that she has tibia torsion in both legs and while it has improved some over the last year it is significant enough that Justin and I with the doctor’s recommendation feel like her wearing a bar and corrective shoes at night and for naps is the best route to go.  At lot of doctors recommend waiting to see if she grows out of it; however, she may not and most doctors agree that if the corrective shoes and bars are used for the right diagnosis than they can’t hurt.  Both Avery and Harper accompanied Emerson, Grandma, and me to last week’s appointment. 

Yesterday Emerson had an appointment with the orthotics specialist to get her measurements.  Since I still can’t pick the girls up, Grandma went with Emerson and me to the appointment while Avery and Harper stayed home with Ana. 

Emerson made herself right at home once we were in the waiting area.  

I didn’t take any pictures of her getting the measurements but it went very well.  She really liked the “man” as did I.  He asked her to walk and run up and down the halls.  At first she was hesitant but then, all she wanted to do was run with the “man.” The “man” aka Vernon showed us what the shoes and bar would look like and Emerson seemed to be excited about her new “shoes” as we explained them to her. 

As we were leaving the appointment, I thought to myself why not start the one on one time today!  Technically it wasn’t one on one since Grandma was there but Emerson didn’t have to share her time with Avery which is one of the goals.  I knew of a shopping center playground along the route home so I decided what the heck with the nap time and we went to play.  The best part of this playground was that it was fenced in!  Emerson enjoyed simply running around…

and the slides (despite the static cling)….

and flying the airplane….

and she even made some friends.

Mommy wanted to capture the moment and tried to get a picture with Emerson; however, she wouldn’t sit still.  (Notice my child escaping). 

After playing on the playground for awhile, I decided why not go all out and presented another surprise to Emerson.  Ice cream for Emerson and milk shakes for Mommy and Grandma.  

I got Emerson a regular size ice cream and thought there was no way she would finish it, but she did and then she wanted some of my milk shake!  

We had a great time!  And it was nice to know that while Emerson did enjoy her alone time, she also asked for Avery a few times and Avery apparently had asked for Emerson a few times herself.