So long...

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted.  A lot has gone on.  Harper's 5 month birthday on the 24th, we visited my family this past weekend and my birthday is today.  Harper is becoming so active but still remains my little 'sleep-fighter'.  I'm really surprised how her personality is really starting to show. 

I've got more pictures on the camera but am too tired to look through my bag and find my camera-to-computer cord. 

Exam

The end of this week I'm scheduled to take my Exit Exam for school.  I only have a few more days of studying left and I'm thoroughly enjoying taking breaks with my early birthday present.  Harper and I are walking several miles a day (almost every day) weather permitting.  I'm not a big jogger but would like to be.  Jogging stroller manufacturers recommend that you not jog with an infant under six months old.  That's my excuse for walking just a little while longer.  When she turns six months old, I'll have to come up with something else.   :)   In reality, I'll keep walking with my neighbor because I really enjoy walking with her - she's too much fun!

I mentioned that we went to the hairbow place last week and took some pictures.  Harper had such a great time!

Speaking of Harper having fun...she got a new toy.  She absolutely loves it! 

I should really get back to studying.  I took a short break to run some errands for school, worked on my special project and if the weather were better, I can guarantee you that I would procrastinate more by taking Harper for a walk but I must get back to studying!  I told John that I was starting to get really nervous and he had a great point:  if for some reason I don't pass, I can take it up to three times and I'll know what to study for next time.  That's actually been my motto for months but I only have a few more days...

Picture Day!

Today was picture day.  We drove to Katy for some pictures at JC Penney and a photo shoot at a hairbow store. We had such a wonderful time!

Harper is teething.  If you've ever been around a child that's teething, you know what we're going through.  The greatest part about her teething today? She was an absolute angel while we were taking pictures at Penney's AND at the hairbow place!  While at Penney's she got fussy towards the end but she was hungry.  At the hairbow place, she was so calm.  We were there for at least 2 hours and she was just hanging out like a big girl.  They were having a photo shoot and needed some kids to model their merchandise.  She was so well behaved - she was acting better than other girls much older than her.  She was hammin' it up and cooing, laughing and talking to the owners and photographer.  I can't wait to see how some of them turned out!

Below are some pictures from Penney's.  They are copyrighted but it explicitly says on their web page to 'click here' to download the photos.  Go figure.  Since they give you instructions on how to download them, I assume that it's ok to put them on my blog.  If not, I'm sure I'll get a letter.  :)

Loving this weather!

Harper and I couldn't be happier that the weather is finally great!  It's been beautiful with the exception of Saturday when we had decided at the last minute to go to the Texas Bluebonnet Festival.  We woke up early Saturday morning to rain and the weather map proved that there was more to come.  Oh well. 

We've been really great about staying outside and getting some sun.  Taking as many precautions as possible, Harper loves being outside.  Yes, I realize that I have the whitest child on earth but we still get out and have a good time.  We try to walk with our neighbor as often as both of our schedules permit.  At first, we walked around the neighborhood.  Then we got a hair-brained idea to walk to CVS which is a little over 2 miles from our homes.  Then we decided to walk to Walgreens which is a little further because of the sidewalk (I try to acknowledge EVERY step we take).  We walked to HEB which we thought was a lot further than it actually was.  Even though we were disappointed in the mileage (it's roughly the same distance as CVS), a small treck doesn't have a sidewalk which makes it slightly tougher.  It also gives us the opportunity to change up our routine if we need to go to the grocery store.  Our next big hike will be to Kroger which will be 7 miles round trip. 

I'm looking for a jogging stroller.  My neighbor loves hers and takes it on our walks.  I'm looking for a gently used one solely because I don't want to spend $300+ on something I don't need but simply want.  Doesn't make sense to me.  Hopefully I can find one on Craigslist or in a resale shop. 

I have a ton of pictures of Harper that I'm going to post.  These were taken over the last 2 weeks.  Some of them I've emailed and others I just haven't had the time to send out. 

Harper is the greatest baby ever!

Harper's first Easter.  Above are pictures of our very busy but fun weekend!  We got the chance to hang out with family and old friends.  It was great catching up and introducing Harper to everyone.  Thanks Anne for the blog entry title!

FOOD!

Tonight Harper had her first bite of food which was avocado.  It was so cute.  She already knows where the camera is.  Oh Lord, we've created a monster - a very cute, messy monster!

Great Day Houston/Lifetime Challenge

One of my girlfriends is one of four finalists for Lifetime's Clean Start Challenge 2010.  Her challenge was to learn to cook and she's doing so well.  She even shared some of her tips on a local TV show this morning, Great Day Houston.

She needs a few more votes so follow the link below this post and vote for CRYSTAL everyday.  That's right.  You can vote everyday.  There are only a few days left so it's very important.  After looking at some of the other ladies' videos from weeks past, it doesn't seem like they're following the proper format.  JMO.  When you vote, you fill out an entry form with your name and some other information but you can win $1,000 just for voting.  Who couldn't use $1,000 right now?  Needless to say, I vote every day.

Visit Lifetime's Sweeps page here.

4 Months Old!

Harper is officially 4 months old.  She turned 4 months on the 24th at 1:56pm.  I have plenty of pictures but will only be posting two right now.  I'm reading a very good book (I'll let you in on the title later) but should be reading my HESI book. 

After Harper's checkup today, she joined me while I tutored Med. Surg. 2.  I miss tutoring.  I miss talking to someone and helping them figure out a complex idea or learn something new but also, I miss the review that I get by helping someone else.  Harper was very well behaved with the exception of about 3 minutes where she had a meltdown because I didn't feed her fast enough. 

I have started applying to baccalaureate programs and hope to get accepted into an RN to MSN program.  That would be great.  Correction.  That would be awesome!  I think one day I would like to teach...

I have a project that I'm working on and can't wait to share it.  I need to get a few things together before I make an official announcement.

Sunday = Family Day

So I haven't posted in a while and I've been jonesin' for a new post.  Sunday we had a family day and it was one of the greatest days we've had as a family thus far.  We went to the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center.  It's so much fun and the best part - it's FREE!  They have a box inside where you can make a donation if you wish but it's free.  It's truly a hidden gem!

I foresee many family days at the Arboretum!  It's absolutely beautiful. 

Harper will be turning 4 months old tomorrow.  I can't believe how fast time has flown by.  I actually found a picture from St. Patrick's Day when Aunt Jenni came over.  I've posted it for your enjoyment.  :)


We're having problems with Harper sleeping in her pack'n play.  She absolutely HATES sleeping on her back.  Hates it to the point where she wakes up and cries.  Some say to let her cry it out and we tried that and she just cried.  She just kept crying.  She'll go to sleep on my chest and that's about it.  Oh well.  I'm hoping it's related to her teething.  Breastfeeding has become much more interesting because she now bites.  Fun for mommy!  We'll have to nip that ASAP!

No beer for you!

Today is Harper's first St. Patrick's Day and unfortunately, the extent of our celebration will be the donning of green attire.

We are loving our cloth diapers.  I was thinking about how much I loved them yesterday and realized that it helps the environment so much.  Once in a while we will use a disposable but now that I've got a good rhythm on washing them, I don't see us using nearly as many as we have in the past.

While cleaning up the house the other day, Harper screamed whenever I turned the vacuum cleaner on.  I thought it was because she dropped her binky but after 3 or 4 times of turning it on, I realized it scared the dickens out of her!  It was so pitiful.  She had the worst cry/scream.  After that she wanted to be held - all day.  I couldn't leave her or she would scream.  This makes it very difficult to clean a house.  As long as she could see me she was fine.  While doing her cloth diaper laundry I had to put her down to get everything out of the dryer....

Yesterday while watching Wifeswap (stupid but highly addicting) I probably saw the most normal family that they've ever had on the show.  They usually find families with extreme views about something and pair them with a family of extreme, opposite opinions.  This episode featured a family that I hope to emulate in the future.  They were a family of five, both parents worked full time (dad outside the home and mom from her home office), all three children were well behaved, clean house (ha ha ha), they recycled and seemed to be wholesome all-around.  The mother homeschooled her children and this is how she got started: she went to her son's kindergarten class one day and sat in the back of the room.  She said after a few minutes she realized that this teacher was an idiot and that she could do a better job.  She noticed that her son was having to wait on others to answer questions and was reprimanded when he kept answering and not giving other children a chance.  She said that it made her so mad she took her son down to the office and withdrew him that afternoon.  She started teaching her second child, a girl, very early around the age of 3 and remembers the afternoon that her daughter understood the concept of addition and subtraction.  She incorporated her daughter's love of being an 'assistant' in the kitchen to help her understand math by baking a cake.  Her daughter was so excited to learn and I want that for Harper.  I'm not saying she wouldn't be excited to learn in a school setting but if I can tailor her lesson plan to include things she's good at and teach her things she isn't good at in a non-traditional way so that she does understand them, I owe that to my daughter.  Some people think homeschooling isn't fair to the child because they can't socialize with other children.  Yes they can.  They can still participate in things like music lessons, karate, dance/ballet, 4-H and the list goes on. 

I've been playing this scrabble game on my iPhone.  Words with Friends and it is so addicting, it's ridiculous.  Look me up and start a new game:  whitrn

On another note, I'm losing the last bit of pregnancy weight!  I weighed almost 200 lbs when discharged (I had multiple issues) and in just a few days, I've lost 3 more pounds.  I'm eating all the time and John has eliminated 'some' of our carbs.  My neighbor Angel and I are making an effort to walk everyday.  Things have happened the last few days and we haven't been able to walk but in two days we covered at least 7 miles!  I still eat more than usual because I'm breastfeeding Harper and they tell you you're supposed to weigh 5-10 lbs over your pre-pregnancy weight if you do. 

HESI

With HESI hovering over my head for the next few weeks, I've got a lot to do!  Our friends are coming over Monday so I've got to finish cleaning the house, study at night when John is home so he can take care of Harper, oh yeah, and I've taken on more responsibilities at work.  Could I possibly put more on my plate?  The answer is yes.  I can always find something else to eat up my time and this time the winner is OSHA.  You read it correctly-I'm going to become a certified OSHA instructor.  I've found that I absolutely love teaching people.  Especially something safety related like CPR/AED/First Aid.  Will I eventually get my master's and start teaching something nursing related?  Can't say for sure but that would definitely be quite a ways down the road. 

Harper has been really funny lately.  She cracks up all the time and has the greatest personality.  She loves bath time!  She really loves her lotion massage afterwards. I think I'm creating a monster.  At this very moment she's sitting in her bouncy chair laughing up a storm.  This is a picture of her the other night after her bath.  She watched NFL Network with daddy for a little bit.

I know the picture isn't of the best quality but this is Harper after she wakes up.  This was after one of her 20 minute naps that she's starting to take in the afternoon.  She was laughing so much and was so funny that I had to quickly find my phone and snap what I could!