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!

Softbums Cloth Diapers

This is Rastafarian Harper.  This was taken on her 2 month birthday.  She looks so darn cute in these and now mommy's wishing she would have gotten a pink one!  That's ok because Softbums is having a crazy giveaway this month.  When I say crazy I mean C-R-A-Z-Y!  She's not just giving away one diaper, she's giving away multiple packages so I've got to blog about it so I can get that extra entry.  I gotta get my baby a pink diaper!  ;)

Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo

Saturday we took Harper to her first rodeo.  She looked so cute but her hat was too large and she was not a fan of her boots! Here are some pictures from our very long day.

This is a picture for my Papaw:  Elsie the cow.  He worked at Borden's back in the day and I remember Elsie as a prominent figure in their home growing up.


We finally got Harper's pictures back from her January photo session.  They really turned out well!

Learn'em young...

Today Harper and I voted.  After pulling up at what I thought was the correct location, we ended up voting at a location in our neighborhood!  I felt quite silly.  While voting, a man gave me a very confused look.  I asked him if everything was ok and he said that he had never seen a baby in a pouch before.  He then looked at me and said that taking a baby to a polling place was probably one of the strangest things he'd seen.  Really?  A baby at a polling place, strange?  I thought that comment was strange.  As I walked off, he shouted "Learn'em young!"  I'm assuming that he was talking about voting.  I didn't particularly want to engage in anymore conversation.

Harper isn't sleeping well for some reason.  I guess she's going through a growth spurt.  That's what I tell myself and it makes me feel better so that's what I'm sticking with.  On Saturday she ate every 1.5-2 hours!  I was exhausted and to top it off, we were out all day at a baby shower and then to her Nana and Grimpy's.  She looked so stinkin' adorable! Luckily my good friend Jennifer made me a nursing cover that I use ALL THE TIME.  BTW: she is currently taking custom orders and she is awesome! Her shop is SimplisticMom. Turns out we were both so exhausted after Saturday we slept all day Sunday.

Speaking of ETSY, I've been thinking of starting my own ETSY shop as well.  I'm making so many slings that it's unbelievable.  When people see me carrying Harper, they ask questions, get my info and ask how they can buy one for someone they know.  I also make these really cute burp cloths and pacifier clips.  I'm currently finishing up a sling for a good friend, about to make another sling for my friend who's about to have a baby and will make another one in a few weeks.  Add on some burp cloths made with some really cute dairy cow material.  I'm really excited and think by typing this, I have convinced myself to open an ETSY shop!  First I need to clean my house!  Check back soon and maybe I'll be "Open for Business".   :)

I'll finish with another picture of Harper.  This was taken after she woke up and was talking up a storm!