2 Weeks

I can't believe its been two weeks since I last posted. As you can expect, I don't get a lot of time to sit at the computer. But it has been a nice two weeks.

Two weeks ago, Kris had to start travelling for work again. My mom came down to stay with us to help me out. We spent the week shopping, going to the park, and playing. We recently moved Ryan's toys around the house, so now they are all 'new' to him. He made Nana play garage for an entire day, not wanting to do anything else or go anywhere. I was thankful for her help!

Kris came home on Friday and took Ryan to PA with him. It was the first trip that Kris has ever taken with Ryan by themselves. From what Kris said, it went wonderfully - thanks to Curious George videos! They spent the weekend at the Three Springs carnival and visiting with his family, while I spent the weekend relaxing at home with Emma. We cleaned the house to prep for Kris's mom coming out to spend some time with us (she came back with Kris and Ryan). We also went to the Independence Memorial Day parade and spent Saturday at the mall. We enjoyed ourselves and did as little as possible once the cleaning was done!

Diane stayed with us this past week, where we did the same things as with my mom - shop, go to the park and play. It was nice to have her out to see the baby and take Ryan off my hands for parts of the day. She flew out this morning. And while Kris was working on the car at work, the kids and I went to the library's kickoff to summer for free lunch! So now Ryan is outside cutting the grass with Kris, while Emma is sitting in her bouncy seat watching me (or Ryan come in and out of the house for a new bandaid).

As for the kids, Ryan has really taken to jumping everywhere. He is pretty good about staying near me in public without having to hold my hand. He isn't thrilled about his sister. He keeps wanting to move her or play with her feet (not very gently either). But overall he only seems to act up with any grandparents are here. Emma is getting big quickly although I don't think as quickly as Ryan did. Two nights ago, she finally started sleeping for a 4 hour stretch, which thrilled me. She is pretty good about going right back to sleep - although for some reason, she is up at 7am regardless of what time she last nursed at. She's pretty calm and mostly easy to manage. Her worst time is right before bed, because she is so hungry and doesn't want to wait. She's only had one or two times where she was inconsolable, usually when she keeps herself awake for too long. But overall we're all good!

Come On Wings

I'm taking the time to share my enjoyment of this afternoon. Kris is at work today working on his 24 hour lemon car. Ryan is taking a nap in his bed and Emma is sleeping on the couch (I know bad mommy to leave her on the couch - but I plan to be back there in a few minutes). And I'm watching the first Red Wings game that we've gotten down here - wow do I miss being in Hockeytown. Of course, they are losing...........

We've had a great week here. Kris worked Monday, Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday and Wednesday they worked on the garage. I convince Kris to let Ryan 'help' paint the walls, which he enjoyed. So the half of the garage that is done looks great. We have had a relaxing week with not a lot to do.

Thursday, we met with Kenton County schools to review Ryan's evaluation for preschool. At age 3, the schools only provide preschool (for free) for developmentally behind children - which Ryan qualifies for. We're still making the decision, but are leaning toward putting him in there. He would recieve more speech therapy than he would going to another preschool (he would still get therapy at the school even if he didn't attend there). It's also 4 days a week, plus the bus picks him up at our house and drops him off, so I wouldn't have to go anywhere. And they provide lunch. All good things. I'm concerned that he may be in afternoon, which would throw off his nap - if he even still takes one by then. I was worried about him being in a class of all developmentally behind kids, but they mix the 3's, 4's and young 5's that are there. At 4, the preschool is open to low income kids also, so they aren't necessarily behind. So there is where our decision is standing at the moment.

Friday, I took the kids shopping to Target and Barnes & Noble. It was my first time on an extended trip out with both of them (more than an hour) and my first time trying to use a cart with both of them. I gave Ryan the choice of where to sit, but he wanted to ride on the front of the cart, so ended up sitting in the front with Emma inside. He didn't care because he got popcorn. He also got some big boy underwear after I asked him if he was ready to start using the potty and he said yes! So hopefully, we'll start that in the next month or so.

I think I'm ready for Kris to start travelling again. He'll be gone next week, but my mom is coming down to help. Then Emma and I get a girls weekend when Kris takes Ryan to PA for Three Springs Carnival. I think we'll both enjoy it!

As for Ryan, he's been 'ok' lately. He's gotten a lot of time outs and toys taken away because he isn't listening. I know its the age, but it's driving us nuts! His time outs are for throwing things or sitting on Emma (this has now happened twice). Just got to get used to dealing with two of them!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Belated Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!




I had a great Mother's Day here. Ryan and Kris served me a 'hotel quality' breakfast in bed with a fruit tray and all. It was wonderful. We went to church, shopping for a new chair for our bedroom (my 'pushing present') and then out to dinner. It was a nice and relaxing day overall.

Kris has gotten a ton done on his 'garage project'. He has insulation into the outside wall and hung his wall board over it. Today, he is ready to start painting. I suggested he let Ryan help, but I didn't win that discussion!



Ryan has been doing well. Like other 2 year olds, he becomes obsessed with certain books. We've been reading 'Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?' for the last few days and he has really been trying to make some of the sounds. We've been so proud of him for just trying, as was his speech therapist today. On Thursday, we are going to meet with the school district to review his evaluation for preschool and visit the preschool. I can't believe that my little boy will be in school in the fall! Ryan has been doing great with Emma. He wants to hold her and have me take his picture over and over, but it is short lived. He sat on her yesterday, but it was more of a trip and fall than done on purpose. He does forget to watch where he's going, so he trips over her a lot when she's on the floor. He loves to give her kisses though!

As for Emma, she is doing wonderful. Last night, she slept for 4 hours straight! Of course, then she proceeded to get up every hour and nurse for a few minutes before falling back into her sleep coma. She's not a big crier unless you ignore her for too long. She tends to whine more. This morning, she was waking up whining for a while and I swear she said 'guys' - like 'um, the whining's not working, can you hear me??'. Too funny. She's not a big fan of jambalaya, as I found out when a wonderful dad in my mom's group brought it over for us. That's the only night she has been awake more than sleeping. Emma has already rolled over, beating Ryan by a few days, but has yet to do it again. Of course, it's harder to leave her on the floor to do anything with the potential of big brother problems!

Yesterday, was our second day by ourselves, as Kris went back to work. Overall, it was a smooth day. We even managed to go to the playgroup at our gym - at 9:30 in the morning. I must say, getting two kids ready to go out is much more difficult than one! But we made it and it made the day go much quicker! Hopefully, we'll be ready for more by the end of the week. Kris is supposed to work Thursday and Friday and then is back to travelling next week!

Happy Baby Days

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes for our family. Things are going pretty well at our house so far. Emma sleeps most of the night, waking to nurse several times. Last night I was sure she would be out all night because she was up all day, but at 5:30 she decided to stay awake and stare at me! She was pretty happy with herself! Needless to say, I'm pretty tired, even with getting about 6 hours of sleep a night - but since I'm used to 8 I get exhausted pretty quickly.

Ryan is loving being big brother, but tires of her pretty quickly. He wants to pick her up but then shoves her back at us after about 10 seconds. He's still working on that gentle touch. Yesterday, I wished I had the camera with me. Ryan laid down on a blanket with Emma and gently rubbed her head like I do to him. It was so touching! He loves giving her kisses too as you can see from the picture.

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I'm recuperating well - and looking pretty good. I only look 3 months pregnant instead of the typical 5 months! Kris has been off for most of the week. He's been taking Ryan outside and out of the house, which is nice. He's also been working on his 'garage project', which is probably going to be a year long project of making the garage into a workstation for him.

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My mom and sister came down last Sunday when I had Emma to visit. Robin had to leave on Monday to get back to work. But my mom was able to stay until this past Sunday and help me out a lot. My dad came down on Friday to visit and drove home alongside my mom. It was so nice to visit with all of them and for them to be able to meet Emma.

Besides that we haven't been doing much. I've been getting out at least once a day usually to the store or post office. We have been having wonderful friends of our bring us meals, which has made this week great so far! I've been trying to rest, but I'm just not built for that!!

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Ok - have to go. Emma just woke up and we're in the process of putting Ryan to bed!

Emma Grace Harper has arrived!

Emma Grace came into our lives at 8:07am on April 27th. She is a beautiful baby. She has the coloring of her mom and the facial structure of her brother. Big brother Ryan came to visit her twice already. He isn't all that interested in her yet. He likes getting up and down off the bed. He did get to hold her and wanted to take her to give her hugs.















You can read the entire birth story on our baby website, but we did make it to the hospital in time to have her here. Overall, it was a very quick labor. It really started at 2:30 am and she was born 5 1/2 hours later. And two of those hours were pushing! We got pulled over on the way to the hospital, but the cop let us go. My friend Shannon came over to stay with Ryan until my mom and sister made it down, which suprised and bothered Ryan when he woke up. Now he's happy with Nana.




Emma hasn't decided on a feeding schedule yet, for a while it was every hour and then sleep for 4. But then she went to feeding every 2 hours. She did sleep pretty well after 2:30 this morning. Now she's been up for a little bit since people have been in and out of our room. We probably won't leave the hospital until Tuesday morning because of the group B strep. Overall, we're doing great!

And 6 Days Later........

We're still waiting. I'm dialated a little further and they expect me to have this baby before the weekend is out, but it isn't yet! The waiting is painful. I'm so restless and every little pain or movement has me wondering. The baby is slowing down in there, probably from running out of room. My right lower rib has been her friend for the last few days.

So we've been trying to keep ourselves busy. Ryan has an evaluation at Children's Hospital for apraxia on Monday. Although they weren't willing to diagnose it, they said he should be having additional speech therapy. So now we just have to see what our insurance will pay for.

Kris and Ryan have been having a lot of fun together. Saturday, they went to Costco shopping and were fixing things around the house. These pictures are from that workday. Monday, they went to the Aquarium since Toyota was having a free night there. Wednesday, they spent the evening cutting the grass. And this coming Sunday, they are walking in WalkAmerica. Wonderfully, this gives me some great time to rest since the I get exhausted very quickly these days. Last night I was ready for bed around 7 (although I didn't go to bed until 10:30).

Besides, that we are just trying to keep busy and get anything and everything done before this baby makes her appearance into the world.

Hoping for Soon

We're sitting here at 2 weeks before my due date hoping for anytime now. I keep having awful pains between my hip and left leg, which Kris keeps saying is a contraction. Amazingly, he hasn't figured out that there isn't a baby down there. I did just have to go over my progression from last time with him, because he swore that I was at 3cm for 3 weeks, when in fact I never got to 3 cm before the day Ryan was born. So here's hoping that is progress. I have been having contractions, but they are very irregular. We'll keep you posted.

Kris ended up being in Akron for 2 nights this week, which gave Ryan and I some quality time - as if we don't usually get it!! It makes for a very tired Mom by the time I get him into bed. He hasn't gotten a sticker all week for staying in bed at night (but is doing great at naptime). Kris said he was up a few times with him last night, but I never heard it.

On Thursday, Kris took Ryan for a hike again, which Ryan just loves. He comes home covered in dirt. Friday, we had my doctors appointment and then Ryan's evaluation with the school district to see if he qualifies for preschool and/or speech therapy help (for after he turns 3). Of course, the doctors office was running behind so we were late, but we got everything done and had time to play outside before lunch. We were back out in the sunshine after nap time, with Ryan playing in the rocks in the lot next to us and picking dandelions. Today, we visited a friend of ours who gave us all their girl clothes, since they are having a boy, so we are well stocked. Then after naptime, we had our church pictures taken and then went to church (who knows - maybe we'll have the baby now that we've fulfilled that obligation). After church we attended the Boy Scout dinner at the elementary school Ryan will go to. Pretty busy times for us. So now, I'm up for sitting on the couch and reading a book - maybe watching part of a movie and doing some Sudoku.