Monday, January 25, 2010

Harper Elle 5 months

The babe is officially 5 months OLD! Ughhh, it's going way to fast, how do I slow it down! But it is sooo amazing. She laughs uncontrollably, follows Mommy everywhere she goes (with her eyes), will cry when you leave the room, buries her head in your neck when she acts shy, loves Moss' kisses, laughs at the kids who are crying at school, eating oatmeal, splashes the soap suds away in the tub to get to her toes, and POOPS so bad that it is the topic of "Daycare Dish" almost everyday. I call it "Daycare Dish" because whenever I pick her up we dish for at least 30 minutes about how her day went and almost everyday..there is some story about her poo that day. It usually starts with me noticing that her clothes have been changed and then I notice her teacher's clothes are different...yeah...it can get really bad. After about 5 minutes, I get about 3 versions of the same story because the other teachers from the other infant rooms peep their heads in to chime in. It really is hysterical that this is the name Harper is creating for herself, well, at least there is never a dull moment. I tell Ms. Sarah that she is certainly earning her money with my child.

Bob and I are certainly earning our titles of NEW Mom and Dad. We had Harper on her changing table after an obvious poo last week and when we opened the diaper the aroma gased the air so quickly our eyes started watering. Harper was of course laughing and smiling as usual. As we determined our strategy of changing this massive explosion...KABOOM....soft serve poo comes flying out. It was hysterical, disgusting, and traumatizing all at once. Have you seen Four Christmas' with Reece Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn when the baby yaks all over Reese and Vince starts dry heaving and makes her leave the room? If not, you must catch it. I was laughing, Bob was gagging and no way did "we" leave the room. Let's just say it gives a whole new meaning to soft serve ice cream.




















Quotes from Harper

"Hello Everyone! I have found my hands and LOVE putting them in my mouth. Especially the lefty...the thumb is a staple for naps."













"I have found my feet, I really wish my Mommy would stop putting these whites things over my toes because I really like chewing on them."



















"Today was white day at school and I was the only kid who wore white. Is that because the other parents forgot to dress my friends in white or that my mom is the ONLY parent who reads the newsletter that my teacher sends out?"
By the look on her face, I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm ridiculous already. I just thought I had a little more time:(

My Girls and Great Memories


My girlfriends and I got together the weekend of the 21st! We had a "sprinkle" for Baby Boy Mardis that is due in March. We all met in college, for those of you who don't know, we are Kentucky girls...YES, UK grads! And we have been buds for more than 10 years now! So many trips, weddings, babies, and soooo many memories, we love making more and more memories and there was nothing different about this weekend.

I went up on Friday evening to spend time with everyone and stayed with Jennifer. We had chopped salad and bourbon. Or maybe the other way around. Either way, I'm not sure I knew what to do with myself without my hubby and baby girl. YES, it was a FIRST for Mommy Cietek.....Harper Elle had her first weekend getaway to Nana's. Nana practically begged me for her and let me tell you...the girls were not happy about it. And I was not happy about my headache on Saturday morning:) Oh well, the good thing about being a new Mom, you totally conform to sleep deprivation like a champ.

It was a blast as usual and I cherish our time together more than ever. Never change girls, I love you way too much!




















Whitney Mardis
expecting Baby Boy Mardis in March with big sis Kate at home



















L to R clockwise: Whitney
Kelly Crowe, mommy of Cashen and Madeline and one stressed out business woman with a new job
Sarah Clements, new mom second time around of Sam and Stella and first week back to work












Whitney, Kelly,
Michele Barber, mommy of William and Whitney and one brave kindergarten teacher
ME!













Michele,
April Nodine, the newest bride of the bunch and NO mommy bags under her eyes
Jennifer Kaufman, mommy of John Riley and Lucy playing hostess to the roudy bunch


I try and try to think of words to describe this crew and really the best way to say it...

ONE HOT MESS!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Winter Wonderland













The snow was so beautiful last week! I loved seeing it fall for a couple days while curling up on the couch. Bob and I decided to get Harper Elle out for a bit to get some shots! I'm not sure what she thought but I had a blast experimenting with my camera with all these amazing back drops in the neighborhood.


















My sweet snow buddy:-)















Sunday, January 10, 2010

Happy Birthday Breagel! January 9th!



















Happy Birthday Breags, you old man! I love the fact we have been celebrating your birthday for 15 years and you will always be older than me. Brian is my friend for life, our friendship gets better and better but never really changes! Does that make sense to anyone? We can always count on all our individual idiosyncracies to drive each other nuts but bring each other closer and closer.














He is nuts about Harper Elle and clearly she feels the same way! We celebrated his birthday today at Nuvo Burrito. It is the fabulous new burrito shop in East Nashville and it is soooo good. Any townies reading this blog, you should check it out. www.nuvoburrito.com
I love you Breags, Happy Birthday!


New Year's Day



















New Year's Day was like this magical perfect day to start the New Year. Bob and I, like I said we were up until 2:30, had a lazy streak flowing and hoped to curl up on the couch all day with Moss and Harper. And actually, that's exactly what we did. When Harper woke up at 7:00, we went upstairs and crawled into the guest bed with her and Moss. These shots we taken and that's about all we did the rest of the day. Harper took several naps and so did we!













Harper is really starting to like Moss and she actually tries to pet her. It is sweet at this point but I can only imagine what is to come.














Happy Birthday 2010!

Happy New Year 2010













To ring in the New Year, we invited our neighbors over! Anne and Javier with their kids, Will and Angela, Daphne, and my crew rang it in with such good food and this wonderful cake Anne made. Harper only made it until 7:30, the time all the guest arrived, so our wonderful video monitor was our New Year's babysitter.













Angela and Will

Aren't they the sweetest couple.




















Bob and I lasted until 2:30, I was so impressed considering when I was rocking Harper to sleep at 7:00 I could have went to bed for the night. You know, a little food and few cocktails, I was up and going in no time.



















Harper Elle in her baby legs. I love the crochet leg warmers Nana gave her for Christmas, they are soooo cozy!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Harper Elle over the Holidays!



















Annoyed that she had to change clothes so many times!


















Happy to be here.














Confused about the man that supposed to come down the chimney.



















The best CATS fan ever.



















Already asking to go to Disney and how could you say no to that face!

Terry Christmas













Christmas was a blast this year. Bob and I hosted the Terry Christmas at our home and a HUGE thanks for the family traveling down. Of course they spoiled Harper to the core, holding her every minute they were here and now...let me tell you...she definitely misses them:)














YES, this is my oldest nephew! Baylen! The reason I say that is because he has grown a few (roughly 10 inches) since most of you have seen him! He is now 6'2". Benjamin, my other nephew, is Baylen's shadow and can't wait to grow up and be just like his big brother!













My Dad bought a RV a couple of weeks ago and the family purchased the movie for him. I can't wait to see him barreling down I-65 with the family and all the chaos in this huge RV.













Grandma Cietek sends precious gift



















My little sweetie received the most adorable hand made hat and scarf from Grandma Cietek for Christmas. She loved it so much, we dressed her up and headed out for sushi!



















I really didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or eat her alive. So we did both!!!!













Our little French Diva....or French Ham is more like it!!!


Thanks to Grandma Cietek for her sneaky handy work. She starting working on this scarf when she came down to visit with Harper when she was 4-5 weeks old. Since then, she kept telling me that she didn't have time to get to it..... it was a great surprise and gift!



Saturday, January 2, 2010

Christmas Morning



















These shoes were the perfect thing about our Christmas this year. I looked around for little shoes to place on the tree in lieu of our little one. I found lots of gifts and keepsakes but never found the perfect babies shoes. As I opened this gift to Harper from Daddy, I almost teared up. They are so sweet and all I could think of was when she will be placing them on her own tree one day telling her husband that these shoes were the first gift her father gave to her.



















Minnie Mouse took over Christmas morning and we loved it.... in her Santa's Little Helper PJ's.












These pics really say it all. It was so much fun and felt so complete now that Harper is here. We have this whole new outlook on the holidays and celebrating Christmas, we are just so thankful for her and can't imagine our lives without her!













Some of the gifts we gave her were really fun, you can see the pics on the previous post.
I particularly liked the "I love fries" bib...that was purchased more for Bob. The two bears were beyond cute...Bob and I both bought her each a different bear from the EubaloboBear Collection and didn't even know it until we opened gifts. Also, I have to add that it took me about 32 years to get the "blue box" from Tiffany and Co. and for little Miss Harper....it only took 4 months. A longtime family friend bought her a sterling silver rattle/teether, it is so shiny and beautiful I refused to use it but she insisted that I do. Apparently it works wonders on the gums.....yeah, who knew, I thought my fancy plastic bubble like teethers you put in the freezer would do just fine. Well, she doesn't know the meaning of it yet so at least I have that going for me:) Who am I kidding, I loved it and can't wait to see if it really works!

Christmas Eve



















Madeline

Christmas Eve was spent with dear friends, Kelly and Jeff Crowe. We spoiled the kids with gifts and the adults spoiled themselves with a little wine and a lot of good food. Harper was asleep most of the time but when she got up, we opened gifts and watched the excitement in the kid's faces. It is truly amazing to watch little ones at Christmas.



















Cashen














Madeline is loving babies these days and adored Harper Elle, I hope it will stay that way and Kelly and I will have lots of excuses to indulge in girl trips for many years to come. At least that is what we are hoping!

Dolphins vs Titans



















Seeing that the Miami Dolphins are Bob's favorite football team, he arranged to get the company's season tickets to the Sunday game on December 21st. He invited a few customers from Louisville and we took the other biggest Miami fan in Nashville, our neighbor Javier and his wife Anne. When we arrived to tailgate, Rick (Bob's customer) had a tiny kid seat and sippy cup ready for Bob...it was hysterical and Bob actually embraced the joke quite well. Surely it didn't have anything to do with the fact that in a round about way this guy pays the bills?? I'm thinking yes.












As you can see, Harper stayed in with Lee Ann, sis, and family and was totally spoiled all day!
Many thanks to sis for making the trip and Harper clearly had a blast!




Tollgate Christmas Social













We attended the Tollgate Christmas social on the 20th of December. This is the second year for our neighborhood Christmas party and we survived our first party with a baby! Harper was having a blast until the huger pains kicked in. She loved the little kids and we loved "going out" on Saturday night!


















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