Busy bears part one: April

April and May are traditionally very busy months for us. Sort of. I guess the last week of April and the first two weeks of May are very busy. In a two week span we celebrate our anniversary, my birthday, and Mother's Day. Lots of fun!! I have so many events and photos to share but it'll have to be done in two separate posts. Enjoy part one below!

Firstly, she turned 15 months old on April 14, 2014. Big girl!!

Also, those measurements are incorrect. I hastily measured her height at home that day and was going based on her weight at a sick visit a few weeks prior. (But she IS practically perfect in every way, y'all.) We had her 15 month checkup about 3.5 weeks later. She's actually 22 pounds (25th percentile) and 32.5 inches long (98th percentile)!
Here she is waiting patiently at the pediatrician's office:

On April 12 I took her to have professional spring photos taken at a place called 3N1 Studio in Cumming. It's a gorgeous setting for photos! Since Easter was only a week away they had baby chicks and ducks on site for the kids to hold in their photos. I'll only post a couple here, but they all turned out beautifully. I mean, just look. PERFECTION.

Not professional. Still like it, though! :)

We spent Easter weekend at Taylor's mom's house. All of Harper's aunts, uncles, and cousins came to participate in an Easter egg hunt. My dad came, too. It was so fun!! And the food, as usual, was incredible. We Roberts' know how to cook and entertain. Here's a few snapshots of our weekend:

 Piano lessons with grandmother.

Harper experienced her first Braves game with me, Taylor, and my dad on April 27th. It was quite an adventure! She's at the age where all she wants to do is run around and explore. . . and not sit still. Every couple of innings we would trade off on "Harper duty." She loved running up and down the ramps during the game and the best part was that it was pretty much empty AND shaded. Yay for easy baby duty! At one point Taylor took her on a walk and she spotted a stuffed pink monkey that she apparently HAD to have. Her stuffed animal collection is growing and I have a feeling it will probably get out of control the older she gets. She skipped her nap that day but did surprisingly well.

The Braves staff give out "first game" certificates to kids. So cute!

Taylor was traveling on our anniversary this year (April 29th) but he did manage to send me a bouquet of flowers while I was at work! These beauties were in bloom for nearly two weeks - lucky me. 

Traditionally, the third wedding anniversary gift is supposed to be leather. We actually bought an entire new leather living room set in mid-March, complete with a 60" TV. It wasn't delivered until our anniversary on April 29th. Couldn't ask for a more perfect (and much needed) gift to share! The same day the couches came in I realized Harper is too short to climb on our new furniture. After about an hour (or so) of hearing her whine after each failed attempt I noticed how quiet she had become. I glanced over and saw her move one of her stacking blocks in front of the couch, step on it, and successfully pull herself up. Smart girl! While a normal parent would have probably prevented her from getting that far I watched in awe and snapped photos and laughed hysterically to myself. Mom of the year.

And that's it for part one of our busy spring. I'm working on post number two which should be finished tomorrow evening. (Though, if you follow me on FB or Instagram this is kind of like a giant recap of the past two months.)

Ears, ears, ears.

Aside from sweet Harper being able to point to her ears when asked (which is so cute!) she has had a myriad of problems with hers since she was six months old. She has only had three ear infections since then, but they've all been double and have all lasted longer than one month.
She's allergic to Omnicef, so that eliminates an entire class of antibiotics used to clear infections, thus making it more difficult to treat. Since January she has had an ongoing double ear infection. That's right, folks. My poor baby has basically been in pain to some degree for nearly FOUR months.
In all, we have tried four different medications which she has not responded to (two of which we'd tried unsuccessfully during her second infection.) After the third one (Augmentin) gave her a yeast infection I was ready to throw in the towel and just sign her up for ear tube surgery. Heck, I was ready BEFORE we even went down that long road of pharmaceuticals. But as we all know, health insurance sometimes dictates the type of treatment you can or can't have. In her case she'd had too few infections to warrant surgery approval, so we had no choice but to try other medications - you know, to "prove" to them that we'd tried other medical solutions. (Sounds great, right? Pump my child full of useless antibiotics which haven't worked in the past all because you don't want to pay for her surgery since she doesn't meet your criteria.)
That aside, we finally were able to schedule a surgery date (took two weeks of phone tag to nail down) which we then cancelled the day before because she had developed a wheezy cough and was using breathing treatments. We were afraid she'd have to wait another month, but luckily she was squeezed in to the following week.
That brings us to today! She was the first kid on the schedule at the surgery center. Taylor and I woke up at 4:45 in order to get ready and be there before 6:00. (Know what's awesome? ZERO traffic on GA400. We got there in about ten minutes! Totally overestimated the trip time.) 
They were still closed when we walked in so Harper got to roam the halls. Nothing better than a ton of space for an independent toddler to have all to herself! She ran up and down the hall over and over in her cute little lime green PJ's. Once we got in I signed lots of paperwork and was given a name badge. A very cool name badge, might I add.

Read it and weep.

And Harper was able to enjoy a plethora of new toys to play with! She did a lot of running around and exploring. We tried to get her to settle down to watch Henry Hugglemonster, but anyone with a fifteen-month old knows that our efforts were in vain. 

Shortly after this they called us back and took her vital signs. She wasn't so sure about the blood pressure cuff on her leg, but she got over it quickly. We were sent to a small room and were advised to change her into a hospital gown. There was also a gown and "shower cap" for whichever parent took her back to the operating room. I asked Taylor if he minded letting me do it and he said no. He told me knew I wanted to be there with her. I married a great dad and husband, y'all. I know he would have liked to take her but it was sweet of him to let me go.

She did such a great job with her pre-op medication that they let her go to the "toy closet" to choose a toy. She picked a neon, stuffed caterpillar seen in the photos above. Cool concept, CHOA!

Around 7:15 she became pretty cranky. I think the hunger and exhaustion were starting to set in. Meltdowns started occurring one after the other. Poor girl. 

And finally, we were ready. I put on the gown and cap and walked my baby bear to the operating room. All of the nurses loved the stuffed monster she brought with her.

Thanks for my monster, Nama!

I laid her down and the anesthesiologist placed the mask over her mouth and nose. She cried initially but her cry slowly turned into a whimper which then turned into blissful (I hope) sleep. I walked back to the waiting area and within ten minutes they wheeled her in. All done! Her doctor said it went well and that she had a lot of fluid in her ears. He gave us a prescription for ear drops and we need to follow up in two weeks.
Waking up was rough for her. She was disoriented and cried hysterically for at least ten or fifteen minutes. I think that was the hardest part for me (and probably her too.) Once we got in the car she happily enjoyed juice, fruit snacks, and animal crackers. I sat in the back with her and sang her songs for the first few minutes since she was still so emotional. By the time we pulled off at our exit she was almost back to normal and babbled relentlessly. She has the sweetest little voice, you guys.

Still taking it all in.

We put her down for a nap after a quick breakfast and she slept for almost three hours! Way to go, baby!

And now, I'm off to finish lunch with my girl. Thanks for reading! We appreciate everyone's love, texts, and prayers. We certainly have wonderful family and friends.

A little bit "cooler"

(So, my new year's resolutions are not quite being fulfilled. With this post I am trying to knock out two things: "blog more" and "blog about something other than Harper." Hope you enjoy it!)


I'm a nerd, plain and simple. And I realize that with that remark I'm pretty much stating the obvious.

I love to read. In fact, I've read the entire Harry Potter series three times. I was in marching band in 9th and 10th grade. I majored in music. I wear glasses. I can't dance. (Unless we're at a wedding with an open bar.) I really really like musicals. REALLY. I'm pale. I know way too many useless (yet fun!) facts. I enjoy classical music and listen to NPR.

There are definitely more nerdy facts about me. A LOT more. My husband never hesitates to point them out.

But. BUT! There's one thing I had always wanted to do but was too shy because, well, I'm a nerd. And subsequently thought I wasn't "cool" enough to pull it off.

I ALWAYS wanted a tattoo. A big, colorful, bold, artistic tattoo. And I finally got one on August 30, 2009 at Sacred Heart in Little Five Points. No, not a big, bold, artistic one. It's just a small neon pink heart on my right hip. No one really even knows it's there because my bathing suit completely covers it up. No big deal, really. 
Except it was.  To me it was A HUGE DEAL. Because when I got it I became a little less nerdy, you guys! Unfortunately, the pink has faded over the past few years, but I still love it.

So, I decided I wanted another one. A bigger one. One with even more color.

I decided on a henna style lotus flower, something I had desired from the moment I realized I even wanted a tattoo. Taylor and I went to Inksomnia in Alpharetta for a consultation the week before Valentine's Day. Mike, the owner, did my tattoo on Valentine's Day. (The inking was followed up with Mexican food and margaritas. Awesome date, y'all!) 
IT HURT. And I had to sit in an extremely awkward position for an hour with my butt crack slightly exposed. But I love it. LOVE IT. And if you don't love it then I don't care. 

Right after it was completed. 

A week afterward.

There you have it. You know a little bit more about me now. And I feel pretty gosh darn cool. 

(Update: While Taylor was having his tattoo enhanced two weeks ago he mentioned that my first tattoo needed some extra love. At one point a while later we all got to talking about moonshine. Not exactly sure how, but when you're sitting in a tattoo parlor for a few hours with the same three people the conversation certainly wanders in unexpected directions. The artist mentioned his love for good moonshine and we told him we were actually in possession of quite a bit, so we struck a deal. 
"If you fix Sally's heart we'll give you two gallons," Taylor bribed. 
"DONE!" was the response, without a hint of hesitation. 
And that was that! My former little faded heart is even brighter and pinker than ever! All in exchange for some good moonshine, too.)

One year old

(I won't make this post too long since I have so many photos to add.)

Harper Adelle Roberts was born at 12:15 PM on January 14, 2013. She was a tiny, crying, sleeping, breastfeeding little thing a year ago. Now she's a babbling, walking, feed-herself, smiling, HAPPY little girl! And I couldn't be more pleased.
My little bear is quite possibly the most beautiful, sweetest, silliest girl I've ever met. She's completely captured my heart and I feel so lucky to get to be her mother. I honestly can't remember if I've shared this before, but she and I share a middle name - a name that goes back seven generations on my mom's side of the family. To me, it means we have a special bond.
On Saturday, the 11th, we threw her a birthday party. So many people came to celebrate! And yeah, I totally ate my words. I've always laughed at parents who throw a big first birthday party because its not as though they're going to remember it. But hey. I became one of those parents and I'm not sorry. Her birthday theme was rainbows and unicorns. My employers were sweet enough to allow us to use the spacious cafeteria downstairs for her party. It was perfect!

Unfortunately, she developed a high fever (104.1!) and ended up with a viral upper respiratory infection plus a double ear infection the day after her party. She was sick on her birthday, poor thing, but she was totally better by the 15th.

Here is her invitation. I designed it through a seller on Etsy.

And here are some photos of her party. :)

(I made these! Unicorn poop cookies.)

Smash cake on the plate everyone signed at my baby shower.

If you made it this far, please enjoy this short clip all the way from the newest princesses at Disney World. I'm sure Harper will love seeing this when she's older!

I just want to say THANK YOU again to everyone who was able to come and celebrate! Thank you cards still have not been written, but they will be. . . soon. . . maybe. Ha.

Resolutions

Ever since I was a kid my dad asked my sister and me to write resolutions and then print them out and tape them to our bathroom mirror. This way we'd have a daily reminder to accomplish our goals. It usually only took about a month for me to forget that I'd taped that document to the upper right hand corner of my mirror. On the rare occasion that I would glance at the list I'd feel a twinge of guilt for not doing a better job of keeping up with what I'd resolved to do, let alone even remembering to look at the list. Then the feeling would quickly pass and I'd think, "Oh well, maybe next year." But guess what. (This next statement shouldn't take anyone by surprise.) I've never ever kept up with resolutions. I love the idea of making lists and goals in order to better yourself. I just have A LOT of trouble sticking to it. Its been quite a while since I've made resolutions. I think I'm going to try again this year. TRY. We haven't made it past the first week of January yet, so I think I'm still in the clear for posting a list, right? RIGHT?

1.) No alcohol for 30 (possibly more) days.
This goal is actually something Taylor has come up with and I've decided to join him. I love margaritas. I love wine. AND I LOVE BEER. We always have a bottle of wine around, or beer growlers in the fridge. And when we frequent Mexican restaurants I always order a margarita or two. It will be great for my health (and weight) and save us a lot of money. I'm actually excited about this one!

2.) Blog more.
Its no secret that having a kid makes you neglect practically everything else in your life for at least the first six months. I vow to write more, and not necessarily about my sweet girl even though she's my favorite topic.

3.) Read more.
Reading is something I have ALWAYS loved to do. Call me a nerd. I don't care. I want Harper to develop a love for books as deep as mine. Sadly, I don't think I've picked up a new book since 2011 when my MIL and I were reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. (Speaking of, I only got to book four.) My dad gave me the complete A Song of Ice and Fire series for Christmas. (SQUEE!) I started reading it two days ago and I'm already 200 pages into book one. A great start!

4.) Be a nicer person.
This is a really broad goal. And it's subjective. I have the tendency to be pretty short-tempered and snap at everyone without thinking. This is something I'll have to put a lot of effort into doing but I know this will make me a better mother, wife, and friend. No one likes a grumpy pants. 

5.) Curse less.
Cursing is a bad habit but it feels so good to do sometimes. Me? I curse like a sailor. Pretty soon Harper will be able to repeat what we say and she doesn't need to learn any foul words, especially from her mother. Will it happen? Eventually, I'm sure. But I will try my damndest hardest to make sure she doesn't learn it from me. Certainly, this is another one that will require a lot of effort. We'll see what happens. 

6.) Make healthier choices.
I have a gym membership already. I know what healthy food is and where to find it and how to cook it. I don't always do these things. Why? Because sometimes, after a long day of chasing kids and changing their diapers and cleaning up their messes, I want nothing more than to eat McDonald's, have a beer, and sit on the couch all night. And then I wonder why I look horrific in a bikini. But now its more than that. I want to be healthy in order to keep up with my baby. I want my husband to be proud to be seen with me in public. I want Harper to grow up learning to make healthy choices too. Luckily, Taylor is an incredible supporter in this resolution. I have him to help keep me accountable. 


HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

(By the way, we had an INCREDIBLE New Year's Eve! Dinner was delicious, the hotel was perfect, the suite at Philip's Arena was AWESOME, we looked SO good, and the trip home after the concert was drama-free and short. And the music? Best show I've seen so far. We only got one blurry photo, though.)

So long, 2013. We're ready for a prosperous 2014!

Here it is, the end of 2013. (I won't make this a long blog post, I promise.)
2013 was a bittersweet year. It was incredible in that my sweet Harper Adelle was born. It was heart wrenching in that there was so much loss. Jobs, loved ones, beloved pets. . .the list goes on.

I was just looking through the photos I've posted throughout 2013, mostly on Facebook. All wonderful moments captured, of course. We took a few trips, fixed up our backyard (which is lush and green; a sight I never thought we'd see!), and had a busy, yet perfect holiday season. I had (have?) the great fortune of not only being raised by two awesome parents but I married into a really cool, fun family. This makes all the difference in holiday and family gatherings. I'm so thankful that Harper will be growing up with a strong sense of family and love.

Tonight we are leaving her at home with my mother-in-law. Taylor and I will be in a private box in Atlanta at the Widespread Panic concert at Philips Arena with some good friends. (That was a lot of prepositions for one sentence.) I can't think of a better way to ring in the new year. We get to dress up, eat delicious food, and party all night long. Okay, that's a bit of a lie. Hanging out with our almost one-year old would be pretty freaking fantastic too. But mama and daddy need alone time sometimes. Its been almost six months since we've spent a night apart from the baby. I know she's in great hands - her own grandmother, who also happens to be a nurse! So we can rest easy (in our swanky hotel room) and relax and enjoy each other and good music. That's not to say I won't miss her. Its only natural.

By the way, Harper turns one in exactly two weeks. Its so odd to think at this time last year she was still in my tummy and we hadn't even met her yet. We really lucked out in the baby department. Yes, the first few months were really hard. REALLY hard. Having a baby is a huge adjustment. After all, this is our first time being parents and her first time being a baby. But she is beautiful. She is healthy. She makes me laugh every day. She is SO HAPPY all of the time. She completes me.

Happy NYE, everyone. Stay safe and I hope you all have a happy, joyous new year!