Labor Pains

This time last year my labor had started. Two nights before I would have contractions all through the night, and then they would stop just in time for me to go to work. That wasn't fun. But on Tuesday I told my boss that the baby was coming (even though she's my first and it was 2 weeks before my due date). So I skipped work on Wednesday. We had a doctor's appointment, and he said it could be the next day or weeks from then. We went to the movies and spent the whole day hanging out, just the two of us. At around 7:00 that night the contractions started. By 1:00am they were about 4 minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital.  They kept me in triage for about 3 hours waiting to see if I would dilate more, but by 4:00 I was still around a 1 or 2. So home we went, with the instructions to come back when it became hard to even breathe. 11:00 that morning we went back to the hospital...it was hard to breathe. I sat on a birthing ball (which we found out later kept me from needing a c-section...long story). My water broke around 1:15pm, I started pushing at about 1:25pm, and little Harper Grey Holohan was born at 1:42pm! It's so hard to believe she's turning one tomorrow. It feels like she's always been in my life! Tomorrow is gonna be a pretty crazy day, we have a lot to get done. Harper's birthday party is at 4:30, and I think we have around 30 people coming, kids included. Should be pretty exciting!

This Time Last Year Photos...

Contractions at Home

Sitting in Triage...Look at that Belly!!

Heart Rate and Contraction Monitor

Finally in My Hospital Room



More to follow...

Nana!!

My mom got into Phoenix at 11:00 last night. She flew about 28 hours from Saudi Arabia to get here. I am SO happy to have her here for Christmas!! It's been 7 years since I have seen my mom on Christmas day. And since Chris and I have been married, I've never been able to "host" Christmas. We have either been at someone else's house or alone. So we're very excited to have family at home for the holidays. Aunt Lenny (aka my sister Lynnae) gets here on Sunday, too! I love my family...best Christmas present I could have gotten. I'll be posting current pictures of Harper and her Nana soon...can't wait to take some!

I Think I Might Be Sick

Are you ready for this one? So tonight we put Harper in the tub, and I ask Chris to watch her for a minute while I grab something out of her room. When I come back, I notice a little piece of poop in the water. Gross, right? Chris never saw it and had no idea it was there. So I put it in the toilet and turned back around towards Harper just in time to see her spitting some out of her mouth. That's right...Harper pooped in the tub and tried to eat it! And her dad didn't even have a clue!!! Here's hoping she doesn't inherit his ADD. At least she had enough sense to spit it out, right?

This Time Last Year

This time last year I looked like this:

This time last year we were finishing up the final touches in the nursery, making sure we had all our gear, checking the hospital bag, and practicing being parents...hehe...

This time last year, we didn't even know if Harper was a boy or a girl!

Today I bought the dress Harper will wear to her first birthday party. Crazy! We love our beautiful daughter and our beautiful life. God has blessed us so much, and I am so incredibly grateful!

Best Buddies

Harper and Eeyore, together forever. This is Harper's Eeyore doll that her Grandpa Holohan bought her. Eeyore usually doesn't get to come out and play because he stays in her crib to await her for nap times and bed time. But he does get to go with us to church, just in case she gets a little grumpy in the nursery. The other day after church he ended up in the living room instead of the nursery, and she just stood around cuddling with him on the coffee table. It was pretty sweet!

Baby Dedication

Today was a very important day for us. We participated in the baby dedication at our church. We brought Harper up before the church and made a commitment to raise her in a christian home. We will not force our children to believe in God, I don't think it can be forced even if we wanted to. But we will teach our kids about God's love for us, and about our Savior Jesus. It was also a chance to have the church pray for Harper. Having about 800 people pray for her this morning was pretty awesome!

We've been wanting to do this for a while, but we were hoping there would be a time where we would have some family here to participate with us. My mom gets here Thursday and we so badly wanted to do it while she was here, but they moved the dedication because of Christmas. So I want to thank our friends Tara and Brian for coming along to support little Harpsters. They aren't related to us, but they're a part of our camp family. It meant a lot to have them there.

Tara took some pictures for us of the event. First Pastor Lee introduced us and told the congregation a little bit about Harper. She of course hammed it up in front of the large audience by waving at everyone. He asked if she would let him hold her so Chris handed her over. She wasn't super thrilled with that, and immediately, to Chris' delight, leaned back towards him. Then almost as quickly, she leaned out of his arms towards me. It was pretty funny! Then Pastor Lee prayed for us all and gave her a bible. And of course she loves books, so the first thing she did was open it. All in all it was a really neat experience and one that means a lot to me. I want nothing more for her than to know Jesus and follow God with her whole heart. This doesn't insure her salvation or force her into a belief, it simply gave Chris and I a chance to make a commitment to her. It was a lot of fun. (Sorry mum for the jeans and t-shirt...it was just too cold outside for the dress) And as far as the mountain man standing beside me holding my child, that would be my husband who is currently in a beard growing contest at our gym. Can't wait till that's over. I do think he has a great shot at winning though!

You're Invited!

IT'S HARPER'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

Where: The Willows at UCYC

Date: Friday, December 31st

Time: 4:30 pm

We will have snacks, refreshments, and plenty of cake and ice cream. After the party, you're invited to come back to our place to celebrate the New Year with a New Year's party. Because what's better than one party? TWO!! 

Please RSVP via comments, Facebook, text, etc.

Sketti

Tonight was Harper's first time eating spaghetti. I made sure to cut it up so that the noodles weren't too long. The problem is, however, that Harper has not mastered the art of eating with a utensil. I mean let's face it, she's not even one. So not only has she not mastered the skill, she's not even close. And with the noodles being skinny she had some difficulty getting the food in her mouth. First she tried using her hands her usual way...

but Harper is too much like her mommy. When we're hungry, we want to eat. No playing around. Food. Now. So she switched strategies. "Could I drink it, perhaps?" she thought.

Nope. That definitely didn't work. Then I decided I should try to help her since she seemed so hungry. But my independent 11 month old wasn't keen on the idea.

So I gave her the fork. As I've already mentioned, she needs more practice. I figured it was a good practice time, seeing as she was already making a huge mess. Instead of putting the fork in her mouth, she pulled the spaghetti off of the fork and attempted, yet again, to get it in her mouth.

Poor frustrated baby...

Then we agreed that mommy should use her fingers to put the food in Harper's mouth, because somehow this wasn't as bad as mommy using a fork. I would get it in about half way, then Harper would take over shoveling the stray noodles in. Believe it or not, this was quite effective.

And that's the story of Harper's first time eating spaghetti. We love you Harper!

Yesterday

It's like Harper woke up yesterday and thought to herself, "I'm gonna do whatever mommy and daddy ask me to do today. Clap my hands with my hands open? Sure! Oh, you want me to say 'daddy', not 'dada'? OK! Wave bye bye right now? When someone's leaving instead of whenever I want? Why not!" It was a pretty fun day.

Playtime

I came home from work to Harper and Leah (her babysitter) playing with her headband bag...cute!

Harper walking with her stroller. She's getting so strong. Now if only she wasn't afraid of standing by herself!

She loves her books, but especially her touch and feel books. She loves to feel the textures and turn the pages by herself.

She sees our little jingle bell Christmas tree on top of the bookshelf. She and Guinness share that interest.

Picture Day

Harper did not like picture day. Normally, as you have seen, she loves having her picture taken. However, we were running a little behind schedule, so we ended up taking pictures right in the middle of her nap time. She wasn't too happy about that. We had our friend Jenn taking the picture, our friend Tara holding Eeyore to make Harper smile (which didn't work) and a pancake to keep the dogs' attention (which backfired terribly). It was pretty chaotic. Today I'm working on our Christmas cards, and hopefully they will be in the mail soon. And yes, I realize it's December 10th.

She's Weaned

Harper is officially weaned. We were shooting for one year, but I think 11 months and 6 days isn't too shabby! I love how in tune we are to each other. As my milk gradually lessened, she gradually backed off. I wouldn't say that she demanded less, because now she's taking an 8 oz bottle of formula at night. I was simply running out of milk. I know, they say you can't run out of milk...but I have. When she was first born I fed her every 3 hours around the clock. As time went on, she needed less, and my body responded. We were doing 3 nursings a day for a while, but she eventually became uninterested in the mid-day feeding. A few weeks ago she wasn't getting enough from me at night so I would nurse her and finish with a bottle. Of course that feeding went away altogether leaving the morning nursing time. The other day, she was tired of trying. My milk has diminished. I think it may be due to the fact that I'm drinking more water because I'm working out at the crossfit gym, but maybe I'm not drinking enough water for both crossfit and nursing.

But I really think it's due to the fact that my little baby is growing up, and God has designed us both to know when it's time. I am in awe at the complexity with which God made us. And I will say, nothing makes you realize how intricately He created us as nursing. When you're pregnant, your body changes and starts preparing food for your baby. First there's the colostrum which has a very specific function as the first food your baby has outside of the womb. Then a couple weeks later the body changes it to milk when it's needed. And the fact that when you begin nursing, it's a thinner milk to satiate baby's hunger, then in the same nursing session it becomes fattier milk that contains more nutrients...I mean it's just fascinating.

Sorry to those of you who have been grossed out by this post, if you even kept reading. Having said all of this, I'm kind of glad it's over. I feel like Harper and I are both emotionally ready to move on, and it is good.

Dancing to 90's Music

You've seen her bouncing move before, but she's added to it with a head shake... Tonight Harper got down to some early 90's music. Hilarious!

The Warm-Up

Her Fast Moves

Harper's Fast Moves from Rachel Holohan on Vimeo.

Harper's First Christmas Tree

Today we went and picked out our Christmas tree. I'm so excited to have it up and ready. I just love decorating for Christmas! Harper likes it, although she didn't go crazy like I thought she would. Like our new fireplace? Yeah, I know, it looks so fake. But we got it for free and it warms our living room really well. And it wasn't too long ago that I lived in Africa with no heat at all. So it works for us.

Here's how we got our tree home...

This is going to be a very special Christmas for us. Not only is it Harper's first Christmas, but my mom is coming to visit! It's been several years since I've actually seen my mother on Christmas day. And not only that, my sister Lynnae is coming the day after Christmas! The last time she came out here to visit, Harper was only days old. And while her presence was a huge help, I was in a little too much pain to really enjoy the visit. I'm so excited to have family here for the holidays. And I'm happy that Harper gets to see her Nana on her first Christmas. It's going to be a great one!

11 Months

I feel like these last 2 weeks have just really gotten away from me. I'm a little late in getting these pictures done, but luckily she looks pretty similar to how she looked on Tuesday, which is when she was officially 11 months old. Those dimples kill me! She's so beautiful.

Baby Loves Bananas

Really the title to this post should be "Baby Loves Food." Harper is just like her momma...we think eating is fun.