Life With A New Baby

Some of you might be interested to hear how life with a new baby is going in my world, so I thought I would offer an update post.

Harper is sweet, she is cute, she is cuddly. She brings a smile to the face of anyone that sees her. She is tiny, still not at 8 pounds. We have a little joke that she is 1 pound of baby and 6 and a half pounds of cheeks as she has the roundest little face. She has grown, tonight her preemie sized pajamas were too small, but they fit just fine maybe 3 days ago. We are officially into newborn sizes and she is 5 weeks old.

Harper makes the best faces, as you can see in the photo above. She has us giggling daily with her funny baby faces. 

Harper sleeps well a few nights a week and keeps me awake a few nights. The long nights that she won't sleep without being held are totally worth it. The nights she sleeps like a log are odd, I find myself going to her room to check on her every hour or so.

Rolf is warming up to her. He will give her kisses, he strokes her face and hair and he has shown an interest in holding her a few times. The first 10 days were rough, he was jealous and he acted out a lot, but he is getting better with the idea of having a sister. I am relieved! I have made an effort to hold him, hold his hand, to tell him how special he is to me and how loved he is. When I shower him with attention he feels important and his outbursts are fewer and further between. I try to include him in the care of Harper and that makes life easier. He feels important when he is handing me a bottle, throwing a diaper away or bringing me a fresh one or fetching a blanket big enough for everyone to cuddle under.

Harper is starting to demonstrate her personality. She likes only one brand of pacifiers. She likes to be held but is not fond of being stroked. She wants to be held without any extra touching and she wants you to be still when you hold her. She doesn't like to go outside, she doesn't like to ride in the car. She likes her cozy house best.

Harper is fascinated with Rolf, she hears his voice and turns her head to watch him with big blue eyes. Rolf likes the captive audience and has no complaints. 

Since having Harper I have learned about slowing down, not taking on as much work and letting the house get messy. Before Harper I stressed about those things. I wasn't sleeping enough, I was over extending myself and I was obsessed with picking up the never ending mess. I have noticed that in the past weeks with my new found go with the flow attitude that I feel better about me. 

Life with a new baby has been good. The time has passed rapidly, but it has helped me to prioritize. Harper is all anyone could hope for in a baby. She is healthy, cuddly, sweet, adorable. She makes me very happy.

Saturday #182

On Saturday #182 (#3) my family slept in a little later than normal. What a treat it was for me to wake up at a few minutes til 8!

We took the morning at a slow pace. I wasn't frantic to get a lot of things accomplished. I watched cartoons with my son and I cuddled my daughter. Since Harper was born I have really slowed down and started taking the time to enjoy life more. I notice how much my son has grown, how fast time passes and how insignificant so many things really are. There will always be laundry to fold, dishes to wash and things to pick up. My kids won't always be small... that makes it easier to go with the flow of things.

My parents finally came to see Harper. She was a sweetheart as always. She is beautiful, cuddly and totally addictive. She stole their hearts as expected. They accompanied us to the West side shopping plaza for Trick or Treat with Roo who was fun. The first stop he made was priceless. As the lady put a handful of candy into his pail he broke out in a huge smile and told her "Candy? Happy!" We both had a good laugh over that.

We then stopped for lunch and went back to our house to visit with the family. Roo was great, he was fun, he was lively, he was singing, dancing, completely showing off. I loved to see him come out of his shell and not act shy around the grandparents.

When they left we decided to take our recycling to drop off, and it wouldn't be a weekend without a dash into WalMart. I had to stock up on newborn size diapers and wipes for the week. I had been prepared for a big baby, I have size 1, 2, 3 and 4 diapers in reserve for Harper, but wouldn't you know newborn is a size I opted not to get and we are going thru a ton of those!

So I grabbed the diapering needs and headed home for a relaxing evening with my husband. He convinced me to watch a Kenny Rodgers movie with him. I fell asleep within 30 minutes but that was okay, when I woke up I saw Adam was asleep on the couch too. Quality time together in dreamland.

The day was great. It covered the basics; sleep, candy, family, shopping, happy kids. I hope you had a chance to enjoy quality time with your loved ones over the weekend. It amazes me how fast these Saturdays pass by.

Ryobi 40 V Cordless Mower Review

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or

services mentioned above in the hope that I would mention it

on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally

and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance

with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the

Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.

I had the pleasure of reviewing a Ryobi 40 V Cordless Mower. This was my first experience with a battery operated lawn mower and I didn't know what to expect from it. I will be honest, I rarely mow grass. My husband usually takes care of that chore and when he can't due to time constraints I have a lawn guy that I call on. It is not that I don't enjoy the chore... well, no honestly I didn't enjoy the chore of mowing due to our previous mower which was hard to start, hard to push and very loud.

 When the Ryobi Mower arrived I was immediately impressed with the appearance. It looks very modern, and very bright!

My husband was ready to assemble the mower right away, I couldn't believe how lightweight it was.  I expected it to be much heavier than 40 pounds. The mower has such visual appeal I couldn't help but get a little excited about it.

As you can see the dog even got excited about the new mower

We both liked that it came with 2 batteries, we charged them up and prepared to mow the following day. My husband being the dear that he is told me he would handle the mowing as I am too pregnant to be doing that right now.

My son and I were curious so we headed outside to see the Ryobi mower in action. The first thing I noticed was that the mower started easily. My husband simply pushed the bar and pressed a button and it was ready to go! No pulling on a cord thingy for 10 minutes to get it started, this is a huge selling point for someone like me. Next I noticed the mower was quiet. My husband could hear me over the running lawn mower and we were able to talk without shouting while he mowed grass. I love a quiet operating lawn mower!

My little Roo had to pet the mower, he found it to be magical!

The next thing we liked was that it mulch bag attachment which makes the mow super clean. It takes about 90 minutes to fully charge the battery. The battery is easy to insert into the mower.

Now, I will be honest here. Our yard is not big by any means. It is a modest sized yard. The mower is ideal for really small yards. The battery life seems to run 20 minutes or so and that means to completely mow our yard we need to use both batteries, then charge them both again to do the front yard. This means to mow our yard it takes us at least 2 days. That isn't a huge deal to me, or to my husband. In the summer especially it is nice to take a break from the sweltering heat and rest when you are mowing. So it works well for our needs.

The mower has a 16" cutting width, it takes no oil or gas and it has a great deal of visual appeal. Several of our neighbors have stopped to admire our Ryobi 40 V Cordless and have commented on how quiet it is to operate and how they like that.


We liked the Ryobi mower. It operates with ease, it is quiet, it looks great, it folds up to be compact for easy storage which is always a bonus for us with limited space in our shed.

You can purchase the Ryobi 40 V Cordless Mower at Home Depot.
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Saturday #179

Saturday #179 was our last weekend as a family of 3. Despite the way the previous weekend went I was determined that this would be a great weekend for making good memories with my son.

We planned to get up early and head out to the Col. Crawford festival as is a family tradition. My husband woke Roo and I up as we were somehow still asleep at 7 a.m. Roo was resistant to waking up, but I asked him for a kiss, he complied. I asked him if he wanted to go bye bye and he nearly jumped out of bed, ready to go.

We somehow had breakfast and got ready in record time. We made it to the festival in time to get our yearly purchase of squirrel corn and we browsed the booths. We made purchases of gorgeous Indian Corn, pumpkins, rubber duckies, a wooden train for Roo, handmade candles and jewelry for my Mother in law.

It was a nice morning!

We stopped home for lunch, we got out our Halloween decorations and then hit the road again to take Roo to a kids activity with a corn bin for playing in, slides and a hay maze. He had loads of fun and got nothing short of filthy.  He mastered the maze within minutes and had a fantastic time.

We wrapped up the day running a few errands. We came home to have Roos favorite dinner, pizza and cheesy bread. After dinner I realized I needed to clean up the house. Roo and I went into the master  bedroom to straighten up and ended up looking at books together before he had his bath and went to bed.

I couldn't have asked for a better day with my son. We had a lot of fun, we made the most of our time and we made memories. On Saturday #180 our family will have grown, there will be 4 of us, things will have changed, but it will be a good change! I am excited to see how Roo reacts to having a little sister.

I hope you had a chance to enjoy your family over the weekend.

Welcome Baby!

My daughter Harper was born on Friday morning, shortly after 8 am. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30, I was a nervous wreck. I cried after I said goodbye to my son. It was so hard to drop him off with the sitter because he cried "Mommy!" and ran to me instead of going into the house. I got into the car and sobbed. I cried all the way to the hospital. I had cried most of the night before, and sure enough I cried once I got to my room. I was scared and anxious about the c section,  sad about being away from Roo. I was excited to meet Harper. I was a bundle of emotions.

It all started to happen fast. My doctor came in about an hour after they got me settled in and before I knew it they started prepping me. I tried to not let my anxiety levels get to me. I tried to just be me, to talk to the staff, to smile, to get thru the procedure. I took the spinal block like a pro.

Then it became apparent it didn't fully take with me. I could move my legs and I could feel. I could feel the c section, I could feel my legs, my feet, my womb being cut open.  I screamed and cried and they put me to sleep. I had some crazy dreams and woke up worried about my daughter. Before I was able to speak or understand, literally as soon as my eyes opened I was asking if she was okay. I had no idea what anyone was saying or where I was, but I kept asking. Finally they wheeled me around and I saw my husband with Harper, I had double vision and was not really coherent, but I managed to sit up and give him the ok sign. He gave it back and held her up so I could see her.

When I was able to speak and understand responses I continued to ask anyone and everyone that came my way about Harper, they all assured me she was doing great. She was healthy, she was gorgeous. They couldn't believe that I was able to move, speak and ask about getting out of bed literally moments after having a c section.

My husband brought Harper into the room as soon as he could. I got to hold her and see just how pretty she was.

I am a very lucky lady to have 2 cute kids! Harper is a great addition to our family.

After asking for 8 hours about getting up they allowed me to take a walk. I have been walking ever since!

I was told I would be here until around noon on Monday but today is Sunday, it is 8:10 in the 

morning and Harper and I will be going home today. The doctor is going to remove my dressing and pain medicine ball and then they should begin discharging us. I can't wait to go home and take my daughter with me.

I miss my house, my pets, my husband and most of all my son. It has been hard to be away from him!

Harper is a great baby. She sleeps well, eats well, snuggles like a pro and is nothing short of amazing. I can't wait to get her home to join our family.

Thank you to everyone that sent emails of well wishing, prayers and hope. It means so much to me!