Lately...

First things first---my mom was in town recently for Harper's baptism and she stayed at home with Harper for the entire week!  I'm glad H got to spend that special one-on-one time with her grandma.  It has been fun seeing our relationship in a new light since I had a little girl. I am so thankful that God had this in his plan for us. Here are a few snaps from my IG from my mom's visit:

At Harper's swim class...

At the park...

Feeding Harper�(side note: my mom said I was a terrible eater as a baby and would just spit all of my food out so she was overjoyed at how happy Harper was to eat all of her food!)

 My mom giving Harper her very first present from Tiffany (for when she's a little older�)

It was such a great visit!  We are going to Canada this summer to visit family and attend a wedding and I can't wait!

Last week, after I picked up Harper from her second day at her new daycare, we were sitting on the floor playing and she suddenly started to cough and her entire faced turned red and she couldn't catch her breath. She finally caught it again and coughed and projectile vomited everywhere. It was so scary and we called our pediatrician and they had us come in.  Her nose had been runnier than usual and she coughed occasionally, but we didn't notice much of a change in how she was acting, though she was a little bit more tired than usual (and was being extra-snuggly, which I love, though it's so sad when she's sick).

Fortunately she did not have the flu or a bacterial infection, just a really bad cold. We decided to keep her home for the rest of the week as not to expose the other babies at daycare and for her own comfort too because she ended up sleeping a lot over the next few days. We are very fortunate that my husband's parents live nearby and are happy to help with the baby. 

Harper is feeling much better now. Her nose is still runny but all of the kiddos at daycare have runny noses seemingly constantly. In fact, our pediatrician told us to expect a runny nose until May or so. It's just that time of year. 

I ended up getting a really brutal sinus infection a couple of days after Harper got sick and thankfully my doctor called in some antibiotics and steroids. I stayed home from work Friday because I could barely breathe, get out of bed or eat. I discovered the Neti Pot and that has helped a little bit.  

This weekend was the first time since my surgery that I pumped and dumped my milk. I was miserable and so I took some Advil Cold & Sinus a few times to help relieve the pressure and pain I was feeling.  The drugs my doctor prescribed are safe but the Advil C&S was a no-go. I hated to do it, but my husband saw how miserable I was and he made me realize I was being ridiculous to worry about 20 or so ounces of milk when I was that sick.

I'm on the mend now,  but I still have a ton of congestion and I can't taste food. I love to eat so that has been�unpleasant. I survived on apple sauce, toast with honey, crackers and cereal for several days. I wasn't about to waste delicious food on my non-responsive tastebuds. Oh sense of taste�when will you return? The one positive thing that has come of this is I am not giving in to my sugar cravings because I just don't care to eat candy if I can't taste it.

In other news---if you follow me on IG, you know---we have a mover!  Just a few days after I posted Harper's 8 month update, she surprised us with full-on crawling. We had taken a video of her attempting to crawl a couple of weeks ago and the very next day she just started to crawl like a champ at daycare and at home. She had been working on this skill for quite some time and I remember when my mom visited, she was convinced Harper would crawl during her visit. She was just a few days off! Here is a more recent video of Harps on the move! 

so many places to go�so little time...

She is also pulling up on everything. We have to supervise her like a hawk.  We plan to baby proof obviously (gotta admit we are a little late in the game, but hey, it's a solid  workout to chase her around all the time), but we also want to be there to guide and supervise as she's exploring.  

We also got a play yard that my husband affectionately refers to as the "baby cage" that we set up beside her foam play mat (you can see it here---but we've since move it off to the side with a thick blanket for cushion to leave the foam play area open since that's where we spend the most time.  The play yard is great for keeping the baby contained and safe for brief periods of time (we have this one, by North States).  For example, we put her in there Sunday morning when I was vacumming and my husband was doing the dishes. Glamorous, I know.  Her highchair is another great option for when we need to get things done around the house. She's happy a clam most days hanging out watching mamma fold laundry or clean the counter tops for 5-10 minutes.

Now that I can watch Harper in her daycare class, I do feel a lot better about daycare in general. I can see she's happy and she has so much space to roam around and explore in a completely baby-proofed room with several caretakers. They also do circle time which is new for her.  I peek in a couple of times a day for a few minutes ans she's just all over the place crawling and pulling up. It's really fun to get to see her in action.

I hope everyone has a great week!  I'm off to catch some zzz's now...