Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Baby Prez: 16 Weeks

Dear Baby Prez,

What an awesome week!  It's amazing how much you have changed in just 16 weeks!  You learned a new sound this week, and you love to show it off.  Your new sound is screaming.  Not in unhappiness, just sheer screaming for the fun of it.  It seems like it should be annoying, but it's not...yet.

Weight:   You are growing so fast!  I would guess your weight is around 13 pounds.


Health:  You are still a healthy baby!  Your four month check up is coming up soon; I can't believe it.


Sleep:  You are still waking up about once each night, but over the weekend, you had your two best nights ever - you slept 6 hours straight and 8 hours straight.  Now if only we could figure out how to replicate that all the time!

Social:  You met lots of new people last week - Mommy's best friend, her children, our church family in Kansas, and Mommy's Bible study group.  You also got to see Great Grandma Jo, Aunt Mary, and your cousin when we stayed with them in Kansas.  We even went to your first soccer game where your cousin's team won by a landslide.  You seemed quite intrigued by the game, and we really enjoyed it (except for Mommy's sunburn).  You were sociable and well-behaved as usual.  It's so easy to show you off!


Baby President


Baby President


Baby President

Diet:  About 6 ounces of breastmilk every 3 hours and then some mushy food about once a day.  Since we were out of town on Sunday, you didn't get to try a new food this week.

Likes:   Looking out the window.  You are absolutely fascinated by staring out the front window.  Mommy perches you kneeling on her lap with your arms resting on the back of the couch.  It's adorable to see the rapt attention you pay to anything that's going on outside.  



Sitting up and standing.  You are determined to be an early walker.  You love to sit up like a big boy and practice standing.  


Screaming.  Yes, that's right.  You enjoy screaming and you definitely like to hear your own voice.  You are screaming and babbling all the time.

Dislikes:  Laying down.  Usually you are only fussy when you're hungry, but you have started getting fussy when you want to sit up or stand up and you are laying down.  You can't pull yourself up yet, so you cry until Mommy or Daddy lift you up.  

Milestones:  First big trip... Meeting Mommy's friend and her little ones... Last weekend, you took your first big road trip with Mommy to her hometown of Hays.  I was excited because we got to see one of my best friends and meet her three children.  She has a little baby, too!  It was so much fun watching you interact with Baby N.  Baby N is two months older than you, so she can roll over and scoot around more, but you still had fun together.  The funniest thing was when Baby N kept trying to steal your pacifier right out of your mouth!  

First visit to Taco Shop...


First visit to Mommy's childhood church... While we were in Hays, we visited Mommy's childhood church - the First Presbyterian Church.  Everyone was thrilled to meet you, and the church even had a little gift for you!  As usual, you behaved pretty well until the very end of the service.  



Baby President & Baby Joy

Taco Shop...Yum!

Worst Moments:  Our trip to Kansas was four hours long, which is just a bit too long for you to go without eating.  Even though I fed you right before leaving (on the way there and back), I learned that planning stops is not quite possible with a baby.  Instead of stopping at the halfway point, we had to stop 20 miles before the halfway point and again about 20 miles from Hays.  On the way back, Mommy was prepared and didn't have any expectations about how many stops we would need or about how long the trip would take.  

Best Moments:   Our trip and showing you off to all of my friends and family back home!


Baby President & Baby Joy Collage


Love,


Mommy





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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Baby Prez: 15 Weeks

Dear Baby President,

Your Daddy and I have been amazed by you...as usual.  We wonder what you will be like when you are our age.  Will you be tall like your Daddy?


Weight:   I'm guessing you're 13 or so pounds now.  Mommy and Daddy are amazed at how fast you are growing! 

Health:  You are such a healthy little boy!  I'm excited to see what your pediatrician tells us at your four month checkup. 


Sleep:  I'm hoping that anytime you'll have your first night of sleeping all the way through the night, but it hasn't happened yet.  You still wake up hungry about once each night even with adding some rice cereal to your nighttime bottle.



Social:  This week you went to Happy Hour on Friday with Mommy's department.  You smiled at everyone and made lots of friends!

Diet:  You're mostly drinking bottles of breastmilk, but we are also feeding you about one meal of homemade baby food each day.  

Likes:   Sitting up.  Your Bumbo seat has come in handy as you've started to want to sit up more frequently.  


Moving and shaking.  Yep, that's right.  You are a mover and a shaker!  Any day now, you'll be rolling over and scooting around.



Dislikes:  Waiting for the next bite of baby food.  You love your baby food so much that the more you eat, the more you want.  By the time we get about halfway through your little bowl of food, you start to fuss between every bite, and by the end, you're basically crying between each bite if we don't get the next bite to you quickly enough!  But generally, you are a happy baby!

Milestones:  First birthday party.  On Friday, you went with Mommy and Daddy to celebrate their friend H's birthday!  You enjoyed meeting new people and watching Daddy and H's hubby, B's, deep conversations about ultimate issues of life and physics.

Worst Moments:  Honestly, none.  You really are such a happy and content baby that Mommy and Daddy can't complain!

Best Moments:  Cuddling with you!  




Love,

Mommy





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Monday, September 16, 2013

What Once Was Lost: Book Review


I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read What Once Was Lost before its release.  As a Kim Vogel Sawyer fan, I was excited to read another of her historical fiction books.  I'm a sucker for historical fiction in general, but Sawyer really goes above and beyond.  In What Once Was Lost, I was not disappointed.  Sawyer's attention to detail allows me as the reader to feel as if I understood what it would be like to live in times past.  

Not only is the historical accuracy there, but there is something unique about Sawyer historical fiction as compared to other historical fiction authors I have read.  Sawyer present a setting or event with which I was, as I would expect most readers would be, unfamiliar.  In My Heart Remembers it was the orphan train; in A Promise for Spring it was a sheep ranch; and in What Once Was Lost it is a poor farm.  

The characters in What Once Was Lost are captivating, especially Tommy, a blind child from the poor farm who must live with a rather stubborn loner after the poor farm is destroyed by fire.  Sawyer drew me in immediately through Tommy's character.  He is a lovable character who the reader can find an emotional connection with and who the reader will want to know more about and follow his story, hoping for a happy ending for Tommy.  The characters of Christina and Levi are also compelling; Sawyer develops the characters in such a way that causes the reader to want to keep reading.  

Not only has Sawyer created compelling characters, she has also developed a plot line that draws the reader in, wanting more.  What can be done after the poor farm is burned to the ground?  What caused the fire?  Where will the residents of the poor farm live?  Will the poor farm be rebuilt?  Where will the money to rebuild come from?  What will happen to Tommy, Christina, and Levi?  How will the Lord work in their lives?

In What Once Was Lost, Kim Vogel Sawyer delivers once again.  I would highly recommend this book as a great read for historical fiction fans and Christian romance fans.  

Available September 17th
at



Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Baby Prez: 14 Weeks

Dear Baby Prez,

Weight:  12 or 13 pounds.

Health:  Nothing to report --- you are healthy!






Sleep:  You're a pretty good sleeper, but you are still waking up about one time to eat every night and then waking up very early in the morning to eat again.

Social:  You went with Mommy and Daddy to happy hour again with Mommy's department.  You enjoyed babbling to everyone.




Diet:  Eating is one of your favorite activities!  Every three hours you drink a six ounce bottle of breastmilk, plus a meal of homemade baby food.

Likes:   Watching Oklahoma State football - you would probably like watching any movement on the TV, but Mommy is still going to say that you liked watching the OSU football game with her!




Dislikes:  Tummy time without your tummy time pillow!  You tolerate tummy time, but that's about it.  Otherwise you continue to be a happy baby!  Mommy and Daddy are blessed.


Best Moments:  My favorite time this week was watching the Oklahoma State football game with you!  I can't wait until we take you to your first OSU Homecoming!





Love,

Mommy





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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Life Intervened, but I'm Back!

Dear Blog World,

I've been missing from Harvey Ever After because the hubs and I have been in the middle of moving to a new house unexpectedly AND my laptop crashed.  I will slowly be catching up on things in the next few weeks.  Thanks for bearing with me and continuing to follow the site!

Elise

Baby Prez: 13 Weeks

Dear Baby Prez,


This was a big week for you, and you were the star of the show!  

Weight:    Around 12 pounds.


Health:  You are growing like a weed and seem to be a healthy little guy.





Sleep:  You're still waking up about once each night and then early early in the morning.  Mommy has a hard time deciding whether it's worth it to go back to sleep after your early early morning meal.

Social:  This week you were a social butterfly at your Meet Me Party, and you were happy to get lots of attention from friends and family.





Diet:  You are primarily drinking breastmilk, but you are eating about one meal of homemade baby food each day.  

This weekend your Aunt Kiley was in town along with the rest of the family, so she helped us pick out a new food for you to try.  Broccoli!  It was your first "green" vegetable, so you weren't quite sure about the first bite, but once you ate the second bite, you were sold on it.  

On Sunday, your Daddy threw some leftover roast beef in the blender with some brocolli babyfood and made beef & brocolli babyfood.  Again, you weren't sure about the first bite, but you decided that you like it.



Likes:   Attention.


New tummy time pillow.  Mimi and Grandad gave you a tummy time pillow for your baptism, and you had a great time showing off your head control to everyone.




Milestones:  This week we hit some quite important milestones!

First Happy Hour.  No, this is not a very important milestone, but it is a first nonetheless!  Every Friday, we go to Happy Hour with Mommy's department, so many of them had the opportunity to meet you.  You also meet another baby!  Baby Friend is one and a half, so he was quite interested in seeing another "baby".  

The big milestone this week was your Baptism.  On Sunday morning, we dressed you up in an adorable and perfect outfit made by your Mimi, and in front of our family, friends, and church family you were promised to God.  You slept through all of Pastor Jason's speech, all of the promises made by Mommy and Daddy, and through the blessing of another baby.  When it was your turn to be christened by Pastor Jason, you barely woke up when he sprinkled water from the baptismal fount on your head.  You did wake up for the sermon though, and you paid close attention to the message.  

We were blessed to have family travel to witness your baptism.  Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kiley, Great Aunt Connie, and Great Uncle Gary came from Oklahoma.  Your great-grandparents, Great Aunt Mary, Great Uncle Mike, and cousins Madelyn and Molly came from Kansas.  And Grandad and Mimi came from Omaha.  

Party time!  After your baptism, we had a Meet Me party for you.  All of our family stayed and some of Mommy and Daddy's friends stopped by.  You were so well behaved and charmed everyone!








Love,

Mommy





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