End of the Holiday Season!

We had our last celebration on Saturday with my parents. Harper got spoiled by her aunties and grandparents! 

She got a double stroller for her babies, she was a bit more excited to sit on the box :) she also got a pretty cool drive toy, she needs a little practice tho! 

We took our tree down lastnight and I'm pretty sure Harper was doing a happy dance inside to finally have it gone! Better luck next year :)

Christmas Fun!!

What a busy, wonderful 2 days we had celebrating Christmas!! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family. It was so fun to watch Harper open her Christmas gifts and boy did she get some good ones! Once she realized she got a baby from Santa, she wasn't much interested in the rest of her gifts Christmas Morning :)

I failed this year at remembering my camera and taking pictures. I did manage to get a picture of Grandma Koehler and most of the grandkids! 

We have one last Christmas to celebrate with Grandma and PaPa Koehler on Saturday! 

Weekend Fun!

Saturday night we got to celebrate Christmas with the big Gansebom gang! Harper had quite a bit of fun playing with all the second cousins! Her and Rylan are  about 6 1/2 months apart so it will be fun to watch them play together for years to come! 

Tonight Kels and Kearney stopped on their way back to Lincoln so we decided to do supper at Michael's of course! Harper loves black olives. She will only eat them one way tho :)

After supper we drove through the Christmas lights at Divots. Harper had the best expressions and she loved dancing to the Christmas music, a girl truly after my heart :)

Little Mama

Harper has been into her babies for quite a few months now. She gives them a bottle, burps them, rocks them-the whole works! Not sure how she caught on to this because she is usually the littlest one if we are hanging around any kids, except for daycare I guess. Just proves to show that she catches on to anything! 

This morning she decided her baby needed a diaper! She was quite the perfectionist on placement of this diaper :) 

Pre-Christmas Fun!

What a busy few days we have had.

We had Tyler's work Christmas party on Saturday night so Harper got to hang with grandma and grandpa Gansebom for the evening! Sounds like grandpa was teaching Harper some naughty things...like sitting in her baby's stroller! 

Sunday we had our Christmas for the Bartz's as Gaga and grandpa leave for California this week. Harper loved opening presents! Can't wait for the next week ahead! 

We of course had to stop and see the puppies, who are growing so fast! One of them is a little rowdy, which Harper wasn't so sure about :)

Today we spent the day in Osmond and Harper got to play with Addie and Lyv. The tote was a hit!

The girls are starting to play more together, they are so fun to watch! 

Friday the 13th...

Well so far 'the old wives tale' holds true for poor Harper. She came down with a case of the flu. Talk about no fun! Today was the only day I was okay with having hard wood floors! Unfortunately the new rug we layed yesterday got broken in pretty quick :( But luckily it was pretty short lived, and by tonight she acted mainly like herself so we decided to drive around and look at Christmas lights!! 

We are sure praying that Ty and I don't catch what she had! Hopefully we will have better luck the next Friday the 13th! 

Outtakes!

Here are some of the outtakes from our attempt at a Christmas card photo! Wasn't much holiday cheer that night :)

Isn't she so cute tho?!?! 

This is as good as it got!

Step By Step

I promise...Harper is getting closer to walking!  She is taking more and more steps between the two of us each day and getting much braver at standing up on her own and walking! I honestly think we will have a walker by next year, maybe even Christmas! 

With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I'd try to get a picture (with my new camera!!) of Harper by the tree for our cards, talk about a challenge. She was not about to get close enough to the tree for me to take a picture. I couldn't even entice her by sitting her in her rocking chair or playing with an ornament.  Better luck next year I guess :). We've decided we should probably forgo visiting Santa this year, for all our sakes! 

15 Month Checkup

Where have the past 15 months gone?!?! Who knew time could pass so fast, makes me a little sad thinking about it :( our baby is growing too fast. 

Her stats for this check up were a weight if 22 lbs (37%) and height of 31.3 in (76%). Everything looked great otherwise! We have a pretty healthy child! She is getting a little more daring every day with taking steps, I would say we might have a walker by Christmas. 

She also had a follow up appointment today for her tubes, which look perfect! She loved the hearing check-there were dancing dogs to look at! Her hearing scored normal as well. 

As Thanksgiving is tomorrow it reminds me just how thankful we are for having Harper in our lives and all the joy she has brought us. It has been such a blessing to watch her grow and learn new things every day. We are constantly amazed by her! I can't think of a better life! 

Can't catch a break...

Tyler and I had a great vacation and I know Harper had fun with my parents and Kendyl. They said she was great!

Friday night she started running a fever and I took her to the dr Saturday fearing it was her ears again. Turns out her ears looked perfect (thank goodness!!) but the poor thing had a sinus infection, so yet another round of antibiotics. Today she has finally been fever free since this morning. Our poor girl just can't catch a break. Hoping maybe this will be the last time we are dealing with sickness for a bit. 

Tonight we put the Christmas tree up. It's a little earlier then I'd normally like but I have to work 6/7 days starting Thanksgiving night so thought we better do it while I still had energy :) I think I was a bit more anxious to get it up because we didn't have a tree last year with our big move being right around Christmas. 

I don't think we will have to worry about Harper messing with the ornaments anytime soon. When we started she couldn't even look at the parts of the tree without crying :)  She did make it through getting it up but don't get too close to it with her, she will freak! 

Mommy & Daddy Vaca!!

Tyler and I leave for Vegas in the morning with Kelsey and Kearney until Thursday. I left Harper with my parents tonight. We hate leaving her, especially for long trips but are excited to be able to wake up when we decide and not Harper :) 

It could be coincidence but I'd say the tubes have got Harper wanting to walk more! She will now go a few steps between people and is trying to stand up by herself much more! Papa Paul has said for quite a long time that she is going to start walking while we are gone, he may be just right! 

We also got to meet the newest Gansebom puppies today! They are just a few days old and so cute! Harper was actually pretty gentle with them! I'm sure she will love them even more in a few weeks when they are a little more interactive! 

Tubes....check!

Harper got her tubes placed yesterday morning. She was a champ :)

She was pretty entertaining prior to the surgery after she was given a little sedative to help her relax. 

The procedure itself went great.  It was a little tough coming out of the anesthesia but nothing a little Baby Einstein didn't take care of :)  The doctor said that she had an active infection in her left ear. She said she didn't quite know how Harper was so happy with the infection. Earlier this week Ty and I were debating if she really needed to have tubes placed, guess that is the validation I needed. She must have a pretty high pain tolerance!

Harper is back to her typical self last tonight. Our first round of drops didn't go do well so hoping each day gets better. Just thankful we don't have to do oral antibiotics anymore! 

No more bottle!

Yep- that is Harper drinking milk out of a sippy cup!!! If you would have asked me last week if it was happening soon I definitely would have said NO WAY! We attempted 2 days last week and about 2 o'clock both days I gave up.  This week, she was a totally different child, she didn't mind it at all to be drinking milk out of a cup. I am so thankful she made the transition pretty easy on us! 

Next Thursday she is scheduled to have tubes placed in her ears. I'm so glad we won't have to wonder whether or not she has an ear infection and when she does we will just be able to do drops rather then oral antibiotics. Hopefully this will also help get her on the road to walking! 

Happy Halloween!!

This is the first year we have officially "trick-or-treated". Our little kitty was not a fan of her costume. She HATED the tail I made and I found some adorable ears to go with but she through a fit when I tried them on in the store so we decided to forget them!

Needless to say, we still had a great time showing off our little kitty! And we even got to see Aunt Kels and Uncle Kearney. 

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Today is Tyler's 26th birthday! I work tonight so we did our celebrating yesterday with dinner at Valentino's after church. Which by the way is getting a bit challenging with Harper. She is starting to be miss independent and not loving that she has to be quiet in church. 

At Valentino's she was too busy flirting with the little boy behind us that she didn't eat much :) we are gonna have it rough in 16 years I'm afraid! Or 24 as Ty would say! 

We then enjoyed the beautiful by going golfing!! Harper loved being outside! 

Harper loved driving the golf cart!

Happy Birthday to the best father to Harper! She is soo lucky to have a daddy like him! 

Pumpkin Carving!

We had a great time carving GIANT pumpkins at Jared and Amanda's on Friday. It was fun to hang out with everyone again and do something that involved the kiddos!

Thanks to Amanda's grandpa for providing the pumpkins!

Harper was not a fan of the pumpkins at first but dad thought it'd be fun to take a picture with her in the pumpkin. Once she got over that, she loved it!  Would've kept her occupied for hours!!

Our finished projects!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Tubes for Harper.

We saw an ENT on Monday and it was determined that Harper will have to tubes put in her ears. She does not have any hearing damage as of now, but there was fluid in her ears. 

 We are hoping that maybe this will help with her walking as well. She does decent when we hold on to her hands but don't dare let go! She won't even think about standing by herself! 

The poor girl has also developed a running nose and a yucky cough, but seemed better today! Thank goodness for Boogie Wipes. Harper has started trying to blow her nose when you put the wipe up to her nose. She catches on pretty darn quick :) 

I'm stuck working the next few nights so Harper and Daddy get some good bonding time! 

Poor Harper :(

Our little lady came down with a fever on Thursday evening and on Friday got a shot of antibiotics and was put on oral antibiotics. All weekend we fought fevers and today decided to take her back to the doctor after being a little more crabby (which is totally not like her) and developing a rash. 

Turns out Harper is allergic to Zithromax-which I'm sure she is excited to know she won't have to have it again because she made the worst faces when we would give it to her! So now a new 10 day antibiotic regimen and potential ENT appointment to see about tubes. Crazy to think that today has been the first day she has tugged at her ear at all. She must have a high pain tolerance! 

The poor thing has a rash mainly on her stomach but has a few spots on her head and has been itching like crazy. So...tonight she got her first oatmeal bath.  I don't really know that I could tell a difference tho :(

A huge thanks to my mom for hanging with Harper today. She also made me meatloaf! That is the one thing I just can't make as good as her :) Ty is in Omaha for a class so it'll be just Harper and I until Thursday! 

Busy times!

I've been working days the past two weeks and I could totally get used to not adjusting between work and functioning normally. I'm anxiously awaiting the schedule where I am only scheduled day shifts... I think Tyler is too :). 

We were able to finish Harper's bedroom last week and she is all settled in. It looks great and it feels like the upstairs is finally complete-unless we decide to tackle to bathroom. 

Last weekend we headed to Lincoln for a weekend of Husker football and volleyball. Harper got to hang with Kelsey for one game and Alex for the other! Alex did a great job for his first time babysitting and changing a diaper! Harper loved being able to drive between their apartments-it is so nice having them at the same complex!

Tonight was the first night in quite a while that we had a bath without tears! She had loved her bath up until the past few months or so. We are praying that it isn't just a fluke! 

And look at all that hair she is getting! 

We have been trying to wean off the bottle but someone thinks she can only have water in a sippy cup, but I won't mention names :) that particular little lady has also thought that 5:30 is a good time to start the day. We have been trying to make bedtime a bit later in preparation for the end of daylight savings but her early wake up time is making it a bit challenging. Wish us luck on both!!

Parade Day!

Today Harper and I went to the parade here in town to watch Aunt Kendyl and the marching band. She loved watching the flag twirlers! They did a great job and got 1st place. Harper was so good during the parade even though it was a bit chilly. Surprisingly enough she left her hat on the entire time and even her gloves for part of it. 

We even got to see the other Gansebom girls at the parade! The girls are slowly gaining ground on all those boys. 

Harper has become quite a fan of her slide outside. So thankful that the previous owners of our house left the swingset! 

Pictures!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Harper's 1st year pictures!

Busy household!

I have been slacking a bit in the blogging department :(. It has been a busy couple weeks between work and being in Lincoln on the weekends for Husker games. 

Last Monday I stopped nursing Harper and have to say I am one proud mama for making it as long as I did. She has done well transitioning to vitamin D milk, now if we can just get rid of her bottle! She has also had 3 new teeth pop through! We better start saving for braces, she has got some crooked bottom teeth :/. 

On Friday, we finally got started on her "big girl" room.  It was my goal before winter to finish the final bedroom upstairs. The previous owners of our house had redone all the trim and closet doors except for that one bedroom. After finally finding an adorable bedspread we picked a paint color and with Kelsey's help we have a new room in the making. Ty worked tonight on the closet and hopefully by the end of the week we will be finished!

Harper was lots of help tonight! 

Harper!!

We thought the past few days Harper was trying to say her name. Tonight, we finally caught it on video. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen-hands down!!  

Wish everyone could hear her say it, it definitely makes our hearts smile :). We have the cutest little girl!!!

First Long Road Trip

We headed to Lincoln on Saturday for the Husker game. We decided to go downtown and see the new arena, where we got to see Laura and Kyle! Harper loved dancing to the fight song!

Harper also got her first tailgating experience at Embassy Suites. 

Sunday we headed to Kansas City for Tyler's cousin Megan's wedding.

Harper was the littlest one by a few years so she was loved by everyone! Even the bartenders!! Monday we made the trip back home. We had prepared ourselves for the worst as far as the drive and Harper were concerned. She isn't a huge fan of her carseat so we figured we would have a challenge but she was great!!! She even got to check out the boats at Cabela's before we came home. 

She thought she was pretty cool! 

12 Month Stats!

Harper had another check up yesterday and she is officially 19.9 lbs (30%) and 30 inches tall (79%). We have a tall and skinny girl as the doctor said! 

She was not impressed with the visit at all but other then 4 shots and a finger poke all went well! Her iron level was normal so we can now start transitioning to vitamin D milk! I'm afraid this might be a bit of a challenge :) 

We had Harper's pictures taken the other night along with a few family pictures. She would not leave a headband on to save her soul and was not happy with us when we went outside, which is so not like her but it was so hot and humid that evening. I think we still got some cute ones tho! I'll be sure to share them when we get them! 

Someone decided to get into the toilet paper this morning while I was painting my nails....she thought it was pretty funny!

Happy 1st Birthday Harper!

Wow! How fast a year can fly by when you are having fun!

It seems like just yesterday we were bringing our newborn home to our tiny 2 bedroom house in Broken Bow.

(I had to post a picture so Harper would know what her first house looked like. It will probably be my favorite house we live in!)

I've done a lot of reflecting about our life the past year and I wouldn't change a single thing, unless of course I can make time slow down a little!  Harper is growing into her own little personality each and every day!

I love everything about that little girl. I love waking up to talking over the baby monitor and her always having a smile when you get her out of her crib. I love that she now thinks she has to hide food beside her in the high chair if she doesn't like it. I love the mess on our living room floor every night when she is done playing. I love the excitement on her face as I'm getting the DVD player ready so she can watch Baby Einstein. I love that she rolls her ankle when she is getting tired. I love the way she dances to music and blows kisses when you are least expecting it. I love that everyone comments about how big her blue eyes are. I love seeing the joy she brings to everyone. I love that she is the center of attention. I especially love the silly faces she makes!

 I love being her mommy and I know Ty loves being her daddy. We have the perfect life with the perfect little girl! Happy Birthday Harper!!

Happy Anniversary to us! When we had Harper everyone said that you will never have your own day and you will always be celebrating a birthday, but we wouldn't have it any other way!