Tooth #2

Ugh, have I said before how much I hate teeth? And from the looks of it, I'm not the only one in the Meabon household who feels this way.

Yes, that would be drool....oceans and oceans of snot and drool.

Viva Fiesta!

Over the last two weeks, San Antonio has been celebrating Fiesta. With parades, parties and festivals, it's almost overwhelming to decide what to attend. Having an 8 month old also limits your options a bit. So to celebrate her first Fiesta, we took Harper to the King William Fair yesterday. She loved the people and the activity but, as you can see, was a little exhausted by it all. I can only imagine that our Fiesta experiences will get bigger and bigger with every year so we're happy we started small this year. We can only go up from here!
Viva Fiesta!

Arriving at King William

Lots of people and activity

The neighborhood was decorated for the festivities

I love some fair food but is this necessary???

Look! There were Rooneys everywhere!

Harper enjoying the fair. Oh, wait. Take a closer look.

But we kept going. Nothing wrong with an afternoon nap in the stroller!

And we got to play with Sutton, Amanda and Patrick who were in from Dallas.

Harper on the way home - tired but still smiling

Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last!

Okay, so maybe using the historic and timeless words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a little tacky when I'm referencing my boobs but what can I say? The pump is officially retired!...at least until another Meabon baby decides to come into this world. I have to say I am not missing that wheomp-wheomp-wheomp sound throughout my day and I suddenly have 30 minutes every 4 hours where I don't have to have milk squirting out of my chest. Wahoo!

My goal was originally 6 months but since that fell right at the end of cold and flu season, I pushed through two more months. Over the last couple of weeks, I've been cutting out a pump slowly and mixing formula with b-milk in Harper's bottles to get her use to the transition. Its been fairly painless and, as of now, I'm just doing one feeding every other morning. I should be able to officially retire the boobs in the next week.

Unfortunately, Harps doesn't seem to be as big of a fan of the formula. And I don't blame her! Have you tasted breast milk? Oh, come on, don't act like you haven't had a drip slide down your finger and out of curiosity you stuck it on your tongue. The stuff is like sugar water! And no, I'm not one of those "people" that has been flavoring my coffee with the liquid gold...or making butter out of it like that freak-show chef in New York. So the girl is working on choking down the powdered stuff.

And while I am so happy to not be a slave of the pump, I am feeling more torn about this transition than I thought I'd be. I've been so happy that I've been able to keep Harper on full b-milk for 8 months. A year ago, I wasn't even sure if I'd be producing due to the fact that I had a breast reduction. But that I could produce and have enough for 8 long months was such a blessing. Harps had that small episode with RSV and I truly believe it would have been much worse had she not still been on breast milk. Other than that, she's been cold and illness free and I contribute it to that mighty Mama's milk.

I hope that with future babies, I'm just as lucky that they can tolerate my milk and I can produce enough. I'm equally as hopeful that future babies will be able to straight breast feed and I won't have to pump almost everything they take. I might have convinced myself to make it to the one year mark if it hadn't been for that damn pump!

So I look forward to welcoming the new, ummm, deflated lumps that will greet me. Maybe they won't look as good in a bathing suit and maybe I will be able to hold a pencil (or five) underneath them due to their new-found gravity pull but I'm happy and proud to have been an 8 month member of the cow club! I'd like my medal now please.

We love the park!

Okay Field, you ready? Hold on tight while we ride to the park.

Alright Harper! This looks like its gonna be fun.

Look swings! Let's go try them out.
Um, what do you think?

Hmmm, not quite sure yet...

Oh wait, this is great!

I'm having so much fun too!

The park is the BEST!

But exhausting.

Eight Months

-one tooth
-three bottles and three solid meals a day
-ticklish under her arms, on her neck and bottoms of her feet
-working on finger foods
-rolls from her back to her stomach
-looks for rooney and kitty everywhere
-likes to go to bed awake and puts herself to sleep
-loves to have her cheeks and around her mouth "tingled"
-likes to ride in the grocery cart
-starting to whine and learning how to use it to her advantage
-holds her arms directly out when she wants to be picked up
-loves to snuggle
-very gentle
-just learning to wave and kiss
-lights up when she sees people she loves

i love eight months

Proof from Honey

Another Honey high-jacking. My mom thought there needed to be some back up from my last blog entry:

Just a little follow up on Brooke and her babies...here's a little proof that there was no exaggeration in that last entry...

This was Brooke's #2 Blue Baby the head and arms were loved off the #1 Blue Baby.

But though she had her favorite she didn't want any of her little ones to go unloved or feel neglected. So Brooke tried very hard not to show favoritism...

And yes maybe I was an enabler because these were her only Best Buddies on the Bed (notice who's front & center), they were just a few of many!

Oh how I love that sweet Harper is loving her babies as much as her mommy did. If she's like her mother, I know someday, before we know it, she will be a wonderful mommy too...my oh my how time flies!

Love,

Honey

Harper's Babies

When I was little, I probably had 153 stuffed animals and dolls. I LOVED them and was convinced that they were real and came to life when I went to sleep at night. Each night, I would pick the chosen few (and by few I mean 8 or 9) that would get to sleep in my bed with me that night. I even had a special night time ritual where I would have to say goodnight to them in groups based on their location - "Good night to all of my best buddies on the bed, favorite friends on the floor, delightful dollies on the desk and favorite, delightful buddies in the hammock." I don't know, I guess I ran out of "h" adjectives to describe the hammock dwelling creatures. And yes, I had a HAMMOCK full of stuffed animals in my room. Out. Of. Control.

But there was one that stood out above the rest - Blue Baby. Blue Baby had a place of honor in bed each night. She came with me on trips, to camp each summer and (I'm a little embarrassed to say) even came to Lubbock when I left for collage. I can say that Blue Baby has since been retired but I see a very familiar pattern emerging in my household.

Harper really likes her babies. She talks to them and plays with them. But two in particular seem to really get her excited. There's her Ugly Doll. My friend, Stephen, gave her the Ugly Doll and anytime she has a group of animals and dolls in her bed with her to play with, it's a go-to. It has a face on each side and looks alot like an alien. I don't get it - it doesn't even look like a person or animal since it has three eyes! And then there's the baby doll that was given to her by Susan Carvajal. I think this might be her "Blue Baby". Harper gets so excited when she sees her. The doll squeaks when you squeeze her and Harps starts kicking her legs frantically when she hears the squeak and starts looking for her. It's like she can't wait to get her hands on her. We're trying not to name these babies so that she can name them herself one day. We're working on kisses right now and Harper's kiss is that typical, open-mouth baby kiss. We can tell Harper to give the baby kisses and the baby goes straight to her mouth. Now, yes, I admit that sometimes she tries shoving the entire baby head in her mouth because she's looking for a chew toy but there are kisses in there too!

Let's just hope we can break her of her babies before she gets married. Its a little embarrassing when your husband has to finally look at you and say, "Really? Can't we get rid of that thing?"