Venturing into Normalcy

All dressed up for an outing

I feel like I’m starting to venture back into the real world after 2 ½ months of living in a bubble. I’m pretty embarrassed to admit this but I was at my parent’s house last week for dinner and the news was talking about this big event happening down in Chile. Um, so apparently there were these miners trapped in a mine for 69 days??? This was the first I’d heard of the miners….seriously. An event that will shape the year 2010 and I barely knew what was going on! Now keep in mind that they’d been trapped since August 5 and Harper was born on August 4. Can you hear me trying to justify my stupidity? I didn’t realize how little tv I’d been watching, how infrequently I’d been on the internet and how out of touch with reality I’ve been. I’ve always been pretty diligent about keeping up with the news in the world so I’ve now added a dose of CNN and NBC Nightly News to my daily routine.

Harper’s started to get out and about a little more. Our pediatrician said we can make outings, just try to go when our destination will be the least crowded. So I finally introduced Harper to my shopping Mecca…Target. I love Target. I get a rush when I walk in the doors. I could spend hours wandering the aisles, justifying my need for the cheap clothes that will become my staple wardrobe piece for the for the next month before it falls apart from overuse, perusing the holiday décor and deciding what my house just can’t go without. So Harper, meet Target. Target, meet Harper. You two need to get to know each other a little better since you’ll be spending a lot of time together. We picked out Harper’s Halloween costume and snuck in a few other “must have” items.

Harper in her purple on October 20 to support GLTB Spirit Day

Last week was full of dear old friends from the past. On Thursday, Harper had a reunion with her NICU cube mate, Reese, and her mom, Staci. Reese is doing great but unfortunately, I completely forgot to break out the camera for a photo opportunity! Then on Friday, her Grandpa was in town and was able to squeeze in a visit with Harper while he was here. On Saturday, Harper was excited to see Jennifer and Nicci, two of her NICU nurses who came by for a visit (once again, I forgot the camera!). Who would have thought that a 10 week old would have so many “old friends”!
Harper with Grandpa

And this week has been full of new friends. We made a visit to see Anabelle Goertz and welcome her home. She’s only a week old and makes Harper look huge! I’m now one of those parents saying, “Where has the time gone? My baby is so big!” Yesterday we had a play date with Field Johnson. Field and Harper totally hit it off and even held hands for a while. I might see other dates in the future for these two. And today, Harper got to meet her great-grandmother Evelyn. Harper took to Evelyn immediately, flashing her a smile the second she saw her. Thank you to “Bonnie the Great”, Harper’s great-aunt came along as well. Harper has already spent some time with Bonnie the Great but had fun seeing her again.

Brooke & Harper with Kathryn & Anabelle

Harper and Anabelle - new BFF's



Harper hearts Field



Harper with Evelyn

Bonnie the Great

I was in Georgetown for the day on Saturday for my uncle’s funeral so Jared had his first full day of watching Harper solo. I left the house at 7:30am and by 8:03am, I had the following text message:
"She already pooped on me"
When I got home at 4pm, Jared was still in his pajamas and was looking pretty exhausted. He did great for his first full day alone but hasn’t yet mastered the art of taking advantage of Harper’s nap time!

We’re really seeing some success with the compression wrap we’ve started using for Harper’s O. We weren’t anticipating seeing a difference so quickly but Jared and I both think it’s looking smaller. I’ve taken some photos to show but I don’t know that they illustrate the difference we’re seeing. There are also large chunks of scab come off each time we unwrap it and there’s nice fresh, pink skin underneath. All in all, we’re very happy with the progress in this short amount of time!





Wrapped O

"Enough with the pictures Mommy!"

Lastly, I mentioned I attended my uncle’s funeral on Saturday. Denny Pickett was a talented artist who illustrated the Texas landscape and rivers in his work. He truly captured the beauty that lies in the quiet corners of our great big state. I wanted to share some of his work to honor his life.