3 Months Already?...

I honestly cannot believe how fast time is going. Seriously? Three months? In the past month her reflux has gotten better with the new medicine. And sleeping is still kind of crazy... up every two to three hours. When I am super tired and start to get irritated that she won't sleep for longer periods, I remind myself that so many people we know are trying to have a child and would give anything to get up 4-5 times a night with their child. All it takes is a little perspective and attitude change every now and then. Also, it was just over a year ago (July 4th) that we had a miscarriage and cried and begged God for another child. We prayed and He gave us what we asked of Him! 1 Samuel 1:27.

This past month Harper had her 1st beach trip. It is a lot harder packing for a week-long trip with an infant than I ever imagined. She had three times as much stuff to take as Bruce & I combined. There was barely enough room for me in the back seat with Harper when Bruce was finished packing. We got on the road and Harper was asleep as soon as we got on the interstate. We made a stop at Durbin Farms and met Bruce's parents for lunch and ice cream. Harper slept through the entire thing. Then, we got back on the road and she slept for another two hours before waking in the middle of nowhere wanting to eat and needing to be changed. Luckily we were only 15 minutes away from a town where we could stop to change her and warm up a bottle. Fed her and got back on the road. She fell asleep again and slept until we pulled into the condo parking lot. We stayed at a different condo this year than usual. With a baby and more family planning to stay, we knew we would need more space but this condo was HUGE! We unpacked and by the time the whole family was there and unpacked it was late so we just hung out in the condo and tried to get some rest. Harper was worn out, cranky and a little off schedule in a new environment. It was a long night. She was up 4 times that night. The next day we took Harper's bathtub down to the beach so she could sit in some cool water and not overheat. We also sat her under an umbrella. She LOVED it! As I mentioned in her 2 month post, she loves her sound machine and sitting next to the ocean was the biggest sound machine ever. We only stayed on the beach about an hour and a half and took her back up to the condo. We gave her a bath and headed out with the family to the Outlet Mall in Destin. She just rode around in her stroller and napped. She had a fan hooked up to it and stayed cool and rested. Shirin (Bruce's sister-in-law's sister) pushed her around everywhere. Once she started getting fussy we took a break and it was getting late so we all went to Chick-fil-a and headed back to the condo. The next day we went and saw Harper's great-aunt Patti who was staying only twenty minutes away from us. She was so excited to see her. The next day we decided to take Harper to the pool to see how she liked it. The water was kind of cold but she seemed to like it for about 20 minutes and then had had enough. We took her down to the beach again and she passed out in Dea's lap for about an hour before heading back up to the condo to take a bath and rest. At this point, Harper's eczema had really become inflamed. I texted a doctor friend of ours who suggested Dove bar soap and Eucerin lotion. We tried both but it didn't seem to help much because it was so humid at the beach. The rest of the week me and Harper stayed in the condo, or went out to eat with the family but didn't venture to the beach anymore. We had a great time visiting with Bruce's brother and sister-in-law who live in Indiana and hadn't seen since the week after Harper was born. They loved spending time with her, even though she was pretty fussy. Harper and I both slept the majority of the trip back home and poor Bruce had to handle it all by himself.

The Monday after we got back from the beach was my first day of work. It was rough but luckily Bruce's mom spent the night with us the night before to help with the transition and watch Harper for us Monday and Tuesday with Bruce. Bruce took Harper to her 3 month checkup all by himself. Unfortunately Harper was only 10.13, up 13 ounces from her 2-month checkup. Dr. Holly mentioned last time if she wasn't gaining like she should and her reflux was still bad we may have to discuss supplementing. Well, she decided we needed to supplement some with Harper's slow gain, me back at work and unable to keep up with her demand by pumping. We were told to put her on the Similac Alemintum formula which is hypoallergenic and sensitive for her stomach, reflux issues and eczema problems. The first time we gave it to her she did not like it. I had to feed it to her through a syringe. Bruce says it smelt like dog food and it was no wonder that she didn't like it. Luckily, she was more receptive to it the next time we gave it to her.We'll go back to the doctor in a month and see how her weight is and how much longer we'll have to be on this formula. She'll also get her 4-month vaccinations.

Below are a few of my favorites from the past month:

Diva in training

Snuggling before Mom had to go back to work

She was so good on the way to the beach

Soaking up some sun (really under the umbrella and cooling in my tub)

She loved the beach

Finkleas 2014

She loved her Uncle Zach

Talking to her fan

Shopping with Shirin is exhausting :)

Cute beach baby (thanks for the bathing suit, Olivia)

Relaxing on the beach with Dea

The ocean is the biggest sound machine ever!

First swim in the pool with Dad

Dad fixing my hair

Ready to go out to eat

LOVE coming home from work to this sweet smile!

Showing off my belly

First day of school with Mrs. Jessica