Popper

This is going to be a totally non-medical update on my sweet girl because sometimes I focus a little too much on her heart and I hate that! Having said that...we are going to the cardiologist today, so a medical update will follow shortly. I'll be praying for a miraculous disappearance of a hole all morning. Care to join me?

Popper is the name Landon has given to Harper and it's pretty much all she gets called anymore. I think it's precious and I'm pretty sure it's going to stick.

Here's what Popper has been up to...

At her Pediatrician appointment last week, Harper was 5 months old, weighed 11 lbs, 1 ounce and was 22.75 inches long. She has now more than doubled her birth weight and she's really starting to fatten up.

Harper and I took a girls' trip to Dallas last weekend to see my family. The boys went to stay with Dustin's parents while Dustin worked on our plumbing all weekend. (There are some very real drawbacks to living in a 100 year old house and old plumbing is definitely one of them.) While in Dallas, we went to the Celina High School football game Friday night and watched Katelyn perform with the Drill Team. (I forgot my memory card, so a cell phone picture will have to do.) Let me just say...I have been to a lot of high school football games in my time, but a Celina High School football game is certainly something to behold. I've never seen anything like the display of school spirit and community that I saw that night. You couldn't find a seat, a place on the fence, or even a roof of a nearby building that was vacant. It was so much fun!

Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Katelyn's volleyball tournament, which lasted until about 4. Then we FINALLY got to go shopping and eat out (my two favorite activities). We got to hang out with Kristin and Madison which is always a blast.

Harper got some good one-on-one time with Grammy

And she got to watch some football with G-Pa.

It was a great weekend....until the drive home. Harper started screaming every time the car started to move, so from Weatherford to Eastland, we had to pull over at about 85% of the exits. It took us almost 8 hours to drive from McKinney to Snyder and every ounce of my energy and patience was completely gone. It wouldn't be quite so stressful if I wasn't concerned about Harper's heart. With every scream, I just pictured the hole in her heart getting bigger and bigger (overdramatic much?). That's probably not how it works, but you certainly can't convince me of that. I was one tense mama! My sweet husband told me to just get a hotel room and he would come get us, but it didn't have to come that that. Harper finally went to sleep and I drove as fast as I could (without endangering us) home. I honestly thought I would never see my home again. I'm never irrational.

Dr. Klepper gave us the go ahead, so Monday night, we started Harper on rice cereal. I thought she would hate it, but she actually likes it very much and has done great! She even slept for 6 straight hours that night. (Hallelujah!) 5 months of up every three hours really starts to effect one's sanity.

If you haven't seen the video of Harper laughing at Eli on facebook, you should check it out. She loves her brothers more than anything. I can make a complete fool of myself trying to get that little darling to laugh and I barely get a grin most days. Eli or Landon can simply walk in the room and she just lights up. What a sweetheart.

Harper is now rolling over from her stomach to her back and has rolled from her back to her stomach once, but clearly that isn't for her because she hasn't done it again. Side note: Harper is a little behind developmentally. I mean...how could she not be? And guess what. She'll probably be even more behind before this is all said and done. I'm so okay with this. I think that surely by the time Harper goes to school, she'll be rolling over...or sitting up....or crawling....etc. And if she's not...that's okay too! Popper gets to do whatever it is that Popper wants to do. (If my ECI friends are reading this, I promise we still challenge her, stretch her, and encourage appropriate movement and development)

Harper has also recently discovered her toes and hangs on for dear life now.

And surely it goes without saying that she's still a complete joy and blessing to everyone that knows her. She's just wonderful like that.

And just because I love 'em more than steak and dr. pepper, here's a picture of all my boys before bedtime.  Crawling all over Dustin is their favorite pasttime. (we do wear clothes occasionally.)