BLOG SWITCH

If you have been following this blog and/or have it linked to your own site please make sure you no longer use the Blogger address (babyharlacher.blogspot.com). I have moved the blog over to a wordpress blog so you can find at www.babyharlacher.com. I hope you enjoy the new look! Wordpress blog has way more flexibility so I thought it was a better route to go!

Enjoy...

Whitney

We survived...Barely!

We made it through Lily's first official overnighter and my first night away from her. Dan has traveled for work and I have taken Lily on a trip so he has had a few free nights....but this was my first. I am usually fine during the day as its nice to have a break and to be able to get a bunch of stuff done. But I was worried about the night. Now dont get me wrong...I was SO looking forward to a full nights sleep with no potential interruption (she isnt always a pill at night..but most of them still). We left Lily with her adopted Grandparents Dave & Nancy where I knew she would be in good care no matter what. I apologized that they may be up giving her a binky all night but what do you know...the little booger slept SOUNDLY all night. I am thankful and annoyed at the same time! ha ha ha. But dont worry she paid us back on Sunday and Monday night...Dan and I were up 7-8 times those nights. Yeah. Big Time Paybacks. That is more than double the amount I usually have to get up (some days zero times but lately seems like 2-3 times).

Saturday at the Coast for our Anniversary was a perfect relaxing day. We had massages...dinner and SLEEP! It was a much needed trip. But Sunday though I did find myself missing Lily quite a bit. I would watch everyone I saw with their babies longingly. As much as we could have used a full weekend (two nights) at the coast I dont think I would have made it. We had full updates and a few photos sent to us (what did we do before iphones again?) So we still felt in the loop. And I think Lily enjoyed her overnight stay of being spoiled. I am sure as she gets older those overnight spoil moments are going to be awesome for her. I am not sure who wore who out? I think Dave and Nancy got her so tuckered out that she couldnt do anything BUT sleep all night! hmmm....Might have to work on that myself.

Thanks so much to the Hutt's for watching our little Peanut! We so appreciate it and are very thankful we could celebrate our 7 year anniversary with a nice relaxing weekend. We might need to do it again next month? ha ha ha ha....

Here is a couple pics from our trip to Cannon Beach:

Haystack Rock




My "Bliss" Moment






So Sweet!




~Whitney

Lily Giggles...

ADORABLE.



And if you are goofy like my hubby you can download this as a RING Tone for your iphone! LOL

Use this Link:

Lily Giggles Ring Tone



~Whitney

"5" Contest WINNERS!

Thanks for hanging in there with me. The lack of sleep had made me a bit of a zombie but hopefully things are looking up. We made it all night last night with no getting up (thank you Lily!) Fingers crossed we can do it again.

The "5" contest was a lot of fun (hope you had fun playing!)! I really enjoyed seeing what you guys sent. I had 3 judges help select the winners and I say winners because we have TWO winners again! Makes it even more fun right? Here are the two winning entries:

1. Dawn S.




2. Rebecca H.



And just for fun here are a few more photos that I thought were cute....










Thanks to everyone who participated! I will do more soon....Need to work on some fun prizes. The two winners please email me with your prize choice :)

~Whitney

No Sleep.

Hang in there with me. I have had a couple rough nights on NO sleep...(thank you Lily) so my brain is a little fried. I am pretty sure she is paying us back for leaving her this weekend. Go figure. Stay tuned for recap of first overnighter without Lily and also the contest winners!

~Whitney

Last Day...

Don't forget...Email me those photos for the "5" contest! You have until midnight tonight! I am hoping to get a few more entries!

You can do it!


Email: info@blissstudio.net

~Whitney

Baked Pasta A LA Whitney

I made dinner and actually remembered to take a pic! I didnt really have a recipe which surprising I even attempted this. I need to have step by step instructions with measurements on everything. But this time I totally winged it and it was actually not too bad. This was fairly easy but did take two steps.....First to cook the ingredients on the stove and then to combine and bake it. I just prepped it while Lily was sleeping and then pooped it in the oven when it was time. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

1 package of Turkey Meat
1 Jar of Pasta Sauce
1 box of Pasta
Frozen Corn
Frozen Broccoli
Fresh Bell Pepper
String Cheese shredded
Red Pepper Flakes

I had this all on hand so it is a bit random :)

I made the past al dente and put in baking dish. Then I combined the turkey meat, veggies and sauce. Poor mixture over noodles in baking dish and sprinkle with shredded cheese and red pepper flakes.
Bake for 30 min at 325.

Served with baked bread and white wine.

Here is a pic...




Everyone ate it up so I assume it was tasty :)

More soon!

~Whitney

5 Months Old...

Today Miss Lily turned 5 Months Old. She is currently 16 lbs 14.5 oz. Can you say CHUNK! This girl is HUGE :)

Its been a stressful couple of days....A trip to the doctor and a sore bum makes for an unhappy baby and a teary eyed mom. A week or so ago Lily developed a diaper rash from the Huggies we bought from Costco. We stopped using them as soon as she got it but there were a couple of spots that looked like blisters. I have never seen a diaper rash quite like that but we kept putting stuff on it and hoping it would go away. The rash is pretty much gone but the spots that had blisters still had a red bump that looked like a bug bite or a zit. Well....The icky part is one of those spots got infected and now Lily has an Abscess on her poor little bum. And this thing is HUGE...her whole cheek :( All I can say is OWIE and it makes me want to cry just seeing it. She literally got the bump overnight...we took her to Dr same day and they said we needed to wait for it to pop...Like a big zit. OMG. I was ready to puke. EWWWW. So hot bath soaks and praying it would pop when Daddy was home right? Nope it waits for me to be all alone and after her bath today it decides to give me some love. Yeah. Love. So gross and poor Lily (or poor me if you really want the truth? LOL). I got what I could out but she is still hurting and its not fully drained. We tried again this evening and had a screaming Lily and a crying mommy for about 30 minutes. Wow. And its still NOT drained all the way. The good/bad news is Dan and I will be celebrating our anniversary without Lily and she will be staying with a Nurse. I feel bad leaving her but the good is that I know she will probably be in better care than I can give her. And now I will be hoping its all better when I return. I know Nancy is thrilled to watch Lily and be able to make her bum better! ha ha.

Thats the icky for the day. Hope I didnt gross you guys out too much. The things we have to deal with huh? I will let you know how Lily's first overnighter goes without us soon. Or better yet how our first night away from our baby goes :)

Here is a quick shot of my Big 5 Month Old from today...



Hope you guys are working on your entries? You have until Sunday night! Im excited to see some more "5" photos!

~Whitney

Contest Deadline Extended...

I realized that I made the deadline the 23rd but I will be out of town celebrating my 7 year anniversary with my wonderful hubby! So I will extend the deadline through the weekend. You have until Sunday Sept 25th at midnight! The entries have started coming in and are AWESOME! I hope you will take a minute to play! I really enjoy seeing what you guys come up with!

Here is the link to the post with the contest details...


CLICK HERE


~Whitney

Wow...I guess I am a Slacker.

I am such a Dork...... Dan says to me yesterday...You a slacker? Huh? I was confused....Well he says you posted TWICE on Lily blog that you are a slacker. Umm...Huh? I did? What the heck? So for one...I did not know Dan even kept up on Lily blog unless I make him read something! LOL. So thanks honey for checking up on us. And two...I am a DORK. I must have been feeling like a big slacker the day I was writing posts. So just a little truth...I dont actually write posts everyday. Sometimes I do...but there are days where I write several posts in the same day and just schedule them out to post one at a time. As many of you know there is only so much time in a day when you have little ones so we do what we can. I had written several posts in a day this last week and I guess that day I must have felt like a big slacker? Or else super tired which could also be the case. If I am too tired I have to re-read what I wrote a few times to make sure it does not sound like too much gibberish. I TRY to keep things interesting for you guys who are Lily Stalkers :) Hopefully I succeed most days.

This week...I vow to NOT be a slacker! LOL Instead I will get plenty of sleep. Lots of work Done. And my Lily girl will be an ANGEL. Easy enough right? Got to start this week out positive.

And just so we can see my little angel....Here she is :)



~Whitney

My Entry???

Everytime I post a contest (well both times I guess I should say) I find all kinds of photo ops that would be perfect for an entry. I know...I cant enter my own contest...that would be just silly. But 5's? I think I made it too easy. I had 5's galore on friday....I was in an elevator going to floor 5! In a hospital room that was room number 5013. Then of course my license plate is BLI55. And I live on 55th. Okay...There was even more...5's were ATTACKING ME! The best 5 of the day was Little Teagan! I drove to Eugene on friday to photograph a client's baby who was born the day before. Teagan decided to show me exactly what 5 should look like....




What a smart little guy huh? I stole this pic from my Bliss Blog and thought it would be a perfect entry IF I was allowed :) Now no stealing my idea...gotta come up with your own! And thanks to the Richards for letting me snag this shot to post on Lily's blog! He is too cute not to share!

~Whitney

Random iphone pics...

You would think with her Mom AND Dad being photographers we would have more "pro" pics of Lily. Can you say SLACKERS! Oh my goodness. I think we take more iphone pics than anything. At least we are getting those I suppose? And dont worry I am getting the key points with the "good" camera for her baby album. And hey...all these fun random pics are still cute!

Here is a couple recent ones...





Did you laugh? Crazy Hair child...and Polka Dot Bliss :) She is a funny girl....

~Whitney

New Recipe...

I LOVE it when someone finds a new recipe for me to try! I've been a little bit of a "slacker" on cooking dinner but its time to get back to it. Especially with the weather changing so quickly into fall. Makes me want to Bake and COOK :) I will be trying this recipe given to me from Nancy very soon! I will do my best to take an actual photo this time! LOL....

Here is the recipe (and thanks Nancy! Its going to be YUMMY!)



~Whitney

Photo Contest-" 5 MONTHS"

Lily is turning 5 months the 23rd of this month! So that is your deadline and your clue! You have until midnight on September 23rd to email me photos representing 5! Can have the number 5 or 5 things OR anything that is 5! I am going to be a little looser on the rules for this one so get those creative juices flowing! You can still enter as many times as you want and just make sure YOU take the actual photo! Must be taken from today on (cant use something old) and I of course need permission to post it on the blog.

Anyone may enter....I will NOT be judging again. Its not fair if I judge as I know most of the people entering.

Please email me your entries to:
info@blissstudio.net
Include your name/city/state

I am going to give the winner a choice on their prize which seems to be more fun! Here are your 5 options IF you are the winner (you get to pick one).



1. Photo Session with Bliss Studio (value $95.00)
2. $25 Gift Certificate to Paint Pots
3. $25 Gift Card to Itunes
4. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Book
5. Sophie the Giraffe from Pottery Barn Kids

Ready for another Contest?

The last little contest was a lot of fun for me...and I hope you guys had fun coming up with photos! Im thinking a round 2 is in order! This month Lily turns 5 months on the 23rd! So start thinking 5's. Ill post details and prizes tomorrow...Just thought I would give you guys a headstart! And make sure you were up for another?

More soon...

~Whitney

The things I have learned...(so far)

This whole experience through Mommy-Ville has been quite the journey. I won't say I was living in some fantasy where I had no clue what to expect...I did know the reality of it which is why Dan and I waited so long. Here is just ten thoughts of what I have learned...both funny and serious.

1. Life as a Mommy=Everything is half done.
I swear...thats exactly how it feels. I try working on one room of the house...something happens and I am on to the next. Never actually finishing the first room. Its a daily thing...and some days makes me crazy. But its the life.

2. Getting Dressed is an accomplishment.
Silly? Yes..but its true. I tend to live in my PJ's which as luxurious as it may sound its only fun at the beginning. At some point you feel like a slug and just want to get dressed and showered so you can feel human again. Im not gonna lie...It is usually AFTER Dan comes home that I get to do this :)

3. Ten Minutes to yourself=Heaven.
Yup...Heaven. You know you need a minute when your used to be 5-10 minute shower is more like 20 minutes now. You are milking every last second of that time to yourself.

4. Bed Time? 9pm.
That one just plain sucks. We used to be more of a midnight family. But I am seriously so exhausted by the end of the day...its 9pm and my eyes will not stay open. How can something so small make you so tired? Who knows...but she finds a way to wear me out.

5. Worrying. Worrying. Worrying.
Guess that comes with the territory of being a mom. Always worried about little Lily...And so I hear this never ends :)

6. Me time=Miss my Girl.
This one is a little odd. I can be craving some time to myself but when I am actually taking that time it feels weird to not have Lily? Go figure.

7. A smile or a giggle (or both) can make your ENTIRE DAY.


8. Gross baby fluids: ie. Poop, pee, spit, drool, food mess....Are a way of life.


9. Can't Imagine Life without her.
Dan said this morning how can it only have been 4.5 months? Seems like a lifetime. Well that might have been because we were up all night with the booger :) Or it could be because he can not imagine our lives without her. She completes our family!


10. LOVE. How can you love something so much you barely met? But you can...You would do anything for your little booger and you love them so much! Even when they drive you nuts...You still love them to death. And that brings us back to #7. Biggest Pill EVER and then a smile....So much for being frustrated...Instead your heart melts.

And a couple of new photos for fun...






~Whitney

Miss Lily the Bowler...

Of Course Lily is going to be a bowler. She is going to grow up in the bowling Alley like I did as a kid. My parents were always in leagues and we got to run around in the alley until we were actually old enough to be on our own leagues. And now Dan and I bowl in a league together... So I thought we should probably get Lily started early right?

Here is my little Cutie...



Dan brought Lily to a senior session that I had yesterday and we had to hijack the session for just a quick shot of Lily! Luckily Tori LOVES Lily so she didnt mind sharing the spotlight for a minute! Thanks Tori!

I was able to snag one of the two girls for the heck of it...I mean Im sure Tori wants this to be her front cover of her senior album right? How could she exist! LOL





~Whitney

WINNERS!

First...Thank you so much to everyone for both playing and helping select one of the winners! I am planning a second silly contest so I hope you will play again!

The First Winner is...


Nancy H.





And the Readers Choice Winner is #3!

Wendy R.



Both winners may select ONE prize from the List:
1.Photo session with Bliss Studio (value $95)
2. $25 Gift Certificate to Regal Cinemas Movie Theater
3. $25 Gift Card to itunes
4. $25 credit to Sticks & Fuzzies
5.8x8 circle frame from The Organic Bloom"root beer float" (value $99)

Let me know which one you choose :)


I will also be giving a $5.00 Starbucks gift card to the 2 runners up that were posted...

Jenn S.





Courtney S.



Here are a few more entries that I loved. I would of course liked everyone to win! But there can only be one (well in this case two). Every entry made me smile and I can not wait to show Lily the LOVE that was sent for her someday!










~Whitney

In the Lead...

As of now photo number 3 is in the lead for the photo contest. Today is the last day to get your votes in! Here is the direct link to vote:

http://babyharlacher.blogspot.com/2011/09/and-winner-is.html

Thanks again to everyone who has played and voted! I will post the winners tomorrow!

~Whitney

Single Mom

Well I was kicking butt and blogging just about everyday...but then I turned into a temporary single mom and life took on a whole other meaning. Ugh. Single Mom. All I can say is those that are doing it or have done it...are CRAZY! Okay...that sounds mean...Not my intention. In fact its more that they are AWESOME. How on earth do they do it? I am going crazy. LOL. Lily is not really bad...I prefer High Maintenance. I just look forward to the evening when Daddy gets home and he can entertain her for a bit so I can have a few minutes to myself to re-group. Right? You know....shower...eat...breathe. Whatever I can get away with! Besides Im pretty sure Lily misses Daddy. I get faces like this...

"Save me Daddy"



Little booger :) All I can say is its a good thing she is cute! She is at that age where she screams at me until I pay attention to her. She wants your full and undivided attention at all times. Thats when I say its time to visit grandparents house! LOL Just kidding. My little girl is sweet and perfect and adorable....Now if someone can just remind her that her Mommy needs sleep when she has no help...SO PLEASE SLEEP ALL NIGHT! ha ha ha....

One more of my little cutie...



~Whitney

Dont forget to VOTE...

If you havent already...dont forget to vote two posts back on the winner of the L.I.L.Y Love photo contest! This contest was a blast for me and I hope you guys that entered enjoyed coming up with the awesome ideas. I plan on having another photo related contest at the end of the month so I hope you will play again!

If you want to vote here is the direct link to the post...

http://babyharlacher.blogspot.com/2011/09/and-winner-is.html

Or scroll back two posts!

And we love photos of Lily...They make the posts warm and fuzzy right? So here is my little angel...

We did it....

Lily's blog made it to the top 100! Its really not that big of deal...but I happen to think its still fun :) I grabbed a screen shot of her #100 standings :) Thanks everyone who has been clicking the VOTE button! It all helped! Now how the number 1 person got so many votes I have no clue? WOW. They must have a really popular blog....Or lots of good stuff to say. Guess I better work on more fun posts...Maybe another contest? hmmm....Ill get creative! Stay Tuned!

Lily = Top 100!





~Whitney

And the Winner is....

Well....

I cant just announce it that easy now can I? I know many of you have been bugging me about who won...Sorry for the delay but as you may have read I was in Eugene for a few days and needed to get everything organized to present to the judges. And now...The judges cant decide! So we are going to let TWO people win and have TWO runners up. The Judges choice winner has already been selected and will be announced soon. But for the Reader's Choice they have narrowed it down to 3. In a comment on this post please vote for which entry you think should win! Spread the word...and please only one vote per person. You MUST include your name on the vote or I will not count it. (If you sign the post as anon..please make sure you include your name). NO CHEATING PLEASE! This is supposed to be fun and silly....Do not vote for yourself more than once...But your friends and family can help you out! AND I will leave the name of the person off so no giving away in the comments which one is yours if you are voting for your own :) If I see cheating...I will select the winner myself! LOL. So be nice :) Make it fun...spread the word and VOTE in the comments!

Thanks for Playing!

Here are the Top 3 for Readers Choice Award: (be sure to include the number in your vote!)

1.


2.



3.




VOTING ENDS FRIDAY SEPT. 9th at Midnight :)

Happy Voting...



~Whitney

Making Daddy Happy...

While we are on the Daddy posts...he slyly asked if I was going to post a photo of Lily in her Beaver attire. I dont think he checks the blog anymore (he did while I was prego) so lets see what happens.

Here is Lily in the outfit Daddy bought her...



There you go Daddy :)

~Whitney (& Lily)

Daddy on Baby Duty...

Dan and I always send each other photos of Miss Lily when we are on baby duty and the other one is missing out. (or getting a break! LOL). You can always tell Dad is on Duty when I get images texted that look like this...



Guess we got to start her early right? I am sure it wont be long till she is teaching us a thing or two. Kids these days! LOL. Today and yesterday I have been in Eugene watching my best friends two little girls, Kylee & Avery. Now realize that I have Lily too. So 3 kids under the age of 6. Crazy? Or just good Birth Control? Surprisingly its going well so far but its only Friday am....Got a full day to go. Kylee is 6 years old now and cracks me up. "Where is the toaster Kylee?" I ask. In the closet "near" the kitchen...Uh okay? But there it was. I mean we all keep toasters in closets right? (Just teasing Jamie...but it was still funny). Next watch me figure out how to make a movie work...Leave it to Kylee. You need to use "this remote" Now on top of the TV you need to hit one side and the other is the volume (Please note she is not tall enough to see these buttons). Uh okay...she is RIGHT! I decided yesterday that I think we all need our own personal 6 year old. I guess it wont be long before MIss Lily is there.

So hopefully I survive the rest of today....I am thankful that I have 3 girls...Disney marathon/slumber party here we come! LOL

Here is a pic of my three girls...




~Whitney

Lily is 4 months...

My little girl is 4 months! It does kinda fly by but at the same time I am so excited for her to be bigger and to watch as she hits milestones in her life. Lets see if we can do a quick recap of 4 months:

15lbs 26 inches
78th % and 96 %! Wowsers. Miss Lily is HUGE! LOL. Well she has definitely at least caught up. You would never know she was a premie.

We have found our hands...Quite Tasty.
We giggle out loud!
We are (mostly) sleeping through the night!
We like to snuggle with our blanket.
We have MORE than found our voice. Quite entertaining for Mommy & Daddy.
We have found/learned/inherited...hmmm...Mommy's attitude. Oh Joy.
We like sitting up. Forget this laying down business.
We eat Rice Cereal...Well actually we more smear it all over our face but who's judging.
We have been on our first plane ride.
We are wearing 6 month clothes.
We like to smile at everyone just to remind them how cute we are.
We grab and play with our toys now.
We LOVE Tv (blaming Daddy for that one).
We love BathTime and making sure we pee in it every time.


I think that is a pretty good recap of the last month. She is a growing girl!

~Whitney

Last Day to Enter...

Okay if you have been procrastinating....Delay no further! Deadline to enter the L.I.L.Y. Love contest is TODAY at midnight! I am LOVING the entries so far and I know there are a few more coming in. I plan on having prizes for a few runners up so dont hesitate to enter! And dont forget you can enter more than one entry if you want! So play as many times as you can! If you have no idea what I am talking about then you may not be keeping up on Lily's blog...Shame on you! Just kidding. If you want to play you are more than welcome to join! Read the contest details here:

http://babyharlacher.blogspot.com/2011/08/lily-love-photo-contest.html

Cant wait to post some of the entries!

Good Luck~

Whitney & Lily

More Gifts...

My spoiled little girl is still getting gifts from people! Lily is well Loved. Dan came home from work with this adorable gift from Bob & Di who live in the UK. They were in town for a week working (they work for the same company as Dan just in the UK). I could not believe they thought of Miss Lily. So kind! Here is the gift...



So cute right? Lily is going to be styling! Thanks Bob & Di for thinking of us! You guys are the best :)

Next while we were in Reno a good friend/client, Ciara had a gift for Lily...







I guess that is technically 3 gifts from Ciara! All of which we LOVE! Thanks Ciara for also thinking of us! Lily will be super cute wearing her new outfits and will love snuggling with her blankie! Like your son...she loves it!

Hugs~

Whitney (& Lily)