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)

Rice Cereal

Its time for Lily to start on some cereal! First...Can there seriously be that many choices? I sat in target staring for a good 15 minutes trying to figure out what the heck I was supposed to get. I finally texted my sister..."this"....



I am sure she was laughing at me...but I was clueless. All I could remember the doctor saying was no fruit yet. And something about 1-2 spoonfuls 1-2 times a day? Can we be more specific? Before bottle? After bottle? Morning? Night? Seriously only a spoonful? How is that gonna help? So I get home with a box of this rice cereal and I grabbed an organic oatmeal box too just in case and then called down to "Grandma Nancy"....HELP! I am a goof! But up she came to chat a little more about Rice Cereal and I felt a little better. We decided to give it a go while she was here and we could not stop laughing. I am not sure Lily was too excited about it. I am told it tastes awful but there is not a chance I will be tasting it (and not sure why people are? LOL). Here is Miss Lily after a couple of bites...



I am pretty sure the majority was on her face. Not sure she actually got any of it. But it was fun to watch her try. Im glad our kids can be entertaining for us! ha ha.

Thanks Nancy for your help...We will see how Lily does the next couple weeks with her "Yummy" cereal!

~Whitney

Shots :(

Lily had her 4 month appointment on Friday and had to get shots. I am convinced this is way harder on me than it is on her. I sat in the corner and cried while Dan held her. Lily was not thrilled. I know she cried more this time then last and I am guessing as she gets older it will only get worse. Good thing Dan goes. I dont even want to see the needle. I just say hurry up as fast as you can. Lily is HUGE! She is 15lbs and 26 inches long. She is the 78th % for weight and 95th% in height. So much for being a premie? This little girl grew so fast she has more than caught up! Go Lily!

Here is a shot of her little legs with her adorable bandaids...



And of course we both survived and here miss cutie is...



~Whitney

My Entry...

I have gotten some entries for the contest and they are AWESOME! I am so excited to see the photos every time I get an email with an entry! They make my day! I hope you guys are working on your photos. Dont forget ANYONE is eligible that is why there are several prizes to choose from. And you can enter as MANY times as you want! I will not be judging so dont worry. The judge will not know whos photo is whos. If you are reading this and have no idea what I am talking about be sure to check out the Lily Love contest post a few posts back! Let me know if you have any questions!

This would be my entry...But one I am not eligible! LOL...and two her name is spelled wrong! But I still thought I would share! Its my favorite Sushi roll at Sushi Teri in Reno! YUMMY!





Also...If Miss Jamie wins...(I know you are reading this...and I think you requested a Mini Cooper as your prize) this will be your "Mini" Prize! LOL







~Whitney

Over it.

Do you ever wonder if your baby/kid is OVER YOU? Seriously. Lets be honest. Parents have their moments when they are just over their children. Everyone has had one of those days...There is no sense in denying it. But somedays I wonder if Lily is really over me? Its kinda funny really. I will be having one of those days with her where she wants to be a fussy pants. Then someone will take her for me and she will be happy as can be. Its like she is saying "I'm over you Mom...go away." To make things even more obvious this is the face Miss Lily gave me when I attempted her 4 month photos on tuesday....





Gotta love the little booger. She is much to young to be looking at me like that! LOL

~Whitney

P.S. Thanks to Ciara for lending your "skirt" as a background for this image :) Amazing what we can do huh? LOL

You know your a mom when...

The last couple days Lily and I were in Reno (as you prob gathered from the last post). This was a trip to not only see family but I had several photo sessions. For those of you that dont know....My camera bag is actually a Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bag. I had it before Lily! I loved the diaper bags and it actually makes a perfect camera bag. I do not like how ugly camera bags are so I ventured out for something different. Now I have a stylish camera bag that no one knows is a camera bag which is even better! Of course when we found out we were pregnant I had an excuse to buy another one! Which means now I have two Petunia Pickle Bottom Diaper Bags. Fun right?

So back to the "You know your a mom when"......I was at a session in Reno yesterday and reached into my camera bag to grab a different lens and this is what I grabbed...






LOL! OOPS. I dont think that bottle is going to fit on my camera! And no clue how the bottle ended up in the camera bag!

~Whitney

Lily's First Plane Ride

I guarantee the anticipation for Lily's first flight was way harder on me then little Lily. She frankly could have cared less. Give her a bottle and everyone in the airports undivided attention and she was good to go. I will admit I was stressing over this flight for weeks now and had not decided if I would even bring her with me. My mom and family (and a few clients) were giving me a lot of grief about it and insisted that I bring her. The deciding factor was my mom flew to Portland for a couple days and was able to fly back with us. Thank Goodness. If I can give any advice the first would be to NOT fly alone your first try with an infant. Yes it can be done alone...But it was so nice to have the extra set of hands and someone to make sure everything went smoothly. I am an expert flyer but throwing a baby in the mix just makes everything more complicated.

First things first if you have never flown with an infant: Make sure you add them to your ticket. Dont ask me how...I didnt know if I was bringing her when I booked my ticket so they had to fix me at the counter. They had a ticket/tag for Lily as well. The one thing I was thankful for was being told to bring a copy of Lily's Birth Certificate. I would not have known to do that....and I was asked for it as soon as I got to the counter. Usually they need one to prove that your child is still a "lap" baby. Clearly Lily is...but they still asked for it. Do not forget that one! And I would bring it no matter what. One airport may not ask for it but then another could and you could be stuck at a random airport arguing with them (or paying money).

I was so happy that we had TSA's in a chipper mood in Portland. They were making us laugh. First I had to break down Lily's stroller and put it on the belt. Uh...Yeah...I have Lily in one arm and the stroller probably weighs more than me. How the heck am I supposed to manage that? Fear not...The big heavy (which made it even funnier) HOPPED (literally) over the belt to assist. "Here need a hand with that Miss". So funny. We walk through the xray and wait for our bags to come through. And poor Lily's bag has to get rescanned and hand checked. Now...Remember I am an expert flyer...So I know what I am not allowed to bring on the plane. But did my brain even think about what Lily was not allowed? No. I packed the diaper bag just as I would. A nice unopened bottle of water for her formula and a big bottle of hand sanitizer. Oops. Neither of which are allowed through security. Oddly enough NEITHER was taken away. They old man missing a few teeth was hilarious while he looked everything over. It seems you are allowed to bring formula on the plane. But I just had powder in bottles ready to mix with the bottle of water when it was time. Thank you toothless man...You were funny and nice not to take away Lily's goodies. She didnt know any better :)

We pushed LIly in the stroller all the way to the gate (stroller gets checked at the end of the jetway) and she was as happy as could be. Squealing and talking so that everyone at the gate could hear her loud and clear. I wonder where she gets that from? LOL. She was quite the attention grabber. At least she wasnt crying right? As we are waiting in line to get on the plane Lily starts dozing off...and by the time we sit...She was out! Now I did not get on the plane empty handed. I came stocked up with my Southwest Free Drink Coupons. I passed them to the men behind us and said no getting mad if my baby cries! ha ha. Lucky for me Lily did not make a peep and as soon as we touched ground her eyes opened.

So we made it safe and sound with no real problems.....But I will still say traveling with an infant is a pain and can be a bit stressful. Somehow we all survive and its always fine in the end. I guess its the same with raising kids :) LOL

We fly home tonight at 10pm so hopefully LIly will sleep again and make the ride home peaceful. I will be on this flight alone so I also hope I have kind TSA and a helpful person on the flight who can lift my bag up for, Two carry ons plus LIly is a bit hard!

Here are a couple quick shots:

Waiting to get on plane...



Just landed...





~Whitney

L.I.L.Y. Love Photo Contest!

We have had enough people game to play so I am officially launching the L.I.L.Y. Love Photo Contest! I am going to make you guys work for this one a bit...and get those creative juices flowing. We know I am a photographer so I am of course going to make it photo related.

L.I.L.Y. Love Photo Contest:



***Take a photo of anything you want. The only requirement is the name LILY must be visible somewhere in the photo. This can be as simple as someone holding a piece of paper with Lily's name on it. However thats not very creative....so you better think of something else :)

Rules:

1. Photo must be taken from this day forward.
2. Photo can not have the name Lily added after in Photoshop...You must photograph the name IN the actual photo.
3. You must have the rights to the photo. No borrowing someone else's pic. I am going to post on the blog so I need
permission to do so.
3.Email photo to: info@blissstudio.net with your name, city & state.
4. You may enter as many photos as you like.
5. Contest ends Aug. 31st at midnight. All entries must be in my email box by that time/day.
6. ANYONE can enter...friends, family anyone. I will NOT be judging so dont worry!


Prizes:

The winner will have a CHOICE of ONE of these items:



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)


If I get enough entries I will have a few runners up as well that will receive Starbucks gift cards. MUST have at least 20 entries for that! So help pass the word!

Good Luck and Have Fun! I can not wait to see what you guys come up with. I KNOW I have some creative Blog readers! If you have any questions please let me know!

~Whitney

Contest anyone?

So for the heck of it I am thinking about having a little fun contest. But first we are going to see how many of you even read this and are up for it? And yes...Mom you can play too :) LOL. Friends, family or anyone I dont care.....IF I decide to go for it...Tell me what you would LOVE to win? And $ is not an answer....Food, Gift Card to somewhere, photo shoot, software, homemade goodies or anything you can come up with? Comment...Let me know what YOU would love to win! If I get enough people interested I have a fun photo project for you :)

~Whitney

First Plane Ride

All I can say is BRAVE. Its not my first choice to travel with Miss Lily. Its not that I am completely afraid to take her...but I also get air sick...So its a bit of a double whammy for me. So my first solution to the problem was to fly my mom here so she could fly with us! Yup. Im a chicken and will not fly for the first time with Lily ALONE. Nope. I have also decided if the flight is totally rough someone will be flying home with me to help! ha ha. I am only going to Reno which of course is a super fast 1 hour and 20 min flight. How bad could it be right? My clients today flew with TWO kids from Germany more than once. So I am thinking I am not allowed to complain. So instead I am going to try and be as prepared as I can, try not to stress and hope for the best. Maybe Lily will Love air travel? You never know. Miss finicky (dont ask me where she got that from) can be a bit of a pill at times so I am just praying I am not the one on the place with the screaming child. If all else fails....I have about 10 FREE drink coupons for Southwest. I think I will just pass them to everyone sitting near so they can all get drunk and then they wont notice? Or at least it will be good Karma.

Any advice for traveling with baby? Besides bringing my mom along that is! LOL

~Whitney

Blog Redesign...

I got a wild hair and decided to do a bit of a remodel on Lily's Blog during nap time. It may still need a little tweaking but its just about there. I am also adding badges for businesses that are interested in having an ad on the blog :) Thought it would be fun! I of course am a crazy mom who not only owns a photography studio (Bliss Studio) but I also co-own Sticks & Fuzzies which is fun baby/toddler hats, cocoons for photographers props and tutus. Plus you may find a few other crafty goodies. My co-owner Samantha has recently had twins (check out her baby blog www.sanowtwins.blogspot.com) so we have been slacking a bit. But as we hit the fall season I hope we will have even more goodies up on Etsy. You can click the Sticks & Fuzzies logo on the right. Or go to www.sticksandfuzzies.com if you want to see what we have for sale. Keep an eye out as we may have some new sewing projects up for sale soon!

~Whitney

Screaming...Ugh.

45 minutes of screaming last night with what felt like no end in sight. How on earth can something so small make that much noise? And for that long? Wow. Lily is normally not too much of a crier which is why it was driving me crazy. We have had a few rough times but last night definitely took the win. We tried EVERYTHING. And passed her back and forth every 10 minutes or so which I am pretty sure all anyones patience can handle at one time. I was so frustrated. I know many of you have dealt with similar situations so you can understand. I am just a fixer and want to make it better and there was nothing we could do. I think eventually she just tired herself out and finally went to sleep. I guess I should have mentioned she was also doing this at 10:30pm. Yeah. Awesome. I was ready for bed at 9pm as the last few days with sick little girl wore me out. She had other plans. However I will be thankful that she slept all night and its 9:30 am and she is still sound asleep. It gave me a little time to catch up (Now if I could just stop yawning...oh yeah...need my POT of coffee).

Being a parent is hard work. I am ready for certain parts of the baby stage to pass but I know we will hit other challenges. All I can say is I hope my patience will continue to be there for me.

~Whitney

Sick little girl

It seems Lily has gotten her first sick bug. We are not totally sure what she has but its been a couple days of fever and hard to get her to eat anything. I did not even realize just how stressed out her being sick makes me. I finally broke down and cried last night. I know...There is no crying in baseball. LOL Just kidding. But seriously I know my daughter is going to get sick and she NEEDS to get sick so she can build up that immune system. But it still breaks your heart when your little one does not feel good and there is nothing you can really do but wait for it to pass. Yes we snuggled her and gave her a little bit of tylenol. But I wish I could explain to her what was happening and that she was going to be just fine. She was a little better today but it was still an off day. In between the ick we did get a few smiles as we see here...



Note the onesie...BE Peaceful :) I was hoping that would give her some encouragement today. Hmm....Keep hoping I suppose.
I will be going to be here in a few...It was a long night of worrying. Oh the joys of being a parent.

~Whitney

Keeping us on our toes...

I think these babies do just that...Keep us on our toes. The minute we think we have Lily all figured out she throws us for a loop. How come she sleeps through the night for over week and then decides to not? For NO reason. And Im not buying a growth spurt. We "think" she is sleeping through the night again...at least she has been good the last couple nights but I dont want to jinx it. There are days I really wish she could just talk and tell me whats up? She goes through not eating phases then eating...I get worried and then she is fine again. Who knows. I guess I just have to roll with it and we will get through this eventually. ha ha.

Yesterday Miss Lily got to visit with her Uncle Jordan and Auntie Jenn. While Jordan was holding Lily I told him he could play on the computer if he wanted. The next thing we knew "Little Mermaid" was blasting over the speakers! Which turned into a family sing along! ha ha ha. Why on earth he thought of the Little Mermaid I will never know but it was hilarious. Guess he really is ready for kids! I am sorry I dont have a photo of Lily with Auntie Jenn but I did snag a quick one of Uncle Jordy and Lily hanging out...



Thanks to the family for coming to visit! Lily (and I) really enjoyed seeing you both. We will see you in Reno in a couple weeks!
In case you need a reminder of how cute she is...ha ha ha.....


~Whitney

Lily's favorite book

I know Lily is still kinda young for books but you can never start too early right? I have tried to read to her a few times and she has had zero interest. A couple of days ago I found this butterfly book at Pottery Barn Kids and decided to see if Lily was interested. Boy did I get the biggest smiles as I flipped through the pages. She LOVED it. I was excited at her reaction so I of course bought it and it is now her favorite book! She still gets HUGE smiles when we look at it. I think we may need to buy the Bird in the nest book next! Here is a couple phone pics of the book of the cover and her FAVORITE page...





In case you cant really tell from the photos. Your finger goes in the back of the book and wiggles the cute little butterfly. I think Lily likes butterflies like her mommy :)


And blog posts are always better with a quick pic of Lily right? Here is one I took with instagram...



~Whitney

Top 200!

The blog made it to the top 200 baby blogs at www.topbabyblogs.com! Thanks to everyone who voted. You can still vote if you want to. It allows one vote every 24 hours. And if you are bored check out some of the blogs they have listed...There is some fun ones!

To vote click on the button in the upper right hand corner...Then click the owl. Thats it...You have voted :) No need to sign up for anything or jump through any hoops. Its that easy!

Thanks to all you loyal readers!

~Whitney

Me..Suzi Homemaker?

What has happened to me? I think I have been bitten by the suzi homemaker bug? First I decide I need to start cooking...and now SEWING? Oh MY! Babies make you go nuts I think! ha ha ha. Just teasing. I have always been a crafty person but sewing was just a skill I never had. I decided I wanted to fix that problem and LEARN. So on tuesday evening I took a class at JoAnn Fabrics with a wonderful old lady named Isabel. She was so sweet and a great teacher...I think I might be hooked! I am going to take one more class and if all goes well I am going to take the plunge and get a sewing machine. I figured it would be fun to make cute little dresses for Lily and I always enjoy making Christmas gifts for the girls in my family (not sure how much they love it? LOL). We will see what I can pull off. For now here is my VERY first finished project...A beautiful Pillow Case!



Not too shabby :) I will post my next project soon.

And in case you were wondering...My dinners have been going pretty good. So far I have had success even when I thought I had ruined the dinner. I keep forgetting to take photos but I will post some of the meals when I remember to take a pic!

More later...

~Whitney

Taking the Good with the Bad...

Its amazing that the smallest thing can feel like the end of the world. Lily has been a bit difficult the last few days and I think there have been tears from both of us. Passing her off to Dad when he gets home from work has been heaven. I feel bad even complaining.....and as I sit here tonight I realize that we really have to take the good with the bad. Everyday is not going to be perfect. And sorry no baby is a perfect angel EVERYDAY. There is going to be days that just plain suck and days that are better. And of course those smiles will help you realize that is really is all worth it. I am a fix it kinda person though and when I am dealing with a screaming, fussing, difficult baby who is not eating good I want to cry. I want to know what the heck is wrong? "USE YOUR WORDS" is what I want to say...LOL. I was pretty upset tonight and Dan reminded me how lucky we are that Lily goes to sleep so easy for us. Not a lot of effort or fight. I know some people have lots of trouble. She is also mostly sleeping through the night. We havent had to feed her in the middle of the night but she does wake up and need a binky replaced and last night I did have to rock her back to sleep at 4am...but its only been about a week. So no complaining right? I think I just want to be a good mom and make sure my baby is okay. When I dont know whats wrong it does make me want to cry. I want her to tell me so I can fix it. But I have to remind myself that there is not always a perfect solution. Babies fuss. Im trying, learning and doing what I can...but this baby business is HARD WORK :)

And dont get me wrong I LOVE my little girl.....Just dont love fussy :) I think that is understandable.

Here is Miss Cuteness after she knows she has driven me batty. I think its her way of "making up". Could she look any more innocent? LOL



Thanks for letting me vent....Fingers crossed life will be back to "Lily Normal" tomorrow! ha ha

~Whitney

Mom is going bald.

Yes its true. What on earth is with all this hair loss? I am confident if it keeps on this route 1) I am going to need a wig in another month and 2) We may have to invest stock in Drano. Seriously. What in the heck? I keep being told its what happens post pregnancy. Really? Are you sure you are not just saying that to make me feel better? Hmpf. So if it REALLY is the truth is their light at the end of the tunnel? How long will I be pulling handfuls out of my hair? Did it happen to you?

Off to research wigs....LOL

~Whitney

Fussy=Too hot?

I think Lily HATES to be hot? Im not sure...but if she was my daughter she would LOVE the summer warmth. But Im thinking she takes after her dad who also hates to be hot. Its been a rough couple of days. We took her to the fair in Newberg Sunday and then yesterday we attempted the pool. Can you say FUSSY BABY! Had to leave the pool as Lily thought it would be fun to scream her head off which is NOT normal for her. Everyone at the pool giving me dirty looks...and all the while I am thinking "Great...I am one of those annoying people with screaming kids in a public place." LOL. I had to have a sitter for a couple hours to make sure I could stay sane. Love those days huh? And today this is what I wake up to...




Guess she is all better today! What a booger. All is well so far. Fingers crossed she stays an angel today. Or mommy is shipping her to Dave & Nancy's! ha ha ha

~Whitney