The World According to Alisa: Tick Tock goes the maternity leave

Where is the time going?? I need to live in France or somewhere overseas where they give women a year off after birth. Although the days that Gavin is driving me nuts, I start counting the days until I go back to work. The days that all runs smoothly, I wish I lived in France. We are getting in some sort of schedule, sort of. Harper is a good baby and she typically eats 7 times a day, is awake for about an hour after she eats, and then sleeps until the next feeding. She eats around 6 or 7pm and then begs for more within an hour or two, takes about 2-3 ounces and then konks out until about 1am! I couldn't ask for more at a month old - a solid 4-5 hours of sleep in row! She goes from sleeping to starving in about 10 seconds flat and really starts to panic if it's taking too long to get her bottle. I don't remember Gavin being so frantic, but then again he wasn't 12 pounds at this point! Went for Harper's one month check up and she was 12 pounds!! Yikes, no wonder my back feels like it's going to break in two. Last night we decided to put her to sleep in her crib in her room (she has been sleeping in the pack in play in our room) and she slept all night!! I, of course, woke in a panic at 5am and went tearing up the stairs to make sure she was still breathing! I am sure this is a one time deal, but it was exciting to get 7 hours of sleep. She's really starting to become more aware of her surroundings and talk and smile, which is always so fun to see. Gavin is still decent with her, but we still have to watch him very closely because he still tends to get a little rough with her.

This week Gavin has been in VBS at our church. It's good practice for me seeing if I can get all 3 of us out of the house to get him there on time at 9am and most days we make it! I thought 3 hours was a long time but it seems like we drop him off and then we turn right around to pick him up again. He said he enjoyed it and memorized one of the songs to sing for me when I picked him up one day. He was always waiting at the door though, so I think the 3 hours was enough for him. Coming up in the next month, I signed him up for camp at My Gym so hopefully he likes tumbling and rolling for 3 hours!

We haven't been doing too much lately as Gavin gets home from VBS, we have lunch and then he naps. We are leaving for Wisconsin on Thursday though to celebrate Garrett's 1st birthday!! We are all excited to go visit Jennifer and family and are just hoping our flight (which includes a layover in Chicago) goes smoothly and without tantrums! Wish us luck!

Gavin used to laugh and stare at these same bears! Harper has just begun to notice them and talk to them!

I've been trying to get a picture of her smiling, but so far this is the best I've been able to capture.

Harper in her zodiac outfit (we now have 2 Taurus' and 2 Virgo's in our family)

Jon, Gavin and Harper on Father's Day!

It's a struggle to get a picture of the 2 of them but I begged Gavin as he was in his Big Brother shirt and she had her Little Sister shirt. Again, the best I could get!

We bought a new stroller - it has a platform for Gavin to sit on or stand up and Harper rides in front. It's bulkier than my other snap and go stroller but this makes it easier to transport both of them and Gavin loves riding in it. We went to the Zoo on one of our nice days.