Month 12!!!! How did that happen?!?!

Oh my sweet little angel,
   Mommy and Daddy cannot believe you are one year old! It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting in the NICU with you talking to you, watching your every move and praying we could take you home soon! Oh my word, look how far you have come!! When we left the hospital no doctor or nurse knew how you would do once you got home and all you have done is work hard and surprise every one of them! Mommy didn't know if she would ever get to enjoy your smile or hear your sweet voice and now we tell you every day how beautiful you are and you get the BIGGEST smile on your face!! You talk so much now that I'm not sure I want you to learn words. I think it might be frightening to hear the things you say! Haha.
   You have ministered to so many simply through the way you work so hard and are so joyful while doing it. I pray that one day you will understand the significance of your life and just how many people you have touched. While you haven't met specific milestones on time, you have made beautiful progress and I know it will continue. This month I don't care as much about your weight, height or new things you are learning, but I choose to focus on what a picture of God's faithfulness you are to me. While there are so many days I don't understand God's plan for your life, I rest in the knowledge that He has one! While I do not know what your future holds, I know God has already ordained the days you will be on this Earth. While I do not know what developmental level you will achieve, I know you will be the happiest child and will not know the difference.
   You have taught mommy to trust God even in the darkness, to love others unconditionally, to believe God has a plan for my life too, to live every day as if it were my last, and to live in the moment. The most important thing you have taught me is that God is in control of life, death, circumstances and all of it WILL bring Him glory!
   We love you more than you could ever possibly know! Your twelve months have brought me the greatest joy in my life.
Love,
 Mommy and Daddy

In the NICU

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

Month 4

Month 5

Month 6

Month 7

Month 8

Month 9

Month 10

Month 11

Month 12

 

She's almost one...11 months!

Oh darling angel,
I cannot believe you are almost one. At 11 months old, you are surprising mommy and daddy every day. You haven't been feeling great lately, so your progress is getting slower, but you are taking great tastes of food by mouth, and continue to work on your neck. You have also stopped gaining weight, so you are still around 16 pounds, but topping the charts with length at almost 30 inches. You really don't like peas, but we are working on it. We went to the beach this month and started getting ready for your birthday. We can't wait to celebrate your first birthday!!
Most importantly this month, we celebrated Alabama's 14th National Championship!!! You were sick the day of the game and to be honest Mommy really didn't want to take you to the doctor, because I REALLY didn't want to watch the game in the hospital, but you are more important so off to the doctor we went. I actually took you in your pajamas. Can you believe that? Mommy never takes you anywhere without being dressed, but you really were sick. Anyway, this family came into the pediatricians office decked out in their purple and gold...I know, you were thankful you didn't have to wear those colors. Red looks way better on you! :) :). We headed to the lab to get your blood drawn, and when they were putting gauze on your arm, they almost put purple on. Mommy quickly asked them to find another color, just for today. So, off we went with red tape covering the gauze. :)
Dr. Jackson called later wanting us to come back in because your white count was so high!! Mommy FREAKED OUT, called Daddy and he headed to meet us at the dr. Mommy thought there was something seriously wrong, but Cookie quickly reminded me that I had to remain calm. So, I put you back in the carseat and headed back to the dr. After all that panic, we began the week long search of figuring out what was wrong. More on that in the next post. Mommy and Daddy took you home, got some game food ready and dressed you in the appropriate outfit. You fell asleep at the beginning of the game, which allowed mommy and daddy to concentrate. We pulled out the bottle of 30th birthday champagne my aunt and uncle gave me when Bama won!! After a couple glasses we put you to bed, but I think we were so focused on celebrating we forgot to take you out of your jersey. :). Don't worry HK, it's the first of a few championship games you will watch in your lifetime!
Here are some pictures documenting this month. The beach pictures have already been posted.

sorry angel, just had to capture the moment!  

HK before falling asleep during the game...Roll Tide!  She's not feeling her best here...

still celebrating the next day!  

Mommy and Daddy's way of celebration!  It was gone that night!

She's getting more hair!  

pretty little angel...

A trip to the hospital....

So, I mentioned in the last post that Harper Kate hadn't been feeling well and that it would take a week to figure out what was going on. Harper Kate had been getting random fevers that would spike up to 103. We couldn't really figure out what was going on, but what we did find was that her white blood cell count was incredibly high which meant that there was an infection somewhere. Dr Jackson did a chest X-ray which didn't show pneumonia, did a urine test and no infection there. We did more bloodwork which revealed no blood infection and the other option was meningitis, but since her fever hadn't been constant, that wasn't assumed either. HK is ALWAYS a mystery and difficult. :). She got two shots of (a strong antibiotic) in the middle of the week, and by Friday her count was still high. Dr Jackson had no other ideas, so he sent us to the children's hospital to see if they had any ideas. We spent a few hours in the ER, and after a much more detailed chest X-ray, they found a small amount of pneumonia. The ER dr knew exactly what to look for and his picture was much clearer, so he was glad Dr. Jackson had sent us there. We were immediately admitted and began an antibiotic through an Iv. That week had been pretty frightening because when her white count was so high, the nurse called me and told me Dr Jackson wanted me to come immediately because her count was so high! I panicked, cried the entire way to the office, thinking the worst and then had Jarod meet me there. Therefore,when we finally found out it was pneumonia you can imagine I was relieved!!
Unfortunately for me, Harper Kate was admitted on a Thursday night. For Christmas my sisters and I had given my mom a cooking class at the Viking Cooking School in Greenwood, MS. My dad paid for all of my sisters to go with my mom. Of course, Harper Kate would get sick on the weekend I was supposed to go! So, while i was sitting in the hospital waiting to be discharged, my sisters, mom and aunt (who took my spot) learned how to make fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, greens and biscuits. Uhhh.....why me?!?! Anyway, hopefully I will get to go sometime soon! My child is such drama sometimes, but still I wouldn't trade her for anything in the world!! At least we had some fun while we were at the hospital. Harper Kate loves being there! She gets pampered and has to do no therapy. :). Here are some pictures from our stay.
We got home late Friday night from the hospital and headed to bed. I was so upset from missing the cooking class, that when we woke up Saturday morning, Jarod asked me if I wanted to go to Birmingham to see my precious new niece that had been born that week! Well, I still hated missing the cooking class, but visiting Jarod's family and Harper Kate meeting her first girl cousin made it a lot better. My husband knows me so well! Seeing my family always makes everything better!!

Happy New Year!!!!

A few years ago we started a tradition of going to the beach for New Years with Cookie and Doc. Everyone comes down and we spend a few days of rest and relaxation. This year, we stayed in Watercolor just a few streets over from my aunt and uncle's house in Seaside, so we were all able to hang out together. It also happened to be my 30th birthday on New Years Eve, so my aunt, uncle and cousins came over for a birthday dinner that night. Spending time with my sisters, my soon to be brother in law and cousins was so much fun. We rode bikes, walked all around Watercolor and seaside, read, took naps and ate some yummy food. Luckily, my mom is a phenomenal cook.
Harper Kate wasn't feeling great down at the beach, but we couldn't really figure out why. She hadn't felt 100% over Christmas either, and I was starting to get a little worried. One night, at the beach,she woke up in the middle of the night burning up,and acting a bit strange. I went and woke my dad up,and he and my mom sat with Jarod and I while her fever came down. When her fever gets high, she has extreme seizures when she has pauses in her breathing. Luckily, we were headed home the next day so we headed to the doctor, which began a couple weeks of trying to figure out what was going on. More about that in another post.
The beach is Harper Kate's favorite place in the world to visit. She would be fussy at the house, but then we would take her to the beach and she would be happy. I think the best place for Harper Kate to live would be the beach, but her Daddy's job is more important. Hahaha!! We look forward to our next beach trip which happens to be in May!!!! We can't wait. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Cookie on New Years Eve!  Love the hat, Mom.

Just hanging out after the babies went to sleep....The three "brothers" in the Johnson family!

New Years Eve. 

Happy New Year from Carrie & Whit!

Family Beach Vacation...New Years 2012

Like I said, it's Harper Kate's favorite place

Happy New Year from Harper Kate

HK resting in Cookie's arms...she wasn't feeling great this day. :(

Harper Kate loves her soon to be Uncle JD!

Take 1...Happy New Year!

Take 2....Happy New Year!

We LOVE the beach!

Good Morning from Seaside, FL.

Naptime on the beach

Naptime at the house.

A little dark, but oh well.  Love you babe!

The princess on the beach

This is one.happy.girl!

First Christmas!!!!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and I was so excited to celebrate Christmas with our sweet little girl. While Harper Kate didn't require lots of toys for Christmas, Jarod and I started our Christmas shopping for her the day after Thanksgiving at Pottery Barn! We decided to get her one of the Anywhere Chairs to practice sitting in. She can't quite hold her head up yet, but we thought it would be a great practice chair.
The weekend before Christmas we celebrated Christmas with Jarod's family. We all hung out for the weekend, spent great time being together, opened packages and enjoyed lots of yummy food! Harper Kate got some really cute clothes, great books and a couple small toys she could reach for, which were all wonderful. The best thing about being with the Pardue clan though is the quality time we all spend together. It's crazy chaos most of the time, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I truly consider myself so blessed to have an amazing second family that thinks and treats me as their own.  I'm horrible & got no pictures from the whole weekend!
Then, we came home for a few days and headed back to Birmingham for actual Christmas weekend.    Christmas Eve we spent hanging out with my family, then we all got ready and went to church Christmas Eve night. I love the Christmas Eve candlelight service and, more importantly, showing Harper Kate off. :)  We also have another tradition where my parents best friends, the Clintons, come over to my mom and dads and we all eat dinner together. I look forward to that every year as well because I don't get to see them very often and love catching up with my other "siblings". Carrie and I had matching pajamas made for Whit and HK, so we got them ready for a few pics before bedtime. :).
Christmas is a HUGE tradition in my family. Even at 30 years old we still put out treats for Santa, wear matching pjs ourselves....we know it's lame, and fully admit it, but we continue it anyway. Christmas morning we wake up, excited and ready to open packages. Jarod and I were so excited to let Harper Kate see her first "Santa present"! I loved playing Santa, setting Harper Kate's chair up the night before. But....Harper Kate was not feeling great and fell asleep almost right after we showed her the chair...oh well, we still got some pictures of her. My family spent the day watching Whit play with his new toys and HK relaxing on her mat looking at herself in the mirror that Aunt Carrie and Uncle Nate got her. It was perfect! Aunt Mae Mae and Aunt Kitty gave Harper Kate her first baby doll. It's a classic, and so soft to put in Harper Kate's arms. Christmas night we go to my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Dave's house with my cousins and grandparents for a wonderful dinner and exchange of gifts with my grandparents.
Goodness, Christmas was very overwhelming, but so much fun. I wouldn't trade any of our wonderful family events for anything!!! I'll leave you with some pics from the holiday.

Matching pajamas are so much fun!!!

Harper Kate's "Santa" presents!

She liked her chair at first...

then...she's a little "over it."

Christmas night at Uncle Dave & Aunt Sharon's house

Christmas Eve! :)

"Santa" brought Harper Kate & her cousin Whit a kitchen to play in.  

sisters....

and then, she really was mad about it!

We LOVE Christmas at my mom & dad's house!  

Not sure where Carrie was....

10 months old and counting

Harper Kate....Oh my goodness sweet girl, you are getting so big. You are tall and skinny and so incredibly beautiful. You look more and more like your daddy and Aunt Abby every single day. You aren't gaining weight as fast as we would like, but that's ok. Your mom and dad were skinny too. You sleep pretty well at night but you are certainly an early riser. You wake up around 6:00 or 6:30 every morning, which is ok since we are up anyway. Naps are always exciting for you. You sleep for about an hour in the mornings and a couple of hours in the afternoons. Daddy and I are so proud of you because you keep learning how to eat. You really love bananas,carrots, sweet potatoes and mommy is trying to teach you to eat peas. You work so very hard at therapy and your neck is really getting stronger. You can't hold it up yet,but that's ok,Daddy and I know you will get there in time. You still love your hands and have started keeping them by your mouth more. You are doing better at keeping your eyes downward focused and will recognize things if you can stare at them long enough which is difficult. You continue to practice rolling over from your back to your side. M
We went to Nashville for a very quick visit with mommy's St Paul friends. Mr. Andrew picked us up from the airport and took us to St. Paul where I walked you from class to class and everyone loved seeing you. We sat in the library and spent some time with the fifth and sixth grade team and Jennifer. Then Jess came to pick us up and we hung out with Jess,Mary Margaret and Lizzie for a while that afternoon. We went to eat supper with Emily and Jacob and then we had to wake up early to head back home to Atlanta. What a fun visit we had with friends. We certainly miss Nashville very much and hope we can make it back for a visit soon.
We love you sweet little girl....you are growing up so very fast!!

I love my fingers in my mouth...a huge accomplishment I might add!

New Winter pajamas!!

Alex came to watch the Heisman Presentation with us and put the custom jersey he gave Harper Kate on while we watched!

Bathtime is the best!

My little winter snow angel :) 

Yummy carrots!

Look Nana, I can play with the toy you gave me!