Harper is 4 months old

Today Harper turned 4 months old….she is getting bigger as each day passes. I can’t believe she’s already 4 months old!
Some of the new things that she is doing:
1.  Rolling to her side (picture above)…and then not quite finishing a complete roll over to her stomach…she’ll just sit there and play with her fingers or suck her thumb. She is SO CLOSE to rolling over, but I’m thinking she’s just not ready. Which is ok with me….b/c that means once she rolls over we won’t be able to leave the room with her staying in one spot.
2.  Smiling whenever she sees Danny or I
3. Noticing herself in the mirror – and smiling at herself
4. Playing with her feet ALL the time
5. Sucking her fingers or trying to put her entire hand in her mouth (my brother counted last weekend….she tried to get 7 fingers in her mouth at the same time…it obviously did not work)
6. Laughing out loud (sometimes screaming)….I think she found her voice, and likes to hear it at the loudest octave possible
7.  Sitting in her bumbo and actually enjoying it
8.  She is SO close to sitting by herself unsupported….but as of last night I sat her up against a pillow on the couch, and she looked like the leaning tower of pizza….it was a slow but graceful fall J
9.  It’s become very hard to change her diaper, b/c she’s either playing with her feet, trying to roll over or sucking on one of her fingers
10.  Tummy time isn’t so bad anymore…..she’s really pushing up on her arms now
11. Sleeping longer through the night (last night she slept almost 8 hours straight through)
12.  Really starting to want to stand when you hold her on your lap (not that she can stand…but she really likes to stand)
13.  Loves it when Danny or I sing about boogers to her (or when Danny talks about her STINKY DIAPERS)…and oh YES Danny does sing too J
14.  LOVES bath time
15.  She is slowly starting to wear 3-6 month clothes (she is DEFINITELY wearing 6-9 month onesies)
16.  I ordered her first pair of shoes (3 pairs)….I thought Danny was going to kill me. Don’t worry her Ferrari shoes will fit probably by this winter (then she’ll really be stylin)!
17.  She saw both of her Great Grandma’s in the same week (now she has 3 Great Grandma angels watching over her (plus 3 Great Grandpa angels)….hopefully she’ll be taken care of in the “watched over by angels” department
18.  Loves being outside and watching the creek flow (I think she really loves the sound of the water and the fresh air)
19.  Has really started to notice THE DOGS…….they sniff her head when she’s on the floor, and she tried to grab Katy’s hair the other day….Katy just laid there and took it! Hopefully that’s how they’ll both be when she starts crawling and picking on them
20.  She still loves being swaddled….I’m scared when she won’t be able to fit into her swaddle anymore, because she sleeps SO WELL being swaddled now!
21.  She loves her bed, and as soon as she gets swaddled and laid in her bed at night….she’s OUT (no more crying)
I can’t believe how much love both Danny and I have for her……I never knew how much you could love a little human being as we do her….she is the GREATEST gift God could have ever given to Danny and I – I know think Danny has a soft spot for little girls….or maybe just Harper!
We are very blessed to have such great friends and family in our lives, and we hope you will each be apart of Harper’s lives FOREVER….and watch her grow into an amazing woman someday (not too soon though)!
Next Tuesday Harper will have her 4 month shots…YUCK I hate those. I’ll be taking off the rest of the day to be with her.

Harper is 3 months old

WOW...I can't believe Harper is 3 months old today....boy has time flown by. Wanted to send you all a few pictures that I took today of Miss Harper! She is getting so big, smiling all the time, starting to talk a lot more (coo I mean :), and is really coming into her personality! Danny plays a game with her where he sticks out his tongue and makes a loud noise, lately she has been trying to mimick him...I haven't caught it on video yet..but hopefully I will soon...it's super cute!
Tomorrow we are having Harper's 3 month pictures taken as well as our first family photo, should be interesting because her attention span is all of 10-15 minutes max!!!

Pictures attached.....Harper has recently begun to sit in her bumbo seat...she loves it as you can see by the picture! The second picture is from this morning...it was the first time she actually pushed up on her arms while she was on tummy time....I was so excited I screamed.....and Danny was a little worried something bad had happened...but I was just excited!!!

Introducing Harper Elizabeth Kunath

Harper Elizabeth Kunath was born Thursday November 12, 2009 weighing in at 6.1 lbs and 20 " long!  She is happy and healthy and perfect!  Danny and I could not be happier and feel more blessed right now! 

We are making our first trip to the pediatrician on Wednesday to make sure everything is going well (eating and pooping I mean :) )  She seems to be pretty content when Grandma and Grandpa Roeth hold her though.

I'll keep this blog updated with more pictures in the future....but for now enjoy the pictures below of our first 6 days enjoying Harper!

She has her daddy's long toes!

Things I've learned while being pregnant!

In no specific order:
1. No matter how many times I get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and flush the toilet, Danny, Katy and Derby continue to snore and never wake up (you'd think they'd hear something).
2. Stretch marks appear in places I never thought they could.
3. I have mastered the pregnancy woddle.
4. I need to write a book on how much unwanted advice is given throughout ones pregnancy (specifically from people in grocery stores or at the mall that I do not know).
5. That men actually do make comments about your stomach size, and I don't always know if they think about what they are saying before they say it.
6. All the aches and pains that come towards the end of a pregnancy which are just not comfortable (I'm not complaining as I feel I am one of the lucky women who is just now experiencing back pain at 38 weeks).
7. How truly excited I get when I hear the baby's heartbeat.
8. How bad the internal exams really do hurt.
9.  That no one (not even other pregnant women) can tell you what an actual contraction feels like.  They always respond by saying, "You'll just KNOW!"  Well I don't know, please tell me!
10. I hate constipation, I repeat I HATE CONSTIPATION.
11. Soaking in the tub feels better than ever now.
12. People at work are overly helpful once you get to your third trimester.
13. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me in the last two weeks, "WOW you are still here," Danny and I would be millionaires...sorry Danny I should have made that a rule.
14. The first 20 weeks of the pregnancy were very difficult, where I worried everyday because I could not feel anything, and wasn't sure if the baby even had a heartbeat (I think every new mom goes through this).
15. Weeks 20-30 went by so slow.
16. Weeks 30- now, have FLOWN by.
17. How much stuff does a new baby really need (apparently ALOT).
18. Danny and I have actually saved quite a bit of $$ because we aren't finding out the gender....if I knew I was having a girl, there would surely be a closet full of cute dresses.
19. This child consumes my every waking thought.
20. I love the website www.babycenter.com it gets me through alot of my questions
21. Every Wednesday I get an update from babycenter.com that tells me what the baby is currently doing, and sometimes I cheat by going to the website and reading what the baby will be doing next week, I get so excited I can't contain myself.
22. It's very hard for the men in our lives to understand what our body is going through...they don't feel the baby kicking and it weirds them out if they see our stomach moving in odd directions (atleast Danny felt this way).
23. That our child could find a comfortable spot sitting on my bladder, and make me feel like I constantly have to pee for 24 hours...that's been an interesting one.
24. What nesting really is......my boss thinks I'm nesting right now because I'm preparing my work binder so when I'm gone for 3 months he'll know how to do my job!
25. Sometimes you need a little caffeine in your life even though they tell you it's not good for the baby.
26. The house will never be totally spotless like I want it to be before the baby is born.
27. People ask all the time if our dogs have any clue....I really don't think they do. Danny points to my belly and asks our dogs whats in mommy's tummy, and I think they think I'm hiding a treat in there!
28. I work with a lot of men at Nissan (believe it or not) and the stories they tell me about their wives' pregnancies are HORRIBLE....I'm wondering if that's the real story or if they are just trying to scare me.
29. You can talk yourself into having any kind of complication with your pregnancy if you just Google what you are feeling.
30. How quickly the BAD smells take over your body in that first trimester, and then how quickly they leave.
31. How disgusting meat smelled during my first trimester, but now it doesn't bother me at all...it's like nothing ever happened.
32. Once you are pregnant how many other women you notice are pregnant too!

33. How much I have truly loved being pregnant!
34. The miracle of life is truly amazing, and I am in constant shock that a child is forming inside of me, and will be breathing on his/her own in less than two weeks.
35. How much my love for Danny has grown
36. How much I love that Danny doesn't let me lift ANYTHING heavy (or not so heavy).
37. How excited grandparents can get about the arrival of their future grandchild - which I love.
38. How much I really like my elastic waist banded jeans (which I never thought I would say).
39. How I can't wait to hold this baby in my arms.
40. How I can't wait to watch Danny change his first diaper and hold our baby in his arms.
41. How easy it truly has been to not know if our child is a boy/girl

OK this list is REALLY long, and I only intended for the list to hit #20...obviously I've figured alot more than I initially thought I did!

As of Wednesday I was 38 weeks pregnant (Danny took a picture this morning which I will post over the weekend).  I met with the doctor on Thursday and everything was still moving in the right direction. 1/2CM dilated and the babies heart beat was 120-130.  There will be no inducing before Nov 18th, and she seemed to think the baby was pretty comfortable in my stomach and didn't want to budge before then, which I'm perfectly fine with.  This weekend is supposed to be in the Mid 70's so Danny and I can enjoy one last weekend before our little one arrives! 

I'll keep everyone posted on the blog if anything happens between now and Nov 18th! 

Finally Full Term

I never thought this day would come.....as of today Baby K is considered Full Term! What a relief! I have anxiously been awaiting this week...secretly....knowing that if I hit 37 weeks and Baby K was still in my stomach everything would be properly working for this child to live outside of my stomach! YEAH!!! I did have my weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday and everything checked out perfect! Baby K's heart beat was 145-148 BPM, my stomach was measuring 37 weeks which is right on track as well!

Last night was a very interesting night though....atleast for Baby K! I was laying on the couch, me on one end Danny on the other....it's hard now to squeeze both of us on one side.....my stomach just doesn't allow the cuddling that it used to. Anyways....I was feeling ALOT of movement from the baby, so I lifted my shirt up and sure enough I had a foot in my left rib, and a rear-end in my right rib....and Danny could see it all...he said your stomach looks DEFORMED :) That's because it was....this child really likes kicking my ribs...not that I mind, because I love feeling the baby move around in my stomach.

I did get the official word from the doctor on Tuesday that if anything weird happens I need to go STRAIGHT to the hospital, it's normally call the office and we'll decide what you need to do, but I think I'm at the point where anything can happen now.
We put the car seat in the Pathfinder on Sunday and that was an interesting task! Our neighbors got a good kick out of both Danny and I trying to do this. They sure don't make baby equipment easy for parents to put together now a days!

37 Weeks - taken this morning

Happy Belated Birthday Danny

I completely forgot to post a Happy 29th Birthday to my wonderful husband Danny!!!

So here's a little treat for everyone who needed a little "Danny" in their life! I love you!!

Danny at San Marco Square in Venice, Italy..during our honeymoon- trying to feed the birds, and a little scared of the birds if you can't tell!

The plane ride on the way to our honeymoon! We were exhausted from all the FUN wedding activities!

More Shower pictures!

Bretta, Anne (Shelley's mom), Shelley, Megan and Sue (Danny's mom)

Sue (Danny's mom), Helen (Danny's grandma - Sue's mom) and Megan

The diaper cake and amazing Eatable cake made by Shelley and her adorable mom! Plus all the yummy food! Thank you Shelley!!!