Wow, it's been awhile since my last post. I'm working from home today due to snow AGAIN. It sure has been a crazy winter...for Richmond at least, although it doesn't really compare to MN winters :)

The main reason for my lack of posting is the fact that I have been too darn tired to do much of anything lately, thanks to the little one below :) Baby Sheehan is due at the beginning of September (I'll be 11 weeks on Friday) and we are all very excited. Harper likes to point at my stomach and give it kisses, although I think we may have confused her because now she lifts up her shirt and points at her tummy and says "baby, baby!!"

Here's a video we took a couple weeks ago of Harper dancing. Earlier that day she had a fever of 104.6...this was after the Tylonel kicked in...she couldn't be slowed down for long!

Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe Christmas is only two days away!  We're packed and ready to leave for Wisconsin tomorrow morning.  I'm taking Harper to see Santa Claus this afternoon.  I suspect that she will not enjoy it, but we'll see.  Last weekend we had a pretty good snowstorm so it actually looks like Christmas here for a change, but it seems to be melting fast.  Harper was pretty excited when we took her out to play, and she built a snowman at Debbie's on Monday.  We opened presents at our house on Sunday since we will be gone on Christmas.  Her favorite thing was the packing paper that came in the Sephora box...imagine that.  Here are some pics from the last few weeks...happy holidays to everyone!

Picking out a tree at the tree farm

Fun in the snow!

Notice Harper's dining companion at her table...she drags Santa over and likes to "feed" him

Welcome Baby Kade!

Kade Michael Ackley entered this world on 11.15.09, weighing in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. We are so excited for my sister Chandra and her husband Kevin. He is such a cutie!! We can't wait to meet him in person-Harper and I fly out on Thanksgiving for a quick trip to Ohio. Unfortunately Pat has to work so he's staying home :( We will miss him and I am not looking forward to flying with Harper alone...she is super antsy and he does a better job of entertaining her. It will be a lot of fun though, and I am very excited to meet Kade and see the rest of my family!

Week 2 of swimming lessons was much better...far less singing, which made me happy at least. Her favorite part was when they had to lay on their backs and hold onto a barbell-floaty device. She seemed to think the things on the ends of it looked like balls, and she kept LOUDLY yelling "ball, ball, BALL!!!!" for pretty much the whole second half of the class. When we got home we discovered a chewed-up bottle of extra strength Tylenol on the couch in the dog room, sitting next to a very guilty-looking Weimaraner (he got into Pat's work backpack). I made Pat take Leroy to the emergency vet, and luckily they confirmed that there was no trace of the drug in his blood...$280 later. We are happy he is ok, but he has been getting into everything lately!

I uploaded the rest of the birthday pics to shutterfly ( http://www.sheehan1.shutterfly.com )... Nikki did a great job, I hope you enjoy them!

We started parent/child swim at the YMCA last weekend. I expected her to love it since she loved going to the beach this summer, but she was a little unsure of the whole thing at first. She was fine getting into the water, but when everyone got in a circle and started singing she just scowled and glared at them and clung to me as tight as she could. The instructor even commented that she has quite an intense stare! I can't say I blame her; group sing-alongs aren't really my thing either. By the end she warmed up and was having a great time,so we'll see how next week goes.


Ready for swimming lessons!

Harper as Tigger at daycare...Debbie took her trick-or-treating at Bass Pro Shop

Harper as Raggedy Ann on Halloween...Pat had to work, so we visited him at the fire station

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Harper! It's hard to believe it's been a year already. We had her birthday party yesterday...I didn't take many pictures, but my friend Nikki got tons of great ones, I will be sure to post when they are done (check out her website here) Pat's mom Gloria flew in from Wisconsin and she was a HUGE help with the party prep, and she also made the cakes (chocolate zucchini cakes w/ whipped cream icing, shaped as pumpkins). We carved pumpkins and opened presents and she was one exhausted little girl by the end of the day.

Cake=YUM!!

Birthday Girl! Just woke up from a nap, and still in a daze.


Kissy face at Maymont Park

More pics at shutterfly

I guess I haven't been very good about posting updates lately...things have been busy as usual here. Today was Harper's first day with her new childcare provider. Her favorite teacher, Debbie, left the center to care for kids out of her home, and we followed. We were happy with her center, but the main reason we liked it so much was Debbie, so we think this will be better for all of us. She's currently taking care of Harper, 2 3-month old twin girls, and their nine year old sister, plus her (almost) four year old daughter Zoe. Harper seems excited to have a new house to explore and new toys to play with. I was worried about the change, but we made it through today and I think tomorrow will be easier for me.

Harper is learning new things every day. She acts very proud when she does the "more" and "milk" signs and is understood. She says dog, ball, mama, dada, hi, bye-bye (ba-ba), duck...she also tries to imitate lots of other words, we should probaby start watching what we say around her! She loves to give hugs-even when she is across the room and I ask her for a hug she'll run over to me to give me a hug. She loves to lay her head on Leroy and Baxter and gives them hugs too :) She is really quite sweet, I guess she takes after her mom (HA!). Pat is busy with work and bought a bicycle a month or so ago. He participated in a 50-mile race a couple of weeks ago and finished in the top group. The patio is FINALLY useable, even though it's not done yet. He had the concrete poured last week and will start on the brick columns and railings next. I can't wait for it to be finished, it seems like it's been under construction forever! It looks great though, and he has been working really hard on it.

Here's a video we took a couple of weeks ago of our giggle monster :)

Bathtime fun!

On the Go!

Here's a video of Harper walking...she is sure a busy girl. She had her 9-month checkup last week, and things are looking great. She weighs 19 lbs (50th percentile) and is 28.5" (75%). The pediatrician said to read ahead in the baby books because developmentally she's at 12 months...things are changing so fast! The beach pictures are from last weekend, at Yorktown beach. Harper LOVES the water and sand, though she found walking in the sand to be a bit tricky!

Mmmm...lemons!

At Bottom's Up with the Kings, with a banged-up forehead due to a faceplant on a brick patio

With Grandma and Grandpa after brunch at Millie's

We've had quite a big development since the last update...Harper is now walking! She started taking steps a couple of weeks ago, right at 9 months old, around the time Grandma and Grandpa Heitman were ending their visit in Richmond. Now she toddles around quite well. I'll try to get a video posted soon. In other news, Pat's wrist is healing well and he expects to be back to work at the fire dept. next Friday. It's been great having him home every night and Harper and I will miss him, but I think he's ready to go back.

Trip Pics!

8 Month Pictures

We had Harper's pictures taken at Haney's photography when we were back in MN. Check them out at http://www.haneysphotography.com, click on "online galleries" and enter the password HARPERMYA (all caps). They turned out so great that we're having a hard time deciding on our favorites!

We had a great, busy trip to MN/WI, but I forgot my camera at Pat's parents in Hayward so I don't have any trip pictures to post yet. Not much new to report...Harper had a virus that caused a fever and rash last week, but she seems to be fully recovered. Still no teeth! I'll post some trip pics soon, when I get my camera back.

Crawling!

Last week was pretty eventful- on Monday Harper started pulling up on everything, and on Wednesday she started crawling. Apparently things were so exciting for her that she wanted to practice her new skills instead of sleeping. Luckily her sleep is back on track, and everything else is going great. We bought our tickets for our trip back to MN/WI...we'll be there from June 25-July 5. We can't wait to see everyone!! Here are a couple of pictures from last weekend (at Maymont) and a video of Harper crawling.

Wow, the past few weeks have flown by. Harper went on her first boat ride Memorial Day weekend. She hated wearing her life jacket but fell asleep the second the boat started moving. She had lots of fun playing in the sand. Last weekend Rick and Gloria came to stay with Harper while Pat and I spent the weekend at Massanutten Resort (about two hours from Richmond)...our first weekend away since Harper was born! We had a great time but missed her tons. They said Leroy was her "protector" while we were away- he wouldn't leave her side! We're looking forward to our trip back to MN & WI at the end of the month. We had planned on flying but are considering driving now. It would be nice to not have to kennel the dogs, and if we fly we would still need to rent a car, although I'd have to take more time off from work if we drove. We'll see. I had to post a video of Harper standing up in her crib for the first time (yesterday). Pat put her down for a nap but she wouldn't go to sleep. When he went upstairs to check on her she was standing up. There was a pretty bad "thud" at the end when she fell, but I edited it out to reduce the file size...it's much happier this way anyhow!

Harper had her 6 month checkup today. She weighs 17 lbs and is 26.5" tall, which puts her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. She wasn't happy about having to get 5 shots, but she was fine as soon as it was over. She goes back for her 9 month visit in August. Not much else to report-she's doing great. The doctor thinks she'll be an early walker. She's not quite crawling yet, but she gets up in the crawling position and rocks back and forth and then hurls herself forward. She is completely fascinated by the dogs and thinks it's hilarious when they bark. We really have to watch her though, she loves to grab at their faces and today I caught her with her fingers in Leroy's eye. Luckily they're good sports about it and love to give her "kisses".

Here are a couple of pictures from Mother's Day...the weather was perfect and we had a great day relaxing outside.

Harper was thrilled to have Grandma Glo and Grandpa Rick visit this past week. She was a busy girl, helping Glo with the gardening, going for walks to the park, shopping in Williamsburg, eating out, and napping in Grandpa's arms. It was a beautiful weekend...we spent lots of time outside enjoying the nice weather and watching Pat destroy the yard (what a mess!!!) She was sad to see them go, but excited to see her daycare buddies again!



Dinner at the Lily Pad

Pat's latest project

Driving in a diaper

YUM!

Here's a picture and video of Harper enjoying some rice cereal for the first time. She loves to hold the spoon and tries to feed herself. She's tried avocado, rice cereal and banana...she makes some pretty funny faces at the bananas!

Happy Easter!

We visited the Eater Bunny at the mall on Friday. Harper didn't pay him much attention, but she loved the lady taking the pictures!

March was a busy month!!

Harper and Uncle Jared on the beach in Florida


Daddy and Harper at the Church Hill Irish Festival

Happy baby!

Monument Avenue 10K