Settling in

It's been an interesting few weeks, getting settled in with baby Harper. Fortunately, the grandmas (and grandpas) came to the rescue. Here's Meme, helping out with Harper:



And Baba came to visit as well!



Ida Jane has been such a good big sister. She's ready to go to work to help Harper.



As a reward for being such a trooper, Ida Jane got a daddy-daughter trip to the new Nats stadium. Here she is waiting out a brief rain delay before the game gets started:



And Harper enjoys all the extra time she can get with her Mama.

Home from the hospital

Mom and Harper came home from the hospital on Friday. It's been quite a different experience this time around, as I'm sure you all can imagine. For one, Harper stayed with us in the hospital room the whole time. Here she is with her dad.



It was very exciting when Papa and Nana came to visit with her big sister, Ida Jane!



We needed to catch up on some rest after these big visits.



Then, it was home from the hospital, with mom!



Here's the first of many pictures of the girls playing at home.



Much, much more to come.

Welcome Harper Ellen!

Harper Ellen arrived yesterday, March 25, at 9:00 PM. She weighs 7 pounds 2 ounces, and is 20 inches long. Mom and baby are both fine. Ida Jane loves her new sister as well. More pictures will come soon!

March madness

It's getting a bit crazy around here lately. We're still waiting on our new arrival, which is a new situation for us. Amy's been taken off of strict rest, but she's not planning on running any marathons in the near future. Ida Jane is getting excited about the arrival of her new sister. We've got the new crib set up, and more and more "baby" things are popping up around the house, including a swing, a baby carseat, a bassinet, and lots of strangely small clothes.

Ida Jane's new favorite book is about being a big sister. Here she is, reading that very tome by herself on the couch:



She's also got her reliable animal friends, like Herman, who are always ready to play with her.




And the weather's recently gotten nice. Here she is, enjoying some time in the front yard with Dada:



Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but between getting the house prepared for a new baby and chasing down the big girl we've got, there's not much time for anything else. I'm sure once the new baby arrives there will be plenty of free time again. Ha!

Democracy girl

Ida Jane has had an eventful few days, with the Chesapeake Primary rolling into town. Her and dada went to a brunch on Sunday, where she joined other kids holding up signs for her candidate of choice:



She also had the opportunity to meet a couple of high-powered folks. Here she is with Rep. Chris Van Hollen, our representative from Maryland and chair of the DCCC.



And here we are with Senator Ted Kennedy.



But her favorite part of the political process was, without a doubt, the cupcake she got at the PTA bakesale after we voted today. Check out her "I voted" sticker, and her "I ate it" mustache.

A visit from Meme

Ida Jane had a great time this week with her Meme! She got to ride piggyback (while holding onto her lunchbox, of course).



It was fun having Meme and Mama around all day. Little Walnut must have enjoyed all of the singing and laughing:



Even our friend Sophia from next door came over to play along!



And, of course, there was dancing.



Someone really played hard this week!

A week with Nana

This past week the Doctors asked Amy to begin a stricter rest. No driving, no looking after Ida Jane by herself, and pretty much nothing else, either. Looking after Walnut is her full-time job now. Nana came from Berkey to help this past week, and Ida Jane had a blast.

One favorite toy that Ida Jane and Nana played with was "Lala", aka the Merry-go-round she got two Christmases ago from her Great-Granddad and Great-Grandmama Zoll. Here she brings her dolly Kiko to watch the horses spin around, and wants to make sure Mama, who's taking the picture, is watching the horses closely!



Ida Jane loves giving out hugs and kisses, and Nana received quite a few.



Nana was also good for lounging, napping, and catching up on her reading.



We always like to have fun, too. Here's a video of Ida Jane cutting a rug to an Italian version of "Old MacDonald." With bonus terrible Dada Italian!