And So It Goes

We are still feeling our way through our new status as a family of four. We all had some great accomplishments this month.
I am proud to announce that I managed a solo trip to Boston with both girls all in one day. We got to meet the baby Mason and have a much needed visit with Morgan and Courtney. The trip was a huge success and so fun, I'm hoping to make it a more regular occurrence.

Paisley treated us to her first smiles and they are totally infectious. She will be sitting so nicely by herself and you sit down in front of her and she greets you with a huge smile that fills her whole face. It's been great for Harper to be able to receive her smiles and play little games in hopes of being rewarded with a smile.

Harper is becoming such a little lady. She now asks for privacy when she goes to the bathroom (#2) and is determined to help with anything and everything. We've done a lot of cooking and baking lately which she loves and "projects" of any kind get her very excited. After the fun of Halloween I cannot wait to experience this Christmas with her. It's going to be amazing.

The novelty of Paisley has not yet been lost on Harper. She still asks to hold her, helps with diapers and returns a lost bink to P's mouth when necessary. My goal this month is to go out on a couple of Mommy/Harper solo outings. I think it's important and no one is as afraid of being alone with Paisley like they were when Harper was her age. I'm looking forward to some spa treatments this week that would have been a major challenge with H. Paisley is still a very relaxed and easy going baby.

Paisley had her 2 month check up. She's growing so well! 10 lbs 12 oz and 23" long. She also had her first vaccinations which left her a little out of sorts but she's mending quickly.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving. Will traveled to West Virginia for his annual hunting trip and Nancy & David were visiting my parents so I was on my own with the girls for a couple days. We all survived but I was happy when we went to my parents house for some extra hands. I have a much better appreciation for my single mom friends now. They are AMAZING!

We have so much to be thankful this holiday season.

Princess P in her favorite chair

Harper reading a book

Me and my girls

A Family of Four

What a month. It's crazy to think that just over a month ago Paisley was still in my belly and Harper was still an only child. I couldn't have hoped for things to be going better than they are. Harper is such a good big sister. So loving and such a great sharer. She is nothing but affectionate with Paisley and our only hiccups come at night time if she wants her mom and I'm nursing Paisley or trying to get her to sleep. And even then it's pretty minor and easy to navigate.

In so many ways this has been a very eventful month. We've all been fighting coughs and colds which hasn't been much fun and Will had a hockey injury that has put him in physical therapy and out of work for 6 - 8 weeks. He was run into the boards and the pressure all went to his knee. They were concerned at first that he had ACL damage but we were happy to find out it was only MCL and LCL damage which won't require surgery. If it had been ACL he may have had to be out for 6 months. I can't say it hasn't been nice to have him home more and I still haven't had to try to get both girls to bed alone yet so that's been a treat.

Between Paisley and Will's knee our friends have really come through with help and food. People made us meals or came over and brought food. It's been such a major help and we are so grateful. My new baby gift of choice is going to be food for the family. We are just now starting to get a handle on things and prepare meals and clean up and get to the grocery store.

We enjoyed a visit from Leah, Theo and Ana. It's always good to see them and never long enough. I keep hoping they'll sell their house and move MUCH closer ;)

We also had a great visit with Aunt Sharon. We were lucky enough that she had a ticket to use and decided to come out and meet Paisley and spoil Harper. She visited from a Friday until a Tuesday so it was a wonderfully long visit and we had a great time. Paisley loved to snuggle with her which was a huge help and she even let Harper do her hair. Everyone had a blast.

Paisley's first Halloween was also the first one that Harper really enjoyed and understood. Paisley was a lion and Harper was a tiger. I made Harper's costume so she spent a couple days watching me paint the stripes on her costume and had to use all her will power not to touch the paint. She was so sweet and excited. It was a lot of fun. She asked to be a tiger. She loves animals but has been especially interested since we went to the Chicago Zoo this summer and she got to see them for herself and not in books. We spent Halloween with Will's parents and sister and went to the party at the fire station. I think it's going to be Halloween again this weekend so the girls can wear their costumes for my parents.

Paisley had her one month check up. She is doing great. She's 9 lbs 6 oz now and 22 3/4" long. She is smiling now and Harper gets the majority of the smiles. It's so sweet.

Harper is at such a fun age. She is so into playing with her dolls and loves them each so much. We dress them often and play "slumber party" with them. I think she learned the phrase when we told her she was going to have a slumber party with Pat & Steph when we went to the hospital to have Paisley. It's become a favorite game. And just the other day she introduced us to her first imaginary friend. It's Sally from the Cat in the Hat and she lives inside and empty plastic gerber baby food container. Sally has a tendency to jump out of her "box" and we have to chase her and get her back in. This game has proved extremely successful when trying to navigate through a store with a 2 year old. Sally has been around for a couple days so it will be interesting to see if she becomes a permanent part of our days. This morning I had to change her diaper and get her dressed before I could get Harper dressed.

Being a family of four has been wonderful so far. Harper bought Paisley her first Christmas present that we tucked away in the closet. I am so looking forward to the holiday season and celebrating with our little family.

Below are some photos from the month. Enjoy.

Papa helped H climb a tree

Sisters

H reading Peekaboo Zoo to P

Paisley's second favorite spot...other than our arms.

Welcome to the world Paisley Bryce!

We are all so excited and happy to announce the arrival of Paisley Bryce Rancourt!

Paisley arrived on October 1st at 9:12 pm

8 lbs 1 oz ~ 21 inches long

I was so sure that this pregnancy would end closer to the anticipated due date but sure enough...Paisley waited until she was 3 days late to make her appearance. I guess I should be thankful she wasn't 7 days late like her sister. October 1st was a Friday and although the day started out like any other Friday I felt a little off all day. All day I was having mild contractions and after Harper's morning school Steph & I drove to the hospital to do laps around the halls. It had been raining for several days and we needed an indoor place to walk and I was hoping my contractions would stick and increase. It could have been that or the spicy buffalo wings Will and I had the day before but I went into labor Friday night. Luckily I thought my water had broken at 5 pm so we went in around 7 pm. My water hadn't actually broken and if we had known that we would have waited to go in and not have had Pat & Steph come and watch Harper when they did. When we arrived at the hospital they checked and I was 5 cm dilated. They admitted me and started me on my group b strep IV and told us to go walk around the birthing floor and once the IV was done we could go walk around the hospital grounds. We did a few laps around the birthing floor and my contractions got worse quickly. At 8:54 pm my water officially broke. At 9 pm I began to push. At 9:12 pm Paisley was born.

She is breath taking and we are so blessed to have this newest member of our family. Everyone is in love with her. Harper warms our hearts every day with her kind words and gentle touch for her sister. We couldn't be happier. Below are some of our favorite photos from the whirlwind last few days.

This last belly shot was taken a few hours before Paisley arrived.

Sisters

This one was taken with my camera phone. Not the best quality but I love it.

Paisley's arrival is definitely the most exciting recent event however September was a very fun month. Harper started her first school program. She and I go to school together on Friday's from 9 - 11. It's a Waldorf program that happens in Quechee. Harper loves the atmosphere and the toys. We bake buns for snack every day and she helps knead the dough and shape the buns. We have some projects coming up that I'm excited about and it's a very special program for us to do together.

We also managed one last trip to Maine in September to help celebrate Jaiden's birthday party. It was great to see everyone and very reassuring to stay with Leah, Ryan, Theo and Ana and watch Harper interact with Ana. She was very loving to her and it helped assure me w

hat a great big sister she would be.

Fall is definitely upon us and we are looking forward to soaking up what's left of the foliage and getting settled as a new family of four.

The Home Stretch

Here were are again. Potentially the last photo and post before the arrival of baby Rancourt #2. This photo was taken when I was 36 weeks pregnant. Should history repeat itself there is likely to be another post on October 1st hopefully a few short hours before I go into labor. The good news this time is that if this baby was to wait for October 1st to arrive I would only be 3 days late and not 7 like Harper.
Whenever baby R decides to make their entrance we are ready. We spent the last couple weeks pulling baby items out of storage, washing baby clothes and reorganizing our bedroom to best include a new little person. Seeing all those little clothes definitely makes things really exciting.
August was a busy end of the summer. Soon after we got home from Chicago I had my first night away from Harper and spent a night in Stowe at Top Notch to celebrate Steph's bachelorette party. Harper and Will had a great time together although she did miss me a little at bed time. They rented a movie together (The Princess and the Frog) and the most exciting adventure is that they bought Harper her 1st goldfish. The goldfish was actually a Christmas gift from Auntie Mary and the bowl and rocks she got had been waiting all this time for us to go pick out our slippery new pet. Harper was very excited about her fish and named him Elmo fish. They got him on Monday and by Tuesday his tank was already pretty dirty. We had expected this since we didn't have a filter yet so we read the rules about how to clean the tank and followed them as best we could. When I woke up on Wednesday morning Elmo fish was no longer with us. Unsure what to do I let Harper feed him breakfast and then hurried her off to the park for some outdoor distraction. We stayed outside and downstairs much of the day until Will arrived home and took care of Elmo fish. We explained to H that he had gotten sick and that was that. We talked about getting a replacement but haven't yet...one of these days. I think we'll go for a beta fish the next time.
The most exciting event in August was Pat & Steph's wedding. Their wedding was in Quechee so it was nice and close to home. Will was the best man, I was a bridesmaid and Harper was a flower girl. The wedding was a lot of fun and Harper played her part very well. We planned to spend the night with friends who live in Quechee so I was able to bring Harper to their house at 9pm to go to bed and I was back at the wedding by 9:30 and Harper was fast asleep for the night. It worked out really well.
Below are a couple photos taken of Harper during the wedding festivities.

Harper at the rehearsal

Little flower girl

A month of vacations

Here are Harper and I in Chicago for our monthly photos. Harper is 2 1/2 (36 months old) and I am 32 weeks pregnant. We were on our way to the zoo. If you want to compare this belly with my 32 week belly with Harper click here. I'm pretty sure I'm about the same size but it's a tough comparison because of the wool sweater in the December photo carrying Harper. Maybe a little bigger this time around.
We decided July would be the perfect month to take all of our vacations. Will, Harper and I took a trip to an island near Portland with our friends from Lebanon. We had nice weather and everyone on the island travels by golf cart which may have been Harper's favorite part of all. No car seat and she didn't have to sit in the back, a 2-year-old's dream come true. On our way to Portland we made time to stop at the Adams' so Harper,Theo & Ana (and their parents) could have a little visit. It was much to short but better than no visit at all.
We were back from Maine for a day and my dad, Harper and I headed to Chicago for our yearly visit. This year we decided to drive overnight. It was a challenge for all of us but definitely the best choice for Harper. It's a 15+ hour drive and could have taken 3 days if we tried to do it while Harper was awake. So, once we got to Chicago it took a little while to catch up on sleep but we were up and running the first day. In Lockport Harper had a wonderful visit with Abi. They were super cute playmates this year and Abi was a sweet mother duck. Harper also enjoyed Aunt Sandy and "Grandpa Jim". They have great toys at Aunt Sandy's house and Grandpa Jim helped Harper search for the bunny family that seems to live in the yard. Then we went to Aunt Sharon's house and filled our days with trips to Navy Pier, the American Girl doll store, Lincoln Park Zoo, The Museum of Science and Industry, our annual family picnic and a trip to the beach in Michigan. Harper and Owen had a great time together and she also really enjoyed the "big" girls, Ailee, Alyssa, Sydney, Amber & Hailey, as well as her older cousin Cassidy. Harper took quickly to everyone despite not seeing them since last year. She had a wonderful time but missed her daddy very much.
In other news before our vacations my dad came over and painted Harper's room. Only a year after moving into our house Harper finally has a big girl bed and some exciting paint on the wall. She even helped which was great fun for her. Will finished the trim while we were in Chicago and now all we have to do is hang a few things and decide exactly where we want her furniture to go. Will did some other home improvement projects while we were gone. Lots of big steps to get us ready for the arrival of baby r #2.
For those of you who still haven't guessed Leah set up a baby pool for baby r's gender and arrival date etc. You can join the fun here: http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyRancourt2
Below are some of my favorite pictures from the month and you can see the rest of July's pictures here!


Harper paints her room!




The finished colors. Good work Harper.



Our little family of three in Maine.



Harper at Navy Pier



Feeling close to home with a little cow visit at the Museum of Science and Industry




Owen and Harper in October 2008 (10 & 8 months old) at Lincoln Park Zoo and again in 2010 (2 years)

Bring on the beach!

June arrived with a fury of warm weather. We started this beautiful month out with a trip to Cape Cod with the McClellands. We went with the pretense of being "babysitters" while the adults of the family went to a wedding but we ended up having a beautiful weekend away in a gorgeous house with lots of fabulous company. We'll be their "babysitters" anytime. Harper, Alex and Kyler enjoyed a trip to the beach and with some help from Pop-pop (A&K's grandpa) they worked on a sandcastle. We ended the month with a trip to Maine to visit Nancy & David in their new house. We had more lovely weather and got to take another visit to the ocean. Neither of these visits involved any laying in the sand for me (with a hole dug for my rapidly growing belly) but we are looking forward to a few more beach trips in July.
June also brought the celebrations of my birthday and father's day. Harper has developed a real love for birthdays and it's a love that goes even deeper than cake. For days she was saying "Happy Birthday Mommy" and now we regularly play a game where we sing happy birthday to any member of our family, two and four legged or to an object or body part of Harper's desire. Than we blow out the candles. She really enjoys it. She and Will also made me pancakes on my birthday which was very exciting. She loves to help and that was great fun for her. Father's day wasn't quite as exciting...although she did make her first greeting cards which was a fun project.
In super big news this month Harper is now potty trained. This was a task that I had been dreading and avoiding. I thought for sure it meant we wouldn't be able to leave the house for months. Perhaps due to my delay after Harper showed all the signs of being ready the potty training took about two days. Not to mention that she is already dry most mornings and more than willing to wipe and wash her hands every time. We are thrilled. Now the only trouble we run into is the occasionally filthy public restroom but since it's summer we're having a lot more bath's which helps me feel better about it. Now if I could just find underpants that don't need a safety pin to hold them up.
Today we took Harper to the doctor with us. She was a little restless but soooo excited to "see" the baby although we kept correcting her that we were going to "hear" the baby's heartbeat. She did enjoy the visit although I don't think hearing a heartbeat made much sense to her. So she kissed my belly and she and daddy went for a walk.
We are excited that our indoor activities have moved outdoors. Harper loves to "garden" (something she learned from Papa, not us) and loves watering plants and digging. We have a big event every weekend from now until the last weekend in August so we are keeping busy and enjoying every minute of the summer. Here are a few of our favorite photos from June.

Best friends at the beach

Harper at the Montshire Museum water park

Side by side comparison: 28 weeks with Harper and 28 weeks with Baby R #2
I can't believe I was wearing heels in the first photo. That's different for sure.

Just another beautiful day in May!

May was a busy and beautiful month. We had gorgeous weather which prompted us to set up the sand box, slide and baby pool in the yard. We also bought adirondack chairs for the yard and had a family project of painting them. It was quite fun. I would have tried for a picture but surely would have ended up with paint on my lens.

We have already enjoyed several bbq's to mark the start of the summer season.

Harper has had another word boom. She's got what feels like a ton more words and she's using them in sentences beautifully. It's become very rare that she has difficulty getting her point across. She's also becoming more comfortable sharing her words in public. Her 2's are creeping out a little more as she demands to do things herself and has a strong preference to strawberries with the top on or off...it varies by day.

Other than these minor speed bumps we are loving this age with Harper. She is so fun, energetic and interested in everything. My parents got me planters for our front steps for my birthday and Harper helped us put all the plants in. She is a terrific helper. Have I mentioned that Harper is the proud owner of a tricycle? She loves it, especially her helmet and the bell. When my dad watches her it's their main form of transportation as it came complete with a push bar for him. I'll try to get a picture for next month.

As for baby #2 he or she is coming right along. I am enjoying lots of little kicks and nudges throughout the day. Definitely my favorite part of being pregnant. Harper has even gotten to feel the baby move. She loves to kiss my belly and say hi to the baby. Luckily a few of our friends recently had babies so I think that makes it a little easier to understand.

Harper's friend Jackson recently welcomed a brand new baby sister, Emerson, to their exclusive little group. We worked hard this month to get a picture of them all together and looking happy. Enjoy that picture below as well as a few of our other favorites from this month:

Harper, Stella, Sara (Stella's Mom), Emerson & Jackson

Hot outfit while hanging with our dog friend Basco

Baby R #2 at 23 Weeks.

April showers and an awful lot of sunshine

As is often the case during these pre-summer months we found ourselves relishing in delicious 70 and even 80 degree weather. Breaking out the tanks and skirts only to be horrified by rain and cold the following day that necessitates turning on the heat. Needless to say April was filled with glorious indoor and outdoor excursions.
We have already launched back into daily walks to any of the three parks near our house. Bella has been especially appreciative of this as winter walks are not nearly as long or enjoyable for any of us. (Bella is a Mississippi dog by blood and doesn't like the cold.) Papa and I took Harper on a very exciting trip to the Boston Children's Museum to see the Curious George exhibit. She loved it...and the whole museum for that matter. It was a very fun and very long day.
On the days we could explore outside Harper has taken to picking dandelions (my personal game to encourage weeding) throwing pine cones, plowing dirt with her matchbox tractor plow and chasing Bella and Blue around the yard. On they days that were not as nice we busied ourselves with the usual inside activities and one day Harper got to make her very own piggy bank. She painted it all by herself and after a brief bake in the oven it was ready to receive loose change. Bringing home change (mostly found on the floor of my car) has been very exciting for Harper. Save your pennies folks!
Other than that we enjoyed another visit with the Adam's Family. Harper and Theo really enjoy each other's company and Harper is totally in love with Ana. She loves to look at her and try to hold her. We also had a couple visits with Alex and Kyler. If we go more than a couple weeks without seeing them Harper starts asking for them on an hourly basis. Other than that not much is new. We have a new photo of baby #2 to share. This week we are 20 weeks along and baby #2 is the length of a banana and weighs about 10 oz. Harper now says she loves the baby and gives it kisses. She has also gotten to feel a kick. I can't imagine what she makes of it all but she seems pretty excited.
Here are some of our favorite photos from the past month and a video.

Loving George

Chasing pigeons after the museum

Learning to garden with Papa

Feeding the piggy bank

Baby Rancourt 18 weeks

19 weeks

Our little lady

Look at that little girl all dressed up for Easter. Where did my tiny baby go? I was recently complaining that with a new baby on the way we had to get Harper to sleep in her own bed till morning rather than coming in with us at 5:30 or 6:30 and sleeping another hour or two. Will kindly reminded me that we should be enjoying that hour of snuggle time as it won't happen forever. And thanks to him I have been. It's not easy but so worth it to appreicate things as they come and enjoy them while they last.
March was a great month. We had a visit with Theo and met baby Ana for the first time. Harper loved her and was very nurturing. I helped her hold her twice but no one else was near to take a photo otherwise I would have shared one. When we got home she named one of her dolls baby Ana. Harper enjoyed several play dates with the McClellands (and by play date I mean Dana watched Harper and I paid her in bunny crackers and strawberries for snack time...she keeps saying she'll collect on babysitting from us but it hasn't happened yet.) Alex and Kyler are always Harper's first guess (hope) when I say "guess where we're going today." It's my goal to have some actual play dates with them this month. She has the best time.
We have been super lucky to have some unseasonably warm weather these last few days. We've been making trips to the park and playing in the yard.
We just celebrated Easter with a day that included a visit from the Easter bunny in the morning and then brunch at Ashley & Jarrod's and more Easter goodies for Harper. Then at Nonie & Papa's we had an easter egg hunt that was a big success. It was so nice out that Harper hunted for eggs in the nude. It was glorious. Here are a couple of my favorite Easter photos & the latest belly shot:

The Easter bunny was very good to Harper

On an egg hunt!

15 week photo of baby #2's growing bump

Oh boy....or girl????

Miss Harper is 25 months old and a perfectly fabulous 2 year old. We feel very lucky that she will often share with us a bite of snack or offer us to play with her favorite doll however she very often says "mines" even if the thing she is referring to is the necklace I'm wearing or the food on my plate. She also loves to help with everything. And we've learned that the more we let her help the happier she is and the less tantrums she has. So far so good with the 2's.
My dad was away in Thailand for 3 weeks and since he's returned he's noticed how she seems much more grown up and how many more words she has and how much better her sentences and speech are. It's funny how you don't notice changes as much when they are happening right before your eyes. Harper now counts to 16 and can count actual things which is pretty cool. She also has her colors down and knows what pretty much any animal you can think of says. She and Will often play the animal game where he says an animal or makes an animal sound and she gives the noise or animal depending. They even do turtle which is a funny turtle face. I'll try to get a picture of it for next time.
February (and now half of March) has been great. We are seeing the snow melt before our eyes and the sun is shining again. It definitely feels like spring which was just what the doctor ordered. We got the slide set back up in the yard and Bella has been getting a lot more walks. We've even been able to go to the playground which was surprisingly not terribly muddy. Yet.
In other big news this month, Will and I are very excited to announce that Harper is going to be a big sister. We are due with baby rancourt #2 around September 28th. We are now 12 weeks along. Below is a photo of me at 10 weeks and then Baby R #2's first official photo, taken today.

10 weeks and counting.

We are so excited about this new little person who will be joining our family!