All I Want For Christmas Is...

Two beautiful daughters and a wonderful husband to share it all with.
With so much to be thankful this year it was truly hard to imagine asking for anything for ourselves. (We managed of course...you've all met me) but the majority of the focus this year was definitely on our girls, especially Harper who really understood Christmas this year. From picking out our tree to helping decorate, shop for and then wrap gifts to the tears she shed when it was time to take the tree down this holiday season was really magical.
Life can easily become a race to the finish line, racing to get out the door, to get home before nap, to get the kids to bed and get work done etc. Among other things, like using my reusable coffee cup regularly, I resolve this year to slow down and enjoy every moment of this time with our family.
The other night as I laid with Harper while she fell asleep she said "Mommy, I grow up I can be like you." And while my heart warmed with love for this amazing little person I also felt a little bit of sadness. I don't want her to wish to be bigger than she is for even a moment. And while I can't tell her not to wish to be big I can slow us down and let her enjoy being little as long as possible.

We rang in the New Year with the Adams family. Our visits are louder now with four little people running around but there's a feeling of deja vu as we stop and watch Ana crawl around and pull herself up on furniture or see Paisley laying in the baby gym that both Ana, Harper & Theo laid in before her. I can only imagine how much they will all change in the coming year and how their little relationships grow.
This year we started a new tradition with Pat & Steph of picking out our Christmas trees together. Due to construction to their living room our first trip was for the Rancourt tree but a couple weeks later they got a tree and we all went over to decorate it. It was fun to get to decorate trees twice this year.
Dana and I gave our kids a Christmas gift of a full day play date together. They had so much fun as always we're going to try and do it again very soon!
The end of January brings us the start of Will's paramedic school which will be very exciting and stressful for all of us. Definitely a challenge for Will but something he is excited about and will enjoy.
For me things are changing with work. We are announcing that Sprout will be closing it's doors very shortly. I'm trying to enjoy my final shifts as much as possible. It is rather bittersweet to say goodbye. I started working there 3 months after Harper was born now, 3 months after Paisley's birth the store is closing. I really loved my work at Sprout and the people I work with, but perhaps it's time for a change and I look forward to whatever is next.
With news of the girls, Paisley is now rolling over and cooing. She can grasp a toy and put it in her mouth and she's very close to rolling over from back to front. All so exciting! Harper brings more joy and laughter to us everyday. Her imagination is so huge and she's so creative. She loves doll play and she is still really enjoying our Friday school program. She has so much love for her little sister I so enjoy watching their relationship develop.
With all the excitement of the holidays there were a ton of photos this month. Please enjoy this rather large selection of my favorites:

Winter festival at Harper's school - making gingerbread people ornaments

Ericson/Rancourt 1st Annual Tree Chopping (next year we'll get a picture of all of us)

"Wait...how did you know I have a big sister?"

I think we may need a bigger bed

Playing tutu's with Harper. We "flew" around the house. She really wanted me to wear a tutu but it wouldn't fit around my waist (no judging) so this was our compromise.

Princess P

All dressed up for a holiday party at our friend's Matt, Sara & Stella's.

Beautiful Harper & her never been cut hair

I think H is showing P the ropes. They are holding hands.

At Ashley, Jarrod & Emily's inside the box of one of her favorite Christmas presents.

Testing out her new crib and staring at the mobile. I think she likes it

Daddy's girl

Snow day! And yes, that's Jess shoveling my walkway. I love her...and not just because she shoveled us out!

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.