Shortly after Harper was born, my grandfather passed away unexpectedly.
Even though it was pretty sudden, we were lucky enough to make it to the hospital to say a final goodbye. He loved Harper so much, even though he only met her twice. He thought she was beautiful, and without saying it, was a little scared of her. She was tiny and fragile, but regardless, completely beautiful in his eyes.
With his passing, our family had to make some changes.
My grandparents lived on a few acres of land in the same house throughout my entire childhood. I literally could go on for days sharing and reminiscing about all the memories that were made at this house. With my grandmother now living alone, at almost 90 years old and hard of hearing, it became unsafe for her to live there by herself. It was decided to sell the house and the land, and move her to an independent living facility. Although I knew it was for the best, my heart felt even more broken than it did before with saying goodbye to not only my grandfather, but to this place that housed so many of my childhood memories.
Before we could say goodbye, I thought it would be really sweet and special if my friend Ashley could take pictures at their house of my grandmother, mother, sister, and my sweet little Harper. Poppie would have loved the idea I truly think, and we would always have a little piece of the place to remember. She once again did an amazing job. I don't think we can ever thank her enough.
A few weeks after these pictures were taken, my mom and stepdad realized they didn't want to see the house and property go. Wanting to move from their house, they decided it would be the perfect place to start a new chapter. They purchased the house, with plans to remodel and make their own. Regardless of the changes to come, this place will be the perfect home away from for our sweet Harper. Creating memories for a lifetime with her grandparents, just like I was able to with mine.
I'm going to pretend for a second that I know what I'm talking about with this whole parenting thing, and that I have years and years of experience in this very prestigious field. We'll all just ignore the fact that I've really only been a parent for six months, still don't know what the heck I'm doing half the time, but have somehow managed to keep this little human being alive with lots of love, patience, sucking boogers out, and cleaning lots of spit up formula. Good with y'all?
Some days are just plain hard.
Babies can be terrifying, confusing, and lets face it, disgusting.
We're at the stage in Harper's baby life, where we feel like - for the most part - we got this parenting thing down. Some days, I feel inadequate, like I can't do anything right. But after a night of sleep and a fresh perspective, the next day we're back on track.
We survived the newborn stage - probably the hardest weeks of my entire life - we've fought colds, sleep regressions, nap boycotts, bottle refusal, a milk allergy, and more. We made it through restaurant meltdowns, and realized a "vacation" with a baby isn't really a vacation at all. We have more on our plates to come the older she gets, but there's one thing that I learned that always helps me keep a positive outlook and to cherish and appreciate each stage she enters.
EVERYTHING IS A PHASE.
They won't be a newborn forever.
They won't always not sleep through the night.
They will at some point in their life let you sit through a meal at a restaurant without crying.
One day they will take a nap longer than 20 minutes.
You won't always need to pack an arsenal of baby products to leave the house for an hour.
Everything is a phase, and it too shall pass.
This little token of wisdom has gotten me through tough times more times than I can count.
Harper being a newborn seems like such a distant memory, but at the time I never thought I'd make it.
Now, we're battling all sorts of new "inconveniences", but understanding how sweet and precious this stage of her life is puts everything into a more appreciate and patient perspective.
...And just for the sake of me being a mushy mom who wants to pretend like she knows what she's talking about, let me just melt into these newborn hospital pictures of my once 6 lb little baby for old times sake (and by old times, I mean six months ago). :)
