Life with a Threenager

When Harper turned two, all of the seasoned parents warned me about the infamous terrible twos. I was prepared for the drama that was associated with this newfound independence of a toddler. I expected the occasional tantrum; the meltdown here and there. As Harper approached the three year old mark, I felt like we were making it out unscathed as for the most part, Harper's terrible two stage was a breeze. Only when Harper turned three, I realized I was wrong; so very wrong. Because no one, NO ONE, warned me about the threenager. If you're not familiar with the term, it's because you don't have one. The threenager is your typical three year old who thinks she's thirteen. And ya'll it's no joke. Some days I'm not sure if we're going to make it out alive. But just in case you don't think it could possibly be that bad, let me give you some insight into what it's like sharing a roof with a threenager these days.
> They suddenly have an opinion on what they wear. Before Harper turned three she never cared about what she wore. Each day, I made it a point to offer her two choices. A dress or shorts; sandals or tennis shoes; blue hair bow or pink hair bow, etc. Yet, suddenly, I'm the one being offered two choices these days. Case in point: This past winter I bought Harper two pairs of boots, a brown pair and a black pair. Until she turned three she didn't care anything about either one. But suddenly, they've become her favorite shoes ever...in the heatwave of summer. Each morning when she's dressed and I offer her her shoe choices, she promptly corrects me with "Mommy, brown boots or black boots?" 
> Speaking of clothes, they suddenly want to pick them out when you shop.  Since Harper was four days old, she's always accompanied me on shopping trips. Like I do with her clothes, I'll pick up a few items and ask her which she likes. She usually points to the one she likes and goes back to fiddling with the seatbelt clasp on her stroller or buggy until I pick up another item for her to choose from. So you can imagine my surprise when we headed to Belk over the weekend and I offered her a few new clothing options to which she repeatedly said "No, I don't like them. I want this one." and ran off to yank the most hideous dress you've ever seen off of it's hanger. I literally hung it up no less than five times as each time I offered her a clothing option, she'd emphatically remind me she didn't like any of them and would yet again run off to point out that ugly animal print dress. 
> They suddenly know how to negotiate. A year or so ago, my husband started a habit of buying Harper a toy every time he accompanied us to Target. It wasn't such a bad idea until suddenly, Harper began to expect it and only asked to go to Target in hopes of getting a new toy. So a few weeks ago, we were having dinner at a restaurant just around the corner from a local Target. As Kevin paid for our check and we got up to leave, Harper told her Dad that she needed to go to Target. When asked why she informed us that she wanted to get a Hiro train. Hearing this, I reminded her she'd already gotten a train that week so we would not be getting Hiro on this visit. Without missing a beat, she responded, "That's okay, Mommy. I don't need a Hiro train. I like any train." 
> They suddenly have a large vocabulary and know how to use it. A couple of weeks ago Harper was having one of her days where she was rather whiny. Without thinking I asked her to chill because she was getting on my nerves. To which her reply was, "Why Mommy? I'm not being annoying." Not long after that event, Harper was with Kevin and again,was whining. When he asked her to stop, she told him she didn't know why because she wasn't being ridiculous.
> They are suddenly independent...until they don't want to be.  Harper has always had an independent streak. After all, the child had to be evicted from my womb and even then she decided she wouldn't make it easy and took a whole twenty eight hours to get her butt in the world. Yet, that independence has increased ten fold since turning three. Suddenly, it's "Harper do it". Harper has to dress herself even if her shoes are on the wrong feet; brush her own hair even though she combs it more like a  mohawk; brush her own teeth even though she just sucks off the toothpaste; fix her own drink even though she gets more on the floor than in her cup, put her own self in the car even if that does mean it takes her ten minutes in the pouring rain. But when it comes to saying, "Harper clean up", suddenly that independent streak is out the window in a heartbeat and it's all, "Mommy do it". 
>  They have no fear. I'm not sure what happened to my child who always needed me in the same room and couldn't sleep without the light on. Because suddenly she's been replaced with a child who loves to climb the stairs by walking up the outside of them and holding onto the spindles. And don't get me started with the side of her that just knows she can walk in the parking lot without holding my hand. That's definitely a story for another day!
> Their favorite word is NO. I'm happy to say no is a word that never entered Harper's vocabulary. That is, up until last week when suddenly everything was no. Clean up your toys. No. Pick up your trash. No. Stop jumping on the couch. No. No, No, No. 
> Everything. I repeat, EVERYTHING, is a big deal. It can be as simple as what they're eating for breakfast or as big as "you're going to bed now". If it doesn't match their expectation and they end up disappointed, it's going to be a BIG deal. Just like last week when Harper cried for a solid hour at the top of her lungs as if she was being brutally attacked all because it was getting dark and we couldn't play outside anymore. She'd be great at drama (; 
So have I convinced you yet that this stage is horrible? Because if so, I do have some good news. Despite the temper tantrums, stubborn streaks, and know-it-all attitudes, three has been my FAVORITE age by far. Because along with all that negative stuff comes a kid who is smart as a whip; a kid with the biggest heart; a kid that loves hard; a kid that wants the best for everyone she's around; a kid that loves adventure; the kid that quotes Bible verses and says her prayers; and the kid that has me wrapped around her finger.  

Harper's Camping Party

Yall, this little girl is THREE years old!  Say whaaaat?!
The fact that I am now a parent of a three year old simply blows my mind. It seems like only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting our first born's arrival. I can still remember the sheer joy of hearing her first cry; I remember the weight of her being laid on my chest; and I remember counting those ten precious fingers and toes and admiring her olive skin and head of dark hair. It was all just yesterday wasn't it? Yet I look back over my blog posts over the last few years and I see that that wrinkly little newborn has changed into a little lady all right in front of my eyes. Despite the fact that I miss those days of being able to hold and cuddle her in just one arm, I love the lady she's becoming and I can't wait to see what all God has in store for her life. Without a doubt, he's got big plans for our girl. 
Over Mother's Day weekend, we celebrated Harper's birthday with a camping party. When discussing party options with her, she promptly told me she wanted a tent party. I had no idea what she meant until one afternoon we were watching Paw Patrol, her absolute favorite show, and an episode came up where Ryder and the gang headed out to camp. She excitedly started shouting, "A tent party mommy! A tent party!". So from then on, I started planning out Harper's camping party; despite that she repeatedly referred to it as her tent party. Silly girl.
Here's some pictures of her big day!
The Set Up  In the past we have hosted all of Harper's birthday parties outside on our porch but having since given our porch a major makeover, we decided to keep all of the food and gifts inside this year. I set up drinks and snacks in our dining room and we threw up a mini tent for Harper's gifts to be placed in. 

The Food We opted for snacks this year instead of doing a meal. Mainly for the fact that after the guests left the party, we hosted a cookout with our immediate families. In keeping with the theme, guests got to sip on frosty sodas and ice cold water; make their own trailmix; indulge in some dirt cake; or enjoy the delicious tent cupcakes or campfire cake. 

The Fun My  original intention was to host Harper's party in the evening so we could have a bonfire and make smores but since many of our guests had other obligations in the evening we opted for an afternoon party instead. But that didn't stop me from tossing together a mini roasting station on our back porch using a galvanized bucket, sterno burners, and lava rock. It roasted marshmallows like a charm. In fact, we loved the set up so much, we're still using it on the weekends to make smores with friends (:

While guests roasted marshmallows on the porch, the kiddos took turns playing in the camping tent, on Harper's swing set (a gift from last year's birthday), or her new trampoline. 

Guests ate on cupcakes throughout the party, but we waited towards the end of the party to cut the cake and sing Happy birthday. 

The Gifts Following the cake cutting, Harper dove into her presents... quite literally! 

The Favors Before everyone left, the kids got to grab a camping chair and a favor bag that contained child-size binoculars to take home. 

All in all the party was a blast and at the end of the day, our little girl was happy and blessed!

A Bucket of Summer Fun

Umm... so what happened to June?! As I look back on my calendar I can't believe how fast that month went by! I mean seriously. Do you realize in five months we start a new year? I can't even wrap my mind around that. But on the bright side, I will welcome July with open arms! July is such a fun month for our little family. Of course, there's the 4th of July in which we'll celebrate like every other American... with friends, family, food, and fireworks! Bring it. But this month we'll also celebrate Kevin's thirty second birthday, our annual Holt family beach vacay, and one of my lifelong best friends will be getting married! As I said, it's going to be such a fun month here in the Holt household! (And if any of you ladies are interested in guest posting while I'm on vacation, please let me know!)

While we're on the topic of fun things, I wanted to share Harper's "Bucket of Summer Fun" that I put together a few weeks ago. I'd like to give credit to the person I got the idea from but it was someone on instagram and I can't remember who. If it was you, please let me know! 

When I set out to put this little bucket together, I headed straight to Target in search of the perfect items. Target carries such a cute selection of sand toys in such fun colors like navy, coral, lime green, and turquoise so I knew I wanted Harper's beach bucket to come from there. Never mind those boring primary colors like in most stores. It just so happened that on the day I went to grab this little bucket, they were on sale and all Circo sand toys were an additional 50% off thanks to the Cartwheel app. In the end, I scored this little bucket along with that cute little turtle sand toy for about $1. Along with the bucket and sand toy, I was able to get the sidewalk chalk, 2 bubble wands, and paper doll book from the One Spot section. The stuffed Donald duck, dog mason jar sippy cup, and bathing suit were also from Target that I had purchased during another trip. The only thing not from Target were the dog floaties I scored for $1 at Walmart and the coloring book and markers.

Overall this was a super fun little basket to put together and it really didn't cost much either! And even if it did, the excitement from this little girl's face over her "summer present" was worth every single penny!

{Weekend Recap} Our Very Sick Little Girl

Happy Friday, girls! I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and a terrific week. I'd like to say we have had both but if I did, that would be a lie. I've spent most of this week at home with a very sick little girl. Therefore, it's left me with no time to blog, clean, or even go to the restroom by myself. The life of a mom. If you follow me on instagram or facebook, you know a bit of what's been going on but if not, let me fill you in on what's been taking place this week during my absence. 
So let's start from the beginning...
This past Friday afternoon, while attending a baby shower for a coworker and his wife, an announcement came over the school speaker that my child's daycare was trying to reach me. Not thinking much about it, I quietly stepped into a nearby classroom where our school secretary had transferred the call. When I answered, Harper's teacher informed me that she was calling to let me know that Harper was running a fever of 101.6. Of course, as a mom, my first question was how was she acting. Ms. Joy quickly informed me that she had been playing all day but at snack time they happened to notice her just sitting there and not eating. Being very unlike her, as she's a big time snacker, they walked over to check on her and noticed she was feeling pretty warm which led them to check her fever. Since she had been playing most of the day, I chalked it up to the arrival of her two year molars but told them I'd send Kevin to pick her up and try to get her in the doctor just to air on the side of caution with a long weekend up ahead. 
Unfortunately, with it being a holiday weekend, the doctor's office wasn't into taking in an unscheduled appointment so late in the evening so we were abruptly told we could either wait and bring her next week or take her to urgent care. Despite that I understand where the doctor's office was coming from, it was still frustrating. So we decided we'd wait it out and see how Harper did. And by the end of the evening, I was thinking that I was glad we had waited it out because she seemed good as gold and no longer had a fever. Since Kevin had to work, Harper and I headed out to grab some Mexican for dinner with my friend Brittni, Aunt B as Harp calls her, and even did a little shopping after. All the while Harper did the best she's ever done in public! She ate most of her food, drank a lot of tea, and talked and laughed to her little heart's content. 
But then Saturday morning rolled around and I woke up to a very fussy and whiny baby, who yet again had a fever. We had plans to to tag along with my coworker and her daughter that morning, but with Harper not seeming to feel well, I decided I'd cancel our plans. That was until Harper heard me mention Hutson's name, my friend's daughter, and she kept saying "see Hutson, see Hutson" over and over. Since she was pretty adamant and I couldn't persuade her to do anything else, I texted Taylor and told her I'd meet up with her but I'd drive separately in case we'd need to leave earlier than planned. So by late morning we were on the road and headed to Friendly Shopping Center to do a little window shopping. We managed to get in a little shopping at Bath and Body Works, The Limited, New York & Company, Belk, Carters, & Old Navy before finally deciding to call it quits and grab some lunch at Jason's Deli. Harper had done great up until that point. When it came time to eat, she began to get fussy again and decided the hot dog she'd asked for over and over again wasn't what she wanted to eat afterall. So as soon as the rest of us finished eating, we decided to call it a day and went our separate ways. 

Throughout the rest of the day, Harper ran fevers off and on but they were all easily managed with some Tylenol every four hours or so. Her fussiness stopped and she played around the house as she often does. Towards the evening, my mother-in-law came over and we took Harper walking in the neighborhood. All the while Harper chatted as she usually does. So again, we just figured her 2 year molars were the cause of her fevers and once they finally broke through, she'd be back to normal.  Sunday rolled around and our day started much the same as the previous day. Harper woke up with a fever, took some Tylenol, and spent the rest of the morning laying around watching tv. All the while refusing to eat and do anything other than take a sip of drink here and there. Since I didn't feel like she'd be up for church, we decided to load up the car and head to the lake with my parents. Afterall, a little sunshine and summertime is good for the soul. Sadly, Harper didn't think so. So while everyone else soaked up the sun and water, Harper and I spent our time on the porch rocking in the rocking chairs, snacking on my Mom's yummy food, and catching up with family and friends. Around 5 o'clock we decided to head on home. Since it was still pretty nice out when we arrived back at the house, I decided to take Harper walking through the neighborhood. Again, my mother-in-law joined me. And yet again, after Harper's fever broke, she was back to her normal, happy go lucky self. She laughed, talked, and wanted to play when our walk was over. 
But then Monday rolled around and it was a totally different ball game...   On Monday, I had made plans to run to Danville with Brooke, my brother-in-law's girlfriend, to pick up Kevin's Father's Day present. Since most of Harper's fevers had taken place in the mornings, I had asked my mother-in-law if she'd watch Harper while I quickly rode out and she'd graciously said yes. Around 9, I text my mother-in-law and told her we'd drop off Harper in about thirty minutes. She said that was fine so I headed on up to Harper's room to get her up and ready. But as soon as I walked in her room, I knew something wasn't right. Harper was standing up in her bed, eyes barely open, and could hardly speak. As I picked her up, her body was radiating heat. I quickly changed her into some comfy clothes and took her downstairs to get her some medicine. But not five minutes after taking her Tylenol. she started shaking and wouldn't communicate. Brooke and I both looked at each other and knew we needed to get help. So Brooke took Harper to the car, while I quickly ran upstairs to tell Kevin I was taking Harper to urgent care (he was sleeping from a long night at work). 
We arrived at Urgent Care and didn't have to wait long before they took Harper back. I filled them in on her symptoms and they took her vital signs. At that time she had a fever of a 103 and that was nearly an hour after she'd just taken Tylenol. The doctor immediately checked her ears, as she's had many ear infections, and told us her tubes looked good. Since she's also prone to strep, he decided to do a strep test to see if that could be the issue. After waiting about fifteen minutes, the doctor came back in and told us that that test had came back negative as well. He checked her lungs and they were clear so it wasn't likely she had a cold. So we were at a set of crossroads. Clearly something was wrong, but the question was what. After discussing some options, the doctor arranged for us to be shuttled to the hospital to meet with a pediatric emergency room doctor. 

The transfer didn't take long and after checking into the hospital, we were in a room in a matter of five minutes. By that point, Harper was completely out of it. The nurse retook her vitals and she didn't have a clue. In my haste to get Harper help at Urgent Care I had completely failed to mention to the doctor on call that at one point, Harper's legs and feet had turned purple so I mentioned it to the nurse on staff at the hospital. He quickly assured me that in children it often meant they were under stress and with a fever as high as hers had been, it was probably okay. But they'd check her heart just to be sure as it could signal issues there. But thankfully after checking, her heart sounded okay and was beating as it should be. 
After looking at her chart and seeing that Harper had hydronephrosis (a kidney condition she was born with), they decided our next option would be to do a catherization to see if she had a urinary tract infection. And ladies, let me just tell you, this was by far the worst moment I have ever had as a mom. I can handle holding my child down for shots, for strep tests, for vital checks, but I could not hold her down for that. Thankfully, Brooke said she would stay with her, and I left the room, headed to the hallway, and balled my eyes out. As I stood outside with only a wooden door separating us, I could hear Harper's screams and cries. It broke this mama's heart. And when the nurse opened the door and I thought it was over and she proceeded to tell me that the first cath didn't work and they'd have to do another, I died inside. The next fifteen minutes were the longest of my life. When it was all over, I grabbed Harper up and vowed to never do that again... But thank the good Lord, an hour later, we met with the doctor and she came to talk with us and confirm that Harper did in fact have a bladder infection. Even better news, we could go home. And to home we headed as fast as we could. 
I'd like to say that was the end of the scariness but it wasn't. 
With it being a holiday, we hadn't considered that the pharmacies were closed and apparently the hospital hadn't either. So we decided to continue alternating Motrin and Tylenol every few hours until we could get Harper's medication Tuesday morning. But by Tuesday morning, Harper was still very out of it and I could not get her to take her medicine. On top of that, the doctor stressed that she should not take that medication without food as it would make her very sick. So I called our regular doctor and explained that Harper hadn't ate since Friday, had barely drank anything in five days, and wouldn't take any more medicine from her being so out of it. I told them the hospital didn't seem worried about her lack of intake but I was as I feared she was dehydrating. The nurse on call agreed and asked me to bring her in immediately. By that point, my nerves were so tore up and I was sick as a dog. Thankfully my dad came to the rescue and offered to drive us there. 

Thankfully we didn't have to wait long before we were seen. The nurse checked all of Harper's vital signs and looked into her mouth. Since it was still moist I was relieved to hear that she wasn't dehydrated... yet. She informed me that if Harper didn't drink anything by the next morning, we'd need to bring her back on Wednesday for an IV to get some fluids in her. Despite the huge relief, I immediately started to panic at the thought of her having to come back the next day. And the next words out of her mouth, made me downright sick. As the nurse was on her computer, she noticed Harper's urine culture had been sent out for further examination and the results came back negative. As in it showed she didn't have an infection. What the heck? The nurse explained that when Harper's urine was dipped at the hospital and placed under a microscope, it showed bacteria which signaled a bladder infection. However, when the urine sample was sent out to find out exactly what type of bacteria, no bacteria was found. Yet, all of her levels were high which signaled an infection even though the test shows that there was none. I asked what all this meant and she calmly informed me that basically Harper has all the signs of a bladder infection, but she may or may not actually have one. In layman's terms, after all Harper had been through, we still weren't sure of what we were up against. Yet, she reassured me, that whatever Harper did have, that she was on a broad spectrum antibiotic that would kill any bacteria that was in her body. I'd like to say that helped but it really didn't. When I left the doctor's office I felt so defeated and upset that here my baby was suffering and in the end, we still had no answers. 
But thankfully some good did come out on Tuesday evening and Harper finally muttered up enough energy to drink a few sips of tea and eat three fries. Three french fries have never brought me so much joy! By night time she'd managed to drink about six ounces of drink throughout the day and even managed to take some of her medicine. Praise the Lord! Since Harper continued to drink and eat a few bites here and there, we didn't have to return to the doctor on Wednesday. But Harper was still so weak and puny, we spent the whole day on the couch, cuddled up, and sleeping. 

Yesterday was the best day of all. Minus one small detail... the doctor's office called us and told us that Harper's strep culture had came back POSITIVE! Three whole days later. Again, I had the same reaction of what the heck?! But the doctor yet again, explained that sometimes it may be negative in an office, and appear 24+ hours later as positive when it's sent off to the lab. This one took 72 hours to show up!  How crazy is that?! But I am so relieved to finally have some sort of answer as to why she's been so sick. I can't imagine fighting off strep and a bladder infection at the same time. Poor baby! 
But back to the good stuff, Harper woke up and requested to ride in her daddy's car yesterday morning! A clear sign she was feeling much better! Kevin of course, answered her request, and they rode out. She even managed to have enough energy to go grab a bite to eat, though that's literally all she did was eat one bite. But the fact that she had the energy to sit up the whole time brought this mama so much happiness. By the end of the evening, she wanted to go out again, so we headed to the place with the "red balls" aka Target. I was so anxious to do anything to keep her happy that we ended up buying her everything she asked for... a new ball, beach chair, cup and plate, and some pop (popcorn). On our way out she saw Starbucks and wanted some ice cream (a vanilla bean frappucino) so we graciously purchased her one with no whip cream and when she drank a fourth of it, I did the happy dance!

Here's to hoping this weekend is going to look much brighter... and not quite so scary!

Harper's Puppy "Pawty"

Please note, the pictures in this post may appear grainy due to this blog template not allowing photos to be re-sized. For better viewing quality, please click on the photos themselves. 

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This past Saturday, Kevin and I hosted Harper's second birthday party at our home. Instead of throwing an elaborate birthday bash like we did last year for Harper's first birthday, we decided to keep this party a little more low key. However, that didn't stop me from choosing a theme and going all out with some decorations. Call it the perfectionist in me...

When Kevin and I started playing around with party ideas there were two recurring themes that came up when discussing party ideas... Mickey Mouse and dogs. Since I know character parties will be in my all too near future, I decided to stick with a puppy theme this year. On top of that, Harper is just as obsessed with some dogs as she is some Mickey, so I knew she'd be happy either way. And thanks to Pinterest, I found tons of cute diy ideas that I could incorporate into the party without going too over the top. 

So without further ado, welcome to Harper's Puppy "Pawty"!

When guests arrived, they were greeted with puppy paws on the sidewalk that I made from poster board and colored with Crayola markers. 

 The gift table

The Pet Shoppe

The party banner

The Food

This year we stuck with just a few appetizers instead of fixing a meal. Guests enjoyed cupcakes, homemade trail mix (kibbles and bits), Scooby Doo graham cracker cookies (dog bones), and corn dog nuggets (hot puppies). 

The Favors 

All of our little guests got to adopt a puppy at the end of the party. 

The Fun

We laid out blankets and set up corn hole boards for the adults to enjoy; while the kids played on Harper's new swing set or took turns riding in her car. 

Cupcake Time

The Presents

As expected, Harper was more interested in playing outdoors than tearing through her presents but we did get to snatch a few photos of her opening a couple, with a little help from her two best buddies, before running off to swing on her swing set for the millionth time. 

The Family

And before calling the party a close, we had to have one last family shot! Or at least...we attempted it and this was as good as it got (; 

The After Party

Once the party was over and things died down, Harper finally settled down enough to open a few presents. Since she was so happy in these photos, I find it hard not to share them!

As you can see we had some tail-waggin' fun! If you're interested in where something came from, please check the source list below or leave a comment! (:

The Sources

Puppy Poster Paws: DIY project from poster board and colored markers

Puppy Party Printables: ETSY (purchased here)

Gift Table Frame: Marshalls

Pink Table Cloth, Table Skirt: Walmart

Party Plates, Napkins: Walmart

Puppy Favors: Shindigz Party Supplies

Metal serving trays: Walmart

Glass Jars: Target

Burlap ribbon, burlap cloth: Walmart