Top 13 of 2013

Well, it's that time of year again, it's so hard to believe that another year has gone by, but it is safe to say that this has been the best year yet! Mike and I feel so blessed to have shared another year together happily married and have truly enjoyed spending time with friends and family...and most importantly expanding our own family! Looking back on this year, here are some of our favorite moments:

1.  This February was a crazy month for our family, first we traveled to Mexico with our good friends the Hitsmans. We had an amazing time soaking up the sun, soaking up the pool time, and soaking up the drinks! We love travelling with them, and we look forward to knocking off more trips and locations on our list in the years to come!

2. I started a new role at Target in February. I am now buying Health and Beauty products for our City Target stores. I have loved this new role and opportunity to be part of such an innovative part of a great company. Plus it has allowed me to travel a little bit more, which I have also enjoyed!


3. The night before I started my new job, we found out that our lives would be changing in a HUGE way...when we discovered our little man Connor was on the way. I know that this is one of the most incredible moments for all parents, and we felt just amazing, especially considering we had been undergoing infertility treatments for almost a year. We couldn't believe that they actually worked, and that we would be parents by the end of the year!


4. March continues to be one of our favorite months and this year was no exception. One of these reasons is my favorite holiday is Saint Patrick's Day. Being the good Irish girl that I am, I love celebrating this holiday every year...it was a little tricky pretending to drink this year and hiding it from family and friends, but it still was a great day! I also love sharing this holiday with one of my best friends Amy, as we celebrate her birthday on St Patty's, and this being the year we turned the big 30, all birthdays were kind of a big deal!

5. March is also the month of our Godson Mason's birthday. We just love Mas-man so much. He is just a light in this world, and his smile can charm anyone! We love this little dude so much!

6. Telling our family that we were expecting was one of the most fun mornings. We hosted Easter this year so that we would be able to tell our families all at the same time that we were pregnant. In our first ultrasound, Connor just looked like a little Jelly bean, so we thought what better way to tell our families than to introduce our little Jelly bean to them. We stuffed these little pictures in plastic Easter eggs, and had them open them prior to praying and eating Easter brunch!

7. In April, me and three of my closest friends from college celebrated our 30th birthdays! We took a trip to Lake Okaboji, IA, and it was a great weekend! We enjoyed the lake with walks, a nice dinner, and drinks (O'douhls for me :)) It was the first 80 degree weekend of the year, and it was just perfect! We all met over 10 years ago, and it was such a great way to celebrate this milestone with each other!

8. May was an amazing month this year, as the newest addition the McQuillan family arrived 4 days before my birthday and her due date! Emma Mary McQuillan arrived on May 7th and we are so in love with this little girl! She is SO laid back and smiley. She just loves watching her older brother and sister, and she is a GREAT cuddler. We can't wait to watch her and Connor grow up together!

9. I turned the big 30 on May 11th and Mike threw me a great party! It was definitely not how I imagined my 30th birthday if you had asked me years ago what it would be like , as I was not drinking and pregnant, there were 11 kids and 9 pregnant ladies at my party, but I wouldn't have had it any other way! :) In September, I surprised Mike with an early 30th birthday party in Ames, IA. We tailgated for the ISU/Iowa game followed by a limo around Des Moines...which broke down so it turned into a party on the side of the road followed by a party bus around town, but we made some good memories nevertheless!

10. This summer marked a big point for the McQuillan family as well, as my little bug, aka my little brother graduated from College and all three McQuillan kids officially entered the real world! I am so proud of my little brother Joe, and I cannot believe that he is done with school! It feels like just yesterday he was born, and now he is a full blown adult! It is so crazy, and Mike and I just love hearing all of his stories about starting a job, going to happy hour, and going out all the time with friends on the weekends...oh to be 23 again! :)

11. Mike and I again enjoyed trips to northern Minnesota with the family and friends. We did two trips up north with the McQuillan family, one to Alexandria and one to Brainerd. Then we again went to the Johnson cabin in Perham MN for the 4th of July, it was another great year with great weather! We are so lucky!

12. Mike and I continue to love to travel. And so we took advantage of this last summer with out kids, and some work trips to get a few good vacations in before baby. We had a great time in Chicago, Portland and Seattle!

13. Finally, and probably most obviously, the absolute highlight of 2013 was the birth of our son Connor Mac Harper on 11.12.13. It was an amazing experience being pregnant with this little man all year, and then bringing him into the world this November. It has been a crazy 7 weeks so far, and we are loving every moment of being parents. We are so blessed with this little man, and we are just amazed watching him grow every day!

We hope that you all had a blessed 2013 and we wish you nothing but the best in 2014! Cheers and happy new year!
Mike, Katie and Connor

And baby makes 3...plus a puppy

Forewarning, this is super long post about our labor and delivery, if you'd just like to see pictures of our angel, skip to the end :)

11.12.13 was both the most terrifying and best day of our lives. On this incredibly awesome date, at almost 14:15 in military time which would have been incredible (he actually arrived at 14:17) our beautiful (Mike prefers me to use "handsome") son, Connor, came into this world. He didn't exactly come in the manner we had hoped for, but he is our little miracle baby, and we are so incredibly blessed to have him in our lives.

It all started on Monday night, 11.11 when we went in to be induced, since this little stinker seemed perfectly content hanging out inside mommy! I wasn't dilated at all, so the plan was to receive some meds to start that process along at night, sleep and wake up and then have a baby...no such luck! I got my first dose of the medication at about 6:30, and by 8:30 pm, I was in full on labor, no additional meds needed...with intense contractions coming every 30 seconds to 3 minutes...all night long, but still not really dilating at all. The staff wanted me to get to 3 cm before they gave me an epidural...that didn't happen until 5:30 am the next morning. So 10ish hours of labor later, I received an epidural, heavenly!

From that point on, things were progressing great, with only some minor heart rate issues for our little dude when I was on my right side. Other than that we were on track to have a baby shortly after lunch! However, at about 1:00 pm, our Nurse ("Grandma Judy", our angel that day) discovered that something wasn't quite right with how our little one was positioned to come out. Our Doctor came over and discovered that our little one was coming out "brow presentation" and essentially he was stuck in my pelvis, unable to be delivered the normal way.

They promptly prepped us for what started as a non emergent c-section, and we were on our way. Both Mike and I were pretty emotional about this outcome, as we were really striving for a normal delivery, but we would do anything to have our baby in the world safely for both mom and baby. The team of doctors was working to push up my anesthesia levels through my existing epidural as we moved to the OR and they asked Mike to stay in the hallway as I was prepped and until right before they took the baby out. Therefore, we didn't really say goodbye or good luck to one another, because we assumed that we would see each other momentarily.

However, once we got into the OR, Connor's heart rate plummeted, and the last few things I remember was the group of doctors asking how many seconds until they could get in there and get him out. Unfortunately, the traditional c-section anesthesia drugs were not working fast enough, so they had to put me fully under...something that is still the hardest thing for me to grasp when thinking about that whole day. I NEVER imagined not being "present" for the birth of my child, but I know that God had a plan for us, and that there is a reason that I wasn't able to be conscious for this delivery. It was probably the safest option for both me and Connor in the end, but it does not make it easier. I had always dreamed of the first moments with my baby right after delivery, but I am so thankful that Mike was able to be there for Connor and for me, and I can't imagine what he went through during all of this.

When they did get Connor out, he was grey and not breathing. He remained not breathing until they intubated him and Mike heard his first cry 5 minutes after he was born. He says it was the best sound in the world. After that, Mike and Connor did all the new Parent and baby type things, he was measured, weighed cleaned off and Mike got some great cuddle time. He weighed in at a HEALTHY 8lbs. 12oz, 20.5 in long! He is our big little man :)

Mike and Connor were moved to the NICU as basically a holding place while I was scooted over to recovery. Because I had gone under general anesthesia, I was moved to the traditional surgery recovery room, not the c-section one we had seen on our tour. Therefore, I was expecting to wake up and see my husband and baby and breast feed in recovery, but instead I woke up with my nurse and another recovery nurse. Nurse Judy pulled some strings, and got them to allow Mike into recovery, with his camera. He proceeded to tell me (several times due to the grogginess) that we had a son, and showed me the millions of pictures he took during labor and delivery. He did such a great job of making me feel like I was there.

About an hour or so after that, I was finally able to meet my son, my everything. He is just so perfect, and despite some serious battle wounds from where he was stuck in me, I still think he is the most perfect human on the planet. We are so in love, and it is still so hard for me to believe that he actually came from me and Mike. We are so blessed to have him, and I thank God for the blessing that he is, and the joy he brings to our family!

These first two weeks have flown by, and I can't believe how much he has changed already! We have loved every moment, despite being quite tired, spent with our little man! He is everything we ever dreamed of, and more!

Happy two weeks Connor Mac Harper!
Love, Mom

Connor weighing in at 8 lbs. 12oz, with some swelling and bruises right after delivery.

Dad and Connor right after delivery.

Mom and Connor on day two...day one was a little rough for me, pictures I'd rather not share :)

Proud Grandma McQuillan

Proud Grandpa McQuillan, can't wait to teach him how to skate and hopes desparately he "shoots left" 

Grandma Wanda with the first Harper Grandkid! 

Grandpa Jim and likes to talk it over with Connor!

Connor was quite a celebrity for his unique 11.12.13 birthday, Fairview Southdale used him in their social media posts that day!

Heading home from the hospital! 

Meeting big sister Piper, she has been great!

First sponge bath...wasn't quite sure what to think!

He's super alert for a newborn.

His first big boy outfit on his one week birthday!

Starting to show us his smiles, and maybe some dimples like mom?? Mostly he just looks like his daddy!!

Cousins are the best! Kensley, Mason and Emma are excited to have a cousin on the McQ side!

Baby moon or two or three...

 

 Mike at Hair of the Dog Brewery in Portland. His cocktails and mine



 So it's been a while since I updated the blog...whoops! I promise to get better once the baby comes to keep people updated with what's going on in our lives...but I'm sure it will only get harder to update once the baby gets here! Mike and I could not be more thrilled to be having a little one. We have both dreamed of being parents, and we feel so blessed that this dream is becoming a reality for us. We have a lot of friends and family who have shared their little ones with us, and a lot of good advice, and the one piece of advice that remains consistent is that our lives are going to change big time once the little one gets here.





Top of Multnomah Falls.



One of our favorite things to do is travel together so we figured we would take this opprotunity before the baby comes to do just that. With my new role at Target, I get the opportunity to travel to some pretty cool cities. In June, I had a work trip to Portland, OR, and we decided that this would be a great opportunity for Mike to come and join me on the trip and we could turn it in to a babymoon of sorts. It was amazing! We really enjoyed Portland (Mike definitely enjoyed the craft breweries of Portland) and the scenic part of Oregon was amazing. Little bean (what we call the baby) and I even made it all the way to the top of Multnomah Falls. A 1.3 mile hike straight up...it only took me an hour...but I thought that was pretty good for a 5 month pregnant gal! 



Overlooking Lake Union in Seattle.



 After Oregon, we headed up to Seattle and enjoyed the sites there. It was another beautiful city with great beer for Mike, and Pike's Place market, where we enjoyed trying tons of local foods. Mike especially loved this place, particularly the salmon that he brough home! We also enjoyed catching up with friends who moved out there and showed us around Lake Union and the house boats there! It was just like sleepless in seattle! 



Lake Sybil on the 4th of July



As if that trip wasn't enough, we followed it up with 2 amazing long weekends up north! We again spent the 4th of July at the Johnson cabin and it was once again a great time! The weather was perfect, and we enjoyed the lake, the new pontoon, and the annual lawn Olympics!

After the 4th of July, we headed up north to Alexandria with the McQuillan Family. We spent time at Mary Kay and Doug's cabin which is always a blast. Lots of boat and sandy beach time, and a little fishing...the lady rod was not as lucky for me this year as she was last year...but the kids had a lot more luck on their fishing trip with uncle Doug! 

We again stayed at Arrowood resort in Alexandria with my family in an amazing condo overlooking the lake (or "vacation" as Kensley like's to call all hotels and cabins). Mike and I love every minute that we get to spend with our nieces and nephew. It is so hard for me to imagine that we have a little one like them on the way, and the that we could possibly love something more than them. We are so blessed to be able to spend time with our friends and family, and we can't wait to travel with them all again next year, with our own little one!  It was a great (couple) of babymoons, and now we are just so excited to get things ready for our family to grow!

Emma loved the boat!

Uncle Mike teaching Kensley how it's done...or not!

Mason's favorite thing to do was reel it in!



2012 Year in Review

So, I'm a little behind on this one, but thought what better way to kick off 2013, then with a quick year in review of 2012! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is the Harper Family Top 12 of 2012!!

1. January - We kicked off the year with some fun winter activities. Including teaching Mike and Kensley how to skate on the McQuillan family back yard rink and teaching me how to Ice "fish" at the Kramer cabin up north. Turns out ice "fishing" is just about drinking in a warm shack with a few holes in the ice below...turns out I'm a pro :)

 2. February - Mike and I celebrated our Honeymoon with a trip to the Dominican Republic. It was AMAZING. Our resort (Iberostar Grand Bavaro) was the most amazing hotel and the service and beaches were unreal. We truly enjoyed the time together celebrating being married, relaxing by the pool and hanging with our bartender Nicolas at the swim up bar. We cannot wait to go back some day!

3. March - In March, we celebrated some great birthdays and my Irish heritage. Our Godson Mason, turned one, and we continue to be SO blessed to have him in our lives. His smile can light up a room! We also celebrated friend Amy and cousin Erin's birthday on St Patricks day in the "homeland" (aka St Paul). Another great year being Irish (you can change the Irish girls last name, but you can't take the McQuillan out of the girl :) )


4. April - We got to spend a few long weekends watching Kensley and Mason this year. We even successfully navigated the zoo with two kids (actually 4 since the Henrys and Bartletts came with us) So much fun!

5. In May, we headed to Mexico to celebrate the Wedding of Nick and Brittany Davis. It was a great time, with great friends, celebrating one beautiful couple!




6. June - We got an amazing chance to travel a few times this year for weddings, including a trip in June to Greenville ,South Carolina for the Conzett wedding. Another beautiful spot and another beautiful couple!

7. July - we spent another fabulous 4th of July up at the Johnson cabin! The weather was great for another year, the lawn olympics were a hit, and the Lakes Cafe provided fantastic breakfast everyday. We were so lucky to be able to spend sometime enjoying northern MN this year thanks to our friends and family who so graciously hosted us at their cabins. We can only hope to repay the favor some day by inviting them to our future cabin!


8. August - Amy and I again spent 20 or so summer nights cheering on the Twins. Another disappointing season for the team, but another amazing season spent with great friends, great drinks/foods, and a beautiful stadium! Better luck next year!

9. September - FOOTBALL!

 10. October - October was a month of firsts, including our first 5K and our first Anniversary. Mike surprised me with a trip to Chicago. It was amazing! Great food (pizza), shopping and entertainment (Second City)!

 11. November - We kicked off the holiday season with a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with both the Harper and McQuillan families. So much amazing food!!! Not only did we celebrate with Family, but the Nielsen's hosted the Annual Friendsgiving at their house, and as usual, it was a blast!

12. December - Finally, we spent much of December celebrating Christmas with family. We took a trip to Wisconsin to celebrate with the Harper and Eng sides of the family. Despite a monster storm in WI the day before we left, we made it without a hitch and had a great time! We then came back to MN to celebrate Christmas Eve and Day with our immediate families and ring in the 2013 with friends and family.

All in All 2012 was an amazing year. Mike and I continue to feel so blessed for the wonderful people in our lives, and the amazing time we have spent with all of them. We look forward to what's to come in 2013!! Happy New year from our house to yours!