Penny's 3 month pictures

I had my friend Beatta take pictures of Penelope at 3 months.  I love how they turned out even though Penny was a stone-face.  She didn't even crack a smile the whole time.  What a stinker!!

 And just for fun, here's the comparison to Bridgette at 3 months.

Penelope is 4 Months

I have no idea how this happened, but Penelope is already 4 months old.  Didn't I just barely have a baby??

At her checkup this week, Penny was 13 lbs 2 oz- 50%ile and 24 1/4 inches- 50%ile.  Apparently a very average and healthy little girl!  We love these cute chubby baby thighs!  Bridgette never had any chub on her.

She's a strong baby and loves tummy time.  She has forgotten how to roll over onto her back and does it only randomly now.  She is working hard on rolling to her tummy and is getting so close!

 She loves to play with toys now and loves to watch her big sister too.

She still wakes up to nurse at least once a night, but has learned to put herself to sleep more than half the time.  It's so nice and gives me so much more time during the day!

Her personality is more calm than Bridgette.  She isn't as quick to smile and laugh but is good natured and easy going.  I like being able to see how she is different from Bridgette.  I love her so much and think she is such a beautiful baby.  We feel very blessed to her have Penny in our family.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day this year.  Tyler was home (wahoo!) and made breakfast for me.  He was around to help at church, go on a walk and play.  He grilled steaks, corn and asparagus for dinner.  He got me gift card for a pedicure and to go shopping since I've been whining about having nothing to wear.

I am grateful to be a mother and for all the challenges it brings.  I love these girls more than I ever thought I could and thankful they are happy and healthy.  As Bridgette would say I have "1 big girl, 1 baby and 1 angel".  I miss our angel Amelia, but glad I can be her mom.  I look forward to being a mother to her after this life.

I am also grateful for my mom, who did a fantastic job raising five girls and my grandmas for being a big part of my life.

Happy Mother's Day!

Tyler's 30th Birthday

Tyler's 30th birthday was a few weeks ago.  I surprised him at work with treats and the girls.  Bridgette was excited to give him the Elmo balloon she picked out and his present- a whale watching tour.

 That night since he randomly got home at 4pm, we went out to dinner at Red Robin.  Bridgette finished off his ice cream sundae!

We were supposed to go whale watching a few weeks ago, but it was stormy so we had to move it back.  We went on Saturday and it was awesome!  We saw a large pod of dolphins and they were jumping out of the water right next to the boat.  It was awesome.  You could see them playing, swimming on their backs and we saw a few babies swimming alongside their moms.

Bridgette and Tyler on the boat.  I was trying to catch all the dolphins jumping in the background, but failed...

 

We saw a gray whale and her baby right off the shore of the beach we always go to!  They were so close and we got to watch for a long time since they were playing in the surf.  They were close enough that Bridgette could definitely see them and say, "I see a whale!"

We also saw several sea lions on our way back in.  We love California!

Happy 30th birthday to our old man!  I kept singing Tim McGraw's "My Next 30 Years" during the day.  Hopefully his next 30 years will be as awesome as his first 30!  We love you Tyler.

Yosemite Trip

Tyler finally had some vacation time so we drove up 5 1/2 hours to Yosemite National Park.  Bridgette was great in the car and apparently falls asleep on command in her car-seat.

 By the time we arrived in the park, it was rainy and so foggy we could hardly see the road.  When we stopped at the bathroom, it was snowing!  Luckily it wasn't sticking and we still got a pretty view of the Valley complete with a rainbow in the background.  Bridalveil Falls off to the right.

 When we got to Bridalveil Falls to hike, the sun had come out.  Bridgette loved hiking and did a great job.  This 20 minute hike took about 40, and it was killing Tyler!

 We made it.  So pretty!

That night we stayed in a heated canvas tent in Yosemite Valley.  It turned out perfect- camping without the hassle of camping!  Complete with cots, light and heat.

 

Bridgette got to watch a movie with Daddy before bedtime.

Bridgette loved sleeping in the tent, although she wouldn't sleep in her pack and play and poor Tyler got to sleep with a 2 year old rolling all over the bed.  When I woke up in the morning, Bridgette was sleeping upside down. 

The next day we started out by hiking to see Yosemite Falls, which is actually 2 separate falls which combine to be the tallest water fall in the United States.

At the base of the Lower Falls.

 Next we hiked around a meadow to see some of the famous granite rock formations.  We saw Half Dome.

 Cathedral Rocks.

Bridgette kept doing different "silly walks" like walking wide and kicking her legs up high.  There is nothing fast about hiking with a 2 year old.

After that we hiked up to Mirror Lake.  We thought it was a paved path, but we took the wrong side of the river and ended up hiking the challenging horse trail.  It was still a beautiful hike and a great workout!  There are giant boulders everywhere along the trails. 

  

We stopped for lunch on the edge of the lake.

We saw several deer, lots of cool birds and millions of squirrels.  Bridgette really loved hiking and riding on Tyler's back in the backpack.  She was quite the navigator and said "Mom, watch out for that big puddle!" for every one we saw (There was a lot...) and would yell out when she saw a squirrel.  She liked all the waterfalls too and asked a few times to go see some more.

My favorite thing in the park was all the beautiful dogwood trees in bloom all over.  So pretty!

We drove outside the park and stayed at a hotel that night.  We swam in the pool and everyone slept better in real beds without noise around.
In the morning we drove back up into the Mariposa Sequoia Tree Grove.  It was an awesome hike around the grove to see different trees.  They were HUGE!
This is the roots of a tree that has fallen.

 The Tunnel Tree.

 My tree hugger picture.  Way bigger than the redwoods in Muir Woods!

Penny was there too!  She was a great baby and slept in the carrier most of the trip.

We enjoyed seeing such a beautiful place and had a great time together as a family. We haven't seen much of Tyler this year, so it was perfect!

Bridgette Update

 

Bridgette is officially 2 1/2 and turning into quite the opinionated girl!  She has lots of sass and makes sure I know what she wants and doesn't.  "No, Mom, NO!" has become one of her favorite phrases, and often has meltdowns about silly things like picking the wrong toothbrush, color of bowl, or bow.  She's becoming really good at time-out, unfortunately.  It's a good thing she is so adorable and makes me laugh when she's being naughty. 

She's realizing what kind of things are funny and likes to make funny faces and stick out her tongue.  She also is beginning to understand humor in books and laugh appropriately.  I love it!

 

She is basically done with napping and sleeps 1-2 times a week.  She still plays in her crib for 2 hours happily with her animals and sings songs.  I love hearing what is important to her- she talks about applesauce flavors, sings "Happy Birthday" and counts.  On days she skips a nap, she cannot function past 6:30 and goes to bed early!  This week she woke up with this fabulous bed head- evidence of sleeping like a rock!

We got this table for free from some friends and she loves it! (Who doesn't love free??)

 

 She has become obsessed with her stuffed animals and plays with them all day.  Here they are playing "pretty rocks" with her and each one is wrapped up in its own blankey, aka burp cloth.  They ride in her shopping cart, get turns in the baby swing, cheer for her in the bathroom and she gets super upset if they all aren't in her crib at night.

 She loves art projects, especially painting.  Of course, all pictures must be hung up!  My fridge is a constant art gallery...

 She loves "baby sister" and is starting to hug her, try to dress/undress her (picture is undoing all Penny's snaps), and share toys with her.  Penny gets to have a piece for Candy Land or a pile of rocks to play with.  The other most common phrase Bridgette says is, "Look Penny, big sister is [verb]".  Usually it's going potty, jumping, eating something, or saying prayers. 

Bridgette loves running everywhere but is also very clumsy still and trips several times a day.  She constantly has scrapes on her knees and bruises everywhere.  She has started "skipping" which is a gallop.  She thinks she jumps super high and likes to "practice jumping".  She loves doing somersaults and does them over and over without even standing up in between. (See movie on Facebook- I have a hard time posting movies here).

Penelope Update

Penny is 3 1/2 months now and so cute.  She still loves being swaddled up in her "baby straight jacket".

 Although she can partially escape it!

 And think it's funny...

She is doing better at sleeping and is only waking once to nurse during the night.
She has recently discovered her hands and spends a good part of the day almost gagging herself.

 She finally discovered she can do something besides kick her legs and has started picking them up and trying to roll over.  She loves her playmat and grabs toys to look at them.

Penny has become Bridgette's favorite person and has been enduring lots of love and hugs.  Luckily, Penny thinks Bridgette is funny and totally smiles and watches what she does.

 Proud sister until...

Whoa, falling baby!

 Yep, definitely sisters!

We love her!