Day 226

Today was so LONG. Man, we woke early and took P on a walk. After I put her down for her morning nap, I set out to hit some Labor Day sales-- that was an all out jihad, let me tell ya! (People running amok, being rude and shoving others to grab a deal) Well, when I got home, it was straight to work getting Penelope's new bedroom cleared out for painting. It was a chore, and T did most of it!! We got it emptied, and will begin painting tomorrow. I'm excited for P, and hope she moves into her new room without being weirded out. After her room is all put together, I'll begin getting her old room/baby #2's (who desperately needs a name) room cleaned up and stocked with her things. 

Tomorrow will be another busy day, but that's ok-- we appreciate bedtime on these kind of days waaaay more! Oh, and I'll also have the opportunity to get into my craft stuff tomorrow to finish a few cards I promised Mana-- we'll see if I can set it up to be accessible. ;) 

That'll do it for today, folks... Daddy & Penelope are already passed out & I'm on my way! Here's a few pics Daddy took while he and P were on their own this morning... Goodnight!

Day 225

Today was HOT. HUMID. EW. We kept cool by hanging out by the pool, and Penelope had a ball! :) We all got in the water and played -- well, I sat on the raft! :) Since we just uploaded all our phone pix onto the computer, I only have two from today to share... In the future, I'll have to share the rest, I took so many great ones today! :/

Well, after P had her afternoon nap, we met Grandaddy & Mana at Souplantation for dinner-- yum! P ate lots of Mac n' cheese, bits of bread and Cheerios. I have to say, it was a treat seeing everyone, having a nice cool salad and being in the air conditioning... Just made coming home to a stuffy house a little harder! ;) Lets hope the heat & humidity goes away soon, tomorrow even, we're going to get Penelope's room together finally! Well, at least get it packed up, cleared out and the painting started. I suspect it'll take much longer, but the good news is that we have a little time still. Not much, but time enough. It'll be nice to also get our new little angel's room cleaned up, and have all her clothes and things put in it so she can come home to her own room. :) I have to admit: I am getting really excited to meet her! Now that I can feel her so much in my belly, she's already here with me and I love her! 

Well, that's all for today. Goodnight! 

Day 224

Today Mana came over and watched Penelope while Mama & Daddy went out for a little Korean BBQ! :) What a treat. Baby girl seemed a little upset at first, seemed to know that we were about to leave! I hear she did okay, of course she was fussy, she's not used to her Mama leaving her at all, but Mana took care of that by lots of different games and fun. :) We also had time to hit Costco, so P had a nice long break from Mama. ;)

Later, after a nap, we said bye-bye to Daddy-- he had his second class tonight and got ready for bed. Well, I put her in her crib while she was still awake, and she just jibber jabbered until she fell asleep! Now that never happens! I was so happy we didn't have to hear our angel cry, lemme tell ya! We both were pretty happy about that. 

Here are a couple pics, P walking toward us when we got home this afternoon, and eating her first handful of Joe's Os (Trader Joe's version of Cheerios). She loves them!! ;)

Night night... Hoping P sleeps well tonight.

Day 223

Today Penelope and I had a good day. Baby girl wakes up so darn EARLY, I can barely walk straight, and she's been jumping on her bed for 20 minutes! We hung out on the sofa this morning-- something we never do, and watched news. P liked exploring a new part of home, since we never really hang out in the TV room. After her morning nap (9:30-10:45), I gave her a bath, got us ready and we went out to get Mama some new clothes. Shopping with P can be hard to do, but today wasn't bad! We hit Target, the Lab, and was about to go to the mall when I decided she'd had enough for one day. :) I know when to stop, because her having a meltdown in a store's dressing room is embarrassing! 

Later, after dinner and playtime, we lie down and she went to sleep while drinking her milk... I hope she only wakes up once like she has been for the past two nights!!! It's awesome, I've been able to sleep more than 3 hours in a row (for two nights) and I'm hoping for more!!! Especially since its possible baby girl #2 will be a night owl and I'll be up all night again! :/ 

I took two pics of P this morning, and that's it... Goodnight. 

(Yay, when we open out eyes tomorrow, Papa will be home!)

Day 222

Wow-- Mama forgot to do the blog last night?! I'm very surprised Daddy forgot also, unless he was just letting me sleep when he did remember... Thank you, honey. :)

Let's see, yesterday was a good day, even if P seems to go through a good bit of teething every day now. She seems to handle it better some days than others. Like yesterday, she was kind of clingy & whiny, but had blocks of good hours here and there. It's just going to be tough until this kid has all those teeth! 

We stayed at home all day, Penelope and I, and Daddy had his first day of school! Before that, we all relaxed in the jacuzzi, which P really loves. I think she just loves that Daddy holds her close for a long time! 

Later, Daddy went to school, P went to sleep and Mama had a rare quiet moment alone with Netflix and a cup of decaf. :) Papa did well in school, and likes his students! We knew he'd do we'll, he's just that kind of person: outgoing, loves to help, and I think, made for that kind of work. ;)

Mama passed out last night... I guess it'll happen! Here's a pic of my love bugs in the jacuzzi. I'll be back later tonight-- so good DAY! 

Day 221

Longest. Day. Ever. Man!! When Penelope's teeth decide to give her a hard day, you'd better believe Mama gets it too! She woke up FINE, if a little whiny, but she usually takes a while to warm up to the day (like her Mommy!) We did our usual, news, milk/coffee, breakfast & nap, and when she woke up (an hour later), she was in a foul mood! She was clutching her ears and pulling her hair, and just wouldn't stop crying-- not hard, but a steady moaning and groaning cry. I had her in my arms pretty much from then on. Her second nap didn't energize or refresh her either, so I just kept close to her and we waited it out. I finally had to let her cry while I ate and did dishes! Poor thing, it can't be easy for her, and I try my best to just comfort her when she is having a bad day, like today. 

Daddy will be home tomorrow, and booooooy am I looking forward to that! I know he'll be busy with morning study with a friend, and then preparations for his first class (eeeeeeek! I'm probably more excited than him!!), but having him there is a relief for P and I both. 

Come home, Papa!! :)

Since baby girl wasn't in the photo taking mood today, I'll share a pic of her from the other day... We were in Papa's classroom watching him work. :) goodnight! 

Day 220

Today was a very nice day. Daddy was home, so we got to enjoy some time together. :) We went with him to check out his classroom at Orange Coast College, where he'll be teaching an Emergency Medical Responder course. It was so cool! It's exciting to me that he'll have this class, and I know he'll do so well. He begins Tuesday evening, I can't wait to hear how it goes! We walked around campus, it's so pretty... Made Mama want to go back to school! Maybe after my munchkins are a bit older, or in school themselves. Penelope loved being pushed around in the stroller, and having her Papa home, I know it. She gets so excited when he's around, and they play. I love to watch them together, she's a real Daddy's Girl. :)

Later, we just relaxed and P went to bed without any fuss, which I love. We tried out our new Ergo carrier again-- it's awesome, I can painlessly carry my angel on my back if I need to, and she seems to like it. She plays with my hair. :)

We'll probably go to Waterworks tomorrow, or somewhere else to escape the heat (if it ends up being another hot day!) We'll see... 

Goodnight !

Day 219

Well, today we had ourselves a great time with family & friends in LA... Again! :) We left home around 1pm hit major traffic and got to our cousin Frankie's 1st birthday party around 2:30. :/. It was a swimming party, but Penelope didn't go in the water-- too many big kids in there playing big kid games! The babies sat and played on the grass. After cake (cupcakes that baby girl couldn't taste), we received our goodie bag and P got a goldfish!! But, I forgot it there... RATS! We loved seeing Aunt Anita and Anabella, and all my aunts, uncles and cousins, and they just LOVED seeing out little angel face! She was being very clingy (rightfully so, she doesn't really know them well) so she spent all her time with Mama, on a blanket, or in her stroller. She really enjoyed watching all that was going on. By the time we got in the car to come home, she was snoozin'! 

We had a good day. :) Here's a few pics of us at the party... I took one of Bella getting in the pool like a big girl! Plus a few bath time pics from this morning... Our girl is taking baths in our guest bathroom tub now-- of course, I get in with her for now, as it's just too hard for me to bend over that low. Darn belly! ;) 

Goodnight-- we can't wait for morning, that's when Papa comes with hugs!! :)

Day 218

Fun day! Here's what we did today:

1. Slept in a little-- 7:40!! Woo hoo!

2. Our usual morning routine: breakfast, get dressed and clean up.

3. Packed it up for a day in LA, visiting friends.

4. Saw Patty & Lucca, the kids played & had lunch.

5. Got home in time for a few errands, dinner and snuggles before bed! :)

6. Got a really cool back carrier for P-- it's awesome!!

7. Ahhhhh, sat down (after P went to sleep).... It was a busy day, but a good one.

Tomorrow we have a birthday party, so we'll be doing it all over again!! I have one pic of P pushing the walker Lucca gave her, she loves the new toys! 

We are gonna go see Daddy tomorrow, yay!! Goodnight. ;)

Day 217

Ah, today was a great day-- let me tell ya! :) First of all, Daddy was home, we totally missed him. Second, our baby girl took TWO GOOD NAPS! Never happens... EVER. During her a.m. nap, we all caught up on sleep: 2 hours! I even had enough time to have a proper dream, now that is awesome. :) We went to my ultrasound appointment-- all is well in my belly and with our littlest baby love, and Penelope behaved herself while I was being examined, so that's nice. Later, after a nice lunch of pasta with a little cheese, peach chunks & milk, P went down easily for another 2 hour nap! I relaxed in our comfy chair and read, then cleaned up some so Daddy could whip up my all-time favorite: pizza! (By the way, YUM) to top it all off, our baby girl went down for the night pretty easily and hasn't woken once in the last 3 hours... It's the little things that can make a day special! (Sleep. In a nutshell, folks: SLEEP.) 

Our little angel is still pushing those big old top front teeth through, so we are still dealing with a teething baby, but it really isn't that bad... Hope I didn't just jinx us!! :/

Here's a few pics of P-Nuts & Daddy in the waiting room at my ultrasound appointment today. Goodnight, good people! 

Day 216

Well, today was a good day. Penelope and I got a REALLY good morning nap in, so that just set us up for having a good afternoon. Mana came over around noon and took P out on a walk-- she usually takes her much earlier, but her new schedule may not allow for that anymore, being that baby girl's schedule had changed so much. It goes like this lately: wake up anywhere between 5:30 & 7:30, but usually around 6. I won't let her out of bed before 5:30, and even 6 on mornings I'm just too darn tired. We watch some news in Mommy & Daddy's bed until Penelope is too excited to play, then we head out to the kitchen for breakfast. We'll talk and eat, then she'll play until its time for her next nap, three hours from when she woke up. So, we really aren't starting our day until 11 or even 12 sometimes, depending on how long she sleeps. I'll try to be ready (showered, dressed, packed & have P's clothes laid out) by the time she wakes up so that when we have plans, we can just leave after Miss Grumpy fully wakes up and is ready for the world! Yes, our 10 month old baby has major attitude when she first wakes up... Used to be cute! :)

The rest of our day was spent around the house, and that Penelope thought that her 20 minute snooze on Mana's walk was her afternoon nap, wouldn't you know!! She just wouldn't sleep until bedtime, but she went down early pretty easily. I checked on her a few minutes ago, and she was in the same position as she was in hours ago, so I think she's POOPED! :) 

We are looking forward to a day with Daddy tomorrow before he goes back to work... We plan on stocking up on lots of hugs and snuggles! 

Here's a pic of Penelope at breakfast, watching world news. Night!

Day 215

Today was a nice day, Summer's back for a cameo. :) So, we began early, all went to my prenatal appointment, and when Dr. Chu had me bare my belly to listen to our baby's heartbeat-- P started to cry!! She did that at my last appointment, too, it's really sweet... Like she thinks I'm being hurt or something! Afterwards, she always keeps an eye on Dr. Chu, and she really gets a kick out of that! (All is well on the baby front-- we'll be seeing our newest treasure very soon now!)

Back at home, Penelope was NOT in the greatest of moods. She was whiny all day long, I think because of her teeth. It is really hard when she's like that because there really isn't anything we can do, short of holding her constantly. For me, that's getting harder with each day. :/ Daddy was home today, which is so nice because then there are two of us to tame the beast. ;) 

That's our day, we hope tomorrow brings relief for our little one... I pray she wakes up with a big smile! Goodnight.

P.S. the "smarty cat" pic is something I made in a photo editor app on my phone... I was having WAY too much fun with it! :)

Day 214

We had ourselves a very nice day today! Daddy had to go into L.A. (Part one of his test!!) so us girls ran a few errands. Later we went in the jacuzzi and had a really good time relaxing and watching Penelope have fun. She really got into it after awhile, leaning back in her floatie, and enjoying the warm water -- we kept it under 100 degrees for Mrs. Pregnant and for Miss P. Papa & I cleaned out bedroom BIG TIME, while baby girl just cruised around and played around us. I like that she can do that for a certain amount of time, just kind of entertain herself. Anyway, it was time once I found her chasing a dust bunny in here. :/

Our baby is actively teething, but is back to her old night routine: waking up twice for milk, and then right back down. We've had to give her Baby Tylenol for the hard times, but she's really handling it well, considering the big old front teeth she's growing!! Trooper! :)

That's our day in a nutshell-- goodnight!

Day 213

Today was a nice day, if a little disappointing weather-wise. I know I always say I don't want it to be super hot, but cool, windy & overcast is no fun! We welcomed Papa home after three LONG days, and he made us peach pancakes! Yum. :P After baby girl had her a.m. nap (Daddy & I slept during this time too!) we packed up the bikes and rode to the park for a while. Penelope showed Daddy how she likes the swings and teeter totter, and he helped her down the slide a few times. She's still too little to take full advantage of the park's playground, but we are doing whatever we can with her now. :) After playtime on a blanket, we headed home. Good day.

Penelope is still teething, and each day I notice her two front (top) teeth are a little bigger-looking. If she seems whiny throughout any day, I know she's having a bit of a hard time pushing those big things through. We'll go easy on her for now and excuse her bad moods. :)

Our big girl is sleeping "well" again, meaning she's only waking up twice, to have milk. It was really tough when (at the start of he teething) she was getting up every two hours. I'm grateful for the twice per night in comparison!! I figure I won't be sleeping much when the new baby arrives, so getting used to 8 consecutive hours before then would only feel like torture later. Ahhh, kids. Love 'em. But honestly, we are really excited for our new family member. :)

That's all for today... Night!

Day 212

Penelope and I had another nice day together. :) We decided to go to the park again, but this time we went to Estancia Park--it has two playgrounds, but we didn't like it as much as the park with the bluff. We are lunch, played, then sat on a blanket. Fun! Maybe we'll try Canyon Park next time, and hopefully Daddy will come. So, P is learning to drink from her sippy cup at last, yay!! But one not so great thing I saw she learned is pulling up grass and trying to eat it... Poor kid, I should let her taste it, ha!!! (Kidding) She IS learning to listen to Mama & Daddy's "No!", though, so that helps some. 

That's all we did today. We're so happy we'll be seeing Daddy tomorrow after three days!! We always miss him when he's away at work. 

Goodnight.

Day 211

Well folks, it would seem we have a park going baby in our hands now! :) I packed up a bag for us girls, took a drive to Wendy's for a burger (I brought P's lunch) and we headed to the park near our house. When we arrived, we sat at a picnic table and ate, then went directly to the baby swing-- Penelope loves the swings! She laughed a lot at first, then leaned back and relaxed, and got a faraway look in her eyes!! So funny! After that, I sat her on one side of the teeter totter (it's not the traditional sort, where you need two people, it's fixed into place and bounces)-- she LOVED that one! Didn't wanna get off it, in fact! Then we laid our blanket out, I took out a few toys and her favorite book (Goodnight Moon-- Mommy & Daddy's fave;)) and we played for a long while. She just had so much fun being there, watching the big kids play, playing herself, and being outside... I think we'll work it into our weekday schedule as often as we can, whenever we don't have another activity planned. We walked around the park before leaving, to relax P, as it was right before her last nap of the day. Worked wonders, the kid slept for almost two hours! I got a nice long break, and by that time I sure did appreciate that! :) I know now that our baby is growing up, and needs way more stimulation throughout the day, and I plan on doing as much with her as I can before her sister comes home and turns our house upside down for a few months! I suspect Daddy and she will have a few dates at the park in those first days. We're looking forward to bringing him to the park as soon as he's home. :)

It was a long day, and after her last nap I still had to go to the market to restock Penelope's things: fruit, yogurt, her snacks, bath wash, and those things, and I also found a sippy cup that she figured out how to use! I think we need to begin giving her some milk in it, to begin the bottle weaning process. We're pretty set on no bottle after her first birthday, which is only a couple months away! I think she'll do fine until nighttime... Then, I think it'll be a struggle. :/

Well, I'll share a few pics from our day and bid you a good night. I said GOODNIGHT!! ;)