Day 287

Happy Halloween!! Today Daddy came home, he didn't have to work after all! :) We went to playgroup in the morning (after Penelope had a nap, of course, since she was up early) and saw all our neighborhood friends. Later, we dressed up -- Daddy as Winnie The Poo, Penelope as a baby kangaroo, and Mama had cat ears on... I can't say I fully dressed up. :) Penelope loved her costume the two times I tried it on her, but today? Not so much... At least at first. She cried and was in a bad mood until we arrived at our neighborhood parade. Super cool, tons of people (I'd say about 300) show up at a designated intersection, then we all walk around a few blocks. Nobody watches since we're all actually in it, but it's still fun! Penelope rode in our friends Viola & Katie's wagon for a few minutes, but she was being kind of unruly, so I took her out. She did great the whole time at the parade and walk home, but once we go home she was just tired and hungry, so we fed her, she got to see a couple trick or treaters, then it was her bedtime. She had a good day, and we did too, watching her and laughing at how CUTE she is in that darn suit! We had a few trick or treaters this year, not nearly as many as last year, but that's just as well, we were beat and ready for a scary movie. :)

Here are some pics from our day... Goodnight!

Day 286

Today was a fun day for us girlies. We slept in a bit-- 7am, and after P's morning nap, we headed over to Daddy's school (Orange Coast College) for a book sale. Three things about this trip: one, its an enormous campus and we certainly got our exercise for the day! Two, the college aged kids there made me feel very OLD, and three, Penelope did not like so much attention, and began to cry when a lady stopped to tell her how cute she was!!! She's never reacted that way, how strange! :/ After we came back home, we both had a nap. 

Later, we just had a regular evening-- dinner, bath, and a nice evening walk. The sunset tonight was really pretty (THOMAS, I can appreciate a good sunset!!!) and we lost P's binkie. Let me just say, why we don't have stock in a pacifier company is beyond me... We have had to buy so many of those darn things! Well, she'll be off it soon, anyway, but I'm really not too worried about it. She's gotten past all the challenges we've put her to without too much fuss, and I know once we see she's ready, we'll start that transition. 

Tomorrow is Halloween, I can't wait to put Penelope in her costume and take her to our neighborhood's parade!! :) I got her a tiny trick or treating bag, and will take her to our neighbors houses, maybe, but that's it... Just they can see her. We also have playgroup in the morning... I doubt the kids will be dressed up already, but I'll double check. 

I have one pic from our evening walk tonight. Goodnight. 

Day 285

Well, I'm going to tell on Penelope tonight: she was a whiny mess today!! :/ I'm not sure what's going on, but the last time she was whiny for (seemingly) no reason, she had teeth the next week! I don't know if its teething time again, but I guess time will tell! 

We woke up early again 6:30, and by the time Papa came home, we'd already eaten breakfast, cleaned P up, and washed the breakfast dishes. My baby has GOT to start sleeping in!!! She is all fun and games, then 9:00 rolls around and it's cranky city. I am still just grateful that she's sleeping through the night. It'll be helpful when her baby sister is here -- in nine days. I couldn't imagine having to deal with both all night long. How the heck do people with twins keep their sanity?! 

Well, except for a quick run to Trader Joe's for milk, we were home all day. I'll have to take Miss P on an outing tomorrow, so neither of us gets cabin fever!! Penelope is seeing her Grandma on Friday instead of Wednesday this week, so she and I'll do their normal walk. Well.... Maybe not all the way to the park, but part way! :)

That's it for today. We are beat tonight, all three of us. Goodnight!!! Oh, pics are too cute-- P watching the chickens after Daddy let them out of their cage.

Day 284

Wow! I can't believe I missed posting here yesterday! I have no excuse other than being totally, physically and mentally beat at the end of the day. I'll post here now as if it were yesterday.....

Well! Today was a good day. Penelope woke up eeeeearly, her new thing, at 6ish. I'm never ready to be up and at 'em that darn early, I'm just not. But... What are you gonna do? She starts like its a race, too, all over the place and just here and there like lightening! We had breakfast, read some books and played, then morning nap. Thankfully I got her to sleep an hour and 15 minutes, because we had her swim lesson at 11:20. I usually spend about 30-45 minutes getting us ready for class: packing our suits and towels, diapers, wipes, milk and snack for after, and other odds and ends. I woke P, gave her a few minutes to get with it, and then we were off by 10:30. We arrive at class with enough time to get P into her two swim diapers and suit, myself all suited up and packed back up, before we actually get into the water for about 10-15 minutes. Class lasts for 20 minutes, which seems short, but it really isn't. They pack lots into it, and we are expected to practice with the kids after class. Well. Today's class wasn't so great. We started off really well, since all the other kids cancelled, we were getting a private lesson! We sang our song, did some kicking exercises, dunking, and even had P sit on the edge of the pool and topple over into the water on her own! I was instructed to NOT catch her, but to let her fall all the way in, and then get her. I guess the teacher saw the horror on my face because she kept reassuring me that it would be okay! :) Well, Penelope my little fish, she did awesome! She fell in, went under, and when I got her, she was just fine. :) It was only after our floating exercise that P began to cry and not want to be in class. The teacher took her to show us a floating technique, and Penelope did NOT like that... She cried harder and harder, and the last 10 minutes of class, she was crying and wrapped around me tighter than ever. She was done! I opted out of the very last exercise, and we got out. Poor baby...I'm not sure what happened, but she was fine after we dressed, left and got in the car. I guess she just had some fear, which is new, she's always so gutsy!!

Later, we had a visit from Mana. She took Penelope for a walk to the park so Mama could rest. I ended up vacuuming all our rooms, and sweeping the tile floor. I can't let a good opportunity go to waste! We had a good day, even though P was a little scared at swim class. Yay for Daddy being home tomorrow!!! Here's a couple pics: one from swim class, the other getting ready for her bath.

(I won't say goodnight-- we all know I'm playing catch up here!!!) :)

Day 283

Today was a hang out at home type of day. After P's morning nap, we went out for a couple errands (quick), but were home again soon, and stayed here. Mama isn't feeling so great today-- I know being 2 weeks away from my real due date has everything to do with that! (For the record, we're 1 week, 4 days away from hospital day!) Our sweet baby has decided to drop lower into my body and is putting major pressure on my back. Penelope walking now is a God send, I mean it! 

Penelope woke from her second nap today with the best bed head-- I tried to capture it in the pics below. It was funny, she woke up in a cranky mood, so when she realized I was trying to take a pic of us, she tried to lean out of it!!! The nerve! She's usually a little ham for the camera, but (like Mommy) it takes her a little while to really wake up and get with it!! :)The one of our feet? It's just showing we were both wearing our jellies today :) So, we have swim class tomorrow-- should be fun. And the water is one place Mama feels really great, so I'm looking forward to that. That's all for today... We miss Papa a lot today. We can't wait until Tuesday morning. Goodnight!

Day 282

Yay! Today was fun fun fun! Mama had her friends over for a little lunch party to celebrate our new addition-- kind of a baby shower, but since we have everything we need, no gifts. Of course my sweet friends all brought gifts anyway. :) Penelope went over to Mana's house for a few hours, and from what I heard, she had a good time. :) I guess they played outside, and P went on a little ride in the wagon, she had some snacks, and gave Mana a kiss too! What a good girl. Since Mama's friends wanted to see Penelope, I asked Mana to bring her home just a bit earlier, and so she got to show off her walking skills to a very adoring crowd. :) She napped very shortly after coming home-- I guess she was tired! Later, after everyone left (helped me clean up), Penelope and I took a little dip in the jacuzzi-- sooooo nice, especially for Mama's back, which hurts a lot. :( Then bedtime. Today went by in a flash, but it's because we were having fun! I'm so glad P is happy going to her Grandma's house, and that they are becoming close. 

We miss Papa a lot-- he's working..... But we only have 12 days until we have him all to ourselves for a long time! Yay!! We'll just hope we don't make him feel too outnumbered when there's three girls in our house, and then him!! ;) I think he likes it, our sweet Daddy. :) 

Here's a couple pics from today... Goodnight! 

Day 281

Our girl was up before the sun today-- weird thing is, so were we. Since Mama wasn't feeling so great, Daddy got Penelope up, diaper changed, bundled up, milk & Cheerios on board and took P for a very early (before the sun was up) morning walk. It was a nice long walk, giving Mama an hour and a half longer to sleep. Love it!! We hung around home today, cleaning and doing chores that needed doing. Pasta with red sauce & ground turkey for dinner: yum! Oh, and while Mama got her nails done, Daddy and P played outside-- Penelope loves being outdoors, walking around and just being free to roam (with one of us trailing her, of course). Since she's still learning how to go up and down our little front steps, we have to be right behind her, in case she falls. But, she's becoming a very good walker! :) Later, Mama had to scrub P in the bathtub... Playing outdoors makes for a dirty baby!

Here are today's photos. Goodnight. 

Day 280

Today was a busy day for Papa, wow! We were all up early, thanks to P. We all ate breakfast, then Papa went to LA for an interview for a promotion. :) P and I stayed home, she had an 11am appointment with her pediatrician, Dr. Lau. I made sure she napped beforehand, and we arrived right on time. We found out Penelope is only 18 lbs., which surprised me, because I thought for sure she'd be at least 20! She's between the 10th and 25th percentile for weight... our tiny baby. As for height, she's in the 90th percentile at 30.5", and head circumference is a whopping 17" (10th percentile)-- that's little. Anyway, after we bragged to Dr. Lau about all P's accomplishments: walking, off bottle & formula without the bat of an eye, beginning to talk, etc., we prepared for the shots. :( Usually Daddy is the one to hold her hands and comfort her while they give her the shots, but since he was in LA today, I had to do it. NOT fun. She's pretty strong, and I had to really keep her from flopping off the table, and with each poke, I got her wild-eyed look, her piercing scream, and (worst) the tightening of her clutch, telling me she was surprised and hurting. :'( I'd have gladly taken 80 shots to spare my poor baby those 4. She got pretty band aids and a prize for being so brave. :) The Tylenol I gave her helped her to take a nice long nap after we got home and ate lunch. During P's nap, Mama got to soak in a hot bath, because OWCH, pregnancy hurts. Later, Daddy came home, and had to turn around and leave again to teach his class. He was a trooper today, and we love him for working so hard for us!!! :) (We know he did well at his interview, we know it.)

Oh! Today we had another first, and I almost forgot to mention it: baby's first haircut! Just her bangs-- they're always in her eyes, and her hair clips always end up in her mouth, so I just did it. Papa wasn't loving it at first, I think he just didn't want her hair cut, but we both love it now! I mean, she's so darn cute, she could pull off a Mohawk!! ;) Just kidding-- she had better never try that!!!

Here are a few pics from the doctor's office, and of her new hair 'do. Night!

Day 279

Today was rough. Penelope was in a bad (whiny, clingy) mood, and Mama was having an ouch-back day. Daddy was home from work, but had to prepare for an important interview tomorrow, so we just powered through the day, just us girls!! We didn't do anything special today except make a quick run to Babies R Us to grab Mama a back brace, a special pregnant-lady back brace. I hope it works, can't tell yet. We are so close to meeting our newest baby girl, it's just killing me that these last days are crawling by!! Penelope helps that, usually though, by being her regular active self, we don't have much time to sit around and think about things! :) She'll be here at home with us where she belongs soon enough.

Tomorrow Penelope will visit Dr. Lau for her 1-year well check and immunizations-- I'm just hoping she for okay. It seems she tolerates the shots less and less as she gets older. I anticipate lots of high pitched screaming tomorrow. Much like today at my prenatal appointment... Once Dr. Chu began feeling my belly, P went bananas!! She's just so wary of that lady, it's funny, but not when it's actually happening!! So, I'll have height, weight and head circumference to report tomorrow, along with how she handled being poked. Fingers crossed!!!

Here's a few pics of P & Daddy's evening walk. No more stroller, they just walk up the street a bit. P loves it!! Goodnight! 

Day 278

IWell, I have to be honest: today was a heck of a day-- and not in a fun way. :/ Penelope woke up happy, like she usually does, but early. 6am early. So, after eating a big breakfast (scrambled egg, pancake & banana), she was tired and cranky. So she napped, but only a short nap, so that meant she was cranky until her afternoon nap. She was just kind of whiny all day long... I really hope it's  just a bad mood, and not P getting sick or something. 

Since Daddy had lots of studying to do for an oral test on Thursday, me and P spent the day together, and Daddy was busy working. We went to Costco and picked up her photos from the JC Penny shoot-- sooooooo cute!!! I can't get over how cute! So, all of our family will be getting prints in the mail by week's end, I couldn't wait to share them! :) I love each shot, she did so well! 

Penelope is still doing so well with her bedtime routine, and doesn't seem to miss her bottle at all. I'm sure we'll hit some major tears when we ban the old binkie, though... Not looking forward to that one! :/

Here's a few pics of our baby playing in the empty diaper & wipes boxes. Goodnight!

P.S. haircut is coming SOON. P's bangs are always in her face, and she won't keep hair clips or a headband on!!! We're waiting for a good time for Daddy to help us, so after Thursday ;)

Day 277

Today was another hot one. Man! Penelope and I ran some errands early in the day, and at our last stop somebody locked the car keys in the car. :/ Thank heavens Gayle lives nearby, that we had a spare key at our house, and she didn't mind helping us out! :) We were home in time for lunch and Penelope's afternoon nap. Phew!! :) Mama's pregnancy brain takes over once in awhile, what are ya gonna do?! 

Later, we just hung out at home and played with P's new gifts from Aunt Holly & Lily-- a cute little pull toy and some bath toys! She loves both, was dragging the pull toy around for about an hour, it was really cute! Also, she loved playing with the box they came in... Go figure! My angel, she's so cute, and she makes me laugh every day. We missed our evening walk, I think because its getting dark out earlier. I thought we'd have time after our noodles & Alfredo with chicken & broccoli, but I was wrong. We'll have to make a point to get out earlier, unless we're with Papa. 

Daddy's home tomorrow, but will be preparing for a test (promotion at work) for the next two days, so we'll try to help by letting him do whatever he needs to... And we can give him hugs and kisses to help, too! The truth is, we know he's going to nail it, we aren't worried at all!!

Here are a few (blurry motion) pics of P playing with her new toys this afternoon... I can't get her to sit still!! G'night. :)

Day 276

Yay, we had a nice day today, had Papa all to ourselves! :) He was home for a day, gone again tomorrow. :/ We ate pancakes for breakfast, then all had a nice nap. We braved Costco later-- I'm really surprised Daddy went at all! We usually stock up on diapers, wipes and formula, but today we didn't get formula. Now that our big girl is 1, we're stopping with the bottle and formula. She's been drinking out of a sippy cup for a couple of days, and today we introduced her to regular milk. She hasn't seemed to notice at all! I think she'll only miss it at night, if she does... Next we'll tackle the binkie, but not just yet. Our girl is growing up really fast-- walking, mimicking gestures and words, no more bottle & formula... It's all happened so fast. Thank God we're having another baby in 2 weeks and 5 days (who's counting? ;)) because I'd be a slobbering mess, missing the baby stage!!! We are all so happy and excited for the new baby, I just hope P loves her and doesn't have any negative feelings for her. :/

We had a visit tonight from our friends Andrew and Bianca. They brought Penelope a birthday gift, the cutest pair of pink Vans! :) She showed off her new walking skills, and made everyone laugh with her dance moves, too. Our baby is such a charmer. :)

Now, since I hadn't posted all of P's birthday photos, and I didn't take any pics today, I'll post some more now. Goodnight!

Day 275

Today was another HOT one. Blah. We don't love 80 degree weather when it's supposed to be a cool fall day! We slept in until 8ish this morning, thanks to my sweet one-yea old baby girl!! We hit a yard sale, and put has in the car before Penelope's morning nap. After the nap, we did a couple other errands, and Miss P was happy happy happy until she wasn't. Then she started screaming in Walmart, which was embarrassing! We high tailed it home and had lunch, and then baby girl had her afternoon nap, which wasn't so great. She spent the remainder of the evening kinda cranky. Well, what are you going to do?! Tomorrow we'll see Papa, so we're happy for that. :)

Here's a pic of Penelope wearing a doggie witch hat we found in Walmart... ;) Goodnight. 

Day 274

Today was great! We had P's birthday party, and other than my under-baked cake and forgetting to make the salad, things went great! We were all up early, decided to have breakfast at Dick Church's (a great old greasy spoon), and then picked up Penelope's photo CD at JC Penny. We got home, put kiddo down, and began cleaning up and decorating for the party. We ate pizza, under-baked cake, and Penelope partook in both!! :) Our big girl loves pizza, heehee! She kinda ate cake, which I thought was a little strange at the time, but now that I know the cake was yucky, who can blame her? I feel like I need to make it up to her!! :/ Anyway, Mana and Grandaddy were there, and we all had a great time. P got a new bike-- and I think she is getting the hang of riding it already! :) Our baby isn't a baby anymore... She's even saying "baby"!! We had a good day. 

No more rambling, here's the pics.... Night!