Lessons Learned

#1.  Standing:

#2. Energy Police {or Vampire Appliance Correction Officer}:

ET

Who doesn't love a smiley baby completely covered in stuffed animals?  Emmett thought cleaning out the playroom was a blast.

Gerber baby

Little E's best gerber baby face.  He started rice cereal tonight, and then broke out in a rash in the next couple hours, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. 

"mom your sun came up"

That's what Penny tells me now in the mornings when I pretend to still be sleeping.  Why do little newborns get to sleep so soundly when their mamas are sooo tired?  Now that he's 12 weeks old and I'm not quite as sleep deprived as I was, I thought I should post some of his newborn pics.  The fact that he likes sleeping with his eyes open made them really hard to take.

 

(sound asleep right here)

the bug whisperer..... (and one in training)

 

 She cried when we took away her praying mantis.

The little Mr. checking out grass for the first time.

growing...

 

I had pica when I was pregnant with Emmett, and instead of eating dirt I planted the following in our yard this year:

12 flats of petunias

11 hydrangea bushes

17 red knockout rose bushes

5 double pink knockout rose bushes

6 sedum

2 arborvitae

1 hibiscus tree

3 flats of creeping phlox

4 lavender bushes

200+ tulip bulbs

7 strawberry candy daylillies

peony

50 (1pt) mums

and a vegetable garden........

You may have heard...

 

There's a new little voice around our house now.  And he and his sister have been keeping me super busy, hence the 7 week late announcement.  We think he's a keeper.  Big sister is a huge fan.  More pictures soon.

Even the bears in this house know how to spackle.

 

 Baby bear has some good technique.

 

Not to be outdone, Penny shows off some of her newly acquired home-reno skills.

 

Now it's time to caulk and paint.

 We may be finding baby bear here a lot from now on.

We've still got quite a bit of moulding to spackle, caulk and paint.  After photos coming soon (ish).  Hopefully this phase will last long enough to complete it all.  I hit 28 weeks tomorrow, so we'll see if my third trimester is as full of cleaning/decorating/organizing projects as my second has been.  Dave is sincerely hoping that is fizzles out a little bit.

Mama bird

I'm pretty sure my nesting has quickly evolved into borderline late onset OCD.  I've reorganized the pantry there times this week.  Including labels.  And all the drawers in the kitchen.  Baby's closet.  Playroom.  Laundry room.  My office.  Mom's office.  Our closet and the linen closet are next.  I should take before pics since I always forget. 

Then I got this in an email today and thought it was appropriate:
Signs that your nesting instinct's out of control
• You find yourself reorganizing store shelves.
• You can't let your husband into the house without a good lint brushing.
• Your yard is so clean, you've moved on to the neighbors'.

 And yes, I now have an entire plastic storage box dedicated just to "sprinkles."  Love it.  It's not a small one either.

More {yummy} birthday celebrations around our place.

We had a delicious cake tonight with some family, to celebrate my upcoming birthday, and I just wanted to post a link to my scrapbook blog where you can get a free desktop to download.

The cake?  A double chocolate chocolate chip with cream cheese frosting from these guys, that I decorated myself.  Silk flower?  check.  Mini birthday pennants?  check.  Fun kids to help blow out the candles over and over again?  check, double check, and quadruple check.

 Penny kept trying to stick her finger in the frosting (she thinks that's what the holes in cakes are from when you take out the candles), and when I said she wasn't allowed to do that, she tried to lick it instead.

Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Preview

Little Penelope!  I just wanted to wish you "Happy to You!" just the way you sing it, and tell you what a joy you are to our lives.  Happy second Birthday!!!  xoxo, mama.

Wood huh?

Since the "traditional" anniversary gift for 5 blissful years is "wood," we spent our evening last night painting the board and batten that David installed in the nursery.  I'm hoping that when we really get a chance to celebrate next weekend, the "modern" anniversary gift of "silverware" means we're eating out somewhere fancy; and not that we're just washing tons of it at home.

Just like "Grampa...".

 Penny has come a long way in her relationship with her Grandpa.  He's always been such a fun guy, but for some reason she used to be a little wary of him when he came over.  Times have changed, and she actually bawled her little eyes out when he left last time because he invited her to go home with him and Grandma (he invited her not thinking she actually would go) - and she insisted I bring her her "coat!" and "boots!" so she could go with them. 

 His glasses are always a hit at any visit.
 
She has also discovered a new found love for the constitution.  She takes it with her everywhere.

 And likes to read us her favorite passages to pass the time.  But generally speaking, she reads it upside down. 

the marigolds are doing well.

Even the ones that eat rocks.

Big rocks. And little rocks. Flat rocks. Round rocks.

Maybe it's because we took away her binky, but there's plenty of evidence in past photos to disprove that this is a new occurrence.

Can't sit still

You'll have to forgive my lack of posts. Taking any photos of this little one is getting harder and harder every day. She moves fast now. And she's learned how to climb down off of mom and dad's bed (which used to be the best photo shoot corral our house had to offer).

She's added a few new words to her vocab: "woof," "tweet tweet," "eeeese" (please), "wus zat!" (what's that). But "baby" is still her favorite of all time.

We've been trying to prepare her with a few italian phrases to prep her for our trip here:
And her youngest aunty is determined to teach her some french (we all think it would be quaint), before we take her to Cannes. "Qu'est-ce que c'est?" adorable. We'll see if I can get her Eiffel tower dress sewn in time for the big trip.

the cold shoulder

Someone has re-discovered the bathroom tub faucet. And especially loves turning on the hot water while I'm in the shower. Good thing we turned the hot water heater waaaay down already or that little hand would be bright red.

Good thing I bought 3s

I never thought she'd be wearing her snow boots from October clear into the end of April. Thankfully, I bought them two sizes too big hoping for a growth spurt. She's become fascinated with putting on her shoes (and mine as well). Mittens are also quickly becoming a preferred fashion accessory. She's been wearing them around the house all morning.
She thoroughly enjoyed eating the snow, and watching the cars drive by. But her favorite thing to do is to look for birds and planes.
I personally wish it would stop snowing so I could get my garden planted. The tomato plants sitting in my sink (for a full two weeks now) are becoming high maintenance.

study buddy

I wondered why it got so quiet.

pensive

Her first ponytail. This is how I imagine her face to look when she's six. She loves sitting on the very bottom step of our stairs and contemplating the world.

honey, go brush your tooth

We hope this is the only time in her life where that phrase is applicable.

pink piggies

This is how we celebrated my birthday. First there were mother daughter pedicures. It was Penny's first one ever. That's the scowl that you might be privileged to see if she likes you enough to try it out on you. It's quickly followed by giggles and smiles if you know to promptly return the look.

Cutest little piggies ever. The secret? Baby Einstein on You Tube.
I should also post the photos of the Easter egg hunt we had with the cousins - someday. They loved it! Penny thought it was pretty funny, but wasn't super fond of the grass. Or the wind.
Lots and lots of candles. But not quite enough. And I wasn't about to run to the store and get more. "23" is a good age right? Who knew being older than a standard 24 pack of candles would be so troublesome.

PS sorry for all the post dating going on around here. I like things in fairly chronological order so I can remember how old Penny was in the photos!