The longest short week EVER!

Sorry it's been a while. Penelope is walking and jabbering on more than ever. Some words are very distinct that we know what they are and other times it's just babbling about whatever she talks about. It's quite adorable.
Valentines day has passed. We spent it with Penelope with us. We went to Outback Steakhouse!! I called ahead (they don't take reservations but can put your name down ahead of time) and they said they had a 515 open. Apparently that derailed some of Chris' plans for any gifts he might get. We had an amazing meal. Penelope was so well behaved. We got her their macaroni and cheese (she hadn't had macaroni and cheese before). When they brought the food out, they set hers far enough away that she couldn't make a mess but close enough that she could see what it was. She then went "Noonels" which is her way of saying noodles. We were so proud of her. We have always told her what we were giving her when we feed her and she tries to mimic the sounds. Well, she did this all on her own. After dinner, we came home to a cake that I won at an auction from Church. It is a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting and some fondant flowers. Here are a couple views of the cake:

It tastes SO GOOD.

So Chris got me a iTunes gift card and a cover for the iPad. He says there's something else on it's way but he ordered it online SATURDAY! I tease him "What? You didn't know Valentines day was coming? Snuck up on you again!" He thinks it'll be here tomorrow or the beginning of next week. I'll put a picture of it up as soon as it comes. I made the dinner plans so that was my contribution. But I did get him two new button down shirts. For those of you who don't know, this past summer Chris fell off his bike pretty hard (he got stitches) and it tore up his nice blue button down beyond repair. We bought these shirts for him for his interview with Apple just over 2 years ago. Well, his white one is the only one he wears to Church on Sunday and Penny has been helping buttons come off and then there's the collar stains. Anywho, I knew what style and what size so I went to Macy's (where we got them last time) and ironically they were on sale! Penny went down by 720 and I was asleep on the couch by 730.

A couple days ago, Penny was walking/running up and down the halls in the house. The halls and the dinning room and kitchen are the only rooms with tile. Well, she tripped and started crying. I know to calm her down and then check for blood. Usually there isn't and she's fine but this time there was blood. It looks like when she went down she bit the top left side of her lip and there's a little bump under her left eye. She's fine now- just a little scratched up. She's a tough girl. After it happened, I took her outside to calm her and set her down. She started walking all around and having a good old time like nothing had happened. Thankfully, Penny is learning to take it slower in the halls. She's really good about standing back up after tripping (she trips a lot). 

Yesterday, I heard her in her bedroom but couldn't make out what she was doing so I decided to check it out. Well, here's what she was doing:

 

Oh well. I find her in her closet pulling her clothes off the shelves. Life happens.

Projects

Penelope is enjoying independence but still likes being played with instead of just playing by herself. Chris opens the side door to the yard and lets her go in and out as she pleases (and trust me, she pleases). It's so cute watching her discover with supervision in the yard. We're still teaching her that chalk is not food though. I'm sure she'll figure that out someday.
The baby shower card was a success although I had to change the "Congratulations" part into all caps because JoAnn's was out of the sticker letters this whole week. Kind of disappointing but they all "ooooo"ed and "ahhhhh"ed at it at the shower (ex. "You made this?"). I wish all the best to this soon to be mom.
I've also been working on a dress since Thursday afternoon. I ordered it online but they only had the next size up and I figured I could do the fixing. Thank goodness I ordered it when I did because now they don't have it in stock at ALL. I had to hem it almost 2 inches (which is saying something because I'm between 5'6" and 5'7"). We decided not to take it in because it flows just fine as is. It's a black maxi dress. Here's the link to what it would ideally look on someone: http://www.lanebryant.com/surplice-maxi-dress/p125000/index.pro
I was bound and determined to have it all done by this Sunday. I don't know why but I'm the type of person that if I get something during the week that I want to wear it that Sunday if at all possible. Sometimes it doesn't always work that way. With many phone calls to my mother and the help of a neighbor/Church member, I was able to get it pinned and learn how to use my sewing machine for the first time ever. It wasn't too bad. But as I said, LOTS of calls to my mother. I may never be as good as she is but by golly I will get what I need to done. I had to ask her what kind of needles, thread, and any other things I may need or need to know. What I found completely amazing is I've had the machine set up on the dining room table since Friday and Penny has not once looked at it, pulled the cord, or messed with it in any way.
We're still in the process of moving the furniture in the living room. We have a fireplace with a ledge on the actual part where the door is for the fireplace that Penny keeps climbing up and she's now taken a little spill on. I can't do it alone. It's not because the couch is heavy, it's just big. I hope it'll be a good change.
Here's a quick picture of Penny watching a video of her cousin on Facebook. He was running on his new bed and she just got a kick out of it:

Enjoy the weekend!!

Time goes quickly by

Penelope has been doing quite well. She is now walking without help and not crawling so much (at least when we're indoors or on the backyard). Her infection is WAY down and just a few spots remain. Yesterday wasn't so fun for her. She's been following me sometimes which can be good or bad. Well, it was bad. She followed me into the bathroom and while I was about to wash my hands she tripped over my foot and knocked her head on the side of the bathtub. No goose egg and it looks much better today (no bruise that I can see) but here's what it looked like yesterday:

It was a little bruise yesterday but nothing there today. I guess I'm lucky.

I have been in a crafty mood these last few days. I guess it helps that I've had a couple baby showers come up and I've needed to make cards. Today, while working on another baby shower card, I realized I am now out of small "a"s. I use sticker letters (because my handwriting is not that great). So a trip to JoAnn's will solve that problem later today. Here's what the card looks like on the outside so far (with missing letters):

Well, that all for today. I've got to figure out where park days is today and later finish cleaning.

New Snack

Penelope has discovered a new snack: Frozen blueberries. And boy does she LOVE them! Here are some examples:

Thankfully, Chris had the VERY smart idea of taking her shirt off so we wouldn't get blueberry stains on it. Her eyes are just so blue! Plus Chris cleaned her up but looking at her hands in the pictures you can tell that it's going to be a few days before that goes away. I bet it felt so good on her teeth to gnaw on those frozen blueberries. She ate them like candy. I hope these pictures are enjoyed!

Unpredictable

Life is always going to be unpredictable. There will sometimes be constants but something can always change it. Last night, I got to handle 7 10yr old girls for Activity Days. My other leader was out of town. It was the first time I've ever melted chocolate for molds. I think it went well. It was just crazy with so many of them and only one of me.

Penelope was having a rough day yesterday. When teeth are about to erupt, she usually will get a diaper rash. It comes and goes in a few days. Well, this one was sticking around. She had been wetting her clothes over night and yesterday she went through 4 outfits. When she gets a diaper rash, we try to give her liquids more because her mouth usually hurts for a little while. Back to yesterday. I had asked Chris if I could get him early from work because she had only taken 1 nap that was 1 hour long. Chris said we could get him half an hour earlier. Well, as we drove over there Penelope fell asleep. Stinker! She had been wiggling her bum on the ground a lot more than usual. Chris said during the evening, she was still a bit incorigable. He took her outside to enjoy nature. He gave her a bath, which seemed to clam her down. (It was a 45 minute bath). She finally went down at 845pm and I got home at 9pm. We talked for a while and then decided we were both tired and went to bed around 10pm. Penny decided that 2 hours was enough time for us to sleep... It's hard when you want to fix the baby's problem but they don't want a bottle, changing them is hard because she wanted to itch. In the end, she just wanted to be held and not go to bed. We talked about it and decided that it wasn't Emergency Room worth and Urgent Care is opens just an hour before the doctors office. We kind of narrowed it down to what it could be: a UTI or a yeast infection. Chris and I took turns but in the end I told him he should get some sleep because he had to go to work in the morning and if Penny would take a nap during the day I could catch one too. She finally fell asleep in my arms watching Tangled by 4am. I went back to bed and woke up to Penny at 745ish. She was making happy noises so I stayed in bed until 8. Chris was already up and showering for work. Penelope was pretty happy except when we changed her diaper. By the time we headed out the door to take Chris to work it was 845am. I called the doctors office at 9am and told them what was going on. They are so sweet when I call. I say who I am and who I'm calling about. They ask "How are you". It had been such a long night that I said "Not good". I then told them what was going on and what we thought it could be. She then said there was an 11:15am opening. Thankfully, that's during Chris' lunch so he was able to make the appointment too. So, I love when I'm right. It's a yeast infection. A quick little prescription cream and she should be as good as new by Monday. The doctor recommended that if we could to let her run around without a diaper on to air it out as well as using the prescription 4 times a day. Chris thinks we should let her run around with no diaper off in the back yard so nothing happens on the carpet or tile... I am so grateful that we have a great doctor and that this wasn't a UTI because that could have been bad.

So, working on so little sleep today hasn't been the best but we're home and she's happier and walking around. It has been a long 24 hours. I hope things are looking up. I'm glad a mother's instincts can be right.

Until tomorrow!

Crazy life

I'm sure we all feel like we have a crazy like once in a while.  And some days are better than others. This morning has been one of those days (and I guess my sister is going to have one of those days). Penny has been doing pretty well on sleeping until 630/7am. But today she wanted to have fun. She was up and going by 5am. I found out a big part of it was she was in need of a MAJOR diaper change. But then she felt like it was play time. Thankfully she went down on the way to take Chris to work. I hope this nap will be a nice long nap.
As you saw in my post yesterday, I have finished a scrapbook for my 4 year anniversary. We've had our engagement photos and wedding photos on CDs just waiting to have something done. Now that we're not moving and there was a PHENOMENAL sale (50% off) I felt like I needed to do this. I hope you all enjoy looking through our memories of our special time. It's going to be a 12x12 book. I've only done 8x8 and 8x12 books before so I'm very interested in how this turns out.
I'm going to be going to 2 baby showers in the next 2 weeks. I'm excited for them both (They're both due in March). It's kind of fun remembering what it was like having a brand new baby. Penelope seems like she's not a baby anymore. She's very independent and is more vocal about her likes and dislikes.
I took Penelope to the library yesterday and they have a pretty big aquarium. She watched those fish and pointed and babbled. When it was time for us to move to a different area, she started crying (one of those cries where you look at the mother and think "get your child under control; we're in a library") so I quickly turned back. We watched those fish for a good 20 minutes. I was finally able to trick her into letting me go to the movie section and then we left. We're thinking of taking her to an aquarium sometime. I think she'd LOVE it.
Today, a friend posted on Facebook about a 5k she was thinking of running and wondered if anyone was interested. It looks like so much fun. Plus you get splashed with paint at each kilometer. I'm pretty interested. I feel like it would be more motivation for me to get out with Penny as often as I can. It's not until the end of July so I have time to work on my speed (although it's not a timed race). Just writing about it I'm getting excited. As a friend of mine would tell me "Think of all those endorphins"! Who couldn't use some natural happiness? Now I can't wait for Penny to wake up and eat so we can go out today!!! How crazy is that?
Until tomorrow!!

Wedding book

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