NY... as seen from my iphone

penny's first trip to NY was a pretty darn good one if i do say so myself... and yes, i do! she did really well on the plane, with the exception of some really bad gas caused by the pressure on the way home. sorry to the folks traveling with us who just wanted some peace and quite. penny needed to get the farts out, and y'all were gonne hear about it from her! she got to meet all of her cousins on my side of the family, and even a second cousin too! she had lots of firsts, like sitting in a high chair for the first time, and her first nap in a pack-n-play! my heart was quite full watching her with all of my family, and it makes me a little sad that she doesn't get to see them all more often.

here are some favorite moments from our trip. naturally i forgot my camera, so these are all iphone shots...

 until next time ny... xoxo

adios tummy time!

since learning to roll out of it, we can't get this little lady to do even a minute of tummy time. so sweet, and so darn rotten...

20 weeks...

20 weeks... booya!

penny slept in her room by herself for the very first time the other night. we've been co-sleeping since she was born, but last friday night she refused to fall asleep in our room. she'd been taking naps in her room by herself so well for a few weeks now, so i decided to see if she would go to sleep in her own room, and she zonked out in 2 minutes. since then we've been putting her to sleep in her room and she's now sleeping longer stretches and even sleeping a little bit later too! i'm so so happy about this because i was one seriously sleep deprived mama. she had been waking about 3 or 4 times a night before that, and would then also get up pretty early. i was dragging myself through the day, and couldn't even catch up with a nap because she was only taking 30-40 minute naps. well we're still not winning as far as naps go (though yesterday there was one fluke 2 and a half hour nap in there), but i think we're all much happier with how our nights are going. i even get to snuggle evan for the first time in months. before penny was sleeping between us, there was a pregnancy pillow there! yes, we're very happy to have our bed back. it's just as important for mama & papa snuggles, as it is for baby snuggles!

this friday penny and i will be flying to NY, with my mom & dad, to visit the rest of the fam for memorial day weekend. i'm really excited to fly with penny, but also a bit nervous about flying with an infant. if anyone has any tips or helpful suggestions feel free to send them my way. the great thing about breastfeeding is that if she starts to get a little hairy, at least i can put her on the boob! fingers crossed for an uneventful flight!

could haves & should haves...

these days are for...

napping with penny, when i should be throwing in laundry

snacking on oreos, when i could just eat that dang banana 

walking her to sleep in the ergo carrier, when i could be teaching her to fall asleep on her own

staying in my pj's until noon, when i should absolutely just get dressed already

staying up too late, when i should be in bed getting some much needed sleep

taking a million pictures of penny playing, when i could be doing the dishes

kissing that naked baby belly nonstop, when i should be... well really there is nothing i should be doing more then that!

18 weeks...

this last picture here just cracks me up... looks like a little baby moustache!

we've got an 18 week old baby here! these might just be my favorite weekly photos to date. she just looks like a little dutch girl, and it melts my insides! 

penny had her 4 month check up last week, and all is looking good. she weighs a whopping 14 lbs 3 oz, and is 24" long. she's right at the 50th percentile mark for her age. she's definitely starting to show a preference for mama & papa's faces over any others. she had her first "oh hi stranger, you're gonna try to make me laugh, but i'm just gonna cry in your face" moment the other day. it was so sad, it was a slow motion change of mood. first her smile faded, then her little bottom lip came out, then it turned to full on crying. woops, sorry lady who thought she was being sweet to my baby... baby ain't havin' it!     

our little family of 3 (7 if you count the dogs and kitties. which yes, i do!) had the most lovely mother's day weekend. we planted our garden. it was so much fun planting things that we know in a few weeks penny can gobble up. we planted carrots, peas, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and cucumber. i hope our garden this year is much more successful then last years. last summer the birds and squirrels got the best of our produce, but this year we've got a new plan of attack for them. ya hear that critters? keep your paws off our goods! evan and penny also spoiled me with some extra sleep time, homemade waffles, some beautiful succulents, and so much love and snuggles! this mama was a happy camper indeed! 

i hope all the other moms, grandmothers, godmothers, stepmothers, and mama's of four legged friends, out there had just as fabulous a weekend too. mother's day... yup, i'm into it!

the past few days...

here are my thoughts on sleep training... EFF IT! we went for a solid 5 days and i've never been more exhausted, or an emotional mess, in my entire life. i mean seriously, for days i could cry at the drop of a hat... and did! i think the method we were using just wasn't suited to penny's needs, and she fought it with every nap, and every night. her naps didn't get any longer, and she was more cranky when she would wake up. so for now we'll just continue on as we had before. she'll take a few 40 minute naps throughout the day, and she'll remain her happy go lucky snuggly self. the one good thing though that came out of it, is that we now get her down for the night earlier, and therefore have some time to ourselves at a respectable hour of the day. as any mama & papa can tell you, this is vital for your sanity! i do plan on trying something again soonish, but penny and i are heading to NY for memorial day to see some family, so it will have to wait until after that. no use getting her on a schedule, only to have it thrown out the window once we get there! so that's that for now, and i'm ok with it. for awhile there i was feeling like a failure, but then i stopped and reminded myself that she's completely healthy, and happy as a clam, so why freak out trying to change that! things will fall in line eventually...

anywho, here are a few peeks at what life has looked like since i've been gone...

 puppy snuggles were had

we voted on a very important issue

penny napped in her ergo carrier...

and held onto mamas shirt the whole time <3

we took lots of walks...

and she fell asleep often.

a friend came to visit in his sweet ride!

i baked!

penny stayed cute...

and then got even cuter!

and that, my friends, is all i have to say about that!

crickets...

we're knee deep in some serious sleep training over here, hence the silence on the ol' blog. so far there's not much to speak of as far as progress goes, but i think it'll be a few days before we get there. penny came down with a little cold the first day we were attempting it, so really starting the training was pushed back a few days. my fingers and toes are all crossed in hopes of this helping her to extend those dang 40 minute naps, and possibly even sleep longer stretches at night. wish us luck...

16 weeks

ok, i'll probably say this with every update from here on out, but i think this time, right now, is my absolute favorite. penny cracks me up on a daily basis. 16 has been a huge week for this little lady. she learned to roll over, grab her feet, and squeal to high heaven when she gets excited. it's impossible for me to explain just how in love with this little girl i am, and from what i hear it only gets better. even though teething is still making our nights quite rough, and i'm hardly getting any sleep at all, i've never been happier in my life. i mean come on, look at those toes! how could anyone be sad when you've got those to nibble on all day! yup, this mommy thing agrees with me quite well... and this coming from someone who at one time swore she would never want kids. go figure!

ps... this post was a little late to the party, because as of today she's actually 17 weeks.