24 weeks...

pardon the extremely photo heavy post, but this little country baby was just killin' me this week!

24 weeks, just shy of 6 months, crazy! this little gal right here is a hoot and a half, let me tell you! she knows she's funny and she's milking every second of it. she spends much of her days squealing, singing, and telling stories to her girl sophie. she drools buckets full on a daily basis, and i'm thinking that first tooth might be just around the corner. it's hard to tell for sure though, because every time i try to look in her mouth she just grabs my fingers and eats them. she rolls around the floor like a champ, and is investigating this thing they call crawling. she's more like a little worm though, scooting along on her belly. if she wants to get somewhere, she's going to find a way! as you can see she's a pro sitter now. she really wants nothing to do with laying down anymore, and will do baby crunches if put on her back. girls gonna have abs of steel! she's really starting to let that personality of hers come out, and it's so beyond heart melting when she throws those little arms around my neck to give her mama a big ol' baby hug. i always heard that 6 months is when things really start to get fun, and i can absolutely see why!

oh, and here's one more because her backside in these overalls is just too darn cute!

22 weeks

it's amazing how much this lady has grown up just in the past week. she can now sit up all on her own, (well with some pillows behind her just in case) and like i mentioned in my last post, she's onto solids now too. the sweet potatoes still aren't a favorite, but she's since had a taste of brown rice cereal and she's kinda stoked on it! she really enjoys a good game of peek-a-boo these days, she can now sit in a high chair, and she even learned to roll from her back to her belly! she wants to explore everything, mainly with her mouth, and you can tell she's really trying to figure this world out... and i'm so ready to show it all to her.

oh miss penny... you make your papa and i so very happy!

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!

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!

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.

10 weeks...

eeeep... my baby's got 10 whole weeks under her belt! things here are starting to get lots of fun now. penny is much more responsive, and quite generous with her smiles. i swear she's going to laugh any day now. we get these goofy squeaks from her that want to turn into a giggle so very badly. i secretly think she's holding out just to keep me doing ridiculous things in an effort to get that chuckle. she's a silly little bird indeed!

i still have yet to figure out how to get anything major done with a baby in our house. cleaning happens in the 20 or so free minutes i have a day, so needless to say this place is looking rough. but she's only young once right? and the laundry will still be here tomorrow. i know eventually i'll find that balance, so i'm not too worried about it. but in the meantime, who wants to come clean my house?!?!

8 weeks

     my little lady is almost a whole 2 months already. when the heck did that happen!?!? i can absolutely understand now how suddenly your standing there at your baby's first birthday party wondering where the past year has gone. the days and weeks just fly! miss penny is starting to become a lot more fun these days. the first weeks of just sleep and snuggles were amazing, but now to that i get to add big gummy smiles... heart melting indeed! we've got her 2 month check up next week and i can't wait to see how much my little peanut weighs now. she eats like a pro and those newly formed rolls on her thighs, and the addition of a second chin are the proof of that!

     mama life is really feeling much more natural now for me too. those first few trips with her to either target or the grocery store were a little nerve wracking, but now we've got a healthy amount of journeys under our belt and we're feeling pretty comfortable going anywhere. penny and i even drove down to atlanta to visit my parents last week. that's a 4 hour trip, with an infant, all by myself. yeah, i might be a little proud of that one. sure it took us 5 and a half hours with feeding stops, and playtime breaks, but she did great and now i know that's one more thing we can do and survive just fine. and as for those feedings, i used to feel pretty awkward breast feeding her in front of people, but that too is a thing of the past. i just use a little nursing cover, and we're good to go. i've now nursed her at the mall, a restaurant, and in front of some very inquisitive nieces and nephews. it really is the most natural thing in the world, and i've realized how much it's really not a big deal to 99% of the people out there. so yeah, i like this motherhood thing i've got going on... and from what i hear it just keeps getting better!

3 weeks...

i can't believe 3 and a half weeks have already flown by since miss penny came into the world. in some ways it's gone so quickly, but then in others it also feels like she's always been here. it's kinda crazy just how natural it all feels. i thought once she was finally here i might be somewhat freaked out about being entirely responsible for this fragile little life, but it's true how they say your instincts kick in and you really just know what to do. i had a moment the other day when i was walking down the hallway in our house holding penny, and i passed a mirror. i had to stop and just look at us, "i'm a mom!". i actually said it out loud...

it's naturally taking us a bit of time to work out our routine around here. evan is back at work, so it's just penny and i during the day. i've had my etsy shop closed since she was born, and i'm actually thinking that i'm ready to reopen for the weekend and see how it goes. it's crazy that i've had it closed for this long. i haven't taken a real work break for more then a day or two since opening my shop back in april of 2009. it feels weird and i think it may take me a little bit to really get back in the swing of things. i miss it though, so that's definitely a good thing, and i look forward to making and creating lovely goodies again! we'll just have to see how much penny lets me get done during her naps. be good to momma little lady :)

i know i haven't been keeping up to date here as much as i would like, and hopefully i'll get a little better about that as we settle into our routine. in the meantime though feel to keep up with me on twitter, or intagram (monkeyandsquirrel) for daily updates. oh, and here are a few of my favorite penny moments from the past few weeks...