Penelope Newborn Pictures

I hope you're ready for newborn Penelope overload. Back when she was just 10 days old, we had a newborn session with the talented Gillian Dyan Photography. Gill has been taking pictures of our family since Harrison and Brooke were a year old. With the exception of Scarlett and Clark's newborn session, all of our professional pictures since then have been taken by Gill. We've had a lot of great sessions with her, but this one is by far my favorite. None of the kids were too excited about participating, but she still managed to get a couple pictures where they're all looking in the general area of the camera and no one is picking their nose. I consider that a win. Penelope was a champ for the whole session and slept for basically 4 hours straight. 

All photos property of Gillian Dyan Photography.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fun time celebrating 2018 last night. There was so much of 2018 that didn't get shared on this little blog so I thought I'd kick off 2019 by taking a quick look back at 2018. I was actually hoping to end 2018 by looking back, but the baby decided not to nap yesterday unless I was holding her. She did sleep from 9pm to 6am without waking to eat, so I can't be too mad about her lack of napping. I'm currently sitting in bed next to her while she naps, so fingers crossed her laying next to me is as good as me holding her.

January

We started off the year with new furniture, finishing off our living room makeover. Rob and I celebrated 13 years of marriage and he turned 33.

February

I celebrated Valentine’s Day with my little people. After being told at the beginning of the month that there was still a less than 1% chance of ever getting pregnant on our own, we found out at the end of the month that we were pregnant.

March

We celebrated St Patrick’s Day at the lake with my parents. We got to see the baby on ultrasound for the first time and confirm that it was growing well and had a nice strong heartbeat.

April

We announced our pregnancy on social media and got our final release from our RE’s office. Scarlett and Clark graduated from cribs into twin size beds. Harrison and Brooke got bunk beds and a room makeover.

May

We found out “it’s a girl!” Prenatal testing showed less than a 1% chance for genetic abnormalities. Brooke and Harrison turned 6 and finished kindergarten.

June

We went strawberry picking. Harrison and Brooke went to their first summer camp. While they were at camp, the littles and I enjoyed fun mornings at the zoo. We had baby girl’s anatomy scan which further showed that she was a healthy, growing baby.

July

We spent almost 2 weeks at the lake visiting with family and friends. All 4 kids learned to ski with the E-Z Ski. We drove a couple thousand miles on our first road trip ever. We visited my brother and brother in law in Denver. We drove up a 14,000 ft mountain, spent a day at a water park, and got to taste some of the best ice cream in the world. Rob and I finished out the month seeing Foo Fighters in concert with some friends.

August

I turned 36! Harrison and Brooke started 1st grade in separate schools. Rob and I spent a day in Indianapolis with friends. We ate great food, went to Cake Bake Shop, and saw Tall Heights, Cake, and Ben Folds in concert. The kids and I spent lots of time at the pool.

September

We enjoyed cooler mornings at the zoo during September. We went to our favorite fall festival with Rob’s parents. I spent a lot of the month starting to get ready for baby girl’s arrival. After 7 years with the same company, Rob started a new job.

October

We did all the fall things in October. Wild Zoo Halloween, visited the pumpkin patch, got to go trick or treating twice, ate pumpkin spice everything. I got the ok from my OB for one last day trip at 37 weeks, so off to Indy I went for another concert, Tall Heights again, tacos, and loads of macaroons.

November

We completed our family on November 1st when we welcomed  Penelope Jo. We spent the month in the newborn haze. We celebrated Thanksgiving with a laid back day at home and dinner with Rob’s parents.

December

This was the month from hell. Viral gastroenteritis, pink eye, strep throat, colds, and lice. We got hit with every terrible thing all at once. There were a lot of good moments too. Penny started sleeping through the night. We celebrated Christmas at the lake with all of my siblings and nephews. Scarlett and Clark turned 3!

2018 was so good to us. While not everything was perfect, the ups definitely outnumbered the downs. 2019 has a lot to live up to. 

I am not big on resolutions, but there are a couple things I plan to focus on in the new year. After being so great about healthy eating and mornings at the gym in 2017 and early 2018, it all went by the wayside once I got pregnant. Exhaustion and morning sickness took over and I never got back into healthy habits. Now that I'm 2 month postpartum, I feel like I am ready to start mild exercise and meal planning again. We aren't quite to a scheduled routine with Penny yet, but once we get there it will be a lot easier. Breastfeeding makes "dieting" impossible, but healthier choices need to become a priority.

Once Penny's routine emerges it will also be easier to plan our mornings. I'm hopeful that by the time the weather starts to warm, we can get in the habit of taking morning outings again. Simple things like trips to the library, park, or museum. I feel like Scarlett and Clark have missed out on a lot of the experiences Harrison and Brooke had when they were little. Older siblings in school and now a baby to contend with make it more difficult to find time for the same fun outings the older kids got to enjoy.

Finding more time for Rob and I is also a priority. We have been doing a surprisingly good job of it since Penny was born, but it's definitely easy to let work and kids take priority and then our relationship takes a backseat. On a similar note, I also want to make sure self care is a priority. Both of these get harder the more kids we throw into the mix.

Cheers to a great start to a new year!

Penelope Jo - 1 Month

Our sweet baby girl turned 1 month old last week. I love that her birthday is on the 1st, it makes it really easy to know when all of her monthly "birthdays" are. She had her one month check up with the doctor this week, and she is a chunk! No surprise there. She is in the 96th percentile for weight, weighing in at 11lbs 14oz. She was down to almost 9lbs when we left the hospital, so she's gained almost 3lbs in a month. That nice oversupply that her twin siblings built up for her is going right to her waistline. She's grown 1/2" in length and is now up to 22".

In true newborn fashion, she sleeps all the time. We are starting to see a couple wake full periods, one early in the day and one right before bedtime. From 11am-5 or 6pm you can count on her sleeping and only waking to eat. I could use that time to be productive, but she likes to be held and I refuse to turn down newborn snuggles. Sometimes she and I will take a nap in our room while Scarlett and Clark nap, but usually we can be found curled up on the couch watching TV. Nighttime sleep has thankfully been really good. Yes she wakes up eat multiple times per night, but she is always right back to sleep. We're starting to see an 8pm bedtime emerging. Once she gets into a sound sleep, more on difficulties with that later, she'll sleep until anywhere from 1:30-3:30am. She nurses one or two more times after that initial middle of the night feeding and then she wakes up anywhere between 7:30 and 9:30 am.

We have a rock and play next to our bed that is supposed to be where she sleeps, but she doesn't sleep well in it. I always lay her down there to start the night, but she usually wakes up a few minutes later and then I let her sleep in our bed. We've done some variation of cosleeping with all of our kids, so we have experience in keeping a safe cosleeping environment. I would prefer that she sleep most of the night in her own space and only come into our bed for nursing, so if we can't get the rock and play to work, I may set up her crib next to our bed or try some type of bassinet.

Part of her issues with getting into a deep sleep stem from dietary issues. She is very gassy and is a "happy spitter." She is constantly spitting up, needs burped more frequently than any of my other kids, and seems to have some stomach issues. After dealing with milk/soy protein intolerance, MSPI, and acid reflux with Scarlett, I am very aware of what symptoms to be looking for. Spitting up, mucousy or bloody diapers, incurable diaper rash, excessive gas. Her symptoms are much milder than what we went through with Scarlett, but I noticed issues very early on. I cut all dairy and soy out of my diet a week ago, and I am already seeing positive changes. Her diaper rash, baby acne, musoucy diapers, and goopy eyes have all cleared up. I've noticed way less spit up in the last couple days. She actually wore the same outfit all day yesterday without soaking herself in spit up, so I'm hopeful that the spitting up continues to improve also.

Most of Penelope's awake time is spent being held by her brothers and sisters. Clark still isn't too keen on holding her, but the other three are always asking to hold their baby sister. She doesn't love tummy time, but will tolerate it for a few minutes. She does like laying on her play mat and staring at the Christmas tree or trying to turn her head to see the TV. Her favorite thing to look at is the windows in the living room. It doesn't matter whether the curtains are open or closed or whether it's night or day, she loves staring at the windows. She is also content to sit in either of her bouncy seats, which I utilize frequently when getting myself or the kids ready and when preparing food.

Penny is a generally happy baby, especially when she is sucking on her pacifier. She was so chill the first few weeks at home that Rob said he was constantly checking to make sure she was still breathing because we never heard her cry. She's now a bit more vocal when she's unhappy, but it's not uncommon for me to only hear her cry once in a day. She's still mostly oblivious to all of the crazy constantly going on around her, although she does startle when her siblings are being particularly loud. Even with one easy baby, I'm still exhausted all the time. I was exhausted before she was born , so I'm guessing it has more to do with the other 4 than it does her. Soon enough she'll be squealing along with her siblings and then I'm sure I'll be telling a different story, but for now easiest baby ever.

I refuse to wish away the time, but I'm excited to see what the next month has in store for her. I fully intend to snuggle the heck out of her in the meantime, because I newborns don't keep and the newborn phase is my absolute favorite.