Penelope is 7 months old!

I really can hardly believe it! We are inching closer to her first birthday - and once summer hits - I know it will be here before we know it! Summer always seems to fly by! Not a whole lot to report this month. The only major thing we are dealing with right now is some eating issues. We found out this month that she is not able to keep oatmeal "down." However, now that she's experienced the horrible feeling of throwing up due to real food, she's decided to keep her mouth closed so we can't feed her any "real" food. I made a little progress yesterday with a TINY bit of pears, but we are going in to talk with the doctor next week so see if we can figure out a way for her to eat better. She's been doing great with sleeping (maybe because she sleeps on her tummy now?) and is chewing on anything she can, as she is getting more teeth! (She got her first two bottom teeth on April 3rd and 5th - and her top two look like they could be coming in any day). She can sit up for a few minutes unassisted, but her favorite thing to do is roll around. She's always in a really great moods in the mornings and the moment she sees me she squeals with excitement. A morning can't get better than that!

Easter / Spring Break

(Delayed - I know!) :) The week before Easter was, to put it mildly, CRAZY. I can't even remember all the details, but it was one thing after the next. We had a spring break trip to Colorado planned for the week after Easter, so the week before was spent getting packed and ready. Then on Friday night, Lucy was dancing downstairs and fell and hit her head on the TV cabinet. She really didn't cry much and at first we just thought it was another bump/scratch. However, the more we looked at it, we realized the cut had a small gape, so off we went to the after hours clinic to get it checked out. Once we were there, the doctor suggested going to the ER to get it glued, as it might not look as nice if we left it to heal on it's own. After a fairly quick trip to the ER, we were on our way home with a glued forehead (at 11pm!). Then we left for Decatur the next morning! ::Sigh:: I'm still tired just thinking about it. We had a nice day in Decatur and Marcus and I were even able to go see a movie by ourselves! The next morning, Easter, we headed to my parent's church where the Jacoby cousins had an Easter Egg hunt. After that, lunch at South Side and a visit with the Easter bunny. Much to our surprise, Lucy (and Penelope) LOVED the Easter bunny. I'm willing to bet next year Penelope will not find the experience as enjoyable! :) After we were finished with lunch, we took off for Colorado! We drove 7 hours and stayed in Junction City, KS. Lucy had been so great on the trip and had left her forehead alone for the past two days, but as we were 2 minutes away from the hotel, her band aid fell off. I told her I would get her another one as soon as we got to the hotel, but once we arrived, I realized she had pulled the "glue" off that was holding her forehead together - within two minutes! Yeah, that really happened. I couldn't believe it. I ran over to the Walmart that was next to the hotel and got some butterfly band aids and did my best to put it back together. (Thankfully, I think the first two days were the most important). We woke up the next morning and drove to Denver. We got in around lunch and I was able to see one of my friends who moved there a little over a year ago. It was so fun to see her and catch up. We headed to a local park and Lucy and her little girl were able to play and enjoy the beautiful weather. After that little stop we finished the drive and made it to Copper Mountain! All in all, the girls were great travelers. We had a great four days with friends! Lucy was able to ski a few times, but her favorite part was playing with all the kids and the HOT TUB! (more like a warm tub, but still.) She asked me last week if we had a hot tub and when I replied that we did not, she wanted to know why because, as she said it, "they are so much fun." Penelope had fun too, as one of our friends also has a little baby girl, so she had a playmate all week too! Towards the end of our trip, we realized that there was suppose to be a horrible line of storms from Nebraska through Iowa, basically following us all the way home. So, we all made the decision to sleep for a few hours and leave at 2am and drive all the way home that day! I am so thankful for Marcus, as he drove almost the whole way! (apparently all the driving he does for work has him well prepared.) We saw some CRAZY clouds when we got into Nebraska, and were able to get ahead of the storm by a few hours. We made it home around 8pm that night! It was a quick trip, but well worth it, as we were able to spend some quality time together and with some great friends! And yes, I totally Photoshopped the band-aid out of the family Easter picture, I don't really want to remember the huge gash that was underneath it, in years to come. Update: it is healing really well these days - I think over time, you will barely be able to notice it. I realize it is just a little scar, and it won't be the last one, but I just hate to think of a permanent scar on my baby - I made that forehead you know!

Sisterly Love...

I told you Lucy loves Penelope...though sometimes Penelope doesn't feel the love...

It feels like Spring!

Just a quick post.

Tonight we introduced Penelope to cereal for the first time. She LOVED it (that is probably putting it lightly).

For the past few weeks, whenever I was eating something, while I was holding her she's been leaning toward the food - mouth open, or grabbing for it. So it shouldn't have been a surprise that she was basically grabbing for the spoon, ready to shove more in her mouth. Maybe she'll be a good eater - unlike her big sister who I had to bribe to eat dinner tonight. :)

Last week (March 8th) she made it the whole night without a night feeding, and "almost" every night thereafter - so let's hope she continues to sleep well - who knows maybe this will help a little with that too!




We spent a little time outside today, in the beautiful 60 degree weather! That "spring" air always make me a little weepy - it reminds me of the day we brought Lucy home...how has it almost been 3 years? It goes way to fast!

5 months old!

I'm always apologizing for not blogging more, but this past month, I have a better reason - my hard drive crashed! Thankfully, I had everything on my external backup, but it was definitely a pain trying to put my computer back together! I've been working hard at organizing all my files and photos and getting it backed up on other drives.

So here is a quick synopsis of the girls this month!

Lucy...
LOVES her baby sister...she can hardly wait for her to wake up every morning. She loves holding her hand, helping me change her diaper, picking out what she should wear for the day, getting/rinsing off her pacifier, and especially watching "linesteins" (Little Einsteins) every morning. She tells me everyday... "Mommy, Attapee wants to watch a movie together" or "Attapee wants to play with me." Today she told me that Penelope was her best friend. Melts my heart! I can only hope that loves continues!

Lucy is really into puzzles and matching card games right now. She will play them over, and over and over again. While it is great she has something that can occupy her time while we are stuck inside, I cannot wait for spring! We all need to get outside! Lucy also reminds me everyday that she wants to get her sunglasses and suit on and go to the pool...she's obviously ready for summer!

Her other favorite thing is talking about her birthday party. I hear what kind of cake she wants about every day too. Currently, Blues Clues and Little Einsteins are the top contenders. I'm in denial that she is going to be three years old in less than two months! Where did the last three years go!?!!?

Penelope...
Is pretty fond of her big sister too. This month, she's really stared watching and laughing at Lucy. It's so great to watch them interact with each other. She's still a fairly easy baby, although this past week she was a bit fussier than normal, as she had a stomach bug. She's starting to have a few favorite toys (Sophie the giraffe, a minky lovie, a musical caterpillar and little bee toy. The bee toy was also one of Lucy's favorites. She has been chewing her fingers like crazy for the past two months, so I'll be interested to see how long it takes for a tooth to pop through. She's a much better sleeper than Lucy was, as she goes right to sleep at night and only wakes up once to eat. (It's quick and she goes right back to sleep - most of the time).

Penelope is also growing like a weed! Yesterday, Lucy told me that her "baby sister is getting bigger!" - boy is she right! She's really looking like a baby now and not like an infant anymore. While I'm thrilled she's growing and developing as she should, it's a little sad that it has to happen so fast! At four months she weighed 14.0 lbs and when I took her in for a few shots at five months she was up to 15.8! She's almost doubled her birth weight!

Next month....SIX MONTHS OLD! How is that possible?

xoxo,
Meg


Watching Little Einsteins together.








Decked out in their Dr. Seuss gear - in honor of his birthday on March 2nd!

January so far...

I just realized I haven't posted at all this month! I'm such a bad blogger. Okay, well long story short is we've had a great month so far! Penelope is growing like a weed and is so much fun. She is all smiles and giggles and such an easy going baby.

Lucy's had a lot of fun this month too, especially enjoying some nice warm days outside and when it has snowed, she LOVED making snowmen.

This coming weekend we are taking a little trip to Galena with our fellowship group from church. Marcus is skiing and Penelope and I are relaxing/shopping and most importantly sleeping! :) Lucy, our early riser, is staying with Grandma and Grandpa Rapp - so you can be sure Mom and Dad will be enjoying sleeping in as much as possible! :)

Here are a few pics from this month!




Our cute little cub!


Marcus and Lucy about ready to make a snowman!



I had to get a few pics of Penelope in her cute little sis shirt!


Penelope and Judah at almost 4 months - aren't they the cutest baby cousins you've ever seen? :)

The best gift!

There really is nothing better than celebrating Christmas with family and friends. Here is a little recap of our holiday...

We enjoyed the Elsasser family Christmas on Friday night, and then opened presents and had a delicious lunch with the Rapp side on Saturday. We drove to Decatur on Saturday night and were able to attend a Christmas Eve Service (Lucy did AMAZING thanks to some new blocks) and opened presents and had other great meal on Sunday. Lucy and Penelope loved spending time with their cousins, especially Judah, Maggie and Lucas.

We drove back home on Monday night and got back just in time to get together with a bunch of our friends (Marcus's high school group) and all their kids. Seven kids under six years! It was a little crazy but super fun! (One six year old, two (almost) four year olds, two two year olds, one one year old, and Penelope).

Marcus took work off thru Wednesday, and we enjoyed having him home for a few extra days. I especially enjoyed sleeping in and a few long naps!

All in all, a great holiday and a WONDERFUL year! We are so thankful to have been blessed with another baby and now to have two happy, healthy - beautiful little girls. We couldn't ask for a better gift!


Penelope on Christmas Eve (Her three month birthday!)



Our sweet blessings!



We are excited to see what 2012 has in store for us! (Penelope is too, I promise!) Happy New Year!