Do's and Don'ts

Don't let your child eat her dinner unattended



Do bathe your baby even if they scream the whole time

Do embrace your child's sense of style

Don't forget to wish your grandpa a happy birthday

Do do the hot dog dance with Mickey and friends on the table


Do use white noise to calm your baby

Eleanor actually made this discovery. We were in the kitchen getting dinner ready and I put Penelope in the bouncy seat and was just going to let her fuss until we were done, but Eleanor came along and turned on the big "Hawaiian Breeze" fan and sure enough it calmed her down right away and we were able to cook in peace -- Don't mind my dirty kitchen floor :)

Do let your child pretend she is a monkey and hang her upside down

Don't put a blue crayon in with your laundry, because it will get on everything while in the dryer!

Do let your child express their creativity

Do share your toys with your baby sister

Eleanor is so good at "playing" with Penelope. She always bring toys over to show her.



Do take lots of pictures of your baby because they change so much everyday!

the past two weeks

We've made it two weeks having two kids! woohoo! I guess it helps that we had my sister here, then Andrew's mom for a couple of days, then my brother for about a week. It was so nice to have some help and just fun to have company. Here are some snapshots of what we've been up to.

Here's Penelope at two days old...



With her eyes closed we think she looks almost identical to Eleanor. They have about the same amount of hair, although Penelope's seems to have more texture to it. Also, her cheeks aren't as chubby as Eleanor's were and she seems a little bit longer. She is much fussier than Eleanor and likes to be held A LOT! It's funny how different babies can be.

Andrew and I celebrated our three year anniversary on the 17th. Andrew's mom was here and stayed at home with the kids so we could go out to dinner. It's crazy to think that three years later and we've lived in three different states and have two kids!

Here we are on our wedding day....

One year later, moving across the country to come to Ohio for law school and about 7 months pregnant...

Two years later...

And now three years later...


Eleanor loved having company and lots of different people to play with. Here she is with Andrew's mom.


Penelope at five days old and finally opening her eyes a little bit...

Six days old. Nice and cozy with her back arched and her butt sticking out, which is exactly how she liked to be inside of me, too...

Seven days old, and you guessed it, sleeping...


Ten days old and having her first bath. She wasn't a big fan...

11 days old and already looking so different...

And like I said, she's pretty fussy...

Eleanor is adjusting pretty well. She really doesn't like it when Penelope cries and tries to help get her quiet, which is really sweet to see. She also like to share whatever she is doing, whether it's coloring, or eating a snack, or playing with toys, she always tries to get the baby to participate. She's been saying a lot more words and lately has been obsessed with cupcakes. Whenever she sees her 1 year birthday picture with her eating a big cupcake she gets really excited and says cupcake over and over again. So I decided to make some with her. She had a blast and it was so fun to have a little buddy in the kitchen.

Time to decorate


And time to eat. Yumm!


Andrew is working full-time now and going to school part-time which has also made things pretty tough. He has night classes Monday through Thursday, so it's just me and the girls from about 8 in the morning until about 8 at night. It was kind of a last minute decision, but Andrew's work will pay for his tuition if he works full-time, so we thought it would be a good idea to go that route. I know it will be tough, but I'm excited that we won't have to take out any more student loans.

Overall I think things have gone pretty well. I'm just anxious to get on a schedule (especially a sleeping schedule). That is the hardest part about newborns for me, you just have to be at their beck and call. But lucky for Penelope, I do love holding newborns.

She's Here!

My water broke on Thursday so Andrew and I headed in to the hospital after we put Eleanor down to bed. We got there around 7:30 but we had to wait forever to be put in a triage room because it was so busy and since I wasn't in "labor" I wasn't really a priority. We finally got into a room around 8:30 and they checked to make sure it was really amniotic fluid that was leaking and sure enough it was! I was worried they would just send me home because it wasn't the real thing. They admitted us and we were finally put in a labor and delivery room around 9:30. I was still only 4 cm dilated so they had us walk around a little while to see if that would get my contractions going.

That didn't really work so they started some pitocin around 11, and then I got my epidural around midnight. The epidural seemed a lot more painful and uncomfortable this time around than with Eleanor, but I'm sure it was better than having contractions. After they were done putting in the epidural I was able to take a little cat nap. But then I woke up having a lot of pressure which I thought was just more contractions so I kept pushing the button to get more epidural juice. A nurse came in a little after that and asked how I was doing and I told her about the pain I was having that wouldn't go away so she checked me and said I was complete and ready to push. They had me do a couple of practice pushes and said, oh there's her head. I couldn't believe it! I pushed for almost two hours with Eleanor, so I thought I'd at least be in for an hour or so this time around. Not so much - after only about 8 minutes of pushing she was here!

Penelope Kate

August 13th @ 2:30 am

9 lb 4 0z and 21 3/4 inches

She weighed the same amount as Eleanor but was about an inch longer. I think they look a lot alike. Penelope's cheeks aren't as chubby but they have the same lips and chin. She is so sweet and has just done a lot of sleeping. I feel really great and can't believe it happened so quickly. I didn't tear at all and I don't even feel like I had a baby. I feel so blessed to have had such a smooth delivery and to have our healthy little baby here. I'm too lazy to post pictures to blogger and comment on each one, so here's a link to some pictures I uploaded yesterday, and I'm sure you can figure out a caption for each one :)

Penelope Kate is here!

Here are some pictures we took today on our first day home as a family of 4 :)

Eleanor was really excited about the baby at first, but this just about sums up how she feels about her now...

Aren't newborns just so precious?! We love our little Penelope!

Little Sister

I would love to say that Eleanor has a new little sister, but that's not the case yet. It's actually about my little sister :) She got here on Sunday night to help out when the baby gets here. She leaves on Sunday though so we're hoping the little one gets here before then! It's so fun to have my sister here-- I love having lots of sisters and I hope Eleanor will be best friends with her little sister because I know my sisters are my best friends!

On Monday night we took her up to see some church history sites in Kirtland. I think I've been 3 times, and every time I go I learn something new. It is really a special place to be. Here are some pics of our visit.

With my little sister Laura...

Probably our last family picture of just the three of us...

Outside the ashery...

Inside the ashery...

Laura took this picture of Eleanor and I just can't resist posting it because I think she looks so cute. Every morning she finds a necklace to put on, I have no idea where she gets it from because I never wear accessories.

Over the weekend we went to a rib cook off and train festival. Eleanor is slightly obsessed with trains.

SHe was loving "riding" this train.

So that's what we've been up to. My due date has come and gone, so we are still just waiting to meet our new baby. Our laptop got a virus over the weekend so hopefully the geek squad at best buy will have it fixed by the time the baby gets here so I'll be able to keep everyone posted :)