Rambling

We love our girls.
Penelope is growing out of her "threes".  I wonder what "fours" will be like.  Here, are the little things she does that puts a smile on my face.  She tries to learn a song by listening to the chorus over and over again.  She'll speak in complete gibberish and say "that's spanish for _____ (you fill in the blank)".  She'll make a deal that sounds like this, "how about you give me ice cream, that's a deal".  When we all eat something she likes she'll say, "daddy, don't eat all of your _____, when I finish mine I want yours".

Esme, well she's just so smiley.  When she sees us, she lights up.  Her mouth is as wide as it goes, her arms and legs wave uncontrollably.  She drools a lot.  It gets everywhere.  When I see a big drool spot on my shirt, I want to show someone and say, "look how cute".  Her thighs!  Those rolls!  

Happy Halloween 2012

Happy Halloween!

 

Congratulations Summer and Adam

We made are way down to California for Summer and Adam's wedding.  We saw family and friends on this trip.  Penelope was excited to see familiar faces again and Esme got to meet some of our friends and family for the first time.
 

 

 

Esme Rolls

Kristina and Jake's Wedding

We took a trip to New Mexico.

The girls' luggage was lost for three days so Pen had to make do with this outfit for the pool at her Grandparent's house.

Flower girls, Penelope and her cousin in-law Piper hit it off.

Esme and her Cousin-Aunt (Derek's Cousin) Thea enjoying the festivities.

New Name

I believe it's time to change this blog's name.  I need suggestions.  I was thinking Penning about Pen, écrit a propos de Esme.  It's a little long. 

Penelope is about to start preschool again.  I have to admit, this summer was hard for her and the rest of us.  She was going through a hitting/unpleasant phase.  I'm sure adjusting to being three, having a new sister, having summer break from school was hard.  Summer is coming to an end and I'm glad she's gotten so much better over the past weeks.  Thank you Sheri for your parenting help.  We were productive this summer.  She picked up riding her two wheel bike.  She's been practicing writing numbers and letters.  She's even moving in the water.  Watching her learn is amazing.  I'm a proud mama.

Esme is super chubby making her smiles super delicious.  She loves watching Penelope and lights up when she sees us after waking up.  She has noticed her hands and sometimes finds them tasty.  Unlike her big sister, she loves the pacifier.  We love it too, but foresee some tough weening days ahead.  At three months, Esme is wearing 6 month clothes.  Wowsa!  I look at Esme and think, this will be the last time I'll get to have baby bliss; the small feet, the cute ah sounds, even the cries sound cute, toothless smiles, and staring lovingly at her for a long period of time.  She's growing fast, I got to soak it up.

July 2012 Visit

Future Uncle Jake, and Aunt Kristina

Grandparents

Penelope Rides a Bike

Another Morning

My Family
 

 

Lisa Woodside

This blog would not be complete without highlighting Lisa Woodside.  She's our neighbor, friend, and Penelope's drawing partner.  Lisa comes and saves my sanity by taking Pen out for a walk or just to play with her.  Sometimes, I get to do a little one on one time with Pen while Lisa holds Esme.  She's been a lifesaver and I can't thank her enough.
 

Sisterly Love

Penelope loves sa petite soeur.  She wants to help with diapers and gets really excited when they are poopy.  She gives Esme gentle kisses on the head all the time.  When Esme is awake, Pen giggles with delight, "she's looking at me!".


Recently, a lot has changed for Penelope.  Her preschool is on summer break, she gets a baby sister, she's not getting 100% of my attention, she's picked up a new show to watch (umizoomi), and she's learning to ride a pedal bike.  She's handling it all ok.  I'm just glad she loves her sister.

No Sleep for Poh Poh

Poh Poh came to help the family of four.  There was a lot of holding Esme when she only wants to be held.  Poh Poh and Pen went to the zoo multiple times where Pen finally got to print out one of those photobooth souvenirs.  Chocolate, gelato, toy store, legos, laundry, dancing, food, more food, oh my.
 

 

Thank You

We are very blessed to have such a supportive community.  Friends, and even just friendly acquaintances have done extraordinary things for us to help us through this challenging and joyous occasion.  People have made us food, glorious, fantastic, food.  A week before Esme was born, I broke our car's side mirror.  The auto body shop on our street repaired it for free as a baby gift.  Heck, Alaska Airlines even bumped Derek's air miles for free so we can buy plane tickets at a discount.  People have stepped up to help us watch Penelope during labor and delivery.  I know doctors are suppose to be attentive to their patients, but wow, my doctor was my co conspirator and midwife.  She definitely went the extra mile for me, or it just felt that way.  People are so nice and generous!  Thank you!

Happy Father's Day

Happy father's day Derek.
 

Schools Out For Summer

Today was Penelope's last day of preschool.  She'll have to wait till September to meet new friends.  Her classmates this year will be moving up to the 4-5 age group next year.  She doesn't know it yet, but she might not be able to see her friends ever again.  On the bright side, Penelope will have the same awesome teacher Miss Kellee.

Perhaps I'm sad that Penelope is growing up.  Perhaps I'm sad that schools out when I could really use the time to rest with Esme.  Perhaps I see how excited Penelope is at preschool, and that excitement is on hold. Or my estrogen levels are dropping and I'm just feeling blue.

Welcome Esme

June 2nd 2012, Esme J Guist was born 8 pounds 9 ounces.

 

 

Labor Story

Friday morning, I scheduled a swipe with my doctor.  I wanted to guarantee Esme would be out on the weekend of her due date.  Also this made it convenient for Penelope to be cared for by our wonderful friend and neighbor, Lisa.  Although I was swiped, and my plug came out, and I was 3 cm dilated my doctor recommended I not take a walk to try to induce labor because the childbirth center currently had 7 women in labor; a full house.  The plan was to meet again with my doctor, Leslie Miller, in the morning on Saturday if nothing happened.  So on Saturday morning we met and she did another swipe and I was still 3 cm dilated.  She saw that I was thinning and there was indication I was in early labor.  Oh, I was group b strep positive, so there was another issue of getting me to the hospital early enough for antibiotics to be in my system for four hours before delivery or else Esme would be required to stay in the hospital for 48 hours.  We did not want this.  We did not want to be apart from Penelope for that long.  So, the plan was to take a long walk and head to the hospital around 11am, which we did. I was monitored and sent back home.  I was still 3 cm, my contractions were long, 2-3 mins, but they weren't strong enough.  But, it was not a wasted visit.  My doc gave me an antibiotic that lasted 8 hours, so even if I got sent home, I would have a large window to finally be in active labor.  A woman we passed in the hallway said to us, "they'll send you home, but as soon as you get home you'll start going into (active) labor".  We went home and I started to feel the contractions.  We timed them to make sure, it was 411 (contractions four minutes apart, 1 minute long, for an hour).  We were at the hospital by 5 pm.  I was 5 cm dilated and feeling the contractions.  On a pain scale of 1-10, I was feeling 7.  After being monitored for a while and checked by my doctor, I was still 5cm.  She explained that the baby's head is what would drive further dilation, but my amniotic sac was still intact.  She wanted to give me an opportunity for my water to naturally break, so to wait it out a bit more, I went into the jacuzzi.  Jacuzzis are awesome!  It made my pain feel like a 5!  I was in there for a while but decided I would get out at 9pm and wait for my water to break.  When I got out, my contractions started to feel like 8.  At 10pm I was done waiting.  Dr. Miller arrived only to find me still 5 cm dilated.  By 10:30 pm she broke my water for me.  Ready?  Contractions were crazy hard 9, 9, 9, 10, 10 and super long.  Um, this was not like Penelope's labor (she was born 5 pounds 10 ounces).  I was at a point that I wanted to push, screw the pain management, breathing exercises, ugh!  Doc checked me again and I'm fully dilated.  Derek said I might have only pushed for 3 or 4 contractions and Esme was out at 11:06pm.  Wow, that was painful!  Alas, Esme was in my arms and all was right again.

Photo Booth

A couple mornings ago, I awoke a little before 7 am to Penelope yelling "Help Daddy, Help!". I got up and went into the kitchen where I found her in her booster seat with a finished cup of yogurt in front of her. Instead of waking us up like she usually does she had decided to handle breakfast on her own. The only problem was that she chose to buckle herself into her booster seat, which she can't unbuckle, thus the cries for help. Funny stuff.

After breakfast I began emptying the dishwasher and Penelope went into the living room where the computer was on. She managed to log into the guest account and open Photo Booth (upon which she said "Daddy, look what IIIIIIII found..."). I showed her how to choose different backgrounds, then went back to the kitchen to finish the dishwasher. Below are some of the shots she took of herself.

Before Esme Arrives

We have a little over three weeks to go before Esme arrives.  This is a good time to get Pen's old clothes out and just get ready for her arrival.  That would be great and all, but we've been recently hit with a nasty cold.  Penelope and I have been sick for over a week, but our symptoms are minor; runny nose, and some stuffiness.  Derek's cold has developed into Bronchitis.  So are preparations are really dedicated to being healthy by the time Esme arrives.  Oh and we live in Washington.  Our state is under a pertussis epidemic.  A high school has been closed down.  Two Infants have already died.  Labor and Delivery in hospitals are requiring proof of vaccination to enter.  So we've been asking people around us to get vaccinated.  It's a little scary.

A Visit from Poh Poh

Shopping and playing by Pen's rules was the theme of Poh Poh's visit.

You see the bag Pen is holding?  It's empty.  She promptly removes the purchased item so she can carry an empty bag.

Easter Egg Hunt

This video is being managed by thePlatform. The player is powered by a feed generated by a service that my team developed. And Penelope likes candy better than hard boiled eggs.

Happy Easter 2012

She got what she came for, chocolate.

Having a Good Time

I've been thinking, it has been a fantastic week.  Like the title says, we've been having a good time.  

Grandparents Visit

Penelope's Grandparents stayed with us this past weekend to spend some time with Penelope.  They did stickers, games and watched Take That.

Uncle Jon

Penelope gets a visit from her Uncle Jon this week.

It's March

Here's an update. Penelope's baby sister will be named Esme J Guist. Penelope still loves Take That. Her favorite things to do are paint, pretend to to be a monster, dance to Madonna, send mail, play with stickers, play made up games, and eat chocolate. She's loving preschool and we enrolled her in pee wee t-ball.

Troll

Scary Troll

Where's Penelope?

New Kid In The Class

January 24th was Penelope's first day of preschool. She was very excited to attend. I couldn't read how she felt about it after her first class. Miss Kelly said she did great, but she definitely has a stubborn streak. Don't I know it! Best part of her going to preschool for me was when it was time to pick her up, she ran into my arms.

Here she is checking out the classroom.

That's Miss Kelly.

Meeting new friends.