My Mommies

When fast approaching motherhood, it's nice to have great moms to learn from. I am blessed with three:

Lisa: my mom and Penny's namesake

From her I learned to be silly, to let kids make their own choices, and to have a sense of humor.

Sandy: my mom-in-law

She's taught me about generosity and selflessness more than anyone. And how to be terribly paranoid about my child's safety.

Bonnie: my stepmom

From Bonnie I take compassion and service. Always be quick to help, even if I'm fantastically tired.


I love you moms. Without you, life would be dull.

Calling All Aunts

This is Angela.

Stats
Age: 19
Height: 5'2"
Weight: 100ish lbs.

Don't let her small stature fool you. She's vying for the position of Penny's favorite aunt, and her determination level is high.

Favorite Aunt responsibilities include, but are not limited to, playdates, treats, compliments, and maybe even the occasional baby-sitting.

Now, are you gonna let Angela have all that fun, or do we have a little competition on our hands?

A Baby Shower...

...in three parts.

The Beginning:

The Middle:

The End:

An overall success, with a huge thanks to Angela for hosting, and a regular thanks to family and friends for their generosity and support. Lovely time.

Another Handmade Beauty

This time courtesy of Penny's Great-Grandaddy, my Grandpa Hugh. He's something of a master with his hands, and has henceforth created this:

A stunning wooden rocking horse. Look at that attention to detail.

Wavy mane.

Hand-painted designs.

Beautiful button eyes.

And he shipped it all the way from California! Thank you, Gramps. I'm continually reminded of what great people she'll have in her life. Lucky girl.

The Protector

I often find Bud sitting in the doorway of Penny's room, almost like he knows there's something special about that place.

I'm glad Penny will have a friend like you, Buddy. Good boy.

Meet Ty

This is Penny's coolest fake uncle: Ty.

Not only does he have incredible style, but he knows how to make this:

Turn into this:

At one point he couldn't find his hammer and used his freakin' hand to hammer a 2x4 into place. The "Man Hammer" I call it. Dang, now that's a man's man. Thanks Ty.

Seth

Can You Believe It?

I have only 8 weeks left. Here's an update to see how she's doing.

Real Belly

Fake Belly

She weighs right around 4 pounds and measures about 17 inches long. She'll spend the rest of her time in my womb fattening up, gaining about a 1/2 lb. per week. If she has hair, it's grown and her skin is soft and smooth now. Can't wait to rub my face all over that! Keep growing strong, Little P.

I got nothin'

No news to report of, but here's a cool picture to hold you over 'til Monday!

June

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:

1. Sunshine, blue skies, and flowers (that's really 3 reasons)

2. Another year married to this guy


3. Fresh fruit growing in our yard


4. Nights warm enought to walk through


5. Celebrating the birth of this lovely creature (the man, not the dog)


6. Backyard picnics


7. And the welcoming of my dearest Penny

There's no better month in the year.

Penny Vids

Here are some short videos from our ultrasound. The first one is 20 seconds long and number two is 1 minute.

Watch for her tongue in this one!

Penny has never been very cooperative during ultrasounds, so the U/S tech and I were poking and prodding trying to get her to move.

Finally, Seth jumped in and said, "Let me talk to her. She likes me."

He was right. Every time Seth said her name, she responded with the sucking reflex. Looks like she's gonna be a daddy's girl.

Penny Pics

As promised, here are some ultrasound pictures of my sweet baby.

This is her profile. She's ALWAYS pressing her face into something--my uterine wall, placenta or her hands. This time it's my placenta.

Hiding behind her arms.

Furrowing her brow.

Angelina Jolie lips...don't know where she got those from.

Just another sneak peek at my little Penny.

This one's my favorite. It almost looks like she's smiling.

Ultrasound video to follow. Keep a lookout!

A Big Thanks

To my stepsister Ali and her twin brother Chris. They hand-made some beautiful gifts for Penny.

Behold:

Tiny moccasins for tiny feet by Ali.

Stuffed piggy to cuddle by Chris.

Thanks again. I truly love them.

Oh Yeah!

I'm taking a Hypnobabies class. Below are videos illustrating what my birthing day will look like.

Short version:


Long version:

Looks pretty nice, right? So again I say, oh yeah!
(Only encouraging comments please)

It's Penny!

And her sister....uh, yeah.

We just had our second ultrasound and apparently they can see more than the midwives. Seth has twins in his family, uncles. And now daughters. Hope they don't mind sharing a bed.

April Fools!

Did I trick you? Did I, did I? Please let me know, it will make me SO happy. But for reals, here's Penny. Still just a single child.

(Look at her cute nose! And scary reflection.)

We have another 3D/4D ultrasound next week because her face was smashed up against my belly the whole time. This is the only good picture we got of her.

Tune in next week. No more tricks, I promise.