the past few days...

here are my thoughts on sleep training... EFF IT! we went for a solid 5 days and i've never been more exhausted, or an emotional mess, in my entire life. i mean seriously, for days i could cry at the drop of a hat... and did! i think the method we were using just wasn't suited to penny's needs, and she fought it with every nap, and every night. her naps didn't get any longer, and she was more cranky when she would wake up. so for now we'll just continue on as we had before. she'll take a few 40 minute naps throughout the day, and she'll remain her happy go lucky snuggly self. the one good thing though that came out of it, is that we now get her down for the night earlier, and therefore have some time to ourselves at a respectable hour of the day. as any mama & papa can tell you, this is vital for your sanity! i do plan on trying something again soonish, but penny and i are heading to NY for memorial day to see some family, so it will have to wait until after that. no use getting her on a schedule, only to have it thrown out the window once we get there! so that's that for now, and i'm ok with it. for awhile there i was feeling like a failure, but then i stopped and reminded myself that she's completely healthy, and happy as a clam, so why freak out trying to change that! things will fall in line eventually...

anywho, here are a few peeks at what life has looked like since i've been gone...

 puppy snuggles were had

we voted on a very important issue

penny napped in her ergo carrier...

and held onto mamas shirt the whole time <3

we took lots of walks...

and she fell asleep often.

a friend came to visit in his sweet ride!

i baked!

penny stayed cute...

and then got even cuter!

and that, my friends, is all i have to say about that!

crickets...

we're knee deep in some serious sleep training over here, hence the silence on the ol' blog. so far there's not much to speak of as far as progress goes, but i think it'll be a few days before we get there. penny came down with a little cold the first day we were attempting it, so really starting the training was pushed back a few days. my fingers and toes are all crossed in hopes of this helping her to extend those dang 40 minute naps, and possibly even sleep longer stretches at night. wish us luck...

16 weeks

ok, i'll probably say this with every update from here on out, but i think this time, right now, is my absolute favorite. penny cracks me up on a daily basis. 16 has been a huge week for this little lady. she learned to roll over, grab her feet, and squeal to high heaven when she gets excited. it's impossible for me to explain just how in love with this little girl i am, and from what i hear it only gets better. even though teething is still making our nights quite rough, and i'm hardly getting any sleep at all, i've never been happier in my life. i mean come on, look at those toes! how could anyone be sad when you've got those to nibble on all day! yup, this mommy thing agrees with me quite well... and this coming from someone who at one time swore she would never want kids. go figure!

ps... this post was a little late to the party, because as of today she's actually 17 weeks.

happy days

it was just one of those weekends that is so good and you don't even remember why, but you're left feeling sadder then usual that monday is here. there was friends (both 2 and 4 legged kind), food, sunshine, and more baby snuggles then you can shake a stick at, all leaving me wishing that weekends were just a wee bit longer. 

one day we'll win that dang lottery and live the dream of the 7 day weekend!

one of those days...

yup, it's one of those days you hear about before becoming a mama, but you just don't fully grasp it until you're smack dab in the middle of it...

penny's teething situation is still giving her quite a hard time it seems. we got these homeopathic drops the other day, and while they do help to give her some instant relief, they don't really help her sleep any longer at night. so basically for the past two nights she's been waking up every hour and a half, to two hours, crying and wanting to nurse to comfort herself. poor little bean :( it's making for a sad little baby at times, not to mention a sad zombie-like mama too! so today i'm doing my best to not lose my mind, or at least not lose it again (there may have already been one minor breakdown earlier), and just enjoy this time best i can. i'll nap when she naps (even if it means just closing my eyes for 10 mins here and there), i'll snuggle my sweet cuddly girl, and i'll try not to stress about the 30 other things that need to get done. the dishes, the post office, the laundry, they'll all be there tomorrow too!

and let me just say that these really tough nights have been pleasantly balanced out with some really fun playtime in the afternoons. penny is starting to show us glimpses into her personality. she's testing out those vocal chords all the time. she'll "sing" quietly to herself in the backseat as we're driving along, and screech with excitement when we give her a new little toy to explore. we've discovered that her belly button seems to be ticklish, and that makes every diaper change into a little giggle session. the biggest news of all perhaps, is that we've reached one of those milestones that every parenting book talks about. i'll just let you see it for yourself HERE! as much as you we don't go by everything books say, it's still pretty darn exciting when these things happen.

so that's what this parenthood thing is all about i guess. the highs and the lows doing there best to balance each other out, and keep you from going crazy. oh yes, and i'm fully aware that this is only the beginning...