2 Months

Our sweet little Penny is already 2 months old. She really has been the best baby. For a couple of weeks now she only wakes up once a night, she eats great, and has the sweetest little smile. She usually sleeps most of the day still, and is almost always fussy between 8 and 11 pm. She loves to be held, and is a huge snuggler. But we are grateful we are finally reaching a most content phase of infancy. She can sit in her bouncer, or swing, or sometimes just laying on a blanket, and can lay there for a while and be happy. It's been so nice to not have to hold her as often, or not have her cry as much. 

At her 2 month appointment she was 10 lbs. 7 oz. and 23 inches long. She is finally starting to get a few more rolls and fill out a bit. I may need to start bringing out the 3-6 month clothes because she is getting too tall for a lot of the onesies. 

Livy has also been the best big sister. She will randomly ask to hold her, or give her a little kiss. And she is such a good helper too when I need her to get something for the baby. Penny is so lucky to have such a great sister. I can't wait for her to get a little older so they can play together. 

She also knows her mama. She will be crying and fussy and it is unusual for some one else to calm her down and get her to stop crying. Ryan, my mom, and sister have all tried, and if she is fussy, she just wants mom. She'll even stop crying within seconds of me holding her, she must know my scent or something. She's such a goof. She doesn't really like the binky, but I use it occasionally at night when she is most fussy and thinks she's hungry. We've had a few episodes or major spit ups. She'll finish eating, and then throw it all up. The doctor just says that it must just be air bubbles because she doesn't seem to be in pain. Penny also has very ridged gums. The pediatrician doesn't know why, but says we'll just have to wait and see what happens!? I have people ask me all of the time if they're teeth. No, come on people, she's two months old. But I sure love those super long eye lashes. Her eyes also are so blue, I am really hoping they stay blue, but they may turn brown like Livy's did. I am so grateful and feel so blessed to have this sweet little baby to call mine. 

Livy's 3rd Birthday

Livy loves birthdays. She loves singing to people, she loves blowing out candles, and she loves opening presents. We have been talking about this birthday for quite a few months now. She said she wanted a "Pink" party. Ryan's parents were returning from Europe, and my mom was in Texas with my sister, so on her actual birthday we just had a little party with our own little family. I was excited to try a rosette frosted cake that I had seen. It was truly so easy! I just bought the 1M tip, and just did a swirl, the tip did all the work. I loved how it turned out, and it was delicious too!

We love this little 3 year old. She is so funny, has so much personality, is always making us laugh, and often making us frustrated, loves pink, loves princesses, loves coloring with her crayons, loves watching princess shows, loves snacking, and is such a curious and smart little girl. She is doing great with preschool, and always looks forward to it. This morning on our way there, I told her she had to be a good girl at preschool, and she said, "Mom, I am always good at preschool", in a very exaggerated tone. 

I wasn't quite sure what to do for a birthday party with her friends, since she wanted a "pink" party and we had just moved down to Provo, away from all of her friends. So I planned a last minute get together. We had everyone come down to Provo to the Jacksons house and we played down in the gym. It was perfect. We let the kids run around, ate some pizza and cupcakes and opened presents. It was the perfect little party. I was sad I didn't get a full group shot! We had the best neighbors and friends. 

That weekend we had Jane Anne and Colby, as well as Rob and Julie and their family in town, so it was perfect for a big family party. So I had a very pink party. I let her pick out some pink flowers. Then we had some Shirley's raspberry rolls, strawberry and raspberry skewers with a marshmallow dip, pink popcorn, pink candy, pink snickerdoodle muffins, pink yogurt and raspberries, pink chocolate dipped strawberries and some pink raspberry water. 

It was a nice relaxing family brunch. We had a great time with all of our family in town. It was the perfect pink party. 

1 Month

This little peanut is already one month old! She is affectionately known as Baby Pen. She went through a phase of eating every 2 hours around the clock. Since this meant I wasn't sleeping any longer than 1 1/2 hours at a time, I decided to take it into my own hands. At the two hour time she would scream and want to eat, but that's when the little bink came in hand and I just held her off for 30 minutes to an hour. After two days, she's on a much better 2 1/2 - 3 hour schedule. She's even had a couple of 4 hour stretches the last few nights!!

Penny has reminded me so much of Olivia. There are several moments when I feel complete deja vu. She has much bigger lips, not quite as much hair, a little cleft in her chin, but has those same big eyes and big cheeks. Pen has the longest fingers, toes, arms and legs. She is so long and thin. But she's slowly getting a little more chunky.

She loves to sleep with her mouth open. She also almost always will turn her head and sleep on her left side. We love this little girl and are so excited to have her in our family.

Livy has been a great big sister. She has been very patient, and she will grab things for me when I need them. The other day we were leaving in the car, and Ryan told Livy, "Be a good girl for mom because Baby pen is probably going to cry a little bit." Then Livy turned to him and said, "Dad...no. She is going to cry a lot!". It was the funniest thing. When the baby does cry, she'll try and give her her binky, or turn off the tv or any music playing because "Baby Pen doesn't like it". I'm so grateful these two girls have each other.

Preschool

Livy started Preschool this year! She is actually a year younger than everyone, because you're supposed to be 3 at the beginning of the school year and she turns 3 in October, but we know the teacher and she knows what a smarty pants Livy is so she let her come early. She has been so excited. She already had her pink Minnie Mouse backpack, but she loved going to the store to buy all of her supplies. She goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. She went her first day and didn't even look back. It's been so nice for me too to have a few hours to run errands with only one child! I love watching this little girl grow and learn. We love our little smarty pants. 

First Photo Shoot

I was so excited to take some pictures of this new little face. I had way too much fun doing it. She was a perfect little angel for me. These are just a few of my favorites. How I love this little girl. 

Meeting Penny

Before we even knew this sweet baby was a baby girl we were pretty set on the name Penny. We wanted something a little old fashioned like Olivia. We also wanted a name that people would hear, and know, but wasn't that common. Penny fit the criteria for all, and we fell in love with the name Penny Jackson. we had a really hard time coming up with a middle name, since Jean pretty much covered all of the grandma's and great-grandma's. So we thought about Ryan or Ryanne, in case we never had any boys we could still name a child after her dad. So we decided on the middle name Ann. Penny Ann Jackson, our new sweet baby. 

She was perfect from the first breath she took. Big chubby cheeks, pretty red lips, dark hair, and no funny cone-shaped head. 

Ryan was so excited to have another girl. We want a boy, someday, but this daddy loves his little girls. He has gotten really good at his Princess trivia, and knows how to play gently, and how to talk to a drama queen. These girls are so lucky to have such a wonderful daddy. 

The first time Livy came to meet baby Penny. I was so nervous for this moment. I had thought about it for months. I knew that if I was holding the baby when Livy walked in that she might have been a little nervous. So Ryan held Penny, and when Livy walked in she was able to come and give me a big hug. Then I told her to go meet baby Penny, who we had been talking about and praying for for months. So she looked at Mimi, and grabbed a little pink bear that they had bought for Penny. Livy grabbed it and ran up to Penny to give it to her. 

Livy was instantly protective, and didn't want anyone else to hold Penny but Ryan. She would only let people hold her for a minute and then they had to pass her along. She was a very cute and proud Big Sister. 

Livy kept telling Penny to wake up. Then when Penny started to make a little noise, Livy asked what was wrong, and Sue said she might be hungry. So Livy went to get some snacks and wanted to feed her. 

She was especially excited to see Penny already with a cute pink bow on. 

This is Kimmy our delivery nurse. Funny enough, she was actually the same nurse we had for the majority of Livy's delivery too! She was so awesome. 

Our first picture as a 4 person family. I am so blessed to have these two little girls and an amazing husband to help me raise them. I love my little family.