Penny Ann: 3 Months

You are the sweetest little thing ever.

My favorite thing is to put you on your side & face me on my side when you are sleepy....as soon as you feel my lips on your forehead, you nuzzle in & fall asleep immediately  It's the sweetest.

You love to watch your sister play.

You laugh so hard when we 'eat' your armpits, thighs, & belly.

You just wanna play all day...kicking, cooing, blowing bubbles, & smiling.

If we happen to catch your eye, your smile goes out of the roof.
You think you are so big & cool when we help you stand/sit up.

You spent your first night without me this month & we trained you on a pumped bottle for weeks in preparation.  You finally got the hang of it, & did fine without me the entire time I was gone.....
But, you were more than happy to have the boobies back
& you wanted me to hold you straight for the following three days.
You started physical therapy on your little neck & head this month.
Your neck is already doing so much better & now we are trying to work on your head.

I couldn't imagine our lives without your sweet spirit.

You are such a blessing & I thank my Heavenly Father every day for you!

Thankful

The day after Halloween, I woke up, rolled over to Blake, and said, "Well, time to put the tree up."
Ok, that might be just a tad bit early, but, I always shoot the gun with the Christmas decorations.
I can't help it....I love the lights, the ambiance, & the feeling that Christmas & Christmas decorations bring.  This year,  I will try my darndest to at least wait until the week of Thanksgiving...
But, in the end, why does it even matter when ppl put their Christmas decorations up?
I say, do whatever makes you happy.
Who's to say I won't pull out the tree tomorrow & cry as I watch a cheesy HallMark Christmas movie?

Anyway, sorry about the above tangent.  I really wanted to talk about Thanksgiving in this post...not Christmas.  This month is so special to me...the older I get, the more Thanksgiving means to me.  I am now a mother of two & have an amazing husband....I have SO much to be thankful for. I know I should take time & consider all I have to be thankful for everyday of the year, & I want to try harder from here on out.  It should be a no brainer, since I'm so much more positive & happy when I think of reasons to be thankful.  However, I'm really thankful that we have this month to celebrate our thankfulness, blessings, & giving.  And, I'm glad that this month reminds me of how rich my life truly is.  Life is so fiercely good to me.

With a combination of wanting to start a Thanksgiving tradition to make this holiday more meaningful for me & my little family + with London going Mahamad Ali on a little boy + trying to incorporate the spirit of giving and thanks for this special season, this website came at just the right time.  If you are looking for something meaningful + simple, check it out.  I love that the main focus is giving with thanks.  Giving?  Shouldn't we all do it more?  Why is it so hard to find time & ways to give?  It really isn't all that hard....even a simple smile to a stranger can go a long way.  We just started it Monday & I can already see a difference in all of our perspectives & attitudes.  It's funny how serving others will make you feel so good?  It's a natural high, I tell ya.  While we were 'giving' back to our community by cleaning & weeding our townhome sandbox a couple days ago, a peace swept over me.  I knew that by doing a simple thing like making the sandbox look nice, we were teaching London (and ourselves) a valuable lesson.  My heart overfilled with joy as London wrote an apology letter to a friend (the boy she went Mahamad Ali on) & 'gave' her friendship.  She was so happy & I know her little heart felt so good.  We have been filling up our tree with giving leaves & my heart has been filling up right along side it.  Most of the time, I think 'giving' should be done without acknowledgements. My heart gets fine tuned every single time I 'give'.  The feeling I get is something I cherish & ponder on....something I hold dear to my heart & something that is personal.

This world is SO good & has amazing people.  If I just open my eyes, I see that people 'give' to me every single day....even multiple times a day.  It can come in all forms...from Blake playing with my hair to London telling me she loves me to a complete stranger seeking me out because Penny had lost a shoe.  I am surrounded by amazing family, friends, & even strangers.  Good is everywhere.  This Thanksgiving season, I want the spirit of 'giving' to envelope me.  It already has. 

Photo Cred:  Dani Lamb. 

Thanks again sweet girl for capturing all these priceless moments.

I will always look at these & cherish them for the rest of my life.

You're a doll.

A VERY VERY special day for Penny

I cannot even begin to fully explain how much I love Penny & how much joy she has brought into our home.  She watches me all day just wanting to smile at me.  She balances us all out with her calm personality + she gets anxious with lots of people around & would rather just retreat upstairs & talk to mama & London.  She is cuddly, sweet + she snorts when she cries.  She is a mama's girl through & through & I am so proud that she is.  My dad always tells me how much of a mama's girl I was....
So, it fills me with joy that my sweet little Penny Pie is a mama's girl.  She is LOVED so very much.

Penny's blessing day will ALWAYS hold a very special spot in my heart...reserved just for her.
My beautiful & talented sister made Penny's blessing dress & bonnet + I couldn't have been more happy with the results. 

Sunday mornings are a l w a y s SO crazy at the Allen household.
But, on this very Sunday, things couldn't have ran more smoothly.
We made it to church on time + came with a special spirit about us.
Blake gave the most genuine, sincere, & heartfelt baby blessing I have ever heard.
The blessing had me weeping like a willow + dry eyes were nowhere in sight.
Truly touching & heartfelt.
Penny is one lucky lady to have such a daddy.
Thankfully, I recorded it & will be typing it up for Penny's baby book.
I love that she will be able to always read & treasure the words that her daddy blessed her with.

It was so lovely to have all of our closest friends & family supporting us & Penny on her special day.

The lunch was delicious, the company even better, & miss Penny was the star of the day as she was passed around & held by everyone.

We couldn't be more thrilled with how the day turned out.

It truly was a very very special day for Penny.

October through my iphone

October was G O O D to us this year.

We picked apples + made a billion apple pie fillings.

Oh, plus we dried those babies.

We had party after party + celebrated London turning THREE.

We found out Penny needs physical therapy on her neck to help her strengthen her muscles so that she can turn her head both ways on her own.

We bought Londons big present for Christmas + kicked Penny out of our room.  

No more Harry Potter closet baby.

We reinstated Wednesday sister lunch playdates + I had my first book club meeting for the season.

We cheered Blake on at basketball + London started music class.

We heard Penny laugh for the first time + fell more & more in love with her.
We got our family pictures taken + had a steamer for the first time this season.

We went to the pumpkin patch, corn maze with my family, frightmares with friends,  + had a spooktacular Halloween.

Already looking forward to next October.