Matilda Jane, Anyone?

As you may have noticed, I l-o-v-e Matilda Jane for my girls – and they love it, too (which makes getting dressed so much easier).  If fact, I love those clothes so much that I’m having a Matilda Jane trunk show at my house this Saturday morning.  If anyone is interested in coming to the trunk show, send me an e-mail or let me know how to get in touch with you and I’ll get the details to you.  The new fall line is gorgeous and you can see it here!!

Hiking this Past Weekend in the “Cooler” Weather

We were finally able to go hiking again this past weekend.  The high was only in the upper 80s, which actually felt amazing even though it sounds hot.  The weather people keep saying that it looks like the hottest part of the summer was in late June, which is fine with me.

Anyway, the kids were super-excited about going hiking again.

They were especially excited that Auntie Ann and her dog, Colby, were able to go hiking with us.

Penelope still gives us the stinkeye every now and then. . . .

At about the point where we decided to turn around, Piper started whining about how she “just wanted to sit down a minute” and Penelope started wanting to get down and walk.  After a bit of discussion, Gary and I decided to let Penelope out of the backpack so that she could walk – and let Piper try to ride in the backpack.  The first thing Penelope wanted was my {empty} Starbucks cup. 

Piper was ecstatic to “rest” in the backpack.

In the end, I don’t think Gary was very happy with his idea to let an almost-40-pound-kid ride on his back.  He has said many times since then that no big kid will ever ride in the backpack again!

Penelope really did a great job walking.  I don’t think that she could have made the entire hike, but I do think that she can start doing half of the hike on her own and then build up to the full hike.  Unfortunately, Penelope isn’t great at watching out for mud and her brand new shoes didn’t fare so well. . . .

Even Penelope’s bottom was covered in mud!  We’ll have to work on that.  Piper is constantly worried about stepping in mud, and Henry seems to look for mud puddles.  Hopefully we’ll get Penelope to fall somewhere in the middle, like Rosemary.  At least Piper didn’t have to worry about mud on the hike back.

After our hike, we had a picnic with sandwiches, chips, and Nilla wafers.  It was a big lunch and the kids ate well – they must have worked up a big appetite on the hike.

It was a great hiking day all around!  The weather was beautiful and everyone had fun and took long naps that afternoon.  I hope we get to go hiking again soon!  I’m already looking forward to fall and the leaves changing colors.

Penelope’s 2nd Birthday!

Yesterday was Penelope’s 2nd birthday!!

It was a great day.  We started out the day with Penelope’s two year check-up.  That went great.  Here are her stats:

weight:  25 pounds 15 ounces (50th percentile)
height:  34 inches (50th percentile)
head circumference:  19 inches (75th percentile)

The stats above are according to our pediatrician’s new growth chart numbers – according to the old growth chart we used to use, that’s about right except that her height would be above the 50th percentile.  Our pediatrician said that Penelope is on track to be about 5’7” or 5’8” – but that was just a guess and subject to many other things.  Regardless, it’s good to have an idea that she is on a good track!  She will probably be our second tallest kid – Henry will probably be a good bit taller than Penelope.

Penelope has been SO excited about her birthday.  Every morning that I’ve gone up to wake her up this week the first thing she’s done is ask, “My birthday noooooow?”  I’d have to tell her no.  You was absolutely ecstatic yesterday when it was her birthday, and she told anyone who would listen that, “It’s MY birthday!”  She has been pretty outspoken about her birthday meal as well.  She expected a pink chocolate cake and ice cream.  Easy enough.

She was SO funny when we brought the cake over to her.  I was so surprised that she knew exactly what to do with the cake.  She simply stood there basking in all the attention as we sang “Happy Birthday” to her and then she blew out the candles right when the song was over.  Girlfriend knows what to do with a birthday cake!!

When the big kids turned two, we didn’t have a big party.  I was on bedrest with Penelope (seriously, what would I do if I were 8 months pregnant now?!! – yikes).  As soon as I was put on bedrest with Penelope, I started planning how to have a huge birthday for the kids without being able to do it myself.  My friend Amanda had to explain to me that I didn’t have to have a big party and we could just have cake at home.  What a great idea!  I was so hormonal and out of it that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.  I feel like I overdid the birthday parties last year (I may have been trying to make up for the prior year), so this year I wanted things to be more lowkey so we made the same plans for Penelope’s 2nd birthday as we did the kids’ 2nd birthday – dinner and some cake.

Auntie Ann almost always comes over on Fridays for pizza and wine, so she was going to be definitely at Penelope’s party.  Then we found out that Auntie Ann’s parents were going to be in town and they could come as well, which was so great – we don’t get to see them nearly enough.  I was really excited on Thursday when my mom and dad (Nana and Papa) called and said that they were coming to dinner for Penelope’s birthday.  Then yesterday afternoon I found out that Aunt Jack and my brother, Zac, and his wife and kids could make dinner as well!!!  It was a full house and Penelope was more than happy to be the center of attention among all these folks.  Of course, the cake and ice cream was a huge hit, especially with the kids. . . .

We had a fun night – and very little planning was involved on my part.  I think that was the best part of it all.  Penelope certainly felt celebrated and loved.  Now to enjoy the rest of the weekend – we have almost no plans!

Oh, and Penelope still says that she is three.  I’ll have to ask her this morning when she wakes up how old she is.  It could be anything!!!  But, at least she still insists that she is a baby and not a big girl. 

Weekend Fun at the Lake

This past Saturday we started out by eating breakfast then heading to the neighborhood pool.  For some reason, there was almost no one at the pool.  We have no idea why not, but we had the pool to ourselves and that was a lot of fun.  That afternoon we visited some of our friends, Adrienne and Bryon (who also have triplets plus one), at their home on a lake for some photos, playtime, and dinner.  The kids absolutely love visiting them and we all had such a wonderful time. 

Adrienne and I were actually friends long before we had triplets – we met when lived down the hall from each other our freshman year at college and a few years later Adrienne was the maid of honor at my wedding.  We knew each other BEFORE we knew our husbands, which I think is cool.  We still can’t get over the fact that years later we have such a similar family make-up – her triplets are 8 months younger than ours, and her baby is just 3 months younger than Penelope.  You just can’t plan that sort of thing. . . .  I’m so glad that we all have each other and that our kids get to know each other and play together.  They are some cool kids.

Anyway, once we got to Adrienne and Bryon’s house, Henry cracked me up because he pulled out a chair so that it was overlooking the lake and sat and chilled out for a while.  He knows how to relax!!

Everyone had an absolute blast playing – and exploring. 

The first thing Henry said the next morning was to ask when we were going back to Mr. Bryon’s house. 

It was a great time, and hopefully we’ll all get together again soon.  And next time, I’m going to be sure to get a photo of all 8 of our kids together!

A Field!

There is this area off to the side of the road leading out of our neighborhood which has really tall grass and some trees.  I’ve wondered more than a few times how it would look if I photographed the kids out there, but I’ve been thinking that there are too many roads, vehicles, power lines, and other such distractions in the way for it to really work.  Then I read this blog post and was determined to see how this neighborhood area would look if I framed my shots just right.  I decided that the next early weekend morning Henry and I were both up we were going to try out the spot.

This past Saturday, Henry got up long before everyone else so I quickly loaded us up to head to the spot.  I wish I would have spent a little more time getting him “ready” for photographs, but I was really just looking for some test shots to see if I could make this intersection in our neighborhood look like an isolated field.

And you know what, it really worked.  It seriously looked like a field in the middle of nowhere. . . .

The biggest problem was that 7:15 a.m. was a little late this time of year to get the type of sun I envisioned.  The shots ended up being a bit more hazy than I typically like.  I’m thinking that I’ll plan a photo session with all 4 kids in the “field” sometime later this fall!!

Almost

Penelope is almost 2.  She turns TWO a week from tomorrow.  But she acts like she’s 4, and she thinks she’s 3 (seriously, ask her how old she is – these days she holds up one finger but says “three”).

This kid is hilarious.  She gets SO MAD when she’s not treated just like one of the big kids.  I’m so glad that she’s going to school this year so that we don’t have to deal with the meltdowns every morning when the big kids leave.

BUT, still, if you ask Penelope if she is a big girl or a baby, she will answer, “Baby.”  Granted, this could be in part because we all call her Baby.  I used to watch Dirty Dancing and wonder how they ever started calling Jennifer Grey’s character “Baby” . . . now I know.

Penelope talks a lot, and she talks well.  She seems to be able to communicate fully, and we can sit and have discussions with each other.  It’s a completely different experience than we had with the big kids.

She is still working on using the potty.  She probably actually uses it about once a day – but she tries more often than that.  Lately she’s been doing the funniest thing at nights – she will sit on the potty for a bit then run up to me saying, “Mama.  Mama.  I need treat now.”  I will ask her if she teetee’d in the potty, and she holds up her little hand, and puts her index finger right next to her thumb, and says, “Almost teetee.”  I explain that “almost teetee” doesn’t get a treat, which usually doesn’t go over very well.

We got some good news about Penelope on Tuesday.  The bloodwork for her peanut allergy came back, and the levels are very low which means that she has a chance of outgrowing her peanut allergy.  We can retest by taking her blood when she is three and if the levels are even lower, then we can try a food challenge to see if she is still allergic to peanuts.  I have my fingers crossed that she outgrows this allergy.

Penelope is definitely growing up – and fast.  I can’t believe it’s almost been 2 years.  Time is really flying by. . . .