More Penelope Milestones and William is Officially 3

The beginning of the month of November marked our last week of family help in the house.  Since I was starting to recover, I knew that I needed to get back into the swing of things and re-establish our routine.  I had to get used to taking both of the boys to school in the morning by myself, go grocery shopping, run errands, etc.  My mom was with us for the first half of the week and my sister for the remainder, so I was able to do things without Penelope in tow.  The following week would be a different story...

Miss P asleep while my Mom watched her.

My mom insisted on Joseph and I doing a date night while she and my sister were in town.  Joseph and I didn't have to think twice and quickly booked an incredible dinner at one of the best sushi restaurants called Uni.  I had been dying for some really good sushi and this place definitely had it. 
Thanks so much for holding down the fort, Mom and Kristen!!  We thoroughly enjoyed being able to get out sans kids and enjoy a romantic dinner for two.  You guys are the bomb dot com!

Their Hotate dish is still in my taste buds and seeing this
picture makes me instantly salivate.
The dish was scallop sashimi with candied bacon, maitaki mushrooms,
and Chinese chives.  WOW!  Talk about flavor explosion.
I could eat 10 more of these easily.

Oscar in the background with Penelope resting on my
sleeping sister's chest.  Mom captured this beauty
while Joseph and I were out that evening.

Mom and a bundled up Penelope.

Alex enjoyed reading a book to my sister and mom.

Penelope holding onto Alex's index finger.  He's a
very sweet big brother.

Mom and Miss P having a deep conversation before
Mom left to go back home.  Thanks so much for all of your help, Mummy!

On November 3, 2015, Penelope had her first bath!  Her belly button stump had finally fallen out, so it was safe to give her one.  Her big brothers enjoyed watching over her as she experienced the first of many baths.

My sister Kristen got Alex striking this pensive pose,
while William flashed a great big grin.

Love these silly boys!

Penelope getting her first bath with William delicately
pouring water on her head.

She enjoyed the warm water.

But haaaaated being taken out of it!

Joseph tried to calm her down while he was drying her off.

One squishy-faced, tired baby.  :-)

In the blink of an eye, our first human baby (because Oscar is our first fur baby) officially transformed into a super big boy!  It seems like only yesterday that Alex was getting his first bath, etc.
Check out his Kindergarten class picture!

*sigh*  Our handsome Kindergartner Alex :-)

 William riding on his balance bike.

 Penelope getting her bath on November 4.  :-)

Penelope's second bath went much better.  We discovered that she likes her bath water on the very warm (almost hot) side.  She was so peaceful and happy.  However, she still despised being taken out of the bath water afterwards.

Squeaky clean Miss P

So tiny.  :-)

This moment cracked me up!  Here's Joseph asleep
on the couch with a sleepy Penelope in his arms as he
was petting a sleeping Oscar with his other hand.
All of our children are very loved in this household.  :-)

Little smooshy-faced sweet pea

On Novemer 5, 2015, our William Billiam turned three years old.  Since my sister was here to watch Penelope, I took Alex and William to Dunkin' Donuts to get a special birthday breakfast.  They each picked out their own donut (which we call a "sometimes treat"...even though I wish they could be "all the time" treats!) and had strawberry milk.

 William is not a morning person.  Here's our big boy on
his actual birthday.

Our big three year old enjoying his birthday donut.

You can't tell completely, but our Weewum is holding up
three fingers.
Happy 3rd birthday to our feisty, intelligent, generous,
and sensitive William!  You keep us on our toes with your
rambunctious personality, yet we are completely heart-warmed
and in awe of your generosity and thoughtfulness to the point
where you have none and others have all because you want to share.
We love you so much, Weewum!

Our fabulous Penelope modeling one of the headbands
my mom made her.

Our little cutie :-)

Penelope on November 5 :-)

William was pretty interested in Penelope's toy.

William took big brother duties seriously
by pushing his sister in the stroller that morning.

She enjoyed her first stroller ride.

Fun with a box.

Our silly boys

Boxes are pretty much the best toy ever.

These guys loved "surprising" everyone that walked by.

Little Miss Smooshy Face taking a nap.

*Bing!*  She's awake!  :-)

I loooooove dressing our little girl.

After my mom left, my sister joined us for dinner outside of the house to celebrate William's birthday.  Woo hoo!!  It was so nice to get out.  We went to a teppanyaki restaurant and enjoyed a nice meal together as a family of five (with Kristen) at William's restaurant of choice.

The Fabulous Franses Five

William enjoyed his birthday dinner while Joseph
calmed Penelope down.

My sister Kristen and Alex, enjoying their meals.

The chef was hilarious that evening and squeezed
water into William's mouth from afar.

He loved it!

Kristen got sake in hers.  We were all quite impressed
at how much she could hold in her mouth!

Snuggle buddies William and Joseph.

Our first dinner outside of the house as a family of five to celebrate
William's 3rd birthday.
Thanks for capturing this moment, Kristen!

Singing happy birthday to our big boy William!

Kristen got this great shot of our two boys.  I can't believe
how big they are now.  :-(

Before Kristen left, we stopped by an ice cream shop to get a special treat.

Alex, William, and Kristen snuggling and enjoying some ice cream.

Kristen reading to the boys right before nap time.
Thanks for stopping by and helping out for a few days, Kristen!
All of the kiddos enjoyed their "Tita" time.  :-)

Darling Penelope, sporting her dachshund wear,
and sleeping sweetly.

My favorite part about having a newborn right here.
I love the feeling of her warm, tiny body and hearing
her little breaths and squeaks.  Heavenly.

Little sister was out cold after dropping off her brothers
one morning.

I love her rosy cheeks.

Our sleepy and smiley girl.

On November 8, all of our family help at home had officially run out and we needed to get some things from Target.  Joseph had to work that weekend, so I gave myself a big pep talk, made sure all the kids were fed and had gone to the potty, and took on this adventure by myself. 

Our trip to Target was a success!!  The kids behaved
fantastically, we got everything that we needed, and no
tears (other than ones of joy) were shed.  I felt invincible
knowing that as a new mother of three, that I could tackle
running errands with three kids solo.  Booyah baby!!

Later on that afternoon, we went for a walk around
our neighborhood in the beautiful fall weather.

This guy always has to have his walking stick on our walks.

A delightfully crisp fall walk with the kiddos.

The boys playing on their beloved rock pile.

Penelope looooooves to snuggle.

Milk drunk Miss P modeling her beautiful pink pearl
bracelet that my mother made her.

Little ball of baby :-)

Daddy and Daughter admiring one another lovingly :-)

Love those dimples!

Penelope on November 10

Little bitty Miss P

A few days after his official third birthday, William had his three year check up at the doctor's office.

Our big boy getting his height measured.

William's 3 year stats:
Height:  40.5 inches (97th percentile)
Weight: 40 lbs (98th percentile)

He passed his vision test and does not need glasses.  Woo hoo!

William getting checked out by our fantastic pediatrician.

Alex and Penelope getting in some snuggle time before bed.
They really love each other.

It is a very rare moment that Alex is still sleeping when
I go to get him in the morning.  It was so sweet to see
him sleeping so soundly that morning.

Our goofy guys bouncing around on their day off from school.

Thank heavens for good friends!!  On November 11, my dear friend Sharon whom I used to work with visited and came bearing the best gift of all:  FOOD!!  (And lots of it!!)  Sharon brought over a huge tray of delicious eggplant parmigiana, salad, an incredible chocolate babka.  It was so great to see her and to catch up.  The boys absolutely loved having her over, too.  "Miss Lipman" is forever known as the "lady who brought the babka".  Thanks so much for your incredible generosity, thoughtfulness, and friendship, Sharon!  You're one in a million.  :-)

Sharon and the boys as William takes on a humongous slice
of delectable babka.

Itty bitty P loving her tubby time.

I love the way she looks at him.  :-)

The many faces of Miss P:

I just can't get enough of her, her goofy little smile, and those delicious dimples!

Penelope and her "poop" face!  It cracks me up!

I looooove to nibble on her cheeks.

Late night feeding and snuggle time.  Even though I'm so tired,
I cannot resist a few minutes of snuggles before I put her back into
her bassinet.

Love our hairy little girl  :-)

On November 13, Penelope turned 1 month old!!  She began to hold her head up like a champ, tracked items, and flashed her big, goofy smile when Sophie the giraffe was squeaked.

Our silly little princess

Happy 1 month, Penelope!!

My sister did a side-by-side picture of
Alex when he was about 1 month old
(on the left), and Penelope at one month old
(on the right).  The resemblance of these two
was uncanny!

Two very proud big brothers looking after their little sister.
(No, William didn't have a bloody nose.  He was just
sniffing some Mr. Sketch smelly markers a little too closely.)

The boys bouncing Penelope while I was getting ready
to read to them before nap time.

Penelope getting some tummy time on her Daddy's tummy.

Penelope playing with her Daddy

William officially turned three years old and Penelope turned 1 month old.  What a big month!!  Many thanks again to all of our family and friends who came to help us out.  We greatly appreciated all of your efforts and love and are so blessed to be surrounded by such loving people.
This post only highlighted the first two weeks of November.  I can't wait to share what the rest of November had to offer.
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki