January Part 1: Happy New Year, a 3 Month Old, and Absolute Chaos

Happy New Year, 2016!!  Woot Woooooot!  We made it to the new year a little tired, still healing, and very chaotic as usual, but happy and (somewhat) healthy, so that's all that matters.  We started off the year with Joseph's parents visiting and they came at the perfect time.  They were able to ring in the new year with us, and then helped us to control the chaos as our new year started off with a bang.

William wanted "fancy hair" while I was finishing
getting ready one morning.  So, I gave him a faux hawk.
He loved looking at himself.

He was into it.  :-)

Our sassy little Miss P.

Happy new year, 2016 with me, Joseph, and the boys.
(Penelope was asleep.)

In Nono's arms.  :-)  This is one of her favorite places.
He is the baby whisperer with her and has a real knack
for getting her to sleep.

Alex and William ringing in the new year.

Linda, Alex, William, and Joseph watching "King Julian's
New Year's Countdown" on Netflix.  It was pretty cool!
Netflix had a collection of kid countdowns that one could
play so that the kids could celebrate the new year's eve countdown
(and they could actually go to bed at a decent time).

Linda, Joseph, Elias, and the kids ringing in the new year
with King Julian and his friends on Netflix.

Time to party with the kiddos!

William giving Oscar a little snuggle at bed time.

Penelope wearing her little glitter cowboy hat to
join in on the festivities.

Woot woooooot!  Partying hard with my best girl
on new year's eve!  (Lol!)  New year's eve is verrrrrrry
different celebrating as a parent.  We were able to
ring in the new year at midnight, but only because Penelope
had just finished her bottle and we had happened to be
awake.  :-)

Penelope, missing a sock because she kicked it off
while I was pumping one morning.

And thennnnnnn the "fit hit the shan" (yes, I know I misspelled that and said it incorrectly, but this is a family friendly site).  Ever since this summer, Alex has been having rashes and the allergist thought he was allergic to grass and pollen.  She wanted to do a scratch test with him in the middle of winter (so his skin wouldn't be so sensitive).  So, we took him off of Zyrtec for two days and all of a sudden, he had a complete flare up.  He missed his first day back to school so that I could take him to the pediatrician's office (because he was complaining of a sore throat and we thought he may have had strep (he didn't)).
That next day, we got him an emergency meeting with his allergist and she said that since we couldn't do the scratch test, that we would do a blood draw test.  The allergist drew four vials of blood from him and we waited for the test results to come back.
Thank goodness Joseph's parents were here so that they could watch Penelope while I shuttled Alex and William around.

Alex's foot with a few hives on it....the rest of his body was much worse.

Little Miss P being her cute and cheeky self.

Linda and Elias snapped this gem of a picture.  She smiles with her
entire being.

William playing with a violin because the letter of the
week was "V" in his school.

William playing with insta-snow in the sensory table
with his classmate at school.

Our champ waiting to get his throat and hives examined
at the doctor's office.  He handled this all so well.

Penelope on January 4

Penelope on January 5

Penelope modeling her new duds courtesy of
the Long family.  Thanks so much, Erin, Ryan, and Grant!

This proud big brother's favorite thing to do with
his little sister is squish her cheeks relentlessly.

Joseph and Penelope having a heart-to-heart
during tubby time.

Penelope went through a growth spurt this month
and fed 10 times in one day!  I was exhausted and
dehydrated by the end of the day.  During one feeding
she kept detaching and wanting to have conversations.
This little cutie kept smiling and cooing at me.

Penelope on January 7

Tummy time for our squishy-cheeked little lady.

Oscar loves his little sister.

The boys (and dog) enjoyed tummy time with
their little sister.  William found a teething ring and
called it a crown and said that Penelope needed to wear
it because she's a princess.

Oscar laying his head on my leg.  I can tell that he
definitely misses being the only child in the house.

Me and Miss P

I put her on her back during tummy time because
she was fussing and the boys put both of their
Furbaccas by her.

Penelope having a conversation with the Furbaccas.

Lol!  Oscar in the background photobombing Miss P
and her minions.

Miss P and the Furbaccas on January 9

Alex being a good big brother and holding up his sister
while playing with her.  Such a sweet moment!

I loved that he chose to use his chin to hold her head up
while he was showing her the Furbacca.

Face smooshing is one of my favorite things to do with this little lady.

Penelope on January 10

I love her big smile.

Penelope giving a serious look while doing some
tummy time on my chest.

She's growing up too fast!

I couldn't choose just one picture because I loved every one of these.

Penelope doing tummy time on a boppy.

After some time, Alex's allergist called us to let us know that Alex was allergic to milk (not lactose intolerant, allergic to actual milk), bananas, and pineapples; three things that he's had almost every day of his life.  We were shocked that he had such a reaction since this summer, with a big flare up at the very beginning of January. 
After being in complete shock (because milk is in everrrrything), we took a deep breath and did our best to keep a positive attitude and give it a happy spin for Alex's sake.  On the evening of January 8, Joseph took Alex to the grocery store and went on a non-dairy shopping spree.  Joseph said to Alex that although he couldn't have certain foods (like butter, cheese, milk, ice cream, etc.), he could have vegan cheese and butter, almond milk, and coconut milk ice cream.  Alex was excited about trying all of these new things.  As soon as the boys went to sleep that evening, Joseph went on Amazon and bought every dairy-free treat that he could find.  We didn't want our kiddo to feel like he was missing out on anything.

One of the delicious treats that Joseph got from Amazon
that's actually peanut and dairy free.  It tastes JUST like
a Reese's peanut butter cup (and trust me, they're one of my favorite
treats).

This is definitely a new adventure for us.  We can do this!

Our photographer put together this collage of Penelope's pictures
and chose it as her favorite newborn picture session for 2015!

Our little diva, fast asleep.

I made the boys chocolate oatmeal one morning with
dairy-free chocolate chips.  I asked Alex how it tasted
and this is how he reacted:

"Woo hoo, mommy!  It tastes just the same as it did
with the other chocolate chips!"
My heart was so full that he was so happy with his
almond milk and his chocolate oatmeal.

Since I took the boys to Mommy and me classes when they were little, I felt like I should probably take Penelope to a class, too.  I signed up for a Music Together class and we started on January 13. 

Me and Miss P at music class

She loved it, stayed awake the entire time, and watched
everyone intently.

Happy 3 month birthday, Miss P!!  On January 13, Penelope turned 3 months old.  She was in size 2 diapers, started to outgrow her 0-3 months clothing, tracked things from a far, began to laugh, continued to smile, and started using her hands to grasp things in front of her (she favors her left hand just like her brothers did at this age).

Our sweet Penelope on her 3 month birthday.

She loves looking in this tummy time mirror.

Oscar always guards her immediately when I put her down on the blanket.

Love our little lady!

This is what happens when Penelope has her tummy time.
Her doting brothers feel it necessary to bring her every
single baby toy in the house.

It was a crazy first half of the month.  Not only did Alex have his issues, but Oscar also had some health issues.  During that same week, Oscar had to go to the vet's office twice because he wasn't doing well.  I couldn't have run around town getting things done (and even managing a haircut in there!) had I not had Elias and Linda's help during the day.  Thank you SO much, Elias and Linda, for helping out so much with our crew.  Your efforts, patience, and understanding were invaluable.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Until next time...

Love and kisses,
Nikki