Eat Pray Love Shower

Nancy Byron and Victoria Thompson (family friends of the Groves) offered to put on a baby shower for Mommy and Piper. Mommy and Nonie went to see Eat Pray Love the day before Piper was born so Victoria came up with the idea to have an Eat Pray Love Shower. The idea behind the shower was for people to bring something to eat, a prayer for Piper and their love for Piper. The food was absolutely amazing. Guests were asked to bring a prayer for Piper which they decorated and put in a "Prayer Book" for Piper. Guests also brought their love. Mommy asked that we didn't all sit around and open gifts but rather if guest would like to get something for Piper that they donate money for a double stroller. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the double stroller fund. We are hoping to get the double stroller as soon as REI has another 20% off coupon.

We also had Piper's Jewish baby naming at the shower. We choose the name Chaya for her Jewish name for three reasons. One: Chaya means "Life" and since we were able to have a child naturally we thought the name was very appropriate. Two: We were going to name our baby girl either Piper, Elle or Zoe. The only name we didn't use was Zoe. Zoe means "Life" in Greek so it is sort of like we used the name Zoe since Chaya also means "Life". Three: In Judaism the number 18 also means Life and Piper was born on the 18th. 18 is a very lucky number in Judaism. Below are some pictures from the shower.

Mommy and Piper.

Rabbi Laura leading the baby naming.

Four generation photo.

Amazing cake.

Piper Six Weeks Old

Piper will be six weeks old tomorrow. She had a weight check-up today and we found out that she gained exactly one pound in two weeks (current weight is 9 pounds 7 ounces). We are still supplementing approximately 6 to 12 ounces a day but overall breast feeding working. Mom is really excited!!! For comparison purposes, Pennington weighed 10 pounds 6 ounces when he was six weeks old.

It is really interesting how different boys and girls really are even as early as six weeks. One thing we have noticed is how cute her cooing noises are. They sounds so much more like a little girl than Pennington's did.

Piper's baby ache is basically gone and she is starting to turn into a beautiful little baby girl. Below is a picture of Piper in her BSU attire. Looks like the Broncos are on there way to another BCS bowl game.

ESPN College GameDay

Daddy woke Pennington up at 6:30am on Saturday morning to go to ESPN College GameDay at Bronco Stadium. Below are pictures of Daddy, Poppy and Pennington on GameDay.

Fall Semester of K'tamin

Fall Semester of K'tamin started last week. It was really cool how Pennington was so excited to be there and remembered where everything was in the room, specifically the sensory table. He hasn't been in the room since May so I was really impressed. The last time he played in the sensory table he wasn't even walking. He had to sit in the table. Of course he thought it was okay to sit in the table now. Below is a picture of Pennington playing in the sensory table.

The last time Pennington painted he had no idea what he was doing. This time he knew that he needed to put the paint on the paper. We still need to work on teaching Pennington that he isn't suppose to put the paint in his month. Below is a picture of Pennington painting or should I say eating the paint.

Since Pennington wasn't walking last time he went to K'tamin he hadn't been up in the fort. Now that he can walk he loves walking around in the fort. He thinks he is such a big kid now. Below is a picture of Pennington in the fort.

Hyde Park Street Fair

Grandma Luangaphay watched Piper on Friday night so that Mommy and Daddy could have some alone time with Pennington. Mommy and Daddy took Pennington to the Hyde Park Street Fair. Pennington enjoyed eating corn on the cob, fries and drinking a strawberry lemonade. We listened/danced to music and walked around all of the booths. Pennington also got to swing on the swings and play at the super cool Camels Back playground. Below are pictures of the Pennington and Daddy at the Hyde Park Street Fair.

Monkey Bizness

Monkey Bizness is an indoor children's playground. Below are some pictures of Pennington and Daddy at Monkey Bizness. The picture of Daddy and Pennington is after they went down the huge slide. I can't believe they actually left a one year old go down it considering it is really super steep.

Timberline Football Games

Uncle Henry is a Senior this year at Timberline High School and he is playing on the football team. We have been going to watch Uncle Henry play each week at Bronco Stadium. Below are a few pictures of the family at the Borah vs Timberline football game.

Pennington with Daddy eating a pretzel.

Pennington watching the game. He honestly watched the field the entire time.

Great-Grandma Melba feeding Piper.

Piper One Month Old

Piper turned one month old on Saturday. She has already grown up so much. She now enjoys bath time. She also likes looking around to what is going on around her. She really enjoys going for walks in her baby carrier. Below is a picture of one month old Piper.

Piper Four Weeks Old

Piper is four weeks old today. As I mentioned last week Piper had another weight check-up on Tuesday and we found out that she gained 9 ounces in one week. She is still a bit behind where she should be but overall we are very pleased that she is finally gaining weight. Piper has only gained 10 ounces since she was born. I am still breastfeeding but we are having to supplement around 6 to 10 ounces a day to achieve this weight gain. We are going to have another weight check-up in two weeks to make sure she is still gaining enough weight.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Piper doesn't like to be left alone. Over the last week we have been able to get her to slept by herself a few times for around 30 minutes to an hour. She is also only waking up twice in the middle of the night to eat and goes back to sleep fairly easily.

Below is a recent photo of Piper. This photo shows what she looks like when she realizes she has been left alone.

Family Photos

Below are some family photos that were taken when Piper was five days old. Thank you Lindsay Byron for taking the photos. They look great!

Pennington Thirteen Months Old

Pennington is thirteen months old today. The last month has been challenging for Pennington since Piper is now a part of his life. I was warned that he might slow down developmentally when Piper was born which is exactly what happened. He cries a lot more now than he ever has before. Mainly because he realizes he isn't getting as much attention as he used to. Johnny and I have tried really hard to make sure he knows that we still love him and spend as much time as possible with him.

Pennington also had a cold that started the night before Piper was born and has come and gone a few times throughout the month. Hopefully the cold will go away soon.

Over the next few months Pennington life is going to be filled with tons of fun activities. On Monday he will be going to K'tanim, on Tuesday he will be going to Little Gym and on Thursday he will be going to Music Together. Oh how fun the life of a one year old must be.

Below are some recent photos of Pennington.

Pennington cheering on the Broncos.

Pennington at the Zoo.

Life with Two Kids

Everyone has been asking how Pennington is doing now that he has a baby sister and how life is now that we have two kids. So here's the scoop.

Pennington is doing relatively well. He is definitely aware of who Piper is. I asked him where Piper was the other day and he pointed at her which was really cool. He knows which blankets are Piper's and will bring then to her. Just this last week he has started to go get things for me. For example, if Piper's diaper, blanket, pacifier, ect. is laying on the floor, I can point to it and ask Pennington to bring it to me and he will. Pennington also gets really emotional when Piper is crying. Usually if Piper starts crying Pennington will start crying as well.

Having two kids is some ways is easier and in other ways is much harder. It is easier taking care of Piper because we know what we are doing this time. I look back on the first three weeks with Pennington and wonder why I was so stressed out because taking care of Piper seems so easy. One thing I have going for me is that I am very use to waking up in the middle of the night since Pennington still wakes up once at night a few days a week. (Note: Johnny is dealing with Pennington when he wakes up right now which is extremely helpful). Overall, sleep really hasn't been much of an issue this time around. Getting to take a hour nap right now feels like I slept for four hours.

On the flip side, having two kids is much harder when they both need you at the exact same time. The worst is when they are both crying. I definitely think that having two children that are only 12 months and one week apart has got to be a lot more challenging than having them 2 to 3 years apart. Mainly because the older one can't talk yet and tell you what they want. Luckily, I have only had to spend a total of about 6 hours alone with the two of them so far. Thank you Johnny, Nonie and Grandma Luangaphay for making that possible!!!! So far the six hours that I did spend with them by myself was super easy because 90% of the time one of them was sleeping. Right now the are both sleeping which is why I have time to write this post. Over the next few weeks I am going to start taking care of them by myself more often.

Piper Three Weeks Old

Piper is three weeks old today. In some ways it seems like she has been around much longer than that. Piper had a weight check-up yesterday and found out that she had only gained a little over two ounces in a week. Since she onlygained two ounces this made Mom and Dr. Booth realize that Piper just isn't getting enough breast milk which is why she is dehydrated and not having more frequent bowel movements. Basically Mom has come to the conclusion (and Dr. Booth agreed) that she just doesn't produce enough milk especially since she has been feeding Piper way more than 12 times a day and can't even pump an ounce at each sitting. Mom and Dr. Booth agreed that Piper should still continue to breastfeed but that she needs to get 6 to 8 ounces of formula a day to make sure she is gaining 4 to 7 ounces a week. Of course Mom is sad that she isn't going to be able to exclusively breastfeed Piper like she had hoped. However, Mom has been through this before with Pennington and knows that making sure your child gets fed is the most important thing. Piper seems to be happier getting formula. Mom and Dad have noticed that she doesn't seem to cry as much. The plan going forward is to have Mom continue to breastfeed as long as Piper continues to enjoy it. Piper has another weight check-up next Tuesday to see if 6 to 8 ounces a day is the right amount.

Below is a recent photo of Piper.

Piper Two Weeks Old

Piper is two weeks old today. She has been spending most of her time eating and sleeping. The longest we have been able to get her to sleep by herself in a crib or on a bed is 30 minutes. Most of the time we can only lay her down by herself for 5 to 10 minutes before she realizes she is alone. So in order to get her to sleep for long periods of time she ends up sleeping on our chests. Below is a picture of Daddy and Piper sleeping together.

Piper has also been working on tummy time. She is really good at it considering she is only two weeks old. She seriously can already turn her head from side to side. Below is a picture of Piper doing tummy time.

Fun at the Market

On Saturday the whole family took our first trip out on the town to the Saturday Market. Below are some pictures of the family at the market.