Penny!

So Penny Alberta is here! She was born on the 28th of September. I was trying for the 27th (Gwyneth Paltrow's birthday) but it was not to be. My stalker-ness falls short just this once. She was 8 lbs 7 oz, exactly one pound heavier than Finn.

Just hangin' Sid Vicious style.

Also, she is extremely hairy. Along with a full head of red hair, she was born with hair on her ears. She also sports what Jacob calls a "squirrel tail."

Anyway, good for her, I say! It's cold in Utah, she'll be needing the extra fuzz. It's just kinda a bummer when you have to wrassel the poo out of it at diaper change time.

Here are some slightly sweeter pictures of my little Ginger Bean. We have been calling her any and all red head slurs we can think of. I know there are mean slurs out there...ugh, poor girl, but we are trying to break her in gently. Feel free to add your own, kind-ish, contributions in the comments section below. Jacob and I love to hear any new possibilities.

Below: one of Penny's favorite ways to sleep. Finn never did this. Poor Mr. Finn. I think he could sense I was afraid of him and sleeping anywhere near me made him nervous.

Finn and Penny, love from day one! A month later... a different story?

Pregnancy Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-changes:

This last one was taken a week before Penny was born. I allowed no photos after this. I did get bigger, it WAS disgusting.

Penny Bump

29 week (7 month +) Penny bump, and Finn as the chopstick master:

Facebook free and owner of an iPhone. Big life changes taking place over here!

So Far This July

Here are some pictures from the last week:

At the pool

 The Pollock Boys trying on each other's work boots (at Rachel's beautiful wedding)

 Two of my beautiful sister-in-laws (helping me with my iPhone questions)

Finn's radical shag (at Rachel's wedding)

The Bow-Tie Boys throwing rocks in Fish Lake (at Rachel's wedding)

Fishing - 3 Generations of Mayhem 

Finn and Grace enjoying the chalk wall

Finn's Birthday

Just some pictures from his party, and our Disney Land weekend. Thank you again SO MUCH Larene and Wayne for the hotel stay, it was so much fun for all of us!

   At dinner our first night at Disney Land

On the flight to California

Breakfast with the characters, which BLEW Finn's mind!

On the carousel with Aunt Brittany

On Finn's actual birthday:

Finn soaked because for some reason the park sprinklers turned on at noon.  One was broken and aimed right at the play ground.

Raccoon Finnley

For Finn's last day of school the kids got to dress up as whatever they wanted. Finn, having just spent a weekend at Disney Land (post on that soon to come), and having had breakfast with the Disney characters one of our mornings there, knew exactly what he wanted to dress up as. I have only seen the movie Pocahontas once, but you fans out there might remember a raccoon named Meeko. He was at the character breakfast and made a HUGE impression on one shaggy haired little dude we all know.

First Marshmallow Roast of Summer

 

   

 

    

Yesterday we had a BBQ, just the three of us at our place, and we ended things with a marshmallow roast! Finn is at such a magical age. I know that is a totally cheesy thing to say, but it's that age when you appreciate the excitement of jumbo sized marshmallows, a fire outside, the sun staying up till 8pm!

Finn's last day of Pre-school is this Friday! Big deal for him, HUGE deal for me. Jacob's job requires him to leave for over a week at a time and when Jacob is gone Finn and I really rely on each other. The days he spends at school can be productive, but were you a fly on the wall you would see a crazy lady talking back to the chefs on Food network and staring at her cell phone waiting for something... anything. Luckily, Jacob's new job means way fewer nights away, and Finn's last day of preschool means every morning at the pool!

I raise my marshmallow and say cheers to a summer of less lonely days and nights!

Update-ification

Everything's rolling right along. Finn's birthday, and my 5 year anniversary as a parent, is on Monday. Jacob started his new job with the Forest Service as a "Steward of the Land" this last Monday and he is loving it. Penny is apparently 11 inches and weighs about a pound. She kicks all the time, way more than I remember Finn kicking. Also, we have officially started our hunt for a house that doesn't suck in Utah.

We have a realtor, the brother in law of a friend of mine. You can't swing a dead mormon cat around Salt Lake without hitting at least 15 people related to a realtor, which for us right now is cool. My goal is to be in a house before Penny is born. We'll see. So far, not so great. And I am trying my hardest, now that I know we will be here for a little while, to embrace it. It's not easy. If anybody has any pointers on making the best of a bad situation please pass them along. You people out there who like living here, what's the secret? What am I missing?? Please post below.

Jacob as a "Steward of the Land": basically, combine the job responsibilities of an archaeologist with the cool stuff from Boy Scouts. He gets to roam all the mountain ranges in Utah, protect the historical sites, document and care for artifacts, and he will get to ride a horse, camp, etc. Plus he will get to work on continuing his education as he goes. He is living his dream, and may be the happiest man on planet earth. I was just talking to him and said "The only thing that would make you happier is if you could earn badges." To which he smiled and said "Oh, I can." LIVING HIS DREAM. Imagine if you could walk around a museum with your kid and tell them: "I do that", "I've found those", or "remember that time you visited daddy at work and got to touch one of those arrow heads, spear points..." blah blah blah. Living the dream folks. And if you want your child to have the opportunity to touch a giant ground sloth patella, just give me a call and we'll get you hooked up. He spent the whole day yesterday hiking up Provo Canyon setting up motion sensor cameras around the petroglyphs to catch vandals. So let that be a heads up to those of you who wanted to carve your initials next to that engraving of the goat.

Thank you guys for checking up on us. And if you know of a cute house for sale let me know!

Penny Alberta

Jacob and I are excited to announce the upcoming birth of Penny Alberta "Bertie" Pollock, expected on September 24, 2012!

Have a little Hansen :) I do, as often as possible.

And now that I have a Finn and a Penny I am officially out of baby names. For those of you who don't know, Alberta is the name of Jacob's great grandma, who from what I've heard was sweet, a little shy, kept an immaculate house, and was an award winning cook. It's her home we stay in when we vacation in Escalante, Utah.  The people who knew her have all told us that Alberta never thought anyone would name a baby after her because she didn't think she had a pretty name. Personally, I think it's got a certain something, just like the lady herself.

A little short haired, blond Penny to run around after my shaggy haired Finn. Finn loves Penny already, and can't wait to take her for a ride on Grandpa Earl's tractor, but every now and then he says he wants it to be a boy.


P.S. Jacob has no idea that I got him to name one of our kids after a Hansen song, so everybody please: shhhhhhh.....