Love Penelope: January 2016

Jeez I can't believe Philomena is already one month old. How quickly time flies kind of creeps me out. It doesn't matter how much I already know to be conscious of that, I still wonder where it went. This first month has been much easier then I imagined, but is definitely still difficult. With the lack of sleep that all new parents deal with (I understand we aren't the only ones!) it's been hard some times to muster up much needed patience. But luckily, patience is not needed as much as I anticipated since Penelope has been amazing with the transition and I already knew what to expect with a new baby.

Penelope has transitioned so well to all of this new stuff that it's really made me proud. From the day we brought her sister home, all she's wanted to do is play with her and help us out. She will run and bring diapers, or grab us a bottle. She isn't screaming for attention when we are tending to Philomena. But whats really melted my heart is how quickly she fell in love with her little sister. She asks where she is when she wakes up in the morning, whispers "I love you sister" when she's playing with her, and is already protective of her. Such a kind soul.

Right now she's going through a stage where she is very sensitive and using her naps as a way to show us she's angry. Meaning, she refuses to take one no matter how tired she is. I've learned that you really can't make a kid nap and so just lay her down and hope for the best. Besides that she's really into her baby right now and mimicking everything I'm doing with Philomena. Her vocabulary is still insane, she's learning so many new words so quickly. Every day it's "What's that Mommy?" and when I tell her, she always repeats it after me and actually remembers later. It's really cool to see her soak everything up.

PENELOPE
FAVORITE FOODS: Ice-cream, bell pepper

FAVORITE SONG: Anything Taylor Swift

NEW PHRASES: Can I want some?

FAVORITE ACTIVITY: Playing with baby or dancing with lammy, playing music in our bedroom and dancing on the bed

FAVORITE GAME: Hide and seek, catch, dancing

CHORES: Load the laundry, set the dinner table, throw away her diapers, put laundry away, clean up before nap time and bedtime

FIRST TIMES: Put on her own pants, drawing her first pictures, put on her own sneakers

FAVORITE BOOK: Princess Collection book

SIGNATURE MOVES: Singing "Go Mommy, go Lammy when we're dancing", asking for every single morsel of food that exists in our household

Philomena has been so different then Penelope was when she was a baby. She is definitely into being snuggled 24/7 and doesn't like to be put down. Also she has been really gassy, which makes me feel horrible because I have to watch her in pain. But just within the past week I've already noticed a few things. She is freakishly strong and actually prefers standing on her own to any other position. She loooooves talking...seriously she just blabs and blabs and blabs until she's ready to eat. And she's already in love with Penelope. Like she could be about to have a fit and if Penelope comes near, she stops and is suddenly entranced. It's adorable. The girl loves her bath times and belly rubs...such different kids already and it's so interesting to watch. I can't wait to see more.

I'm telling you, when your a mom a quick routine is a necessity. To me, looking pulled together is a necessity. By no means am I walking around in high heels and full on hair and makeup, but I do think my appearance is important and I like to look presentable. I do this about 4-5 days out of the week, the other days I like to just go makeup free and let my skin breathe. With that being said I've developed a really quick and really effective makeup routine that takes 10 minutes, probably less. Which is about all this new momma of two gets unless I decide to do it when I wake up early.

SKINCARE

I think skincare is the most important step. When my skin looks like crap, my makeup looks like crap. I always do these steps before I put on my makeup and it just makes everything glide on and perform so much better. First I exfoliate and wash my face, I used to use Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant (which I LOVE) but I ran out so I'm trying this Neutrogena for a cheaper fix. The Vitamin C Serum I put on night and day, and I have noticed my face being brighter overall. Next my favorite eye cream and then this sunblock. After my husband saw an esthetician, she let him in on an industry secret. Your sunblock just ain't working for you if it doesn't have zinc oxide. The ingredient works with age spots and this stuff is a little thick but when I ran out I noticed a huge difference in my face. I use this in the place of moisturizer since it's so thick.

MAKEUP

While my sunblock is still wet, I'll just do one pump of the Loreal Lumi. I love that little extra glow it gives me and having freshly moisturized skin really makes the stuff glide on like butta. Next, I go in with this awesome Garnier Skin Renew Eye Roller and not only does it feel great, but it works great as lightweight coverage. I'll lightly bronze my entire face and then add as much blush as I can without looking clown like. I finish off with one quick coat of this amazing mascara I've been using for ions, and then this NARS Satin Lip Pencil. I got a sample of this stuff and am in LALALOOVE. My lips are always dry and I have a hard time finding colored lip product that doesn't look strange on my lips. This pencil glides on so smooth, I love this color too since it looks totally natural.

And that's it. Seriously so easy, I don't even use anything to put on the foundation just my fingers for everyday. The skincare products work great for me, but might not necessarily work the same for you since we all have different skin types. I will say though, everything comes highly reviewed so a lot of people out there like them. Let me know what products are in your easy, everyday arsenal and click below to shop mine!