Welcome Spring!

Celebrating the warm weather with a family outing to the local farmer's market. Penelope was delighted to find the sculpture filled with fresh sand and some new playmates. 

After naps it was time for more Spring celebration at Duke Gardens, our favorite Spring hangout.

Enjoying the first crop of sugar snap peas during our picnic in the gardens.

Fun with Daddy! (Take note of the white tutu under her dress that Penelope insisted went with the dress.)

Future soccer star at work.

Goal!

First Haircut

It took this girl nearly three years to grow enough hair to merit a hair cut.

You've never seen a two-year-old sit this still. She was enthralled with the process.

The finished product! 

Winter Play

Still playing catch up...

I guess we've gotten pretty lazy about taking pictures since Christmas. This is all I could find for January through March.

The tent of all tents!

So overcrowded with Penelope's special things that there was no room for Penelope.

Making "soup" at the park after our weekly visit to the farmer's market.

Playing "hide and go seek"

Hanging out at our neighborhood park.

Christmas Take Two

Finally! The last of the Christmas pics. The rest of the Christmas photos are here.

We drove down to Texas for Christmas. (And what a drive it was!) Once we arrived at DeDe and Poppy's, one of the first stops was Old Saint Nick himself.

Just believe me when I say this was huge progress. Last year she burst into tears at the sight of him. This time we prepared her with lots of pep talks, and she tried to put on her bravest face, but after about a minute she just wanted to hightail it out of there.

Cade did his best to convince her to stay.

Once we left Santa's sight, Penelope quickly returned back to her crazy, outgoing self.

Cousin love

 Then it was time for another Christmas tradition--gingerbread cookies with DeDe. P was quite serious about those sprinkles.

Next stop was Mama J and Papa J's house. Only those with coordinating clothes were allowed in the pictures. (I think this picture was take 21 out of 50. Good thing the kids were good sports about it.)

Penelope took it upon herself to keep an eye on Ella.

The cousins again.

Cade making sure Penelope kept her dress down.

The gang with DeDe and Poppy

Our little family finally makes it into a picture--albeit a blury one. And the baby bump keeps growing... 

Opening presents at DeDe's and Poppy's. Penelope demonstrating alternate methods of unwrapping gifts.

It's so much more fun opening presents now that there are little kids to watch!

Penelope modeling her princess earrings. (Don't get ahead of yourself, girl! It's going to be quite awhile before the earrings in your ears are real.)

Best stocking stuffer ever--a kid sized flashlight. Imagine the possibilities.

Cade and Penelope's doctor game suddenly took on a new dimension.

Christmas Eve before church with Nani. (The presents just keep coming!)

Getting her new tea set from Nani ready for tea time with Poppy.

And that concludes the Christmas catch-up!

Decorating for Christmas--Rewind

Another quick and dirty post that should have been done months ago...

In our 10 years of marriage, we have rarely decorated for Christmas. We're not Scrooges by any means. It just seemed like so much work when we're always gone visiting family for two or three weeks over the holidays. But this past Christmas we justified the decorating because we wanted Penelope to have some sort of family traditions to remember, and we did it right after Thanksgiving so we could have it around for a few weeks.

Penelope was quite the helper, and she wanted to know about each ornament.

For some reason, all of the ornaments she was in charge of hanging ended up on the same spot at the bottom of the tree. We'll have to work on her technique next time around.

She was very proud of her stocking.

But didn't understand that stockings were for hanging up, not putting on your feet.

Or for hiding away baby Jesus and the manger scene.

Thanksgiving Rewind

Here we are, three weeks until my due date, and I'm finally getting my act together and bringing this blog back to life. I can't bring myself to post the recent ptos and events until I've sufficiently caught up on the last few months.

Here's Thanksgiving Part 2 (The Lost Photos) at DeDe and Poppy's house in Texas--the quick and dirty version.

 What's Thanksgiving without a cousin duet on the piano with matching Thanksgiving attire? Cade and Penelope were happily reunited and back to their tricks. Little Ella just tried to keep up.

Penelope, playing the role of the patient patient.

But watch out Cade! Now the tables have turned.

Fun times!

Family photo op (plus stick) at the annual family Thanksgiving dinner at Nani's. The baby bump is just starting to make an appearance. The smile is masking the nausea has been there for awhile....

The three cousins miraculously pose together for a pic. Approximately 30 seconds later, all were attacked by biting ants.

This one of all of us didn't quite go as well. Just when you get the kids facing the right way, something goes awry with the adults.

Penelope talked Nani into sharing a piece of chocolate pie with her. Penelope talked about this for weeks afterwards.

Trying out Papa J's riding lawn mower.

Then finding a ride that was more her size.

DeDe and Penelope. 

So many sweet memories that trip with her cousins, grandparents, and great-grandparents!