Christmas parade 2014

Thanksgiving in Richmond

This year we headed down Thanksgiving morning to Richmond. I finally got to see grandma and aunt Betty's new house. It is beautiful and kid friendly (fenced in) yard. We had turkey, ham, green beans, sweet potatoes and all the classic thanksgiving foods. Penny got to hang with her granny (Danny's mom) who she doesn't see very often and her 4yearvold cousin Alexa. They played good together. Penny is going through a bit if terrible twos so after a while she would get cranky and be a little bit of a brat, but we are working on her frustration and anger. Penny received so many late birthday presents and almost a whole winter wardrobe from baby gap. Lucky girl. Thanksgiving night we all took shots of tequila, fireball and vodka after a day of beer and wine. So needless to say I was in bed with a headache till 10:40 the next morning. Thank goodness for everyone to watch and take care of penny that morning. So much fun to see everyone.

2 year check up

Two years old. My baby is gone and I have a funny, loud, beautiful, limit testing, tantrum throwing kid. We had your doctors check up today and you refused to let them look at you. You barley stood on the scale which lead to a some what accurate reading of 32 pounds and just under 3 feet tall. You had to get your finger poked for a hemoglobin test and after that you were in my arms refusing to let me even sit down. Here's hoping we get over your bits of anger and frustration which cause some serious drama on your part very soon. And wishful thinking to start some serious potty training soon.

Halloween

Halloween was a blast even with it raining most of the day. We got to hang with our friends and do some indoor trick-or-treating at a local church. You made the cutest cowgirl. We couldn't get penny to wear her hat at all before Halloween. By the time I had explained that she had to wear her whole costume to get candy she had no problem wearing it most of the night. She even held her pumpkin bucket all night no matter how heavy it was. Danny and I also decided that group costumes are way more fun and will force penny to 'match' us as long as we can.

Different things around here

We switched to a big girl bed! We purchased a toddler bed (we already had the mattress) on Amazon. It is so cute and has just enough room for me to curl up next to her. A huge amount of new space for her to stretch in compared to the mini crib.
The first night she went right to sleep and waited for us to come in the next morning. I think the lack of a nap the day before helped. Saturday night, she got up once and came out to the living room. I put her back in bed and there she stayed. Sunday night got up once to grab a book to read and I put it away and she slept like a champ. So successful start for us!

We also started watching my good friends oldest daughter on the weekends while she runs her booth at apple hill. Nalena is 5 days older then Penny and they are becoming fast friends. Slowly learning how to share and play together. The next four weekends we will be going to her house to watch the girls and her littlest that is 7 months. I have my work cut out for me. But nothing better then mamas helping mamas. 

Family, fun and driving

We made our way down to Santa maria this last weekend. Longest distance and most time Penny has spent in the car. She did great on the way down. We followed my mom and dad and niece Savannah caravan style. 5 stops,one including lunch made for an easy trip.
We visited with family we haven't seen in sometime,one being my 97 year old great uncle Vern. Proud to say we were planning his 100th birthday while there ; )
After two nights there the second of which I drank entirely to many sugary (and different kinds of) beer, which of course gave me the ultimate hangover Sunday morning. So thankful for my boyfriend Danny who packed the suitcases and car, made sure penny was feed well and left me to throw up multiple times and have a killer head/neck ache. Needless to say the ride to Santa Cruz was hell. But we made it and I'm so glad we split the ride home and stayed in the always fun Santa Cruz. We also managed to squeeze everything from the boardwalk to the beach to downtown shopping into a less then 24 hour period. We headed home Monday after a few rides at the boardwalk. Penny was asleep instantly. Danny finally let me drive (he always drives, and I don't mind) home the last two hours.
And now its Tuesday and back to the grind. Its always nice to come home.

Splash park

We joined our friends in El Dorado Hills this morning to go to the splash park we had been hearing about. Of course Googling it sent us to an older one that also had the playground. On the drive down it started sprinkling just for a moment. By the time we got there and set up our spot it had stopped. It was only around 73° so we just played on the regular play structure. However curiosity got the best of us and we went over to the splash park, more of a splash pad due to its small size but for 3 kids it was perfect. Highlight of it all was the water was amazingly warm. I could have easily gone in, but I didn't. It was a wonderful morning with friends and we still want to find the 'other' splash park in the area.

20 months

My sweet baby girl. Where has the time gone? Your personality lights up each and everyday and its safe to say your going to be one fine comedienne.

Favorites
Food: crackers, chips, steak, donuts, pretzels, and raisins. We are working on getting the three meal two snack thing down so we can make sure we are not snacking to much and getting in our vitamins. You love juice and milk and can chug water if you have you very own bottle. Not a fruit fan but starting to like there other forms, like dried fruit. You will eat your veggies but not willingly. Always the last on your plate.

Toys: you can finally get on your rocking horse and say 'yee-haa!' While watching Sherrif Callie. You love little things like dinosaurs and small characters. Books, always a favorite, on the hunt for some new ones and I'm exciting to bring out our holiday ones this year. You will enjoy them so much more. Your leap read books are also a favorite. And puzzles your getting your alphabet one down to a T (Pun intended).

Words: oh no, look, go, you said toodles and Ernie recently. You love to talk but most of it is still a jumbled mess. Those words will start slipping out one by one soon enough.

Things to do: go outside, play in you kiddie pool, grab all your blankets to take around with you. Pull the cats tails so they meow loudly. Feed your dog candy, doing whatever mamma is doing, climbing on dad and riding on his shoulders. Bubbles, drawing or painting are an absolute must most days.

My mini, my bff, my heart, I love you to the moon and back. Watching you grow and become the little person you are is the most rewarding thing your daddy and I have ever done. We love you!