Happy Birthday Penny!

Penny, earlier this summer.

Penny, last summer.

Yesterday we celebrated Penny's third birthday!  It really is amazing what a difference a year can make!  In just one year, Penny has transformed from a typical two-year-old to a sweet three-year-old.  It is hard to list all the ways in which she has grown and changed but there have been lots of changes.  Penny is a very big girl that so far LOVES preschool, is potty-trained, and TALKS!  Even though she has quite the vocabulary and has been using complex sentences for a long time now, Penny really only spoke when she needed to.  Now Daddy calls her "chatty Kathy" because at bedtime she loves to tell him all sorts of things about her day.  While she has been opinionated and  headstrong from day one, she has a much easier time expressing herself which leads to far less frustration on her part and on ours.  We love our little conversations with her!

Penny likes to sing and dance and knows the words to many of the songs Mama plays in the car.  She still clings tightly to her "pink baby" most of the day but doesn't need her to attend school like she did last year.  Penny enjoys coloring, playing with play-doh, stickers, playing whatever game Cooper is playing be it trains, trucks and soccer or princesses, fairies, and dolls.  At the beginning of the summer, Penny only wanted to swim for a short period of time.  Now she is the first one in the pool and the last one out.  We are so excited to see what the next year has in store for us and our big girl Penny!

We celebrated Penny's birthday with a small party at home yesterday and cupcakes to school today.  Ma-Mas, Pa-Pa, and Libby joined us for dinner, cake and presents.  Here are a few shots: 

Penny's pink princess castle cake.  After the hours I spent on this cake, both kids had something to say:
Penny: "It's a castle!  I wanted strawberry."
Cooper:  "It's a necklace cake...why does it have cones on it?"

Penny, checking out her cake and waiting for us to sing.

ALL of Penny's gifts were a huge success...with both kids.  Cooper was jealous of all that she received, even after we reminded him his birthday wasn't far way.  Penny has barely taken off the fairy outfit from Ma-Mas and Pa-Pa and has played every chance she could with the play kitchen, play toaster, food and pots and pans.  

First Day of School

Hooray for the first day of school!  After a really fun and carefree summer, Mama was super excited for the school year to begin.  Cooper was a little apprehensive but shed no tears.  He didn't really want me to leave but took his spot like a big kid on the carpet for circle time.  Penny was ready!  She kept saying all morning, "I want to go to the yellow room...I'm big!"  She is indeed.  Penny was such a big girl as she proudly found her cubby and placed her things in it.  Penny is in the 3-year-old class this year and will attend three days a week.  Cooper is in prekindergarten (Can you BELIEVE it??)and will attend five days a week.  Again, hooray for the first day of school!!

Goofing off instead of letting Mama get a picture!

A Vacation in California...For the Parents!

David, Leslie, and baby next to a redwood trunk.

Last week both the parents and the kids got a special treat.  Cooper and Penny got to spend a solid four days with Ma-Mas while Mom and Dad took a vacation...by THEMSELVES!  As it  had been a very long time since we had taken a vacation AND it is the year of our 10th wedding anniversary AND with a new baby coming vacations will be even more rare, we decided it was as good a time as any to tour Northern California.  We started the trip with a day and night in San Francisco.  This we followed with a day drive up Highway 1 to Eureka, CA where we spent a night.  The trip ended with a day and night down in the wine country.  We had a great time, but by the third night, we could not wait to get home!  We missed the kids terribly!

Day One:  We walked ALL OVER  San Francisco, visiting China town, Fisherman's Wharf, and the surrounding areas.  For us, Chinatown was fun and entertaining while Fisherman's Wharf and the bay front were shamelessly touristy.

A view from the top of "the crookedest street."

Day Two:  We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and headed north.

The drive up the Pacific Highway was by far our favorite day.  I can not adequately describe my awe when we emerged from the Redwood trees (which were beautiful too) to see the Pacific Ocean spanning before us.

It took us all day to reach Eureka, CA because we just had to keep stopping!  We waded ankle deep in the freezing ocean and made lots of references to "The Goonies."

The Carson Mansion in Eureka.  We had a view of this grandeur from our room at the inn.

We enjoyed our favorite hotel stay and dinner in Eureka.  We both could describe the meal at the little bistro that didn't seem like it should be there as one of the best meals we had EVER eaten.

A Pacific sunset.

Day Three:  We traveled down to the wine country.  The vineyards and hills along the highway are beautiful, though honestly this was not our favorite spot visited.  It might have had something to do with the fact that Mama couldn't taste the wines and it was unbearably HOT!  (We had really enjoyed the 60 degree weather along the coast.)

Nonetheless, we were glad to see the Napa Valley and what it was all about.

Day Four:  A quick walk down a LONG pier in Berkeley to snap a few more shots of San Francisco before boarding a plane to go home.  Cooper and Penny, here we come!

Counting Down

With just over a week of summer to go, it feels like we have just been hanging out and counting down.  We have so much coming up it is an actual effort to stay "slowed down" and in the moment.  That is all in the minds of the parents of the house, however.  Cooper and Penny are always "in the moment!"

In the moment on a random weekday morning.  Mama was ironing, the kids were playing in their living room tent and "painting" themselves with pretend brushes.  Cooper wanted me to take a picture of them as "all pink" Cooper and "all purple" Penny.  

On another random weekday morning, we had a visit from the little blue crab.

I FINALLY put together enough moments this week to finish my very first baby blanket. Hopefully the receiver is too busy at home with a newborn (Welcome baby girl Batey!!) to read my blog before I get a chance to give it to her!

And in case you missed it, what we are really waiting for!  Our new baby GIRL will be here in December/January!

Past the Month-To-Go Mark and Still Going

August can be kind of a yucky month.  For one, it's HOT and by now the heat has long lost its charm.  While we have enjoyed the carefree days of summer, this Mama can't help but long just a little bit for the cooler, more structured days of fall.  Once the kids' school and soccer start against the backdrop of  Aggie football and getting ready for the new baby (We find out if it's a boy or girl this coming Monday!), we will find ourselves with plenty to do.  But with less than a month of summer to go, we want to be sure and squeeze in as much free-spirited fun as possible.  Through our final summer month we plan to visit our usual spots for weekday fun including the museum, the aquarium, and the library.  Mama and Daddy have a trip BY THEMSELVES planned, and we hope to get up to the lake one more time.  We aren't going to slow it down as we cruise on in to the first week of school and Penny's birthday!

Cooper at one of our usual summer haunts, the museum.

Cooper and Penny take a morning dip at the lake.

I just love this little contemplative face!

Cooper gets up close and personal with the seahorses.  

Penny surprised me by enjoying the splash pad at the aquarium for almost as long as Cooper.  She is usually "over it" after about 15 minutes before she wants her towel and a snack.

This guy, however, could go all day!

Beach Time

Over the weekend we had some friends come down for a visit.  Of course we took them to the beach!  The kids all thoroughly wore themselves out swimming, playing in the sand, and boogie board sledding...

It was hard to keep Cooper reined in...all he wanted to do was be in the water.

Penny, on the other hand, prefered dry land.  She sent Mama countless times for buckets of water until we got smart and filled up the toy bin for her.

That got everybody interested.

Until Daddy got them going on our new beach activity...boogie board sledding.

We were glad our friends had fun!

Our Time

Now that summer is two-thirds gone, I couldn't help but stop and reflect about our time lately.  We've been spending our time doing ordinary things whilst enjoying the flexibility of summer.  Needless to say, I have not been spending my time whipping out the camera.  The iphone has been the only means of recording our comings and goings over the last month.  I take that as a sign we have been living in the moment...just as we should be for our time right now.

Pool Time.

Aquarium Time.

Haircut Time.

Pit Stop Time.

Nonnie's House Time!

The Evolution of the Bedtime Routine

Most parents of young children can vouch for the effectiveness and necessity of a bedtime routine.  Cooper is a champion sleeper at nearly five years old, though he didn't start out that way.  In fact, if you were to go back and read blog posts from 2008 and 2009, the general theme you would clue in on is the fact that he NEVER slept and his parents were in despair.  So we implemented a bedtime routine, hoping to get him sleeping well on his own.  This began simply as a bath, pjs, short story and song, then lights out.  Over time it worked!  And over time, the bedtime routine has evolved...

8:00 p.m.  Both kids take a bath. i.e. Both kids fight over bath toys until Mom gets fed up and starts the getting out process.  Cooper INSISTS he gets out first.

8:15 p.m. Cooper insists on putting on his own pajamas.  Mom helps Penny out and gets her pajamas on.

8:25 p.m.  Mom tells the kids its time for vitamins.  i.e. Mom says, "Time for gummy bears!" and a race to the kitchen ensues.  Cooper gets upset if he is not the "leader."  Cooper ALWAYS wants two red gummy bears (vitamins) and Penny always wants one orange and one yellow.

8:30 p.m.  Kids brush teeth.  Again,  Cooper gets upset if he is not the leader in the race to the bathroom.

8:35 p.m.  Penny goes to bed.  From here, all it is for her is a story and three songs.  Goodnight!  Cooper is allowed to play iPad while Penny is put to bed.

8:45 p.m.  Cooper gives us some lip service when we tell him to put the iPad away and to go upstairs.  He reminds us that he has to give Mom a hug first, and Mom has to be sitting on the couch when he does it.

8:50 p.m. Cooper bounds upstairs and hides behind the chair in his room, only because Mom threatens to be the leader upstairs.

8:52 p.m. Daddy comes upstairs and "finds" Cooper behind the chair, then tells him to go to the bathroom one last time.  Cooper is in NO hurry to do this and requires some prompting, i.e. threatening.

8:55 p.m. Mom reads a story.

9:05 to 9:10 p.m. (depending on story length and number of interruptions)  Cooper has to "look at the pretty lights."  This means he has to gaze out the window at the lights across the bay.

9:11 p.m.  Cooper has to "do his ahs."  This means he has to run from his room across the upstairs to our bathroom, then turn around, run back, and dive into his bed while yelling "AAAHHHH!"    Lately Cooper has wanted Daddy to do the last two steps with him.  Daddy has obliged...

9:12 p.m. Cooper says, "Roll Daddy Roll!"  This means Daddy has to roll onto his stomach so Cooper can cover him with his two blankets, which he calls the warm blanket and the cold blanket.  Then Coop crawls under the blankets with Daddy.

9:14 p.m. Daddy stands up and holds out the "warm" blanket like a bullfighter so Cooper can "bang" into it.  Cooper always says before this, "After I bang into the warm blanket I can bang into the cold blanket."  At which Mom says NO because we REALLY don't need to add any more steps to this routine!

9:15  Cooper dives into his pillow and we cover him with his warm and cold blankets.  At this point the light goes out and Daddy says goodnight.  This should be the end...but it's not.

9:17 p.m.  Mama sings Cooper a song, lets him have one last sip of water and THEN the lights go out!  Whew!

Yes, Cooper is a champion sleeper, but I can't help but wonder how in the world we got here!

This Blog is Going to Need a New Name...

I believe the cat is already mostly out of the bag, but yes, we are adding to our family on or before January 3rd!  Mama and Daddy are happy and excited.  Cooper and Penny aren't sure they fully understand, though they have each put their order in.  Cooper wants a baby sister, and Penny wants a baby brother.  We will get to see who gets their wish in August!

P.S. (THREE kids and three dogs...have we lost our minds??)

Mini Vacay

Last week we had the privilege to take a mini-vacation to our favorite getaway spot, the lake.  Nonnie met us there for four nights of relaxation and fun.  We managed to get out and "do" every morning, but we spent every afternoon hunkered down indoors trying to escape the heat.   We marveled at how beat we all were after being outside for any period of time in the morning.  

On the first morning we went for Cooper's favorite activity...a train ride in Brackenridge Park and the zoo.

The deer spent the afternoons similarly to how we did...in the cool.

On the second morning, Cooper, Penny, and Brewster hung out with Nonnie while Mom and Dad set out for an outing alone.  (Yay!)

On the 3rd day we attended cousin Charley's birthday party.  Thank goodness it was a pool party!

Cooper, as usual, was quite the little fish at the party.