Trick or Treat!

I had a great first Halloween!
I spent some time chatting with Grandma & Grandpa on the computer. They gave me some tips for trick-or-treat...boy do I have some tricks up my sleeves. I love to webcam with them!

I helped Mommy carve a pumpkin. The insides were slimy and I did not like it when Mommy tried to get me to touch it. I got ready for trick-or-treat.And posed for pictures with Daddy...And mommy before we headed out to meet the neighbors.
I had so much fun trick-or-treating!
Our neighbors are so nice- Jason and Lisa gave me this bag for my first halloween. I'll share it with them next year!
I had a great time saying hello to everyone and I loved looking at the costumes! I still think Mommy should have let me take candy from the neighbors...there's always next year!

Hope you all had a great Halloween! love, Penny

Penny & Luke

Penny's buddy Luke came to visit today. They were on opposite napping schedules, but they had fun playing together between naps! I learned that it's not very easy to get a five month old and an eight month old to look at the camera at the same time!

Isn't Luke a cutie? They are going to have so much fun growing up together!

Here is a video of Penny dancing with her daddy:

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat! Penny is a little lady bug for Halloween :)
We think she's a super cute little bug!Hope you get all the treats you deserve this year!
Happy Halloween!

Happy October Birthday's!

It's Penny!

October is a busy birthday month for our family.

I'm sending out October birthday wishes to Aunt Terra,

Nana & Aunt Nicole. Oh- and happy birthday wishes for Kellie, Amy & Mara (Mommy's high school friends). They all have October birthday's too!

And just in case you didn't remember, I'm a super cool present!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Love, Penny

V for Villanova

I'm so ready for college basketball season!

V for Villanova! V for Victory!

Hayride!

I went for my first hayride today at MerryMead Farms.

Nana, Aunt Miss & Godmother Kellie came with me. We saw the animals, went on the hayride and saw the fire trucks and helicopter. I had so much fun! Hope you all had a great weekend too! love, Penny

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Penny & Daddy shared a special day on Thursday. Penny turned 35 weeks old and Daddy turned 32 years old.
We love you Daddy! Happy Birthday!

Allergies

Penny has not been feeling great since she started daycare. We were worried that she was picking up every possible strain of runniness from her classmates.

We spent most of September with a case of a runny nose. Penny's nose would run and run, she would feel better for a few days and the runnies would return. We went to Nana & Papa's and she came home runny. We went to the finger lakes and she came home runny. We went back to Nana & Papa's and more runnies. Based on the fact that we spent a good amount of time enjoying the beautiful weather outside on these trips, we suspected she might not just have a lingering cold. We went back to the doctor this week and found out that Penny has a mortal enemy:

Yes. Ragweed. Nobody likes ragweed. Especially not Penny.

The doctor started Penny on some allergy medicine and things are much better. We're getting back to breathing better and sleeping better too!

We're hoping for a frost so we can be done with allergy season!

In the meantime, we're thankful that there is relief via medicine.

8 MONTHS

Here are 8 great things about our little Penny Jeanne:

1. She's an explorer. She has officially begun to explore every nook and cranny of our home. When we put her on the floor, she no longer needs to be right next to us- she's on the go and into the next room in the blink of an eye. She's determined to escape from her Penny Pen. Hopefully we'll be finished baby proofing by the time she figures it all out!
2. She has the best laugh! She is very happy to share it with you whenever you laugh along with her! Get her in front of a mirror and smile at her and the giggles come pouring out. She saves the best laughs for daddy!
3. She's a cuddler. She gives the greatest hugs and kisses. I LOVE when she lays her head on my shoulder.
4. She's a chatty Cathy. She's starting to make more letter sounds every day. "Dada" is her current favorite, but she's getting better at lala, baba, ahah and nana.
5. She's inquisitive. She really does want to figure out how everything works. She's loving the stacking and sorting toys. Her new favorite game involves standing while holding a toy (her mouth is a key player in this game) and tossing the toy over the side of her Penny Pen before sitting down and crawling to get the next toy.
6. She is mastering the eating game. She loves cheerios and puffs so much! She's getting very good at transferring food between hands and getting most of it into her mouth. She loves to hold her spoon and helps you put it in her mouth (when its loaded with fruit). Vegetables and meat, not so much, but we're working on it. She watches RC & I eat and tries to grab for our food.
7. She makes people happy. Let's be honest. The world could use a few more happy people. Seriously though- I love to see people smile at her. From church to the grocery store, wherever we go, she's little miss popular. I love that she can bring a smile to any one's face and hope that their day is a little better because she made them smile.
8. She's putting it all together. She knows who mommy and daddy are and she is really starting to communicate with us. When she wants to stop eating, she hits the side of her high chair and makes a screechy e sound. She understands "all done" and "more." She is paying attention to the books that we read her. And she's teaching us something new every day. We are in love with 8 months and can't wait to see what fun the next few weeks bring.

Many thanks to Kate for spending Columbus Day with Penny!

Another nice weekend!

I am in the midst of another nice weekend. Aunt Becky came to play with me on Thursday. I missed her!

Mommy & Daddy went to Lori & Ted's wedding, so I got to play with Nana & Papa.Aunt Marian stopped by and gave me this cute piggy :)
I am a happy girl!

Love you all! Penny

I like puffs now

Kisses!

This morning I asked Penny for a kiss and she gave me one. By the end of the night, she was giving Daddy and I kisses right and left.

We love her more by the minute!

Step Out 2010

Penny took part in her first 5K today. She smiled like a champ near the Rocky statue.

It was a 5K walk for the American Diabetes's Association. This was mommy's third year participating in the Step Out event as part of Team Another Life. Our good friend Amy was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2007 and we've all learned more about diabetes over the past few years. We've certainly learned that we'd like to see a cure!

Nana and Missy joined us in the walk along West River Drive in Philly.

We had record rainfall on Thursday & Friday- look at the river near the Art Museum. And, this picture is for Pete. Penny got out and walked.

Thank you so much for sponsoring us in this year's Step Out event!

Our Finger Lakes Weekend (the long version)

Settle in- this is the long version.
We took a trip up to the Finger Lakes of New York.

We stayed at the Wright's Cottages on Waneta Lake.

Mary Ann and Jim are two of the nicest people we've ever met!

And, nothing compares to watching the sunrise over the lake on a fall morning.

Penny and I really enjoyed the sunrise!

At the cottages, Penny made friends with some fisher men and some Canadians who were staying in the cottages next door. She also made friends with a little pig named Boo who lives on the trail near the cottages. We had so much fun walking around and playing on the lake.

We hit up some wineries. Here are Missy and Eric at Keuka Lake Vineyards.

Mommy & Penny loved the fall decorations at Dr. Frank's.


And, we love the Eclipse wines at Heron Hill (Heron Hill had their Eclipse long before Twilight, but the decor fits perfectly).
We visited Keuka Lake Vineyards, Heron Hill Winery, Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars, Fox Run Vineyards, Red Tail Ridge Winery, and Anthony Road Wine Cellars, Rooster Hill Vineyards and Keuka Spring Vineyards. We even visited the Keuka Brewing Company for some micro brew.
But, the main reason for our trip wasn't the lake, the cottage or the wine. We made the trip for our friends, Jeff & Keilee.
Daddy was the best man in Jeff & Keilee's wedding. Doesn't Daddy look handsome?
Jeff & Keilee got married on the shore of Keuka Lake. It was one of the most beautiful wedding's we've ever been to. Jeff's uncle, Sid, officiated the ceremony and he gave the most beautiful wedding sermon I've ever heard. He also gave Jeff & Keilee a survival kit for their marriage. Inside the kit were everyday things like a paper clip to hold them together and an eraser to remember that everyone makes mistakes. I thought it was the perfect touch to an amazing ceremony. My pictures don't do justice to the beautiful bride & groom:
We had so much fun at the reception. And, the wedding ended with a bonfire.
We loved roasting marshmallows over the fire. This wasn't our first trip to the Finger Lakes. RC & I went on a wine trip with his parents, aunts and uncle in 2004. One of our favorite wineries, Dr. Frank's, has beautiful views of Keuka Lake and amazing wine. Here we are on Dr. Frank's porch in 2004:

And, here are Mommy & Penny on Dr. Frank's porch in 2010. Daddy missed out on Dr. Frank's because he was getting ready for the wedding with Jeff.

Although things look the same from Dr. Frank's porch, our life has certainly changed between our two trips (marriage, house, baby). We think things are only getting better.

We can't wait to take another trip to the Finger Lakes!