Thursday, December 30, 2010

Walking!

We finally got it on video:

Christmas Vacation

Here's a little recap of our Christmas vacation. We took a little trip to see Nana and Papa for Christmas Eve. We saw Great Gram Kadingo, Great Pop Kadingo, Aunt Sue and Mr. McSurdy while we were visiting. We got to skype with Grandma, Grandpa, Terra and Great Grandma Thompson.
We came home on Christmas Eve night so Santa could visit Penny at home on her first Christmas.
We're making our own Christmas traditions, starting with Mass on Christmas morning. We took Penny to see baby Jesus in the manger.After Church, we opened a few presents. Nana, Papa and the Aunties came over to spoil Penny and to eat dinner. Dinner ended up being a little later than we planned- three days in the fridge wasn't long enough to thaw that big turkey. So, we had extra time to play!Penny is one lucky lady. She got so many cool gifts from her grandparents, her aunts and their boyfriends! Some of the coolest gifts were a Lady Goo Goo outfit from Grandma (you'll see it in pictures when she grows into it...we don't want to ruin the surprise- it's an awesome outfit) and a Hallmark story book read/recorded by Nana.Here's the crew on Christmas night, patiently waiting for that turkey to cook.The day after Christmas, we headed up to Center Valley to see the Fitz cousins. Penny had so much fun playing with everyone! Mommy did not take enough pictures, but here are a few...Penny learned that the most important part of any holiday meal is the dessert. She had a blast playing with the big girls. She was very interested in watching the boys play their video games. And, she loved sweet Baby Jane. Too bad mommy didn't catch the two little ladies in a picture. We had to leave much earlier than we wanted to because of this-Mother Nature treated us to a few inches of snow the day after Christmas. We took Penny outside to play the next morning while Daddy shoveled the driveway. She had a great time!
We took a quick trip to Kayte & Tommy's house to play with Luke, their families and Pierce & Gina. And, we took another little visit to Nana & Papa's to help with some projects.
We've spent the rest of our break playing with all the amazing toys. We decided to turn the living room into a Penny's play room. We're happy with the results and we think she is too. Here comes trouble!We had such a great Christmas! We are so thankful for the time we've had off from work, for the visits we've been able to fit in, and for everyone who helped to make Penny's first Christmas a great one. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and that 2011 brings you health and happiness!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Our First Christmas

My first Christmas:

And Penny's first Christmas: Santa sure does leave some great presents!

We had an amazing first Christmas with Penny!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Merry Christmas to All!

We hope that you Christmas is Merry and Bright!
We've had an amazing year! Welcoming Penny in February was the highlight of your year and we've made so many amazing memories together as a family. She's keeping us on our toes these days, showing us that there are endless things we need to baby proof now that she's mobile. She's curious and funny and equal parts sensitive little angel and rough little rebel. She gives the best hugs and even better giggles! We're sure that 2011 will bring even more fun as she learns more words and shows more of her personality. We're excited to be starting our own family Christmas traditions. We know that Penny won't understand too much about the holiday this year, but we've been reading to her about baby Jesus and taking her to Mass throughout Advent. She loves Church! People sing to her and there are all sorts of shiny things to look at. She's made quite a few friends at Church and we hope she brightens their day! She's actually starting to say hi to some of the seniors who look forward to seeing her every week and she loves to see the twins who work at her doctor's office (who are a huge help to me every week as we leave Church!). So, in addition to opening presents with Penny, we're looking forward to taking her to Christmas Mass. I can't wait for the year when she'll want to go up front to see baby Jesus in the manger...I remember doing it as a child and think it will be even more fun to see it through our baby's eyes.
We are looking forward to sharing Penny's first Christmas with our families. She'll get to see Nana and Papa and some of her aunties and we'll get to skype with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Terra & Bill and Aunt Megan & Chris. Technology is amazing and we're so thankful for it, especially at the holidays!
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and we hope that 2011 is filled with many blessings!
love, Penny, Mommy & Daddy

Sunday, December 19, 2010

She's Walking!

Penny took her first official steps on Saturday morning for daddy!
As soon as we capture it on camera, we'll post a video.

Our first night away

RC & I went to Atlantic City last night. It was our first night away from Penny and we missed her!
I don't think Penny even missed us. She had so much fun playing while we were gone and she was super happy when we got home this morning.
She spent some quality time with Aunt Becky. She woke Adam up at 2am for a late night party.Aunt Missy even stopped by for a visit. I think she had just as much fun as we did!
Thanks so much for taking care of our Penny!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Meeting Baby Leah

Daddy is out in Cleveland for the weekend visiting with his Grandmas. Please keep Penny's Great Grandma's in your prayers this holiday season. We love you Great Grandma Thompson and Great Grandma Droughton!
And we love Great Gram and Pop Kadingo too!

Penny & I went to stay with Lisa & Chris on Friday night (THANK YOU GUYS!!!). Penny had a great morning with Ella. She watched Ella closely and LOVED that Ella shared her toys so nicely! Ella was such a big help!
We made our way up to Long Island to visit with Suzanne and Ryan and meet baby Leah. What an amazing little baby! She's beautiful! And, she's at that amazing three month stage where she's starting to recognize her surroundings and give real smiles :) Suzanne and Lisa are both amazing mommies and I'm so lucky to be sharing this experience with them. We had such a great Saturday! We're going to have so much fun watching our girls grow up together. We'd be so excited if they all ended up as room mates in Bloomsburg some day(although we hope they'll live somewhere nicer than 409).

Penny & I also fit in a quick visit with Aunt Grace!Have a great week!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Up the stairs...

We no longer need to walk Penny up the stairs for bed time...she seems to be getting up to her room just fine on her own!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Oh Christmas Tree!

Starting in 2004, we've made it our Christmas tradition to head out to Varner's Farm in Collegeville to get our Christmas tree. We were so excited for Penny to join us as we searched for this year's tree. Although it was a little chilly, Penny loved everything about her first experience at Varner's.
These amazingly beautiful horses take you out to the field and you wander through the trees until you find the perfect one.Here are Daddy & Penny in front of this year's tree. She's an 11 foot tall white pine and we think she's a beauty! Penny & I watched Daddy cut down the tree and then we guided him back to the pick-up spot. On the way back, one of the farm workers spotted Daddy and the giant tree and came to help! Did we tell you how much we love it at Varner's?
Here is this year's tree all decorated in our family room: Our ornaments are a mix of old and new - some of our childhood ornaments mixed with ornaments from our travels and everything in between. RC's mom just sent us "soft" ornaments that are Thompson family heirlooms that are great for the bottom of the tree now that Penny is mobile. Penny is not too sure what to make of the tree- she'll crawl close and stop and just look back and forth between us and the tree.
Daddy and our neighbor Jason put up the outside lights (THANKS JASON!!!). Doesn't the house look pretty? Penny loves the outside lights. She helps me plug them in when we get home from work/daycare and she talks like crazy while she watches them sparkle. She loves to look out the front windows at the lights! So, that is this year's version of Deck the Halls of the Thompson house.
We hope this puts you in the Christmas spirit!
God Bless!

Post Thanksgiving Fun

I'm a little behind on posts...we've been busy!
After we got home from our Thanksgiving trip to St. Louis, we had dinner with the Kadingo's and all the auntie's boyfriends. Godmother Kellie came to visit too :) We're wishing her luck on her finals, although she doesn't need it- she's one smart cookie and she's going to be an excellent nurse!We had some fun at Pete's house last weekend. Penny got to play with Luke. And, Penny and Luke met Gavin. Gavin taught them all about trains!
We had so much fun catching up with our friends and watching football. We used to get together almost every weekend. But, a few weddings and three kids later, our football fest was much different than football fests of past. In all honesty we watched the kids more than the TV and loved every minute of it. As much as things change, one thing stayed the same- Pete cooked up some delicious food!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Hi Great Grandma!

This is my Great Grandma Thompson, and this post is for her. Hi Great Grandma!
I visited with baby Jesus yesterday and I asked him to make you feel better. I said prayers for you in church this morning.
All my friends are saying prayers for you too!
Grandma- I love the blue cup almost as much as mommy does. Here's a little video of me drinking my water like a big girl.


I miss you and I love you!
:) Penny