nicknames

penelope LOVES using nick names... i think she finds it a cool "big kid" thing to do.  she calls pink puppy   "pup-a-lup" and she calls gatsby "gatsby-gats".

 

I went to her holiday party at school this year and she got to be the napkin helper. meaning, the teacher woudl say a kids a name and penny would bring them their napkin for snack...she did this for all 6 kids...

 

this must be a pretty big honor because she was all smiles... and she was cracking me up as she woud hand them out.

 

ms kaycie would say "please give this one to jayce"

 

penny: "here you go jaycey - jacye"

 

ms. kaycie: "give this on to mallory"

 

penny: "this one is for you mals".

 

:)

 

love it.

 



Christmas 2012

i admit - i've been a terrible blogger the month of december.. this is probably the month when most people take the MOST pictures... but turns out I took the least (i forgot my camera about ten times).

 

However... I did manage to get a few good photos over the course of our many christams celebrations...

 

penelope had a great christmas. she has been excited about it all month and really enjoyed all the build up to santa's big arrival.  she loved pulling daily "prizes" down from our advent calendar, talking about baby jesus's birthday, and watching christmas movie after christmas movie (lots of rudolph claymation in our house this december)

 

i was a bit worried when all the parties started that she'd lose steam, not appreciate her presents, or just sort of have a break down from all the drama...

 

but.. she was an angel. I was SOOO proud of her.  she said thank you, did a great job waiting for it to be her turn, loved opening all her presents and for the most part was really excited about everything.  i will say that most clothing related items were tossed over her head as she looked for more toys... but what can you expect from a 2 year old??

 

we went to several parties that all had several people and she was great at them all - frinedly with everyone, sat on people's laps she doesnt see often, played with every body and for the first time really was able to go off on her own at parties..

 

she would play with big kids, go in other rooms and just not be attached to me... and i'm finally comfortable wiht her being out of my site and just playing with the big kids.

 

overall she had a great christmas and her really good behavior meant we did as well.

 

she has already mentioned about ten times how sad she is that santa is gone.... not gonna lie... i'm sad too... what is my behavioral blackmail going to be for the next 11 months??? ( i dont think cupid really holds the same weight)

 

here a mixture of a few of my favs from the holiday....

 

first glimpse of santa at a the lotich party....

penny offered to "help" anyone who had a present in their hand :)

uncle tony had the hit present for christmas - a new princess sleeping bag.  penelope immediately said she was "a little sick" and needed to lay down in her sleeping bag and watch her sick movie (brave) in the middle of everyone else opening presents:)

i just love her in this outfit :)

penny had a great time hanging out wit the big kids - anthony and ava - she thought she was pretty cool.  love this pic of her with her hand on her head like a big kid.

putting out cookies and milk for santa... we also baked a cake for baby jesus.

our christmas tree 2012 and penny's loot.



thanks santa claus!



what a difference a year makes....

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA - 2011:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA 2012:

 

 

 

 

 

someone did a 180....and realized that the key to presents is loving santa :)

 

overall, this year's breakfast with santa was a definite success!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving 2012 - Daddy's Side

after football and WAY too much food, we headed over to Daddy's side for more Thanksgiving fun...

 

 

The tree was up and penny was immediately SUPER excited... "now santa can find me!!"

 

She alwasy fell in love with a dancing santa that happens to sing the only xmas song she knows... Santa Clause is Coming to Town... so there was a LOT of dancing!

 

a few less pictures because a certain someone (penny) was wiped from a 12 hour day so we didnt stay too long... but got a TON of cute ones of the little kiddos~!

 

While he doesnt look it, I think Logan is pumped for the holidays and can't wait to join in on all the fun next year!!!

 



Thanksgiving 2012 - Mommy's Side

i dont know how it happened, but thanksgiving is over, it's the end of November and Christmas is suddenly WAY too close!

 

While i'm super pumped to decorate for christmas, start some traditions with penny and really enjoy the holiday season, i'm a little sad with how quickly it's all happening!

 

i could SWEAR halloween was last weekend..(maybe my confusion is due to a child that wears her halloween princess dress every single day)

 

regardless, we had a fantastic thanksgiving yesterday and for the first time in a couple years the ENTIRE family (on mommy's side) was there to celebrate as lisa, kevin and baby calvin were all in town!

 

penny loved seeing everyone and was great (she had a few moments, but what 2 yr old doenst??)

 

our plan for football this year was put the kids on a blanket with bubbles, toys, and snacks... i'm a naive fool.  that didn't happen :) 

 

penny wanted to play, calvin wanted to crawl, and no one gave a damn about my bubbles.

 

eventually calvin was held, the bubbles were put away and pawpaw took penny to the playground. (this involved jumping a fence and there was NOTHING more entertaining all day then watching my father attempt the fence jump.  it took several tries over the course of 5 minutes. the image of that replaying over and over in my head is what I'M thankful for this year!)

 

overall - amazing thanksgiving, amazing food and GREAT day to spend with family!

 

here are some photos for the first half of the day (mommy's side...)

 

 

then a few during thanksgiving dinner (which was amazing by the way - thanks to all who cooked...not me)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



movie night :)

nothing like a good movie (Tangled), good snack (popcorn) and good company (daddy) to relax after a long thanksgiving..

 



:)



loving on daddy

i love this pictures. 

 



life lessons

as i may have mentioned, penny is enamored with her new cousin... just in love.

and it's pretty precious.

however... she seems to be "learning" quite a bit about her new BOY baby cousin.

and feels the need to share it.  loudly. in public places.

the following conversation took place between penny and I on friday night in line at bread co.

did i mention she talks loud??

Penny: "Baby logan has different body parts then me."

Me: "Oh yeah?"

Penny: " Mine are flat.  His are stick-uppy.  Like this." (proceeds to stick her pointer finger up in the air to illustrate her point).  "His are BIG stick-uppy.  Mine are flat mommy"

Me: "Hey penny - you want a cookie??" (anything to end this conversation...)

maybe we wont let her help with any more diaper changes... lets just stick to cute holding/kissing photo opps such as these...



school play

well... i think i may have had too high of hopes..

 

i got an email about a month ago that penelope's school was doing their thanksgiving feast on 11/15.  this would entail the kids dressing as either pilgrims or indians and singing songs for their parents, followed by lunch.

 

i should have known there was no way that penny would see me at her school, and leave me to go with her class and sing... but i was prepared to capture the moment.

 

turns out there wasnt much to capture...

 

for awhile she was doing realy good and sitting on the edge like her classmates... she had her legs spread wide open (so ladylike) and was putting dirt on her knee... but overall there were no tears - so it's a win in my book...

 

the cooperation was short lived.  she spotted me then basically refused to go with her class for the show.

 

she actually instead yelled - "i already sang this song!" then ran ove rwith puppy and pouted in the corner.

 

 

 

as soon as the performance wa sover she was "so happy you are here!" and dancing all around and pretty much showing off. 

 

oh well.. there were no real tears so i'm calling it a success :)

 

the very few photos i got of my little pilgrim :)