please direct your attention (and perhaps, your links)

to our NEW blog:

http://www.caseyandalicia.com

fancy schmancy address, no?

can't wait to see you there!!

mmmore, please

penelope's eating has always been a bit of a challenge. she has had some difficulty in switching to table foods, gagging and whatnot, so we're just taking it slow. her ped will give us a referral to first steps (for possible occupational therapy or pediatric GI consult) if she is still struggling at 15 months. i'm not worried, though-- penelope has always done things in her own time. the doc gave her a good pep talk at our last appointment, and assured me that plenty of babies have the same difficulty without needing any treatment, just practice.

after a pretty intense couple of weeks, she's doing really well. we do pureed foods almost exclusively for two meals, and a combination of actual food (albeit, cut into tiny pieces) and pureed food for the third. she also tastes whatever we're eating throughout the day. she's been keeping things down much more successfully, and is even starting to enjoy it. that makes my life a whole lot easier :o). gradually we'll transition to more and more table food, and less baby food.


she learned to sign "please," which is greatly preferred to whining/demanding.. though it pretty much means the same thing :o)
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in other news: casey is DONE. we're so excited. he has three weeks off before summer school starts, and currently he is sitting on the porch, drinking coffee, reading something that he wants to read. what a leisurely morning!

we celebrated with crab and lobster ravioli last night. we're cooking/eating greek food with some friends next week, to commemerate the completion of a year of greek language study. lol. we're dorky like that.

this summer should be eventful-- 2 summer school classes, packing/unpacking/moving to another apartment, and a trip to california. not to mention, keeping up with our little pre-toddler :o)

the stats

at 12-month well check:
height: 31 inches
weight: 24lbs 6oz

girl on the go

after only a few days of crawling, miss penelope is quite the confident mover. we love it. she's so happy to be able to get into things, and move around independently. i know it's a little more work, keeping up with her, but it's just so fun.

tomorrow morning is her 12-month appointment. i'm curious about her height/weight. she seems pretty tall to me, but it might just look that way since she's trimmed down a little. we'll see :)

she's one years old

penelope jane is 1!!
we're so thankful for this sweet girl.

she started saying her first word this week: UP. initially it seemed like she was just repeating us, but after further observation, it became clear that she understood. too clear. like when she innocently asked, "up?" as I put her down for a nap.. and the subsequent disappointment at my answer.

she also uses it to tell me she's done eating, or of course, wants to be picked up. when casey holds her it often means "thow me! bounce me! be crazy!"

we've finally got a mover-- she started crawling! i'll get a video as soon as possible :). silly nellie bean gets distracted when she sees the camera, so i'll enlist casey's help when school slows down a little.

it's unfathomable to consider how much she has changed and matured in the past year..



equally perplexing is the change that has occurred in casey and i. it's strange when being a parent doesn't feel strange anymore. i could go on, but i know why you're really here...

(please excuse any redundancies-- penelope-starved grandparents enjoy/demand such things.)



her "tough" face

got camo recliners?















"what's that?"
"nope. not eating it"
"told you"



of special note:

*auntie heather, uncle matt, and bff georgie had flowers delivered to penelope. isn't that so cute?!

*this is admittedly very kentuckyish of us. the weather report insisted that we'd have thunderstorms and showers on the day we planned to celebrate at the zoo. we needed to do something indoors instead. we went to bass pro shop. (insert snide laughter here)

*penelope HATED her cupcake. like took-a-piece-from-dad's-hand-and-threw-it-on-the-ground kind of hate. you can see her dread as the cupcake gets closer..

*i went against my better nature and got penelope a doll for her birthday. she just loves the things, and we can't pretend otherwise, try as we might. if you know me, you know this is some type of sick payback for being exceedingly tomboyish/athletic/anti-doll/anti-dress in my youth. will somebody please come over and teach her about stuff like makeup and clothes someday? i'm sure i'll be completely useless to her... maybe she can teach me?

he is risen, indeed

clearly i'm behind on this whole blog thing. life is just that way, sometimes.

let's catch up.


easter sunday i woke up with this hymn stuck in my head and hummed/sang it allllllll day. ask casey, it was great ;).

we had a wonderful time with the wheeler fam. they invited us and a few other friends from church over. they're sort of our holiday-away-from-home home :). we celebrated christ's victory over death, ate awesome food, and penelope hunted her first egg. she was much more interested in the grass and flowers, though.




(a little sleepy before church)

the fam

our little botanist was so happy to hold a flower:

good clean soap featured at the soap bar!

the kind folks at the soap bar somehow stumbled across my soap and featured it on their blog! i'm honored, excited, and more than a little confused as to why.

anyhow. check out this link and look at the much prettier soaps next to my simpleton bars :o).

drumroll

today is that fateful giveaway day. i woke with great anticipation, eager to end the suspense.

first i assigned a number to each person... two if they blogged about it...


then i utilized the random number generator at random.org...


...and HAYLEY won the good clean soap triple pack! would you please email me your new(ly wed) address? i'll get your package sent out tomorrow. congrats!!

i'll be holding another giveaway in two weeks. i'm hoping to make it a regular first-wednesday-of-the-month thing. so check back then.

thanks all, for your participation, enthusiasm, and especially your kind words. can't wait to do something like this again!

knitting like it ain't no thing

there are usually about a milllion dozen expecting moms in our church family. that means i've got enough little toes to keep me busy for awhile...

day tripper

last week was spring break, so we spent a day in cincinnati. we hit trader joe's, ikea, and the creation museum.

(click for larger pictures)




penelope handled the day beautifully. she even enjoyed the museum! the garden was her favorite part. we're still entertained by her affection for plants, trees, and flowers instead of puppies, kitties, and birds. a flower is much more likely to inspire a smile than any four-legged creature.














she came home sleepy but silly, as is her usual bedtime mood..




we really enjoyed the change of scenery, and taking a day off from any sort of responsibility. we ate good food, spent hours talking, and marveled at a wicked thunderstorm on our way home. all in all, a memorable day full of much-needed relaxation.