One Year and Off to the Races

Can't believe it, but Penny is already ONE year old. How did that happen? I'm glad we're at this point for many reasons - 1) Penny is sleeping a lot at night now (usually up at 3am, but I think that might wane in the next few weeks); 2) Dylan and Penny are really starting to have fun together; 3) Penny's personality is really starting to blossom and it's so fun to be a part of it; and, 4) (this is the selfish one) I am starting to feel like I am getting a little time back to myself.

We had a fun, low-key party for Penny on her birthday. Dylan really enjoyed celebrating Penny. She also got a hello kitty plush that was intended for Penny, but Penny doesn't mind right now. Penny is all over the place these days. She went from taking a few steps here and there to just outright running almost. It's hilarious to see her walking around everywhere holding her arms up high in the air for balance. It's like she's a little puppet with strings.

We are getting ready for a fun trip to Albuquerque for Christmas. It will be nice to see some mountains and spend some time with family. We will be sad not to be able to spend time with family in TN - I guess that's just one of the unfortunate things about living all spread out. Here are some recent photos of yours truly - well, mostly the kiddos.

--Sarah

Fun Antonio

We've had a busy last few months - getting settled in our new home/city; Uncle Josh's wedding, and a visit from Aunt Valerie. Penny is starting to walk on her own. She's been walking with our hands for awhile now and walking along the couch and kitchen cabinets, but she took her first own unassisted steps the other day. Dylan and Penny are starting to play with each other more and more which is so fun to see - and also gives me a break!

We went to San Antonio with Valerie - a very spontaneous decision, but everything went really well. We had a really fun time at the zoo there - in fact, after the zoo, Dylan promptly changed San Antonio's name to Fun Antonio - very appropriate in my opinion.

We miss all our family and friends so much, but it is starting to feel more and more like home here. There's not much fascinating to do here and we are, as the name Midland indicates, in the middle of nowhere, but we're still having fun. Here are some pics of our San Antonio adventure and some others sprinkled in. I wish I had some pics from our Tennessee/Josh wedding trip, but I always had a kid in my arms, so I didn't take many pictures.

Home

So, I (Sarah) haven't written in awhile b/c it's been a bit busy with the move and I'm convinced that Charlie is just more funny - and funny and pictures is really what everyone wants, right? However, I do want you to know that I am using precious naptime to give a shout out to you.

I must say that Texas does not feel like home yet and I was wondering today how long it takes to get that feeling. I am enjoying our new house, the dry weather, new friends and of course my sweet family. However, I still feel a little out of place. The comfortable relationships we left in TN are definitely lacking. There is a longing for familiarity. So, when that feeling crept over me today as I sat in a rocking chair with a sleeping Penny - I of course thought of how this little earth is really not my home at all anyway; and, the way that I miss TN right now is really me longing to be in my true home - in Heaven with Jesus.



Dylan is the champ of the potty. We started about 3 weeks ago and she really hasn't missed a beat. I can't believe how big she is getting - when she swings on the big girl swing in our back yard I am so amazed and bewildered that she will be 3 at the end of this year. Penny is speed crawling, pulling up everywhere, walking with assistance and even standing on her own every once in awhile. I think she is working on some top teeth lately b/c sleep isn't exactly her forte at the moment.

Here are some pics to keep you coming back.

--Sarah

The Breaking of the Fellowship

Its been very odd to move away from Tennessee after 14 years living there. It didn't feel very real at first because I was living in an apartment by my self and traveling every weekend to try to see my girls. It feels a lot like we've broken the fellowship and left friends and family to continue our adventures alone. But I must say that just like Frodo had Sam with him; I now have my companions with me to help me forge ahead, and it is a great comfort to me.

I feel like I did not get to say goodbye to everyone like I would have liked. I didn't say anything in Church because I didn't want to make a scene, and there was so much to do in order to get our house ready that I wasn't able to have that last dude-fest with the guys or hang with my family enough. Life just has a way of sweeping us onward I guess.

Everything is going well, we have the new house now and have left our lender problems (Don't use Bank of America) behind. Sarah is an amazing woman and has been nothing but positive and supportive. Penny of course is none the wiser, but Dylan talks about her green house and her blue room from time to time. Among her favorite subjects are Henry, Maggie, Anna and Norah. She'll tell me how Mary calls Maggie Ju-Ju and Henry "H". It breaks my heart to separate our girls from Mary's kids, it has really been a struggle for me. In all our travels in my life, I have never been the cause of the separation, just a participant.

Anywho, here are some pictures to chronicle our first few days on our new home.




Dylan's first tree climbing experience.







Our new swing set courtesy of the previous owners.



Penny is a bit ticklish.



Bouncing in a tree.




Insert fake cigarette here.



My stoner 8mo. old



Dude! My hands are huge!



Cousin's hand me downs




Quick tour of the house with my random comments.

Long distance dad

I've been in Midland for a couple weeks now and I have to say that I'm really liking the new job. The job is everything I hoped it would be. Unfortunately i've also been living alone. Living alone really sucks. I have tons of time in the evening but nothing to do. I go run and make some food and I'm out of ideas at 7pm. I could go see a movie, but there isn't really anything worth watching. Oh well, I'm leaving this evening to go back to TN for the weekend so I'll get to be back with the girls for a bit.

Here is a sample of the pictures I get from time to time.

Dylan playing in the sprinkler.

Penny on the way to Tulsa

Penny in her great granfather's baby chair

Sweet Potatoes

So, I told you we would keep you updated on Penny graduating to solids and we are there. We started a few days early with some rice cereal mixed in a bottle of milk. Penny has not had much practice with bottles, so the first part of the week was challenging trying to get her to drink it. But perseverance has paid off and now she is getting pretty good at the whole bottle thing. Last night we tried sweet potato. She was super tired since she didn't take her last nap, but she still went for it. You can thank Charlie for any pics of the process since I always forget to document the process.

And for those of you not in the loop yet - yes, we will be moving to Texas - West Texas. We will be moving to Midland in a month or two - so, if you happen to be in the area this summer - come visit us! I'm not sure how close Midland is to the beaten path, though. I am not going to fool myself into thinking that we will be inundated with company. But, I am very excited for Charlie and this new career. The company is going to take care of the whole relocation - selling our house, helping us buy the new house - all that terribly complicated stuff is now not such a burden. I am also excited about living in a new place. It will be a very fun adventure. On the down side - we are leaving all kinds of awesome people here in Tennessee - both sets of grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins - and not to mention sweet friends.

--Sarah

Flying Solo

("Designs by Dylan" - call for your free consultation)

So, Charlie has been gone for the past three days now. Well, technically - he didn't leave town until Monday evening, but I didn't get any help from him at home on Monday night, so it counts as one whole day alone in my books. But, I must admit. I really haven't been alone. My dad is also flying solo since his jet setter wife is off on another three week adventure here, there and everywhere. So, Pops, Dylan, Penny and mommy had cheap pizza night at our house. Then, on Tuesday we got a visit from Mimi in the afternoon and then went to Pops for dinner. Today (Wed), we had another fun visit with Mimi and Pops came over for some food. While I miss Charlie very much and am flying solo in that respect, I haven't been hurting for help with the kiddos - which is an enormous blessing. So nice to have such sweet family surrounding us. It will be very sad to leave Tennessee if it comes to that.

I think Charlie has had a good time in Denver - busy, but fun. He should hear by next week about an offer. Exciting times. Can't wait to see what happens.

Penny is rolling all over the place these days. I can see my days of leaving the room with her lying on the floor by herself are quickly dwindling down. However, I am glad that the ability to roll both ways (front to back and back to front) has been close to mastered - especially the more difficult back to front as this was causing her to wake me 2 and 3 times per night. We start solid foods in about a week and I am very interested to see her reaction. Part of me thinks that since she has been so enthralled by the whole process that she will take her first bite and think - "really, what's all the fuss?" I think I might have the same thought if my first bite was rice cereal. We'll see what reaction sweet potatoes gets. We'll try to remember to document with pictures. Til that time - here are some to keep you coming back.

--Sarah

Stinker

Penny has been a bit of a stinker about naps lately. I guess I should be honored - I must be so cool she just wants to hang out with me all the time. She makes a pretty good fuss about the whole thing. She has also been waking up more at night lately - which has me none too pleased to wake up at all hours of the night. Who knows what's going on with that baby - she sure is fun though - think we'll keep her in spite of it all. She does make up for it by giving you the biggest grin when you come to get her in her bed.

Dylan has been super-excited about feeding Penny the last few days. Even though we haven't started any foods yet - Dylan kept insisting that she feed Penny. So, we bought Penny some sippy cups last week and Dylan has been feeding Penny some water. Dylan loves it and Penny loves the sippy. I think she has been jealous of Dylan's for awhile now. The problem is - Dylan does NOT want Penny to try and wield the cup on her own and Penny REALLY wants to wield the cup on her own. Dylan usually wins that battle.

Dylan loves getting books from the library. We try to get new books at least every few weeks to keep it fresh. The other day we were reading one of the library books - "Little Rabbit Goes to School" and she said "this book is my best." It took me a minute to realize that she was communicating that this book was her favorite. I love it - I hope that she never learns the correct way to say it. I should walk around with a recorder so that I don't forget all these awesome moments.

--Sarah

Little Charlie

Some people say that Dylan looks like me or looked like me when she was a baby. But, now - there really is not much resemblance between me and my first daughter. She looks exactly like Charlie - just a girl version. I have no problem with this as I think my husband is a nice looking individual. Penny I am told looks like me and even looks like my dad. Sometimes I think she looks a lot like my dad.

The girls and I have been spending a lot of time outside in the front yard lately - and on the back deck in our new hammock swing that Jenny, Fenton and the girls got me for Christmas. Yesterday morning, Dylan, Penny and I were in the front yard and Penny was hanging out in her bouncy seat. I was trimming a shrub and could see both girls in my peripheral vision - 5 ft away or so. I noticed that Dylan was crouching over Penny so I turned to get a full picture. I then noticed that Dylan had decided to stuff a large bunch of grass in Penny's mouth! I ran over and pulled the grass out and of course told Dylan that we can't put things in Penny's mouth - especially not grass. The weird thing is - Penny wasn't even crying or protesting about it. She has been so very interested in the food going into our mouths the last few weeks - grabbing at it, watching it from plate to mouth, slobbering and sucking at the food - that I think she was happy to get in on some of this "stuff in mouth" action. I promise to feed her more tasty things than grass. I wish I had a picture of the grass hanging out of her mouth - but I don't think I would be living up to my motherly duties if I went inside the house to get the camera while my 5 month old had grass hanging out of her mouth.

Enjoy the Spring blooms - we'll write and post more pics soon.

--Sarah

Spring is Here

(bird nest that Aunt Mary knit for us filled with play-doh eggs! Thanks Aunt Mary!)

Yeah Spring! We are so excited that warmer weather is here and that the flowers are blooming and the grass is green. It's a bit gray and cold today, but Saturday was stellar and the rest of the week is supposed to be filled with warm, sunny weather. Dylan and I have been going on walks with the dogs lately - Dylan on my back in the carrier and dogs pulling us down the sidewalk. We stop and talk about flowers and trees. I would love to get a book about flowers and trees so that we can start calling them by their proper name. Right now there are these trees that are blooming white flowers. They are usually the first bloomers of the season (and it's not the bradford pear trees). I call them the "popcorn tree." So, that's what Dylan calls them now too. We will do some research to find out their real name - but I'm pretty sure it's not going to be as cool as "popcorn tree."

Dylan and I always read some books before naptime and bedtime. With familiar favorites she is now finishing the sentences for me. It's so much fun to see how much she is learning. I'm trying to speak French here and there since it seems that the language door is just wide open.

Penny is working on sitting up on her own. I'm pretty sure the bulky cloth diapers are holding her back a bit - but that's ok. She loves splashing in the bath - she starts laughing when she splashes herself. Loves "patty cake"and standing up (with some support of course). She's pretty easy so far - does that mean she is going to be a wild child? Who knows...We can't wait to start feeding her some solid foods. She is still milk only and I think she is about to go crazy watching us eat. Rice cereal, sweet potato, peas and pears are only a little bit more than a month away.

Charlie, my dad and I just finished our Knoxville half marathon yesterday. My dad blew the competition away - 5th in his age group. Sweet, huh? I felt good during the race - my dad definitely beat my time and I did not end up 5th in my age group. Charlie ended up turning his ankle over in the first two miles and finished the whole 13 miles after that. He was disappointed in his finish time, but I am amazed he had the tenacity to finish after sustaining an injury. He's amazing! Charlie's dad did the full marathon - and finished 1st in his age group! Incroyable et formidable!

Here's some pics -hope everyone we know across this wide world is doing well and has a smile on their face.

--Sarah