Nicole's Graduation Lunch

 After graduation, Lesleigh and Brandon were gracious enough to host a family lunch.  It was yummy!  Penelope was pretty mommy-clingy during the trip, so I wasn't able to take any pictures.  I was at the mercy of other people taking pictures.  We did, however, manage to get a few important shots!  Here is Penelope with her Grandma and Grandpa Kay.

 Penelope was much more sure about sitting on Dad's lap for a picture with her great-grandparents.  She even decided to smile!

I have no pictures of anyone else at the lunch, but Collin and Kayleigh were good cousins.  They found her two squishy balls to play with and she was in heaven...as long as she was with me. :)  Obviously, I didn't know the picture was being taken.  We had a great afternoon with the family.  Hopefully next time Penelope will be more amenable to being held by someone other than me.  She literally didn't even want Dave to hold her.  She wouldn't sleep in the pack and play, we had to kick Dave to the couch and she slept in bed with me.  It was an exhausting trip, but great to see the family!

Nicole's BYU Graduation

 We went to Utah at the end of April for Nicole's graduation from BYU.  She earned two master's degrees. Congrats, smarty pants!  The desire for two master's must run in the family.

 I'm pretty convinced by looking through all the pictures that were taken at graduation that NO ONE knew when pictures were being taken...ever!  Here is Nicole with Lesleigh, and thinking they weren't in the picture: Dave's dad, Duane and his parents, Grandma and Grandpa Kay.

 Unfortunately this was the best group shot.  Nicole's eyes are closed, I'm not really looking at the camera, and it looks like the sun is in Dave's eyes.  The grandparents are spot on, though!  Hooray, Grandma and Grandpa!

 The Kay siblings: Dave, Nicole and Jonathan.  Penelope likes them all (when I'm nearby).  I think it's because they all look related.  The same thing happens with my siblings when Penelope hangs out with them.

Jenn, Dave, Duane, Nicole and Jonathan

Dear Marisa and Ashley,

I can regularly post on your blogs for you. I cannot, however, guarantee that the content won't be embarrassing or completely irrelevant to your lives. It might, however, be amusing every once in a while. So, if you dare, give me access to your accounts and we'll see what happens.

Love,

Whitney

Penelope's Birthday

Happy Birthday to Penelope! She turned one on March 28th. She really is a happy girl, and we are so lucky to have her as our daughter! She is always ready with a smile and a squeal for Mom or Dad. As parents we have learned a lot this first year! We celebrated with a few presents from Mom, Dad and grandparents. On Sunday we'll have a small party with friends in the ward.

We went to the pediatrician yesterday, and Penelope is still our long, skinny baby girl. She is 31.75 inches long (can't remember the percentile, but the size of an average 18 mos old), weights 21 lbs and 14 oz (80th percentile) and got two more shots and some blood work done. Sad.

Now that P is a year old we get to start all new things: cow's milk, eggs, honey, (no peanut butter until 18 mos), all kinds of finger foods, a new car seat, weaning from the bottle, hope that she learns to walk soon-ish, etc.

It's been a great year. Let's see what happens in year 2!

I Can't Turn My Back Any More!

I washed Penelope after breakfast, took her tray off to let her play with the straps of her high chair (one of her favorite things), and went in the kitchen to make her a bottle. What I forgot was that she has started reaching over to the table to grab what she can, even when the tray is still on.

I guess I should have realized that she would reach for the leftover oatmeal on the table right next to her. But, I didn't, and she got to have a little fun before her bottle. Good thing today is bath day!

P's First Easter Egg Hunt

We had a busy weekend! But, it was fun! A family in the ward hosted an Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch, so although P doesn't walk or crawl, we knew she'd enjoy picking up the eggs. We were correct.

We placed Penelope directly in front of eggs in the grass and bushes and she promptly bent over and picked them up, time and again.

She's not going to eat the insides, she just likes them as rattles. She is still happily playing with the eggs almost 3 days later. She's even figured out how to open them to find what's inside. I can see the wheels spinning in her little head: "All I have to do is squeeze them a little bit and they pop open! Then I get to see what's inside!" Now she's trying to put them back together once she breaks them apart.

So proud of herself and smiling for Dad behind the camera!

The most important thing to do once picking up an egg is to put it in your mouth to test it. The good ones fit perfectly in your mouth, as do these! Happy Early Easter!!

Cherry Blossom Festival in DC

Friday afternoon I drove into DC to see Dave's new work and to meet his co-workers. They're very nice, and he likes his job a lot. After work we took the metro to the Cherry Blossom Festival. This is the 100 year anniversary of the trees being given to the US from Japan, so there are 5 weeks of festivities.

Most of the trees are along the Tidal Basin. It's a "lake" near lots of the monuments. Across the water is the Jefferson memorial, behind us is the Washington monument.

Because of the mild winter and warm spring, the blossoms peaked really early. Last week, in fact! It's a good thing we went, because it rained all day Saturday and I bet most of the blossoms are gone now. The ones in our parking lot definitely are.

Part of the reason we went was to show Flat Stanley the Cherry Blossoms and a few of the monuments. Penelope really likes Flat Stanley, so we finally let him ride in the stroller with Penelope. :) I won't post all the Flat Stanley pictures so that it's a surprise for Emily when they get to her elementary school. Stanley is a politician this time. Last time he wore a historic costume to fit in at Mount Vernon.

We walked along the "promenade" (aka closed off streets) and people-watched and smelled all the good fair food.

See, here's the Jefferson memorial. All of the trees are on my right and left all around the tidal basin. My feet hurt too badly to walk all the way around. I think you get really good pictures from that side of the basin. P was also tired and hungry, so we headed back towards the car and had a nice dinner al fresco in the wonderful weather. P promptly fell asleep the second we got in the car to go home. It was a great Friday evening!