First Sight

A year ago today, I laid eyes upon my little Pierogie for the first time at our 8 week ultrasound. I had gotten the positive pregnancy test almost 3 weeks earlier but had to wait til the 8 week mark before we could get an ultrasound to make sure.
Waiting til that day was sooo hard! I knew in my heart that I was pregnant, but it was almost too good to be true. We had waited for this sweet little one, and I didn't want to be disappointed!

We nervously waited in the room while the midwife got the portable ultrasound machine ready. Within a few seconds, she pointed to the screen, and asked, "do you know what that is?"

I burst into tears. I'm not a cryer by nature, but I just let go and had one of those ugly cries. Uncontrollable sobbing. Adam politely asked for some tissue and the midwife hesitantly asked if I was ok...Adam replied "these are happy tears."

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Sour Cream Banana Bread

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

I know, it's been overdone.. Everyone's got their own version of banana bread that is to die for. But, over the last couple years I've learned to give sour cream the respect it deserves in the baking world. So, I gave this banana bread a shot. And I've officially dumped my old recipe and am keeping this one for the recipe book. Ah-may-zing!

You will need:
non-stick cooking spray
< 1/4 c of sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 c softened butter (or 1/2 c Tropical Traditions Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil)
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
3 very ripe bananas
2 c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 c 1/4 flour

You will do:
1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray 2 bread pans with your non stick spray.
3. In a small bowl mix the <1/4c sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Dust both pans with the sugary mix.

4. In a larger bowl, cream butter and remaining sugar together. Add eggs, bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Blend until well mixed.

Normally I use bananas that are 1/2 a step away from moldy..they are BLACK.
But this time around I used these guys.

5. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly incorporate into the banana mixture.

6. Divide batter between your pans.
7. Bake for 50-60 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Normally I include a picture of my little helper(s), but today this was done during naptime.. so here's what these two crazy cousins were up to a few minutes before.

Try this with pumpkin too!

Romeo, my healing dog

Welcome to the July edition of Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival: Pets and children.
This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival hosted by The Positive Parenting Connection and Authentic Parenting. This month our participants are sharing their thoughts and experiences with pets and children! In this carnival, the sheer fun of having a pet shines through the posts. But having a pet is not only a fun or even an educational experience, it is even beneficial to your child's health. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.


Visit The Positive Parenting Connection and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in the next Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!

***

My story about our elder dog, Romeo, begins when I was 15.  My parents were getting a divorce and my mom decided that perhaps a family dog would help ease the transition for my brother and I. So we visited the local humane society, and I fell in love with a little blond puppy with a curled tail, ears that are trying so hard to stand up but just flopped over. He had a diamond shaped white spot on the top of his head, that he still wears to this day.

Romeo could have given "Marley" a run for his money. This dog loved to dig, and he ran away a lot. Even when we filled the holes he dug with cement, he'd find a way to climb on the pile of firewood that was a little to close to the fence and use it to jump the fence. When he got out, sometimes he'd gallantly run around the block, other times he'd wander further.. and even chasing him down with fresh bacon to entice him home didn't work sometimes. And lord, this dog is FLUFFY. He's half Samoyed and the rest is golden lab and retriever.. that makes for a lot of fur.

After a few years, Romeo moved from living with us at my mom's to living at my dad's. My dad had been diagnosed with cancer a few years back and I think the companionship meant a big deal to him. Romeo stayed there for 4-5 years; luckily my parents lived only a few miles apart so I was able to see him not only on "visiting weekends" but also during the week after school.

In 2007, my father passed away from cancer, at the end of my junior year of college. I spent that summer back at home healing with my family, and was going to try to have Romeo back with me in college. My girlfriends and I had signed a lease on a good sized house with a yard, and the hope was to have him there with us. 2 out of my 3 room mates were fine with it - but one really wasn't. It wasn't an option to keep Romeo with my mom either. It tore me apart that in the wake of losing my father, I was going to lose my beloved dog as well. I cried out, what else can you take from me? Selfishly, I thought I deserved to have one thing to work out the way that I wanted it to, and that I had the right to choose what the one wish was.

I spent the rest of the summer thinking of what I can do about the situation. I hoped that I could find someone to foster him for a year, until the lease ended at my current rental and then I'd find an apartment with my boyfriend that allowed dogs.

I placed an ad on the facebook marketplace and hoped for a kind soul to reach out. Someone who would need Romeo just as much as he needed them. Someone who I could trust to take care of him, and keep me in the loop about his well being.

Right at the end of the summer, my hopes and dreams were fulfilled. Today I would have called it 'prayers,' but back then I wasn't the praying kind. A young woman, who lived not to far from my hometown, was looking for a pet. The plan was for her to foster Romeo for the next school year, and then hopefully be in the position to have him back. We talked online, and finally the day came where I dropped him off.

I think that's the day where it all came crashing down. Losing my father had been tough - but he had a 9 year battle with cancer, so it was almost like I had prepared myself for that. But leaving Romeo with essentially a perfect stranger, and hoping that everything would turn out ok (and really having no guaranteed way of knowing that it would) just broke me. I cried for the entire 2 hour drive down to where I was meeting my boyfriend after dropping him off. The memory of him running through the yard, after me, in my rear view mirror still brings tears to my eyes...he didn't know that it was just as hard for me to leave him as it was for him to watch me go.

Eventually life moved on. Romeo's "foster" mom and I kept in touch, she'd post pictures on facebook and send me updates every once in a while. After that first year, my boyfriend and I searched and searched for an apartment that would be feasible for the three of us. There wasn't anything. Some apartments allowed small dogs, but Romeo didn't really qualify, even though he was house broken and by that time well mannered. It was finally worked out that I was going to leave Romeo with his "foster" mom for good.  I was so very happy that she wanted to keep him, and I knew that he would have many more happy years with her.

In the next few years, that boyfriend and I got married and both graduated college. We moved into our first 'married' home and got our first out of college jobs.  We had talked about maybe one day getting another dog but our current rental still didn't allow dogs.

In April 2010, I got a message from Romeo's now forever-mom asking how I would feel about taking him back. Life was changing for her and she was looking to re-home him, but wanted to check with me first. I replied YES YES YES and that weekend we went and picked him up. It didn't matter that the lease didn't allow dogs.  All that mattered was that finally, I got my dog back.

If there was a time in my life where I felt the hand of God, it was then. I had been so bitter and frustrated when I first gave him away. I didn't understand how the one request I had couldn't have been fulfilled. Shouldn't we get one of those when someone so dear to us passes away? I eventually just had to close my heart to Romeo, and do the best I could to not think about him.  Then almost 3 years later, God put him back in my life. It wasn't during a time in my life where I was going through emotional upset and could use a pickmeup.  Life was good, my husband and I were so happy, on top of the world. But Romeo's return deepened our marriage and love for one another even more. We weren't ready for kids yet, and he became the perfect outlet for our love for one another. Isn't God's timing amazing? Watching my husband begin to bond with Romeo was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.  I watched a new part of his heart open up as the two of them became best buds.

Another year passed and we decided it was time for Romeo to get a little brother. In May 2011 we inducted 2 year old Squirt into our little family. Romeo definitely was accustomed to being an only child - he was accepting of Squirt but very aloof. It's almost taken a year for Romeo to warm up to Squirt; we like to think of Romeo as the old man from UP and Squirt as the little boy.











Now we have our four month old daughter to add to our little circus. She's at the stage where she watches intently when she sees one of them scratching and jingling his collar, and recently reached out to Romeo as he passed by.  It's amazing to think that this animal has been through so many of my life changes with me; from coping with divorce, attending and graduating college, mourning the loss of a parent, deepening my marriage and actually getting to meet my daughter.

As the months pass by, we watch Romeo steadily slow down and ease into the comfort of the twilight of his life.. but now and again, he gets that old bee in his bonnet and bounds off after some ducks that landed in our yard.

Visit The Positive Parenting Connection and Authentic Parenting to find out how you can participate in the next Authentic Parenting Blog Carnival!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

• A Pet's Role in the Home School — If a house isn't a home without a pet, how can you imagine homeschooling without one? Erica at ChildOrganics discusses the many benefits of home schooling with pets. .
• Toddlers and Whiskers, Co-existing as One — Mama Duck at Quacks and Waddles explains how to introduce new pets to toddlers and babies
• Children and the Death of a Pet — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama offers suggestions on how to help children work through the loss of a pet. She includes a variety of books to support both parents and children during this tender time.
• 10 Reasons to Be a Foster Family for a Pet in Need — Christy from Adventures in Mommyhood: Mommy Outnumbered gives her top 10 reasons to consider fostering a pet until a forever home can be found.
• Preparing Dogs for New Baby — Jennifer from Mother of the Pack gives advice to new parents for preparing their dog(s) for a baby
• Children, Pets and Death — Lauren at Hobo Mama has walked with her son through the untimely death of their cat, a fascinating and troubling journey.
• The Health Benefits of Having Pets — Laura from Authentic Parenting tells us exactly why having pets is beneficial to your child's health.
• Romeo, My Healing Dog — Bianca at the Pierogie Mama writes about her loveable old dog, Romeo, who at one point she had to give away but a few years later he was placed back in her life when she least expected it.
• 6 Tips to Help a Child That is Afraid of Dogs - Ariadne at Positive Parenting Connection is sharing helpful tips and using play to help children overcome a fear of dogs.
• The Value of Pets - Caroline from Stone Age Parenting writes about how pets have brought so much more than happiness to her life and how she has learned to appreciate and respond to the needs of animals and of humans.

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Creamy Avocado Pasta

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

Can I just say that I love avocados? I'll scream it from the roof tops, I don't care..

I LOVE AVOCADOS!

So when I saw this recipe on pinterest, it was an immediate pin. I'm surprised I've waited this long to try it out.

You will need:
(serves 2)
2 avocados (the original recipe calls for 2 avocados for serving 4, but I believe I love avocados more than she does so I gave it a shot)
fettuccine noodles
1 good squirt of lemon juice
1/2 c grated *real* Parmesan cheese (not the powdered Kraft kind!)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp minced garlic
2 T olive oil
2 vine tomatoes
*I omitted the pine nuts from this recipe, couldn't find any in bulk.

You will do:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Cut tomatoes into 1/8ths. Sprinkle with olive oil, lay on a pan and bake for about 20-30 minutes (until they look almost like sun dried tomatoes)

2. Boil the noodles until they reach al dente (be sure to salt the water a little bit, I forgot and my noodles stuck together!).
3. While the noodles are boiling, cut skin and pit the avocados.
4. In a food processor (or KitchenAid mixer, as I didn't have a food processor or blender available) combine the avocado meat, lemon juice, cheese, salt/pepper and garlic. Blend until smooth.  The original recipe has you sprinkle the Parmesan cheese last, but I liked it infused into the "sauce."

5. Don't forget your tomatoes! Take them out of the oven when they're ready!
6. Once the noodles are done, drain the water and portion the noodles out into two bowls.
7. Add sauce on top of the noodles. Sprinkle tomatoes on top and serve!

Some thoughts:

This really ended up being guacamole on pasta noodles. I'm not complaining, it was still delicious, but Adam and I agreed that this is an excellent base for a dish. It needs something more.  In the future, I might try adding shrimp or chicken, Adam suggested hot sauce (a weird combination, but we love toast with avocado and hot sauce in the morning!).

Family Camp

This past week the three of us plus Adam's sister and 2 kiddos spent a week up at family camp in Lumby BC. Adam's great uncle started this camp almost 50 years ago, and Adam has gone almost every year of his life. Although it as a most a 9 hour drive (Penny did really well and we only had to stop once or twice each way) it's definitely worth it to get away and spend a week with family and God.

The land used to be a cattle ranch; the main lodge was built in 1924, and a couple smaller cabins are still standing that were probably within a few decades of that. We're talking about legit log cabins too. The space that is used for chapel and other events was an old stable as well. Although there is no cattle left, there were 4 absolutely beautiful horses, that were among the most curious and friendly I've ever seen.

The lodge has always intrigued me. I love walking around in it, placing myself back in history. I've daydreamed about homesteading out on the land, what it would be like being a wife and mother inside this space. The plaster filling in the cracks between the logs, the natural bend in the rafters, the stone chimney that was likely laid by hand, a simple staircase up to the top floor.

To make things seem even more real, I picked up a copy of Little House on the Prairie from the bookcase and spent the week reading it in my spare time.  The setting was just so perfect to read this book; out in the woods, with a background of a early 1900's lodge, children running around playing and cloth diapers drying on the line.

Life was simple for that week. No cell phones or internet.. it was a true disconnection from the world and 100% focus on the present. Cooking food on a campstove, attend chapel and some additional study (if Penelope allowed, because this little girl definitely can tell her own spirited messages as well!), play with my niece and nephew, popcorn and cocoa in the lodge in the evenings. I may have only been to this camp twice, but I do see my children having many fond memories of this place as well..

Penelope also got to meet that great-great-uncle.. so we had the youngest and oldest members of the family meet. Penelope at 16 weeks, Vernon at 93 years old. To imagine the things that man has seen in his lifetime! Adam and I were talking, and this man was retired at least 20 years before we were born. He probably listened to music on a grammophone when he was young. Now we have digital cameras, going to college is a possibility for all, water/power/sewer in every home..how much do we all take for granted? And yet a few things stay the same; like cloth diapering, the value of a homecooked meal, going to the movies for entertainment (even though we have color and even 3D!), oh, and Coca-Cola ;)

It's not too often that we are put into situations where we get off "the grid" and can truly relax into the moment.. I remember feeling so utterly disconnected from the world when we vacationed in Europe (because the possibility of using our cell phones/internet was available, just prohibitively expensive). At camp, if you wanted toast, you used the spider iron over the grill to do it. Seriously, cowboy style.

But I will admit - the simple way of life at camp wasn't allways peachy. Such as, because I didn't want to tote around stinky cloth diapers for a week.. We hand washed them. Yep, I scraped Penelope's poo off her diapers with my hands. My SIL made herself a handy camp washer (which worked GREAT until I left a hot mosquito repellant cigar thing on top of it and melted the lid.. sorry sis!), but I just rinsed and dried mine because I had enough diapers to last me the entire week. It sounds gross, but really it wasn't that bad. When you have kids and pets all that stuff doesn't matter anymore ;)

This week came at a perfect time to spend quality moments with the ones we love and offer some undisturbed reflection while gazing at God's beauty. Next year, I'll have to to take more pictures around camp because it's surreal how lost in time we were.

Quickie

Well, blog friends, life has gotten in the way of any posts this week...but I can't say I'm too sorry about it!

I was on a bit of a baking frenzy this week. I baked up a batch of my delicious poppyseed muffins (and although I normally happily share many of my recipes, this one I keep guarded. Sorry!) and also a peanut butter - chocolate cheese cake. The cheesecake I was also very happy with... I might have to keep that recipe around too!

The 'rents (what my siblings and I call our parents) are leaving for a vacation to Poland in the next few weeks so I spent a good 2 days working on a shutterfly photo book for my babcia. 40 pages of pictures for the last 2 years...whew! It was a big time crunch because there was a 50% off sale that I wanted to get in on and I brought it down to the wire, with only 2 hours to spare. But I'm sure it came out beautifully and I'm excited to see it when it arrives. Shutterfly has made some upgrades; new layouts, less cheesy embellishments, and you can now upload pics directly from facebook..even your friends' albums (an awesome option!!!).

Also spent the week preparing for our week long camping trip to Canada which starts tomorrow. It won't be "real" camping, as we are staying in a cabin, but it will be
Pretty rustic. The cabin just has bunks, but there is a lodge where we can use a kitchen (but I'll be cooking on our trusty Coleman cooktop, which served us valiantly through our renovation where we didn't have a kitchen for 6 months) and a shower house. This is a weeklong family church camp that Adam grew up going to. It'll be really nice to disconnect for a week and spent quality time together and with his sister and kids... No distractions like cell pohones, facebook, tv, craigslist or (sniffle) blogging. But I'm sure I'll have lots of stuff to talk about when we return!

So, this is my little goodbye for now.. I wasn't able to put up a Pinterest Recipe Challenge because the two things I prepared this week technically weren't pins but fear not, you'll get a double feature when I return :)

In the meantime, have a good week, blog land. Sorry for any typos..this was tapped out o the iPad in the dark ;)

Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge: Bacon Egg and Cheese Ring

If you are a Pinterest addict like I am, you'll know that sometimes you pin ideas that you, for all intents and purposes, plan to try at some point. My recipe board, Nyam, is full of those. I decided that this summer, I'm actually going to make use of this board and try these recipes out. My goal is 1-2 recipes per week, and I'm calling it my Pinterest Summer Recipe Challenge. You can find more of my challengers here.

Today's challenger is for those who need to spruce up their breakfast routine.

I'm not too much of a fan of the Pillsbury line of doughs. Ever since I learned how to make bread from scratch, Pillsbury just isn't the same anymore. My husband's favorite breakfast of all time, however, are Pillsbury biscuits (buttered) with poached eggs, avocado and some Choloula. Honestly, it semi-breaks my heart because I'd totally be happy to whip up something completely home made, with zero preservatives too. But I suppose the heart wants what the heart wants and so every so often I grant him this wish.

But, with all snootyness aside, I decided to try this recipe out. It combines the All-American breakfast into one slice. Behold:

You will need:
(serves 4, 2 slices each)
1 can of Pillsbury Crescent dough (8 crescents)
5 eggs
8 Bacon
Your favorite breakfast cheese, shredded or finely crumbled
Salt, pepper
Just under 1/4 cup of milk
Extras: anything else you might want in scrambled eggs or omlettes, such as sausage, avocado, hot sauce, peppers, ham, olives, onions, salsa..a family favorite here is Portuguese Linguica.

You will do:
1. Prepare your scrambled eggs by mixing eggs, salt/pepper with the milk. Scramble in a frying pan or griddle until fully cooked through.2. Prepare the bacon (or sausage or Linguica) to full cooked-ness.
3. Lay out the crescent rolls in a circle with the pointy ends going outwards.
4. Pile on the eggs, bacon (any extras), top with cheese last. I found that you would have to break the bacon in half to effectively turn the dough in.
5. Bring each of the points over the toppings and back into the center. Press the tip down to to the center to seal.

6. Optional: brush the top of the dough with an egg wash or melted butter.
7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the dough is fully baked.
8. Cut into slices and enjoy!

My trio of helpers: Penny, Zeke and Squirt (who has learned what the benefits of
waiting underneath a high chair means)

Variations:
Today we had several options-
Bacon, egg, cheese
Bacon, egg, cheese, peppers
Ham, egg, cheese, garlic salt dusted on top** my favorite!
Ham, egg, cheese

This versatile recipe could be adapted to almost any meal.. you could prepare is a Mexican dish (ground turkey, taco seasonings, salsa, top with sour cream), or try it as a dessert with sweetened cream cheese and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.  The possibilities are endless :)  Write a comment and share if you can think of any other yummy variations!

Fourth o' July: Family Staycation

The Fourth of July is our wedding anniversary. 7/4/2009. We were married at my parents' lake house, it was a sweltering 90 degrees with very little shade and only the slightest of breezes. I was literally steaming in my 15 lb dress (imagine the look on Adam's face as he went in for the garter toss! Priceless.).  The wine was flowing, pierogies (yes, we had pierogies!!!!) lasted about 5 minutes in the buffet line, and one of our groomsmen (accidentally?) lit the neighbor's tree on fire with some early firework revelry.

For our first anniversary we went to Vegas with our dear friends; hanging out poolside during the day, clubs and shows at night. We also took a day trip to Zion National Park for some hiking.

Last year, we took a roadtrip down to the Mendocino area and camped on the coast with our two doggies, visited the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, and "tipped the toad" at the tasting room for our wedding champagne.

This year, I guess our anniversary just sorta crept up on us. We would have happily done a road trip with baby, but nothing was really sparking our interest in where to go. So we decided to make it a "staycation" anniversary. We spent part of the long weekend at our home that we're selling (affectionately called the "TTD" - T-ton Teardown) and the rest of it back at the lake house at my parents' for a festive BBQ and fireworks display.  Between all the commuting Adam does and the very little actual sit-down-family-time we get, we decided to take it easy.

We did manage to get out and do a couple things that we love. One of which was hike a Columbia Gorge icon: Beacon Rock. Beacon Rock is one of our favorite hikes; it was the first hike we took while dating, it was a favorite late afternoon getaway during the week while renovating, and we even hiked it when I was about 16 weeks pregnant (it normally takes us about 20 minutes to get to the top, that time.. 45. ). I also happen to love it for its geological coolness.  This time around we had baby in tow and she loved it. Hung out in the Ergo with Daddy while I tried to use Squirt to pull me up the mountain. That lasted about 5 minutes, because Squirt is just as out of shape as I am.

For the 4th, Adam and I took a stroll down at the waterfront and made it back to the lake house for the party my parents hosted, as a joint event between the holiday and our anniversaries fall on the 4th and 5th.  Miss Penny was of course decked out in her patriotic regaila and everyone oohed and ahhed over our 'cabbage patch baby'.

Thankfully, the sun has FINALLY come out in the PNW and I really hope it's here to stay! I'm going to spend the rest of the afternoon lounging on the deck, sipping my new favorite drink- iced Early Grey with a splash of milk and vanilla creamer. YUM!  Be jealous.
PS: You can say it, I know that I've become obsessed with collages these days. But it's just so efficient and fun!

4th month collage

Here is the monthly installment of my favorite cell phone pictures from June.  She's developed so many different expressions this month!

Ok, and because you all have been SO good and our page views have been literally doubling each month (!!!), here is a freebie:  


Penny reading Cinderella

There are so many of you! Thank you for all the love :) Don't forget to leave comments so that I know you're out there...and if there are any topics you'd like me to talk more (or less!) about, drop me a line.

4 months?! 4 months!

Lil' P:

Gosh n golly.. It feels like I wrote your 3 month update just a few weeks ago. Even through my efforts to live in the moment and not be distracted by worries in the future, I don't know where all this time is going.. Can we please just slow down a little? Just for a few moments?

This month you've come into your own. You have your happy noises, your sad noises (luckily those have only a couple times), your tired noises, and yes - your frustrated noises. That one is the worst. I contemplated recording your 'frustrated' noise, but I don't know if I really want to carry that noise around on my phone. It's a little sputter with some spit. And you'll do it over and over until you get what you want :) Oh precious P, how you've learned to get your family to do what you want!

Some of this month's achievements piggyback on last month's - you've honed those skills to an art.
-You started out with bringing toys and fingers in your mouth, sometimes sucking on them.
-You laugh!!
-You weigh 12lbs 15 oz and are 22.5" long.
-You think oinking noises are hilarious!
-You've slept throughout the night a handful of tines but you typically like to snack at 1a, 5a and 8a. And I'm totally fine with that :)
-You like to bite and chew on toys, fingers..pretty much anything you can bring to your mouth.
-You had your first chiropractic adjustment today and did great!
-3 month clothes are all packed away..and I took out the 3-6 month sizes this week, only to find that some of these are a little snug too!
-You went to your first little kid birthday party, took your first family hike, and a boat ride too!
-After a few weeks of hating tummy time, you now roll over from tummy to back and are getting really good at rolling halfway over from back to tummy.. Mama's gotta watch out!

Daddy and I love you to much, Pennybaby. Can't wait to see what this summer has in store for us!

Love,
Mama