Handmade Gifts

I know that I have posted earlier about things that truly make me feel like a parent, but here's another one, because honestly it still hasn't really sunk in: handmade gifts. For both Mother's Day and Father's Day, Ben and I received lovely little handmade things from Penelope's daycare. Of course we realize the hands that made them were her teachers', not hers, but they are so inherently sweet and a suggestion of the many handmade gifts that are in our future that they are still very special to us. Anyway, that's the thought of the day.

First Father's Day

For Ben's First Father's Day the three of us attended our fourth baseball game of the season, it was the first day game we had attended, which meant we could stay as long as we wanted (or, more accurately, as long as Penelope wanted) instead of being limited by things like bed times. It was a scorching 93 degrees but we mercifully had seats in the shade. Anyway, here are a few shots from the special day:

Back Home Again, in Indiana

We have been delinquent bloggers recently, which I hope to remedy soon, but for the moment at least I will post a few pictures from Penelope's first trip to Indiana. A few weeks back our little family took our first trip by plane. It was exciting and nerve-wracking, but Penelope was a fabulous traveler and we had almost nothing to worry about (other than trying to get home, but that's another story and Delta's fault, not Penelope's). Anyway, Penelope met a pretty large number of family friends and family members for the first time on this trip, including her first cousin Gable, one of her Uncles, two of her Great-Grandfathers, her Great-Grandmother, her Great Aunt, one of her Great-Great Aunts, and a number of other cousins whose exact relation to her (first cousin once removed?, second cousin?) I am totally unsure of. Anyway, it was a lot of my family and here are some pictures capturing some of the inaugural visit:

Mother's Day - The Hybrid Holiday

So our first Mother's Day has come and gone, and it occurred to me that it is a strange holiday. It is not like Christmas, which I share with the large majority of people in my life, and it is not like my birthday, which I have virtually to myself (I have an uncle with the same birthday). Instead it is something that I share with a large portion of people in my life, including my own mother, my sister, my aunts, my nana, my wonderful friends (a few of which like me were celebrating their first), all of the mothers on Ben's side of the family, etc...but not everyone in my life. It is also strange because unlike my first birthday or first Christmas, I will remember my first Mother's Day and am totally aware of how special it is. I got a lot of love on Mother's Day and am very grateful for it. Being a mom is seriously tough work and I wish it weren't true, but it was nice to be singled out for the day. Anyway, in honor of Mother's Day, here are a few pictures of my sweet girl and me, some taken on Mother's Day.

First Day of DayCare

Penelope has been going to daycare for 7 weeks now, so these photos are a little behind the times, but they are proof that we all survived that critical first day of daycare and were still smiling:

Just a Cute Picture

Here's a cute picture of Penelope, no explanation, just too cute not to post:

Baseball Season

This week we took Penelope to her first Washington Nationals game - it also happened to be her first Atlanta Braves game. She had a great time literally enjoying the sights and sounds of the game. Here are a few pictures from the evening: