Oh my goodness I am not a good blogger! Must be that we are just having way too much fun with Renee to sit and get this updated regularly, and not just that I am a gifted procrastinator :)
Let me start with some photos that will hopefully jog my memory of some of our great times and milestones that we have had since our last posting.
Here we have our little intellectual studying something important (She loves to wear Daddy's glasses or anyone else silly enough to share with a 2 year old! No your eyes aren't going. Those are just fingerprints all over the lenses)
Nothing like a relaxing bath on the porch making sure EVERYTHING is clean
The cowgirl boots make the outfit :) That and the little pink sweater knit by Great-Gramma Ruth who would approve I am sure!
Sunbathing and yoga in the park with Auntie Julie
Just to show she's not ALL smiles (Must be she was sick of having her picture taken)
At Grandma & Grandpa's on a lovely sunny day. Grandpa's garden is a rainbow of colors in the Spring!
Sharing a quiet moment with buddy Bryce
Just Renee & her Daddy
1st Slip'n'Slide adventure=refreshing! Renee and Mommy went to VT to visit and be home for the 4th of July. We got to see lots of friends and family and play with our cousins and just enjoy the summer weather!
4th of July Parade with Grandma
Storytime with Uncle Benny & Addie
A Grandma & Woohoo* sandwich :)
*side note- Grandpa is Woohoo because that is how he and Renee would call each other if they were in separate parts of the house, and it stuck :)
"Helping" Mom make an apple pie! Melanie loves how easy pies are to make with the corer, peeler, slicer and Renee loves the long strings she gets to nibble! She will stand on her chair and help for the longest time!
Zoo time with Rachel & Leila. We love our big cousins and don't get to see them often enough so this is a really special treat to get to see them and our favorite animals at the zoo too!
These fruit pop things are pretty yummy!
Pedicure at Girls' Night with Grandma & Cousins. Grandma Suzie got all us girls a hotel room so we could have an evening of fun, food and pampering together. Renee loves getting her nails done and has had way more spa time than her mommy ever has! Just a little jealous ;)
Beautiful day at Mt. Rainer with Uncle Jim & Aunt Sandy! Finally more company from VT! We keep trying to tell ya'll this is a great place to visit and you are always welcome!!
Their "grape juice" tastes funny, but they like it. Had to try some local wines since we have lots of great local places to stop around here.
Can't smile now Mom. This is an important call! (Thank goodness she doesn't know how to text yet!)
Storytime with a few friends. Renee loves her books and her stuffed friends and even at an early age could sit and read for "hours". We love our library too!
I'll let Auntie Penny feed this thing :) We went to see Penny and to hunt for cider donuts as that is what Fall is all about. Found fun animals and lots of pumpkins but no donuts to compare to those found at the apple orchards in VT.
If I hold real still maybe it will come home with me
We have a membership to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle just so we can go visit the butterfly house whenever we need a dose of warmth and loveliness! This butterfly landed on her during our very 1st visit and every one since then she will find a spot to just sit and wait for a butterfly to come choose her again. How many half-pints do you know that can sit still so well?
All ready for Christy & Nate's lovely autumn wedding
We all got to fly back to PA to see Glenn's family and celebrate the big day
What a comfy seat. Either their pumpkins are getting smaller or our pumpkin is getting bigger :)
Pickin' the best pumpkin with Grandpa
Trick or Treat! This was Renee's 1st time going out in costume and boy did she get the drill pretty quickly. Hardest part was keeping her from walking right in to all the houses once they opened the door. She would get her candy then run back and share her goodies. Bet that doesn't last many more years.
Zen baby, outside our favorite Dim Sum restaurant. Haven't had tried it before? Come visit and we'll take you :)
What can I say? This hat and coat are from Uncle Jim & Aunt Sandy and I am so glad she is tiny and we got two seasons out of it! Love the wispy hair curling out and the big blue eyes too!
We were all shocked to get so much snow in Seattle this year! I love her little red snowsuit. It was her daddy's and was knit by his Grandma. Reminds me of a great kids book called The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Our local Garden Store had Santa, Rudolph and Frosty and aside from Santa who looks like Woohoo, Renee really wasn't sure why we wanted to get pictures taken with them. Thank goodness the panda was there to protect her.
Back to the butterflies to thaw out and see if one will land on her again
Happy Holiday pictures with Grandma & Grandpa
Renee is putting the lights on the tree that Mommy painted. Just like the one that my Grandma had and that Renee's grandma has.
Any guesses on what Renee's favorite Christmas song is? Greensleeves :) and toes and legs
Not that she has been influenced by her daddy at all on this one, but anytime she sees a Seahawk she immediately says "Daddy". Mommy did get her a Patriots outfit too to keep things balanced.
This is so cool. When I take the paper off there are fun things in here for me!
Christmas in Vermont with the Bedard clan, and yes Renee is dressed like a penguin
Grandma with her two littlest angels
Renee got to make her first snow angel and loved it until she got her first white wash. We now prefer to make carpet angels where it is safe, warm and dry.
Visiting with Great Grandma Bedard
Even penguins need a mug of goodness sometime
This is one of my favorite pictures. I can almost hear Renee's giggles as she goofs around with Aunt Chrissy.
The penguin and her cousins on the West Coast
Renee celebrating her 2nd birthday
It wouldn't be a birthday without a chocolate cherry cake from VT
We've been watching Sara since October and love our little weekday sister. Renee is adapting well to the role of big girl.
Double trouble playing in our very own ball pit/crib
This little girl is happiest when doing something colorful, so much so that she needs to use both hands to paint at the same time! At least this time she got the paper and not herself.
We know Ben really only visits us so he can golf in February, but we love him anyway :) We had a lovely walk in the arboretum in Seattle and the mighty walkers both found sticks, little and big. Next picture on camera was sad Renee when Uncle Ben threw his stick away.
Year 2 of Flower and Garden show with Auntie Benita. Renee loves digging in the dirt so "planting" these veggies was right up her alley. Benita only got a shovel or two in the lap.
We finally got to take a vacation all together so we went out the the Ocean for a few days of rest, relaxation and wet, sandy beaches. We stayed in Moclips and were just over the sand dunes from the water. Even though it rained off and on the whole time we had lots of fun wandering the beach getting caught in the waves and scooping up our fortunes in sand dollars.
Renee and Daddy all bundled up and ready to play some more.
Stuck on a piece of driftwood and wondering why mom and dad think she should be smiling for them
No better way to spend a rainy day than bundled up with friends watching Kipper and munching chocolate. Renee thought vacations were pretty great!
1st time flying a kite. The wind was so strong that it was flying her. Mom had to run after the kite when it got away, thankfully the video of that did not make the cut for this post!
Grandma & Woohoo came for their annual visit! Never long enough, but we LOVE when they come!!
I love this picture of the girls! They are so stinkin' cute!
Now that I have reorganized Mom's cupboard what should I do next?
One of our favorite parts of the Woodland Park Zoo is Willawong Station where you can feed all the pretty birds some seed on a stick. Renee is now brave enough to hold the stick all by herself and have the birdy land on it and eat. Took a few drops and visits before the total freak outs calmed down. Now if you ask her about the zoo that is one of the first things she has to talk about.
Riding on the carousel with daddy. Not sure why she didn't want a horse this time, but one can never predict what a toddler will want minute to minute.
Super swami horseback rider girl
Coloring Easter eggs was lots of fun this year. Renee loved putting the eggs in colors and adding stickers once they came out. She takes her work very seriously!
At our annual Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma Deb's House. The sun peaked out long enough for the kiddos to find all the awesome eggs that were hidden all over the yard. Renee was a pro and quickly filled her basket to the top. She has eagle eyes!
Grandma Deb and her crew of kiddos!
Every girl needs a pair of cowgirl boots and these pink ones were too hard to pass up!
Visiting Auntie Penny and helping in her garden! We don't get down to Portland nearly often enough but we had a great visit and Renee loved getting to help in the garden and shovel to her heart's content. Penny had some awesome bugs to check out and the perfect walk for chalk drawings!
We made it more than 2 years before our 1st ER visit which I say is pretty good. Dear Renee scared her mom and dad by spiking a fever of 104! On the ride there she kept telling me what a happy baby she was, and the doctor pretty much told us that given how chipper she was we didn't need to worry about the fact she was so hot. Thankfully he was right and the fever broke and all was well. Her face isn't swollen, she just has a mouth full of fruit snack.
Renee's 1st live big stage performance was Sesame Street Live- Elmo's Healthy Heroes. She loved it! We got all decked out as you can see and she was mesmerized by the whole show.
Another sunny day at the zoo with little Sara too!
At the beach with Grandma and Grandpa. The day was lovely and this beach was made for Renee, nothing but stones of every shape, size and color waiting to be collected. Even though she wasn't feeling 100% she had a great time and even braved the chilly water to collect some green seaweed.
Relaxing with Dad reading comics. Renee has her own books that she got at Free Comic Day earlier this Spring. Daddy is not yet ready to trust her with his books.
Crazy how much they have grown and changed in just a few short months!
Me and my sweethearts! How lucky am I?
So there you have it folks. A year plus in pictures. We are so lucky to have Miss Renee! She is such a good girl and even though we are starting to get to a more trying time we really couldn't ask for a sweeter daughter. She is a riot and keeps us laughing, even when we probably shouldn't, but that is part of the learning process that we are all going through on this fun road called life with children!
She loves Elmo, her giraffe-Raffi, music class, dancing, tutus, green, taking her baby on walks in it's stroller, and even Mommy and Daddy. She even made up her own song in the car one day that goes "I see baby, I see mommy, I see daddy...at home". This has also been adapted to include "nammy and woohoo" and "Saywa" at home!
We love you all very much and promise to try to be better at this blogging thing :)
