Just some pictures:)

The beginning of November Chuck's parents came to visit and we went to the lakefront and got some pictures.  Penny hammed it up for the camera so these pictures turned out good.  Lately she has been getting into EVERYTHING!!  She stands up on EVERYTHING!  She gets stuck EVERYWHERE!  Are you getting my point.  Her favorite thing is the potted plant.  She likes to get into the dirt and throw it on the ground and wipe her hands on her cute outfits. She likes to do the Indian pat on her mouth.  I don't know if you know what I mean, but you know when you pat your mouth and sound like an Indian..  Well that is one of her favorite things to do, she does it all day.  She also likes to turn on the radio and tap her foot.  Chuck has been busy with school.  He did a elective rotation this month and went to Ear, Nose, and Throat, and Urology.  He actually really really likes Urology and says that might be what he ends up going into.  Who would have thought?!  I definitely would like the lifestyle better than say a Orthopedic surgeon or General Surgeon. (ie, I would actually see him)  I am all for Urology!

HALLOWEEN!!

I have to say that I really like Halloween. Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I think it is so fun when it is dark, cloudy and windy to watch a scary movie and eat caramel corn. Fall here is so beautiful. Chuck and I have been going running on this trail with lots of trees. I wish I had gone out and taken pictures. Today, the wind is supposed to be 50-60 mph!! So alas I can't get any photos. I think the leaves will all be gone. Anyways back to Halloween. This year Chuck and I are not going to be dressing up, but you better believe Penny got dressed up. She picked out her costume. You may be wondering, how did she do that she is only 7 months old! Well, when we went to the store I was really wanting her to be a ladybug. I had seen this really cute black and white dress with really cute wings. Of course, when I went to buy it, it was gone! Chuck wanted her to be a monster, I wanted her to be something pretty. I found this cute little butterfly costume. We held up the monster and the dress and she got pretty excited when she saw the dress. So, that is how she chose. There was a little trick or treat at Chuck's school, so we went to that. I went with a couple of friends. We tried to get a picture of the kiddos together but I think they were all sugar high. Below is the only one that 'worked'... Everyone was so adorable! I couldn't stop smiling because the kids were so darn funny! I think she was pretty darn cute, though I am biased and think that even if Penny went naked she would be a big hit! She had a good time and was exhausted by the end of it.








Doesn't she just look so cute?! We love our little girl and she is just growing more and more everyday. I have for weeks been trying to post a video of her crawling, but blogger will not let me:( Any suggestions. Every time I try it says I have to contact support. Has anyone else experienced this problem? Anyways, Penny 'crawls'. She does this lunge crawl thing. When she gets up she does a lunge while crawling with her legs. She has been doing it for a couple of months now but has now perfected it and gotten fast. She likes to play on the kitchen floor and slap the ground. But, it is hard for her to crawl on the hard floor. I guess at least I have it captured on video! Sorry world, you can't see Penny's awesome moves, for now:).

6 months Old

This last week Penny turned 6 months! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. She is growing and progressing fast and is very close to crawling. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth. Or she will put her bum in the air and walk and not go anywhere. She is such a strong child, but even when she was born she was able to stand and hold her head up. She just has her own agenda and will crawl when she wants to. She hasn't gotten any teeth yet but I think she is starting to teeth, she has started to chew on everything more than what she already was. When I am feeding her her bottle she will chew on the nipple instead of eat. She is very silly. Speaking of eating we have been trying different foods. She has tried squash, peas, bananas, peaches, and apples. She does best with vegetables. She gets kind of blotchy around her eyes and temples when she eats fruit. I don't know if she is having a reaction, but she also thinks they are all tart. I didn't think bananas were tart... I guess she is just getting used to food. When she went for her doctors appointment last month she weighed 151/2 lbs, 25.25 inches long, and 33cm head. 50% for head and weight and 64% for her head. She has a good sized noggin. We have been taking her to this park where there are swings and she really enjoys swinging. She thinks it is funny when Chuck stands in front of her. Well there isn't much else to say. Chuck and I have just been busy. I am still tending and chasing Penny. I stay very busy:) Chuck has been delivering babies and doing hysterectomies. The other day he delivered 2 babies by himself. The residents were gone so he got a lot of experience. He says he really enjoys OBGYN but probably won't end up doing it. But you never know, he could change his mind. I have been trying to load videos for over a week and have had no success so I am sorry if the videos won't work. But here is Penny in pictures.

Penny's Sunglasses

Recently Chuck and I got Penny some new sunglasses. That day she liked to wear them all day. Even with her pajamas. She is very funny when she wears them. She has a very tiny nose so they kinda slip down and she looks like a little old lady. Needless to say she loves them.

We also got her a Bumbo chair. She thinks it is pretty hilarious when she is in it. All I have to do is look at her and she starts to laugh.

And here are some pictures of her cuddling and taking a nap with dad. So cute!

Penny's First Swim

This last week my friend, Sara, invited Penny and I to go to the splash pool at the nearby park. I found this swimsuit for Penny. I thought it was pretty cute. I know that her Great Grandma Sonja will like it:)

Penny had a good time. I was worried since the last time she was in a pool she DID NOT like it AT ALL!! She was pretty happy and liked the water, even if it was cold. Here are some more pictures to document the event. Don't mind me in my swimsuit....

Above is Sara, her daughter Elizabeth, Penny and I. I also babysit Elizabeth 3 days a week. It is fun to see Penny and Elizabeth interact. Sometimes when Elizabeth is crying Penny tries to grab Elizabeth's hand. I hope that when she gets older that she will be comforting to others and be nice to others. I got some Baby Einstein DVDs and I pop those in when I need to get some things done. Here is the picture I captured of them watching TV. I thought it was funny.. They were both pretty entranced and were not moving.

Well there isn't anything new with Chuck and I. Chuck has been kicking butt in Neurology rotation. Though, he says he will not be going in to Neuro. I feel like there isn't ever anything new with Chuck and I but there is always something new with Penny. Recently she has tried to get up on her hands and knees. She ended up doing it a couple of times. I wish I had had my camera handy to document it. She hasn't really done it since, but still gets up on her knees and face plants it. She also drags herself across the floor. She will be on her mat, like the pic above and when I come back 5-10 min later she has reached the DVD player. I am going to have to get a new TV stand. She is already a very mischievous little girl. She is REALLY strong. She really tries to move around and I will look down at her and her little body is shaking because she is trying so hard! It makes me giggle and happy that she is developing at a healthy rate:)

Silly Girl

So Chuck got a video of Penny kinda laughing. Her laugh is pretty funny when she really gets going. This is just a sample. We haven't been able to get a really good video of her. She is really interested in the camera and when she sees it she all of the sudden gets really serious. As of late she has been a very moody child. She has been throwing, "tantrums". It always seems to happen on Sundays. She doesn't do well at church and we have either had to go home early or haven't been able to make it. I hope this is just a phase and she will grow out of it quickly. Also this last week Chuck got his board scores back and he did AWESOME!! I was so proud of him. Especially since I didn't get to see him for a month while he studied. Our time apart definitely paid off. I am so happy for him. Right now he is doing his rotation in Psychology. He is at the VA so he says he either gets people that are in their 50-60's or his age. He actually really enjoys Psych. We also celebrated our anniversary on Mon. 26. I felt like a chicken with it's head cut off because I was running errands all day long. But that night we had a delicious prime rib dinner, compliments of moi! I have never cooked prime rib and was nervous I was going to ruin it, It wasn't a cheap piece of meat and I didn't want to screw it up. Luckily, I have an awesome mother who told me how to cook it. She is so talented:) Thanks mama! We also had some really severe weather here. There was flash flood warnings and tornado warnings. It was pretty intense. In some areas it rained 7-8inches in 2 hours!! Can you imagine. Imagine 7-8 inches of snow, that is a lot of snow! Luckily we are now drying out and luckily our apartment or basement didn't flood!
I love the looks Penny gives me. She looks at me like she is really wanting to say something, Oh what she would say!

She had just woken up and ate so these pictures are kinda funny to me. She still looks groggy. She likes to sleep with her baby. She likes to cuddle with something when she sleeps. She will really hold on tight to her blanket or she likes Eeyore.

Penny's Heart

A couple of weeks ago I took Penny to the doctor. When she listened to her heart she noticed that Penny had a heart murmur so I scheduled an appointment with the cardiologist. They did and EKG and also an ECHO. Here is what they found out.

The top picture is what your Tricuspid Aortic Valve looks like. In Penny's case her valve is the picture below, the Bicuspid Aortic valve. If you don't get it from the picture she only has 2 leaflets instead of 3. This is something that is very common and affects 1-2% of the general population. It is something that she will live with for the rest of her life. It will not go away as she gets older. She will always have it. Though, it is one of the most common congenital heart disorders. So, you may wonder what it will affect? To explain, in not much detail; your normal aortic valve has three leaflets that open and close easily. The aortic valve controls the flow of blood from the left ventricle of the heart to the aorta. The aorta is the large blood vessel that delivers blood to the body. So since she has only 2 leaflets, as she gets older her valve can get stiff and the blood has to push through harder through the valve. It can cause Aortic Regurgitation, which is when the valve stops being able to close tightly. This would result in blood leaking backwards into the heart. It also can cause Aortic Stenosis, which is when the valve gets stiff and does not open widely. Or there is Aortic dilatition, which is when the aorta gets bigger. If she were to have any of these problems then it would require surgery. But, like I said before, it is very common and some people go there whole life without knowing that they have it. I am grateful though for modern medicine so we can see these things. It was really quite cool when she had the echo. The heart is pretty amazing. It was so awesome to see her heart pumping on the monitor and seeing her little body. The doctor did reassure me that her heart was pumping fine and was not concerned at this point about blood flow. This is something that would take a long time to develop if she were to have a problem. She will have to go to the cardiologist yearly. Anyways, just thought I would give an update. Penny is doing fine. She is starting to really belly laugh which is a real treat:) It has become my favorite sound:)