Let the Christmas fun begin!

This year is a very special year for our family. We are having a huge reunion here in Redding. My mom comes from a family of 6 kids and all of them will be here with their spouses, kids, and grandkids. All of my siblings will be here with their spouses and my niece. There will be 47 of us in all! My sister Judy and her husband Kyle have already been here for a few days. And tonight we went to a Christmas Eve-Eve service at the church my parents attend when they are in Redding.

Priya = Cuteness

Christmas decorating is fun!

Our camera has unfortunately bit the dust. Hence the lack of updates/photos on our blog as of late. But Grammy and Grandpa have come to the rescue! They returned to Redding last week and were able to get a few fun shots for us. They spent the weekend decorating their house for Christmas and Priya had a great time joining in on the action.

The youngest members of the Penner families!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas from the Christians!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Ashish's Surprise

Today was an exciting day for Ashish - after 4 1/2 years he got his braces off!!! Our camera is on the fritz so none of the pictures I tried to take turned out, but for some reason the video portion did work. So here is a small glimpse of his new smile.

Diaper Survey - Calling All Moms!

Moms - I need your help! I'm wondering if you'd be willing to share your experience with different brands of diapers. I've been using Target brand for most of Priya's diapering needs (with the exception of when she was first born and everything I tried leaked with the exception of Pampers).

Priya weighs about 17 lbs now and has been in size 3 for several months. This size is supposed to fit 16-28 lbs. But we have been having problems with leaking during the past few weeks. Almost every morning when she wakes up she is wet around the tops of the diaper (even when I double diaper her!). This morning after only wearing a diaper for 30 min I could see little trickles going down her leg - and the diaper was on right! I'm thinking about switching brands but I'm sad to do this for financial reasons.

Can you give me your thoughts on other brands you have tried and whether you liked or disliked them? Or is this a size issue? It's hard to imagine her in a size 4 when she's only 17 lbs. Thanks!!!

A continuation of cuteness from yesterday into today...

Chuck E. Cheese Adventure

Lots of Play = Good Quality Sleep!

Priya and Ashish enjoyed some fun play time this weekend. Her toy of choice wasn't a contraption with lots of bells and whistles but, yep, you guessed it, a simple cardboard box. She had a wonderful time climbing in and out of it, carrying it around & pushing it across the room.

All of that fun playing made for some really deep sleep for our little monkey (finally - after about 2 weeks battling sleep - Priya is finally back on track and is her old self again). When checking on her at night we regularly find her with half of her body hanging out of her crib. Well, maybe not half... Thank goodness for those bars that keep her secure!

Election Day

Today was an important day for my hubby!  Ashish voted for the first time as a US Citizen and was very excited about this new opportunity to have a voice in our country!  Ashish proudly became a US Citizen last February.  Priya wanted to get in on the action too...

Priya is missing her grandparents...

Hmmm...do you think Grammy & Grandpa will mind if I play their piano?It's just not as much fun without Grammy and Grandpa. I wish you were here (and so does Drew).

Hehe - just because you're not here doesn't mean I can avoid mischief altogether!

A Few More Halloween Pics...

Happy Halloween

I FOUND OUR CAMERA!!!!

Our camera has been missing for the past couple of weeks so I haven't had much to post lately. I finally found it and went a little crazy on the pics and videos today... :) Enjoy!

Priya loves to get out of our little apartment and explore the dorm. She has tons of free space to roam about and play. She has recently become a big fan of stair climbing. She makes a beeline for the stairwell and loves to climb up to the 3rd floor without any help from Mommy or Daddy. She is also THRILLED whenever the students walk by and consistently greets them with an enthusiastic "HI!".





Below Priya shows off her budding conversational, dancing and, yes, her kissing skills!

Stirring Mom's Group Harvest Party

Today I finally did something that I've been excited about for some time now - I attended my first Stirring Mom's group event! I've been wanting to join a mom's group since Priya was born and heard about this particular group when Ashish and I started attending a church called The Stirring over summer (http://www.thestirring.org/). I've had all sorts of reasons in the past why I haven't been able to attend - work, Priya's naps, Priya being sick, more work... But I decided to do everything in my power today and take the little munchkin with me and finally join this group. It was great and Priya and I both had a really nice time.

They had a Harvest Party this morning so all of the kids were dressed up in cute Halloween costumes. Priya had a wonderful time cruising around in her little flower costume and thoroughly enjoyed all of the people. Our little social butterfly just gets more and more social every day it seems! Everywhere we go she perks up whenever she sees a person and enthusiastically calls out a cheery "HI!" to anyone who will listen.

Thanks to Rosetta for the pics!! :)

Priya's 1st Golf Cart Ride

Ashish recently made some big changes in his life. In August he went back to school to pursue a nursing career. He loves being back in school and is learning so much! He is currently working on some prerequisites and is also taking an ESL writing class to improve his grammar and writing skills. I've seen a big change already and am so proud of him for all of the hard work that he is putting into this.

Ashish has also shifted his job status and has taken a job at Simpson as a Campus Safety Officer. It's been wonderful for both of us to work at the same place and now neither of us have to commute to work! Definitely something to be thankful for as gas prices just seem to get higher and higher... The hours have been perfect and have helped to make taking care of Priya and working much more manageable for both of us!

Above Ashish takes Priya for a little spin on the Campus Safety Cart. She loved it! :)

More Walking

Priya continues to improve her walking skills on a daily basis. She has also become quite the stair climber - climbing 2 flights of stairs without a 2nd thought. We just stand very close behind her so that if she decides to turn around she doesn't go tumbling down. She hasn't figured out how to go back down the stairs yet. Below is a video of her progression in walking. She was heading towards the stairs in the dorm, but the hallway became too dark for good filming. So we'll have to wait on those stairs videos for another time...

Priya is learning new things on a daily basis it seems! Her favorite word these days is BABY. She also responds when you say DANCE by shaking side to side and doing her own little baby dance. If you ask her where her nose is (or anyone else's for that matter) she points to it. And last but not least, Priya has mastered the HIGH FIVE. If you put your hand up she'll give you an enthusiastic High Five. Adorable? Yes, we think so! :)