Dean and the kids - ready for the Chappell family reunion!

We find it very funny that some days Penny seems to be almost the same size as Natalie!

Well, It would seem that it is already summer vacation! Cooper got out of school this past Friday and he couldn't be more thrilled. He also finished his season of MCAA baseball as well.

He has just one week of summer camp this year and he changes his mind daily as to whether he wants to go or not! Otherwise his plans for the summer are swim, swim and swim.

Natalie, on the verge of turning 2, is a total chatterbox. She never seems to stop talking and mimics everything around her. This can be a tad dangerous at times depending on the situation! She is really doing great and is turning into such a little girl instead of a baby.

Penelope is smiling now, which somehow makes the night feedings a bit more tolerable. She smiles and coos and seems to be pretty happy. She is a big baby with a lot of rolls and dimples. We find it very charming!

Dean and I are doing well too. We are still working on many projects throughout the house. Dean just finished hanging wainscoting in the downstairs bathroom and now it is my job to paint it. He wants to start working on the front porch and I have a few sewing projects and painting projects to start as well. We are certainly keeping busy!!

Cooper and Natalie in the rain, doing "the rain dance"

Natalie helping me make muffins and Penelope in the swing supervising.

Natalie in her cowgirl boots!

Penny - Finally smiling!!!

Penelope Pearl

Uh OH

I have obviously been slacking on my blogging updates! Ooops. My best explanation is that we have been VERY busy!
Our new baby girl, Penelope Pearl, was born April 16th, at 7lbs 11oz. She is so cute and we are so very happy with her. She is very vocal and "cranks" a lot, but she seems happy and healthy, and that is all that we can ask for.
Cooper is getting ready to finish the 2nd grade soon and is enjoying himself playing MCAA baseball. We had a fun session of swim team and soon we will be into soccer. Keeping busy is the best but we are also looking forward to a summer with some nice relaxing days by the pool. He is enjoying his new sister as much as any big brother could.
Natalie is keeping everyone on their toes as usual! She had been affectionately called the "destroyer" and is very true to her name. She loved her new sister and is forever trying to help but getting the baby's paciefier and putting things in the sink! More pictures to come!

Working Hard Around the House!

 

Our last few weeks since returning from FL have been busy as usual. We have been working on projects around the house including getting the spare bedroom upstairs ready for the new baby, due in April, and working on the shower in the master bedroom. Dean has been hard at work tiling, which involves lots of heavy lifting and lots of cutting with the tile saw, which also includes a lot of trips up and down the stairs. Needless to say, he is getting a workout! But we both can't wait until the shower is finished and then getting ready for the baby will be high priority!

The Last 3 Months or So!!

OK - No doubt about it! I am behind once again! I have found that "life" has interfered with updating the blog about my life!!

We all had a great fall! Cooper played MCAA soccer and had a great time! We jumped right into winter here and have been enjoying the snow and trying to get out sledding and playing as much as we can. Cooper also turned 8 (I can't believe it some days!) in November!

Cooper at 1

Cooper at 8

He is growing like a weed. He had a small sleepover with a few friends as his birthday party and they had a blast just watching movies, playing video games and riding Cooper's four wheeler.

Aside from Cooper's birthday, November brought us our family trip to hunting camp in Pittsburg, NH and Thanksgiving. Both were great. Dean is always great about taking time out of his day of hunting to walk around with us and show us some nature. We saw some great moose tracks and Cooper got to use Dean's deer call. he thought that was pretty fun!

Cooper was with his Dad for Thanksgiving and we missed him, as we always do when he is gone, but we spent some time with my family in MA before the Canter Girl's Black Friday Shopping Trip!!

December 1st brought us the great news that we are expecting another girl this April! Once we learned that all looked happy and healthy in the womb, we couldn't have been happier!

The holidays were pretty quiet. We spent a nice afternoon at Nana and Papa's for Hanukkah and enjoyed the company, as always! Christmas came and we decided to take a short trip to North Conway, to see Auntie Beth, Uncle Todd, Bella, and Ava, and to get Dean out on the slopes! It was Natalie's first time staying in a hotel, she did great and had a great time!!

And just yesterday we got back from a great trip to Florida. Nana and Nonee decided to spend a few weeks in the warm weather and invited us to join them for a few days! We were worried how Natalie would do, as she isn't always the best traveler, but she did great!

We Spent 2 great days at Seaworld, where the animals and shows are so fantastic and impressive!

We also spent 2 days at Disney. One at The Magic Kingdom and one at The Animal Kingdom. We had a good time at both, Cooper is at a great age where he loves to ride the rides! He rode just about every ride at Animal Kingdom. We also had Nonee along that day and we all loved the Safari ride that took us on a mini-African Safari! Other than that our time was spent in the pool!!