We still love Corpus Christi. It's been an amazing summer. We spend most of our time at the pool and the aquarium. Although Jane still talks about "home" every once in a while, and we definitely miss our friends, we are adjusting nicely to South Texas.
Everything is cheap! It's pretty awesome. Well, everything except housing since oil is doing so well down here. But we are loving the low food and household costs.
It's sunny and warm every day. But it's rarely too hot since it's always windy and we are cooled by the ocean.
Jane is obsessed with the Texas State Aquarium and we go all the time. She can tell you all about aquatic animals and is completely in love.
Penny is still a die-hard mama's girl. She spends a lot of time in the baby-carrier and I love it just as much as she does.
Scott still likes work, his hours haven't been too bad and he works with wonderful people.
I've been making friends and adventuring with the girls.
Penny and Jane are BEST FRIENDS. They are always watching out for each other (splitting snacks, checking on each other, concerned when the other is upset). They are fantastic at sharing and having them in the same room has been an amazing blessing. We were terrified to move into a 2-bedroom apartment, but I was reassured many times by Heavenly Father that this was the apartment for us. Neither girl was sleeping when we moved in and I was in tears at the thought of having them share a room and wake each other up during the little sleep they got. Luckily God knows better than me. Penny isn't a great sleeper, but Jane has blown us away. She hasn't had insomnia problems since Penny started sleeping in her room. It's incredible and I thank Heavenly Father every day for knowing better than me. I know he put Penny in our family when he did for a purpose and we are understanding her role more and more every day. She and Jane are inseparable and it melts my heart.
Jane talks like crazy. She has always been able to talk well, but now she doesn't hide it from other people. She will chat the ear off anyone who will listen. It's hilarious the things she comes up with and we are constantly impressed with her vocabulary and memory.
Penny can stand well and is just starting to take little steps. She says mama, dada, chocolate, poop, yeah (yes), night night, hello, uh-oh, owie, woof woof, and turtle. She says "yaya" to everything and we get a kick out of the things she will say yes to. She has absolutely no fear and throws impressive temper tantrums. When she gets upset Jane is quick to reassure her "It's okay, sister!", give hugs, say sorry, share, and watch out for her sister. If Penny is upset Jane is the first to figure out what the issue is and the first to try to resolve it. She understands Penny better than we do and often will translate for us (which makes us wonder if Penny knows more words than we realize, or if Jane just reads her body language better). Jane has figured out how to cause mischief with Penny and it is a favorite activity of theirs. Jane is the instigator (casually opening cupboards they aren't supposed to be in and encouraging penny to pull things out) or leaving doors open so penny wanders outside (Jane then pretends she was trying to help penny and now escape herself). She is quite creative and we are impressed (and scared) of how naturally manipulation comes to her.
Jane is growing like crazy and is really tall now. Her shirts are 3T and 4T and she is often mistaken for being older than she is. The long hair contributes to this, I'm sure.
Things are going great for us :) Here are a handful of pictures from the last week... Sorry I don't have more pictures of Penny's birthday, I totally slacked off in pictures. But she had a nice cake, a banner, and a present (cars Jane picked out).
