1,2, 3.....A, B,C

Just a quick update on Delaney's progress. She can now count to 13 on her own, 15 with some help. She does the whole alphabet on her own, and has learned the ABC song as well. We are working now on letter and number recognition with flash cards, books and puzzles. We're just trying to keep it fun and are enjoying watching her learn every day! She's coming along with the potty training, although we know we are still far from being totally diaperless. It's amazing to see how our baby is becoming less of a baby and more of a little girl. My favorite part of this stage is that she is able to express affection and gratitude on her own, and that is the best feeling in the world! It makes my whole day when she runs up and hugs me or says "love you mama". She asks for kisses or says "thank you" when we give her something. Another fun thing about her at this age is her silly streak, which usually tends to show up right before bath time and bed time. She gets so goofy when she is tired! It's really funny to watch, she knows just how to get Cory and I cracking up at night. She makes life at our house entertaining and complete, each day we can't wait to see what new thing she will do or say! :)

Yellow Flowers

Laney and I went to have lunch with "Aunt" Kristen today at Olive Garden. On our way in Laney spotted these pretty yellow flowers and just had to stop and smell them. She is like her Nana, loves flowers and gardens. She was just so cute I had to snap a pic on our way in! :)

Brody Quinn is here!

We are very excited to announce that Delaney has a baby cousin! Brody Quinn Carpenter was born on August 23rd. Stacy and Mick are the proud parents, and we are all just thrilled about this new addition to our family! Cory and I are so excited about becoming an Aunt and Uncle, and look forward to watching this little guy grow up with Delaney. We know they will be the best of friends :)

As summer comes to an end...

Well once again here I am apologizing that I have been so behind on updating this blog! I know that many of you look forward to the updates, especially those that live far away. It has been such a busy summer of playing, visiting with friends and family, and just enjoying the longer days that I just have not sat down with this blog. So, to catch everyone up I am going to do one big post to summarize all the fun we have been having.
Delaney is now nearly 20 months old. I simply can not believe how big my little baby is now! She is so smart and doing new, amazing things all the time. She is really coming along with potty training. We know we still have a long way to go, but she understands the concept and uses the potty at least once a day, usually right before her bath at night time. Her vocabulary continues to amaze us, she repeats EVERYTHING and remembers EVERYTHING! She can "read" just about all of her books, finishing the sentences for us as we read them to her. We are finding out that she is definitley musically inclined, playing on her drums, piano, and singing her little heart out every day! When we are in the car she asks for "Laney's music" and just loves singing as we run our errands. Her favorite thing to do now is color. She loves to color inside with her crayons and outside on the drive way with sidewalk chalk. Mommy and Daddy are really enjoying this stage, as she has really developed so much of her own personality. She can understand so much more now and actually have a little "conversation" with us. She is more affectionate now on her own as well, giving us hugs and kisses without being asked. She even said "love you mama" one night before bed all on her own! She's learning her please and thank you's and loves to say "bless you" after anyone sneezes! She's so entertaining at this age, we couldn't be happier :)
I hope you enjoy all of the pictures from the last couple of months. For those of you who follow on Facebook you have probably seen most of these already. Once again, I am renewing my commitment to try and update this blog on a more regular basis, so stay tuned for more frequent updates!





Ready for a day at the pool!


















































Laney went to her first parade on the fourth of July, she had so much fun! We had a picnic at Grandma and Grandpa's and then stopped off to watch some fireworks on the way home.









































What a difference between this year and last!






















Delaney and I took a trip to Ohio to visit our family. Daddy wasn't able to come, and although we missed him we had a wonderful time!

Laney and Nana in the garden
















Coloring on the driveway with Uncle Jeff















Chalk on her nose!
















At the mall with Uncle D















At Laney's picnic table on Nana's porch. The weather was so beautiful, we spent most of our time sitting out on the porch.

We went to Deer Park in Pennsylvania for the day. It was so fun! Laney got to feed some of the animals. We had a picnic and took a train ride around the whole park.

A few weeks after we came home from our trip to Ohio, Nana and Dante came here for a visit. We were so glad to get to see them so much this Summer! We did lots of fun things while they were here. We went to the pool, the aquarium, the beach and just had fun being together. Here are some pics from thier visit:



































































































Every summer Dante and Cory have a prokadima tournament. Each year they beat their record from the year before. This summer they hit 1512! That's 1512 times hitting the ball back and forth without letting it touch the ground!

Papa turns 50!!!

We had a nice birthday dinner to celebrate the big day!

















There have been many more pictures and events from this summer, I couldn't possibly put them all on here, I'd be sitting at this computer forever! Hope you've enjoyed this little glimpse into what we've been doing the last few months. More updates and pics to follow soon! :)