Plus One

above: Baby bird in the pool, Winn and Pen having fun with bubbles (no babies were injured during this shot), me washing Nell's hair when camping, Andrew and Penelope taking a break from hiking, the girls on Father's day, Penelope and I ripping off Andrew's old rank when he pinned on Captain in May.

Team Stevens is getting a new addition... a Great Dane you ask? No, something two legged, hairless, and is gestationally only 12 weeks old. Can't guess? The new little addition is due around January 12, 2011. Still can't guess?! A baby!

Penelope and her new little sibling will be around 17-18 months apart. Perfect for growing up together. We are very excited about it. Nana Winnie is up for the challenge of taking on the care of another baby. She is so great with babies, even my friends feel comfortable having Winnie around their kids and babies. Go Rottweilers! (Just another plug for another great breed.)

Penelope is nearing her one year birthday. I can't believe it! She began crawling at 10 months and always seems on the verge of walking... but she doesn't seem to be in any hurry. And I thought she'd be an early walker when she started cruising around furniture at 8.5 months. Crawling works perfectly well though, so why change a good thing? She gets that from her dad.

She'd like me to report to you her newest stats: 11 months, 18 pounds, 27 inches. She is very proud. Nell is learning new babbles all the time. She is very active now and all over the house. She loves chasing Winnie around the house. When she is in her carseat she likes letting Winn snort the cheese bits out of her neck that fall from her hand on the way to her mouth. Things can get pretty hillarious and silly in the backseat with a fuzzy whiskered dog and a baby with a ticklish neck.

Andrew FINALLY got his second week of comp time since returning from Korea. We took advantage of it by heading out to the Sawtooth Mountain National Forest for camping. Stanley, Idaho is amazingly beautiful and you must go there if you are reading this and live in Idaho. It has the coldest temperatures recorded in any town in the lower 48 states, but was gorgeous when we were there! The pictures tell all.

I hope you enjoy the pictures... check out the albums link!