Penchuk.com

Happy New Year to all of my readers (I guess I could have just called you directly, Mom). Over the past few weeks, we’ve been busy so I figured it was time to do a quick update.

• Ben - He’s getting bigger and bigger. People told us that time flies, especially with kids and it is certainly true. Recently he has become much more independent. He doesn’t want our help and tries everything by himself. In the past two days, he’s figured out how to use a mouse. Sentences are getting longer (even if they are missing a few key words like “the” and “is”). He still makes us laugh, cry, and enjoy life. Potty training is still a challenge, but we definitely see some improvement and awareness.
• Christmas - We visited Dad and Karen in South Carolina. Joining us were Karen’s brother, Chuck, and family (Nancy, Cody and Alex). Lots of gifts were exchanged and Ben seemed to enjoy the first Christmas that he “got it”. That made the day much more enjoyable. Santa brought him the hockey skates he wanted. Laura got a GPS navigation system, I got an XM Radio and we received a shiny new digital camera. Laura and I also got to spend a “night off” in Savannah where we ate at The Lady and Sons. Yum. Overall, it was a good trip.
• Pregnancy - Laura is feeling much better. She started this this pregnancy feeling sick as could be. She’s doing better but she’s, um, er, expanded a little faster than might be expected. She hasn’t put on extra weight and she looks great, but she’ll readily tell you that her belly is larger than last time. Her back hurts and she’s dealing with the same stuffy nose as last time. The due date is April 21. We’ll keep you posted.
• Matt and Carrie – They’re still in Boston and doing well. Matt won an overseas cruise from his employer so they spent New Year’s on a ship in Finland or some other place like that. I don’t remember exactly where they went, I just know it’s far from the cold of Boston. By the way, check out Matt’s bio on their website.

If there’s more news, I’ll be sure to post. ‘Til then…

I’ll write more about our vacation to Ireland soon, but in the meantime, there are new pictures available in the pictures section.

I’m currently on the road in Memphis, Tennessee and just got back to my hotel room. One of my co-workers and I went out for an evening of dry, smoked ribs. They were very good, I must say. I’m glad I brought floss with me… Beale Street was quite the party tonight as it was “bike night”. It was basically wall to wall choppers. And loud. Did I mention it was loud?

Since my last post we’ve had a visit from Mom and Artie, redone our dated bathroom by tearing down wallpaper and putting up new fixtures (towel bars and such), and taken advantage of the park being 5 minutes away by bike. Basically, we’re loving the new house. It’s been completely worth the move. Ben is doing great. He’s definitely a healthy 2-year old boy. He’s into everything, moving quickly and just enjoying being 2. Mommy and daddy are actually enjoying it, too.

Basically, all is well. Just wanted to let you all know.

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted to the ol’ website, so I figured it was time to do so. Here’s a quick recap of what’s been going on…

We’ve been very busy over the last month, but we’ve taken a lot of pictures. I’ll try and post some in the next day or so. Adios.

This week I had the opportunity to visit NYC for business. We visited one of RegEd’s clients, to talk to them about implementing new functionality above and beyond what they already have. It’s a big opportunity and very interesting. During my trip I had the opportunity to visit The Gates in Central Park.

I have to admit that my initial impressions when I read about it and saw it on TV was a big ho-hum, who cares. But, after seeing them, I have a completely changed opinion. They were really cool, brought a lot of people out and created a ton of interest. By no means were they beautiful, but they certainly added interesting color to the landscape, something that is certainly missing in Central Park during a typical February.

Some house news: It was shown again yesterday and will be shown tomorrow at 10:30. Tomorrow will be the 4th showing. Again, I’m cautiously optimistic.

Ben is doing great. He’s becoming much more communicative as he is trying (and we’re encouraging) more speech. We’ve also made an effort to cut back on pacifier time. He’s always had it in the car, but now we’re withholding it. And he’s doing just fine. He doesn’t even have one at daycare anymore.