Grandma's House

Just a few random pictures from Grandma's house over the winter break.....

I loved these!  Levi and Leah snuggling up on the couch, and Miss Leighton looking cuter and older every day!

Mommy's Addiction: Almond Bark Pretzels

This holiday season was all bout almond bark pretzels for me.  I seriously could not get enough of them and they were not helpful to my goal of losing pregnancy/baby weight.

It was difficult to make a big batch at one time, so we just kept making small batches.  All my little helpers were amazing!  Just keep feeding my addiction children!

Of course they were always willing to taste test.

And sprinkles were key to success!!!

Now that the holidays have passed, it's time to go into remission and stop eating the delicious pretzels like they are my breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Until next year!

Christmas

We made the trip to Iowa on Christmas morning after we had our own little family gathering on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in Minnesota.  The kids traveled well, but it's still a long trip.  We had to make a few stops to feed the baby and use the restroom.  The options for breaks are pretty limited on Christmas, but we survived and even made it to Grandma's in time for Christmas lunch.

Leighton wasn't so sure about everyone although everyone was pretty excited to meet her.  Grandpa Holtz got his turn and then the Anderson sisters.  Leighton was NOT sure about them at all.

Grandma and Grandpa with all the great grandkids plus Megan and Brian.  Megan and Brian do so well with the younger kids and the girls adore Megan.

Then a quick one with all the grand kids and great grandkids.  It's quite the crew these days!

A photo of the Carlin crew with Grandma and Grandpa.

The newest additions.

The three were very entertained by the boxes.  Doesn't that always happen when there are new toys around...the boxes are most exciting.

Giving Mommy smiles!

Leighton and Jameson with their new blankets.  Historically Grandma has cross stitched quilt blocks for the quilts, but now Aunt Connie and Aunt Jean have taken over that project and Grandma picks out the patterns and fabric and just supervises.

This trip was the first time Leighton got to meet Papa Keith.  She thought he was alright.

Poor Papa just wanted a nap and the monkeys wouldn't leave him alone.

The girls love nativity sets (like their mama!) and had a blast putting Grandma's together and talking about the Christmas story.

Lesley got some hand me down ice skates!  So excited to try in our neighborhood skating rink.

The girls got new hats from Aunt Katie and Uncle Andy, and they were reading Lyssa's new Skippy Jon Jones book.

These babies, just 12 days apart in age but so different in size.

Aunt Katie was playing baby whisperer and rocking the sleeping babies.  I think all the adults were a bit jealous of her job.

I needed some close ups of the girls for some ornaments I wanted to put together.  The ones I took of Lesley were super cute.

Super sweet when she is sleeping!  I just want her to stay little forever.  Seriously.

And then the photo of my Leah with her most perfect smile.

All these photos were from Grandma Nancy's camera.  I'm so thankful that she took some photos since it's so difficult for me to take them these days.  My hands always seem to be occupied.

Lesley's Winter Party

Way back at the beginning of the year, I volunteered to be a parent helper at Lesley's winter party.  In my head, I thought it was perfect, I'd be home on maternity leave anyway and would have plenty of time to help plan and attend.

Well, fast forward to mid December and I was reminded how much work a newborn really is....they don't just sleep all the time.  Plus, through in a busy December, a new babysitter for Levi, and a tight drop off and pick up window for Leah.....

But, with my supermom powers, I overcame and put together a really fun and cute craft for the kids and attended the 2 hour party with a sleeping ~5 week old baby who stayed snuggled up in my Moby wrap.  Lesley picked out their outfits for the day and all the mom's thought the Big Sister and Little Sis shirts were cute.  Helps that her Little Sister is so beautiful and sweet!  

I didn't get any photos with my phone because I was in charge of the craft station and couldn't follow Lesley around, but the one with the photo booth (best idea for these silly 6 and 7 year olds!) snapped the above picture on my phone at the end of the party.  Leighton had woken up and we were nearing feeding time so after the photo, I packed her up and hurried home.  Lesley was bummed I didn't stay for lunch, but since that day, Leighton and I have had lunch with her 3 times....and 3 times with her sister at the preschool building too.

Grandma Cheryl visited - Part 2

Grandma Cheryl was finally able to come and meet Leighton right before Christmas.

Leighton was wearing her jammies that the girls had picked out a few days after she was born.  Grandma Nancy had taken them to Target where Lesley quickly asked the Target employee where to find the 2 day old outfits for her new baby sister.  Grandma said it was so sweet and the employee helped her find the newborn clothes right away.

We even did some crafting to prepare for Lesley's classroom holiday party.  We were in charge of the toilet paper snowman station and had to paint about 40 toilet paper rolls white to prepare.

Levi got a new "MONSTER TRUCK" as a gift from Uncle Tony and Aunt Mo.  He thought it was the best.

A sewing AND cooking book!  They are actually really great and I hope we can do lots of the projects.

Planning out their first sewing "class"....So thankful Grandma Cheryl could help with the first few projects.  She has more patience than Mommy.

Singing her heart out

Just a few things to note about the photo above:

1.)  Look how beautiful the Christmas tree is!  I loved it this year!

2.)  Lesley obviously picked out her own outfit and we were clearly not leaving the house this day.  The tights and the dress, no sleeves, really?!

3.)  Lesley has been into singing and dancing lately so will randomly have impromptu performances on the fireplace.  She never really finishes a performance because she gets sidetracks, or has to stop to give instructions to, i.e. boss, her siblings around.

We just pretend it's a grammy winning performance and cheer her on.  At this point, we like building her self esteem and her confidence...later on in life we can discuss what is acceptable and "good".

Grandma Cheryl Visited

We tried to get a few family photos the weekend Grandma Cheryl visited and it was kind of rough.  The girls always have to fight over who is holding Leighton and Levi has developed this cheesy smile.  It's great....and it's something we will always remember about this age.

Leighton just never knows what to think when her siblings are fighting over her.  Poor child.

Levi wouldn't sit with Grandma Cheryl.  We pretty much have ZERO photos with all the kids and Grandma Cheryl.  There is always one who does not cooperate.

The big kids with their new aprons from Grandma Cheryl.  They are great!

After opening their gifts and finding a book about sewing, they immediately went to work on some projects.  They sewed some pillows and hot pads.  It was good practice, and a reminder that Mommy does not make a good teacher for sewing.  Grandma Cheryl has much more patience.

It was a fun weekend with Grandma Cheryl!  We are thankful she could come and meet Leighton, and also celebrate Christmas a week early with the kids.

Different from her siblings

Leighton has proven over and over that she is very different from all her siblings.  We can see it every day!

She has a petite, tiny little head.  From the moment she was born, we questioned "where" she came from because all the other kids had pretty gigantic heads.

It's so sweet and tiny.

You can't tell from this photo, but we are pretty confident she will have blue eyes like her sisters.  So, we will have 3 blue eyed girls like their daddy, and 1 brown eyed boy like his mommy.

And, the hair!  She has such dark hair and so much of it compared to the other kids.

This feature makes me so happy.  I'm assuming it will fall out or rub off, but hopefully when it grows back it will still be dark and full.

Love this little girl so much!  She is going to be her "own" person someday.