Snapshots of the Carlin Family

Hugs for Santa

2011-12-17T19:08:00.000-08:00

Caught in the act at our friends' house. Leah was a fan of this Santa!

I think she might be on his good list.

A true blessing

2011-12-16T19:49:00.000-08:00

Jason and I are so fortunate to have Lyssa Sue as our goddaughter. We are excited to share our faith and love of God with her for years to come.

Aimee and Mike belong to a tiny, tiny parish. The congregation is about 25 people total and I think almost all of them were present for the baptism. Needless to say, our 4 girls offered much excitement and entertainment during the service. Grandma Nancy and Papa Keith, and Lilly's Grandma Jan and Papa Scott had their hands full. There was a lot of shushing!

After the ceremony, the congregation hosted a small gathering in the church basement. The bigger girls thought having cake for breakfast was the best thing ever!

She actually started crying long before the ceremony started. Her tummy was bothering her and she eventually started spitting up all over her pretty baptism gown. Oh well!

We got it done and we are so happy to have her join the Catholic church.

Pool Time

2011-12-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

We went to Iowa for Lyssa's baptism over the weekend. Since we didn't do the annual winter Holtz trip to the hotel this year, Jason and I decided to get a hotel room and spend a little time swimming. Plus, we didn't want to crowd Aimee and Mike at their house....it gets crazy with so many little ones!

Lesley and Lilly had a great time in the pool - no photos on my camera though because I was also in the pool. Too bad Daddy didn't pick the camera up while he was sitting on the side lines.

Daddy did get in the pool before the Anderson girls showed up. Daddy had to get Lesley's inflatables ready. She thought they were great. "Look at my big muscles mommy!"

I think Leah enjoyed the pool too, although she hung on for dear life the entire time. I tried to put her in the floating inter-tube, but she was not impressed.

We actually hung out in the hot tub for quite a while. It wasn't very hot, more like a warm bath, so we figured we might as well take advantage of it.

My favorite was when we were getting ready to leave the pool.

"Mommy, can you take my muscles off now."

I could not help but laugh outloud at that comment.

And sweet baby Lyssa is getting excited for her first Christmas!

She's growing fast and has the cutest baby rolls around her wrists. Unfortunately she's a pretty fussy, gassy baby and had given Aimee and Mike a run for their money. (I'm fairly certain they looked for the return label a time or two over the past month. Just kidding!) We sure hope that her tummy calms down and she gives her Mama a break. I told Aimee one good thing about going back to work soon is that the babysitter can clean up the spit up for 8 hours during the day. Granted, not sure being a vet lends itself to any better "fluids" but at least I got a small smile from Aimee.

I'm tempted to return her (and Lyssa's) Christmas gifts and just get Aimee a hotel room with the most luxurious bed for a solid 12+ hours of sleep as her gift. Heck, I don't even think she'd require a bed...just some quiet 'me time'! Hang in there big sister! I promise it will get better and these sleepless days and nights will be soon be forgotten. You better not back out on your desire to have 10 kids! I'm counting on more nieces and maybe even a nephew.

Baking Day

2011-12-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

We had our annual cookie baking day with Denise, Katie and Kim Saturday morning. So fun!

We didn't go crazy this year but we did manage to make quite a few great cookies and treats.

Lesley had so much fun, always asking, "what can I do next?" She helped roll the cookies, add sprinkles, and pour ingredients. Oh, and let's not forget the taste testing. Denise caught her licking the powdered sugar off the chocolate macaroons. Hopefully those weren't the cookies you tried! Ha!

Do you remember these fun appliances from the 90s?

It still worked so Katie and Denise put Lesley to working making a "Lesley pie." She loved it! Amazing what some leftover pie crust and cinnamon and sugar will do for a 2.5 year old.

She had to adjust the temperature (fake buttons!) and send it through a couple times.

But then it was ready to eat and it was quite tasty according to Lesley.

Leah was more interested in dancing to the music and playing with the toys in the living room. She also liked the taste testing part. So much sugar for these girls this day!

Katie is so patient with Lesley. We have not been disappointed in our selection for Lesley's Godmother. These gals have a unique bond that I hope never fades.

Hopefully we have more years of baking cookies and being part of the Schieber family! Thank you Denise, Mark, Katie, Matt, Kim, Nick, and Tim (who wasn't actually there Saturday) for including us in so many of your family get togethers!

The Advent Calendar

2011-12-13T18:59:00.001-08:00

I am trying to be more intentional about Christmas and helping Lesley to understand the story of Jesus. Afterall, we celebrate Christmas to celebrate Jesus's birthday! I don't know if it will work into our busy, busy Christmas travels but I would love for Lesley to bake Jesus a birthday cake this year. Maybe we can celebrate a late birthday.

I love, love, love this advent calendar. We talk about patience and how we have to wait several days for Jesus's birthday...and then we can put the baby in the stable with Mary and Joseph.

I can't say that all the pieces go on the board in the exact order they are supposed to (according to Fisher Price anyway, not necessarily the bible) but we are adamant that the baby must wait.

We have also been reading a book about Jesus's birth and learning why he was born in a stable, who visited him based on the guidance of the star, and why Christmas is so very important.

Unfortunately, I have heard a lot of "I want" and "Santa better bring me..." these days. It really does sadden me because I don't feel like we spoil Lesley or give her everything she wants, and I often wonder where she gets these comments and a demanding attitude. Honestly I have been feeling a bit guilty for not buying them more, but then I hear these comments and I am glad that the few gifts she will get are sufficient...she does not need more! We already have so much and sometimes take that for granted.

So, I continually tell myself to step back and remember Christmas is not about getting things or unwrapping gifts. After all Santa is just a bonus to the Christmas season, right? But, I do need to be better at focusing on Jesus and the greatness he brings...and I hope Lesley can help me do just that. The Advent calendar we visit every night helps Lesley...and her mama too!

Hand me Down

2011-12-12T19:32:00.000-08:00

Our favorite neighbor got a new bike so Lesley is in luck. A pink barbie bike!

And, since it's too cold to ride outside, we use the kitchen for now. I think the basement might be a better option at some point, but for now this worked for our 15 minute test run.

And of course, Leah needed to ride around the house too.

14+ Months

2011-12-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

Loving olives!

December 5, 2011

Dear Leah,

What a fun couple of months it has been! You are truly turning into a little girl now and no longer a baby. There's a lot of love/hate feelings about this. I love that you are learning something new every day, and becoming your big sister's best friend (don't tell Lilly, that might cause tears). But, I hate that cuddling is a bit more rare. You're still pretty shy, and take some time to warm up to new people and places. Those are times I certainly cherish when you cling to me for reassurance and comfort.

You love pretty much everything about your big sister, and you are even patient when she takes something of yours. The extent of your fighting back at this point is to come tell us, i.e. point and grunt. I certainly see a wonderful friendship in the future and now more than before I'm so glad that we decided to have kids really close in age.

Now, with the boys at daycare, the sharing and friendliness is a different story. We have been told a couple of times that you tackle Aiden and stand your ground. We were so excited not to have been to the doctor since your ear tubes, and then one day I got a phone call saying you were playing with Aiden but something went wrong and eventually Aiden ended up sitting on top of you. You were very upset and favoring one arm, not wanting to bend it and seemingly in a lot of pain when someone touched it. Off to the doctor we went! He suggested x-rays because although you it appeared you were able to use your arm, you were still very upset even 1.5-2 hours later. The doc did say that a solid nap would be good before the x-rays, just to help calm you down and see if some ibuprofen and sleep would help. Although you didn't take a nap that day, you "forgot" about your arm and we never did go get x-rays. I decided there was no reason to expose you to the radiation if it didn't seem absolutely necessary.

You love, love, love your blanket and have become quite attached to it this month. We still find you chewing on the corners and stroking it for comfort. It doesn't bother me at all as I am a blanket lover too, but your daddy gets annoyed I think. You also still love those darn bottles! We were slowing taking them away and I had hopes to getting them gone by 14 months, but you still like one in the morning and one at night. The morning one is key for mommy and daddy because it usually guarantees another 2ish hours of sleep for everyone. If we get you a bottle between 5:30-6:30am when you first wake up, you will go back to sleep until 7:30 on weekdays, and even 8:30 on weekends. Your bottle before bed is more concerning to me, without it, you struggle going to bed peacefully and it usually takes 1-2 hours to get you to nod off. And, a lot of times that's because I break down and get you some warm milk. Maybe next month?

Speaking of warm milk, you and sister are alike in this way. You probably learned this from your sister who tries to warm her own milk up from time to time. You always want your milk warmed up. You have just started pointing to the microwave when we offer you cold milk. Gosh! How did my girls end up this way, warm milk grosses me out. High maintenance!

A new word this month is "Mama"! Finally, I'm getting some recognition….even if it's usually when you are tired or not feeling well. You are still ornery and when I say, give Mama a kiss or a hug, you run off to Daddy. Another favorite hobby of yours is "talking" on the phone. You'll hold it up to you ear and say "hello?" A 5^th tooth finally popped through and we are hoping for more soon. Teething is a rough, slow process for you!

But, you are a pretty good eater most of the time. That's important for your sturdy, solid frame. Already wearing a lot of 18 month clothes! You favor vegetables and have started using a plate and utensils. Most of the food that ends up in your mouth is placed there with your hands, but you think you are pretty big stuff to have a fork and spoon at dinner like the rest of us. The plate works well for most of dinner, but the food is usually dumped on your tray by the end. Only once has it ended up on the floor. You have started to boycott your high chair though. Not fun trying to get you strapped in! You want your own big chair, or you just want to sit on mommy's lap to eat.

Climbing is one of your FAVORITE things to do. You figured out to get on the chairs, and ultimately on the table. Yikes! You are even trying to scale the kitchen stools to reach the countertop. The couch is another favorite and you can go up and down the staircase like it's no one's business. And, you are FAST, super fast. "Sit down Leah" is a popular phrase at our house. Even Big Sister knows when to use it. We've also seen a lot of tantrums in the past couple of months. You just melt down when you are told "no" and sometimes it's a long recovery. Probably 8 out of 10 times it's because we won't let you climb on something.

Although you have started being more vocal; babbling and chattering more often and louder than ever before, you still don't say many words, but we know you understand a lot. You can follow simple instructions and have started to shake your head "yes" or "no" in response to questions. It's pretty funny to see you shaking your head up and down, over exaggerating to get your point across. Just in the past week, this is accompanied with your opening and closing your mouth, trying to say "yes". Daddy has been working with you and I think you are getting close. One of these days we think there will be a word explosion from you! Your sister was a little late with her vocabulary too, and it makes even more sense with you since she answers questions for you and is often your voice.

I'm excited this is your first real Christmas and I hope you get into the festivities too. It was hard shopping for you, but I think Mommy found a few good options!

Love you more and more every day!

Abby

Decking the Tree

2011-12-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

We had a blast putting the tree up this year. Lesley was SO excited and asked me every day for about 7 days before we actually brought it up from the basement. I loved her excited!

Leah tried so hard to be a helper. But there was a point when she just followed Lesley around taking off whatever ornament Lesley had placed. Lesley was so patient with her and would just say, "Mommy, she took another one off" and then try to find a better spot for it. We let this go on for 10-15 minutes before we started feeling sorry for Lesley and had to distract Leah.

Then it was time for the star!

Daddy tried his hardest to get both girls included in the process, but it was too difficult.

Eventually Lesley did completed the tree.

I would LOVE to get a photo of my girls in Christmas-y clothes in front of our decorated tree. It is beautiful this year. I just need to add candy canes, per Lesley's request. Seriously would love the opportunity for a shot with a lit up, festive tree and my girls! Fingers crossed, maybe soon I can try to work some magic with that. Or learn how to photoshop to get it done. :) So, stay tuned...it might happen!

The Singing Penguins Live!

2011-12-08T20:22:00.000-08:00

Remember the singing and dancing penguins from year's past?

It looks like this year they will be a favorite of Leah's.

She's been carrying them around since we unpacked them. They now reside on the girls' little table, and Lesley and Leah will sometimes just walk past and push the "play" button.

Potty Training? Really?

2011-12-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

Not really, but this girl is pretty persistent that she needs a turn on the potty like Big Sis.

For now, I'm going along with it - only because she is cute and I can't resist her pointing and grunting. Oh, and the tantrums when I tell her she doesn't need to go. But, I imagine this will get old pretty quickly since there's little hope that there will be any success. Maybe we'll give it a real deal try next summer.

What season is it around here?

2011-12-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

The other night, I wanted Lesley and Leah to try on the hats we bought while in San Francisco over the summer. I was hoping the sizes were right since I was buying ahead. They seemed to fit well!

But, Lesley was a bit confused on the season and was determined to wear her swimsuit that night. Whatever, we'll just turn the heat up a bit while she prances around in her swimsuit.

She is awful cute in her swimsuit and winter hat!

Leah looked good in her hat too. Not sure if she'll leave one on this winter, so far we haven't had luck. Only the hoods on her jackets stay on for more than 10 seconds.

Some of my all time favorites!

2011-12-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

I was hoping for some family shots for a Christmas card....but unfortunately the good ones did not include the Daddy.

But, it's okay, because my brother and mom managed to catch these two WONDERFUL shots of me and my girls. I love them!

These two bring me more joy than I can even try to explain.

Who know being a mama could be so amazing!

Lesley's Building

2011-12-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Lesley is constantly running around saying, "I have a GREAT idea." I love how it's not just an idea, but a GREAT idea. She is awesome!

One of her latest is her building. She loves "building her building." Too funny!

This particular evening (in her mismatched "Mommy, I can pick out my own" clothes) she wanted to do puzzles on top of her building.

Some nights she likes to play under her building, and if Leah is lucky, she's allowed in too.

This girl is really starting to show an imagination.

For the past few days, she's been telling us that she is going to the rodeo with Lilly tomorrow. She's not perfect with her use of "time", but she is quite confident that her and Lilly will be going to the rodeo together. Maybe next summer on our Colorado vacation we can find a rodeo for these two best buds to enjoy.

Kisses Everywhere

2011-12-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

Grandma Cheryl brought these fun headbands a couple weekends ago.

Daddy, what is this mistletoe stuff on my head?

Leah wasn't sure about wearing them at first, but eventually decided that she liked having them on her head.

Leah even had her Christmas pj's on.

Look Mom, there's some gingerbread men on my head.

Mommy will take a kiss under this mistletoe anyday!

Thanksgiving Catch up

2011-12-01T19:19:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of late posting these (few) pics. Not gonna lie, I love the holidays but they are hectic and probably a little too busy for me at times. The coming and going and not knowing when you are coming and going...or when you are going to get a good night's sleep! It's exhausting and it's only just started for us this holiday season.

But, we are fortunate to have so many family members to try and celebrate with. My aunt hosted the Hoffmann's again and although I am not sure of the headcount this year, I do know that people were shuffled to my house to sleep where they could find a spot. Even the addition of Charlie, Uncle Nick's camper, didn't help the sleeping arrangements enough at the Schiebers to have enough space for everyone. There were people at our house, at Matt & Kim's house, at Tim's house, in the camper, and on every couch/floorspace at Denise's house. I know that ALL of my mom's 8 brothers and sisters with their spouses were around and several cousins and kiddos of the cousin's too! It was a packed house and from what I hear, there were still plenty of leftover potatoes and stuffing. I feel like we eat nonstop...but Aunt Jeanne, I don't think I got enough of your pickle dip. Must. Bring. To. Hoffmann. Christmas. Please.

We also congregate at the Schieber's house the night before. Audra entertained the little girls for a long time! No surprise here that Leah found a ball.

She was a bit confused about this particular ball. Squishy? Slimy?

Uncle Bill was helping Lilly and Lesley feed Duke treats. This holiday is for sure Duke's fav! He probably ate a whole box of treats over the course of 3 days. Good thing there were 4 vets around, just in case his tummy had issues with all those treats.

Aunt Denise always has the coolest toys. Check out that old Fisher Price schoolhouse.

I was really hoping to get a good photo of the girls in front of Aunt Denise's fireplace. The girls always love the holiday decorations she keeps here so I thought it was appropriate. Lesley was cooperating, Leah was not. That seems to be the story of every photo attempt - one is happy, one is not.

I guess this one will have to work.

On Thanksgiving evening, we headed down to Granny's to celebrate a little longer with Jason's family. Another great meal! But, also 2 crabby girls! After about 45 minutes, they started warming off and venturing off Mommy's lap. Eventually Grandma Cheryl pulled out an old phone and they had a blast with that. Lesley was running around having random conversations with Lilly, Grandma Nancy, and whoever really. When Leah could get her hands on the phone, she would hold it up to head and say "el-lo". She is very picky about what phone she has and knows exactly which one is mommy's and which one is the fake, i.e. Mommy's old one.

Friday meant a little shopping for Mommy and Aunt Aimee, a trip to Cabelas to see the animals, and then a trip to Iowa. Saturday was the Holtz family get together at Aunt Connie's house. More tasty food including a new dish - cranberry rice casserole! Fantastic!

So, like I said, it is wonderful to have so much family to celebrate with, but also exhausting. The girls never sleep as good when we are traveling as compared to home. And, I still don't understand why riding in a car is so tiresome to me. It's Thursday night and I'm still trying to catch up on laundry, unpacking, cooking, etc.

More roadtrips to come this year! Lyssa's baptism, Christmas and then New Year's too!

A Rough Day

2011-11-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

Jason and I recently went on THREE date nights in a matter of 7 days! What?!!! You might ask how that happened since it had been months since our last outing together with no kiddos.

1.) A VERY nice dinner out to spend some of my overtime pay for working long hours during the third quarter close. Steak and lobster mac & cheese are a favorite of ours! Jason also let me order and basically drink an entire bottle of wine. Likely overpriced, but fun to pick a bottle from an area in Napa Valley we had recently visited.

The next day resulted in some time on the couch for mama! I'll admit, my body is not used to all that wine...plus, it was a shot night for me which sometimes causes it's own set of problems. (To clarify, not shot as in alcohol, but shot as in medicine. :) Put a bottle of wine and a shot night together, and mommy ended up on the couch the next day AND in bed for her own 2 hour nap.

Lesley didn't mind the cuddle time.

Leah wanted in on the action too.

2.) Our friends Chris and Joyce invited us to join them for a preseason basketball game between Missouri and Notre Dame. Sounds great! Although the Irish played pretty terrible, it was great to catch up with them on their wedding plans and hear how things were going for our friends who we don't get to see as much as we'd like. I keep telling them that once they have kids, it will be easier for all of us to get together. That's probably a few years down the road, but I'll keep hoping.

No photos from our trip to the Sprint Center and NO headaches the next day, but we did manage to take advantage of our UMB bank accounts and visit the "VIP" corner where UMB graciously provides unlimited beer to customers. Although small cups, we didn't hesitate to go back, again and again.

3.) We also took advantage of the babysitters (Grandma Nancy, Papa Keith, and Uncle Andy) in the family on Friday night after Thanksgiving. We sent all three big girls to their house, Lyssa stayed home with her mommy and daddy for a (somewhat) quiet evening, and Jason and I headed to meet my cousin Chris and his wife, my high school friend Cathy for dinner. It was awesome to eat pizza and just sit and chat with them, having no kids around to interrupt.

We showed up to G&G's house after the kiddos were peacefully sleeping and Uncle Andy was cursing us. Yikes! I think the little ladies were a bit much to handle that evening. Our diaper bag got left at Aunt Aimee's house so poor Leah didn't have her evening bottle, and it sounds like Lesley missed her mama. I think the evening's activities confused her a bit since she thought she was going to Grandma's house with Mommy, but didn't understand the detour Mommy and Daddy took enroute to Grandma's.

We are thankful for Grandma Cheryl to babysit one night, Matt, Kim, and Nick another night, and Grandma Nancy, Papa Keith, AND Uncle Andy to handle the little ladies the last night. I'm feeling a little guilty for not being with the girls all those evenings, but I think since it was Thanksgiving week, we had plenty of time together. The girls were both ready and excited to go to the babysitter and play with the other kids this morning.

A trip to the library

2011-11-24T11:52:00.000-08:00

Lesley has been asking to go to the library for a long time. The babysitter checks out books about once a week and she thinks that is great. So, we headed to the library the other day.

Only, they had no interest in the books and just wanted to play with some of the toys.

There was a bench with an ocean puzzle, some seashells, and marine type photographs.

We sorted the seashells, counted them, and listened for the ocean by holding them up to our ears. Lesley thought that was cool, but didn't believe when I said you could hear the waves. :)

It was a pretty short visit and Lesley didn't even want to check out books when we were getting ready to leave. I think the librarian was confused (offended?) when we left without books. She asked me a couple of times if we needed help finding anything, or if there was a particular book we were looking for. Nope, just not a lot of interest in the actual books.

And a trip to the Museum too

2011-11-23T12:01:00.001-08:00

Since the library trip was so short, we headed down the street to the museum.

Leah had lots of fun on the stage!

Lesley dressed up too, but we didn't get any good shots of the front of her.

The girls also had a blast in the kitchen making apple and cherry pies!

Leah couldn't quite figure out out to get the egg in this next set of photos. She was determined though and didn't give up until she got the egg.

I can't quite reach it with my right hand...

Still trying!

Okay, so let's try the left hand this time.

We always love going to the museum! One day a few weeks ago, our sitter needed the day off so I took the girls that morning. I was surprised to find out that Funky Mama, a kids entertainer was performing that morning. We got the last 3 tickets! It was fun, but Lesley asked about a million times if she could go play with the chickens. She wasn't as excited about the concert as her mommy was!

Bath time

2011-11-23T11:25:00.000-08:00

Bath time can have a few different outcomes. "Successful" or "hysterical crying fits" sort of sums them up.

It's not something Lesley really wants to participate in since she LOVES showers so much. She's going to be one those 30 minute shower, use all the hot water people.

Leah still loves her baths and rushes to the bathroom at the word.

But, I struggle with her too. She likes to drink the bath water and stand up in the tub. "Sit Leah" is a frequent request/demand. Last night I took all the cups or toys that can be used as cups out of the tub before I started the water. She quickly realized what had happened and started grunting and pointing (a standard method of communication for her). She somehow knew they were in the sink and insisted. I told her, "if you stay sitting and you don't drink out them, you can have them."

She was so excited and seemed to totally understand because she immediately sat back down. And, she didn't drink any of the water...at first. It must have been too tempting because I eventually had to take the cups out again.

That's when the hysterical crying fits start. The rest of the bath involves quick scrubbing with soap and dumping water over her head to get it out. And, more crying followed by kicking and screaming while pajamas are being forced on her.

Thankfully though we get some nights where they play together and have fun with the bubbles or shaving cream. And, SPLASHING!

A Look Alike

2011-11-17T18:35:00.001-08:00

Of who you might ask....well, Abby Cadabby (with a special mustache) of course!

She went to the babysitter's one morning, but needed a change in clothes for some reason. She picked her FAVORITE shirt and Chris thought piggy tails were appropriate. We are sort of at the age when she won't allow me to put piggy tails in, but Chris seems to have little problem. She came home looking quite cute this day!

We've been into making fruit slushies lately. They more like smoothies since there's no ice in them - just fruit, yogurt and a little apple juice or water. Lesley loves them and she certainly gets some fruit servings in with these drinks.

Also, Lesley seems to drool quite a bit for a 2 1/2 year old. A lot! It's been concerning me some so I mentioned it to our Parents as Teachers educator and she sent me some research/articles on it. A bit concerning was that drooling can be an indicator of future speech problems. Yikes! One of the best "therapies" is sucking from a straw. So that was one reason to get the blender out and make some fruit smoothies. And, we'll be talking to the dentist and pediatrician about it at her next visits.

We've been making applesauce and dried apple slices a lot lately. Lesley has gotten the hang of the apple corer/peeler/slicer. It makes the process so much faster! And it's awesome how excited she gets about helping us out and eating "her apples".

Future Medical Professionals

2011-11-15T19:25:00.000-08:00

If you ask Lesley and Lilly what they did this weekend, they will tell you "doctoring."

First, Lilly was "doctoring" the puppy and showing Lesley how to appropriately put a bandaid on the hurt doggy.

Then, she was checking Lesley's heart.

Seems good!

I'm just a little concerned that Lilly appears to be working in an animal hospital.

Should we warn Lesley?

It's okay, little sister was supervising.

Switch! Lesley's turn to vaccinate Lilly.

Someone else thinks she needs a turn.

One last check.

I think you're going to make it!

Meeting #4

2011-11-14T19:08:00.000-08:00

The girls and I finally got to love on this sweet baby.

How is it that you forget newborns are so tiny?

And loveable.

And POPULAR.

I had to fight Cousin #1 and Cousin #2 off many times just to get a cuddle.

Every time I picked Lyssa up, Lesley would rush over, "Mommy, can I hold her?" Or, "Mommy, it's my turn to hold the baby?" Or, "Mommy, I really want to hold Lyssa now."

Neither girl wanted to let Lyssa sleep.

They wouldn't even let Grandma Nancy have a turn. You can see Leah trying to give hugs and kisses. Sort of the forehead kind. But very sweet nonetheless.

Seriously, is it too much to ask to hold my new niece without being attacked by my own girls?

Cousin #2 really did not want to leave Lyssa alone.
Always checking on her and wanting to give her kisses.

I had a feeling she wouldn't be jealous of mommy holding another baby. And, I was right. She just wanted to be in on the action and hold or touch or pet (or poke!) or kiss Lyssa.

Finally! It was my turn (although you might see Leah's head sneaking into the picture:).

Grandma Nancy sent this photo out to some family and Jason immediately called me saying "This photo makes me nervous. We may need to talk. I recognize that smile and those eyes."

Whatever do you mean honey?

And, we are so thankful and lucky to have had the opportunity to get all FOUR great-granddaughters together with Great-Papa and Great-Grandma Holtz. It was very special.

Great-Grandma said that she was comparing notes with her sister who has four great-grandsons. We are not quite caught up yet....just more little girl to go!

And, maybe my favorite picture of the weekend. Papa and all his girls!

The big girls had a blast this weekend. They wouldn't even let Papa go to the potty without interrupting. Lots of mischief and a little bit of sharing/kindness for Leah who had a rough weekend. There is possibly a new tooth tonight. Let's hope it sticks. Come one Lyssa, Leah needs a partner in crime!

The Carlin Family Kitchen Band

2011-11-10T19:30:00.000-08:00

We had fun the other night making our own family band.

Do you even know the possibilities of noises that come from kitchen "stuff"?

It all started when Leah was emptying the corner cabinet and Lesley got the cookie cutters out.

Instead of putting things back right away, we decided to make a "game" out of it.

My favorite was the ice cube trays.

Lesley got a little carried away and we had to remind her that there were people around. She should probably not swing her arms as fast as she could to get the most noise.

Our conductor even found a good place to sit while drumming away.

This activity seriously kept the whole family busy for 20-30 minutes. (Then we had to clean some of the band equipment. :)

Thanks Leah for helping us to think outside the box!

A November Walk

2011-11-09T20:08:00.000-08:00

The weather has been amazing! Yes, we've had a few cool days but overall I love that we could go for a walk in November and enjoy the sunshine and breeze.

Little sister didn't want to go, so it was just Lesley and Mama. It was snack time so Lesley enjoyed some fresh apples while Mama pulled the wagon around the block.

I really like this photo of Lesley. She has been a great girl lately, so kind and gentle with little sister and generally just happy. The fits and tantrums seem fewer and less extreme. I am more aware of the needed transitions and what she will and won't respond/react to. We do a lot of warning to try and take away any "surprises" for her. As an example, we have to establish every night who will be taking her to Chris's and who will be picking her up the next day. And, thoroughly cover any unique circumstances or events that might be happening.

I can totally picture her with a daily planner in the future. Though, it will probably be electronic versus the hard copies her mama used to maintain while in school. :)

And, she says some of the funniest things and she remembers EVERYTHING. I wish I could write them all down so I don't forget.

This little miss wanted to take the cozy coupe on the walk. Neither her mama or her daddy were thrilled with the idea of pushing that around the block, so she decided to stay in the cul-de-sac and cruise around with Daddy.

Stunt Woman

2011-11-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

Does anyone else remember this stage that Lesley went through?

Leah has been hearing "Sit down Leah" a lot lately.

She doesn't usually listen and distraction is becoming less and less effective. Babe might be put in time out soon...only because time out is not yet effective for Leah.

Love

2011-11-06T20:15:00.000-08:00

I can't even try to tell you how much I love these girls! Words aren't enough.

Welcome Lyssa Sue

2011-11-04T19:15:00.000-07:00

We have a new NIECE and she is so sweet!

Lyssa Sue arrived Wednesday night and we couldn't be happier!

10:45pm, 7 pounds, 11 ounces

Perfect.

Lyssa was named after her Daddy's sister Melissa who passed away about 10 years ago, before Aimee and Mike started dating. She has a very special name and I hope she cherishes it always.

Last night Lesley was running around our house saying "Lyssa, Lyssa, Lyssa, Lyssa....." She is so happy for Lilly and keeps saying she wants to hold Lyssa too. "But the mommy's feed the babies." Then, randomly she would ask, "What is the baby doing now? Is she sleeping? Is her mommy feeding her?" I love her excitement. We didn't get any of that when Leah was born because Lesley was too little to really understand.

Aimee and the baby got home from the hospital this afternoon and it sounds like things are going good....well, as good as can be expected with a newborn and toddler in the house. Aimee says that Lilly wants to be very hands on which makes her nervous. We talked about how the second time around is easier because the baby "stuff" comes a little easier, but then there's the fun aspect of having a toddler around too. I assured her that things would settle down soon enough, and life will find a new "normal" for the expanded family.

But, she was excited to report that Lilly appears to be fully potty trained as of last week! Great timing! Let's cross our fingers she doesn't regress (too much) with the new baby in the house.

Grandma Nancy and Papa Keith better keep stocking up on barbies, dollhouses, dress up clothes, and pink bee-bee guns. Four granddaughters! So. Much. Fun.

Painting Pumpkins

2011-11-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

We headed outside to decorate our pumpkins on Sunday afternoon. Daddy was in charge of the big pumpkins and the girls took the lead on the little ones.

To start the fun, Leah was throwing the pumpkins down the driveway. She thought it was hilarious as they rolled out into the street and Big Sister chased them to bring them back. Once we started making Leah go after the pumpkins, she eventually stopped throwing them. We weren't making any progress on decorating so we had to try and get her to stop somehow!

Lesley spent quite a bit of time on her little pumpkins and I had to go back for more paint a couple times. This was a fun project for her!

I had picked out some old stretchy pants for her to wear, but she insisted on these khakis. I knew it wasn't a good idea (note paint on pants above) but I didn't have the energy to fight her this time around. She can be opinionated! Pants can be washed and these thankfully came (pretty) clean.

It was amazing how long Leah was entertained by "painting" her pumpkins with water. I got that idea from the babysitter who lets the kids "paint" her yard decorations with water.

She was determined to paint just like big sister!

I don't have any photos of the finished products and it's currently raining outside so I'm not sure I'll get one this year.

Sorry folks, but I still have one more Halloween post!

Trick or Treat

2011-11-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

The girls wore their festive clothes on Halloween. Sort of. Lesley insisted on pink socks. Close.

We headed out to a few neighbors after eating dinner. It was funny how quickly Leah picked up on the trick or treating business. She insisted on walking AND carrying her bucket. By about the third house, she was holding her hand out, grunting for her own piece(s). She even went so far as to dig in the candy buckets and shove handfuls into her bucket.

We ran into a few of Lesley's friends from the cul-de-sac.

Lesley wasn't so good at saying "treat or treat". She would get shy and hide a little...until the candy bowl came out. Then she was ready! We got a few "thank yous", but only we could hear them. She was pretty good about making sure Leah got her pieces too...then we'd turn to walk away and she would say, "let's go to the next house Mommy."

I had to convince Lesley that this "kitty" was actually someone she knew. She was hesitant at first but eventually agreed to a photo.

Let's not kid ourselves, Jason was leading the charge. :)

After hitting about 10 houses on our street, we jumped in the car to visit some friends in a cul-de-sac around the corner and then headed to the Schieber's - both Matt & Kim and Denise, Mark & Katie's houses. The girls are spoiled by this awesome family! Aunt Denise had "special" treats for the girls and we even snuck in on a birthday apple pie with ice cream for Uncle Mark's birthday. It was the best treat of the evening!

Our Mouse and Strawberry

2011-10-31T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hello Little Mouse. What are you doing?

Oh, I see. Are you going to pick that red, ripe strawberry?

But Little mouse, haven't you heard about the big, hungry bear?

Grandma Nancy first got Lesley interested in the book "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR" by Don and Audry Wood and now our girls love it. Lesley can even "read" most of the book herself. So we thought these costumes were perfect! Granted most people don't get the connection between the mouse and strawberry, but we still got lots of "they are so cute" remarks.

We had a lot of fun going to the zoo this morning and searching for that big hungry bear. If you read the book, the storyteller is the "bear" who is trying to get the mouse to share his strawberry. There isn't actually a bear! But Lesley always wants to know where the bear is, there's no pictures of it in the book because he doesn't exist. We were glad that we could find a BIG HUNGRY BEAR for her this morning.

And she was glad that she got to go trick or treating! Leah also quickly picked up on the grunt and reaching out for candy when Big Sister was getting some in her bag. Luckily for us, they didn't realize we'd be eating the candy until our visit to the zoo was almost over and we only had to tell Lesley "no" 10 times. It could have been much worse!

Leah: 12+ Months

2011-10-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

October 28, 2011

Dear Leah,

I've learned a lot from having you girls in my life. First and foremost, there is the uncontrollable love I have for you amazing creatures that somehow were a creation I helped with. I certainly don't feel powerful enough to have been part of that miracle of God. The other thing I've had to accept as a mommy is that plans change, often. With that being said, I'll admit that I missed your one year/12 month letter. It's not because I didn't have things to say or tell you, just time got away from me (again). Unfortunately your birthday is always going to fall during a busy time for me as an accountant so unless I change careers, we will be celebrating early or late (or both!)…and I'll be working lots surrounding your big day. Sorry sweetheart, but that's the brakes. One day I hope you appreciate the value of working hard and being part of team, and recognize that it's not one single moment that might be missed but all the moments in between that count.

My memories of your actual birth day are quite different than my memories with your older sister's birth. Looking back, I like think that there was a sense of calm the day you (finally) joined our family. We had been waiting and waiting and finally 1 week after your due date, you were ready. Things started early in the morning, and Heather came over to stay with Lesley and take her to daycare. I remember standing at the kitchen counter feeling contractions and knowing that was the day. Heather stood next to me for a few minutes and just squeezed my hand as another contraction was upon me. It hurt, but it was a good hurt. Things were changing but we were ready.

If you ask me, Daddy took the long way to the hospital. J I guess I didn't mind too much, but was still anxious to get there and see where "things" were at and maybe try to gauge how quickly you were on your way. We signed our names at the front desk and the nurse said, "We'll check you soon to see if you can stay or if you should go home." I am laughing thinking about that comment. I was 41 weeks pregnant! I'm pretty certain there was no way I would let them send me home. After checking my progress, she quickly looked up and said "We're going to have a birthday today!" Tears were flowing by that point. We were ready to meet you.

Our labor and delivery nurse was not exactly an all-star so we tried to have minimal contact with her. Funny, right? We certainly weren't experts on birthing babies but we felt confident that after surviving Lesley's birth, we could handle this. Plus, we were in the hospital and even if we didn't like the nurse, she was still around and checking on things. A HUGE bonus this time around was the birthing tub. Loved it! Daddy sat next to me and snuck me some bites of pudding. We had the curtain pulled shut around us to try and keep the nurse away as much as we could.

After an hour or more (I don't remember for sure, time is a weird thing when you are in labor), I got out of the tub so she could check me and put more hot water in for me. Getting closer! The doctor came to see how things were going, she broke my water, and within minutes I was ready…no more tub for me! Just 10 minutes or so later, you were in my arms and it was the best thing. We snuggled with you and held you tight. We waited several hours to call friends and family (except Heather since she knew we were at the hospital) and just enjoyed the time we had with our newest addition. It was a peaceful, pretty calm day. It was perfect. And, you are perfect.

I still think you are peaceful and calm most of the time, and a great 2^nd child. You not only look up to your big sister but also always try to keep up with her. If I ask you "where is Lesley", you look around for her and point her out. We have a lot of "me too" moments these days where you don’t want to be left out. Case in point, we have really, really been struggling with bedtime for you. I think it's because you know big sister is still awake. I've even tried a couple times to do bedtime together, i.e. read books and snuggle with both my girls, but that has yet to be successful. You don't realize it, but you need more sleep than Lesley so getting you to bed 30-45 minutes earlier is key. Mommy has plans for you two to share a room when you are a little older, so soon enough you can stay up just as late as she does.

A new trick you have is giving Daddy kisses. But only Daddy. You willingly lean over to offer a smooch to him but Mommy gets a blank stare if she asks for a kiss. What's up with that? And, you are still only saying "Dad". We are hoping with your new tubes, more words start coming out of that mouth. You like to talk on your phone and you know exactly which drawer it is typically stored in. The dropsie game is also a fav! You drop, we pick up. Repeat. Did I mention this usually involves food from your high chair? Fun times for Mommy the Maid.

You also like to wave and shake your head. I love how you are really starting to understand what we ask, and try to express your reaction. If I tell you we are going outside, you run to the door or start searching for your shoes. Being outside is one of your favorite things! Just stepping out the door will increase your mood immediately and a lot of days you truly enjoy a good wagon ride down the street. Too bad winter is approaching and the days are getting so much shorter.

We taught you where your nose is and are trying the belly button out too. Some days you will point to it, but sometimes you just scrunch up your face and grin when we ask where your belly button is. You love to brush your teeth and you also love to steal Mommy's hairbrush. Some mornings I have to go searching for it, or just get a spare.

You seem to have a love for animals. Perhaps a future vet like Aunt Aimee?! You like to ~~torment~~ pet the cats. When you hear a dog, you perk up and start looking around. You may even be trying to say "dog" but not clear just yet, and not so different from your other grunting sounds. The goats do anything but scare you and even the crazy, LOUD dogs next door who tend to go nuts when we are outside intrigue you. I seriously have to hold you back from going near their fends. Greta says they might bite, so you better be careful little brave one.

Tantrums are getting really fun these days! Ha! A typical "fit" for you would be stomping your feet, offering pathetic cries, and throwing your head back on the floor (but carefully so you don't bonk it too hard, all about the effect). We've called your bluff on these fits and try to reiterate that we are experienced (right?) and won't fall for such behavior (right?). Nonetheless, I think you will be good at things like sharing and picking up. Big sister is working hard on those things right now and hopefully you pick up on that behavior too.

One of my most favorite things you do that your sister did not is chew on your blanket. You never liked a pacifier or any sort of soothing item as an infant, but in the past several months I have noticed that you will put the edge of your pink soft blanket into your mouth and suck on it. I love that you love your blanket. You can keep that for as long as you want!

One of my least favorite things right now is diaper changes. Ugh. You squirm and twist and make it nearly impossible!

Stats at 12 months, 5 days
Height, 30.5 inches, 89%
Weight, 22 pounds, 4 ounces, 69%
Head circumference, 47.0 cm, 93%
Still only 4 teeth.

Your stats don't necessarily indicate you will be bigger than your sister, but your shoe size and appetite do! Lesley was just starting to wear size 4 shoes at this age and they were even big on her. You need size 5 already! You perhaps eat more than Lesley because you are strapped into a chair whereas she tends to wander off during dinner time. I actually purchased a few summer shirts on sale the other day thinking you girls could wear them next summer. I bought 2 in the same size! Mommy was the second girl in the family, and she doesn’t remember a time when her big sister was actually bigger than her. This might be the case here too. (Don't worry, this means you can beat her up a little easier…and people mistakenly think you are older and therefore wiser. Ha!)

Next up: getting rid of those bottles! You are doing super great sleeping and I hope that continues even through the winter with your new ear tubes. In the past, sleep goes downhill once an ear infection sets in, then it takes some time to get your shut eye back to a good schedule. I would LOVE to replace the 6-6:30am warm bottle of milk with a 7-7:30am sippy cup of cold milk. I do appreciate the snuggle time and that you go back to sleep after that early morning bottle, but we are tired of washing bottles so it's time to start that transition. Lesley was pretty easy, but you seem to enjoy your bottles a bit more than she did. Maybe next month we'll go hard core on that task!

We have cherished the last 12+ months with you and am constantly amazed that you part of each of us (although many would rightfully argue you look and act more like your daddy). We have loved seeing you grow and turn into a little girl.

Love,
Mommy

I found a scary spider in my house.

2011-10-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Lesley has been very, very busy creating fun fall projects at the babysitter's house. She came home proclaiming, "I'm a scary spider!" the other day.

Scary, but so very cute.

This isn't even all of them! She brought home a paper bag jack o lantern today, and a construction paper candy corn with yarn thread through it yesterday.

Most of the projects involve counting, cutting, colors, shapes, etc. She can spell her name out loud, but hasn't yet figured out how to write it. She tries the "L" but it's not so great yet. Hopefully that will be a project Chris works on soon so she can do it at the sitter's house as well as our house.

Her ability to cut straight lines has gotten very good! Probably not challenging enough so Chris now draws curvy lines for her cut with a scissors, on a daily basis.

This witch is probably my favorite project of the week. They had to pick a color to paint the broom and then cut it out before gluing it together. They worked on their shapes for this project. She gets so excited to show us her creations and won't let us throw any of them away. I even try to convince her that Grandma Nancy would like some so we should mail them to her. No luck! I guess we keep accumulating until the next holiday/season.

Rear Ended

2011-10-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

Jason's Yukon got rear ended by these crazy drivers!

What are you going to do? Contact their insurance company I guess....

Lesley had a blast driving around Lilly's truck! And, it worked out perfect because Lilly wasn't interested in driving that day. She just wanted to be along for the ride I guess.

Lesley actually did pretty good driving the truck around. It was a little tricky at first, but with some coaching from Daddy and Uncle Mike she figured things out pretty quickly.

One obstacle was Leah. She figured out how to shift the truck from forward to reverse and thought it was pretty funny when they would be going forward and then quickly be reversing.

At one point, Aunt Aimee asked the big girls to go dump some kitchen compost in the chicken pen. They put the bucket in the back of the truck and jumped in....but quickly changed plans since the truck was stuck in a hole at that point. When we called them to come have lunch, they ran back to the deck and grabbed their plastic chairs. We couldn't figure out what they were doing at first, but they soon had the chairs loaded up in the back of the truck and were heading down the driveway. The chairs didn't stay put for too long but the girls were not deterred and just kept getting in and out of the truck stacking the chairs in the back. There was a lot of giggling and laughing going on...from the girls and the parents watching the "situation" from the deck.

Love these crazy drivers!

On the Farm

2011-10-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Iowa was wrapped with a fun morning at the Anderson farm. Lesley was so excited to ride Tally. I think she asked us close to a million times if she could ride her all by herself. You sure can brave little girl!

Ha! Brave might not be the right word. She wanted to ride Tally, but she wanted absolutely nothing to do with riding Pedro. I don't get that. Pedro is half the size of Tally and yet she was scared of him. "No Pedro!"

The daddies taking the big girls for a spin on Tally.

Man, these two have so much fun together!

I mean, it doesn't get much better than this for these cousins.

Lilly is so proud of her Tally and her Pedro. Aimee said that Lilly had been asking to bring Tally and Pedro home so she could share with Lesley. The mule and donkey sometimes stay at Mike's cousin's house who has excess pasture space for the pair.

Leah had no fear of Pedro and was quite content riding him around. Pedro was not necessarily thrilled to be giving rides, but he survived. Not sure if he shed any of those excess pounds, but at least we can say we gave him a little extra exercise that day.

Moments like this make me want to steal Lilly and bring her home with me. My girls LOVE her so much. When it was time to go that day, Lesley got very upset and didn't want to leave. She asked Lilly if she wanted to get in the car with her and sit next to her. Lilly told her mom she wanted to come with us to Kansas City. That certainly doesn't make the good-bye's any easier.

These two girls are so sweet together lately!

Lesley makes me so proud because she has turned into an awesome big sister. She always wants to share her snacks and even some of her toys with Leah and is checking on her. This behavior is exactly what we dreamed of when we decided to have kids close together in age. They like to play together and both girls seem to be in better moods when they are with each other. The day Leah was home after getting tubes was interesting. It just seemed like there were times when she didn't know what to do without Big Sister around. Then, when I brought Lesley home, Leah seemed very excited to see her.

I wrote in a previous post about Lesley offering to share her blanket the morning of Leah's surgery. I am not kidding when I say I got tears in my eyes when hearing that offer. Lesley doesn't share her blankets with many people so I know just how much she was must have been worried about Leah.

The morning actually started out with tasty yogurt strawberry smoothies with delicious pumpkin pancakes! If Aimee ever changes careers, I think chef or baker would be a good choice. The girls were so happy to drink their smoothies out of the Tinkerbell cups. Luckily Leah isn't old enough to care what's on her cup or we may have had a problem.

Henry Doorly Zoo Visit

2011-10-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to the zoo in Omaha. And, we are so thankful that Aunt Aimee and Grandma Nancy could go with us while Uncle Mike and Papa Keith were hunting.

These photos aren't exactly in order since the barn and petting zoo were our last stop. We arrived shortly after the zoo opened, and hit what we could in the next 3 hours. Everyone was getting hungry shortly after noon so we headed off to lunch after checking out the goats.

Amazing what peer pressure will do for a girl! Had Lilly not hugged this trusting goat, I'm pretty sure Lesley would have been far, far away.

He didn't look too happy, but I think he might have cracked a smile at these two little girls.

Leah wanted to be part of the action as much as she could. She did so, so good Saturday! It was great that she was content in her stroller for quite a while, then took a short nap, and was happy, happy, happy while we walked through the primates, bears, and petting zoo areas. She doesn't normally take morning naps, but I think it was key for her on this day so we could peacefully make it through lunch before all the girls napped in the car.

Her daddy acted as a personal guide for most of the trip. I think she enjoyed the ride!

Two outies! Ha! Or, maybe I should say "Boo"!

Released from the stroller, and enjoying a walk with Grandma to the bears.

We kind of love how these girls love each other. I managed to catch a sneaky hug Lesley gave Lilly. I'm secretly hoping that Baby Anderson is a girl so our group is complete. (Not so secret now, right?!)

Lilly thought she should touch this lizard....good thing there was a thick glass wall here.

I didn't quite get the right shot here from across the jungle path. But, I thought it was a good shot nonetheless. It was cool to watch Aimee mothering Lilly and knowing that their family is about to change. Lots!

Let's get going Grandma!

We ran across this bird in the jungle and he seemed to take a special liking to Aimee. Perhaps he was looking for his mommy and Aimee seemed like the most obvious choice?

We had a lot of fun at the zoo and are excited to go back next year. Hopefully we hit a few more exhibits. We had talked about seeing the "kitties" but decided at the last minute to skip that in favor of lunch. As soon as we were pulling away, Lesley yelled from the far back in the Yukon, "Mommy, we forgot the kitties!" Next time sweet girl....

Ear Tubes: Complete

2011-10-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

We had an early morning appointment at the surgery center to get tubes for Leah's ears. At her 12 month appointment, Dr. Deb was concerned about the number of ear infections Leah has had combined with her lack of words. She really only says "da" which is not quite up to par for a 12 month old. Dr. Deb sent us to an ENT who squeezed us in pretty quickly and gave a quick suggestion to sign her up. So we did! She had just finished 10 days of antibiotics and her ears were healthy. The doctor highly suggested getting the tubes in before another round of ear infections starts up...this girl is on a schedule that we wanted to stop.

Leah could not eat or drink anything after midnight and I was DREADING the morning because she loves her 5:30-6am bottle. She did cry and she was quite upset when we got her dressed and didn't give her any milk. But, she eventually fell back asleep in the car. Not before Lesley informed us that Leah wants milk, or "maybe she wants her snacks", and "do you think she wants my blanket?" So, so sweet....it was probably a bit aggressive to think they would sleep peacefully in the car.

Lesley was pretty excited to go to daycare in her pajamas! The first thing she asked this afternoon when I picked her was was "can I wear my pajamas again tomorrow?" Not sure what time Chris changed her into clothes, but sounds like the pj's were a good choice for Lesley this morning. And, I guess we know how to get her excited to go to the sitters if we are having a problematic morning.

She was also excited about the mini pink donut I bought her at Starbucks on our way. No, not the healthiest breakfast but I thought it would be a good treat for Lesley since she had to get up so early and she didn't understand why she couldn't stay with us while Leah was at the doctor.

We got checked in and were busy keeping Leah distracted. These photos were after they called us back to the prep area. Amazing how long chapstick can keep a toddler occupied. And, her identification and allergy bands around her feet were a hit too. She did really, really well until we hit 8am and were still waiting. It had only been an hour, but she was hungry. Poor kiddo was trying to get anything and everything that looked like something to eat or drink. She was even trying to rummage through the diaper bag and snatch Daddy's coffee. Then, it was major meltdown....especially after she figured out the "strange" people were going to be in charge.

Heartbreaking to have to hand her over and listen to her cry. The nurse said, "it's better when they cry, they drift off to sleep faster." Not sure that made this mama feel any better, but she was in good hands.

The doctor was out in about 15 minutes to say that everything went perfectly. Her ears were still healthy so the procedure was easy peasy. It took another 10 minutes before they called us back to the recovery area. Once we walked into the hallway, we could hear her screaming. So sad! The nurse was trying to give her a bottle but Leah was having none of that! She was upset!

I took over calming duties and the nurse and I quickly realized we knew each other. Small world! She was in both my prenatal yoga groups. Like she told a different nurse, "we are on the same pregnancy schedule." :) Her daughter was born about 3 weeks before Lesley, and her son was born about 3 weeks before Leah. It was nice to have a familiar face and someone who I knew had kiddos just like ours. Actually, I'll probably always remember her daughter's name because it was one of my top picks for Lesley's name 3 years ago.

Leah was still fussy, but we were ready to head home by 9am. She drifted in and out of sleep all the way home, it was pretty funny to watch her try and eat some kix but not be able to keep her eyes open. Once we got home, she was okay but still not too happy. At about 10am, she drank another bottle and then curled up on my lap and slept for 2 hours!

I just held her the entire time because I didn't want to disturb her and she seemed so peaceful. Plus, it gave me a chance to catch up on my DVR and old TV shows. I haven't watched that much uninterrupted TV in a long time!

Around lunch time, she popped up and wandered off to play. I guess she was as good as new and ready to go. Lots of smiles and gigles this afternoon. We are thankful for the ability to quickly get an appointment, and their "first available" option they gave us. Let's hope that the ear tubes help Leah have a healthy winter!

Me Too!

2011-10-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

Leah thinks she needs to do "projects" with Big Sister now. Well, Mommy doesn't think she's quite ready for scissors and glue yet but we gave some crayons a chance this weekend.

She didn't do a lot of drawing, but she also didn't really try to eat them.
And, she loved sitting at the table with Big Sister.

So I'd say that was a success!

A Late Delivery

2011-10-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

I ordered Leah's chair in August, but it was back ordered several times. We even had to postpone her 1st birthday photos since we didn't have the chair.

But, it has now arrived and there's at least one little girl who loves it!

Let's read books together!

Hi Mom! I kind of like my new chair. :)

Leave me alone. Can't you see that I am busy.

Now we just need to figure out where to keep these gigantic chairs in our already toy packed living room. Once the girls get a little older, I think they will be perfect for their rooms.

Princesses, Strawberry Shortcake, and Care Bears...all in one!

2011-10-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

Lesley and I headed to get her a hair cut yesterday early afternoon. I found a great salon that only charges $7.25 for kids cuts! (I think they charged us $10 the first time there, and apparently they charged some friends $15 for their little girl. Interesting business plan....) Mallorie is Lesley's "stylist" and I love how Mallorie treats her like a grown up and I think Lesley likes to feel all grown up at the salon.

Anyway, after a 10 minute stop to get a trim, we wandered up the street to check out a thrift store. As expected, it was packed FULL of unnecessary, useless items. We are always on the look out for beer mugs for my dad (no luck that day) and fun stuff the kids can play with. There were a lot of random toys, but nothing that jumped out as "we MUST get this"...except for a little girls bike helmet and some knee/elbow protectors. Only $0.50 for the pair! Sweet deal!

We made the purchase, stopped to get some ice cream, and headed home. After a good nap, we pulled out the princess scooter and put our gear on. Ready to go!

Lesley's going to need some practice, but she got the hang of putting just one foot on the scooter and pushing with the other pretty quickly.

Who says we have to match...I mean, I'm sure that the princesses, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Care Bears would have been friends if they were in the same cartoon. Right?

And, of course, Daddy was there to assist.

Leah just decided to push the cozy coupe back and forth across the drive way. Good way to burn energy in our books!

A trip to the pumpkin patch!

2011-10-16T12:12:00.001-07:00

We had a fun trip to the pumpkin patch last weekend! Our friend Jayden was celebrating his 3rd birthday so we met at the patch for some cookies, cake, a hay bale maze, some farm animals, a play set, tractor hay ride, and of course some pumpkins. It was a lot of fun!

I'm not sure what has gotten into Lesley, but she's been a lot more patient with Mama's requests for photos. I think I mentioned in a previous post that I even hear "take my picture" every once in a while. We jump at the chance for sure!

I love her pouty face next to the scarecrow.

It was windy...but not too windy for this ghost!

Leah and Daddy even climbed up into the play set for a photo.

The goats were a big hit for both girls. I told Jason, "Watch, Leah is going to run right up to them to touch them." Yep, sure did. Maybe she's too naive to be scared of them, or just wants to show her big sister up who usually stands back.

She was loving the goats!

One last pet before we headed off to something different.

An attempt with both girls to measure up at the pumpkin sign.

Poor Leah wasn't feeling 100%. The picture above sums up our trip out to the patch. It didn't last long, just enough time to grab a couple pumpkins and hop back on the tractor ride. She was still recovering from a couple rough nights with her recent ear infections. We headed home shortly after this, Mommy headed to work for the afternoon/evening (again!), and the girls napped.

I'm getting caught up with the photos we have! Work has been busy so not a lot of time to post photos and not too many new photos on the camera since taking pictures is usually mommy's job.

I finally got my housecleaner.

2011-10-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

And she's worth every penny we have spent for her!

She's a fan of the new vacuum cleaner as much as I am. She's even been known to argue with Daddy on who gets to clean the floors. All I have to say is "have at it kids!" The dishes will be waiting for whoever loses that battle.

The Farm

2011-10-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

We planned to go to the zoo last Saturday, but Leah needed to go back to the doctor. Our suspicions of another ear infection were true. The 3rd round of antibiotics in the last month! After her 12 month appointment on Monday, we now have an appointment to see an ENT and a big probability of tubes in her future.

Anyway, since the trip to the zoo wasn't going to happen with the needed doctor's visit, we decided to still pack a lunch and stop at "the farm". It wasn't the same thing and Lesley was still a bit disappointed, but it was nevertheless a good morning.

No surprise, Leah enjoyed the slides.

Lesley posing for a quick photo while scoping out the buffalo.

Lunch break!

She wasn't very good at pedaling and got distracted pretty easily, but we managed to get around track once before Mommy gave up.

If you can't tell, she was trying to sneak up on this baby to pet it. She just isn't so sure about these farm animals. At least we didn't have any bottles, so the babies left us alone when they figured out we didn't have any "goods".

We took the wagon on this excursion. It worked well and Lesley agreed to sit in it for a lot of the morning. It was a nice change from the stroller.

Lesley's favorite part was the play areas. Of course, isn't that why you go to the farm!?

A Trio of Cousins

2011-10-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

Remember when I said that Leah would be right there next to the big girls one day soon...I think we've reached that point. :) She insists on doing what they are doing and being part of the ~~duo~~ trio. And, the big girls are getting the hang of including Leah.

According to Lilly, "Come over here Baby Le-la." She has a "special" name for Leah that I hope never changes.

Just the other day, Lesley said, "Mom, Leah is the little sister and I am the big sister." I guess she might not be calling her Baby Sister any longer.

Why do they have to grow up!? There are some days when I want my kiddos to stay babies forever.

Sharing

2011-10-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

I've been witnessing this in the rear view mirror a lot lately:

Obviously very difficult to get a photo as it happens, but I managed a quick pic on my phone the other day while sitting at a long stop light.

So sweet how Lesley will share her snacks (Kix on this particular day) with Leah. Their arms are just barely long enough to reach each other and make the exchange. Mama has to be very selective on what snacks are in the car now.

Her Big Day

2011-10-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

Leah's birthday started off pretty rough. My hope was to go in her room that morning and sing "Happy Birthday" to her as a family. Lesley almost always wakes up before Leah, and she loves going in to wake Baby Sister up (even though she is usually awake by the time we let her go in). But, this particular morning, of all mornings, Lesley woke up on the wrong side of the bed, or something. She wanted nothing to do with Jason, and when Jason offered to put her socks on, she FLIPPED out. I think she wanted lotion on her feet, but she was pretty much hysterical and we couldn't decipher what she was saying.

I still tried to go sing to Leah, thinking that might distract Lesley enough to get her mind off the socks. But really that just made things worse. Lesley was kicking and screaming and making no sense. Daddy was very upset, and I lost my patience and started crying. Poor Leah was so confused. By the time we left for the sitter's all the girls were in tears.

I'm surprised we got the photos we did that morning. The whole family was a disaster!

Of course I had to think about it all day - feeling guilty for what had happened, and thinking it was another "mom fail" moment.

(Photo taken with my phone)

We still went to dinner at Chick-fil-a which has become a family favorite as of late. Jason and I love their chicken sandwiches, Leah is a big fan of the chicken strips, and Lesley loves the play area (of course!). We usually can get her to eat some fruit, chicken, and the vegetables and croutons off Mommy's salad, before the pleas start to go in the play room. We even sang "Happy Birthday" to Leah while we ate and gave Lesley a chance to redeem herself by being kind to Baby Sister and treating her extra nice since it was her special day. I think Lesley understood that her behavior that morning was not acceptable, and I think Mommy and Daddy had time to reflect on what "being patient" with a two and a half year old meant. Parenting is tough!

Since we had gotten a free smash cake with the cupcakes we bought for the party, we decided to let Leah have another cake that night. We sang again. :) Why would we let a cake go to waste?! Especially one with the delicious whipped frosting. Mommy loves that stuff!

She thought this one was pretty great to play in! I don't think she actually ate very much.

(Notice the fork and hand ready to pounce!)

Of course Big Sister was there to help out too.

Check out that big bite! Wow! She must love that frosting like her mama.

The girls went straight to the bath after finishing up the cake. So, although not a very good start to the day, I hope Leah still had a fun birthday. She won't remember this day, but I think Mommy will think of it as a "lesson in patience."

Ribbit!

2011-10-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

I've been seeing a few frogs and even a snake in our window in the back of the house. They get down down there after a rain and can't make their way out. They also like to stick to the window which tends to startle me when I go downstairs to get the cat food/litter box. It was time to rescue them! But, I sure wasn't going to crawl down there, especially with a snake! So, I sent the neighbor boys after them.

Grant handed up 5 frogs and a snake.

Leah was a huge fan of them. She wanted to touch and hold them.

She couldn't quite figure out why they jumped when she reached for them.

I'm just not fast enough!

Ugh...another one is getting away!

Notice who is hiding behind Leah.

Leah, it's going to get you.

Followed by squeals and screaming.

I'm sure once it rains again, each of the rescued frogs will be back in the window well. Not sure about that snake though. I'd rather not see him again.

One Year Ago

2011-10-05T08:13:00.000-07:00

One year ago today we were blessed with another sweet baby girl. We fell in love with her instantly! What would we do without these inquisitive eyes...

...and this snotty nose...

....or this ornery grin!?

Leah, you have blessed us in more ways than I can ever tell you.

Mommy and Daddy love you so very much.

And, your Big Sister thinks you are pretty cool too.

Happy Birthday Leah!

Papa's Zoo

2011-10-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

Of course we had to make a trip to Cabelas when Papa was in town. He needed to burn some of his points and the girls wanted to see the fish and animals.

Trying so very hard to wait for the popcorn. As soon as church started, Lesley said, "we need to go to Cabelas and get popcorn." Hmmm....sounds like a tradition when Papa is in town.

Leah kept wandering off and eventually decided she needed to get in the kayak. Papa has been talking about buying one so maybe she just wanted to try it out.

And, of course the big girls thought they needed to check it out too. It's funny how Leah is usually trying to keep up with the other girls, and do what they are doing. Not this time! She was the leader.

I think Lesley is starting to understand the concept of hunting. We talked a lot about Papa's elk hunting trip to Colorado while he was gone. And, how he saw a bear while he was riding his horse in the woods waiting for elk. It also helps that Lilly is very open about what it means to go hunting, shoot animals, and take them home to eat.

I wouldn't be surprised if one day she wants to go hunting with Papa. That would make Mommy very happy...some of my favorite memories with Papa were preparing for a hunt, or practicing for a hunt, or hanging out in a tree waiting for the "hunted." Do you remember that fall Dad? When I had my first deer license and we went hunting every day for about 2 weeks, had pretty much given up and then found success on the last day! I'm secretly glad the darn gun wasn't shooting straight (seriously, this is not a lie!), it gave me more time to enjoy nature with you. I also love how you were reading "The tricks to hunting deer" (or something like that) when "dinner" walked up right under our tree. So much fun, and I hope my girls can share some of those experiences with you one day.

A Fall Morning at the Farmer's Market

2011-10-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

Remember our trip to the Farmer's Market last year when I was 40 weeks, 5 days pregnant? We wanted to go again this year during their Fall Festival and it seemed fitting to take Leah back...outside the womb this year. :)

A hayride with Daddy

Lesley could have painted all day. She loved the craft tables and we definitely took some of that paint home with us - on our clothes, hands, and even a little in our hair.

We didn't buy any pumpkins this year since we're hoping to get a few next weekend at the pumpkin patch for a friend's birthday party. But, we scored some fabulous flowers! I saw someone walking around with them and I thought I HAD to have some too. They were so, so pretty and smelled amazing too.

More crafting

Leah desperately wanted to ride the train but it just didn't seem like a good idea. Poor sweetie was mad at mama as she watched Lesley go round and round.

But, we found some blocks to stack and that seemed to help occupy her for a bit.

Lesley actually wanted her photo taken next to these pumpkins. That hasn't happened for a long time! Usually she is running away or saying "No picture mommy."

It was a good morning at the Farmer's Market! I'm glad we took the time to go even though it seemed we should be cleaning and prepping for Leah's birthday party. I think this activity secured long naps for the kiddos which was a blessing while we baked cookies and put together the last of the needed birthday party tasks.

Celebrating Number One

2011-10-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Miss Leah's 1st birthday yesterday. Her big day will always fall during a busy time at work for Mommy, so we'll more than likely need to celebrate early every year. Lucky girl if you ask me! Doesn't that just extend the birthday celebrations?!

Leah's Great Grandma Holtz bought this C-U-T-E birthday outfit for her to wear. I'm guessing that the tutu will get more use than just for her birthday party. :)

Our "cake lady" is starting to wonder if this family celebrates any birthday without the Sesame Street gang. She made Lesley's Elmo and Abby Cadabby cakes and now a Cookie Monster smash cake.

Leah was more interested in the cookies than her cake. We baked about 12 dozen cookies the afternoon before her party. Pretty sure Lesley tried all 3 kinds before any guests arrived. We also served pizza, fresh fruit and vegetables, goldfish, chex mix and even milk to go with the cookies. It seemed to be a good mix of healthy and not so healthy food. (I just realized that I had planned to offer chocolate and strawberry milk too. Boo, I'm sad I forgot that part. I was excited when I thought of it since we were going with a cookie theme.)

Some cupcakes too!

Plotting her plan of attack...

Let's start with Cookie Monster's eyes. Tasty.

There must be some cake under all the BLUE frosting. Must keep digging.

Whoa, this is a lot of sugar!

Big Sister and Cousin Lilly, I think I need some help. My eyes were bigger than my stomach when I started this process.

I wish I had gotten some photos of all the kids playing in the living room during the party. Based on the squeals, giggles, laughing, screaming, etc....I think everyone had fun.

Lesley and Lilly were wound up the rest of the night (imagine that with all the sugar!) so they went to bed past their normal bedtime. But, as is always the case when Lesley goes to bed later, she was up early. The cats were bothering her at about 4:30am. She had a "special bed" in our room, i.e. mattress on the floor, so Grandma and Papa could sleep in her room. Once the cats figured out she was down there, they wanted to snuggle...she did not. She eventually went back to sleep briefly, but then started practicing her A,B C,'s and 1, 2, 3's very loudly at about 6:30. "Mommy do you hear me?" Had I known Grandma and Papa were awake and watching TV in the living room, I would have just sent her down stairs.

She took a great nap today to catch up on her sleep. I almost wanted to wake her up because I thought it would then interfere with bedtime, but Jason was at the football game and I was really enjoying my one on one time with Leah who decided to take a very short nap. Now, Mommy is needing to get to bed...she is tired!

Thanks for coming Zach, Abby, Greta, Evan, Jayden, Clara, Ashlynn, Kate, and Lilly! And, special thanks to all our friends and family for making Leah's birthday party special and fun!

Snack Time

2011-09-30T19:58:00.000-07:00

The girls have been enjoying their snacks at the little table together. Some nights there is more wandering than eating on Leah's part...but she's getting better at staying put.

It's been fun to see these two interact lately. They are growing into good friends and want to be with each other more than they want to be apart. I'll especially be excited when we can combine the bedtime routine a little more. Right now, Leah is ready for bed 30-45 minutes before Lesley so we basically have 2 bedtime routines each night. But I think soon we'll be able to read books and snuggle all together.

A Party!

2011-09-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Lesley

2011-09-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2011

Dear Lesley,

It's been a long time since I last wrote you a letter. Not because I have a lack of things to say, more so because I have too much to say and it's a bit overwhelming to think that I need to document what might be important to you years down the road. But, I must get something posted before it all disappears in my mommy head.

I will admit that when it came time to put together your 24 month/2 year letter, I just sat and cried. It was a tough time for you, and for me, and for the family. It was almost like you had changed into a different person the minute you reached your birthday (or understood that it was coming). There were meltdowns and fits and tantrums and screaming….and tears! From both of us! I truly felt like a mommy failure and that I was letting you down. You were naughty and I was struggling so much to "parent" you and guide you. Independent, disobedient, sassy, mischievous, bad, etc. were all descriptions that came to mind time and time again.

But, I think we are over that hurdle. You are now 2.5 years old. A little girl. No longer my baby (although I still try to get away with calling you that from time to time). You love princesses and your baby sister. You need consistency and time to process change. You are ornery and like to push the limits. You make me smile and laugh each and every day. You are smart and remember the littlest details.

Potty training was easy peasy for us! We had introduced you to it long ago and just went with the flow. When you wanted to use the potty, we encouraged you but we never pushed you to use it if you weren't interested. Early in the summer, we started letting you wear a pull-up in the mornings but you knew that once the pull up was wet or dirty, you had to use a diaper for the rest of the day. You immediately decided that you didn't like diapers and you started using the potty pretty regularly. Some days you would even come home from Chris's in the same pull up you went in. Yeah! In early July, you really started loving the princess panties we had bought for you. Some days you wore princess panties over your pull-up/diaper – because you insisted and it avoided meltdowns. One weekend, we took the plunge and let you wear the panties without the diaper. You did awesome!!!! We've never really looked back. There have been a few accidents here and there, and even some purposeful "peeing on the floor" events, but overall, it's great! Soon, very soon I think we can stop putting the diaper on at bedtime. We just need to nix that night time sippy cup of warm milk.

Speaking of, ever since your little sister started drinking from a bottle, you have insisted that your milk be warm, and you are very, very particular which sippy cup the milk goes in versus juice or water. "Warm it up Mommy." "No, not that sippy cup." I've even caught you attempting to get your sippy cups in the microwave yourself, and pouring milk into the sink because it was the wrong cup.

Your love of princesses can be seen based on the numerous Princess bandaids you wear, the princess bubble bath in the tub, the princess church/snack bag, the princess dinner plates, the princess matching game, the princess scooter, the princess pull-ups (only at bed now), the princess toothbrush, and the princess panties. Not sure we could get more princess things if we tried!

Some of my favorite quotes:

Save my seat. – when you needed to use the potty during dinner one night. I guess you thought we might give it away and you didn't want to miss out on dinner that night.

Wonderful! – I love the excitement and true happiness in your voice and in your eyes when you say this word. Sometimes you say it at what seems to be the silliest things, but then I have to remember that you are only 2 and the littlest things might be just that for you, WONDERFUL.

Hi Katie. Leah, it's Katie. Do you want to talk to her? – We went through a long period of time when you always had to call Katie from your (disconnected) cell phone. You would put that phone up to your ear and start chatting away. We could never really hear all that was being said, but it was a daily occurrence for quite some time.

Chick-fil-a conversation: Daddy was ordering our meal at the counter with you and the cashier asked who to call when the order was ready. Daddy said, "Jason." You quickly said, "It's Daddy." The guy at the counter said, "I'll just call for Daddy when your chicken nuggets are ready." We all laughed about that, but now that you refer to Daddy as "Jason" from time to time, Daddy doesn't think it's so funny.

Are you petting Mommy? – one night when Daddy was rubbing Mommy's back. Just this week you have started rubbing my back with your sweet little hand when I lay in bed with you at night. You even like to whisper in my ear, "Mommy, I'm rubbing your back." You must remember how much Mommy liked it when Daddy rubbed her back.

I'm being patient. – During that rough time, patience was not your strong point and we have asked you to be patience many, many times. One day when we were waiting on something, you proclaimed that you were being patient in a very proud voice.

Clothwash – This is one of Mommy's favorite words you have stopped saying. Boo. I loved it when you would refer to a cow as a moo or a horse as a neigh. Clothwash was also something super cute when you needed a wash cloth.

I need some corn on my butter. – We had sweet corn a handful of times this summer and you would always ask for corn on your butter when we were prepping the ears.

Nothing. – Ever since you were little, we would "talk" about your day and what you did at Chris's house on our way home. A lot of times I would ask what you had for lunch, or snacks. I was trying to test your memory since Chris always sends us e-mails with what you eat and often what activities you do each day. At a certain point, you started saying "nothing" to any question we asked. You were insistent that you didn't eat anything all day long, and you just sat and did nothing.

Just checking. – I can't remember exactly why this comment came up the first time, but I still hear it from time to time and it's awful cute.

You are also getting very good at cutting and markering (not sure this is a legit word, but it's what Chris calls it at daycare so we just go with it). I was shocked and super excited the first night you took a coloring page and markered inside the lines! Impressive! Just tonight you shocked me by cutting out an airplane and watch very neatly. I'm just amazed at the skills you have picked up lately.

We are working on sharing and picking up toys when we are done playing, but that's been a slow process. Baby Sister has really started noticing when you aren't being "fair" or just grabbing at what she has so we'll have to learn about sharing a little more. No longer will it be acceptable to just hand her something else when you want her toy or book. She knows the difference now! Chris says you have attitude when she asks you to pick up toys, Mommy and Daddy are partly to blame because we aren't great about making you help clean up the living room each night. That's on our list!

You are a pretty good eater, but sometimes picky and more often than not distracted. Some nights it would be much easier if we could just strap you in the booster seat and force you to stay put. But, we had decided to give you some freedom to just sit in a "big girl" chair. We resort to the kitchen timer every now and then...you can't leave your chair until the buzzer goes off. It works great! You even request for us to "turn it more" sometimes. I guess you haven't picked up on the requirement to sit still and eat while it is going. We'll keep this trick for now!

Bedtime is kind of a slow process but pretty painless. Snack downstairs usually accompanied by some warm milk, upstairs to use the potty and change into pj's, brush teeth, jump into bed to read a book or two or three or more, and then some snuggle time. You don't like to listen to your yoga music any more. "I'm a big girl, I don't need music." Mommy needs to get that CD player moved to Leah's room so she can still hear those familiar sounds every once in a while.

You have a big girl bed now and absolutely love it! It's hard to explain how difficult that process was to convert your crib to a full size bed. Mama shed a few tears, but you never looked back. You love your sheets and "comfortable" (i.e. comforter). Good or bad, you refuse to get out of the bed without either Mommy or Daddy coming into your room to get you. One of these weekend mornings, we need to teach you to head downstairs and turn Mickey Mouse or Chuggington on the TV, what buttons to push on the microwave to warm your milk up, and then you can just relax on the couch while Mommy and Daddy sleep in.

Each night I'll hear "Just one more minute mommy" or "Lay with me for just one more minute." You tend to win that game because Mama cannot resist your sweet pleas and she knows that all too soon, those nights when you want your Mama will end. I am all about cherishing those minutes....because I cannot get enough of you baby girl. After Mommy is done snuggling, she gives lots more kisses and then you ask for Daddy to come back and tuck you in again.

So, sweet Lesley...you just keep growing up. Each day is a blessing with you in our lives and we are thankful that God trusted us to be your parents. We love you so very much!

Love,
Mama

Two for Two

2011-09-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Another trip to the ER, this time for Baby Leah.

Rewind to last week when we thought Leah was teething and learning to how to perfect her tantrums. After a night of screaming and very little sleeping, the doctor said she had a pretty nasty ear infection. Mommy stayed home with her Friday and we struggled through a day of crying and over-tiredness (for both Mommy and Leah). The doctor also mentioned that tubes might be in Leah’s future if the same pattern of ear infections starts up like we dealt with last winter.

We headed to Iowa Friday night because although Leah wasn’t 100%, Lesley would have been heartbroken had we not gone to see Grandma Nancy, Lilly, and Mack (Grandma’s kitty). So off we went! Leah feel asleep at 5:30pm, woke briefly around 6:30pm to eat some applesauce and yogurt in the car, then back to sleep until 2:30am for a quick bottle, and again at 6:30am for another bottle. For a total of 14 hours of sleep! I think she needed it after a sleepless night Thursday.

Saturday was a great day! Spending time with Grandma Nancy, visiting Papa at the shop, going to the bank and the library, a good nap, and even digging potatoes in the garden. Lesley was very proud of the potatoes she "picked".

Keep digging daddy, there are more.

No Baby Sister, not the dirt. The bucket is for the 'tatas!

That's right Leah, just the potatoes!

We even had a fun barbeque with Great Grandma, Great Papa, Aunt Connie, Uncle Dean, Megan, Brian, Aunt Jean, Uncle Mike, AND Aimee, Mike and Lilly. We enjoyed some fabulous smoked meat and outstanding dessert!

The girls went to bed around 8:30pm and all was good….until 9pm. Leah started fussing a little. Jason checked on her and she settled down pretty quickly. About 5 minutes later she started crying again. I went upstairs to get her and brought her down after just a few minutes. She was very upset and I didn’t want her to wake Lesley. I handed her off to Jason so I could finish brushing my teeth and taking my shot. Before I could even get to the bathroom, Jason said, “I think we have a problem.” This was followed by “Leah looks puffy and swollen.”

Yikes! That was a bit of an understatement! She quickly turned bright red and after taking her pjs off, we could see a rash quickly spreading across her body. Pretty soon she was so swollen that she couldn’t even open her eyes and her sweet baby cheeks looked like chipmunks and super hard. After just a few minutes of trying to figure out what we should do, I said, “we are going to the hospital.” I grabbed Lesley’s epipen and the bottle of antibiotics. We threw her in the car, covered her with a blanket and took off towards the hospital. Grandma and Papa came with and Mike and Aimee stayed with the big girls (who had no idea what was going on).

Before pulling away, Jason noticed a bump, reddish spot on Leah’s forehead. Could she have been bitten by a spider or other bug?

Leah screamed the entire way to the hospital. It was good that she was crying but terrifying too. Jason was driving FAST! So fast, as a matter of fact, that we got pulled over by a police officer about a mile from the hospital. Jason stopped, motioned for him to come up to the car quickly, and told him we needed to get to the hospital “NOW!” Mr. Police Officer escorted us the rest of the way to the hospital. He felt really, really bad for stopping us, but there was no way he would have known. We certainly would have expected it and probably wondered what the heck he was doing had he not turned his sirens on.

We got to the ER, Jason and my mom rushed back to the exam area while I checked in with the receptionist. She was great and understanding, but it was awful hearing Leah scream from down the hall and trying to answer questions like “what’s your address?” Thankfully my dad stayed with me and filled in the blanks as needed. And, once she had my insurance card and the vital information I rushed back to see what was going on.

The doctor had examined Leah, they had hooked up a monitor to her toe, and determined her breathing was not being affected. Looking back her screaming was a sign of that. A very extreme case of the hives. The nurse said she looked like a ripe tomato. A possible culprit was the medicine. Side note – this is the same medicine she has taken a couple times and it had been about 12 hours since the last dose. But still, they think that was a likely cause.

Leah was very upset. Holding her was difficult because she was just thrashing and squirming and PISSED and probably very scared too. She still couldn’t open her eyes, but she could tell there were strangers around and something was not right. We had to lay her on the hospital bed just so we didn’t drop her. Eventually she calmed down enough where she would stop crying for a bit and hold on tight to me or Jason. But, then they wanted to draw some blood for testing and give her a couple shots of steroids followed by Benadryl. Ah! More hysterical crying and holding her down. It was funny when they tried to put Band-Aids on the spots where they gave her the shots. Because she was covered in red spots, they totally missed the spots and you could see the blood spots.

Once the doctor and nurses started leaving her alone, she was getting better. Papa even got a few (almost) smiles out of her. Yeah! Soon, the Benadryl kicked in and she was sound asleep. Her swelling had gone down quite a bit and she was starting to look like Leah again. Her red spots were also disappearing slowly. At this point, they still wanted to keep her overnight to observe, and then be examined by the pediatrician the following morning. Sounded like a good plan, we sent Grandma and Papa home and said we’d call in the morning when we needed a ride. The nurses and doctor had to go suture up another patient and would be back to start the IV and transfer us to a room. This is a rural hospital so not a lot of staff at any one point. (But, I did receive a phone call from them Monday night checking to see how Leah was doing. I bet you only get that type of follow up from small town hospitals.

We weren't intending on such excitement for the evening so the camera wasn't with us at the hospital. These few photos were snapped with Jason's phone because I had left mine at the house too. I kind of wish we had gotten a photo of her swollen face and bright red body....although it would probably give me chills seeing it again.

When they returned to the put the IV in her arm, Jason asked if it was really necessary. He pointed out that she is peaceful and her skin looks a lot better. If they needed to give her more medicine later in the evening, they could just poke her then. The nurses agreed and went off to ask the doctor. They all returned and said we could go home since she was doing so well and “we are responsible parents”. Phone call off to the grandparents (who had just crawled into bed) to come pick us up.

We got some Benedryl , strict instructions not to give her more of the antibiotics, and encouragement to get allergy tests done. No alternative medicine for the ear infection though. Bummer, that was a big question from me after a night of no sleep. The ER doctor said her ears looked pretty good. I was skeptical, but knew we’d be returning to the peds office Monday morning so didn’t push it.

Poor Leah! It was a rough couple days. She now has new antibiotics and we had great evenings both last night and tonight. She was happy, ate a ton of carrots and green beans for dinner, played independently, and laughed and giggled. So, I think we are on the road to recovery.

So, we are two for two going to the ER this year and now have 4 epipens between the 2 girls. And, Grandma and Papa have escorted two of their three granddaughters to the ER in the past two months. Remember Lilly’s trip to the ER while we were in Colorado? Let’s hope these trips get us off the hook for the rest of the year (and longer!).

Teething and Tantrums

2011-09-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

You know it's bad when Lesley tells Leah the other night, "Stop being fussy Baby Sister."

This girl has been cranky for 5-6 days now. Not her usual self, that's for sure!

We suspect more teeth. She's not eating very well and sleeping is pretty much the same story.

And, the TANTRUMS! Oh my goodness, if these are any indication of her terrible twos, I'm in for it. She arches her back and throws herself on the floor. She points and grunts and almost appears to be stomping her feet. She whimpers and whines and pretty much gets hysterical if she is not getting her way. Big Sister is trying to be patient, but it's hard for her when Baby Sister is always grabbing and stealing her things.

She's also been trying to eat crayons. "Art" time is very supervised these days, and typically a very short adventure.

She desperately wanted to swing like big sister. But she wasn't very good at it. :( So, it did not last long and then there was another tantrum...in the neighbor's backyard. Perfect.

She was a fan of using chalk. These were some great smiles and happy moments.

Then Abby came across the street and started blowing bubbles!

We were able to enjoy a walk several nights ago. But, then I tried to take the girls by myself Friday night and it was pretty much a disaster. Leah didn't want to ride in a stroller or the wagon, but Lesley insisted pulling the wagon was a good idea. Leah didn't want carried but also didn't want to walk on the sidewalk. Lesley didn't want to turn around....and I didn't know which girl to keep happy. Would Lesley be louder throwing a fit or Leah? Tough call. I waited it out and spent 45 minutes on a route that should take 15.

At least it sounds like Leah has been behaving at the sitter's house, and napping well. It's a different story when I pick her up, she basically wants nothing to do with me and screams as I wrestle her down and carry her to the car, then whimpers and whines all the way home. It's such a good feeling. :( At least I know the babysitter treats her well because I'm pretty sure she'd be happier just staying there rather than go home with Mommy.

So....Mommy, Daddy, and Big Sister are crossing our fingers that the issue is teeth and not an a new behavior shining through.

Shoe pile gone!

2011-09-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

When you go from the garage into our house, you are immediately in the kitchen/living area. I have always HATED how there is no place to put coats, purses, or SHOES. We always end up a massive shoe pile right inside the door. I first tried a basket to accumulate shoes but that still wasn't good enough. The pile just went from the floor to a messy basket which would need emptied when looking for shoes because the pair you need is always on the bottom. I've been searching for an entryway bench to place right inside the door, but haven't found one I love, and was not keen on putting a bench to accumulate "stuff" in the living area.

One night while we were on a walk around the neighborhood, we ~~were being nosy~~ spotted a garage with a shoe organizer next to the door. Genius! I asked Jason to clean out his shoe organizer in our closet and mount it next to the door in the garage. Doesn't it look nice on our newly painted wall? So neat and so handy! It's at the perfect height (planned of course) so Lesley can get her shoes out and even put them away before coming inside. So far it's working great! There even seems to be less dirt being tracked inside with the majority of the shoes staying in the garage.

Note that the dust buster does not belong on the stairs, when the photo was snapped, Jason was still in the process of putting the garage back together after finishing the paint job. Also want to point out that there are 6 pairs of adult size tennis shoes in the shoe rack. FIVE of them are Jason's. And, that was after he threw away one pair of his mowing shoes. Geez!

I sure love a clean and organized house!

A New House

2011-09-13T19:46:00.000-07:00

Our great neighbors were generous again and sent this "old" house over for the girls to play with.

Zach and Abby have been cleaning their basement and giving away old toys. Lesley and Leah have been lucky girls lately.

Lesley knows it's a tee-pee and if you call it a tent, she will correct you.

Unfortunately, Leah doesn't understand climbing through the windows is not a good approach. She already ripped one of the sides that Angie had stitched up. Oh well, Leah sure has had fun these last few days!

The Greatest Show on Earth

2011-09-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

The circus was in town!!!! We went with some friends and their kids and had a good time. It was certainly different than what I remember as a child, but I can say that Lesley enjoyed herself. She sat in awe for a lot of it and wanted to see the elephants over and over.

It was about one hour too long for Miss Leah, she clapped and squealed during the first 10 minutes, sat reasonably still for 10 more minutes, held out with snacks for the next 30 minutes, was restless in our seats until intermission and after intermission, and then ended up in the concourse with Daddy for the last 20 minutes before passing out in the stroller.

The tigers weren't all that exciting...I guess I'm not sure what we were expecting and maybe no excitement was a good thing.

We are lucky enough that our kids are young enough not to ask for the over-expensive, poorly made circus toys. This box of popcorn and an $0.89 drink from the Quicktrip inside the Sprint Center were the only things we purchased (other than the tickets). Another example of us packing a lunch and taking plenty of snacks.

Lesley also liked the motorcycles. These guys are crazy!

Lesley's favorite part - the elephants!

My favorites were the tight rope walkers and trapeze artists (no photos). These folks are pretty amazing and must be so, so strong.

I'm glad we went, but I don't think it will be an event we attend every year.

Happy Birthday Aunt Denise!

2011-09-11T20:28:00.000-07:00

According to Lesley, Age 2 1/2

2011-09-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

We asked Lesley a few questions the other day to see what she would say, at age 2 1/2. I also included what answers Mommy and Daddy would say in parenthesis.

What is your favorite color? Orange (pink)

What do you like to eat? Green beans (fruit snacks!)

What do you not like to eat? Spicy sauce

What shows do you like to watch? Baseball (Although Jason was very proud of this answer, I'd have to say she probably likes Mickey Mouse or Chugginton better than silly baseball games.)

What do you like to play? with Abby Dabby (cutting and glueing)

What's your favorite book? Elmo (we read a lot of Sandra Boynton books, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is another favorite, and a new one is The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear)

What makes you scared? Dogs (Agree, she is not a big fan of dogs)

What makes you sad? Matt (Mommy not dropping you off at daycare, you would much prefer if Mommy dropped you off AND picked you up. And, for some reason, Lesley gets nervous around Matt. When he isn't with us, she will say things like she loves Kim and Matt, but then we are with him, she gets all shy.)

Where's your favorite place to go? Park (Agreed! And, it's always "new park"...we are to the point where we can't really find new parks in the area so we just have to mix them up.)

What's your favorite song? Wheels on the Bus, Laurie Berkner songs (Under a Shady Tree and ABC's)

What will you do as a painter? the wall (we happened to be painting the walls in the garage that weekend, she paints almost every day at the sitter's house)

What do you like to do outside? Bike (play with Abby, water the trees)

What's your favorite thing about your baby sister? Giving her hugs, and making her giggle (waking her up in the morning)

What do you like to wear? Abby Dabby shirt and crocs

What do you like to do with Mommy and Daddy? Hugging

What's Mommy's job? To the building (she has no idea what Mommy does, but she will ask if I went to the building at night when I pick her up)

We asked a few other questions but she was too distracted to answer, or just couldn't process when put on the spot.

Friends

2011-09-10T19:31:00.000-07:00

Lesley has a great friend in our neighbor Abby. Every night as we are driving up the street, she looks over towards Abby's house and reports back if Abby is home or not (based on whether the van is in the garage or not). Whenever we go out to play at night, she wants to see if Abby can play, or see if Abby can go on a walk with us, or share a freezer pop with Abby. We even took Abby to the park with us the other day. All THREE girls loved that...and so did Mommy and Daddy. It was fun to watch Abby and Lesley play, and Leah try to keep up with them. We are thankful for the friends we have made on our street, and for Abby who likes to play with Lesley and is patient with her despite the age difference.

A Frozen Treat

2011-09-09T19:01:00.000-07:00

We needed an end of the summer treat one night last weekend. It was one of that last hot and humid day in the forecast.

Look Mommy, M&M's and blueberries!

Oh, I get a bite too!

So, so good!

And, finally, a leftover mustache.

T minus one month

2011-09-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Leah,

Oh my goodness…I need to get all these baby memories documented ASAP because you are growing up so very fast. In just 4 short weeks, you will be ONE. How did that happen? I've been telling Big Sister that she's not going to be able to call you Baby Leah anymore. How sad is that?

This past month has had it's ups and downs. Literally. One of your new favorite activities is climbing up on things, mostly things you should not be climbing on. You like the little chairs from the table set, the stairs, even the little table, etc. We always have to say, "Sit down Leah." At which time, you get a huge "I know I'm not supposed to be doing this" grin and sometimes proceed to follow instructions, or just keep climbing. I think you are understanding a lot more of what we say, i.e. go get your shoes, take this to daddy, etc. We are still working on simple instructions, but it's amazing what you have picked up over the past month.

You acquired two new teeth this month, on the top – August 19^th and around August 29^th. The second one seemed to pop through, then disappeared to only come back a few days later. It's a slow process for you! Much to mommy's dismay, you now like to grind your teeth together. It is awful and you really should stop. I promise those teeth won't fall out anytime soon so no need to check that they are still there by grinding them together.

During this most recent teething time, you also had a bad case of the stomach flu. All the signs made us think it was just teething, but once the teeth came through and you were still dealing with something crummy, we knew better. You had us tricked! Thankfully you are back on track and eating like a champ again. For about 10 days, you were on a food strike! You didn't want to finish a bottle, refused a lot of the table food we would give you, and throw up about every 4^th bottle in it's entirety. We even got a prescription to settle your stomach and help with your diaper "issues." Now, no more baby food for you as you only like to eat whatever Big Sister is eating. You are very picky about that and beg like a puppy some days. We have also started offering you whole milk in a sippy cup during meals. You aren't too sure about it yet, but I think it's because the milk is cold and not warm like your bottles. You'll adjust! And, we can stop buying darn formula soon.

You like sitting in the rocking chair, or Lesley's big stuffed chair and read books. Your favorite are the books with textures. You will rub your fingers across them, and even your toes from time to time. I remember how Lesley loves those books and it's fun to see you go through that same stage now.

This month has confirmed that your first word is "Da-da". You say it with purpose and any time you see Daddy walking in the room, or past you. It seems to be fitting because in the last few weeks, you have sort of favored your Daddy and we see more and more of your personality matching up to Daddy's. Don't get me wrong, Mommy is still your favorite(!) but there are times when you want Daddy to hold you or you want to cuddle up on his shoulder. You sleep like your daddy (lots!), have his tushy, his facial features, and his feet, and you giggle easily like your daddy too. Mommy really likes those moments when you reach out to Daddy and want him to hold you, and hopes that Daddy cherishes them too. All too quickly they will be gone and we will really wonder where our baby girl went to.

I also think you say the word "up" when you want to picked up. You'll walk over to me and lift your arms above your head and grunt something that sort of sounds like "up." Maybe not truly the word, but it gets you what you want so I guess it's a form of communication. And perhaps the word dog is making it's way into your vocab too. Not sure, but it seems you say "Do" when you see or hear a dog. No "Mommy" yet..you don't even seem to know who "Mommy" is other than some lady who you love.

Another fun thing this month is your desire to hand things to people. You pick up pretty much anything and then extend your arm out offering to whomever is close to you. I love how we can trick you into giving us something you shouldn’t have.

You are really starting to play with the "big kid" toys. Unfortunately for us you are now strong enough to get the markers open and Lesley's art tub is no longer safe. Lucky for us though, no major stains or consumption of crayons. Poor Big Sister has nothing safe these days! You like to ride the trike, Kawasaki, and Cozy Coupe when we play outside. You love going down slides! You like to push the shopping cart around the kitchen, open the cupboards and pull dish clothes and towels out of the drawer. You don't like to wear a bib and usually pull it off before the meal is over. You sometimes give open mouth kisses and LOVE getting on Lesley's big girl bed to ~~play~~ wrestle with her. We've packed away more baby "stuff" this month and it's been fun to see you learn and develop into a toddler. You try so very hard to be like Big Sister and one day, I think you might just catch up to her.

We are planning a fun birthday party next month and I hope even if you don't remember the party, you will always know how important you are to us and how much you are loved.

Love,
Mommy

Like Daddy

2011-09-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

Which one of these girls looks more like daddy?

(I included two photos because one is a better shot of Leah but Lesley has her eyes closed. And, the lighting sucked....although I tried different angles, I could not control the darn sun! Or am not talented enough to do anything about it.)

Our Weekend

2011-09-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

Here is what we did on our pretty low key holiday weekend.

Cleaned the car (sort of)...

Ate snacks in our diapers...

Practiced gluing and cutting...

Stretched out with some yoga poses...

Painted the garage...

Played at a new park...

Took naps in Matt and Kim's camper...

Climbed on things we aren't supposed to....

Went swinging on a horse...

Said "hi" to Duke....

Carried some horseshoes back and forth...

And, played some cards...

We also took a super fun boat ride on Clinton Lake with my cousin and his in-laws. Leah was in love! She kept pointing and "chatting" the whole time. The lifejacket didn't bother her one bit and she was so cute waddling around the boat. At one point she just stood in the front pointing out while the water splashed her over and over. She thought that was pretty great. Lesley on the other hand didn't like getting splashed. However, she did want to get in the water with Daddy to swim for a few minutes. I was proud of her for doing that!

We hope you had a great long weekend too! We are certainly enjoying the cooler weather. Bring on Fall!

Finishing Touches

2011-09-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

We found a super cute comforter set for Lesley's new bed. We recently invested in a new vacuum from Kohl's so I had some Kohl's cash to spend. I say "invested" because my husband is actually a fan of the new vacuum and he actually has used it without me even asking him too! That's an investment in my sanity for sure!

Anyway, I digress...the new comforter set is exactly what I had in mind. Pink, flowery and perfect for a little girl in a new big girl bed. Bonus: She happens to LOVE it too.

Getting comfy with Mr. Alligator and penguin. This photo is a bit deceiving though...she refuses to sleep with any stuffed animals. Not even her little teddy bear. Just green blankie, yellow blankie, and a whole lot of pillows!

She was a little confused about "getting under the covers" though. She didn't understand what the sheet was for. It was pretty funny hearing Jason try to convince her that it was supposed to be there and she is supposed to get under the top sheet. Notice the short, small pillow on the right. That was her train pillow however she wanted nothing to do with it after she saw all the flowers. "It needs a cover Mommy!"

Also notice her new pj's. Pretty snazzy! She has hit a bit of a growth spurt so all of her 2T zipper jammies aren't fitting as great these days. I picked up a couple new two piece pairs for now. Plus, now that she is potty trained, it's much easier to use the potty near bedtime with two piece pj's on. She still wears a pull up at night, but about 3 mornings out of 4, she wakes up dry. She still likes to drink milk before heading upstairs at night, so until we cut that out, I think we'll need to stick to a pull up at night for that 1 night when 10+ hours of sleep is too much for her bladder.

Speaking of using the potty, I often get the hand motion to "not!" come in, "I can do it myself." I usually still have to go in and help with the process. Just yesterday, she hollered for me come in and turn the water off in the sink after she washed her hands. Slight problem, she had locked the door and I couldn't get in. Yikes! "Lesley, turn the handle so Mommy can come help please." "I can't mommy, you open the door." Ok, well, you see, I would open the door but it is locked. I knew there was a way to unlock but I just couldn't find anything to fit into the handle to pop it open. Quick call to Jason to confirm he was enroute home to help, and to ask where the small screwdrivers are located. Found them, but it still was not going to open. I don't think Lesley ever really figured out what was going on, and thankfully just 4-5 minutes later she managed to get the doorknob turned. Phew! We had a discussion about how it's not necessary to lock the bathroom while at home, and Mommy had a lesson in unlocking the doors.

She is getting a lot better about using the potty on her own and doesn't always announce when she needs to go. However, she did announce to the entire Kohl's store that she was wearing pink panties the other day. Luckily we were in the children's section and I think those that could see us understood.

She also makes us get under the covers to read her books.

Another new expression we've been hearing lately is "Wonderful!" As in, "Wonderful! I've been looking for this book." Or, "Wonderful! That's just what I wanted Mommy." Even, "Wonderful! Leah is awake."

In just a few short months, she has really turned into a little girl.
"I'm not a baby Daddy."
"Lesley, you will always be my baby."

Worn Out

2011-08-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

According to Daddy, she was playing and all of a sudden it was quiet. He found this mound of cuteness by the chair...fast asleep!

We think she is faking sickness...Daddy had to stay home with her yesterday. Our days home have been quite enjoyable, because like I said, we think she is faking. :) At least she is taking LONG naps while we are home so we can still get some work done.

The Hippopotamus!

2011-08-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

We had another fun adventure at the zoo this weekend. Daddy went to Atchison to attend a BC football game so we had a girls trip to the zoo - with Katie and Kim! I think all the girls had a great time. Lesley was so excited when she woke up and I told her what we were going to do. She got dressed with her shoes on in record time. She was especially excited it was just a girl trip, "No Daddy, no Matt, no Mark, and not even Brad!"

She thought she was going to get a donut when we got to the zoo because last time they were giving them out for a fun member's breakfast. Luckily for her, Daddy had to put gas in the car before we could all leave so he picked her up a donut for the trip over to the zoo.

Leah was quite content in the stroller as usual. I think she does notice the animals a lot more than she did our first few trips. I even caught her pointing at things a few times. Not sure if it was animals her little finger was directed at, but it was fun to see her get excited.

Leah sporting her sun hat on the train! Katie and Kim were trying to feed her cheerios but she wanted nothing to do them...only because Big Sister was eating frosted mini wheats. She is definitely getting to the point where she knows Big Sister has and she thinks she should have the same. Makes snack time tricky!

Look Kim, it's a rhinoceros!

Lesley also learned that Katie's boyfriend's favorite animal is the hippo. She kept saying that "Brad likes the hippopotamus." Even after we were home that day she remembered Brad's favorite animal and was sure to tell Daddy.

This "kitty" got really close for Lesley to see.

A rare shot of Mommy and Lesley - both with smiles!

Milk break on the tram.

She has really been into giraffes lately. We were excited to see two babies this time. Last time we were at the zoo, they only had one baby out to see.

The trip was fun! And both girls took long naps that afternoon. We are glad that Katie and Kim could join us...and Leah owes Kim a new watch. That went flying off the train enroute to Australia. Oops! She claims she wants/needs a new watch anyway and her birthday is coming up, just one day after Leah's. We need to make sure Matt is in the loop on that one.

Growing up and cleaning up!

2011-08-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

Our living room has felt like an explosion of toys lately! Out of control and overtaking our space...so I decided it was time to clean house and pack away some toys. It's a difficult process because although pretty close in age, the girls still gravitate towards different toys. Of course you always have one wanting whatever the other wants, but that doesn't mean it's age appropriate for both.

I packed two boxes and one kitchen set that found a new home in the basement storage space. I still hesitate to get rid of anything because we don't know if we'll have more kids or not. One day down the road, we're going to have a gigantic garage sale or someone is going to get a bunch of hand me down toys. That makes me smile because I would say 75-80% of the toys we have are from garage sales, and almost everything that was new came as a gift.

I printed off a few coloring pages of animals the other day. She has really been into artwork lately - since we brought home a new easel from vacation. My hope was that these pages would keep her busy while I prepped dinner in the crunch time when I get home from work. Look at that picture above! She colored between the lines! I was in shock. Most of papers they color at daycare are just blank pieces of paper so she just scribbles. But, this was awesome. This was a huge improvement even from a month ago. I was so proud of her - the picture is now hanging above my desk at work.

And, of course, as we cleaned and packed things away, Lesley found stuff to play with. Two tutus, a hat, and her wand! She ran around and around in this thing for 30 minutes. Talk about a lot of energy that evening.

Our Little Raven

2011-08-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

Leah was sporting one of Lesley's old shirts the other night while we were playing outside - a Benedictine College t-shirt!

She loves slides! And, she is getting pretty good at going down them by herself. She knows how to scoot her bottom forward to get going.

She really wanted to climb up the wall like her big sister.

She picked up some loose grass and was so excited to hold onto it. She really wanted to share it with us and kept trying to hand it over.

Like I said, she was very excited about that grass. Silly girl!

The week of the bug

2011-08-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

Poor Leah has been sick! With lots of things...

First, she got a new tooth on Saturday which makes her cranky and fussy. Teething bothers her more than it did Lesley, but I think it's mostly because Lesley's teeth would pop through before we even noticed and after only a day of diaper rashes and a low grade fever. Leah works on teeth for weeks before they make appearances.

Then, there was this nice shiner we have no idea how she got.

Wouldn't you think that would have hurt enough we would have noticed? It randomly appeared last Sunday when we were in Des Moines before the fair. She woke up that morning and her eye was looking a little red and swollen. My aunt commented that Leah must have bumped it the night before, and then it turned into a nice black eye.

Then, we got "the call" Monday morning from the sitter that Leah had thrown up. She said it was mostly mucus and was probably just from her teething since that's how she reacted to her first couple teeth. We decided it wasn't necessary to go get her...until, she threw up again at lunch time. She fell asleep before the sitter actually talked to us so the sitter said she would call when Leah woke up and we could get her then. She took a long nap but Jason still picked up the girls early. Along with the vomiting, there were several nasty diapers that day. Gross!

Other than her being on a food strike, there were no issues that night so they went to the sitters the next day. Solids were a no go, baby food was not the solution either, and she would only consume 1-2 ounces of a milk at a time. The report for that day was no vomit but a handful of gross diapers. When I stopped to pick them up, one of the other boys had just thrown up. Yikes! Maybe it wasn't teething...I felt bad that Leah may have spread her germs. Too late to do anything though.

Wednesday morning at about 3am, Leah threw up. The rest of the night was worthless as far as sleep goes. I had a 7am meeting I went to and then came home about 9:30am for the rest of the day to stay with the girls so Jason could go to work. Other than more gross diapers, she seemed fine and the day was actually pretty enjoyable (minus trying to juggle e-mail and work things that HAD to be taken care of). The girls entertained each other to a certain degree.

Milk break!

That night Leah was only interested in baby oatmeal for dinner, and she would only eat it if Lesley was feeding her. Lesley loved that of course, and it made my job easy. But after just 3-4 bites, she started gagging. The dreaded gag reflux! Pretty much everything that had been in her tummy was now on her, in the highchair, and on the floor. It was a mess! I stripped her down and threw her in the sink for a quick bath. She thought that was pretty great and was laughing and giggling the whole time.

Since we had no more issues (just another tooth!) that night or in the morning, off to the sitters...until "the call" at lunch time. Oh my goodness! Jason picked them up and headed to the doctor. Clearly we must be misjudging the teething thing. Bad parents! We needed to get to the bottom of this mess - random vomiting and nasty diapers are no fun. The doctor's report said a weird bug had been going around and gave us a prescription to settle her stomach and another medicine to help with her diaper issues.

Jason and I both felt terrible with upset stomachs Thursday afternoon/night and we all went to bed early. Lesley has lucked out so far (knock on wood).

I kept her home today because I still felt a little queasy and even with the new meds, figured we'd get a call at some point today if we tried to send her. She's been fine all day, other than her teeth bothering her. The tooth that had appeared to come through on Wednesday is missing again so must be trying to reappear.

But, through this all we are still getting lots of smiles and giggles from this sweet girl. I really hope she gets back to 100% again soon, and the nasty flu germs stay away.

I can't believe it's BUTTER!

2011-08-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

We made a special trip to Iowa this past weekend to see the famous butter cow. That's right, a cow made of butter. Only at the Iowa State Fair folks! Actually, this was the 100th year of the butter cow.

Okay, just kidding...we made the trip to see "Dr. Jim" (according to Lesley) be inducted into the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame. Congrats to Uncle Jim!

Growing up in a "4-H Family", leading various 4-H groups while his kids participated, serving as the fair veterinarian, and now part of the county extension committee, he certainly deserved this award and we are very proud of him. So glad we could be there to cheer him on!

We celebrated on Saturday night with a fabulous German dinner and several drinks/shots at the Hessian Haus. It's kind of awesome to have your 30 something year old cousin "deliver" your 60 something year old uncle back to the hotel room at 10:30pm, and then having that uncle tell us in the morning he has no idea how he got back to the hotel and that the tomato juice they were drinking must have been bad. Right, we almost believe that one Uncle Nick. And, I had to dig deep in my purse Sunday morning for some Advil for my dear Dad. Huh, the beer was stronger than advertised...or perhaps you are getting weak. (We won't mention that Jason and I were back at the hotel with the kiddos by 8pm.)

It was certainly a fun night to remember...well, at least some will remember.

After Sunday morning church to confess our sins or pray for certain members of our group, we had a great brunch at a local diner and then headed to the fair.

First up, the gigantic bunnies!

Lesley would not touch them. Leah really wanted to. Papa tried to get Lesley to eat one of the bunny raisins. No way, those aren't edible! Grandma tried to get Jason to buy a bunny for our house. Are you kidding!?

Lesley and Lydia checking out the chickies in the birthing center. Yes, they had one entire barn/exhibit hall dedicated to the newly born animals and were even showing educational videos of the births. Most of the calves had been born just the day before. So sweet!

Can we take these home?

Lesley also loved the horses but I didn't get any photos of her in the horse barn. She watched and watched as the contestants got ready to show their horses. After the ceremony, she asked to go back and see more horses. Thankfully, we found one heading over to the show arena so she could get her fix before we had to head back to KC.

There were also some amazing flowers on display. Good thing I wasn't a judge, they would have all gotten purple ribbons!

I also enjoyed checking out some of the 4-H exhibits. It wasn't too long ago that I was prepping my exhibits to send off to the state fair.

Photo opp for Aunt Jeanne and Aunt Denise

There was also a pretty cool, record breaking event going on that afternoon. In the red shirts above are over 1,000 people doing the life saving "Stop, Drop, and Roll" practice drill all at the same time. These volunteer firefighters and their friends and family made it into the Guinness Book of World Records! Neat-o!

Although not a photo from the fair, you can see Lesley's cool tattoos on both her arms. She is very proud of them and unfortunately won't let us clean them off. If that continues, she might be a little stinky in another day or two.

We wanted to try all the fried foods - you know the fried Snickers bar, Twinkies, and Oreos, fried pickles, fried cheese on a stick, or better yet, the fried stick of margarine. What?! Yes sir, that was an option. We just went with a foot long corn dog to share and some kettle corn. But...we'll be back next year and if all those brave folks trying the stick of butter are still alive, we might just have to give that a whirl too.

I didn't get super great photos on my camera, but you can see that our trip to the Iowa State Fair was pretty darn fun!

Mama's Helper

2011-08-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

Getting the grocery list together was a very intense task for Lesley this week.

She went through and circled all the items she wanted. You know, just the essentials - ice cream, peaches, strawberries, flowers for Mama, and flip flops. :) I think she's already onto the fact that Daddy never buys Mama flowers so she should do it. The flip flops, well that was actually the Dick's Sporting Goods ad but it worked just the same for practicing our circles and cutting.

She also had to cut out certain things.

This girl was so into her grocery shopping preparations that we had to convince her to come outside with us. We know we found a good activity if she hesitated on going outside. This was awesome to keep her busy while I prepped dinner, and she even helped clean up the the scraps when she was done circling and cutting. We'll be saving the random ads next time too!

Yoga Break

2011-08-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Jason and I are STILL doing our new workout/exercise/weight lifting routine. I emphasize STILL because we started it on July 5th...that's a super duper long time for us to stick with an exercise program. I'll admit that we did next to nothing while on vacation, had good intentions but the set up at the cabin just didn't allow for us to do our videos. I'll also admit that we took our weights with us (I'm sure that helped our gas mileage:) but they essentially went unused. Again, I'll repeat, we had good intentions.

Anyway, one of the days during each week's agenda includes a "Recharge" portion. It's a lot of stretching and is the best part of the whole week! Think yoga. Perfect, I love it! The first day we did it was amazing, I felt so refreshed and almost like I had just walked out of one of my prenatal yoga classes of long ago - minus the belly of course.

Jason struggles doing the stretches on the carpet, so he has been using my yoga mat. The other night, Lesley ran over to the rolled up yoga mat, took it to the kitchen, and rolled it out. She then proceeded to do some downward dogs. Not great form, but pretty darn cute.

Leah also tried to get in on the action.

Speaking of baby and belly - I have caught Lesley saying "there's a baby in mommy's belly" on a couple occasions. NOT TRUE! She is possibly trying to tell me that I need to lose weight. I'm trying girl! No need to make me feel worse than I already do.

Lesley's Story

2011-08-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Chris's the other day:

Mommy: Lesley, did you stay on your bed all night? (Note, I had left for work before she woke up. I knew she had rolled off at least once, but Jason said she was on the bed when he found her.)
Lesley: Yes, I did not fall off.
Lesley: I couldn't find my green blanket though. (She has both a green and a yellow blanket that she sleeps with. They are exactly the same except for the color. Her green one is her favorite though.)
Mommy: Where did it go?
Lesley: It was hiding under my animal blanket. (She also has a fleece animal blanket she sleeps with.)
Mommy: I'm glad you found it.
Lesley: No, it was my yellow blanket, not my green one.
Mommy: Where was your green blanket then?
Lesley: My green blanket was on mommy and daddy's bed.
Mommy: Well, how in the world did it get there?
Lesley (giggling): I was just kidding. It was in my bed too.

She is really cracking us up some days with her "stories".

The bed rails were on the doorstep Wednesday when we got home. Someone was very, very excited to put them on the bed and bedtime was pretty much a piece of cake that night. It was a little rough on Mama. Why do they have to grow up? Really, is that necessary?!

Now I just need to get some new sheets and a comforter. I sort of feel like a bad mommy for not planning that out ahead of time and we had to put spare sheets from the guest room on her bed for now. I did not even think about getting a new comforter or quilt. Thankfully she was just so excited about her new bed that I don't think she cared about new sheets or blankets.

Sisterly Love

2011-08-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Look Leah, there are the hippos.

Lesley has been pretty fond of her baby sister these days. She always asks where Leah is and what she is doing. One day I took Lesley by herself to Target and the grocery store because I thought she'd think it was great to just be by herself with Mommy. As soon as we got going, she started asking where Leah was and why Baby Sister didn't come up. Then, "I'm sad. I miss Leah." She definitely has her "Me" and "that's mine!" and "Leah's touching my book" moments, but they are becoming sweet friends a little more every day.

Another trip

2011-08-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

We made another trip to the zoo this weekend and again had a great time! Jason and I are both glad we bought a pass this year. Each trip we've been able to do something different and Lesley has loved it every time. I think Leah even started noticing the animals this visit and really seemed to enjoy her visit. She fell asleep while Lesley took "one last ride" on the carousal and they both slept for 2+ hours afternoon. Lesley told me today she wants to go to the zoo next weekend too.

First up, donuts, bananas, and chocolate milk!

(Oh, and some Coke Zero for Mommy and Daddy.)

Leah does this thing where she investigates her food and then offers it to you, sort of like she is sharing a special treat. It was very sweet of her to share her bananas, but Jason and I both passed this time around. They were a little mushy by the time she wanted to share. :)

Lesley really, really wanted to see the giraffes this day. She talked about it the night before and on the way there. When we first stopped for our lunch break in the Africa exhibit, they were pretty far away and Lesley couldn't see them very well. After 15 minutes or so, they started moving towards the water hole and Lesley got excited to see them. I'm glad that's where we stopped to eat our sandwiches so we were around when they came closer.

The kazoo even made the trip to the zoo. Ha! It was good entertainment on the train ride. Although there wasn't a wait to get on the train, it sure took the conductor a LONG time to get the train started. Do you think we can bypass the train next time we visit the zoo? That is probably the most frustrating part of our trip every time.

We needed a break and the outlook by the springbok's was the perfect place. "Look mama, a rocking chair! We need to sit down."

Just in the last couple of days, Lesley has started calling me "mama" again. I love it!

A First For Leah

2011-08-15T19:36:00.000-07:00

Leah took her first ride on a carousal over the weekend. She had a blast!

We realized that our selection of animals wasn't the greatest for pictures. Those darn horns were in the way in pretty much all the photos we had of Leah. But, Lesley really wanted to ride the giraffe and we were lucky to get that animal with all the kids riding the carousal that day.

Riding together didn't work out so great. Lesley didn't like Leah touching her and Leah wasn't sure what to do without something to hold onto.

Tricky

2011-08-14T15:29:00.000-07:00

Someone decided to take her diaper off by herself the other day! What?!

Although this photo is not revealing, she was able to get it off all the way. Although not cool, this does not concern me yet...I just need to not be lazy and put her clothes back on her after her evening diaper changes. I tend to think, "bedtime is only 35 minutes away, I'll just wait until it's pj time to put something on her." We've got time before she knows how to undress herself and this behavior becomes a real threat.

Transition

2011-08-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Someone visited her friend Clara the other night and fell in love with Clara's big girl bed.

As soon as she got home, she had to tell her daddy that "I need a big girl bed, with sides."

We did promise her that once she was potty trained she could get a big girl bed.

We can't back down on our promises, right? So, her daddy moved the mattress out of the crib so she could sleep on it for "practice". Of the 4 nights she has slept in it, she has ended up on the floor 7-8 times. I tend to go in and check on her frequently and several times I have found her somewhere other than on her bed. With the looks of the blankets strewn all over, it appears she rolls out and across the floor. We always put her back on the mattress and in the morning she has no recollection of ever being off the bed. If you ask her if she stayed on the bed, she says "Yes!" I guess when she is truly asleep, she sleeps hard.

We are going to take apart her crib this weekend and purchase another full size mattress to fit the converted bed. Oh, and I think we'll also be buying some bed rails to try and keep her in place. We'll have to rearrange her room to get the bigger bed to fit nicely. I'm excited and sad at the same time.

They don't ever stop growing up, do they?

Permission?

2011-08-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Speedy Gonzalez,

Remember how I told you once to never forget to ask your mama? Well, you did it again…you started WALKING before you turned 10 months old and are now all over the place - without your mama's permission I might add. What do you have to say about that missy!?

Oh my goodness, what a fun month this has been. I cannot get over how I love you more and more every single day. How is it possible? I never want to stop hugging and squeezing those chunky legs and rubbing my hands across your baby fresh hair on top your head and snuggling up with that sweet grin.

So, you are officially a walking gal. I cherish the days when you want to hold on so very tight to just one of my fingers as you take steps forward. It's like you find so much comfort in my finger and try so hard to not let go, and then, before long, you are ready. You want to walk off and explore new things. And, you make your mama proud by doing that, and yet at the same time she is sad that her baby girl is growing up (more). It sure didn't take long for you to master this skill and it's become your transportation mode of choice.

One "trick" you still pull out on occasion is your knee walking. Yeah, weird. Not sure that's the best term to call it, but you essentially get on your knees and start scooting. A ton of people have commented on it and say things like "I've never seen a baby do that before!" Only you, my sweet go-getter would find an alternate method to get somewhere when crawling isn't quite good enough.

We are trying very hard to transition you out of baby food and onto big people food. It's a slow process with just 2 little teeth in there! Most days you will eat tiny servings of the menu selections we are eating, but you are still little picky about the texture of things. The usual routine is to offer you what we are eating and then fill you up with a jar/tub of baby food. It gets interesting when you start playing and spitting the baby food back out. Daddy always says it is because you aren't hungry, but mommy is not convinced. You get a pretty big smirk on your face, with the sweetest grin after spitting mashed peas or carrots back at mommy. Sort of like "I got ya again!" Hmmm…you should really think about stopping that behavior. Mommy already has enough laundry and stains to remove with you and big sister's clothing, she would prefer not worrying about hers as well.

The consistency of your bottles is starting to waiver a little. Although I hate leaving the baby stage, I'm not afraid to admit that I'll be happy when we can pack those bottles away. I don't know if it's because you are always on the go and just too busy to drink a full bottle, or you somehow constantly trick us into thinking you are hungry but really are not. I find myself making a 6 ounce bottle of which you only drink 2 ounces, or even a 4 ounce bottle that you only drink 1 ounce from. You are very interested in sippy cups and have stolen Lesley's milk cups on occasion so I don't think it's going to be a problem to switch you over to whole milk in 4-6 weeks. Fingers crossed we can start eliminating bottles at that time too.

How very grown up you look in these jeans, sitting in a chair that you got in by yourself?!

You have also learned the "dropsies" game. You know, where you drop your sippy cup, we pick it up only to have you drop it again 2 seconds later. Poor big sister gets a tad bit frustrated with you when you play that game with her. While on vacation, Papa's hat was your choice of game piece. It took him a little while to figure out that you were not only infatuated with him but more so his hat.

The vocal cords have been discovered! I was all set to talk to the doctor about your lack of sounds and concern for your hearing at your 9 month doctor's visit, but just a day or before that you started "talking." Some days you are chattier than others, and some days you try to speak up over your big sister, but often you still just sit back and listen. It seems you are also trying to say "da-da" but I'm not certain just yet. Maybe now that your body has figured out the walking bit, you can start focusing on words.

You laugh and giggle, and shake your little bottom when you try to dance. You have big feet and a lot of your daddy's features. You are usually shy and a mama's girl. You like to hold your own bottle and you don't like to stay seated in the bathtub. You tend to sleep in, but only after an early morning bottle. You love to eat cheerios in the car and drink water from a sippy cup. Your inner thighs are ticklish and you arch your feet when we try to put shoes on. You have started tackling your big sister and pulling her hair. You are a little attached to your pink, fuzzy blanket and like to chew on it at night while falling asleep.

You love to chase your big sister, even when she has the advantage on you.

You want to be all grown up, even if your mama does not want you to be.

But, you still need rescued sometimes and your mama is thankful that her job isn't done yet.

And, we can't help but love you more and more every day.

Forever my baby girl (even if you are growing up without my permission),

Mama

Almost

2011-08-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

I promise the Colorado photos will stop soon...just a few more to share.

Andy has a pretty cool water proof camera he took on their raft trip.

That's Jason jumping off the rock into the nice, cold water.

Uncle Nick, Mike, Jason, and Papa Keith getting some exercise.

As a side note, all the mommies have been rafting a handful of times so the reason you aren't seeing us on the trip is not because we are chickens. We've been there, done that and thought spending the day in town shopping and at the park with 3 special ladies sounded better than rafting this time around.

Remember that future vacation home I mentioned a post or so back...what do you think? Looks nice, huh? And, it's for sale, just like it's been the last 2 summers we were in Colorado. It looks small, but this cabin is a 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath gem with a large partially finished basement and our favorite mountain creek running through the backyard. The neighbor across the street is from Wichita (we are basically best friends now:) so we're already practically neighbors. Once I convince Jason this is a better investment than our 401(k), we can be neighbors in two different states. After this week's stock market performance, I might have a good chance. Ha!

Leah had a thing for Papa this week. She would just smile and smile at him, and then steal his hat and throw it on the floor. She could see him from a mile away and would grin from ear to ear until he noticed her. Playing at the park was a treat for her! She quickly figured out how to go down the slide herself and only needed a little assistance making her way up the stairs.

The nail salon in our living room!

A few hikes during the week...this particular hike was to visit with our new future neighbor. :)

Lesley woke up early pretty much every morning. She is not used to sleeping in the same room as her mommy and daddy and insisted on joining us in bed most mornings. This particular morning didn't involve extra sleep or cuddles, just squirminess and kicks. So we abandoned ship and made sausage cheese muffins together.

Remember how Lilly used to be called Silly Lilly...well, she has acquired a new nickname after the week in Colorado. Lazy Lilly! She was always ready and willing to go on walks or hikes, but usually the first to want carried. I don't blame her, oxygen is a little more difficult to come by in the high altitudes! She must have been practicing her football celebrations in the photo above. Looks like her and Andy just scored a touchdown.

Where are those llamas!?

Okay, I think I'm almost out of photos to share...no guarantees as I'll be doing one more review of our Colorado photo folders. Thanks to Aimee, Andy, Grandma Nancy, and Uncle Nick for sharing their pictures too! Next on my list, Leah's 10 month letter. I've been working on it, just wanted to get all my Colorado memories posted.