Just Another Manic Monday

Ever wonder what Leah and I do on our Mondays home together? Well, here's what we did today.....

Leah slept until 9:30 this morning so I won't even tell you what time I got up! The last few days she has been sleeping in until 9:30 or 10:00 and she's taking a good 2 to 2 1/2 hour nap every afternoon. You would think that she was staying up until midnight each night, but she's still going to bed at her usual 8:30 pm! Tomorrow she's in for a rude awakening when we'll have to wake her up early for daycare! Thank goodness she's happy and chipper in the mornings like her daddy (the complete opposite of her mama)! We then enjoyed a yummy breakfast of blueberry waffles and blueberry "gurt" (yogurt). Do you think she liked it?

We then ran a few errands including a trip to Dollar Tree. This was only my second visit to this store and the first time I ever went here I said I would never go back. I'm saying it again.....I will never go back! They had nothing I needed, the cart didn't fit down the aisles and, to top it all off, the cashier took a good long lick of her finger as she counted out my change for the $1 coloring book that I had to buy because Leah needed a surprise for being so good even though she really wanted a "boon" (balloon). I couldn't wait to get back in the car!

Have you seen Jamie Oliver's video on chicken nuggets? Well, if not, it will make you never ever want to touch a chicken nugget again! After seeing this and "Food, Inc." on Oprah I have a whole new attitude on what I eat, especially in the fast food department. Anyways, to make a long story short, Leah and I headed over to Chick-fil-A for some chicken nuggets and french fries! (I will eat their chicken nuggets because you can tell that they're real pieces of chicken vs. a bunch of filler!) I promised Leah that we would see the cow while we were there and guess what.....the cow came and visited us in our car as we were sitting in the drive-thru! Leah didn't know what to think but she said "bye cow" the entire way home!

When we got home, my little lady devoured FIVE WHOLE CHICKEN NUGGETS and who knows how many waffle fries! This is the girl who doesn't eat meat! The secret.....KETCHUP! I may have opened up a whole can of worms, but sometimes you just gotta turn to whatever works! I had control of the ketchup and she had control of the nuggets. She would hand me a nugget and say "more" meaning more ketchup, but I made her say "kechup peese" before I would take her nuggets for a dip! This girl would have never stopped eating, but we ran out of nuggets as I only bought an 8 pack and I had to eat too!

The rest of our day wasn't too exciting. We're dog sitting for our neighbors this week so we took Leah over to play with the puppies for a little bit. She loves Bo and Molly so this was a fun way to end the day! Our Mondays may be manic, but I wouldn't change a thing!

Look Out American Idol

Crystal Bowersox may have Simon's vote on American Idol, but Leah gets Mommy and Daddy's vote! Leah has become a singing sensation! She walks around the house singing one of three songs: "Kwinkle Star" (Twinkle Star), "Rock a Baby" (Rock a Bye Baby), or "Where Da Papa" (Sung to the tune of 'These are a Few of My Favorite Things'). I have tried and tried and tried to get it on video; however, every single time she sees the camera she stops what she's doing and insists on watching the baby on the little screen. We try to be sneaky and hide the camera, but if she hears us push the record button we've totally lost her to, again, wanting to watch the baby. Here's the best video we could come up with this morning as my little sous chef and I were cooking breakfast!

Leah Lately

Here are a few Leah stories that I want to remember!

• When we say "I love you" she says "lub you" (and will sometimes even throw in a Mommy or Daddy at the end)!  This is what it's all about!
• I made sloppy joes for dinner and this girl went to town!  She ate more ground beef tonight than she has in her entire 19-months of life!
• This weekend we were working in the yard and Leah was a big helper putting dirt and bark on the shovel for me.  Ever so often she would venture to the sidewalk and towards the street and we would yell "Leah" to get her attention and stop her.  She then would run back and forth from the grass to the sidewalk and would yell "E-ah" everytime she came near the street, mimicking us.  I think this is the first time she has ever said her own name, but on a more serious note.....thank God we live on a cul-de-sac!
• One of my weird little habits is that I love to smell things.  Totally weird, I know!  Well, I think the little miss just might take after her mama!  She was sitting up on the counter with me yesterday as I was putting together a marinade for flank steak for dinner that required lots of dry spices.  Everytime I would open a different spice she would say "mell, mell" and would insist on taking a whiff!  It was so funny, I had to call Luke inside from cleaning the pool to witness it himself!
• Leah and Daddy were very busy this weekend and had to make two trips to "Home Hippo", one on Saturday and another on Sunday.  I asked Luke if he had the cart cover with him and he said that no one going to the hardware store needed a cart cover because they were tough.  Needless to say, he took it with him.  I can't vouch if he used it or not and I shiver to even think about it!  Leah was such a good girl that Daddy got her a surprise at the checkout counter.....her new favorite snack, chips!  He took the same Pringles can with him on Sunday for her surprise for that shopping trip!  Sneaky, sneaky!
• Last night I was changing her diaper and gave her a wipie to play with as usual and she started helping me and wiping herself!  I guess after a million diaper changes it would only make sense that she would know what to do with a wipie!  The only bad part.....she tried to put the wipie in her mouth after using it to wipe!
• I have got to hide the Santa hat!  The weekend before we left for vacation we went shopping.  As we were packing up to head out, Leah found her Santa hat in her drawer and insisted on wearing it!  She would not take it off and would start to whine if we took if off of her!  She wore it all the way to the mall, but thank God she fell asleep and it fell off of her head and she totally forgot about it!  I prayed the whole way there that I was not going to have a child in the mall wearing a Santa hat in the middle of March!  In the car I kept telling Leah "You know, it's March" and she would say "yeah".  I'm slowly learning who is in control!
• She says "bess you" anytime someone sneezes (or coughs).  We first noticed it when we were in Texas.  She was in her crib talking to herself early one morning and sneezed and told herself "bess you".  When we were at the airport waiting to board our plane back to Sacramento, we were looking out the window at the "hairpanes" and the man next to us coughed.  Leah said "bess you" and he knew exactly what she said and told her thank you!  Way to make a proud mama!

"Ha Birday Mommy"!

My 29th birthday was absolutely wonderful!  We celebrated Wednesday night with my family in Vegas at Rainforest Cafe and surprise, surprise they had the waiters sing to me.  I have come to expect this so at the restaurant I kept walking around with Leah as an excuse to leave the table to avoid the waiters!  Too bad, it didn't work!  The waiter himself came to get me when it was time to be serenaded for my 35th birthday (per my mom)!  It was so wonderful to get to celebrate with the people I love!

When we got home last night I got to open my presents from Luke and Leah.....a Wii, Wii Fit and Super Mario Brothers, all by special request!  I wonder how they knew!  Leah even sang "Happy Birthday" to me that sounded a little something like "A-U-A-U-A-U"!  After Leah went to bed we ordered sushi and then did a little marriage counselling session.  I tell you what.....this Super Mario Brothers Wii game is better than any therapist!  Mario (me) and Luigi (Luke) have to work together to conquer the levels all while trying not to push each other off ledges and taking turns grabbing mushrooms!  I see lots of counselling sessions in our future!  We might even try to squeeze one in tonight! 

Thanks to all of my sweet family and friends for all of the wonderful phone calls and cards on my special day!  I love you all!

St. Patty's Day

We were in Vegas for St. Patty's Day and sported our green all over the strip!  No getting pinched here!  (The only bummer was that we lost her bow on our walk back to the hotel after dinner!  At least I got a family picture before it fell off the face of the earth!)

That night Luke, Christelle, Luke's cousin Doug and myself all headed to O'Sheas, just across the street from our hotel, Caesars Palace.  We didn't head here because it's Irish, but because one of our cab drivers said that they had the loosest slots on the strip.  Now, I am by no means a gambler.  I feel like I've earned more money by keeping the money I already have versus throwing it away in some silly slot machine or on some card game that I have no idea how to play.  Luke's uncle won almost $1,000 by putting $5 in a penny slot machine earlier in the week so this night I had some inspiration.  O'Sheas was CRAZY with St. Patty's Day goers as there was a HUGE party in the street so we didn't think we would even be able to get to a machine but had no trouble at all.  I threw $5 in a silly little machine and it was gone in no time, then I did it again.  Nothing!  In the mean time, Christelle wandered over to a "Deal or No Deal" penny slot machine.  After my $10 was gone I went and joined her at the other "Deal or No Deal" slot beside her.  I put in $20 and before I knew what was going on I won a little over $175!  I cashed out immediately and put in a fresh $20 and with this one I won a little over $80!  By the end of the night I went home with $200 more than I started with!  I am now a huge fan of "Deal or No Deal" slots!  Watch out Vegas (and Dubuque)!

Spring Break 2010

We are home sweet home from a ten day Spring Break hiatus!

It all started last Tuesday, March 9, when we flew to West Texas bright and early in the morning.  We needed to leave our house by 5:15 am for a 7:25 am flight; however, we were up late packing and somehow managed to sleep through two alarms.  We didn't even wake up until 5:45!  Whoops!  Luckily we made it and so did our bags!

We spent a couple of days with my family and then on Thursday, March 11, Luke and I flew to Las Vegas for a wedding while Leah stayed in Texas.  Luke and I had a great "Mommy & Daddy getaway"!  Luke was a groomsman for his friend Matt Herbst.  We had so much fun hanging out with friends for a few days.  On Sunday, March 14, Christelle ("hotel" as Leah calls her) flew to Vegas to join us for a few days!  We were so happy to get to spend time with her!  We wined and dined ourselves for four days and nights and took advantage of our little vacation.  For this leg of the trip we stayed at the MGM Grand which is where the wedding was and were lucky enough to score a room with a wonderful view of the strip!

Here are a couple of pictures from our Vegas dates from my "purse" (old) camera!

On Monday, March 15, my mom, dad, sister, her friend and little Leah flew to Vegas to join us for a few days!  I was so happy to see my baby girl!  I missed her way more than I thought possible!  We went to meet them at the airport when they got in, and Luke and I had to discuss who was going to hold her first!  I won!  She looked like she had grown up so much in those few days since she had been in Texas!  For the second half of our trip we stayed at Caesars Palace and had the most amazing rooms!  We had humongous adjoining rooms overlooking the Bellagio fountains!  Our priorities were a little different these last few days with the little lady in tow, but it was still alot of fun!  We still wined and dined (with a little nap, bath and bedtime for someone special scheduled in) but also enjoyed the family friendly side of Vegas.....Bellagio Conservatory, Rainforest Cafe, MGM lions and lots of "cruising" (as she and her daddy call it) in the stroller!  She was such a good girl and loved all of the bright lights and loud music that Vegas gives away for free!  We were even lucky enough to have lunch with Luke's aunt and uncle who were in town and dinner with his cousin who lives in Vegas.

Daddy and Leah "cruising"!

At Caesars Palace!

At the Bellagio Conservatory.  It was beautiful!

Leah loved to touch the flowers!  I hope this was legal!

Now this I know was NOT legal, but she took it upon herself to climb over the fence!

She squealed with delight at the jumping water fountain!

Somebody did not want to be carried out!  She wanted to walk like a big girl!

Having a very intent conversation with Daddy about the lions!

Trying to decide what to order for dinner!  How about a hot dog and french fries?

Christelle took this picture of our family at dinner! 

It's impossible to get everybody to look at the same time!

Yummy, yummy hot dogs!

Enjoying birthday ice cream with Mommy!

We all packed up and flew home this afternoon!  It was a wonderful spring break and we were so happy to get to spend it with very special people!

Daddy and Leah patiently waiting for our "hairplane".

19 Months + 2 Days

Wednesday night was my monthly girl's night out dinner, then Leah was kind enough to share her cough with me, hence the +2 days and no picture!

I cannot believe my baby girl is already 19-months-old!  There was a time in our lives when we thought we wanted to have our babies 18-months apart, and I can't help but think that had we stuck with that plan we would have a new baby right now!  But, it's just the three of us with little Miss Leah being the queen of the house!

The one big advancement that Leah has made from last month to now is all in the speech department.  She says all words that are necessary for her at this age plus so many more.  We can carry on full conversations with her these days.  She repeats most of what we say (especially words at the end of statements).  The other day I was cleaning the bathroom and she took off with the paper towels and I asked her to please bring me the paper towels.  She then kept repeating "paper towel, paper towel" just as plain as day.  When the babysitter arrived the other night she was telling me that she wanted to make a carrot cake.  Leah was playing in her car and out of nowhere started saying "carrot cake, carrot cake".  She's already starting to eavesdrop, I guess!  Uh oh!  Anytime we say "who loves Mommy" (or Daddy or Nana or whoever) she says "I doooooo"!  It's precious!  Most everything she says is in two word batches.  The other day I hung up the phone from talking to my mom and Leah said "bye Nana".  I can assure you that that's not how I ended the conversation!  Her associations are amazing!  If we ask her who her friends are she'll start naming them off without us naming any of them.  This morning I was putting her jacket on her and she said "Aunt Pam".  She knew that putting her jacket on meant we were leaving the house and going to Ms. Pam's house.

Unfortunately, one of her favorite words is "no".  We hear this word way too often!  It's so funny though, because we'll tell her to say yes instead and she'll nod her head yes and say "yesh" with a very defined "sh" on the end!

Here lately she has started saying no to having her hair washed during bath.  We just have to be quick so that she doesn't have a choice and it's all washed before she knows it!  I wonder how much longer our little "tricks" will work!  She's one smart cookie and will be on to us in no time!

Sick Day

Today Leah called in sick to daycare!  The poor girl has a nasty cold!  She had a few sniffles yesterday and a little cough as she was trying to get rid of the junk in her throat but I didn't think too much of it because 'tis the season.  Fever jumped into the mix last night.  We gave her Tylenol and she slept so so last night, much better than I thought she would!  Daddy got up with her once but just to give her her pa pa.  She was coughing off and on all night but didn't seem to need our attention.  Her nose was completely clogged when she got up this morning, poor thing!  I called Pam this morning to see what the "rule" was on bringing her in, and she said that they're not supposed to be at daycare for the first 24-hours after a fever.  Because she had fever last night, I stayed home with her today.  She seemed fine this morning after a round of Tylenol but this afternoon was a different story!  She only took a 45 minute nap (her naps are usually at least double this) and woke up coughing.  She was not a happy camper when I got her out of bed.  She didn't want me to rock her, didn't want me to put her down, didn't want me to walk with her, didn't want her pa pa, didn't want to watch a movie, didn't want anything!  I gave her more Tylenol and life was much better when that finally kicked in about an hour later!  I pray that she sleeps good tonight!  So far, from the sounds coming through the monitor, we're off to a rough start!  Tomorrow is Daddy/Daughter day so she'll have one more day to be comfy cozy at home and get all better!

"Leah"nardo da Vinci

Mondays are Leah/Mommy days but today she went to Aunt Pam's house so that I could run a few errands.  (Leah has started calling Ms. Pam, Aunt Pam.  Pam is Holly's aunt so Leah has picked up on Holly calling her Aunt Pam and has claimed her as such!)  We're heading to Vegas next week and I'm in need of some non-Mommy, Vegas attire so Leah spent the day with her friends while I ran to the mall.  I would have loved to have her join me, but it wouldn't have been quite as productive of a day.  I didn't get as much stuff as I wanted, but I got a couple of things.  Looks like we'll be making a family trip to the mall this weekend to finish up!

While I was out I also stopped by Toys "R" Us to pick up a surprise for my gal.  The girl LOVES to draw and color so I thought she would love an easel!  It was a hit!  I put it in the kitchen thinking that it would keep her entertained while I cook dinner.  It didn't keep her entertained the WHOLE time but she enjoyed it for a bit!  She soon caught on to what I was doing, however, and wanted to join me on the counter.  She LOVES to sit up on the counter next to me while I cook (and even sometimes when no one's cooking).  I enjoy every minute of it, though, because I know that one day I'm gonna miss having my little sous chef!

I LOVE the fact that the easel is even magnetic! 

Our fridge is stainless so we had nowhere for fun magnetic letters that all kids like!