Wiggle Time

Today has been a day full of singing and dancing! We ventured down to San Jose this morning to see Leah's all time favorite televised friends, The Wiggles, live in concert! I LOVE The Wiggles because it's like a concert for little ones. Leah sang along to "Big Red Car" at the top of her lungs! She was so excited to see Jeff, Anthony, Murray and Sam drive onto the stage. When Dorothy the Dinosaur made her appearance, Leah was waving and yelling, "Hi Dorothy, Hi Dorothy" as loud as she possibly could! I just know that Dorothy heard her! At one point in the show the Wiggles came out into the audience. It was so neat to get to see them up close and personal! I don't know what I expected but it was so surreal to see them in person! They're real people who we've sang and danced along with for hours on end so it was just so neat to really get to spend the day with them! It was so different than seeing Elmo or Minnie Mouse.

Here's a funny little story.....we sat right behind the Wiggles BIGGEST FAN (aka Wiggles groupie)! She had made a special sign that SHE held up during the show that said "Welcome Back Wiggles, We've Missed You" (I guess it's been a couple of years since they've toured in the United States.....we wouldn't know because we've only been fans for the last year or so). She was telling us all about the guys, what happened to one of the previous Wiggles and on and on and on. She wouldn't stop talking about the Wiggles. She knew all of the logistics of the show as far as timing and what not because of her previous history of attendance. She was just soooo excited to be there! Here's the kicker.....she was AT LEAST 40-years-old! Wow! Luke and I just looked at each other like this woman needs a life! Yes, there was a child sitting with her (probably 6 or 7) but he looked like he could have cared less to be there. We were joking that she probably paid him to go with her just so she had an excuse to attend! Very strange! She did take this cute picture of us though!

We didn't make it through the entire show. We stayed for a little over an hour and then Leah let us know that it was naptime! She fell asleep almost immediately once we hit the road! The show was almost over anyways and this way we beat the mob of people and traffic who would all be leaving at the same time twenty minutes later! All-in-all we had a fantastic day and can't wait to see The Wiggles live in concert again one day!

Waiting ever so patiently for The Wiggles to begin!

The programs are ALWAYS a huge hit with my girl! She could "read" this for hours!

Singing sh sh sh during "Rock a Bye a Bear". This is Mommy's favorite Wiggles song!

Having so much fun!

"Hi Dorothy! Hi Dorothy!"

It's Murray!

And Jeff!

"I lub Wiggles!"

Watching Wiggles, snuggling with her new Dorothy the Dinosaur and reading her program on the way home! I think we can say she had a great day!

Driving Miss Leah

Leah has discovered the front seat of the car and loves to "drive". Sometimes when we get home and get her unbuckled out of her carseat she will climb into the front seat and "drive" as she calls it. It's like pulling teeth getting her out of the driver's seat to come inside the house and the entire time we're standing there saying "Don't push buttons. Only Mommy and Daddy push buttons. Leah just drives." She has done this after every car trip this week and when we put her into her carseat to go somewhere she lets us know that she would much rather "drive". Once her movie starts playing she's good to go but we certainly have to hear about her wanting to drive first!

This & That on a Semi-Lazy Sunday

Where did the day (and week) go? Today we were semi-lazy.....lazy as in I didn't leave my pj's! Luke was kind enough to let me sleep in this morning which I haven't done in ages! It felt AMAZING! I think I ventured into the living room sometime around 10:30. Daddy and Leah spent almost the entire day outside swimming while I was in party planning mode! Leah's party is just two weeks away and I feel like I still have so much to do! My family will be here next weekend so I want to try and get everything done before then. Tomorrow Leah and I have a busy shopping day planned. We are on a mission for pink paper and pink, black and white ribbon! Because I haven't updated in forever, here is a bunch of randomness (and I do mean random).....

Leah and Daddy's day of swimming included an emergency bath session. They were swimming in her little turtle pool when Luke realized that the water looked a little murky. A quick check of the Little Swimmer revealed just what he thought! If you've ever tried to change a poo that had done a little swimming you know it's not so easy! The only solution was to dump the pool, rinse the turtle and send Leah to the bath and Daddy to the shower! The poor girl had three baths in less than 24 hours if you count the one Saturday night and the one tonight. We would've skipped the one tonight, but she had lots of fun with sidewalk chalk before dinner!

This afternoon I was making our weekly supply of Rice Krispie Treats (I am addicted, I admit it) and Leah was playing in the playroom. Luke came in from outside and was looking for her. She had disappeared into her room and had her babies (some fuzzier than others) lined up in a perfectly straight row and was putting her diapers on them. She was getting them each a diaper out of the diaper drawer. It was the sweetest little thing! We let her be and when I went in later to check on her she had EVERY SINGLE BLANKET out of her drawers for her babies. What a good little Mommy!

Tonight after our yummy "stink" dinner (Leah calls steak "stink" and stickers "stinkers") Luke and I were tag teaming the clean up and Leah was playing with her babies on the couch. Luke took a break to go and visit her and noticed that Big Bird had a mouth (or a beak I should say) full of crumbs! We asked her what Big Bird had been eating and she quite proudly told us "goldfish". From where, I don't know!

We've bid farewell to the high chair. I am so tired of cleaning that thing! Leah now sits in her booster seat at the kitchen table. The table's a tad too high for her right now but she doesn't seem to mind a bit!

Speaking of the upcoming birthday party.....Leah is SOOOO excited about her birthday party! I have converted the front guest room into my "studio" where I've been getting quite crafty. Leah runs in there all the time saying "birthday party". She LOVES to look at everything and say "for tha birthday party" in the most excited little voice. When we ask her what she wants for her birthday she says "birthday cake". She is in for one special treat! Planning her party this year has been so much fun just seeing how excited she is! All of the hard work, late nights and party planning blog searching is so worth it to see her so excited! She really does get it this year!

Another part of the party planning has been figuring out the cupcake situation. By situation I mean that Leah breaks out any time she eats something with icing on it. Last year at her birthday party was the first time we noticed this after she indulged in her smash cake. Her little skin broke out in pink hives everywhere that the cake had touched her body. This has happened a couple of times since and has almost always involved icing. She's too young to have allergy tested so we've had to become detectives. We're 99% sure that she is allergic to eggs. I'm not quite sure yet if it's the egg whites, yolks or both. Anyways, back to the cupcake story.....I really want to get cupcakes from the same bakery I got them from last year and that we also had at my baby shower. They're so so yummy and they make little real cakes to sit on top of the stands. Love this! On Thursday we had a little outing and went to visit the sweet girls at Babycakes to do a little allergy testing. I talked to the girl about our dilemma and she said that it probably wasn't the fondant that broke her out but the icing between the layers of last year's smash cake. She said that their icing begins with egg white and is then mixed with boiling sugar. But, never fear as she said that they have another icing that they can use that doesn't contain egg products. We brought home three cupcakes to "test".....a vanilla cupcake with their regular, yummy, full of egg whites icing, a chocolate cupcake with the thick egg free icing and a strawberry shortcake cupcake just because. I first gave her tiny pieces of the vanilla cupcake and icing (this one most resembled the cake and icing she would have had at her party last year) and within minutes her little mouth was full of hives. Poor baby! At least I was getting some answers! After dinner we let her dig into the chocolate cupcake and nothing happened! Thank the Lord! So, cupcakes have been ordered with icing that Leah can enjoy!

Luke is Leah's certified teeth brusher in this house. Leah LOVES to brush her teeth but doesn't love for US to brush her teeth. She is getting much better, though, at letting Daddy help her. Every night when they finish and she hasn't put up too much of a fight, Luke will tell her "I'm so proud of you." Tonight must have been a good night because Leah came running into the living room after brushing her teeth tonight saying "I so proud of you" over and over and over!

We hit the bargain jackpot this week! We redid our master bedroom recently and have been wanting a big tall black floor mirror. We were a little limited on our options because of the limited space it would fit. One of the wonderful things about having a husband in the furniture industry.....we never ever have to pay retail for furniture! We finally found one that we liked for $600 retail, $300 for us. We were waiting for the rep to get back to us so that we could get it ordered and arrange to pick it up or have it delivered. Anyways, I was shopping in Home Goods (LOVE that store) one day looking for things for the birthday party and came across a big tall black floor mirror for $99! Jackpot! It was in our bedroom, anchored to the wall in less than 24 hours! It's perfect! Here's a little tour of our master bedroom post-makeover! It still needs some accessorizing. Hopefully Home Goods will come through for me again!

Surprise Visitor

We got a HUGE surprise visit this week from Aunt Kelley! My mom called me last Saturday and asked if we had any plans this week and if we'd like for Kelley to fly out for a visit. Of course we said YES and she flew out the very next day! We have had sooooo much fun this week! Aunt Kelley watched Leah on Tuesday and Wednesday while Luke and I worked. This worked out perfect because Ms. Pam was out of town (we had a back-up plan but this one was much better)! On Thurday Kell and I shopped until we could no longer stand. We recuperated in the pool on Friday (I took off work) and then today shopped a little more and went to the movies to see "Grown Ups". We have had an amazing week! Although we're so sad that she has to leave tomorrow we know that she'll be back very soon.....in one week and six days, to be exact, for Leah's big birthday bash!

One downer of the week.....while Kelley and I were shopping at Juicy Couture, the sweet sweet salesgirl asked if I was Kelley's aunt! HELLO!!!!! How old do I look? Wow!

Here's a few pics from our week! We told Kelley to look for a cute little girl holding a sign at the airport! We weren't kidding! I wish I had been a better photographer, but the truth is I only got my camera out once. I'll do better next time, promise!

4th of July Weekend

We had the best 4th of July weekend! This is always such a fun holiday because you don't have the stress of buying gifts or making huge extensive plans. It's all about swimming, grilling, fireworks and hanging out with friends and family. Some of my favorite 4th of July weekends were the time we floated the river and camped out with friends (and got MAJOR sunburns) many years ago (ha!) and last year when we were in Texas with some of our very best friends. One of my least favorite 4ths was the year I was eight months pregnant and didn't leave the comfort of my air conditioner. My mom and Mimi were here with us that year so that made it much better, though!

We spent Saturday in Folsom with our friends Jason, Lindsay and Zoe. They just moved into a new house and had a big cookout to show it off. Leah had SO MUCH FUN playing with all of the other kiddos. She is a tough one. People were commenting on how fast she runs and how athletic she is. I don't really have anyone else to compare her to but when other parents see her in action this is the kind of comments I get. Who knows, maybe she'll bring home an Olympic gold someday! While the adults socialized the little ones played in the sprinkler. Their favorite thing to do was to bend down on the ground and drink from the sprinkler. It was hilarious! We spent the night in Folsom and had the best night. After the babies went night night we stayed up and played games. Luke and I love to play board games so it's always fun to find another couple who loves it just as much!

We were up and about early Sunday morning so that we could be home to get ready for our block party complete with a bounce house in our front yard! Our court goes all out for this holiday. I don't think there was a yard without some kind of American flag decor! On our way home from Folsom Leah said she wanted to go to a birthday party so we told her it was America's birthday. All day (and night) long she would say "Happy Birthday America"! It was precious! We had friends over to swim and grill out. We grilled out chicken fajitas (I know it sounds like we have these alot but they are so so good) and also had cilantro rice, Mexican salad and brownies for dessert! After dark the entire court gathered out front in their lawn chairs and we popped fireworks. This part is always a little crazy to me because as far as I know this is extremely illegal in Texas, but it's the norm here. Leah loved the "firecraker boom boom booms" although it was WAY past her bedtime. There were kids running around everywhere so she loved this. She even got to do a sparkler with her Daddy! Towards the end she started getting a little sleepy so she found a lap to cuddle up in. This is so unlike her so I knew she was tired! Once we put her to bed at 10:30 she was out in no time! We had so much fun celebrating "America's birthday" this year!

Potty Progress

WARNING: Graphic Content

Tonight Leah hit a huge milestone in the potty department.....she went poo poo on the potty! We were sitting at the dinner table finishing up our gourmet dinner of hot dogs and Cheetos when Leah told me "poo poo, change diaper". She NEVER requests for her diaper to be changed so I took advantage of the situation and got right on it! I got her cleaned up and out of her highchair and told her to go to her room and get me a diaper ready. When I caught up to her in her room she not only had the diaper ready but was also laying down for me to change her. This also NEVER happens. Anyways, I started to change her and noticed that she hadn't gone poo poo just yet but was just beginning to (what we call a turtle head around here). I first thought she must be constipated but asked her if she wanted to go poo poo on the potty and she said yes so off to the potty we went with me screaming at Luke to come join us. I was afraid that she might unload the goods all over the floor as I carried her bare bobo from her room to the bathroom. Daddy joined us and we all sat around the potty and grunted and grunted and grunted and sure enough a man sized poop popped right out! We were all super duper excited! What did we celebrate with? You guessed it.....five chocolate chips!

3 Years of Wedded Bliss

Three years ago yesterday I married my Prince Charming. He surprised me at work with a dozen red roses and Chipotle for a little romantic (baby free) picnic on the winery lawn. We really celebrated today with a couples massage at Arden Hills. It was so so nice and relaxing! The last time we did this was for our one year anniversary in Napa when I was eight months pregnant. This massage was so much better because I could lay on my belly and the girl didn't have to avoid my feet! One thing I don't understand.....I was assigned to a "Large" locker meaning a monstrous robe. Now I know I'm not the same size I was in high school but I don't consider myself "large"! I felt kind of awkward walking around in a robe the same size as Luke's. There was nothing sexy about it, that's for sure! One funny thing that happened was after the girls escorted us to the couples suite and gave us our instructions about getting under the sheets they gave us a few minutes to get situated while they waited outside. (Same ol' massage routine.) We were all ready to go when I realized that I had forgotten my hair clip in my robe pocket so I made Luke get up and get it for me. That was right when the girls knocked and tried to come in. Well, he grabbed the door to push it shut and told them that we weren't ready just yet. Who knows what they were thinking!

After our day at the spa we went out to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Centro. The carnitas there are incredible! Right when we got out of the car at the restaurant I reached into my pocket for some unknown reason and realized that I forgot to return my locker key at the spa. I felt terrible until I told Luke what I did and he reached into his pocket and realized he still had his as well! Whoops! Needless to say, after lunch we made a quick pit stop back at Arden Hills to return the keys! Before heading to pick Leah up from daycare we did what all couples do on their anniversary.....went shopping at Costco. I have to admit, it was a little wonderful shopping without a little helper girl! We never ever ever get to shop together anymore alone so this was so nice! Now it's time to get ready for the upcoming busy, fun-filled holiday weekend!

Ready to be pampered!

Swallowed by the "large" robe!

All relaxed! This picture looks so morbid, I know!

It was BEAUTIFUL out so we dined on the patio!

On our way to return the keys! Whoops!

Happy Anniversary, Honey! I look forward to 47 more! (I told him I'm only good for 50 years. I might need a change after that! Ha!)