Fun With Grammy & Great Grandma

This past week we were very lucky to get a visit from Grammy (formerly Grandma but Leah renamed her Grammy this week) and Great Grandma (Luke's Grandma) from Iowa.  They flew in on Sunday early afternoon and flew home very early this morning.  We did lots of shopping while they were here, ate lots of yummy food and had lots of fun with Leah.  It rained all week long so we were a little limited on our activities but we still managed to have lots of fun indoors!  Leah loved getting to read books with Grammy in Grammy's bed each night.  That was a special little moment just between the two of them!

Fun with Great Grandma!

Thank you for my mug Great Grandma!  I love it!



And fun with Grammy!

Grammy came bearing lots of gifts.....a Pinkalicious dress with ALL the accessories.

This was a HUGE hit!  Thanks Grammy!

Four generations!

Potty Progress

Leah has amazed us beyond our wildest dreams this week with her potty progress!

Monday:  Tee tee'ed (9 times) and poo poo'ed (once) in the potty.  She refused to wear panties but kept her diaper dry for most of the day.  This was all without us even asking her if she needed to go.

Tuesday:  Leah went tee tee once at Ms. Trish's house but went every time she needed once she got home.  Diaper was dry all evening long.

Wednesday:  No potty time at Ms. Trish's but went on the potty and kept her diaper dry once she got home.

Thursday:  Went tee tee on the potty all day long but is still wearing diapers instead of panties (her choice, not mine).  We put her down for her nap this afternoon and before she even fell asleep she started screaming through the monitor that she needed to go tee tee.  I ran in, got her up and sure enough, her diaper was dry and she went tee tee on the potty.  Same thing when she woke up from her nap.....she was fussing a little saying she needed to go tee tee.  Her diaper was completely dry after her nap and she went tee tee on the potty right away!  Now when she was eating her afternoon snack after her nap she went poo poo in her diaper.  I'm thinking that this may be why she is wanting to wear diapers instead of panties.  Maybe she just doesn't know when she might need to go poop.  She's a "one poop a day girl" so really, after she's gone once she's good for the rest of the day.  I tried to tell her this but she still wanted to wear diapers.  We went out to dinner tonight at P. F. Chang's and the moment we walked in the door she said she had to go tee tee (my biggest fear come true).  I rushed her to the bathroom, ripped off her diaper, held her up on the potty and she tee tee'ed away on the potty!  Her diaper was completely dry!  I couldn't believe it!  She had no anxiety on the big public toilet what-so-ever!  Well, after dinner I asked her if she needed to go tee tee because Mommy was going to go.  She said that she would and told me that she wanted to go first.  I put her up on the potty and she told me "false alarm Mommy" (that's what we say at home when she sits on the potty but doesn't end up going).  Her diaper was dry and I knew that she had drank lots of water at dinner so I knew that she really should go.  I made her sit there for a minute and sure enough she went tee tee!  I just can't believe how good my girl is doing!  Once we got home, we threw her in the bath and after a few minutes she said she had to go tee tee.  I ripped the little fish out of the potty, threw her on the big potty (because her little potty chair was in a different bathroom) and she went tee tee!  She also went one more time before bedtime!  Besides the wet diaper she woke up with this morning and going poo poo during her snack, her diaper has remained dry all day long!  I'm still in shock!

I haven't put her in pull ups yet and don't really know if I'm going to.  I really want to just go from diapers to panties.  I guess I better figure this out soon!

Funny story from the restaurant.....After Leah went tee tee on the potty, it took me a minute to wipe her up and get her diaper back on.  I was trying to wipe her with a wipie but she pulled off some toilet paper and said that she wanted to "wipe with this".  Whatever!  She was then bending down looking in the stall next to us and was asking me "who's in there Mommy".  I told her to please get up and that we don't look under the walls when we're in the bathroom.  Well, we were getting ready to leave P. F. Chang's and the sweet little hostess girl tells me "She was so cute in the bathroom."  I about died!  I asked her if she was in the stall next to us and she said "no, but one over."  Oh my goodness!  I told her that we were just beginning and had alot to learn in the bathroom etiquette department!

30th Birthday Celebration

Whether I was ready for it or not, the day of my 30th birthday greeted me on Friday, March 18th.  I was having such a hard time with it when really I shouldn't have.  Every single 30+ year old assured me that it really wasn't that bad PLUS I recently read something about people who don't like their age live two years less than those who accept it.  I am now an accepter!  I want those two extra years!

Friday night my family was still in town so we had a little family party.  It was wonderful to get to celebrate with them!  I was blessed with so many wonderful gifts from friends and family including Georgetown Cupcakes as seen on Oprah!  What a fun surprise!  Thanks Jennifer and Kara!  I also got lots of beautiful flowers, money for a new Coach purse that I want, a Williams-Sonoma gift card and lots more and a beautiful necklace from Luke!  Leah insisted we wear party hats at the party.  Mickey Mouse ears were the best I could come up with!

Saturday night was the big par-tay!  Luke definitely wins the "husband of the year" award for all that he did!  He planned the entire night all by himself and the entire night was a gift from him to me and all of our guests!  I sure do love this man!  We celebrated with four of our best couple friends.  Luke arranged for a Hummer limo to pick us all up at our house and escort us for the evening.  We were chauffeured to Ella, one of our favorite restaurants in Sacramento.  Luke had the whole night set up with reservations at one of the chef's tables.  A big surprise was that he even requested personalized menus!

Jason and his bone marrow!

The birthday girl and her hot date!

Mark & Susan

Jason & Lindsay

Matt & Shannon

Mitch & Christina

We were all spoiled rotten all night with things coming out of the kitchen complements of the chef.  What a treat!  We finally closed down the restaurant around 11:30 and the limo brought us home around midnight.

Leah stayed at her friend Brayden's house for the evening.  We went to pick her up when we got home but she was sound asleep so they insisted that we leave her.  She slept in until 9:30 this morning when Brayden went to wake her up.  Brayden's daddy then cooked her Minnie Mouse chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast.  She only gets Mickey Mouse chocolate chip pancakes at home so she'll want lots more slumber parties at Brayden's house I'm sure!

A couple of my least favorite moments of the night.....the limo got to our house at 6:30.  Luke had asked for it to get here at 7:00 for a 7:30 departure.  He went out front to load the limo with beer and wine and it was dead!  The owner had to come and jump it!  We were able to leave around 7:30 so it all worked out fine!  THEN we get into Sacramento and our driver just kept driving in circles and it was past 8:30, the time of our reservations.  We finally asked her what was going on and she admitted that she didn't know where this place was!  Ugh!  Every single one of us in the back were able to pull it up on our phones and see that we were only a block away but this crazy driver pulls down a dead end street, gets out in the rain to go and read street signs.  She finally gets back in the limo, pulls down an alley and gets there but almost drives right past it with us screaming that we were there!  Craziness!  Needless to say, we kept the limo out a little past our time limit and asked her to take Mitch and Christina home who were otherwise going to get a cab.  This was the least that limo could do!  It all ended up working out but was a little stressful at the moment!

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT:  Leah has gone tee tee and poo poo in the potty all day long without one single accident.  She has wanted nothing to do with panties but hasn't had a wet diaper once!  In fact, we just kept putting the same diaper back on her each time!  This was all totally on her own.  We never even asked her if she had to go.  She would just yell out "I have to go tee tee" and would take off running to the bathroom, take off her diaper and Viola!  She's so proud of herself too!  After she would go, she would sing "Leah went tee tee on the potty, Leah went tee tee on the potty,......!"  I can't wait to see how she does tomorrow at Ms. Trish's house!  My little girl is potty training herself!

Spring Break in Tahoe

Nana, Papaw and Aunt Kelley came out to visit us for Kelley's spring break so we loaded up and headed to one of our favorite places.....Lake Tahoe!  They flew into Sacramento on Monday evening, Tuesday we shopped and then on Wednesday we packed the cars and headed east.  Getting to Tahoe came with a little excitement as it was snowing and chains were required for part of the journey.  They weren't required on the MDX as it's all wheel drive but they were required on the Accord (we had to take two vehicles down just to fit everyone and all of our stuff).  I think Papaw and Luke had lots of fun putting them on and us girls had lots of fun sitting in the car for forever waiting patiently!  The guys were filthy once they got back in the car!  I think next time we'll just pay the guys in the green jackets to put them on for us!

We stopped for lunch at a place we fell in love with on our last trip to Tahoe in September.....The Bridgetender in Tahoe City.  It's just a little dive place but they have the best fried zucchini and the best fries I've ever had anywhere!  Leah was way too excited to sit and eat here because all she wanted to do was go play in the snow!  Luke finally caved and took her out and as he carried her through the restaurant she was singing "I'm going to go play in the snooooow, I'm going to go play in the snooooow!"  over and over and over as loud as she could!  I also had my very first embarrassing mom experiences here.....the waitress comes to take our order and Leah points to her and VERY LOUDLY across the table asks me "Does she have a baby in her tummy?".  My mom and I about died!  We tried to play it off but Leah said "No, her" while pointing to the waitress again.  Oh my!  The girl wasn't skin and bones but I really don't think she was pregnant either!

The drive up was beautiful!  It's so fun to get to see Lake Tahoe in the summer and then again in the winter!

Our first night there, we relaxed, lit a fire, ordered pizza for dinner and Luke got his and Kelley's snowboards all ready for Thursday!  Leah really, really, really wanted to go snowboarding.  I told her that when she's three we will put her in ski school!

Thursday morning my dad and I went out to breakfast at The Old Post Office, a place I had been wanting to try since the last time we were there.  We LOVE to eat breakfast at The Log Cabin but I had heard this place was even better so I had to try it!  It was pretty darn good!

While my dad and I were eating breakfast and Nana was watching Leah, Luke and Kelley were snowboarding at Northstar. They both came home pretty sore but had tons of fun!

When the boarders returned home, they had a surprise for Leah.....her very own toboggan!  We had to put it to use right away!  Leah LOVED tobogganing and she LOVED playing in the snow!  At one point she took off walking through the snow up to her hips and we had to beg her to come back to join us!

Can you guess who this little snow angel is?

After our fun in the snow, Leah and I wanted ice cream.  Who would've known that finding an open ice cream stand in the middle of winter would be so hard?  We went to three places.....two were closed for the winter (as in boarded up closed) and the other (a burger stand we like to go to) had a frosty machine but it was broken.  I kept yelping around and finally came up with a gelato place at the Northstar village so off we went!  Poor Leah fell asleep before we even got there but we were sweet and saved her some for when she woke up!  It was YUMMY and so worth the hassle!  We'll definitely be back for more of this!  When we got back to the condo, it was time to put on our St. Patty's Day green!

Then we built some bridges!  Leah LOVES to make bridges for us to climb under.  Fun stuff!

Nana made chicken 'n dumplings for dinner per Kelley's request (they were so so good and the perfect meal for a cold, snowy day) and Leah and Daddy and Papaw had fun with pretzels!  Yes, they're between her toes!

Friday morning we packed up and headed back to Sacramento.  We had watched the weather and knew that a storm was coming so we thought it would be best if we headed out earlier versus later.  I had really wanted to go eat breakfast at The Log Cabin but we didn't think this was the best idea.  We got home around 3:00 or so and just happened to watch the 5:00 news.  There was a 45 car pile up on the road that we had just travelled home on and the interstate had been closed down completely while they cleaned up the mess.  Had we stopped to eat breakfast, we probably would have made this pile up 47 cars or not been able to get home at all!  It was still closed as of midnight last night!  We were definitely counting our blessings on this one!  All in all, it was a quick trip but one that we will always remember!  We can't wait to go back this summer!

Six Month Dentist Visit

Last Thursday Leah had her six month check-up at the dentist and she did AWESOME!  I was so so proud of her!  All week we practiced opening our mouth and saying "Awwwww" and we talked about the dentist's gloves that he would put on (the gloves seemed to totally freak her out on her last visit that did not go well at all).  On our drive there I reminded her about everything we had talked about and told her that the dentist would paint her teeth (with flouride I think).  She got very excited about this and said that she wanted him to paint her teeth pink!

When we got there and checked in we noticed that there was a FREE carousel in the outside play area!  I thought I had hit the jackpot with this!  Of course, Leah wanted to ride it so I told her that Dr. Grandpre would give us the magic tokens for it if she let him look at her teeth!  Thank goodness no other kids were riding it at this time or it would have totally blown my cover!

Once we were called back she seemed just fine.  I told the hygienist right away that she wanted her teeth painted pink.  Dr. Grandpre was there in no time and we told him that we wanted our teeth painted pink.  Leah was extremely talkative and relaxed with Dr. "Grandpretty" as he called him (he liked his new name).  They have movies playing on the ceiling above the dental chairs and she even sat down in the chair for a minute although she was much more comfortable in my lap with me sitting on the dental chair.  This seemed to work just fine because she let Dr. Grandpre count her teeth and paint her teeth pink with no problem at all!  She was such a big girl!  He said her teeth look perfect!  I had a question about when to start flossing her teeth and he said that none of her teeth make contact just yet so it would be at least until after her next visit in six months.  He had a question for us regarding the pacifier and unfortunately I had to tell him that YES she still has one and loves it very much!  I promised him that she would not have it by her next visit!

After we were done with her check up, you can guess what we did.....we rode the carousel TWICE with the magic tokens that Dr. Grandpretty gave us!  :)

10 on 10: March 2011

Ten on Ten: 10 pictures on the 10th day of the month!

{Document a day of your life & find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

WARNING:  I may be cheating a bit as I don't quite have 10 pictures!  Whoops!

Only two more days of meddy!  I pray that this clears up her ears for good!

Riding the carousel at the dentist's office!

What a treat this was for both Mommy and Leah!

Lunch date!  Luke and I were lucky enough to have a sitter for the afternoon and snuck off to Chipotle for lunch!  I used to have a strong dislike for Chipotle.  Luke has always loved it and used to want to eat there all the time.  I was never a fan until I discovered their bowls!  Now I'm addicted.....rice, carnitas, pico, corn, cheese, sour cream and guacamole!  Oh, and you MUST have a side of chips and guac!  They have the best guac ever!

Nora babysat Leah this afternoon for us (she's off track so we have to take advantage).  She said that Leah wanted lemonade so that's just what Nora made for her!

Nora's brother, Graham, came over to play with them for a little bit and they had a tea party with their lemonade!  It looks like Cinderella stopped by as well!

When I can get my phone away from Leah, I play way too much of this.....