Its official!

ITS SUMMER TIME!!

Leah's new favorite hat.... its so silly looking its cute!   She loved it and didnt take it off for hours!

And does she not resemble the Strawberry Short Cake doll?

Me in my Mom's swimsuit... no really! My mom's suit! I did  not bring one, and decided that I wanted to get in the water with Leah, so my mom gave me one of hers.... I hope I can still fit in this size when Im 57! ... Oh yeah, I have her sun glasses on too! ha!

What's more summery than Watermlon?... and yes, she loves it too!

Yard golf!

Corn on the Cob LOVER

and ending the day with Ice Cream!

It will be an awesome summer with this little one!

My flag is waving

I did it.

I caved.

I pulled out my white flag.

Mission Break the Binkie was a fail....

Friday went great! Brian's parents watched her, and kept it away from her. Friday night she took a little while to go down, but finally did... woke up once or twice (I am honestly too tired to remember) but was up early Saturday morning.

Saturday started off pretty well.... as best as it can at 5:15 am on a Saturday.  It quickly began to head south when we realized that she would not nap!

Laying with her, cradling her, carrying her, walking her, more milk, crying it out,  Brian even tried driving her around for a while, and still nothing!   She was getting more and more tired as the day went on... and more and more crabby... and Mommy was doing the same!    

Around 11:45 we were informed of a showing from 1-3.   Great for attempting to sell a house, not so great when you have to take a tired and crabby girl out of the house (cleaning it before we go) for the next few hours!

We drove around for a while, where she FINALLY caught about 15 minutes of sleep.... and then we took her into the model home of the house we want to build.  As we sat in the family room, contemplating how we would want to arrange our furniture, Leah decided to get in a fight with the coffee table.  Things didnt end well, and Leah came out with a blood nose!   I saw her go down, and then saw the horrible, silent scream where you know they are REALLY hurt. We grabbed her, made sure she was semi OK, and ran out of there!

We headed back home where we thought for sure we could get a late nap in..... Nope, still didnt happen!

To keep her busy we headed outside to play and BBQ dinner.   By the time dinner came around she was only wanting to sit in my lap, eyes barely opened,  talking and singing to herself....  She was tired drunk!! Brian and I had never seen her this ridiculous!

From this point on, (6 pm) Leah repeatedly would fall asleep, wake up, act completely slap happy, and pass out again.  This continued until 12:50 am where I finally caved...

I was SOOOOOOOOOO tired.   Leah was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired. And she just could not stay asleep!   She would lay down crying, pretending to suck on her imaginary binkie, even to a point where it sounded like she was grinding her teeth.   She was so pitiful looking.   She reminded me of a newborn baby, routing for food... I just had to give in.

Going cold turkey just didnt work......... Brian and I promised that we will be strict on the nap and bedtime ONLY for a few weeks and try again... Maybe I will be stronger that time... and Leah will be more ready.   Maybe we will try the "cutting" technique?

I am upset and bummed about giving in..... but if you saw how miserable Leah was yesterday, you would have done it too.... Hopefully it will be easier next time....

Or atleast Ill keep thinking that....

Happy Birthday Brian!

My hubby turned another year older this past Thursday....

My parents gave him the greatest card ever!

"Because you're are such a wonderful son-in-law... we would be honored to share our family fortune with you."

"Unfortunately, your wife already spent it all while she was growing up.  Happy Birthday anyway!"



F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N

I am beginning to see why Toddlerhood can be so difficult.

Leah is really at an awesome age, but at the same time she has me struggling to keep my patience.

She has found her desire to be independent. 

She needs her hands wiped off… she has to do it.   Her face cleaned? She can do it.   Nose wiped… her. (And then she has to wipe yours)   Throw her diaper away… she has too.   She wants to close the doors, open the doors… put on her shoes, put on her clothes, do her own hair…. The list goes on.

Except she cant fully do any of these things yet… But if I try to help, or clean her more, put her shoes on her, dress her…. SCREAMING persists.

My patience are continually being tested lately.

And lets add in the fact that Leah has begun speaking more… but not enough for us to fully understand her.   It causes frustration on both ends when we cant understand what she is wanting.   I always end up listing everything under the moon, watching her shake her head no, because I cannot make sense of what she is pointing too and trying to mumble…

Oh and might I add... Leah has become a biter.... 2 reports now, 2 days in a row... of Leah biting her friends....  When I hear the news, I dont know what to do... what do  I say? "Im sorry?"  ... tell her "We dont hurt our friends." ... She just doesnt know what to do with her own frustrations.... 

And this weekend I have committed to taking away the binkie…………………………………………………………. Please help me!   I am about to add to my frustration level!

The other day we FINALLY met the family across the street who we knew had a little girl around Leah’s age. (We are not horrible neighbors… its been winter, we never seemed to be outside at the same time…. But we both agreed that we had wanted to meet for like a year!)   We thought the little girl was younger than Leah as she looked much smaller, and walked a little less confidently… they thought Leah was older, as she had much more hair and just seemed bigger…. Turns out, Avery is 2 months older…. And immediately they RAN off playing.   Leah has always been more advanced in the motor skills/physical area…. Not a talker.  Avery is the opposite… a TALKER… but not as graceful on her feet.  It was very evident as Leah ran circles around her, down the street; thru the yards… my child is a RUNNER!  I seriously spent the whole time chatting with Stacie, saying a few words… RUNNING to chase Leah down…. And trying to remember where I was in conversation.   I am so excited that Leah now has a new friend in the neighborhood! It was seriously ADORABLE seeing how the immediately started looking at rocks together, throwing them into the street, running, then crawling after each other, and fighting over their cars.  Plus Stacie seemed super nice, and I look forward to getting to know her as well!

Back to the frustrations ….and the Binkie….     

As Avery and Leah played, and Stacie and I got to know each other, Scott, Stacie’s husband pulled into the street.   The first comment he made to Leah was “What’s in your mouth?!”   Not the greatest first impression at all… and I know that he thought Leah was older than his 20 month little girl… I would have thought the same thing…. (thought, key word)…. But it just made me realize that yes, she is 18 months and its time to kick the habit!

I figure this weekend will be better than any… a 3 day weekend…. Time to keep her super busy and distracted…. WE HAVE TO DO THIS!

Hopefully you don’t find me curled in the corner, waving the white flag……..

I am a MOM! I can handle this! ...

 I must, or I might never survive the teenage years!

Play Ball!

As our time outside is increasing...I am trying to find ways to entertain Leah without getting anything too big (playhouse or swingset) while we try to sell our house.  Once we do move, a playset will be our first purchase.... but until then.....

I did pick up the Little Tikes T-ball set.

Leah immediately picked up the balls and bats, and was intersted in playing.  

She doesn't always use 2 hands.... or hit the ball..... but she is loving it, and its a start!  

I love this one!   I am sure we can compare it to her future softball pictures! Too cute!

And the box says its for 1.5 years and up...

And a few videos.... because I think its just too cute and it will be fun to look back on someday!    (I am slightly embarassed by how we are already coaching her as I say "two hands!") oh well.... Brian and I were both brought up this way, and I think team sports and being coachable teaches life long lessons!

I love how proud she looks after hitting the ball that last time!  

Donkeys! Not Monkeys!

We finally made it to the zoo!!

And I have to say I think we picked the perfect day!   We arrived right after the park opened, it was still overcast, with a chance of storms (it never actually rained and the day was BEAUTIFUL). 

The animals were definitely out and lively!

It took Leah a little while to warm up... she is scared of big dogs... and big animals (A rhino totally looks like a dinosaur! I would be scared too!) and it took her a little while to realize that they could not get her... but she loved seeing them!   We heard "More" over and over as she requested seeing more animals.

Best part of the day was when we walked by the donkeys and I said "Look Leah! Donkeys!" and she immediately put her hands in her arm pits and said "oooo ooo ooo".  It took me a minute to realize what she was doing (we have never heard her say any monkey noises).  "No! They are DONKEYS!  Not MONKEYS!"

And now for the pictures....

I have to say there were pregnant ladies and happy little families of 4 all over the place! It did not help with my internal battle I am currently fighting of when to have baby #2.   I hope to write about it soon... as our plan changes daily...and it really is starting to stress me out!

First Long Road Trip

Last weekend we  hit the road with my parents for Leah's first long road trip.   We headed only 4 hours away to Joplin MO for my cousin's graduation.  

It was the perfect test drive for our trip to Florida next month!

She did way better than I expected in a car.... Laptop for movies is a MUST!

Monster's Inc.... but we eventually turned it to Tangled, and watched it twice... good thing I love it as well!

Getting sleepy...

She also enjoys being read too... the same book... over and over.....

Oh and she "Mooooo"ed the whole trip.  We saw our fair share of cows.... and horses.... who I guess to Leah, mooo as well.

At about the 4 hr mark (right when we were about to arrive) she would start fussing and trying to take her seat belt off.... Good knowledge to know as we head for a much longer trip soon.... Break time every 4 hours!

Her biggest problem of the trip was the hotel room stay.   She did not like her pak n play and waking up to a place she did not know... so after her repeatdely waking up every 20 minutes, I just brought her into bed with myself.... something I do not support. Brian was in the other bed, and did not get much sleep either.  He kept thinking Leah was going to roll off the bed, so he lined the floor with pillows, and woke to check on her constantly.  I love when he gets all protective!

I think we might try Leah sleeping on a cot in FL... it may be horrible... or perfect.  She will be in the same room with Brian and I... she might just end up in bed with us... but I really hope shes so exhausted from the sun and water everyday that she just passes out!

Stayed tuned!

The Stats are In...

18 Months:

Height - 34.25 inches (98.22 percentile)
Weight - 28 lb 14 oz (94.68 percentile)
Head - 18.22 cm (75.49 percentile)

And yes, I really did get this precise of percentiles....I am beginning to like the new Dr.... who seems to also know and understand the Normal Distribution tables!  My kind of lady!

Too cute

I was unable to catch it when she was singing well.... but you can still get the idea.... and I think my mom and I forgetting the words to the song is funny too!

Wordless Wednesday

New Born

6 Months

1 Year

18 Months