encouraging words

she's walking!

so depressed to be away from YPG!

We were lucky enough to go see Liz and her family last weekend in Arizona for little Stephen's blessing. It was a great time!! We started off the trip with a day and a half in San Diego (where I saw Shawna and little Shane, but I didn't get a picture of our meet up!! It was so fun, Shawna!). We went to this great park and the kids had a great time playing. Leah was practicing her walking skills with her Papa.

Here is an upside down picture of little Stephen. I was able to get him to sleep so he didn't interrupt any of our girl time (with Mom and Liz, after Catherine already left). He's such a pretty baby.

We went back to Yuma Proving Ground after our time in San Diego. We all loved it there! It's a really small base where the kids kind of have free reign to play and go wherever they want. We had a great time. Even Michael was able to join us by flying a cross country to the marine base in Yuma. We played lots of games and had really good food. I even discovered that unlike I thought, Leah is a good eater. I came to the conclusion that she just doesn't like my cooking, which is why she's such a picky eater at home.

This is a picture of us at the Cactus Cafe, the bowling alley at the YPG. I'm sad to report that I came in last. Yes, below even the 3 year old's score. I always thought I wasn't half bad at bowling. I've since changed my opinion.

We even had time (at the sacrifice of sleep) to set up a make shift bow making sweat shop. We had lots of fun, and I was quite sad to come back to Corpus Christi. I don't understand why we can't all live close to each other anymore. And it's only going to get worse (here we come China!!).

our little spring chicken

Michael's work had a Halloween party for the kids yesterday so we were happy to dress Leah up and go. We're going to miss our party at church and the actual Halloween celebration because we'll be in Florida (I can't wait to see you Jenn!!!), so I was glad we had this party to go to.

I was originally going to make Leah a ladybug costume, but after receiving so many orders for them on etsy, I just couldn't bear to make another one. And this little chicken costume was quite easy. The only problem was that it made huge mess everywhere we went. Michael had to clean up after us when we left the party.

This looks a little bit like a smile, but it's the beginnings of her getting upset. I think her little molars are coming in and it's no fun for any of us! She screamed when I put the costume on her at home, but she was pretty good at the party.

Here is a real smile from the chicken. I think she liked all of the attention she got at the party. I don't know how kids catch on to stuff like that so quickly!

fall photos

Since setting up my etsy shop, I've decided Leah will be the perfect model for my handmade tutus and dresses. Here's some photos we took today. I know, I know - she's not wearing a shirt (and I'm totally against naked baby pictures!!), but I did think these turned out cute.

In this picture, she was crawling to get onto the concrete and off the scratchy grass! Smart girl.

finally......Leah's birthday

Leah turned one back in the middle of September. It has taken me a while to post these pictures (as usual). We did celebrate, though. And I'm not sure why Leah and her little cake both look so rough (and this was the good picture of Leah - in another one she looks exactly like Pigpen!). Long day, I guess.

Although it looks like she might be interested in the cake in this picture, she really wasn't. She only took one small handful of cake to enjoy. She then decided to wipe it all over her face, instead of putting it in her mouth. See the picture below for evidence of this:

Pretty happy there. But who isn't happy with chocolate cake
and frosting spread all over your face?

Just like a big girl, Leah even got presents. She got lots from family and friends. These pictures just show a few of those presents.

Very studious. She's just getting old enough to enjoy looking at books by herself and we love it. I can't believe she's 1 already! Where did the time go??

trip to Ohio - getting there

Leah has been on about 73 flights since she was born (almost). She's not as good now as she was when she was about 3 months old, but she's still not terrible. The best flights are the ones when we have two seats to ourselves. I was so happy during our flight to Columbus Ohio to be able to put Leah in the seat next to me and have her look at a book. What a relief! We'll see how well the flight to Arizona (to see Liz and her new baby) goes in a couple of weeks.

Our long travels this day obviously wore Leah out. This is after leaving the airport in our rental car and heading to the hotel. She was out cold!

our trip to Ohio - Part I

Leah and I recently joined Michael on a work trip to Ohio for the big Ohio State/ Navy football game. We were excited to come. We bought tickets for the big game, which was the highlight of the short weekend trip.

Once we got there, however, we were informed that even though Leah was 11 months old at the time, she needed a ticket. We were so mad! Tickets were really pricey, and the game was sold out. So, after given the pleasure of purchasing another ticket (at $67 a piece!), she would still have to sit on our laps for the whole game! Needless to say, we didn't buy her a ticket. In fact, we sold our tickets to someone else and made a little money on the deal. Can you tell how disappointed Michael is in this picture?

Leah didn't seem to mind at all. To be honest, I was a little worried about how she would do during the game anyway. I guess it all worked out for the best, but it still seemed like such a rip-off!

Leah and I waited in the grass for Michael to go get the car and come pick us up after we were denied access to the game. She loved being able to crawl around.

Honduras 2009

We took this trip to Honduras a long time ago(at the end of June), but I just got the pictures off my camera today. Here are a couple shots from our trip to the Mayan ruins. It was so interesting to be there.
Leah enjoyed being carted around by her dad so much that she decided to catch a quick nap. Thank goodness - as I recall, she was pretty cranky at this point.
You must know that it was very very hot at the ruins. So hot that Mee-shell decided Leah (after waking up from her nap) should continue the tour sans clothes. I'm not sure why he thinks taking your shirt off is the solution to all problems. I could barely keep him from stripping as well.
Mom and I on the tour. I'm so glad we were all able to visit Mark and Keyla at the same time. We had a great time!

Miss Polly and her dolly ... and Leah

I've been singing this song about Miss Polly and her dolly since Leah was very very little. We were so entertained the other night when I sang it to Leah and she decided to shake her head along with me. Ok, so she weighs almost the same as some 3 month olds (ahem, Holly) and she can't walk yet, but we think she's doing just fine. Sorry about the bad singing - I usually only torture Leah with it.

this one is for you, Mary

Here are the latest photos of Liahona with a bib that belonged to her Daddy a long long long time ago. I think she enjoyed the meal even more with this bib on!

I had to include this photo of the pink pants so you could tell she's a girl.

And apparently Leah wanted to show us what she's eating - literally.

who wants a camo baby sling?

I know you're amazed right now - amazed at the beauty and wonder that is this baby sling. Let me tell you how it came to be. It all started one innocent Saturday morning while I was sitting at a craft show, minding my own business while trying to sell some of my most treasured handmade crafts. This very nice gentleman approached the table and I proceeded to convince him that his daughter, a new mom could not live without one of the beautiful baby slings that I had lying across the table. He agreed with me, but then in trying to select a sling, he asked if I had any in camo. I told him I would be happy to custom make a sling for him, and the story goes on from there. A few interesting things I learned during this custom job:
1. there are many many different kinds of camo patterns out there. And I'm not just talking about the pink or blue camo. Who knew?

2. Those who love hunting love camo and anything made out of camo. It's a beautiful thing.

3. Our town has many very nice people that I am glad to become acquainted with, from customers at craft fairs, to other vendors, to salespeople at the fabric store.

The other side of this reversible sling. It's scary to say that at first, this nice man wanted two different kinds of camo for the two sides of the sling. He decided after thinking about it a couple of days that perhaps his daughter was not quite so enamored of camo as he is and that she might like something different. I got to choose this pink print myself and I loved it so much I made dresses for Leah, and her cousins Jordan and Emily (well, Emily's is almost done..).

dinner in 30 minutes or less...

So, we all know I'm not much of a cook, but here is a picture of dinner I made a few weeks ago with only 30 minutes of prep time. Mostly because Michael called and said he was coming home and he was hungry. So I kind of threw something together. Doesn't it look delicious (the white washed out things are slices of bread toast)? Unfortunately, it wasn't. Apparently the pork that you buy that costs 57 cents for 8 pounds (or almost that cheap anyway) doesn't taste very good. Even if you put curried mango grill sauce on it. Michael was a good sport and finished his. I did not...

Look at me - my name is Leah and I love big bows.

Or maybe my mom loves big bows. Just a few new pictures of Leah. The longer I live in Texas, the bigger the hairbows (or flowers) get for church. This one was taken Sunday morning, a few weeks back.

Show me your teeth!!

And see my latest tricks! Do you think it's time to baby-proof the house??

on my way to being a real pioneer

My very own Wondermill

So, in my quest to be a real pioneer, I recently purchased a wheat grinder. I also got many many buckets of wheat. Because that's what pioneers do. Anyway, I actually grinded (or do you say ground here? I think it's ground...) some wheat. It was amazing. And when I served whole wheat pancakes to the missionaries for dinner a couple of weeks ago, I think they were pretty impressed to hear it was freshly ground wheat.

I know Leah looks a bit like a demon here, but I wanted to demonstrate how excited she was that her mom was grinding wheat.

My beautiful bucket of wheat. I've got lots of these - stuffed in all the closets in my house. If that isn't pioneer-ish, I don't know what is!! I think my pioneer training is almost complete.

my latest scheme

A couple of pink polka dotted hairbows.

I often get these sometimes crazy ideas about what I should do in my spare time. They often involve lots of work and money to buy the necessary supplies. I don't know why I seem to be obsessed with doing something besides just being a mom. I just am. Anyway, Michael calls these ideas "schemes" because I usually grow out of the idea right after I've bought everything I need to do it. I try to tell him to be nice about it. I mean, it drives him crazy I know, but can you imagine being inside my head and having to deal with crazy ideas all the time? He usually is nice and allows me to do what I want and keeps the teasing to a minimum. So, my latest scheme is to sell my handmade creations (dresses, hairbows, baby slings, dresses, hooded towels etc etc) on etsy. I also decided to participate in a craft fair. Here are a few photos of some of my creations.

A hooded towel and matching washcloth. This one says "splish splash" on the hood.
A baby sling that I made for a friend's baby shower. I hope she likes it. I thought this fabric was pretty gender neutral, since she doesn't know what she's having yet.
Here is the whole gift I gave her. It included the baby sling and a matching bib and burp cloth. I must say I really loved this set. You know sometimes you love what you make and sometimes it falls short of your expectations. I hope my friend gets good use of this stuff.

dear blog

Hmm, well it's been over a month and I've got so much to blog about. So much, it's almost intimidating. I don't recommend spacing your blog posts out so much. But with me (and it's everything in my life, not just blogging), it's all or nothing. I'm going to try and get it all down. A trip to Honduras, a craft fair I participated in, and just plain old life with little Leah. She's working on getting a few more teeth in. When these ones are completely in, she'll have 8 teeth!

So, stay tuned in for some new posts in the next little while. We'll see if I can catch up! The picture above was taken in Honduras by Keyla, my sister-in-law. It doesn't have anything to do with what I'm typing, but who likes a blog post without pictures?? Nobody does, that's who.

Dionna's party and birthday cake

My mom made such a cute cake for Dionna's party (Sarah's stepdaughter) that I just had to blog about it. She doesn't have a blog herself. (Liz - she wanted you to see how this cake turned out. So cute!)
The ribbon on the "present" is made of Fruit by the Foot and the dots are Dots (the movie theater candy in a yellow box). I think they got this idea fromFamily Fun. I think that's what that magazine is called...
Leah is getting so big that she sits up and forward in her carseat and rocks it like a rocking chair. During the party, she rocked herself right out of it and was so pleased to have freed herself on her own.
Dionna is showing off her new sunglasses, a present from Grandma. (Sarah, look how easy it is to blog about your family. Maybe you should try it sometime...)

swimming with the McCrimmons

After our weekend trip to Charleston to meet up with the Arthurs (I miss you Jenn!!) was canceled because Michael's plane broke during a fuel stop, I stayed in Fayetteville and we had lots of fun! On Saturday, we went to my sister's house for a fun birthday pool party for her daughter Dionna. Leah, as you can see from the photo, loved it!

I think this is how Sarah spends her summer. Lucky girl!

Here is Dionna, Marcus and Jordan, with her very important goggles.

Trying to show just how big her little diaper got during the swim. This picture doesn't do it justice; she looked pregnant! I guess they make those swim diapers for a reason.

This is the goggles picture: Damarcus, Jordan, Dionna, and Marcus. What a fun day!