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.