a little taste of our Hawaii trip

We've been having the best time in Hawaii, enjoying the lovely weather and smooth air (my mom told me even the air feels better in Hawaii and I have to agree with her). Here are some pictures taken a yesterday. One thing we've learned is that Leah loves the beach. I guess she's old enough to start enjoying the beach in Corpus Christi with her. Here is Leah riding on the board with Aunt Laura. After a few minutes, Leah started to feel pretty independent and tried to push Laura away, as though she wanted to ride the waves all by herself.

I think Leah might need some sunglasses...

Leah and Eric playing on the beach. Who knows what Leah is reaching for??

After a dive into the sand, Leah's cute little forehead sported this look until her dad took her and showered her off when it was time to go. She loves being at the beach. She runs out to look at the water and then turns around and runs as fast as her little legs will carry her as the wave comes in. It's pretty funny to watch. I'm going to try and post a video later (those things take so long to upload!).

a post for Charlie Brown's grandmothers

It appears I've been enjoying a few too many Valentine's treats myself. This picture is for my mom and Michael's mom, who have both been asking for pictures of me. Yes, I'm pregnant. Yes, I'm huge. And yes, none of my clothes fit (skirt is not fully zipped in the back....when did this become ok??). Our little boy is expected to arrive in about 3 months, and we're very excited.

valentine's day mess

Here is a shot of Leah enjoying valentine's day chocolate chip pancakes, a bit of cookie from her grandma and a strawberry cupcake. She really knows how to celebrate the holidays. I did get a bit concerned when I put a bite of cupcake in her mouth (to convince her it really was something she wanted to eat) and she spit it out. It was at that point that I started to worry that she wasn't my child. A child that came from my womb would definitely come to this earth with a strong affinity for cupcakes, right? Perhaps switched at birth (with another woman's baby who was also fathered by MB??). She laid my fears to rest when she took matters into her own hands and got down to business with the cupcake. Whew, what a relief!

(I'm pretty sure that's a thumbs up, Jenn. Wish you guys were here to have more Valentine's fun this year...)

our new friend

I couldn't help using my 50% off coupon at Michael's to buy this little beauty. What little girl doesn't want a pony to play with? I'll be painting it later, and perhaps adding some polka dots? I'll post more pictures when that happens.
Leah doesn't seem to mind that it's unfinished. I wish I had gotten a picture of her in the store, trying it out. She didn't want to get off so I could buy it. Might be the best $15 I've spent this month...

maybe she loves cornbread as much as I do?

I was working on the computer the other day, while Leah was supposed to be playing in the living room (I was checking on her often, but obviously not often enough!). I noticed it had gotten pretty quiet, and so I decided to do some investigating. Here is what I found. She seemed to be pretty excited by her discovery of cornmeal. Thankfully, it was a pretty easy clean up. Even Bernice (Leah's elephant friend) managed to get clean (relatively speaking).

hope you're sitting down...I'm actually posting something on the blog

No one will be blown away by this post, but just wanted to post some new pictures of Leah that I took today after church. We've got the "get Leah into nursery" count down to 2 months and boy are we keeping track! By the time I'm done with the young women, Michael is usually ready to kill Leah. Today he decided that by noon she was at "defcom 5". He's a saint - the third hour is obviously the hardest!
I have to secretly admit that this blog post is really here just to show my mom the dress I made Leah. It was supposed to be her Christmas dress, but I obviously didn't get it done in time. Then, last week when I finally worked on the dress I planned to make (and I was even going to follow a pattern this time!), it didn't work out. Last night after deciding I didn't have anything to put on Leah for church, I took that dress apart and remade it into this. I love pleats on a little girl...

I just wish Leah would've turned around and faced me while I had the camera ready. She was beyond control though, with a desperate need for both lunch and a nap. She got both soon after our photo shoot and everyone here at the Brown house is much happier now.

encouraging words