Hawaii..it feels like so long ago

I think I posted already that we took a trip to Hawaii to visit Laura and Eric in February. It was Mee-shell's very thoughtful and generous Christmas gift to me. I know it's only March, but it seriously feels like forever since we've been there. I just learned how to get my pictures from my iphone to my computer today (I am so proud of myself for figuring it out) so I thought I'd put a few of them here. Leah really is a beach girl. We're just waiting for all of the crazy spring-breakers to go home so we can spend some time at the beach here. We learned 2 years ago that spring break is not the time to go to the beach. It attracts all the wrong kind of people.
Leah loved being able to run on the beach.
Laura generously agreed to watch Leah so that Michael and I could have an overnight date down at Waikiki Beach. This is the beach right across from our hotel. It was pretty early in the day (10am-ish?) and the beach was already pretty crowded.
Laura and I picked Leah's hair out. I think she looks fantastic. I can't believe she didn't come home with more of a sunburn. She gets her alabaster skin from her father.

my grown up girl at eighteen months...already

Leah is officially 18 months old this week, which essentially means 3 things around here:

1 - we snuck her into nursery 3 days early on Sunday. More on that below...
2 - she needs another doctor's appointment for a well baby check up (and if I was a good mom, I would have already made the appointment...)
3 - Leah has to bid farewell to an old friend - the binky. She only gets this sucker at night and at naptimes, so we'll see how traumatic the parting is. I'll let you know. Keep your fingers crossed for me. If you know us, you know how important (some might say extremely vital) sleep is at our house.

With her very mature age, Leah has also graduated to the honor of wearing pigtails in her hair. I like to think it helps to hide the baby mullet (or "bullet", as its known in some circles) that she's still sporting. At least it's an excuse to put hairbows in her hair. And sometimes she even lets them stay a while before she pulls them out.

I think Leah has been practicing her dance moves for the camera - this shot is at the end of a little hop and arm shake move. I really can't believe how big she has gotten lately. While I was extremely relieved and excited to be able to drop her off at nursery on Sunday, I pulled one of those crazy mom moves in sacrament meeting. Get a load of this: I started to remember back to about three weeks ago (or was it 17 months ago...it feels like just a few weeks) when we were there at church for her baby blessing. I'm so embarassed to admit (no one mention this to Michael, who thankfully does not read out blog generally) that I had to blink back the tears so Michael wouldn't see. I can imagine the water works that will come when I have to take her to kindergarten. Anyway, long story short, Leah did great in nursery. I dropped her off and she didn't even look back. At the end of church when I went to pick her up she was much too busy watching some of the nursery leaders blow bubbles to worry about her mom there to pick her up. I had to call her name like 6 times and then walk right up to her to get her attention. Seriously. Such a relief that she was good. I'd hate to be fighting a battle every Sunday. On the other hand, does she have to grow up so very fast? Time flies when you're an adult...

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).