15 months

Darling Leah, at 15 months, you...

-Weigh in at 20 lbs, 14 ounces, and are 29 inches long. This puts you in the 19th (yay) and 45th, respectively. So far, you are long and skinny.  :)

-Have been walking for over a month now. You run in circles, giggle while you walk, fall on your cute bottom all the time, and really never crawl anymore. I am sad that your last tiny baby thing isgone, but I love this stage!

-Say about 40 words! This puts you at 20-24 months in terms of your vocabulary. You seem to have a new word every few days.

- Fit in some 12 month, some18 month clothes now.

- Love other little people. You point to anyone smaller than a 5 year old, smile, and say "baby".

- Still eat like a champ. Some of your favorites right now are black beans, cheese, eggs, cheerios, turkey, edamame, yogurt, spaghetti, and any kind of fruit. You are a complete fruit a holic.

- Sleep 10-12 hours at night, with 2 naps during the day.

- Now have 14 teeth, 8 on the bottom, and 6on the top.

-Love to give kisses and hugs these days.A big wet smacker from you is the best ever. You also pet people and animals, and say "nice." Your sweet side is really coming out more and more.

- Adore playing outside! You love your playhouse, slide, and the grass. You are not so sure about the sprinkler yet, but will get there, I'm sure.

- Have a new favorite book that you keep bringing to us to read to you- "Llama Llama Red Pajama".  You like the rhymes, and babble along as we read it.

-Are getting pretty girly. You just love your baby.She gets rocked to sleep (the thrown on the floor), fed, (the thrown on the floor) and kissed (and thrown on the floor) all the time. You also love to help us dress yourself, bruch your hair, and carry your purse around.

- Adore bath time, books,  music, dancing, clapping, watching video of yourself, eating, drinking from a cup, walking, running, Maisy, making animal sounds, pointing to body parts, "talking" you your phone, screaming in delight and making a fort. You love your baby's bouncy seat, blocks, cup, books you can hold and turn pages, and stuffed animals.

- Have the cutest butt ever, and your long red locks are getting longer and longer, but curling up more and more. You have tight spiral curls in the back, and when I pull them out, your hair is about 3 inches long!

-  Have a few nicknames these days. We call you Noggy, LiLi, Cutie Patootie, Schmoop, Smush, and Schmatza (Papa calls you that).

-Are starting to become more of a toddler. You say "no no no" when you do not want something. We are working on manners, but so far, not so good! We will get there!

- Get enough kisses in a day to irritate your skin!  Your daddy and I still smother you with kisses all day long. You are beyond darling. We cherish you so much.

Summer has only just begun

We have already been having so much fun playing in the yard! Leah has a slide, a playhouse, a pool and a sprinkler, and all have been big hits so far. I am LOVING this toddler thing (I know, I know, people keep saying enjoy while it lasts cause it is about to get hard, but I am trying to enjoy it all)! 

A leaf for daddy

Blowing (read:eating) bubbles!

Chillin like a villian!

Little gardener!

LOVE.

Happy hour

Explorigng the grass

OK, this is BEYOND messed up and would not let her wear this in public, but COME ON.

Nonnie showing Leah the bugs.  :)

Here's to being reminded every day how precious the little things in life are! Leah has already done that so much for us. I can't WAIT for summertime!

Leah and Serena finally meet!

Somer and I (Morgan, too) finally got to introduce our baby girls this week!  Leah was all about little Miss Serena!  She kept pointing to her saying "baby baby baby night night". It was darling to see her actually love up on a baby.

Welcome to the crew, Serena! We love you!

I don't know?!

When Leah does not know how to answer a question, she says "I don't know?!" by putting her hands like this. So cute!  She does this about a million times a day. 

Blabbermouth (again, like mother, like daughter)

Leah is learning new words every day. We are LOVING this stage of parenthood! She is just so fun and interactive now.

Some new words:
Cheerio
Banana
Leah- every time she sees herself in the mirror or a picture now, she says her name.  :)
Nonnie (my mom)
Hi
Puppy
Book
She now says "Mommy" and "Daddy" the right way, too. Every time she says Mommy, my heart aches with love. We are blessed.

Our first family 5 K!

Paul and I have been looking for a tangible way to give back to the infertility community for a long time. Without http://www.fcionline.com/  and the fantastic Dr. Sipe and staff, our Leah might not be here. The doctors and nurses at this place are just incredible, and we are so thankful to them for helping us bring our little miracle to life. We were back at good old FCI last week, and as I was telling my doctor about how going through infertility has sparked a passion in me for the field, he told us about the upcoming Race for Families.
The goal of this race is to raise money to help families without infertility insurance cover the costs of the process. Without insurance, ONE CYCLE of  In Vitro can cause upwards of $20,000 (and it is not like you get a refund if you don't get pregnant). For many couples, it takes 2-3 cycles to even reach success (if they do), so you can imagine the amount of money these people sink into the hope of starting a family.
I am so thankful that we have incredible IF insurance. We were able to focus on attaining a healthy pregnancy, and not how we would pay for thousands in medical bills. In my opinion, everyone deserves at least that much. Going through infertility is so hard- why should it be any harder?

Thank you, Fertility Centers of Illinois!

To donate to our fundraising efforts, please visit our page:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/fasse/illraceforthefamily

Glamma's Birthday Party

Happy birthday to the best mother in law I could ask for. We are all so blessed to have you in our lives!!!

Seriously, this woman deserves a shout out. She has put up with me, and lovingly so, for 12 years now, and has always loved and treated me like one of her own. I can never thank her enough for that. Sue is a great mom, stellar wife, dedicated teacher, fabulous aunt and sister, and an all around good person in so many ways. Best of all, she is an incredible Glamma to our Leah, I must mention, raised my husband to be the kind, loving, helpful,  wonderful man I am lucky enough to be married to. Thanks for everything, Mama!

Cheers to 60 more years.  :)

Happy Birthday, Violet!

Our dear friend, Violet, celebrated her 1st birthday last week. It has been a joy to watch her grow!!

We love you, sweet girl!

Cup Cup Cup

When Leah is thirsty, she says "Cup cup cup", and we follow her command and hook her up with the good stuff. Lately, though, we have been giving her a big girl cup a lot more often to get her used to it. She loves loves loves drinking from her animal cup, and giggles after every sip.

I know I am biased, but how can you not adore this kid?  Oh, she's awesome.

Standing Tall and First Steps

Our little lady  had been doing an awful lot of standing without support this past month, so we knew first steps were not too far off. Leah did take those first darling, independent steps on April 19, one day before her 14 month birthday. Since then, she has only done about 3-4 in a row, but she is getting more and more confident, and like getting up and falling over and over again.

She is such a nugget!!!!!!