20 Months

My Sunshine girl, at 20 months, you...

-Weigh in at just about 24 pounds. You are still teeny tiny!

- Have the most delisghtful disposition. Of course, you are a toddler, and you have your moments, but you are so happy, laid back, curious, giggly, and silly. You really are one happy little girl.

- I try not to go on and on about this, but you are one smart cookie. You can count to ten all by yourself, point to and name all the numbers, and sing the whole alphabet and identify about half of the letters (you LOVE to say "ABC's" all the time whenever you see letters). You posess an incredible vocabulary and talk SO MUCH. Now, you speak in 3-5 word sentences all the time. Your communication skills are off the charts, and it is so fun to watch you learn! It seems like you have something new to share with the world every day.

-  Have some favorite phrases you love to say! The big ones right now are: "Mommy (Daddy, Leah) do it", "Leah eat dinners", "Baby sisser in Mommy tummy", "Leah nice to ____", "Its dark outside", "

- Sing and dance all the time now! You love to help us sing "The Wheels on the Bus", "You are my Sunshine", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Somewhere over the Rainbow","Clean up"  and "ABC's". Sometimes, you just bust out with a song. You dance all the time, too. Pretty much every night we are home turns into an iPod dance party in our kitchenm and it is the best. You have some moves, for sure!

- Have this absurdly darling lisp now. You put it at the end of all of your "S" words.

- Are still a great eater, but you are definetly pickier than before, as you are getting older and older. Some of your favorites are berries, watermelon, mango, avocado, banana, grapes,  oranges, peas, carrots, green beans, craisins, eggs, noodles, cous cous, toast, cheese and crackers, hummus, turkey, beans, yogurt, applesauce, soup, grilled cheese, squeezy pouches, ice cream, and Nutrigrain bars. You are really not a fan of meat. You ARE you father's daughter.

- Are starting to really test us as parents. You are experimenting and learning to be independent, and sometimes this results in you "breaking the rules". We are working to make sure you are learning that you can't always get your way, you will treat others with kindness, and try to make good choices to leave the world a better place. We are all learning together!

- Love to play with your babies. You must sleep with at least one every night, and sometimes you declare that you need "2 babies" at bedtime. You have a stroller, a crib, carseat, bouncy seat, and blankies for your babies, and you play with them over and over. Some other favorite toys are your kitchen, your Little People, letter blocks, cars, phones, kitchen stuff, you broom an vaccum, wallets, balls, and anything outside.

-Have some favorite books, including 10 Little Rubber Ducks, Your Baby Bible (Jesus book  :) ), We're Going on A Bear Hunt, Big Sister book, The Strawberry book, Eloise, and so many others!  You say "gen" every time we read a book. I hope you keep loving books as you grow!!

- are the light of our lives, sweet girl. Every time you smile, say Mommy and reach for me, and tell me that you love me, I melt into a puddle of mush. I am baffled at how much love I have for you. Thank you for being my sunshine.

Baby Sisser!

A couple of weeks ago, we found out another sweet baby girl will be joining our family in February. We are just elated over the thought of having 2 girls so close in age! I always wanted a sister, and I am thrilled for my girls that they will have one another to grow up with. 

It struck me as odd that so many people assumed we wanted a boy this time. Yes, it would have been wonderful of course, to have one of each, but I am really, really thrilled over being a girl mom again. I keep crying thinking of watching them grow into little ladies, side by side. We are blessed and very at ease that this little girl looks healthy, and quite cute already.  :)

I am more thankful than ever for my wonderful growing family. Every day is not easy, and every day poses new challenges as we learn and grow together, but every also brings more love and beauty than I ever thought possible. 

Baby Sisser, we are very, very exited to meet you and welcome you into our family. We are waiting with open arms (but please stay put for 4 more months) and grateful hearts. 

Here are a few snippets from the dinner we had to share the big news.  It was a fun celebration!!

Uncle Jim hooked it up!

Leah got her very first hair cut (a trim of about a millimeter on her bangs), a few weeks ago on her Uncle Jim's awesome roofdeck overlooking the Chicago skyline. Not too shabby for her first salon experience!  

My brother was a doll, and was so patient with her. He does hair all day long, but at the end of the tiny trim, he said "I don't know how people do kid's hair all the time!".  Hehe. 

Here's to many more hair do's from her fav uncle.  :)

Last days at the lake

On nice nights when we have no plans, we love to head down to Lake Ellyn to let Leah run around and play. It is just gorgeous there, and they have a fabulous toddler area. She loves to slide, and can to it all by herself like a big girl now.  

Hopefully, we have a couple more weeks of nice weather to take advantage of quality time at one of our favorite family spots!

This girl

She makes my heart sing. I love her dimples, her nappy curls, squinty grin, incredible eyelashes, her darling voice, nurturing nature, her joyful sense of humor, her curiosity, tenacity, giggle, and spirit, and the way she loves her Mommy.

We are blessed.

Kissing summer good bye

Labor day weekend was full of fun for us. We went up to the Dells area to "the cottage" with two of our closest friends, Alicia and Alex and their kids. We have been up there about 20 times with all our friends... these trips involve boating, tanning, laughing, and a lot of partying. With three kids under 3 in tow, this weekend consisted of boating (while chasing), tanning (I mean slathering kids with 50+ block), laughing (at the cuties, as opposed to dirty jokes and banter), and a lot of partying (the kind that involves sippy cups and giggles)!  It was a different kind of weekend at the cottage, but we would not have it any other way. We had a marvelous time!!

It was a lovely weekend spent with some of our very favorite people. Bye bye, summer!

Big Sister!

We found out in early/mid June that we are going to be blessed yet again! It took over 2 years and a LOT of intervention to get and keep the pregnancy that ended in our precious daughter's arrival. We had to really EARN that. Looks like we get to know both sides of the parenting coin. I used to HATE those stories  that start with "he barely looked at me and I was pregnant".  Well, that was it for us this time! We thought about it, and there I was, a few weeks later, holding a stick with two lines in my hand!  Two and a half months later, it is still surreal that this was the experience. 

I would be lying if I said that my first trimester was worry free. Of course, it came with some apprehension and wondering how all was going. I have just FELT in my heart, though, from the second I knew I was pregnant, that this addition to our family was meant to be. So far, so good. I am just about 16 weeks along, and all is going perfectly! 

So, it looks as though Leah will be blessed with a baby brother or sister on or around her 2nd birthday. And to think, two short years ago, I was afraid we would never have a child...

The big sister to be running around in her shirt we used to tell Daddy!

...... and Leah's reaction to my test!I have a feeling this is how she will feel about the baby once it comes home.

Sweet girl practicing.  :)

A year and a half of Leah's life

Leah Joy, at 18 months, you...

-Weigh just over 22 pounds, and fit wonderfully into your 18 month clothes. You measure in at 30.5 inches long, and are just around the 17th percentile for both.
- Are so so busy ALL THE TIME. You rarely stop for even a second due to your unending curiosity and zest for life.
- Talk and talk and talk some more! You say tons and tons of words now, and lots of phrases. The sentences are starting to come fast and furious. The other day, you totally caught me off guard and when I told you the door was closed. You looked at me like a grown up and said "let's open it". This talking this is by far my favorite stage yet.
- All though you have a freakishly huge vocabulary, you also have some quirky ways of saying things. "Mommy is night night", for instance, just means you can't find me.  "Kia" means you want to hear Baby Beluga. Every single time we put you in your car seat, not matter how much room you have, you say it's too tight". When you are thirsty, you just say "cup please" until you get something. You call every letter you see "ABC". There are more, but these are some of the things that make you you.  :)
- You just learned to count to ten all by yourself, and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. You skip numbers sometimes, but you are doing pretty fab!You also know a lot of the letters in the alphabet, smart cookie.
- Have some favorite words at the moment....camera, airplane, wagon, woobie, book, sunshine, caterpillar, butterfly, Mommy, outside, elephant, upstairs, cold, baby, and people's names.
- Are NOT the best napper known to man, that is for sure. You are touch and go with naps, but you still sleep like a manic at night.
- Like to play with both the video camera and the "mommy" camera. We have to pry them out of your hands.
- Still suck your thumb when you are tired. Now, when you are sleepy, crabby, or got a boo-boo, you ask for"Sunshine" and help me sing it to you.
- Are quite the Mommy's girl. I love that you are my little buddy, but it rips my heart out when you cry for Mommy and I have to go.
- Are very into food right now. You say either "eat" or yummy tummy" when you are hungry. Some of your current (and past)  favs include yogurt, fruit, cheese, bread and ANY carb, broccoli, applesauce, pizza and pasta. You are SO not into meat at all.
-Climb on everything and anything you can. You have a little chair both inside and outside that you love to climb up. We are working on getting you to sit down and not climb.
- Love love love your grandparents. You lightup when you see each of them, and say "Glamma", "Grandpa" "Nonnie" and "Papa" all the time. The feeling is QUITE mutual.
- You are starting to say "love you" and give kisses without being prompted. It is heaven.
- Love to play outside with your wagon and your slide, adore walks (especially when we run into the girls on the block), swimming, your baby doll, books, bubbles, running, stuffed animals, dancing, baths, singing songs (You are my Sunshine, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Happy birthday, ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle are your current favorites), playing with other little ones, helping to get dressed, cleaning and sweets!

- You are STILL the best thing ever. Your daddy and I love you so much it makes us smile from our hearts.

Our Sweet TyTy

Paul and I are blessed to be the Godparents to beautiful Tyler. Our dear friends, Alex and Alicia, graced us with this honor a few months ago, and we had been looking forward to celebrating his special day. It turned out to be the BEST baptism I have ever been to. It was so meaningful and moving. They whole congregation was involved in welcoming Tyler to the church.

We are so very blessed to have this baby boy in our lives!!

Pool playdate!

We are blessed enough to have a lot of time to get together with our friends and the kids in the summer, seeing as though most of the girls are teachers. This was a super fun day full of sprinklers, hoses, and pools!

A special shout out to Annie and Morgan for being the pool blower uppers. That thing was so cool, but what a PAIN!