YYYEEAAHH!!!

It finally happened! The moment I've been praying and wishing for for probably about 6 months! You guessed it, my beautiful daughter actually slept through the night last night! Of course I didn't because I was waking up every 2 hours wondering why she wasn't crying...and she was fine just sleeping away. The previous 2 nights, I broke down and just had to let her cry herself back to sleep at 3 in the morning. I was on the verge of losing my mind and my back was throbbing from leaning over the crib and then standing to rock her. I just couldn't do it anymore so I would go back to bed and cover my head with pillows until she fell asleep. I didn't think either of us could do it and it broke my heart when she was crying but I knew it would do us both good in the long run and it did! She was so happy this morning when she woke up! I told her it's because she got so much sleep because screaming for over an hour in the middle of the night is not good for our beauty rest! Well I just had to share because this is probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me in a while, maybe I can go back to sleeping for longer than 3 hour stretches? That would be wonderful, pray that this keeps going! Also, Leah's baptism is this Sunday, pictures to follow!

Funny Girl!

I am so cool in my shades hangin out with Uncle Ryan Don

Leah got so many cute clothes!

Hanging out with Poppie and getting tickled by cousin Richie!

I don't know if it's just because I am home now or because Leah has grown by leaps and bounds just in the past few weeks but she is getting quite the personality! She is so happy (except at 2 in the morning) and just loves to smile and laugh. I really get a kick out of making her laugh and seeing what makes her smile. She just LOVES Sofie the cat and screeches with glee every time she sees her! Too bad Sofie is terrified of those little pinchers though! My days have been full and busy but I love taking the time to think about how blessed I am and how thankful I am to be able to watch my little girl grow up. Last weekend we had Christmas with Ryan's side of the family. Unfortunately it was postponed due to weather and then illnesses but it was so much fun! Leah loves to party and of course she is an angel whenever we are around family. Here are some pics from the Parks family Christmas. Oh! I'm also excited to announce that Leah has another new cousin on the way! Her aunt Sarah (Ryan's sister) is pregnant again! We are so excited! So now Leah will have 2 new cousins this year! Molly's baby coming in June or July and Sarah's in September. They are so lucky they have each other to talk to and get to go through their pregnancies together, for the second time! Congrats guys! We are so happy. Don't get any ideas, I will not be ready for another one for quite some time but I will keep you posted. :-)

I love peas!

I have been having a wonderful week or so at home with my little Leah. We are not on such a great schedule right now with Christmas events and New Years, in which Leah spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house but we are working on it! I love deciding what I want to do in a day and being productive around the house and taking time to just sit and cuddle with my daughter whenever I want, I love it! We are still trying to find ways for me to earn a little extra money so I of course am still teaching dance but I am also selling my pack rat husband's stuff on ebay! He has soo many valuable things he has kept that he will never use (and about a million video games) it's time to clean out this place and make $ at the same time! So that has been keeping me busy along with running errands and taking care of the baby. I love my new job though! Leah is sleeping in her crib now which is great but she still wants to get up 2-4 times a night. Now that I don't have to get up so early, I have much more patience at 3 in the morning so I can deal with it and hopefully continue to help her sleep for longer periods. In the past few weeks we have introduced Leah to peas and carrots, she LOVES them, she wants to feed herself!