A new chapter..

My prayers have been answered! I have decided to make a major change in my life and become a stay at home mom. If you know me at all, I always said I would NEVER do that, funny how things change huh? While it isn't something I aspire to do for the rest of my life, I am really looking forward to being with my baby and concentrating on my home life for a while. The pressure of my job and the thinking about Leah constantly while I was at work was taking a toll on me and making me very unproductive. I was so sad! But now I am so excited to have a little "free" time. And by "free" time, I mean pretty much catering to every single one of Leah's needs 24/7. I know it won't be easy, but I'm up for the challenge! Financially it may also be a struggle, but with a very supportive husband and naturally frugal genes, I think we will make it! The picture above is from our recent trip to visit Ryan's parents at their new lake house in Illinois.

Leah meets Santa

Today Leah met Santa for the first time! Me, Leah, Gramma, and Aunt Stef went to Jordan Creek to see him. This Santa is so great I swear he's the real thing! Leah didn't seem to mind being held by this round, jolly fella. Santa told me that Leah asked him for a pony this year! I don't think that will be happening but hey, a girl can dream.

Trying new things

Hey everyone! It's been a while! Leah is almost 5 months already! My sister's friend did some pictures of Leah for her 4 month mark, they are sooooo cute. Here are some a few of my favorites. Leah is getting such a little personality, a little diva! She is starting to laugh (she thinks Ryan is funnier than me) and give little hugs. Well I don't know if she knows they're hugs but I say she does. She gets excited to see people she knows like me (of course), daddy, grandma and grandpa, and Aunt Sarah. Leah and her older cousin Austin are BFF's now, so cute! A few weeks ago we tried out the rice cereal with Leah. She loved the taste and she was grabbing the spoon wanting to feed herself already. Later we found out that Leah's belly did not enjoy the rice cereal as much as Leah did. She was up really late crying, burping, farting...the usual signs of indigestion. Poor thing! So we are putting off the rice cereal for now. Leah had fun with the Parks side of the family on Thanksgiving and at the Short's side, she got to try some sweet potatoes and loved them! Our biggest struggle right now is the fact that she is still not wanting to sleep through the night. The past few nights she has had a cold and has been up 3, 4, and even 5 times during the night. This has definitely taken it's toll on me. As anyone who knew me pre-baby....I like my sleep...I like it a lot. I am starting to wonder if I will ever sleep 8 hours straight again in my life. I am just taking things one day at a time and trying to enjoy everything I can. Well anyways I am rambling, I will let you enjoy these sweet pictures!

Halloween baby--kinda late I know

Sorry I'm late, I guess I've been a little busy lately! Dance started back up again so I'm teaching 2 private lessons a week, not too bad, but still a lot of creative power needed for that! Today I have the day off because Leah had her 4 month check up today and had to get 2 shots. She only cried for like 5 seconds so she is doing great so far today! She is 13 lbs 2 oz, 50th percentile for everything, so she is getting up there. She is helping me type right now so sorry if there are any typos! Here are some pictures from Halloween. She was both a glow in the dark skeleton and a pumpkin. She wasn't a huge fan of being a pumpkin as you can tell, but she's a natural skeleton!Silly girl!

Sicky

This week, we have been trying to avoid the dreaded H1N1 flu...dun dun duuun!! I was afraid that we all had it when Ryan and I came down with headaches and sore throats but now we are just congested like crazy. Somehow, little Leah has been able to avoid everything! She just is a tiny bit stuffed up. Everyone keeps telling me it's the "magical" breastmilk. I guess that stuff is pretty magical! I would like to take a minute right here and just talk about how great breastfeeding is. If you get uncomfortable thinking about breasts and milk coming from them...well turn away. My friends are probably so sick of me talking about it but it's a big part of my life now! It's so nice to have the support of your family in something like this. I have learned so much about breastfeeding since I started and I am convinced that it is the greatest thing God ever invented...right after my baby of course :-) I guess you could call me a "lactivist" now, that's what my sister-in-law Molly calls herself too. Before I had Leah, I just kind of thought of breastfeeding as something you did because it's the best thing you can do for your baby and I had never questioned that. I just sort of thought of it as my job. But then, I couldn't imagine the benefits it has for me too. It is so relaxing and wonderful to come home from work and have that special bonding time with my baby. I am the only one that can provide her with that comfort any time she needs it. aaaah the beauty of BREASTS. haha I had to emphasize that word to make you all uncomfortable. Thank you god for blessing me with these wonderful BREASTS...you could have made them slightly smaller though...amen

We made it!

..One year that is! Well our anniversary is actually tomorrow but we are going out tonight to celebrate. We are going to Baratta's, the restuarant that catered our rehearsal dinner, it is so good! Barb and Max were nice enough to take Leah for the night. It is her first overnight! I'm sure she is going to have lots of fun though. I can't believe it has been a year since the wedding, so crazy!

Back to work!

Well I actually went back last Tuesday so it has been a little over a week, but needless to say I have been busy! Ryan, Leah and I have been trying to get used to a whole new schedule of waking up early, getting ready, heading out the door, me being gone all day, picking up, going home, winding down, whew! It is exhausting! I really don't know how working moms do this every day, especially if they have more than one child! Getting back into work mode has not been easy for me but I am still adjusting. Let me tell you, pumping three times a day at work is not fun and it takes forever! I am determined to keep doing it for as long as I can though. Leah is eating me out of boob and home! I don't know if I can keep up but I sure am trying. Our weekly schedule is still a little random. Leah goes to Ryan's sister Sarah's house 3 days a week where she can be with all the fun little kids who love to talk to her and play with her. It's so funny, she seems like she is trying to talk to me whenever I pick her up from there! So cute. The other 2 days of the week, Leah gets to stay home while her Aunt Stef comes over to watch her. She gets to sleep in a little and still gets to have fun! So far it's working pretty well so hopefully we can keep it up. Little Leah is sitting on my lap right now watching me type while we listen to Disney songs. She loves it!

Other milestones; Leah has discovered her hands and tries to eat them all the time, let's not make that a habit little one! She has also discovered that she can splash in the bathtub, it is SOO cute! She just flails her arms and legs around while she smiles at me. She just looks like she is having so much fun! Here are some recent pictures....there is the hand eating I was talking about...