Look who put her Princess Minnie Ears on...

Almost Wordless Wednesday - Boots, Blocks & Measuring tapes

LeAnne loves playing with daddy's tape measure & she knows what its for! :-)



LeAnne & Mama's Mega Blocs masterpiece, we have so much fun with these blocks!



LeAnne modeling her new rain boots after her bath one night.

























For more wordless Wednesday fun head over to 5 minutes for Moms.

(almost) Wordless Wednesday - Tasty Treat

While I was making dinner LeAnne was creating her own tasty treat!


I love how she celebrates her successful transfer of the treat! lol!




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Good Family Fun with Pumpkins

It was a great weekend for our family! We finished all we set out to do as far as chores go then Sunday we made a trip to the Klickers Pumpkin Patch, did a bit of Christmas shopping for LeAnne and carved our pumpkin after dinner but before bath.

LeAnne was great entertainment at the pumpkin patch. It was like she was on a mission to make sure every pumpkin was standing upright. Once they were upright she would lean down next to them. Sometimes she would try to take a bit, other times it was like she was smelling it or listening to it. It was cute! Of course she LOVED climbing the mountain of straw. The slide was a big hit this year. She went down the first time with daddy and the next time wanted to go by herself.

LeAnne on her mission to make sure all the Pumpkins were standing up straight.



Inspecting the stem?


What is she doing? Hugging the pumpkin? Listening to it? lol


Going down the slide with daddy! Wee!!


Daddy & LeAnne on the mountain of straw


Here she goes, down the slide by herself! :-)


Wee!


Laying in the straw people watching


It's time to carve our pumpkin!

What are you doing daddy?


You want me to stick my hand in there? uh NO!


I'll watch & use a spoon thanks!


Pumpkin is yummy!


Okay I see mama playing in the pumpkin guts so I'll give it a try.


That's one neat friendly Jack-O-Lantern Daddy!



She had a blast playing in the pumpkin guts & helped us separate the seeds for a tasty treat!

2 Year Wellness Check up & Shots

LeAnne now weighs 26lbs 15 ounces (1 oz shy of 27lbs), is 34 inches long and I don't recall the measurement but Dr said she's in the 80th percentile for her head circumference. She's gotta have a big head to store all those brains! So she's on track to be tall, skinny and smart! Ha ha!

She was one unhappy girl the second we walked into the exam room. She didn't want the nurse or Dr touching her, she screamed and clung tightly to me. Poor girl wasn't happy at all. Her doctor says she's one healthy girl. His words about how to handle her emotions/tantrums/terrible 2's were reassuring. He says ignoring her when she's screaming will get her to stop fastest. That any positive or negative attention is still attention and she'll play to the audience longer. lol! The next 2 things he said kinda have my head spinning a little. He said she needs to be done with having a pacifier as soon as possible. He said they like them to be done at 15 months and at 3 years old it can start to do permanent damage to her teeth. Ahhh she loves her binky! So now I'm trying to figure out the best way to get rid of the binky. Do we have a binky round up and she goes cold turkey? Do we only start letting her have it in her crib and then eventually just lose it? hmmm! Suggestions? The other thing that has me perplex is potty training. He said girls usually train closer to 2 years old, that we should help her develop a word for what she is doing, training goes better if its more her idea and a positive experience. He suggested rewards like big girl panties, a snack or a toy. My concerns are this; how do I start, how do I help her understand she is suppose to go on the potty, I was thinking about having her try ever 15 minutes but I can see her getting mad at me, and will she get the concept if I say okay you go potty on the big girl toilet and you can have a balloon? I know I will look back at this someday and think its silly I was overwhelmed.

She was really unhappy when she had to get one shot at the Dr office then we went over to the Flu shot clinic to get her and I a flu shot. She soon forgot about being upset and had a wonderful day with daddy. Then it all came back to her when she saw the band aids on her legs during bath time. She was traumatized all over again. Poor girl! She ended up going to bed at 7pm because she was exhausted.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - LeAnne Laughing

LeAnne was laughing at our silly cavalier king Charles spaniel, Bella, who was spinning. Bella is the best ever lap dog, very cute but also very neurotic and not the brightest dog.






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LeAnne's 1st B-day party & Random babblings from Mama bear

LeAnne was invited & attended Drake's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. Drake & his parents live a few houses away from us and they seem like a very nice family! We have been trying to connect to get to know each other better so when we got the birthday invite I was very excited. The party was in the late afternoon so I was really nervous how are little girl would behave. She's a morning person and afternoon/evening time can be rough. She was scared of Drake's dad and all the people but the funniest thing was when we got in the door I put her down and she went straight up to Drake's mom and wanted her to pick her up. lol! She had lots of fun coloring, playing with Drake's toys and just wandering around. She didn't want to eat any of the dinner, but I wasn't surprised because she doesn't like spaghetti. She's not much into any pasta and will only eat rice once in a while. She did enjoy a piece of cake after helping Drake to blow out his birthday candles. Opening gifts was interesting, LeAnne helped and took to Drake's Thomas the Train very quickly. Drake is a very sweet little boy. I had a fun time talking to Drake's mama and found out that the kids go to the same Pediatrician & get this both have their 24 month appointments on Tuesday. :-) All in all it was a lot of fun! LeAnne only had a few minor melt downs over sharing and got pretty upset as we left because she wanted his Thomas the Train. His mama invited us to join them for some Halloween fun & trick or treating.

Halloween isn't a holiday I care for, would rather not celebrate, but I think we can find a happy place for this holiday. John and I will have to chat, but I think we must talk with her when she's old enough to understand, then if she ONLY dresses up in friendly costumes and attends Harvest festivals she won't feel we deprived her or be drawn to it because we just say no. It would also be a good time for her to learn about spreading the good news through distributing tracts or messages with the candy.

Prayers appreciated
Would you please pray that Drake's family & our family would develop a friendship. They seem like really nice people. I would also appreciate your prayers in regards to our family getting our buns back to church next Sunday. The plan is to go to Trinity Baptist Church in Walla Walla next Sunday. They are similar to the church we went to in Renton. We've had a rough time getting connect to a church and it's become easy to make excuses for not going. I think its very important for our family be apart of a church body so we can grow as Christians, so we can be connect with other believers, and so we can give back using the spiritual gifts God has blessed us with. Thank-you! One more prayer request; Would you pray for John's neck - He's been in a lot of pain. He will need to have surgery sometime in the near future to do a fusion. It will be a bit of a financial burden when he's off work for the surgery & on light duty (not getting full pay) and he's pretty nervous about the surgery and recovery time. I just want my man to feel better! Thank-you!

Have I told you lately how much I love being a wife & a mama? I love, love, love my awesome husband! I feel so incredibly blessed to have such an incredible man as my husband!! I am thankful for the leader he is in our home & at work. I am thankful for the care he takes of our home! I love how he finds time to connect with me although I do think we are over due for a date night. I appreciate the relationship he has with his daughters! I love how he supports me and encourages me. I love his playfulness! I love, love, love being a mama to our girls! I can't wait until Christmas when we have our whole family together for a short while. Oh how I miss our Amanda girl! I look forward to hugging her a lot, being able to tell her in person that I love her, watching the girls interact together & with daddy, and all the holiday memories we will make. I am so thankful God blessed our life with LeAnne. For a while there I was questioning if I would ever give birth to a child. Praise God! Thank-you Lord! Being LeAnne's mama is so COOL! I love watching her ever changing personality develop before my eyes! I had a chance this weekend to snuggle with her for about 45 minutes after she woke up from a nap & I enjoy kissing her, rubbing her back and just smelling her. I remember the many times we took naps in the chair together. She was so little then. Last night I really noticed that she's already starting to find things she must do before bed to put off reading then going to bed. ha ha it starts early! Our little family doesn't quite feel complete though. LeAnne needs a sibling and I'll admit I yearn to be pregnant again. The hubby & I have talked and I think another bundle of joy is in our future when the time is right and if it's in God's plan to bless us again. Stay tune & lift us up in prayer...

I am sure I could keep on babbling but it's just about time for me to take LeAnne to mom's, get her settled and head to work. I am looking forward to seeing my student today. He and a lot of other kids were out sick the all of last week with the flu. One day we only had 11 out of 28 kids at school. I felt lost without my purpose for being there but I did get to take some paid time off to be at home with LeAnne. I hope ya'll have a blessed week! LeAnne has her 24 month wellness check on Tuesday so I'll post her stats. :-)

LeAnne & I play with her Playdough almost every day. Yesterday she figured out how to make this tool work and was so excited!


Ready, set GO!


Watching her truck race across the kitchen floor!


This busy picture shows her faithful K-9 Companions are never far from her side and she was having a blast coloring in one of her new big books. I love how her feet are crossed and her sock monkey has one let sticking up. LOL!!