Leah's Lingo

Occassionally I'll add a Leah's Lingo post...because let's face it...kids say the funniest things!!!

Comes up to me and slaps my butt..."mommy you got a big butt!" thanks darling.

Changing Chase's poopy diaper..."look mommy! paydo! (play doh)"

I bought her some new pajamas the other day...she insisted on putting them on ("I wear dat?!")... I told her the shirt said "I'm a party animal" and she walked around the house saying "I'm part animal!"

Last night during the storm we kept hearing sirens. "ooh whats dat mommy?"
"Those are the firetrucks baby...the firemen are going around making sure everyone is safe."
"Dat's daddy!!!?"

"She wants treat mom! She wants cheetos!"
(she says "she wants" when she wants something because I'm always translating what she's asking for to other people...)




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What kind of underwear do rain clouds wear?

THUNDERWEAR!!!

bahahahaha! Okay got that out of my system..... This is a picture of the sunset/storm rolling through in my back yard last night:

Anyways, so last night was pretty unusual. We had a CRAZY storm. Here in Yuma, it's like the sunniest city in the US, it hardly ever rains...it always LOOKS like it's going to rain, and then it passes right over our heads. Actually it probably does rain, but it's so damn hot that it evaporates before we can see it. So last night I thought it was going to do just that. Boy was I wrong!
At about 6:30, the clouds starting rolling in. I always take Leah outside to see the lightning in the distance and to watch the clouds go by. So last night was no different. We went out on the back porch, braved the 110 degree heat + humidity, to watch the storm brew. Leah always asks me "do you hear the under mommy? do you see the lighting?"

Around 7, we went inside so I could give Chase a bath and get him ready for bed. I told Leah we'd go back outside and watch after Chase was in bed... CHA RIGHT! Around 7:15, when I had just finished putting Chase's sleep shirt on, all hell broke loose. LOUD THUNDER. Lightning was lighting up the sky a mile a minute. It was crazy! The wind was blowing everything over, knocking the trashcans around in the street and blowing dust everywhere. Then the rain started. HARD. Then hail! HAIL! It was so loud I could barely hear Leah asking me, "do you hear the under mommy?" And she asked me this EVERY time it thundered...literally...EVERY time.
Around 7:30, the power went out. GRRRRREAT, I thought! How am I supposed to get 2 kids to bed with no power? WAIT! No power = No Air Conditioning!! WTF! It was 116 degrees this week... and it got hot in our house FAST. And at this point, I was still carrying Chase around, who on a cool day is like holding a hot coal, as we went from room to room lighting candles (this was Leah's favorite part of the night.. all the candles).
Surprisingly through all this, Leah wasn't scared at all. It's probably because I love thunderstorms and I kept telling her how cool it was. She would say "pretty cool, huh!" I had a candle lit in every room so we could see our way around the house... Leah was tired but wanted "mommy's bed!" So we all snuggled in my bed for awhile. I had our blinds and curtains open so we could watch the storm.
After Chase fell asleep and I put him in his crib, Leah and I sat on the couch and watched Barney on my iPod (luckily I had some on there from the last time we traveled).

The brunt of the storm was over around 9:30 or 10pm, and Leah finally went in her own bed and fell asleep. I was hoping power would come back on SOON! I eventually gave up and went to bed... notice I didn't say went to sleep! Because it was SO hot! I laid in bed, tossing and turning, occassionally getting up to check on the babies, until finally the power (and the air conditioning..HOORAY!) came back on around 3am. And of course the kiddos were up at 7 like usually. Needless to say, I'm TIRED today! But it was a fun, unusual night. I love me a good thunderstorm!!!

Some pictures of the storm and her aftermath! From around town...

When All Else Fails...

......Put them in water!!

Chase was having a good morning. We went and ran some errands and he was happy and smiling and everything was dandy. We came home, and I put the kids down for their nap. Leah is easy.. she knows the routine and goes in her bed at noon and falls asleep on her own for about 2 hours every day. Chase usually naps during this time too for at least an hour or so. Today I put him down like I do every day, and went to lay down in my bed to read or rest my head for a minute. JUST as I put my head down, I hear him waking up WAH WAH WAH WAH WAH PICK ME UP WAH WAH HOLD ME WAH!!!! He wasn't asleep 10 minutes before all hell broke loose. I don't know what happened but he would NOT stop screaming. I was having flashbacks to a few weeks ago when he was colicky and cried all day long unconsolibly.
I tried EVERYTHING. I tried feeding him, changing him, burping him, rocking him, bouncing on the ball with him, talking to him, you name it and he continued to scream. After about 30 minutes of continous crying, I remembered something someone told me once (I think my mom maybe?) and that was... put a screaming baby in water! DUH! He LOVES his bath every night so why didn't I think of this before!?
With one arm, I ran the water and filled his bath, undressed him and tossed him (okay I didn't TOSS him) in! VOILA! It worked! As soon as his little butt touched the warm water he started smiling and kicking and splashing his legs. He cooed at me and looked at me with those big blue eyes of his (with crocodile tears still) and smiled and the screaming became a distant memory.
I kept him in the bath for about 20 minutes, having to refill the tub with warm water every few minutes because he was kicking all of it out! After his bath, I snuggled him in his towel, gave him a little tummy lotion massage, and watched him slowly fade into sleep! (Because in this house bathtime = bedtime on a normal day!)
Of course it was just as Leah was waking up from her nap, so I didn't get much of a break today, but that's okay because it gave me a chance to spend some much needed 1-on-1 time with my girl.
So the moral of the story for all you moms out there... when all else fails, put them in water!!

To add to our collection...

Here we are on our 5 year anniversary. Grandma and Grandpa came over to babysit the kids so Tim and I could go out to dinner and a movie to celebrate. This is the first time we've been out just the 2 of us since Chase was born. We had a nice dinner at Ah-So (mmm terayaki beef and shrimp!!) and then walked over to the movies to see "Dinner For Schmucks" ....hilarrrrrious! I hadn't been to a movie in a LONG time and I laughed so hard the whole time! We had a great night and when we came home, the kids were bathed and Leah was sleeping (she's so easy..such an angel) and Chase was almost sleeping, hanging out with Grandpa. He went to sleep shortly after and Tim and I just spent some alone time together. This morning I got to sleep in while he got up with the kids and got them breakfast and dressed! I'm one lucky gal :)

Livin our love song...

Today, August 18th marks 5 years and 12 days since Tim and I met...today is our 5 year wedding anniversary. That's right...if you know your math that means we got married after knowing each other for 12 whole days.
And yes...we were totally crazy.
I remember the night we met and stayed up until 3am talking that I knew I was going to marry him. You could call it love at first sight if you want to. He was everything I ever wanted and had all the qualities I wished for in a husband. We spent every possible minute of those 12 days together learning everything about each other and every deep dark secret we ever had. I had never been more in love and more sure of something my entire life. And I don't know exactly what we were thinking that afternoon of august 18th to go to the courthouse and seal our fate but we did and it was the craziest, worst, and best decision of our lives.
Let me explain... Craziest: obviously...12 days!
Worst: my family being 3000 miles away...my family is the most important thing to me in the world and why I didn't bother to think about them missing out on this moment kills me and I'm lucky that they forgave me and that they accepted him with open hearts and open arms because they didn't have to after what we put them through. I never fully understood how much it hurt them until I had kids...because if Leah ever ran off and got married to a stranger the way I did I would be devestated. But I'm happy to say that he fits right into this crazy family of mine and they have grown to love him just as much as I do.
Best: let me just say this marriage could have gone really really wrong...we had a LOT of things (and a lot of people) against us at first. But I believe all of that only drew us closer together and I'm happy to say we're still crazy about each other. I'm still on that same high for him that I was 5 years ago. We have had our fair share of ups and downs and a few surprises along the way but he never ceases to amaze me. He is still everything I wished for in a husband and the best father to our babies. I thank God every day for bringing him into my life. We have had a lot of crazy adventures together and I look forward to what lies ahead of us.
Now come with me if you will as I take a little journey through our life in pictures... (warning: picture overload!!!)

One of those 12 days :)




Our courthouse wedding August 18, 2005





Just married!





Imperial sand dunes - winter 05





Camping New Years Eve 06





Camping on the beach - Rocky Point, Mexico 06






One year anniversary -vowel renewal ceremony in MD for my family in the church I grew up in





Just married...again! 8/18/06





Summer 2006






Big Bear, CA ski trip 01/07






Las Vegas -February 07






El Gulfo, Mexico Spring 07




My birthday -April 2007



Summer 07



"honeymoon" in Fiji - 2 year anniversary summer 2007









Fiji





August 2007




Souvenir from Fiji! Pregnant with Leah -Spring 2008



Waiting for our baby girl!



Leah Joan is born - 4/23/08



3 year anniversary as a family of 3! 8/18/08




Halloween 08 camping @ dunes





January 09 - my brother's wedding in Minnesota





April 09 Leah's 1st Birthday! Cruise to Catalina and Mexico




Winter 09 in Maryland




Pregnant with Chase - Spring 2010




Chase Timothy is born 5/26/10...Leah is 2 years old




My whole world - Summer 2010


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Gimme kiss mommy!

Today I was doing something on the computer and Leah walked in with her sunglasses on top of her head and her purse over her
shoulder and said "gimme kiss mommy...I going byebyes" and leaned in and gave me a hug and a kiss. It was hilarious because that's exactly what I say to her when I go to the farm to work on Tim's days off...I grab my sunglasses and purse and tell her to give me a kiss, mommy's going bye-byes. LOL that kid cracks me up! I laughed really hard at her and so she did it like 10 more times hahaha! Every time she would go to the front door and pretend to leave. She's so funny doing everything I do! When I have Chase she follows me around with her baby doll and pretends to change it's diaper, give it a bottle, put lotion on it, even tells the baby doll "shhh not nessary!" (I tell Chase "not necessary to cry!") Oh man she cracks me up every day!!!

Here's Leah "going byebyes"



I put Chase down for a minute in his crib so I could take Leah to the potty and this is what I found when I came back for him...



Here we are going for our evening walk/bike ride...



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The Target Pee Incident

Well it was bound to happen eventually......Leah's first public "accident." I had to run to Target to get a birthday present for Dylan's party on Saturday. I asked Leah before we left the house "do you have to go potty?" NO. Of course not. When we got to Target, we stopped in the family restroom because I had a suspicion that she had to pee... put down her Winnie the Pooh portable seat on the toilet.. sat her down. Nothing. Ugh. Okay, packed everything back in the diaper bag and out shopping we went. We were just about done and I wanted to stop in the men's department and look for something. As we were walking down the aisle, Leah was whining to be carried. To avoid a fuss, I picked her up with my 3rd arm as I'm still pushing Chase in the cart in his carseat. When we got to the men's dept I went to put her down because my arm was KILLING me. She started crying "MOMMY NO!" I looked down and she's standing there with pee rushing down her legs and soaking her shoes and the Target carpet. AWESOME!
Luckily we were right next to the dressing rooms... there was no associate to be found so we just went in and I stripped her down, wiped her down, and changed her into the change of clothes I had in the diaper bag (Always carry a change of clothes in your diaper bag!!). She was crying so I explained to her that accidents happen.
When we were all cleaned up, we went to check out (mind you my kid is now shoeless..I'm still carrying her because I don't want her to walk on the gross Target floor.. Leah's probably not the only kid to ever pee on it.. and since Chase was in the cart with the carseat, there's no room for Leah to sit in the back) I went to find an associate to tell them what happened. Well, let me start over.. I contemplated for a few minutes .."do we peepee and ditch? or do we tell someone?" Apparently my daughter decided for me because all of the sudden she saw someone and said "I peepee on the floor! I peepee a LOT!" Oh I could have died. LOL. So I had to explain to the nice Target man that my daughter had an accident blah blah blah. On the way to the counter she was telling EVERYONE we saw that she peed on the floor. Gotta love kids.
All was well. We checked out, and I carried my shoeless hillbilly girl out to the car and home we went.
Here is a picture of the aftermath of her shoes...

The little things in life...

It's 11:30 at night...the kids have been in their beds asleep for hours (bed time at our house is 8pm)...I'm laying in bed and all of a sudden Leah runs in crying "I scared! Mommy's bed? I lay witchu?" She must have had a nightmare. I usually don't like the idea of bed-sharing with your kids but I believe every now and then for security and comfort it's a good thing. She is just too sweet I couldn't say no. She wanted to use daddy's pillow and blanket (he's on duty tonight) and she is laying next to me snug as a bug and sound asleep. I figure one day she won't even want me to go with her to the mall so I have to cherish these little moments, right?!


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