Another Trip to the Beach.. and a little of American's Favorite Pass Time...

******UPDATED******Just pics today, folks. I'll prob update with thrilling stories a little later.

She's becoming quite the beach bum... our little beaut!

YES! One of us both paying attention and smiling. A rare sight, indeed

Running towards each other.... slow motion... music playing...

The water is freezing... just a toe will do.

Pure Calvin and Hobbs face. She was charging towards the water so hard I could barely contain her.

More sand eating. Seriously? So annoying.

Went to the A's vs Giants game last night. Leah was thrilled for the first half with all of the new sights and sounds. Then overstimulation kicked in and she zonked out for the rest.

Sam explained each "going on" of the game as if Leah was hanging on every word. 

Every time I looked at her she was making this face at the people behind us.

Nothin' like a good ball game!

**********A few more for the road************

 Ahh.... the inhibitions of baby-hood. Leah relishes any and all chances to be free as a bird.

Whenever in "the buff" she does the funny little march captured here... back straight, arms out, left, left, left, right, left.

She was particularly delighted to be in front of the camera this day....

Can I'va hug?

That's actually a little cardboard roll she was dutifully gnawing to pieces.

Orange creamsicle! 

A Lil' Family Outing...

S000... Sam and I ventured to the zoo on Saturday. Not that Leah cared much, the trip was mostly for the two of us. Whenever I go to the zoo I get super hyped up about it and I always end up convincing myself that my last visit was way cooler than it was.  

Anyway, as we meandered from exhibit to exhibit I started musing about my many trips to various zoos across the country and it occurred to me that my experiences have, for the most part, all been very similar... I'd spend 5 hours walking around in the blazing sun only to have every third exhibit displaying a cutesy little sign, written in first person by the animal no less, saying his "home" was "under construction." Then, about half of the ones that weren't under construction didn't have anything in them at all. Of course, there's still a sign telling you all about the exotic animal that supposedly lives in the enclosure, so you and every buffoon in the park stand there for 15 minutes staring blankly, only to walk away with the same conclusion, "well, the animal must be hiding... or maybe sleeping inside." Yeah. Turns out the zoo keepers are all just kicking back behind the one way glass, watching all the tards staring hopefully at the bushes and shrubbery, fanning themselves with the $30 I just dropped to get in. 

Of course, every once in a while you do run across an actual live animal but it's something lame like a gazelle or ostrich that just stands there, frozen in fear because, well, you might be planning on attacking it. Bottom line, at the end of the day all you've seen is the equivalent of an African barn yard... which is pretty much the same as the ones we've got here, except everything has bigger horns and looks all mangy and emaciated. 

After all of that, you may think I hated our trip to the zoo... but you'd be wrong. I actually had a great time with my little family!  Which is why we'll be visiting again next weekend... 

I realized after we got to the zoo that the turkey sub and I were matching. Although I have to say Leah rocked the outfit a little bit better... a little bit.

Sam and Leah... not matching, but nicely coordinated... I love them.

We attempted three times to take a suitable family photo...

Leah was having none of it....

So we gave up....

The very best part of the trip was the petting zoo. Leah was dubbed the "sheep whisperer" by all in attendance. 

You can see me standing close by, minding my own business. What you didn't know is this pic was taken just as that goat was turning to attack me. Stupid one-horned goat. I'll kill you.

We took an impromptu trip to the beach after the zoo. It was a beautiful day, indeed.

Leah thinks she's so cool in her sunglasses. Sam does too, for that matter...

Leah was so enamored with the sand that I couldn't get her to look up at me once for a photo.. regardless of the hulaballoo I was making to get her attention. I felt a little sheepish as I realized I was high pitched screaming her name no more than two feet from her face... to no avail. 

Sam had to hold Leah hostage because every time either of her hands got free she would thrust herself forward, grab a handful of sand and stuff it into her mouth. If you look closely you can see sand remnants around her mouth. What a fatty. Our fun day at the beach was short lived for the sake of her digestive system. 

Just enjoying the view. I didn't get many cute pics because our camera died like five minutes after we got there. I was so bummed. One thing that was left undocumented was a huge dead seal beached about 100 feet away. So gross, yet so fascinating. 

Yay for a day well spent!

Happy Birthday, Little Girl

Dear Leah Mae, 

On May 11th, 2008, your dad, Grammy and I were at the Oakland temple when I started to feel a strange aching in my right leg. You were 1 day overdue and I was LARGE... as your Aunty Bethany put it, "I was no small kitten." It was a beautiful mother's day so I wasn't too concerned that a day of walking around had caused some new aches and pains. We went home to our apartment in Walnut Creek and settled into a game of rummicub when the aching in my leg intensified. When Grammy's leg massage didn't ease the pain, I called my doctor. She immediately told me I needed to come in. I remember feeling a wave of panic upon hearing the concern in my doctor's voice. Grammy was very excited when I looked at her with tears in my eyes and told her we had to go. Your dad turned white, but in true daddy form, remained calm, kissed me on the head and said, "let's go baby." 

The drive into the city was quiet, with an occasional shout of excitement from Grammy. When we checked in to the hospital I had to get an ultrasound on my leg to make sure I didn't have a blood clot. The ultrasound tech told me I had "beautiful veins" and that everything was fine. I was elated when my doctor told me, "everything is great with your leg but there's no need to send you home, I'd rather deliver this baby!" I can't even describe the tender feelings that overwhelmed me as I pictured seeing your face for the first time so soon. Your dad and I shed many tears that night as we waited for you. 

You were born at 6:09AM on May 12th, 2008 at UCSF. You had the most beautiful little face I've ever seen and a head full of dark hair. You won't understand until you hold my grandbabies in your arms how overwhelmingly happy, scared, protective and in love I felt the first time I held you. I kept imagining you leaving Heavenly Father to come down to me, and how much He must have already missed you. I felt so unequal to the task of being your mother. You were so divine, so close to Heaven. 

You have been such a good girl this year. You bring joy to everyone who sees you. I have never met such a bubbly, outgoing baby. You make me burst with joy every day and your dad's eyes light up whenever he's watching you. Only you. I love you more than I can say. Happy Birthday, little girl. 

Love, Mom

Little Miss Mae, 3 months

6 months

9 months

And Now....

 ONE YEAR OLD! Appropriately, in her birthday suit!

And a couple more for the road...

Baby kisses and watching Leah and Sam together... these are a few of my favorite things.

In the foyer at church...

Go Get It!!

We spend hours playing fetch in our house... merely for the joy that watching Leah's obese woman waddle brings to her mother. I can't get enough. I'm a woman in love... what can I say?

Much Needed Rendezvous

I'm teetering on the edge of a severe depression. I call it my just-got-back-from-a-trip-with-my-sissys-and-now-I-have-to-wait-a-few-more-months-to-see-them depression. It's inevitable. I knew it was starting when I found myself daydreaming this morning about loading Leah into Bethany's van with her 4 munchkins and Meradith's little Lucy. Who daydreams about that?! I do. For the next few days I will, no doubt, binge eat and refuse to leave the house--wallowing in self-pity about how glorious life would be if we could only live next door to each other. The depression will peak when it turns into anger toward my husband for having a career that requires us to stay near financial centers--which, of course, makes my sisters' homes of Phoenix, AZ and Provo, UT pretty much out of the question...EVER. In a few days time everything will start to settle.... anger will fade to resentment, resentment to irritation, irritation to acceptance, acceptance to gratitude for my husband's hard work and great career, and then I'll be myself again. But until then, I plan on being a complete wretch.

NOW! Let me tell you about what a great trip we had!!! It started out this last Tuesday in glorious fashion. Mera told Bethany she wouldn't be able to make it but secretly plotted to meet me at the airport to surprise her. We are often mocked by our spouses for always surprising each other this way but the tears and blubbering that results is always well worth it! SO, Mera met me inside and when Bethany came to pick me up, we switched babies so Mera hid with Leah, and I waited on the curb holding Lucy. Beth got out of the car and stared back and forth at me and Lucy with the most confused, crusty look on her face until it dawned on her, that was MERADITH'S baby! And if that was MERADITH'S baby, than MERADITH must be near! Her arms flew up in jubilation! I sent up the requisite smoke signal and Meradith came running out the door. We all hugged and jumped up and down squealing with delight. Needless to say, our babies were all bawling in terror at the hullabaloo. We were quite a sight to behold. Once we collected ourselves, we noticed the group of seniors standing nearby, watching us with glee. Oh, how I love my sissydoodles.

Over the next few days we shopped and swam and got pedi's and tended our herd of littles and laughed until we cried and had pillow fights and tag team wrestling matches. On Thursday we bid Meradith adieu and Sam and Walid (Bethany's hub) joined us for the weekend (Sam from San Fran, Walid from Pittsburgh where he works every other week.) It was a delightful trip, indeed!

Leah and Lil' Loofy sportin' the same swimwear! Have you ever seen anything cuter? No. No you haven't. 

 

Bethany left us alone one of the mornings to go to the gym... hence all the pics of just Le and Lu. We had to dump them in the tub for the photo op.

Leah and Isaiah spent most of their time together in general mayhem. These pics are of Isaiah showing Leah the dirty ropes. 

Right before I punted her into the pool

Aunty Bethany teaching Leah how to write in cursive. This is pretty much the only pic I took with an adult in it the entire time! Except a few unfortunate shots Sam took while I was sleeping. They were immediately deleted when I saw them on the big screen. 

The general feeling in our house right now after such a splendid trip! Now I begin counting down the days till next time....

I'll Go Walkin' After Midnight....

The following clip will most likely only be thrilling to Grammy and Poppa, Grandma, Aunties and SLEs (Serious Leah Enthusiasts), but Big Girl has started strutting her stuff on two feet. I love how wobbly she is on her fat little footsies. Anyway, captured this little morsel last night.

And, I'm including this clip from when she was almost 6 months old (can you tell I just finally got my video camera synched up with my 'puter?) because, while I understand fully that Leah is still pleasantly plump, I see now that I entirely underestimated her rotund figure as a wee lass. Never before has there been such fatness...

Leah Illustrated--Swimsuit Addition

Today we geared up for summer with the ceremonial swimsuit purchase. We couldn't decide (Sam picked out the first, I the second) so we ended up with these two little scrumptious numbers. Leah was absolutely thrilled wearing them... strutting around the living room, displaying her voluptuous figure. Seriously, is there anything more delectable than little rolie polies in swimsuits? Aside from maybe ME in MY swimsuit, I think not....

You can't really tell in the pic but the second one is a little blousey top with separate little blue bikini bottoms. GLORY!!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

I haven't posted any pictures of our little turkey sub in a while so.... 

Nothing causes elation in my child quite like being swooped up onto her daddy's shoulders. I'm only explaining cause you can't really tell by the look on her face how much she loves it...

These pics demonstrate her progress in moving past the "picture face." Not quite... baby steps. Her feet crossing habit is still fully intact. 

Big girl is standing up all by herself these days. Makes mama sad.  Cept' she so freaking cute doing it.

I included this picture with the sole purpose of showing you all what I face whenever she gets hungry. 

Squishable...

Such a beauty, if I do say so myself! I always have such a crush on her on Sunday mornings, before the raggamuffin transformation begins. I still have a crush afterwards, just not quite as much. 

Another stunning self portrait. Literally the only pic of us in the last, like, two months. I'm gonna have to give Sam a talking to today. Time for him to play photographer. 

Hail The Conquering Hero....ME!!

Today was an exciting day! This morning I went on a run and happened upon THIS: 

I, of course, was a smitten kitten, oohing and ahhing and giggling, drawing everyone's attention who came by to the mama duck and her 11 darlings. The 5 year old in me nearly prevailed in convincing myself it would be a good idea to make off with one of the ducklings, but I resisted. 

Normally I would have just chalked this up to a lucky sighting to brighten my day, but there was more behind my run in with the little duck family... my ducky senses were being honed.  I'll tell you why.

A little later we were driving home from the grocery when I saw a duck, much like the mama I had seen this morning, on the side of the road quacking and circling around, agitated and distraught. I knew something wasn't right. I told Sam, "Look at that duck, that's not normal. I think she's looking for something." Sam drove past her without a thought. We were almost home when I made him turn around. 

When we got back to the duck she was still irritated, circling and quacking. "I think she's lost her ducklings." I said, and I hopped out of the car (much to my husband's dismay). There was a storm drain near and I went directly to it. On my hand and knees in the street, sure enough, I could see two little chirping ducklings at the bottom of the drain!!! My eyes brimmed with tears and my heart immediately broke for that little mama duck. So helpless, being able to hear her ducklings' cries but not being able to find them! They were chirping wildly, terrified. The mama bear in me took over. 

"We need a net!!" I shouted at Sam. He had gotten Leah out of the car and was standing in the street at this point. He looked at me, "Uh, well, we don't have one." Then I remembered I had left our tool kit in the trunk of the car. "Get the tools so we can take off this grate!"

Sam got our tool kit and, as luck would have it, our bathroom garbage pail that was still in the trunk from our move. After a struggle, he was finally able to get the grate off and I could see the drain was about 5 or 6 feet down. There were large tunnels running off of the hole in several directions and the ducklings, in fear, kept running off down the tunnels. Each time it happened, their cries would get softer and mama duck would come closer, calling loudly to them to bring them back in view. 

I laid on my stomach with the garbage pail in hand and hung from the waist into the drain. I could reach the garbage almost to the bottom and I hung there unsuccessfully for about five minutes, trying to coax the ducklings into the pail. We won't mention what a foolio I was, hanging upside down, trying to imitate the mama duck. 

After the ducklings scurried off down one of the tunnels again I pulled myself out of the hole and kneeled on the side of the street. I folded my arms and prayed that Heavenly Father would please help me save these little ducks. 

I shimmied on my stomach down into the drain again and, I'm not kidding, immediately BOTH ducklings came scurrying back and jumped up INTO my garbage pail!!!! I shouted out in laughter!! I couldn't BELIEVE it!!! I felt overwhelmingly thankful for my answered prayer. 

I hoisted the two little dears out of the hole and, after snapping a few pics, walked to mama who was still quacking up a storm a few feet away. 

I set the pail down in the grass and the ducklings hustled out to their mom. She quacked at them SO LOUDLY and I have never seen anything cuter as they JUMPED onto her back over and over! It was such a celebration!! After the reunion they fell right back into their little formation and started making their way off into an oblivion. Needless to say, our hearts were bursting...

The little fluff balls still captive in our garbage pail. So so cute. 

Sam took this little video after the glorious reunion

The Little Things...

Leah follows me around like a puppy dog every where I go. I know most of you probably have little tots who do the same to you. She gets especially excited when she discovers me in the bathroom. I know as soon as she realizes I am no longer in the kitchen or living room, she will come fee fi foing her way back to find me. SO, this time I went prepared and captured this little vid on my phone. Turn up the volume for the full effect. Don't worry... it was staged...

Oh little Leah, you make my heart burst. No one else gets excited the way you do when they stumble upon me in the bathroom...

Oh, Woest Me!

I'm sorry I have to complain a little bit. Apart from suffering any major tragedies, I can safely say this was the worst weekend imaginable! To start, we moved apartments, which in and of itself is very hateful and agonizing. It has to be mentioned that my husband is absolutely superhuman. I have never seen such a moving machine. We've moved together before, but the last time I was pregnant and too involved in my own pitiful state to notice his ridiculously brutish strength! 

What made the weekend especially miserable was the fact that we've all come down with our own little slew of ailments. Leah has been sick with a cold since pretty much the holidays. Nasty nose, cough, fever and sore throat. She topped it off this week with a lovely outbreak of PINK EYE. Don't even get me started on pink eye. Ok, you got me started. I'm particularly bitter about this nasty little malady because of course, she passed it along to me in record time. Seriously, how mangy is pink eye? Normally I would have just gone into quarantine but I had to be out and about because of the move. Leah and I were a sight to behold walking around revolting everyone who got close enough to make eye contact. Pink eye is often paired with an awful cold so of course we couldn't be spared that either. Last night in preparation for bed I started by putting drops in my beautiful bright pink eyes, took 4 advil, inhaled some nasal decongestant and popped in a throat lozenge...  

Sam has been able to miraculously dodge the pink eye but has been plagued with the worst hay fever imaginable. After a frenzied, full-fisted eye, nose and face scratching he looked at me through red rimmed, teary eyes and said, "Baby, where's the cheese grater?" Me: "It's packed up, why?" Sam: "If I had a cheese grater I would grate my face off." 

The one highlight of the weekend was the discovery of a delicious little shop called Yogurt Station. Holy shiz. Frozen yogurt in all sorts of delightful self-serve flavors and a wall full of every topping imaginable. The best part is that it's all "do it yourself" so you can go wild with whatever you want... no more scrimping on the cheese cake bits or brownie bites... it's all you. They just weigh your concoction at the end and charge you accordingly. The fatty in me made a proclamation to Sam that we would be "eating there EVERY DAY UNTIL APRIL FOOLS DAY!!" Which of course is only a couple days away, but you get the idea. 

Anyway, now we're all moved in snug as a bug in a rug. I'm sure we'll all look back on this someday and laugh... someday. Today is not that day. 

It's Chi-Town, Baby!

So after the long and arduous process of applying for business schools, interviewing, exploring and twiddling our thumbs we are finally certain where we will be moving... CHICAGO!!! Sam will be attending the University of Chicago for his MBA starting in September and Leah and I will be dutifully tagging along for the ride. I'm dreading a few things... Chicago winters, OBAMA FEVER, leaving the west and close proximity to most of my family, and let's be honest, living on a student budget. But I'm also super excited for the new adventure. 

I'm thrilled about the prospect of being able to head up to campus to meet daddy for lunch and to escape the daily grind of "professional life." What can I say? Sam and I met at college and while I know it won't be nearly the same, I'm feeling especially smitten and romantic about the idea of living the student lifestyle again. No doubt I'll go loiter around the library once a week and make Sam pretend we're meeting for the first time... 

I've never been to Chicago before so I need all of you well-traveled folks to tell me the must-sees for my exploring pleasure. 

1..2..3..4..

Sam and I decided to get serious about exercise this year. We took some video of our first class together -- turns out we have a bit further to go than we anticipated.

No, but seriously, have you ever seen such uncords in your entire life? Sam gets especially joyous every time we watch it.

My Quirky Little Gee

Leah has developed some charming little idiosyncrasies in her short time here on earth. I decided they had to be documented lest they be forgotten forever. Most of the photos were taken with my phone because I had to be quick on the draw in capturing the moment... so don't be judgy.

First is her absolute inability to sit anywhere, in any position, without crossing her little pillowy feet. Even when she's seated on the floor, toys strewn all about, her feet are crossed directly in front of her. I think she's in the beginning stages of a condition inherited from her Papa (my dad) known affectionately as "the cricket syndrome" in which he is completely unable to keep himself from feverishly rubbing his feet together whenever shoes are not present. Thanks, Papa!

Second, my little munchkin is a masochist. What started as a sweet little habit during nursing, has blossomed into full fledged self destruction... in the form of pinching. She used to softly pinch my hand or arm while she nursed. Then she started to get aggressive about it and I had to set some pinching boundaries. Little did I know, my refusal to satisfy her pinching fix would send her tailspinning into the dark and lonely world of self-pinching. Many a time she has interrupted moments of peaceful rocking or humming with a shrill shout... only for me to discover her little hand up her shirt--pincers in action, wrecking havoc on her belly. I've learned not to leave my little lass pantless for any amount of time. Her voluptuous thighs are too tempting and the ant-biting begins... in the following picture you can see this disturbing behavior along with her face while doing it... stop doing this to yourself, Leah!!

Third, she's discovered one particular position to be especially satisfying for snoozing. The first time I came upon her in her crib, my heart leapt out of my chest and I immediately soiled my drawers. I was sure she'd suffocated. Much to my delight, she was snoring away dutifully and after many foiled attempts to move her into another position I gave up, and this has been her position of choice ever since... I think she's aiming to highlight her finest feature...

Finally, the following face is quite disturbing, but alas, my strong-willed little fatty has settled on it as her official "picture face." As soon as she sees the camera, she contorts her face into this expression and holds it until the flash is over, then reaches for the camera to have a look at the splendor I have captured. I remember being little and making faces for pictures that I was certain were super sexy... only to discover I looked like a complete tard. Poor little lamb, thinking she's so sexy....