Christmas...Finally! :)

Leah before opening presents at my parents... doesn't know what's coming!! :)

Alright, I apologize in advance for this being so late.... BUT we've been dealing with sickness...yuck! Both Eric and Leah have the croupy cough, and we took Leah to the dr, and she's got double ear infections! So, basically that translate to Mommy and Daddy getting little or no sleep at night.. Last night was probably the best night since Monday.. Leah was still up in the night but she managed to sleep from 10:30-1:00 and then about 3:30 to 6... I know, its like we have a newborn again! We don't know how we did it when she was a newborn because both me and Eric are drained.. in fact, it's 5:30 pm, and we're all in our pajamas still :) So, hopefully leah will be on the mend with the antibiotics and hopefully she doesn't end up with strep or something worse...

So, ANYWHO-- Christmas! We had a great time-- spent Christmas Eve day and night with my Mom, Dad, Rachel and Tyler. And then we had Christmas Day at Eric's family's house with his Mom, Dad and Grandma.. and then the day after Christmas, we traveled to Marshalltown for my Mom's side of Christmas!
And to say the least, Leah got extremely spoiled from EVERYONE. Seriously... we've got so many new toys for her to play with, and TONS of new clothes! She's set for awhile-- at least until her birthday in March! :)

After church..

Leah with Grandpa

Opening presents with Daddy

The newly engaged couple..Rachel and Tyler

I love my new wagon from Grandpa and Grandma Brinkman

Leah and Zoey (born less than 24 hours apart!)

Leah's playing so big... Zoey is not impressed...

Eric had to take this picture yesterday to prove to my dad that we had no snow down here...

And that it was 60 degrees in December in Iowa!

Leah on her new car from Grandpa and Grandma Gabe! We love it!

Again on the car, with some of my new toys!!!

Paula's Blog

So, I already told you that my friend Paula came over and watched Leah last night while I made the cake...and she took some SUPER cute pictures of the kids... Check it out!

Almost Christmas Break!!

So, it's ALMOST Christmas Break!! Thank the lord!! The kids are so ready for a break, and quite frankly, so are the teachers!! I think we want break more than the kids!! So, it will be nice to have a few days away from each other!
I had to make another cake, and Eric was going to be reffing and going to a basketball game tonight, so Paula and Carson came over to entertain Leah while I made the cake. It was another Hawkeye Cake..but not quite as big as Carson's jersey cake-- didn't take me too long, and it looks pretty darn good :)

Here are some pictures below of Carson and Leah playing.. :)

And Carson would like everyone to see his belly button :)

Another cake... :)

Just a few cookies...

So, here are the pics of the christmas cookies I did......

The white layer....

The green layer...

Yellow and Red...

Done!

THe snowmen are my favorite :)

Productive Saturday...

Well, Miss Leah decided to wake up at 6:30 on this lovely Saturday.. and there was no going back to sleep for her.. She seems to be feeling okay, but still isn't her normal self.. but no more vomiting episodes in the night, so that was good.. So, as already mentioned, me and Leah were up early, so we thought we would make Daddy breakfast in bed... Leah put a dent in that when we decided to poop all the up to our armpits, and got herself a bath before 8 AM :) But we got Daddy's breakfast made after that..
I've started making cookies.....I've got to make 10 dozen for a couple of people here in town that love my cookies, so they pay me to make them for them... SO, I've started that (pictures to come), and Leah and Daddy are napping at the moment..

Eric is supposed to ref tonight, but I have a feeling the weather might change that... although its really not doing anything here as of now......but we are in a Blizzard Warning until noon tomorrow! And I'm sure i'll STILL be decorating cookies by then :)

No smiles from me...

Helping Daddy with his breakfast... :)

Gotta love her..

So, I got a call from Daycare today that Leah was vomiting... :( Not good... The good news is she hasn't vomited since we've been home, and she's kept down all her food... and she's sleeping peacefully right now... God willing, we will have a good night and it's just a random 3 hr flu bug :) The pictures above were from this past weekend, and I just forgot to post them... Gotta love her. :)

Big Girl Bath

A few pics from Bath Time...

Da Da?

So, I can't get the video to upload on the blog, but I got it on facebook.... Take a look!

First Tooth!

So, Leah got her first tooth!!! Its on the bottom and it's just starting to pop through!! I can't get a picture of it because she won't let me!! But I will try when it comes in a little bit more!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! We are up in Greene for the holiday! We ate lunch at Heitlands, and then it is tradition for our family to do a craft after we eat. So, we made sparkly angels this year.. And they turned out great! Below are some pictures...

The guys watching Football..... (also tradition!) :)

Me, Mom and Rachel are planning on going shopping tomorrow (or at 3 AM!) we'll see if we find some bargains! :) Hope everyone has a great holiday :)

The Smalls are home..

So, my sister, husband and 2 little girls are home from New Hampshire for a couple weeks, so last week, I took both Thursday and Friday off and was home for the weekend as well to spend time with everyone. Lily is getting so big, and this of course was the first time I got to meet Alaina. Lily cracks me up every time she talks. She loved Leah.. loved giving her toys to play with, tickling her and giving her hugs. It was too cute! We had Lily's 2nd birthday party on Saturday and alot of the family was able to make it. Here are some pictures!! (and I apologize for not updating in forever Aunt Bev.. I'll try and stay on top of things... but i'm sure that wont' happen with the holidays approaching!)

Alaina got baptized on Sunday (we share baptismal birthdays!)

Leah's new trick.. we don't crawl, we just do push ups.

My sister Rebecca with Leah and Alaina

Lily sharing her toys..

Lily getting to lick the cake batter

Family

Happy Halloween :)

Our little pumpkin :)