The Rest of January...

Here I go again... trying to catch up on our blog. I know it would be much easier to do it incrementally, but I haven't been successful with that approach lately. We had another incredible Maine winter - lots and lots of snow! We got outside to sled and ski as much as possible, and we also enjoyed about five snow days!

In late January, we made our annual trek down to camp in the winter. Due to some construction happening down at the lake, the top half of the road was actually plowed. We lucked out, because the second half of the trek was a real trudge.

Leah had lots of fun sledding down, as did Erik skiing! For the trip up, Erik skied with Leah in a pack, which we figured was fair as I was already carrying the other two!

All looked great at camp, and visiting on such a chilly day had us imagining how much fun it will be to return during much warmer summer days with the whole gang!

Here is Leah helping to make Powerful Pancakes to start off one of our snow days together. She absolutely loves to help out in the kitchen, whether it is setting the table, cooking, or washing dishes (really playing at the sink...)!

Finally, here is a photo of my growing belly. The photo was taken on January 21st and I was 23.5 weeks along.

A Musical Birthday Bash

Leah had lots of fun with so many of her buddies at her Musical Birthday Bash!

Ring Around the Rosie and a parade (with drums, maracas, a triangle, etc.) through the living room, hallway, kitchen and dining room were our attempts at "organized events." It was pretty funny with 2 year olds!

Along with a variety of other snacks, we celebrated with chocolate cupcakes and carrot cupcakes. Yummy!

We also covered the dining room floor with paper for coloring. It served as a catch-all for crumbs, too! Payson and Leah were pretty goofy together - jumping all around and copying each other. I love Leah's adoring look in this photo.

Oh Boy, Oh Boy!!!

As many of you know, our little family is growing at quite a rate. On November 6, 2008 we learned that we are expecting not one, but TWO babies in April or May!!! Just before we left for the holidays, on December 18, 2008, we learned that Leah and I are going to be totally outnumbered - two boys are on the way! For whatever reason, they call them Baby 1 and Baby 2 (instead of A and B) these days. Anyway, here are some stats:

Baby 1 - on my left side, currently head down, and first out (if I can avoid a C-section)
13 ounces as of 1/2/09

Baby 2 - on my right side, currently breech (but still with lots of room to move around)
1 pound and 1 ounce as of 1/2/09

Here are some profile images of the little guys.

Baby 1 (above)
Baby 2 (below)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Leah!

We can hardly believe that Leah is already 2 years old! Look how much she's grown!

Leah on her actual birth day.

Leah on her 1st birthday!

And, a series of pictures of Leah on her 2nd birthday in Seattle.

Blowing out the two candles on her snowman birthday cake.

Leah's big cousin Maria decorating her cake. Nice work, Maria!

To celebrate Leah's birthday, we visited the Pacific Science Center with her west coast cousins! The Science Center had lots of really cool exhibits, but we focused on the Butterfly House area.

Monica, Anja, and Leah sitting on a giant caterpillar!

Playing in and around a huge inflatable caterpillar.

Watching some butterflies with Jack.

To see many more pictures of our Seattle adventures, click here.

Christmas in Seattle

Despite our trip being delayed, we had a lovely visit with Erik's side of the family in Seattle over Christmas. Here are just a few images.

Kramer family Christmas dinner (celebrated on the 27th)

Leah with her Great Nana

All the girl cousins in matching PJ's

Leah, on the eve of her 2nd birthday, getting a kick out of her mom's reaction to balloons in her face!

There are too many images of our trip to post - if you'd like to see more, click here.

Pre-Christmas Miscellanea

Our first snow of the year - just a dusting, but exciting none-the-less!

Leah's very first haircut - just a trim of about an inch in the back (we're trying to grow it out to all one length, but Leah's fondness of "clips" and "ponies" varies by the minute!)

Since we traveled to Seattle this year for Christmas, we celebrated a small family Christmas the weekend before we left. Sadly, the week prior, both Leah and Erik were home sick with a virus. Leah was hit really hard - she was out of day care for a week and a half with a fever and then numerous, hideous sores both inside and outside her mouth. Through some sort of miracle, my mom was able to find a reasonably priced flight up from Florida - I honestly don't know what we would have done without her help. The extra bonus was that we got to celebrate our early Christmas with her!

Our little tree.

Leah enjoying some of her new gifts (a stroller for baby and a harmonica)

Last year's visit with Santa was tearful, but Leah actually sat on Santa's lap. This year, Leah talked and talked like a very brave girl - "Leah sittin' Santa's lap" and "Leah say ho, ho, ho Santa." Even while waiting, she gave no indication of her real plans. However, when the moment arrived, she held on to me with a death grip, and wouldn't even turn around to sit in my lap next to Santa for a photo. So, this is our year 2 photo. I have a feeling it will be a few years before she's brave enough to 'walk the talk.'

Here's a picture of our house on the morning we were suppose to leave for Seattle! We flew out three days later. To give PWM some credit, they were landing and taking off as usual on this particular day - it was a variety of other New England airports that caused our delays, combined with booked holiday flights.

Edible Orniments for Animals

We enjoyed hanging out with the Plummers at Wolfe's Neck Farm in early December. We got to listen to a great kids nature story, create natural ornaments for animals to eat (from dried fruit, pine cones, soynut butter, and seeds), and then go for a walk to hang them in the woods. It was a really fun and creative activity! And, we always love seeing Payson and her mom and dad!

Looking up at Matt hanging some "ornaments" up high.

Here are some attempts at Christmas card photos - they came out well... but neither one made the final cut!

Late Fall Recap

Our Fall was a whirlwind, and here are some overdue photos of some of our adventures.

The big oak in our backyard decided to drop practically ALL of it's leaves one mid-November day. It was incredible - like waking up to a fresh coat of snow... except it all needed to be raked! Note the new shed still under construction. It's now complete (sort of... it needs to be painted) and happily holding much of the stuff that took up lots of space in our basement.

Leah loved playing in all the leaves!

Here we are at Open Gym at the Maine Gymnastics Academy. Leah had a blast climbing, swinging, jumping, sliding, etc. It's a great facility just a mile or two away!

We shared Thanksgiving with Aunt Sara, Kristin, and Dan at Kristin's house just outside of Boston. Unfortunately, our camera ran out of battery, so we just have a few photos of the holiday. Let's just say we had plenty to eat and lots of fun hanging out and relaxing. We missed seeing Em and Josh, who were with their dad, but Leah sure enjoying playing with all their toys!

Once back home, we took Leah on a short hike not far from our home. She loved kicking the leaves and walking on the bridge over the waterfall!

Kay's House, Fall 2008

Leah continues to love being at Kay's house - a.k.a. Our Growing Place. Below is a compilation of pictures that shows some of their autumn activities. We love getting a glimpse of how Leah spends her days, and we are so grateful for the quality care that she receives from Kay and Daniel.

Blogging Drought

It's been far too long since I last blogged. Our routine has transformed from summer bliss to work weeks and weekends. We've enjoyed a gorgeous Maine fall, and can hardly believe it's almost Thanksgiving! There are lots of stories to share and pictures to see, but for now these slide shows of September and October will have to suffice. Enjoy and I'll update more soon!

September, in a nutshell....



October



To see these images in a larger screen and at your own pace, click on the slide shows themselves.

End of Summer Fun and Sticking Out My Tongue

The final stretch of summer vacation has been packed with activity and lots of time with family and friends. As the title of the post warns, Leah is often caught on camera with her tongue out - it seems to happen when she's deep in thought, hard at work, having fun, and just goofing around... pretty much more often than not, as you'll see below!

Leah and Payson had a ball riding trikes on a cool, overcast morning.

It's hard to believe, but winter is just around the corner... sort of. You've got to shop the consignment stores in August to find the best winter gear. Here are some pics of Leah modeling her "new" snowsuit and boots!

Here we are squeezing in more time up at the beach...

Waving from the hammock

Playing some tunes with dad

The first of many golf lessons from Birdie!

Erik caught cleaning up the blueberry pie plate

Goofing around with Uncle Scott

Playing with Grumps

A rainy walk on the beach (or what's left of it with all the rain) with Mom

A photo with Slugger at our first Sea Dogs game

Playing peek-a-boo with the L.L. Bean bear at the game

On our last official vacation weekday, Leah and I visited Smiling Hill Farm. We hurried there once Leah woke up from her nap so we could have plenty of time to play, eat a picnic dinner, and enjoy an ice cream cone before heading home for the bedtime routine. We had a blast and can't wait to go again with Daddy!

Leah LOVED the monster truck!

I hope you are still keeping track of the tongue!

Moooooing for the cows - they are much less intimidating from afar.

Leah had to indulge in Ladybug ice cream (strawberry with chocolate chips) since her ladybug hat has been a permanent fixture this summer. The ladies at the ice cream shop were quite enamored by Leah - you can see one peeking over the counter to watch her eat her cone!

A perfect treat to wrap up our summer vacation together!