Gymnastics

1st Tooth

Leah's first tooth fell out today. It was an emotional moment for her and myself...for Leah it is one of excitement and for myself it is bittersweet. She is one of the last kids in her kindergarten class to lose a tooth. She has been waiting 'forever' to lose one (you know those whole 4 months since she began kindergarten.)

Loving on the babe

Loose Tooth

Some may say it is the leftover hormonal overload from having been pregnant but the fact that Leah has her first loose tooth makes me all teary eyed. She has been pretty good about leaving it alone and letting it come out on its own. I was not that kind of child. I messed with my teeth until I pulled them out. It is only a matter of time now until it falls out and then it will be one after another. :(

Lots of Love

Leah is absolutely enamored with her baby brother. She kisses him good morning, always makes sure to kiss & hug him goodnight. She has to say goodbye to him before leaving for school. It is wonderful to see how she includes him in everything. If he is fussy she talks to him and tries to make him feel better.

She jumps at the chance to hold him.

She has the makings of someone who I know is going to be a great sister to him as he grows older.

It amazes me how two kids from the same parents can differ so much in looks. Leah had dark and curly, coarser hair while Louis has fine light hair. Louis's complexion is light and red toned and Leah was darker and not so red. I suspect Louis will not tan as well as Leah.

Leah at 1 month old

Halloween 2004-2009

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Winter Festival Fun

The PTA at Leah's school does a phenomenal job of putting on great family orientated events for the kindergartners. They do not charge a lot, only $8 per child. It included a great dj spinning all the kids' favorites, he also MCd games like a belly crawl contest, hula hooping contest and dance off. They also had milk & cookies, a craft AND professional family portraits. You got a 5x7 and two 3x5s. Can't beat that for 8 bucks.

Oh! And the kids got to wear their pajamas to school. They all loved that theme.

It was the first school activity I've attended since two weeks before the baby was born. It was nice to be back at the school talking to the other moms on the PTA.

Leah had a blast with her classmates.

A Sweet Taste of Summer

A gift for Leah. Pictures from this past Summer. I enjoy scrapbooking but have not had much time for it the last few years. For the time being this is definitely a good alternative. This is one of any photo books I've been working on.

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Happy New Year 2010!

In celebration of the upcoming new year we went to Applebees for dinner. Leah's choice of course. It turns out it is the perfect place for us. Family friendly, the food is consistently good and the service is decent. It also ends up being affordable which is great. The baby slept through the whole meal, as expected.

Afterward we headed over to our friend's house for her New Year's Eve party. We only stayed a short while before all the festivities got started. We probably would've stayed later but Mom was very tired. Leah on the other hand was ready to be up all night partying. It was a masquerade party so Leah had to try on the masks.







We came home and played Karaoke Revolution on the Wii for about an hour or so. Then we watched Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin Eve and watched the ball drop in Times Square. Leah stayed up without a problem. Kisses all around.

Christmas Continues at Nana's

Leah's own baby who crawls and talks.





Knit by Matt's Grandmother, Leah's Nana. Incredibly soft.


Good big sister helping her lil brother with his gifts.

To Grandma and Grandpa's House We Go...

After opening up presents at home we headed over to Grandma Ruth and Grandpa George's house. Aunt Lindsay was there as well. We opened up presents and then had a wonderful, delicious dinner that Ruth prepared.

Christmas Morning

Leah enjoyed opening her presents. She received a wide variety of gifts.

Her Webkin Schnauzer...Leah and Matt take care of her many Webkins together online. It is one of their father/daughter activities.


Leah started squealing when she saw what this present was. After visiting Santa at the mall Leah saw this Barbie carriage in the store and wanted to go back to tell him what else she wanted in addition to the science lab kit & double sided lightsaber. Matt told her he would go back and let Santa know of the additional item. When she saw what she was unwrapping she exclaimed "You really did go back and tell Santa!" It was very cute.



The long awaited lab kit. Do we have a scientist brewing?


The wrapping paper mess

Leah's face at being told it was now time to clean up the wrapping paper mess.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Every Christmas Eve I give Leah new pajamas as her first gift, for her to wear Christmas morning.

Noche Buena

Getting together for a family dinner for Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) is a pretty big deal for Latinos. It is one of those traditions we grew up with that I am fortunate enough to continue now that I have my own family.

Leah begged me to have the house full of family and friends this year for Christmas Eve. BEGGED. She wanted the house decorated, food cooked and everyone over. It was really important to her. So we did just what she wanted. I am glad we did. It was a wonderful evening.

We are blessed to have so many wonderful, loving people in our lives.

Germs

Leah has always been a relatively healthy kid. Other than the occasional cold here and there she's never really had any other issues. Since starting kindergarten she has picked up more than her fair share of bugs. It is expected seeing that she goes to school with 400 other kids. Overall she has managed well. She finished up her bout with bronchitis that came along with a very nasty viral cough during the week of Thanksgiving and now she has been diagnosed with strep right before Christmas. Fortunately thanks to antibiotics she should be well on her way to feeling better in the next day or two.

It was only a matter of time before we had to juggle the kids and life's unexpected twists and turns. Why not now a week into being a family of 2 kids? lol

We are blessed to have many loved ones who are there to help us. I don't know what I would do without them.

Almost Winter Snow

Just before the Winter Solstice the Northeast was hit with a snow storm. Of course Leah couldn't wait to go out and play in it.



Hard to walk through


Just couldn't help throwing herself into the snow.

Rice Krispy Treat Houses

Leah got the coolest Chanukah gift from Ruth & George. A Rice Krispy Treat Holiday House Decorating kit.



We worked on it tonight. Looks great and tasted yummy.


Matt sat with the baby (who slept) and watched.


Leah's completed houses...she loves this kind of thing. She could decorate for hours without a problem. She didn't even care to eat any of it!