One of my favorite moments

Throughout all of the exhausting house-hopping over the holidays, I think Lenorah handled things pretty well. Her mommy-itis was heightened some, and her sleep schedule is still way off, but she had fun most of the time and was able to enjoy her friends and family. The mommy-itis is pretty intense lately, and I was quite surprised by it. I guess I just assumed that because our (mine and Brent's) roles were somewhat "reversed", with him as a stay-at-home daddy, Lenorah might suffer more from daddy-itis. But, no, that is not the case, at least not right now. It might all change when Brent starts work next week.... it will be a time of adjustment for us all.... we will see. One of my favorite moments between me and sweet girl was actually captured in this photo, taken by Jonathan. As Lenorah was enjoying herself and having a great time, she still had to check in with me every now and again, just to touch me or hug me, to make sure I was still there. This is her just touching my hand, making sure I was still there, or maybe reassuring me that she was still thinking about me. It made me feel about 10 feet tall or so.

On a related note, she just gave Brent and I our first kisses yesterday :-) My heart is full.

Christmas part 8

Schawna and Vince sure love baby girl.... and they weren't afraid to bribe her with her favorite blankie to get some snuggles ;-). Hey, whatever works!

Jonathan had a lot of fun playing and snuggling with his little niece. She was so funny, while they were reading, she was trying to figure out how to lay on her side like Jonathan.

Her Nana makes her laugh, with her funny duck noises and her fun spiky hair.

Poppy had a good time with his sweetheart even though he didn't feel too well. He says she is good medicine.

Christmas part 7

We always treasure our visits from Uncle C and Aunt KoKo. "I ain't got time for that", mitties, Law and Order, and the search for Skechers.... good times. Now for the family portraits - yes there are lots of them, but I really had fun with the Christmas lights :-):

Christmas part 6

Lenorah listening to us all sing at Mom's house. She is used to me singing.... all the time... but she does not hear voices singing in harmony very often and she was a bit captivated.

Christmas part 5

We were able to spend time with my sweet nephews. Here are a few shots: Lenorah using great squat and lift form trying to pick up a gift for her that was bigger than she was.

Josh and the boys. I'm sure Josh and Katie love that I added to the nerf gun collection 8-/

Chas and Reese reading to Lenorah. They are so precious.

Christmas part 4

When she is tired, no matter where she is or who is around, she just needs her blanket and a spot on the floor.

The blanket also helps Lenorah with transitions, with being comfortable around those not-Mommy and not-Daddy people.... but here is a shot of her realizing that she had cuddled up with a not-Mommy.

Christmas part 3

One of the highlights of the trip for Lenorah - wrestling sessions with her Aunt KoKo. Once she warms up to you, watch out! she's on you like a little featherweight wrestler. (and yes, for those of you who know Kobi, those are real feet in her face ;-)

She'll have some competition in her cousin Ansley in the future - I witnessed firsthand Ansley putting the hurt on her uncle Brian this Christmas and that girl has some skills.

her favorite gifts - 2012

Her cars and trains

Her beads and bubble blower

and this nice rubbermaid lid

Silly girl :-). She loves looking at the world through a different lens....not exactly roseate, more blue-green. She is still discovering her new gifts/books/etc., and I will be sure to share more pics as new favorites emerge.

Cash says Happy Holidays

There used to be lots of pet pictures on here... then there was a period of silence.... now it seems as if it is just baby baby baby. For those of you who miss Mr. Cash, here is a picture:

An update - he is still as sweet and energetic as ever, he is still a little pudgy (unless Dazhou comes for an extended housesitting visit during which the 24/7 playtime leads to some pounds lost ;-), he still loves ice, he still sheds like... something that sheds like crazy, and he will still gas you out of house and home. He makes Lenorah laugh every morning when his nails click-clack through the hall to her room :-)

Christmas part 2

We were able to spend a day in Cumming, visiting the Harris family and also some Ferm's.

Uncle Paul, Aunt Mel, and Sa were finally able to meet Lenorah! We had a short but sweet visit :-)

Fun with Mary and Reed, Sarah Grace and Jacob. Brent was there too, but he was taking the picture :-) Their sweet puppy Mocha also hung out with us, but only because sweet Lenorah and the dog whisperer Brent were able to convince her that we were all good peeps.

Christmas part 1

We had a great time with the Bjurstrom's and Makin's. It was fun watching the kiddos play and enjoy each other, it was great catching up with our dear friends, and it was a perfect day-o-eating for me - Marti's at Midday for lunch (thank you Janice and Mandy for thinking to pick it up!) and Cali-N-Tito's for dinner - it doesn't get any better than that!

O being a ham!

The kiddos enjoying their awesome lunch.

Lots of toys around ... but I think they enjoyed the walk-in shower the most!

I love the look on Q's face in this one!

Just catching up on her current events.

pillow fight

I love wrestling with my little lady, and she is ALWAYS game for some fun!

restful holiday

This was perhaps the most restful and restorative Thanksgiving holiday we have ever had. We turned off the work, stayed close to home, and just enjoyed each other. We were able to get our Christmas decorations up, and do more cleaning and organizing in 4 days than we have been able to for the past year. It feels good. Here is a shot of Lenorah Hope experiencing the wonder and beauty of a Christmas tree.

the kiddos in action

All three of these beautiful kiddos love their books. And the boys were kind enough to let Lenorah watch Olivia instead of Shawn the Sheep. :-) We were able to spend a lot of time on the bikes, at the playground, and at the beach. The bike-riding is probably the highlight of the beach trips (but hard to take pictures of this ;-). I look forward to creating more memories.

footprints in the sand

what a difference a year makes

Look at these beautiful kiddos :-D. Makes my heart smile.

Last year, it was "hold on tight to Lenorah, don't drop her"

This year, it was "everybody chase Lenorah" (since she wasn't a fan of sitting still, not with all of that real estate (i.e., beach) to walk on ;-)

walking on the beach is her favorite

I am happy to report that LHR loves the beach just as much as I do! Well, maybe not all aspects of the beach (i.e., the waves), but she definitely enjoys walking on the beach and exploring. Once we put her feet on the ground, she is off and toddling. She just keeps going... and going... and going...

so serious

She studies and observes... people, animals, trees, everything. My serious little girl.

no more pictures please

She's all smiles and laughs.... until someone pulls out a camera. But at least she looks my way every now and again :-)

cheeks