Let It Be Leitsch

Snowball Fight!

2011-11-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

A classic with some new faces. We needed two more people for this one, so I asked Anna, "Who else should we put in the video?" She said, "Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jed." Looks like the rest of you should come up with some big gifts this Christmas.

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A Leitsch Family Christmas

2011-11-20T04:56:00.000-08:00

Check out how the Leitsch's put up a Christmas tree:

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"That's Enough, Daddy!"

2011-10-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Anna was in rare form tonight. She's usually pretty animated, but tonight she was particularly silly at dinner. Jimmy was being funny cooling his food down, and out of the blue, Anna said, "That's enough, Daddy!" She got a kick out of herself, as you'll see from the video. She then proceeded to crack up as she watched the video about twenty times after that. We sure enjoy our budding comedian!

Fall

2011-10-10T17:19:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a beautiful fall day last Saturday, spending most of the early afternoon with Eric, Melody, and their kids at Young's Jersey dairy in Yellow Springs. Anna and Cate got to feed goats, see cows, pick their own pumpkins, and eat the biggest ice cream cones I've ever seen. It was a great day!

The next three pictures are from this afternoon --- I got to leave work uncharacteristically early and was able to spend an hour exploring a new park by our place. The playground was packed, so Anna and I had fun "climbing trees" and playing in the crunchy leaves. I love this first picture ... it totally captures how Rapunzel is a constant companion. (P.S. I know she's wearing the same outfit ... trust me, I washed it Sunday!)

"Climbing" trees:

This one loaded out of order --- but here is Anna with our pumpkins!

Finally, here's a cute video from our time at the park this afternoon. It's one of the many rather random conversations Anna and I had today. One woman at the park asked me, "Does she always have this much to say?" "Yes," I answered. "Always."

Princess Chef

2011-09-30T03:31:00.000-07:00

Thought it would make a few people's Fridays happier to see some new Anna pictures. Two of her recent loves are princess dress-ups and helping me cook - these pictures pretty much tell the story.

It is not uncommon to have a princess join me for breakfast of toast and bananas (and the princess typically insists on using my knife to spread her own toppings).

I love my cookie-baking helper - here she was very excited about holding an egg:

Enjoying the fruits (or cookies) of her labor at our "movie party":

Ummm ...

Again, ummm ...

Random but worth adding - Anna got to meet Spiderman at the Buddy Walk we did to benefit the Down Syndrome Association.

This is a pretty typical evening - Anna helping me make dinner. Notice the naked Ariel doll next to the bowl:

I love this kid - on our way to school with blanket, "the girls," and her cd lyric book (oh! and her Reds shirt from Uncle Evan) ... that's the way Anna rolls!

More princess ... gotta love the shoes!

Helping me make some scrambled eggs - her favorite. It really is fun to have a little helper in the kitchen - Anna is so eager to learn, and the kitchen is a great place to teach!

Have a great weekend!

One More

2011-08-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

My mom took this picture right after Kitty was stuffed. So precious!

A BIG Summer Update

2011-08-17T10:14:00.001-07:00

This post's for you, Uncle Jed! Sorry I've been so utterly terrible at picture-posting. Here's an attempt at catching up on Anna's summer:

Anna discovered that eating raspberries like the Murphy kids is really fun!

Backyard pool time with "Real Baby":

Looking so big in her "rainbow dress" from Anissa:

Anna's hairstyle of choice this summer is pigtails ... she loves them and sits still while I comb and fix her hair!

At the zoo ... one of MANY visits this summer:

Anna has also established herself as our resident comedian. Who knew oven mitts made great shoes?!

Helping Mommy make pizza for dinner:

I have no words:

Another cute park shot:

Riding her Barbie car (a generous hand-me-down from my mom's friend at work):

Being a turtle at the zoo!

Another trip to the park:

Making funny chocolate lips with Mommy:

Posing with all her babies:

For Anna's upcoming 2nd birthday, my grandparents took her to Build-a-Bear, something they do with all their great-grandchildren. Anna had A BLAST. She squealed the whole time. Here she is choosing an animal with Mama:

Giving her appropriately-named "Kitty" a bath:

With Mama and Papa:

And here she is this morning wearing Kitty's sandals (as well as her new Belle underwear, which she picked out at the store yesterday, and which she peed in not five minutes after taking the picture, but that's okay):

We've definitely had a fun summer! Anna is growing into a spunky, smart, funny girl. She loves swimming (she jumps right in, kicks, and goes under on her own!), reading (she has a few books memorized and likes to "read" to us), singing (she knows all the words to the Mulan cd as well as "Do-Re-Mi" from Sound of Music and "Good Morning" from Singing in the Rain), and being a jokester. She still loves to play with her babies and play outside any chance she gets. She'll start "school" next week as I go back to work, so this week is all about spending quality time together before the real madness begins!

First Haircut

2011-05-16T04:59:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures from Anna's first haircut. The baby mullet was getting a little out of control, and her hair in the front is finally starting to fit behind her ears, so we figured it was time to get a trim. Jimmy's 'Uncle' Murphy, a dear family friend, owns a salon in Hamilton and gave Jimmy his first haircut. It was only fitting to take Anna for hers!

Before:

Anna was a little timid at first, as expected. One princess cape and a lollipop later, she was one satisfied customer! She had never had a lollipop before, and the thing didn't leave her mouth the entire haircut!
I love her eyes in this one!

Bye-bye, baby mullet!

Thanks, Uncle Murphy!

Mother's Day

2011-05-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

Jess took some great pictures at the Trokhan's on Mother's Day - this one's my favorite!

Poor Baby

2011-05-15T13:46:00.000-07:00

Anna has recently named all her babies "Baby Sarah" - makes things confusing for Jimmy and me. Yesterday Anna and I went for a little "nature walk" in the neighborhood and made this particular Baby Sarah a dandelion headband. Poor baby!

Happy girl! Check out all the gaps between her teeth!

Busy Weekend!

2011-05-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend! In the morning Anna and I had a playdate with my friend Kara and her daughter, Ryleigh. The girls did great together, and I was amazed at how talkative they were!

We attended the annual JDRF gala Saturday night. Jimmy looked smashing in his JDRF bowtie.

The hot mamas.
Evan and Amanda got to come this year - fun!

So good seeing Jess and Mike, in from Tuscon!

Yeah! Mom's eyes are open! :-)

Grandpa Jim and Grandma Roxane watched Anna for us. They went out for dinner and a walk and, as I discovered Sunday morning, played dress-up. Apparently Anna didn't want to take off her tutu for bed, so this is what she looked like when she woke up on Mother's Day:

I swooped up her crazy hair, and Anna helped me make scrambled eggs and pancakes for breakfast.

Eating cheese and saying "cheese" at the same time :-)

My sweet family.We walked to Culver's for dinner with Evan and my mom on Sunday. Anna was rocking some preppy hand-me-downs and basically being her funny self.

Monday after school Anna and I went to a playground with Aunt Jess and Grandma Patty. Here she is giving Aunt Jess a kiss.

This sassy girl loves her sunglasses!

Loving her bling from the JDRF gala.

Giggly girl!

Anna got her hair cut on Friday and we also had a big Trokhan family gathering on Sunday --- more pictures to come, once Jess is back in AZ and can post them online!

Outside

2011-05-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

Friday after school Anna and I walked to the little pond in my parents' neighborhood. She was fascinated with all the leaves, sticks, and rocks. She kept running up and down this little hill, saying she was "climbing the trees." The lighting was bad for pictures, but here are a few cute ones I thought I'd share:

Definitely happy for dry, sunny weather!

Zoo Trip

2011-05-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the first non-rainy day we've had in a while, and I was bound and determined to spend the entire day outside with Anna. We spent the whole morning at the zoo and spent the afternoon taking a five-mile walk with Grandma to the library and back. It was awesome to be outside and let the fresh air and sunshine do their work!

I kind of went overboard on pictures at the zoo, but Anna's hair looked so cute in her "big girl ponytail," I couldn't resist!

This picture is a new favorite - she was watching the elephants very intently:

Kissing the bronze elephant:

One highlight of the day was getting to see "Zuri," the baby giraffe. It was her one-month birthday on Saturday! Anna kept saying, "Hi, baby Zuri" and "Hi, mommy Tessa."

Just a fun one of the two of us enjoying our girls' day. Anna was trying to see the gorillas at the time:

Another highlight of Anna's trip was this grate - she probably spent five minutes jumping on and off of it. It fascinated her as much as any of the animals. Should I be worried?!?!

Sitting on the gorilla statue, patting the baby gorilla:

The final highlight of the trip was the polar bear exhibit. The three bears were all really active, swimming around and playing with their "pool toys." All of a sudden, two of the bears started really rough-housing with each other, wrestling and playing like puppies! Anna sat and watched them for a while.

Looking forward to many more fun trips to the zoo!

Just for Fun

2011-05-04T05:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun video from Sunday. Anna's wearing a dress that Aunt Jess sent for Easter, carrying a cat Aunt Marcia gave her for Christmas, sporting Grandpa's very outdated fanny pack as a kind of backpack, and throwing a toy orange from Grandma Patty as a ball. You know, a typical kind of get-up if you're Anna :-)

She's been very into "throwing" lately. She says, "Ready, set, go!" and "Throw!" every time. Kind of funny.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our day at my grandparents'. Anna had fun playing with her cousins Liam and Charlotte. Liam actually took the first two pictures of Anna!

Liam asked my mom and I to squish Anna's cheeks for this picture (we were all making funny faces for him):

Anna also discovered a new love - angel food cake (one of mommy's favorites!):

Sneaking Cool Whip:

Not the best family picture, but it will do.

Decorating Easter Eggs

2011-04-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Anna had fun decorating Easter eggs on Saturday. She knew all the colors and only cracked one egg!

Swimming!

2011-04-23T05:46:00.001-07:00

Last weekend we took Anna to an indoor pool - she loved it! I couldn't get a good picture of her in the water or smiling, but trust me when I say she was one happy little fish! She showed off all her moves: kicking, splashing, putting her face in the water, and blowing bubbles. She also really liked saying, "Ready, set, go!" and having Jimmy and I throw her back and forth.

Checking out her flowers:
Waiting for Daddy to come grab her feet:

Check out those skinny little legs!

Playing on the steps:

I'm looking forward to lots of trips to the pool this summer - hopefully Anna will love swimming as much as her parents and aunts and uncles (and cousins, and grandparents, etc., etc.)!

Fun in Ohio

2011-04-11T17:04:00.001-07:00

Just a quick update. Anna has been having fun in Ohio getting to hang out with family and meeting lots of new kids. She got to go on a few "lunch dates" with Grandma at Panera:

Mama (my grandma) and Uncle Evan came too!

Anna has also had fun "helping" around the house. Her main job is feeding my parents' dog and cat, but here she is helping clean the floor:

Cute pigtails, courtesy of Grandma!

She also helped the other day by emptying (and therey requiring reorganizing) all the kitchen towels in the drawer.

I finally got a picture of Anna smiling AND looking at the camera! Here she is in the catalog rack at IKEA --- she was quite please with herself!

Hopefully we'll have some fun pictures to add soon --- Jimmy, Anna, and I had a free professional photo shoot last weekend with the studio Jess used to work for, and we're supposed to get the pictures back sometime this week or early next week!

Outside!

2011-03-23T11:22:00.000-07:00

Lots has happened since my last post. We closed on our house, packed up our cars (and a big rental truck), and moved back to Ohio to be with Jimmy! We've spent the last week and a half getting settled at my parents', where we're staying until we figure out what "life in Ohio" is going to look like for us. It's already been great being close to family and reconnecting with friends.

Anna has clearly been enjoying herself:

"Sharing" Mommy's water bottle on our daily walk to the duck pond:

Here's Anna showing off her running, spinning, dancing, and hopping skills:

Anna can finally ride the "bike" Grandma Patty gave her for her birthday ... you'll hear her say "Thanks, Grandma" at the end of the video!

Song

2011-02-24T17:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of Anna "singing" a silly little song I sing for her. I basically go through everyone in our family and sing each person's (or animal's) name three times in a row. Anna's caught on (especially to using the animals' names, as you'll see). If I start singing the song, she'll supply the next name she wants me to sing - it's dorky, but really cute. I took this video tonight while making her dinner - enjoy!

18 Months

2011-02-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow Anna Boo is officially 18 months old - holy cow! I thought she looked so cute today I had to snap some pictures on the back porch.

Happy girl!

This is my favorite!

Zoo!

2011-02-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

Anna, Jimmy, and I made our first trip to the Cincinnati Zoo last Saturday with the zoo pass my parents got us for Christmas. It was a little chilly outside, but Anna LOVED seeing all the animals. I didn't take many pictures to document the day, but I am excited for many more zoo trips in our future.

The highlights of this trip included watching a monkey take a poo from his perch in a tree and a baby bonobo drink his mommy's pee ... Anna said "yucky" in response to both.

Anna let us know it was time to go by putting her head down in the manatee exhibit:

With the goats in the petting zoo:

Update

2011-02-07T06:38:00.001-08:00

Just some fun pictures and videos from the last two weeks or so:

Anna the firefighter:

Anna dressing up like mommy after her bath:

Anna very excited to be outside:

Please excuse the crazy outfit. She had a dress and tights on, so I just layered some other clothes on top to warm her up!

Drinking from a big girl cup:

Delivering mail with Daddy:

Discovery Center

2011-01-15T12:37:00.000-08:00

Anna and I had a fun morning at the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro. Anna helped me get the house cleaned up before we left, sweeping the broom around the whole house:

Our first stop at the Discovery Center was the turtle aquarium, where Anna waved and said "Hi, turtle" to every turtle in there. Then we were off to the padded play area for 0-2 year olds. Anna had a blast running around, exploring, and making friends with the other kids.

Towards the end of our time in this area, Anna simply fell over and started cracking up ... at nothing. It was ridiculous. She just laid here laughing, overcome by all the fun, I guess.

Next was the art center, where Anna painted two pictures for Daddy. We also had fun drawing with markers on this big wipe-off board. I kept drawing the ABC's and smiley faces, which Anna found amusing as well.

Analyzing the mechanics behind marker caps:

We ended our trip with the "choo choo" table. Anna did a really good job sharing with a few other kids who came by to play ... their parents even commented about how nice Anna was to their kids. I was a proud mom!

What mommy-daughter date would be complete without a lunch at Chick-fil-a?

One tired-out girl!

Anna drawing:

Anna playing hide-and-seek:

Chef Anna

2011-01-11T13:18:00.000-08:00

Anna's been having what I like to call "toddler moments" lately. Case in point: this top picture is from last night. Anna wanted to wear her mittens while I dried her hair - weird. Then, this morning, when the bottom picture was taken, she wanted to wear them while she played in her room. I don't know if her hands are cold or if she's convinced that mittens are a cool accessory, but I think it's pretty funny.

Thanks for the cute striped sweatshirt, Emily, Derek, and Aunika!

Yesterday I told my mom that Anna and I had yet another snow day together today. Now, I love spending time with my Anna more than anything, but not when that time is trapped in the same cold house together with no other adult interaction for the fourth day in a row. My mom sweetly suggested, "You should make cookies - that's what I always did with you guys when I needed something to do!" My first thought was How can I make cookies? I don't even have any chocolate! Then I remembered that cookies don't need to have chocolate (although it is a perk) and that I had a tub of raisins in the pantry. Anyway, Anna and I had a great time making oatmeal raisin cookies together today. It took up about an hour of our day, and Anna was into it the whole time. She took every step in and tried repeating everything I said. The cookies weren't half bad either!

The pictures are a little out of order. Here she is sitting on a chair with her baby watching the cookies bake. I turned on the oven light so she could see them - she found this fascinating.

Running around with the fruits (or cookies) of her labor (looking so big, don't you think?!):

Helping:

Thanks, cousin-in-law-once-removed Cynamon (right?), for the cute aprons! Anna and I both wore them while we baked!

Here are a few short videos of Anna helping ... she kept saying "more" after everything:

Maybe she can help me make veggie pizza tonight for dinner - yum!

Snow!

2011-01-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

Anna and I are have a snow day today! Nashville got about three inches of snow overnight which warrants a day off school in these parts. Not that I'm ever one to argue about a day off work. Anna and I ventured out into our snowy backyard this morning to play.

Getting ready:

Crawling around in the snow ... not really liking it when she tried to walk and the snow covered her whole boots:

Trying to walk ... marignally successful:

A really whiny video ... not representative of the fun she actually had:

We may venture out again later today. I wouldn't be surprised if we had another day off tomorrow too. Hope everyone's staying warm!

New Jammies!

2011-01-07T16:46:00.001-08:00

Anna and I have a nice schedule going these days: I pick her up from daycare around 3:30 or 4:00, come home and play for a while (or go grocery shopping, like we did today), eat dinner around 5:00 (early, I know), and then do the whole bath/stories/bed routine so the munchkin's in bed between 6:00 and 6:30. It's early, but so is her wake-up time (6:00) since I've got to drop her back at school on my way to work. The only positive to this craziness is that Anna LOVES school right now. She runs into her classroom in the morning to grab her favorite baby (imagine that) and show it to her teacher. She's even getting to the point where she's sitting down to play on her own and waving bye-bye to me. Sometimes it makes me feel a little sad that she's not quite so dependent on me, but I'm also thrilled that she's comfortable where she spends the bulk of her days and feels loved by her caretakers. Today her teachers put her hair in a Pebbles-esque ponytail which I found mildly amusing. See for yourselves:

I'm not big on kids and television, but Anna enjoying a fifteen-minute video about farm animals allowed me to whip up dinner tonight. Amen to that! I love the baby wrapped up sitting next to her ... that's Anna for you!

I love these next few pictures of Anna in her new bug jammies. She now knows how to say "jammies" and repeats it the entire time I'm putting them on her. It's so cute! Her hair is crazy from post-bath play. It's almost long enough to fit behind her ears when it's down. She's also learning how to scoot on her belly off the couch, the bed, and the stairs, but, as you'll see from the last two pictures, sometimes she gets a little stuck ...

Oops!

Poor girl! She kept saying "Help, Mommy" over and over. Of course, I had to keep her waiting a few seconds to snap some pictures :-)

Christmas Pics

2011-01-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Christmas. Jimmy's cousin Rick took them Christmas morning. We had a great time in Ohio --- more posts to come!

Ho, Ho, Ho

2010-12-13T07:44:00.000-08:00

Anna learned a new trick - telling me what Santa says. Enjoy!

Anna also learned how to take the lid off a cookie jar and spill the contents all over the kitchen floor, which explains the abrupt ending of the video ... have I mentioned how much I love our almost 16-month-old?! She NEVER stops. NEVER.

The Boo

2010-12-10T17:35:00.000-08:00

This is how I found Anna Thursday morning - cuddled between two babies. She's been obsessed with her babies these days, always wanting to hold them, feed them, shush them, and, as of Wednesday night, read them bedtime stories. We had covered these two babies up as I was putting Anna to sleep, and I thought it was precious that their coverings were 100% intact the next morning (UNLIKE Anna's, might I add ... hers are long cast off to the bottom of the bed!).

Thursday night we played and had dinner with Nichole, Josiah and Addy (who Anna now remembers and says "Siah" and "Addy" when asked to identify them). Nichole had these two cute superhero capes she made, and Anna and Josiah had fun wearing them around!

Playing with Addy:

And Josiah:

Checking out the tree ... Anna with the coveted tv remote in her hands:

Anna found these hilarious glasses to complete her superhero persona ... I think the glasses, water all over her shirt, and bloated post-dinner belly really make her a force to be reckoned with :-)

Looking forward to a weekend of playing and getting ready for Christmas!

Breakfast With Santa

2010-12-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are a few pictures from the Breakfast With Santa from Saturday. Anna liked Frosty and Santa from a distance but was less than keen on being around either of them alone. Enjoy!

She gave Frosty a high five!

Yeah ... she wanted nothing to do with Santa without Mommy close by. She was pointing to his nose and glasses and smiling with him when I was holding her. Don't worry - I whisked her away the moment after the camera snapped this!

Dancing!

2010-12-04T17:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick video of Anna dancing to Kidmo's Preschool Worship dvd ... she's been dancing more and more these days! When I picked her up from school on Friday, she and I danced to some music that was playing on the radio in her classroom. One of her buddies from class came up and wanted to hold my hand, and when I held it, Anna took her other hand and started dancing away. It was the cutest thing!

I took Anna to a breakfast with Santa this morning and hope to have pictures to post tomorrow. Anna wasn't a huge fan of Santa, but she loved everything else!

Happy Face

2010-11-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

Our friends Kelly and Emily had fun doing a photoshoot with Anna last week while Jimmy and I did some work around the house. What a sweet (and drooly, and snotty, and dirty) face!

Last Weekend

2010-11-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

Anna's new coat and hat from Grandma and Grandpa - so cute!

Our trip to the park last weekend was not Anna's best - she was a little tired and cranky. This video shows her little independent streak!

Play Date

2010-11-13T10:22:00.001-08:00

Anna and I had a great Saturday morning playing with Nichole, Josiah, and Adalyn. Great friends!

I love this last picture - how precious! Josiah was making Anna "grass soup" as an "appetizer."

Jenny Got Me

2010-11-04T07:40:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night, when I came home from work, Jenny told me that Anna started saying something new at school. "Oh yeah, what's that?", I asked.

"The F-Word."

"What!!?!!? Are you serious?"

And with a straight face, Jenny looked me in the eye and said, "Anna walked right up to her teacher and said F--k. They had to write her up for it."

My heart sank and I immediately wanted to run up to all of the fathers of the children in her class and punch them in the face for teaching my sweet, innocent little girl to use such horrible language. I actually got a little ticked off.

Jenny started laughing. Jerk.

The new words were actually her teacher's names.

Library and Park!

2010-10-31T05:13:00.000-07:00

Fun Saturday with Anna - she is a tangled, crazy ball of energy these days! I am thankful to have a nice children's library and safe parks so close to home!

Notice the new outfit?! Oh yeah ... it was her THIRD of the day. Thank you, explosive poo and spaghetti for lunch, I LOVE doing laundry!

Anna's Halloween Party

2010-10-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

Anna's teachers at school planned a Halloween party for the kids and invited parents to attend. It was adorable!

Boo Dey

2010-10-24T13:42:00.001-07:00

Boo Dey for two reasons: 1) It's Anna-Boo. 2) The Bengals lost.

Fun Video

2010-10-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today Anna let me put her hair in pigtails for the first time - I about died, she looked so cute! Here she is eating her lunch, showing off her mad spoon-using skills. Listen closely and you'll hear her say applesauce (or her version of it), cup, Hi Baby, and bye-bye. She's also started saying bowl, ball, nose, and puppy, but those will have to wait for another video. Truth be told, she's also started saying the dreaded no, but I'm going to pretend she hasn't for a little while longer. Ignorance is bliss, right?!?! Where did our baby go? Who is this smart, spunky kid running around our house? She sure is a hoot!

The Weekend

2010-10-17T17:11:00.000-07:00

Jimmy, Anna, and I have been really enjoying our last few weekends at home together. Although traveling and visiting family is fun (and necessary), so is having quiet, at-home, just-the-three of us time. That's what the last few weekends have been all about. We've gone to a farm (where Anna took her first hayride and picked cotton), a fall festival, a park, had a backyard picnic at her new picnic table, and lots of fun -albeit quiet - adventures.

This Saturday started off with pancakes, which Anna promptly learned how to dip into syrup.

Followed by play time. These days, play time consists of lots of "chasing" Mommy and Daddy!

Then we got ready for an outing to a nearby park. Anna decided to "help" me pack our lunch by camping out in the fridge. This is one of her newest favorite places to sit. *Don't worry, grandmas - I know this is dangerous and am very watchful ... she can't open the door herself ...

Notice the new ponytail?!?! I'm trying my hardest to try and tame her mane!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch, followed by much swinging, sliding (by herself!), and climbing around on the jungle gym. Jimmy and I were following Anna around the whole playground ... she knew just what she wanted to do! It's so fun (and terribly frightening) to watch her feel brave and excited over the freedom her increased mobility gives her. She was EXHAUSTED by the time we left and took a second nap in the afternoon (giving Mommy and Daddy time to work on sealing the driveway --- something we'll share photos of in another post).

What could be a better way to end a fun day than with her first cookie?!?!

Here she is tossing back her milk at her picnic table this morning before church.

This is the pumpkin Anna painted at Nichole's house on Friday. Nichole had asked to keep Anna on Friday so Josiah could have someone to play with. They had so much fun! Nichole was so sweet to have planned a fun art project for the kids. Anna likes to point at the pumpkin's nose (which she knows how to say and identify now!).

Finally, here's a cute picture of Anna and Jimmy from this afternoon. She's been in the habit of taking Jimmy's hat off and putting it on herself. Today Jimmy got her Reds hat and put it on her; she thought it was so cool to match Daddy. She wore her hat during our trip to the grocery store and kept it on the whole time (that's unprecedented for our girl!). She got lots of smiles at the store ... pretty cute.

All that to say, we've been loving our low-key weekends. It's been so fun to really have some consecutive weeks of good, solid family time. I feel like Anna's blossoming into this really fun "kid" --- she's hilarious and loves to get laughs out of whatever crowd she's around. It's nice to have these quiet weekends to soak up every second of what I know will be another fast year!

Love and miss everyone!

Weekend Videos

2010-10-10T16:56:00.000-07:00

Anna-Zilla!

CupCup

2010-10-10T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures and video from our weekend.

Having lunch on Saturday afternoon

Anna goes walkabout

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Toddler on Our Hands!

2010-09-17T18:39:00.000-07:00

It's been busy at the Leitsch household this month. Between traveling to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, Jimmy being out of town for work, and my bad choice to assign lots of writing to my loveable students, I've been doing my best to keep my head above water. Please forgive my absence from the blogging world!

There are lots of pictures from Anna's first birthday party on Facebook, compliments of Aunt Jess, and I hope to have some cute pictures from Erin and Anissa soon that chronicle our big Mish get-together in Cincinnati last weekend.

For today, this video will have to suffice. Nichole and I were both husband-less tonight, so she suggested we take the kids to Chick-fil-a for dinner. Who am I to pass up waffle fries?!?! Watching Anna play in the kids' area after dinner, I was struck by the huge change I see in her --- she's no longer a baby, but a mobile little kid with a mind of her own! She's been talking, walking, and responding so much more intentionally than before. Even in the last week I've noticed changes in her awareness of her surroundings. She's hilarious, sweet, and spunky - just the way I like her!

Birthday Pics

2010-08-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Jimmy and I bought this stroller for Anna months ago ... we gave it to her on Saturday so we could enjoy watching her play with it all weekend. So far, it's a success! She still doesn't get the concept of turning or backing up, but she's having fun walking in straight lines around our kitchen and family room!

Lunch at Merridee's with Aunt Melissa:

Sharing Goldfish with kitty:

Anna was quite content being held by Aunt Melissa while we shopped!

Enjoying her birthday brownie:

Oops - forgot to flip this one!

Aunika, Derek, and Emily surprised us by coming over to wish Anna a happy day. Aunika helped Anna open her present:

Check out these two adorable superhero shirts (from Old Navy, in case you're interested)!

More steps towards Nichole:

Birthday Girl

2010-08-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I stayed home from school to enjoy my girl's FIRST birthday - so glad I did! We started the day with some homemade apple-cinnamon muffins for breakfast, then hit up Kroger for a quick bit of grocery shopping. These two sweet older men were our baggers, and they serenaded Miss Anna with Happy Birthday while they bagged - she smiled and waved at the the entire time!

Aunt Melissa drove in from Cincinnati on her way back to Jacksonville, and she, Anna, and I spent the afternoon in downtown Franklin. We had lunch at Merridee's, where Anna had Melissa and I laughing over her incessant raspberry-blowing (she even shot a Goldfish out of her mouth on accident ... it was ridiculous!). Melissa gave Anna a stuffed cat (yet-to-be-named) that she carried around all day - she even shared Goldfish with it! I think it will be a favorite "baby."

Then we shopped around some of the cute crafty shops, getting inspired for future decorating projects ... a fun, girly afternoon!

We had the Naces over for dinner and Anna-sized brownie bites. Anna loved the singing and the candle (as you'll see in the second video). It was a fun night of celebrating our sweet girl.

The highlight of the evening was ANNA TAKING HER FIRST STEPS!!! Melissa and I had been joking earlier, and I had said, "Wouldn't it be cool if Anna took her first steps to you on her birthday?" Sure enough, that's what happened after dinner (it's almost like Anna did it on purpose). Melissa was holding out a toy, and Anna wanted it enough to let go of her death grip on the coffee table and take a few steps towards it. We all got to see it happen! Of course, Melissa and I got all weepy - it was such a special thing to share with everyone and made the night even more memorable. Jimmy was able to get this great video of Anna's second set of steps. My favorite part is how she starts clapping for herself at the end :-)

Here's a video of us singing Happy Birthday:

We're excited for more celebrating with family in September! I'm going to post pictures of the day in another post ... I was just trying to get the walking video up as soon as I could!

Supergirl, Mommy's Helper

2010-08-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Anna sure had fun figuring out how to drink her water out of this "super" thermos - thanks, Grandma Patty!

She also enjoyed helping me with vacuuming the other day. She pushed the vacuum all around the family room ... hopefully (or maybe not-so-hopefully?!) we'll have a walker soon!

Can't believe Anna's going to be one on Tuesday ... where did the year go? I will be sure to update with pictures and videos from her special day.

Love you all!

Fun Weekend Pics

2010-08-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

I just spent a long time putting together a really long post that ended up not saving. Bummer. Here are a few cute pics to tide you over ... hard to believe my girl's going to be one in a few weeks!

Supreme bedhead, Anna style:

"Sharing" a smoothie with Mommy:

"Helping" Mommy in the kitchen:

Love you all!

Wedding Weekend

2010-07-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

We headed to Cincy last weekend for Jason and Shauna's wedding. Got to see lots of the Herdeman clan too! Thought I'd share a few cute pictures from the trip:

Playing piano with Grandpa:

My mom got the cutest video of Anna dancing at the keyboard ... she was bouncing away to her own beat!

Playing with cousin Liam at Normandy:

Photo shoot with cousin Charlotte. Unknowingly, my mom bought this dress for Anna and my Aunt Sue bought it for Charlotte. Michele and I thought it was only right to take advantage of the photo op!

Anna even got to see Aunt Melissa, in from Florida!

I had fun getting some cute garden pictures outside Kumler Chapel in Oxford.

Thanks, Jess, for taking a few family pics!

I think these last two really capture what it means to be a Leitsch - oh yeah!

Sorry, Anna. You still have to put up with us for seventeen years and one month!

Great visit. Love you all. Miss you already!

Bubbles!

2010-07-23T07:33:00.000-07:00

Anna's first extreme bubble bath ;-)

For You, Anissa

2010-07-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

Alright, Nis. Thought you might enjoy this collection of pictures from Anna's oatmeal attack yesterday morning. I seriously turned my back for ten seconds, and this is what happened:

Here's the cleaner version of mealtime (from the night before), enjoying her big girl food like a champ! Notice the bib and mat?!?! Thanks for the suggestions!

You'll appreciate this video ... at least now you know I'm not as, um, "particular" about messes as I used to be ;-)

Nothing a quick bath can't fix!

Feeding Her Baby

2010-07-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here's a fun video of Anna feeding her baby doll. She's started to mimic everything I show her these days ... so fun!

Girls' Weekend

2010-07-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

While Jimmy was away on a work conference this weekend, Anna, my mom, and I had a girls' weekend in Tennessee. It was an awesome time! We played hard, and, as you'll see in the pictures that follow, we worked hard too ...

Little Miss Anna playing at her music table:

Reading with Mommy:

(Notice the grocery cart full of books ... can you tell Anna's the child of an English teacher?!?!)

Anna showing Grandma all her "babies":

Playing:

More Summer Fun

2010-07-14T18:18:00.001-07:00

Anna continues to make us smile. Here she is hamming it up for the camera modeling some new duds from her second cousins, Case and Lena. Aunt Jess and Grandma Patty visited last weekend and got to join in on the dress-up fun!

(Check out the rest of the fashion show pics on Facebook!)

I turned my back for five seconds today and here is where I found Anna when I turned around! She loves our laptops and anything with buttons ... she literally climbed on top of my laptop bag to get to our printer. As the pictures show, she sure was happy with herself!

Anna and I went blueberry picking today with Nichole, her sister-in-law Anja, Josiah, and Adalyn. We had a great time! I had a baby-shaped sweat stain on my t-shirt from carrying Anna around in the Baby Bjorn ... kind of gross and funny!

Anna was very curious ...

Best bud, Josiah!

Trying her hand at picking one ...

Success!

Sweaty kids enjoying a water break ...

Josiah shared his goldfish crackers with Anna ... she liked them ...

Adalyn chilled in the stroller the whole time - what a cutie!

Nichole with Adalyn - so sweet!

What a fun day! Now we're looking forward to a visit from Grandma Nancy - can't wait!

Do you need to see the quirky cuteness again?!?! I think you do!

Here are two new videos to enjoy. The first shows off a few of Anna's new tricks: pushing her grocery cart and blowing kisses. You'll also notice her new-found affinity for whining and screaming ... I chalk it up to teething and frustration over not moving as effectively as she'd like.

This one's just to show off Anna's crawling skills ... I realized I hadn't documented it on the blog!

Also, if you're interested, check out the following video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6tZSS8gL-o. Anna hung out at Josiah's house a few mornings this week while I taught some classes at school. This is a hilarious video of Josiah pushing Anna around in his Tonka truck ... so precious!

Ten Months

2010-07-07T06:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Anna turned ten months at the end of June and is already well on her way to being an eleven-month-old. She continues to change at a rapid-fire pace, crawling and scaling our walls and furniture like a pro.

Very proud of herself:

She still loves her time with Daddy:

Anna loves giving her babies and stuffed animals hugs and kisses. The other day she even started giving her "brown bear" a bottle. It amazes me how perceptive and observant kids are!

Anna's started doing this cheesy grin, scrunching up her nose and kind of snorting. Jimmy and I find it hilarious.

Although Anna looks a little spacy and tired, I had to include this cute shot from my birthday. Josiah and Adalyn are Anna's best friends here in TN. Josiah and Anna can play together with no problems - they are adorable together! He knows how to say her name and gets excited when his mom, our friend Nichole, tells him it's time to go to Anna's house. So cute!

Please excuse the headband in the video ... Anna and I were playing dress up before dinner ;-)

Here she is feeding herself with a spoon (with her LEFT hand)!

The Frogs in a Wok: A Weekend Update

2010-06-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

Most nights Jimmy tends to tackle Anna's bath time while I clean up from her dinner. It's a nice system because I get some peaceful tidying time and, according to Anna's screams and giggles, Jimmy is way more fun giving baths than I am. I often hear him spelling out words with Anna's foam letters - a difficult task because there is only one of each letter. He was pretty proud of this concoction (one of the O's is actually a zero) - sounds like a good band name, doesn't it?!?!

This Saturday we packed a picnic and headed to Arrington Vineyards. We've never been there and have heard from friends that it's a great place to go. Next time we go, we'll definitely partake of the free wine tasting and live music; this weekend we opted for the kid-friendly version of lunch and a walk through the vineyards - fun!

We also had a great Sunday celebrating Father's Day. We took Anna to the local rec center pool for the first time - she loved it! She splashed around in the shallow end (as the pictures show), and she also loved swimming around with Jimmy and I in the deep end. She kicked her little legs and put her face in the water and smiled the whole time. Do I see swim team in her future?!?! I was calling her my little guppy the rest of the day.

You see the open mouth in all these pictures? You know what that is? Pure glee. Anna spent the whole time in the water shrieking her happy shriek. She got lots of smiles from other pool-goers.

What a great weekend celebrating summer and the great dad Jimmy is to Anna!

We're Baaack ...

2010-06-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's been a few months. I have no excuses (at least, not any that grandmas consider viable). Here are some random-but-cute nine-month pictures and videos to catch up on the cuteness!

Cute Face:

Not-So-Cute Face:

Walking in Centennial Park holding Uncle Evan's hand:

Wearing Uncle Evan's shades:

Practicing standing by the coffee table:

Playing with her new shopping cart:

Army crawling/scooting:

Peek-A-Boo

2010-03-31T18:26:00.000-07:00

Anna and Jenny play Peek-A-Boo, and then Anna gets excited...

ABCD or ACDC?

2010-03-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

That's right - that's my darling baby rocking an ACDC onesie (a stocking stuffer for Jimmy this Christmas (that I gave him early because I thought it was so cute!)). I wanted to see if it fit Anna yet, and it did! She's getting so big ...

Here you can see her start to plot her escape from my elaborate photo-shoot prison:

I can hear her thinking either "Oh crap, I'm stuck" or "Are you catching this, Mom? I am so skilled!"

Success!

We played hard this morning, and Anna took a long nap, long enough for me to make and address all the invitations for my cousin Michele's baby "sprinkle" in a few weeks.

After her nap, I opened a new toy that my friend Lane gave me for Anna. It's an animal train that makes all kinds of cute sounds and moves on carpet - very cute. I have a few videos of our play time today, but they take forever to load --- this picture will have to suffice to show her happiness over the gift:

We miss you, Daddy! Come home soon and play with us!

It was a yucky day today in TN - really wet, dark, and cold. I couldn't stand not moving around, so Anna and I went to Target and walked some laps (and I did not spend anything, thank you very much!). It felt good to move, and Anna sang to everyone in the aisles ;-)

Home. Dinner. Bath.

Then, about an hour of this madness:

I was so glad to get this on video because when I tell people that Anna talks all the time, this is what I mean. There are hour-long stretches of the day where she just gabs away like this ... it cracks me up until I remember that she's probably imitating me ... I LOVE hearing her voice and can't wait to find out what all she's got on her mind!

Love and miss everyone ... especially you, Jimmy! Be safe and have fun and work hard ... see you Wednesday!

Big Picture Update - February!

2010-03-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here's a big pile of pictures documenting Anna's sixth month ... she's getting so big (she's grown THREE inches since her four-month appointment!) but is still a little peanut (only weighing in at fourteen pounds and ten ounces). She's waving in three different ways - the open-and-closed fist, the arm flap, and the Miss America side-to-side - and greets me with at least one kind when I pick her up from day care each day. She can roll to get to whatever she wants (scary!) and is getting more and more independent with sitting on her own. She's also getting extremely vocal stringing together da-da's and blah-blah's (and blowing lots of raspberries) ... she's quite the singer, reader, and entertainer (wonder where she gets that from?!?!).

Here she is reading Valentine's cards from Grandma Patty and Aunt Jess:

Reading a Valentine's book with Daddy (thanks, Chad and Allison!).

Thanks for the cute bows, Mom ;-)

Helping Mommy cook dinner:

Getting curious about the camera:

I love this sweet grinning girl!

Thanks, Nis for this great Sesame Street toy. Funny story - the first time I put Anna under it, she screamed when the Elmo popped out and yelled, "Peekaboo, baby!" Like, she SCREAMED ... in holy terror. So I waited a few months until she could sit in front of it and play ... success! She loved it! Thanks for the fun gift!

We've finally had some nice days to get out and walk ... makes me excited for summer!

Goofy faces:

At the beginning of another walk:

And at the end:

Snoozing for a few minutes while Mommy got ready last week:

Lots of good play time with Daddy after his trip to St. Louis last week:

This last one makes me laugh - not only was her pacifier halfway out, but it was upside down. Anna was pooped after a busy day!

I'll try to be better about posting pictures more frequently ... it's been a busy month ;-)

2010-03-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

In this video, Anna gets tired of the Daddy Paparazzi.

Anna says her first phrase

One Last Thing ...

2010-02-01T13:13:00.001-08:00

I really have a problem. As I was reading over my last post I realized I forgot to post this picture from Sunday - I just had to add it! Anna was being so cute laying on me, and she was fascinated with the camera. I love the light coming in through the window and the sweet little face she's making. Gotta love this girl!

Pictures of an Over-Indulgent Mom

2010-02-01T11:26:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not one to keep up with technological trends. I don't have an ipod. I didn't get a cell phone until I graduated from college. I just okayed having home internet in the last year. I have only sent one (maybe two) text messages ... ever. Jimmy is definitely the Leitsch that keeps us trend-savvy.

That said, I swear if I lost my digital camera I might die. I take so many pictures of Anna it's bordering on an addiction. Call me over-indulgent. Call me a mom.

I've been off school for four days now; we got about four inches of snow on Friday that has since turned to wicked ice. And for you non-Tennesseans, anything more than a dusting here qualifies as a winter emergency. Seriously. The road crews just aren't equipped to handle the kind of prep and maintenance work required to keep the roads drivable after winter storms.

Back to the camera obsession. So Anna and I have had four days of hanging out at home ... nowhere but home. What's a girl to do but take an absurd amount of pictures? Hope you enjoy seeing how she's growing and changing ... I know I can't get enough!

This one was from the same weekend as the park visit ... just catching up! I think Anna looks smashing in this cute green fleece from my parents. It's definitely an "Anna" color ;-)

Feeling tall on Daddy's shoulders

Bare feet, full belly ... what more could a girl want?!?!

(Coincidentally, this photo also marks Anna's last successful food-feeding. Has anyone else dealt with this kind of inconsistancy? Like, she went from eating two tablespoons of cereal mixed with either pears or bananas to screaming when we try to feed her anything ... what gives?)

This is Anna with her friend, Jackson, after a walk at the park on MLK, Jr. Day. Jackson is Lane's little boy (Lane teaches next door to me), and he'll be one in May. Anna misses seeing Jackson at day care every day! * We switched Anna to a new day care last week because of a ridiculous price increase at The Academy. We were sad to leave but feel blessed that Anna has a great new teacher at her new school!

I took these two pictures last weekend on our drive home from Cincinnati (Jimmy was driving ... don't worry!). We had taken Layla because she had a "sleepover" Saturday night at the house of another dog (whose "mom" went to high school with Jimmy). Yes, we are trying to find a new home for Layla with little luck. The family that kept her Saturday night has another dog, Lady, who did not take well to having another dog in the house. Needless to say, we were bummed. These pictures are pretty cute, though. Layla was checking in on Anna, and the two traveled quite well together. If anyone knows of a family who would be interested in a three-year-old black lab mix, PLEASE LET US KNOW. Not that we're desperate or anything ;-)

Now, on to this snow-filled weekend.

Here's our happy girl after her bath Friday night:

Reading some books:

Showing off her mad back-to-tummy rolling skills:

Trying to show off her cute Cincinnati Reds onesie from Amanda without much success. I have a couple cute ones on my camera that show off the onesie better, but I liked this one best because of the cute face and bent knees. You can see the matching Reds blanket underneath her - thanks, Amanda!

Here's how I found Jimmy and Anna when I got out of the shower on Saturday. We've been passing a cold around our family like a hot potato for about a week. I had it, passed it on to Anna; Anna had it, passed it on to Jimmy. I'm praying not to get it again! What I love best, other than the cuddly pose, is the fact that Anna is pant-less with only one sock ... hmmm.

I lied before. We did get out of the house on Saturday night. Our friends Tim and Kelly live right down the street (like, we could have sled (sledded?) to their front door if we wanted) and invited us down for homemade pizza, home-brewed beer, and a movie. We had so much fun hanging out we never got to the movie! Anna had so much fun she fell asleep while I was holding her upright. Check it out (but please disregard my smashed nose and lovely double chin!):

Finally, these pictures are from this morning. I try to have structured playtime in Anna's room a few times during the day ... I'm sure you can tell from all the pictures in there. She's been getting better at sitting by herself and has finally shown some real interest (and skill) in the play table my grandma gave her for Christmas. She especially liked the "book" section because she could spin the little green toy at the bottom and make the face light up!

Thanks for indulging me in my over-indulgent photo spree! I am looking so forward to spring and summer when my time with Anna can include time outside, walks, the park, and the pool. This cold stuff just isn't for me. Love you all!

Anna's First Trip to the Park, Part Two

2010-02-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hope you enjoyed the videos Jimmy posted of our first trip to the park! Here are some cute pictures I snapped the same day (for all you grandmas to download on your digital frames!):

Here's to many more days of fun at the park! Spring and summer, where are you?!?!

Anna's First Time at the Park (Part1)

2010-01-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

How the morning began...

Anna's first time on the slide

Her first swing

Peek-A-Boo!

In the outfit from Aunt Jess (and Grandma Patty?).

We're all ready for the Bengals playoff game.

On Hair Bows, Cereal, and Santa

2010-01-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

Can you believe this is little Anna?!?! She's changing so fast these days I can barely keep up. I took these pictures today while she, Jimmy, and I were playing. We're all dressed in our Bengal's gear for the game today, and Anna just looked a little to boyish in her orange shirt and jeans ... a little pack of hair bows called my name while I was on a quick Target run, and I think her little white bow tops the outfit quite nicely, don't you? Grandma Patty got Anna a Johnny Jump Up for Christmas, and, while there hasn't been any jumping in it yet (because someone's legs are a little too short), there have been a lot of smiles and walking around!

We've been introducing Anna to cereal this past week with mixed results. She seems to take it more frequently from Jimmy but isn't always interested. Any tips? Recommendations? We're all ears!

See, Mom? I told you she likes that stupid blue toy the best!

Here's Anna in a new six-month outfit from the Martin's ... we thought she looked like such a big girl in it!

More random playtime shots:

These Santa pics are long overdue. Santa came to Anna's daycare, and our friend Derek (Aunika's dad) happened to be there at the same time as Jimmy (who didn't have our camera). I kept forgetting to get the pictures from him! Enjoy a little belated holiday love!

Here's a short video ... you'll hear Jimmy explaining to Santa that Anna is not a boy. Seriously. Any mom who dressed her boy in little black stretch pants and a shirt reading "Peace, Love, and Christmas" should be shot ;-)

Love to you all ... WHO DEY!

Anna's Nursery & Play Time

2009-12-30T10:14:00.001-08:00

I just can't get enough of my little cutie! As promised, here are some pictures of her newly-updated nursery. I haven't been crazy about making it too "baby," but I wanted to give Anna a nice place to play. Thanks to some great shelving from my friend Erin and her mom, a few hand-me-down decorations from my childhood bedroom, and tons of new toys from family members, Anna's play corner is set! Check it out:

Notice that Anna has a "sports' shelf" with her Titans picture, her Sounds baseball, and her Bengals dinosaur. She also has her own cd player. Can you tell she's her father's daughter?!?! On the other hand, the cd's are the two Glee soundtracks Jimmy got me for Christmas, so Anna's her mother's daughter too ;-)

On the left are two pictures of my grandma when she was a little girl. My grandma was with me the day Anna was born and instantly saw a connection between Anna and herself - they both have little dimples in the same place! The picture in the middle was drawn by one of my best friends from elementary school's mom. Anne and I had the same pictures hanging in our rooms! Finally there is the dorky-but-cool-at-the-same-time Sound of Music poster my friend Carrie found for me at a thrift store a while back. For Christmas Grandma Patty gave Anna a book of poetry compiled by Julie Andrews and her daughter, and Anna and I spent some time listening to the accompanying cd of Julie reading poetry today ... my goal is for Anna to be able to recite poetry in a British accent when she's older ;-)

This is an angel my mom painted for me when I was young. The colors go perfectly with Anna's room!

Now on to more cuteness ...

This is what happens to Anna's hair when I forget to brush it immediately after her bath:

And this is what it looks like the next morning when she wakes up:

I need to remember to grab my camera at the beginning of tummy time. Anna was smiling and reaching for these blocks for nearly ten minutes, only to start fussing once I had my camera in hand:

We sat and knocked over block towers for a while ...

Chilling out with her Glowworm from Aunt Penny:

Smiling at Mommy's funny faces:

Anna had her four-month checkup today. Developmentally all is well ... yeah! She has not been gaining the kind of weight the doctor would like to see ... Anna still only weighs 13 pounds (nowhere near doubling her birth weight yet) and is only 24 inches long. Cereal is in the near future to help put on some chubs!

New Pic

2009-12-30T08:33:00.001-08:00

Aunt Jessica just sent me this picture of Anna ... too cute not to post! This hat is part of an outfit she got for Christmas (and will likely wear for her six-month pictures). Thanks for sending, Jess!

Christmas, etc.

2009-12-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

Jimmy, Anna, and I just returned home from a whirlwind Christmas. I didn't do the best job photo-documenting Anna's first Christmas, but I'll share what I got:

We spent the 23rd and 24th with my parents in their new house. It was wonderful to all be under the same roof! And when I say all, I mean all: Jimmy, Anna, me, Melissa, Jed, Evan, my parents, Darby, Lucy, Kenny, Cooper, and Boomer ... it was a full house!

Anna had fun playing piano with her favorite grandpa:

And I had fun twirling Anna's hair into spikes while she dozed off watching Elf:

Anna is getting so much more expressive these days. She loves to play on her mat and look at herself in the mirror Jimmy rigged to it. She's also turning and smiling whenever I call her name, as captured in this picture:

I am hating blogspot right now because I'm having trouble formatting my pictures ... here's our family picture on Christmas Eve, also Anna's four month birthday!

Here's the whole Herdeman clan at my grandma's:

With Great Grandma:

With Grandma:

Reading with her grandpa (notice the hair decorations):

We spent the 25th and 26th with Jim and Roxane. Anna enjoyed cuddling with her other favorite grandpa:

Smiling at Aunt Jess:

Playing with a Piglet stuffed animal from Great Grandma Edna Mae:

Too tuckered out to enjoy her first trip to Skyline!

This next picture warrants some explanation. A friend from church made Anna this beatiful crocheted blanket when she was born. It has big holes in it, and Anna has started hooking her fingers into the holes and pulling the blanket over her face. When I was changing her diaper the other day, she pulled the blanket around her face and was as happy as could be:

Yes, she looks a little chunky and spacey in the picture, but it's still cute!

Finally, Anna has really been enjoying her exersaucer for longer periods of time. She has also discovered her tongue, and she blows raspberries all the time!

Overall, we had a great trip. We got to see all of our families and lots of friends. Anna got to meet Erin, Lindsey, and Anthony and spend more time with Emily, Melody and Cate! She also got to meet her NEW Uncle Mike, Jess's fiance!

I've been working hard in her nursery the last two days, hanging pictures and sorting all the toys she got for Christmas ... she is one spoiled girl, let me tell you! More pictures to come ...

Clark Kent's Home State

2009-12-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I (Jimmy) drove out to Colorado Springs, Colorado for work. The first day of driving was great. I got see eight professional sports venues in one day by going through Nashville, St. Louis, and Kansas City!

Then on day two, we had to drive through Kansas. During the stretch in the center of the state, there was nothing to see. Literally nothing. But people try to get you to stop about every 5 miles by offering attractions of every type. The signs usually always started by saying "take the next exit." Here are some examples: "Take the next exit to see historic Dodge City, the pride of the Old West. Only 130 miles south." or "Take the next exit for the Colby public library." About every 10 miles for 2 hours, we saw signs for The Oasis of The Plains. It was a gas station.

Here are my top three favorite signs for attractions that I saw:

3. Pet live rattlesnakes and praire dogs
2. Come see the 5-legged steer.

And not an attraction, but it shows what's important in Kansas,
1. Lamb. It's good.

One thing that was neat to see was the acres upon acres of wind turbines. They went on for about 15 miles.

Leitsch Family Snowball Fight

2009-12-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

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Happy Birthday, Grandma Patty!

2009-12-10T10:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Mom/Patty/Grandma! Can't wait to see you for Christmas!

Anna's first letter home from school

2009-12-07T17:04:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, when Jenny went to pick up Anna from day care, there was a note awaiting her. This is from Anna's teacher, Amy.

"In case I don't see you, here's the explanation...

"Sweet Anna-boo was in the saucer, post-bottle, happy as can be. I heard suspicious noises, went to changer her - and found poop everywhere. In the plastic bottom of the saucer, down her leg, into her shoe, etc. And, of course, she's all smiles and kicking her feet around. There's even poop in my hair.

"She's had a real soap-and-water bath, and I had to wash every stitch of her clothing. Hope the shoes make it - I really couldn't clean them any other way."

Anna is definitely a Leitsch.

Here are some new pictures to enjoy!

This is how Anna looked while waiting for Jenny to finish getting ready for work one morning.

All bundled up for a walk with Mommy and Layla.

Mommy having a little too much fun with Anna's growing hair. Yes, it's a mohawk, and it's awesome!

Three Months

2009-11-30T16:49:00.000-08:00

I can't get enough of this sweet girl! The little dimple drives me crazy;-)

We miss you, Daddy! Come home safely from Colorado Springs!!!

Redemption

2009-11-30T16:37:00.000-08:00

Jimmy and I have a love/hate relationship with Layla ...

because she can go from doing something annoyingly terrible,

like eating half of my mom's delicious pumpkin pie,
to doing something completely endearing and adorable,

like curling up and snoozing on Jimmy's pillow while he's out of town this week.
Let's just say she really knows how to redeem herself ;-)

Anna's 3 month birthday

2009-11-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick comparison of how our girl has grown:

Two weeks old

Last week

We will use this one for blackmailing. Oh, was she mad.

Springsteen

2009-11-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

A friend surprised me with tickets to the Bruce Springsteen concert last week. He played for 3 hours and 2 minutes straight. No intermission, no long instrumental breaks.

More Pictures

2009-11-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

Pictures From The Last Few Days

2009-11-19T14:46:00.001-08:00

Anna has taken an interest in her hands lately.

Interested...

Bored...

New Videos: Tummy Time, Ab Time, and Layla's "Watch What I Can Do!" Time

2009-11-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

Here's Anna showing off her tummy time moves ... our pediatrician tells us it's okay if Anna doesn't like it much (as in, don't think we're mean parents because we let Anna cry a little). She's doing such a good job!

Here's Anna showing off her ab strength.

This is one of Layla's famous Chicken Fits.

Cincinnati Visit, Part Two + Lots of New Pictures

2009-11-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

I'm kind of nervous to post on the blog again after my back-to-work blogging hiatus - I don't know if I can live up to Jimmy's humorous precedent. What I lose in humor I hope to make up in cuteness ... Anna's cuteness, that is! Here's what we've been up to the past few weeks:

Jed and Melissa's wedding was absolutely beautiful. If you haven't checked out some of their wedding pictures on Facebook, do so now! Their photographer was awesome and was able to capture some fun shots around Miami's campus. Anna's Leitsch grandparents and Aunt Jess were kind enough to watch Anna during the rehearsal dinner and reception. Jess took some precious pictures of Anna ... these are my two favorites:

I also got to hang out with my old college friend Kara and her now four-month-old daughter, Ryleigh. It was fun to catch up and "talk baby" with Kara. Ryleigh is a sweet girl, and I look forward to more visits when Anna's old enough to do something more interesting than lie on the ground ;-) I hope they'll grow to be good friends!

This picture is just too cute not to post. It was taken while my dad was making Anna smile.

I went back to work the Monday after the wedding and am happy to report that the transition back to work has been easier than expected. Note: I did not say that the transition was easy ... just not as tear-filled or guilt-ridden as I had anticipated. Anna has had an incredibly easy time adapting to her day care routine; she's taken to the bottle easily (my biggest worry) and is always either sleeping or playing happily when I come to pick her up in the afternoons. Her teacher, Miss Amy, loves her to pieces, and Jimmy and I feel blessed knowing that Anna has such a sweet, skilled caregiver. We have our morning and evening routines to prepare for each day, and I'm trying to figure out how to get grading done at school so I'm not bringing things home. Overall, life is good.

We deemed the next weekend a strictly family weekend. We didn't do anything or go anywhere unless we wanted to. It was an awesome two days of hanging out with Anna. We went to the local dog park to give Layla some much-needed TLC and energy-expending. It was a tad chilly, so we bundled Anna up in her adorable bear suit from John and Dana Pritchett, Melissa's in-laws. The resemblance between Anna and Max from Where the Wild Things Are is striking, isn't it?!?!

Anna finally started enjoying her mirror (or maybe it was the silly things Jimmy was doing and saying with the mirror).

Anna's smile, voice, and personality are starting to emerge, and Jimmy was able to capture these cute smiling pictures:

We ended the weekend with a nice bath in the big tub - Anna likes the extra room to kick around! Do I see swim team in her future?!?!

This next picture needs some explanation. I was changing Anna out of her sleeper and wanted to try a new pair of pants on her to see if they would fit. I also tried on a little pink and brown hat to see if it bothered Anna or not. Jimmy took it upon himself to snap this picture, and we agree that our sweet little suburban baby looks like quite the thug. She's even got both fists clenched ... so don't mess with her!

I took this picture the morning of Anna's ten-week "birthday." I love this cute outfit from Meghan - thanks!

Anna usually plays for about an hour every morning after she eats. It's fun to get to spend some happy time with her before going to work each day. A generous friend from my mom's work gave her this fantastic toy that is perfect for Anna's age. When she kicks the blue bar at the bottom, the wheels at the top spin and music plays - Anna loves it! She kicks and kicks to her heart's content.

This was another cute outfit this week ... one of the first winter outfits from cousins Case and Lena that actually fits!

This morning, after feeding Anna in the nursery at church, I decided to see how (or if) she liked being in an exersaucer. My parents are giving her one for Christmas so we can have her out in the family room without worrying about Layla trampling her. Good news - she loved it! She still has another inch or two to grow before it's really an appropriate toy, but she smiled the whole time she was in it and was reaching for all the toys!

Have you ever seen cuter little legs?!?!

It's been a beautiful weekend here in Tennessee, and I've taken Anna and Layla on three long walks. I decided to put Anna in the stroller without her carrier seat so she could look around. She watched Layla for a big chunk of our walks (before she fell asleep, that is). She looks like such a big girl!

Love and miss you all!

Life Lesson: A Sibling Is Like a Corolla

2009-11-04T09:53:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I sold my beloved truck. It was a day I knew was coming for the last nine months. I knew that I was going to need a backseat. I later learned that no matter if you have strap locks that are guaranteed not to break, you are not allowed to put a carseat in the bed of a truck. As I was changing the oil and detailing the inside for the last time, I admit, I was a little sad.

I couldn’t help to think about all of the good times we’ve had together. That truck moved every single thing from our apartment into our house (Jenny’s Mazda helped, too). It has moved refrigerators, washers and dryers, sand, swing sets. One time the local police needed help breaking into a bank where a gunman was still inside. SWAT had not arrived yet, so I volunteered and plowed the truck through the brick wall and saved twelve people. Another time, Jenny and I passed a broken down tractor-trailer. The driver was standing by looking very sad. We asked if there was something we could do, but he said that the truck could not be fixed. He had been depending on the delivery money to keep his house and to feed his family. Jenny and I hooked the trailer to the back of the S10 and took a road trip to Bozeman, Montana. We sent the money to the driver, and didn’t even charge him for gas, because that’s the kind of folks we are.

We had already made arrangements to buy a 2003 Toyota Corolla S series from Jenny’s cousins. While I was sprucing up the truck, I was thinking, “The Corolla is a great car, and it’s going to try real hard, but it won’t be able to live up to what the truck could do and the potential the truck still has.” I can’t help to think that this must be the same thing my parents were thinking the night before I moved to Nashville five years ago. “Jess is a great daughter, and she tries real hard, but Jimmy will always be our favorite.”

The last paragraph was supposed to be humorous. In all seriousness, the Corolla is cool. I now have a gas gauge that works, air conditioning, power locks and windows, and a great sound system. We’ve had some warm afternoons in Nashville lately, and I love putting down all the windows, opening up the sunroof, and listening to good music. But most importantly, it has a backseat that allows me to take my daughter to daycare every morning. She basically falls asleep as soon as she’s in, but it’s still our time together. She enjoys listening to sports talk radio.

To answer the question on everyone’s mind, the first CD I listened to was Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon. It is very good, and has three songs that will certainly live on in the Spoon lore, but I don’t like it as much as 2005’s Gimme Fiction.

And there’s one other thing the Corolla can do…