Memorial Day Weekend

What a busy fun weekend! I didn’t get a chance to do this post last night so I am a day late! I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! I had the day off on Friday so I was lucky enough to have a 4-day weekend! Rob had the day off too!

Friday, we didn’t do much. We went to downtown Plainfield in the afternoon for a little while to walk around and take Leah to the park. Saturday, the weather took a turn and was pretty cruddy outside. I was hoping it would have been nice, but no such luck. We spent the morning running errands and cleaning up around the house. In the afternoon, we had my nephew’s first birthday party. It amazes me how quickly a year goes by! He had a construction themed birthday and everything was so cute. My sister-in-law really outdid herself with all of the details.

Sunday, we had tickets to go to the Cubs game. I was SO looking forward to going and spending the day with Rob. As much as I love having Leah around, it was definitely nice to get out for adult time. My dad agreed to watch Leah for the day. He came over to our house around 10:30 am so we could hit the road. We had to take a few pictures before we headed downtown.

We parked by our old apartment in Old Town. We walked down North Avenue and stopped at “McGinny’s” for a drink. It is a place we used to frequent often when we lived in the area. Just as we finished our drink, it began pouring. It was not just a drizzle, but was coming down in buckets! It was NOT a nice day for a ball game. It was freezing outside – cold and rainy. We weren’t sure if they were going to cancel the game or not. Once it slowed down a bit, we left the bar and walked over to the brown line to head over to Wrigleyville. After we got off the el, it started to come down really hard again. We had to wait under the viaduct before we could go anywhere. We learned that there was now a rain-delay for the game. We stopped at the Vines for lunch and hung out there to see what the weather was going to do. It FINALLY started to clear up and they were going to get the game underway. We walked over to Wrigley Field. As soon as we got to our seats, we decided we weren’t going to stay. Our seats were wet and it was way too cold outside. Brrrr! We stopped at a few places for a few more drinks and then headed home. Although the weather was horrendous, it was still great to get out for the day with my husband.

Sunday was night and day from how it had been on Saturday! Sunday was hot and sunny! It was beautiful and we had to take advantage. We decided to head back downtown, but this time we took our peanut with us. We left the house early, around 9:00 and once again parked by our old apartment. First stop…..North Avenue Beach. It is only a mile away from our old place and was great to get a nice walk in. The beach was crowded, but not overly packed. We took Leah down by the water. She does not like walking on grass, so I was curious to see how she would like the sand. (We took her to the beach last year, but she was only 5 months old – too little to remember anything). She did not like the sand and she did not like the water. I will admit, the water was pretty darn cold. We only stayed at the beach for about a half hour and continued on our way. Next stop…..Lincoln Park Zoo. From the beach to the zoo, it was about a 2.5 mile walk. On our way there, we saw Bill and Juliana Rancic (from E! News) running along the lakefront. No one seemed to bother them. The lakefront was definitely busy. There were lots of runners, roller blader’s and bicyclers cruising up and down the walkway. We got to the zoo and walked around for awhile. Lincoln Park Zoo is not nearly as big as Brookfield, but we still saw some animals and exhibits. Leah was starting to get hungry so we decided to leave and go grab some lunch. We walked all the way over to a restaurant called “State.” When we lived downtown, we used to go there all of the time. It was quite a walk. When we finally got there, it was CLOSED! Argh. I think it was just closed for the holiday because it didn’t look like it was closed down for good. We had to turn around and start walking back. We ended up at Tilli’s on Halstead. After lunch, we headed back to the car to come home. It was a long day and it was definitely toasty outside. Leah hadn’t had a nap and she was due for one. She fell asleep a few minutes after we got in the car. After our day in the city, we easily must have walked 8+ miles.

After we got home, our fun didn’t end! We stopped at the store and bought Leah one of those small plastic pools. We filled it up with water and let her play in the backyard. At first she didn’t want to go near it, but by the end of the afternoon, I couldn’t get her out of it. We ended the evening by grilling chicken and veggies and enjoying a nice “healthy” dinner. Overall, it was a great weekend with my family.

Small Victories

Leah had her 15 month checkup on Wednesday. 15 months – she is getting so big. She is not my little baby anymore. Leah weighed in at 23.6 lbs, which placed her in the 57^th percentile for weight and she is 32 inches tall, in the 89^th percentile. She had to get 3 shots and was not a happy camper. She calmed down pretty quickly. She doesn't like the doctor's office in general. She doesn't like when the doctor has to listen to her heart or check her ears. She cries. I have to take her back to the doctor because they are going to do some blood work on her to test her for allergies. I think she may be allergic to peanuts and milk. I’ve given her peanut butter on a few occasions and each time she has broken out on her face so I stopped giving it to her. When Leah was first born, the doctor had a suspicion she may be lactose intolerant. She wouldn’t keep regular formula down so they switched her to soy. She has been on soy ever since. We’ve attempted to give her milk, but she wants no part of it. We’ve tried skim milk, Vitamin D milk, and soy milk. She won’t drink it.  We’ve given her cheese and yogurt and she eats it right up. So at least the tests will tell us for sure if she is allergic to either of them. She also has a mild case of eczema. I need to get her some new bath wash soap and new lotion. Otherwise, she is all good.

Well, I’m down 4 pounds! I’ve been eating much better. I've been skipping my daily cookie at lunch and have eliminated the random snacking. We’ve started going on walks every night after dinner and I am slowly trying to get back into the gym routine. Rob and I have not gone out to eat in 12 days! This is a record for us, considering we use to go 2-3 times a week. I hope I can keep this up. My goal is to lose at least 20 lbs.

Last night I did the Chase Corporate Challenge (which is a 5K in the city). My company sponsors it every year and it is probably the 5^th time I have participated. It reminded me how out of shape I am. I am super sore today. I haven’t done a 5K in two years. The weather was horrible and it was freezing cold. Although I didn’t “run” the entire route, we did have a good walk/jog rhythm. My boss Randy and coworker Ashley kept me going. I probably would have walked much more than I did, but they stuck with me. I’m sure they could have run the whole thing. Overall, we probably ran at least 2 of the miles. After the race, we had a tent with tons of food and drinks. I managed to stay away from the cheeseburgers and desserts and settled on a chicken breast and salad. I did treat myself to a few beers….after all, I did just do 3.5 miles.  My real “cheat’ day will have to be on Sunday, Rob and I are going to the Cubs game. You can’t go to the Cub’s game without enjoying a hotdog and a few beers!

On a sadder note, during the Chase Corporate Challenge, we just passed the 3 mile marker and saw a man lying on the ground with a few people around him. He was receiving medical attention and they were performing pretty intense CPR on him. It was a pretty scary sight. I read an article online today that he died. It made me feel awful. Did he have a wife? Children? He probably went to work that day and carried on as normal having no idea it would be his last day alive. It is just another reminder that life is too short.....

Leah....mommy said NO!!!

This phrase seemed to be the theme of the night! I found myself saying it multiple times. It seems that everytime I turn around Leah is getting into something or putting her little nose where it doesn't belong. Usually she is such a good little girl, but tonight she is a handful.  I came home from work and began to make dinner. I made Leah a mini-cheeseburger and veggies. I put her food on the tray of her highchair. I turned my back for one second and she had managed to throw every last bite of food on the floor. As the final carrot was in mid-air, I said "Leah....mommy said NO!" At this point it was too late and the damage was done. Between climbing on the fireplace, playing with Sushi's dog food and pulling all of the condiments out of the refridgerator it has been quite a night.

She can't make up her mind if she is happy or crabby. She'll be carrying on laughing and playing one minute and then crying the next. Geez no one told me that a year old could have such mood swings! We went for a walk after dinner to get some fresh air. At first it started out a bit rocky as Leah only wanted to walk. She wanted no part of the stroller. She chilled out eventually and enjoyed being outside. As I am typing this now I just turned around to find her sucking on the "heel" of my high heels. "Leah.....mommy said NO! That is gross!" Ahh - is it time for bed yet?

Happy Leah



Crabby Leah

Holy Cow (literally)......

This week, I was cleaning and I stumbled across 2 old digital cameras in our den closet. I haven’t used these cameras in ages. I checked and the memory chip was still inside. I decided to upload them to my computer. I had no idea what was even on these cameras. To my surprise I found pictures from 2006 until about the 2009 timeframe. At first, it was quite fun. It’s always nice to look back at pictures that you haven’t seen in quite awhile. I found pictures from when Rob and I first started dating, pictures of our amazing vacations, pictures of my family and so much more! The more I was looking at the pictures, the more I felt a slight despair coming on. Looking at myself in these pictures blatantly reminded me that I used to be somewhat “skinny.” That is a word that is no longer part of my vocabulary.  I found pictures from 2007 and I was wearing a bikini! A fricken bikini. Oh lord. I would never even consider wearing one in my current state. I have no desire to even put a “regular” bathing suit on this summer. Ugh!

What happened to me? Well having a baby certainly didn’t help my case. I know I can’t blame this entirely on my peanut, but it was a contributing factor (it has to be, right?)! Some women just seem to bounce back amazingly and look better even before they had their baby. I am just not one of those amazing women. I guess now that Leah is 15 months old, I can’t keep using the excuse “I just had a baby.” During my pregnancy with my precious little Leah, I gained 70 lbs! Holy cow! Most of it was water weight that I couldn’t control. (I had all sorts of high blood pressure issues. I was huge as a house and swollen to the max). Forty pounds fell off right after I had Leah and then in the next coming months I lost another 10 lbs. It is these darn 20+ lbs that are still lingering around.  My little girl was worth every single pound but it is time to part ways!

I know losing weight is not rocket science. You need to eat right and exercise. Looking back, Rob and I used to go to the gym 4-5 times a week. We would do more than just cardio. We would spend at least 45 minutes working on arms or legs or abs after we ran the treadmill or elliptical. At the time, I actually liked going to the gym. Now I dread the gym. Actually, I just dread “going” to the gym. It seems that once I am there, I am okay. By the time I get home from work, and make dinner it is almost 6:30/7:00 and I lose my motivation. I want to spend time with my baby – after all, I’ve been away from her all day. I will have to suck it up and make going to the gym part of my routine (or at least getting some sort of activity into my day). I have a closet full of clothes that don’t fit my after baby body. I would love to be able to get back into some of them.

Rob and I also need to change our eating habits. We LOVE to go out to eat and grab some drinks and that is part of our (my) downfall. We’ll usually go out once during the week and sometimes once or twice on the weekends. Not only will it help our waistline, but our pocketbooks too. We agreed to try and cut way back. We’ll still go out if we have a commitment like “girls dinner” or a work event. We won’t deprive ourselves completely, but try to make better choices when we do go out. No more appetizers! Small changes will hopefully go a long way.

I am not doing this posting to whine to everyone how unhappy I am with my weight, but I need to get it out there so I can begin to hold myself accountable. I need to face the facts and do something about it! So my luck, I’ll probably lose weight just in time to gain it all back when I get pregnant with my next baby. Ah – at least we can try to put a foundation in place to change our habits and lifestyle.

Weekend Wrap-up

What a busy weekend! It seems like it ends as quick as it starts! Friday was pretty low key. We ran to the mall after work. I needed to find a dress for Allison’s wedding this coming weekend. Saturday, we ran some errands during the day and then had a couple’s dinner at night. My dad agreed to watch Leah for us. (As a side note – if anyone has any babysitters they can recommend, please let me know. I hate always having to rely on family)! Anyways, my dad was supposed to be at our house at 5:45 pm, but there was a gas leak at one of the gas stations on Weber Road. This leak closed down the entire road and just wreaked havoc on traffic. It took my dad over an hour to get to our house (which usually it only takes about 15 minutes). He didn’t get there until about 6:30 pm. He felt bad for being late, but there was nothing he could do. We had to run out the door as soon as he got there because our dinner reservations were at 7:00. We were meeting at Tango in downtown Naperville for tapas. We were a bit late – it took us longer to there since we had to re-route our trip to get there (since Weber was closed) and then parking in downtown Naperville is a joke! Once we got there and settled, dinner was so much fun. There was a group of about 16 of us and it was great to see everyone. Since we are a bit older now and most of us have kids, it is definitely more difficult for us all to get together. After dinner, we continued the evening with a few drinks. It was nice to get out. We didn’t want to stay out too late because I didn’t want to keep my dad at our house too long. It was his first time being responsible for her night time routine (i.e. getting her jammies on, giving Leah her last bottle and actually putting her to bed). He did a great job and we didn’t get any phone calls while we were out!

Sunday night we went to the Rialto Square Theater in Joliet to watch our niece’s dance recital. It was quite a production. The place was packed. As we sat down and looked at the program we noticed Emma’s dance was fourth to last! There were 29 dances before she would take the stage. Wow. We had Leah with us and we weren’t sure if she would make it through! I brought lots of snacks, juice and toys. Leah did pretty well. She did get antsy at times. She wanted me to hold her, she wanted her daddy to hold her but then she’d want me to hold her. Then there were times she didn’t want either of us to hold her – she wanted DOWN! Luckily we were able to contain her in the small area. The times that Leah did focus and pay attention, she seemed to get into it. She clapped her hands as she watched the pretty little girls on stage in their bright flashy costumes. She even followed some of their movements and danced in our laps. It was pretty sweet and made me excited for when she is old enough to be in dance classes. Emma’s routine finally came up and boy, did she do a great job! She was on point and didn’t miss a beat. I am so proud of her.

Monday rolls around entirely too quickly! On a high note for Monday, our little peanut is 15 months old today! Where does the time go?!

Working Mom Blues

Sunday night Leah started acting a bit “off.” She was clingy, crabby and just not herself. I felt her forehead and she was burning up. I took her temp and she was at 103. I monitored it throughout the night and her fever wasn’t budging. When the morning came, she was still running a high temp so I decided to keep her home for the day and I stayed home from work. Her fever finally broke in the early afternoon but she was still clingy and not eating much. Nothing was making her happy. She also developed a nasty cough. Finally on Wednesday, my daycare called me at work and told me she had thrown up. I knew it definitely was time to get her into the doctor.

I called the doctor hoping I could get her an appointment after work. Turns out the doctor was only going to be in the office until 4:15. (Ugh - these hours are definitely not conducive to working parents). I took the last appointment at 4:10 pm and began to stress on how I was going to get her there because there was no way I could leave work. I was just out on Monday.  I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Leah needed to get into the doctor, but my day was busy with back-to-back meetings. Rob was in Milwaukee for the day for work and unable to help this time. In a last minute bind, I called my Dad. As much as I hated to ask, maybe he could take her to the doctor for me. Luckily, he dropped what he was doing and was able to take Leah. I know he was a bit nervous because he never did this before. He didn’t know where my doctor’s office was located. I had to fax (yes….fax) him directions to the office and write out a detailed report of Leah’s symptoms so he could give it to the doctor. Luckily everything went off without a hitch.  It turns out my poor baby girl had her first ear infection. The doctor wrote her a prescription for an antibiotic and they were on their way. (I know my dad loved taking her and loved feeling “needed” so that was a good thing)!

In a weird way, this small ordeal made me sad and feel guilty. I should be the one comforting my daughter and taking her to the doctor when she is sick. Being a full-time working mom can sometimes make it challenging. My boss is great and gives me a lot of flexibility, but there are times when I have deadlines to meet or priorities that I can’t step away from. Sometimes it is difficult to juggle working full-time and being a full-time mom, balancing home and career. There is just never enough time! I know I am not alone and millions of other mommies do it every day but sometimes I get the working mom blues.

I can’t count how many times I’ve wished I could be a stay home mom. Sometimes I feel like I am missing out on how quickly my daughter is growing up. My time with her is limited. She goes to bed so early that I usually only get to spend two hours with her before it is time to put her down. In the morning, our routine is so rushed so we can get out the door on time. I would love to be with my daughter all day and be a part of her day-to-day routine. My mom was always a stay home mom. I hate that I can’t do some of the things that stay home mom’s get to do (i.e. sign her up for daytime activities or arrange play dates with my girlfriends, etc as just a few examples). I can imagine that it will only get worse once we decide to expand our family with another baby. Also the older Leah gets the more she’ll be involved in dance, sports and other activities. I get the mommy guilt and oh how it burns! I’ll just need to learn to juggle my priorities and be there for the things that are most important to me. Sometimes I am secretly (well not so secret anymore) jealous of all of my girlfriends that get to be stay at home moms, or even my friends that are teachers that get the whole summer with their babies. By the time I get home from work and get dinner on the table, I am exhausted!  I am not complaining (entirely). When I am down or get the working mom blues, I have to remember why I work. I work so I can give Leah a great future. I work to help provide for my family. I work to challenge myself professionally and add to my personal development. I do have a very rewarding job and actually love what I do. I have worked very hard to be where I am and am proud of my accomplishments throughout the years.

I do cherish all of the time I do spend with my family and try to make the most of it! Life is so busy. The weekends are so busy. There are never enough hours in the day. After working an exhausting week, doing the laundry and housework, running errands, grocery shopping and spending time with family and friends, I am wiped out! It is important to take a step back and breathe and appreciate everything in life. One year ago this week, I returned to work from my maternity leave! Geez – where has a year gone? I don’t even remember my maternity leave – it seems so long ago! My time home with Leah just flew by. There are just times in life I feel a little blue but always have to remember to look at the big picture. I love my family and wouldn’t trade anything for the world. I just need to make sure there is balance and take everything one day at a time.

Lori

Cookies for Breakfast

What a great weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day. The weather was definitely better than expected. We kicked the weekend off with having Jeff, Sarah, my sweet niece Annabelle and my Dad over on Saturday for a late lunch. The girls (Leah and Annabelle) still don’t really “play” together yet. They tend to ignore each other. It’s strange because they are both in daycare and play with other kids all of the time. Leah would get jealous when Annabelle was playing with her toys, especially her cozy coupe car. They are only 6 weeks apart, so I know as they get older they will become the best of friends.

Sunday, was “my” day. Rob was responsible for taking care of Leah (changing all of the diapers, feeding her, chasing after her, etc). I’ve decided that Rob will no longer be in charge of feeding her. I came downstairs to see what he had given her for breakfast and it was not a pretty sight!

Daddy and Leah did a good job of taking care of me for Mother’s Day! I awoke to beautiful flowers, a cookie cake (which Leah was having for breakfast) and a gift certificate for a mani/pedi, which is very much needed (not sure if any of you have ever gotten a no chip manicure. I did and it destroyed my nails! I will never get one again).  Also, not your typical Mother’s Day gift, but Rob had my oil changed in my car. Of all of the things I dislike, getting my oil changed has to top the list. It is time consuming, you sit there and you spend money. I know it has to be done, but I could think of a lot more things of how I would rather spend my money! I always put it off until it is desperately needed. Luckily my husband knows exactly how much I hate going to get this done and did it for me. It made my day that I don’t have to go do it!

We didn’t have any plans for the day. It was so beautiful outside so we decided to hit the zoo (after we went to the cemetery to see my mom). We became members this year and can take advantage of going any time we want. It was a perfect day for the zoo – not too cold and not too hot. I felt like a bad mom though - I saw lots of parents lathering sunscreen on their children and it didn't even cross my mind to bring some with us! Sure enough, Leah has some color on her cheeks. We ran into Ashley (my good friend and coworker) and her family. Ashley’s sweet daughter Vaughan is 3 months older than Leah. We tried to get a picture of the girls together, but neither wanted any part of it. Maybe next time. After the zoo, we stopped at the mall to do some shopping and then grabbed an early Mother’s Day dinner. All in all, it was a wonderful Mother’s Day! As I mentioned before, it was bittersweet but I had a great time with my family!

Leah is my biggest blessing and I am privelaged that she calls me "Mommy." Being her mom is such a joy! I am thankful for everyone that is a part of her life. 

Lori

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom

Tomorrow will be a bittersweet day. For me personally, it will be my second Mother’s Day to celebrate being a mom but also my first Mother’s Day without my own mom here.

I truly miss her everyday and think of her all of the time. It still makes me very sad that my mom is not here, but I think I did a lot of upfront grieving since she had been drastically deteriorating from the mom I once knew. I cried for her all of the time. The year before she passed was very difficult for her and hard on all of us, especially my Dad. It got to the point where she didn’t know my name anymore and couldn’t do anything for herself. It’s not fair. She didn’t deserve any of it. She used to be so vibrant and full of life. I could talk to her about anything and she was always supportive of everything I wanted to do. Why did this have to happen to her? I would give anything to have my mom here and be back to how she was. In the end, she did pass peacefully and without pain – to a better place where she's once again the wonderful spirit that she was before her problems began.

Of course I am VERY thankful that my mom was able to attend my wedding and that she could come to the hospital when Leah was born but I still I feel like I got jipped. She couldn’t help me plan the most important day of my life - my wedding. I didn’t have a mom that could help me find the perfect wedding dress (luckily my fabulous sister-in-law was able to fill in). My mom wasn’t able to teach me how to be a mom to my new baby when I had no idea what I was doing. I had to figure it out all on my own. For years, she had always talked that those were the things she was looking forward to the most – me getting married and me having children. She always said that if I had a baby she would watch him/her while I worked. My mom would have given anything to see her grandchildren grow up. I think the part that makes me the most upset is that Leah never truly got to know her grandmother. My mom never had the opportunity to be a grandma to her or do any of the things that a grandma is supposed to do with their granddaughter. Leah will never be spoiled by her grandma. All little girls deserve to have a grandma – to bake cookies with, have sleepovers and share their special time. Leah will never know (firsthand) what a great person my mom was. It is my job to keep my mom’s memory alive and share all of the great stories of her with Leah (and any future children I may have). Whenever we talk about “Grandma” we point to heaven and tell Leah that’s where her grandma is.

Here is a short story that I may have shared with a few of you. On St. Patrick’s Day, Leah and I went to the cemetery to visit my mom. Leah sat quietly in her car seat as we drove down the narrow road of the cemetery to my mom’s grave. As soon as we got out of the car and started the short walk to my mom’s gravesite, Leah started smiling and arching her back excitedly. She then began waving frantically at the ground. Leah does not typically wave at the ground so it was kind of bizarre. It was actually the first time I had taken her to my mom’s grave. (She has always sat in the car when we’ve gone in the past). I am truly convinced that Leah saw her Grandma and was very excited to see her. At the time, it made me cry because it was such a strange reaction from her. Leah looked at me and wiped my tears and gave me a hug. It was pretty darn sweet.

I want to wish my mom a Happy Mother’s Day and tell her that she is truly missed. On this day think about your own mom and appreciate her for everything she is! I hope everyone can enjoy their time with their families!
Lori

28 and Counting......

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Hopefully you got to enjoy some festivities today! At work we had a Tamale lunch with all of the mexican fixings - minus the margaritas! Several coworkers were going out for Cinco de Mayo Happy Hour, but I decided to take a pass since I've been a little under the weather. Plus, I have no voice!  I was just planning on coming home and putting on my pj's, but once I got home Rob and my Dad wanted to go grab something to eat. We ended up at Front Street Cantina for dinner and a few cervazas.

I hate to sound like an annoying gushing parent, but Leah continues to amaze us every single day. I know all parents children are their pride and joy, but I am in such awe of Leah and seriously get emotional when I think about how much I love her! Even on the worst of days, one smile from her can turn the whole day around. She is such a sweet, lovable little girl with a big personality. I love the age and stage she is in now. She is exploring everything and eager to do things on her own.

This week we took inventory of Leah’s vocabulary. We wrote down all of her words so I could put it in her “baby box.” (I have way too much stuff to just have a baby book that I had to create a large box for all of her milestone memorabilia). I always want to remember what she did and when she did it. After totaling up the list, we were at 28 words! She says everything from Sushi (our dog's name) to juice to balloon to poop. She always attempts to repeat a word we say to her. I love how many new words she picks up. Maybe I will be singing a different tune when she starts to use those words to talk back!  

The other day Leah was walking around the house singing. It was so stinking cute that I had to pull out the video camera. After I finished recording her, I went down memory lane and watched some of the older videos that were still on the camera. I got a little teary eyed seeing what a tiny peanut she used to be. She has gotten so big and isn’t my little baby anymore. Here is a quick clip that brought back some nostalgia. She was probably only 4 months old. This video makes me laugh because she is such a tiny girl with a big set of lungs! She was testing out her pipes.

Lori

Here we go!!

I created this blog site several months ago but never added a single post! I just never got around to it. I already follow so many blogs and wondered how I would have time to keep up my own! I am a busy full time working mom and wife and sometimes it is a struggle to juggle it all! However, after talking to my girlfriend Patti yesterday, she inspired me to get blogging! I am new to this so it may take me awhile to figure out how to make my site look better, add pictures, change fonts, etc. Those of you that are old pro-bloggers, your advice will be welcomed and I may reach out to you for help! Which BTW - when I was looking for a family picture to post, I realized we don't have one single "good" family picture. I'll need to work on that! It is a personal goal to try to update my blog a couple times a week (for sure at least once a week). Life seems to go so fast and days tend to fly by but I really hope this gives me an opportunity to share what is new with my family and just life in general. Leah, our sweet one year old daughter brings so much happiness to us and we love to share her accomplishments and all of the funny things she does.  Please check in from time to time to follow up on The Held Family Happenings!

Lori