Leah's Birthday Luau

We threw a luau birthday party for Leah on Saturday...although let's face it, the party was really for us! We had a fun floral top and bonnet picked out for her, but my cousin, Sherry, sent up a pink grass skirt for her which was ADORABLE! So she totally looked the part. We are so grateful to have had such a great turnout of friends and family to help us celebrate this special milestone. It was a really great time, and as usual, it went by too quickly. Leah seemed to have a good time, although there were times when she seemed a bit overwhelmed. At one point it seemed like babies were appearing out of thin air....Brent and Becky's son Drew, Chris and Tracy's daughter Katherine, Bobby and Gail's grandson Dante, Vince and Adrienne's daughter Sofia, Mike and Cheryl's son Zach..and the birthday girl (who I can assure you did not appear out of thin air!)

Leah with her cake...

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Leah with Sofia...

in her grass skirt...

Becky and I with Drew and Leah (that flower was obnoxiously half the size of my head!)

Gail and Dante....I think the bib is misleading! He is NOT a little man :) He's a big boy (8 pounds heavier and two months younger than Leah)!




Leah and Katherine cooling down on a HOT day...both did well until each independently decided to faceplant and ingest some water!

I tried to capture the diaper...it was seriously water-logged.

Janice with Leah

Dad (aka Pop-Pop) with my Aunt Sharon

Aunt Sharon, Kate and Al

The birthday girl in her shirt and crown...



Leah wasn't the only one who racked out that night!

I don't know whose great idea it was to put on music at the end of the night and start dancing, but...we did. John and I dancing to Neil Diamond. Aunt Sharon and Karen dancing to...something. I put on Travis Tritt's "Trouble", and Aunt Sharon and I tried to teach Karen "Slappin' Leather" (the only line dance I know...besides the "Electric Slide" of course). She tried to teach me Boot Scootin' Boogie (much to everyone's frustration..."one more time" (20 times later!) Fortunately no one had the foresight to capture that on camera!

A perfectly candid shot :)

Showing off her new "high five" skills for Al...

Year in Review

Guess who's 1??

It's so hard to believe that at 4:29 PM one year ago, we heard our precious Leah's voice for the first time and saw her beautiful face. We didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, but God chose to bless us with a girl...and bless us He did! We are so grateful!

Eric and I sat down (with some wine of course) and went through all of the pictures we took of Leah this year. We wanted to pick out our favorite (solo, non-professional) picture from each month...it was so hard to pick just one! But we did. It's neat to see her progression. These are our faves...enjoy!

month 1:

month 2:


month 3:

month 4:


month 5:


month 6:


month 7:

month 8:

month 9:

month 10:

month 11:

month 12:

The Hanleys Visit

Karen and John had a safe flight on Tuesday and got in early...they even had to wait on us! It was a fun reunion with lots of smiles and oohs and aahs and laughter. We've had a great time and Leah has fully enjoyed the extra attention and love. She's even doled out a couple hugs :)

A fun bumper sticker we saw at the airport...I love it!




John has a gift to get this little girl laughing!

Leah playing with her singing puppy dog..."head, shoulders, knees and toes..."

Farmer's and Fisher's Market

We went to the Farmer's and Fisher's Market in Destin today. We didn't know too much about it other than having seen a flyer giving us the date and time, but we expected to see lots of fresh produce and fish and other artsy stuff (jewelry, homemade foods, etc) for sale. There were only about ten booths, only one of which was a produce stand...very overpriced by the way! It was nice to get out and about, and we were there early enough that it wasn't too hot out yet. I think if they can get some more booths (and more variety), it will be really great. I'm glad they're at least starting up something like this! One booth had a bubble blower, and Leah was fascinated with it. We met up with our friend Tracy (who just moved here from NC) and her daughter, Katherine. We had a late breakfast at Another Broken Egg Cafe, and the food was fabulous. Both babies did really well despite both being overdo for a nap!

Showing off her walking skills while waiting for brunch. (You probably can't read the detail on her shirt, but it says, "Daddy's dreamy...and so am I") I love it... I have a sneaking feeling Eric does too!

Leah and Katherine playing.

We gave her on ear of corn to "play" with. She liked corn to begin with, but having the whole ear seemed to make her very happy!

Our little angel sprawled out in her crib.