I often see pictures of Leah's cousins while they are sleeping and think, "How do they do that?" Leah can be a light sleeper, and so it's almost unfathomable to click a camera in her room while she's trying to catch some Zzzz's. But, I was able to sneak these two photos while she was napping a few weeks ago. And no remarks on her lack of chubbiness, thank you. We feed her as much as we possibly can, but she just keeps getting longer instead of fatter. (As displayed by her 9 month appointment where she weighed in at 14lbs and 10 oz, and was 26.5" long-- 5th % for weight and 25% for height.)

She looks all sorts of long, doesn't she?

Poor kid has Daddy's rib cage...

And this picture's just cute... because she's got pigtails, of course!

The Fam comes to town, part II

This is as close as Leah could get to Uncle Jas. I think she touched his shoe.

Lovin' on Granmom.

One of the "requirements" of the visit was to see alligators, so we took everyone to Brazos Bend State Park and, well, saw some alligators. And then us ladies hunt out in the grass while the men tended to the grill.

Oh, look at the smile on Jared's face! He's thrilled to be putting all of his new-fangled gadgets on his favorite gun! (Ok, so it's my favorite too. Shh!! Don't tell!)

The Fam comes to town!

Soooo, a month ago (ack! Did it really take me that long to post this?) we had some family come to town. Jared's parents and his brother Jason and sister-in-law Erica came to visit. They were an incredibly easy group of visitors to host and we had an awesome time! We're glad we got to spend some time with everyone and the week went by extremely quickly, as always.

Leah and Grandad doing an early morning reading of That's Not My Puppy. A classic. Leah obviously knows who her puppies are. In fact, she's even started saying dog... or maybe it's duck... or maybe it's just da. :)

We did the typical crawfish boil so Jas and Erica could experience the deliciousness of the "mud bugs". (And no, Jared's mom did not drink all these beers. She is not a lush.)

We had lots of fun playing croquet in the yard and would have played some more but we got a bit rained out and the court (field?) got flooded.

Leah likes to show her enthusiam during bath time. She's gotten to the point where she can be anywhere in the house and when she hears the tub start to fill, she will quickly crawl over and try to climb in. (Notice all the "waves" in the photo from her splashing.) On another water-related note, Leah has discovered the pet water bowl, which leads to a wet baby, wet floor, and wet kitties who are trying to eat next to the bowl. On a cat-related note, Leah has also discovered cat food, which we are constantly fishing out of her mouth. On a fishing-out-of-her-mouth-related note, she has discovered the house plants, which she also tries to eat, so they have been relocated to higher grounds. Ok, I'm done now.

Swingin'

You mean you're supposed to put your legs through those leg-holes? Now that's just silly.

After church on Easter morning, we went to my parents' house to spend the rest of the day with them and Jess, who was down for the long weekend. We arrived to a whole bunch of goodies-- Easter baskets for Leah and us, as well as an amazing dinner, courtesy of my momma.


Jared is helping Leah model her Easter dress.


Leah is making her snorty "fierce face" in her brand-new walker (an Easter gift from Oma and Opa). She was too small for it and her little legs didn't reach the floor, so we had to make it Leah-sized and fix it for her. She's not a fan just yet, but she'll come around once she figures out she can make it move on her own.

Strolling to the park on Daddy's shoulders after Easter dinner.

Bounce bounce bouncin'

Getting some hugs from Aunt Jess.

Easter celebrations

So I know it's a little late, but Happy Easter everyone! I'll just look at my late posting as another opportunity for all of us to remember Easter and its importance again. See? Now I feel better. :)

And here are pictures of the munchkin.

Leah finds her first Easter basket, complete with rubber ducky, stuffed blue duck (which I am trying unsuccessfully to make her sleeping buddy), and some wiffle balls. Though she likes the wiffle balls, they were a poor choice by me because her little fingers keep getting stuck in those perfectly sized holes.

Here she is, complete with sleepy eyes and bed-head. Mornings can be so confusing.

Well, would you look at that-- it's been a month! In that time span we've gone up to Dallas for our friends' wedding, celebrated Easter, and had some visitors. In an effort to prevent you from going into picture overload, I'll start you off nice and slow.
Here's a picture of Jared and I at Sam and Kevin's wedding in Dallas. Look at us, all dolled up and sans baby. (Leah had her first sleepover at Oma and Opa's house, and she behaved perfectly!) (Side note-- After spending this past week in the field for work, I am no longer this ridiculously pale. Thank goodness!)