Leah loves everything princess, so of course we had to have a princess themed birthday party. She loved her Princess Birthday cake so much that she carried the "Barbie" from the cake around and to bed for several days. Leah requested a "pink" cake and "pink" ice cream for her birthday, but I also made chocolate cupcakes for the rest of us.
It was a gorgeous day so we played games out on the lawn. Abi made this adorable castle bean bag game.
All of the cousins enjoyed pulling the ribbon on the princess crown pinata. Leah was so excited about it that she kept it in her room for a few days after.
Mommy and Daddy bought her a princess scooter. I picked it up about a week before her birthday thinking that she would forget but she kept begging me and everyone to get out her "Princess Scooter" so that she could ride. That scooter was quickly forgotten however when she opened this tent from Uncle Eric. We could not get her out. She loves to set it up outside or in and "hide". She pulls all of her babies and pillows inside and plays. Abi bought her sidewalk chalk, bubbles and princess wands. Tal bought her bubbles and an outside ball. Other family members spoiled her with princess dress-up, princess books and a whole bag of clothes from Nana Meek. Leah really enjoyed her dinner out at Arctic Circle with Nana and Papa Fife. I'm sure the slide was her favorite. But she couldn't find any dress-up shoes because as she told Nana Fife, they were "too dangerous."
Even though she is 3 now and getting so big, she is still my little baby. At least for a week or too. This little picture definitely reminds me of that. And now:
Ten Things I Love About Leah
- Leah is soooo expressive. Some of her favorite expressions are "That was so Wicked" or "Yahoo!!!" Her eyebrows furl when angry and her nose crinkles up. She sobs and wails when upset. She tilts her head when inquisitive. But mostly she smiles a broad happy smile.
- She has such an imagination. She wears her princess clothes nearly every day - to the store, to church, and around the house. The Sunday after her birthday she went to Nursery adorned with crown and wand. She loves to play pretend and copy story lines from movies. Currently, she is Simba and I am Nala from "The Lion King."
- She is fiercely independent. She has to put her shirt on. She has to pick which bathroom to wash her hands in. She has to climb in and out of the van by herself. She refuses to take naps any more. Instead she takes "rests" on the couch with a movie where she falls asleep about every other day. She has to say all of the prayers in our family "by herself."
- She is "thankful for Sponge Bob." She prays it at every prayer. But she is also thankful for food and our family. Leah loves Netflix. The little toot can use the remote to pick her favorite shows and go to the next episode. She gets into ruts where she will want all Sponge Bob, or Pink Panther or Backyardigans.
- Leah loves her babies. She is always carrying an assortment of little dolls, or Barbies, play spoons, princess wands or any other little thing that catches her fancy. These little treasures go everywhere with us as well. I have a purse full of treasures that she drops and I rescue for the inevitable. The inevitable being that she takes a pile of treasures to bed with her an heaven help you if you can't find the one fairy or Strawberry Shortcake that she is enamored with right then.
- Leah loves books. Currently she has several that she likes to read over and over. We read 2 every night but she also pulls them out and tries to get people to read to her at other times. Several of her books she has memorized and likes to "read" to me. A few of these are "Dust Bunnies", "There's a Wocket in My Pocket" and "Fox on a Box." She also has her own "little scriptures" a small hymnal of mine that she reads during scripture reading. She loves when it is her turn to repeat/ read a scripture.
- Leah loves to be outside. She loves walks around the block or greenbelt, jumping on the trampoline, playing in her sand box and picking my flowers for me. She helped me plant my garden and always wants to be out weeding, watering and tromping around with me.
- Leah loves Nursery. Not sacrament meeting so much but it is a rare day that we have to go out in the hall now. But she loves nursery. She loves to play with the other kids, snacks, bubbles, and especially her teacher. Heaven bless those Nursery Leaders.
- She loves to sing. Every night daddy or I sing her 2 or 3 or 4 songs. She always wants one more. She loves to sing at family home evening. And she loves to sing any other time she can coax me into Wise Man or Popcorn Popping. She also loves I Am A Child of God, I'm so Glad When Daddy Comes Home, and Do as I'm Doing. Leah sings little snippets from her princess movies like Ariel's Ah Ah Ah scale. We can tell if she's not very tired because she will lie in her bed and sing and sing at night.
- Leah loves her family. She is delighted that Abi and Tal are now home for the summer. She adores Abi and follows her everywhere getting into all of her things. She loves to wrestle and jump on the trampoline with Talmage. She shouts "Daddy, Daddy" when Kris comes home at night. She likes to hug the baby in my belly and says "Ooh she is pushing hard." Leah gives the sweetest squeezer hugs and little kisses.
Evangeline Meek, our littlest angel, debuted on Friday June 17th, 2011 at 9:11 am. She weighed 7 lb 7 oz and was 20.5 inches long. Her arrival was long anticipated by our family and we are so grateful to have her finally here. Mom, Donalee, had been experiencing false labor off and on for about 2 weeks. Finally true labor kicked in early Friday morning about 2:00 am. By 5:00 am we had alerted Nana Fife who rushed over so we could head to the hospital. Labor progressed very quickly from 5 cm to 8 cm and mom was very glad to get an epidural. Thankfully things slowed down a little and mom could get a rest before pushing. Having an epidural let Eva labor down the birth canal more controlled and it only took 3-4 sets of contractions of pushing before our little one was born. She was a little bruised and beat up but the most beautiful baby in the world to us.
Kris and I had been debating names for months and months. We had a list but our two favorites were Evangeline, after one of his great-grandmothers I found doing family history, and Eliza, he also has a grandmother named Elizabeth. He was very gracious and let me make the final decision. It still took about an hour but I felt like she looked more like an Evangeline than an Eliza.
Evangeline, or Eva, is truly a little angel. She took to nursing right away and eats like a champ. She has the sweetest disposition and rarely cries or fusses. A week old now she has surpassed her birth weight and weighs 7 lb 9.5 oz. She has had a touch of jaundice which necessitated every other day trips to the doctor for bilirubin checks but no light therapy. She has become an excellent sleeper. At 4 days of age she scared me when I woke up at 3 am feeling very full with a still peacefully sleeping baby. She has kept up the 3-4 hour stretches of sleep at night since then. (I'm still crossing my fingers.) She loves to be held and look around but she is also content to sit in her bouncy chair while awake as long as she is in the middle of the action. She is starting to enjoy her nightly lotion rub downs. Every member of our family is sooooo in love with her and loves to hold and cuddle her. Right now Kris is asleep in the rocker with a sleeping Eva on his chest. Leah loves to look at and tickle her feet as well as give her sweet kisses on the forehead. Both Abi and Talmage are great holders which allows mom to get a shower, nap or do a few dishes. We are so grateful to have Evangeline safely here and love our newest addition so much.
