Vegas!

Late November Carissa and I decided we were ready to leave our babies for a weekend and we booked a trip to Vegas. It came a lot quicker than I expected and of course Leah hadn't been sleeping well lately so I was a little hesitant sending her to my parents for four nights but ready or not, it was time for vacation! We were also joined by Hudson & Kimball and had a great time. We stayed at the Mirage, ate some great food and unfortunately lost just about every time we gambled! 

                                  

Brian & I in our 'fancy' clothes :)

                

Carissa & I in front of the Belliago fountains

Dinner at the very nice steakhouse in the Mirage. Andy's good friend from high school/college is a chef there so we got VIP treatment! The food was excellent and we got to sample things I would have never ordered on my own. 

Breakfast at Hash Hash, a new must on our annual (hopefully :) ) Vegas trip. The portions are HUGE and the food was so good. And it was even reasonably priced!!

It was a great trip and I'm so glad we went as it was great for Brian and I, but I was very ready to get back home to our little peanut come Monday! Thanks so much to my parents for watching her. I know Hannah & Leah kept them very busy all weekend - not to mention Leah didn't let my mom sleep! Grandparents are the best. 

                                       

Good thing she's so cute, easily forgiven :)

Christmas in Minneapolis - Salwey side

Since my Grandma moved back to North Dakota last fall we all really wanted to find time to get together for the holidays to see her. Fortunately, January 4th ended up working out for almost everyone so we all met in Minneapolis for the day. It was great seeing all my aunts and uncle Jay, even though they really just want to see Leah these days :). My cousin Nicole made the trip so we got to meet her 3 week old beautiful baby girl Ava as well. 

Grandma Marilyn with all her great grandkids 

Hanging out with cousin Jarred

Hanging out with the Schenks and Sophies 

Grandma Deaner and her two babies

And my favorite - Luke is no longer defenseless to Leah's grabbing! 

 

Omaha - Sara's Wedding

The Friday after Christmas we headed to Omaha for Sara Cain's wedding. All the siblings were able to take the day off so we could check into the hotel early, let the kiddos enjoy the water park and eat out for dinner. Leah did not like the water, hopefully it was just because it was a little chilly! The rest of the kids had a blast going down the slide over and over again though! 

Brian trying to ease her into the spray

Big yawn!

Sara's wedding was beautiful and of course she looked gorgeous. It was great seeing all the Stallman side family that made the trip up as well. 

My wonderful sister-in-laws

Best family picture I could get!

Christmas Time

This year Christmas landed on a Wednesday which means we had to cram all of our activities into two days. Monday night we headed back to Shueyville for the Salwey side Christmas on Christmas Eve. It was a lot of fun watching Henry & Hannah tear through all their presents. Leah & Luke weren't quite as excited :) Leah was of course spoiled and got several new toys, a Minnie chair and a pillow pet. 

Christmas Eve Morning

All the grandkids after church

Salwey family picture

Bowzer didn't cooperate for our pic :)

Then Wednesday we headed over for round two of great food and of course, more presents. Leah got more toys, some books and a new sound machine since the iPad is no longer safe in her crib with her rolling around everywhere. She even helped tear open some of her presents which was so fun to watch!

The Meyers girls

She loves her new Sophie from Grandma!

Leah's second tooth poked through on Christmas but unfortunately she still isn't sleeping through the night. She seems to have one really bad night a week and then only up one or two times the other nights. We are resorting to tylonel and orajel before bed each night and that seems to help. We miss our good sleeper!

6 months old!

Leah is six months old today and always wants to be on the move. She is very stable in sitting up in her own and seems to think that she is ready to crawl/walk/run with how much she is always moving and wanting to be on the go! And yesterday, I felt her first tooth popping through! It is her bottom right so I am sure the left is on its way. Hopefully this explains why she hasn't been sleeping thru the night anymore and that there is an end in sight! It feels like she is doing something new everyday, just now she cried after being asleep for an hour but as I checked the monitor to see her, she had found the pacifier and plugged herself and was back asleep. First time for that! Such a big girl :)

Nothing is safe anymore with this crazy girl, I turn away for 30 seconds and all the diapers were out of the pack - and they were not within arms reach!

So big!

Another new thing this week is that she sticks her tongue out and pants when she gets excited. It's pretty funny, she must have learned it from Bowz :). You can sort of see her doing it here. 

We don't have out 6 month check until Jan 9th but I will post her stats then. Hoping to be out of the teen percentile ranges!

Sitting without Support and Christmas Photo Shoot

Leah has been pretty sturdy sitting in our laps for a while now so on December 5th Bri and I decided to test her sitting alone and she passed!!

Look at this big girl. 

She is still a little unsteady but getting much better. This week at daycare there were several notes about her sitting with support and last night we played for half an hour, only toppling over a couple times :)

Look at all my toys!

Last weekend we were back at home for the boys to hunt (unfortunately, Brian didn't even see a deer to shoot at) and my Mom had scheduled us a Christmas photo shot for the grand kids and the pictures turned out great!

Luke & Leah

I feel like Leah doesn't look like normal Leah here but the background is pretty!

All four kiddos!

 

Happy (First) Thanksgiving!

This year is flying by and we have much to be thankful for. We are blessed with great family and friends and a beautiful & healthy little girl that has filled our lives with so much joy. Brian started a new job this week at Mid American Energy that he is excited about and I have a great job as well. Life is good! :)

This last week was full of family time! Wednesday night we head to Iowa City after work for a 'friendsgiving' hosted by the Stallmans. Then on Thursday we had the Meyers Thanksgiving in Fairfax which was full of great food as always and we managed to sneak some family pictures in as well.

Meyers Cousins

The whole Meyers clan

Look at that adorable little girl :)

Thursday was my Mom's birthday as well so we headed over to my parents that night to hang out with them and of course to go Black Friday shopping in the morning - even Leah came with! Since stores now open on Thursday the crowds weren't bad at all Friday morning which was nice. Then Saturday we traveled back home for a night of family games and the Salwey Thanksgiving at the Schmidts' on Sunday.

Turkey butts

Leah had an off week between being sick(ish) and getting out of her routine, combined with being away from home so she decided that she didn't want to take naps (unless she was being held) or sleep much at night from Tuesday-Saturday.  After two nights back at home she is getting better (slept from 9-5 last night) so hopefully after being back at daycare today she will have a normal night tonight.

Getting ready for Christmas!