motivated

True story: While grocery shopping the other evening, the following conversation ensued.

Leigh: I really want to make an awesome dessert. Like a pie or something.
Robert: (Silence)
Leigh: What kind of pie should I make? Apple? Cherry? (Two of my personal favorites)
Robert: BANANA CREAM!
Leigh: (Silence)

Ps. I, Leigh, hate bananas. I hate banana bread, I hate banana popsicles, I hate banana taffy; I hate banana anything.
And the following is what I spent the morning making:

Banana cream pie. Imagine that.
On top of making banana cream pie as a surprise for Robert, I found myself motivated enough to make a surprise picnic dinner. The dock at Tempe Town Lake. Perfect.

Like I said, perfect...

summertime

Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green
Do you swim in a pool, to keep yourself cool,
or swing in a tree up high? Is that what you do? So do I (every day)!
(PS, yes I give our child a fohawk. It is the only thing I can do with his invisible hair)

shower

So the last two weeks have been consumed with baby shower preparations (actually, my mind has been focused on nothing else for the past six months). The day has come and gone. My hard work has definitely paid off; everyone who attended thought the shower was a hit. My bestest best best friend, Jodi, flew in from Texas on Thursday evening. Friday was spent baking the last of the goodies. Saturday was the BIG day. Presents were opened, games were played, food was eaten. Merriment at its finest! Jodi is back home in Texas, and I feel that I am now without purpose (with the exception of raising my child). It is strange to think that the next time I will see her, she will have a brand new baby boy. Good luck in August, my best friend!
The hand-made invitation and the scrumptious foodYes, all these adorably delicious goodies are edible!The sweet treats! (I over-do it sometimes but she is worth it!)I made Jodi cute burp cloths with a nursing cover and baby sling to match!Leigh - 20.5 weeks Jodi - 26.5 weeks

home run weekend

First and foremost, my husband is adorable (thanks for the last post, Babes)!
My Mother's Day started on Friday when Robert brought home some beautiful lilies. He TOTALLY caught me off guard; he was bringing home pepperoni for our pizza and told me to go make sure the pepperoni would be okay. I went into the kitchen and found the lilies waiting for me on the counter. Robert has a few surprises up his sleeve every now and then!

Saturday morning was his family's Mother's Day breakfast. It was quite enjoyable! After the breakfast and a few errands, Baby and I went swimming at my parents' house. Despite the extreme heat we've been having, the pool was slightly chilly! At home, Robert told me he accidentally left his phone in the car and asked if I would run and get it for him. When I got to the car, it took me a second to realize that the phone WASN'T in the car, but my Mother's Day gift WAS. He bought me an AWESOME 2 in 1 paper cutter for all my crafts and such.

Saturday afternoon, the three of us went to a BBQ with Robert's old coworkers, followed by the Diamondbacks game. To save on gas and frustration, our group took the light rail to the game. I have to say, my potential jury duty came in handy; both Robert and I were able to ride the light rail for free because of our jury duty transportation passes! It was Joel's first time to a ball game. Every time the crowd cheered, he thought it was for him! He made it all the way until the 8th inning before passing out. Despite what the title states, the D-backs DID NOT hit a home run. In fact, they threw several runs away. Though the game left us sad, we enjoyed ourselves!


Sunday morning, Robert made me breakfast-in-bed. He brought up the laptop and showed me his post on the blog.
My Mother's Day weekend was perfect. I hope that all you mothers (and mothers-to-be) thoroughly enjoyed YOUR Mother's Day as well!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello everyone. This is actually Robert writing. I always have a hard time trying to decide what to do for holidays, especially with cards. Having grown up in a family that enjoys humor, I have always gone with the humorous cards. Since having been married to Leigh, I have seen the time and effort that she puts into making cards. Since I am not creative, I decided that I will write her a card through the blog.



For those of you that do not know, Leigh is one of the most amazing mothers that I know. She does so much to take care of our baby. It is even harder with me being in school, but she manages quite well. For those of you that have not seen how she is with our baby, it is amazing.



Leigh is such a loving person. I have never been one to show emotions very well, but she has been able to help me by showing me openly that love that she has for me. I am grateful for this because our children will hopefully be able to see this and know that their parents truly love each other.



Leigh is also a very intelligent person. She worked hard to make it through college (the last half of a semester with a baby!) and managed to graduate with the highest honors available. She always tries to strive for perfection. While it might be a difficult task at times, she does not want anything less.



I could go on longer, but it is late. Leigh, I love you so much! Happy Mother's Day, Babes!

what's it going to be?

Well, the day has arrived. At 3pm this afternoon, Robert and I found out what Baby #2 will be. Baby #2 has nearly an identical profile as Joel had; my children will look alike (which I am happy about, because Joel is freakin' cute)! Baby #2 has 10 fingers (the toes were hidden), a healthy heart, brain, and stomach. Baby #2 moves around just as much as Joel did; punches were thrown in retaliation to the tummy transductor. Want to know what Baby #2 is?

click HERE(The color of the onesie on the teddy represents Baby #2)

haves

Robert has a new position; he is the manager of a branch in the credit union.
Joel has a new tooth; he now has two bottom teeth.
I have my computer back; I have gotten so use to Robert's laptop in these last two months that I am no longer comfortable using mine.

The only other blog-worthy event that has recently occurred is that I had the "opportunity" to use the Heimlich maneuver on my child. Not a fun experience. Let's just say we'll wait a couple more months before trying solid bananas again (and so you don't think I'm an incompetent mother, I cut them length-wise into thin "sticks", not width-wise into disks). Experiences like this make me grateful both of my parents are in the medical field; I felt "prepared".

It may be a week and a half until I blog again (unless something of GREAT WORTH occurs before then). That will be when we find out if I am having a boy or a girl... Most have been guessing girl, but I would almost prefer a boy. That way Joel would have a brother and best friend (like Robert did).

Gangsta baby!

many firsts

Easter was a day of many firsts for our family. It started with our first leak. At about midnight on Easter morn', I decided to take a relaxing bath (no, I didn't wake up in the middle of the night; we had yet to get to bed). Robert was finishing up down stairs before coming up to bed when I heard an "Oh no!". Getting nervous that something had happened to one of my precious desserts for Easter, I yelled down and asked what was wrong. Silence. I continued to question Robert until he simply said "we have a leak". A leak? Like under the sink? The toilet? Where? Silence. "Robert, WHERE is the leak?". "The ceiling". What?! Water was apparently dripping from one of our accent lights over the couch. Water + Electricity = Trouble. Lucky for me, my hubby thinks fast. He moved the couch as soon as he noticed the leak and placed a bucket beneath. The leak slowed to a stop. At this point, I am still in the tub, too terrified to drain the tub to get out. Friends in our ward had a leak from the neighbors above turn into a gaping hole in the ceiling. All I can think is the same thing is going to happen to us. Robert yells up for me to drain the tub. Hesitantly, I pull the plug. Five seconds later, I push it back in. "Is it leaking now?". "Keep draining it!". I pulled the plug again. After five more seconds, I push it back in. "Anything?". "Leigh, you're so silly! Drain the tub". Grr... I pulled the plug and got out. Nothing. No more leaking, even after playing with the upstairs toilet and sinks. Strange. Leaving the bucket, we go to bed. (This part of the story will be finished later...)
As Robert is waking up Joel Easter morning, he notices a tooth. Joel's FIRST tooth. Not only can you feel the tooth, you can now see it too! My baby has an ity bitty tooth! One step closer to eating solids.
Easter dinner with my family was as good as it gets (I have a very interesting family). The food was absolutely delicious. Everyone loved my desserts! I made lemon poppy seed cake and carrot cake cup cakes (and now have breakfast for the next several days). When the feast was over, my husband, cousin, and I enjoyed the competition of an Easter egg hunt. This is no ordinary Easter egg hunt; our hunt gets violent. There are large quantities of money hidden among the eggs. No crappy chocolate. I know I may be 23 (and pregnant), but I will participate in Easter egg hunts until the day I die if I have anything to say about it! In all, I found 57 eggs, beating Robert's 54... but just under my cousin's 60. Dang it.
Once the hunt was over and the family had departed, my mom took Joel swimming. Joel's FIRST swim! He wasn't very happy once he got in the water; Robert and I think that was due to me not being in the water with him (he has gotten VERY clingy). Even with the baby floatie right near me, he still screamed. I will have to toughen up to get in the water soon; it is still a bit cold for me...
When Joel had dried off, taken a good nap, and finished his early-evening bottle, we went over to Robert's parents' house to visit. Unfortunately, they had just finished dinner, so we missed out on a second Easter dinner. Bummer. We did, however, get to enjoy their company for a while before coming home.
On our ride home, Robert and I started talking about what to do about the leak. Robert suggested that I call Dallan (my "sister's" husband and a friend) to see what he could do. I was hesitant about it; he deals with the plumbing of water distillers. I didn't think he would be able to help us. Since it was only 8pm, I figured I would go ahead and try to call him then. I lucked out! He was right down the street and told us he would come right over to check it out. After one glance at the tub upstairs, he identified the problem and showed Robert how to fix it. Presto! Leak = gone! Ha ha! The tub is ancient; it is made out of steel. The overflow drain had become rusted and corroded; so when I filled the tub a tad too high, the extra water leaked out the corroded holes rather than the drain. A little plumber's putty fixed it right away. Ahh...
The final FIRST was when we fed Joel right before bed. Robert moved Joel's hands to where they supported the bottle... and he held it alone! He usually tries to hold it by the nipple as he eats, but this time he held his bottle up (and has been doing so again today)! This gives me more freedom. Finally. I think we shall work on crawling being his next FIRST...

The damage...
Our Family
My desserts
Easter egg hunt!
Joel with his three Easter baskets
Joel would rather snuggle than swim
In the garden
Eating Daddy's new tie
Pictures in his Easter outfit
View more of our Easter pictures HERE