February

Leo's due date is one month from today.  Several months ago I was really looking forward to the month of February, and now I'm absolutely dreading it.  I kind of wish I could crawl into bed and sleep until March 1.  Of course, these "milestones" will never end.  After this one passes we'll have the anniversary of when we found out I was pregnant, the first time we saw him on ultrasound, and of course his birthdate.  This one seems to cut particularly deep though, knowing that I should have a new baby within the month, but I won't. 

I will probably be a bit under the radar for the month of February.  I might still post here, but I'm going to avoid Facebook and the like for my own benefit.  If you need to reach me you can call, text, or email.  I know I'll be ok, but it will already be hard so I want to avoid anything that might add to that.

100 Days

100 days from now we will honor our baby boy's memory by participating in the annual March for Babies on April 27, 2013.  The money raised through this event will help fund research that could prevent other families from experiencing such a tremendous loss.  Please consider supporting the March of Dimes either by joining Team Leo David and walking with us, donating to our team's efforts, or through your own efforts.

You can find out more by visiting our team page below, or clicking the banner at the right.  We truly appreciate your time and support.

Team Leo David

Have a little girl?

Check out the Isabella series by Jennifer Fosberry.

Isabella received the first book, My Name is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?, as a gift from my aunt and we both loved it.  In the story the little girl imagines she is several prominent women in history such as Sally Ride, Marie Curie, and Rosa Parks.  No pink, frilly princesses to be seen.  

The second book, Isabella: Girl on the Go, came out last year was less impressive for me, but Isabella still requests it often. I'm sure the fact that her name is in the title doesn't hurt.  This one has the main character imagining herself going to famous landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, and Chichen Itza. This story also features the father, whereas the first one featured the mother.

The third book, Isabella: Star of the Story, comes out in April land I've already pre-ordered it on Amazon. This one features Isabella imagining herself as characters from classic children's literature.  I am seriously excited about this one!

I would really recommend checking these books out if you're sick of princesses and would like to read a book that is about more than marrying a handsome prince.  Each of the books also has a reference guide in the back explaining each person or place portrayed in the book.  This section is particularly helpful when he tells you he's never heard of Chichen Itza.

And no, I didn't receive anything for recommending the books.  I just happen to love them and thought you might too.

March for Babies 2013

As some of you know, I have participated in the local March of Dimes chapter's March for Babies in the past. This year Clint and I decided to organize a team for Leo. If you are interested in donating or joining our team feel free to contact me or visit the link below for more information.

Team Leo David

The walk is still a few months away (April 27, 2013), but I am already so excited to do this for our baby boy.

Christmas 2012

This was the first year Isabella really understood holiday traditions.  She was so excited for Christmas morning that she asked to go to bed at 5pm Christmas Eve! We kept her up a little longer and she stayed in bed until 7am.  I was almost positive she'd come running in to wake us up around 4am.  She also shouted out, "I hear jingles! I hear Santa!" before bed. 

Every Christmas Eve we each open a new ornament and new pajamas to wear to bed that night.  I try to choose something for Isabella that commemorates an event or showcases and interest of hers from that year.  If the ornament doesn't already have the year on it somewhere then I write it on the bottom or the back so we can keep track.  My plan is to give her all of these ornaments when she is grown so that she will already have a collection for her own tree. I will buy an ornament for Leo each year as well.  I try not to by too many ornaments that don't have some sort of sentimental meaning, instead I fill in the gaps with more plain bulbs.  Isabella already likes asking me about each ornament, where they're from and what they mean. 

 Isabella's 2012 ornament to commemorate her first theater movie

Leo's ornament

Daddy's ornament.

 Mama's ornament

 Leaving cookies for Santa

Showing off her new pajamas by the tree

Santa came!

 Opening a gift from her great aunt Kris

Presents from Grandpa Harvey

Isabella was very pleased with her gifts.  She loves her LeapPad2, new bike, and princess castle.  She wore her new Cinderella dress all day.  Daddy had a blast playing with his RC helicopter.  Mama is seriously geeked about her new bedding. Nothing says old lady like asking for new bedding for Christmas! Of course, new bedding means we're finally going to be decorating the master bedroom and that is long overdue.  Clint has some new projects coming up, if only I could get him to finish the ones on his current list.  

Lessons from Leo: One

Sometimes you can't "move on."  Sometimes it is ok to simply move forward.

Gingerbread houses

On Sunday we took Isabella to Purdue Memorial Union to see the big Christmas tree and gingerbread house. She LOVED the gingerbread house.  We had to come back to it more than once.  She also loved exploring the Union.  She said she wants to go to school there when she's big. :) Of course, all my photos are blurry. 

 

She was obsessed with the gingerbread dog and cat.

People kept walking in front of my camera while I was trying to take this one.  As if there were no space behind me.

We made our own gingerbread house when we got home.