School Photos

I thought these actually turned out pretty cute, so I bought the cd.  It was a great price too. Bonus!

The Newest Leahy Princess

Her name is Princess Ginger.  She was born March 8, 2012; and she joined our family about 2 weeks ago.

She's sweet, gentile, and has a cute little broken meow that you can hardly hear it's so quiet.  She likes to climb and loves playing with the girls.  And so far Princess M hasn't had an allergic reaction to her.  Hurrah!!!

She's even gentile with Little Mouse!  I think she's a keeper.

April Candids

Ok so maybe some of these look a little posed.  I don't know what the deal is with the rolled up magazine.

Aren't they beautiful?!

Easter 2012

Easter was great this year.  Everyone got the perfect little toy in their baskets.

Little mouse made a beautiful Easter Princess.

The girls had fun making Easter eggs with sticker faces this year.  I'm affraid the stickers didn't survive the egg hunt very well; this picture is post-hunt, unfortunately.

She Did It!

Shortly after returning from Utah, Little Mouse decided that it was time.  All fear gone, she just got up and started walking.  She was an instant pro, hardly ever falling.

I have a great video, but I'm having trouble getting it to upload.  I'll try to get it fixed soon.

Way to go Little Mouse!!!

It's April!

Happy April Fool's Day!

From the Leahy Fridge...

Alex didn't even notice when he opened up the fridge for the breakfast.  He just grabbed the half and half and shut it again.  I had to send him back again before he saw it.  Banana Girl noticed right away.  Her exclamation, "Why are there things on the food?" brought Princess M over to investigate.  Everyone got a good laugh out of it.

Snow Day in Utah

Since Grandma and Grandpa and Great-Grandma weren't able to stay very long, I decided on the fly to take a week off from work and follow them back to Utah with the girls in tow.  My Aunt Karen was getting married the following week, and we decided to show up for the family gathering.  We caravaned with my parents, and Princess M got to ride a lot of the trip in their car.  My brother and his family live close by too, and since my girls just love playing with their kids, we ended up staying at their home most of the time.

To the girls' delight, it snowed soon after arriving.  We don't get much snow in Arizona, so this was quite the novelty.  They borrowed a little snow gear and spent a good part of the day out rolling snowmen, making snow angels, and throwing snowballs.  It was fun to watch!

I couldn't believe how much snow they were lifting.  Those snow men parts get heavy!

Banana Girl with her Snow man.

Princess M with her Snowman (she actually pretty much made both, but she generously gave one to Banana Girl.)

Little Mouse didn't so much want to be outside, she just really didn't like it when I went outside to take pictures.  Poor Boodle!

All in all, the time in Utah flew by.  The wedding was a blast, getting to see so many of my aunts, uncles, and cousins that I haven't seen in just forever.  It's wonderful to see how everyone is growing and changing, and having kids, etc.  And it was great for my girls (and especially the youngest) to spend some time with their grandparents and cousins, and get to know them all over again.

Little Mouse's First Birthday!

Also, while Mom, Dad, & Grandma were here; Little Mouse and I had our birthdays!  Mine's not a big deal, but Little Mouse's first birthday is!  

 We all enjoyed some yummy frostingless cake and sang to the birthday girl.

 I didn't have any normal candles, just a "7". So I just broke the top off to make a "1".

 Four Generations in this photo!  Gotta love it.

Cameraman and his little 1 year old. 

The first year baby cake isn't nearly so messy when there's no icing.  Bummer!

Like I did for the other girls, I'd like to take a moment to record some observations on Little Mouse on this, her 1st birthday.  At this point in her life, these are her favorites:

Favorite Color: Whatever crayon is in her hand (and thus in her mouth) at the time.

Favorite Toy: Whatever toy Banana Girl is currently playing with; or whatever electric device that Mommy or Daddy have forgotten and left within her reach.

Favorite Foods: Ice cream, chocolate, cream of wheat with blueberries, Doritos, & Momma's milk.

Favorite Movies: She really likes watching the slideshow of pictures of herself and her sisters.

Favorite Music: Momma's lullabies.

Favorite TV show: none

Favorite Activities: getting into the cupboards and drawers and pulling everything out; pulling all the movie boxes off of the shelf; playing with her sisters; getting thrown in the air by Daddy; getting tickled by Mommy;   Being held by anyone; taking a bath; and climbing, climbing, climbing (esp on the dishwasher door and the computer table.)

Favorite Clothes: her birthday suit.
What I Want to Be When I Grow Up: Bigger.

Little Mouse is a big people person.  She is happiest in life when being held; most preferably with Mom, otherwise Dad is great, and if neither of us are available then by anyone else who will pick her up.  She also loves to be anywhere her sisters are; especially if they will pay attention to her and try to make her laugh.  Outside the family though, she may take a little warming up, as she's a little shy around strangers.

She's also got a very healthy appetite.  Ever since she discovered that there was more than just milk in the world, she's been wanting to try anything she can get her hands on.  (That includes crayons, marker tips, and erasers.)  And she likes most everything.  I just caught her in the fridge, gnawing on a piece of kale.  If you want to break the ice and get in her good graces, just feed her something.  

Being a third child though, I'm afraid that too often she doesn't get responded to as soon as she would like, and as a result has developed quite the harpy screech that she uses whenever she's not getting enough attention.  We've been trying to train her out of it; and it's not as much as it used to be; but I'll sure be glad when that phase is over! 

She's learned how to really cover some ground when crawling, and at the time of her birthday she is experimenting a little with walking.  I should say, she can do it just fine, but she won't; not without something to hold on to.  She's just being super careful, and doesn't want to fall.  But you could tell that the balance and ability to do it were there all the same.  I wonder if that carefulness is going to carry over into other aspects of her life as well.  She just doesn't seem to be as adventurous as I remember her older sisters being.  

Overall, Little mouse is a pure joy to have in our family.  We all just adore her, and you can tell that she loves us all right back.  It's so fun watching her grow and learn and discover this new world around her.  

Happy Birthday Little Mouse!!! I love you very very much!!!

Dancing Princesses

So I've gotten really far behind and have been too overwhelmed to catch up on everything until now.  I'm determined to record everything before the end of the day.  I'll break it up over a couple posts so that it's easier to read though.

First off, about 3 weeks ago, my Mom, Dad, and Grandma came to visit us for just a couple days.  School was on spring break, so the girls were able to have their grandparents attention all day long every day.  They were usually found dressed up as princesses, like this:

Or as ballerinas, like this.  This one time was while Alex and I were out on a date, and apparently, Mom, Dad, & Grandma were treated to a ballet show from the girls the ENTIRE time we were gone.  They went through an entire CD of Christmas music as accompaniment to their impromptu ballet show.  

All I can say is that Grandparents must be very patient angels!