Dear Great Grandpa Johnson,

Our dear Great Grandpa Johnson was such a great man, lived a great life and left a great legacy!  I am very honored that I was so fortunate to spend as much time with him as I did, thanks to my wonderful husband. 

We're very excited that Leah had some quality time with him...to see his face light up when he saw her was truly an amazing feeling.  She brought him such joy! 

We honored him this fall in a ceremony at Arbor Lake, probably his most favorite place in the whole world to spend his time.  We spread his ashes next to Great Grandma Johnson by the lakefront at their house. 

It was a wonderful weekend with family and at the most peaceful place on earth.

Halloween - a Pooh of a good time!

As you can imagine, we had to go trick or treating with Leah this year, however we aren't really very friendly with our neighbors...So, we went over to Grammie (Joan) and Grandpa (Erwin)'s neighborhood, which is very family friendly and of course, we know a handful of their neighbors better than we know our own...

Leah had such a great time, I think she thought she was just getting to go visit all these people, so of course she LOVED seeing all the houses.  We helped Leah walk up to the door and would knock on the door, when they answered, Leah would just start walking in their house.  Every time.  It was a riot!  And of course everyone thought she was the cutest thing...

What a great Halloween...I'm afraid next year, we'll all have to dress up when we go trick or treating...better get those costumes ready!

Photoshoots, miscellany

Lots of play time and time for a photo-op!

Another Great Grandparent visit

Leah is such a lucky girl to have so many Great Grandparents!  Grandma and Grandpa Swander came to Minnesota to visit us at the end of the Fall.  We had a fantastic time, even though it was a quick trip. 

We took them on a walk around Lake Harriet and to eat at Convention Grill (burgers and shakes...that's it).  Grandma tried reading to Leah, but at that time, she was really just more interested in exploring rather than sitting and reading...

NYC, baby!

The week prior to Sept 11th in NYC - what a trip.  We spent the weekend in the city for (Godmom) Bree's 30th Birthday and saw as much of the city as possible with a 6 month old. 

Of course, we had to take part in the Missoni for Target festivities...

Had lunch at Bryant Park Grill...during Fashion week...

Leah already had the list of places she wanted to go see...so we started at the top, here at Bryant Park.

Well, then it was a lot to take in, so we all took a nap...

Back out and about...Next stop - TIMES SQUARE!

And then the Shake Shack with Auntie Bree...

Back to the hotel for some 'down' time...

Whew...what a whirlwind trip!  Love NYC!

With all the tension of 9/11 surrounding the city, and Fashion week in full swing, it was such a wild weekend to be in NY.  The city is just amazing and not to mention, seeing it up close and personal is the way to do it.  I think we walked at least 6 miles in a day (since traffic was ridiculous) it was actually faster to walk than to jump in a cab. 

Disney world, here we come!!!  (Just kiding...not quite ready for that...)

The Great Grandparents

A few weeks ago, Leah had the pleasure of meeting her Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Swander.  They drove to Minneapolis for the weekend and spent some great quality time with the girl.  She had a blast hanging out by Lake Harriet with them and playing with the new toys they brought for her.  



They also brought another present from the other Great-Grandma, GG Peg as she is now known.  See that beautiful butterfly painting?  Yep, that's the present!  We are so thrilled with it and it's the perfect addition to Leah's room.

New House? Looks like it...

Well, not exactly a new house...although it feels like it already!  Check out our newest project - painting the house!  What a difference a new color makes. 

The pink is officially gone!  We no longer have 'that' house on the block...

 

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER (coming soon...)

New house numbers and a little more love on the landscaping and we'll be very happy with our humble abode. 

Happy 5 month Birthday, Leah!





She's growing so freakin' fast!!

A month full of change...

We had a great holiday weekend at the Cabin with family.  Lots of food, fun, and water sports, not to mention Cabin Olympics - and yes, my team won the overall championship, winning the 'Over the Bar' competition to send everyone to a tie breaker game of bags (aka cornhole) and my 4 points and Kate's 5 points put us securely ahead of everyone else!  It was a great weekend :)  Art and Leah had some fun too...

The annual Family picture time...

Playing and drooling in the house...

Giggling with Grandma and Auntie Kate...

And of course, a couple weeks ago, we started on 'solid' food at the Dr's advice.  Leah doesn't really like the rice cereal, but it's getting better.  Loves carrots, sweet potatoes and bananas so far.  And whew, those diapers are gross!

She's changing so much, even after one weekend, we notice a difference.  She's giggling, laughing once, and very close to sitting on her own, not to mention rolling over.  I can't believe it's been 4 months.  Every single day she does something new...I wonder where she learned to blow spit bubbles...

Playing on the Floor

Leah has reached the stage where she's no longer safe to leave alone on the floor to play.  She's started rolling and of course, talking up a storm!  It's not really anything we can understand, although I swear she repeated 'Good Morning' to me the other morning. 

Here's her latest position of choice when we're playing on the floor.

What a stinker...

Cedar Key with the Pfallers

The P is silent...

We met Joe and Rebecca down in Cedar Key, FL for our 3rd (and final) trip in a row.  The weather was fantastic - hot and humid (YESSSS!) and the location was idyllic.  With Joe and Rebecca, I quickly learned that they are the adventurous types - going out and looking for nature!  I didn't really realize how much of a wuss I am when it comes to 'nature', but I really don't like looking for it, much less touching it, or getting up close and personal.  When Joe almost stopped the car to pick up a snake, I thought he was joking around.  Then he said 'oh, it's just a black racer.  If it was a diamond back, we would've stopped'... And done what with it exactly? 

Needless to say, the soon-to-be Mr and Mrs Pfaller (or FrickenPfaller as they've coined themselves) are doing amazing work for our earth and it's creatures.  Joe is a turtle lover and has named one of his 'girls' after our very own Leah Mae.  Apparently this turtle visits his beach every year and he's been lucky enough to witness her eggs hatch for the past few years now.

Leah Mae, the turtle

And our Leah Mae on the deck at the beach house

And sweet Bubba in the background.



This may be the only time you see this... (yes, that's a Florida Gator's football t-shirt)  Very open minded of me, don't you think?  Thanks, Joe.

We visited Manatee Springs and Leah wasn't so sure about this one...I think the water might have been a little too cold.  And yes, 72 degree water is a little too cold for Mom too.

She loved the warm ocean water when we visited Snake Island, Seahorse Island, and North Island all in the same boat trip! 

And this is exactly what I needed too.

All in all, a great month of vacations...now I just need a vacation to recover from my vacation!

Charlotte with the Grandparents!

Our first flight with Leah was to Charlotte NC to visit Grandma and Grandpa Swander (Leah's grandparents...not mine...).  She was awesome on the flight.  We scheduled it seriously early in the morning with the hopes that she could sleep most of the flight.  She didn't exactly sleep, but didn't cry or squirm hardly at all!  It was awesome for me and Art - no one gave us the 'look' and all we got were 'she's so cute!' 

We landed in 90 degrees and sunny - immediately ran out to the pool.  What else do you do in 90 degrees?  So...Leah's first swim lesson:

Floating on her back...

And kicking her feet...

And attempting to blow bubbles, but really just swallowing water...

First Road trip to Chicago

We have started on our summer filled with travel and the first road trip to Chicago was a huge success!  We visited Uncle Walt, Aunt Kate, Uncle Brad and Emily for the first time and got to spend some great quality time roaming the streets of Lincoln Park with them.  There were a ton of firsts - first car ride over 30 min, first time in the big city, first time at the Zoo, first party (although she slept through most of it), first time to wear sunscreen...

We met the family for lunch in downtown Chicago and enjoyed the beautiful Chicago weather!  AND got to open presents...Thanks for the fantastic hat!

We look forward to our next visit to Chi-town!