The week in review

The week started off with a visit from Phillip, Joe, and their mom. Phillip was Tadd's "little brother" in the Big Brother program. They met when Phillip was 5 and now he is 15! We were so excited to see him and his family. We can't believe that he is almost as tall as Tadd now.
Phillip with Selah.

Tiff, Tadd, Joe (Phillip's brother), Phillip, Selah, Jill, and Shawne (Phillip's mom)

On Christmas Eve we had some special visitors. My brother Brian's 3 boys came to see us. We were hoping for the whole family, but my newest niece Katie was in the hospital over Christmas (born a week earlier and having a few complications) and they were unable to come. We tried to keep our spirits high. We really missed having the rest of the fam here, but we had fun nonetheless with all the boys. Christmas Eve was spent entertaining the boys and then mom and dad came over to eat.
Quinton, Andrew, and Brett showing off their lincoln log fort they made with Tadd...

Selah had fun with her cousins and stopped to read a book :)

Then we made turtles together...mmm mmm good!

And in order to make things fun for the kids we each got to make our own personal pizza for dinner.

My mother whom I love with all my heart!

That evening we let Selah open her gifts and stockings from us and the boys got to open one gift each.

Selah and her cheesy face with Grandpa and Grandma L. They gave her this bookshelf for Christmas for her bedroom.

She also got a tunnel.

Taking time to snuggle with Grandpa. Many of my fondest memories are crawling up into my dad's lap and I love seeing that Selah can do it now too!

Selah opens a present with daddy. Not quite sure what to think, but enjoying it!

Then on Christmas Day after church we got to go to Mom and Dad Gerst's. We ate loads of food and opened presents. It was the first year that we didn't have extended family there too, but Mom made it extra special for the rest of us. We really missed seeing all Tadd's cousins, but hopefully we can get together soon!

All the girls stopping for a picture.

Selah got a kitchen from both grandparents for Christmas and she loves it! Can you say SPOILED!

Here she is! She definately was getting worn out by all the festivities but didn't want to miss a minute of it. She is enjoying two of her favorite things - hiding/crawling under things, and snuggling with soft things :)

Selah and her cousins Brooks and Addy!

Then on Saturday we got together with Adam and Kristen and my mom and dad. We had an awesome breakfast and then opened presents together. That night we got together with all of my Leman cousins for another meal!

Selah with mom and dad.

Mom L made a softcover scrapbook for Selah that had our trip to Kansas City last summer. It was great getting a scrapbook as a gift that I didn't have to make :)

Overall, it was an amazing week filled with family, love, and many memories. We are truly a blessed family. My heart overflows with gratitude that I have for all that God has given me. An amazing husband and my love Selah. We had food galore and presents all over! It still seems different not to have Laynie here to share in the joy and I have to confess it was a little rough at times, but as we were putting up her ornaments and remembering her first Christmas, I know that she is at peace enjoying Jesus's birthday party in heaven! To all of you that have lost loved ones and feel that piece missing, we pray that God's love will fill your hearts with peace and you will take joy in remembering the good memories you shared with your loved ones! Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year!

Puff balls and presents

Well for a little fun I decided to put Selah's hair into little puff balls (as we call it). Her hair is getting quite long lately but still remains soft and super curly. If you wet it down it gets into tight curls and then the longer she goes without getting it wet again it loosens up and the curls get bigger. So... it didn't take but a few minutes and Selah could have cared less what I was doing and voilah! Puff balls :)

The side view

The top view

Then Selah got a big box of special gifts in the mail from "T" and family :) We were so excited with her that we let her open them a little early. She wasn't quite for sure how to unwrap them at first or what to do, but towards the end was getting the hang of it. The first gift was a puppy who sang Merry Christmas to the tune of "Shout". She loves it! You push the hand and its ears go up and down and it dances. She joins right in. She is not quite sure when he first starts singing (she runs away actually), but then after a few seconds she is dancing right along. Totally a Selah gift :)

Her reaction to all her gifts..."oooooo"

Here she is showing off her special bracelet she got to daddy

Giving the puppy a kiss

Thanks for all the fun gifts "T" and family! We all love them. I don't have a picture, but she also got shoes, an ornament, and a bunch of CD's which she loves. We had to play the CD's right away so Selah could hear them! She is enjoying each and everyone one. Thanks again!

Catching up...

Here is a little catching up from last week...

Selah in her Christmas dress.

We got to take Selah to see the Festival of Lights in Peoria. She loved it! She was continually ooo'ing at all the lights. Grandma and Grandpa Gerst and Aunt Tiff came along with us.

We got to spend a weekend with great friends, Tim and Jessie, in Chicago. We went to Woodfield Mall and IKEA on Friday and then spent the night downtown that night and did Michigan Ave. the next day. It was really neat to see Chicago during Christmas time. A first for me! We did leave Selah at home, but she had a fun time with Grandpa and Grandma Leman :)

The guys really did well shopping, but we had to keep moving them along towards the end :)

Well, it has now snowed. I have to confess I haven't updated in a long time because it seems like the week starts off not being busy and then time gets filled. We are almost done with the Christmas shopping, the decorations are up, stockings are stuffed, presents are wrapped. I love this time of year and looking forward to spending time with family. It is amazing to me how sentimental we get at this time of year. Maybe it is the music playing or the weather outside... Either way, it makes me think of our angel in heaven wondering what she is doing. Missing those who have passed, grandparents... We are a such a blessed family though! I hope that you each can enjoy every minute of this Christmas season and not get stressed by the "things" you have to do, but take an extra minute to do something for someone who doesn't have what you do, hug your child a bit longer than usual, and take in the joy of remembering our Saviour was born on Christmas day. What hope was born that day! And how much different our lives would be had Jesus not been born in that little manger. We love all of you and hope you have a very Merry CHRISTmas!!


Selah loves her kitty cat. We are a relaxed house around here. So any given day if daddy is working out of the house and Selah and I are home, you just might find all of us in our jammies till noon :) Selah takes her kitty cat to bed with her now. She never cared about falling asleep much with a blanket or carrying a blanket around, but her kitty cat...that is another thing.

A Kleenex Moment

Selah continues to amaze me every day. She is in to everything...yes everything. Her newest adventure: going into the bathroom and unrolling the toilet paper and sticking her hands in the toilet. I know, never thought MY child would be caught doing that, but now we are there. We keep all the doors closed to try to contain her "adventures". She also is into feeding her dolls now. She learned the "sipping noise" from her Aunt Trista and every since she holds a drink to her baby's mouth while making a slurping noise with her mouth. Too cute!

She also is loving music, which of course makes me happy. She loves listening to CD's and playing her piano. The toddler version she had, she literally played it up to a breaking point, so now she plays mommy's instead. She will be playing in the great room and then all of a sudden just walk up to the piano and "play" a little tune for us. And it is extra special when I actually take the time to sit her on the bench so she can really play! She loves it and so do I. She also loves sitting in my lap while I play and she "dances" which is more like swaying in place once I start.

We are loving all the new discoveries however obnoxious they are. Here is a little video clip of Selah demonstrating how she blows her nose. The sound effects are great, just excuse our voices in the background :)

Saturday Mornings!

Nothing beats a Saturday morning when you don't have anything urgent to do. Of course there are always things that can be done, but nothing that can't wait. This morning is one of those mornings. Nothing beats Selah waking up at 10:30 followed by powdered donuts (I know, but she did have a banana too!) for breakfast in your pj's! So here is to a great Saturday!!

Trick Or Treat!

It has been a long time since I blogged last, at least it seems like it, but it has been kind of relaxed around here lately which has been nice. We are getting into the fall routine with things. Selah went trick or treating on Halloween and she was a bumblebee. She had lots of fun. It was different this year in the fact that when she looked in the mirror she would laugh at herself in her costume, which made it fun! We pretty much just stuck to visiting family and some close friends this year. Not ready to take on the cold since Selah doesn't know the difference yet :) She continues to take more steps and is braver when it comes to walking longer or standing up in the middle of the room.

Our little bumblebee...

Stopping to take a quick picture with her cousins Addy and Brooks

And her newest trick...showing how old she is! (I know this isn't the greatest picture, but since she heads straight for the camera when she sees it, this is all I got!)

Footloose

Well, she took her first steps on Sunday for Grandma L. Thinking back our girl has done a lot of firsts in front of her grandparents first! She started "cooing" for Grandma G first too. We love it either way... Here is a video of her steps soon after we found out she took them. This song is appropriate as it was Sunday night when we saw it!! Hopefully you will get a "kick" out of it!

The toddler years

So Selah is now a toddler! She went to the doctor Tuesday for her 12-month checkup and everything checked out OK. She weighed 22 lb. 2 oz. (65%) and was 30 1/2 inches tall (87%). She is getting taller and thinning out :) Her hair grows longer by the day. Now we could put it in a little ponytail holder if we wanted, but it still is super curly. She still isn't walking although now she stops in place without holding on to anything. She walks around with her ride-on car. She knows how to crawl up the stairs although we don't let her do it often. She is starting to say "mom" more now along with "da da" that she says all the time so that is nice. She knows if you give her a comb to brush her hair. She is on table food and regular milk now and we got rid of all the bottles a while ago...yeah!! I cannot believe she is getting so big. She really is growing up and starting to lose her baby-look. We feel so blessed that she is growing big and healthy!

What a year. Reminiscing... The first time we saw Selah...overwhelming joy, love, and gratitude towards Selah and her birthmother! We love you!

Tanner's Orchard

On Columbus Day, Monday, Selah and I got to go to Tanner's Orchard with Grandma G. and Trista and the kids. It was so cold! But, we did have lots of fun. Selah got to ride on ponies, which she loved. She of course had a fit when she had to get off so luckily there weren't many kids there and we got to take 3 rides :) She also got to feed goats and ride on a barrel ride with Addy.

Arizona

Well, we got back from Arizona last Friday. We were blessed to get to spend the week with our close friends Todd and Nicole Steffen. It was great! Made us realize how much we miss spending time with them hanging out. We also had the privaledge of staying at Nicole's parents' guest home, which was fabulous.

The first look walking into our place...

Our view every morning from the pool...amazing!

Daddy and his girl before church in the morning.

One day we took a drive to Sedona. It was amazing seeing all the red rock. Since it was the first time seeing it for both of us, we soaked in God's beauty around us.

Then the next day we got a visit from my cousin Kelli and her husband Ryan. We loved hanging out with them for the day. Selah obviously was having a grand ole' time :) We made such memories guys - "some like it hot" Mexican resturant...

And the last day Nicole and I took the kiddos (minus Adelayde who was in school) to the Phoenix zoo. They had a great time and it was really nice out that day. It was the first time I really felt Selah was taking in all the animals around her. We got to go through a monkey village where the monkeys were loose in the cage with you :) and Selah had her first carousel ride!


Amelia gets to ride on the camel.

Two peas in a pod...Amelia and Selah, they loved riding in the stroller together.

Cheese!


And thanks to a close family friend Laura W, we got a date night out the last night to The Melting Pot. And if there is ever one in your area, we HIGHLY suggest going there with your close friends. We have never laughed so much in one night. Dinner is 4 courses and all fondue. It was such an experience! Thanks Todd and Nicole for the fun filled week. We definately miss the nice Arizona weather since lately around here it is 40's and rainy! We love you guys!