2013 has been an amazing year for our family. While Leah spent the entire Winter in her wonderful cast, we still had an amazing time. We bought our first house in January and moved in in the middle of February. It took us a while to get into the swing of shoveling a drive way, taking out garbage cans and enjoying the extra space we now have. Leah's favorite part has been the basement where she can ride her bike, make a mess and just play and be a kid. Allie's favorite part is the fenced in backyard where she can run freely. Leah also loves the backyard where we had a garden and we were even given a huge playground for her by our cousins. Thanks Aunt Kelly, (other) Uncle Brian, Adam and Aaron!
Early Spring took us on a family trip to Florida with the Siebert's to see Great Grandpa Siebert. How much fun that was! I loved that Leah got to go the beach and to Disney, and she asks about it all the time. She had fun, and we couldn't have been happier to see Grandpa! We miss him so much! Leah is asking frequently when we can go back to Florida. To be honest, dear, we would love to go back as soon as possible too!!! Especially with all this snow!!
May was also eventful for our family. Uncle Brian got married and we love weddings. Leah loves wedding so much-she's a dancing kind of girl :) Love her! Weddings always seem like a big production, so even though this was the only big thing we had in May, it still seemed so busy!
In June, we took a trip to Great America with the Siebert's and Leah had the time of her life. She is a roller coaster girl for sure, which Ryan loves! Not my thing, but hey, at least he'll have somebody to ride the rides with in the future.
July and August were calm months. We spent a lot of time playing outside together as a family. We would do bubbles, care for our garden and play with outside paints. Leah's in love with art!!
In August we also found out that we are expecting a little sibling for Leah. We couldn't be more excited, and Leah is ready to tackle to roll of Big Sister. Baby number 2 will be here in early April:)
For Halloween we did our usually trip to the Kasper's house to have dinner and go trick or treating. They always have the BEST decorations up and make the best Halloween food. Leah loves going to their place for this holiday, and we do too. I dread the day she decides she wants to go trick or treating with friends instead of go to the Kasper's. Hopefully that's not for a long time :) Leah dressed up as Princess Tiana from the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. Grandma Kim made her outfit and she absolutely loved it.
November took us to one of our favorite places-Minnesota! We planned to head that way for a family wedding, but we went up a few days early to spend some time at Ikea and Mall of America. I knew Leah would love the rides and the mall, and we thought we'd take her to the American Girl store, since she's really into those dolls right now. We had so much fun. I personally love Ikea, but Leah didn't seem too impressed. I thought there would be more displays for her age that she could see and play with, but most of their kid sections were under construction. Oh well.
She had a blast at the mall, of course. She loved the rides-and she only went on the easy, tame rides to mommy didn't freak out-I really hate roller coasters. Hate them. But she had fun on the little rides, much to my surprise.
Then, we went to have lunch at American Girl. We bought Leah and new Bitty Baby doll for Christmas there so she was in love with the doll. The baby sat at our table in a high chair and had some play food too. It was so sweet. After lunch, she was exhausted, so we headed to the hotel and Leah took a short nap in the car.
We also had our ultra sound at the end of November, and saw that we are having a very healthy, although shy, baby. The little one had its legs crossed so we couldn't see a gender, but have decided that we are fine not knowing. The baby also struggled to give us good profile pictures, as it was covering its face for most of the appointment. We are excited to find out the gender in April!
I have been feeling pretty good with this pregnancy, which isn't how it was when I was pregnant with Leah. I was so sick, and I felt horrible for most of the 40 weeks. She was just a tough one I guess. This little one has been easy going as I've had next to no morning sickness, and only a few migraines. I'm almost to the 3rd trimester, so hopefully the feel good continues!
We have an exciting 2013, and I think 2014 is going to be even more exciting!
Happy Holidays to everybody!!
Love,
Amy
