Potty Training

Uncle Brent got Alexis a potty chair for Christmas!

It may be a little early, but Alexis has really taken an interest in using the big girl potty. She never actually did anything once we put her up there, but I figured it was probably because she was trying to not fall in.

Bill stayed home with the kids Monday and pulled the new shiny potty out of the box, sat her on it, and what do you know... it did the trick!

The one he got her is a 3-in-1 so it can be used on the floor or on the big toilet and is also a step stool. Well, she spent the rest of the day using the step stool, carrying it around the house and climbing up on things.

We've been successful in keeping the potty in the bathroom ever since and she's asked to use it at least a couple times a day. I figure if it helps save a couple diapers here and there for now... I'll take it!

Christmas With Busha & Dzia Dzia

Our thoughts and prayers were with Brent and Chris in Iraq as we celebrated Christmas with the Thesenvitz' on Sunday after Christmas. Chris' fiance, Laura, was able to join us, as well as Carissa's boyfriend, Kris.
Alexis got to play Santa Claus in her pretty red dress and Santa hat. She did very well passing out presents.
Uncle Brent got her (and Noah in the future) a potty training potty chair and she's loving it!
Laura made this beautiful fleece blanket for Noah. It's going to look great in his blue room!
Alexis did pretty well opening presents too... she just needed to take a break here and there from what she was doing and then would get interested in unwrapping them again. In true kid fashion, in many cases, she enjoyed the box or wrapping just as much, if not more, than what was inside.
I wasn't surprised after having Noah when he got a few "Noah's Ark" gifts. And he got a couple more for Christmas: a few ornaments and Mom and Dad found him a puzzle that is an arc with wooden animal. Super cute!

I had to get a picture of the two of them together in their Christmas outfits for Dad and Maria, but Noah wasn't exactly cooperative. Alexis is usually very interested in holding her little brother, and also wasn't interested the slightest bit. Kids!

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Holidays special for our family.

Christmas Weekend Snowstorm

Christmas not only delivered goodies and time with family, it also brought about 20 inches of snow to Sioux Falls.

I worked Monday through Thursday leading up to the storm and was on the assignment desk. The brunt of the storm really hit Christmas Day.

You know it's really bad when churches cancel Christmas Eve Night and Christmas Day masses! The wind really blew things around, creating drifts 5-10 feet high in places. The roads didn't stay open in many open areas too as the winds drifted them shut again. The state closed the Interstates and warned people not to travel. For many, Christmas was going to have to wait.

The city didn't really start cleaning things up until Saturday so we spent the day indoors. Noah stayed cuddly in his jammies. (He doesn't like the red focus beam on my camera so his eyes get real big like this when I take pictures of him)
But since the winds died down, we bundled Alexis up in her snow suit and boots and threw her out on the deck. I had to clear away some of the snow because when I set her in it, she was so light, she didn't go all the way through it to the ground... but she couldn't move in what she did sink into.
The snow was pretty dry so it wasn't sticky enough for us to make a snowman. Snow balls were pretty much out of the question too. Still, Dad & Noah watched us play from inside through the sliding glass door for the whopping 10 minutes we spent outside. I think it took longer to get her dressed and undressed than we spent in the snow.

This is a look at the parking lot of our complex. We are really sheltered back here from the wind and you can see the snow that still accumulated. The cars there in the front row had to be shoveled out... but many of them didn't even try to do that for days.

Leesch Family Christmas

This was the first Christmas in several years that Rose & Tom both had Christmas off. Bill had it off, as most government employees tend to do, and I was able to get off for the day at KELO.
Alexis loved sportin' the piggy tails in her hair & was quite the "ham" for photos!
Grandpa & Grandma Leesch with all four grandkids.
Alexis woke up from her nap just as we finished opening presents. Then it was her turn and she got lots of good stuff: clothes, books, a princess castle tent and nursery rhyme cd's just to name a few things. Noah got some cute stuff too. He really needed the next size clothing but also got a singing goat puppet! It's too cute!

Christmas Morning

Alexis and Noah woke up to a pile of presents under our "Christmas tree." (By the way, she has a new favorite stuffed animal, the pig. My Aunt Chery and Uncle Gene sent it with a gift for Noah and she hasn't put it down since. Pig's name: Oink Oink (pronounce it "Ug-Ug", as if your nose was plugged).
Noah got spoiled, of course, with a few new baby toys and some clothes. The new baby toys really caught Alexis' attention, but Noah wasn't too excited about it just yet. He's getting furniture for his bedroom at a later time for his Christmas gift.

Puzzles, blocks, maracas, and potato heads. I was very surprised to see she's already taken on an older child's view of clothing as gifts... they got tossed aside immediately.

House: Week 9

A fresh layer of snow and dose of wind has given us an idea of the drifting we're up against next winter! It's all open out here and we're at the end of the development. Let's hope for some new neighbors soon!

Check out my BEAUTIFUL windows... and DRYWALLl!!!

Meeting Santa

Alexis met Santa Claus this weekend for the first time, and did pretty well. She didn't want to sit on his lap but she also didn't cry, so I'll call it a success.

Troops Overseas

We want to wish Brent & Chris a Merry Christmas week. They're overseas with the South Dakota Air National Guard.

Chris left on the 5th with a smaller group and Brent was scheduled to leave on the 9th with the "main body". But that got pushed back to the 10th and then to the 11th when they left EARLY in the morning.

We're thinking of them both and praying for a safe return.

What children do...

Found Noah covered with a hat sitting in his Bumbo... and his big sister was very proud of what she did.
This was the morning Alexis wasn't interested in eating her Cheerios... So they ended up in the bath tub.

House: Week 8

Looking into the dining room from the living room. Notice the kitchen island to the left!

Check out the archway above the stairs! Not having the banisters up makes the ceiling look really tall!

Alexis in her new bedroom! Now we just have to pick a paint color... I feel like pink is too cliche for girls so I'm hoping to do something else.

What a view! huh?
(Cows!)

Pray For Our Troops

More information & details coming soon... sometime mid week... but please keep our Airmen in your prayers this Holiday Season & always.

Halfway There!

Noah's catching up on his sister already! At 2 months old, he's half her size!

He had his 2 month check up on Friday and weighed in at 10 lbs 15 oz. so let's just say 11 lbs.! At last check, Alexis was 21 lbs. but she should have her 18 month check up real soon.

He's become very active and talks & smiles to you. He's starting to have some problems with eczema and the doctor has a feeling it's tied to a sensitivity to milk, but we're going to try some other things before taking milk out of my diet. Keep your fingers crossed for him... & me!

House: Week 6

So week 6 with the house came with a bit of a crisis... we'll get to that in a moment. First, take a look at part of the interrior... that's the front door & garage door.
The ladder is leaning up against the end of the entry way closet... but we actually asked them to turn it 90 degrees and move it up against the far wall to open up the view through the entry way.
And that's the dining room & both stair cases.
As for the kitchen crisis... it turned out the cabinet company thought the kitchen was bigger than it was supposed to be so we had to change the design a bit. The island you see framed below ended up being too big and went too far into the dining room. So we straightened it out and moved it to the left about a foot.
There's also a stub wall there on the very left which was going to be to the left of the refrigerator... but it was about 2 feet too far into the living room. So we moved the refrigerator back to where it was supposed to be, got rid of the wall and did a wood end cap instead.

The electrician, heating, plumbing & gas guys were all in this week starting work on the guts of the house. Things are moving along!

We bought all our lighting this weekend and are almost ready to put the order in for the faucets. The tubs are already in the garage ready to be installed!