Cousins!

Leo and Ellie are really starting to interact with one another. It is so fun to watch them play together! Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house.

Thanksgiving

We have had quite the week! We took Leo into the doctor on Wednesday because he was up all night coughing the night before and we wanted to get him checked out before the holiday. The doctor said that his throat was really red and spotted and thought it might be strep but the test was negative. He said that he probably has a virus and we just need to wait it out. Great. So, we have spent the past several days taking shifts rocking a sick kid throughout the night and trying to catch up on some sleep during the day. Leo usually sleeps really well at night so I have forgotten what it is like to be up all night. We are all a little tired at our house. Even though Leo was feeling under the weather, we still continued with our Thanksgiving plans. On Thanksgiving morning, I made a yummy brunch with egg bake, carmel rolls and pancakes for Leo. After brunch we started a new tradition. We counted the days from Thanksgiving to Christmas and made a paper chain. On each link, we wrote down something that we are thankful for. Each night when we take off a link, we are reminded of all of the blessings in our lives. Leo was very interested in the project at first but got a little distracted half way through. After his nap, we went to my parents house and ate a very delicious dinner with my parents, siblings, and Grandma. We stayed as long as Leo would allow and then went home and all crashed. Kevin was out the door at 4:30 am on Friday morning to head to Best Buy to get a "door buster" TV for our new house. He came home at 6:30am with a new TV and some interesting stories. On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Allens house and had a wonderful dinner with Bill, Kathy, Jenny, Toby and Ellie. Leo and Ellie were so cute playing together! They are finally starting to notice one another and it is so fun to watch them interact. Overall we had a great Thanksgiving celebrating with family and friends.

Feeling Thankful...

Day to day life can get pretty busy around here and sometimes I forget to stop and think about all of the blessings in my life. Today I will take the time to remember all of those blessings and think about all I have to be thankful for...

Leo, the love of my life, the joy of my day, the sweetest boy in the world.

Kevin, the first love of my life. His dedication and love for our family is unending, he is such a wonderful man.

My family, I am so blessed to have (almost all) of them live so close by. They are an amazing support system and so much fun to be with!!!

My in-laws, they all live in town and they are always willing to lend a helping hand. We are so thankful that our niece Ellie arrived this year!

Our friends who come together to celebrate the big and small accomplishments in our lives.

Our new home. We can't wait to move into a home we have designed to fit the needs of our family and live in a neighborhood full of young kids!

Kevin's job. I am so thankful that he loves his job and jumps out of bed every morning to go to work. I am also thankful that his position has given me the opportunity to stay home and take care of Leo.

All of the healthy babies that were born this year to our friends and family and a few who will be arriving soon!

And now a list of the little things I am thankful for that make life even more enjoyable...

1. Girl's night out
2. Going to My Gym and Baby class with Leo
3. Left over Halloween candy
4. Date night
5. Modern Family
6. Fleece Sox
7. MOPS
8. Saturday mornings (my day to sleep in....)
9. Snuggling with Leo after bath time
10. Quiet evenings with Kev

And so it begins...

They finally started digging our lot on Wednesday! It is amazing how much they can do in a day!!! There are huge mounds of dirt everywhere and lots of trucks and excavators. Luckily Leo is quite entertained by the equipment because I have a feeling we will be there a lot to check on things. We are in the thick of the decision making process and have spent a lot of time picking out carpet, granite, appliances, light fixtures and the list goes on. I have a VERY hard time making decisions and continually change my mind. Our builder would like us to have everything picked out by Christmas, so I need to get busy!!!

Morning Artwork

Daylight savings time has taken it's toll on the Allen household...Leo is having a VERY hard time adjusting to the time change. He has been up between 4:45 an 5:30 everyday and been in bed before 7 every night. In the evenings, we try to hold him off until we just can't take it any longer! I have been trying to come up with things to do in the morning to keep him busy until our activities start usually around 9:30. Which means we have a good 4 hours to spend before we leave the house. The other day I decided to get the art materials out and we painted, colored and did play dough all before 7 am! If you are ever up early and looking for something to do, come on over! I am hoping his little body will adjust soon, I am feeling very sleep deprived!

16 months old...

Leo turned 16 months old on the 4th. Time is FLYING by like everyone said it would...Here are a few things we love about our 16 month old:

-He replies "yeah" to every questions you ask him and screams "YEAH" when he is really excited

-He can say about 10 words now including: mama, mom (which he calls Kevin), up, ball, bye, yeah, hot, hello, burrr, and a few others

-He LOVES to be outside and pounds on the door to go out starting at 7 am

-He squeals with excitement and laughter when he is being chased

-He loves to be silly and will do all kinds of crazy things to get your attention

-His favorite toys are things with lids that he can take on and off

-He is very particular while he is "working" and likes things to be neat

-He likes to cuddle and will snuggle into your shoulder and tuck his arms in to be nice and cozy

-He loves water-in the bath, in the pool, in the sink

-He is very good at drinking from a straw

-He likes to clap his hands and stomp his feet to music

-His favorite songs are: itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle, ram sam sam and he can do the actions!

-He is good at using his signs and most frequently uses: help, more and all done

-He loves to eat mac and cheese and hotdogs. His favorite fruit is grapes.

-He likes to meet new people and will walk up to strangers and say "hi" and wave

-He is such a sweet kid and we couldn't love him more!

the gate

Just in case you are wondering, I don't usually put Leo in a holding pen...this morning, however, I had to. His new favorite thing to do is go into the pantry and "organize" the baby food jars. Well today, he dropped one of the glass jars on the tile and it shattered everywhere. Glass flew across the room and there way nowhere safe in the kitchen for Leo to be so I gated him in the family room which he loved :) He had to wait there while I washed and vacuumed the floor (several times). Then I put on his sox and shoes and let him come in. This all happened before 7:00 am. Made for an eventful day!

Would you like to talk about what you see in the background of the picture...

-The crockpot on the floor. Our kitchen is not big enough to hold appliances that are not used on a daily basis so I store the crockpot in the basement. I used it the night before so it is sitting on the ground waiting to go back downstairs.

-The three empty milk jugs sitting on the end table. Leo's favorite thing to do is carry around the milk jugs and take the lids on and off. Weird, I know.

-The play kitchen. My neighbor Alli and I did a toy swap for a week and she gave us her kitchen. Leo LOVES it and it is on our Christmas list.

-The lion. Leo is a mad man when he pushes his lion around. He runs as fast as he can and slams it into anything in front of him.

Tricks and Treats

What a fun weekend! We had a great time enjoying all of the Halloween festivities! On Saturday night the Chaska Community Center hosted a Halloween Party with games, cookies, crafts and a dance party. Leo wore his costume and had so much fun watching all of the "big kids" in their costumes. Then we went to Applebees for dinner and Leo even wore his costume there. He ordered a kids milk and sat in the booth next to me while drinking from a straw (his new talent). He seemed like such a big boy!

On Halloween, we went out for breakfast with Grandma and Grandpa Allen and Kevin's aunt and cousin who were in town. Then we went trick or treating at Grammy and Gramps house then we were off to a Halloween Party at the neighbors. Leo wore his costume for most of the day and didn't seem to mind it! He had so much fun at the party, eating snacks, decorating cookies and a treat bag and playing with the toys. After that we left to go trick or treating with the neighbors. Leo would run up to the houses, tap on the door and wait for the person to answer. After a few houses he got the hang of things and gladly accepted the candy :) He loved watching everyone and running from house to house. We let him eat one piece of candy- his first sucker! He was blue from head to toe (it was blue raspberry) and we were both as sticky as can be! We had fun spending time with our neighbors and loved watching Leo enjoy Halloween!