The Night Before Christmas

Throwing reindeer food, oats and sugar, in our yard.  We added a little bit of glitter so the when the reindeer fly over our house they know where to stop.

Cookies and Christmas milk (eggnog) for Santa

Reading The Night Before Christmas

I can't even begin to describe the excitement and happiness Jimmy and I felt on Christmas Eve.  It was so fun doing all the special Christmas Eve traditions.  The kids just couldn't stop smiling and were so excited for Santa's visit.  Even though they didn't fully understand the magic of Christmas, they sensed something very special was going to happen!  We were so giddy and couldn't wait for the kids to go to bed so we could help Santa set things up!

Santa came by!  The Little Lehmans were on the good list this year.  

Yes, we are surprised too.

Mantle

Looks like Santa left a Lego Cinderella castle for Mimi and Lego train set for Alex

Frosting Mustache

Almost Two and He Speaks!

Much to our delight and surprise, our little man has finally found his voice.  Just a month ago, he probably only really said 10 words.  However, in the last three weeks, Alex's vocabulary has increased tenfold. 

We are relieved and happy.  It has been so fun to watch this great change, especially in such a short period of time.

Now, he talks so much we've lost track of his words.  It is definitely over 100 at this point.  He is absorbing every word he comes in contact with.  He is quick to repeat words and is a little sponge. 

He's not only using his words to describe objects, he's also verbally telling us what his needs are, like when he's hungry or thirsty.  Not just words, but he can also say/identify most of the alphabet and numbers as well.  Also amazing is the fact that he is now speaking in two and three word phrases. 

I am just astounded at his progress.  I love that he tries so hard to say even the most complicated words.  His confidence is apparent in his change in personality.  He's less fussy ;0)  I'm so proud of my little man and I love his deep little toddler voice. Videos to come!

I can't believe my little man turns two next month!

Rocking out the dread head Richard Sherman shirt

"You mad bro?"

Sucking his bottom lip while sleeping.  Mimi does the same thing.

Milk AND juice

Time for a "ya ya"

Greetings from the White House

The fourth year we've gotten a holiday card from the Obama family!

Christmas Card FAIL

I'm usually on top of Christmas cards, but this year we are running way behind.  We didn't do family pics until just a few weeks ago, so it took a while to get them back.  Then I had to wait a week for the print order to go through.

We received the cards I ordered yesterday.  I stayed up until 1am writing them all out.  I'm too embarrassed to say how many we send out each year, but it's a lot.  It's getting out of control, but we move so often that we meet so many people.

It's December 20th and I just send them out today. 

I am very upset because for some reason during the printing process the kids' hair turned RED!!  It was way too late to send them back, but I am not happy.  I had to send them out looking like this.  UGH.  This year, we have ginger kids, ha ha.

Shutterfly.com.  No me gusta.

Why do Amelia and Alex have red hair???

 

Their hair looks better in this picture, but the color is still off

Refrigerator Dump!

We put up most of the kids' artwork on the garage door and refrigerator.  It was getting out of control, so it was time to take it all down and start fresh.  I thought I would take pictures of their stuff before sending it off to family or (gasp) throwing it away!

 

Little Lehman artwork over the past few months...

 

Colored by both Mimi and Alex

Alex's doggy hat made at the library

 

Amelia's best buddy at preschool is a little boy named Alex :0)

Alex

Mimi

Mimi's favorite foods collage

Anniversary Cookie

Jimmy got the kids to decorate a cookie for me for our wedding anniversary.  It was beautiful and very yummy!  I love love anything made by my kids. 

 

Jimmy and I also celebrated by taking a much needed date night.  We had a nice long child-free dinner, went out for bubble tea (my favorite!), did some last Christmas shopping, and looked at Christmas lights.  It was so refreshing just to hang out with Jimmy, just the two of us. 

 

 

 

 

 

Alex only ate the frosting

BACH Children's Party

 

The Blanchfield Army Community Hospital (BACH) Family Readiness Group (FRG) sponsors and hosts the Children's Holiday party for the hospital.  The kids do lots of crafts, eat goodies, and get to meet with Santa.  The kids had so much fun last year, so we knew that they would enjoy it again this year.

 

However, this year was very different.  I volunteer with the BACH FRG so I have been involved with planning and fundraising for this event for months. It was such a great experience to work behind the scenes and be part of such a great event. 

 

I volunteered at one of the craft stations for most of the party, but was able to take a break to take the kids to do a few crafts, eat ice cream, and visit Santa.  It was a lot of work and stress, but I am so looking forward to next year!

 

Team Lehman and our friend from the North Pole

Alex was scared of Santa, so we opted for a family picture this year

 

No tears for Mimi this year.  She was very shy, but nervously told Santa her wish list.  

 

Click here to see the hilarious Santa pic from last year!

 

 

 Alex (left) and Mimi's (right) snowflake ornaments

Santa pic with the awesome ladies I volunteer with...
FRG Key Leaders

Eleven Years

 

 

We celebrate eleven years of marriage today, yay! We have a nerdy, dorky kind of love and I'm not afraid to admit it.

 

I feel lucky.  Jimmy has always been great partner.  We've had a strong connection since we were teenagers.  Anyone that knows Jimmy, knows that he is a talker.  I will admit that it gets annoying at times, but our open line of communication brings such strength to our relationship. 

 

Even all these years later, we still talk about anything and everything, joke together (maybe too much!), and I'm still madly in love with him (when he's not being annoying).

 

We have changed so much over the years, so our relationship has too.  As teenagers, we went through stages of infatuation and puppy love.  In college, we dealt with our own personal changes of growing up and becoming independent.  We struggled, but had success in figuring out how our ever changing personalities fit into our relationship.

 

After college, we got married and settled into a challenging military lifestyle.  We were far from family and left everything familiar to us behind.  At many times, we only had each other.  We also spend a lot of time apart because of deployments and training.  I know all that chaos made us stronger and more appreciative of each other and continues to do so. 

 

About three and a half years ago, our life was turned upside down by a little lady named Amelia.  Then, 16 months later, Alex added to the chaos known as our life.  We had jumped two feet into the crazy, stressful world of parenthood. 

 

Watching Jimmy grow into fatherhood and his interactions with the kids has made me appreciate him and fall in love with him all over again.  Jimmy is an involved father.  He is such a family man and focused on us. He makes us feel like we are a priority in life by planning family activities, spoiling the kids, and just making us the primary focus.  I appreciate that. 

 

Parenthood has brought forth so many more complications, but I take pride in the fact that our relationship has withstood that.  I attribute that to Jimmy's willingness, flexibility, and patience to work on it with me.   

 

Being parents is so much like a roller coaster ride, with the highest "highs" followed by the lowest "lows" we could have ever imagined.  But it's totally worth it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

I know this post is random, but it comes from the heart.  Anniversaries are always a time of reflection.  I feel like we've been through so much already, but am looking forward to what our future will bring.  Good or bad, I know we will push forward together and find happiness in our journey together.

Sneak Peak- Family Pics 2013

 

We are still waiting on the edited versions of the rest of our pictures.  These two are my favorite though and the photographer edited these for us ASAP so we could use them in our Christmas cards.  I'm super stressed because it's Dec 13th and we haven't even ordered our cards yet.  Maybe we will send our New Year cards this year, ha ha.

 

I hope to get the rest of the pictures in a few weeks.  They turned out so cute!  The photographer was awesome with the kids and had all these really cool strategies for making them laugh.  I can't wait to share them. Stay tuned!

 

This year, we got our pictures taken on a family farm less than a mile from our house.  The kids especially loved chasing around the chickens roaming about the property.  It was cold and wet, Alex was a snot factory, and Amelia was super hyper.  It was definitely a recipe for disaster, but in the end, it wasn't so bad.

 

Honestly, I dread the process of family photos.  I always stress out about what to wear, how the kids will act, weather conditions, and how the pictures will turn out.  In the end, all the hassle is always worth it.  I love walking down our hallway and seeing how our family has changed and grown through the years.

 

Click here for our 2011 (pics round 1)

2011 round 2

 

Click here for our 2012 pics