Leah's Favorite Things

How sad is it that this is my first blog post of 2013 and its APRIL!
Sad.
Very sad.
Let me show you who you can blame…

Does this picture kill you like it does me?
She is such a little angel!
I just wanna squish her right now!

Obviously I haven’t got the hang of being a Mom to this little girl and doing anything else.
I’ve fallen behind in pretty much everything.
Cooking…ha…haha.
Laundry…burp rags and baby clothes always get priority.
What? I’m suppose to mop my floors?
Blogging? Yeah we all know how that’s been going.
However, I HAVE kept a baby healthy and alive and am still married.
Those are the important things right
Right.

So lets consider this my introductory post to what will hopefully be more regular blogging.
I’ll be right back with a big photo dump of that little stink butt up there so stick around.

I made it!
I’m getting in my last blog post of 2012!
At least I think I will…my baby’s nap is nearing its end so this could all go terribly wrong and not get posted until summer of 2013

So a quick recap!
Another year living in the Silicon Valley.
Celebrated 7 years of marriage.
Found out I was pregnant!
Went on a crazy European road trip during my first trimester…also known as the wanna barf and die trimester.
Visited family and friends back in Seattle as much as we could.
Prepared for the arrival of our daughter…this included a kick ass shower thrown by this dear friend.
Experienced the expansion of my midsection.
Gave birth to my sweet little Ellee Grace and am learning how to be a mom.

Yeah…a lot of 2012 revolved around that little girl.
Wouldn’t change any of that.
Except the barfing and wanting to die…that I would change if I had the option.

So I’m ringing in the new year with my two honeys and some black eyed pea dip.
I had to eat black eyed peas…it reminds me of my Mom.

Lastly, I’d like to submit these Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Pretzel Crisps and these Ritzies for best sweets of 2012.

So that’s it my friends!
I know 2012 has been a great year for some and a year of great loss for others.
I pray 2013 is one of peace, healing, learning and blessings from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Happy New Year!
See ya in 2013!

I’d like to introduce you to Miss Ellee Grace Schoonover.
Born on 11/12/2012.
Weighing in at 7lbs 5oz and 19 inches long.

She had a rough first week which sadly resulted in 7 day hospital stay.
However, girlfriend is healthy, happy and home!
Today she had her second pediatrician appointment and is gaining weight like a champ…8lbs 7oz and 21 1/4 inches long.
Yep, she gained a whole pound since last week.
As far as us parents…we are in love with her more and more each day.
We are also tired.
Tired I tell you.
We are working hard to get the hang of this parenting a newborn thing.
Our first hurdle was figuring out how to get miss thang to sleep at night.
She considers her crib a joke.
Thank Jesus for the Rock n Play.
Seriously, thank you Jesus!
I’ll be back to fill in details about how everything went down but thought it was time to at least introduce her on the blog.
Hope you are all doing well…hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are getting into the Christmas spirit.
Peace out and sleep an extra hour for me

Not even born yet and she’s already trying to show the parents whose boss
It’s okay…we decided to take advantage of the extra time she has given us and go grab some donuts and bagels.
Last weekend we drove to Oakland and visited Doughnut Dolly.
Homemade donuts that are filled with your choice of filling right in front of your eyes.
Yum!

Then we headed down the street to Beauty’s Bagel Shop for a little lunch.

The husband had the salt and pepper bagel with salmon cream cheese.
I had the veggie bagel sandwich with sundried tomato cream cheese.
It was the best veggie sandwich I’ve ever had…they can be so bland.
Eric enjoyed his but his heart is still back home with Blazing Bagels.
Both places were featured in my Sunset magazine…totally worth a subscription to get great local day trip ideas.

I’ve also had time to finish a painting project for the baby room and experiment with whipping up my own body butter.

However, now the projects are all done and all that’s left is keeping on top of laundry and normal household chores.
So yeah…she can come now

Hope you all have a great weekend!
And for those of you back home getting snow…know that I’m a little jealous.
We get plenty of sun but not a flake of snow.

That’s right my friends…one week to go before this baby is “due”.
Although, so far she seems pretty content just hanging out in my belly.
Freezer is full (thanks to the amazing Food Saver), hospital bag is packed, manicure and pedicure done, all baby clothes washed and put away…we’re probably as ready as we’re gonna be at this point.

So what’ve we been up to?

Going to Walmart.
Where else is it acceptable to drink two cups of coffee at the same time?

I made some homemade tassels to hang with my baby shower bunting in the nursery.
So easy and pretty.
A great little project if you want something easy and satisfying.
Directions found here.
And yes that red thing is my protruding belly.
I can’t seem to do anything without it

I bought my husband this shirt for our anniversary.
He wears it proud.

And the other day he drank out of the milk jug while wearing it.
Can you even believe that?
I quickly informed him that Mr. Darcy would never pull such a stunt.

Good thing we’re having a baby…
this crazy life we live is really getting out of control

And on a series note…just wanna ask for some prayer for my internet buddy Amber.
Her Mom died of a heart attack a few weeks ago.
This leaves her with a heartache, the heartache of her daughter, and a younger brother to take care of.
Girl has had some serious tribulation in her life…but is so encouraging as a result of her faithfulness to the Lord.
It’s times like these that make you so thankful for the Lord in others lives…because seriously…how could you get through it without him?

I promised my Mom I’d take a 9 month picture for her.
I had imagined us taking some maternity type pictures while at the ranch but it just didn’t happen.
Half because I couldn’t find our tripod.
Annoying.
So trusty iPhone shot it is.

On Monday our baby will technically be full term…even though our due date isn’t for another 3.5 weeks.
I’m feeling pretty good…especially in the mornings and early afternoon.
By the time evening hits I’m achy and tired.
So far getting off the couch, rolling over in bed and a few joint/ligament pains are the annoying side effects.
So yes, I’m thankful that all has been going well.

On a totally different note…I’ve been enjoying this sermon series on the book of Esther.
I mostly listen while I’m cooking, cleaning or driving.
So if you’re in the market for something interesting to listen to during the day I highly recommend it.

This here is me and my baby daddy.

Today is our 7 year anniversary!
I guess I’ll keep him for a little while longer
Especially since he did such a rad job of pampering me this past weekend.
We decided to go away for the weekend to celebrate our anniversary and totally relax before the baby comes.
He surprised me with a three night stay at Carmel Valley Ranch.

We lounged by the pool with drinks (mine was a non-alcoholic passion fruit lemonade and was to die for).
We hardly left the ranch and enjoyed almost all our meals at the lodge.
We enjoyed complimentary s’mores by the fire pit.
I enjoyed a nice massage at the spa.
We took advantage of the gas fireplace in our room and just totally checked out for the weekend.
The only serious moment we had was when I had to lay down the ground rules for part 2 of Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion.
Our room didn’t have a DVR so that meant no pausing or rewinding abilities…which meant no talking until commercials.
What can I say? I run a tight ship.
It was a great trip and I highly recommend the ranch.

A big thank you to my sweet husband.
He was constantly checking in with me to see if I was having a good time or how I felt or what the baby was doing.
Like I said…I think I’ll keep him for a while longer
And to celebrate my thankfulness for him I have a few tricks up my sleeve…most of which have to do with cooking.
Because lets be honest, a weekend at a resort, lounging by the pool was much more of a treat for me.

Happy Anniversary babe!
I love you millions and wouldn’t trade you for the world.
Except for maybe when you try and poke my belly button…but even then I wouldn’t trade you…a new husband would be way too much work