Congrats to the Newlyweds...

It's hard to believe my baby sister got married today. Crazy. I still remember the day she was born (partly because I ended up in the Urgent Care that same afternoon, but that's besides the point)...she was so tiny and perfect and I loved her before I ever saw her. That sisterly love has only grown stronger as I have watched Emily grow and blossom into a beautiful, strong, independent, capable, intelligent, graceful, and loving young woman. I am so happy that she has found someone to love and be with forever and ever. And I'm also so happy to gain another wonderful brother-in-law. Congratulations Emily and Janweb. We are all so, SO happy for the two of you!!

(For whatever reason, I only managed to snap a few photos the ENTIRE day...horrible of me, I know. Luckily, many others took pictures so I can share them with you now...)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(This one makes me laugh because it looks like I'm knocking Doug out)

 

 

 

LA Temple...

With my baby sis Emily getting married tomorrow, we decided to stay the night in the apartments on Temple grounds. This was one of the last things I saw before I closed my eyes for the night...not a bad thing to say good night to.

Christmas 2011

To say that our Christmas morning passed by in a flash would be a serious understatement. I honestly don't know what time the girls woke up (it was sometime after 5am since that is when I was last up with Mac), but they snuck out of their room super duper quietly and didn't wake me or Doug up. I awoke in a panic at 7:45 realizing I had not heard my alarm (a.k.a. Aiden and Reilly), knowing we had to be at church at 9 and that we had promised the girls they could open their presents in the morning before we had to leave. Surprisingly, the presents got unwrapped, cleaned up, breakfast was eaten (thank you Doug for picking up Cinnabon the day before), and all 5 of us made it to church on time (well...close enough!!)

So, now that you know the circumstances of our morning, please excuse the very blurry photos below...I could have deleted them, but figured I would keep them and post them so we could share the fun and excitement of our rushed morning with you. Enjoy!!

 

 

 

 

 

Amazingly, MacKenzie slept through the excitement of her first Christmas morning...looking cute and sweet and perfect as ever. Once she finally did wake up, she was as happy as could be!

  

 After we got home from church, the girls couldn't wait to put on their new threads. I know I'm totally biased on this, but we really do have some pretty cute kids. Check out our little fashionistas...and please excuse Reilly's VERY full bubble-gum-mouth.

 

From the pictures above, you couldn't even tell that Aiden threw up within minutes of us getting home from church. She still wanted to put on her new clothes, but shortly after she obliged Doug's request to get some pics, she asked if she could put herself to bed. She fell asleep within minutes, slept for a couple of hours, then felt good as new. I debated whether or not we should go up to my parents' house as originally planned, but since it was mainly just water that A threw up and she didn't have an accompanying fever or any other symptoms, we decided to make the drive to Upland and spend Christmas with family. The drive was DEFINITELY worth it. In addition to joining my parents, we also got to join two of my sisters and my brother and his sweet wife who were visiting from Utah. We ate ham, cheesy potatoes, whipped jello, celery w/cheese spread, homemade rolls, apple pie, 7-layer dip...all Leach fam Christmas classics and all very, VERY delicious.

Good company, great food, family fun, some new toys and clothes...all-in-all, I have to say it was a really great Christmas for our little family! We hope your Christmas was just as happy!!

Christmas Eve...

Christmas Eve happenings were kept pretty simple this year...after a long day of playing and finishing up our Christmas shopping, we came home, wrapped presents, then opened our traditional night-before-Christmas-gift of jammies.

Our house seems to be colder this year, so the girls received very warm (and soft and fuzzy) PJ pants. Doug received some of his favorite socks to keep his toes nice and warm, and the girls picked out some cute red and white striped pants for me...Roo said they looked very elf-ish. Mac wore some very festive long johns that fit perfectly for the holiday...they are actually hand-me downs from the twins who received them as a gift from their Aunt Shauna. They were too big to fit the twins for their first Christmas but they fit Mac perfectly!!

  

  

It actually turned out to be an early night for all of us...Aiden and Reilly went down without much of a fuss (they knew Santa still had a chance to change his mind and skip our house...Oh, the power of bribery) and Mac and I crashed on the couch while Doug watched a little pre-bed TV.

Happy Holidays...

Spreading Some Holiday Cheer...

...thanks to the festive (and sparkly) trees and wreaths at Target. Nope...never a dull moment with these two girls around. Thanks for the laughs, Aiden and Reilly...you have no idea how much happiness and joy you create.

"Look mom, look! We're Christmas wreaths...aren't we funny?" 

{cue the giggles and silly faces}

  

"Now I have a tree on my head, look!"

"Wait, Aiden...you need two and then you'll be a super tall tree"

{Lots and lots of giggles}

 

"Hey, you know what's pretty cool? This would be a funny hat. Don't we need silly hats for something mom? I think we should get these and then we can be tall, silly heads whenever we want." 

 

"We are ALREADY silly heads, Reilly...."

 

{More giggles and silly faces}

"Wait, mom...wait!! Mac needs one too...take a pictue of Mac!"

{MacKenzie, unfortunately, could have cared less about the photo and only wanted to eat the sparkly pieces of foil...that's okay, doing this got more giggles and silliness out of her two older sisters}

We hope your day was filled with lots of happiness and cheer!!

 

7 Months New...

Guess what?! I am now 7 months old. Everyone keeps telling me I'm growing too fast, but I just can't seem to stop myself! I love to be around my sisters...they are so much fun and make me giggle all the time,and I am super lucky to have them home from school for the next couple of weeks.

I am learning to sit up by myself...almost there, I just have a few balance issues I need to perfect. Luckily, I have my bumbo chair that I love to hang out in. I have been a kind of sick lately, some breathing/wheezing/coughing stuff. Mom took me to the doctor and she wants me to start doing breathing treatments like my sisters. To be quite honest, those treatments are my LEAST favorite part of the day. Most of the time, I just give up and end up like this...

Mom says it breaks her heart to make me do the breathing treatments, but she knows it will help my breathing get better. If my sisters can do it, then I guess I can too!! Hopefully this next month will be a month of growing and getting healthier!!

Boat Light Parade

This year marked our 2 annual year of attendance to the Newport Beach Boat Parade (woo-hoo!)...and it was just as much fun (if not more) than last year. The girls love sitting on the little dock, watching the boats pass by, and waving to the people on board. This year, Doug's parents joined us for the fun. The weather has been a little chilly, windy, and rainy the past few days, so we made sure to bundle up, bring extra blankets, and take along some cups of steaming hot cocoa. It's pretty tricky taking photos of moving boats at nighttime with a camera phone, but here are the pics we got of the evening.

  

  

 

 

  

   

  

  

 

 

 

We hope you are having a bright and merry holiday season!!