Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Leishman family! If you didn't happen to get a Christmas card in the mail, consider this our Merry Christmas to you :).

Christmas Happenings

We have been having so much fun having Bryce home so much during his Christmas break.  I've taken full advantage of having him around and made sure we've been crossing everything off our Christmas to-do list.  We have a tradition to exchange ornaments with each other every year.  This year I wanted to make an ornament of Claire's handprint for her first Christmas so we thought it would be fun to just make a bunch of ornaments from salt dough.  We cut out the shapes and baked them one day, and then painted them the over the next couple of days.  We finished them up today and got them all hung up on our tree.  I made a stocking, a mitten, and Claire & Rory's handprints (pawprint in Rory's case).  Bryce made a candy cane & an angel.   

Tonight we went to see Christmas village on 25th street and we finally took Claire to see Santa.  We took Rory with us and she loved walking around getting petted by so many people.

Claire's first time meeting Santa went without a hitch.  I put her on his lap and she just sat there and looked around.  It was pretty funny seeing her be so calm and content when so many other kids & babies were crying and waling up a storm.  

We had 2 family parties this past weekend and we were able to go visit with Bryce's Grandpa Leishman last night for Family Home Evening.  We have just a few more items on our Christmas to-do list; Mecham Family party on Christmas Eve, open pajamas and watch It's a Wonderful Life Christmas Eve night, Leishman Party Christmas Day, and of course have our little family's Christmas party & open gifts Christmas morning.  I'm so excited for Claire to open up her gifts on Christmas morning I can hardly stand it!  Getting to be a parent on Christmas makes it so much more fun!

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 48 Weeks

Claire turned 48 weeks old today.  I just barely did her long 11 month update a few days ago so no update for this week, just pictures :).

Claire Olivia Week by Week: 11 Months

Dear Claire,

You turned 11 months old today.  You are getting so big and have learned so much this past month!  It is amazing to see how much you are learning and figuring out every day.  Just a few days ago you took your very first steps.  You have been very close to doing it for a while but you finally mustered up the courage to try it on your own.  You can now walk 8-10 steps by yourself.  It is so adorable.  You love it!  You are so proud of yourself and you just smile and smile the whole time you walk.  I always give you a hug and pat your back after you've walked into my arms, so now when you return the hug you have started patting my back too.  It's pretty cute.

You recently learned to say "Uh-Oh".  You also still say "Mama, & "Dada" although you don't really know what these words mean yet.  You usually just copy us when we say them.  You still love to wave "hello" and "goodbye" to everyone.  You also like to blow bubbles with your lips and click your tongue.  You love music and start bouncing up and down whenever you hear any.  You  are best friends with Rory.  You love her so much.  You love to give her hugs and crawl all over her.  You like to hand her toys and then you giggle when she takes them from you.  Most of the time you find it funny when she licks you, unless you are in a grumpy mood ready then you make sure to let her know you don't like it.

You are almost ready to drop down to one nap a day, but not quite there.  Your schedule has been kind of thrown off because some days you want to take two naps still, but other days you will completely refuse to take your second nap.  We're working on adjusting your schedule, so hopefully in the next few months we can wean you to one nap a day and have you be your normal happy self.

You have learned how to stack the rings on your wooden stacking toy.  It is so fun to watch you.  You concentrate so hard to get every wooden ring on the peg.  It is by far your favorite toy now and you will sit and play with it for a good 20 minutes sometimes. You also like small toys or objects that fit in your  hand.  You find something new every few days and carry it around with you all day long.  For a few days it was your toothbrush, then it was a pen lid, and most recently a Christmas bell.  You are a very curious baby and you still put almost everything in your mouth.  I have to keep an eye on you all the time.  Luckily I'm a clean freak already otherwise trying to keep the floors spotless would be much more difficult.  

You have started getting a little feisty the older you've gotten.  Everyone teases that you get that from me.  You mostly get mad if I have to take something away from you.  But for the most part you are still a really mellow, easy going baby.  You love playing with dad and you crawl as fast as you can to the door when you hear him come in.  You also really love mommy and always want me to cuddle you when you are sad or hurt.  Even though I've watched you grow up for 11 whole months, it's hard to believe you are really that old.  And it is even harder for me to believe you will turn one year old next month.  You are the greatest blessing I have ever had.  I love being your mom so much.  You are such a sweet, special girl and getting to raise you is such a privilege.

I love you too much,

Mom

Claire's Christmas Pictures

My sister and I thought it would be fun to do a Christmas photoshoot with our girls yesterday.  We had planned on using a huge box of white icicle lights that my mom had in her basement but we weren't able to find them so we had to make do with one strand of lights haha.  The pictures still turned out okay but I would like to try again with lots and lots of lights.  Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Claire and the rest of the pictures of her and my niece are on my photography blog here >>> kamileishmanphotography.blogspot.com

Temple Square Lights

Monday night for Family Home Evening we went to see the lights at Temple Square with my sister Laci's family.  We had so much fun showing our girls the temple, the nativities, and all of the pretty Christmas lights.  The girls were really good!  All of the crowds and lights kept them very entertained. 

Lydia was so cute.  She reminded us of a little Michelin man all bundled up in her puffy coat :).

My Claire baby, always the little observer studying every detail.

The girls, probably talking about how embarrassing their moms are, always taking a million pictures.

We've planned lots of little Christmas activities as a family to count down until Christmas and this was our kick-off event.  It was a great way to reemphasize why we are really celebrating Christmas and help us feel the spirit.  After we got home we watched the video "He is the Gift".  It has such an inspiring message and helped Bryce and I come up with some ways we can "Share the Gift" this Christmas season.  If you haven't seen the video yet you really need to watch it.  

We have a few more activities planned and lots of upcoming family parties we're excited about.  Even though Claire is still super little and won't remember this Christmas, we are having so much fun getting to be parents and see Christmas through the eyes of a child again.  Now if only we could be so lucky and finally get some snow to really help bring the magic of the season!  I'm not giving up hope yet, I'll just keep singing I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas until it comes true!

Claire's First Steps

Claire has been so close to walking for a while now, and tonight she was brave enough to finally try and walk.  Here's a little video of my baby's first steps.