December 26, 2010- Baptism

Leinna's great-grandmother Arlene, had her wedding dress made into a christening gown.
Leinna's God Parents- Mikayla and Pete Wilson. Mikayla is a wonderful friend from college and they are both in education like Leif and I. Please say a prayer for their family as their 15 month old daughter, Lily, is beginning her treatment to fight cancer. Since Pete and Mikayla were headed to Mayo for Lily's treatments, Leif and I decided to ask Mikayla's parents, Patty and Glen to fill in. Patty and Glen were my college parents and I loved being part of their family during those years!


Such a special day- Baptism was held at Trinity Lutheran Church, which is the church I grew up in.

We shared this special day with cousin Oliver as he was baptized too! I had double duty as I have the honor of being Oliver's God mother.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! We had such a busy few days....

Leinna, Grandma Emerson, Aunt Gina and myself went to candle light service on Christmas Eve. Yes, Papa let Momma put pig-tails AND red ribbon in her hair! Having a hard time getting good smiley pictures now that she figured out she has not one but TWO teeth on the bottom. The second one popped up two days after the first one!

Christmas morning, Leinna woke up a wee bit too early and found herself taking a nap before we even opened presents!

Grandma and Grandpa Emerson sure had a special day with all of us being home! Hard to believe this will be and was the last Christmas in the house I grew up in. 25 years of Christmas mornings in this house. Okay- need to move on before the tears start falling... We had a wonderful morning with my family and then spent the late-morning, afternoon and evening with Leif's family.
I will post more Christmas day pictures soon.

The excitement continues tomorrow with Leinna's baptism and then on to a busy week before we had back to Alaska on the 30th. So many special memories made today!

First Tooth!

Okay, try as I might I'm unable to get a picture of Leinna's first tooth. I'm sure when the tooth is bigger I will have more success.

Discovery of the tooth~ well, everynight before Leinna takes her bath, I take a wet washcloth and rub my fingers along her gums. I had read somewhere that this helps children get use to the idea of brushing their teeth. So anyways- Leinna loves it and on Tuesday night, I noticed a "rough" spot. Sure enough when I used just my finger to feel, and then of course looked, there is a clear, little ridge sticking above her gum line! I was so shocked, and I think I might have a let a little scream out because the next thing I remember is that my mom came into the bathroom and asked what was wrong. So I showed her and she confirmed that yes it was a tooth. I had to hold back the tears as we continued with the bath routine. I knew this day would come, but I guess I was expecting more of a warning. After reading a few things and listening to other parents' stories about their children teething, I at least expecting a little diaper rash and some fussiness. Looking back now, the only thing out of sorts that I can think of as a sign Leinna was teething was the increased drooling for sure, really chomping hard on a few of her toys, really rosy cheeks and a little bit of a rash on her stomach. She still took good naps and slept through night. Feeling very blessed for such an easy going child!!

New mommy hair do...

Okay- so I know most new mommies get their hair cut after the baby is born. I kept telling myself I wasn't going to do that. However, a dear friend of mine just found out that her 15 month old daughter has cancer. Feeling helpless and wishing I could do something, I decided to go see if my hair was long enough to donate to Locks of Love.

7 inches later

Thinking about going back and getting the back shaped into an A-line type cut. We'll see. Feeling a little lost with out my long hair, but glad to know that it's not just sitting in a garbage can and it will be used to help create a wig.

Am I still the baby?

My parents have a rescue dog named Rosco who is truly the baby of the family. Since having Leinna here, he's been a little neglected. Here he's trying to get my mom's attention while she was busy playing with Leinna. Even though Rosco feels left out- he's really good with Leinna.

Yep- finally got pig-tails in! Since Pappa will be joining us in a week, figured we better get the cute girly hairdos out of the way! I think Pappa is a little in denial that Leinna is girl. He better let me do some girly things, otherwise, I fear Leinna will turn into a true girly-girl.

Merry Christmas! Leinna's getting pretty good about sitting by herself. A few times she's even sat up with out her arms on the floor. Good thing she can practice on Grandma and Grandpa's nice soft carpet. The few topple overs we've had would have really hurt on our wood floors at home.

First Christmas Tree

On Friday, we headed to the Black Hills to pick out this year's Christmas tree. 1 hour to drive to the Black Hills, another hour to search for the perfect tree and an hour back to town. Leinna loved being in the fresh air and enjoyed helping Grandpa carry the tree to the truck.

We even got Grandpa to take a picture with us!!


Love this photo of us girls!

We wish Pappa were here with us, but he'll be joining us soon. In the meantime we are having so much fun with Grandma and Grandpa! Oh, and with Cousin Oliver too!

"Give Leinna kisses!"

I found my toes!

YEAH!! This is one of the first moments I've been waiting for. I love when babies find their toes. I thought Leinna was going to be cursed with my short arms and long legs and never be able to reach her toes. However, she proved me wrong. Now, when she has socks on, she stares at her feet and I can imagine her thinking, "I know I have toes somewhere, but where did they go?" Papa is sure going to be amazed at home much Leinna has changed when he joins us here in South Dakota!

South Dakota Winter

Enjoying the South Dakota winter. Notice sunshine on the top of our heads and no hats on! Yahoo!! I do realize that winter doesn't stay this mild in the midwest, but it sure is a nice change from the lovely Cordova weather.

5 months ago...

I'm just amazed that 5 months ago I was in labor awaiting the arrival of my first child. We were very excited to hear, "It's a girl!" and that she was in good health. The past five months seem like a blur and I can only image when she's turning 18 I'll feel even more like the time passed too quickly. But for now, I will enjoy the new discoveries Leinna makes each day.

Since arriving in South Dakota almost a week ago, Leinna likes to try and sit by herself, but she either ends up leaning so far forward she look like a frog perched on a lillypad, or she tumbles over to the side. She's also still busy trying to figure out how to crawl. A couple of times she's planted her forehead to the ground and then stuck her butt straight in the air! It's so funny and I'm hoping to catch a picture of it. You can be sure if I catch the pose on the camera, it'll be posted here too! Since she hasn't quite figured out crawling yet, she has figured out if she puts the two ways to roll (back to tummy, tummy to back) together she can cover pretty good ground.

Finally, I just had to share the picture below. My Grandma Emerson often makes this face for a variety of reasons and well, it's just funny to see Leinna do this too. We were introducing carrots today and she loved them- despite the face below!

South Dakota welcomes us home!

What a beautiful sunrise this morning. That's one of the many things I love about the midwest- the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Oh wait, I just love seeing the bright sun period. Ha, ha... Oh, and yes in the picture above, the neighbors built a ship in their yard as a toy for the neighboorhood children!

Leinna needed her rest after a very long trip. We are thankful we made it safely (even if momma left her nice Copper River Fleece coat on the plane). We are looking forward to lots of fun with our family and friends! (Missing Papa already though...)