Our Little Valentine

Valentine's Day is officially the first holiday Leah had her eyes open for longer than 5 minutes! Having slept through all of Christmas, New Years and Brian's birthday, it was exciting to see her awake for all of the fun (even though she had no idea what was going on and couldn't have cared less about her gifts). Brian and I had a nice, delicious meal at home (shrimp scampi and chocolate fondue for dessert) and then rented a romantic comedy to watch. This is one of the few times of the year he is willing to watch this type of movie with me, so I was very happy. Leah was also happy, not because of her gifts, the food, or the movie, but because she was held all evening...this is her favorite activity and the reason my house is a mess ;) Here are some pictures:

Looking cute in her Valentine's Day outfit

Please hurry and finish eating dinner and cleaning up the kitchen so you can hold me

We got Leah the movie "Lady and the Tramp", a Bible story book, and the book "Love You Forever" (a book I know almost by heart as it was read to me often...now I can't read it without balling my eyes out)

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Love and blessings,
Lindsay

Super Sunday!

Not only was last Sunday (February 5th) a special day because of the Superbowl, it was also Leah's first Sunday at church. We waited until she was almost 7 weeks old to get her out so that she wouldn't be exposed to all of the winter germs floating around. We were excited to finally attend church as a family of 3 instead of Brian and me trading off. Leah did great during worship...she slept through the whole thing. In fact, we didn't even take her out of her car seat because she was so comfortable and we did not want to disturb her. Her dress was made by Mema (my grandma) and Leah is going to outgrow it soon, so I made sure to take plenty of pictures: 

She is so proud of herself for behaving during church!

Wondering why we got her all dressed up just to take a nap in her car seat

When do I get to eat?

Our family all dressed up

Me and my pretty little girl

Like I mentioned earlier, it was also Superbowl Sunday. This normally is not a big deal to me (unless, of course, the Colts are playing in it), but this year we were all very excited about the big game because it took place in our hometown! It was so cool to see our city in the national spotlight and to see the transformation of our downtown into a Superbowl Village. Brian and I were able to take the shuttle downtown (much cheaper than paying for parking) to experience all of the fun for ourselves. It was hard to take good pictures because we went on a Saturday when it was very crowded, but I'll show you some anyway...

This is after we got off our shuttle (which was a school bus)

The zip-line through the village

Each NFL team had a race car

Here is a better (professional) picture of the cars with Monument Circle in the background

Another professional picture of the Village

Getting ready for her 1st Superbowl...Go Giants!

I hope you all have a great week and a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Love,
Lindsay

Welcome Leah Grace!

Leah Grace Belcher arrived on December 20, 2011 at 11:52 AM. We were blessed with a safe delivery and a healthy, beautiful baby girl. Leah has been such a joy and we have loved every minute with her (except maybe the 3 AM feedings, haha). She is the reason Brian and I decided to start this blog, as we have several family members and close friends who live far away. We figured this was the best way to keep everyone updated on her without posting every little spit-up and blow-out diaper on facebook.

I apologize that she is almost 2 months and I am just now getting around to creating this blog...I've been a little busy :)  Here is a quick recap of our favorite pictures from the last few weeks...some of the most exhausting, challenging, yet amazingly wonderful days of our lives:

Our little 7 lb. 8.6 oz. and 20 in. miracle!

Proud dad!

She's perfect!

Finally holding my sweet baby girl

Our happy little family!

This is one of my favorites...dad filing her long nails

So beautiful!

There are a hundred other pictures, but we must move on to Leah's first Christmas which started the day after we arrived home from the hospital. Those were a special couple of days, even though Leah slept through all of the festivities. Here are just a few pictures...

Best Christmas present ever!

 She arrived just in time to meet Santa on Christmas Eve! I am sure she won't be this calm next year.

Our tired but very happy family Christmas morning

She is sooo excited about her Christmas gifts, haha!

 

Mom and dad taking goofy pictures, Leah still out of it.

Our sweet Leah...finally awake!

And she's back asleep...   

(wearing her Christmas dress made by Mema)

Leah and I were very lucky that Brian was able to take 2 and a half weeks off of work when she was born. It was wonderful having him home and we were very sad to see him return to work (he was sad too). Here are a few pictures of the three of us hanging around the house:

I have no problem sleeping when baby sleeps

Tummy time with Daddy

 

Yet another holiday slept through...getting her New Year's kiss after the ball drops

Happy 27th birthday Dad!  (No, she is not flipping me off)

Getting her first bottle

She always smiles as she is falling asleep...it is the cutest thing ever!

 
This takes us to Leah's 1 month photo shoot. She was a good sport at first, until I took more pictures than she thought was necessary...

This isn't so bad, I think I'll actually try to smile

Ok mom, I think 20 pictures of one pose is enough...

Fine, you're asking for it...

I warned you!

Leah's 1 month stats:

8 pounds, 8 ounces (24th percentile)

21 1/4 inches long (51st percentile)

Head circumference: 35.4 cm. (10th percentile)

 Here are just a few more pictures I had to add:

Yea, I'm the cutest

My two loves

So happy in the morning, despite scratching herself to death

Ok, I think we are somewhat caught up, even though there are many, many other pictures I could post. I hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into the first few weeks of Leah's life. Stay tuned, there is much more to come!

Love and blessings,

Lindsay