Chick magnet.

Nothing beats a funny baby tee. His yawning expression says it all ... "Chasing girls is boring. Ho hum. I'll just let them flock to me."

LA & Mimi & Papa.

Mimi and Papa Nelson paid a visit to AZ this past weekend. They spent much time with the boys -- all 3 of them -- in the park, at McDonalds, and jumping on the trampoline while Jami was away in LA for her Theta volunteer position at the District Leadership Conference. Fun times for all!

Asleep & awake.

One day last week the boys took a little cat nap side by side on the couch. Big brother decided to lie down next to little brother Reid who was fast asleep ... and Luke was soon to follow. By the time it was captured on camera, Reid was waking up but still a cute pic! And yes, this is a common way that Luke sleeps with his hands behind his head!

Rice is nice.

We noticed that lately Reid seems to be hungry all the time! As much as we feed him, his liquid diet just doesn't curb his big appetite. So being the rebel parents that we are, we opted to give him some rice cereal a bit early at the 3 1/2 month mark. He loved it ... sometimes it went in, sometimes it came back out as is evident by his messy bib! But regardless, he kept lunging for the spoon so he must have enjoyed his first taste of real food. Bon appetit!

Queen Creek Olive Mill.

We took a little family field trip out to the Queen Creek Olive Mill today. Yes, believe it or not, they can grow olives in the Arizona desert!! This is Arizona's first working olive farm and mill where they use 9 varieties of olives to create extra virgin olive oil. Here are a few fun olive facts that we learned today...
- The olive is actually a fruit.
- Queen Creek Olive Mill does not use any pesticides in the farming of their olives because there are no "pests" in Arizona to harm the crops! Another benefit of our no-bug climate!
- When buying olive oil, the best kind to get is extra virgin olive oil. It's less processed and contains the most natural form of the oil, which in turn has the most health benefits!
Charity, Eric, and Luke listen to the olive lecture before taking the grand tour.

Dad and the boys stand in the olive grove outside of the mill.

Founders Day 2007.

Today Jami celebrated Kappa Alpha Theta Founders Day at a lovely brunch with nearly 200 of her collegiate and alumnae sisters. Five past and present Advisory Board Chairs for the Delta Epsilon Chapter at Arizona State gathered for this photo: Juli, Heather, Stacie, Jami, and Courtney.

Luke Leahy & the Chocolate Factory.

Today we hosted a Willy Wonka / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Party for Luke's 3rd birthday! Luke and his pals enjoyed jumping on the trampoline, watching a bit of the movie, and munching on Oregano's pizza and checkerboard cake. The kids had a blast and left with some chocolate goodies in hand!
Make a wish! Luke blows out his three candles on the cake.

Jami found these shirts for the boys online. What perfect attire for the big party!

You say it's your BIRTHDAY!

Luke celebrated the Big 3 today with a little pizza and lots of smiles. We enjoyed a birthday lunch at NYPD Pizza and opened up some super fun gifts from the family.

I wanna hold your hand.

Last night Luke joined his friend Lexi to celebrate her birthday at the Disney on Ice show. Here's a picture of Luke holding hands with the birthday girl all dressed up for an evening out.

A hiking we will go.

Jami and the boys took off for a hike at South Mountain today. Luke loves to hike and does pretty well for a little guy. Reid enjoyed the trek, too, and slept most of the time in the Baby Bjorn. The weather was perfect! We had a rainy weekend so we were ready for some fresh air and sunshine.

Ivy League.

As you can see, Reid has begun to study up for his Ivy League education. Or maybe he was just dressed in these preppy clothes so Mom had to stage a fun photo opp! He takes his scholastic endeavors very seriously.

Hey, bro!

Whoa ... the big 3-0.

Jami celebrated the Big 3-0 on Saturday, and it was just one birthday surprise after another! The first surprise arrived on Friday morning as Jami's best friend Kellie Jensen flew in from Oklahoma to surprise her. She was so excited to spend time with Kellie since it had been 2+ years since they'd last seen each other. We had a blast shopping, dining out, and playing with Luke and Reid!
What better birthday gift than to spend the big 3-0 with our dear friend Kellie!

But the good times kept on rollin' through Saturday night. After returning home from an afternoon shopping trip to Chandler Mall, another surprise was waiting in the Leahy kitchen ... a cooking class with Chef Rachel from the Garden of Eating. She is a whole foods chef who fixed an amazing dinner and shared some wonderful healthy eating tips. Several of Jami's friends had gathered to surprise her and share in the celebration. We dined on baked Wild Alaskan salmon, parboiled vegetables with a duo of dips, dark chocolate-dipped date-nut truffles, and several other savory favorites. To top off the evening, Scott hosted a round of toasts that left the birthday girl absolutely speechless. It was a 30th birthday weekend perfectly planned. Scott orchestrated so many surprises, and Jami had absolutely no clue ... the best part! Here's to a great decade ahead. May our thirties be as good as our twenties!
Cheers! A toast to 30!

Scientific findings.

Tonight we enjoyed an evening out with Eric and Charity to the Arizona Science Center. Eric's company General Dynamics hosted a special family night out at the Science Center for its employees. We checked out some exhibits and then enjoyed the planetarium show. We are quite up-to-speed on our galaxies and constellations now! What a fun night out with the fam!

In the news...

Last semester, Jami served as a mentor for several students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at K-State. Most of the mentoring was via email or over the phone and related to job interviewing, writing resumes, and starting out in a communications career. The JMC School has an alumni publication and this article was featured in the latest issue. You'll see a familiar face at the bottom of the article!(You can click on the image to enlarge it.)

Father/son smiles.

Scott had Monday off for Martin Luther King Day, so he and Reid enjoyed some quality father-son time. Reid is showing off his strong neck here. Whenever he does tummy time now, he never wants to lay his head down ... he's too busy lifting his head up and looking all around. There's too much action he doesn't want to miss!

White out.

Today Jami walked into the family room to discover there was a "white out." Luke decided to conduct a test to see how much baby powder is necessary to cover your legs. The results are published below...

Clap on. Clap off. The Clapper.

For Christmas, Scott received a Clapper -- that device you've seen advertised on TV that turns lights on and off by simply clapping your hands. While it's very useful, we've found it to have a few issues not stated in the instructions. Perhaps these things should also be noted about this handy dandy device, based on testing performed by the Leahy family.

1. Small children may try to activate the device to wake up parents in the morning. Luke often comes downstairs and wakes his dear mother and father up in the morning. If at first you don't succeed ... well, then Luke turns to the Clapper. Nothing like a bright light to get your parents up! One morning, he walked over in front of the outlet where it was plugged in and very deliberately clapped and said, "One, two." Sure enough, the light beamed on followed by the joyful squeals of a 3-year-old shouting, "I DID IT!"

2. Infants crying may result in a disco-like strobe light effect. If Reid is resting on our bed and begins to get a little irritated, his crying can activate the Clapper. While trying to calm him down, we have witnessed the light turn on, off, on, off continuously. We have joked that the disco light makes him even more upset!

3. The Clapper may be sensitive to certain side effects of respiratory illnesses. Jami had a very bad cough/cold a few weeks back. When coughing ... yes, you guessed it ... the Clapper turns on. Nothing like a bad coughing spell in the middle of the night to trigger a bright light that jolts you awake when you already feel crummy and need extra rest!

A preposition for you...

The English language can be difficult to master, especially when it comes to prepositions. Luke has a few funny quirks when he talks that get us chuckling every time. I italicized the way Luke twists the phrase around.

"Daddy, don't go FOR work." Every morning when Scott is getting ready to go to work, Luke will emphatically say this phrase followed by "You take your shoes off." Having your shoes on means going for (or "to" ... however you prefer to say it) work.

"You take my coat ON?" If you take a coat off, why don't you take it on, too? Luke thinks you do.

To, for, 6, 8 ... Luke-isms we appreciate!

Reid's First Haircut.

Since he was born, Reid's hair has drawn numerous comments. Most of the time, people comment, "Wow, he has so much hair!" Well, we decided he had a little too much hair and that it was getting too long and crazy and unruly. So Reid had his first haircut today, courtesy of Mom. The Bumbo makes a great barber chair. Below are some photos from this milestone event.

A trio of celebrations.

Catalog Card Generator

Class act.

Today was a small milestone in the Leahy household. Luke started a new Rolly Pollies class called Gymbug Jam that's a kids only program ... meaning he goes solo without mom or dad there. He goes on Mondays from about 1-3 p.m., and the class is a combination of motor skill development, art time, and singing. There are 4 kids total in his class ... 2 boys and 2 girls. When Jami came to pick up Luke, he had his hands full of art projects and was talking a mile a minute about all they'd done in class. The teachers Kyna and Kyle (who are also the owners) gave Luke a great report today. When Jami asked Luke what his favorite part was, he said, "All of it!" He also had to report that he learned the Chicken Dance. Now he's ready to boogie at any wedding reception! This is a great first step toward school, which he'll start in the fall.

The Giggler.

Reid is starting to giggle more and more and show a range of expression. Here's a fun photo from this past week!

All-Star Luke.

Luke loves to play baseball. He throws lefty, but he can bat either right or left (although right seems a little smoother). Here's a clip of Luke and Scott playing tee ball after our lunch today at the Farm at South Mountain.

A train for two.

Luke and his buddy Alec enjoyed playing together after a holiday hiatus from KidSwap. Luke loved checking out all of Alec's new toys, especially this super cool Thomas train. Guess they both wanted a window seat!

Hop N Pop 'til you drop.

Reid has been showing an increased interest in being upright and up where the action is. (Guess lying down on his back is too boring for him!) Luke loved this Hop N Pop toy in his younger years, so we thought we'd give it a try with Reid. We figured it might be a little too early yet, but guess who proved us wrong! Little Reid loves it! Hop N Pop 'til you drop, baby!

A visit from Geovanee.

Today we enjoyed a nice visit with our friends Ben, Vanessa, and Geovanee. We put all the kiddos on the couch for a photo opp. Too cute!

Brunch at the Wild Horse Pass Resort.

We've been having all sorts of fun with Grandma and Grandpa Keary in town this week. Yesterday we hit the mall and did some shopping. Luke treated his grandparents to a movie to see "Charlotte's Web." Today we ventured out to the Wild Horse Pass Resort for a delish brunch before we had to take Grandma and Grandpa to the airport.

Holly jolly holiday visitors.

What a special treat to host Grandma and Grandpa Keary for the holidays! They arrived on Monday night and will be with us this week. We enjoyed celebrating Christmas with them and opening gifts. Today we ventured to Camelback Mountain for some hiking and time out and about in the gorgeous weather. The celebrity spotting (for some of us) was Senator Jon Kyl. Here's a photo from dinner tonight ... the boys are so excited to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Jumpin' for Joy on Christmas Day.

The big excitement this Christmas was the gift of a trampoline. Luke never stops jumping, hopping, leaping, and bounding around the house so what better way to entertain (and tire out) our bouncing son than with a trampoline. Here are some before and after pics...

Santa Scott was hard at work on Christmas Eve assembling the trampoline after Luke went to bed. Three hours later after working in the conditions of a cold and dimly lit backyard, the trampoline was assembled and ready for action.

Luke was so amazed at what had landed in our backyard. However, it was a bit too chilly to jump at 7 a.m. Frost covered the trampoline, so we had to wait for the weather to warm up. With 70 degree temps later in the day, Luke was outside jumping most of the afternoon.

Merry Christmas!

Hope your Christmas is filled with many small blessings!

Dino-snores!

Luke and Reid received some snazzy new pajamas for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Nelson. Luke's pair has big dinosaurs, and Reid's has baby dinosaurs. The dinosaur duo are definitely ready for Santa on Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve Day with the Dittos.

Jami's aunt and cousins Marcia, Mark, and Matt Ditto are in town for the holidays. We enjoyed meeting up with them today and dined for lunch at the Greene House at Kierland Commons. What a treat to make our Christmas Eve merry and bright!

Bjorn to be wild.

Yesterday was a day of rain for us so we lounged around inside for most of the day. This morning we awoke to a thick fog, which is so unheard of here. (We had to teach Luke a new "word of the day" because he'd never seen fog before.) After the fog cleared, we were anxious to get out and about. We ventured to the train park this morning, and then Mom took Reid on a long walk in the Baby Bjorn. Here are the happy walkers!

Zoolights!

Tonight we went to one of Phoenix's finest holiday traditions ... Zoolights! The zoo was decked out in a bzillion Christmas lights. Luke was a little concerned before we went that it was too dark to be going to the zoo to see the animals, but he quickly figured it all out when he saw that the Christmas lights outlined a lot of animal figures and that we were just walking around looking at the lights. (We didn't see many of the real-life animals except for the zebra.) Our friend Terese joined us, and we had a ball all bundled up at the zoo on this chilly evening. Here are a few pics.

We don't often get to bust out the coats and hats in AZ, but tonight we did! Brrrr!

Terese and her little buddy Reid.

Member of the Year.

The Leahy household is quite privileged to have a two-time winner of recent "Member of the Year" honors. That's right ... it's Scott! He was recently named Member of the Year at the Motorola Gym where he works out. Apparently, there's an obnoxiously big picture of him by the door where you enter the gym, so his work friends have been kidding him about that! His second distinguished honors were earned last night at the end-of-the-year party for his Toastmasters Club, where he was recognized for Member of the Year, Best Evaluator, Best Table Topics, and Best Attendance. Maybe we should name him "Family Member of the Year" so he could sweep all the categories! He definitely deserves it! Way to go, Scott!

4th and Final Holiday Fest

Tonight we had the last of our weekend holiday happenings. We hosted a baby shower/dinner for our neighbors Jason and Laura. About 12 people and 3 kiddos were in attendance, and we munched on bacon wrapped chipotle shrimp, pork tenderloin crostinis, cranberry pecan stuffed mushrooms, and even peppermint chocolate cake for dessert. The proud parents-to-be were so excited and received some wonderful gifts for Baby Danielle. Can't wait for the little girl next door to arrive!

Yuletide Gatherings #2 & 3

Last night, we hit two more seasonal soirees. The first party was with Eric and Charity, who had gone all out for a cookie-decorating, eggnog-sipping good time. The guys also enjoyed playing Eric's new Nintendo Wii ... even Luke got in on the action!
Luke and Scott create their cookie works of art.

Charity takes a turn at holding Reid. What a treat!

Our second event was with some of Jami's girls' night friends. We enjoyed catching up with these friends, most of whom we've known for the majority of our time here.
A holly jolly grin from the girls' night group and their guys!

The other big highlight of the night was that we left both boys with a babysitter (other than Mimi and Papa) for the first time -- an ASU Theta named Jessica. They had an A+ report.

Holiday Party #1

This is a big weekend of holiday parties for the Leahy family. Our first holiday party was tonight with our poker friends and their families at the home of our friends Rob, Lori, and Lilly Zienkewicz. Here are a few pics from the festive occasion.

The next generation of the poker group: Zach Kitchen, Lilly Zienkewicz, Luke and Reid, Robby and Ethan Glanville, Kaitlynn Deakins, and LeAira Kitchen.

Reid and his gal Lilly ... and yes, they're holding hands! Too cute!

I get by with a little help from my bro.

This morning Reid was a little fussy, so big brother Luke jumped to the rescue. I walked into the nursery to find Luke had scaled the crib and performed this stunt maneuver for feeding Reid.

Ho, ho, ho & choo, choo!

Last night we enjoyed a festive night out with the playgroup families. We hit Patsy Grimaldi's in Old Town Scottsdale for some delish pizza and then zipped over to the train park to enjoy its holiday light display. Luke LOVES Christmas lights, so he was amazed by the combo of a train and lights together!! He and Mom even stopped for a quick pose aboard this caboose.

Cruising the mall.

We did a little Christmas shopping this week at the mall and met Dad for lunch. We decided not to get a double stroller when Reid was born because we knew Luke would never sit still in it. Usually, he runs alongside or way in front of us, but sometimes he loves to hitch a ride on front of the baby jogger. Hold on tight, boys ... here we go!

Ho-ho-holiday boat parade.

This weekend our neighborhood held its annual holiday boat parade. Most of the people who live on the lakes have a boat (nothing fast, more leisurely). At Christmas, they deck them out with lights and decorations. Here's one of the boats complete with Dasher, Dancer, and Prancer (not sure where the other reindeer are!) On top of the boat is one of those big inflatable snow globes.

Sweet dreams.

We have been super spoiled this week, as Reid has decided to sleep through the night for the last 4 nights! The first night we thought it was a fluke, the second night that it was luck, etc. but we would be far too lucky if this continues. Now on the flip side, he does get a little cranky in the evenings and eats A LOT so he's pretty much tanking up for a long night's sleep. He wakes up fairly happy and hungry in the morning bright and early at 5 a.m., but that's been a good way for mom to rise and shine and get things done! Cross your fingers that this continues ... and that we didn't just jinx it by blogging about it! Ha!

New developments for the Greeks.

As you may know, we both have been involved in advisory roles at our sorority and fraternity chapters at ASU for the past several years. We recently have switched gears a bit with our commitments ... still involved just in different capacities. Scott will be heading up a committee to look at housing for the Delta Upsilon chapter, which currently does not have formal housing on the ASU campus. Jami is finishing up her second year as Advisory Board Chair for Kappa Alpha Theta and is trading in her hat for a new one in Theta land. She recently was appointed as the Director of Risk Management for District 7, which includes 15 schools in Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada. We both still very much enjoy these volunteer opportunities, but there are times when we feel very old compared to when we were in school! Keeps us up on the changing times!!

Sting Ray Bay.

Today's playgroup outing was to the zoo to check out the new exhibit Sting Ray Bay. The kiddos enjoyed rolling up their sleeves and sticking their hands in the water to touch the sting rays (yes, this was what they were supposed to be doing and they weren't breaking any rules -- it was all safe as their barbs were removed).

Bathtime with the boys.

The other evening we decided to put the boys in the tub together for bathtime. Luke was in the regular tub and Reid in his baby tub inside the regular tub. Luke provided the entertainment by singing the theme song of "Blue's Clues" while splashing around. This picture shows what Reid thought of the whole event ... it was a hair-raising experience!!

The trials of taking a family photo...

We recently attempted to take some family photos in the backyard to use for our Christmas cards. It was a major feat to get everyone looking pleasant and at the camera. This photos says it all! (This was not staged but rather real life. No stunt actors were used.)

Chilly Willies.

It's been a little colder here lately so the boys had to bust out their hats one day. Luke loves to wear hats, but Reid could take it or leave it sometimes.