Sitting Up!

Reid has a new skill ... sitting up! He's been really into doing "carseat crunches" as he tries to sit up and see the world from his carseat carrier. Today we decided to see how he'd do on his own sitting. He can sit unassisted for about 30 seconds, but then, well ... here's the sequence of events to follow. Going, going, gone!

Me and my dad.

The other evening, we took a family walk over to grab some dinner at the local pizza place Nicantoni's. Scott and Luke look as though they are in a deep discussion, but it's most likely about what kind of pizza to order!

The boys.

Good morning, world!

This morning Reid greeted the world with the biggest grin ever. He woke up super happy! This also shows how much he wiggles when he sleeps. When he went to sleep, he was swaddled up with arms in the blanket and settled into his sleep positioner. You can see the blanket is now a belt and he's wiggled way down. But hey, he's happy after a good night's sleep!

Then and now.

Today was a great reunion with a blast from the past! We met up with Jami's sorority rush roommate Sara Swan Busse who now lives in Montana. She and her husband Ryan and 2-year-old son Lander were in town with some friends and for a trade show for her husband's work. What better place to meet when you have little ones than at the train park! Thought it would be fun to show this "then and now" photo. It was great to catch up with her since she, Scott, and I all knew each other in college and have kept up with different people since then.

Mardi Gras 2007.

We went to a Mardi Gras party last night at the home of our friends Tony and Heather. The theme was Pop Music, so many pop star chart-toppers from several decades showed up at the party.
Diana Ross, Olivia Newton-John, and Cyndi Lauper strut their stuff!

The Project.

Scott and his helper Luke have embarked on an outdoor project this weekend. They are clearing a space in the walkway on the side of our house to put the large trash and recycling containers. This project involves moving rocks, digging up some dirt, and using a wheelbarrow (Scott puts rocks in it and Luke likes to ride in it!) Luke is quite the supervisor because whenever Scott takes a break, Luke asks him, "Dad, you wanna do that project again?" No rest for the weary. Here are a few pics of their efforts.

Hey, Dad. Give us a ride in the wheelbarrow please.

Hard at work in the dirt.

Two peas in a pod.

Like father like son. Reid sure is looking a lot like Dad these days.

A Musical Medley.

Luke has been quite into singing lately. This video has a few of his favorite hits - some classics and some from TV. Be sure to turn up your volume. Enjoy!

Boys will be boys.

"Why is that big brother of mine always trying to tackle me? Just wait, I'll be bigger than him some day and will get him back!"

All smiles for the Cats!

Reid sported his purple pride yesterday with this matching ensemble. Go Cats! He also has added 2 tricks to his repertoire ... rolling over from back to tummy and blowing "raspberries."

3 is cool!

Luke recently took some time out of his busy play schedule to do some modeling for his 3-year-old pictures. What's funny about this age is that Luke realized he can make other facial expressions besides smiling, so we got a lot of photos of him smirking, frowning, looking surprised, etc. This was the winning shot! This pic also illustrates what his stats said at his 3-year well check with Dr. Mike. He's a tall, skinny kid -- 75th percentile for height and 35th percentile for weight.

Greek Life Awards.

Tonight Jami attended the Greek Life Awards at ASU for her final hurrah of her 2 years as Advisory Board Chair for the Theta chapter there. The chapter won the honors of Sorority of the Year once again for the 2nd year in a row! The chapter also won several other honors including highest scholarship with a chapter GPA of 3.41! The Delta Upsilon chapter also brought in several honors including excellence in recruitment and alumni relations (go Scott and Eric!) We are so proud of our local chapters!

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!