Jade's Gymnastics Show

Jade had her first gymnastics show on December 12th. We were able to be down on the floor with her while she showed us everything she has learned. She did two circuits (obstacle courses) and jumped on the trampoline. It was then followed by an award ceremony. Jade was very proud of herself, and of her new leotard, an early Christmas present from Uncle Sean and Aunt Kathy.

Erica Crawls for the 1st Time

This was taken a few weeks ago. Now Erica is crawling all over the place. She also walks while holding on to furniture and stands without support. She has tried taking some steps by herself, but promptly falls flat on her face. She'll be walking in no time.

Who's who?

About three weeks after Erica was born, my cousin Tara gave birth to her daughter, Maggie. I don't know if it is just me, but their resemblance is uncanny. It's like a scene out of the Patty Duke Show or something. It will be interesting to see if the similarities continue as they grow. So, can you tell who's who? (answers on the comment section)

Turkey Day

Justin and Erica

My aunt and godmother, Patricia Penny

Playing cards after dinner-a holiday tradition for the McGarry family.
Clockwise from left: Jade, Caitlin, Grandpa Joe, Tim, Luke, Rebecca.

Jade's second cousins: Seven, Caitlin, and Sterling.

Erica eating mashed potatoes for the first time. What a mess!

Natalie, Caitlin and our soon to be brother-in-law, Pete.

Jade and Tim ready to play defense. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to play football in the living room.

They finally decided to move the game outside.

Life and Stuff

Things are going pretty well at the Leveille household these days. Jade is doing very well in school and is enjoying it for the most part. The pre-k teacher has been sending home some activities and worksheets for us to work on so she can stay up to speed with that class. I know I've said it numerous times, but I can't get over how smart she is! She is starting to read simple sentences and is a whiz at adding and subtracting. One of her favorite games right now is chess. She's still trying to understand the whole idea behind strategy, but she has learned how all the pieces move and she understands the object of the game. I don't remember learning chess until I was around eight or nine; it's amazing how quickly she is picking it up. Soccer is over and she is back to gymnastics for the winter. She has her first show on Dec. 12th and she is very excited to show us all she has been learning.
Erica had her six month checkup a few weeks ago and she, too, is doing well. She is in the 50th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. I don't think Jade has reached those percentiles yet! She babbles constantly and is always laughing at her sister. She really adores her. She can sit up on her own and she is trying very hard to crawl. But she just can't quite get it and it is very frustrating for her. She is eating baby jar food a couple times a day and has started eating biter biscuits and corn puffs as well. She has decided that when we are eating, she has to be at the table eating as well. Unfortunately, she still is not sleeping through the night, although she is doing significantly better with usually only waking up once. We have decided that if she is still doing this at eight months, it will be time to get tougher. She has also entered separation anxiety and stranger anxiety phases, which drives me nuts!
Justin's office has moved back downtown. The building is absolutely beautiful and is in a great location. We are very happy to have him closer to home. He is continuing to enjoy his work, although it is starting to enter the more stressful part of the year. He continues to work his way up and will soon have a couple people reporting to him.
For those of you who don't know, I am back working at Roundup for the time being. This time I am at one of the group homes which works with troubled teens with dual diagnoses. Due to a number of reasons, including going on maternity leave and losing some clientele, the inability to really sell myself, and the present day economy (no one wants to pay for skin care), I have taken a temporary leave from aesthetics in order to bring in a steady income. For a long time I felt very defeated, but I know sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get by. I enjoy working with the kids but the hours are hard on the family. I work a couple evenings per week and pull a ten hour day on Saturdays. At least it is only part-time and when I look at what kind of shape people around me are in, I am very thankful I have a job at all. Another thing that came up recently was that we had a cancer scare. The lymph node on the right side of my neck has been swollen and on watch for the last couple of years. Well, this time around, my doctor felt a palpable mass and decided it was time to get it checked. I had a fine needle aspiration done and the results came back that it is benign! So we will continue to watch it in the upcoming years. We are very thankful all is okay, and I am glad to have finally had it checked so we know for sure nothing is wrong. On a lighter note, last weekend my siblings and I took a trip up to Cripple Creek for some much needed bonding time. We spent some time at Justin's parent's cabin hanging out and riding the four-wheeler. We also had lunch in town and spent some time gambling away our earnings. We didn't win anything, but we had a good time. Well, we will update again after Thanksgiving. Hope everyone has a good holiday!

Santa's Workshop

Every November for the past four years, Sean, Kathy, Justin and I have taken the kids to the North Pole for some fun, family bonding time. It's a perfect time of year to go as there are not many people. The kids get to ride on rides, which we, with our not-so-clad-iron stomachs anymore, have to take turns enduring with them. But it really is a great time with them and they are now at the perfect ages where they can ride on almost anything. It is also a great opportunity for them to meet with Santa and start letting him what they want for Christmas. Jade's list is a mile long already. (Little does she know she won't be getting half of it.)

Halloween Fun

This was Erica's first Halloween and the girls really enjoyed it. I had to work unfortunately, but we made the most of it and spent as much time together as possible. I took the girls to the pumpkin patch in Pueblo a few weeks ago. We all spent time together two weeks ago decorating the front yard like a cemetery. We also were together to carve pumpkins on Wednesday. On Halloween, I went trick-or-treating with Jade's class at the nursing home next to the school. Then Justin took the girls that night, along with their cousins, Emily and Nathan.

The girls painting pumpkins. It's a good thing the paint was non-toxic because Erica was more interested in eating it than painting.

Jade's first time actually carving pumpkins.

The finished product (with a little help). Nice, huh?

"The force is strong with this one." Yoda

"My name is Harry. Harry Potter."

Artwork of a 4-Year-Old

Jade has come a long way from her days of scribbling to now using shapes and colors to create works of art.

Emily, Jade, Nathan, Erica, and Joseph. (Erica got a hold of it...that's why it's a bit torn and smudged.)

A train that Jade drew on a dry erase board.

Soccer Mom

From carting Jade to and from a Thursday practice and getting up early for a Saturday game, to locating her jersey, shin guards, shoes, and water bottle, and making sure there are enough snacks for the whole team...I think I am officially a soccer mom.

"Go away, Dad. I can do this myself!"

I'm ready for the ball.

Her devoted fans.

Her biggest fan of all.

Family Portraits

I have been meaning to add these to the blog for a couple months now, but I was afraid to teach myself how to use the scanner. It was surprisingly easy. Anyway, these were taken when Erica was two months old. We thought they turned out beautifully. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

(Our favorite)

-Photos taken by Keith Roberts

A Day With The Godfather

Jade recently had a special day with her Godfather, Uncle Sean. They spent some time playing together at a local park and then went out for ice cream. Jade had a fantastic time! She still hasn't stopped talking about it! We are very lucky to have family that care enough to want to spend special time with the girls.

Our Newest Addition

We would like to welcome the newest addition to our family, our nephew Joseph Henri Leveille. He was born on September 16th at 4:38 a.m. and weighed 7lbs 7oz. He had a bit of a rough start, as he was a little sick, but he perked up after a few days and is now at home. His parents are exhausted, but doing well. Congratulations Jason & Karen!

Help!

Well, we have tried everything the doctor has told us to do, and Erica still isn't sleeping. (As you can see by the time of this post.) At this point, she is waking up 5-10 times per night. We don't take her out of the crib when she wakes anymore, unless it has been a good six hours and I know she is hungry. All it really takes is giving her a pacifier, or patting her bottom, or just reassuring her and she falls right back to sleep. But who wants to keep getting up to do that? Even with Justin and I taking shifts--Justin has the 10-2 shift and I have the 2-6 shift--it's still exhausting. So we would really like some suggestions from you all on what we can try. Those of you that are parents, and even those that aren't, we'd love to hear your ideas. I don't know if we're quite ready for the tough love stuff yet, but we're willing to hear anything at this point. Thanks for your help!

Summer Comes to an End

Summer has sadly come to an end, and it's time for a new school year to start. August went by in a flash; we barely had time for anything. We never made it to Water World, but I guess it will be more fun next year anyway.
We celebrated Justin's 30th birthday with a backyard BBQ at our house. The following evening, I took him to Red Rocks in Denver for the 1964 Beatles tribute concert. Then we stayed the night at a bed and breakfast just a few miles away. It was really nice to get away for a night. The girls spent the night in Penrose with grandma and grandpa McGarry. We ended the summer with the Balloon Classic at Memorial park. We went to the balloon glow Saturday night and then watched them launch the balloons Monday morning. It was a little early for me at 7:00am, but both the girls really enjoyed it. Justin, of course, would never do anything that early, so he stayed in bed.
School has started again for Jade. She was supposed to be in Pre-K this year, but due to lack of enrollment, she will be spending the year in the learning center. She seems to be fine with it, I think I'm more upset about it than she is. But I really don't want to send her to another school just for one year. Her cousin Nathan is in there with her, so I think that helps. The teachers are very helpful and are going to work with her to make sure she is prepared for kindergarten.
Jade has also started soccer. This is her first year, so she still doesn't quite get it. About half way through practice, she gets bored and proceeds to pick the grass or talk with the other kids. Games start next week, and I'm sure after a little time, her attention span will increase.

Erica had her four month checkup yesterday and she is healthy and thriving. She is 13 lbs. and 24 1/2 in long. Unfortunately, her sleeping, or lack there of, has gotten progressively worse over the last two months. The doctor has given us some things to try including: elevating her during sleep to see if it is a reflux issue, trying yellow fruits and vegetables instead of the cereal to see if it is a digestion issue, and having Justin get up with her the whole night to see if it is a mommy attachment issue. We sure hope we can figure this out soon because it is getting hard to function. Amazingly enough, for how little she sleeps, she is remarkable happy.

Vermont Pictures

Vermont was absolutely beautiful--and so green! I guess that's what happens when you have rain. These are the Green Mountains. Although, they look more like rolling hills to me. I guess you can't compare them to the Rockies.

Jade feeding a calf at the farm. She was a little apprehensive after the first calf was a bit aggressive and knocked her into a metal pole.

Jade in the hayloft. She had so much fun there. Her favorite game was hide-n-seek.

The group of us at dinner Thursday night. Clockwise from left: Teri, Gavin, Michael, Roland, Kari, Johanna, Travis, Bill, Justin, Jade, Rebecca, Erica

Justin always looks good in a tux.

Mom putting Erica to sleep.

Jade was the flower girl and Travis' nephew, Ayden, was the ring bearer. They were so cute together. Jade was even able to drag him out on the dance floor with her.

The little miss, looking as cute as ever.