Dear Leah,

We blinked. And when our eyes opened, you grew from a baby into beautiful girl. It's hard to believe how quickly five years have flown by. We admit, being the middle child, some memories of your early years have gotten jumbled into the craziness that comes with three kids close in age! It's hard to remember what it felt like to snuggle you as an infant and rock you in the middle of the night. It's hard to remember what your first steps looked like and how your tiny voice sounded when you first said "mama". Yet, with as much as we can't remember, we still have loved every moment of seeing you grow into the girl you are today.

This year has been one of much growth. You now spend more weekday mornings at preschool than at home. Preschool has been a huge part of your life. You are constantly taking what you learn at school and applying it at home. You're writing and beginning to read. You're using your imagination to play for hours. And when you're not playing, you're (finally) enjoying tv and other calm activities. Your favorite thing to do, however, is play for hours outside. You've mastered riding a two-wheeler, can pump yourself on a swing, and can even swim without any floaties! It's no wonder, with as hard as you play, why you fall asleep instantly at bedtime. Giving up naps this year was definitely not easy to do for our most high-energy child, but you've learned to enjoy a couple hours of quiet time in your room. Your room (which is indeed your OWN room) becomes the backdrop for all sorts of make believe. We love to listen from afar as you play show-and-tell with your imaginary students, have tea with your stuffed animals, and take care of your crying babies!

Indeed your imagination and your personality amaze us. The first word that comes to mind when we think of your personality is compassionate. You are a nurturer and are always taking care of others. Your selflessness amazes us. You are almost always willing to put your desires behind those of your friends and family. You feel empathy for others so deeply inside of your heart that you are sometimes more concerned for others than they are for themselves! You've earned the nickname "Mama Leah"....mostly because of how much you "mother" your brothers.

And speaking of your brothers, sometimes we don't know how they'd survive without you. You and Caleb have a serious love-hate relationship. You are either fighting like worst enemies or playing like best friends. And then there's Joel. He is your shadow. He follows you everywhere and you control 99% of the play that occurs between the two of you. He's your student when you play school, your baby when you play mommy, your friend for tea parties....it goes on and on. When you're gone on Mondays and Wednesdays for preschool, he is lost without you!

Despite the fact that you are tougher than either of your brothers, you are also an incredibly sweet child. You are almost always the first to say thank you. You always want to help. When the attitude of your adolescent brother leads him to speak unkindly to his parents, you instantly come running with a hug and words of encouragement to build Daddy or Mommy back up. You are full of hugs, cuddles, and kisses. And even though you are depressingly close to being too big to hold anymore, you still love to be picked up and carried (mostly by Daddy).

For now, we'll savor those moments when you can still be our little girl. We'll pick you up and hold you because we know that all too soon you won't be small enough for that. All too soon, you'll be a big kid. Your imagination won't be as big and your kind heart might be jaded. Yet, we know that you are a child of God. You were created for an amazing purpose. No matter how much changes, you will still be the girl that God blessed us with. We are thankful for the joy He's given us through your five years in our family and we eagerly await watching you grow throughout the upcoming year! Happy Birthday Leah!!!

Love,

Daddy and Mommy

Christmas 2014

After a few weeks of non-stop Christmas fun, we enjoyed one last week of celebrating. The kids have been spoiled with more stuff than they could ever need, but most importantly, have been spoiled with plenty of great memories! It is magical to watch Christmas through the eyes of kids. Everything from their fascination of a little elf who flies to and from the North Pole to singing classic songs totally out of tune to playing happily together with their new toys....and, most importantly, their growing understanding of the true meaning of Christmas. It has been a month full of memories to last a lifetime!

Great Aunt D sent a HUGE box of goodies (and the box was just as much of a hit as the goodies)!

Christmas with Nana Pam (and Ed and Madelyn)

Ready for church on Christmas Eve

Ready for presents

Yummy breakfast with Grandpa Rob, Grandma Leslie, and TiTi

More presents

Fun with the Lamont crew

More presents

A Much Needed Getaway

We were (once again) lucky enough to sneak away for a short trip to Lake Lawn Resort before Christmas this year. It seems like the Christmas season is getting busier each year in our home, and it's so awesome to have the chance to slow down for even a couple days. We spent Friday and Saturday night at the resort. The kids had a blast doing crafts, swimming, and spending quality time with family. Tyler and I loved having the chance to hang out with the kids and even enjoyed sneaking in a nap (or two). We also gained about 5 pounds eating plenty of yummy food including a delicious brunch before we left on Sunday. The highlight of the brunch was seeing Santa.....unless, of course, your name is Leah!

Christmas Cookies

Every year, we usually get together with family and spend time decorating cookies. I can remember doing it as a kid, so it's important for me to pass this tradition along to my kids. The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to fly by this year, and it was too hard to find a common date and time for our big family to get together. Since the next best thing to family is, of course, friends, we decided to do cookie decorating with them! Each kid got to invite two friends (and their families) to come over one evening for cookie decorating, dinner, and a movie. They all had a blast eating frosting decorating and enjoying the company of good friends! It was well worth the disaster of finding frosting and sprinkles in every corner of the house for several days!

Christmas Shopping

For the second year in a row, the older two kids got to spend an evening shopping with their favorite Nana (Pam) and her husband (Ed). The best part about the shopping is that they can go with $5 each and buy enough presents for every important person in their life. Nana Pam's church collects donated items that the kids can buy for next to nothing. They hand pick gifts for everyone special and then get to wrap them all up to keep them a secret until Christmas. It was so fun to see what they picked out last year and I cannot wait to find out what items they thought would be just perfect for us this year! It'll be amazing to see if they can keep everything a secret over the next few weeks!

all ready to go

a very sad 2-year-old (he's not quite ready for this experience)

Caleb (according to Nana Pam) spent lots of time thinking through each purchase.

 Leah flew through her gift selecting and wrapped everything up in record time.

 The kids got to also eat a yummy meal with Nana Pam and Ed.

We are so thankful for this experience. It's quite special for our kids to be able to learn the joy that comes with giving to others. They came home beaming - all because they are so excited to bless others with gifts. 

I Don't Want to Forget

They say sometimes the best way to preserve a memory is to write it down. Somehow, over the past 12 years, I've carried quite an important memory with me and have failed to ever write it down. Since it's one that I don't ever want to forget, there's no better time than now to share it.

On this exact day, 12 years ago, I sat on the floor of my room at the Alpha Phi house with my roommate and discussed one of the most important decisions I've ever had to make in my life. That discussion, though, was preceded by months of life changing events. And this is how the story goes....

It was the beginning of my junior year and we were still at the point in August when classes are just barely starting to get tough. There's tons of free time, the weather is still gorgeous, and weeknights turned into weekends with no real sense of time. On one particular Saturday, a group of sorority sisters were heading down the street to a nearby frat to hang out and play drinking games. When my friend down the hall suggested I come with, I happily tagged along. We had a blast hanging out with the awesome guys at the SigEp house and much of the night was a complete blur. One of the few moments I do remember from the night was when I was coming back up the stairs from the bathroom on the main level. A guy was walking past carrying a book (which I am pretty sure happened to be a Bible). He casually struck up a conversation and after finding out that I was an Alpha Phi, he mentioned that our two houses were doing a Bible study together that semester. We chatted for a little bit longer and then parted ways, but I somehow managed to remember the details of the conversation the next day.

(a pic of my friend and I on that night in August)

When talking to my roommate about the night and mentioning the "cute guy" I met in the stairwell, she informed me that she was co-leading that study. At that point, I'd never opened a Bible in my life and really didn't have much interest in doing so....but what I did have an interest in was the very attractive SigEp I met the night before! I told Melissa (my roommate) that I'd like to go, which was really just an attempt at somehow reconnecting with the guy! And so, I went. Every single week I went. And every single week, that guy never showed. But several times, while sitting there at Bible study in the main room of the SigEp house, I saw that cute guy heading straight out the door with other guys to go play basketball. Oh, the nerve!

Though I never really had the chance to reconnect with the person that I was hoping to meet up with by going to the study, I did have the chance to become completely enthralled by someone else. Yes, as cheesy as it sounds, I came to meet a guy, but the only guy who met me there was Jesus. In all seriousness, I became fascinated by the story of Jesus and everything about the Bible was so exciting. I had debates, questions, deep conversations, with these Christians who a few months before were just friends I barely knew. In just a few months time, Jesus had transformed my heart and I deeply desired to know more about Christianity. I was going to church for the first time in my life and reading the Bible just to find out more. I found myself wanting to spend more time with the people I'd met in the study because they all seemed so much more genuine than most people I'd met at college.

Fast forward a few months, and it came time for an exchange between the SigEp and Alpha Phi houses - exchanges are just a fancy way of saying that a bunch of guys and a bunch of girls get together to drink have fun. This particular exchange was at a local Japanese restaurant. We all had to get dressed up and spent the night mingling and doing Sake bombs. I made a strong attempt, with the help of a few sorority sisters, to find the mystery guy that I'd had my eye on for months. We connected and managed to spend a good part of the night hanging out, laughing, and getting to know each other better. 

(the night of the exchange, with my roommate Melissa and some other friends)

Fast forward a few days, and it was time to figure out who I was going to take to our annual semi-formal. I, of course, wanted to ask my favorite SigEp. I worked up the courage to message him on AOL Instant Messenger (yes, this was before the days of texting) and he, thankfully, said yes! We had a blast at semi-formal and I just couldn't stop thinking about what an amazing guy he was.

(our first date - Alpha Phi semiformal)

The next day, my roommate and I were hanging out in our room. Being the weirdos that we were, we'd often sit at our computers and have full blown conversations via AIM. This particular conversation was about semi-formal and how much fun we'd had. At one point, I managed to type, "I hope he falls in love with me someday." I clicked send (or whatever the button was) and about one second later realized that I had typed that part of the conversation into the wrong chat box. Instead of typing that to Melissa, I had typed it to the cute guy that I was also chatting with at the same time! At that moment, I knew I had blown it big time - no guy wants to get that serious after just one date! After a few agonizing minutes, he responded with "can we talk?"

Not long after that most embarrassing moment, I found myself sitting on the couch in the living room of the Alpha Phi house with the guy of my dreams - knowing in the back of my mind that I had completely screwed up! His response, however, was quite unexpected. He said some of the most flattering things a guy has ever said about me. He told me he'd also had an amazing time together. Then he said, "but....". There it was. I knew it was coming. But it wasn't the "but" I was expecting. He said, "But, you're not a Christian and I'm really only okay with dating people who share my faith."

Our conversation wrapped up and I immediately ran up to my room. I asked Melissa what he meant by that. After all, I'd been going to Bible study and had even been to church a few times. She clarified what he meant by saying that a Christian is not just someone who "does" all those religious things, but someone who fully accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior. Up until that point, I hadn't made a concrete decision to follow Jesus. So, she sat with me, and we prayed the salvation prayer. And from that moment on, I knew my life had been changed forever. I finally understood the difference between religion and faith. Religion is what I grew up with....doing things that outwardly express what you believe. Faith, however, is an internal thing. It's knowing and accepting fully that prior to December 8, 2002 I was living a life that was not fully committed to God. But, from that moment on, I wouldn't live my life for myself anymore. I would live with Christ as my example of how to live here on Earth and with Christ as my assurance that I will spend an eternity in Heaven. 

After another month or so of spending time together, the cute boy and I started to realize that there was something more than just a friendship forming. And the rest is history....

....oh, and he did fall in love with me after all!