Memorial Day Picnic

Here is Carolyn holding Abby for the first time. Abby sunk right in and took a nap ...

Abby got to try her first bottle the other day. She drank less than an ounce and wasn't very fond of it. She's been a must better nurser than Stephen, but she didn't take her first bottle as well as he did. We're not in any hurry to get her to take it, but I think the car trip to St. Louis on Saturday will go better if she's willing to take milk that way. We shall see ...


We went on a picnic together today, despite the rain. We just sat in a pavilion at picnic tables and enjoyed our sandwiches, chips, jello salad, and crackers. Then the rain was light enough that Stephen got to tool around the playground for a little while with Ryan.


The Snodgrasses had their twins today! Alexander and Nicholas are doing well and I was able to talk to Erica for a few minutes this afternoon.

I found this tractor video for Stephen and he asks to see it every time he sees Ryan's computer out!! The music on it is quite funny to listen to.

Touch a Truck

The Champaign Park District puts on an event every spring called Touch a Truck. A bunch of trucks — a fire truck, a tow truck, the library bookmobile, the bomb squad truck, and on and on — gather in a park and HUNDREDS of preschoolers get to look inside them and even honk the horns. It's quite noisy. I knew Stephen wouldn't care if he got to actually go in the trucks, but he sure did enjoy walking around the park and looking at the variety of vehicles. This one that he is sitting in is the Pepsi truck. There was no line for this one, and all we did was take the photo. He didn't actually want to play around in there.

My parents managed to find a bike trailer that we can use, and after we coaxed Stephen into it (by letting him play with a truck in it), he LOVED it! My dad had to go on many short bike rides because he kept saying "again." The weather was beautiful, too.

We're looking forward to seeing Aunt Carolyn (Care), Grandma Susan (Pike), Grandpa Dave, and Great Grandma Leatherman this weekend!

Family photos

Stephen likes the tent Heidi got for us.
Sitting on the couch with my daughter.
Stephen got a haircut today!
See the post of Stephen in July 2006.

May 10

May 10 was no ordinary day for Ryan and Lisa Leatherman. We celebrated being married for 1000 days! You may not believe this, but I (Lisa) was not one the to realize it. On Friday, Ryan had put the numbers "999" on Stephen's magnetic board. Having no idea what it meant, I just put the numbers back when I was tidying up the living room. On Saturday he got back from his limo job after Stephen was in bed and we spent some time together talking about events that have happened since we got married almost 3 years ago.

We continue to adjust to life with 2 kids and Stephen's doing great being a big brother. A wise woman (thanks, Maria's mom!) told me shortly after I knew I was pregnant with Abby that in her experience 2 kids was easier than 1. Bear with me on this one. I know that practically speaking that just cannot be true. But I am finding out what she meant by that. I think I had such high expectations of what I should be able to get done when I just had Stephen to care for. Now I just don't expect very much else to get done! It's also nice for me to have 2 different stages to think about. There have been times when it seems all I do is think about the 1 issue we're having with Stephen (such as getting his iron level up or getting rid of a nasty diaper rash) and there's only so much brain that I want to expend on a single kid issue. Now I don't have to. I can think about several issues that require attention. So while we've already had moments where both kids are crying, overall this is far from being a season in life that I can't wait to get through ... we're having a great time!

I should really get to bed. I need to get up early - before Ryan gets up to sub at an elementary school. It's my only chance to take a shower.

Stephen Meets Abby

Many people have asked how Stephen is responding to Abby. He's doing very well and has even held her a few times now.

Here is a video my parents took of when he met her for the first time:

Dressing up

May 2008
December 1977

Free Shipping at Snapfish

I wanted to alert everyone to a special that Snapfish is having until May 11. They have a "no shipping on photo gifts" special and it doesn't require a minimum order. Just type in NOSHIP08 in the coupon field at the checkout screen. (Our family photos are at stephenleatherman.snapfish.com, password 062806.)

What Abby Does

I'm listening to Stephen through the monitor as he is going to sleep. He is talking about Abby. Mostly he just says her name, but he also says that she cries. And that she has hands and eyes and hair and a nose. He's been increasingly interested in her in the last day and often will climb up on my lap to look at her with me.

We're celebrating this evening because (we think) Abby is back up to her birth weight. At least she was up to 8 lb 10 oz on Wednesday and at an ounce a day she'd be back to 8 lb 13 oz by today. I'm guessing she's a little beyond that because she's such a good nurser and her output is more than the average. Speaking of output, she is a much more aware pooper and pee-er than Stephen ever was. She regularly waits until her diaper is off to do her business. Tonight it squirted across the room and all over the rug in our room. In the same spot where my water broke ... sorry for all the information!

My parents were in town but they left today. Stephen really enjoyed having them to play with him and all of his trucks, but I think he'll enjoy having mommy's more focused attention for the next couple of days. Ryan is mostly done with school and he will finish up over the course of the next week.

Here are photos that I know some of you are looking for!