First Fundraiser...

Here is Leslie's first fundraiser letter...



For those who don't have microscopic vision, this is what her letter says...

"Dear Sponsor,

I will be participating in the Peace, Love and Wheels Ride a thon on Sunday, January 24, 2010 to help raise money for a new playground at The First United Methodist Church.

The Ride a thon will be conducted in our parking lot, and I will have 30 minutes to complete as many laps as I am able up to 30 laps. Please check one of the blanks below to indicate your PER LAP pledge.

(amounts to check)

____ I would prefer to make a one time donation in the amount of $_____

The Church will notify you how far I rode and he total amount of your pledge.

Thank you again for helping us build a new playground!

Your Friend,

Leslie Brauchi"

They've been raising money for this playground all fall and Leslie is really excited about it. One of the events they had was the kids all took home little banks to collect change. Leslie came home and decided to empty out most of her piggy bank to give to the church. If you are interested in sponsoring her for her bike a thon, please let me know and I'll make sure and tell Leslie and we'll fill out the form and turn it in Sunday. Thank you in advance for any contribution!

Other Pictures...

This is our friend's baby who is 5 weeks younger than Calla. Barry watched him for a while one afternoon while I was in Galveston. I was shocked he left that little Santa hat on the entire time. I thought if nothing else, Calla would rip it off his head. I can just hear her... "Seriously dude, that's embarrassing. Let me do you a favor and take this thing off your head. Don't worry... my mom tries to do the same with bows."


Calla's new favorite game is "Night-Night." She'll lay her head on just about anything to play. In this case, a vat of baby wipes was her choice...

She did really well standing while I was gone. And even made some progress walking. She took 3 steps on several occasions. I got her up to 8 after I got home, but I told her we weren't counting it until she got to 10...

This is Calla with Evin (my friend Julie's baby.) I don't know why Calla was mean mugging in all the pictures. Evin was super happy and easy going the entire time they played...

Here are the babies playing with some pretty ponies to keep them from crawling off while we tried to get Leslie to smile at the camera. Once again, she failed...

Children's Museum...

I took a trip to Galveston the weekend before Christmas to see my cousin, Alison, graduate PA school, and left both the girls with Barry overnight. He chose outfits and fixed hair, and survived it all. He's a good daddy and did all sorts of fun things with them... like going to the Children's Museum...


They had a special huge train exhibit with buttons kids could push, so Leslie spent alot of time staring at the majesty of toy trains...

Then she went "shopping" in the grocery store...

Most of their time was spent in the special infant room. Leslie loves her baby toys...

Barry said Calla just kept climbing up and down these steps, but she never figured out how to sit without falling off. Looks like he caught this picture before she went tumbling...

Calla in search of her white whale...

Barry has gotten so so so extremely mad at me through the years for making him pose with weird statues or animals on our trips. And then look what I found on the camera... him doing the same with the girls!

"Good job on the turtle. Come on, now stand with the bear..."

It was a good day. I felt a little guilty when I talked to him on the phone that evening that I rarely get both girls out like that, but then I asked him what they were having for dinner... no idea. I think it ended being toast and syrup:) Fun times...

Christmas Beginnings...

This isn't the best picture of it, but Calla can fit her paci entirely inside her mouth. It's especially funny when she gets it face up and it looks like she has a little joker face smile. I'm glad it entertains her and ultimately keeps her quiet, but it makes the biggest mess of slobber you'll ever see...


This is Leslie after her school Christmas program. She's such a pretty girl when she's not trying to smile...

And here she is trying to smile. But they're both sitting in front of the tree in their matching Christmas outfits, so it will have to do...

Frisbee fun...

Back in December, Barry took Leslie out to the local Frisbee Golf Course. The weather was gorgeous, so he dressed her in her boy Avengers shirt and headed out during Calla's nap.



She had alot of fun throwing all the Frisbees and getting them out the buckets. Her aim needs a little help, but the basics are definitely there...

After frisbee-ing got boring, they went over to the play ground to play on all the old rusty, I mean "classic," playground equipment...

Groovin'... on a Sunday afternoon...

Life would be ecstasy, you and me and Leslie...

Pieces of our life...

Here are some random pictures over the last couple weeks...

Calla has decided she really likes the piano and has picked that instrument to play in Barry's family band pursuits...



After MUCH MUCH turmoil over the tree, I finally got it up and decorated. It's alot bigger than our last one, so I need to make some more bows and buy some more giant ornaments, but I still love it! Surprisingly, Calla doesn't bother it too much...

Barry got Calla up last weekend, laid her on the floor and changed her diaper, and then- she just kept laying there (watching ESPN I assume!) Lazy baby...

Here is Santa-Rudolf...

We ate over at our friends house the other night, and Calla just kept crackin' up at Jenna kissing on her neck...

I've been really excited about Calla's hair getting so much thicker and longer! But, it's becoming more and more problematic that she likes to sleep with her head wrapped in a blanket and the top of her head up against the crib bumpers...

So, this picture is about a month late (second child syndrome I guess.) Now that she's picking feet up and taking steps, I figured I better hurry and get a picture of her standing by herself before it's not special and exciting anymore...

Entertaining Calla...

We were out eating a couple weeks ago, and Calla kept on trying to eat the table. So, I put my arm down in front of her and got this... The video is from my cousin's cell phone, so it's not great quality, but I think you'll get the idea. And, this is just a small fraction of how long it actually lasted.

(turn your sound up loud)

Needless to say, we were all cracking up. Everyone was turning around laugh at her... or us. Either way, she's a funny funny baby.