Christmastime at the Leavitts

It's been a while since I posted some pictures of Alex, and I know Grandma and Grandpa Leavitt will get after me soon if I don't. So I'm taking preemptive action!

Here's what I get to see each morning:


Gotta love that hair. Alex has been enjoying the Christmas season. When he wakes up, he insists that we turn on all the "stars," which is what he calls the Christmas lights (we think it's because his twinkly nightlight is star-shaped and we've told him that's a star). And whenever I turn on the Christmas tunes, he dances around the room, whether it's shakin' his booty to "Jingle Bell Rock" or gracefully waving his arms to "O Holy Night." :)


I thought I'd throw this in to show how much Alex is following in his father's footsteps...we didn't give him the controls like this, he knew how to do it himself!

Rise & Shout

Even after BYU's humiliating defeat by Utah last week, I'm still proud to be a Cougar. Even more so now because I'll be working for BYU as of Dec. 1. :) That's right — I was hired as the executive secretary to the academic vice president on campus.

That means working 8–5, Monday–Friday. No more weekends or nights or weird, wonky sleep schedules. In short, it's a great day for the Leavitts. :)

On this day a quarter of a century ago...

...I was born! That's right, folks, today is my 25th birthday, and to celebrate, I'm going to share 25 random facts about myself with you. Aren't you excited?!

Ahem...

1. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people don’t use their turn signals.

2. The only bone I’ve ever broken was my fifth metacarpal. This happened at a prison. When I went to the emergency room to get it looked at, there was a kid there with a toy car wheel stuck up his nose. We became friends.

3. I shake my foot constantly. It drives Josh and my dad crazy.

4. My number one craving is French fries. Preferably Burger King French fries with Ranch to dip them in.

5. I could quote homestarrunner.com all day long. So could Josh, which only exacerbates the problem.

6. I never get tired of using “your mom” or “your face.” As in, Josh will say “That spaghetti sauce smells kind of funny,” and I will say, “Your mom smells kind of funny!” Hilarious, I know.

7. I’ve had to wear a strait jacket before. It’s not what you think.

8. I love shirts that have sleeves that go past my wrist and cover part of my palm. I will buy a shirt for this sole reason.

9. In high school, I used to sing drinking songs with my friends while chugging orange soda.

10. I don’t write drafts of essays or papers; I feel like I should do it right the first time or not at all. That’s why it really used to annoy me when teachers or professors would have me submit several drafts before the final paper. I would just write it as I wanted it initially, and then go back and put in a couple of “errors” so they could I see I had made “changes/improvements” for the “final draft.” Sorry for the gratuitous use of quotes.

11. My earliest memory is going sledding with my brother, Buzz.

12. I hate filing my nails. And I hate listening to anyone else file their nails.

13. I once put peanut butter in my armpit in front of all the students at my high school to help a friend become the Harvest Ball Queen.

14. I love learning languages. My favorite so far is Hebrew (though I am definitely not fluent in it or any of the other languages I’ve dabbled in).

15. I am a really bad dancer. But I know how to laugh at myself, so that’s okay.

16. When I’m bored, I like to make lists, often to no real end. For example, I will sit down and just list all of my family members, and put them in different orders according to age, first letter of their name, etc.

17. Collective Soul has been my favorite band since I was about twelve, although I do not like their newer stuff as much.

18. I used to hang out at a funeral home all the time. I even played cards in the same room with a corpse once. No, I’m not macabre, I just had a friend who lived there. You get used to it after a while.

19. Josh is the only person I’ve ever kissed.

20. I’ve always loved the smell of pine trees. But I can’t stand pine-scented things. The fake stuff just doesn’t do it for me.

21. My mom always used to make Jell-o cheesecake, and I thought that’s what real cheesecake was until I was fourteen. I kid you not.

22. I like to sketch, but I’m self-conscious about it and rarely show anyone what I’ve done. My favorite things to draw are human faces and figures, though most of the time they end up much more cartoon-y than realistic.

23. Autumn is my favorite season. I detest spring. Like, really detest spring.

24. I don’t like the foods on my plate to touch. And rather than eating all of one item at a time, I have to cycle through and make them all come out even.

25. I always have to know what time it is, but I can’t stand wearing a watch.

Happy birthday to me, all 25 weird, quirky years of me! :)

Don't Let This Happen to Your Child!

I don't know if you've heard, but there's an infectious disease going around and the worst cases have been those involving children under the age of two. Unfortunately, our sweet little boy has caught it. The disease starts as a bright red rash on the hands, and quickly moves to the face and chest. Soon blisters resembling small bits of onion and parsley will begin to pop up as well. The disease does not seem to affect a child's temperament negatively; in fact, ours seemed quite cheerful during the worst of it. But don't be fooled! It needs to be treated quickly or it will soon spread to mom, dad, and any object within the child's reach.


This terrible disease is called Spaghetti Consumption, and it could happen to your baby. If your child is showing symptoms, please seek treatment right away. We recommend a warm bath with lots of soap. Please, let's all be vigilant. The battle against Spaghetti Consumption starts with you!

Adventures in October

We have been having a lot of fun the last couple of weekends and making the most of this fun time of year! It started off with my family's annual fall get-together. The men went camping while the ladies and kiddos did this:
We went to a nearby farm where we got to pick out our own pumpkins (and actually cut them off the vine ourselves) for super cheap. Hooray! Then the owners were nice enough to do a bunch of other stuff for us for free. The kids got to ride a little train, and most of us took a turn on the Pent-a-Whirl (one of the joys of Sevier County). This is me and my sister Leslie getting ready to puke.

We also got the kids all dressed up and paraded down to Great-Grandma's house to trick-or-treat.
Daniel as a bear, Jordie as Indiana Jones, Lyndi as an Indian, Kayla as a vampiress, Jayelle as the Corpse Bride, Lia as a Mexican girl, Aubree as a pirate, Erin as Barbie the Island Princess, and down in front, Davin as a biker dude, Alex as a tiger, and Jonah as a giraffe. So cute! We missed Courtney, Tyson, and Chase and are excited to see them at Christmas!


Then this last Friday, our complex had our annual Halloween progressive dinner party. We had a great time, and there were lots of fun costumes and creepy food! Josh and I were lazy this year and just wore our robes from Chinatown as our costumes.

Crouching tiger, hidden dragon...or something like that. :)

Our good friends, the Reedys invited us over for a scrumptious pancake crepe brunch on Saturday, and then we went to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin for a hayride and pumpkin patch with them!


We also went to their house later that evening to hang out. Thanks for putting up with us, Joe and Ang, since we were basically too exhausted to do anything but plop down on the couch and watch "The Nightmare Before Christmas" while everyone else did some sweet pumpkin carving.

Hooray for Halloween!

Soup, again.

Those of you who have been our devoted readers since last winter may remember my post about the soup dilemma at our home, also known as "Josh wants to chew food and not drink it, but soup courses through Launi's circulatory system and enlivens her very being." I just wanted you to know that we've had another winner....a soup that Josh even admitted was soooo good and which forced me against my will to consume three bowlfuls, much to the chagrin of my still-looks-pregnant belly. Therefore, I'm going to provide you with the recipe in case you have a jones for a creamy, spicy meal to warm you up on these chilly autumn evenings!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

(Disclaimer: this recipe has lots of "use this or that" in it. I've made it several times, and basically just use whatever I happen to have on hand, and it all works equally well.)

~2-3 chicken breasts
~2 c. chicken broth (thanks, Marseille, for letting me borrow your bouillon!)
~1 can enchilada sauce
~1 t. chili powder
~1 t. taco seasoning (or if you don't have this on hand, throw in a little cumin, garlic, oregano, and salt and call it good)
~1 T dried minced onion or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
~1 c. cheddar or jack cheese
~1 c. sour cream or half-and-half
~1 can corn, drained
~1 small can diced green chilies
~1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (optional...Josh doesn't care for them so I usually do without)
~tortilla chips

Cook chicken in medium saucepan and shred. Add broth, enchilada sauce, onions, chilies, and spices. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes until the onion rehydrates/cooks down. Stir in cheese and sour cream/half-and-half until melted and incorporated. Add corn (and beans if you're using them) and warm through. Serve with tortilla chips (I usually like to crush them in the bottom of the bowl before putting in my soup, while Josh likes to use them to scoop it up. Whatever your preference.) Eat it. Say, "Dang, that's some good soup!" and then think of me kindly.

Thanks for putting up with me and my soup obsession and my love of cooking and my random babblings. I love you all. :)

Violence is funny

Or at least Alex thinks so!

Yoga, Baby!

This morning as I was doing my yoga workout video, I looked down and noticed Alex was doing it along with me! So funny! I wish we had gotten a picture of my baby doing a perfect downward-facing dog. :) Later he lost interest in doing the poses and was just happy to crawl all over me and make them a little more difficult for mama. Thanks for giving me a better workout, buddy!

All in the Bag

For lack of anything else to post, and because one of my favoritest people ever was the one to tag me, I shall now execute...a Bag Tag! The contents of my purse are pretty generic and boring, but not quite so generic and boring as the contents of my diaper bag. So we'll go with the purse.

My purse contains:

-my phone
-some super glossy lip shine from e.l.f. that I don't really like and hardly ever use
-a white ponytail holder and a single bobby pin
-2 pens from State Bank of Southern Utah
-a receipt for groceries from Walmart and also one from Burger King
-my checkbook
-some watermelon Trident that I bought by accident
-a small notepad that I make my grocery lists in
-a coupon for 50 cents off any Crystal Light product
-Mango Mandarin lotion from Bath and Body Works
-sunblock
-prescription toothpaste that belongs to my brother-in-law (don't ask)
-pictures of: my nieces Kayla, Aubree, and Courtney (all outdated), Josh (his missionary pic), and the group shots from the two years I was in an amazing show choir (LD Singers)
-driver's license, Visa, Amex, library card, Chevron gas card (thanks, Dad), Costco card, insurance card, donor card, and my awesome Snow College R.A.D. class card
-Alex's vaccination record
-a Provo temple schedule
-a useless solar calculator
-a twenty-dollar bill and four pennies (none of which were actually in the change purse section)
-frequent buyer cards for Jamba Juice and Hot Topic (though I haven't been to the latter in years...ah, hooray for my high school style)

So now you know just a little bit more about the weirdness that is me. :) And I'm not going to tag anybody. I want to be "it" forever! Ha ha! But you can do it anyway if you want.

Dough Boy

I've been on a baking kick lately, and I like to let Alex sit at the table so he can see what is going on. I give him spice jars, measuring cups, etc, to keep him busy. The other day as I was making cheese puffs (which did not turn out at all, by the way), I noticed that Alex was using a small measuring spoon to scoop flour into his mouth. When he saw that I was watching, he gave me a big smile and said "Mmmmm!" I laughed so hard! I can't imagine that it actually tasted good, but he was sure having a fun time!


The next day (to make up for the failed cheese puffs), I made some chocolate chip cookies. I accidentally spilled a large amount of sugar on the table near Alex, but I didn't want to worry about cleaning it up right away. Of course, he quickly discovered that if he stuck a wet finger in the sugar it would stick and he could easily transport it to his mouth. He was all over that! :)


We've also found that Alex is absolutely terrified of my hand mixer. If I so much as put a finger on it, not even turning it on, he freaks out. He screams and turns red and his hands literally shake, poor thing! This really surprised me, because he's never been scared of the vacuum or my hair dryer or any other loud machine. Hmmm...

And this is what happens when you let Alex use a spoon to feed himself his oatmeal.


He's having a good time. That's what's important, right? ;)

It's so fun for me to watch Alex make discoveries and learn new things. I love my little boy!

Oh, and speaking of baking, I suppose I'll finally get around to posting a picture of the birthday cake I made for Alex. He thought it was fun to play with but wasn't too interested in eating it. :)

Family Pics

We finally received the family pictures we had taken while we were in San Diego! Here they are for your viewing pleasure. :)

Digital Scrapbooking

I have wanted to start doing this for a long time. Digital scrapbooking seemed like a lot of fun, but I was so intimidated by everything that I don't know about Photoshop. The other night, I finally decided to just go for it and see what happened. Here are my first two pages. I know they are very amateur-ish, but I was quite proud anyway. (The photos are from 2005...you can see how behind I am on my scrapbooking!)



What do you think? Any constructive feedback is welcome. :)

Second Word: "Tih, tih, tih!"

Translation: "Tickle, tickle, tickle!"

Bye-bye

It's official, folks! We have a first word! This morning Alex was playing in the front room, and I went to the door to take out the trash. As I was going out, he looked at me, waved his hand like he usually does, and said "Bah bah!" (Translation: bye-bye)! I was hoping it would be "Mama," but this is good too. :)

Me and Josh

I haven't had a lot to blog about lately, and Angie tagged me. So for those of you who know all of this already, bear with me!

Question 1 - Where did you meet each other?

We met in a community choir called One Voice. I was instantly smitten. Josh took a few years to wise up. :) Our choir director takes all the credit for getting us together!

Question 2 - What was your first date?

"Officially," it was after his mission. He called me up and asked me out to lunch. We went to Macaroni Grill.

Question 3 - When and where was your first kiss?

I'm not sure of the exact date but I know it was November 2004. At like one in the morning, as we were sitting in my Mercury Sable outside his apartment.

Question 4 - Did you have a long courtship?

It was normal by LDS standards. ;) Three months dating, three months engaged.

Question 5 - Where did you get engaged?

On the corner of 1st West and 1st North in Provo. We were on our way to dinner at Los Hermanos and he just suddenly dropped something into my hand. While I was figuring out what it was, he got down on his knee and asked me. I said "Yes, now get up here so I can kiss you." I'm so poetic. :) (I couldn't order anything at the restaurant for like 45 minutes because I was so giddy).

Question 6 - When and where were you married?

April 30, 2005, in the Manti Temple. Beautiful day!

Question 7 - Where did you go on your honeymoon?

Park City. It was awesome because no one is there that time of year, and we basically had the whole place to ourselves. We stayed at the Silver King Hotel.

One Year Old

How can my baby possibly be one year old already? It sure crept up on us! Alex has been such a joy to have in our family, and though it sounds cliche, we honestly can't imagine what life would be like without him. He is such a happy baby. He loves people and will usually reach for any stranger that comes near him. We are always told that he has the biggest, most beautiful eyes and the most wonderful little grin. He's such a blessing to us.

Here's a picture recap of his first year!

July 1st, 2007

First week at home

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months

Eleven months

Twelve months

We love you Alexander!

San Diego

Here are some pics from our wonderful trip to San Diego! Thanks so much Mom and Dad for making it great! We loved being with the family and didn't want to come home! (Well, maybe Josh did a little...but just because he missed the internet). :) These are mostly of Legoland because we were just amazed by all of the cool things there. Plus we were lazy with the camera on other days and just enjoyed ourselves!

On the beach. Alex loved the beach and ate a lot of sand. :)

Josh and Lego Darth Vader.

Me offering Alex to a huge Lego dragon.

Alex loved "driving" this little car.

He was totally fascinated with pretty much everything. So fun!

Josh loved Legoland too. It was definitely his favorite thing we did on the whole trip.

Me, Mom, and my sister Lindsay.

All of the grandkids minus Alex, who was asleep. It was really crazy with so many kids around all week, but a lot of fun. Alex loved his cousins and seems really bored without them now that we're home.

On the tour at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.

Checkin' out the Clydesdales with Grandpa.

Watching a show at Sea World. He would get really excited and go "Oooh! Oooh!!"

It really was such an awesome trip! Other things we did included going to see the musical Cats, doing a session at the San Diego Temple, seeing a couple of museums at Balboa Park, and finally getting family pictures taken! (We'll post them when we get them back).

And we're off!

Tomorrow morning we will be flying out to sunny San Diego! I have been looking forward to this vacation for a long time. Probably since my dad and brothers started planning it a year and a half ago so that they could attend the PGA tour (family togetherness, bah! We all know the real reason we're going). :)

(Quick note: I've been feeling under the weather today and I'm kinda loopy, so if you don't want to be subjected to my random and lengthy thoughts, and also a plethora of family photos, steer clear of this post. I'm not kidding, this is gonna be looooooong).

While we're out there, we will celebrate several birthdays in our family, including a big one for my mom! She's turning 30. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it, because I want to live, even though it leaves me at a loss as to how to explain that she's only six years older than her youngest and bestest child (me). Just take it for what it is, okay? And don't double that age or anything...

Ahem. Anyway, my dad, being the sweetie that he is, and trying to prove that he's not just in it for the golf, commissioned me to make a little presentation for my mom's b-day, complete with photos from her life and memories from members of her family. It's been fun to peruse through the photos my dad sent me and walk down memory lane. Take a gander at these babies (in no particular order).

My dad has funny ears. My mom has a stylin' coat. I wonder what they're looking at.


BYU 59ers? Does this look familiar to you? It's Delawarde! Although it wasn't called that back then. My parents lived there, in the apartment that was the Elmers'. Weird, huh? My oldest brother was conceived there. Ewww! Don't tell Brent and Shanda.


I just love this picture of my mom and my niece Courtney. Too cute.


I'm twelve. And I think I'm Blossom. (And my sisters think they're hilarious).


I'm veeeerrry lucky that Josh wanted to marry me.


This is my family, circa 1981. They look so...incomplete...so...lost without me, don't they? They look so...1981...


To this day, I still don't know what the function of that thing was. But I remember climbing up inside of it and twirling around. Don't tell.


What a lovely little family. Except...wait, what's that thing in the silver velour dress and tiny butterfly clips? Run! It's another victim of the middle-school uglies!!!


This is my mom and her best friend, Ginny. They clearly were able to avoid the middle-school uglies. Aren't they cute?


Mom in about 9th grade. Doesn't she look all lovely and gracious?


Halloween 1997. My mom dressed as a scarecrow, and then hung out with Dracula and an unidentifiable witch.


Here's something to mess with your perceptions. That is not a girl sitting in that chair getting a perm. That is, in fact, my oldest brother. He also wore a pink tux to his junior prom. He's very bold. :)


That is not a boy in those sweet rollerskates. That is, in fact, my oldest sister with probably her worst haircut ever. Then she grew it out and had voluminous amounts of poof on top of her head for most of the 90s. (And my brothers tore apart my treehouse to make that skate ramp. I had a hard time loving them for a while).


Oh my goodness! Don't you just want to pinch her cheeks?!? My mom was the cutest, curliest little girl ever! Move over, Shirley Temple!


My mom always has great Halloween costumes to impress her grade school students. I'm particularly fond of this Miss Piggy one.


It's always comforting to know that your mom was as much of a spaz as you at one point.


Did you know my mom was a Cougarette? Go BYU!


This was taken when my parents were dating. That's my Uncle Brian giving her bunny ears. My mom had to learn the hard way what it means to be a Larson. :)


My Aunt Ellen's wedding. Grandma front and center, Aunt Lisa to her right, and my mom in that striped clown-dress over there. I'm in her belly.


Mom on the left, and...look out world, I'm a moody teenager and I'll scowl you to death. Good times!


I was the sweetest baby in the world until Alex took the title. Gotta love that hospital bedding design.


There are two things I love about this picture. One, my mom's obvious displeasure at my dad taking a picture while she's nursing me. "Yeah, thanks a lot honey." Two, the lovely fruited wallpaper. Childhood friends out there? Tell me you remember that stuff. There was many a time I licked it like in the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It didn't taste like snozberries.


This is right where I will be tomorrow afternoon! Hooray! Our family went to San Diego about 7 years ago, too. We will once again be staying in that Pink Palace you can see in the background.


The thing I love about this picture is that my mom is the only one smiling. Lindsay doesn't count...that's more of a smirk on her face. :)


Yes, that is me at Lake Powell, in all my disrobed glory. And for some reason, I'm laughing my head off. Fortunately the lighting hides my naked hinders from view (did I just say that?). My mom is wondering what she was thinking when she brought this demonic child into the world.


If you made it this far, congratulations! You're a brave, brave soul. I hope you still love me. Even though I'm sick (both physically and mentally). :)