6 months

Yup... Levi is 6 months old!

- Gosh, those smiles just keep coming

- He continues to love his jumperoo/exersaucer .

- He can totally roll over but doesn't have any desire to do it. Who wants to be on their stomach???

- Naps are still short but now that I am nursing him to sleep our days are pretty much cry free

- Still lovin' the chub=)

- He took his first train trip to Bakersfield this past week

- Still is only awake about 2 hours before he needs a naps. Evenings are being stretched out some which is nice

- Goes to sleep around 7 o'clock

- Loves bath time: He has outgrown the baby bath so now he just lays on his back in the tub, super cute

- My favorite is when he gets so excited that his face, arms, neck and whole body shows it.

- He is starting to come to life. He can interact with you. You can me him smile and laugh which is so stinkin' cute

- We are loving our Levi more and more everyday!!!

5 months

Hey everyone... guess who is 5 months old. You wouldn't know it in the day to day but it really is true what everyone says. Time goes by so fast. The dark days of colic and crying all the time are hard to remember now. Of course with a new age comes new challenges but Levi is growing into such a happy and smiley boy. We just can't get enough of him.

5 months:

- naps are a struggle right now. Unless I nurse him to sleep he will scream in his crib for no less than 30 minutes (usually much longer) before each nap. I really don't want to get him in the habit of being nursed to sleep but most days that is what ends up happening.

- Once he is asleep he usually only sleeps for about 30 minutes. I know what you are thinking... that is not even really a nap at all... YES I AGREE. So for most naps when he wakes up I leave him in there to cry for awhile to let him try and learn how to fall back asleep without assistance. After about a month of doing this, I see no signs of improvement. We will persevere!!!

-Aside from the short naps he wakes up happy and in great spirits.

-He has rolled over a number of times but not consistently. We are waiting for that day when he rolls as his mode of transportation.

-He has been sleeping in a vibrating/rocking chair (all motion off) for about 3 months now because of his reflux and spitting up this provides an incline position to prevent choking and to keep that acid down but we have now transitioned him to his crib. That is going pretty well!

-He loves his jumping chair!

-He also loves to be in the baby bjorn carrier while I work in the kitchen. The other day he actually fell asleep in it.

-At night he goes to sleep between 6:30 and 7:30 depending on what time he woke up from his last nap.

-We have started to let him cry in the middle of the night until it has at least been 5 hours before I will feed him again. Usually when he wakes up, Andrew will go in and comfort him for about a minute, there will then be some crying of not too long, and he will fall back asleep. -- Most nights I feed him at around 2:30 and 6:00 and then he will sleep in until about 7:45.

-The car and stroller are his friends. If it is close to nap time he will fall asleep in them.

-He loves his daddy. Andrew can get him to laugh by throwing him in the air.

- Bath time is definitely still his favorite. His new thing is to arch his back which makes him slouch all the way into the water. Then he turns his head and drinks the water... Totally hilarious=)

-Still on his reflux medicine

-He loves Olive. Always smiles when she comes up.

-He has been in the nursery at church for the past 3 weeks and so far has been great.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hey Everyone, Levi just wanted to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day!

at it again...

Well, we have been working on our backyard for quite awhile but have taken a little break. We are now at it again. This past weekend, Andrew, along with some friends, started to build a wood landing that we can walk out on from our back door. There was a red cement landing that had some weird brick coming out of it so we are covering that with wood to create a new, larger landing. It is not finished yet. We still need to add the stairs and railings but the deck part of it is done.

Here is the progress so far:

The posts are in

It's night out now and the bottom deck part is complete

More final product pictures to come

Abs of Steel

Levi is working on that 6 pack...

Spit up...

Andrew and my new everyday attire.

I serioulsy am amazed everyday at how much he spits up. Luckily we have wood floors because he will make puddles on the ground. We have now trained Olive to come lick it up. I know that is a little gross but when it happens so often you just get use to it. My mom said that I spit up just as much when I was a baby so I guess he gets this from me.... yahh.

Family Vacation

A few weeks after Christmas Andrew, Levi and I went up to Shaver for 5 days for a little family get-a-way. It was crazy to be up there in January with no snow and cool, not cold, weather. Sitting by the fire outside, making smores, going on walks and hikes. During the weekend we have some friends come up and stay for a few days. Bryan, Kim, Christian, and Lacy came up Friday and left Saturday. The Carolyns came up Saturday and left Sunday. All in all, it was a great trip.

G Sue's cabin

A family hike (#1) up to Eli Mountain

Andrew carried Levi in the bjorn on our hikes. This pictures is the best... can you see the spit up caught in action??

Our hike #2 was to this hidden little lake and dam that was so beautiful. It also helped that the weather was perfect.

Thanks Shaver for a great time... we will see you again soon.

4 Months

Levi had his 4 month check up today with Dr. Mojibi. He has grown into such a happy boy during these short 4 months. I have feelings of being so excited to see what he is going to next but at the same time wanting him to stay little and enjoying each day with him. It is such a privilege to be a mom!

Levi's 4 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 10 oz. (95th percentile)

Height: 25.5 in. long (75th percentile)

He got 2 shots... lots of tears

- He has so much more control of his hands now. His hands are always in his mouth now as I am thinking that the teething process is starting.

- He gets really excited when Andrew get home from work which is really cute. His excitement comes out as a squeal and huge smile.

- His sleeping has regressed a bit to waking up now every 3-4 hours during the night

- When he smiles, his whole face lights up which is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen.

- When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he is becoming quite the cuddle bug. As I hold him he just nestles into my chest and just stays there for awhile... So sweet

- Most days he wakes up between 7:30 and 8:00 and we have been putting him to bed around 6:30

-He is still taking previcid for his reflux. We tried a few weeks ago to wien him off. When we decreased it from a 1/2 pill twice a day to only one time a day we didn't see much of a difference which we were excited about but when we took him all the way off I started to notice that he would kick his legs and arch his back while he nursed. I had scary flashbacks to when he was super colicky and would do that every time nursed (also add coming off and screaming all throughout) so we immediately put him back on the 1/2 dose of previcid. We will give this some more time before we try it again.

- Can I just say that I love being a mom!!!

Henry

I love being able to watch Henry grow up, even if it is from a distance. Having a nephew is so much fun and now watching his sweet little personality come out just makes me look forward to each visit so much more. My favorite thing, since we don't live in the same town, is to skype with him and Katie (and Charlie). He loves to show me his toys, books, and anything else that he is playing with at the moment. The internet is an incredible thing that is going to help our boys know each other in the midst of being a few hours away.

Here are a few pictures that Andrew took after Charlie's dedication.

Grandpa Arly turns 80

The weekend before Christmas, we all celebrated Grandpa Arly's 80th birthday. The social bug that he is, wanted to have a big celebration with all of the people he loves so that is just what we did. Somewhere around 80 people gathered together at Shafter MB for food, live music, and hanging out. Just by the look on Arly's face we knew that he loved every minute of the party.

I didn't get to grow up with Grandpas so marrying into a family that has an amazing one has been such a blessing!

Uncle Ryan giving a toast

The band was amazing, playing some old country music. (my favorite) One of the guys in the band is a friend of Arly's who is also blind.

Talking with his sister Luetta and brother Gene

What an amazing testament to the type of guy Arly is. I hope I can fill a room with this many family and friends when I am 80.

Aunt Carley lovin on Levi

The 5 siblings