Levi turns 1

So I know it is a little bit late and you have seen pictures, but the first birthday of your baby is so important and I had to get it written down.

First of all I can not believe that our Little Levi Baby is already 1 year old. Can you believe that just 12 months ago he looked like this:

And now, here he is at the ripe old age of 1, looking more handsome than ever. I just couldn't tell you were the time has gone.

I could sit here for hours and tell you about how challenging this first year has been. About how much Levi cries, and how many times we have gone to the doctor for croup, ear infections, colds, and even the normal check ups. I could tell you about how hard it is to lug two kids around (three when I have Caroline) the town and make sure that they are both being entertained to their fullest. I could even tell you how much harder it is to have 2 kids only 15 months apart. But I'm not going to. Instead I am going to tell you about how wonderful this year has been, how much of a blessing this little Levi is, and how much joy and love we have in our household because of him; because none of that other stuff really matters. And at the end of the day, when you just want to pull your hair out and scream because you had one on your hip and the other one pulling at your pant leg and whining all day, you forget about it. With a slobbery goodnight kiss and a little ones snuggley hug all of the stress goes away and you really see just how much you love each other and how perfect things can be.

So with that said, Levi turned 1 on Monday, April 9, 2012. WOW!

We started our celebration on Saturday with Grandma and Grandpa Gaffney, Grandma and Grandpa Boehm, Great Grandma Betty, Tete Chelsey, and Uncle Jason all joining us for a party!

It was so much fun and I must say that Levi seemed to enjoy ALL of the attention. He didn't really care too much about opening the presents and eating the cake, he just wanted to show off his mad walking skills and make sure everyone was looking at him. He's a keeper, and watching as Barret helped "show him the ropes" of how to do things on your birthday, (because he has had so much practice:) )was more than anything I could have asked for.

Our Birthday party was complete with banners, burgers, balloons, presents, cupcakes, laughter, and love. And you know what the most crazy thing of all was!?! Levi didn't like his cake! He tasted the frosting and even dipped a cookie in the frosting, but as soon as the cake entered his mouth he spit it right back out. Funniest thing ever, and totally doesn't make sense when you look at who is Mama is, and even who is brother is. But, I think we have all known that Levi is more like Daddy through and through, and Daddy doesn't like cake or chocolate. So Levi's chocolate birthday cake probably wasn't his favorite.

I thoroughly enjoyed Levi's birthday party and what looked like the aftermath of Targets outdoor kid section exploding in our living room :) Let me just say, we now have more toys outside than we do inside, which is in no way a problem for this bunch!

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Monday was his real Birthday! He was 1, and we celebrated in style. Taking a bike ride to uptown Normal where we flew kites, blew bubbles, and ate frozen yogurt. It was so much fun. Barret was such a great big brother too. He kept telling Bubba happy birthday and talking about how it was Bubba's birthday. I'm pretty sure he told at least 2 people while we were flying kites that it was Bubba's birthday. He was so proud of it.

Would you like to know some fun facts about our little one year old? Even if you don't I am going to tell you.

Levi has 6 teeth, count them, yes 6! He went from only having two teeth for months and moths to getting four top teeth all at once! Let me just tell you, he was a crab!

Levi started walking about 2 weeks before his birthday and hasn't looked back. He loves to walk and follows me around the house, going from one room to the other.

Bubbles are his favorite :)

He has the best laugh ever, and is so cuddly when he wakes up.

His eyes are still just like Daddys and I hope they never change, because they are just beautiful!

He loves anything his big brother has and wants it, and of course is already starting to act like Barret. If he wants it, he's going to take it.

Levi eats everything in sight! Except cake of course.

More often than not he is crying, whimpering, or has a grumpy face. But the times he is smiling and laughing make up for the majority:)

Levi loves his dog, and pretty much attacks her when she is sleeping, by pulling her ears and poking at her nose.

At our 1 year well baby visit Barret tried to help Levi out by telling him that he had to be brave when he got his shots. It was cute and I was proud of Barret for wanting to help his little brother to not be scared.

Levi is growing at a rapid rate and now weighs 21 lbs 4 oz and measures 30 inches tall. He is very similar to where Barret was at 1.

I must just say that I am excited to see what year two has in store!

Happy Birthday Levi Baby!

Stationery card

Plush Giraffe Slate Birthday Invitation

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Homemade

So lately I have been really trying to do more things homemade and really getting the most out of the products we have in the house.
Today was a big day. This morning Barret and I made flubber, and let me tell you it was awesome! So easy and Barret loved it. He poured the ingredients, mixed it up, and watched the reaction happen between the borax and the glue. When I pulled the gloppy goop out of the bowl he was very concerned by what we had just made and seriously did not want anything to do with it. I didn't blame him, while I was squeezing it and molding it into its final stage all I wanted to do was wash my hands. But once it hardened and I showed him how you could bounce it he couldn't stop laughing and throwing it around the kitchen. So fun.

Dinner was homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Bread sticks (yeast and all). Let me tell you it was delicious. I was super excited about the bread sticks because every time I have used yeast, I always seem to kill it. But this time It worked, my bread sticks weren't hard as rock, they were fluffy and deliciously delightful! I can't wait to have the rest of them tomorrow with our lasagna.

A Windy day at the Park

I know it has been a long time since I last posted, and I have been working on a post to kind of recap you on the entire month of January, most of December, and most of February as well. Lets just say a lot happened and our boys are bigger and braver and smarter and funnier that ever.

This past Sunday was a beautiful 58 degrees (with a super strong and cold wind, but we ignored that) so we decided to go to the park. Over the summer a friend of ours introduced us to Mcgraw Park out by Bloomington Central Catholic and it has become one of our favorite places to go. Although it is about a ten minute drive it is well worth the adventures that ensue once we arrive. Sunday was practically a perfect day to go to the park. Since it really isn't spring time yet, there were very few people taking advantage of the beautiful day. We had the park practically to ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Barret has become quiet the adventurer and loves to just run and jump and climb. He is a true boy. He loves getting dirty (but doesn't like being dirty) and just having fun. We had a great time chasing him around and watching him go up and down the slides. One of his absolute favorite things to play on at the park is those silly bouncy animal seats. I can't think of what they are called at the moment, but he instantly runs to climb on one, rides if for about 30 seconds, gets off and goes to another one, climbs up, rides for 30 seconds, gets off and runs to another one, and so on... He really is funny when it comes to those things, and I haven't quiet figured out if he gets bored and thinks a different one will be more fun or if he just wants to ride them all and doesn't know how to take complete advantage.

Levi thoroughly enjoyed the park too. He wasn't the biggest fan of the wind, and I think he was a little hungry making him a bit crabby, but all in all he enjoyed watching Barret and Daddy run around. Levi did a great job climbing up the jungle gym ramps and stairs, eventually finding himself at the very top with the choice of either going down a super steep slide that even Mommy and Daddy don't really like, going down a fireman's pole, or taking the chance that no one is climbing up the twisty slide and going down that one. It was kind of funny watching him just sit up there and look at us like, "okay, I made it. What's next?" We always resulted in going down the twisty slide and he seemed to enjoy it.

We tried the swings too, and funny thing, Levi liked them more when he was only 5 months old, than he does now at 10. Doesn't make sense to me.

I feel like I could just spend all day every day at the park, especially if there is some sort of water extremely near so I can swim too :)

After we left the park we headed to the grocery store to grab stuff for dinner, and guess what we made? Yup, you guessed it, we grilled out :) It was absolutely delicious. I loved days like these!

Christmas Cookies

Made with love, sweat, and delicious-ness, our cookies turned out beautifully.

Barret thoroughly enjoyed decorating his first sugar cookies this year and probably ate more Hershey's kisses than ended up on the peanut butter blossoms. Even though, we still have way more than we could ever eat and still aren't done.

catch up

So I know it is almost Christmas and I just posted our Christmas Card but I need to show you the boys from Halloween still.

Levi was a great trooper on his first Halloween. We dressed the boys up as Thing 1 and Thing 2, went out for a little trick-or-treating and then headed to the Sherrills for a bit.

All the kiddos there were so cute.

Photo Card

World Of Joy Christmas

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