Monday, May 7, 2012

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!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Stationery card

Plush Giraffe Slate Birthday Invitation
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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

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.

Monday, February 27, 2012

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!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

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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Friday, November 11, 2011

Let us pray!

Barret is all about the praying in this house. It doesn't matter where we are or what we are doing. If he gets it in his head that we need to pray, he will stop what he is doing and say "Mommy pray?" or "Daddy pray?" so we stop, fold our hands and close our eyes and thank Jesus for whatever it is we are eating or playing with at the moment. It is possibly the cutest thing ever.
Last night we went to Fusion Brew and while Daddy was ordering our drinks, Barret and I went and sat down at a table. He looked at me and said, "Mommy pray?" so we prayed and thanked Jesus for our wonderful day and for the delicious drinks we were about to drink.
We went to the children's museum this morning and played with the pretend food and prayed for it to be yummy in our tummy too. After praying Barret decided to take a bite out of one of the plastic strawberries. I think he was slightly surprised that it wasn't real.

Crafti-ness

We have been all about the crafts in our house lately. As the colder weather seems to be settling in Mama is getting a little fidgety. With three babies in the house, a small car, and no double stroller small enough to lug around we don't really get out too often. This week I decided that we needed to do more than just play 'night night' and build towers with our blocks. On Monday I looked up a recipe for how to make colored noodles that were still edible. Lucky me it was super easy and Barret LOVED making them, stringing the noodles onto the necklace, and mostly eating them. Needless to say our hands were covered in blue, green, and red food coloring and lucky little Levi even had it all over his face. A bath was more than needed, the water was technicolor ed before we even had a chance to get completely in.


We also made Indian hats, turkeys with our hundreds of pine cones, and snowmen out of toilet paper rolls ( I know it's a little early, but I didn't know what else to do). I am pretty positive that if given the chance Barret would sit at the table all day and color, paint, and use a glue stick. He just never seems to get enough of it. Then, later on in the day he would come back and destroy his creations.


Our poor little pine cone turkey has now been disassembled and I can only seem to find one eye. I have been thinking about Thanksgiving a lot this week and it seems like it just came out of nowhere. I can't believe it is already November! But I see many turkeys in our future, here at our craft house. Barret thinks they are pretty funny looking and loves the whole feather thing they've got going on.


Next week we will be hosting our 2nd annual thanksgiving dinner with our small group. I am so excited and simply can't wait for turkey and all the fixings. I believe we are going to have a mashed potato off too! Should be fun! I am thinking that Barret and I will make place cards or something with our pine cones, I'm sure I could find an idea on Pinterest (my new favorite thing to do while the kiddos are napping).


Below are some pictures of our craft extravaganzas. Enjoy :)



Notice the blueish coloring of his lower lip....he wouldn't stop eating the raw noodles.


Monday, October 24, 2011

Shutterfly Promotion

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Saturday, October 15, 2011

6 months, a little late

Levi turned 6 months old last Sunday and he is the cutest little six month old that I have ever seen.
We had our 6 month appointment on Friday and Levi is turning into quite the big little fella.

He weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds and measures 27 1/4 inches long.
Believe it or not he is just under the 50th percentile for weight but is nearing the top of the chart when it comes to height...just over the 90th percentile.

If you remember Barret was always rocking the charts too, but didn't reach the 90th percentile until his 12 month well baby check up.

It is safe to say that we have two little weeds in our family.


Levi's 6 month birthday was the same day as baby dedications at church. What an awesome way to celebrate our little man. Both sets of grandparents came down to help as we celebrated the day we dedicated our little Levi to the Lord.
Along with turning six months Levi is starting to learn how to pull himself up. He tries so hard and uses every muscle in his body to get it but is not quite there yet.
Mama made baby food for the first time too. Bananas, squash, green beans, and pears. I really enjoy it. There is something about it that is just really relaxing. I think Levi likes it a lot better than all that jarred food too. I am sure it tastes better because it is made with a Mama's love :)

Mama and Barret went to the ISU parade today with a friend. Barret really didn't like the ISU marching band, but the rest of the parade was fine, We saw a few tractors and lots of dogs, so he was in heaven! Added bonus, all of the candy. And everyone knows that when your at a parade the rules of how many pieces of candy you can eat are gone. I am pretty sure Barret ate at least 10 different pieces of candy. He even figured out how to take the wrappers off on his own....what a little smarty!

Anyway, lots if random thoughts in this post, but as you know, we have a crazy life here, and random is just what I have right now.

Enjoy your beautiful fall weekend

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Sentences

Yesterday Barret said his first sentence!!!! Actually he said three.

At breakfast we had a conversation about a coat and hat that were resting on one of the chairs.
He looked at me and said. "is this my coat?' I said, "it used to be yours, but now it is Levi's coat." He then said, "is this my hat?" and I replied, "no, that is Levi's hat.

Our first actual conversation at the breakfast table :)


Later on in the day Barret said, "this is heavy" and he was right, he was carrying a stack of cones around the yard, and they certainly were heavy.

He seems to have all of a sudden learned and now understands the meaning of a lot of new words. He is such a smart little cookie :)

'rockock' the baby


This is my baby.....

This is my other baby.....





This is Barret's baby :)


About a week ago Barret took on a new interest. His baby is now very very important to him. The bear gets dressed, the bear gets his diaper changed, the bear eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the bear even gets put in the baby bjorn.





The bear plays outside, he colors, he helps pick up toys with his bear paws, he goes down the slide, he 'jumps' into the bushes, and he even takes bubble baths.



I don't know what it was that made him so important all of a sudden, but I think it is so cute. Barret walks around the house cuddle his 'baby' and his favorite thing to do with him is to ask us to swaddle the bear in Barret's blankie and then he goes to the rocking chair and rocks.


He says, 'baby, rockock? uhhu' with a big grin on his face. His bear then either gets placed gently on someones bed for a nap or tossed over the side of the crib or pack-n-play for a not so comfortable nap.


The bear has been through the bubble bath, or I guess we can say the washing machine now 4 times in the last 7 days. The first time we put him in Barret was very excited, he put in the detergent, he opened up the machine, tossed the bear in, and closed it up. But as soon as the machine turned on, Barret's world seemed to have come to an end. He screamed and screamed, and just wanted his bear. He kept pounding on the machine to try and let him out (we have and HE front loader, so he can see the bear inside getting tumbled around). Thankfully I was thinking when I started the machine and only set it for a quick 19 minute cycle. But those 19 minutes were long enough. The dryer was out of the question, lucky for us our washing machine as a high spin setting and he was practically dry already. We now try to make the babies bubble bath time when we are going to be out of the house, or when Barret is very engaged in something else.


He loves his bear :)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The E.R., two breathing treatments, and a steroid later....

Levi has croup.... don't know what that is? Basically it is this terrible terrible sore throat your baby gets from a virus and it makes parents feel absolutely awful.

Last Monday I took Barret to the store with me to get a few things for Daddy's birthday the next day. Levi was taking a nap when we left for the store and when we got home everything just seemed to be going down hill. It was a rainy day, and of course when we got home from the store the rain started coming down even harder, leaving us to dodge the huge puddles in the back yard as we sprinted to the deck. We got Barret ready for bed and he came running in to Steve shouting 'bubu, bubu'. Steve went into our room where Levi had been napping, and he was red, sweaty, and screaming at the top of his lungs, but you could barely hear him because his throat was so sore. We tried to calm him, but he wouldn't stop. We could feel him breathing, it felt like his ribs were rattling. I didn't want to be the frantic mom who just jumped in the car and took him to the E.R. so I calmly suggested that maybe I go after I tried to nurse him and changed his diaper. Steve just laughed a little because he knew that was all that I wanted to do....rush to the E.R.
So, I said good night to Barret, and we headed for the E.R. He cried the whole way there, and then we had to wait about 45 minutes before we even saw a nurse. When they finally admitted us the doctor came in and just watched him breathe. I was much more upset about it than the staff seemed to be (which is to be expected) as they casually walked in and out of the room. The doctor decided on croup, so to treat it there they were going to give him a steroid and then try a breathing treatment to help open up the passage way. After they got everyone on the same page we had to wait about an hour before they came in with the steroid. So of course, I had gotten Levi to finally fall asleep and had to wake him up so they could shoot some nasty smelling liquid down his throat. His heart rate was a lot higher than they expected it to be after this so we had to wait an hour or so before they could try the breathing treatment on him.

The breathing treatment made me want to cry. Basically I had to hold Levi in my lap, hold a gas mask over his face and listen to him scream louder than I have ever heard, while this mist was blowing in his face. He couldn't stop coughing and his throat sounded more horse than it had before. After two minutes of this, the respiratory tech came in and checked his vitals. We then waited another hour before doing the whole treatment for a second time. They concluded that it didn't seem to be helping him much but prescribed the steroid for him to take for the next four days and then sent us home. Super!
So the next four days were basically filled with sleep for our little Levi. He does seem a lot better, bust still has a pretty chesty cough from time to time.

But hey, now he can say that he went to the E.R. one night just like his big brother :)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Welcome to the world of sitting!

In all that has been happening around this place, our little Levi has been going through a lot of new things. We started eating oatmeal a little over a week ago, and is now enjoying his green beans and pears as well. I forgot what it was like to feed a baby who still tries to spit everything out of his mouth, while at the same time wants to eat your hand because he just can't get enough of what you are feeding him. Needless to say we have some big eaters here in the Gaffney household....



Some other exciting news is that our little man is now sitting all on his own. He has been trying it out for the past few weeks, just sitting for a few seconds here and there, but on Tuesday I let go and he sat there, just staring at me, for almost two minutes! Actually as I am typing this he is sitting next to me playing with Barret's laptop, probably typing up his own blog about how silly he thinks his Mama is. Seriously, every time I let go and he is just sitting I shriek with excitement for him. He smiles and laughs too, but I'm sure he is thinking, "really mom, again?"

He is such a cute little sitter, and I'm pretty sure he is never going to go back to that laying down playing position. He screams until you let him sit, he just wants to be like his brother :)

Levi laughs at everything now too... yesterday he was just looking at Caroline and started laughing and didn't stop until I moved Caroline out of site. In the tub the other day I filled it up really high and there were mounds and mounds of bubbles. Levi just laughed until his face hurt I'm sure. My favorite part of all of this is that Barret thinks it is funny when Levi laughs at things, and then starts to laugh at Levi, or even tries to make him laugh harder. I love watching the two of them stare at each other and giggle. It is seriously the cutest ever!

Our poor little Barret is sick again though...boo, I say. We took him to the doctor on Monday and he is now taking medicine for a sinus infection. Seems like Barret just can't catch a break the past few months.

Other than that, I really don't have much to say. Pictures will be loaded soon so keep checking back!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Labor Day

Have you ever loved someone so much but then life happened and you forgot what it was like to just be with the person you loved? This weekend Steve and I were given the opportunity to get out of town and just be together. No babies, no family, no being pregnant, just us, the two of us like it was a very short time ago. It seems like life has hit us faster than we ever planned for, and when we tell people that we just laugh at ourselves because we don't get to plan our lives, even though we want to do so. The boys came sooner than we ever thought, and we were just telling someone the other day that we had planned to start having kids when we turned 25, we still haven't turned 25 yet....but, the boys are a blessing and we wouldn't be happier if they weren't here.

This weekend, Steve and I finally took advantage of our Christmas present from Steve's parents. They gave us a weekend away...after everything was all said and done, our weekend away was to downtown Chicago. We took the train in on Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday evening. Our hotel reservation was for the Kimpton Burnham, right on the corner of Washington and State Street. Our room was on the top floor, a corner room too, so in my head I was envisioning this elaborate room with windows on two sides and a gorgeous view. Not only was it raining and cloudy so the view wasn't all that spectacular, but there were no two sides of windows, just one regular old thing, and it was Chicago, we weren't by the river, we couldn't see the lake, it was just buildings, with a perfect shot down State street. We could see the Chicago Broadway sign (which was our saving grace many times that weekend), and right there at the front of our view... Old Navy. haha, just what I was hoping to look at :)


Really though, our room was great, it was a bit ritzy for the two of us, and I am pretty sure we were the youngest couple by a few decades staying there, but it was just perfect besides.

Other than where we were staying and what days we were arriving and leaving we had no plans. We wandered aimlessly through the big city and really didn't do anything. Walking hand in hand we went in huge circles around the city trying to find fun places to eat. As we walked we would ask each other what we wanted to do, never getting a definite answer. Saturday evening after checking into our hotel we wandered around trying to fine a hamburger joint. After walking about 20 minutes and coming into some questionable parts of town, we turned around and walked back the other way. Down State street, turning off and back on again until we came across Harry Carey's restaurant. Of course we ate here, going all out because we had time, we had quiet (no babies screaming quiet), and we had just walked about 3 miles and were starving! When the bill came our decision was to never go out to eat on vacation again, instead just grab something from the dollar menu and use our money for other things. Yikes! We thanked Grandma and Grandpa Gaffney for that meal!

The rest of the trip was filled with more and more walking, a trip down the Chicago River front and a quick walk to Navy Pier where we rode the ever famous Ferris Wheel. At the top of the Ferris Wheel, we looked at each other and questioned why we rode it. Neither of us are really all that keen on heights and at one point I was truly scared that we weren't moving. We were though, and after our 7 minute ride, we made it back down to the ground.

We took the train home around 4 that evening and spent the rest of the weekend relaxing with family. I know I missed the boys and was extremely glad to see them when we got home, but I truly enjoyed every moment I got to spend with my one and only and can't wait to do it again!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

better late than never...

So I started getting really good about posting on here and my life seemed to be getting a little bit more organized and then I don't know what happend. Steve's sister, Chelsey, moved in at the beginning of July so we had to move our computer out of it's own room and instead of putting it all back together, we hooked it up to the TV. For me, getting on the computer is now much more of a pain, giving me one excuse for not posting in the last month. Caroline has been with us more regularly the past couple months leaving my down time a little less...excuse number 2. Barret's naps are beginning to be fewer and shorter, excuse number 3. At night all Steve and I do is sit on the couch and eat popcorn and watch the Cosby Show, or play SkipBo (I always win) excuse number 4. I try to wake up at 5am everyday with Steve, so I can take time to read my Bible, take a shower, have breakfast, and get on the computer. However, I usually don't get up until about 6:15am and Barret is already awake, leaving me time to eat breakfast, occasionally take a shower and that is about it before Steve has to leave for work, excuse number 5. Life is hectic around these parts and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I recently began subscribing to The Chicago Tribune, and am now officially a couponer. I can't wait to get going with it all and save money for our family. Maybe with this, we might finally see the light at the end of the debt tunnel!

So in the month that I have been keeping you out of the loop, our little Levi has been growing like a weed and hitting some huge milestones. He now officially rolls over, back to belly, belly to back, all of it. He loves doing it and I love watching him and cheering him on. He is becoming quiet the little wiggler and loves to just scoot his little body all over the place.

Levi is also officially moved out of our room and into 'the boys room' YIKES! Yes, he is sleeping through the night, with the very seldom middle of the night feedings, Mommy and Daddy are enjoying their much needed sleep. Some days I think we could even go to bed when the littles do, it just doesn't seem like our bed time, 9 pm is early enough. Our Levi seems to just LOVE his crib. He is still a swaddled sleeper but every morning we find him one of two ways, completley de-swaddled, with the velcro still attached and only around his shoulders, or one entire side of his body out of the swaddle, and the other side still completley in the swaddle. He is such a funny little squirt.

Speaking of squirt, we recently just ordered a few more cloth diapers. I feel like we are always changing brands of what we use, but this time Daddy said we couldn't get more diapers until we sold the ones we didn't use. So, I jumped at the chance to get rid of some of them and get new ones. Not joking, the minute I put up my Bum Genius flip diapers I had five emails asking if they were still available. I was so excited. I sold them, and got 7 new Alva baby diapers. They are so cute and super soft and I love them. Plus, my babies butt gets to be all dressed up in Tiger stripes, or crazy circles now. It is no longer just a boring old plain jane color. Levi's diapers give him style! Really though, these diapers are great, and I love them more than any other brand that I have used so far. Bonus, they are just shy of $5 a piece, and you get free shipping! I'm not trying to be a spokesperson for them, I am just really excited about these diapers!

On another note, Levi is now at the age to start trying cereal. As you already know Levi is a bit picking when it comes to eating in the first place. He is very much not interested in the bottle, and we still struggle with it to this very day. He will only nurse in certain places, being held the exact way, etc. It is really sometimes just a pain to feed him and causes me a lot of stress. We started wondering if Levi had Celiacs, which runs in Steve's family. Both of his parents have it and Steve was tested to be neither positive or negative. Super! I have tried to keep track of what I eat and then take note of Levi's reactions while nursing and after but I don't do a very good job of it. At Levi's four month doctor appointment I expressed my concerns with this and asked if there were any tests that we could do at his age. The Dr. mentioned doing what I already sort of do, by keeping track of what I eat and such. But we also came to the conclusion that it might be better in the long run to hold off on the cereals and wait to begin all of that when he is six months. I agreed and thought this seemed like a great idea at the time, but now I almost just want him to begin the cereal, so we can get started on other foods too. As awful as it sounds, I am getting tired of nursing him. If he would just nurse, I don't think I would feel this way, but because it is such a battle and I can't even take a break and have Daddy feed him with a bottle, I am ready to be done.

So, on another note, would you like to know how big our kiddos are?? They are big boys let me tell you. Every time they get wieghed and measured the doctor says we grow them big. He is predicting that Barret will be a line backer....

Barret's 18 month measurements:
weighing in at a whopping 28 lbs puts him in the 75th percentile for weight. I was concerned about this until I heard his height.
Measuring at 34 1/2 inches, our Monkey Man is in the 98th percentile for height! Almost off the charts!

Levi's 4 month measurements:
weighing in at 14 lbs 11 oz, Levi is simply average for his age, 50th percentile.
His height on the other hand puts him in a whole new ball game. Measuring at 26 inches, our not so Little Levi is in the 90th percentile for height!

Yes, we do grow them big.

So, there you have it. I really can't think of anything else to tell you, even though I know there is much more....

Oh yes, Levi got his first realy booboo last night. We were given a Sit and Stand stroller from a friend to borrow and as we were trying to figure it all out Daddy set Levi in his car seat while he was adjusting the bar for it to click in to. After he adjusted it, he grabbed the car seat with Levi in it, not buckled in, and the poor baby just tipped right out, hitting the sidewalk face first. I wanted to cry for him. His poor little cheek had a little pink scrape on it, he had tears running off of his cheeks, and his nose was running everywhere. Daddy felt terrible and Barret he started crying when it happend. I don't know if he felt bad, was mad that it happend, or just wanted attention too. But, it is just the first of many scrapes I am sure!