Happy Halloween!

Levi's first Halloween. One minute he is VERY happy to be a frog; the next minute, he's not too sure about it. Kevin and I had no doubts, though, that he was THE cutest frog we'd ever seen.

Last night, Levi slept in his crib again, but I didn't sleep well. I know it will just take time for me to get used to not having him "right there".

Hope you all had a great Halloween.

Two Nights

Levi has made it two nights in a row in his own crib.  He slept from about 9:30 last night to 3:20 this morning.  That's pretty good for him; he hasn't quite gotten the "sleeping through the night" thing down yet.  Of course, for me, sleeping until 3:20 is almost "through the night", so I'm not complaining!!  Now I'm heading off to work!

First Night

Levi's room is now complete.  Since the arrival of the dresser, the only piece missing at night has been Levi.  But tonight, Kevin and I put him in his own crib for the night for the first time.  Levi has slept in his pack-and-play right next to my side of the bed since we brought him home - the only exception was when he slept in a pack-and-play at Mama K and Q's house when we visited them.  Yet even there, he was in the room with me.   I'm just so afraid that I won't hear him, even with the monitors.  Guess we will just have to see how he (and we) do without him sleeping in our room.

The Cow Says...

Tonight, Levi attended his first Halloween party. Kevin and I had the hardest time trying to decide what Levi's costume should be. We tried to think of something so that the three of us would have a theme, but that didn't work out for us this year. When we were looking at costumes on-line for Levi, we found this costume and couldn't resist. Kevin came up with the idea for the sign, but the little feet even say "Moo". Levi will be something different on Halloween - I'll let that costume be a surprise for you - because we couldn't decide on just one costume / idea.

He won "top prize" with the cutest costume. Don't you agree?

The Dresser

I am not sure how many of you know the dresser saga, but here's the short version. I ordered a dresser from a store in my parent's town in March. After seven months of waiting, the dresser finally arrived the Thursday before Levi and I went to Alabama. Here are some pictures of Levi's room. (I apologize for the crooked picture hanging on the wall; that's just life with a baby!!) Also, the curtains and baby bedding are "originals" - made lovingly by Levi's Mama K.

Sorry!

To all my usual "blog followers" - please forgive me for not writing in a while. We've been busy - and I've been so tired in the evenings I couldn't think well enough to write. Levi is doing really well. He is starting to suck his left thumb and any one or two of his right fingers he chooses. Kevin and I are attempting to promptly pull it/them out of his mouth and replace it/them with his paci. I think it would be much easier to get rid of a pacifier when the time comes than stop him from sucking a thumb or finger(s).

Last Friday, Levi and I were visited by some of my dearest friends from work - Carrie and Sarah. With working part time and the plant being in an outage, I hadn't seen those girls in a while. Levi and I had a fun time visiting with them.

Saturday, Levi went out with his mama and daddy to shop at Target and Babies R Us. We bought Levi a Bumbo. I haven't gotten a picture of him in it yet, but I will soon. Speaking of pictures, I have added a whole bunch to my album (linked on the left). Check them out! If you need the password, let me know.

Sunday, we went to church. Levi was the only one of two in his class for the first hour and the only one in his class for a little while during the second hour until they moved one down to his class.

Levi was very cranky Sunday night and did not eat well before bed. He slept from about 10 until 4:30, though, which was nice for me. He had a rather rough day with his grandmama and granddaddy on Monday, though. When I got home from work yesterday afternoon, he still was upset until I fed him the first time. I don't think he's ever eaten so much, so quickly! He was 100% better after that. He's taking a nap right now, which is why I am taking advantage of this time to blog.

Here is a picture from his three month birthday, last Monday. Levi is precious. I am so blessed!

Three Months

A little late, but Levi is now three months old.  Monday was his three month birthday!!  I took Monday off from work, so Levi and I spent the day together.  He is such fun with all his talking!  He is very entertaining - and he even entertains himself with his talking.  I'll add some pictures in a day or two.

On the Road Again

We were actually "on the road again" on Sunday, but I haven't made the time to blog since then.  (Sorry about that!)  Levi and I only stopped twice this time, and we made the trip in about 8 hours.  Levi slept the majority of the time, until after the last time we stopped.  He slept for only a half hour of the remaining two hours.  He just sat in the back, watching the trees go by and listening to me sing him songs.  He is so sweet.  We had a wonderful time in AL, and I am very glad that we made the trip to see my family.  But Levi was excited to see his daddy when we got home - almost as excited as his daddy was to see us!

"Just the two of us..."

"...we can make it if we try..." And make it we did. Levi and I made our first trip to Alabama! A trip that used to take Kevin and I about six hours took me and Levi ten and a half. Kevin couldn't make the trip with us, so it was just the two of us. We made three "long" stops - Wal-Mart in Madison, GA; the rest stop at the AL state line; Aunt Chery and Uncle Chris's house in Birmingham. Levi slept most of time when he was in the car. He is such a good baby. While we were at AC and UC's house, Uncle Chris actually held Levi. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me to document this event. UC still thought that it was a little too early for him to be holding Levi. But, Levi didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he was very enthralled with his UC.

I wanted to bring Levi to AL to meet his great-grandmother Greer (my mom's mom). She hadn't met him yet, and she kept saying how much she wanted to rock him. So, Levi met her this afternoon, and she was so excited to get to hold him and rock him. Levi was talking to his grandmother Greer in this pictures. She thought he was absolutely precious. Levi also got to meet several of my mom's co-workers when we took Levi to her office this morning. This evening, Levi's great aunt Kathy and great uncle Wayne stopped by to visit him. Do I even need to mention that Levi has also been the center of attention with his Mama K and Q? ;-)

Moving on up!

Yesterday, Levi graduated from Pampers Size 1 (left) to Pampers Size 2 (right) - even the Sesame Street characters on the diapers grew up with him. While the 2's still look a little big, those 1's were beginning to leave marks!!

Levi Found...

...his thumb!! He found his hands a couple of weeks ago, and he has become a pro at putting his entire hand into his mouth. Over the past week or so, he has become especially fond of chewing on his thumb. I wouldn't even call it sucking his thumb at this point, because his thumb just stays on one side of his mouth as he gnaws on it - but he looks adorable doing it, drool and all!

Levi and the girls

This past weekend, Kevin went on a hiking / camping trip with another guy from our SS class.  They left Friday late afternoon - and my sisters arrived Friday night.  Levi had the pleasure of being the center of attention for our "sisters' weekend".  My sisters and I love to spend time together, and they were very excited to see Levi, of course.  They couldn't believe how much he'd changed since their last visits.  On Saturday, we had lunch in downtown Aiken, walked and shopped since the weather was so beautiful, and did my grocery shopping for the week.  Levi had a first this weekend: nursing in the parking lot of Wal-Mart before we did the grocery shopping.  Amazingly enough, he ate very well.  We watched some football Saturday evening and night.  Aunt Chery was very happy (Alabama won).  Aunt Audry and I were sad (Auburn lost).  I was so glad that AC and AA were able to come this weekend, to really get to spend some extra time with Levi.  I miss them both so much!  We had a wonderful weekend.  Kevin had a great weekend, too, but Kevin and Levi were very glad to see each other Sunday evening.    

Jesus Loves Me

Last night, Kevin and I took Levi to the high school faculty's chili cook-off.  This cook-off is an annual event during Homecoming week.  Each department / staff group cooks chili, and the football players sample each and vote for the best.  Apparently the custodial staff "always" wins.  Levi woke up long enough to "meet" a few of the students and faculty members.  Levi and I came home before Kevin, because Kevin is now the faculty representative for a new group that is meeting for a worship service every other Tuesday night from about 7:30 to 9.  Anyway, Levi decided again before the cook-off and then after the cook-off / before bed that he didn't want to eat well - again.  In that feeding right before bed, I started getting upset, because I wasn't sure what to do - get some milk from the freezer and then pump, let him go to sleep without eating well...  I knew, though, that I had to calm down to keep him from getting more upset.  So I prayed.  I asked for God's help, knowing that God knew what Levi needed and that I had no clue what was wrong or what to do.  The song "Jesus Loves Me" came to mind, so I started singing.  Levi settled right down - and proceeded to eat fairly well or at least without any screaming or crying.  I sang "Jesus Loves Me" every time I've fed him since then.  FYI - you can sing "Jesus Loves Me" in about 30 seconds.  He's heard the song hundreds of times by this point, but I'll sing it until I'm blue in the face if it keeps him happy!  He ate SO much better this afternoon and tonight.  God is so good!!

Levi the Talker

Levi loves to "talk", and he really loves to have conversations with whomever will respond in like fashion.  It is so much fun to see his excitement with something as simple as a responding "Ahh!", "Ohh!", etc.  Yesterday while I was home with Levi, my dad (who wants Levi to call him Q) called to check on us.  I was "talking" with Levi when he called and told him that.  Q asked if he could talk to Levi.  So I held up the cell phone to Levi's ear, and Q started talking to him.  Levi got a huge grin on his face and talked right back!  He even moved his hand up like he wanted to hold the phone to his ear.  It was precious!!