Christmas with the Hughes

Today we celebrated Christmas with Levi's grandma and granddaddy and his aunt Dee Dee. We were all lavished with wonderful gifts and had a good time visiting. Levi was also lavished with attention, hugs, and kisses from them; they'd missed him while we were in Alabama. The bad news from their house while we were gone was that they both ended up with variations on Kevin's illness. Both were quite sick over Christmas but are feeling much better now.

Made it - again!

Kevin, Levi, and I made it back to South Carolina. It was a long trip, and we were pretty tired - but it was great to have so much time with my family. I miss them so! To say that they love Levi is a bit of an understatement, and he had so much fun with them! One of the many things he loved about his visit was when Mama K would play Patty Cake with him.

When we got home, I took Levi to his room to change his diaper. He looked around his room and got the "all overs" and a big smile on his face. It was so cute watching him recognize "his" room.

Good Luck Charm

On Christmas, Levi got one gift that was chosen by his uncle Chris that I hadn't mentioned yet. While Chery and Chris were in Tallahassee, Chris made a special trip to a bookstore for a Florida State onesie. I guess Chris thought that Levi needed to support his team, too, and not just Auburn and South Carolina. Chris was thoughtful enough to include Florida State's basketball schedule with the gift! Since Florida State played its bowl game, though, we decided that we wouldn't wait for a basketball game. We put Levi in the onesie, and Florida State won BIG time! (You're welcome, Uncle Chris!!)

Sitting up

Levi has been working really hard on his sitting up. I think we can say that he has accomplished this milestone. I'm not really sure how long he must remain in seated position to count as "sitting up", so I am not sure if we count Christmas Eve, Day, or the day after. He still does not remain in the seated position for minutes on end, but he can for several minutes - especially when he's driving his "car" that he got for Christmas. I'll add pictures later.

Merry Christmas

Levi has been the center of everyone's attention this Christmas, of course. He visited with his great grandmother, Mama Rains, his aunt Kathy and his great uncle Wayne on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. He also met my cousin, Collier, for the first time. Levi thought Collier was so funny. This picture was from our visit with them all on Christmas Day.


Levi was also visited by his great uncle Wes and great aunt Joy on Christmas Eve. They were with us on Christmas Day as well. It was such a treat! His great grandmother Greer came for visits as well. She could get some really great laughs out of Levi, too.

Besides Grandmother Greer and Collier, the other person who seems to get the biggest laughs out of Levi is his aunt Audry. She pretends to "eat" his arm, and he will just laugh and laugh. It is so precious!

With all the excitement of entertaining his visitors, Levi gave into his exhaustion. To say that Levi was "fixed up" this Christmas is an understatement.

We made it!

Kevin survived his illness; Levi and I were successful in not getting it! We also made it to Alabama on Monday to visit my family for Christmas. On Tuesday, my mom, Levi, and I made a trip to the Cracker Barrel in Cullman to meet my best friend from AU, Jamie, and her family for lunch. It was a precious time - just not long enough! This visit was the second time Levi had seen Jamie and her little girl ("Princess"). It was the first time Levi met Jamie's husband and little boy ("Pea"). Pea and Levi share the same birthday, only Levi is one year younger. So, it was neat to see Pea and think about how Levi will be next year.

Pictures of Princess giving Levi a hug with Jamie watching closely and of me and Pea.

Twas the Week Before Christmas...

And we are NOT in our house...

Kevin has been VERY sick since Wednesday night. Levi and I - so far - have not come down with any of the symptoms. Thanks to Grandma who took Levi from our house early Thursday morning (and who has let us crash her house since then) and to Granddaddy who has stayed with Kevin taking care of him. Levi and I are very grateful to have been able to stay away from the stomach sickness, but we miss Kevin / Daddy terribly.

We're still planning to travel to Alabama for Christmas, and we're still hoping to get to leave on Monday. Guess we will just have to wait and see. Kevin did go to the doctor on Friday and got some medicine, but he is still not doing well.

Since we've been here, I don't have any pictures to share. However, here are some of Levi's latest and greatest. He has either a cold or allergies, so his nose is very runny, and he sounds pretty bad. Levi has been eating his cereal very well once a day. Often he wants to "help" by holding onto the spoon and attempting to guide it into his mouth. It is really cute and very messy. He actually rolled over (only once, though) from his back to his tummy on his right side today. We'll keep working on it so that he'll become a little more proficient.

Christmas songs

I was driving home from work, and THE Christmas song of Rains family tradition came on the radio. I must admit, I have NEVER heard it on the radio before. Many of you - my loyal readers ;-) - have probably never heard it before. Every Christmas that I can remember from growing up, though, my mom and dad would play the Alabama Christmas album (yep, album!). On this album is THE Christmas song, Thistlehair the Christmas Bear. Kevin thinks it is VERY silly, and I admit it is. But, it is a Christmas classic in the Rains household. While I listened to it as I was travelling home, though, I realized it would quickly become one of Levi's favorites. Why, you ask? Because it has his favorite sound "la" in it. So, when I got home, I promptly sang the chorus and the "la" part - he LOVED it! His other favorite Christmas song is "Deck the Halls" (remember, the "la" connection!).

Moving On Up - Again!

Yep, Levi has graduated again - from size 2 diapers to size 3!

That is the question...

What is the question you ask? Teething or not? What do you think?

Five Months Old

It is hard to believe that I am the mother of a five month old! He is growing up so fast. He is full of smiles and laughs. He is still very talkative; although he does seem to have quieted down just a little. He is still turning over like an old pro, but he still hasn't managed to figure out how to roll over in any other way than from his back to his tummy on his left side. Yet, he is still so proud of himself for this accomplishment. He is beginning to move items from hand to hand. He still loves his bath and is starting to really splash the water. He loves to hear the water running. I think he's figured out that if he drops his paci he gets to go with me to the sink to wash it off, so his paci ends up on the floor quite often.

I am so amazed at our little man, at this gift that God has entrusted to me and Kevin. I am at times overwhelmed by love for him and awed by the fact that God loves Levi even more than I do and that God loves me even more than I love Levi. It is hard to imagine a love like that, but I am so thankful for it. This Christmas season, I am even more mindful of the baby Jesus and not just the man Jesus. God humbled Himself to come as a baby - a perfect little baby who was dependant on a young woman, who was not perfect just a willing servant. I pray that I will be that kind of servant and that God will show me how to raise Levi to be that type of servant, a man of God, a man after God's own heart.

Holding On

Levi held onto his green teething ring for over an hour - and even took it with him during his nap. He didn't even put it in his mouth; he seemed to prefer his paci. Yet, he just wouldn't let the green figure 8 go!

I Love My Daddy

Levi and his daddy were laying down and reading books together while I was cooking dinner. Levi loves it when his daddy plays with him - reading, tickling, laughing, anything as long as Daddy is with him. After they were finished, I couldn't resist taking a picture of my men.

FYI - I've added some posts on the dates that the events / pictures were actually taken.

Hunky Monkey

I changed my "usual" part-time schedule at work this week by working Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Kevin had a party Wednesday night, and it wasn't a "family friendly" type of party. So, I didn't want to work all day Wednesday and then leave him Wednesday night. Levi's grandmama and granddaddy watched him while Kevin and I went to the party. Levi and I had a fun day together.

O Christmas Tree

Kevin and I set up our Christmas tree on Saturday night after Levi went to sleep. Here is Levi's first sighting of the tree on Sunday morning.

Our weekend

Friday morning, Levi and I went back to his school to drop off his paperwork.  We decided that Levi will begin attending school on January 5.  This trip, Levi was awake; so we stopped by his class.  His teachers were very sweet to him - trying to get him to smile, but it did take him a little while to do that.  At times, he can be very solemn around new people.

Friday night, I went on a date with my boys.  Although, Levi wasn't much of a dinner companion.  I guess he didn't care too much for the ambiance, deciding the back of his eye lids were more appealing.  We actually went back to the same restaurant - and then the bookstore - where we had gone the night before Levi was born.  We had a really fun time.

Saturday was our weekly Wal-Mart trip.  This trip was different for Levi though.  Usually when Kevin goes with us to Wally World, Levi gets to ride with his daddy in the Baby Bjourn.  Levi still rode in the Baby Bjourn, but he was finally able to be turned so that he is facing outward.  He LOVED it.  He reached for just about everything that came near to him - the fish in the fish tanks, toys, cereal boxes...  One time, Kevin came walking down an aisle toward me, while Levi was holding onto an Eeyore.  Another time, Levi was "driving" Kevin with this little dashboard like toy complete with wheel and gear shift.  He was so cute and very alert, watching everyone and everything.  While we were checking out, Kevin decided we needed to add some candy to a gift we had purchased, so he went in search of some Christmas candy.  Kevin and Levi were checking out at the 10 items or less lane, and I was looking for some change to speed up the process.  We looked back at Levi, and he was asleep!  There was NO way he could have been comfortable, but it didn't seem to bother him at all.  He did the same thing today, when Kevin and I were checking out at Target with a few Christmas presents!

SEC Championship

Levi and I sat with Kevin in the "man cave" for a few minutes while UA and UF were playing in the SEC Championship game. I was holding Levi so that he couldn't see the game, but he wouldn't have it. He assumed his "favorite" position. Apparently, Levi thinks this position is comfortable, because he lays like that quite often.

Poor Little Levi

The shots have taken their toll on poor little Levi. He had a temperature this afternoon when we got home and was acting rather puny. We tried the cereal this afternoon, but he didn't want anything to do with it - again. Guess we'll just keep trying...

BIG day

We had quite a day today. Around mid-morning, Levi and I visited his "school". That's right; yesterday, we finally received word that there was an opening in Levi's class. Kevin had visited this summer and really liked the "school". Levi and I saw it for the first time today. As most of you know, sending Levi to school (I have to think of it as school rather than daycare...) is not my heart's desire. My heart's desire is to be with him every day. However, the Lord has not seen fit to grant this desire at this time. Thus, Levi was registered today at school. We will not start him there, though, until the first of the year. Levi, unfortunately, could not make his opinion of the school known, because he slept through our entire visit. The girls who will be "teaching" him were all very nice and thought he was adorable (of course). I truly believe that since our current situation is that Levi must go to school then this school is good.

This afternoon, Levi had his "four-month" check-up. I put it in quotes, because Levi is really closer to five months than four. Nonetheless, he received four shots today. He is such a little trooper. He cried once the second shot was given to him, but as soon as I was able to pick him up to comfort him he stopped crying. So precious. We also found out that Levi had gained 8 ounces since his last visit; so he weighed 16 pounds, 12 ounces. His "height" measured 26 inches. According to the doctor, Levi is in the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height.

The doctor recommended that we start giving Levi rice cereal since he's four months old. We tried this afternoon, but Levi was not too excited about it...