What a weekend!

Levi and I made our first extended stay trip to Birmingham. We left home Friday around 1 pm, and about the time we left was when the rain started here. It rained on us the entire way to Birmingham. At some points the rain was quite heavy. It was quite a trip! But we made it safe and sound to Levi's aunt Chery's house, where Levi's aunts Chery and Audry were waiting for our arrival.

Saturday morning, Levi and I made a quick trip to see my dear friend Jamie and her two kids. Jamie's son is the one who is exactly one year older than Levi. We had a good visit, but it just wasn't long enough. It was such fun to see the three kids interact - much more entertaining than when we met at a restaurant around Christmas.

Then, we met Levi's aunts, grandparents, and one of Aunt Audry's friends for lunch in "SoHo" (i.e., South Homewood). Levi was a favorite with the staff at the restaurant. I think every waiter, waitress, and hostess said something to him. It was so cute.

Saturday night, Aunt Chery made Mama K's birthday dinner, including a birthday cake. Aunt Audry's friends, Karen and Lacey, came to help Mama K celebrate. (Saturday was also Levi's great uncle John's birthday - happy belated birthday!! We hope your day was as good as your sister's!)

Levi got a little tuckered out from all the excitement. Q didn't mind having Levi take a little nap on his chest.

Sunday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. We started getting concerned about Levi and I traveling back home, because we were planning to leave after the "main event" of the weekend. The instigating event for our trip was Aunt Audry's baptism on Sunday morning. There was no way I was going to leave early to "beat the snow" and miss the baptism, so we decided to "play it by ear" as to when/if we would start heading back to SC.

We made it safely to the church; all the snow was very beautiful. Unfortunately, AA's friends, Karen and Lacey, ended up hydroplaning and not making it to the church. Thankfully, though, neither of them was hurt.

When we got to the church, Levi met my cousin, Diona, her husband, Jody, and their kids, Trevor, Travis, and Alexa. It was really great to see them. Levi loved meeting them and being held by Diona. She let him play with her nametag, so she quickly became a favorite!

Levi got to see Aunt Audry's baptism and sat through about an hour of the service. Here is one picture of Levi holding onto Q's hand during part of the service. Isn't that sweet?


During the church service, at least two more inches of snow fell. All the snow was beautiful. I was so scattered, though, that I neglected to take any pictures. Oh, well...

After some conversations, we decided that Levi and I should stay one more night in Birmingham. I am thankful we did. The Atlanta area was hit pretty hard Sunday afternoon. Had we left right after the service, we would have been in the midst of it.

Levi also met his "cousin" Mia, Aunt Chery's dog. Levi really liked Mia, and it seemed that the feeling was mutual.



Levi became proficient this weekend in rolling from his tummy to his back!! The first time I saw him meet this milestone was VERY early Friday morning. By Saturday evening, he was rolling back and forth (back to tummy, tummy to back) so well that he looked like he'd been rolling both ways for months! He also started stacking those stackable rings really well. Whenever he would put a ring on the pedestal, he'd look around to make sure everyone saw him and cheered him in his efforts. Levi's uncle Chris had been out of town until Sunday. Once Levi saw UC again, though, he would always want to make sure UC saw his "feats" and was cheering. So cute!