5 Months, Mother's Day, and Some Random

Five months!  Only a month away from being half a year old!  I can't believe we are this close to our first milestone!

We are so in love with this little gift from God.  Levi is such a blessing and he fills our days with joy.  We are continuing to learn what it means to be parents and how to best love on this little boy.

Levi is learning to use his hands quite well; we have officially entered the stage of anything that is in reach goes in his hands and into his mouth.  So far I am thoroughly enjoying this as it is so fun to see him explore new surroundings.  I suppose when he becomes mobile this stage will be a bit scarier, but for now its been really fun.  We both enjoy his "kisses" as he explores our faces and love the feeling of his chubby little hands on anywhere he can grab.  He has also gotten rather good at pinching - he uses his index finger and thumb quite frequently when he is supposed to be eating...

He continues to be vocal; he has recently learned how to gurgle so we now have babbling, shrieking, screeching, whale sounds, and gurgles.  His little voice is such a sweet sound :).  He is getting really close to sitting up on his own.  Right now he can last for just a few seconds before usually toppling over.  He prefers to sit up rather than being cradled at just about all times other than eating; this isn't a problem except in the bathtub!  He rolls from his back to his side just to the point of almost being on his tummy before falling back to his back.  We have fun cheering him on so I think right now he is enjoying the attention of getting us excited every time he partially rolls :).

We had a really nice Mother's Day of just the three of us celebrating.  Clay did a really great job of making me feel special and appreciated.  I think I spent most of the day loving on my sweet little boy and thinking of how much I have under-celebrated my own mom in the past. 

What an honor it is to be this little boy's mom!

 All dressed up in his big boy clothes!

Some fun pictures over the past few weeks!  Practicing sitting up with Mom:

Tulips in bloom:

Having fun in his new Baby Einstein jumper:



 Kisses for Dad:

Longest Roadtrip of Little Levi's Life

The title pretty much says it all!!  We had a long drive made longer by our sweet little baby.  Although the trip went exceptionally well for taking an almost 4 month old on a normally 13 hour drive, I don't recommend it on a regular basis.  However, I have gotten rather efficient at changing (poopy) diapers on my lap.

I find that Levi adds about an hour and a half for every five hours of driving in the car.  This varies from trip to trip and the time of day (or night) that we are driving but that is our general experience.  I have also learned that babies are not like adults.  They can snooze just before bedtime and still go to sleep at their normal bedtime.  However, they can also be very tired and want to stay awake for no apparent reason.  I suppose both of those things can be true for adults as well..but maybe its just magnified with a baby. 

We stayed near Pittsburgh with Kevin and Jennifer on our way to Illinois and on our way back.  Kevin is one of Clay's best friends from college so its a nice time for us to all catch up.  Here they are with Levi:

Thanks so much for letting us stay with you again!!..and for being willing to work with Levi's need for sleep :).

Our week in Illinois was so nice:  Levi (and me and Clay) finally got to meet his little cousin Casen!  Uncle Peter and Aunt Kelli got to meet Levi for the first time.  Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kari got reacquainted with Levi.  Several people from church (that had been so generous in welcoming him prior to being born) got to meet Levi.  Grandma Rabenhorst came to visit.  Easter was celebrated.  Family time was plentiful!  I so wish we could somehow bypass the roadtrip to get there and spend this time together more often!!

Levi (looking like such a big boy!) sitting in Casen's Bumbo will start off our week in review of pictures:

Casen and Levi meeting.  There isn't a picture of this but it was so cute - Levi wasn't up very long the evening we first got in.  He was fading quickly and Uncle Peter wasn't able to get home from work any earlier but he and Aunt Kelli wanted to at least see him!  Levi was upstairs having a bottle with Clay before bed.  I told everyone just to be calm because I didn't want Levi to get over-stimulated.  So quietly Dad, Peter, Kelli, Kari, and I (Mom stayed downstairs with Casen) parade into Levi's room where everyone stares at him while he has his bottle.  It's a fun memory to have of their first time seeing Levi :).

I don't think Levi was really wanting to share Dad here:

Kari snuggling Casen:

Levi's first trip to Chick Fil A:

Yes, I suppose we are that family:

Sisters!  And Levi's 'high waters':

Levi and his ketchup:

Out on the porch swing with Dad:

In the rocking chair with Grandma:

Reading a book with Grandpa:

Representing Liberty:

Clay, Kari and Dad visited the Caterpillar museum and visitor's center:

Levi's Great Grandma Rabenhorst flew in from South Dakota to meet him and Casen.  She now has 8 great-grandsons:

 Clay and I hadn't gotten to see Grandma since our wedding day in 2010! 

Watching March Madness basketball:

Easter morning:

 Grandma and Grandpa with their grandsons:

 Matchy matchy:

Attempting a family picture but the wind was not helping:



A few years ago my parents started inviting a variety of people over for Easter lunch - basically anyone they or my sister knew of who didn't have family in the area.  Along with this, my mom started some random tradition of breaking confetti eggs over people's heads.  I think its basically a made up game that gives people an opportunity to crack an egg on someone.  My mom blows out the yolks and then tediously stuffs confetti into the hollow eggs.  This year everyone's name was on a single egg.  Everyone then picked an egg and they had the rest of the day to crack it on that person.  For example, Peter picked Clay's egg.  During lunch, Peter innocently came over and offered Clay a lemonade refill.  Before he knew it, Clay had an egg cracked on his head with confetti everywhere.  I know it sounds rather..stupid..but it does provide many laughs. 

Kelli and me after someone getting us:

Grandpa had been working hard to have the Model A all finished by Easter.  Levi thought it was pretty cool:

I know I'm about a month late in posting this but we had such a nice visit.  Levi loved his first visit to Illinois!!  We are so thankful for the blessing of family :)