two.

My big boy turned 2 yesterday..

 I would have never referred to him as a big boy until a new little guy recently entered our family (more on that later)..but now I realize that Levi is in fact my big boy.

In some ways it feels like it was just a couple months ago that we brought him home from the hospital, but in other ways, two years feels about right. It's hard to only think about his first two years in relation to his growth - Levi has helped me grow so much that I think two years seems about right!









He is such a sweet little guy who is quite charming at times.  I love getting to hear little snippets of what is going on in his brain now that he is starting to talk more and more (which, if anyone is wondering, is generally along the topics of mommy, daddy, or tractors).  He is learning more and more things like colors, shapes, noises, and opinions.  He can follow simple directions and has recently learned cause and effect - "if you eat your chicken and carrots, then you may have cheese."  He has started playing more independently (bittersweet) and is also playing more pretend or imaginative play.  He is rather obsessed with his tractor, Noah (Little People Noah and the Ark set), and Motorcycle Man, or "meme" for short.  These seem to be the three toys that he consistently comes back to over and over.


He is so good at giving hugs and kisses and loves to tell not only people bye when he or they are leaving, but also tells various toys or objects bye when leaving them or going to bed.  I find it adorable and know that it is a phase. but one that I am enjoying; I find that it reminds me he is still little and not too big yet.  He knows how to say hi as well, but bye is definitely favored.








We had a very low-key celebration for his birthday - I struggled with feeling like we should have done more or at least had some Pinterest-inspired decorations, but our day(s) of celebrating fit where we're at right now as a family.  Earlier in the week, we took him to Billy Beez and I had so much fun watching him play and just experience simple joy in all the fun things offered.  On his birthday, we all had waffles together ("watkles" in Levi language) before heading to the photo booth at the mall.  While at the mall, we asked in Sears for a big box and Levi became the proud new owner of a fort.  We then took him to Toys R Us where we picked up some finger paints.

My dear sweet affectionate Levi - I love you so much.  You gave me the gift of being a mommy and for that I will always be thankful.  You bring me so much joy - and you bring others so much joy as well.  Don't ever stop loving people the way you do even at your very young age.  You are friendly and love making people talk with you..rarely do we see your shy side.  We pray that you will use these traits to be a voice for those who don't have a voice and that you will speak Truth even when its difficult.  You are kind and charming (just like Daddy) and we pray that you will use this to point people to Christ.  Know that we will never stop loving you and that we have had the best two years since you were born.

Summer Recap

I'm not sure how its already the end of October, but here is our summer recap in pictures..

So there's a baby on the way..here is about 20 weeks..

23 weeks..

and just like that..31 weeks!

38 weeks (Halloween)!

Levi and our allium..

Levi and Grandma walking their brooms on Grandma and Grandpa's visit.. 

He is turning into such a big boy!!  Sometimes I get excited for this and sometimes I just want to cry.  This was one of his first times using a big-kid swing instead of the baby swing.  He could often be found wearing his orange hat this summer to keep his sweet little blonde head covered..

Over Memorial Day weekend, we headed down to Delaware to visit Nana and PopPop.  One evening we went to Funland and although I was a bit nervous at first about Levi riding the rides, he had a blast.  He had a huge excited smile almost the whole time on every ride he rode.  This fire truck ride was his favorite..  

Mom and Levi riding the carousel..

Nana riding the hot air balloon ride with Levi and Cousin Addie..Levi is pointing at his favorite fire truck ride that he spotted..

My boys in their stripes..

Dad getting some birthday morning snuggles..

One of our few family pictures of the summer..just about to go out to eat for Clay's birthday while Levi stayed behind..  This picture was supposed to be just me and Clay but Levi backed right up to us and wanted to be in it too :)

How we would often find Levi's toy cars..he is rather particular about certain things concerning his toys. 

We went to the library one morning for a normal visit and found out upon entering that it was a craft day..this is Levi and his fish that we made.  The fish had a googly eye that was probably most entertaining to him.  I would find that eye all over the house until one day I decided the eye had lived long enough..

His old man pose..just hanging in his diaper, legs crossed, eating a snack..

One day I had to go into work for most of the day so Clay took Levi to Billy Beez..a big indoor kids playground.  Unfortunately, they were so eager to get there that they arrived before it opened..so Levi got a carousel ride while they waited..

When the button gets pushed, the balls that have been thrown into the pit get flung out the top..Clay told me that Levi and another little girl were playing with it and the girl wanted to nicely collect all the balls and put them in the pit but Levi wanted to keep pushing the button..

On a side note, check out those curls..  I know they're too long but I miss them when they're gone.  He got a haircut shortly after these pictures were taken..

My big boy!

Levi and Grandpa discussing whatever farmers talk about on their tractors..

We flew to Illinois for a week in August and got to attend a tractor show where Grandpa takes some of his tractors.  Levi loved getting the chance to actually ride the tractors rather than just point at them like usual..

Sweet boy..

Inside the barn at the tractor show..Levi was very intent on holding Case's hand, but Case only tolerated it for so long..

..similar to Addie only tolerating Levi's hugs for so long.

We have a very affectionate little boy :)

 

I did just a little bit of sewing by making all new pillow covers for our throw pillows.  I tend to gain confidence in these little projects so we'll see what's next.

How many warm summer days were spent..Dad and Levi playing in the water!  So thankful Levi has a dad who plays with him and loves on him..

What a great summer we had with just one little one..our final months of being a family of three!

the house is painted..

What started out as what we thought would be a couple weekends of work turned into a whole summer of painting the house!  This whole painting a house thing was a new concept to both of us, and I think we much prefer vinyl siding to wood for any future house purchases.

All that to say, I am so thankful for Clay's hours upon hours of scraping, priming and painting!  Unfortunately (or fortunately), being pregnant stopped me from climbing any ladders so I'm afraid I wasn't much help..except for keeping Levi occupied and the workers fed.

These are very tall ladders..so thankful for no ladder falls.

Using the contraption that Clay and a friend built to be able to use a ladder on the slanted roof..

Every time he thought it would be a small section of scraping, the paint would just keep coming off (as displayed here).  The areas that were scraped down to bare wood had to be primed and then given two coats of color.

Levi really wanted to help where he could :)

Thankfully, aside from a couple of rotten window sills that needs replaced (blah!), the painting is done!  

House Updating

Well, we are still alive.  It's been quite a while since posting, but we have a summer snapshots post coming up that will review all of summer in one post!

But first, a little house update.  Mom and Dad came out to visit in May, just a couple weeks after Aunt Kari came out.  We felt loved.  

We really weren't working the whole time, but we did manage to get our master bathroom updated! Also, we had recently purchased new appliances for the kitchen and Grandpa was able to help get our microwave hung (after moving around the cabinets a bit..).

I think if you would ask either Clay or myself, we would tell you that this isn't the house we had planned on moving into, this isn't the city we had planned on starting our family in, and these aren't the job situations that we thought we would have upon graduating.  However, the Lord has been so faithful to us over and over - and we are so thankful that His ways are not our own ways.  

The more we grow as a family, the more focused I am on making sure our house is a home and a place of refuge to our little family of 3 1/2 people and those who we invite in.  I know that paint and pillows and furniture don't make a home, but it sure helps.  I am so thankful that we have been able (with A LOT of help from others) to do things to this house that make it more of our home.  It's tough being far from family, but having a home we not only like and feel comfortable in, but that we feel reflects us as a family, makes our journey out here just a little bit easier.

With that being said, a couple before and after pictures of our master bathroom vanity:

..and one with the lights out to see some details:

This may be too much information, but I keep our vanity clean now :).  I find that I have a really hard time being motivated to keep something clean if I don't like the way it looks.  If I enjoy a space or room or counter top, then I am much more likely to clean it on a regular basis so it looks nice!

Also, as mentioned previously, we recently purchased a new refrigerator, microwave, and oven.  The fridge and oven were already in place before Mom and Dad came out, but the microwave needed hung.  Although this probably wasn't completely necessary, I have a father who loves me and was willing to raise the cabinets above the microwave an inch or two for more space between the oven and microwave.  You can have your own opinion, but I personally find this inch or two to be a very vast space.

Before and after pictures of the appliances:

Levi's attempt at hanging the towel back up that he pulls down:

He makes me laugh :)

Once again, we had a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa - and Levi of course loved all the extra attention he got.  

Levi and his new car that showed up with Grandma and Grandpa:

Thanks again for making the trip out and helping us once again on the house!

Auntie K1

Wowww - last time I blogged Levi was in a fur hat.  We've now had days where the air conditioning could be used.  Oh well.

Aunt Kari came to visit us at the beginning of May - and this time we definitely did more exciting things than going to WalMart :).  Minus the fact I got her arrival time wrong, the visit started out great.  Levi instantly warmed up to her and this book snuggling on the couch was not prompted:

Kari got in on a Tuesday and that night we had Taco Tuesday with a game night featuring Seven Wonders.  Kari was the one who originally taught Clay and I how to play Seven Wonders so it was only appropriate that she got to join for our traditional Seven Wonders group: Clay, me, Levi by monitor, Whitney, and Jacob.  Also, because it was the day after Cinco de Mayo, we decided that mustaches needed to be worn for our Taco Tuesday night:

(I apparently was overly tired that evening, but for the sake of the blog, I will post anyway).

After a thrilling evening of tacos and Seven Wonders, we awoke refreshed and ready to hike the waterfalls in Ithaca!  We had a garage sale a week or two prior to Kari coming and Clay was trying to sell everything possible (like dishes I currently use or clothes I currently wear) - including this hiking baby carrier.  One lady offered $7 less than I had it priced.  I declined.  So, Levi had a nice little seat for our hike:

Actually, I have to give a shout out to Kari and Clay here - that carrier could use a few adjustments and isn't the most comfortable thing for the wearer.  I sported Levi for approximately 10 minutes and they switched back and forth for the rest of our hiking :)

 And then we did even more hiking nearby the next day:

Thursday evening we headed to Destiny USA (what a name).  Of all the options, we decided on this strategic game thing called 5 Wits.  Right now the location in Syracuse hosts two game options - I'm sure I'm getting this wrong, but ours was something like figuring out and stopping a missile or two from going off.  This included (but was not limited to) sneaking into a building through a laser grid, figuring out a code to gain (or stop?) power, and pressing specific buttons when prompted.  As odd as my description sounds, it was entertaining and even Levi went through with us.  I think we will always remember passing Levi through the laser grid so we didn't set off any sensors.  We were a little bummed with our score (Rabenhorst perfectionists coming out?), but the workers assured us that it was good and higher than most:

That evening we had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and then played some games at Dave and Busters - a really fun ending to her trip!

Kari, we are so appreciative of you coming out!  We don't get a lot of visitors up here in the North Country and it means a lot that you came out to see us!  Thanks for the help with Levi, cooking, dishes, and of course puppy chow :).  We love you!!