Hell: We can't afford to get it wrong.

Randy's Grandpa went to Heaven on May 1st. What comfort we have in knowing he is walking on streets of gold with Jesus. WITH JESUS! I have never felt so happy and comforted when someone has died. I have a fear of people I love dying. My fear, though, is not for a godly man like Grandpa. My fear is for those I love who don't know God. We can't afford to live our lives without knowing God. We can't afford to be wrong about Him and live apart from Him for all eternity.

7 Months

Levi is watching Marley in the picture above


Levi, you are 7 months already! Wow! I know I say time is going quickly every month, but it is so true! Here is what you are up to at 7 months old:

You are just the cutest thing in the whole world. Your daddy and I say that to one another almost daily. You are talking so much! You say da da all the time and you even told your daddy "hi" on May 11. On May 2nd your first tooth popped through. Ouch! The bottom 2 are both in now. That was pretty hard on you, especially because you got sick right after. You are feeling much better now, though! You are so observant. You love to watch all around you. You continue to sit up well and scoot all over. You love your walker! The funniest thing is that you try to chase Marley around while you are in it. You even scream at her! It's so hilarious. Bath time is still one of your favorites. You get really excited and love to splash around. You are eating all kinds of food now including butternut squash, sweet potatoes, banana, avacado, peas, prunes, rice cereal and oatmeal cereal. You love to eat and are really good at it! You are sleeping pretty well, but with the teething and being sick thing, we have taken a few steps back. For some reason, you are very interested in looking at the trees blowing in the wind. You have such a great disposition. You are very easy to keep happy. You bring us so much joy we can hardly stand it! How did we ever get so blessed as to be your parents?

Sleep

If you knew me before I had a baby, you know that I LOVE to sleep. I used to be able to take naps, sleep in and I enjoyed every minute of it! That all changed with some pregnancy insomnia, then, of course, when Levi was born. Levi has not been the best sleeper. He is still waking up once in the middle of the night to eat. I have gotten used to this and can honestly say that I love the time I have with him, even if it's at 1am. The past 2 weeks I have not been able to sleep well at all, and it has nothing to do with my precious almost 7 month old.

I am hyperthyroid.

I lost 4 pounds in a week. (Not complaining there!) But the worst symptom is that my heart is racing. Fast. The doctor saw my blood results and said it was like I had 10 cups of coffee in my system. It is so uncomfortable. It's not so bad during the day as long as I don't do anything too strenuous. But having said that, my heart was pounding after sorting laundry and transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer. The worst part comes when I lay down at night to sleep. I can REALLY feel my heart pounding then and it keeps me up. It takes me hours to fall asleep. I e-mailed my wonderful doctor and she told me I need to double to dose of my medicine. I am so thankful that there is medicine I can take to fix the problem and that it is safe for me to keep nursing. It was a possibility I would have to stop. I am also thankful that God has put people on my heart to pray for as I am awake in the night. I don't always have the best attitude about the months I have not slept more than a few hours at a time, but God is working on refining me and softening my heart. I might add He has given me so much more patience during the day after nights of hardly any sleep. I am grateful for that. I'm also grateful that my accelerated heart rate is a result of a thyroid problem and not a heart issue. I can't wait for the medicine to kick in which should take about a week.

How Great thou Art!

Vince Gill and Carrie Underwood sang this amazingly beautiful version of "How Great Thou Art." When I watched this, I got goosebumps and teared up a bit! How GREAT is our God!

Happy Easter! I am so thankful for the cross.

Family Time

Family time has been hard to come by lately. We have loved spending time with our parents and friends and church family, but have found that a lot of time has gone by without the 3 of us just spending the day together. So this afternoon we headed to the beach (it was a gorgeous day!) and spent a few hours having a picnic and watching the waves. Levi loved it! He is so observant these days. It felt so wonderful to just enjoy a few hours alone together, away from the business of our lives. Ahh...

And Randy is taking Tuesday off, the whole day, just to be with us! Wahoo! I can't wait! :) I love these guys.

6 Months

Oh my goodness gracious, Levi, you are 6 months old! Time flies so quickly! We have had so much fun together these last 6 months. Here's what you are up to now that you are half a year old!

You are so handsome and are looking much more like a little boy than a baby. You weigh 17lb 4oz and are 27 1/4 in. tall. You are in the 45% for weight and 80% for height. Your doctor said that was like an adult at 6'1" tall who weighs 175 lb. When I told your daddy, he said, "He can lift weights like his daddy and be 6'1" and 200lb!" Ha! You are so sweet! You smile at us all the time. Your favorite part of the day is when your daddy comes home. He greets you with a loud, "Mr. Cheeks!" and you light up, get super excited and reach for him. You are so expressive and "talk" all the time. You HAVE to have something in your hands, and therefore your mouth, at all times. Nothing in your reach is off limits from making it into your mouth! At dinner time, you sit in your high chair next to us with a tray full of toys and are occupied for as long as the toys stay off of the ground. We have started to feed you cereal again now that you are 6 months. It's only been 2 days but I can tell you love the stuff! I am noticing how much you love to take in your surroundings. We go on walks most days and you are big enough now to sit in the stroller facing out look out so you get to see the birds, trees, houses, dogs, cars, and more, and you love it. You love anything new. You stare at us when we vacuum. You are so observant and you have even started looking all around outside while we are driving. You still love your bath time. I sing and talk to you the whole time and you smile up at me, then continue playing with your toys. You are starting to sit up on your own! You are growing up so fast! You are wearing 9-12 month clothes and are in a size 3 diaper or a medium or large g diaper. You are getting to be a much better sleeper. You sleep for one longer stretch for about 6 hours. You have learned to soothe yourself to sleep and don't cry at all when I put you down awake in your crib at night. For your naps, you cry or fuss for a few minutes then are fast to sleep. When I go pick you up after you wake up from your nap, sometimes you are 2 feet from where I put you down and flipped all over the place. You are scooting and turning all around, but not crawling yet. You love your dog Marley. Whenever she comes by, you smile really big and stare at her wherever she goes. Your daddy still takes you on Saturday mornings so I can sleep in. This past Saturday he took you to a garage sale and found a bunch of great 12 month and larger clothes! You have a super dad! He loves you so much and can't wait to get home from work to see his "Cheeks!" We love you and are praying each day for wisdom in parenting you. We know God loves you so much and has a wonderful plan for your life. We can't wait to see it unfold!

5 Months

Here’s what you are up to at 5 months:

You are such a good baby! People tell us that all the time. You smile at everyone and have such a great personality developing. You get really excited and “talk” in a high pitched way sometimes. You still love the 1, 2, Buckle My Shoe song, and now you also love the song your daddy made up for you. “Cheeky chi-can or cheeky can’t!” Ha! You are rolling all over the place now and in fact, it is difficult for me to ever get you to stay on your tummy for some tummy time because you just roll right over! You are so curious about your surroundings and seem to really be taking it all in. You are so expressive and inquisitive. You LOVE to explore the world around you by touching everything and then putting it in your mouth! Speaking of that, you now put your feet in your mouth pretty regularly; it’s the funniest thing! You are very flexible to be able to do that! Whenever I take a drink of water from a glass or water bottle, you get super excited and reach your hands out to hold it and get a drink of your own. Just like your mama, you love water! We don’t give it to you to drink; you just get a tiny sip now and then. We stopped feeding you rice cereal until you are 6 months because you were actually sleeping worse when you were eating it. I don’t think your tummy was ready to digest it yet. We didn’t get an official height and weight check from the Dr. this month, but according to our home scale you are 17 pounds. You are wearing 9 month clothes and only a few 6 month things still fit you. You are still in a size 3 diaper or medium g diaper. You have started to use your walker and LOVE it!! I put you in it and you are independent for up to 20 minutes sometimes. It is the greatest thing. You cruise around and concentrate very intently on the toys on the tray. Then you find a way to put the bar with the toys on it in your mouth. You also love your exercauser. You can entertain yourself in that for a long time. I have started showing you a few sign language words; mostly just all done and up. When I say all done now you get excited and sometimes even reach your hands up for me to pick you up out of the bathtub or walker. You are learning so much and it is so exciting to see! To get you to fall asleep I need: to swaddle you, put your pacifier in, cover your head with a burp cloth, hold/rock you for a few minutes, then, you’re out! It’s the magic formula! On Saturday mornings, your daddy is so wonderful and lets me sleep in. That is your special daddy time. He takes you to Home Depot, or plays with you for a few hours and you love every minute of it! You love music. You love your puppy Marley! It is so fun to watch you noticing her. When you see her, especially when you are in your walker, you look down at her and crack a huge smile.  You still love your bath time and still aren’t the best sleeper. You usually can do one longer stretch (about 4-5 hours), then you are up every 3 hours or so after that. We know your sleep will get better and better. I am so thankful for the time I get to spend with you, even if it’s in the middle of the night! You are such an amazing gift from God, and we love you so much!

4 Months

Levi, you are 4 months old! Here's what you are up to at 4 months...

You smile and laugh all the time. You are such a happy boy! You weigh 15.7 lb. (60%) and are 26 7/8 in. long (75%). You still wear 6-9 month clothes. You have gotten long and lean! But you still have those wonderful cheeks! Your daddy calls you Mr. Cheeks! :) You can fit in a size 2 diaper but are mostly wearing a size 3 or a medium gdiaper. You have rolled over a few times! You are still not the best sleeper, but I feel like we are making progress every day! You are napping better and letting me put you down more. You fall asleep very easily when I hold you, you have your pacifier in, and your head is covered in a blanket. It's the funniest thing, especially since I love to sleep with a pillow over my head! You sleep well for the first 3 1/2 hour stretch at night, so I am consistently getting at least that much sleep. You are starting to eat rice cereal! You sometimes make hilarious faces as if you hated the stuff, but then you open your mouth excited for more! You still love your bath time and kick away! You grab at everything (including my hair- ha!) You don't really like car rides unless I am in the back with you. If I drive you anywhere, you are usually upset. Unlike most babies, you don't really fall asleep in the car, even on long car rides. You have learned how to scream. Don't worry, it's not an upset scream, it's more like you are talking to us but you just do it in a high pitched way. Sometimes this scream comes out when you are really tired. You LOVE to cruise around with your dad in the Baby Bjorn! You are facing out now and love to take in all of your surroundings. Your daddy is the best. He takes you on Saturday mornings and Sunday before church so I can sleep in. We are both so lucky!! He can make you laugh more than anyone else can. It is the cutest thing! You are so incredibly loved by everyone in your life. Your grandparents love you so much and come over to see you whenever they can. We are blessed beyond measure to be your parents and to watch you grow! We praise God for you Levi!

3 Months

Levi, you are already 3 months! Time is going by so quickly! Here is what you are up to at 3 months...

You weigh 14.1 lb (75%) and are 24 7/8 in. long (80th). You are wearing 6-9 month clothes and wear a size 2 diaper, or size med. gdiaper. What a big boy! You are finally feeling great! You smile all the time and are usually such a happy boy! You have even started laughing! It is the cutest thing ever! You coo and "talk" all the time. We have been having lots of conversations lately. :) You still love your bath! You kick your legs and splash all around. Not only do you kick in the bath, but everywhere else too. You often kick to show you are excited. You have found your hand and love to suck on it and bite your fingers. The Dr. says you aren't teething yet, but that some babies like to suck their thumbs and some chew on their hands. You love to be swaddled and only like your paci when you are falling asleep. You are sleeping 5-7 hours a night (mostly 5), and aren't the best napper in the world. Some days you will only doze off for 1/2 hour at a time, and others you might sleep for a few hours. I haven't been super strict about the schedule so you eat either every 2 or 3 hours.

Everyone loves you and says you are such a beautiful boy! We are so thankful to be your parents! We love you so much!

Christmas Cards make me so happy!

I love checking the mailbox every day in December in the hopes of opening a new Christmas card. Each card I open is like a little present! Ever since we have been married, we have sent out a Christmas card of just the 2 of us. I have dreamed of the day we would have a little one on the card with us (or instead of us!) That time has finally come. I have been attmpting to get a great family shot for weeks and weeks. This past weekend we were able to get some great photos of at the Pelican Hill resort in Newport Beach. What a beautiful setting! We spent the weekend there with Randy's parents and Ryan and Jill. Now that we have some pictures to work with, I have the exciting yet overwhelming task of choosing a card! Luckily, Shutterfly has tons of beautiful layouts to choose from. I just love Shutterfly and in fact, I did all of my Christmas shopping there this year! It might just be the easiest year to shop for people ever! Who doesn't want a photo gift of our cute little Levi? :) Check out the links so you can make someone happy with a Christmas card or photo gift. And send me a card!! :)

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts