Thursday, February 24

sweet little man

these small toes belong to a sweet little man who has captured my heart. my dear friend joy had her baby on tuesday. she was 35 weeks pregnant, just a couple weeks shy of being full term. john had to be taken early because joy's fluid levels were dangerously low. he entered this world early, quickly and dramatically.
he is currently on a ventilator in the NICU in a hospital in texas. his mom is recovering from her c-section and trying to be there to comfort and cheer on her little man. and, oh yeah, his dad is in iraq. this family has a large chunk of my heart, and has been dominating my thoughts for the past week. he is a fighter, just like his mom and dad. but he needs our prayers. please band together with me, come up along side of me, and cover this family in your prayers.

from joy's facebook this evening " holding onto God's word for myself, my husband, and especially my son... John 14:27 I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid"



don't put batman in the dishwasher

every day i say things that i've never thought i'd say. today, this is what it was :) levi is enamored with this tiny batman our neighbors gave him. it goes with him a lot of places, just the latest was being hucked into the dishwasher. he's figuring out that whenever the door opens, mom puts things in there, so now he hustles over to the dishwasher to make his deposit: tupperware lids (that are clean) sippy cups full of juice, and.....batman.

no worries, no superheros were harmed in the making of this funny.

he's a sweet boy, walking the majority of the time. he's teaching me to slow down. no longer can we hustle in and out of the stores. he likes to walk everywhere, holding my hand, getting distracted and spinning cookies, stopping in his tracks, dragging his feet. i'm trying to translate this lesson into other areas of my life..... as much as i want him to grow up "can't you just start talking so you can tell me what you want?" "you have to walk.... i'm sick of carrying you!" i just can't believe that he's already walking and signing and developing his personality. he's amazing and i love him to death, it's just hard to believe he's getting so big and old and...... not baby. he's a little boy. i'm working hard at remembering and relishing the every day moments we have together.

"enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things"
--robert brault

Saturday, February 19

where i've been

we've been trying to enjoy the sunny days when they come, cuz winter can come back without warning. today we spent most of the morning outside, and levi's been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours so far :)
i got this inflatable car at target for $5, and i'm working on a homemade ball pit (i definitely need more balls for the pit)
and levi found where his bath toy bin is. think he has enough?
practicing standing, eating and playing with papa at the same time. he's a busy monkey.
brewery tour on valentine's day. my parents were in town, so we went to the brewery, then mat and i went to the batting cage, and then all of us went out for bbq dinner. what a great valentines day that man got!!!
at levi's dedication with great grandma ev
at levi's dedication with nana and papa

valentine's day smoothie.........yum!
he definitely has got the hang of a straw. he drank half of my smoothie!
i finally let him open his barn from his birthday; and he promptly tried to ride it. does that mean he has too many ride-on toys? haha
chili dogs and cole slaw. can you see how close he got to eating any cole slaw??
doesn't that smile just melt your heart?
and this is the most adorable thing i've ever seen! the zoo with nana and papa.
oh yeah, and i've been doing a little working at nap times :) i have 5 sets of closet dividers to be made, and a whole batch of lovees to deliver to the children's hospital. i am so blessed to be able to create, and work in my own home. it's definitely not a gold mine, or enough for mat to stay home, but it's an amazing outlet for me, and gratifying to know that i can bless others with my creativity. thanks all :)

Tuesday, February 8

snow days

we have had a lot of self imposed snow days around here lately. i say self imposed since i don't really have to go anywhere to get to work........and it's not like levi's preschool is going to be cancelled. we just decide not to go anywhere, enjoy snuggling, playing and drinking lots of hot tea. (i'm drinking so much of it, whenever levi sees my coffee mug he says "hhhhhhhot") here's a peek into our days the last couple weeks. :)we stand :)
we read LOTS and LOTS of books (big red barn 3 times today!)
we do a little blackberry-ing ;)
we stand in the chair and watch it snow.
we practice flushing the toilet (and turning on the dishwasher....little goober)
we finally figured out "touchdown" during the superbowl :)
we figured out how to open the cereal cupboard and help ourselves to kix
we chill
we play in the magazine rack
i love this littel goober. he makes me laugh all the time. and sometimes i laugh so loud, he starts laughing. so funny.