Ultimate Party 2011!!

Welcome to my blog! I'm so excited to be participating in the Ultimate Blog Party for the third year in a row. It's always so fun to meet new people and find really neat blogs to read.

Anyway, I'm Kelly and I'm happily married to the sweetest guy on earth! He is a professional violinist, teacher of 3rd graders (can you imagine teaching about twenty 3rd graders violin at one time?! yes, he's a patient guy!) and conductor of several youth and adult orchestras. He is a busy man! Lately we've been enjoying "late night dates" after he gets home from rehearsals - they usually consist of a movie and popcorn...or just sitting and talking.

This is what we looked like about 3 years ago just before we got married. We look pretty much the same now except for some lovely bags under my eyes. "Why?" you ask? Just continue reading. :o)

 We have two little ones - 

Lily was born January 1, 2010

Levi was born December 30, 2010

No, those dates are not a typo. We really did have two babies (not twins) in the year 2010! Trust me, it was not planned...by us at least. We believe the Lord had it planned and we trust Him.

Levi was born with a midline cleft lip and will be having surgery next month. If you're like me and love to read birth stories, here is Lily's and here is Levi's.

I am a CAHM (craft at home mom) who is so thankful for the opportunity to be with my babes and still be able to help a little with the bills. I love making hairbows and pins so I opened and Etsy shop about a year ago. I would love for you to visit my shop, Kelly Joy Boutique, and "like" me on facebook too (there's a place you can do it at the top of my left sidebar).

My days are brimming with dirty diapers, baby snuggles, toys strewn everywhere, hugs and kisses, playing dolls, hardly time to get a shower, crying and whining, and the need for lots and lots of patience...but my heart is overflowing with thankfulness for this life God has given me. 

Yes, some most days I feel as though I'm losing my mind, but I remind myself that this is only a season and I need to enjoy every moment because soon I'll be wishing for my babies to be little again.

I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you'll come again soon!

3 months

It's so hard to believe my little guy is 3 months old already! 

•  He's started sucking on his entire hand instead of just his fingers.
•  He smiles and laughs and loves when we sing silly songs to him.
•  His lungs are finally clear, praise the Lord!

• Last week at his 3 month checkup, he weighed 9lbs 6oz and was 22 inches long. He's in the 5th percentile for both. The doctor said not to be concerned since he's eating great - she said he's just a slow grower especially since he was so sick for nearly a month!
• He still wears newborn clothes and I actually had to go and buy him some newborn summer outfits. I'm so ready for him to move to the next size! ha.

• He loves bathtime
• He's been rolling over more and scooting around when he's on his tummy.
• He eats 5-6oz of goat milk every 3-3 1/2 hours

• He sometimes sleeps all the way through the night, and some nights he wakes up for a bottle - which is ok, since he needs some meat on his bones!

• We are heading to Children's Hospital on Thursday for his consultation appointment with the specialist doing his lip surgery. We would appreciate your prayers that the doctor would have wisdom to know exactly what Levi needs.

Enjoying the Sun & Rain

We had so much fun last week being outside enjoying the beautiful warm weather and sunshine. Over the weekend though, we had storms and the temperatures turned cold again. {sniff}

So we've been spending most of our time inside now, doing things like...

reading

and singing

and playing

and making messes

and praying

and being cute!

Hope y'all are having a great week so far!

At Pap-aw and YaYa's

On Tuesday afternoon the kids and I headed out to my parent's farm to get milk. It was gorgeous outside, so we stayed and visited for a little bit.

 Lily mooching some of Pap-aw's snack

 My bro, Luke, was taking Lily up to the barn. Lily really wasn't mad as it appears in the picture. Ha!

While Dad, Mom, and the boys were doing the barnwork, Levi and I visited with Memaw. She enjoyed seeing him, but was certain that he was freezing! Just for perspective - her house is like walking in to a furnace! ha.

Aren't Lily's pigtails the cutest thing ever? I wore pigtails nearly everyday when I was little and it's so fun to put them on her too.

 Lily trying out Ridley's "Smart Car" - we're going to have to get her one.

 Levi was so happy just lounging around. He loves being outside.

Dad "played" a little basketball with Lily before we headed home. 

I really hope we can spend lots of time at the farm as Lily and Levi grow up. I loved being a farm girl and I want my babes to have that experience too.

Just Stopping in To Say

HI!

We are busy spending most of our time outside enjoying the beautiful Spring weather! Hope you all are doing great. We'll be back soon with lots of pictures of our adventures! :o)

WW: Welcome Home

Ridley & Lily at the airport welcoming Papaw home from Calgary! 

Precious memory!

Daylight Savings

So how did ya'll (and your kids) do with Daylight Savings?? It hasn't been too bad for us. I think it's been harder for me and Jacob than the kids! Lily and Levi are actually doing great adjusting, although we did have some fussiness at church yesterday from a certain overtired, napless little girl. Poor thing!

Jacob got home from a performance at 11:00 Saturday night, which in reality was 12:00. We didn't get much sleep that night, but we went to bed almost immediately after we got home from church last night and we woke up feeling a little more rested this morning. It's crazy how our bodies get into a routine and have to re-adjust when we get out of whack!

My brother and Jacob's brother came home from college for the weekend. It was so good to see them! I didn't get a picture of the kids with my bro, but they were equally as happy to see him as they were Jacob's brother. Ha!

Today is kind of a catch up day for me: 2 loads of last week's laundry to fold {blush}, dishes to do, orders to work on, babies to snuggle with, etc.

Oh, and we're going to the airport tonight to welcome my Dad home from a 2 week preaching trip in Calgary! We are so excited for him to be home! I'm making little welcome home signs for Lily and Ridley (my nephew) to hold! Should be cute. :o)

Random Catch Up Post

I cannot believe how busy I've been lately! It seems like I'm always running from one thing to another. This is a crazy life, but I love it! 

Levi had the kidney reflux test last week and the radiologist doing the test told me that he only saw a little of the iodine solution go back up into Levi's ureter and it didn't reach the kidney so it's basically not even considered reflux. We were so happy and very encouraged after the test.

Unfortunately when I took Levi back to the Urologist yesterday to get the "official" results, we found out that he has stage 1 reflux. I must admit, it was a big let down. I'm thankful that it's only stage 1 and he will grow out of it, but after all he's been through (and he hasn't even had his lip surgery yet) we were hoping that the kidney thing wouldn't be an issue.

A sweet reader sent me the most encouraging email last week sharing her daughter's experience with reflux. Thank you, Leah! I'll be emailing you back soon! :o)

Lily's favorite activity is reading. I love it! Whenever Levi is eating, she crawls up on the couch beside me and we read. She really enjoys animal books and any book that mentions a baby. Her all time favorite book is "The Rain Came Down." We read it at least 14 times each day, and yes, I have it completely memorized! :o)

A dear lady from church came today to play with Lily for an hour so I could do whatever I wanted. Talk about nice! ha. The last time she came I took a nap, but today I decided to clean the bathroom and vacuum the entire house...I'm embarrassed to admit that neither of those had been done for over a month! I seriously felt like a superwife/mom when I got those simple tasks done. It's really amazing how much you can accomplish in just an hour when you don't have to keep up with a very mobile child! Ha!

Today we took treats up to the pediatric nurses who took care of Levi. When we were discharged they told us to bring him back to visit them. It was good to see them again, and I think they enjoyed getting the treats too. :o)

This month is Jacob's busiest month out of the year so we've hardly been seeing him other than a few minutes here and there when he comes home between teaching, conducting, rehearsals, and performances.

Last Thursday night was one of the the only two evenings he has free in March (I'm not even kidding) so my Mom kindly came and watched Lily so we could go out on a date. It was our post-poned Valentine's date since we spent Valentine's Day in the hospital with Levi. It was a much needed evening together (Levi slept almost the whole time) and we had fun using giftcards to Outback and Kohls that we'd gotten for Christmas...haha we obviously don't get out much!

Hope y'all are doing well. I've missed reading your blogs, but hopefully I'll be able to catch up on your lives soon!

14 months

Lily just seems to be growing up more and more each day!

She's gotten taller. 

Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. 

She is a little mama to her baby brother.

Her little personality is developing. 

She might just have a touch of "drama queen" in her.

She also inherited a stubborn streak...from her Daddy, of course.

She weighs about 20lbs.

She loves feeding the dogs sticks and leaves.

She adores reading. Some books we read 20 times (at least) each day.

She prefers everything to be on the floor. She is the tornado that hits our home on a daily basis. Ha!

She likes to pick out her own clothes and she loves stripes as you can tell from the pictures.

She stands at the front door and waits for Daddy to come home.

She likes to be held and rocked.

She is potty training herself. Yes, seriously! There will be another post coming soon on this subject, cause this mama needs some advice! ha.

Lily Grace, your mama loves you!