Happy Birthday, Levi!

I am really not sure how it's possible that this guy is 4! He is such a joy to our home. He is silly. He likes to tease. He has a tender heart. He loves to snuggle. He loves to draw and cut. He loves to be outside riding his bike or swinging on the tire swing. He likes for anyone to tickle him. 

He has been through so much in his short life, but it is amazing to see how how he has overcome so many obstacles! We praise the Lord for his special grace to Levi.

Levi requested pancakes for breakfast and Daddy made them extra special for him. Levi was thrilled to get a fire truck and he played with it all day. He got to go on a Starbuck's date with daddy and spend time in the evening celebrating Grandpa's birthday too.

Our two 4 year olds! :)

Update on Levi.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers! Levi did so, so well today! He cried when they carried him away from us, but other than that, he was sweet and happy. Mama actually did better than expected too. ;-) 

We got to be with him before he woke up and he actually wasn't too upset when he started coming to. He whined a little bit, but didn't cry or scream! I'm so thankful! I used some essential oils on him before surgery, and I think that they really helped him. The nurses were expecting him to be really upset when he woke up because they said he went to sleep very easily and they said that normally if a child goes to sleep easily, they wake up very upset. We were so thankful! Essential oils ROCK by the way! :)

We were able to leave about 45 minutes after he woke up. He slept all the way home and then rested on the couch. I forgot to take his sunglasses, so he wore mine home. ha!

Funny story: Jacob and I definitely left an impression at the surgery center today. During the surgery, Jacob spilled a nearly full cup of coffee on the floor in the waiting room. I made a large mess right in the main walkway! So embarrassing. Then when we were getting ready to leave, I used the bathroom and the toilet overflowed all. over. the. place. I just flushed it and water started pouring everywhere. Incredibly embarrassing! Ha!

He rested some this afternoon, but was able to eat and play like normal. The doctor and nurses warned us that using the eye wash and eye drops would probably traumatic for him (and us), but he has been such a trooper! He just lets us do the wash and drops with no trouble at all! We are so proud of him!

The Lord has answered so many prayers today! We are so very thankful!

Eye surgery.

Our sweet Levi is having eye surgery early tomorrow (Thursday) morning. The doctor will be loosening a muscle and tightening a muscle in each eye. He will be asleep about one hour. We are praying that everything will go smoothly and that there will be no complications.

Mama is having a particularly hard time. Postpartum emotions on top of your child having surgery isn't a good combination. I'm a soggy mess. 

We would appreciate your prayers. Thank you!

Levi's turns 2!

Our sweet Levi turned two right at the end of last year. It's hard having birthdays so close to Christmas because everyone just kind of feels party-ed out. We didn't do a big party or anything, but I think it was special for Levi.

Last picture as a 1 year old.

Levi is growing and changing and learning about life so much right now. He talks so much - he's been to speech therapy twice (to help determine if he needs cleft palate surgery) and each time his therapist says he is speaking and understanding much higher than his age level. All glory to God for that! 

He knows his ABC's, can count to at least 14, loves to sing (and knows many songs and hymns), has memorized several Bible verses and knows about ten answers in the Child's Catechism. We are just amazed at how much he loves to learn.

He is a little guy. He weighs 24 pounds (soaking wet) and has just recently (like in the last 2 weeks) outgrown his 12 month clothes! He's just compact! :)

He loves trucks, animal figures, trains, dolls, cooking, dress-up, reading and more reading. He likes coloring, doing puzzles, and playing with play-doh.

He still takes an afternoon nap and sleeps great at night. He usually sings himself to sleep.

He is such a helper. Whatever daddy or momma are doing, he wants to be right in the middle of it. 

He has a streak of stubbornness and an attitude that sometimes gets the best of him. When he's done wrong he quickly asks for forgiveness.

He does not like to wear his patch. :( He had an eye appointment this week and he has to go back to wearing it 3 hours/day instead of just two. Poor boy! He fusses and is grumpy when it's on. I hate it for him! We go back in 2 months to get his eyes dilated and examined.

He loves all his family and is quick to give hugs and say "I love you."

He adores our babysitter, Hannah. He "talks" to her all. the. time. on his play phone.

He isn't too picky when it comes to food. He is usually willing to try whatever is put in front of him.

He is polite and usually remembers to say please and thank you. :)

Our two 2 year olds. Lily and Levi are the same age for two days.

Levi told me that he wanted bacon and bananas for his birthday breakfast. :)

His birthday was on Sunday, so we celebrated at Jacob's parents house with all my family. Levi shares a birthday with Grandpa (Jacob's dad), so we had a dual celebration. 

Daddy and Grandpa trying to help him blow the candle out. He was blowing above the candle so they were trying to tilt his head down. :)

Mmm, brownie and vanilla ice cream. 

Lily was a willing helper when it came to opening the presents.

Tired birthday boy.

Several family members went in with us to get a big present for all three kid's birthdays. 

A wagon!!

They were so excited! They have asked for a wagon since a dear friend watched them at the park and pulled them around in her wagon.

Our three sweet little ones.

Video: Levi "singing"

Levi has always loved singing/humming, but he typically only sings out the words at the end of each phrase. It's so cute!

**It's audio only because I was rocking him before bed.

19 months (and palate update)

Levi is just growing and changing so so much. Everyday is a new adventure with lots of learning and exploring for him. He is full of energy and definitely ALL boy!

He still loves to sing. His favorite songs right now are Twinkle, Twinkle, Standing on the Promises, and Trust and Obey. We have a kid's hymn cd in the van and he'll join in humming or singing along with it. I love that he loves music!

He is constantly moving - dancing, jumping, running (I seriously think the child can't walk! ha.) He plays really well by himself and he and Lily are playing together for longer periods of time now. 

He loves balloons, fans (wherever we are, he begs to turn the ceiling fans on), bananas, brushing his teeth, his blanket, looking at pictures, anything to do with water, playing outside, animals, popcorn, and kale chips.

His favorite books right now are The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Goodnight Moon, Go Dogs, Go!, Curious George, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear.

He knows four catechism answers - Who made you? God, Who was the first man? Adam, Who was the first woman? Eve, and Of what was Adam made? Of the dust of the ground.

He had an appointment at Children's Hospital last week. His growth and development are really good. The plan for now is to have 3-6 months of speech therapy and then the doctor will decide if he needs palate surgery or not. Levi is having trouble pronouncing some sounds like "s" and "ch". They come out like a nasally kind of snort. The doctor isn't sure if that is because of the abnormality in Levi's palate or because he's just not saying them right. The speech therapy should help to determine what is going on.

Mama: "Levi, did you put the crayon in your mouth like mama told you not to?"

Precious Innocent Looking Child: "No!" 

Ha!

17 months (and eye update)

Sweet handsome man!

My precious first born boy is growing up so fast! He is learning new things everyday.

Gotta love the baby toes and crossed ankles! 

Levi had an eye appointment last week. It was a long appointment where his eyes were checked and then dilated and then checked again. I was really proud of how brave Levi was! He sat pretty still so the doctor could look in his eyes. Yes, he squirmed, but we didn't have to hold him down like last time. The doctor was able to see a stigmatism's in both eyes, so she ordered a new prescription for lenses. We are also down to patching his "good" eye for 2 hours a day instead of 3. The doctor said that as bad as Levi's optic nerves look, he shouldn't see much, if anything...but obviously he is seeing amazingly well! So thankful for this miracle!

Levi loves exploring and examining new things. 

Playing in Daddy's shoes.

Levi loves to read! He will sit and look at books by himself for a long time, and he will sit and listen while we read to him. He still loves Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Hop on Pop, and all of the My First Board Books.

Levi is definitely more of a climber than Lily (and I thought Lily was bad!). In the last week I've found him on top of the stove, on the counter, on a chair trying to open the front door, and using his chair to climb onto our bed, and to get stuff off our dressers. He seriously pulls his little blue chair around the house with him to help him reach anything he decides he wants! He will also push our tall bar stools around the kitchen to climb on - that's how he got on the stove. This child is crazy!

Of course he still loves playing outside! The water table is his favorite outdoor activity - he will play with it for the longest time! He's not too much into the sprinkler or sand box yet.

"hmm, I wonder if I can reach that dirty knife?"

His appetite has come back for the most part. Although he still isn't a fan of fruit besides bananas and applesauce. We have smoothies every morning for breakfast, so he typically drinks his daily amount of fruit.

He is very much into putting things into containers, dumping them out, and doing it all over again. 

How I love this sweet, stubborn, loud, funny, crazy boy!

one year ago.

It's so hard to believe it's been a whole year since Levi's cleft lip surgery! Time is flying by so quickly. We are amazed and incredibly thankful for how well our little man is doing! The Lord is good!

Whirlwind trip

My brother, Jer, graduated from a university in South Carolina on Friday. We drove up on Thursday and came home late Friday night. Normally it's a 5 1/2 - 6 hour trip, but with three little ones it took us a good bit longer. We took our time and stopped several times so Lily and Levi could run around and stretch their legs.

The kids actually did really well on the drive! I was so thankful for that!

We stopped at McAllister's Deli for lunch on Thursday.

On Thursday afternoon we visited with some family.

Jer, Mom, and Asher.

We met all the rest of my family, a bunch of Jer's college friends, and some of his girlfriend's family at 5 Guys for supper. Then we headed to the bowling lanes.

It was Lily's first time to bowl. She liked it for her first two turns then she accidentally went too far down the lane and slipped and fell hard on her bottom. After that she was done. She took off her shoes and was ready to leave. 

I was thankful to have Myra and Mom's help with the kids. Let's just say, it's not the brightest idea to take tired little ones who have been riding in the car all day to a {ahem} smoke-filled, creepy-people filled place. Yep, it was...interesting.

Jacob finished bowling one game, then we headed back to our hotel. The kids slept pretty well, it just took awhile to get them to sleep.

Friday morning I took the kids over to a friend's house to visit with her and another friend who was in town. Between the three of us, we had 6 kids under the age of three! Fun and crazy for sure! Of course I forgot to take any pictures.

During the graduation ceremony we visited some more friends...and of course, no pictures.

After graduation, we met up with my family and Jer to get pictures. Of course, I didn't take any pictures. My hands were full of tired, out of routine, grumpy children. Oh well.

I am super proud of Jer though! He got the top academic honors and he got chosen to give a testimony during the ceremony! So thankful for the talents God has blessed him with!

We started the trip home around 5pm and stopped near Atlanta for supper. Lily and Levi enjoyed splitting a Chick-Fil-A kid's meal and playing on the indoor playground. 

We were so thankful to finally make it home late that night! Thankfully all the kids stayed asleep while we transferred them from their carseats to their beds! Jacob and I unloaded a few necessary things and then we crashed into bed completely worn out. 

What a trip! Completely exhausting, but totally worth the memories that were made! :-)