For Grandma

For Colt's birthday, my Dad and Jennifer got him a Jeep Powerwheels. Unfortunately, Jennifer wasn't able to be here to watch Colt open it, so I am posting this so she can see the excitement of the day. Colt has been asking to drive the "Jeep car" daily and is really great at navigating our yard in it. He has also figured out how to drive really close to the bushes when Levi is his passenger, so as to brush him with the greenery, so Levi isn't such an eager passenger anymore. Thank you guys for such a fun gift!

Baby #3

The baby #3 curse has already begun. I'm already behind in documenting the pregnancy and uploading sonogram pictures - ugh! Since last post, we've found out we are having a GIRL!! We are all really excited to add a girl to the mix. I was rooting for a girl, not that I wouldn't have been happy with a boy, it's just a nice thought to have another girl around, someone with whom I can connect a bit deeper just because she is a girl. It's pretty cool because if we had been "trying" for #3, we would have done some of the things people do to influence the gender of the baby. We could have "bragged" that it was US who decided to have a girl. Since this pregnancy was totally unplanned, I love that our testimony is that this was completely GOD'S decision (well, it really would have been His decision either way, like we had any control over the matter!).

This pregnancy has thankfully been fairly uneventful. I just found out that I don't have gestational diabetes this time around, which is definitely another blessing. I had it with Colt, so I knew there was an increased chance.  A few weeks ago the nurse practitioner measured my stomach as small, so she sent me for an ultrasound. However, everything looked fine and the baby was even measuring one day big! I've been feeling great and just now have started feeling that uncomfortable late-stage pregnancy feeling, which I'm somewhat attributing to the 100 degree weather that suddenly arrived. I'm 30 weeks tomorrow, so only 10 weeks (give or hopefully take) to go! Here's a pic of Colt and I at 29 weeks.

As for a name, we are getting closer. We've been throwing a few around and even tried one on for size this week. Stay tuned (yes, that means I'll post 6 months after this baby's birth) for the name. Here's the baby waving good-bye for now.

Summer fun with Levi

Levi is our little dare devil and charmer. He's at that fun age where he waves and smiles at most strangers and is getting better at communicate his needs/wants. His favorite word right now is "no!," so I wonder if he's going to start his terrible twos a bit early :) He's already thrown a few fits where he'll just scream and cry b/c he didn't get his way. Strong willed?!? He loves to go swimming and doesn't appear afraid of the water. Levi LOVES showers and would live in there if we'd let him. We just started "pre" potty training with him, letting him run around the house without his diaper on so he can begin to recognize the feeling of voiding as he sees it. Here's a picture of Levi today after he pooped in his diaper, he walked over to his little potty and sat on it. He KNOWS!! While our experience with Colt was that he slimmed down after he began walking, Levi has been the opposite. He eats so well that he's starting to chunk up! He also loves to try to hold Colt's hand in the car, but usually Colt refuses, which frustrates Levi. It's fun to see Levi copy Colt and enjoy having an older brother as his playmate.

He's really quite a cuddle bug, which I love and cherish. When we are playing on the floor, he'll walk over and just want to sit in my lap. He loves to read books, so I hope that means he's a smarty pants :) His other favorite toy is the basketball/goal. He'll shoot baskets or carry around the ball all day if he had his choice. Also, Levi has begun to kick balls, which I record just because I think he's early in developing that skill. He's just learned how to climb on the couch/chairs by himself and loves this new independence. His favorite pre-dinner activity is to play/wrestle with our dog, Molly. He tries to feed Molly dog food about 10x a day, so we have to keep the door shut to where her food is. At least he's a helpful kid!





                                                                                                Levi now says "mama" very clearly and often, especially when he needs something. He also says- dada, cheese, dog, bird, paci, ball, Colt, cracker, book, shoes. I know there are more words, but the list keeps growing and I haven't done a great job of recording them.  Levi is a great sleeper and sleeps from 7pm-7am, then takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. He's recently discovered strawberries and has been devouring them. I know there is a lot more as this is such a fun age. I've been grateful that Levi hasn't had separation anxiety to the extent that Colt did, which makes going to the gym and church nurseries much easier on me (and him too). Levi, we love you so much!

Summer fun with Colt

I thought I'd do a couple of posts of what each of the boys are up to these days. Colt continues to be into music. He loves to sing and make up songs, dance, play drums or his new guitar.  His favorite song continues to be "Happy Birthday" which he sings several times a day, always inserting a new name into the honoree's spot. He also likes to sing Jesus Loves Me, ABCs, and Old McDonald.    

He's known his basic colors for a while now, but still gets pink and purple confused sometimes. Anyway, we've been playing Memory with paint sample cards from Home Depot to help review colors. Colt loves this game :) 

His vocabulary continues to grow daily and his curiosity always produces a million questions each day. Our favorite phrase of his lately: when you ask him to do something, he'll often respond, "not quite yet." It's funny when your kids begin to mimic what you say. I had no idea that I said that phrase, but since Colt has started to say it, I have noticed myself saying it "quite" often. He's also a little parrot, so we have to be careful about what he hears. He heard a boy at the playground call someone "stupid" recently. That same day we heard it on tv and then Ty casually used it in a conversation when he got home, so those 3 episodes really reinforced that word in Colt's vocabulary. He's been in time-out a few times for using it. It's funny b/c he asks while in time out, "What does stupid mean?"

Colt has been potty trained during the day since last fall, but ever since the day he turned 3, his diaper has also been dry at night. We tried 2 nights of having him sleep in his undies, but he had accidents, so we are back to diapers for now. I guess he's getting closer!

Colt is also really good at locating where we are around town. We'll be in the Brentwood neighborhood and he'll ask if we are going to Daddy's basketball game. Or we'll pass the turn for his school, church, Daddy's work, the gym, etc and he'll recognize it. He knows the name of our street, but it's a bit hard to understand, so lets hope he doesn't need to tell it to anybody for emergency purposes :)

Colt, you bring much joy and laughter to this family every day. We love your laugh, your helpfulness and willingness to learn, your curiosity, and your cuddles!