We're in Chattanooga right now with Nathan's family. Yesterday we returned from Savannah, GA witnessing Nathan's brother, Jeremy's wedding. Here are a few pictures of the beach, etc. I chopped and highlighted my hair.

Elijah went fishing for the first time the other day. He loved holding the pole and reeling the lure in. We were fishing the creek on the side of our house, where the steel head are currently running. At one point, Elijah jerked the line up out of the water, and not a nano second later did a huge steel head (1 1/2 - 2 footer) dart for the lure and just barely miss it :-(

A family picture is still evading us... but here are the four of us in sets of two.

FYI...

In case your toddler decides to write all over your computer screen with an ink pen, Goo-Gone and a paper towel works wonders!

Last night was a big night for us. Elijah slept twelve hours in his big boy bed, and Levi slept twelve hours in his bassinet (He's been sleeping in his car seat up till this point). I'm hoping that in the next couple of days they'll be able to share a room!

Ok, so is any one else having a problem with blogger posting pictures? It scrambles them all into letters and symbols, so I can't order them on the page. I think I'm seeing the html format of the pics. Any ideas?

What a beautiful day we had today! We pulled off a whopping 62 degrees (though the wind brought us down a few notches I think). We went to the park to celebrate the ushering in of Spring. Levi got to swing for the very first time, and he seemed to like it. Elijah seemed thrilled to be outside again.

Oh, just out of curiosity, are any of you following the whole toxic plastic ordeal or making changes to your sippy cups/bottles/nalgenes as a result of it?

Here are the pics from today...

Today marks a blessed milestone for Levi. He went 12 hours last night between feedings. I sooo hope this becomes his habit, and I'll be able to get consistent sleep from now on.

It's been so fun watching the boys learn to love each other. Elijah is wanting Levi to watch him play with his cars and other toys. I've even found Thomas the Train tucked away in the car seat with Levi when we reach our destination (most assuredly his brother gave it to him, not Nathan or I!) Yesterday, while Levi was playing on the floor, Elijah was walking around talking to Nathan on my cell phone. He must have realized Levi would want to talk to daddy too, so he went over and held the phone above Levi for a good ten minutes. He then lowered the phone to Levi's lips so daddy could "kiss" him through the phone. These things may seem small, but they are sweet until the days of dog piles, wrestling, and trekking through the woods together. I always thought of sisters as being more nurturing, but Elijah's slowly developing a "fatherly" instinct. I've caught him"babying" his teddy lately. He puts him on the floor gym, the changing table, and even on the potty chair. I caught him the other day sharing his snack with him. What a joy it is to be at home and watch my boys grow and mature!


Here are some other pictures from this week...

Ok... this is random, but I had to try it out. I think I'm getting slow in my old age.

77 words

Speed test

The other night, Levi surprised me by sleeping 11 hours. But... this is why:

Does anyone else have a thumb sucker?

Today was Levi's two month appointment, and he weighed in at 13lbs 9oz and is 23 1/4" long. Where did my little baby go? Just for fun, I pulled out Elijah's growth chart to compare their sizes at the same age... Elijah was 9lb 13oz and 20 3/4" That's almost a 4 pound and 3 inch difference! It'll be interesting to see if the boys end up being about the same size when they're older or if Levi will outgrow his "big" brother. On the down side, I found out Elijah has double ear infections AGAIN. Poor boy.

Here are some Levi pictures...

Per Marci's request (my one subscriber...lol), I'm finally going to update.

This weekend I decided to take Elijah out to enjoy the beautiful snow. He hasn't been out sledding much due to how cold it's been, but we finally had a blue sky and 32 degree weather. Thinking I'd capture some wonderful kodak moments of my son and me enjoying a blissful winter day, I brought my camera. Sadly, things never turn out quite the way you want. I have NO idea why everyone else gets big grins and gleeful smiles from their kids when they go sledding... All I can figure is that I have a son who'd rather be in Florida. (Not to mention the meltdown he had when I stuck raisins on the snowman for a mouth and chocolate kisses for eyes. He couldn't fathom why I'd be wasting a perfectly good snack!)






On the Levi front, he continues to be a delightful baby. He's so alert and attentive and smiley. He's trying really hard to "cluck" and talk to us. Here are some pictures of his bath this morning.



On the sweet side, Elijah is loving being a big brother now. He's always making sure Levi has a binky and blanky. He also likes to hold Levi's hand and saying "hi".


And now, here are two bonus pictures from this week. Elijah was feeling cuddly while watching The Sound of Music. And, Elijah got to take a bath with his best friend Sophie :-)

It's such a fun time in life right now... to see these two young babes growing and developing. What a sweet gift it is to be a mother! Levi is getting so alert and smiley, and Elijah is starting to recognize letters in words!

Here are Levi's first ever smiley pictures. I can't believe it's already been two months!

Ok, so I like this picture a little bit better. For one fleeting moment, Elijah let Levi sit on his lap. I can't wait for the day that the boys can finally play together. I hope they'll be good buddies and eventually brothers in Christ who can encourage each other. I'm already feeling the desire to try again for a girl. What do you suppose the odds are that we could have a girl?

Not to much to say right now... Nathan's parents are here for a visit. Everyone still seems to be healthy (praise God!).

Here's a quick pictures of the boys from this morning.

I can't believe it, but my baby turned two yesterday! We had quite the fun time celebrating, too! We started out by taking him and his girl friend Sophia to the children's museum. Then, they got some chicken nuggets from McDonald's. In the evening, our friends the Hardy's let us come to their house for cake and ice cream. (they baby sit him pretty regularly and treat him like family). So, all in all, it was a fun day for Big Mr. E.

Here are some pictures from yesterday's festivities.

Elijah with his birthday cake

Levi sleeping in his car seat
(where he's been sleeping at nights... 9 hours last night!)

Elijah getting ready to shoot hoops on his new basketball goal.

Elijah and Sophia at the Childrens' Museum.
Levi on the big foam legos at the museum.

I think the RSV virus is officially on the run, and maybe even out the door! It's so nice to have everyone back to about normal. Levi even finally has his voice back, so I can hear him cry (and you may ask, this is a good thing?) Yes indeed, I missed his little cry.

Today Levi is 6 weeks old, and on Friday Elijah will turn 2. It boggles my mind that time can go so quickly. It's such a joy to watch these boys growing, maturing, and developing into who God is making them to be. I beg for God's wisdom to know how to shepherd and encourage them into fearing God and prizing Him above all other things.

My prayer for each of my boys (and for Nathan and I) is Deuteronomy 13:4,

"You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him, and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him."

Reading John Piper's "The Swans are not Silent" book #3 really reminds me of the need to persevere in the faith. I don't want my own heart to grow lazy or indifferent towards Christ. Nathan and I are reading through the Bible together, and it's been humbling seeing how often Israel forgot that God was their King. Time after time God would rescue them, discipline them, and restore them to a right relationship with Himself... but shortly thereafter they were back to chasing idols. That's why I want to daily meditate on Deuteronomy 13:4. If I can follow, fear, obey, listen to, serve, and Cling to God... I trust that in the end, I'll be able to say with the Apostle Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have run the race..."

Anyway, sorry for the tangent. On a lighter note, here's a picture of my boys that I took last night.

Here's one more fun comparison picture of the boys. Elijah is actually 27 weeks in his picture, while Levi is just 4, but I think they still look quite a bit alike.

Slowly yet surely everyone is starting to feel a bit better. Being sick sure makes you appreciate health!

Here are a few pictures from Levi's stay in the hospital. I'm so thankful that it's over! Levi seems to be doing a bit better, though now he's going bald! The top of his head is absolutely hairless, and if I touch the other parts, the hairs fall right off. Is this normal? What do you bet his new hair will come in red... te he.

Levi after getting his Spinal tap, Ivs, and Cath...



On his way to get a chest x-ray


Mommy finally getting to comfort him


All hooked up to the machines


Big brother coming to say hi