Backtracking

So, now that I have posted pics of the house, I actually have some serious backtracking to do.

Once we moved in (Leap Day - February 29th), we had a week to get the house in order to have lots and lots of company for Ayden's 3rd birthday. Aunt Kassie and Uncle Bruce came back from Ohio (thanks again and again and again, guys!) to help some more. Uncle Bruce basically rewired the whole house and upgraded us from a fuse box to a breaker box. It was really neat for me to see Ayden getting really attached to them since I remember as a little girl not being able to wait for them to come with my cousins, Bruce and Scot, for Thanksgiving every year. In fact for weeks after they went back home again, Ayden talked about them by name and kept asking when they were going to be coming back. Good times!

On March 7th, my first baby - I know BIG BOY - turned 3. I just really can't believe how fast it's gone and how much fun he has been. I knew I would really enjoy being a momma, but there is no way to understand how much you can love a child until you have one. We had a Thomas the Tank Engine birthday party for Ayden the next day, Saturday the 8th, and we proved that the house could hold at least 50. We had family and friends from church and most of Ayden's friends were able to come over. I know we had a really good time. The bakery at Shawn's store made his cake (there was a little bit too much going on around here for me to attempt to do it this year), but it turned out AWESOME!

During the time when he opened his presents, it was an absolute free-for-all. All the kids wanted to help which seemed to be fine with Ayden. This may be the last year that it is ok, though!

See what I mean? It was just great!

After it was all said and done, there was a playroom that looked like a hurricane had hit it,

and there were lots of english muffin pizzas left over as well as enough memories to last us a lifetime! It's so good to have such wonderful family and friends!

SO, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR FIRST BUNDLE OF JOY, ENERGY, AND LOVE! We love you so much, Ayden! You have been such a blessing to us and everyone you come in contact with!

Now, onto Levi...I vowed not to do to Levi what people told me always happens to the second one. I started out really well and now that we are in the house I have gotten a lot better, but I feel like I just was too busy to update people on him for the last like 5 months of his life (with buying then renovating the house). So I will just do a general update on him and if I repeat some of what I have already told you before, sorry. I guess that just means that I'm not as bad as I thought?!?!

He is our little fuss bucket. As Shawn says, "he cries when he is happy, sad, not sure, needs something, already has what he wants..." I think you get the idea. We love him absolutely to pieces, but he is a Dr. Jekel/Mr. Hyde. He has a smile that just melts my heart, but one second later can turn into the most pitiful frown face you've ever seen. Of course, that also melts my heart! By 6 months he had decided that he wasn't a baby anymore. He wanted to do everything his brother did. So by 6 months he was sitting up and reaching for his brother's toys. (Ayden is actually pretty good about sharing with Levi). Also at 6 months, when I tried to introduce some juice to give me a little break with nursing, he decided we would not drink out of a bottle. So it took a whole lot of buying different cups to try in order to find out the the one he wanted was the kind that his big brother drinks out of...I should have known!!! So from 6 months on, he has mastered a sippy cup (the kind with the straw), which despite the frustration of him figuring the whole thing out, I'm glad. It took quite a long time to finally wean Ayden off of a bottle.

He broke his first tooth through back in December (bottom right) and then the bottom left was soon to follow. Yesterday he actually broke his top right. Soon after he broke his first tooth, he really lost interest in baby food and wanted to eat what everyone else was eating. So, although he is still eating baby food to fill his tummy up, when we sit down for dinner, he is right there in his highchair eating what everyone else is. Like I said, he doesn't think he is a baby.

We went through a bout of sickness back in December with both of the boys, but Levi was to the doctor much more frequently. He had a rash on his left cheek that was treated with at least two rounds of antibiotics (didn't work) and then we started just treating it as if it were just severe Eczema. That's what it is - he has also been to the dermatologist, as well, and has a pretty strong creme to put on it when it's really bad. We have had to change soaps, laundry detergent, and fabric softener. It isn't completely gone, but looks so much better than it did 3 months ago. I just pray that it isn't something that he suffers with forever.

He has been saying, "Dadda" since about 7 months or so. The next word he said you would think would be "Momma," but no, it was "ChiChi" (that's the name Ayden coined for my sister). And then "Kitty." Then "Bubba." He waited to say my name until about a month ago, and he still only uses it when he is crying/yelling at me. It is so funny...in the morning when they wake up (if it's a morning that I'm not working), I will wake up to the sound of both boys yelling my name from their beds. That's music to my ears!

Speaking of sleep - pretty much from the time we moved in the house, he has been sleeping through the night...WOO HOO! That was really exciting news for me! It only took 8 1/2 months!!!!

He is so close to crawling right now. For at least three months now he has been rolling over front to back and back to front, and for about a month now he has been getting up on all fours and scooching, but now he will get up on all fours and crawl backwords - it frustrates the snot out of him. He pulled up from sitting to the coffee table on Monday and he will stand there forever just holding onto the table. He is getting braver and braver all the time and reaches for things while standing. So my guess is that he will walk before he ever cares too much about crawling.

What a snuggle bug though! Even though he cries a lot, he still has a terrific sense of humor (he thinks Ayden is hysterical), is adventurous, and gives the best hugs when he wants to. I think we'll keep him.

The following are just some pictures that I've taken recently of the boys that I just love.