Little Climber Legoland Summer 2011

Here we are at the Legoland fort...Levi is insisting on being a big boy and doing it all by himself!



He watched Lucy climb up a rope tube...


And then the next minute, he was like "I can do that!"

And look...he made it all the way on his own.


Love those little climbers

Lucy made it as a volunteer in the princess show. She got to be a jouster. How cute is that little horse costume!


And when we got home I promised some face painting because there is no way I am paying $14 for something that is going to wash off the same night!

Hey, I am not that artistically inclined, but she asked for rainbows, so I got off easy!
I love summer!

Easter and Pictures

I finally found some patience for a picture upload, so here is some Lucy and Levi Love after the drought!

Easter after church at my parents house.


Oh Wow, my kids are so adorable...



And they love each other sooooo much... (I didn't even tell Lucy to do that! She is so sweet and love her brother so much!)


And... oh wait...how did this picture get uploaded!!!! You guys come on we are pretending to be perfect! Lucy let Levi out of the headlock and please don't bite him or else you will get a time out! (We have had a little more sibling rivalry going on at home now that Levi can crawl to Lucy's toys and steal them. I never knew a 7 month old baby could bug his older sister quite so much and he thinks it is funny already!)

Easter Egg Hunt!!!
We won Best Egg Overall at the Church Activity Easter Egg Decorating Contest due to me and Lucy's Rapunzel obsession!


It was a great Easter to say the least!!! No really it was. We had such a fun time. We ate foods Jesus would eat all week, and had lessons about his life and read scriptures by candlelight. I loved it!

Here are some more random pictures of our life recently:

Levi's first official beach trip. "Official" meaning he went in the water and not just his toes. It was April 16 2011 and he loved it. I dunked him to his neck to wash the sand off and he didn't even cry. He was in heaven although the picture would suggest otherwise.


Last Thursday we went to the beach. Dave and I played some volleyball while Lucy entertained Levi. She did a pretty good job because he was laughing hard and I have never seen so much sand on a baby's face before. Surprisingly he didn't even cry when I drenched him in the freezing showers.

Lucy came out with Levi's pants on the other day and said "Mom, I have never worn these pants before!" I was surprised they fit her so well!
Went to Legoland on Monday. It was hot so even Levi got to go on the splashpad. He was a hit just splashing and laughing. A stranger even asked me if they could take his picture. Later I saw some people in a line and they said, "Oh you are the one with the baby who loves the water. He was so funny."



Here is Lucy pushing Levi in the swing!


Our little heat spell has made me so excited! This is going to be a fun summer!


Quick little update:

Levi is a fast army crawler these days. He has even pulled up on the furniture a bit. He surprises me everyday. He laughs a lot and has a wonderful sense of humor. He loves to eat! He chows everything and tries to swallow the spoon. It is a huge difference from Lucy. Levi doesn't even care if he nurses, I insist that he nurses a few times a day. Lucy would have perished if she had to rely on solids. She gaged on everything until at least 9 months. Levi loves music. He shakes his head and bounces to the beat. I dunked Levi under the water at the pool on Tuesday and he loved it! He was 20 lbs at his 6 month check up and I am sure he is more now! Big Kid!

Lucy loves her gymnastics class. I thought it would be an outlet for her daring spirit, but I think it is encouraging jumping off of furniture and hanging upside down on anything she can grab. She can sound out lots of words, although she hasn't learned all the hard weird letter like x and z. She loves to swim and can take a few breaths now without my help. She sleep walks and talks which is hilarious. I should try to catch it on video. She is so fun and imaginative. She names everything really unique names and you can ask her the Spanish word for anything and she will make something up and tell you. She wants to know "Why?" about everything. She is an absolute joy!

What fun ages and stages right now. We just can't get enough of them!

Broccoli without any bread

I caught Lucy in the bath playing with her toys repeating the nursery rhyme about the "old woman who lived in a shoe" She made an addition the had me laughing.

Real Version: "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broth without any bread. Then whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed."

Lucy's version: "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children she didn't know what to do. She gave them some broccoli without any bread. Then whipped them to bed."

I love her little word slips. Right now my favorite word slips she uses regularly are:

"sombrella" for Umbrella which is making things really confusing when learning her ABC's because there is always a picture of an Umbrella for the "U" and it doesn't match the sound she makes!

"Mazagine" instead of "Magazine" It is especially funny in the context because she is usually trying to be like an adult. "Mommy may I have my mazagine please?" so proper and yet so not.

"Heavenly Evening" for "Family home evening" This is one I hope she never grows out of. It really is heavenly and the funny thing is she talks about it all the time. She asks me all the time "Can we do heavenly evening this morning" after explaining that Daddy is at work and it is morning time she then asks "Well, can I still have a treat?" okay so maybe that is the only reason she wants to have FHE, but I believe she really loves it when we are all in the same room being silly and spiritual together.

Lucy's other talent is interpreting English into Spanish. You can ask her any word and say "What is _______ in Spanish?" Then she will make up a word and tell you. The words are hilarious. If I try to tell her what the real word in Spanish she corrects me and tells me I am wrong. It cracks me up. She is so confident!

Lucy is such a positive person. Talk about looking on the bright side... whenever Levi spits up on something she makes funny comments. For example, Levi spit up on the floor. Lucy's comment is "I am so glad Levi didn't spit up on my dolly! He just missed it!" or when Levi spits up on my shirt "Yay, Levi didn't spit up in your hair." I am glad I have her to remind me that is could always be worse!

Levi had been so much fun lately. He grabs everything! Loves the bath. Loves music. Loves to be outside. Hates things on his head. Shakes his head back and forth like he is saying "no" when he is tired. Still spits up a lot, but it seems like only puddles instead of buckets like it used to be. He is still huge ( he is 19 lbs right now and in the 90th percentile for height and weight) He loves tummy time and has a very flexible back. His very favorite thing is when Lucy comes and plays with him. He just lights up and starts laughing. He has very ticklish thighs. He is very social, but very independent at the same time. Loves to smile. I took him on the carousel for the first time yesterday and he loved it. He is so much fun and I absolutely love having two kids. It is so much more fun than only having one!

Levi is 4 months and other adventures!!!

I can't believe Levi is already 4 months old!!! Crazy the way time flies... and I thought it went fast with Lucy!

He had his 4 month checkup this week and he was 17 lbs 6 oz and 25 and 1/2 inches long!!! Whoa!! He is in the 90th percentile and so are my biceps!!! (Well, at least the right one is getting big, the left one is still pretty weak!) I've just pulled out his 12 month clothes. Crazy!

He is much different than Lucy already. Last week he grabbed rice off my plate and shoved it in his mouth. Whenever we eat he smacks his lips and drools, so I started regularly feeding him solids this week ( I had let him have a bite or two of a few things before). He loved it. He smiled, he smacked, he swallowed. He seriously already eats better than Lucy did at 9 months old. She was such a pill, always gagging on everything. She would only eat if she had the spoon, so she couldn't possibly have eaten more than 5 calories per feeding. Levi even drank his Rotavirus vaccine. Lucy spit at least half of it out and freaked out! So funny! The other huge difference is Levi likes to play on the ground and practice his skills. He can push his tummy off the ground for a little bit now when he is on his tummy. Lucy would go down for a few minutes if I entertained her the whole time she was down. Levi is really very happy although he was still colicky (which doesn't seem to make sense, but he would be happy a lot and then I could tell when his tummy hurt and he was miserable).

Levi used to roll a lot between 2 and three months, but now he seems to be working on his push ups when he is on his tummy. He also kicks and paddles like crazy on his tummy. One lady at the park remarked "He looks like he is paddling for a wave" and he very well could be already working on his surf skills. He loves to look at things and grab them, his favorite being my hair. He also loves to growl like a dinosaur. He loves it when me and Lucy dance with him. His favorite activity is bath time. He starts giggling as soon as I turn the water on and he knows it's time. When he goes to sleep, I put him in the crib and he coos and sings himself to sleep ( If I get him down soon enough, if not I have to rock him in the blanket). I won't comment on his night time activities, I'll just leave you all thinking he is an easy baby!

Here is his little 4 month photo shoot I did yesterday in my parents backyard.


Levi looks like he doesn't have hair, because his hair is the same color as his head. So just to prove it (and to be funny) I put it in a little mohawk for you!

Is that both of my kids smiling at the same time? You have no idea how many pictures I took to get that!



We went hiking at the Torrey Pines State Reserve on Thursday. It was a beautiful day. We finished it collecting shells at the beach.

Two weeks of gymnastics lessons and she is a pro already!


I love living here! Winter is such a different experience!


Last, but not least we got a good family shot!

Smiles!!!

I finally caught some good smiles on camera yesterday. I got some on video a few weeks ago, but haven't really tried that hard with the still camera because the lighting isn't very good at our house and I don't stalk Levi with the camera like I did with Lucy...ha ha!

He sure is a smiley guy! He started smiling at 3 weeks and I'm not talking one measley smile. He was smiling all the time, right up at you. Now he smiles and babbles with you. I think he will be quite a social guy, although he is very independent. Sometimes he starts crying because he wants to be put down. Lucy never did this and it has come as quite a shock. I got in the habit of carrying Lucy everywhere, because she pretty much cried if I put her down. Levi just gets annoyed because I tend to carry him, then he stops fussing when he can wiggle on the ground. Wow! That's cool!


Lucy thinks it is hilarious to take pictures with her tongue sticking out. I guess Levi does too!



Yesterday I was struggling to get Lucy to take a nap. I finally said "Where do you want to sleep?" She answered "Right here" then I responded "Okay, then lay down" and she did! I was laying down on the bed and the next thing I knew I woke up an hour and a half later and she was asleep on the ground. She is always full of surprises!


Lucy Moment: At church on Sunday the topic in Sacrament meeting was Reverence. I was asking Lucy about it and then reminded her that while we fold our arms we also think of Jesus. Then I asked her "What are you thinking about Jesus?"

She answered "I think I will share my toys with him. Where is he? I don't see him." As she looked around the congregation for him.

Now that is true devotion right there! Hey, sharing toys is big in the life of a three year old! I love her!

Lucy and Levi

Caught some love on camera yesterday!








Lucy is really obsessed with her baby brother. She loves him sooooo much! The problem is she loves him soooooo much!

When he was 3 weeks she got him out of his swing and put him on the ground. I try not to imagine his little head flopping around. He did start screaming, but calmed down pretty quickly. Somehow I managed not to freak out and yell at Lucy (only because Dave was there to help me).

Last week Dave left Levi in his crib for a little while and came back and Lucy was sitting in it with him.

I have told her the rules - no picking up, no touching face and not to give him little things, but she still says "Don't worry Mom, I'll go get him" when we hear him wake up on the monitor.

She wants to help me wash him and change his diaper and smother him with cuddles! I keep telling myself "Babies were made to withstand siblings." Let's just say, Levi has already had a much different upbringing than Lucy. Lucy was only ever touched very gently and probably cried without help from a parent for a total of 30 minutes in her whole first year. Levi just has to cry sometimes and gets attacked with love, but I'm sure he will turn out fine!

I guess it could be a lot worse. She could purposefully be hurting him...

Here is a one month old pic, taken on October 14
He had a doctor's appointment on October 11 and he was already 11 pounds! I am so proud of my big boy! Wouldn't it be great if we all put on two pounds per month! Or better yet increased our weight by 20%!!!! (That was a very rough calculation)

Levi loves the bath. He gets really smiley, but of course I couldn't get it with the camera. I don't know if you can tell how he is getting chubby little arms and legs. He even has some creases. I love it! I really miss Lucy's chub and am excited to have some chub again.
I have gotten some great videos of his smiles. He started smiling really early, around 3 weeks. I kept thinking he was too young to do that, but he really did it in response to looking at him and talking to him. I guess he is just a happy little guy! Don't get me wrong, he screams when he is hungry. He goes from 0-60 in one second. He is smiling at you, babbling and then the next minute yelling "Feed me now."

He has been sleeping pretty well. He usually sleeps from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. eats and goes back to sleep until 7 or 8. Lucy would do 6 hours when she was about 2 weeks old, but then she was up for a long time. The going back to sleep part makes a big difference in my happiness! Actually I have been extremely happy this time around. 2 kids is way easier than I had anticipated (It's not easy, I just thought it would be completely overwhelming). I even catch myself thinking about how soon we could have another baby, which I'm pretty sure with Lucy at this stage I was thinking, "Maybe one child would be just perfect." It's not really Levi's personality vs. Lucy's, I think I just have accepted my role as a mother and already know how to take care of a baby. Now, I am not shocked when I have spit up in my hair and poo all over my clothes, instead I am pleasantly surprised when I don't have anything gross on me. I used to think I didn't like babies, but i loved kids, so i had to do the baby thing, but now I really do love having a baby. I love being a Mom. I am so blessed and so grateful for my sweet kids and awesome husband. He is always putting me first, even when he is dirt tired at 4:00 a.m. It's amazing!


I have so much to say, but so little time...so I guess this will have to do!

First Outings

We took Levi to the beach for the first time on Saturday night. He loved it. Of course, who wouldn't?

I took him again today, since it is incredibly hot here! We had so much fun! He just ate and then napped in the tent for 2 hours, while Lucy played with a friend she had just made.

I am so happy to be raising my kids here. I felt very confused raising Lucy in the snow. I never really knew what to do, except stay in the house, which was kind of miserable (I am not a home body).

I also took the kids to the park on Saturday morning (since Dave had to work and I had to get out). I am so proud of myself when I leave the house, since it usually takes a whole hour to get everybody ready (and that doesn't mean looking good, we are talking fed and clothed, not necessarily matching).

Anyway, here are the cute shots from the beach:

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning I decided to sleep in with Levi and rest one more week before getting back in the full swing of things. After I couldn't sleep any longer, I did a photo shoot (What did you expect me to do in my free time?)



Lucy was really happy to see me and Levi when she got home from church. She wanted to snuggle Levi. Oh, precious.

Oh, I just love little feet...


Gotta love that little man!