Levi's 1st Christmas, and family New Year!!!

We had a small family Christmas this year. We knew we were going to be going up to a mountain home that my parents had rented for our Christmas present over New Years Eve, so we just had the 4 of us on actual Christmas Day morning. It was peaceful... VERY quiet, and actually really nice! We had our traditional ham and cheese english muffin sandwich (started by John's family when he was a kid) while we read the Christmas story and explained to Madilyn what Christmas was about and why we were celebrating. After breakfast and the story, we opened presents. It was really fun! The night before, Christmas Eve, we went to my parents house for our tradition of FONDUE!!! :) LOVED it! We also had a birthday party/cake for Jesus, to help Madilyn know the true reason we were celebrating. We wanted to keep the focus on Him.

Christmas afternoon we started a new tradition: Chili! We went to my mom's house, had chili with them and a friend from church who joined us. It was wonderfully relaxing. Perfect for Christmas.

Then... on Thursday after Christmas we packed up and headed to Old Fort, NC... about 30 minutes outside of Asheville. My parents rented a house that was big enough for our family of 4, my sister's family of 4, my parents, my brother, and my cousin from MN to come along! It was a perfect and memorable time!!

Levi getting ready for the trip! He actually slept the whole ride! PRAISE GOD!

 Madi is ready to go!

The view out the back of the house

My sweet cousin Shari holding Levi

Peek-a-boo!

Madilyn holding her favorite present of Christmas: "Sally" from Cars 2 from her Uncle Mark

Sally and Lightening McQueen

John helping Preston (my nephew) open the gift from us...

Buzz Lightyear Walkie-Talkies!!! :)

Madi opening a gift from Uncle Mark

Shari and I (and Julie and Brooks) at the falls in Old Fort, NC

The girls (and Dad...ha)

The whole group (minus Shari taking the picture)

Levi on the hike

My sweet boy :)

The falls... in the summer, I guess kids come down and play in the shallow water beneath the falls... looks so fun!

Lake George, so peaceful!

John and my brother Mark took advantage of the closeness to a local brewery and stopped by

they said it was awesome!

Me, Madi and Levi stayed in the car... Levi took up some driving lessons

the living room and the view... I got to sit here and relax! :)

Sparklers on New Years Eve!

Madi, Preston and Brooks

Brooks with Julie

Papa, Ryan and Preston

Gingerbread house time!

Grama, Madi and Preston

Shari, Preston, Grama and Madilyn

Finished product... notice the one tree w/a bite out of it... that is results of Madilyns need to learn self control... ;)

Grama giving Levi a little bath. :)

John and I on a walk together

in front of the falls

falls

the house we stayed in, it was beautiful!

smores at Lake George

Levi stayed in the car, it was a bit too windy

YUM!

Madi eating smores

share with me daddy! :)

Papa and baby Levi

Madi's cute pose

:)

Seriously, she's so cute isn't she?

Madilyn and her buddy Preston

The 4 cousins... and Brooksie kept moving... we tried to get them all looking!

a little better! Preston, Levi, Madi and Brooks

Levi moved... oh well!

Grama and the Cain grandchildren

:)

So, that about sums it up! We had an amazing time! I loved using my new camera too! I got a new tiny little point and shoot camera with 16 mega-pixels, so I got some really good pictures! I was ecstatic! I have had the same little camera since about 2004, so it was fun fun!

God bless!

Levi is 2 months old!

Yes, yes... My little man is 2 months old! I love comparing the two pictures above... he's really filling out in his face, and look at where his little feet reach to as compared to the previous picture! :) My sweet sweet boy!

He is such a joy, my days are filled with so many smiles because of my two little children! LOVE, that's how  I would describe it.

Levi is now sleeping between 7 to 8 hours at night, and makes a very happy mommy. He is on about a 3 to 3 1/2 hour schedule during the day. He is a good eater! He also gives mommy tons of smiles and coos during the day. When Madilyn comes into the room, he looks for her and smiles at her. She can get some pretty BIG smiles out of him! She is such a nurturer too.  She just loves on him, and when he fusses, she tries to console him and make him smile. She's such a sweet big sister! She does keep me busy though! As soon as I sit down to feed him she has to go to the bathroom, or needs a snack, or something pertinent. The other day (thank GOD John was home!) JUST as I sat down to feed Levi, she decided she wanted to go back downstairs... and on the 3rd to the bottom step she slipped and fell the rest of the way down. We have wooden stairs, with wood floors at the bottom, and since we moved in it's been my biggest fear that she would fall down the stairs when I wouldn't be there to quickly do something about it. I heard her fall and cry and I screamed for John... luckily he was there and had already responded... poor Levi, he did not understand what was going on, and I scared him pretty good! :( Luckily it was just a large bump on her head and a couple bruises... so glad it was towards the bottom of the stairs, and not the whole way!

I have found with Levi that I am such a softy! I hold him and console him WAY more than I did with Madilyn. I am a bit more relaxed with things also. I think that's what happens with your second child... you are a bit more mellow. He's such a snuggler too... and that bottom lip, man, what's a mommy supposed to do when he sticks it out looking all pitiful??!! ;)

Well, I am making my freezer meals today... hope it will last for the next month! 

God bless!!

6 weeks

Yesterday, 11/30/11, Levi was 6 weeks old! He's really filling out, and becoming such a cute and sweet baby! He's starting to smile and coo at his mommy, which TOTALLY makes my ENTIRE day!!! :) Right now he's sleeping in a bassinet in our room, and so I have a changing pad on our bathroom counter. When I set him on the pad, he turns and looks in the mirror and just smiles and coos at me in the mirror. *melt*!
So, we had his 6 week appt. today at the doctors, and I showed up completely expecting for it to be a quick visit and to come back @ 8 weeks for his shots... nope... he got his shots today! I was completely unprepared! Emotionally and physically (as in, I forgot to bring/give him tylenol before the visit). I cried as he got his shots... poor thing! He has some skin issues, like Madilyn did. I hope it doesn't get bad like hers did! He has horrible cradle cap, a rash on the lower part of his face, and an awful diaper rash that I can't get rid of. I have tried so many different creams, it's insane. The doctor gave me a couple of other ideas to try... so hopefully they work!
Levi was 10 lbs and 6 oz., 22 1/4" long, and his head was 15 1/4 " around. He was all within 65 to 75th percentile. I looked it up, and Madilyn was 10 lbs 8oz at her 8 week appt., so he's a bit ahead of her. :)
He's a bit fussy today, and isn't eating quite normally... and he's definitely more sleepy than usual! we'll have to take it easy for the next 24 hours for the poor little guy.
Well... that's it for now!

new quote:

Don't think I've put this on here yet, but I want to document it:

Me: It sure does!
Madi: Sure is does!

:)

1 Month Old!!

So... Levi was 1 month old on Saturday, November 19th. People say, enjoy each moment because time flies! That is so true! I don't know where the last month went! My days are filled with diapers, spit up, nursing a baby, feeding and chasing after a 2 yr old... and then I fall into bed... oh... and there's a husband in there somewhere! :)
Levi is a wonderful baby, he truly is. I thought Madilyn was easy... no, I think she was a high maintenance baby compared to this little man. Madilyn was hard to nurse... I was crying by about 2 weeks (and before then too) and had to be encouraged daily, sometimes hourly to stick it out just to at least 3 or 4 weeks to give it a chance. (I made it 13 months!!) Levi, from the very first time, has been easy. He latches on no problem, eats like a champ, and pulls of when he's done. HA! SOOO different. Just reinforces the statement that every child is different. He is a good sleeper... I am starting a bit of a schedule with him, that he almost does on his own. He eats about every 3 hours during the day (sometimes less if he's extra hungry ;) ), and then he'll do a 5-6 hour stretch at night (from 9p to 3a) once. The only thing that's hard is that he is SO gassy, no matter what I eat. I could eat chicken and water, and he'd be gassy. I have to give him mylicon or gripe water during each feeding, and it can still take me 10 minutes to get a good burp out of him.
He is so snuggly and sweet... he just nestles in and loves to be swaddled and cuddled. He also seems to really love Madilyn. He turns towards her when she's talking to him, and puts up with a lot of her snuggles and constant kisses. I was worried that there would be jealousy, but it's truly non-existent. It's different to her I guess, it's her brother. She constantly is trying to kiss him, shush him when he's fussing, covering him up if he's "cold"... she's very tender and nurturing.
My house is a disaster, and I don't get a ton done during the week when it's just me here, but that's ok... it will get better. John has been wonderful on the weekend, and he lets me have "me time" and helps me get stuff done. Sadly he gets home around 6:45 or 7 at night during the week, so we don't have too much family time during the week... so we take full advantage on the weekend.
I can tell Madilyn is 2 1/2... I am getting an earful. John and I were talking about her yesterday. Madilyn has 3 modes: whispering, yelling, and sleeping. Seriously! She's just non-stop. It's truly precious... I just have to remind myself of that sometimes. :) I hear a lot of her opinions too: "No, Madi  not want wear that", "Madi wuv that shirt", "Madi not like those pants, Madi want wear pink ones", "No, Madi not listen, Madi need time out...". Seriously (even the last one!). She's learning how to whine every sentence... and how much it annoys mommy, she will never comprehend! She has very strong opinions that she is learning to properly express. We need to remind her several (thousand) times a day that when we love someone we talk to them nicely and lovingly. She's exhausting, but I love every ounce of her.
Well, gotta go put my little girl down for her nap!