Levi: Weeks 39 & 40 Summary

The last two weeks have been super packed. Levi officially turned 9 months old and with that milestone came some definite struggles. We also attended the annual Fall Festival at SBTS and Levi and I took a trip to Florida to visit my family. It's all been a bit of blur, but here's as much as I can remember:

FEEDING
9.5 months and Levi is still nursing! I never thought I'd see the day. Amazingly, the countdown to his first year and the end to our journey in breastfeeding is on! Just under 10 weeks to go. Literally, every week that passes, I feel successful. He is pretty much only nursing from one side now--which means I haven't been as rigid with his feeding schedule. I want to make sure he definitely gets enough milk. Usually, if he wakes early from his nap, I'll let him nurse as much as he wants and then I put him right back down to sleep. He seems to be doing fine with that.

His appetite for solids is ever growing! The dude can eat. He is now eating about 2 oz of veggies, 2 oz of fruit and 2 oz of yogurt for lunch and dinner. Still doing oatmeal mixed with applesauce every morning for breakfast. I started giving him fruit puffs and Cheerios pretty regularly after meals now, as well as any other types of finger foods he might like. When we were in Florida, Levi was given a frozen chocolate covered banana for the first time. To say he loved it would be an understatement.

We are down to our last few jars of baby food that we bought last month, so I'm exploring the idea of making more homemade food.

NAPS
The week Levi turned 9 months old, he suddenly had tons of trouble napping. He would wake after only 30-45 minutes. He might have had a bit of a cold or he might have been teething (or both), so I tried not to get to frustrated with his lack of a schedule.

When we went to Florida this past week, Levi did pretty well with napping--better than the week before. He still wasn't 100% though, but I'm sure that was just because we were in a different place and some days he missed naps altogether due to our busyness.

NIGHTTIME
I don't remember much from week 39 as far as nighttime sleep--although I do remember that he rarely slept 12 hours straight without waking at least once or twice. So much for the 12 hour nights the week before!

Our 5 nights in Florida were pretty absurd. The first two, Levi did great. Slept from at least 10 PM to 7 AM each night. But the last three...oh boy! He was literally up every 45 minutes to 2 hours--even when he went to bed right on time. He was screaming like he was having teething or gas pains. My mom and I just could not figure it out. Finally, by the third sleepless night, we decided to put him in a different room than myself--thinking maybe he just kept waking because he knew I was sleeping right beside him. That night he finally slept 4 hours straight. It was the weirdest thing! And I was absolutely exhausted.

TEETHING
We are pretty positive Levi is teething right now. He keeps holding his gums, he is very clingy and altogether miserable, plus his mouth is currently a non-stop drool fountain. I am hoping this passes quickly.

OUTINGS/EVENTS
My little man is 9 months old now! Crazy to think that in 3 months he will be a full year old. He is so much more fun by the day with new noises, skills, and a developing little personality. I just love him! Here are some photos from his 9 month "photoshoot."

Levi had his 9 month appointment during week 39. Brian and I were extremely surprised--he weighed only 17.5 lbs (10th %) and measured 29 inches long (75th %). We thought for sure he was up to 20 lbs by now! So, not too much of a difference from his 6 month appointment when he was 16 lbs and 27.75 inches. He received 4 shots, plus 1 oral vaccine, and was overall very healthy. His doctor told us his iron was slightly low and that we needed to feed him more meats, beans, hummus, and dark greens.

We took Levi to his first SBTS Fall Festival on 09/06! It was such a fun time as we enjoyed the World's Fair. We spent most of the time with our friends Josh, Carly and their baby Peter. Peter is exactly 6 months younger than Levi and they are almost the same size! Unfortunately, Levi was a bit cranky, since his doctor's appointment was earlier that same day. We really wanted to see the "grand finale" of the night (which ended up being a laser light show), so we walked the babies around until they were asleep. Surprisingly, Levi slept right through the loud pops of the fireworks at the end!

Lastly, Levi and I flew home to Florida last week to spend a few days with my family and celebrate my brother's 18th birthday! We had such a fun time with my mom, dad, brother, and grandparents--and we even got a chance to see Ethan and Anna. The photos speak for themselves!

Until next week!

My Heart.

Before becoming a stay-at-home (albeit, work-from-home) mom, I had a vision of what my days would look like. No longer would I have to get up during the dreaded 6 AM hour and make myself presentable for office life. My days would involve sleeping until at least 8 AM every morning, snuggling my sweet baby all day long, planning daily adventures to the park or the zoo or the library, keeping an incredibly clean apartment (I mean, I would be home all day to do so), having unlimited time to spend in my Bible or in prayer, working only during Levi's naps, and all the while, serving family dinner promptly at 6 PM. Boy, I had some high expectations for myself and this new stage of life!

In reality: we're up at 7 AM sharp (if not before then) because of Levi's all-too-accurate internal clock. I struggle to read my Bible, not because I don't have the time (because I do), but because I put more value on getting to work right away rather than going to God right away. We don't snuggle. Levi hates it (I wonder where he gets that from...). We usually manage to get out everyday (Lord knows I'll go crazy if not), but our adventures typically consist of walking to our mailbox or our garden or taking a "trip" to Target for odd and end things that I can dream up. Our apartment is usually clean enough to be sanitary, but not spotless by any means. And dinner...well, that's lucky to be finished by 8 PM after Levi is already in bed.

Needless to say, staying home with my son looks a lot different than I had pictured.

I'm grateful for it--for this opportunity. I have the privilege to watch him change and develop day by day. We can read together, play together, explore together. How incredible is it that I am blessed to raise him up? I don't have to leave him at daycare everyday or drop him off with a nanny. I get that time with him. I get these memories with him. So why does life seem flat sometimes?

Maybe because I don't give my God the priority that He deserves. Maybe because on occasion I feel trapped inside a 750 square foot apartment. Let's be honest here: maybe it's because sometimes I just fill my days with work emails, and social media, and Netflix and forget about this blessing God has bestowed upon me.

This blessing of motherhood. Of having the opportunity to intimately know this brown-eyed, rambunctious, strong-willed, beautiful little life.

My love for Levi, it is deep and wide and nothing like I have ever known. How much greater is my Father's love for me? I cannot comprehend it. Even when I neglect Him. Even when I tell him that I don't need Him...and then come running back to Him on the hard days. He is still there. Waiting. Saying, "Come, my child. Let me know you--all of you. Put aside your work, and your chores, and your idols. And come."

So, this is where I'm at. My heart. Knowing I need to give God more of myself, and give my husband and my son more of myself. Give them my love and affection and attention. It's hard--this stay-at-home mom stuff. Definitely much harder than I had pictured.

As is the process of sanctification...

Levi: Week 38 Summary

Overall, it was a pretty good week in our household! Levi was pretty happy and smiley all week and he slept really well. Here is the recap.

FEEDING
As I mentioned last week, I began pumping and bottle feeding Levi to see if he preferred that over nursing. But I just couldn't keep up with how much he was wanting from a bottle. So early last week, I tried nursing him again for every feeding. I did a bit of research on ways to keep a "distracted baby" nursing, and some of those tips definitely worked. He is now nursing again just fine as long as we are in a quiet room where no one else is present. I also cannot be on my phone anymore when nursing, will look him directly in the eye to keep him focused, and at times when he is very hyper or overly distracted, I'll sing to him. It sounds silly and high maintenance, but it has really started to work. I figure if that is what it takes to keep him nursing for 3 more months, then that is what we'll do! I don't at all think that giving him formula for a few months is a terrible thing--but honestly, I just can bring myself to spend so much money on formula, when I just need to show a bit more effort to keep him nursing. And I've actually enjoyed that time with him! It's so nice to give him my undivided attention for those times each day, and I'm starting to get weirdly sentimental about when we won't have that time together anymore.

Solid feeding is still the same! We bought about 40 jars of food on sale at Babies R' Us last week and Levi has been loving them! For my reference, the jarred food ended up costing about $0.18 per ounce. Most of the homemade baby food I've been making is anywhere from $0.08-0.15 per ounce, so it is a bit more expensive. But I have yet to add any meats, grains, or yogurts to his homemade food (which would increase the cost), so we decided to try jarred food for a while. It is definitely nice not having to worry about making food or thawing it. We'll reassess once we run out of the jarred food!

NAPS
Levi napped pretty well this past week--we were pretty much back to "normal". He did begin consistently waking from his morning nap at 10 AM (1 hour before his feeding time), but he still ended up sleeping about 1.5 hours each time, so that was fine with me! If he seemed happy, I would leave him in his crib for a while to play. If he is out of his crib, it is very hard to keep him occupied for a full hour before he is supposed to eat.

NIGHTTIME
Almost every night last week, little man slept from 7 PM to 7 AM. Yay! I bought him some new PJ's last week! He is officially in 9-12 month PJ's now (mostly because he was too long for his 6-9 month footy PJ's), but most of the 9-12 month ones that we currently have are fleece for the Fall and Winter. It is still pretty warm here, so I went to Target looking for a few pairs of cotton ones for him. The ones I bought for him are "big boy" two-piece PJ's--so yes, I was a bit emo about that. Naturally, they didn't have "feet" attached and he woke the first night he wore them, so I wonder if his feet got cold. I might need to put some socks on him at night now. Here is my sleepy guy in his new pajamas.

MOTOR SKILLS
Our baby boy is definitely growing up and definitely getting ready to crawl. He now will rock on his hands and knees--I've gone to get him from his crib several times and found him doing this. If he is sitting up, he has also started lunging himself forward onto his hands to get something in front of him. He hasn't quite figured out how to get from a sitting position to a crawling position, but we can tell he is super close. Oh, and he's now a pro at scooting himself backwards and getting stuck under our couch or his crib. Seriously.

TEETHING?
Levi was grabbing at his mouth and feeling his gums a bit more last week, so we are wondering if he will be cutting some teeth again soon. We are not looking forward to that!

SIPPY CUP
We also bought Levi some sippy cups this week to start getting him used to those! I know there are some controversial things about giving water/juice to a baby under one (basically that it can replace their desire or need for milk), but I just wanted to get him acquainted with it. I just fill it with a super tiny amount of diluted juice, so that he can get the idea of how to use the sippy. If we continue breastfeeding until he is 1 year, I would prefer just to transition him straight to a sippy cup (instead of to a bottle and then to a sippy), so I figure this might help with that transition!

He didn't quite understand how to use it yet (I got him one with a straw, since he loves straws), but I know he'll pick it up eventually.

OUTINGS/EVENTS
It was a really fun week with several activities and adventures! Levi and I went on a "picnic" together on the lawn of our apartment complex. It was a pretty impromptu decision, so nothing fancy. Fruit puffs for him and PB&J for me! He discovered grass while we were outside. He would yank it straight out of the ground and try to eat it. I let him taste it, so that he could figure out for himself that it was gross. He loved to sit outside and enjoy the breeze and watch the neighborhood kids playing. I look forward to doing this more with him in the Fall! He is such a fun age for picnics now.

Brian's new schedule is in full swing and it looks like he will be off work every Thursday and Sunday (for the most part). So this past Thursday, after he got out of his afternoon class, we made it a family day! We went to the Christian Book Nook and a super cute little coffee shop downtown called, Please and Thank You. It was nice to spend that time together doing something a bit different than "normal".

That's all for this week! More next week when I share about my big 9-month-old. *Sigh*

Levi: Week 37 Summary

This is a summary for Levi's 37th week, August 17-23. We arrived back from our vacation to Pensacola on August 19, so most of this past week was spent recuperating from that!  It was a difficult one, but I had prepared myself for that!

FEEDING
Nursing continued last week, but it was still a huge struggle. Levi was still distracted like crazy, he would latch and unlatch, and then he wouldn't eat for more than about 5-10 minutes from only one side (same as last week). It was getting to be a bit [a lot] frustrating, so I decided to exclusively pump for him for a few days and see how he did with a bottle. The first day, he didn't care for the bottle much--it took him 10-15 minutes to drink a few ounces. By day four of pumping and bottle feeding, he was a pro! He would drink 4 ounces in about 3 minutes, flat. Unfortunately, I just couldn't pump as much as he wanted, and having to pump every 2-3 hours and then actually feed Levi every 4 hours was just getting to be exhausting--but that's an update for next week :)

Solid feeding is going great! Levi is very adventurous and pretty much likes everything I offer him. He is really loving store-bought food. We had some leftover from our trip that we used for the rest of the week. I think he likes the texture of it--it is a bit thinner and less chunky then my homemade food is--and the flavors of them are much more complex than mine.

Here is what he is eating everyday at this point (he nurses/bottle feeds before every meal):
Breakfast (7:30 am): 3-4 oz oatmeal mixed with 2-3 tsp applesauce
Lunch (11:30 am): 2 oz veggie + 2 oz fruit + 1 oz plain yogurt mixed with cinnamon (if he is still hungry)
Snack (3:30 pm): Fruit puffs or other finger foods
Dinner (6 pm): 2 oz veggie + 2 oz fruit + finger foods + yogurt (if he is still hungry)

NAPS
Levi's naps were still sporadic and short the days following our arrival home, but they did get more back on track and longer as the week went on. He'll usually take a 1-2 hour nap in the morning, a 1.5-2 hour nap in the afternoon, and a 30-60 minute nap in the early evening. Luckily (knock on wood), he seems to be past waking up at the 45 minute point and can easily roll from back-to-tummy and tummy-to-back now, so he is no longer frustrated by that anymore!

NIGHTTIME
Every night this week, Levi woke around 3 or 4 am. Considering he went to bed around 7 or 7:30 every evening, he did sleep a long stretch every night. I wasn't surprised by this (it always happens when we get back from a trip) and he didn't really seem to be hungry. I just nursed him for 3-5 minutes, put him right back to bed and he would sleep until at least 7 am. Maybe by next week things will be back to "normal" :)

WAKE TIME
This is usually still anywhere from 1.5 hours to 2 hours after he wakes in the morning or after his nap. I've noticed this length gets longer as the day goes on.

His favorite toys are now a Winnie the Pooh "laptop" he brought home with us from Pensacola, his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal (he loves to chew on his tail), his buffalo pillow pet, and especially his Jumperoo! He jumps non-stop for several minutes at a time now--good exercise for sure.

WONDER WEEK
Levi was especially grouchy, whiny, and clingy all week! At first, I thought it was from just being so tired from vacation (and I'm sure a certain amount of it was), but when it continued even far into the week, I knew something different was going on. Literally, he would start whining from the time he finished eating to the time he went down for his naps--which is totally unlike him! I went on the Wonder Weeks website, because it has been a while since his last one and sure enough, it was spot on. Fortunately, he's over that now and I've seen some new developments with him...that's for next week's post.

OUTINGS/EVENTS
Nothing much in this area from last week! Oh, Briana did come to visit for a day as she was passing through on her way to Ohio! It was short, but nice to see her. She hadn't seen Levi in a few months, so she had fun seeing how much he had changed. We stayed home for most of the day and then just took a short trip to Starbucks and Babies R' Us (exhilarating, I know) and went for a walk in the evening.

Brian started class this week as well, so we are trying to get back into the swing of things with his school and work schedule. Other than that, we didn't do much else!

Until next week!

My Life List.

I was recently inspired to create a list of things I want to accomplish before I die--a "bucket list" if you will. So they are listed below, in no particular order. I plan to cross items off periodically as I complete them.

1. Marry a godly man.
2. Graduate with my bachelor's degree.
3. Buy a DSLR camera and take a photography class to learn the basics.
4. Become a mother.
5. Take 5-6 classes (or more) as a part of a Master's program, simply for the sake of learning.
6. Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
7. Learn another language (at least to a level of functioning in another culture).
8. Run a 5K without stopping.
9. Travel to my grandfather's childhood home in Italy.
10. Learn to make French macaroons.
11. Bake a red velvet cake completely from scratch.
12. Take a trip to Seattle.
13. Adopt a child.
14. Get SCUBA certified.
15. Make sushi at home.
16. Grow a vegetable garden.
17. Go ice skating in Central Park. 
18. Learn how to play the acoustic guitar.
19. Make at least one birthday cake from scratch for each of my children.
20. Sit down and organize all of my recipes.
21. Pick apples and pumpkins in the Fall. 
22. Cut down our own Christmas tree one year.
23. Memorize one chapter in the Bible (or more).
24. Plan a family fishing trip in Pensacola.
25. Visit Mount Rushmore.
26. Take my kid(dos) to Disney World.
27. Read the Harry Potter series + re-watch the movies.
28. Watch and read The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
29. Go back to Kansas City and eat some BBQ.
30. Sit on the back of a Texas longhorn.
31. Frame photos for a gallery wall in our home.
32. Take a family picnic in the park.
33. Learn how to properly sew on a button.
34. Go zip-lining.
35. Go whitewater rafting.
36. Read (or re-read) 20 classic novels from this list.
37. Paint a canvas to showcase in our living room.
38. Hike through the mountains with my family.
39. Consolidate a photo book for Levi's first birthday (and each child thereafter).
40. Take a trip to both London and Paris.
41. Get a pedicure with a good friend.
42. Drive across the country with my husband.
43. Go on a ski trip.
44. Write and illustrate a children's story.
45. Learn the basics of doing henna.
46. See my family name, in person, on the wall at Ellis Island.
47. Live indefinitely in another country.
48. Take a family camping trip--in a tent.
49. Watch the entire series of Lost (because supposedly it's pretty good).
50. Dip my feet in the Mediterranean Sea.
51. Open up a coffee shop.
52. Continue to write regularly on this blog for at least 1 year.
53. Give cloth diapers a try.
54. Walk through and memorize the New City Catechism.
55. Travel to every continent at least once (okay, not Antarctica).
56. Go snorkeling in a crystal clear body of water.
57. Canoe with friends.
58. Try Ethiopian food.
59. Eat a beignet at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans.
60. Ride in a hot air balloon.


While all of these things are fun and worthwhile (and would certainly make for a life full of experiences), my ultimate goal is to grow closer to Christ, preach his words to my children, and share him with a lost world. This goal, I am not listing, as I hope to continue in this endeavor and privilege until the end of my days.

Levi: Week 36 Summary

This week was very different and very fun because we were in Florida for the majority of the time! We traveled home to Pensacola for the first time since we moved to Louisville two years ago. It was also Levi's first "road trip" and first time to meet his cousins. Needless to say, his routine and schedule were completely thrown off. Not only were we on the go for most of the time that we were there, we were also an hour behind our normal time in Louisville. So it made for a pretty interesting week!

FEEDING
Levi ate tons and tons of food. Did I mention tons? We had fun buying all kinds of jarred and "pouched" food for him--something we don't normally do because I make homemade purees for him. But for the sake of convenience, we definitely knew that buying food was the way to go for our trip! It was fun to buy him things he had tried before that were mixed together for new flavor combos, as well as foods that he had yet to try. He ate so so much (which reminded us why we try to make a lot of his food at home)! The kid probably went through $25 worth of baby food during our 5 day trip!

Because he ate so many solids, it seemed he had less and less interest in nursing. I nursed him for every feeding because I didn't want to worry about pumping during our trip, but he would only eat from about 10 minutes (if that!) from his "favorite" side. I definitely noticed a decrease in milk supply in his least favorite side. I'm trying to decide what to do from here--either keep him nursing from only one side, pump extra so that the other side produces more (and have him nurse from both again), exclusively pump and bottle feed him for the next 3 months, or just completely wean him and start him on formula. So many decisions!! Now that we are back from vacation, I'm going to see how this week goes and hopefully make a decision by the end of it.

Some new foods that Levi tried this week:
Pureed meats and veggies
Pureed pears mixed with raspberries
Pureed apricots
Whole lima beans (LOVED!)
Macaroni and cheese
Mashed potatoes
Grouper (not so much!)
Hush puppies (he loved these too!)

NAPS
Sporadic, for sure! They were finally getting regular again at the beginning of this past week, but they were short and sporadic once we got to Florida. Most of his naps were in an unfamiliar crib/bed or in the car, so it was just an off week.

NIGHTTIME
Surprisingly, this entire past week, Levi slept super well through the night! Even while we were on vacation. Usually, he wakes a ton while we are on vacation because he is in his playpen and because his daytime schedule is so thrown off. Not this time! It was so nice. He slept from his bedtime until at least 6 AM every morning (7 AM EST). Granted, his bedtimes were a bit later than usual, but he still got around 9 hours uninterrupted every night.

BATH TIME
Levi now sits directly in the bathtub without his bath seat and without assistance! I was a bit nervous about it at first, because he seemed to have trouble sitting in the water without slipping, but he has learned to keep his balance really well. He loves to play with the bubbles and splash water all over. I'm excited for some more bath time fun ahead!

OUTINGS/EVENTS
Below are some pictures from our vacation to Pensacola. It rained the entire time that we were there, which was a bit of a bummer. But we still had a nice time with family!

Levi did pretty well in the car, considering it was a 9-10 hour trip. He actually did not sleep well at all once it got dark. He would wake every 30 minutes or so and start crying, so I'm really glad we decided not to drive through the night. Brian and I think he just normally wakes up periodically in the night like that (and he'll normally get himself back to sleep), but the fact that he was stuck in his car seat and unable to move around freely upset him. On the way back to Louisville, we made it a 12 hour trip and stopped for a while in Birmingham and Nashville so that we could all stretch, eat, and have some time out of the car. That seemed to really help Levi.

Levi: Weeks 34 & 35 Summary

Life has been a bit hectic these past two weeks, hence the "two weeks in one" post! It's is flying by. My baby boy turned 8 months old during what is almost 2 weeks ago, now. How crazy is that!? Here's a recap:

FEEDING
Levi has been eating like crazy these days! I'm not sure if you could call it a growth spurt, but he definitely is beginning to need more food. Up until this point, I had still only been offering him breakfast and lunch everyday--every few days I would manage to feed him solids for dinner. It's just really difficult to figure out how to manage cooking Brian and I dinner & also feeding and getting Levi ready for bed. So I've been putting off the whole "dinner" thing. But one day last week, little man downed an ounce of a veggie, an ounce of a fruit, plus two bowls of rice cereal AND some more applesauce for dinner--so I knew I needed to make it a priority to start feeding him dinner instead of just nursing him. Obviously, he needs it! I felt extremely bad once I came to that realization. I really hoped he hadn't gone to bed hungry every night!

Nursing is still continuing on. Some days I feel that my milk supply is getting lower, so I've been trying to maintain it by drinking lots of fluids and pumping every night before bed. Levi clearly still wants to nurse--he completely refuses to eat any solids until he gets his milk. Plus, I can tell he feels comforted by nursing. But some days I feel like it is a struggle to keep him focused. He is so easily distracted--loving everything going on around him! I think we'll be taking this on a week by week basis from now on. It saddens me to think about weaning him now (something I'd NEVER thought I'd say), but it is what it is! A couple of months of formula won't kill him if that's what it comes down to.

Levi did try asparagus for the first time during week 34! He really wanted more finger foods that week (probably because of his incoming teeth) and we found that he LOVED asparagus. Maybe because it was effortless for him to pick up?

Now that Levi HAS to have three square meals a day, I've been trying to be more consistent with what I give him. Here is his "menu" each day:

Breakfast- 3 ounces (6 Tbsp) rice cereal mixed with 2 tsp applesauce
Lunch- 1 ounce (2 Tbsp) orange veggie + 1 ounce fruit + 1 ounce plain yogurt mixed with a pinch of cinnamon + finger foods (if I have something on hand)
Dinner- 1 ounce green veggie + 1 ounce fruit + 1 ounce rice cereal mixed with applesauce + finger foods (usually something from our dinner, if he is able to eat it)

NAPS
Luckily, Levi's napping has greatly improved during the past two weeks. He is now back to napping for 1-2 hours every morning, usually about 2 hours in the mid-afternoon and 45-60 minutes in the early evening.

WAKE TIME
Still basically the same as previous weeks! If he takes a shorter nap preceding his wake time, his limit is usually 1 hr and 30 minutes. If he takes a 2+ hour nap, he can stay up for 2 hours following with no problem. His favorite activity is still jumping in his Jumperoo! Boy, he loves that thing! He is also very content sitting on his quilt next to his floor gym or sitting on the rug in his room. It's been super fun to introduce him to a new toy every couple of days that he has never seen before! He loves to snuggle with and pet his Billy the Buffalo pillow pet as well.

NIGHTTIME
We had a few good nights this week where Levi slept from 7 PM - 7:30 AM without a peep! And then there was one night that he woke 7 times--literally, I counted. Early in week 34, his second tooth was cutting through, so he was in a ton of pain. I don't blame him for waking up several times in the night. Nothing I could do would console him :( This past week, however, his sleep has still been pretty sporadic and I'm not exactly sure why. I feel he has chunked up a bit in the past few days, so maybe it's been a growth spurt. We are taking things one night at a time these days!

TEETHING
Speaking of teething, Levi definitely has two teeth! They are about halfway through his gum now and they are so stinkin' cute! It's weird--it seems that his second one hurt much worse than the first. He cried in serious pain for a few days and kept holding his mouth with his hand. I felt so bad for him, but I could only give him Tylenol to help. He started making the funniest teething face and he started putting only one finger in his mouth at a time to feel his new chompers.

OUTINGS/EVENTS
Like I mentioned above, 8 months old. 8 months ago our life changed forever, mostly for the better. Sometimes for the difficult ;) It's really a joy to be this little guy's mom, even on the hard days. Brian and I always talk about how we couldn't imagine life without him now! I mean, what did we do with all that free time and all that sleep at night?!

Levi is truly getting more and more expressive and inquisitive and loving as the days go on. His favorite "toys" are plastic straws and paper tags on anything. He will literally examine any object and find a tag to chew somewhere on it! Oh, and he'll spot a plastic straw from across the room--this often happens when Brian brings home drinks after work. Levi will stare at it on the table until we finish the drink and give it to him! At least he is easily entertained, I suppose. Here are some [way too many] photos from his 8 month "photoshoot":

Another highlight of these past two weeks was our friend Kelly coming to visit us! Kelly has been living in Russia for the past two years. The last time we saw her was right before we moved to Louisville (and she moved to Russia)! She was so excited to meet Levi and we enjoyed a nice summer day with her. We went to Taco Punk for lunch (one of our favorites), Please & Thank You for coffee, and then walked to Indiana on the pedestrian bridge downtown! It was a really nice day and we enjoyed our time with her.

Last, but not least, Levi's 35th week was mostly spent hanging out with our best friends, The Crowders, as they packed up their apartment and prepared to move back to our home state of Florida. Ethan got a job as a youth pastor in Lake City and found out just a few weeks ago that they would be moving. It was a bittersweet week as we reflected on our last two years together at SBTS and made sure to get in all those last minute "to-do's" while the five [six, including Norah] of us were still together in Louisville. We ate a lot of meals together since the Crowder's didn't have much food in their apartment, we gave them some gifts, we sat around and did nothing, and we packed up their belongings. Levi will certainly miss his Aunt Anna and Uncle Ethan very much--as will Brian and I. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with their friendship!

Until next week [or two weeks from now, since we'll be in FLORIDA next week]! Levi's first road trip...stay tuned!