Happy Thanksgiving 2011

So thankful for all of the blessings that God has bestowed upon me.

Especially these boys...

Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween we went with a Thomas theme (again...) and this time Levi got in on the fun! Luke, my very talented hubby, made a great Troublesome Truck out of cardboard and attached it to Levi's push car. This way Sam (aka Thomas) was "shunting" (train talk) Levi. We did both the parade and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and the kids had so much fun!

d

Levi Walks!

Levi at 15 months

Sam - 44 Months

Levi gets all of the blog posts these days so I decided to do a Sam update. Sam will be 4 in February and really seems like a 7 year old most days! He is a very good big brother and loves to take care of Levi when they are in the nursery together. Sam is potty trained and loves to get his own lunch (favorite is yogurt), zip his own coat, put on his shoes, etc. He loves being a big boy and wants to do everything himself.

I asked Sam what I should tell everyone about him and he said "that he plays trains." This is SO true...Sam loves Thomas the Train and plays with his trains everyday. He also loves to draw people, practice his letters and write his name and some other short words. He has been asking to learn sight words and wants to read...he is growing up so fast! Sam is a busy kid this fall too...he goes to MOPS with me and has a class there and loves his class in CBS (Community Bible Study) that we go to every Thursday. On the weekends he loves to play outside with Dad, visit Gram and Pap and watch football!

We just love our brown-eyed boy, he brings us so much joy and keeps us on our toes!

Levi - 15 Months

Love the expression...Sam actually took this picture!

It is hard to believe that Levi is already 15 months! We are having a very busy fall so I have not taken lots of pictures, kept up with the blog, etc. I actually called to schedule Levi's 15 month doctor appointment on the day he turned 15 months. Obviously I am not on the ball these days!

Levi is a very active little guy! He is still not walking although he will stand on his own and take a step towards someone or something. He loves to use chairs to get around and still scoots around on his bum. Levi (unlike Sam) gets into everything and my house usually looks like a tornado hit by the end of the day. His favorite activity is turning the TV off and on 100 times a day and of course pulling out every book in the toy cabinet (he is doing this as I type). He is very expressive and loves to point at everything. He is saying: mama, dada, brother (a new one that he says very rarely), ball, ball-ball (for football), car and nana (which means food, drink). I hear nana all day long...that boy can out eat all of us! We love our little blue-eyed, blond hair boy!

Almost there...

Levi at 14 months

(I love how Sam refers to himself as Superman!)

Uh-Oh

Levi is not saying many words just yet but he has mastered the phrase "uh-oh". It is SO cute.

2011 Good Family Road-trip - Part 3

On our way back home we first stopped in Little Rock, Arkansas to stay and visit with the Halfhill family. Andy and I go way back to high school but also reconnected at summer camp and then we lived down the block from each other in Ohio after college. Crazy, huh?! Andy has a lovely wife, Hannah, and two beautiful kids Micah and Selah. Sam and Micah hit it off right away and loved playing together! We drove around the city, took a big walk over the Big Dam Bridge and ate some awesome BBQ. We loved spending time with them!
Next we stopped and stayed in Nashville, TN. We walked around town and enjoyed seeing all of the little honky tonk bars. The best part of the day was touring the Country Music Hall of Fame. The kids didn't think it was great, but we did. We didn't have nearly enough time and can't wait to go back...it was the best museum I have ever been to...so beautiful and had really interesting stuff!
Finally, we stopped in Cincinnati again and was treated to a home-cooked meal by my friend Michelle. We stayed overnight and the next morning went to her friend's house (who lives in an AMAZING old house that was once a school/camp in the late 1800's) to go swimming. From there we left and stopped at Skyline Chili (our most favorite place) for dinner and then arrived home that evening.

We had such a great time seeing that part of the country, spending time together and connecting with old friends! We are thinking that this might become a yearly event :)Sam was running on the bridge in LR and fell...ouch!

2011 Good Family Road-trip - Part 2

Levi (13 months), Sam (3.5 yrs), Owen (34 months), Garrett (1 yr), Eli (34 months)

We arrived at my friend (and college roomie) Beth's house in Dallas in the early morning hours of Wednesday. We got a few hours of sleep and then Luke was off to his conference. That left Beth, me and our 5 boys under 4 (!) to spend three fun-filled days together. Unfortunately it was over 100 degrees every day that we were there which made sight-seeing a bit difficult. We ended up going to the pool, a gym for indoor play time and a local farm where the kids got to do all kinds of fun things. We also got to meet up with my friend Janice. Janice and I were friends in Pittsburgh and then she moved to Dallas. When Beth told me she was moving to Dallas, I told her to look Janice up and now they are friends! Small world! We also celebrated Garrett's birthday, went out to eat at some great places (Babe's chicken...YUM) and spent lots of time talking and catching up. Luke returned on Friday and on Saturday we went to visit his Aunt and Uncle who lived nearby. We got to see their horse farm and I even got to ride for a bit. It was a really fun week and it was nice to catch up with Beth and see our boys play together! Monday morning we left for Little Rock, Arkansas and to begin the trip home!

2011 Good Family Road-trip - Part 1

Luke has a work conference every summer in Dallas, TX and this year we decided to go along and make it one big road-trip. People thought we were crazy for driving that far with two young kids, but it actually was a lot of fun and the kids behaved the best in the car!

We left Sunday after church and drove to my friend Michelle's house in Cincinnati, Ohio. We spent the night and then headed to Jackson, TN...but first we made a stop at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. We didn't realize we had crossed over into the central time zone so we had to kill over an hour before our tour time. It was freezing down in cave (54 degrees and everyone in shorts and t-shirts...oops) and Sam asked where the exit was the whole time (don't think he liked being underground). Luckily both kids did not have a meltdown and it was a neat experience.

Next we were driving through Nashville on our way to our hotel in Jackson. I was determined to eat at fun places the whole trip (we did not eat fast food once!) so we went in search for the Loveless Cafe...a famous restaurant outside of Nashville. We arrived at 7pm with very hungry and cranky kids but really enjoyed their famous biscuits!

We stayed overnight in Jackson, TN right next to the Casey Jones train museum. I never knew anything about Casey Jones, but I guess he is a famous engineer (my parents knew who he was and could sing the song about him). It was a nice museum with a train that Sam could board and ring the bell. They also had a large Thomas section in the gift shop that Sam loved of course. Then we were off for a brief visit in Little Rock before continuing on to Dallas where we would stay for about 5 days.

Scooter

Levi doesn't crawl (or walk yet) but he does love to scoot. This is how he gets around...he does laps around the house and he is very quick. It is adorable!

Levi's 1st Party

We had a beautiful day to celebrate Levi's 1st Birthday with our family. He had a great time scooting all over the yard, splashing in his new water (sand) table and being loved on by everyone!

Levi - 1 Year

My baby boy is ONE today! This time last year I was waiting to get my epidural and was so anxious to know if it was a boy or girl. God blessed us with the most beautiful baby boy and he has been the perfect addition to our family. It has been so amazing to be a mom to two boys and watch them grow into their own little people. Levi is a happy baby who loves his mama and likes to be held and talked to. He is not interested in standing and walking but still loves to scoot everywhere on his bum and he is super fast. Levi LOVES his brother Sam and lights up when he walks into a room. Right now he likes to play in the bath (or baby pool) and likes to knock down block towers. He is starting to babble a lot more and I think some words are soon to follow. He loves to wave and do the sign for all done. Boy can Levi eat! He eats anything we give him and sometimes too quickly as we have had to scoop things out of his mouth before he chokes (which gives me a mini heart attack). We can't wait to see what God has in store for us this next year with Levi! We love our little man! Happy, Happy Birthday!

Levi 12 Month Stats:
20 lbs, 15.5 oz
29 inches

Kennywood 2011

I grew up going to Kennywood Park and it is one of my favorite places to go in the summer. I have so many good memories there and couldn't wait to share them with my kids. This year was Sam's (and Levi's) first time there. I think he was at the perfect age...SO SO excited to go but didn't know enough yet to be scared of the rides. I showed him the park map on the website and we talked and talked about the rides he could go on...so much that he memorized the names of them. Gram and Pap came too and were a big help and Luke and I even got to ride a few things by ourselves. The first ride we did was the Kangaroo...Sam loved squishing me and Pap! Then we did Garfield's Nightmare (we called it Garfield's Dream) and even Levi got to ride it too! Sam rode everything in Kiddieland, did the Auto Race with Gram and then rode both the Log Jammer and the Pittsburgh Plunge. He loved getting wet and stood near the Pittsburgh Plunge spray zone for almost an hour. His last ride of the night was the Jack Rabbit! I was a bit nervous for him, but he was so brave and just loved it. It was a long day too...we got there at 11:30am and left around 8:30pm! I can't wait for many more years of Kennywood fun. Soon Levi will be big enough so they can ride together...now THAT will be cute!

Summer Haircuts

I always wait a long time between cutting the boys hair. Mostly because I am cheap...but I also love when Sam's hair gets all long and wavy! Just last week I realized it was time, especially with how hot it has been lately. They always look so much older with less hair! :)

Friends

My fellow McKee girl, Becky, visited me this past week and her boys are similar in age to my boys. It was fun to watch them interact and we hope they will be good friends someday!

Sam (3.5 yrs), Jack (2 yrs.)

Levi (11 months), Steve (6 months)

Mission: Potty Training - Completed

Well I first wrote back in January that we were starting potty training with Sam. Needless to say that it didn't go well...we gave it a full week and he just wasn't getting it. I was determined not to make it a battle so we went back to diapers and gave it some time. Luke had a few extra days off the first week of June so I decided to give it another go...this time we didn't use the padded training underwear but went straight to regular (Thomas the Train of course) underwear. He peed right through twice and then was pretty much potty trained after that! It was amazing how quickly he took to it this time around and he was so excited about it. He has even stayed dry through most naps and bedtimes and is even going potty when we are out and about. I am SO proud of him...and SO glad I just waited a bit until it seemed like he was ready. Today I didn't even know he was going the bathroom and I walked past our half bath to find him rinsing out the potty insert in the sink. Yep, he went potty on his own, dumped the pee in the toilet and then proceeded to rinse out the insert in the sink. I didn't even tell him he had to do that, he just wanted to do it all himself. What a big, independent boy I have!