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!

Memorial Day