Muddy Treats

We had so much fun this Sunday! Philip and his sister ran in the "Muddy Buddy" which is a relay obstacle mud race. Levi and I went to watch as well as Papa (Philip's Dad) and Kamryn and Kynlee. The race is about 6 miles long with alternating miles of bike and run on off road trails with obstacles in between. The final obstacle right before the finish line is a huge mud pit.

ready to go before the race

in need of a bath at the finish

Philip and Tamara had a blast! Neither one seem winded after the race, they seemed to just have fun. Maybe next year I will be brave and do the race too.

Sunday evening our church put on a Trunk or Treat for all the kids in the church and the surrounding neighborhood. There were a TON of kids there and we ran out of candy in no time. Levi and his little friends were so cute and I can't wait 'til next year when he will be walking!

Family photo

Evie the chicken

Natalyia, Gracie the Monarch, Me and Levi the pea pod

Ashley, Autry the giraffe, Me and Levi

On Halloween we will be in Lubbock to see friends and go to a Tech football game...We will have more sweet pea pics to share when we return :) Hopefully Tech will remember how to play and we will see a big win!

Back to Work & 3 Months Old!

My Dad turned 55 back on the 17th and I never got around to posting about his party. We had a wonderful time together as a family (minus Uncle Seth and Aunt Molly...so sad!) eating dinner and just hanging out. Kate and I made the meal together and I think we did a pretty good job! I also want to take a second to say that I have the most amazing Father. He is such a wonderful man and is such a blessing to me and my whole family. He is smart, funny, hardworking, genuine and handsome...pretty perfect right! All of you who know my Dad know what a special person he is! Thanks for everything Dad! I love you!

Here is a picture from our dinner party; Levi and Nora love each other and when they are together there are always lots of cute smiles! Cousin Nora loves to point out all of Levi's features and he thinks she is pretty cool too!

Well, yesterday was a big day. Levi turned 3 months old and I had my first day back to work. I have to say I had very mixed emotions about my return to work. I felt happy to get a break from my real work of being a Mom, but sad the leave Levi for 13 hours and nervous that I might not remember how to be a labor and delivery nurse any more! I was feeling weird all night Thursday as I got myself organized to work (lunch made - check, breast pump ready and parts clean-check, scrubs out-check, instructions for Philip-check...etc) I was feeling all weird and I think Levi caught on because he was up every 1-2 hours all night! Yeesh...I couldn't sleep well any how, so it was even worse that he had a bad night.

So as I drove to work sleepy and anxious I was a little bit of a teary mess. Once I got there all my friends at work were so nice and welcomed me back and gave me a sweet easy patient. I was able to pump three times and that went smoothly (I was really worried it might not) so I was happy about that. I must say 12 hours seems even longer now and I was so ready to get home and see my little guy! Unfortunately we had some flu patients (how terrible to have the flu while you are in labor!) so I felt like I needed to get out of my scrubs and shower before I held Levi so that he wouldn't get sick. Once I finally got my hands on him I think I was way more happy to see him than he was to see me.

I am lucky that I have the opportunity to work only once a week and that my wonderful husband (and Levi's daddy) can take care of my baby while I am there. I think that once I get back into the swing of things I will really enjoy my work again. Philip took wonderful care of Levi and he seemed so content when I got home, so that is a huge blessing. Levi wasn't a big fan of the bottle, but he took 3 while I was gone so he did ok. I'm sure that will get easier every time as well. All and all, it went very well and I feel lucky to be in the situation I'm in. I look forward to Philip and Levi getting to spend time by themselves and have some fun father son time :). I think it will be really good for their relationship.

In other, more important and fun news, Levi turned 3 months old on Friday! He is getting big and by our scale he weighs about 15 pounds. He is such a sweet and happy baby and I love him more and more every day. Earlier today I was just holding him and looking at him and laughing because he is so cute and perfect and I can't believe how lucky I am that God blessed my life with him. I love my little family!

Tamara and the girls stopped by last night and we had fun hanging out. Here cousin Kynlee is reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Levi, cousin Kamryn and I.

Levi really loves his baths now and his hair is so fun to "style" He also loves to be outside and just lay on his quilt and enjoy the sights Here is whats new with Levi since last month:
sits up very well when propped up
"talks" all the time (so cute!)
reaches for and sometimes grabs toys
gets his hands into his mouth
wears 3-6 month size clothes (it was so sad to put away his 0-3s)
LAUGHS

Two of a Kind

Our good friends the Valentine's are in town from Florida and we were so lucky to get to spend all day with Lauren and Charlotte yesterday! Lauren and I met our first week of college in the dorms at Tech where we lived across the hall from each other. We have been close friends ever since and have now been friends for over 8 years! I can't believe it has been that long. We have been blessed to share in many big life changes together: we went to nursing school together, got married to two wonderful men about 8 months apart and had our first children 10 days apart! Hanging out was a little bitter sweet because we now live thousands of miles apart! I wish we were closer and could see one another more often, but I will savor the days we do get to be together! Lauren and I have so much in common, we are two of a kind :)

Charlotte was born 10 days before Levi and they weighed only 5 ounces apart at birth (C- 8# 3.8 oz, L-8# 8.8 oz). I think it is really cute that Levi is now 2-3 pounds bigger than Char and a little longer too. She is such a sweet, petite little girl and Levi seems like such a boy to me!

We spent most of the day either talking to and looking at our little ones, nursing, changing diapers or taking pictures. It would be so nice to be able to share more lazy, baby filled days together! Levi and Charlotte seemed to enjoy looking at each other and "playing" together.

Little Charlotte is just so beautiful and looks so much like her momma. Just look at those pretty blue eyes and pink little pout!

Since we went to Tech together we had to have a red raider baby photo shoot! We dressed the babies up in their cute raider gear and snapped away! Another of our good friends, Cheryl was so sweet to give both of us Tech themed baby gifts and we were glad to have them for the pics!

Being the mature older woman, Charlotte has some things down that Levi hasn't mastered yet ;) She tried to teach him how to suck his thumb and that it is a really good idea to sleep all night and take 1-2 hour naps during the day. We will see how much he learned over the next few weeks!

We ended the day by meeting the boys after work for a yummy dinner at BJs and another good friend Nikki came by to see us all too! It was a great meal and so much fun to talk about all things parenting! Lucky for us we will be in Florida in January for Philip's cousin Jenny's wedding so we will be able to spend more time with the Valentine's pretty soon! Can't wait to see all the new things Levi and Charlotte will be doing by then! I'm sure I will have more fun photos to post after the trip!

Thanks so much for coming to see us Lauren, Charlotte and Robby! We love you guys and are so blessed to have you as friends! Can't wait to see all we will share in the future!!!

Busy Weekend!

This past weekend was packed full! We went out to the hunting lease for the first time and dressed Levi head to toe in camo while his Dad and Pawpaw did some bow hunting. If Levi ends up to be an outdoors man like his Grandfathers, Dad and Uncle Seth he will be in heaven once he is a little older! After 2 days out there we headed to Abilene for our nephew Kadin's 5th birthday party (complete with painted grass "football" field in their back yard!). After the party we had fun going to a really neat charity pumpkin patch and then to Kadin's soccer game. Despite the yucky chilly and wet weather we had a really nice weekend and Levi seemed to enjoy himself as well. He loves his cousins! Kynlee loves to hold him and he enjoyed some staring with Kamryn :). We always have fun with the Longs and are glad they are only a little over 2 hours away....but we would love it even more if they were closer!

first trip to the lease

thanks for the great hat Fellers!!! One day soon, Levi is going to think big cousin Kadin is so cool!Fall weather at the pumpkin patch
snuggles with Kynlee