Killer Cuteness!

You may remember that Levi has a sweet friend Charlotte that is only 10 days older than him. Well, she was in town over the weekend and they were reunited after about 5 months. I must say they sure are cute together! I'm so glad she has family in town so I can see her mom every now and again, but we sure do wish they were here all the time! Last time they were together we were in Florida, and they were not so mobile and so much easier to photograph. I'm sure next visit it will be nearly impossible, but I'm sure we will still try! Can't resist the cuteness :)

here they are, 6 months old~

And now, almost 1 year old!

Believe it or not, they are even cuter in person...it's deadly :)

11 Months Old!

My little baby turned 11 months old yesterday. That means in 1 month he will be 1 year old! I can't believe it! I guess I really will have to start planning his party more...it has just always seemed too far off!

He continues to be a very happy, easy going guy and is getting more and more of his own little personality. We are really in heaven right now and just enjoy him everyday!

Here's what's new since month 10(of course!)
Things he loves:
stacking things (his cups, blocks, ring stacker) or putting things inside of cups
Dogs
Balls (kicking, throwing, holding, seeing...anything and any type!)
fruit
his momma and dada
the water/swimming

Things that are not so pleasant:
having to be still (church, changing clothes/diaper etc)
being kept out of the dog's bowls
green beans

New skillz :):
kicks his soccer ball
says more words: Mama, Dada, nana (banana), bawel/baw (ball), dawg/daw (dog), Go, Whoa/Wow (such as - falls down then gets up and says whoa), nawnaw (water...no idea where this came from...but he wants his sippy of water when he says it), du (duck)
has increase fine motor skills (hence the stacking etc)
walks up/down a step if there is a wall or hand to hold
takes a 30-45 min AM nap and a 2-3 hour afternoon nap!!!

Well...to celebrate we went to NRH2O...OK not really, but we did go and it was fun! Aunt Kate, Nora and Uncle Seth and his sweet girlfriend Liz came to the park with us and it was a blast! The kids had fun with the pools and slides and were very tired at the end...Levi has been asleep for almost 3 hours! Thanks for coming family! We had so much fun with you!

with Aunt Kate and Nora about to have water fun!

Going down the slide with Uncle Seth!
I look a lot like my Uncle Seth did when he was a baby!

Father's Day!

Levi is triple blessed with 3 wonderful fathers in his life. So, on Father's Day we had three celebrations :) Despite it being a busy day it was such a fun, relaxing and just plain nice day for our little family! We started the day by making a big yummy breakfast for Philip and going to church. Then we headed straight over to my parents for a yummy lunch with my Dad. After lunch we relaxed and played with the kids (Levi and Nora are the center of our world and the Knochel house these days!). After that we headed to Philip's Dad's house where we had a BBQ dinner and some swimming! Levi had SOOO much fun swimming with his Popa and his Dada and was just grinning and laughing and splashing and kicking for an hour straight in the pool! He didn't want to stop! I think we may have quite the little fish on our hands next summer!

Levi with Pop

Popa mans the ribs

swimming with Popa, and Dada!

I really do feel so blessed that Levi has three wonderful, strong, hard working, God loving and respect worthy men in his life! What great examples he has to follow, it sure makes me happy! I am especially proud of Philip on this his first Father's Day. He has taken to parenthood with such ease and joy and I just love watching him interact with Levi. God sure did overflow the blessings in our little family when it comes to Dads :) We love you Philip (Dada), Pop and Popa!

Sweet Friends!

Today Levi and I headed over to my mom and dad's house for some swimming with my good friend since middle school, Sara and her sweet little girl Jaeda. Sara and her family live in the Seattle area, so we don't get to see them very often. Luckily her parents still live down the street from my parents, so I get to see Sara every time she comes in town to see her family!

Joel...I doubt you read blogs all the time like I do, but if you are reading this, Texas is sure a great place to raise a family and has lots of nice places to practice physical therapy and affordable cost of living :)

Well, all plugging for a move down south aside, I do wish you all lived closer, but I am so glad when I do get to see you! Here are a few cute pics from the visit:

I tried to get a cute pic of them sitting together before the pool...

Levi was NOT willing to pose!

Here are all 4 of us...the kids had a blast in the water! Jaeda was too cute kicking her little legs!

Only in the Summer...

...you can...

eat delicious berries of all kinds

spend the hot days in just your diaper

play with a hose while you eat some mud

pick yummy homegrown ripe tomatoes

(or green ones because they look like a "bawl")

Water Baby

Turns out my little guy LOVES the water. At first he was a little shy of the pool, but he has really warmed up to the idea now. I am so excited about this because it is a nice way to avoid the Texas heat and I might get a little tan in the process too! I lived in the water during all of my summers as a kid and so did Philip, so we both look forward to Levi loving to swim as well.

Yesterday my spontaneous sister in law came through town and we decided to make a little trip to the water park! All the kids had a blast! I see many more trips in our future :)

Thanks so much Tamara, Kadin, Kynlee and Kamryn! Levi and I had so much fun spending the afternoon playing with you! Can't wait to go again!

Summer Fun!

In true Texas fashion it has gotten really HOT! This has kept Levi and I indoors a lot more than usual. Luckily today my good friend Ashley had the great idea of getting together early before the terrible heat and taking the kids to a really really really neat park by her house (it was really neat...if you didn't notice).

Levi and Autry love each other! It is so sweet; they smile and point at each other when we get together. They both had so much fun today playing in the sand and at the splash park! The best part is that it was FREE :). Two cute babies having fun in the sun makes two really happy mommas! Thanks for the invite Ash!!!

Sweet Babies playing in the sand Thanks for letting me share your toys Autry!Autry you look so cute in your suit!

These little fountains are great!