Temperature Extremes!

On January 29th, 2011 my children were woken up from their naps at 4pm by the ice cream truck driving around our neighborhood. They were all so excited when Jake and I told them they could go out and pick out whatever they wanted. They all got bugs bunny popsicles with buble gum eyeballs. It was about 78degrees outside and they had the best time eating popsicles and playing outside in JANUARY!! (that is a foreign concept to those of us from Wisconsin!!)

6 DAYS LATER...

So, on Feb. 4th, 2011 San Antonio, Texas got snow! For those of us from Wisconsin, we would have refered to it as a light dusting, but for Texans it was SNOW. Enough snow (1/4 of an inch) to shut down the city including all highways and interstates. Now, to make it fair, people here have no idea how to drive in the snow since they never see it, and have no equipment to salt or help with the ice. It was much safer for them to close roads down, it is just all a matter of perspective. Our kiddos loved playing in it for about 5 minutes. They have all gotten texas blood since being here in the ridiculous heat, so to them it was freezing!! Caden cried most of the time, after the initial excitement. Maddie and Jacob had races and made snow angels in the middle of the road. After all were numb, we went inside to hot chocolate and eggs and a hot bath.

Enjoying the snow

Making Snow Angels

Levi Video at 8 Weeks

Levi David At 8 Weeks Old

It is hard to believe that Levi is already 8 weeks old. He is a good little guy and has fit into our family so nicely. He starting smiling at 6 weeks, but is now a little easier to catch on camera. Seems like he gets a little more smiley each day. He is cooing and trying out his new voice. He makes very dramatic facial expressions when trying to talk and gets very excited at the sound of our voices...especially one of the other kiddos. He is drinking about 4 ounces every 2 hours during the day and sleeps about 6-7 hours without waking at night. He goes to bed around 8pm and will sleep until 3am usually. Pretty good for a breastmilk baby!! He hates being swaddled (very different for us considering all of our other children have been swaddled until at least 6 months). He hates his car seat (all of our others loved thier car seat!). He is begining to fill out 0-3 month clothing. He isn't crazy about tummy time and just rolls onto his back when he gets mad enough. He loves to snuggle and be held, but is also very content listening to the chaos around him in his swing or bouncey seat. He doesn't like a pacifier and has begun sucking on his thumb/fist a lot! All of our others have been pacifier addicts so we are still pushing the pacifier instead of the thumb...we will see what happens. Obviously my dentist hubby wants the pacifier because it is so much easier to take away!!! He is a good little baby, but in so many ways is very different than our others who were so similar. I love that he is different and so sweet. We love you so much Levi and are so proud to be your family!

Levi David: Tummy Time at 7 Weeks Old

January 2011

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from January. It has been beautiful outside, so most of them are of the kiddos playing in our backyard.

Levi David at 7 weeks old Big smile while sitting

on his daddy's lap Caden playing with his little brother

Maddie snuggling Levi

Jacob and Maddie looking for Rollies...it is about 7am in this picture!

Our Boys

Jacob (3), Caden (19mo), Levi (5weeks)

War Eagle!! Go Tigers!!

Auburn Is Number One!

Christmas 2010

We had a very different, yet wonderful Christmas this year. Every year since Jake and I have been married, we have spent Christmas in Wisconsin with my family. This year, because of when Levi was born, we spent the holiday at home as a family. We began Christmas eve with talking about the Christmas story while we made Christmas cookies. They loved getting to decorate them and it was so hard for them to not eat while they decorated. They did a great job...for the most part.

Later, on Christmas eve night, we went to church for the candle light service. Madison loved getting to sing all the Christmas music while holding a candle. Here is a picture of all of us by our church's Christmas tree.

After church, the kids each picked a cookie to leave for Santa. We also left some carrots for the reindeer.

Here is our tree before Jake and I went to bed on Christmas eve night. The kids were going to be so excited!!!

On Christmas morning we had to go straight to gifts and wait on breakfast. They were so excited that they couldn't wait. They each opened one gift at a time and Levi just watched all the chaos!

Caden did not like waiting for his turn!!

The stockings were their favorite part of the morning!!

Since he couldn't open them, we took pictures of Levi with his gifts instead.

After gifts, we enjoyed a pan full of cinnamon rolls. They were in the shape of a tree which made them extra special.

Maddie went straight to her room to play with her new ranch on her new table.

Jacob loved his new big boy bike!

Maddie and Jacob before bed after a long day of sugar and playing

So, after we took naps on Christmas afternoon, we went over to a friends house for a great meal and some happy birthday Jesus cake. It was a great time and was wonderful spending time with special friends.

Madison got into some makeup at their house...I could not get it off!!!

Our friends got a Wii for Christmas as well, so Jake began practicing whild holding Levi.