Little Red Tongue and Wagon

Levi took his first wagon ride yesterday. He is absolutely in love with the whole process! The weather has been glorious the past two days and I think we are getting our first sneak peeks at Spring, my favorite time of year! (followed very closely by Fall) The first time we took him for a wagon ride, all I could find was his baseball hat, which he took off about 43 times. So at Old Navy, I found a camo hat with a chin strap for a whopping 46 cents! Now, he looks even cuter and the sun doesn't blind his baby blues--speaking of, I think they are getting bluer! They are amazing and are truly radiant in natural light. Anyway, here area few pictures from our wagon ride and then having a blanket on the grass afterwards. I laughed after looking at these and noticing that in every picture, he had his tongue out.

First, he did some push ups to keep the body buff for any ladies he might see while on his walk. This is what he does when he tries to crawl.

Next, some pull ups. He did this, this morning for the first time!

Time for our adventure! This little wagon has been a great toy. My parents bought this for Elle on her first Christmas.

Having a light snack of grass after the ride.

Love this picture. These pants are just a little too long for his legs so his little feet kept getting lost in the pants legs.

Tidbits

I haven't really been blogging as often as usual for two reasons...#1 we have truly had a really slow last two weeks...not much going on and #2 I am too lazy to bring the camera upstairs, upload the photos, fix any that need fixing, and then upload to the blog. I have had neck pain since the end of December and it has put a damper on just about everything. I wake up grumpy and go to bed grumpy most days because it's such a constant pain. I am working through all of my options so we'll see what happens. To make pain go away, it generally costs money and requires drugs, which I don't really want to deal with either. I did go see a chiropractor today that I am not sure how I feel about. He strictly does $20 adjustments which is fine, but it would be nice if he also had machines that worked on the pain points, like other chiro's I've been to before. But, we'll see if this one adjustment is just what my neck needed. I'm tired of talking about it and dealing with the pain and ready to get back to myself! This has also been the month of major hemorrhaging of the savings! Let's see...my front axle in my car had to be replaced, Shawn's something thingy on his truck had to be repaired, we finally got a water softener since we are beginning to deal with issues with hard water, and having it installed could cost almost as much as the unit itself, and then today, the wind blew my backyard canopy into the neighbors house, essentially causing it to commit suicide...at least the neighbor and his dogs weren't hurt, but now that means we will have to buy a new one before April which is when it starts getting hot here. We have no mature trees in our area so some type of shade is essential in Texas. Anyway, it just feels like it has been one thing after another and I'm about to have to start renting Levi out--I think he could bring in some good money because he's quite lovable and pretty easy right now. Speaking of the little rascal, I retract my last statement. He is beginning to get very mobile-so close to full out crawling-, he has 2 bottom teeth, with a promise of many more to come, probably all at once, and he is beginning to love me so much that he wants me to hold him a lot. The funny thing is, he seems so attached to me yet won't say "mama" (the nerve!) and won't give me a kiss on command! He really is a toot! He did say his second word this past week. He said "bye bye" and will wave too. It's pretty cute and I'm already preparing him for the GT program when he starts school. Also this month, I have begun planning and preparing for the birthday blowout that's going to take place in April. My baby will be ONE, and my oldest will be 7! This is a tricky year...Levi's bday is required to be a big deal because it's his FIRST, but I don't want Elle to feel at all like her birthday is less important since their actual bdays are 2 measly days apart, so I'm having one party on Friday night, and one on Saturday. I am excited about the whole thing. Elle wants a Hawaiian Luau party and Levi is having an alligator themed birthday. So that's what has been going on in a nutshell. Enjoy the pictures!

Ready for church this past Sunday morning

A new pose he's been doing--cracks us up. And yes, the baby Tylenol bottle is a chew toy.

Um, maybe keep your babies away from him...he's a little too touchy. Notice in the background my pound puppy from when I was growing up.


I don't' know why but I like to place my children in small places and take pictures. Elle was in a purse and Ava was in a moving box.

It was all fun and games, till the sissies got their forks and knives out for some baby pot roast.

Title: Small child, big world

Best picture out of all three kiddos of first teeth!

Seal this post with a kiss! And on a random note, the way to Ava's heart is through her head...band.

Stats

We took Levi for his 9 month check up today. It was suppose to be poke-free event, but we had to have a few things done. First the stats: He's 26 1/2 inches which is super short for his age and he's 16 lbs 1 ounce which is super light for his age. So, I'm thinking he has a lot of Caskey, specifically Gramme and Grandma in him. lol If you've never seen them, they are vertically challenged. I'm laughing just writing that right now. Anyway, because he hadn't grown a significant amount since his last checkup 3 months ago, the Dr. decided to do a few blood tests just to be cautious. She was going to check his lead level and his iron level. I just got the call that his iron level is marvelous so that's wonderful. I'm not too worried about his lead level although we have amassed a huge amount of extremely cheap dress up jewelry in ever crevice of the house which I'm sure is killing all of us slowly. Other than those little issues, he is very healthy and right where he should be. All I could think to ask her was "Are his eyes going to stay blue?" Aren't I a concerned parent? If you haven't met him yet, his eyes are amazing; even bluer than Elle's! Anyway he is a joy everyday. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth and we can tell he's close to crawling. He also does an army crawl and is very efficent at that. I'm in no hurry for him to crawl. He loves to be held, and loves for Daddy to act like he's going to come get him. He likes to click his tongue, make long loud sounds, and wave anytime he hears the word "hi" or "bye." He has 2 little teeth which are as sharp as razors. We sure do love him and I've already started planning his birthday party....3 months away. Happy 9 month Biggie.

He's got rhythm

A few days ago Shawn caught this on his phone :)

Giddy Up

As I said in the last post, my mom got Levi his first pair of boots. She also got him a cowboy shirt. I was just in love with both pieces and couldn't wait for him to wear them to church. The outfit did not disappoint. The blue in the shirt really brought out his blue eyes and it was a big hit at church. I couldn't pick which picture I liked better so they both had to be posted!

Christmas in 10 Shots

We headed to Tyler to see all the family after doing our own thing Christmas morning. Here are my 10 favorite shots from our time there.

#1 My parents Christmas Tree-my mom and dad hand made every single snowflake and fan on the tree. My dad also drew the dove on top and they also made the chain. I absolutely love that they spent the time doing that. Loved this tree! #2 Gramme getting some love from Levi

#3 Levi meeting Norah. He was quite interested in her and was trying to touch her face. It is weird to think that although they seem years apart right now, not too far in the future they will only be 7 months apart! Sweet June was there too, but this was my favorite that I took.

#4 Elle lost her second tooth a day or two after Christmas. The amazing thing is that she pulled it herself! And just as she has lost the two bottom teeth, Levi has found them :)

#5 Got to have lunch in Mineola with my good friend Marci and her family. She is one of those friends that you can just pick back up with no matter how long you go without seeing or talking to each other. Those are the best kinds of friends! And her son Jack is TOO CUTE! I am partial though to big cheeks and blue eyes :)

#6 While there, I quickly shot this picture and it turned out amazing and I think really captured my sweet Ava. I need a brick wall in my back yard pronto.

#7 This picture just cracked me up. This was at Papaw's house and there were just little girls everywhere! It is chaos for sure, but I am so thankful that our kids have cousins all around the same age...makes getting together more fun and helps them stay entertained.

#8 Papaw and Levi-I loved that Levi was giving a big smile for the camera and I loved the shirt too! This was one Gramme got for him and it was SPOT ON for my style!

#9 One of my all time favorite pictures. All three kids got a new pair of shoes and I wanted to remember it. The girls got Twinkle Toes and they were beside themselves with excitement. Levi's boots are just too cute. Big shout out to my mom for such great presents!

#10 Nana with my kiddos. I just loved how this picture turned out :)

Christmas at our House

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Christmas Eve. Since the kids got a gazillion things on Christmas day, I thought I'd spare you a gazillion pictures and show you one of me and one of Shawn with a few of our prizes :)

I just love this picture!

This is the 33rd straight year that this particular book has been read.

My favorite gift from Shawn. The best part is that he got this with absolutely no hints from me...and he got it on sale! SCORE!!!!

I believe altogther I got Shawn 11 ties...almost all from ebay. I was an auction queen and got wonderful deals!