Weekend Trip

On the last weekend of March my best friend, Chandra, and I loaded up our kids and made the drive to Bentonville, AR to visit our friend Kari and her little girl Sarah Jane. We knew we were a bit crazy for loading up 4 kids 3 and under but we knew we could do it! We did it alright, and we're still tired! Ha! No, it was a good trip and good to see Kari. Chandra and I both agreed we were glad we did it but we don't want to do it again any time soon. Kari is pregnant with her 2nd baby girl so we helped her prepare some freezer meals and make a few decisions about the nursery. I think Kari and SJ were in shock over the increase in noise at their house while we were there. SJ is so quiet! But with a 2 and 3 year old it does not stay quiet long!! While Chandra and I were away, both of our hubbys were on a ski trip with 2 other guys from high school.The weather was chilly that weekend and we needed to get our big girls out of the house so we went to a mall with an indoor play area. While we were there, Chandra discovered an event going on so we took all the kids to see and it was a heart disease awareness event. They had lots of dancers and audience participation. Here's all 5 kids...don't mind the random woman looking into the camera!
Piper and Lilly got to dance with this group. These dancers were more 'natural' can we say but our girls had fun with them!
We stayed 2 nights and then made the drive back home on Sunday. On our way we stopped in Tulsa to visit our friend Lindsey. Here's the big kids on the front porch. James, Piper, Kinley, and Lilly. Lindsey's baby, Mallory, was sleeping and Briggs was being held at the moment. We stayed for 2 hours I think and these kids managed to drag almost every toy that they owned out into the living room it seemed!
We made it to Edmond and Chandra went home and I stayed one night at my sister's. While her kids went to school on Monday we ran some errands and ate yummy sushi. I think Piper enjoyed playing by herself for a few hours at Sheryl's. This is her being silly with the goggles!

Funny!

I wish I had a picture to document tonight but I didn't take my camera! We took Piper to 'big church' tonight for the first time. We're beginning that training process! She did really good for her first time. She lasted 40 min. 10 minutes of that was the sermon. She thought she saw a woman she knows and tried to run to her, I grabbed her hand, and she screamed! We made a quick exit to the nursery to say the least!! Michael took her in to sit down while I dropped Briggs off at the nursery. He said she kept looking around and started whispering un-audibly so he said, "What?" After a bit, she finally said in a louder whisper, "Where's God?" Then during the baptism she was really confused. She thought the girl was still in the water. She thought the girl was drinking the water, and I think at one point she called her a god-girl. We tried explaining to her that it was called baptism and that happens after we accept Jesus into our life but of course that is still way above her level of reasoning. Anyway, it was cute to see how 'in awe' she was of the new experience. Next time, I'll come with even better snacks and better activities to occupy her! I could tell she felt like a big girl tonight and she really was!

Big Boy!

Briggs has graduated to the big boy high chair! He can now join us during dinner time at eye level instead of on the floor in his bouncer! I swear he looks like me as a baby in this picture but I can't ever see it in person; only in pictures! Briggs is continuing to improve as he eats his cereal. He has been swallowing it pretty good and he was starting to act like the amount I was giving him was not enough so I've increased it, but he is still only eating it once a day.
He continues to be all smiles. He loves to 'talk' and has really started to growl loudly! I think he's beginning to realize that if he wants to be noticed, he's got to be louder than big sister! Our house is not one for quiet people to come for a visit!
And lastly, he's been rolling from his tummy to his back in the crib at nap time and night time. I know, I know...I break the rules of the American Academy of Pediatrics because you are not suppose to have a baby sleeping on their tummy but I do! The rolling over has been somewhat of a problem this week because it is preventing him from getting all his rest! Sometimes he will fall asleep on his back and other times he'll just lay there and talk and talk until he gets bored and starts to fuss a lot! He'll get used to it soon though I'm sure of that!

Bath Buddies

Piper and Ellie taking a bath! Can you see my child's personality shining through in these photos??? Ellie's mom and dad watch our kids on Valentine's night so we could have a date and we watched Ellie while they went on a date! Piper was so excited to play with her two days in a row and not go to bed until 10 pm both nights!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Rose are red. Violets are blue. The Little Levy's love you!! Happy Valentine's Day!
Piper's friend, Katie stopped by and they exchanged Valentine's...Katie gave her some sunglasses which is right up this fully accessorized girl's alley!

We've been up to a lot at home considering all the winter weather. Yay for the sunshine this week! I've begun doing a little "preschool" with Piper two days a week! Last week we started with the letter "A" and talking about apples, Adam, and many other "A" words. This is her using a cut apple as a stamp! She loves painting, coloring, and cutting with scissors!
Briggs is 4 months old tomorrow and is still such a delight! I'm really enjoying his laid back attitude!
He has begun to grab at toys and at my face a little! He's also drooling more saliva than 10 adults combined can produce...hence the bib in the picture!

This morning I asked Piper if she knew that today was Valentine's Day and she said, "Ya!" (she always says yes when it is really no!) Then I said, "What do we do on Valentine's?" She replied, "It's Christmas!!!!!" hah! She was pretty pumped! Then at lunch Michael brought home a rose for her and she said with such excitement, "Daddy brought me home a plant!!!" ha! Oh, she cracks me up lately!

Briggsy Bear's Big Night

Look at this handsome little feller!! He's not so little though! Briggs had a big day today! He moved into size 4 diapers! Let me put this into perspective for you folks w/out kiddos...that's a big size. Piper wears a size 4 diaper at bedtime! Piper is 2, almost 3. Briggs is 3 months, almost 4 months...see the comparison! Ha!In addition to getting bigger in his derriere...and, yes I had to look up how to spell that! He rolled over from belly to back twice! He's trying to roll over back to belly too but hasn't quite gotten it! He's close though! And lastly, he ate baby cereal for the 1st time!
What is this junk his face is so obviously asking??
Well, whatever it is I think I like it! Yes, he made some funny faces but he ended up eating ALL of it! So, he's officially eating solids!

Sister & Brother

I wouldn't say this week has been one for the record books. Stubbornness and an uncooperative spirit have been popular in our house! However, Piper was diagnosed with bronchitis today soooo, that may be aiding in the unpopular attitude around here! Even though we've had a few rough patches, she's managed to love on her brother and be a little silly too!
See the hunky little guy...I had him weighed today during Piper's appointment and he's 2 oz. away from being a whopping 18 lbs! Drum roll please!!!! I'm pretty sure we are going to be starting cereal next week!


And, Piper has started to love posing for the camera...silly posing that is!

It's been a pajama kind of week!

Since it has been so cold this week I have not felt like getting out much. We all know that is not like me to get out and be busy!! But, it's been kind of nice and Piper has actually done well with being at home...usually she gets all crazy on me and acts like a wild banshee when she's stuck inside! I think we've been in our jammies two days at least...all.day.long! I've really enjoyed it!
Piper playing dress up!
Briggs in the Jumperoo for the first time. I think his neck is still a bit too wobbly for it!
Daddy has had the opportunity to come home for lunch twice this week! That's a rare treat for us! This is Piper hanging onto his leg w/her fish hat on!
And, today we had our friend, Katie, come over unplanned and we were all still in our pj's! The girls were having fun 'loving' on Briggs until they got a little rough with him and he started crying! As I mentioned in the last post, I dropped his 9 pm feeding and he did great the first night but then nights following not so much! He has awoken anywhere between 4:30am and 5:50am the past 4 nights so I think he still is going to need that 9 pm feeding after all! I'd much rather feed him again at 9 pm then get up at 4:30 am anymore!! Also, Briggs is teething like crazy!!!

Boom-Boom came for a visit!

Well-I'm sure you remember me mentioning Piper's imaginary friend, Boom-Boom before. She actually has several now but none of them are ever in our home. They are usually in Oka-mocha-city, as Piper says. Yesterday, however, we had the pleasure of having Boom-Boom (the most talked about friend) come over while we were eating lunch! So we took pictures with Boom-Boom. Piper gave us permission! As you can tell BB is in between me and Piper below.And, I've got my arm around her/him in the picture below! We thought these would be a great way to embarrass Piper when she's older! Ha! As soon as we got in the car after church, Piper started talking to BB. I turned around to look at her while this was going on and Piper immediately said, "Don't look at me!" I guess conversing with your imaginary friends is a private business! Ha! Of course, we're only fueling the fire by asking her a hundred questions about all of 'them'!!!
After nap time, Piper and Michael went outside to build her first snowman! It snowed all day but not a lot. I think Michael had more fun making the snowman than Piper!
She's all bundled up and didn't want me to take her picture. The picture below cracks me up!! It says, "Oh, come on mom!!"
And, I wanted to leave you with this little bundle of sweet chunky cheeks! I think he tried to laugh yesterday! Last night I dropped his 9 pm feeding and he did great. He ate at 6 pm, went to bed at 8 pm and then I woke him up at 6:45 am! And, just to compare his size to Piper at this point. He's wearing a 6-12 month outfit from Old Navy. Piper had a very similar outfit from Old Navy in the same size that she started wearing around 4 months. He's not quite 3 months and it's not going to fit him long I can tell! Needless to say, he's healthy and such a happy little guy!

The new play house!

Piper and Briggs received a new play house for Christmas and it has been a hit! Piper loves it and has been telling everyone about it. Michael's mom gave him new camping chairs, including little ones for the kids so we put one of them in the house for her and she is right at home I think! Our neighbor kids even saw the house over the fence the other day and came over twice this week and asked to play with Piper. Ha! That was a new experience for me to have someone knock on the door and ask for her to play today!