This Freezing Cold Week!!

It's been chilly around here and Piper was out of school two days on Monday and Tuesday for a minor ice storm so we might be going craaaazy!  Not really, but a little!  I enjoyed the down time and no scheduled activities! Plus Michael was off work the first day because they didn't open the offices in order to keep everyone safe!   

 On Monday, Piper enjoyed "sledding" down our driveway over and over!  It was all ice, expect for the side Michael salted.  Briggs would not set foot outside.  He and cold weather are not friends.  Not one bit!

 Instead he stayed inside in his jammies all day!  And he loves coloring all of sudden!  So much so, he colors with both hands at the same time!  What does this mean about his level of genius-ness!?!

 Monday, Piper just wanted to play with friends.  The ice day was too exciting to be spent alone with her brother!  Mimi, from down the street, came over for about an hour.  The sledding was too mushy by then so they begged to "create" a recipe.  Together they decided on soup.  It consisted of tomato sauce, carrots, spinach, and broccolli.  They heated it in the microwave and took a bite.  One bite. Because it was just as tasty as it sounds!  Ha!

 We all enjoyed Daddy being home Monday!

 The rest of the week has been spent mostly inside because it is cold.  So I have gotten a lot of snuggle time with this pretty love bug who loves giving me smiles and what sounds like an "almost" laugh!  So cute!

 We haven't settled on a nickname but I've been calling her "the baby" a lot.  Charming, yes I know.  But "Sweet Cheeks," "Love Bug," and "Rosie Red Cheeks" have been used quite a bit.

Briggs has had a couple of playdates this week.  One of which was with his friend, Weston, aka Spiderman!  These pictures crack.me.up!  Look at the giant who needs longer pants!  Hahahahaha!!!

 When I fed them both lunch, I told Weston "You need to take off your mask so you can eat."  But he either didn't hear me or didn't believe me because he kept trying to eat a cracker through the mask over and over as I patiently watched.  Finally he stopped and said, "It's not working."  So without dying laughing I had to remind him to take the mask off.  Silly boy!

2 month Stats

Miss Serious is 2 months old!  Time has flown by.  Which I know I keep saying, but it is so true!  She was vaccinated today for the first time and as usual it was no fun!  She was so mad that she wouldn't even eat afterwards to be comforted.  Emerson weighed in at 12.25 pounds which falls in the 75th percentile. Her height was in the 95th percentile at 24.25 inches.  She's a true Levy!  Her skin is looking to be fair and her eyes appear to be staying blue just like Briggs in both categories!  The hair on the back of her head is still dark brown but on top and on the sides, there is a reddish tint in her hair color.  She is wearing 3-6 month clothing and size 2 diapers.  She has begun to sleep through the night on a mostly consistent basis.  The nighttime fussy/colic stuff has pretty much stopped!!  I lay her down around 8 pm and wake her up around 7 pm.  Her feeding schedule is usually 7 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 4 pm, 7 pm and again at 10 pm.  I will be dropping the 10 pm feeding soon. She has a serious look to her most of the time, but can give the biggest smiles and talks about a storm when in engaged!  She loves her big sister and brother!  And they love getting her to talk and coo!  At two months, she isn't completely laid back like Briggs was but isn't nearly as fussy as Piper was.  She obviously is going to have her own personality and ways of doing things but it is kind of fun to compare and think back how the other two were.  Lately, I've been thinking about future milestones a lot.  For instance Michael will have 12 daddy/daughter dances to attend in a row with no overlap.  When Piper begins middle school, Emerson will begin elementary school.  When Piper begins college, Emerson will begin her last year of elementary.  So crazy to ponder all those details!  But in the moment, right now, we are thankful for this precious gift!

Valentine's Weekend 2015

 To begin the Valentine's Weekend, Piper had a fun class party that I got to drop in on for a few minutes.  It was a surprise to her so she was pretty pumped!  She might have been the loudest one in the class.  Which, should I be surprised!?!  It may be genetic!

 On Saturday, after Piper returned from her sleepover, we loaded everyone in the van to go shop for a washer and dryer!  I really thought the trip might be a disaster considering A) no one in our family likes shopping trips; B) Piper hadn't slept much the night before; and C) Three kids shopping for appliances...fun...not!  However, I am happy to report that it went really well!  Sure, my kids might have been loud a time or two and the baby fussed a lot unless I held her, but we spent almost three hours out and at the end Piper said "That was so much fun!  Thank you for taking us!"  (Insert jaw dropping here!)  You can tell by the picture above, Piper & Briggs were creative with playing in the store!  And I will be getting my new goods at the end of the week!  Yay for a washer that will work properly!

 The rest of the afternoon was spent basking in the beautiful, sunny weather and playing outdoors! Oh, it was gorgeous!  Instead of going out to eat for Valentine's Day, Michael suggested we grill out and have a picnic.  He organized it and I helped. Together we had a meal and a great time with our kids!  We gave them little gifts and just talked and acted silly together as a family.  These simple times are my absolute favorite!  I know later in life I will look back on these moments fondly!  When the sun was setting and we were getting everyone inside to prepare for bedtime, Piper said, "Wow! That was much more exciting than I expected!"  Ha!

 Emerson's first Valentine!

 And selfie city with everyone!

Love these Little Levy's...and the big one too!

Lately...

 Sweet Emerson is growing and changing so quickly!  She has the best smile and coos!  I love having a baby in our home!

 Briggs is just about the best big brother.  He grows more fond of his baby sister every week!

 Piper is relishing in the fact we get to have play dates again in our house.  She invited a friend over on Sunday and they had a great time!

Piper also was invited to Nora's for her first sleep over since we've lived in Texas! Nora's poor parents had to deal with two uber-excited 6 year olds who only get crazier and crazier when they are around each other!  Kate had some funny stories to share!

Uncle Matt and his gang stopped by on Sunday.  Emerson was fussy because her naps were all messed up from church.  The baby whisperer gently got her back to sleep!  He's welcome every Sunday afternoon now!

All about Pipes!

Piper lost a second tooth this past week!  It really wasn't ready but she wanted it out.  I think because other friends of hers have lost several of their teeth already!  I'm glad it's out because we have a dental appointment coming up and there is a tooth coming in right behind there so it was going to need to be pulled pretty soon.  This saved us some time, money and tears with Dr. Fluellen!  She did come home one day and say "Nora's daddy pulled her tooth out and she didn't even cry!"  So Michael agreed to pull it but he got these little pliers out and worked on it.  I could hear the drama unfolding while they were in the back of the house!  At one point, a tearful Piper came to me and said "Mommy I need a hug!"  So I gave her a hug and she went back.  Then a second time she came running to me and said, "I need one more hug!"  So I gave her a second hug and then minutes later I heard the screaming and crying that follows a tooth being pulled!  She wanted to be brave and do it it like Nora I think!  After a few moments of screaming and crying, she was happy and so proud of herself once again!  

 Piper was picked to be Star Student of the Week this past Friday.  The Star Student gets to bring home Wally.  This shaggy lion that I wonder if it has been washed!  And she'll get to do some fun things every day in class as Star Student.  aka...homework for mommy!  Yay!

On Superbowl Sunday, we had some families come over.  There were 16 children ages, 9 and under at our house!  Beforehand, Piper taped a few notes on her door.  The second one cracked me up!  "Stop in the name of 'the' love!"  Hahaha!!!

Some notes on P:  Her teacher is on maternity leave and she's cried a handful of times that she misses her.  Piper gets attached to people easily and quickly!  She already loves the substitute as well!  She is definitely a social butterfly and very loud and very vocal about what's happening in her life.  Sounds a lot like mommy!  She likes being a big sister who shares a room with a baby!  And I pray these girls will be best friends!  Sisters are the best!  Piper is independent but wants to please you and tends to be a follower.  She is a great eater but really loathes applesauce, mashed potatoes, and bananas!  She loves being active-riding her bike, scooter, climbing trees, running, and playing soccer!  We loves our Pipesy!  

Briggs

Briggs has been a lot of fun lately!  He is really a big kid now!  I still think of him as a two year old a lot of times but he's not!  His mind is always thinking and he is soaking everything up!  He's finally begun to tell me things he's learning at school and he is becoming quite vocal about what he wants or needs.  And he is starting to tell me things he remembers from a year ago!  Which I feel like it has taken forever for him to verbalize his memories!  Actually, he's becoming a chatterbox like his sister and his mama!  Michael has no hope for a quiet house!  

 On the last day of January I took Briggs and Emerson to the Perot museum.  Our membership expired that day and I'm waiting to see if I want to renew it.  I think I probably will because Briggs loves it so much.  He calls it the "Heerow" museum and absolutely loves the dinosaur floor!  Dinosaurs are one of his favorite things!  A week after taking Briggs to the Perot, out of the blue, he said "Thank you for taking me to the Heerow museum mommy.  I wuv the dinosaurs!"

 He really loves his buddy Asher and after having Emerson, he talked a lot about missing Asher!  We finally had Asher over to our house several weeks after Emerson was born!  Briggs almost didn't remember how to act when we have a guest.  He was so excited about it, that he was almost annoying Asher with everything he did!

 Recently he came down with some flu-like virus.  He was miserable!  And his eyes looked awful!

 His second favorite buddy would be Yellow Bear!  He received Yellow Bear (yes, that is his name!) when he was born from a friend in Ardmore and he's a fixture in our family now after 4+ years!

Right now Briggs is 41 pounds.  I do not know his height.  He loves ninja turtles, cars, Legos, robots, super heros, talking about the "Earf" (earth) and asking who made the sun, clouds, etc!  He is a smart little cookie! He's pretty much a terrible eater and loves to stress his mama out in that area!  But we are working on it!  He loves his sisters.  He wants Daddy to read him his bed time story and tuck him in every night!  And, I think he might still need mommy to put his tennis shoes on when he's in 5th grade!  We are working on that slowly as well!  He is in a big boy booster seat now with the regular seat belt.  And, we are working on learning some letters here and there!  I cannot believe we only have one more school year together at home!  I love my Briggsey Bear!

Daddy Daughter Dance 2015

Michael and Piper attended their second Daddy Daughter Dinner and Dance this year!  Piper was so excited about it!  They rode go carts and played at the arcade before coming home to get ready for the ball!  Michael said she had a lot of fun playing with her friends and dancing!  It's so sweet they get to do this together!

 All the first grade girls in attendance...