Levi's First Christmas

This year we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the Austin area. My family came and stayed at our house, and we spent time with my mom's family in Dripping Springs at my cousin's house. Levi got to meet lots of new family members this holiday season!

Blair used the wrapping paper scraps to wrap this present

Grammy and Levi

Meemaw loves little babies!

My "little" cousin Holt with Levi

Levi with some of his presents.

He got a lot of stuff that was still on our registry.

Not very exciting for him but helpful for Mom and Dad!

Chad and Landry, Mat and Levi

After Christmas in Austin, we headed to Kingwood to spend the weekend celebrating with Mat's family.

Aunt Marilee and Kadence snuggling

Grandad and Cameron snuggling

Opening Presents

We are still recovering from all of our fun over the last few days- all 3 of us have colds.

We've spent a lot of time lately doing this:

Merry Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (or George)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there

The children were nestled all snug in their beds (or in Pops' arms)

While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads...

Merry Christmas!

Church

We finally took Levi to church today! He dressed up for the occasion with an adorable tie.

This picture drives me crazy because it is crooked, but it is the only one that turned out somewhat decent. I was trying to do too many things before we left.

Levi did pretty good through the singing but protested just in time for the sermon. It was so good to finally be back at church!

2 Months

Today our baby boy is 2 months old! I can't believe it. We went to the doctor this morning. The two adjectives she used were "gorgeous" and "perfect." :) He weighs 9 lbs. 12 oz. and is 22 inches long. He is in the 30th percentile for both height and weight. He has finally graduated to size 1 diapers, but his newborn clothes still fit best.

The doctor heard a heart murmur but said that this type was very common in newborns. She wasn't concerned and just said it was something for us to listen for at his next appointment. Levi also has a clogged tear duct that she said should close up in the next few months. We love Dr. Spellings. We went today with quite a few questions about sleeping, eating, and vaccinations, and she answered most of our questions before we ever had a chance to ask them!

Levi got his first round of shots today. He was ANGRY while he was getting them but slept for almost 4 hours (without me holding him) afterwards.

Levi is on a good routine of eating, playing, and sleeping every 3 hours. He takes good naps- as long as someone is holding him! I am usually up with him 2 times at night- once around 11 or 12 and then again at 3 or 4. He has definitely become a more efficient eater (which I am thankful for!). The biggest problem at night is that I am falling asleep while he eats!

This month we have started seeing his beautiful smile and hearing him beginning to "talk." I have definitely seen a change in his overall mood. You can see evidence of this in the pictures below! His happiest time of day, and my favorite time, is after he eats his first meal in the morning. He smiles and laughs and enjoys looking around. He has especially loved looking at the Christmas tree and lights this month. He will crane his neck to look at the tree while he eats.

I only have a few more weeks at home with Levi before I go back to work, so I am trying to cherish my time with him. I am hoping that he is able to sleep longer stretches at night soon so that I am not completely sleep deprived when January 4th gets here!

1 Month

2 Months

Levi is staring at the Christmas Tree

(and apparently so is the bear!)

You do what you gotta do...

Levi loves lunges! There have been several days in the last 2 months that Mat and I have done many laps around the living room and kitchen trying to calm Levi down.

Hmm...

I wish I knew what Levi was thinking!

Guard Dog

We've always wondered if George would make a good guard dog. Tonight, while they were on a walk, Mat found out that he would make an excellent guard dog...as long as the intruder was an inflatable snowman. Apparently George spent a lot of time ferociously growling at the Christmas decorations on our street.

Smiles

This adorable smile made its first appearance a few days ago. I spent quite a while today trying to get this picture!

Friendship

Mat and I are both thankful for the friendships we have had throughout our lives. While we were home for Thanksgiving, we got together with some great friends from high school. Some of them we keep up with on a fairly regular basis and some we hadn't seen for years, but we enjoyed getting together and catching up. It was great to hear what everyone is up to and what's going on in their lives. We got to meet my friend Keith's son, Austin, who is only a few days older than Levi!

It was also our first night to leave Levi and be out on our own for a few hours. We left him in very capable hands- Gran and Grandad's. They had all 3 of their grandchildren tonight, and I'm sure the enjoyed their time. I'm also fairly certain they were glad that they got to hand the kiddos off to moms and dads at the end of the night! Mat and I missed our little guy but enjoyed our time with our friends.

Thanksgiving

We spent this Thanksgiving in Kingwood with Mat's family. It was a wonderful long weekend. We loved seeing everyone and getting to introduce Levi to a few family members who hadn't had the chance to meet him yet. I have so much to be thankful for, but this year I am especially thankful for these two guys:

My plan for Wednesday was to get Levi and I packed up so that we could leave as soon as Mat got home and packed. Of course, Wednesday worked out to be one of those days when Levi wanted to eat and cuddle with mom all day long! Mat and I both eventually got packed and got the car loaded up. Packing for this trip was a little different with George and Levi! I felt like I was taking so much stuff, but we used everything we packed for Levi. Our car was packed full! We had the trunk, the passenger seat next to Levi and the floor in the front of the car loaded down. This is what we looked like:

Do you notice anything odd about this picture? Yep, that's right. George rode shotgun, and I rode in the back with Levi. We don't think we can trust George in the back with Levi just yet. We got some funny looks from cars passing by! Once George figured out how to get comfortable, I think he loved getting to spend so much time right next to Mat. Levi did great on his first road trip! He slept almost the entire way (as long as the car was moving).

Levi did well being in new surroundings. He enjoyed having new fans and different shadows to stare at. The family enjoyed getting to spend some time loving on Levi. We stopped by my parents' house so that they could get a little bit of time with him too. We had a great time this weekend with family and friends. It was a great reminder of how blessed we are!

1 Year Old

Today is George's first birthday! Mat calls George the miracle puppy. We got George from my aunt and uncle (they breed labs). They didn't think that George's mom was carrying a litter, but one day Amy came home from school and heard some strange noises coming from the backyard. She thought maybe the dogs had trapped a bird, but when she went back to investigate, she found George barking and the other puppies laying next to him. The other puppies weren't breathing, so Amy did something I don't think I could ever do- clean the puppies off and give them mouth to mouth! She saved the puppies, but George was the hero that let her know something was going on in the backyard.

George LOVES socks, going on runs with Mat, swimming, and being chased. His favorite pastime is to find a sock and have us chase him around the house trying to get it back. George used to love chewing up Bibles, but we've recently found out that he likes Levi's pacifiers. George's most favorite thing though is Mat. If Mat is home, George wants to be right next to him! George can sit, stay, lay down, fetch, drop (but ONLY when there's a treat involved), and go to the hearth and lay down on command.

George and his sisters (Dec. 2008)

Mat and 2 of the puppies (Dec. 2008)

The day he came home with us (Jan. 2009)

Feb. 2009

Camping in Junction, TX (Easter 2009)

Mat and George wrestling (Oct. 2009)

George looks crazy in this picture!

We love George and are so glad that he is part of our family!

1 month

Today Levi is 1 month old. I can't believe how fast this month has gone by! Things around the Kelso house have changed drastically over the last month. We get a lot less sleep, we've only had a handful of meals that we were able to eat together and poor George has had a few less walks, but we love having Levi here with us and feel blessed to be his parents.

We won't see the doctor again until his 2 month appointment, so we don't have any official measurements. He is growing, but he is still little. He is still able to wear his newborn sized clothes. His favorite things right now are to eat and be held! At night he usually sleeps 3 to 4 hours between feedings. (We have had a few nights where he went longer.) During the day he likes to eat every 2 hours and doesn't like to sleep unless someone is holding him. While I do enjoy holding my sweet baby boy, we have to break him of this habit!

**Update** We went to the doctor today (11/19) to have Levi weighed. He now weighs 8 pounds, 3 ounces. The doctor was pleased with his weight gain.

George doesn't seem to mind Levi. The first few days Levi was home we don't think George even noticed there was another person here. Levi's crying doesn't seem to bother George- even in the middle of the night! Some nights, George has slept right through Levi's screaming. The other day, Mat had Levi in the carrier while he was getting George some water. When he looked down, George was sitting next to him licking Levi's foot. I think eventually George and Levi will be good friends.

Here is a picture of Levi and a teddy bear Mat gave me the very first Christmas we were together. You can tell that it was difficult to get a picture of Levi and that he did NOT enjoy the photo session at all!

Brooklyn

Last weekend, our friends Jeff and Mindi, welcomed their baby girl Brooklyn Paige, and we went and visited them in the hospital. We're so excited for the Tipps. It is fun that we have kids that are so close in age. I think that Levi and Brooke will be good friends. (I don't think they'll have much of a choice!)

Mindi and Brooke, Me and Levi

What a Dad!

Mat gave me a little break tonight. He vacuumed the house for our guests and took care of Levi. Levi enjoys the baby carrier, and apparently he likes the vacuum cleaner too. He fell asleep and took a great nap while helping Dad clean up.

Ten years ago today...

I went to Homecoming with Mat's best friend Billy. I had just broken up with my boyfriend (who refused to attend any school sponsored dance), and Mat already had a date for the dance.

Sneaky Mat decided that Billy and I should go together- just as friends. (Mat had ulterior motives!) We ended up ditching our dates and spending most of the dance together. Luckily for us, our dates were great friends and understood!

I'm so glad I've had the last 10 years with Mat! I'm a lucky girl.