Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Thank you Megan for the beautiful pictures of our family!

Nativity

It is important to us that Levi understands the meaning behind all of our celebration at this time of year, and it has been neat to see him understanding the story of Jesus' birth.  He is able to tell the story (with help and sometimes a few strange changes...) and has loved playing with his Little People Nativity set.

He even walked around the other day with Baby Jesus saying, "It's ok Baby Jesus.  Don't cry."

Did you know that the Three Wise Men actually brought a truck full of gifts to Baby Jesus?

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."  

Luke 2:10-11

Christmas Traditions

Mat and I have really enjoyed starting some of our own family traditions with Levi this year.  Although this is his third Christmas, this is the first Christmas that he actually understands what's going on!  

Our elf, Clark, visited us for the first time this year.  Clark is a mischievous elf, and Levi has loved waking up in the mornings (or sometimes after nap time!) to find where Clark has moved.  

Did you know that there's also a movie to go along with the Elf on the Shelf book?  We do.  We've watched it approximately 80,000 times over the last 22 days!  YIKES!!  

We also decorated a gingerbread house.  Mat made an excellent executive decision this year and bought a pre-built gingerbread house.  Levi pointed out where he wanted icing, and I followed directions.  Levi did allow me to had to add a few of my own touches.  :)

Look at that concentration...

 And of course a little taste test

He had so much fun decorating but was a little disappointed when he didn't actually get to eat his creation.  (We had decorated cookies the day before, and I guess he thought this was the same type of activity!)

We haven't done everything we had hoped to do- our trip to Burnet to see Bethlehem got rained out, we missed a trip to Santa because we were sick, and we still haven't made an official trip to look at Christmas lights.  BUT- we have had lots of fun with our little guy over these last few weeks.

Camping

A few weeks ago we went camping with several other families from church.  Friday night was C-O-L-D, but we survived.  It warmed up on Saturday and ended up being a beautiful day.  We took a little hike up to the falls and enjoyed some time away from our normal life.

Enjoy some photos of our fun weekend (courtesy of the very talented Megan Drennon)

Making cupcakes

Helping Dad pack up the tent

The family we shared a site with brought their dog Maggie (a collie) with them.  I guess since Maggie was smaller and furrier than George, Levi thought she was a cat!  While we were having church, Levi dropped his graham cracker, and Maggie quickly snatched it up.  Levi looked surprised, and said, "That CAT ate my cracker!"

Levi came home very dirty and with a few new bumps and scrapes, but on the way home today he told us that he had a fun time camping.  I can't wait for our next trip!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our little turkey!

Look what I found...

a cord!

He is his father's child...

I see so much of Mat in Levi- more than just the way he looks!  

He's a daredevil,

he enjoys sporting events (not for long, but he does love them),

he loves this particular children's atlas,

(If you don't know Mat very well, he is obsessed with all things maps...)

he loves to go FAST,

he's very particular about certain things,

and he loves his musical instruments.

I love my guys!

Arrrrgh Matey!

This year Levi's birthday party was all pirate!  

Pirate ship cupcakes

I asked Mat to build us a cardboard pirate ship, but his vision was much grander than my original thought.  It was a hit!  The kids loved steering the ship and walking the plank.

We also had buried treasure for the kids to hunt for.  Kennedy and Lleyton were the oldest kids here.  They were great about finding the treasure, and then making sure that all of the littler kids had enough in their bags too.  When Mat went to dump out the sand he said they had found every last piece of treasure except for two gold coins!

We enjoyed having friends and family here to help us celebrate our sweet little guy.  He got lots of cool new toys- an art easel, a new kitchen and food, a guitar and a drum, a grill, vacuum cleaner, and lots of fun new Cars toys.  This was the first time that Levi actually got into opening his presents, and he loved them all!  He has kind of been on toy overload for the last few weeks.  He starts playing with something, and then turns around and finds another new toy to play with!  Happy Birthday, Levi!

Happy Halloween

from our little parrot!

Thanks, Megan, for sharing your pictures! 

Our Little Professor

A few months ago Mat and I started noticing one of Levi's eyes was weaker than the other and would float towards his nose.  We first started noticing it in pictures when he was looking right at the camera.  Then we started to see it when Levi was really tired, but lately it started happening more and more often.

At Levi's 2 year well check Dr. Spellings sent us to see a pediatric opthamologist.   He said that Levi has strabismus, but that it could be corrected without surgery until the age of 9.  His first plan of action is glasses.  We'll go back to see him in January to see how they are helping.  It's also possible to use an eye patch or even dilation to help strengthen his eye muscles.

What a cute little professor!

This is an issue that can be easily fixed (and there is nothing seriously wrong with Levi's eye), but it has still been a hard transition for all 3 of us- especially Mat and I.  I don't think Levi ever had any chance of not having glasses- every one in our family does- I just didn't expect for it to happen at 2!

When Mat brought the glasses home, I fully anticipated a huge battle.  It hasn't been a walk in the park, but it has been much easier than I expected.  He has worn them on and off all weekend.  Saturday he was willing to wear them as long as he had his fedora on, so he got to wear his fedora every where we went!

Spaghetti Night

Levi loves spaghetti night!  This particular night, he had spaghetti and blackberries.  He looked like he had war paint on and was ready for battle.

2 Years Old

Dear Levi,

I absolutely cannot believe that you are two years old.  I feel like just yesterday I was laying in bed- not sleeping- the night before you were born.

You are an amazing little boy, and you keep us entertained!  You are a bundle of energy and run everywhere you go.  You especially like to run laps around the house while yelling "I runnin Mommy!  I runnin!"

In the last few weeks you have really become interested in pretending.  One of your favorite things to do is build little "forts" of toys around you.  You usually call these forts cars, and you like to get in them, buckle your seat belt, and say "Bye, Bye Mommy!  See you later!"

You also like to get my mixing bowls and spoons out while I cook.  You line them up on the ottoman, stir, and taste test.  Typically, you don't do anything for long before you move on to something else, and when you're cooking, you usually end up using your spoons as drumsticks!

Over the last month you have also become completely obsessed with the Cars movie and the British cartoon Kipper.  Kipper is about a dog and his friends doing normal things, but you think it is the funniest thing you've ever seen.  The other day Kipper and Tiger were swinging, and you were rolling on the ground laughing.  I love listening to that little belly laugh.  It can always put a smile on my face!

You amaze us with the things you know.  You know all of your shapes and colors and you even know what an "L" looks like.  You love to get your little magna doodle and have someone write your name on it.  You also love to turn your food into shapes.  You'll take a bite, and say, "Look, Momma!  It's a car!"

My precious little fireman with his "punket"

We also have to be very careful now about things we say because you are a little parrot and repeat everything!  The other day we were in the car heading to meet Daddy at dinner, and you started screaming "Move over lady!"  Oops...

The other day you were sick, so I snuggled you a little bit longer than normal before I laid you in your bed.  As I sat there with you, I thought about one of my high school friends' mom.  Whenever we were at her house she would make us cookies and tell us in her thick Southern drawl that we were "precious angels from Jesus."  I get it now...you are my precious angel from Jesus.

Levi, we love you more than we can say.  You melt our hearts with the precious things you say, you keep us laughing with your goofy little personality, and sometimes you make us grit our teeth in frustration.  You are an amazing little boy, and we can't imagine life with out you!

Love,
Mommy