3 yrs and counting!

Yesterday was Tim and I's 3rd wedding anniversary. I wasn't expecting a whole lot. I guess our trip to the Zoo on Saturday was our outing. This weekend is conference so unless we go somewhere in the morning, it's not an option to go out either. Luckily, I have the BEST husband ever and he surprised me with something anyway. I got off work and picked up Levi, I walk in the door with a baby in one arm and diaper bag and daycare bag in the other. I was overwhelmed, stressed, and ready to relax. To my surprise , however, when I walked in I found my parents sitting on our couches and Tim was dressed up nice. Turns out, Tim had asked my parents to babysit so we could at least go out to Dinner. It was really nice because they watched him at our house instead of us traveling out to where my parents lived, then coming back into Springfield and eating out, then going all the way back to pick him up, then back to springfield again to go home.

We enjoyed a fancy (sortof) dinner at Red Lobster and headed out to Kohl's afterwards. I had a giftcard that a friend of mine gave me for my anniversary ( how sweet is she??) and we ended up not being able to choose anything so we went to the back corner and bought a bunch of toys on clearance for Levi. Tim also bought me some of my favorite movies.. including Wall-E, UP, and Tangled. (I guess Mulan is on the way)

It wasn't a lot, and he didn't spend a huge amount of money on me, but it reminds me of why parents need their own time. It reminds me why a date night without kids is important. To be honest, I would go crazy without those moments of just being alone with Tim for more than a few hours. The best part... there are more anniversaries to come! Probably more kids too, but at least I'll have my "Tim" time at some point during the year.

Zoo photos

Getting more and more acquainted with the camera is so much fun. Our family went to the zoo yesterday and I got some practice taking pictures of wildlife. It was a lot of fun and some of the pictures look like we're only feet away... Oh wait, we are! The Columbus Zoo is fabulous and this year they have the polar bear exhibit. Anyway, of the 300+ pictures we took, here are a few that were my favorite animals. My absolute favorite shots though are of the young male lion, the prairie dog, polar bear, bobcat, chipmunk, flamingo, and the lizard. Lizard was probably my BEST shot of the day. Next up on my aspiring dream to be a photographer, nature and landscapes.

Levi's 10 month photoshoot

Tim and I were always afraid of having an ugly baby and no one telling us. I think it's safe to say that Levi is one cute chunk. Occasionally he DOES have his moments, such as when we're trying to capture him with the camera and comes out looking drugged, drunk, or evil, but he makes up for it with later pictures.

I told Tim yesterday that the reason I know I have a cute baby is because of the way we are complemented when we're in public. When someone smiles and says "he's cute" or "adorable" there can be double meaning. MOST of the time they mean what they say, but if they really thought your baby is funny looking they say that so they have an excuse to stare. Ha ha! My reasoning may seem out there, but I'm sure it happens.
However, on more than several occasions (Which I probably could not count) we've had people almost seem alarmed and say out loud "Oh my gosh! You're baby is SO cute!!" I can't help but laugh and thank them but it really does make me feel awesome inside.

I've told Tim countless times that I really want a NICE camera so that I can take pictures of friends and family, specifically our kids as they grow. We bought one a while back which we thought was going to be a good one. I really wanted a DSLR but we opted to go with a more advanced point and shoot and it happened to be on sale. Well, I regret it from day one. I hate our point and shoot and I want a DSLR. Unfortunately, they are really expensive and the lenses get expensive as well. Tim was really considering getting me a camera (such a great hubs!) for our anniversary until I mentioned something to our bishop today after church. Turns out, he took photography classes from Wittenburg University and had a DSLR camera and said I could borrow it. This is the best outcome we could have had. Now I get to use and get to know a DSLR camera and didn't even have to buy it. Maybe in the future when things are more financially stable, but our Bishop said I could borrow it since he wasn't using it at all anymore. I'm so grateful that this opportunity came up. We went right over after church and took it straight over to a park with Levi and took about 300 pictures. Granted, some are weird, fuzzy, or the baby looks drunk. (Or I just don't like the picture in general) but I posted some of my favorites on our facebook account. I have friends and family who can see facebook, and I have friends and family that can't but can read our blog. SO, since I hadn't posted pictures of Levi to facebook in a while, I made an album there and to make it easy, I'm including the link so that you can view the pictures publicly.

LEVI'S 10 MONTH PHOTO SHOOT!   (<-- click here)

p.s. Did not mean to put him in a shirt with a big 10 on it(10 months), I'm not THAT cliche. I found the shirt for 1.50 at Meijer and grabbed it and he happened to throw up in his church clothes and had to be changed.

10 months today!

My sweet little boy is growing up so fast. Today he is 10 months. He's talking more and more, he pulls himself up on EVERYTHING, he loves to walk with assistance. He's been crawling on all fours for some time now, I just never really documented it. Levi has also had about 3 or 4 haircuts since birth. If you remember, when he was born he had a mohawk. Eventually that hair got really long and stood out about 3 inches above his head. I could've curled it and it would've looked like this.

Since it had still grown the most in the middle, we buzzed it around 8 months to still give him that fauxhawk. Any pictures I have you still can't tell much. He has hair like I do and grows SUPER fast, because a month later he looked like this. (terrible picture, but I love it)

Then we finally took the buzzers to it again. Which by the way, he does great with them. Levi just sits there while I cut his hair, sometimes Tim has to give him something to look at or distract him with because he won't sit for long. What I really mean is that the sound of the buzzers and the feeling of them doesn't bother him in the slightest. Anyway, here he is at 9 months fresh after a haircut, and happy I might add.

He also slimmed down a bit from his chunkiness since he's been so much more mobile. I also tried to take pictures of him this morning, but it didn't happen. One he's way to happy and hyper in the morning, and Two he would just get mad at me when I tried to get him to stay still. It's more of a "I wanna play MOM!!" So here's a video instead. Happy 10 Months!!!

Hooray for families!! I love mine so much!

Tough week

This week has been so hard. I guess the 3 day weekend was placed perfectly. Sunday morning we received a call while at church that my Aunt Denise wasn't doing so well. (Cancer) The call was that we should come to see her. We left right away and spent the rest of the day in Cincinnati with family. Monday was a little better, in fact Tim took me golfing. We went with his Dad and it turns out I'm pretty good. I even beat them both on a hole or two. For a first timer and almost getting par, (I was close, turned out to be a bogey) Not too shabby I'd say. Tim thinks I'm going pro and going to make us millions. Riiiiiiiight. I'm glad I've found something fun to do with Tim that's also relaxing.
That night we came home to find out that Levi is sick. We both had been sick last week. Tim missed 3+ days of work, but I wasn't sick enough to take off. In fact, I didn't get very sick at all. Tim gets sick more often and worse than I do. We knew with a surety that Levi would get sick, and it would've been a miracle had he not. He was really congested, coughing, and having a hard time breathing. The next morning he went to the Doctor, who told Tim there was nothing they could do about it, Tim took matters into his own hands. A few hours later when Levi was still having trouble, he decided it was time to go to the ER. Tim called me around 4:45 which meant I took off a bit early and met him there. After waiting for what seemed to be a lifetime, we were seen, chest x-rays were done. As we sat there with the Dr., Levi's cough seemed to progress into Croup. Seeing that, the Doc gave him a steroid shot which lessened the swelling and he did much better. I guess it was good that we caught it because it really hasn't been that bad and he's sleeping better.
This week would have turned out great, had I not also discovered something else that day. My Mom called me and told me the sad news, my Aunt Denise had passed away. She was such a light in our lives and we would visit her often. She helped us with our wedding rings and helped Tim's brother Greg find his wife's ring as well. My aunt Denise was generous and kind, and took on some of the life's toughest trials. She was a wonderful mother to my cousins who I also love dearly. I can not imagine how they are feeling right now. However sad this news may be, it's a blessing to know that it is not the end. Death is a necessary part of our Father's plan for us and knowing that we will see our loved ones again in the life to come is a wonderful thought. The passing of a loved one can bring great distraught, but great joy also comes from the knowledge  that families who are sealed together will be together for eternity.