Fun at the zoo

Last Tuesday, a group of us got together and went to the Montgomery Zoo. It was A LOT more chaotic than the last time we were all there, but we still had a blast!  So thankful for such good friends!

Playin in the crik

Today my friend April and I took our kids to Monkey Park to play on the playground. There is a nice creek that runs through the park, so we decided to let the kids get in. It was soooooo cold, but for the most part, the kids didn't mind. It was a little crazy with 3 babies, but thankfully the big boys did great playing on their own! We will definitely be back!!

Easter church pictures

I know it will take me awhile to blog with my pictures from my nice camera, so here are a couple of pictures from my phone. Coop was in a horrible mood that day, so just keep that in mind.

So glad to have my parents in town for the weekend!!!

Easter cards

My kids love getting cards in the mail. Coop hangs on to his forever and asks us to read them to him over and over. We can always count on them getting a holiday from their Great-grandmother McCullough. She always sends a sweet card with a one dollar bill. Well today the Easter cards arrived. Both boys played/chewed on their cards for awhile. I'm so thankful we are blessed with such wonderful family!

Chili

Levi has always been a difficult eater. I was going to say picky, but that's not correct. He almost always tries anything I give him. And he usually likes it. But, he will only eat a couple of bites. And then he's done. Well since I found out that he is not gaining a lot of weight, I've tried to be creative about food. Tonight we had chili for dinner. He did great for about 5 or 6 bites. But then he started getting distracted. So I ended up giving him the bowl, which got him to eat several more handfuls. So it's not that he's full, I think he's just ready to get to the next thing. So if I switch up the way he's eating, it is like a new activity.

Levi 9 months

 

Levi turned 9 months old February 14th!  So much has happened between 8 and 9 months.  He now has 2 teeth, he is eating all table food, and he is crawling!  He started crawling right around the time that Cooper started.  I will be interested to see if he starts walking at the same time too!

Right after he turned 8 months, he gave up baby food all together.  I kept trying, but he wouldn’t eat any of it.  He has really taken to table food.  I don’t even have to prepare anything extra for dinner.  Soooooo much better than Cooper at this!  Pretty much the only things I don’t give him are hard things and common allergens. 

He is definitely a cruiser.  As soon as he started crawling, he went right on to pulling up.  He has had several accidents from bumping his noggin.  He seems to have no fear!  And he tries to chase Cooper around and be big like him.  When he pulls up, he likes to let go and stand all by himself.  It is only for a couple of seconds, but it is still scary!

He had his 9 month check up on Wednesday.  This little buddy is a literal little buddy.  His weight was 17.4 (5%) and height was 25% (I don’t remember the exact measurements).  I couldn’t believe that he was only 5% especially since he eats so much table food, but the doctor did not seem concerned.  He said that some breastfed babies are not as chunky.  I’m hoping he will gain a lot of weight before 1 year, but I’m trying not to let it get to me!!  Right now his hand-me-down clothes from his brother are working, but I’m afraid that it won’t last long.  That’s ok.  They are two different people!  Matt and his brother were the very different too!

Sleep was going great!  He slept through the night for a couple of weeks.  It only took one night of sleep training, and he got it!  BUT then he cut his second tooth, and it went to pot!  I decided to wait until after Winterfest to try to sleep train him again.  I’m doing the process right now, so I’m hoping he catches on as quickly as he did before.  A question for other moms:  how do you deal with your child sleeping when they are sick or cutting teeth?  I have never figured this one out.  I always had to retrain Cooper every time.  So let me know what you do!

I love this sweet boy sooooo much!  He gives the best hugs and kisses.  It warms my heart when he does Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, claps, and waves bye-bye.  He is even starting to say Momma!  He is my mini-me and I LOVE it!!

 

Winterfest 2013

This past weekend was Winterfest in Gatlinburg. For those who aren't familiar with Winterfest, it is 12,000 teens from around the south that come to worship God. It. Is. Amazing! This was my first time to go since having children. I probably will not be going again for awhile because children add a new level of difficulty! But I sure did enjoy the worship and lessons by Jeff Walling, Don McLaughlin, and Jonathan Storment. Such great guys!!

But like I said, the children make it hard. The drive is normally long, but add two kids, and we tacked on an additional 2 hours. Not to mention that the sessions are long and some are late at night. Thankfully my mom came with me or I would have gone crazy!!

Proud momma!

So it is hard to tell in the picture, but Coop sorted the blocks yellow, green, red, and blue. He did this without me asking him to. For those who don't know, this was a standard that I had to teach to many children. I'm one proud momma!!

Give me a favor

The other day, Coop climbed into my lap and said, "Mommy, give me a favor?" Meaning do me a favor. He wanted me to get him some animal crackers. I told him no because we hadn't had dinner yet. So he then starts kissing me and telling me that he loves me. Clearly working it!!

Trying to get Levi to crawl

Levi is soooo close to crawling. He is just not putting it all together. So one day I used my phone camera to try to get him to go. Here is the result! Not flattering, but pretty funny!