Happy Outings

Nana bought us all tickets to go see Disney Junior Live!  We met for breakfast downtown and then headed to the show.  Izzie had a marvelous time.  She turned to me in the middle of the show and said, "Mommy!  These are all the guys from my books!"  Probably the only kid in the place that recognized Doc, Sophia and Jake from books instead of tv shows.  That's what happens when you don't have cable!  She was taking it in pretty seriously the whole time, but did manage to bust a move at one point.  The best part was probably when Mickey sat on the box and it broke.  She was retelling that one for awhile!  Isabel also loved the box of m&m's she got for a snack.  She ate the "whole" thing.  Or maybe Mommy dumped some in her purse when she wasn't looking...  To top it off, Callie gave her the souvenir cup she had gotten with her slushie because she didn't want it.  Izzie thought that was pretty awesome.

The next weekend it was off to Rocaberry Farm with the Meyers and my parents.  We had tons of fun eating kettle corn, racing giant tricycles, digging in corn, going through a Disney "haunted" house, feeding animals and picking pumpkins.  Our little darling has become quite the chicken.  She refused to go down any of the slides and wouldn't go on the bouncy pillows.  She just played in the sand next to them until Daddy offered to hold her.  And Levi...well, I fed him when we got there and then he slept snuggled against Mommy for the rest of the time...

Izzie and Daddy Go Camping...

Bryan took our darling camping two weekends ago.  Levi and I stayed home.  Let's pretend that it was because Daddy and Izzie needed some alone time (which they did!), and not that I was too lazy to tag along with a two month old.  The weather was nice, but not quite nice enough to make it fun with a baby.  Izzie and Daddy, however, had a blast!  I talked to her on the phone before she went to bed, and she went on and on forever about everything she'd been doing before saying, "And so... bye." Like, "Kind of busy here, Mom.  Getting awkward...gotta go." 

A walking stick out of Great Grandpa D's collection 

Going on a cabenchure! (adventure)

We made a scavenger hunt before she left, and she and Daddy
went on a hike to find all of the things on her list.

Bryan said she would have probably spent the entire time
throwing sand and rocks in the lake if he would have let her.

Caden and Uncle J stopped by for some of the fun!

A movie in bed?  Doesn't get better than that!

Another adventure the next morning

Izzie had so much fun!  She cried when they left...

Love and cuddles and all things cute

How about a big heaping spoonful of the cutest pictures you've ever seen?!

I'm biased because I am related to all of these people, but I don't care.

(The last three just really take the cake, you have to admit...)

A Side by Side

I don't think we'll have many opportunities for side by side comparisons with these two given that I probably won't dress Levi in much pink and purple.  However, Iz had some gender neutral (and some boy!) jammies that have made their way into Levi's closet.  I put him in these ducky jammies the other day and then remembered a pic of Izzie in them on her changing table.  I quick snapped some photos of him, and when I went back and looked at the date of Izzie's pictures I realized they are within days of being the same age.  Let's pretend I planned that.  When you put these pictures side by side it turns out I am definitely right -- Izzie was way more animated at this age and Levi is way bigger.


She's looking at her bow board.  He's checking out the picture above his changer.


Isabel was SMILEY.  Levi SMILES -- they are planned, well thought out, and short lived.
(Believe it or not, that is actually him smiling.  He takes after his Daddy.)


Did I mention how smiley she was?  And how she cooed?  This boy smiled once and was immediately over it.  This pic is him falling asleep...

And here's a side by side of the striped twins in present day...

We had a couple visits this week from some very special people.  Grandma and Grandpa Harms came to visit and meet Levi for the first time, and of course brought presents and spoiled both children rotten.

And Marcy, one of Grandpa D's dear friends, came for a visit.  We miss him so much, but feel like we get to have a piece of him still with us when we see her!

We Fight Dirty...

So, in the last post I said that the battle for nighttime sleeping was on.  It was not a fair fight.  Levi didn't stand a chance.  We fight dirty--we just flopped that little booger on his tummy and he is now sleeping for 7-8 hour stints at night.  (Thanks to some encouragement from some other mommas!)  And he goes to bed between 8 and 9.  Hahaha!  Victory is always sweet, but even sweeter when your sleep is at stake. (And why is it so satisfying to win battles against your children?  It shouldn't be when your opponent can't form sentences and poops his pants, but it feels so good!)  He's so strong that we don't have to worry about him smothering himself like we did when he was a newborn.  He plants his hands on either side of himself, arches his back, and roars when he's unhappy on his tummy.  So, he's good.

The secret to its success is twofold.  First, little man LOVES to snuggle up against whoever is holding him, so he's used to having his tummy be nice and warm.  (I've developed a seamless strategy for getting him from snuggling in my arms to tummy down on the bed in 0.5 seconds so as to keep that tummy toasty!) Second, he falls asleep instantly when we pat his back to burp him for a bottle.  So even if he's on his tummy and unhappy, we have full access to his back and can pat away until he passes back out.  It's magic.  We realize we did not invent this, but it feels like an amazing revelation for our little family!

In other news, my darling Isabel has inherited some of her momma's rage-aholic tendencies.  I think I am usually pretty go with the flow (here's where you can laugh if you disagree--but remember I'm a rager), but occasionally something random will happen and I will RAGE.  Full on.  Poor darling has inherited that trait.  Combine that with a toddler mentality and a limited ability to manage emotions, and things can get hairy.  Something as simple as accidentally kicking a chair can throw her into a tizzy...

"I just stubbed my toe!!!  This is the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone ever!!!  I'm going to scream and cry and then hit Mommy even though she had nothing to do with this (rage) because I'm so mad about it!  But then I'm going to cry because I hit Mommy and I feel bad (tender heart)!  But when she tries to talk to me about it I will for sure rage again and maybe just spit at her this time so I don't have to feel as bad!"  

This is usually followed by her crumpling into my arms in a heap of exhausted emotion.  And then 10 minutes later she can do a full facial on our hardwood floor while walking in her Rapunzel heels and she barely peeps.  Gets up, brushes herself off and says, "Whoa.  These shoes are slippery."

I was perplexed about this trait when it first showed up in her...until the day when I hit my head while getting something out of the car and slammed the door so hard I think the entire garage shook.  It was like a cartoon where the little lightbulb goes on above someone's head.  I maybe even said, "Ohhhh..." out loud.  I shared my revelation with Bryan, and he was like, "Yeah, you didn't know that?"  Guess it was only a secret to me...

Izzie still is hysterical and cracks me up daily, however.  She has a computer that asks her questions about animals and she has to choose the right picture.  The other day she was talking to it:

What animal like to eat hay?
"Horsey!"

What animal likes to eat seeds?
"Squirrel!"
Oops. Try again.  What animal likes to eat seeds?
(quite irritated) "SQUIRREL!"
I'm sorry.  The answer is mouse.
(angry grunt)

What animal likes to eat bananas?
"ME!"

Funny girl.

I wish I could sleep with this kind of abandon...

First time in the church nursery.  He seems a bit nervous.

Grammy showed them this cool trick with their cookies.

When I said, "Put your shoes on", I did not mean your elbow.

He looks like he's going to take flight

My chubby hamster roommate

Sweet boy snuggles

C H A O S