Levi, Daddy and the snow

Below are pictures of Levi and Daddy in the snow. We weren't out for too long because it was so cold and we did not dress Levi for the cold cold weather (we were trying to get a quick self-family-portait in the snow...but Levi was not interested in that plan). Levi liked the snow as long as he didn't fall - the snow is too cold on his little hands. I think we'll need to invest in some gloves for the little guy.

Levi and Teddy

Levi got a teddy bear for his birthday (back in July) from buddy Michael and buddy Tifani. Today he was hanging out with Teddy.

The video is a little long, but pretty sweet at the end when Levi adheres to the strict rule of "leave no teddy behind". Also, it's amazing to see Levi sit still for that long.

Not Chiropractor Recommended

We love sneaking in to take a peek at Levi at night when he's sleeping. He gets into the craziest positions - on any given night he can travel from one end of the crib to another because he tosses and turns so much in his sleep. Tonight's peek was too sweet not to share.

The shot from above doesn't give the full elevation effect, so I had to get a more horizontal shot.

Fall and Baby #2

Mom suggested that I should take some pictures of Levi in the fall leaves. So I attempted to do this yesterday. It is a little challenging to take pictures of Levi because he does not know what being still is and he also LOVES the lens cap on the camera, which is attached to the camera and is always danging below it. Once he sees the lens cap he smiles real big and starts toddling over to "get" it and then leads the lens cap, camera and person taking the pictures to wherever his hearts content.

I did manage to get a couple pictures that were not blurry.

We had a doctor check-up for baby #2. Baby is 22 1/2 weeks old and everything sounds good and is going good ~ yea! In all honestly, I'm a little nervous about this baby - baby #2 is always moving. We are hearing the same thing at each appointment when a nurse or doctor has to look or listen for baby, "wow, this is an active baby!" "oh, I'm having a hard time keeping up with this one." "this baby is on the move". When I hear them say this I am happy to know that we have a healthy active baby and then I wonder how much coffee am I going to have to drink to keep up with these two kids?! I just have to remind myself that baby will not come out running - at least I hope not :)

Now for those pictures

Giddy Up

Today Levi discovered the joy of a rocking horse.

Just one more reason to kill the TV

Every once in a while I miss having a TV (we stopped watchingbroadcast/cable TV about 18 months ago - although we still watch a few showsonline).  But, despite all the other reasons why TV isn’thealthy, the article below is just one more reinforcement of how much crud itcan bring.  Sorry, Levi and Number2, but I hope you learn to love reading.

 

Study: Sex on TV linked to teen pregnancies

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27506234

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Levi, Levi, Levi - what are we going to do with you?

Since we have been back from Iowa our little son likes to wake-up at 5:00am and be held, fed, rocked and song to for no less then 1 hour and then awakes 30 to 45 minutes after I crawl into bed. Though it is sweet and I enjoy our morning quiet time together, I am getting quite tired. Very tired.

There are a few solutions I could be doing to help this out: (1) I could go to bed earlier (2) take a nap during the day (3) let Levi cry it out.

I have good intentions of going to bed early but a book will usually sidetrack me. Taking a nap has happened a couple of times and we have actually been trying to do #3 - crying it out.

Last night we were going to be strong and let him cry it out ~ he does need to learn how to put himself back to sleep. Last night, as Tycen and I stayed up till 11:30 (that's late for me), I prayed that Levi would just sleep through the night. My prayer was not answered.

He woke-up at 1 am-ish. We let him cry for 30 minutes. Then Tycen got up with him held, fed, rocked and song to him and he feel asleep in his arms but once he was laid in his crib he awoke and started crying again.

We let him cry for another 30 minutes. I was tired. During the 30 minutes I could hear him crying and I kept on dreaming that I was getting up and taking care of him only to wake-up to find myself still snuggled in my warm bed. We both got up - for reals, not dreaming, and held, fed, rocked and song to Levi and again he feel asleep in our arms. We were crawling, and I was almost crying with tiredness, into our bed at 3:18.

Levi, our sweet sweet son, what are we going to do with you?

Pictures and video of our sweet Levi

Our Little Sock Monkey

We took Levi out tonight for Halloween.  He was prettyadorable (we’re biased, we know).

Click here to download:

VID 00001.3GP (5600 KB)

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things ~ by Levi


Puppies and kittens that give little kisses;
Grayish-white rocks with so many to choose from;
Bright sunny days that turn into cool evenings;
These are a few of my favorite things

When it’s nap time
When I’m told no
When I’m feeling sad
I simply start doing my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

Pulling the garbage can and closing the dishwasher;
Apples and blue bucket and fast yellow slide;
Tiny toy cars that go zoom and birds that are flying;
These are a few of my favorite things

When it’s nap time
When I’m told no
When I’m feeling sad
I simply start doing my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

Hugs and sweet kisses from mommy and daddy;
Grandmas and Grandpas to love me some more;
Nieces and Nephews to teach me bug catching;
These are a few of my favorite things

When it’s nap time
When I’m told no
When I’m feeling sad
I simply start doing my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

Perspective

Said by a 3 year who didn't want to eat his lunch: "Your bowl's all empty and my bowl's all empty too."
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Ninja Cat

This was a pretty funny video - especially as it got closer to the end. Reminded me of playing "Red Light Green Light" as a kid.

Levi likes his new car seat

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Two cute ones of the boy sleeping

Last night with Puppy & Teddie and today during nap time.


--Hastily sent from my Blackberry--

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

To be a Mom

Today as I was changing Levi's diaper he decided that he did not want to lay down anymore (this is pretty common) and he stood-up like a pro. I am getting pretty good and fast on putting on a clean diaper. This morning, though, he decided that he wanted to get close to me before I had the chance to put his diaper on. As he was approaching me he started peeing and as I am trying to hold him back with one hand, I am trying to catch the pee in the other. Oh, to be a mom.

In other news: Levi learned today that when he hits his head on the door it makes a cool sound. He was proud of himself for making this new noise and I think he would have continued to bang his head on the door all morning if I had not picked him up and distracted him.



I just realized that I did not have any good pictures of Levi for this last month - most are blurry or is the back of him. He is on the go constantly. But here's a little video of him playing in the toy car.

Coolest Vendor Swag Ever

I love my job. I especially love it when I get free stuff from vendors.
Some people don't like to sully themselves with vendor swag and I can
appreciate their position on that. But, I'm also a little cheap, so I'll
take free stuff when I get it. If a vendor thinks trinkets and food will
buy my loyalty more than competitive prices and good service, well that's
just dumb. I'm happy to take the trinkets and food, though - I figure it's
built into the cost of the products I buy anyway.

And, so, about every month or so I get a free lunch from one vendor or
another. I took Sonja and her parents to the new Indiana Jones movie at a
nice theater in Bellevue (and they gave us each a $10 concession stand gift
card) - all on a vendor. A vendor one time even sent me an iPod Nano (a
partnership promo with HP).

But, today when I got back to my desk after a meeting, there was a rather
large box in my chair. The return address was from AT&T. I didn't order
anything from AT&T (personal or business). Nor did my co-workers. So, I
opened it up. And found the coolest vendor swag ever! A remote control
race car - replete with my name on it!

Of course, as you can see, they didn't send the remote for it. To get that
I need to meet with them and hear about their offerings. The kicker is that
I'm not the one with buying authority! They should have sent it to my boss
(not sure how they got me as the contact on it). And, some Google searching
finds that the car can be bought a handful of places for around $40 (with a
remote!), so it's not like it's super expensive swag. But, still, they get
some style points for sending me a remote control car. Especially one with
my name on it!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Signs From the Lord?

I think the Lord is giving Sonja and me a sign*. Yes, Lord, we will obey.

*Actually, I’m not that big on “signs” from the Lord. I think God does definitely give people “signs”,but I don’t think they’re vague impressions that are open to interpretation that people tout out today and use as excuses for all kinds of random activities. Examples from the Bible show that when God showed a “sign” to someone, it was usually miraculous in nature and could mean nothing but a direct message from God - and it often came with much fearand even once a talking animal. Greg Koukl has a great talk about this called Decision Making and the Will of God - or better yet, but the whole Ambassador Basic Curriculum set. The pictures above actually have a very good explanation - a couple days ago I was browsing on Travelocity’s site for tickets from Seattle to Des Moines. With user tracking and cookie technology today, these adds are no surprise at all. But, humorous nonetheless.

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Gmail tells you when someone else is in your account

Also saw they have a new spell checker interface.  All kinds of new stuff!

 

 

 

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Real Programmers Use vi

Saw this license plate - made me think of @dave_nash and Nate A. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous

Levi's Birthday Week

So, we had a 1st birthday party planned for Levi but the week before he wasn't feeling well. Tycen and I debated about what to do but when his fever was staying around 102.5 the day before his party, we figured we better cancel. His fever broke early Sunday morning.

Being mom and a little emotional that this was my sons first birthday, I still wanted to do something. Levi was feeling better on Sunday. Tycen's parents were in town my parents stopped by with cupcakes and we had a small birthday celebration. It was nice

birthday boy

Thursday Levi and I went raspberry picking with Granny (my mom). He was such a big helper - he would taste test the berries, see if they were good squishing berries and also see if he could tip the box of berries over. He really did good just hanging out between mom and Granny.

Levi is most happy when he is outside. He can be playing contently inside but when he sees the door open he will make his break for the outside. Lucky for me he is fascinated with the outside faucet, old wishing well and the rocks around it.

New Slide

Levi enjoying the new slide Grandma Don got for him. As soon as we finished putting it together, he climbed right up it like he had done it a dozen times before.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted by email from Tycen's posterous