It has been awhile

It has been some time since we have posted anything on the blog. It is amazing how fast time goes while you are watching your children grow. It is hard for me to believe that Levi will be two at the end of this month and Anna will be four months in just a few short days.

There have been times when I thought oh, I should post this or that but by the time the kids are in bed the thought of having to compose a story just seems too much. This morning Tycen is off to work and both kids are sleeping in so I thought I'd at least jump on and post a few pictures of the kidos .

Levi and Mimi (grandma) at the Ocean - Anna and me at the ocean



Levi playing at the Imagination museum

Anna Levi helping daddy

Jesus

Levi is starting to say words - it is so fun to watch him as he says his little words, some of them being clear as day and others just being the syllables.

One word that Levi can say pretty clearly is Jesus. On his own he associated Jesus with praying and made-up his own sign for praying too. It's cute as we sit down to eat he signs his prayer sign if we haven't prayed before eating.

This morning I was watching an episode of Little House on the Prairie and in one scence Charlies (Michael Landon) prays to God. Levi stopped his playing and looked up at the laptop (our TV) saw Michael Landon and said Jesus. Every time when Michael Landon would appear he would say "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus".

Levi might have some confusion later on in life on who Jesus really is.

Nap time, already?

This morning, as Anna slept, Levi and I got some good mama and Levi time by reading books. We were reading stories for about 20 minutes when he hopped off my lap walked over to his "friends" and said "nigh-nigh".

I asked Levi if it was nap time and he said "yeah".

So we kissed Anna and his blue balloon goodnight and into bed he went - at 11:15 am! (normal nap time is around 1:00).

Anna Lee Stafford

And here she is! Anna Lee Stafford. Born March 7, 2009. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 18.5 inches long. Sonja's water broke at 3:45am and Anna arrived less than 3.5 hours later at 7:08am (fast delivery!). So fast, in fact, that the doctor wasn't there and the nurses had to perform the delivery. Also so fast that by the time Sonja decided she wanted an epidural it was too late and she had no choice but to go natural - she did great! Mom and Anna are doing great.

We picked the name Anna Lee, keeping with our Bible/first name and Family/middle name pattern we started with Levi. Anna was faithful prophetess who worshiped day and night and who saw Jesus as a baby (Luke 2:36-38). Lee is my Dad's first name - a grandpa who's been waiting for a little girl for many years.

Levi's been doing great with it all and seems pretty excited about his little sister - we think he'll really be a big helper once he gets a little older.

And, here are the pictures (click on each one for the complete album):

Anna Lee

Anna - Week 1

Attachment Issues

Oftentimes when parents have a second child, they worry that the first child might have need or attachment issues. We're so grateful that Levi is displaying none of this sort of behavior.



(Okay, so I know everyone wants an Anna post, but I just had to put this up - I'm sure there'll be an Anna post coming soon...)

bye bye bottle

The experts tell us that we should start removing the bottle from our babies around 12 months. Since Levi was 6 weeks early I told myself I really didn't have to start this processes until he was 14 months.

14 months came and went and every time I thought about weening him off the bottle it just didn't seem like a good time. Really, who wants to put their child through the pain and misery of giving up their bottle - I sure didn't.

I knew it was getting bad when Levi started to get attached to his bottle - he really didn't care if he had milk in his bottle or not he just wanted it to hold and carry around and to be able to put it in his month and walk around (I know, that really isn't safe). I also knew I was feeling a little guilty when I would go in for my doctor check-ups and hide Levi's bottle in my bag so my doctor wouldn't see that I hadn't weened him off the bottle yet.

I had packed most of Levi's bottles and put them out in the garage - thinking if we had only a couple then we would most likely get tired of washing them and that would help us (Tycen and me) to stop giving Levi a bottle every time he asked for it.

Fortunately for us Levi has been getting in his 4 eye teeth - which means that he likes to chew on everything and especially his bottle nipples. Yesterday morning we found his last nipple had a rip in it and knew it was time to say good bye to the bottle.

Last night we braced ourselves for bedtime - knowing we could always run out to the garage and get another nipple. We did our bedtime routine - brush, bath, pj's, book, prayers and bed. Things were going well until we got to book time - he usually would get his bottle at this point and last night he was getting a big boy sippy cup. He continued to sit on Tycen's lap as Tycen read him his bedtime story but every time he was offered his big boy sippy cup he would get all stressed out. When we asked if he wanted to say prayers he said "no" - which he always says yes to. We said our prayers, Levi not being excited about it, and Tycen took him to bed. And then we sat and waited for him to cry, throw a fit, scream and call out for us. But we just waited and waited some more. He did make a couple small cries but that was it. He was asleep within 10 minutes!

You're Getting Old When...

The last few nights when we have been out driving I have been at awe at how many shops, restaurants and coffee shops are open so late. That is until I look at the clock and see that it's not even 8:30!

How Old Are You?

The other night Levi climbed into his toy box and was looking mighty cute so I pull out the camera. Levi who is usually more interested in the camera then getting his picture taken surprised Tycen and I - he stopped playing and smiled while we took his picture.



Yesterday, Levi wanted to go outside but he did not have his pants on. So, I told him he needed to get his pants on before we could go outside. He was very adamant about not putting on his pants that I had in hand but wanted to only put on his snowsuit outfit. We put on the snowsuit and went outside :)

You Know You're Tired When...

Yesterday morning I was heading to my woman's bible study, driving our pick-up truck - the truck we love that's a tad-bit noisy and it's for doing dump runs and getting gravel and whatnot's for the house. Anyways, as I was drinking my home-made coffee, in my tumbler, I kept on hearing a noise as I would drink it. I would give it a little shake but I couldn't hear anything. I could not figure it out but finally came to the conclusion that my belly must be getting bigger and coming too close to the steering wheel and when I drink my coffee I must be hitting the tumbler on the steering wheel. Mystery solved, or so I thought.

I get to my bible study find a seat and begin drinking my coffee. Again the noise was there. Again, I gave it a little shake and sure enough the noise was coming from inside the tumbler. Fear of what could be in there runs through my mind - could Levi have gotten to it and put something in there without me seeing? did I pour my coffee over something gross and now I'm drinking it?

I opened the lid to see the tip of the spoon I used to stir in my creamer.

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We are 33 weeks with baby number2. Things are going well for baby and me - I feel good and baby is still growing and being active. Number2 is breached and has been for a couple weeks. Baby will move his/her head up and down my right side during the day but when nighttime comes he/she resumes his/her position - head under my right rib - ouch! If baby is still breached at week 37 we will try to turn the baby. My fingers are crossed that baby will just turn on his/her own or if we have to "help" baby turn that it will be successful. If I go into labor before baby is turned or the turning of baby at week 37 does not go well then the doctor will have to do a c-section. Here's hoping for no c-section!