the world according to the walkers...

alllll RIGHT ALREADY!!

2009-05-04T20:29:00.003-05:00

lately, i have had several people mention to me, in a not-so-subtle-way ("uh, darby, you're a bad blogger." ah-HEM, you know who you are), that i haven't been the greatest at keeping up with my blog lately. and of course, i agree. it's pitiful. ridiculous. obsurd. but to my credit, i have looked at every pregnant girl's blog on my bloglist (amanda, megan, jen, emilie) and with the exception of kimberly, NONE of us have updated in the last 2 weeks at least. how can she throw them under the bus like that," you might ask???? well, it's because i am the worst of them all. so, that's how i justify ALL of our less-than-frequent updates. now...on to our life lately

my little baby boy turned TWO today. we woke up and had breakfast donuts, spent time with daddy before he went to work, and sang "happy birthday" over and over to our little audience. he would clap after each rendition and say "again!" it was great. his birthday party is coming this weekend and i'm SO EXCITED about having his friends over to play on his NEW SWING SET!! pops and gramsy (my parents) decided to get levi a little outdoor fun this year, and he is already loving it!!! it's going to be lots of fun in the summer months ahead, but i do confess that as a mom, i'm a little nervous about how adventerous levi is. he has already - in the last day, mind you - tried multiple ways to jump off the top fort. he has no fear whatsoever. so, we will just keep bandaids, popsicles, and blankies on hand at all times and we should be ok ;)

going back some, MY SISTER MARRIED HER BEST FRIEND on the 25th of april!! their wedding was incredible! great wedding, reception, dance, food, photographer ;0, music, friends, family, and ring bearers (levi and "cousin major" were the most handsome boys at the wedding)! it was a blast - kelsey and tanner - i am so happy for you guys and am so excited that you are MARRIED and getting to "do" life together as husband and wife! tanner hal easley - you have made my sister one happy girl and i am so glad to have you in our family now!! you guys are the best.

we also got to see grandma and grandpa edwards, who brought so many goodies to levi and me (but since i'm pregnant, none of the clothes fit ;( sad sad day when you have to turn clothes away), and with them, they brought cousin jenny and her little boy charlie!! after the boys got used to each other, they played all KINDS of games together! it was SO GREAT to see all of you, i just wish it could have been lots longer!

anyways, just some of whats gone on lately. i have been feeling better, not normal by any means, but better. i only have a couple of days left in my first trimester, so i am hoping that in the next couple of weeks, all sickness with be outta here! heres a video of levi seeing his swing set with the slide on for the first time!! he had to be so patient for 2 days while he watched this present go up piece by piece. he just couln't wait for the slide to be attached! big toys for big boys!!!

you're so smart!!!

2009-03-30T18:31:00.002-05:00

yes!! we are pregnant with our SECOND baby! as of today, i am 6 1/2 weeks. we will have this baby, with the Lord's grace, around November 20th..right before thanksgiving! what a gift to be thankful for! i can't wait! i can't wait to see what this little ones personality will be, what they will look like - will they look like levi and clayton, or will you be able to see some of me in them - will levi be excited at first or apprehensive...the list goes on and on. i will comprise a list of them all soon - just for me to remember after the baby is here. i DO think it's probably another little boy, but God could surprise us!! who knows! when i was pregnant with levi, i was NEVER sick. i never felt naseous, never gagged at any smell, and never threw up. all i wanted to do my first trimester was eat. i was CONSTANTLY hungry. however, this pregnancy is stacking up to be completely different. i have been naseous since thursday. i have gagged at brushing my teeth, changing levi's poopy diapers, and any random smell in my kitchen. and in keeping with the contrast in pregnancies, i have hardly eaten anything - except bland food, peppermints and now preggie pop drops. so maybe it's a girl...????? but the male genes are pretttty strong in the walker family, so we will see.

thanks for all the congrats - we couldn't be more excited or more thankful for this little life that God has shared with us. i'm just ready for him/her to be here!!! is that being impatient? um, maybe a little.

secrets....

2009-03-19T12:05:00.000-05:00

i know something you don't know....

can you guess what it is?

security

2009-03-05T22:34:00.003-06:00

there are times in my life when God makes it so plain to me that i need Him. not just his grace or mercy or gifts...things that are easy to take for granted, but times that in my soul, i crave my Savior. there are times when things get so hard and so frustrating that all i want is for Him to save me from it all. yes, i wish that trials would just go away, who doesn't? but i'm talking about when you know you need rescuing and there is only One who can do it. who in the midst of all the chaos and confusion can settle the waves and put peace back into my heart. i LOVE that i have a SAVIOR - i love that he knows me in the most intimate ways, can sympathize with my weaknesses and failures, and more importantly - will stand on my behalf to intercede for me. these are the times that i long to know Christ more, when it seems like everything in me is yearning to just be in His presence. i hate these times, but i cherish them endlessly. i am so thankful for my salvation. so grateful that i have the savior of the world as my confidant and husband. and in all my thankfulness for having that relationship with Him, almost instantly i feel this ache for the lost. for people who have yet to know Him or have turned in outright rebellion from Him. Lord, my heart is torn when people haven't found your hope. thank you for being my savior - for taking my awful, wayward, rebellious heart and promising to transform it into your likeness. jesus - thank you for never being overwhelmed by my needing you.

introducing...mowgli

2009-01-27T20:34:00.003-06:00

this is a video of levi "playing" with his pet mowgli - the beta fish. thank you grandma and grandpa edwards for this wonderful christmas gift - levi absolutely adores him! he fell in love with "bish" after nemo became a regular at our house, so having a fish to feed and watch at the house anytime has been a blast!

this weekend was a looooong one! clayton got sick with some sort of bug saturday night, and finallt felt good enough to go to work today. so we didn't leave the house from saturday afternoon until tonight - can ya say cabin fever!?!? we needed to leave so bad that we decided to take a family trip to target, only to find that the patty wagon ( our affectionate name for the pathfinder) wouldn't start. so we put the car seat in claytons monster truck (NEVER an easy task) and took off for a 45 minute outing. other than that, things around here have been pleasantly normal. oh, and just so you know, mowgli was not hurt in ANY way - well, not that we know of ;)

and by the way, is it just me, or do fish have personalities?!?! i swear our fish loves my company. or maybe being in the house all weekend is just catching up to me - mentally. what do you think?

boys make noise

2009-01-15T21:08:00.004-06:00

apparently i'm banned from uploading videos right now and i'm ticked off - i have the greatest video ever and it wont let me upload it!!! argh! so i'm writing this in an embittered attitude. so if i can't upload the video i want, then i wanted to share with you a video of how i feel....this is older-right after levi started walking-old, but still, it represents my frustration well ;0

we have been great this week - levi has a little cold and had to stay home from parents day out, but is feeling better. instead we went to sonic to get some smoothies and hung out by the fire while watching veggie tales! coolest mom ever?!?!?! i think so. ;)

yes, yes. i know.

2009-01-09T17:41:00.010-06:00

"choo-choo"
on the polar express in durango

ok, i have to explain, i was trying to make a sorority face, and this is what happened. clearly i was never in a sorority, but i laugh everytime i see this. so go ahead, laugh at my expense ;)

my new decor...thousands of army men.

its been awhile. but lets move on from that. no one likes to live in the past, right? uh, yea right. it has been such an amazing couple of weeks - christmas was an absolute blast this year. my sister and her fiance came to stay with us for a week and we baked the ENTIRE week....ya know, the stuff memories are made of. levi had a blast opening presents and got so many great toys - we are defin cleaning out the house and putting younger toys in the attic - whew! can't wait for that saturday project. clayton and i went skiing with our college ministry last week, and clayton fell directly on his right hip and had a muscle contusion as a result. the poor guy was unable to walk, sleep, move, anything. he was miserable - but over the last couple of days he has started to feel much better - THANK GOODNESS! another update - we have decided to buy the house that we have been renting over the last 2 years!!!! we are so excited and can't wait to make it our own - which means lots of do-it-yourself projects, but it will be so great to know that we did it together as a family. i will acutally post pics of before and after bc i love junk like that. anyways, just a quick update, and now, here are a few pics from the last couple of weeks, er uh, maybe months. ;)

like mother, like....son?

2008-10-16T15:22:00.007-05:00

i got these pictures from my mom today and couldn't resist putting them up! i have a million pictures of levi with everyone else in our family, but not many with just us two...so i had to share them! i loved looking at them to see how similar our mannerisms are, and i wanted to put them up so i could look at them often....can you tell we hang out a lot?? ;)

TAG I'M IT!

2008-10-06T20:13:00.007-05:00

yay! i was tagged to list some of clayton's favorite things..so here we go!!

good food

taking levi to PDO

snowboarding

his little boy

apple products

a couple more: dr. pepper, outback cheese fries, and shoes!!

i tag jen colley, emilie, and amy cooper!!

Manly Men

2008-10-05T20:50:00.003-05:00

So levi's little buddy carter came over for some bonding time this weekend, so i thought you might enjoy watching them work on the workbench together! these two spent nearly an hour playing only on the workbench...just gruntin away! thank you g-daddy for the most amazing workbench in the world!

little catchin' up to do

2008-09-26T22:35:00.004-05:00

well, so i started looking through the millions of pictures that i can't seem to delete off my camera (little sentimental i guess) and i decided to share some of the stories that i was too lazy to post when they actually happen. as if you can't tell, i've had trouble being motivated to blog, so i did what every blogger does when your in a rut....you get a new background. so - check. got the new background and i'm hoping that it will motivate me to blog just so i can look at all the pretty colors! :P i do however, keep up with everyone else still and even get frustrated when one of my regulars hasn't updated in awhile..if that's not hypocracy i don't know what is! ha...so i'm calling my own kettle black, and updating my blog...lets see, what story should i share...ah, yes. how bout when i accidentally locked levi in the car.

disclaimer: this story will make much more sense if you know that we do NOT have a home phone...

one afternoon after levi and i had run a couple of errands, we pull into the driveway and park in the garage...just hanging out in the car for a second having a conversation. so for a couple of minutes i let levi have my car keys because he loves to jingle them as hard as he can and we are just sitting in the car together so nothing can happen, right? right. so far so good. well, after a little bit i decide it's time to go in so i automatically go into "get levi ready for his nap" mindset...i don't really know what that is, but it's a place in my mind and i definitely go there often. so in my "mindset" i open the door to my car and as SOON as my door shuts...not even 1 second after the door latches...i hear all my doors lock. all of them. levi had somehow pushed the "lock" button on my keyless entry and he had in the span of 1 second, separated himself from me in the most heart-wrenching way. BUT as i hear all the time from people in stressful situations, i told my self to stay calm...breathe darby. think. ok. so he's locked himself in the car. no, i really locked him in the car because of my bad parenting...ok no time for self destructive thoughts....think logically. ok. check for a spare key. crap. we never had a spare key made. ok plan b....just call a locksmith. they can come out and pop the door open soon. besides levi is ok, the garage is cool, and he's already starting to doze. ok. where's my phone. WHAT! WHERE IS IT? oh no. it's locked in the car with levi. ok. ok. ok. breathe. ok. alright levi has fallen asleep. i'll just run to my next door neighbors house and ask to use their phone. ok. ah, poor baby, i'll be right back. ok. knock knock knock....no answer. ding-dong. ding-dong. wait just a second and let her get to the door darby. uh ok. she's not answering. i'll run across the street. ok knock knock knock. waiting, waiting. no answer....ding dong. DING-DONG!!! where are all these people!!!! i'm freaking out! no one is home. ok, gotta check on levi. ok he's asleep...hmmmm i wonder if i should just bust the window out. am i even strong enough to do that? i wonder which window would be the cheapest to replace...AH darby!! think logically. you can't break a window in your car....levi could get hurt. ok. i'll just go in and see if one of the popalocks has a website. ok www.popalock.com....crap. no help. maybe i can check att's website and send a text message to clayton and he can call popalock...great idea darby. ok, www.att.com what...where did that little link go? oh panic. ok that's not working. maybe he'll have the laptop up and i can skype him. ok no answer. i'll skype my mom, maybe she'll answer. welp, no answer there. CRAP!!!! what am i gonna do....

and then all of a sudden, the lightbulb goes on....FACEBOOK CHAT!

ok, i'll get on and see if i can get someone to call clayton and tell him that he has to call pop-a-lock to get our poor child out of the car. ok login....whose on....AH TANNER EASLEY! oh please answer, please answer.....OH MY GOSH. he's replying...ok tanner, tell clayton to call the locksmith because levi's locked in the car. ok thanks. let me know when you get ahold of him. jump up to go check on levi. ok. still sound asleep. check on tanner....oh GREAT! he called clayton...they are on there way...PRAISE THE LORD!

so there are my thoughts somewhat explained during this entire ordeal. i kept trying to tell myself to stay cool and think, but then my mind would go back to that sweet boy just sitting in his car seat wondering why mom got out and never came to get him....good thing he fell asleep almost as soon as i shut my door, otherwise i don't know what i would have done! so after clayton called the locksmith, they told him that they were already on a call and so the FIRE DEPARTMENT would have to come...so embarrassing. a fire truck showed up at my house with the lights blazing and the sirens blaring...i felt so dumb. they said it happens a lot with moms at home and they were glad they could help. levi woke up right as they started to jar the door, and tried to sit still so they wouldn't see him...pretty funny. so he was ok, and i learned that levi will never be allowed to play with my keys while he is in the car for ANY length of time! AND i also learned that facebook chat may be the greatest lifesaver of all time.

thanks for all your help guys...

it's been TWO months....

2008-09-08T20:27:00.005-05:00

"hey! we've missed yall!"

helpin dad put together the workbench.

workin' hard to get it juuuust right.

since i last updated! so sorry...i really have no reason except that i just didn't feel like blogging. things here have been great. we started our service on campus last night at tech and it was amazing!! 70 students came to the kickoff (1 student was saved last night and 3 saved yesterday morning) and i am praying that God will use the campus location to draw students to Him. can't wait to see what happens!!!!!

levi has still been eating really well and is getting lean from all his running, jumping and crazy boy-ness. really...he's a dare devil for sure. that scares me for the future, but it really is a lot of fun! it's good that i'm more on the laid back side because if i wasn't, his fearless attitude would probably kill me.

levi is still in the 85th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height so he's still a-growin! we have had so much fun with him these last couple of months. he loves to play outside, in the fridge, and especially on his workbench. he gets up every - EVERY - morning and starts giggling when he sees it in the living room. and we take at least 2 nails or 2 bolts with us every where we go just in case we need them. ;) levi is still a little helper with everything from laundry to scolding the dogs when he thinks they are out of line...so much fun!

anyways, just a little update...i will try to blog more, but we'll see!!!

i love lists. see... i'll show you.

2008-07-10T10:58:00.005-05:00

ok, so hello! haven't blogged in awhile, and right now i am trying to hurry because clayton leaves for mexico tomorrow. priorities, right? yes, we have had a lot going on this last month...so here go the lists.

in may we...

1) went to youth camp in missouri which consisted of a 15 hour bus ride there and another 15 hours back. nutso...levi did really good considering we hit a deer, had a flat, were on a bus of all junior high boys ;/, and was completely out of his element. i however, almost lost my mind. ;)

2) levi is eating 3 to 5 solid meals a day. we went to see the feeding and occupational therapists one time and he has been eating all kinds of stuff ever since!! what a relief!

3)clayton is going to mexico for the SECOND time tomorrow. he went in june a week after youth camp (vbs was in between those two) and he will leave tomorrow and be back next saturday. please pray for him if you think about it!!!

4) and by the pictures, you can probably tell that we FINALLY had our family pictures taken...and i am so happy with them!! levi was NOT in the mood to take pictures, or smile for that matter, so our photographer did so good!!! her link is www.betsylackey.blogspot.com if you want to check her out!!! she's amazing!!!

5) we are going on vacation for our five year anniversary when clayton gets back from mexico!!!! i can NOT wait!!!

hope you enjoy the pictures. we had a blast looking at them when it was all said and done!! family, if you want to order pictures, we have lots more that we haven't put up, so just email me and let me know!!

little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

2008-05-23T23:19:00.003-05:00

here. we. go. just a little video of levi from yesterday. he likes to re-arange anything and everything, so we were finally able to get it on video.

oh hello...

2008-05-21T21:41:00.006-05:00

*disclaimer - this isn't actually a picture from levi's birthday party...but i'm working on it!!

well for all 2 of you that read this, i am sorry that i have had such terrible blogging discipline!! it hasn't been a "half-to" kinda thing around here, so it's kindof become a "not-at-all" kind of thing. but anyhow..everything is pretty much our day to day happenings around here. we are going to the feeding specialist and ot (occupational therapist) next week for levi's texture aversion. we had to fill out a REEE-DICULOUS amount of paper work for these appointments, so i'm ready to see what they have to say about all this. levi has eaten some donuts and actually chewed and swallowed them instead of gaging and spitting them out. but it is with the help of water that he manages to get it down. it's kind of funny to watch because he will hold it in his mouth until you give him something to drink!! thats our leetle pack rat for ya! '

i also saw this on another blog (she's kindof famous so i'm not going to mention who...i think name dropping is rather lame) - but i thought it was a good idea so i'm going to steal it! she would write a letter on her blog to her son on his birthday's so that she could always remember what was going on in his life at these huge milestones...so, here goes.

munchkin -

you turned one about 2 weeks ago. i know this is supposed to be around your birthday, but you might as well know now that your mother is a procrastinator and is hardly ever on time for anything (except for your doctor's appointments which i am insanely anal about..ask your dad), so it's only fitting that i'm writing this 2 weeks late. ;) i want you to know how much i love you...how much you have grown your mom since you came to us a year ago. you have made me more selfless, more loving, more compassionate and more emotional than i ever thought i could be. it breaks my heart to see you cry when you get hurt, and it breaks my heart when i have to discipline your strong-willed little spirit (ok sometimes it doesn't break my heart as much as it enrages me..but i'm learning about this whole strong-willed thing still. dr. dobson..we thank you for this book ;) you have melted my heart everyday with your smile, the way you scrunch up your nose and show me your little chicklets. your dad and i have learned so much about God's love for us and his people through having you that we never would have understood otherwise. i worship our creator every time i watch you figuring things out, and when you laugh so hard you chuckle. you inspire worship in me like i have never known, and i can only think that Christ is good and gracious enough to let me know him more the more i know you. levi you have brought so much to my life. thank you for making it so much more about Christ than me. You are being used to bring glory to God, and you don't even know it. we pray everyday that your precious little heart would be softened to God and the salvation He has for you. we pray that you would have a tender and compassionate heart towards other people, and that gentleness would become a big part of who you will become as a man, father, husband and leader. (which, by the way, seems like a big prayer right now because you love for things to be loud, rough and ridiculously non-gentle...but nothing is impossible with God, right? :) God in his sovereignty, knows your future, and we pray everyday that we are leading you to Christ, to His salvation and his goodness. you are such a gift - i am so proud to be your mommy. thank you Jesus, for letting me lose myself even more to you through the gift of levi. you are such a good God - i am always humbled to see how you work. happy birthday levi....we have loved every minute of this first year with you!!!

now...

some of your favorite things...

1. playing with balls. we play catch all day - EVERY day.

2. looking in mirrors and seeing yourself or other people in the reflection

3. dogs...any kind.

4. kissing all the characters in your books, all the people in our photo albums, and any animal you see.

5. your praise baby dvd.

6. climbing over our legs like an obstacle course.

7. taking things out of drawers, handing them to people, and then putting them back (esp. the dishwasher and dryer...you are such a helper!!)

8. banging on anything, with anything. the louder, the better.

9. playing chase around the house

10. making noises with your mouth like a little sound machine.

11. opening the shower door while we are taking showers ;)

12. your blankets...we joke that you are our little linus!

13. music and dancing...you defin have some rhythm.

some of your NOT so favorites...

1. food. of any kind. of any texture...but we are working on it.

2. grass...defin don't like it to touch your hands or your feet.

3. changing your diaper

4. being up when your tired. it's seriously meltdown mode at that point.

5. shopping. sorry kiddo...better get used to it. your future wife will thank me.

6. lots of attention at once kindof scares you

7. being touched by people you don't know very well. you pull away and make it really awkward for me...but i get you. aunt kelsey is the same way ;)

8. having your hair washed.

9. not getting your way....not even kidding, it's WW3.

10. when it's play time, you get a little perturbed when we are on the computer, not playing with you, and you let us know it.

i'm sure i could think of more, but these are my favs. happy (late - but only in the blogging sense) birthday levi!!!!

oh my gosh.

2008-05-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

i have a one year old.

levi turned one on sunday, may 4th. i cannot believe how fast it has all gone...it makes me want to savor every minute..even the minutes of him throwing up after all 6 of his shots today (seriously...6 shots!!), even the minutes of him learning that if he doesn't get his way he will throw a tantrum, even the minutes of listening to his pediatrician tell us that, yes, we will have to go see someone for his texture aversion, and even the minutes of him letting him learn lessons the hard way when it would be WAY easier to just do it for him. oh and ps..we will have pictures of the insane birthday party up this weekend. i am still waiting to see them!!!

random updates...

1. my sister just bought her first fuel-efficient car! yea for kelsey and for good credit scores!!

2. levi has been eating yobaby yogurt with fruit and cereal 2 or 3 times a day - that stuff is a life saver.

3. he also tried ribs, donut holes, and chick-fil-a french fries ALL since sunday...maybe we're onto something here...

4. levi took several more steps on his actual birthday!!! i can't wait for him to just take off (ok, really that's a lie. i just say that to sound like a great mom. honestly, thinking about him walking makes me tired - to have a one year old boy who is already into everything, be even faster at it by walking, yeah, like i said, it makes me tired.

so just a quick update. i will put pictures up from the birthday weekend soon!

i love these SOOOO much!

2008-04-24T22:49:00.004-05:00

ok, so i absolutely love to look back at all of the things we did, said, prayed, ect. when i found out that i was pregnant with levi. it was absolutely the MOST exciting time for me - really - to find out that there was a BABY growing in my tummy was just - you just can't describe it with words...so everyone reading this who is preggers - i am so SO excited for you! but anyways, so i'm looking through things, and i came across these videos. but before you watch, let me set up the scenario for you...

it was a wednesday night in august of 2006, and clayton and i had just gotten home from church. we had been home for awhile, so clayton was in the living room eating some dinner and watching a movie. i was about to join him, but i was so FRUSTRATED that my pants were so uncomfortably tight (you know like after you eat WAY to much at one time and you just feel miserably sick??) and so i went to change into some elastic-wasted pants (little did i know how much i would grow to love elastic over the next year!) so i was changing clothes and i remember saying to clayton a couple of days before, "if i am not pregnant, then we are going to do some SERIOUS working out, because i am so bloated!" really, it was ridiculous...so i decided, oh i'll just take a test tonight - that way if i'm not pregnant, i can run until i pass out tomorrow. so i go into the bathroom, kinda hoping i was pregnant like you always are - even when you think you really don't want to be - and i wait my 3 minutes in the bathroom. mind you - clayton has NO idea what i'm doing, or why it's taking me so long to change clothes. and after my timer went off, i look down.....OH MY GOSH!!! i could NOT believe it!!! there was a positive sign in the "results" window. what!!!??? am i reading this right?? are my eyes ok?? am i just thinking i'm seeing this, but it's not really there?!?! i FREAKED OUT! i was shocked to say the absolute least. so i wait in the bathroom, thinking to myself, "ok - should i go tell clayton that i just found out he is going to be a dad, or should i wait and do something really cute and memorable - OH MY GOSH!!! am i really asking myself these questions?!!?"

and in the midst of all my thoughts, clayton yells from the living room, "babe, WHAT are you doing?? you're missing the movie!!!"

and that's all it took. i couldn't help myself. i walked into the living room with the test in my hand and just stood there in front of him. i was not just looking at my husband anymore...i was looking at the MAN who would father and raise this sweet baby growing in me!!! he had never been so attractive! so as i'm processing ALL of these life-changing thoughts, i somehow whisper..."i'm pregnant."

"WHAT."

"um, i just took a test and it said that i was pregnant." (i'm literally ALL smiles and some tears at this point - shaking because i'm so excited.)

"what. let me see the directions. are you sure you did this right?" - (of all things, this is what he says to me! it was so funny. he automatically assumes that i pee-ed on the stick wrong..gotta love it.)

and what do you know - i had taken the test right, and the results were clear. i was pregnant. so we took another test later that night, and then another one again the next morning...all with the results stronger than the last. I COULD NOT CONTAIN MY HAPPINESS!!! i wanted to tell the entire world on thursday. SOOO, we decided that we did not want to wait (kindof scary now that i think about it) and we made plans to tell our families on thursday night. the plan was to have my family all together at my parents house, and clayton's family all together at his mom's house to take seperate pictures. we told them that we had to have family pictures taken because they were doing a minister spotlight in the bulletin on sunday morning (so cheezy huh, but that's all we could think of) - so after we all got home from work on thursday, we started off to the houses. we had a good friend come to "take the picture" but really we had the whole thing on video so we could always watch our families reaction to the good news. so we all line up, and our friend tyler jones (the official picture-taker) says, "ok, on the count of 3, everyone say "darby's pregnant!!!" hah! i can't wait for you to see their reactions!!! so this entire huge long post is for these videos...

my family - things to watch for...1) my dad's reaction is SUCH a typical dad response..he weirds out immediately. 2) my family does NOT get it. they continue to say "darby's pregnant" without understanding what they are saying...so goofy. 3) my brother, case, the second the video starts, actually gets it, and you can hear him say..."what." - priceless.

now, CLAYTON'S family - things to watch for..1) well, this isn't the most obvious, so i'll start with it first. travis, who is in the middle, standing next to me, continues to look at the camera in his "cheezy pose" for a good while after the madness starts...kindof funny. 2) clayton's mom, beth, - absolutely steals the show! you will hear her before anything, but watch how hard she hits my arm in excitement, and then she hugs EVERYONE in the circle - she was SO EXCITED!

thank you to both of our families for making such an exciting time in our life even better...and thank you Jesus, for giving me such a gift in levi. You are such a good God! i am so honored that you have entrusted such a precious little boy to clayton and i to raise. You have shown me more of Yourself through this little boy than i could ever have dreamed...to You, all praise and honor and glory.

so sorry this was so long, but i wanted to share these videos with you! enjoy!

texture aversion??

2008-04-16T22:33:00.002-05:00

well, since levi's been old enough to eat any kind of food, he has refused. ok so maybe every once in a while, he will eat MAYBE 4 or 5 bites of some kind of baby food or big people food, but after that HE IS DONE! he will not eat any more...and we have tried EVERYTHING! eating when he's real hungry, eating when he's kinda hungry, eating when he's not hungry. you name it, we have done it. so at his 9 month check-up, his pediatrician told us that if he wasn't eating food on a consistent basis, then we would have to go to a specialist for "texture aversion." well, we have 2 weeks for this little boy to decide he likes "texture" and it's not looking good. well - i thought it looked grim until today.....

after he "helped" me put the water bottles into the fridge (meaning i hand him a water bottle, he looks at it and tries to throw it into the right spot on the bottom shelf - this process usually takes at LEAST 15 or 20 minutes, but hey he LOVES it) i left the door open as i stepped over to the counter to write down something before i forgot...i mean, being a mom, if you don't IMMEDIATELY write down your thoughts, forget it...they are gone for good. so i started writing something down and realized that it had gotten quiet...like REAL quiet. so i look over at levi and he's sitting on the floor facing away from me. and as i bent down, he looked up at me with BAR-B-QUE sauce all over his face and bib!!!! he had somehow unscrewed the lid off the jack daniels bar-b-que sauce and was savoring EVERY LICK he could get!!!! (don't worry, there's not actually alcohol in the sauce - and i know that because i was afraid i would have a drunk toddler for the rest of the day, and would have to skip taking our drunk son to the nursury because they don't allow intoxicated children at church ;) i could not stop laughing! he doesn't have "texture aversion!!!" he just isn't getting the southern, finger-lickin' flava in the pureed foods from gerber!!!! so we will see what his doctor has to say about that ;)

oh kids - they bring so much excitement into life! i LOVE it! i absolutely love the age levi is right now. who knows what will happen tomorrow.

um...can you say cheese?

2008-04-14T22:46:00.011-05:00

well, its been a while since we have posted...sorry! i don't know where time goes during the day. well, ok. that's not true. we spend a lot of time laughing...as you will see ;) levi has found his camera face...really, a necessary milestone in our family. i absolutely LOVE IT! it's the same in every picture and i have probably 395 more on our computer! so i hope you enjoy as much as we did. other things that have happened in the last month...

1. my friend rachel had her little girl, ellie ruth patterson. yay!

2. had a birthday that sent me on the downhill spiral to 30...geez.

3. we have been planning/thinking about levi's FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

4. i have started reading sacred marriage...absolutely incredible.

5. my friend jennifer colley found out she is having a baby at the end of october...such an answer to many tears, questions and prayers!!! thank you God for your incredible GOODNESS and MERCY. jen, we can't wait to meet this precious gift!

6. and blah blah blah....other boring, unexciting things OH - levi did learn how to dance on que...so the video at the end is just a little glimpse of his mad skills...hopefully i will catch him when sesame street is on. he LOVES dancing to big bird and the gang!

PLEASE click to enlarge this picture so you can see his little "chicklets" - !!! this is prob my FAVORITE picture right now...

bubble beard and the newly learned camera smile!

betcha didn't know clayton could beatbox, did you? :)

first family road trip

2008-03-22T14:37:00.016-05:00

to the....

yes, we went to the abilene zoo yesterday for a little family road trip. we got to the zoo around 3, and it closed at 5, so it was perfect. levi absolutely LOVED every animal we saw...but his favs were the giraffe, rhino, and jaguar. we didn't get any pics of the jaguar, but levi stood on a ledge and there was just a pane of glass between them..they stood eye to eye for several minutes and levi growled the whole time! it was so great...i can't wait to take more road trips! we were supposed to stay the night in abilene and then drive to stephenville on saturday to see kelsey and tanner and his family, but clayton woke up on friday night at 3.30 and was so sick...throwing up sick and weak. so i made the executive decision to pack up and leave. none of us were sleeping at all, and levi absolutely could not sleep. while clayton was making those fun "throw up' noises, levi decided to mimic all the noises his daddy was making...a little too much bonding was made between these two this week (really though, levi has bonded SO much with clayton this week...he wants to do EVERYTHING clayton does. it is the greatest thing to see the two of them together). anyways, clayton was too weak and sick to drive home, so i drove us home...2 1\2 hours in the middle of the night. if you know me at all...you know that is the biggest challenge for me. i fall asleep soooo fast when we travel...so i was very proud of myself for getting us home ALL BY MY BIG GIRL SELF!!! ;) these are just a few of the animals we saw. and it was so great, becuase we could get so close! thank you to rachel for all the abilene advice!!

dads co-pilot

looking at the giraffe for the 3rd time..

this bear was the greatest...he just sat there while we threw bread at him

waiting for the rhino to circle back

bison!!

giraffes, again.

the lions! i was sad because these pics were the worst.

the rhino came over so we could feed him.

zebras, babies and daddies...makes for a great day.

i don't know what this is.

melman...

after a long day...levi fell fast asleep with his new zoo buddy watching over him ;)

inflatable duck + water = TONS OF FUN

2008-03-17T13:56:00.004-05:00

well this inflatable duck you are about to see is really for little babies...it's supposed to BE the bathtub...and what do you do when you get to big??? you turn it into a RAFT! yep...a raft that is entirely too big for the bathtub, but nonetheless a blast to play with. so thank you to uncle case for this amazing duck...it quackes as well...so that makes it even cooler. the greatest thing about this video is watching him hit the sides like he's riding a horse...you spur the horse to get it to go, and for levi, you hit the side to make mom and dad make the duck go. he's a quick learner :)

new words

2008-03-14T21:05:00.002-05:00

levi is a true texan. of course, i knew he would be growing up in lubbock, but i didn't think i would see it so soon. he has started saying "bye bye" and when he says it, it sounds like the most hickish bye you have ever heard...and when he says it he waves his little arm as frantically as he can. i love it! it is so cute...and it's so weird to hear my BABY forming words!! and now he also says "ball." you can ask him in the bathtub to find his ball, and he gets his little basketball in all the commotion of dinosaurs and boats and ducks and airplanes. I LOVE IT! it's like the last 10 months of teaching and loving on this little guy is finally showing fruit!!! it's so much fun! he knows what "dog" is, but has a hard time saying it still...but we'll get there i'm sure!

we are excited about spring break next week! this will be the first year since we have been married that we are not taking a trip with the youth, so we are having family week next week!!! i can NOT wait! so our plans are a-plenty! we are hoping that the weather will be good enough to go swimming (matching trunks for the boys :), a day of play at legacy play village (it's this amazingly huge playground that kids flock to), clayton and i will have some dates of our own...movies, drivein, ect. so i am so excited!!! it is so exciting to think about planning "family" things for spring break. anyways, it will be posted about next week as we go through it all!!!

clayton, levi and i went to the hospital this afternoon to see one of our friends who had just had her second baby. the MINUTE i saw the babies in the nursury, their tiny noses, toes, fingers and mouths...i lost it. this HUGE emotion of wanting to have another little one to hold came over me. and then as i walked into her room and saw baby ethan swaddled and asleep in her lap, i got teary-eyed. i can't believe how much levi has grown out of - the little cooing noises, the jerky yawns and movements, the inability to stay awake for 30 minutes :) - he just seems worlds apart from that stage. and he is, of course, but it's hard to believe that in only 10 months that levi went from that newborn to who he is now...it just goes so fast. i guess that's why people keep having kids :)

i just couldn't resist.

2008-03-05T10:44:00.005-06:00

haha!!! can you count the wrinkles?? 1,2,3,4....
hey...what's up mom?

:) close up :) this just makes me smile.

"i'm too sexy for my pants. too sexy for my pants...."

i just had to put these WAY sweet pics of levi's "highnee" (not sure how to spell that one) up for you to see. i don't know why, but i think baby bottoms are SO cute...now this amount of cellulite on any adult would be absolutely nauseating to look at (i mean, hey - NO judgement here..that's for sure :) but on a munchkin, it's precious! so other than not posting in a while, we have been doing relatively good! because it's spring, and because we live in lubbock, the weather has been RIDICULOUS!!! stopped up noses, sinus headaches, sore throats...they have all been present at our house this week. so needless to say, i am ready for the sun to come out and stay out! and for the snow NOT to mix in with all our warm afternoons!! but it will come soon i hope...and aunt kelsey is coming to town next week!!! YAY! she can't stay long, but we will take what we can get! levi is SOOOOO excited! (ok so we all are :)

people let me tell you bout my BEST friend...

2008-02-29T14:43:00.003-06:00

today levi had his friend carter come over for a playdate and they absolutely had a blast...they probably weren't as excited about it as diana and i were, but it was still fun! carter is about 5 weeks older than levi, but levi thinks he's just as big as carter (he is physically, but you get my point). levi kept watching carter walk around all of the tables and chairs, and carter would watch levi crawl around the living room. maybe they will teach each other the skills they've mastered by hanging out. :) anyways, they came over, we had lunch and then went on a walk since it was so nice outside today. so here are a few pictures from our playdate with levi's buddy carter. and the video is -well-priceless. carter is giving levi HUGS and if you look close enough, levi is trying to give carter KISSES...but kisses by levi's definition is just opening your mouth and sticking your tongue out...so watch for that if you can:) then they get a little agitated at diana and i for making them do it over and over...but it was just too cute to only see once! it was such a fun day so THANK YOU to diana and carter for coming over and playing!!! we can't wait for "guy time" again!

levi showin carter all the toys

sweet little men!

"look carter, i'll show you how - you just push this"

these poor little boys were tired of all the lovin by this point, but it was so sweet!

thanks for the lovin' carter!

levi's first........

2008-02-26T14:03:00.003-06:00

yes, STEPS!!!! this morning he took about three steps all by his big boy self! it was so exciting! he immediately fell head first into the ottoman afterwards, but HE TOOK HIS FIRST STEPS!! we were so excited. and it was so great because he did it while clayton and i were both around, which is wonderful that clayton got to see it. so it has been a big day for us, and we have been sitting around with the camera ready to see if we can get it on tape. cheezy, i know, but i'm a mom - that's what i do. and he is still trying new food. whew. green beans is the flavor all over his face in the picture...so we are doin work at our house this week! yay!

lets see - what else. ummm. i don't really know. all i can think about is that i am about to have a little boy that can walk all by himself and it seems like i just had him a couple of weeks ago. when i was putting him to bed last night, i just started crying thinking about how fast it's all gone by. it still doesn't seem real that i am a mom to this little baby boy...that he is mine and that it is my responsibility to raise him (with clayton of course, but this is SELF reflection :) i want him to cherish his childhood and love clayton and i because we loved him in a way that shows him who christ is. i want to teach him character and integrity. i want him to be gentle in the way he loves other people, and loving in the way he stands for christ. i want him to desire more than anything the relationship christ has for him. i'm praying that God would teach me how to teach him. that he would show me how to display grace for him and other people in our lives. more than anything, i want levi to grow up in a home that is about christ, and not church. i want him to understand from an early age that he cannot EARN christ's love, but that in the actual relationship with christ there is so much love already given. and in writing all these "goals" that i have for levi, i know that i myself am still learning all of these things. i still am learning to desire christ above everything else. i STILL have to remind myself in the business of ministry that life is about christ and not church. and the most humbling lesson that i learn over and over and over, is that i cannot, in ANY way, earn my saviors love. ugh. there are days and weeks where all i want to do is DO enough things to make him love me. love me more than he did before, to make him love me enough that he will forget about all my mistakes. it is so hard to accept that in the greatest relationship ever offered to any man, that the reason the relationship is so amazing has absolutely nothing to do with what i bring to it. there is nothing about my relationship with christ that I can take credit for...and that, in my human nature, is hard to accept. my prideful self wants to receive some kind of glory for how great this connection is, and in no way is glory due to me. how humbling. how freeing. how incredibly unfair for christ, and so incredibly beneficial for me. when God teaches this system of grace again and again, my heart is revived with a love for him. with a love that recognizes the true sacrifice of the cross and the unexplainable desire to follow and obey. to be so free in his love for me that i desire to submit to his authority. to know that i cannot earn his love, but to still live to honor him with my life. i can't wait to see him one day...and i can't wait for levi to know him. man...

he is so excited about this new talent!

really, he's about to take off and RUN!

making sure we're watching ;)

friends forever

2008-02-24T21:44:00.003-06:00

such a helper.

i'm not kidding...he was so excited to find this dryer. jackpot i guess!

look at that handsome man!!!!

here's a full length shot...the reason i look so confused is because i thought my mom was taking a picture of the floor. :) she wasn't.

i never thought levi to be the sentimental type, but today has proven otherwise. he was such a helper this morning while we were getting ready for church first of all. he decided to help me unload the dryer all on his own initiative...and then tried to climb in! it was pretty great. he is becoming SOOOO mobile. and its fun for him because he thinks he is such a big boy! so along with all this mobility, he has started being so cuddly!!! he has this little bunny that he drags along with him every where he goes (adorable!) and he LOVES to give him kisses! sentimental..im telling you. he's actually sleeping with him right now. so with all this cuddling and sentiment we have seen in the last couple of days, it peaked tonight at church. we took him to the nursery and he was fine. he went right in and started playing (he didn't even look back to see if we were there anymore). but when clayton went to pick him up after the service, one of the workers was rocking him in the rocking chair and levi was crying SO HARD. like the kind of cry where you can't breathe and you just keep sucking in air... :( so she told him that he was happy all night until his friends started leaving after church!!! she said when their parents came and got them, he started crying because he didn't want them to leave!!! it was so sweet but it was soooo funny!!! this little boy must have made some serious friends tonight and had some serious fun!! he was defin. trying to tell us about it in the car too. anyways, i guess forever friends can be made in the nursery, right??

and we did dress up last night and had a blast! here we are in our fancy clothes :)

update: levi is doing much better. we have no fever and are almost finished with our antibiotics. hopefully there will be no more ER visits anytime soon. and BIG NEWS..... levi has eaten all of the following: apples and cherries, orange and banana, chicken and apples, applesauce, AND a cookie (gerber ones of course!) isn't that exciting!! we are just hoping that he keeps it up!!!

first trip to the ER

2008-02-17T21:16:00.003-06:00

well...this week has been quite an adventure. we woke up sunday morning to take clayton to church early (he came in town late saturday night and forgot to get his truck from the church) and while i was getting levi dressed, i noticed something on his arm. on the underside of his left arm, there was this big, red inflamed spot that just looked horrible. the skin in the middle looked like it was disentigrating almost. so i took levi to my mom's to see if i was just being paranoid and when i got there, we decided to call the pediatrician. she sounded concerned and said to take him to the ER and that we shouldn't wait until tomorrow to bring him in....so we did. we took him in and waited for about 2 hours and they told us he had developed cellulitus...sick i know. basically, he had a scratch on his arm that had gotten infected, abcessed, and then spread. the infection had moved to his bloodstream which is why he has had fever. so they gave us a topical and oral antibiotic to clear up the infection and told us to keep him on tylenol and motrin to keep the fever down. so that is what we did. however, sunday night, his fever spiked again to 103 and at one point was over 104 and he became VERY lethargic. when doctors ask if a child has been lethargic, i've always thought..."that's the stupidest thing i've ever heard. how on earth are you supposed to tell if a sleepy infant is acting unusually sleepy?" well, after seeing levi that night...there is an ABSOLUTE difference in being sleepy and being lethargic. he wasn't really moving at all. just sitting. kind of looking around, but just staring mostly. not crying. not growling. not moaning. just sitting. he kindof dozed off for about 5 minutes but when he woke up, he didn't fuss. he just sat there. i have to say...this scared me much more than the ER. i have never seen him like that. so lifeless. usually at bedtime he's off his rocker tired and so ready to go to bed that he gets a little wired right before we put him down...so this was very unusual for him. so again, we called his pediatrician and she told us to put him in a lukewarm bath (just like my mom said :) and then to check his temp again. so we did the bath and put him to bed. his fever finally broke on tuesday, and we have been pretty healthy ever since! yay! we have one more day on the antibiotics and then we will be through!!

so thank you to everyone who prayed and helped out today. thanks to mom, granny beth and bill for staying with us in the ER!! we love you guys. i have to say though, having a little boy i envisioned our first ER visit to be much more tragic and dramatic than this, so i am very thankful that infection was the name of our game today and not broken bones or bleeding of any kind :)

on a lighter note....we are going to get all fancied up tomorrow night and i am SOOOO excited!!! there will defin be pics of us in our pretty clothes!!!

birf-day fun!!!!!

2008-02-16T16:59:00.015-06:00

well there are a lot of pictures from the big weekend from kelsey and tanner coming to town so we're just doing captions. hope you enjoy!!

"papa...are you as bored as i am? i'm tired of pretending to be interested."

NANNY!! they are TURQUOISE!

boots and shorts....nice!

sooooooo cute!

how great is this...
this is the BEST family portrait - maybe one day levi will be that sweet with us...

all smiles....

and def all laughing!

levi always makes fake lips with his toungue.. :)

so sweet...holding tanner's hand and chillen in keley's lap.

what a weekend.

changes since friday...

2008-02-12T10:38:00.000-06:00

bob and larry. larry the tomato has weird leg, tomato-body perportions

1. kelsey and tanner came to visit, and have now gone back. it was SUCH a good weekend. happy birthday kels and papa!

2. we went to see bob and larry from veggie tales. levi loved it!! he just kept staring at them (notice in the picture. he almost broke his neck trying to see them from that angle). he kept tightening his little fists and chirping when he got excited. it was so much fun! and small side note, i have blonde hair. mixed reactions from fam...but it's growing on me.

3. we have again found out how much we love our little munchkin. he now will blow you a kiss, but only if you put your hand to his mouth :)

4. levi took a shower....not so much fun for him...(but in my defense, he wanted to get in there.)

5. clayton and i have def. got the nosiest neighbor ever...very long story and really aggitating.

6. i think we might be on the verge of getting those tough stomach teeth through. poor levi. these have been the worst by far.

7. clayton is no longer allowed to vacuum due to our electric bill and for the common welfare of our home. i don't want to have to buy new carpet because he vacuumed the fibers out of the one we have now. :)

8. i learned how to spell "vacuum." in an earlier post i was spelling it with 2 "c's" and 2 "u's". i'm telling you, have a child makes you stupider. :)

9. God is teaching us an incredible amount right now...how to have patience and how to step out in faith...and i believe that because God is moving, the enemy is on the move as well. prayer has become an absolute LIFELINE for me as of lately. but i am so thankful that i am learning how to function only after time spent in intimate, close, unexplainable prayer. God is so good to give us closeness with him in exchange for a trial here and there (although it seems like they have come to stay sometimes)

10. and finally, seeing pregnant women makes me do the '"ah...i miss that" kind of face. we'll see what happens with that :)

geez..

2008-02-08T14:52:00.000-06:00

what a man...

ok. let me preface this blog with how much i love my husband. he is so much fun to be around and when i need him, i know he'll be there. SO, with that said, i can now inform you all of what has been going on at our house for the last - literally, hour and a half. my sister is coming to town this weekend and is staying at our house, so today has been a day of cleaning, preparing, ect. nothing out of the ordinary except that levi is getting yet 2 more teeth and is clingy to say the least...so cleaning and getting anything done is rather difficult with his condition. and on top of that, i have been working on a gift for my sister for the past 2 weeks and i HAVE to finish it today before she gets here....so my hands are a little full. so my sweet husband decided to help me out today....well. kindof. we have so much going on today, but i made myself stop for 5 minutes so i could record/remember what he is doing in the living room right now. he volunteered to vaccuum for me so i could work on kelsey's gift (i know, so sweet right) - and i thought to myself, "oh that would be awesome. he could vaccuum real quick and then clean the kitchen." um WRONG! we just got a new vaccuum that has an "intella-clean" system that lights up when spots on your carpet are really dirty, and then it lets you know when that spot is sufficiently clean...so cool, huh? well, there are 2 problems with this little gadget. 1- i'm not really sure that it's all that accurate...the lights kindof do their own thing. and 2 - if you know my husband AT ALL you know that he is an absolute perfectionist...not a good combo with an intellaclean vaccuum. he has LITERALLY been vaccuuming our living room - just our living room, for the past hour and a half....moving maybe 2 steps every 5 minutes to ensure that the lights on the vaccuum say "clean" before he moves on. :) really i had to blog because the humming of the vaccuum was driving me crazy :) anyways, i thought you might enjoy the sanity that is our life...and if your married to a man who will pitch in every now and then, steer clear of the "intella-clean" system. ;) it will actually make you wish you were the one that volunteered to to the vaccuuming.

he has 3 months to prove himself.

2008-02-07T20:14:00.000-06:00

this is the "can you stop taking pictures of me in a cabinet" face.

this is the child who doesn't eat...can't really tell, huh?

we went to levi's 9 month checkup on monday and the good news was that he didn't have any shots. he is in the 95th % for his weight and height so he definitely isn't going hungry. he's crawling and is developing well - all except for his eating. you might know, but levi has never really eaten any baby food or solid food. the only thing he eats is oatmeal in his bottle. we've never really thought anything about it, but his doctor said that if he still hasn't started eating by his 1 year appointment, we would have to take him to a speech pathologist for a condition called "texture aversion." so right now, levi has 3 months to start enjoying texture!! this isn't a huge deal, but we really don't want to have to go through the weekly appointments or the money that would be involved if we have to go to a pathologist, so please pray that levi would eat big people food!! :) we would really appreciate it! on a lighter note, aunt kelsey and tanner will be in town this weekend for her birthday! yea!! we will also we going to see bob and larry from veggie tales so hopefully we will remember to take pictures! we can't wait for them to be here! see you soon kelsey and tanner!

and and fyi - i found THREE of my bangle braclets in levi's pajamas again last night. i'm still not sure what's going on around here....

is that a goiter?

2008-01-31T11:08:00.000-06:00

i know, that's kinda gross, but there's a reason. last night, levi woke up around 4 am and was acting like he was frustrated and uncomfortable. he kept moving around like there was something agitating him. so i layed him on the floor to get ready for whatever a 9 month old can become annoyed with, and when i looked at his leg, there was this big bulge on the side of his thigh. it was so weird, and i'm thinking, hmmm i don't really know if i really want to find out what this is. but, like the GREAT mom that i am ;) - i unzipped his footie pj's and stuck my hand in...and somehow, before levi went to bed, he had stuck a lemon in his pajamas before we zipped him up and tucked him in for the night!! what in the world! i couldn't stop laughing. of course he was uncomfortable, he had a plastic piece of produce stuck in his footie pajamas and it had no way of getting out! i still don't know how clayton or i didn't notice this "goiter" before he went to bed, because this lemon was about twice the size of a ping pong ball. he does love playing with the them, so i guess he thought he could stash one away to play with while we were in bed! ha! i love what kids do...

discipline much???

2008-01-29T17:35:00.000-06:00

ok, you should really watch the video BELOW first...i don't really know why, but it makes sense in my head that the other one should come first...so, ok. in this video though, listen to how much grunting he does to get this job done!! levi has ALWAYS grunted a lot! he growls too instead of crying...so, unique - i guess is the word. :) and at the end, you'll see a little disciplining going on...i don't know if you can see it on the video, but when i tell him no, he turns around a kind of smiles- not a good thing, but it sure is hard not to laugh...i'm sure i won't think so when he can really do some damage. enjoy!!!

little green hobbit

2008-01-29T17:25:00.000-06:00

ok so i had to use the compact version to get the files to fit on the blog, so the QUALITY of the video isn't super, but it's still pretty cute! in this one, you can kind of see that instead of crawling on both of his knees, he keeps one tucked under him! i LOVE it!!! it's so fun to watch. so enjoy!!!

these boots were NOT made for walkin...

2008-01-28T12:57:00.000-06:00

doesn't he make the most pathetic faces...:)

this has been a HUGE weekend for the walkers - so i must tell you about it, and then show you! yes, that's right, there will definitely be videos up today. lets see, i guess the biggest news is that levi learned how to crawl this weekend!! and i have to say - when you see it, it is not a "normal" crawl...but it definitely has style! i love it! it makes me laugh everytime he starts to move around. and he's pretty proud of himself too! we have also learned the art of the much needed high five...i mean what else does he really need to know? :) and of course, we are finally putting up video of him clapping. this video is kind of long, but he kept smilin and clappin for the camera, so we kept rollin! anyways, that was our big weekend of learning and growing. and yes, he is still sick as i'm sure you can hear and see on the videos. and soon to come - video of levi in his cowboy attire :0 if there is anything i believe ALL little boys should have, it is cowboy boots. and after potty training is accomplished, he must have cowboy boots and fun superhero undies. :) these cowboy boots are quite stylish i have to say. my dad wore them when he was little, my brother case wore them and now levi gets his turn!!! hand me down vintage is the BEST!!!!

kleenex anyone?

2008-01-26T00:03:00.000-06:00

resting in his daddy's arms.

well we called levi's doctor today to get medicine. the munchkin has come down with a nasty cough and his nose is running like crazy. i feel so sorry for him...he seems so miserable! and in levi's case (and i think with most kiddos), sickness breeds clingy-ness!!! i feel like i have a monkey on my hip all day long, just hanging on with no intention of letting go. and as tiring as it is to take care of a sick, clingy monkey :) - i love that i am someone's "mommy." i love that i am the only one he wants sometimes and that he DOES want me to hold him and comfort him when he doesn't feel good...i bring comfort to my son. what an INCREDIBLE thought. he finds peace when we're together and that is such an indescribable emotion. to know that i fulfill that need for him and he is content when i do makes me feel like i am serving my purpose on earth, as a mom. i can't help but think that God MUST feel this same emotion when we find our absolute peace and contentment in Him. that when we do, all is right and exactly the way it was created to be. our relationship with the divine is serving it's purpose...our entire comfort being met by Him alone. God is so gracious to let us parallel our lives with the way he sees us, to let us have children or adopt children so that we have a small perspective of how he feels about His children. hmmm - i wonder, if like kids, sickness in us breeds clinyness to God. sickness being anything from physical to anything emotional, and most definitely spiritually. sickness being anything that cripples us from being well and healthy and effective. i know that the moments and hours that i cling to God the most are the ones that i have been the sickest spiritually. that is when i absolutely do not want God to put me down. i guess - just like levi being sick builds his antibodies and makes his little body stronger to fight sickness the next time around, our spiritual sickness really does make us stronger....in our clingy-ness to God we find His strength. interesting....:)

it's amazing what i'm learning through a 25 pound drool bucket :)

treats and eats...

2008-01-24T10:53:00.000-06:00

levi decided the wipes didn't need to be in the container anymore :)

this is our little jamaican elf..!

last night, clayton and i had our first couple small group for the young marrieds at our church and it was a BLAST! we have actually never been apart of a small group together as a couple, so i am so excited to actually lead together. we had so much fun as everyone told how they met, courted, popped the question, and got married! there were so many cool stories of how God orchestrated lives to mingle together, for our enjoyment on earth, but ultimately all for His glory. marriage is such a blessing! God has definately been teaching us about the actual sanctity of marriage for a while now it seems. there are days when it would be so much easier to just not talk things out and just go on with life - but to what advantage? the only one benefiting from that is the father of all lies, deception and sin. sooooo, what did we talk about last night at small groups? turns out, every couple there wanted to pray that they would be intentional in their marriages and the way they spend their time together. it was such a time of refreshing to be able to pray that God would strengthen our marriages as we all "do life." praying together with other women who needed and longed for the same things in their life was such a blessing. we are asking that God would take this group and make eternal, lasting friendships from it...and i think He is more than willing to answer!!!

on a lighter note, i have discovered recently that this child of ours is the very very VERY typical boy who loves to play rough. the more dangerous it is, the harder he laughs. i'm really not excited about this attitude because i know that the only thing it can produce in the future is becoming so acquainted with the emergency room that we are on a first name basis. just for example, when levi is on our bed, he loves to be thrown all over the sheets. the closer to the edge, the better. the more tangled in the sheets, the better. the higher the height from which he falls, the better. such a little boy....

good news though...he ate baby food today. for those of you that don't know, levi has had no interest whatsoever in any kind of food. he'll eat oatmeal if it's not by itself, but anything else he refuses to eat. so this morning i thought i'd try again for the millionth time, and what do you know!!! he ate the entire jar! (pear and wild blueberry..yum!) so we'll see if this is the start of something new. maybe by the time he's in high school he will have moved out of pureed foods and onto cheerios :)

where's the tooth fairy when you need her?

2008-01-21T08:35:00.000-06:00

levi has gotten SEVEN teeth in the last month (you can see his first two in the pic in the previous post). what in the world is going on? he got his first two when he was about 4 months old and then...nothing. no more teeth. just happy little levi who would occasionally act like he was teething, but no proof of any teeth - that is, until a month ago. we woke up on the monday after tech's graduation (yea kelsey and tanner!) and he had THREE of his top teeth - just as white as can be poking through. so great - new teeth and it wasn't bad at all. then he got another while clayton and i were skiing - alright...im thinking, another one down. but then - these 2 eye teeth on top decided to show up the week after that, along with another two on the bottom. i think i missed a call from the president of tylenol - i think he wanted to thank me for keeping them in business and in the black this past month. :) but really - wouldn't it be nice if the "tooth fairy" could just magically place teeth INTO their head instead of just taking them away?!?! no pain, no sleepless nights, no fever, no diaharea...yes. i think that would be wonderful. so what do you do when a munchkin stops sleeping temporarily for teeth? you thank God that it's almost over - and you blog. :)

lets see how this works...

2008-01-20T15:54:00.000-06:00

well, we gave in. just like every other family, we subscribed to a blog. but really, what could be better? for family that doesn't get to see levi every day, week or month - this really is a way to see how he changes and what God is doing in our lives. so i hope that you enjoy this...and as i get more adjusted and comfortable using this blog, videos and pictures will soon follow! i have to say, i am pretty excited about writing and journaling what happens regularly so that i will remember! i have the worst memory and journaling online is definitely much easier than handwriting, so it's a win-win!! as for today, levi actually learned how to clap when he does something exciting, and clayton and i absolutely love it! hopefully we will have pictures or video - i want aunt kelsey to see :) but no promises!!!