My Little Man

Howdy readers! Well, it's Tuesday. Tuesday is such a blah day for me for some reason. It's not Monday, the start of the week. It's not Wednesday, the middle of the week. It's not Thursday, the day before Friday. And it's not Friday, the day before the weekend. It's just, well, Tuesday.

Hmm...do you think that could be a song? ;)

It is a BEAUTIFUL Tuesday though, so that helps!

Today's post is supposed to be a picture of my family. I think I've posted plenty in the past, so today is going to be specifically about my little man. I try my darndest to not make every post about him, and I think I've done a pretty good job! But there are just too many things I want to share, so here you go: all about Levi. :)

I got to spend some quality time with my little man last night, and it was much-needed! We played outside while Daddy started to mow the yard (he didn't finish before it got dark, poor thing). He rode in his wagon, which he absolutely adores! And I let him play in the water/mud puddle in our driveway. Yeah, I know, WHAT?! I never thought I would be a relaxed enough mom to let my son just do that. Haha. :) But he was so adorable that I didn't care. :)

After that, we went inside for dinner. Not only did he eat shrimp, but he fed himself with an adult fork! He is completely opposed to using kids silverware right now. He wants to be like the grown-ups I suppose. You also get to see his new favorite sound. We're not sure what it is or where it came from, but I am sure that it's absolutely adorable! :)

I love that he looks around the camera so he can see me at the end. :) One of his other favorite sounds is a train. He is suddenly obsessed with trains! I think it comes from his cousin Caden's love of Thomas. Levi's favorite show to watch is Chuggington on Disney. It's basically a modern cartoony version of Thomas. Everytime he hears a train, he makes this sound. I love it! :)

Besides making adorable sounds, he's also getting into EVERYTHING! I'm serious, when we put him down somewhere, it's like he immediately starts looking for something to get in to! He's just constantly on the go, and on the path to mischievious things! Lol. For instance...Jeffrey had him over at Jackie's last week on my birthday while I worked a couple of hours. Well, Levi was playing, and he comes tearing in the room holding this:

Yep, that's the window grid NOT in the window! Oh I'm suprised her poor house is still standing!

But that's not all...while Jeffrey was putting it back in, little rascal preceded to go into the laundry room and yank EVERY single piece of clean clothing of its' hangers. All I can say is, God Bless my patient and loving mother-in-law for keeping him every day! :)

As for other things in his life...We are making the transition to size 5 diapers. Yes, my (almost) 14 month old needs size 5. BUT, it's not because of his size so much as the quantity of urine that comes out of this child! I can not believe how quickly he can fill up, and overflow, a diaper! They weigh like 10 pounds when he wakes up from a nap!

He still only has 6 teeth, but the way he's gnawing on stuff lately, I think he might be cutting another one. :)

He is LOVING stuffed animals now! He's never been too interested in them before, but now he loves them. Most of the time, he's sweet to them. However, last week, Mr. Basil the Bear must've said something mean to him, because he let him have it! He was in his carseat, and he shook the bear by his shoulders, threw him against the back seat and started kicking him. Hmm...do they have anger management classes for babies? Haha. :)

I could keep going on and on, but I'm sure I lost most of you after the videos and picture. :) I just love being a mom more than I could have ever imagined. He is just the most amazing little person. I can't wait to see what God has in store for his life. :)

Sing me a Song

This happens to us every year-not even kidding! Sometime within the first 3 months of the year, everything goes wrong. Last year, it was the fridge and my car. This year...oh let me tell you...

Jeffrey's truck needed new tires
Jeffrey's truck needed new something (I don't know what-I just write the checks!)
Jeffrey's phone broke
My car needed new tires
My car needs new EVERYTHING-tie rods, brakes, etc. etc.
My phone breaks

Seriously?! One of those was enough thank you. We were so excited about our tax return, and within the span of one week, it all went out the window! God gives and He taketh away. :) I thank God He provided us with a good return so it could cover all that!

Ok, that's all my complaints for now...



Now, today is Day 97 25 of the challenge, and well, I don't have an Ipod, so it doesn't work. I was supposed to put it on shuffle then list the first 10 songs. Instead, I'm going to just tell you my top 10 favorite songs. :) Now, I'm sure I could list a lot more, but these are the first 10 that popped into my mind!

Day 25: Top 10 Favorite Songs (in no particular order)

1) Brown-eyed Girl
2) Low (yep, that one)
3) My Heart Will Go On
4) Cupid Shuffle (I can't help it-it makes me wanna dance)
5) Anything Like Me
6) Get Low (different from Low) :)
7) On a Night Like This
8) Nothing Fancy
9) Lento by Julieta Venegas
10) Two Hearts

Ok, I'm adding some of my favorite church songs. :)

We Bow Down/Lord of Lords
Hallellujah, Salvation and Glory
I'll Fly Away
There's a Stirring
How Great Thou Art
Lily of the Valley
Victory in Jesus

We We We So Excited!

I don't know about you, but I often get my days confused. Especially on the weekends! I mean, who keeps track of that really? Well, Rebecca Black has answered my prayers and sings AutoTunes a song so I don't get confused anymore. Oh man, what would I have done without her this weekend?! I didn't know today was Friday, Friday, Friday or that it came after Thursday. And I definitely didn't know tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes after-worrrdddsss...Whew! Just call her my hero!

Wear Your Boots...

...becuase this post could get a little deep! :)



All night last night, I kept thinking about something I wanted to share with you, but I just never had the time to type it out. Then, I get on this morning and realize the challenge for today fits PERFECTLY with what I wanted to tell you. I hope you'll see the irony in THAT by the time I'm done... :)

Day 24: Something You've Learned

Ok, remember this post that turned into an impromptu therapy session? Well, if you made it to the end before your eyes glazed over, then you read about my scary situation when I was pregnant with little man. Now, I had not intended whatsoever to talk about that that day. But God knew that someone needed to hear my story...

Enter "someone"...One of my friends and followers (let's call her Sally) received a phone call from her friend that morning (let's call her Ruth). Ruth is pregnant and had just found out some scary ultrasound results. The doctors told her there was a very likely chance that her daughter could be born with downs syndrome. My friend Sally got online to research what Ruth had told her. Well, she just so happened to check my blog first and lo and behold, my story was there...

It just so happened (ahem, God) that my friend Sally had a party around this time. Well, Ruth and I were both invited. Unbeknownst (love that word) to Sally, Ruth and I knew each other. I know Ruth from a different area of my life, but had never connected her to Sally (did you follow that?). So...Sally realizes we know each other and tells her about my blog post and story of Levi. Ruth decides to talk to me, and I'm able to encourage and uplift her during her scary time.

Alright, so get to the challenge already...haha!

What have I learned? Well, I've learned that NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, happens without God's hand being in it. He has a plan for everything!

When I was little, I'd always hear grown-ups say "Why do bad things happen to good people?". I asked myself this all the time until it became "Why do bad things happen to people?". As I got older and selfisher (yep, I said selfisher), my question became "Why do bad things happen to me?".

You know what I've learned...bad things (and I know my "bad" is not nearly as "bad" as others in this world") happen to us so we can learn and grow from them. I feel like God put Jeffrey and I through that trial so that I could be here for Ruth now. I feel like my Daddy was taken from me so that I could appreciate the lives of my loved ones. My wreck a few years ago...done so I would learn to be patient while stuck in traffic and thankful that I was not the one in the wreck.

Everything that happens in our lives happens for a reason. We just have to look for the lesson that God is teaching us. :)

Where I'd Like To Be...

I am determined to get through this challenge! Day 22 and 23 go together perfectly, so I'm knocking them out together. I know, this sounds like I'm cheating the "system", but seriously, these are about the same place:

Day 22: Favorite City and Day 23: Favorite Vacation

I've already told you about Aruba, which is probably my ultimate favorite vacation. However, there's another one that comes in a VERY close second, and it also doubles as my favorite city:

ASHEVILLE, NC

We travelled to the Asheville area for our very first anniversary trip. I fell in love with the city as soon as I laid eyes on it. It has such a quaint charm about it. Everywhere we went was just beautiful, and the people were beyond friendly. We had such an amazing time!

We started our trip at the Natural Slide in Pisgah National Forrest. It was FREEZING!!! I mean, seriously, I don't think I've ever been in water that cold. But, we were not about to pass up this opportunity! If you're ever in this area or passing through, I would highly recommend at least one trip down this amazing God creation. :)

This is me saying "Oh it's SO cold!"

After that, we made our way through the mountains to Asheville. This is one of the prettiest drives I've ever seen. We definitely want to go back in the fall when the leaves have changed.

There were lots of "timer" pictures on this trip :)

Our first day in Asheville consisted of nothing other than the Biltmore! I probably could've spent our whole trip there. It's just unbelievable! We did everything: toured the house, went to the farm, had a picnic at the pond, went to the winery. I didn't want to miss a thing!

They had a goat named "Mere" :)

The next couple of days were filled with lots of exploring and quality time. We took a trolley tour then headed to Boone and Blowing Rock. We stopped at an "amusement park" and hiked in Chimney Rock.

Most Beautiful McDs in the US

If you ever head to Asheville, I would highly recommend making the loop that we did. We saw so many beautiful places and got to do a lot of different things. I can't wait to go back! :)

They call me...

Alright, before I get started on Days 20 and 21 (yes, I'm combining...don't judge me), I have to share this adorable picture I just ran across:

I just love his happy little face in this picture! :)

Ok, here we go...

I'm combining 2 days because, well, I'm behind, and each by themselves isn't a full post...

Day 20: Nicknames and Day 21: Picture of Yourself

I don't have any super-exciting nicknames with any amazing story, but I do have 3 names to share with you and pictures to correspond:

"Merry"

There is only one person in my life who has ever called me this, my friend Hannah. :) I don't know why or when it started, but it's just what she calls me. :) It actually spawned my email address: merry_k22. :)

"Mere"

This is one I've always been called, and it's just b/c it's short from Meredith. Lots of people call me this and have throughout my life. The one that's probably called me this the longest, my life-long friend Malorie. :)

Ok, now for the one you've all been waiting for...the embarrassing one...

"Bangs"

Ah, Bangs...this one is courtesy of Coach McNeal, Friendship's football coach when I was there. Some people (ok, everybody that knew me in highschool) would say I was obsessed with my bangs. These were not your cute sweepy bangs. These were the perfectly rolled and hairsprayed bangs that nobody was allowed to touch, even my hairdresser! They always had to be perfect, even while playing softball. Somehow, Coach caught wind of this, and decided to call me "Bangs" in the school cafeteria. Well, it stuck. I can't tell you how many notes, signs, t-shirts, etc. that have Bangs written on it. Yeah, fun. Haha. :) Looking back now, I see why he called me that. Fortunately for you me, I don't have a picture. Here's something similar:



Ok, maybe they weren't that short or tight, but it was still pretty bad...

That's it for the nicknames. Sorry it wasn't exciting. I do have one more picture of me to share though. I forgot about this one in my opening post. This was for my business website, so it's a few years old. Enjoy (haha), and have a great day!

The big 2-7!

Oh my goodness...I can't begin to describe how wonderful yesterday was! I mean, from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep, everything was just GREAT!

My day started off with my hubby singing Happy Birthday. (Don't tell him I told you that he did that, or I'll never get that again!). :) I got to work, and my boss brought me these gorgeous flowers! Without knowing, he got every single one of my favorites: lilies, gerbers, poms and alstroemeria. Look how pretty:

I took off half a day and went to the zoo with my two favorite boys. It was just so incredibly nice to be able to spend time with both of them without having to worry about being somewhere else at a certain time. We got to take our time and just enjoy each other and the amazing animals. All three of us loved the giraffes and elephants. Levi loved the flamingos and meerkats b/c they were down on his level. :)

When did my baby get to be a big boy?!

Back massage? Yes please!

Baby giraffe!

Checkin out the zebras

After that, and a little rest, we went to Longhorn with my mom and sister. I know, I said Monells yesterday, but they didn't have what I wanted, so we switched. :) As always when we have Levi, that was an interesting meal...haha. I just love my family, and treasure any time the 5 of us can spend together. :)

Take 254...

Ahh...what a way to end the night...wrestling a knife out of my son's hands...

My birthday just wouldn't have been complete without red velvet cake, and my mom knows that so well...That was waiting with my gifts when we got back. I'd show you a picture, but I ate it already. Oops! It was delicious though! Bailey's Sweet Shop is UH-mazing!

I'm so grateful to everybody that made my birthday so special. All the calls, emails, texts and facebook messages put a big smile on my face. I'm looking forward to 27 and all the great things it's going to bring! :)