Levi's 1st Birthday

 Levi's 1st birthday! We celebrated with family and friends on the big game day (and enjoyed the game as well!) Our family of 5!

 Opening gifts.

 Poor guy. He was so tired and wanted to take a nap instead of opening gifts. Then we made him sit in his high chair and give him this foreign food while 30 people stared at him.  So....he cried...and cried...and we took pictures...and he cried some more. 

 Then he took a nap, woke up and dug in. Without the large audience too.

Levi, we love you so much. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. I still remember my tiny little baby boy with dark brown hair. And now I have an sweet, yet ornery blonde haired, blue eyed handsome little guy. This month has been big for you. You really don't seem like a baby anymore. You laugh at yourself often and think you are so funny. We can easily make you laugh too. You only take 2-4 steps all alone because you think that it is a game so you laugh and fall either forward or backwards..on purpose. You don't care if anyone is there to catch you either. You walk behind anything and everything. You walk from place to place, along things and you will take the couple steps it takes to get between things..but nothing more. You actually slept through the night for 6 nights, but then that stopped. You go to bed around 8 and get up once, eat and then sleep until 6-6:30 (unless it's a day care day and we wake you up at 5:30). You take 2 naps. You prefer meat (steak, pulled pork, chicken). You are picky but getting better with table food. At the beginning of the month you still preferred baby food over table food, but by the last week, things finally changed. You not only attended your first wedding, but you were in your 1st wedding. You did great! You are ornery. You get into everything..toilet paper, the toilet, the pantry, any drawer. You like to destroy things, look at me blow me a kiss, shake your head no and smile. You know exactly what you are doing. Your 8th tooth popped through. You crawled up on the couch by yourself and you thought you were pretty cool. You are super sweet and we love you Levi!

Meredith's 5th birthday

 Belated, I know...but Meredith had a wonderful birthday. She decided on a My Little Pony party, filled with rainbows. She loves rainbows and ponies! She wanted a cookie cake too.

 She had a few friends over to celebrate, play games and have fun. Making a rainbow craft.

 On your actual birthday. You were so excited to be the special helper at school and even more excited to bring cupcakes. Here you are on the morning before getting on the bus. It was hot (upper 80's) but you insisted on wearing your "new fuzzy socks" pulled up almost to your knees. Too funny!

 Your bike has taken a beating between two busy girls and your legs are growing, so we bought you a new bike. You were super excited! You wore that crown all day at school and that night at home too.

 When we were picking out your treats for school you really wanted this chocolate cake...so here you go sweetheart.

Meredith you are such a sweet girl. You have very strong emotions. On one end you know exactly what you want and you will try to stand your ground until you get it. On the other end you have such a soft tender heart. You easily get your feelings hurt. You are very sweet to your brother, sister and both of us as your parents. You often fight for attention and you are often the loud one. You are funny and you know it. You like to entertain anyone who will watch you. You love to mimic your sister. You want to be a vet and a farmer when you grow up. You love to play farm and you have a well organized running farm operation. You play with a smile on your face...unless something doesn't go your way and you hang your head, walk over to me...look at me with your adorable brown eyes, quiver your lip, shake your shoulders up and down and then I hear the dramatic story about whatever it may be. Sometimes I wonder if you will be a performer..you are a talented one. You have great alligator tears! You are the best eater!!! You eat all fruits and veggies. Your favorites are blueberries, watermelon, sweet potatoes, grapes and mango. You LOVE peanut butter. You don't like meat or eggs. You eat well and you eat fast. You love your sweets and work your magic to get them...ice cream, cake, cookies, M&Ms, anything you will convince someone to let you have. You are learning what lying means. You love music and you love to dance. You often sing to yourself throughout the day. You don't like to go to bed. You like flip flops, cowgirl boots and sneakers. You like braids in your hair. You do not like ponytails. You like to sit in my lap. You give great hugs. You torment Levi, but he gives it right back to you. You are protective of him at the same time. You LOVE books. You could read for hours. You have a fun imagination and you are also in pretend play. You love to color, paint, do crafts.  Meredith you can put a smile on my face even at the end of a bad day. You make me laugh and cry too! I am so proud of how you are growing up. Happy 5th Birthday sweetheart!