The Past Week

It seems like this past week we had lots going on so here's the rundown for any of you who are interested. I tried two new recipes this week. I made a Mexican Pizza and the later in the week I made some Cherry Cheesecake Bars for my small group. Both were yummy, so if they sound good to you, check them out and give them a try. We were very lucky to escape any major problems from the recent flooding. The Yellow River isn't too far from our house, so I was able to capture a few pictures of it. It was very high. We are very grateful that we and our families didn't suffer from the flooding, but we are also very aware that there are many families that are still dealing with the consequences from the flooding and our thoughts go out to them.

Wednesday was Cara's 15th birthday. We celebrated with a meal at Frontera.

And what's a post without some pictures of this little guy. It seems like this week we look a few more pictures of Levi than usual. Here are a few of my favorites from the week.

P.S. Levi is 16 months old today!! Can you believe it!

Fifteen

Happy Birthday Cara!

Hope your 15th birthday is the best yet. We love you!

15 Months

I can't believe Levi is already 15 months old! Truth is he'll be 16 months in just a little more than a week. Time is just flying by!! Before you know it he'll be 2, then 10, then 40! I took Levi to his 15 month check-up last week. Here are his stats: 33 inches tall and 25 pounds 11 ounces! He is still in the 90%-95% range for height and back up to the 88% for weight. He's growing up so much. Here are a few things he's learned in the past couple of weeks.

• He knows Ready, Set, Go. We say "ready, set" and he says "GO!"
• He has added the following words to his vocabulary: basketball, football, go, and yeah. He repeats lots of words, but these are the ones he says the most. He also recognizes tons of words when we say them such as: outside, go, walk, bite, all done, and bath.
• He's learned how to slide.
• Loves to dance, play with Dodger, dig in the cabinets and play with the pots and pans, eat, ride in his bike seat, go for walks, VeggieTales, help with the laundry, brush his teeth, climb on our bed, and play with anything in the dishwasher.
• He has cut 4 molars for a total of 12 teeth, and is currently cutting his incisors (vampire teeth) for 2 more.
• He LOVES bananas. He would eat them for every meal if I would let him.

Picasso

Levi and I had some art time today. He enjoyed eating the crayons more than coloring with them. I thought for Levi's first coloring project he did pretty well. When we were finished we displayed our work on the board in his room. Now I'm looking forward to finger painting, but I don't know if I'm brave enough just yet.

Little Helper

As you can see, Levi has been a great helper to Aaron while he has been remodling our closet.

* On a side note - our closet is coming along great (now that we have actually started it). We still have shelves to put in and it needs to be painted. I'll be posting pictures as soon as we get it completed.

Yellow River Game Ranch

Yesterday we headed out to the Yellow River Game Ranch for a little family time. We had a great afternoon interacting with all the animals. They have deer, rabbits, bears, cougars, coyote, bobcats, raccoons, lots of chickens, ducks, & birds, and lots of barn animals such as sheep, pigs, goats, and cows. The squirrel, deer, and rabbits would come right up to you and eat out of your hand! Levi LOVES animals, so you know he LOVED it.

Lucky Streak

I posted a few weeks ago that I won an awesome bracelet courtesy of Fabulous Fun Finds, and that not shortly after I won a Hip-T from Pink Nothings, well I must be on a lucky streak because I just won another giveaway. A huge shout out to Pink Nothings because I have just won a pair of awesome shoes for Levi. There is a funny story here, and I'll share if you care at all. Sunday afternoon we left for the beach and I knew I wouldn't be back in town until Wednesday and probably unable to check my email until at least Thursday. Usually I wouldn't worry about the giveaways while I was gone, but I knew the giveaway for a pair of See Kai Run shoes was going to end while I was away - and I was really hoping to win. I sent Pink Nothings an email as my pre-confirmation on the off chance that of the 300+ comments mine was chosen. I know they thought I was crazy, but I didn't want to miss out if I won. Well, crazy enough I won! I found out while on vacation and was super excited!!! These are the shoes I'm planning on getting. Isn't Levi gonna look super cute this fall in these? Thank you once again Pink Nothings! Hope my winning streak continues!

Toes in the Sand

We spent the last few days at the Isle of Palms in South Carolina for our family vacation. We didn't want to go far since Levi has not been enjoying the car much lately. Isle of Palms is just outside of Charleston, so it a little more than 4 hours away. Levi did great in the car, and a huge thanks goes out to our friends P.J. and Mindy for letting us borrow their DVD player. It was a lifesaver for us so thanks guys!! Levi absolutely LOVED the beach. He loved playing in the sand and stomping his feet in the water. We had such a great time watching him play. When we got there Sunday we headed to the beach as soon as we got there to let Levi play in the water. He was so excited. Monday we spent the whole day at the beach. The weather was absolutely spectacular - not too hot or cold, and the water was perfect. That evening we went into Charleston for dinner at Hyman's, and then walked around the shops downtown. Tuesday we biked to the end of the island to investigate the tide pools. We found tons of starfish, sea cucumbers, a jellyfish or sea urchin thing. It was lots of fun, we then headed back out to the beach, but the weather was much cooler, so we mainly waded in the water and played in the sand. We even buried Levi in the sand and made him a 'merman'. He loved digging in the sand with his toys and finding shells on the beach. He also loved chasing all the seagulls. That night we took a few pictures on the beach before heading to dinner and then went to the pier for a little while. Wednesday after we checked out we had lunch at our favorite place - Chick-fil-A - and then went back to the pier for the afternoon. The pier is really nice. They have a war memorial, a big lawn for picnics and playing, a playground for the kiddos, and of course the pier itself that overlooks the shipping channel. We watched some ships come in and out of the harbor. We also saw a dolphin and a few stingrays off the pier. It was a really enjoyable afternoon. We had such a wonderful and relaxing time, and I'm pretty sure Levi is already looking forward to our next beach trip. Until next year...