Levis 2nd Birthday

Let me just start out by saying that this party was kind of a last minute idea, and was supposed to be super simple. I am oneof the people that never really understood why parents go all crazy throwing a party for a child who is too young to understand and appreciate it. I wanted Levi’s party to be easy, and simple, but if you were here then you would know that it was far from my original plan. It is very easy to explain how I lost control, in fact it really only takes one word to sum it up and that is…Pinterest!

You see I had two main goals for Levis party. The first was to have a theme and activities that Levi could get excited about and enjoy, and the second thing was to have all the food be healthy with little to no sugar. As many of you know I try to give Levi as very little sugar as possible, so with that being said I wanted to make sure that he would be able to eat all of the refreshments at his own party.

Well I had a plan of what I was going to serve at his Birthday, and it was all very easy and simple. However, that plan was changed the night I could not sleep and browsed Pinterest. I was just so surprised by all the ideas for healthy food, and I could not choose which ones were my favorite, and so what do I do……I made them all! I got in way over my head, so for everyone who attended do not expect all my parties to be this elaborate! Luckily I had a few awesome friends who were able to come down the day before and help me put it all together. Thank goodness they did because without them this party would not have happened!

So the party was a ball theme, and of course Levi loved it! We filled the whole living room with balls and balloons, and let Levi go to town. He played with the balls for weeks after the party; there are some videos to show some of the fun we had with them. I can say with one hundred percent certainty that Levi loved his party, primarily because of all the balls! We also let all the kids take home a ball as a party favor and they loved it.

All in all I loved the party, and feel very accomplished with how well it turned out. I do not see me throwing another party like this for awhile because of how exhausted I was at the end. It took me the full week after to feel normal again. Some of you may be wondering what my future plans are for Parkers first Birthday, and of course I have already made those arrangements as well. Morgan and I will go out to dinner by ourselves and celebrate the completion of the first year. We will have dessert with the kiddos once we get back. His birthday will be all about Mommy!

Here is a photo bomb of the before and after the party, and of course the whole party!

The cake was a homemade whole wheat biscuit (with zero sugar) layered between strawberries and homemade whip cream

My Sweet Newborn

As many of you know, I really struggled with Levi when he was a newborn. I mean now he is the world’s best toddler, but he has not always been like that. When he was born he pretty much just cried and slept. Sure I was grateful for the sleeping, but all the time he spent awake was pretty draining. On top of that Levi did not enjoy any type of hugs and snuggles. He would never sleep on my chest, and would only let me hold him if he was facing out. Levi rarely smiled, and I do not remember him laughing until he was around 6 months old. As you can imagine this extreme grumpiness would suck the energy out of any new first time mom. Eventually Levi got easier and became the sweet, smiley, and affectionate little boy that he is today, but I promise those characteristics came later. Because of this experience I have dreaded going back to those early months with any of our future children that was until Parker came along.

Since the first night Parker came into this world he has wanted nothing more than to snuggle with his mommy. Parker was born at 10:30 at night, and after a thirteen hour labor I was beyond exhausted. My mom spent that first night in the hospital with me, and she was going to stay up with Parker so that I could get some rest. Well shortly after I fell asleep Parker just flipped out and would not stop crying. My mom tried for a while to sooth him, but eventually caved and woke me up. As soon as I took Parker I lied him down on my chest and he immediately calmed down and fell fast asleep. My mom could not even believe it, all he needed that night was his mommy. I am so grateful that I was able to snuggle and sooth my sweet new baby that night. It instantly made me feel so loved and cherished.

The next day I had come home from the hospital and Morgan and my mom were taking care of Parker so that I could take a nap. He again started crying uncontrollably. Eventfully they decided he must be hungry so they came in and woke me up to feed him. I remember walking out into the living room, where they all were and I started talking. As soon as Parker heard my voice he instantly fell asleep. It was like all he needed was to hear the sound of his mom’s voice so that he could feel safe enough to close his eyes and fall asleep. Since Parker has been born he has always taken extra comfort to having his mom close by.

Parker has just been the sweetest newborn and I love him so much. I now see why people cherish the first year of a baby’s life so deeply.  Parker just loves to be held and cuddled all the time, which I don’t mind at all. I love that Parker gets so much fulfillment from being close to me. He will just lie on my shoulder and snuggle till he falls asleep, and he will sit on my lap for as long as I am willing to hold him. Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to feed him, and I just get so over whelmed with his smiles and stares that I cannot help but stay up for an extra hour just so I can just look into his eyes, kiss his little neck, and soak in all his smiles. It is like for those few minutes I completely forget how tired I am. I just become so over whelmed with his love all I can do is just sit there in aww as I think about how perfect my sweet baby is. He is always happy and smiling and he just has the sweetest laugh that I have ever heard. He is just such a happy boy, who loves life. He just melts everyone’s heart with his smiles and dimples, and I cannot get over how much I am dreading him growing up. I wish I could keep him this age forever. I know I have said the word smiles a million times, but I just cannot get over how smiley he is. He pretty much always wears a smile.

It is amazing to me how different two babies can be. I know Levi loved me with all his heart, but when he was a newborn he did not have the best ways of showing it. Now that he is older he loves to give his little brother kisses and hugs all the time. He is honestly one of the

most affectionate little boys I have ever met. I am so grateful for all the time I have with my boys, and I am glad I get to be the one to help them experience their different stages. It is fun to see their little personalities as they grow and experience all the different parts of life. I am  loving this stage of my life, and I am just so grateful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me to be a mother to such beautiful little spirits who I love more then I thought possible.

The First Months with Two

Since Parker has been born so many things have happened, and it is over whelming to think about where to start. After Parker was born I had the luxury to have my mom here for three weeks, and I have never been so spoiled and well taken care of. She showered Levi with more attention than he knew what to do with, did all the cooking, shopping, and believe it or not she also did all the dishes. I was so grateful for all of her extra help especially in those first couple weeks, because it took me almost a month to start feeling like myself again. Breastfeeding is always hard for me because I get extremely engorged when my milk comes in. To the extent that the lactation consultant said it has been over three years since she has seen somebody with so much milk, and my midwife said I was one of the worst she’d seen. With the engorgement came mastitis, clogged ducts, and an intense amount of discomfort. My mom was so supportive and sweet, and I am just grateful I had her through all of my tears and struggles. While she was here I was also able to go to the zoo, celebrate Thanksgiving, black Friday shopping, set up our Christmas tree, and all kinds of other fun outings. Spending time with my mom will always be some of my most cherished memories.

 Levi Loves holding Parker!

 My mom loved to cuddle Parker!

 First family picture!

 Right after my mom gave Parker his first bath

 I love the turkey leg pictures on Thanksgiving! 

My family is obsessed with Rudys 

setting up the Christmas tree 

My mom got Parker a superman outfit, and we recreated the pictures of his uncle Aaron

 Morgan asked me if I put that ball there...I said haha ask Levi

 Levi was excited to ride his favorite animal!

We will need to get a coy fish pond!

Shortly after my mom left, Morgan’s parents came in! I was so excited to see them, and to show off Parker. Morgan’s mom (Julie) was so helpful! She helped with all the cooking and cleaning. She loved holding Parker, and playing with Levi. Morgan’s dad (Brad) is Levi’s biggest fan! He just loves him to pieces and had so much fun playing ball with Levi, and taking him outside. It is one of my favorite things to watch my kids spend time with their grandparents. I had the luxury of seeing my grandparents almost every day when I was growing up, so I love it when my kids can have the opportunity to see theirs. It was so great that they were able to come out for a full week. I almost forgot that we also blessed Parker while they were here, and Morgan gave a beautiful blessing. It was a very fun and special week.

 we went out to dinner at my new favorite restaurant "Love and War in Texas"

 Grandma and Grandpa

our little family

I literally dropped Brad and Julie off at the airport and picked up my sister in the same trip. Wendy was on her way back from a work conference and she happened to have a layover in Dallas! She was able to stay for almost a week, which was awesome because I love the company. We were able to do a trip to the zoo, which Levi loved! He is obsessed with the brass animals scattered around the zoo. Wendy called them his animal friends. It was nice having Wendy because she chased Levi around the zoo while I took care of Parker. My favorite part of the trip was the gorilla who came right up to the glass. As many of you know gorillas are mine and Levi’s favorite animal. So seeing one so up close was like a dream come true! Outside of going to the zoo we spent a lot of time lounging around. It was nice to just relax and chat. We had a good time catching up and spending time together. Wendy was also able to be here for our ward Christmas party, I was one of the people in charge of the planning, so it was cool for her to get to see the activity that I worked so hard on come to life. Parker got to be the baby Jesus in the nativity scene, it was the beginning of his acting career. I was also very grateful that Wendy was able to babysit the boys so that we could go to Morgan's work cocktail party. I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving Parker with anyone outside of family, so I was very fortunate that my sister was able to be here. she will always get to be the first one to babysit Parker. I was sad to see her go, but I knew that we would see each other again real soon, so that made it easier.

baby Jesus 

 Can you tell that Penny was insanely Jealous

 Morgans work cocktail party

 The gorilla

More of the Gorilla

One of Levi's brass animal buddies

I felt pretty down once all of the company was gone. I don’t really get bored of having family around, and I am not really a person who needs a lot of “me” time. I like to be around people all the time and I hate to be alone. Luckily I knew Christmas would be coming up fast, and Morgan had another week off of work.

Before I knew it Christmas came…and to my surprise it was not as exciting as I anticipated. I blamed the lack of excitement on Morgan for being sick, but to be fair I don’t think it was really his fault. When you’re a kid Christmas has this special magic to it. I am not sure if it is the presents, Santa, or all the sugar, but there is something that makes it so exciting. Once your grown up it feels more like just another day of the year. I don’t really know how to explain it, but the feeling of Christmas changes as you age. I feel like the magical feeling I am describing will come back once Levi is old enough to get more into the Christmas spirit. We did not really do a whole lot on Christmas because Morgan was pretty sick, but it was nice to just sit around and enjoy the piece and quite.

A couple weeks after Christmas my grandma and Sister Wendy came into town. It was a short trip, but it was still so fun to see them! We went to David’s Bridal and I got to see my sister’s wedding dress! It was beautiful! I also got to pick out my bridesmaid dress for her wedding this summer. I can hardly wait! On Friday we decided to brave the 30 degree weather and go to the zoo. When I pulled into the parking lot I could not believe that there were only two other cars there, and when I got our tickets I asked how many people were in the zoo and she said there was only 6 other people in the entire zoo. Crazy! Once we walked in I noticed the fountain had icicles on it, and I was freezing. We immediately went and found the reptile room, and of course it was much warmer in there. Lucky for us we happened to be there on feeding day, and we got to watch the snakes swallow frozen mice. Apparently this event only happens once every six weeks, so you could say we were lucky to get to witness that (sarcasm). I thought it was disgusting and reconfirmed my decision to never own a reptile.

Parker has been an amazing baby, and I am so grateful for him every day. When we first came home from the hospital he was sleeping for about six hours at night, but currently he is up to 8 hours! He also takes two four hour naps. He is seriously the world’s best baby. He hardly ever spits up, and is happy almost all the time. Levi just loves to hug him and hold him. He almost says the word “baby” more than “ball”. I was so worried Levi would have some jealousy trouble but he has been more interested in playing with Parker then he has in competing with him for attention. Parker LOVES being swaddled, and of course no one can swaddle him as good as Daddy. When Morgan swaddles him he sleeps for twice as long. I need to learn his skills. I am trying really hard to just soak up this newborn face because I know it will go by fast, but I am excited to watch Parker grow. I just love my boys so much!

Parker Loves to be swaddled 

 my buddy!

Grandma got him a new bike for Christmas!

I am still really into cooking, and I am loving that I have still been able to find time to cook. Last January was when we made the goal to cut out processed food, and although we are not perfect I still feel like we have done a darn good job! This year we have made the goal to cut out sugar. So far it is going well, but I look forward to seeing what the future holds!