Happy Birthday, Little Leviticus

Levi, today you are 1 year old and I just want you to know that you have brought Mommy, Daddy, and Max so much joy and happiness. I have to admit that when I was pregnant, sometimes I would wonder how I could ever possibly love another child like I love your brother. After you were born, and when I first held you in my arms, I felt that love all over again. I feel like my heart has grown to make room for all of the love that I have for you. You are my little angel, Levi and I love you.

We all love everything about you, including your sweet smile, your button nose, your big appetite, your chunky thighs and double chin, your contagious laugh and your admiration for your big brother. Thank you for all the joy you bring to us each day. Happy first birthday, My Son.

Mike’s 10 Year High School Reunion

It makes me feel like I’m getting old to think that we are at this stage in our lives already. It’s been ten years since Mike has graduated high school and he has accomplished so much. A few days ago I asked him if he was nervous. His response was, “No, I think I’ve had some pretty good accomplishments in the past ten years so I won’t feel like a loser.”

Let’s see, right after high school Michael served a two year mission in Argentina. He came back and got married and two years later, became a father. He then received his Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management as well as put his wife through school to receive her degree. Shortly after that, he became a father to a second son and then was able to land a job in back to California. Now, seven months later, he will be buying a beautiful home for his family.

All I can say is, wow. You are amazing, Michael. Thank you for all that you have done for our family. You really have accomplished so much the first ten years of your adult life. I’m proud to say that you are my husband. I love you.

The reunion was a ton of fun! It was a blast getting all dressing up like high school days. I was able to go shopping in my mom’s closet for my outfit. She actually picked it out for me. I fell in love with the shoes and that is why there are pictures of them posted below. I spent the past six months getting ready for this night… in other words, I’ve been working hard to lose ten pounds. Maybe it was just an excuse or a reason for me to get that last bit of baby weight off. So, I set a goal and made it! I attribute it to using the myfitnesspal app. If you’re wanting to drop a few, check it out. I definitely recommend it.

Anyway, Mike had to roll into the reunion sporting his cane which was pretty funny. Some people weren’t sure if he was really using it or if it was a part of his outfit. He looked hot! The reunion was held at the House of Blues in San Diego. Mike had a blast catching up with old friends and reminiscing. It was a great night. Three more years until my reunion!

         

Max the Musician & Levi the Inchworm

My Maximilian loves to watch Naomi, Jimmy, and Maxine play the piano. As you can see, he has learned how to read music and even sing along.

 

Levi is officially mobile. Even though he looks like an “inchworm” as Michael says, he can always get where he wants to go.

Pobrecito

Mike might have a torn ACL. My tough guy took an extremely painful (fluke) hit in the knee playing flag football and has been home for the past four days trying to recover. It seems to be getting better a teeny-tiny bit each day, but is still nowhere near back to normal.

As of right now Michael and I only have preventative care insurance so, needless to say, a fifteen thousand dollar surgery for a torn ACL would have to come out of pocket. We are praying that it’s not that serious. Perhaps a severe sprain? We would like to hold onto the down payment for our future home that we have been saving for the past 6 months.

However, I want more for my wonderful husband not to be in so much pain anymore and to have his leg back to normal. So, we will keep praying as well as figure out a way to get full medical coverage for us to prevent this from happening again.

One-on-One

I think it’s really important that Mike and I have our time together alone. With him working full time, and me taking care of the boys, we hardly get to focus on each other. Sometimes I forget how we got where we are now. It all started with us…

Michael and Bianca. We fell in love with each other and with that love, brought our two beautiful boys into this world. We need time together to fall in love over and over again. So, we have date nights. It works and I love it.

Looking at baby pictures of Max hurts my heart. I can not believe how quickly he’s growing up and it makes me sad. Even though I am with him 97 percent of his daily life, I feel like I’m unable to give him the undivided attention that I would like him to have. Today, just he and I walked to the park and played and then he joined me on a 3 mile run. It was perfect.

Sometimes I worry that I don’t give Levi the attention that I gave Max when he was a baby. I know that I haven’t been taking as many pictures of Levi as I did Max and I feel like I don’t have much time to just sit on the floor and play, sing, or talk to him either. Last week I was able to do a little shopping with just Levi and it was wonderful. It’s crazy how much easier it is running around with just one baby rather than two. It was nice to be able to observe, adore, interact with, and focus on my sweet little baby.

Perhaps I overanalyzing, but I really enjoy and appreciate my one-on-one time with each of my boys!

Stop Growing!

My boys are growing so fast! It’s amazing to me when I look at pictures of them 6 months ago and then look at these from today. I can’t describe how much I love these boys. They are my angels.

A couple weeks ago, Max said to me,

“I wanna go in a big, big, huge airplane Mommy. And I want to live in the sky!”

and

“Levi’s Brown, Mommy. And I’m white.”

and

“I’m being a good boy listener Mommy. Now I can have a treat!”

I love the precious and innocent things that he says. I love to think about the creative and exciting things that go on in his little mind.

Levi is such a happy boy. He absolutely adores his brother and could sit and watch him all day. I love his little laugh and I love how he bounces when he gets excited.

I’m so happy and blessed to be able to be home with my boys. We love to go to story time at the library, and music time at the park. We love to go grocery shopping together and to read books before nap time. We really like to have picnics and to play at the park. Max loves to practice writing and learning about the letters of the alphabet (especially when there’s M&Ms involved). 

We have been living with the Marshall family for 6 months now. I’m just going to take a few lines and brag about them a bit. I think I have the best in-laws in the world. I’m serious. Jim and Brenda are the most caring and giving people I know. I love them so much. I mean come on, what kind of people are willing to let their son and his wife and two kids live with them until they find a house? Very loving, patient, and kind people. That’s what! Then there’s Emminome (Naomi) who Max adores and follows around everywhere. She plays with him and babysits him sometimes while I go on a run or take a shower. Maxine is an amazing Aunt too. She sings and plays the piano with Max and has dance parties with him in her room. Max learns a lot when Uncle Jimmy gives him little quizzes like, “what color do blue and green make?” Uncle Jimmy also lets Max hang out with him when his friends are over. When Aunt Lizzy comes over, a lot of times she brings the boys presents, “plays toys” with Max, and changes Levi’s diaper. It’s so nice to get a break from changing a diaper ever once in a while! I just love this family and I’m so blessed to have them. They are all such wonderful examples to me in many ways.

Along with the house hunting roller coaster ride, we’ve just been trying to stay positive and keep our options open. It’s a little tough sharing one room with the boys, but we are very grateful.

We are just really excited/anxious to find a good home to call our own. We know it will happen at the right time.

Once upon a time…

… there was a mother and her two daughters who lived in a little town called Mentone. This wonderful mother was in search of the perfect church for her family. She spent quite a while contemplating, visiting, and researching different churches until one day, three young men dressed in white shirts and ties knocked on their door.

“Who has the best looking tie?” Asked Elder Curtis as the mother opened the door.

“You” she said, pointing to Elder Curtis.

These young men taught many wonderful things to this family like how they can return to live with God, and how they can be with their families forever and all eternity, and that there is a prophet today who receives direct revelation from God to help guide them through life.

On August 14th, 1999, this woman and her two daughters were baptized and became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

 

12 Years later, Elder Curtis, the wonderful mother, and one of her daughters reunite…

        

Thanks for knocking on our door, Ben. I am forever grateful.

Anderson Family,

Thank you for letting us come up to be a part of the wonderful experience of blessing Ozzie. You guys are really amazing and are such a perfect match. Ozzie is so blessed to have you as parents as you are blessed to have that little angel as your son.

We can’t wait to see you guys again.

Our Day in San Francisco

We spent the day downtown and walked a total of 6 miles. It was all worth is though! This is the first real family vacation we’ve had and it was so much fun.

We walked around Fisherman’s Wharf,

rode a cable car to Chinatown,

walked through the amazing San Francisco  neighborhoods,

and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Wow. What an amazing time we had. I am the luckiest woman alive. I love my husband and my babies so much. It’s so wonderful to have such great experiences with them.