Pictures from Christmas

Why??

Levi's new phrase is the question "why". Haha, he totally took John and I off-guard the first time he used it. We just thought it was a one time thing, then after we answered him and he asked why again we realized he had reached the "why" stage of life.

Pregnancy Induced Wheat Allergy

A couple months before Emerson was born I started breaking out in hives and honestly I didn't think anything of it until it KEPT happening. A month after Emerson was born I started paying attention to the things I ate and started noticing that nuts and wheat were what I ate most and since both are common allergies, I cut both out of my diet (or did the best I could-it's really hard). After a few weeks of doing this I started eating nuts again and no hives yet and then I added wheat back into my diet and voila, hives. So, yes, this is a self diagnosis, but who knows my body better than me!? Anyway, John and I are both hoping this will disappear after a prolonged period of an absence of wheat in my diet. So far, it hasn't been too bad and I have definitely had to try new things. I tried a loaf of bread made out of rice flour and almond flour; it was too spongy for me. Bread has been the hardest to substitute; I really like wheat bread. Anyway, I think we will all survive. We went out to Carl's Jr. with some friends after church on Sunday and everything on the menu had wheat with it. I asked the person at the counter what he thought and it turns out he had a wheat allergy too! He told me he gets a burger wrapped in lettuce, so I tried it too and it was really good!

Emerson

Emerson was 3 months old yesterday! The really rough part is over, in my opinion. Emerson is sleeping through the night 9 hours and I am really loving that! My energy has returned and I only need a nap usually once a week. I don't know how much Emerson weighs or how long he is but everyone that sees him comments on how long he is. He seems longer than Levi at this age but Emerson also started out bigger. He is in 6 month clothes now so I guess he is a lot bigger than Levi was at this age. Emerson can sit up, being propped of course; he is getting so good at holding his head up. He really likes mobiles and faces. Levi helped me hold toys in front of him today, Emerson seemed to like that. One other thing about Emerson is that he is such a smiley baby! I love it! Every time he sees my face or anyone else's he smiles.

Levi

So much has happened since the last time I wrote on this blog. Let's start with today; Levi went #2 on the potty today! Yay, we are making progress with the whole potty training thing. He was (and still is) so proud of himself. He keeps saying, "I did a good job on the potty today." And then he looks at John and I to get some encouragement as well, and so we say, "yes, you did a great job on the potty today!" Levi has also been learning numbers and can count to four on his own. He knows all of his colors (at least all the main ones, I don't teach him things like mauve yet). Levi is really enjoying the snow and has gone sledding a couple of times; he doesn't like getting cold though. I have been taking Levi to a gymnastics class the month of December through February of next year. He LOVES it! It is a way for him to get out of the house and get some of his energy out. He loves it so much that we usually leave the building with him crying because he doesn't want to go. Another thing that Levi has been doing lately is imaginary play. I went in his room the other day to check on him while he was playing. As soon as I walked in the door he asked me if I would like some coffee. He held up a plastic boot that goes to one of his bears. He had a mug (boot) of coffee for me and a mug of coffee for him. The funny thing is John and I don't even drink coffee so he must have got this from somewhere/someone else. At lunch today his green pepper strip became a jet going into the tunnel (his mouth)! :) He bit into the cucumber slice leaving the rind behind and called the rind a crab claw and made a crunching noise to go with. Broccoli has become trees and the list goes on! I am having a hard time writing down all the things he does that make me laugh. Another thing about Levi right now is that he is really enjoying his friends. He has quite a few little girl friends that he likes to hang out with on a regular basis.