Santa Claus

This past Sunday the Ford Museum had a Holiday Open House. The admission to the museum was free. They had carolers, cookies and Santa and Mrs. Claus were there too. We looked at some of the exhibits at the museum and then went to find Santa. It was nice that we did not have to wait in a long line. Levi was not scared of Santa for about 10 seconds and then started screaming. Ryan went to rescue him. We kinda figured that he would be scared. It was funny to watch his reaction though. It was a good memory of his first time seeing Santa.

Bible Study

I have been attending a womens Bible study at church for the past 3 months. We meet on Thursday mornings. It works great with my schedule because I have most Thursday mornings off. Levi comes too and plays in the nursery with all his church friends. It has been great learning and studying the book of Esther. I encourage you to read what amazing women Esther was. We are using Beth Moore's study and DVDS she is such a great speaker and is coming to Van Andel in the spring...maybe I will attend that conference?:) I thought I would post her blog on my links list so that you may be encouraged by her as I have.

A Few Warm Fall Days

Here are some pictures that I took in the last couple of weeks when it was warm enough to get outside. Usually, Levi wants to go "side" with "shoosh on" even if it cold and we do. We go for a walk or play in the park. But when it was warm out last week we spent a good hour and a half outside. He loves being outside and has since he was a newborn. He picks up sticks and rocks and looks at all the "bees" every bug now is a bee. He will dig in the "dirt" or wood chips and I will sit and watch him. How can he be so into rocks, woodchips and leaves..pretty cool. Two weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, we went as a family to Richmond Park to feed the ducks...Levi loves "ducks" although when we got there he would not throw them any bread or stand on the ground..he was taking in all in. One morning last week, I made pumpkin bread and Levi "helped". He like crushing the egg shells, pouring the flour and banging all the measuring cups together...what a little helper he tries to be!
If you notice most of the pictures he is looking down..he is just to busy
for the camera.

Trick or Treat

We had a fun Halloween. In the afternoon, we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Roedema's house. Mom and my sisters and I made soups to freeze for the winter. We made 5 different kinds. We also made pigs in the blanket. We had fun eating dinner there too and the guys spend time watching football.Levi liked his cousin Katelyn's costume, a chick...he liked pinching her "beak". Levi was a zebra for Halloween and did not like being in his costume for more than 10 minutes or so. He did look really cute in it though. We would ask him where his tail was and he would spin around in circles. He loved eating "num nums" and even wanted candy for breakfast on Sunday morning..After dinner, we stopped by Dan and Mel's house. Grandpa and Grandma Koopmans were there. Levi had fun playing and seeing his cousin Collin, the pumpkin.

Sick Levi

Here is a picture of what Levi has been feeling like since Wednesday. He has had a temperature that comes and goes and a cough. So far nothing worse. Ryan took the day off on Wednesday to take care of him while I went to work. Last night he cried till about 1230 and then slept till 330 and went down till about 7. One thing is that when he is sick he sleeps alot during the day, which I am not used to but he sure needs it. On another random note..and random occassion, I am sure...Levi went poop on the toliet this afternoon. He brought his little seat to me and I put him on and he let out one fart and a turd...but we were so excited...

A Trip to the Country Basket

This past weekend when Ryan was "having fun" in his class for his Masters Degree...Levi and I and Grandpa and Grandma Roedema had breakfast together and then headed out into the cold and went to explore the apple orchard with Levi. We went to this orchard last year too when Levi was only 4 months old. We had a great time. Levi loved looking at all the "balls" and picking up the apples off the ground and putting them in the crates that where lying around. He really enjoyed playing in the corn kernals in the silo and watching all the older kids. Levi did not like the animals...he got pretty nervous around them. He did sit by a kitty for a minute or so and then got scared. He did not want to get close to the goats either. After about an hour or so of playing on the farm we got donuts and appple cider..this was Levi's favorite part! He loved the cider and had a sugar crash later that afternoon from the homemade donuts...but they were so good. On Sunday, we went back to the orchard with Ryan...he did not want to feel left out. We got donuts and hot apple cider again and Ryan and Levi got to run and play together...we also picked out a few pumpkins that are Levi's size. There is one picture of last year...Levi has grown alot!

The Last Week...or so

Last week Levi and I went to Dr. Salhadar's for his 16 month check up. Levi is such a funny boy with him..trying to jump, showing him his shooes, and being such a good boy during the exam. He just laid on the table without a squeak. The Dr. claimed usually he is fighting kids this age for the check up. Levi is growing like he should following the growth curve. He weighed in at 27.5 lbs and was 33.5 inches long. Dr. Salhadar mentioned that we should start introducing potty training to Levi...Yikes! Needless to say he said the best way that he will learn is by example...so for now, we have an open door policy.:) We bought the padded potty ring (with cars)that he recommended and have been trying to tell Levi when he poops or pees in his diaper and also sitting him on the toilet a few times a day. Like Dr.Salhadar said this is all an introduction and right now there is no expectations. Levi also had to go to the hospital to have his hemoglobin checked...which was less traumatic to me thanks to Grandma Roedema's help and a donut for Levi. He did great and they found the vein right away and thankfully the results all came back normal so no more iron supplements. Levi is getting more stubborn and telling Ryan and I no..this has been leading to some battles lately but I am sure that there is much more of that to come. He has been enjoying his daycare days, at Sandy's, since he can interact with kids. He seems to enjoy playing with the neighborhood kids too. The days he is home with mom we play as much as we can but sometimes I can tell he is bored with me or being inside.:) Then Ryan comes home and they play rough and outside...then he can get some of his engery out. Levi does have times where he reads or plays by himself too but he sure likes interacting with others.
Here are some snap shots of the last week!