Levi giving kisses...

...drooley, slobbery ones! :)

just had to share...

...this cute pic of my peanut and me!! Love this little booger :)

Gotta love Photo Booth!

4 months

Levi Ben is 4 months old already! Actually a few days ago. Growing and learning lots of new things! Not sure where the time is going, but it's definitely going FAST. I'm trying to enjoy every day with him and cherish every moment. It's funny how even though he's only 4 months old, when I look back at the pictures of when he was first born I think, awww he was so teeny!! He's getting to be a chunk :) We just love him so much!!

 

At 4 months....

 

weighs 16 lbs .5 oz (according to the Public Health Nurse that stopped over a few days before his 4 mo. bday)

not sure about length, the P.H. Nurse measured 25", but at his 2 mo. check-up he was 26.5"?? Not sure, but I'm thinking more towards 27" now. Find out soon I guess!

loves to smile! it doesn't take much to make him smile if he is in a good mood!

has the most adorable giggle!

grabbing for anything that is within reach, then pulling immediately to the mouth

found his feet! he is always grabbing them, especially when getting his diaper changed. brings them right to his mouth too.

getting wise to the car seat...he pushes his feet against the bottom, arches his back, and lifts his butt up. once he's in he's fine usually, just gotta be difficult! :)

lifts his butt up off the floor/changing table when getting his diaper changed...makes it tricky!

rolls over from his back to his tummy. doing this when I put him down to sleep now too.

speaking of sleep. going backwards in that department. the past few weeks have been tough. throw a few days of vacation in there and it makes it worse. gone are the days of waking up only once to eat. I'm not sure why he won't sleep better, but it's making one frustrated and sleep-deprived mommy. Especially the last week or so, he does not want to go down for a nap or anything. I can tell he's tired, but it takes me FOR-EV-ER to get him to go to sleep and stay asleep when I lay him down. He has a bit of a stuffy nose, but I brought him to the dr. this wk-end and he is fine, no ear infection or anything, so I've been using saline drops and suctioning the mucus out a few times a day. So I don't know if that is making him wake up, or what. It's possible that he's teething, but I don't know what to look for to know for sure. What I do know is that he is overtired and needs sleep, but won't stay asleep. I am to the point where I'd be willing to try the cry-it-out method, but I kind of want to wait until his 4 month check-up to talk to Dr. Meyer first. Too bad that's not for another 2 weeks. Can you tell this is stressing me out? Anyways...moving on...

still breastfeeding, with me pumping at work so he can take a bottle at daycare.

just moved into size 3 diapers. they're a little big, but 2's were too small.

wearing size 6 month clothes, and already growing out of some.

has a bit of cradle cap that won't go away. just tonight I tried some baby oil, so we'll see if that works. it made his hair super greasy though, even after I washed it. but I want the cradle cap to go away because it's making his hair fall out. :(

still loves bath time! kicks and splashes with his feet a lot.

just started practicing sitting. we've got a ways to go with that yet.

he loves to hear his own voice! he squeals and screams and babbles. it's so cute :)

now here are some pics of my peanut from the past month:

 

Mr. Aaron Gregory!

This little cutie just turned a year old! Crazy how time flies. Before we know it he and Levi will be causing all sorts of mischief! Ha!

Jess asked if I would take a few pics of him in a pair of Mark's old overalls and of course I said yes. I'll never pass up a chance to take pics of the kiddos, and also practice my photography skillz. :) lol.

Here are a few of my faves:

Love this little guy to pieces!

I will have Levi's 4 month update hopefully tomorrow!

kansas cucumber salad

This is our new favorite way to make creamy cucumbers! I've been making it for a few months, but finally remembered to take a picture when I made it for dinner this afternoon. I'd been trying to find the perfect combination for quite awhile, since Paul loves creamy cucumbers, but we could never get it perfect. Then I saw this recipe in one of the church cookbooks I have (LOVE those!) and thought I'd try it. I wasn't sure, since Paul isn't always crazy about dill, but in this salad, it's what makes it stand out! Usually I don't peel the cucumbers when I get one at the store, since I usually get the seedless English kind, but these are garden fresh (yummy!) and the skin is a little thicker so I decided to peel them. Either way it's great!

Kansas Cucumber Salad

1 c Miracle Whip
1/4 c sugar
4 tsp vinegar
Sliced or chopped onion
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp salt
4 to 8 med. cucumbers, sliced thin (or 1-2 English cucumbers)

Mix all ingredients, except cucumbers and onions. Add cukes and onion; toss. Chill at least one hour.

sleeeeeeep!

After the last couple weeks, everyone in this house needs some of that. Especially me and Levi. He is still waking up every few hours. Usually it goes like this... jammies/change diaper, read a story, feed/rock to sleep, put him in his crib, sleeps 3-3.5 hours, then wakes up (well, he doesn't actually open his eyes all the time, just whines/fusses) so I usually feed him, then sleeps another 2 hours, wakes up, I go in and give him his pacifier, and from then on I end up going in to give him his pacifier every 15-20 minutes, and he usually ends up coming to lay in bed by me for an hour or two.

Being that his is almost 4 months old, it just seems like he should be sleeping more. All night ideally. Ha. He doesn't nap that well either, so that worries me a little too. His 4 month check-up isn't until the 30th, so I'm not sure what to do. He was doing so well for awhile, then all of a sudden he just has been going backwards.

I checked out a few books from the library and both of them seem to have the same technique: let them cry. Well, that is the basic idea. What they say to do is go in and check on him in progressively longer intervals until they fall asleep on their own.

Well, last night when Levi woke up at 11:30, I fed him like normal, then he woke up again at 2:00 and we decided to see if he would put himself back to sleep if we let him fuss a little. An hour later, after checking on him after every few minutes, he finally fell asleep when I gave him his pacifier. Then only slept for another hour. Ugh! It was really hard to let him cry and I don't think I could have if Paul wasn't there with me.

I know we'll have to just do it eventually, but I wonder if he is too young yet, and I don't want him to be hungry if I don't feed him, and so on and so forth. I guess I just need an ok from his dr. or something that he is the right age, etc. I keep hoping he'll sleep better on his own, but I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy.