13 months

Just wanted to do a quick update of Levi at 13 months with some pics and the fun new things he's been doing! I'll do his height/weight updates when we have his check-ups with the dr.

Getting these pictures was a CHALLENGE! Holy cow! Stand still? NO WAY MOM!! Haha! I had to make some very loud, obnoxious noises to get him to even look my direction and smile or laugh. I'm pretty sure the neighbors weren't home otherwise I'm sure they would have wondered about me. :) I am happy with the ones I got, they capture his busy, non-stop personality well! Good practice with my camera on manual too. ;)

At 13 months::

He is walking all over...go, go, GO!

Can go down the stairs by himself. (I still stay close since he's only been doing this for a week or so) He actually sort of surprised me with this one. I only started showing him how to come down on his tummy a few times, and it must have just clicked. He does really good with it!

Pointing at everything! Once he figured out how to do that, he is always pointing at something.

I swear his first word is 'shoes'. Random, yes. When I tell him let's go bye-bye, he runs to the basket I keep by the door with all his shoes, grabs one and goes 'sh-sss'...or something to that effect. Pretty cute!

Calls daddy from the top of the stairs by the gate when he goes in the basement, or just anywhere. He goes 'Da! Da! DA!' over and over. Not dada, just DA.

Obviously loves being outside!

He can operate the little 4-wheeler we got him for his birthday on his own now. Once he figured that out, he was pretty proud of himself! Of course, he can't steer or anything, and he doesn't look where he's going. So he'll be pushing the button looking at me with this big grin...pretty hilarious!! :) Also notice how he stands up while driving it...such a boy!!

Dances! Oh. My. Heavens. It is SOOO funny!! We went to Madison's spring program the other night at the church and Paul and I were CRACKING UP because he was standing our our lap, holding onto the pew in front of us and just movin' and shakin' while the kids sang! He shakes his butt and moves his head and shoulders, sometimes he'll start waving his arms around! So stinkin' funny!!

He is as such a fun age right now, and I think we are in for a super fun summer!!


btw...sorry no high five for Friday post this week!

Levi's one year pics

I just realized that I never shared Levi's one year pictures! We had them taken over a month ago with Stephanie Foto in Morris. We also had some family photos taken. Levi did great, and we got some really nice ones. I'm really happy with how they turned out. I think Levi's favorite part was the cake smash, lol! :) He went to town on that poor little cake! Here are some of my favorites..

Love them so much! Stephanie did a great job! :)

high five for friday

Another week that went by fast! I have a feeling this whole summer is going to fly by. Every year it goes faster and faster! I hope we are able to enjoy every minute though!

 Here are my five:

1. Leonard and Louise's. It's a sale that is held twice a year, and they sell antiques, re-done furniture, etc. for really good prices. The couple that does it fixed up an old school house that they have the sale it and it's really cute. I try and get out there every time they have the sale and check out what they have. This year I scored an old wire basket, a couple bowls, a small crock, and some neat magnets.

2. Pizza party! Paul's sister was home this past weekend, so we all went over and ordered pizza on Saturday night. Can't go wrong with Pizza Hut and the white sauce that you can only at the Morris location! YUM!! It was fun to see her and hang out with the family for the evening.

3. Helping daddy in the garden.

Levi had a blast playing in the dirt while Paul planted some onions in the garden. It was bath night anyway, so I just let him go at it! Typical boy who loves getting dirty!!

4. Grandma came to visit!

My mom came up to make some cake pops for my cousin's graduation this weekend, and when she got here Levi was down for a nap. When he woke up and I brought him down stairs he had his head on my shoulder yet, and as soon as he heard grandma's voice, he whipped around and practically jumped into her arms! Luckily I had my camera close so I could snap a picture quick! :)

5. Lou's Greenhouse. Jess and I went there this morning. It was fun but also a workout with the kiddos along!! I have to say they were very well-priced though, definitely glad we checked it out!

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk

strawberry-rhubarb jam

...or jelly as we always called it. Technically though, I think it is considered jam since it has pieces of fruit in it. Anyway, whatever it is, it's YUMMY. This is my mom's recipe, and for as long as I can remember there has always been multiple jars of this in the freezer, a staple at our house. If we used the last of the jar in the fridge, it was just a given to go grab another jar from the freezer. It's super-duper easy to make too, which is always a bonus in my book!

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Makes 3 pints or 6 half-pints

4 c. rhubarb
2 3/4 c. sugar
1 sm. box frozen sliced strawberries
1 3oz box strawberry jell-o

Mix sugar and rhubarb, let sit until sugar dissolves, usually a couple hours. Stirring occasionally helps this process along. Bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes, stirring often. If a lot of green foam forms on top, skim it off. Add strawberries and boil another minute or so. Remove from heat and stir in jell-o. Pour into jars and freeze. 


Notes:
- No need to let them cool off or anything, the jars can go straight into the freezer.
- If doubling the recipe, use 3 boxes of jell-o.
- Can also use this same recipe with frozen raspberries and raspberry jell-o.

High Five for Friday

Friday snuck up on me this week. We have a busy weekend, starting today, but the week went by faster than I thought it would! Here are my five for this week. No pictures, I was a slacker! :)

1. We've been wanting an extra fridge to put in our basement, to store pop, garden produce, etc., and we finally got one! Paul decided he wanted to just get a new one instead of a used one, that way we know it will be energy efficient and it should last a lot longer. Nothing fancy, just a smaller top freezer type, but it makes me happy!

2. We got a tree! One of the pretty blossoming ones with the rosey pink flowers. Last summer we had one of the trees in our yard removed and we wanted something to replace it, or at least fill the hole a little. I'm looking forward to watching it grow over the years!

3. Lunch with my co-workers. We had a 'Boys Supply Lunch' on Wednesday...one of my co-workers is a turkey hunter, so he wanted to share the meat that he got from his wild turkey. He had it smoked at the local meat locker, so we had it on sandwiches and it was really good! We all brought something to share, and it was a fun change of pace for lunchtime!

4. I finally found a new swimsuit that I don't feel like I look horrible in. Since being pregnant, my body is obviously not the same, so I'm not comfortable in just anything like I used to be. I found this one at Old Navy, I can't even link to it because it's all sold out. The only bad thing is that it's very, um, roomy, in the bust area. So I'm hoping my grandma can take it in a little for me, then it will be perfect!

5. Garden Club! A couple girlfriends and I are going to start a small, informal garden club. We had our first meeting last night. I hope we can keep it going, because I think it will be fun!

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk:

earring display

I was feeling crafty the other day, so I decided to do a little project I bought the supplies for a long, long time ago. I saw this idea on Pinterest over a year ago, and have wanted to try it ever since.

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Kelsey on Pinterest

I had to clean off my dresser anyway. Might as well re-organize and spruce it up a bit! It was super easy to do, even with a one-year-old making trouble at my feet. After I was done I realized I should have made my wire a little longer so I could loop it over, but it should hold fine. I don't have too heavy of earrings or anything. Here is how it turned out.

I am pretty happy with it! I like being able to see all of my earrings, maybe I will wear them more now!! :) I went and found this cute heart dish from my kitchen for a place to keep bracelets. Necklaces I keep on hooks on the other side of the dresser, you can kind of see them in the corner of the picture. And here is a closer look at them.

I do really love jewelry, but I end up wearing the same few necklaces with the same outfits. I need to start wearing more of all the cute things I do have!!

rhubarb bread

When we first moved to our house in town here, I was super excited to see that there was a small rhubarb patch. As long as I can remember, my mom has been making strawberry-rhubarb jelly (posting that recipe soon!) and yummy rhubarb desserts. Paul has also grown up with the same traditions, so I was happy that I can continue to make some of those yummy recipes along with some new ones, like this recipe for rhubarb bread. This quick bread recipe comes from a church cookbook that I have. I've made it a couple times now, and we both really like it. It as a brown sugar cinnamon topping that I think really adds to it. Enjoy!

Rhubarb Bread
Makes 1 loaf

1/2 c. shortening
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1 c. sugar
2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 c. rhubarb, diced
2 T. brown sugar or honey
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix together shortening, eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in rhubarb. Pour into a 5x9x2 inch loaf pan. Mix together brown sugar or honey and cinnamon. Sprinkle on top of bread before putting into the oven. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 

High Five for Friday

It's been a few weeks since I've joined in...not because I haven't had anything to share, I've just been lazy! Hoping to keep it up this time! :)

This week went by pretty quick. We had some nice days, and some stormy weather as well. Luckily we missed the severe stuff, but Wednesday night we got some small hail.

Tuesday I brought Levi in to the dr. because he had a bit of a cough that didn't sound very good at night and in the morning. His lungs were clear and the dr. said he has been seeing it going around in young kids, so he gave him some cough medicine to at least help him sleep better at night. That seems to help, and hopefully the cough will go away soon.

Now on to my five!

1. PROM! Levi and I went down to see my cousin Rachel at her senior prom last weekend. It was really fun to spend some time with my family and see all the pretty dresses! Rachel looked beautiful!

2. This beauty was delivered to my doorstep:

Paul put it together for me and I am in LOVE. So glad we decided to upgrade from my current garage sale find. It pushes like a breeze, and even Levi loves riding in it more! Seriously, he gets excited when he sees it! :)

3. Prettiness for my desk at work:

My boss's wife brought one of these for my co-worker and I for a belated Administrative Assistant Day gift. It's nice to have some color to brighten up my desk for a while. I will bring it home in a couple weeks I think and re-pot it.

4. Loving this stuff lately:

It has a splash of coconut water in it, and it's a nice change from regular water or my iced tea mix every once in awhile.

5. Allie Jo's preschool program was this week, and Levi and I went to watch her. She is in the younger class, 3's and 4's I think, and they sang 2 songs. It was fun to see her up on stage! She did a great job and looked adorable! I didn't get a decent picture because there was a mic stand right in my line of vision, so I was bummed about that. After the concert there was an ice cream social, so that was neat. Of course Levi loved the ice cream!

Linking up with Lauren @ From My Grey Desk: