Quick update

This picture was taken at the end of April, but I just had to share how stinking cute he looks in his Carharts!!

Also at the end of April, Josiah went to a birthday party for a couple of his classmates.  He had a great time!

 They had a pinata at the party, and after all the candy had been spoken for, a couple of the boys (including Josiah) decided to destroy it.  Being the good mother that I am, instead of stopping them, I just took their picture.

 On 5/4, Josiah was in a presentation for his school.  I don't think he sang at all, but at least he did some of the hand movements.  He mostly stood there and scowled because he didn't like the light in his eyes.  :)

 Taken on 5/9 - just a cute pic of my boys playing together!

Our chickens are now free range.  They decimated our broccoli plants in the garden, so we had to move their coop to the other side of the house (they don't stray too far from the coop).  But now they are right outside our bedroom window, and the roosters are now experts at crowing.  Every morning at about 5:20 I am ready to go out and butcher them myself!!!!

We went to visit my parents for mother's day weekend.  Just had to share this picture, because this is how Levi reacts when almost anyone besides Jason or me tries to hold him.  He is pretty comfortable now with my mom and Jason's mom, as long as he can't see me.  

 Bike races!!  After several times down the hill there was an inevitable crash with skinned legs, but they still had fun!

 You just can't beat a tire swing.  Hours of entertainment.

 Happy mother's day to all the moms out there!  I love being a mom to my boys!!

Another update coming soon!!!

Levi

Levi is 9 months old now (almost 10 months old as of this post)!  We took him to the doctor on 4/18 for his checkup.  He is 20 lbs 10 oz and 28.25" tall.  That puts him in about the 50th percentile for both weight and height.  He is so much fun.  He loves to stand up (holding onto something), although he has fallen over a couple of times.  He also loves to walk around while holding onto someone's fingers.  He is starting to get over his separation anxiety a little, but still prefers mommy over everyone else.  He babbles a lot, and smiles at everyone (as long as mommy is holding him).  I have been trying to upload a crawling video to no avail.  Hopefully it will work soon!

A month of firsts

 The past month has flown by!  Here are some picture updates.

Truman facing off with Darth Vader.  Thankfully the cats have not tried to go after the chickens.  The chickens do not seem to be too afraid of the cats.  They will walk right up and peck them in the face! 

Easter weekend was a big one for Levi - he started clapping his hands, saying Ma Ma, and crawling!  He is still a pretty slow crawler, but he can definitely get around.  Videos of Levi coming soon.

Dying eggs for Easter.  Josiah had fun but a couple of the eggs did not survive. 

Easter egg hunting at Grandma Regehr's house:

 More egg hunting, with a bonus pic of the new ride!

Josiah has become quite the tree climber.  Every tree he sees with low branches is fair game. 

4/13 - Josiah's first x-ray!  He has been having some ongoing constipation issues, so we are checking things out.  After this x-ray, the doctor told us to come home and have a clean-out day, where we give him 1/2 bottle of Miralax.  That was a long day, but he survived!  He has a follow-up appointment next week.

4/14 - The completed chicken coop!  Jason built the whole thing by himself with no plans or anything to follow.  He specially designed it to be able to check for snakes before grabbing the eggs!  He did a great job.  It is really heavy/sturdy - we have joked that it could be our storm shelter!

This is how we got the chicken coop into our yard. 
Good thing Mary Anne is strong enough to pull it!
It is nice to have the chickens out of our garage!

4/16 - Josiah's first dentist appointment (we were going to take him last year, but with the move and Levi's birth and everything we just didn't get it done).  He did SO great.  He didn't like the light shining in his eyes, so they gave him these glasses to wear.  He sat still, didn't complain, and was very cooperative.  AND, no cavities!! 

Bass Pro brainwashing at it's finest:

Have I mentioned that we planted 2 apple trees on 3/14?  Here is one of them leafing out (taken 3/31).

More tree climbing.  The branches were too high on this one, so he had some help getting up there. 

4/14 - Levi sitting on the tractor with daddy for the first time!

Josiah was the ring bearer in Jason's cousin's wedding last weekend.  He did a great job and LOVED it.  He thought he was the star of the show (in our minds he was!).  Congrats Jared & Mikayla!

This is at the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding:

 On Sunday Levi got his first (much needed) haircut!  Thank you Aunt Ericka!!

Our friends the Buhrles stopped by for a short visit on their way through town Sunday - it was great to see them!

We had a fun time at the Springfield zoo this week with some friends we met through Josiah's school:

Feeling super blessed!!!

Happy Early Easter!

Levi's amazing dance moves!

And on that farm he had some chickens

After 2 months of putting me in a zombie state, Levi started sleeping through the night again this week! SO SO happy!! I now have the stamina to blog!

Here's Levi's first time swinging (1/31)! He gave me this half smile the whole time. He didn't act super impressed, and seemed unsure if he should laugh or cry.
Just a fun pic. Love those little guys!

Jason's birthday was 2/10. We had a low-key celebration. We were planning on going out for dinner and leaving the kids with his mom, but then Levi got sick (and got his first ear infection!). Poor little guy - he was miserable. He is such a happy baby normally, but when he got sick he turned into a little monster! I guess I probably act like that when I'm sick too. Thankfully he got over it and returned to his happy self!

Just hanging out and being cute.
Josiah loved the snow we had on 2/13. He cried when it melted. Even though it was freezing out there, he insisted on playing in it and would not admit that he was cold. The cats however, were not shy about admitting they were cold. Daisy just wanted to curl up on Josiah and sleep. He thought it was a fun tackling game. Either way they both had fun.
On 2/29 we got chickens! We have 10 of them - 2 buff orpingtons (the cute yellow ones), 4 barred rocks (black and white), and 4 Rhode Island reds. They were born that morning so they were very little. Josiah was at first not excited about letting them use his little plastic swimming pool until they got big enough for a coop. He threw a big fit about it, saying "but I love that pool! I don't want to swim in chicken poop!". But when Jason brought them home and he saw them, he quickly changed his tune. "I love chickens, they are my favorite animals! They can have my pool, it's okay, I don't care."

More hanging out and being cute. They just can't help it.
Josiah discovering the wonders of fun dip.

The chickens are growing SO fast! Here they are after one week. Their wing and tail feathers are coming in, and we are starting to be able to tell the roosters from the hens. Poor roosters. You will probably end up on our dinner plates.

Josiah "helping" daddy do some work.
We have been busy around the house/farm, and are loving the spring-like weather! Here's to more sleeping through the night (which translates into more frequent blogging)!

Up up and away

These boys are growing up fast! A week ago I took Levi to his 6 month doctor's appointment. He is now 18 lbs 10 oz and 27 inches tall. I believe that puts him in the 67th percentile for both height and weight. Hey doctors, look how proportional our asymmetrical baby turned out to be!!

Levi enjoys sticking out his tongue, chewing on his toes (and everything he can reach), pulling his brother's hair, and sitting up by himself for a few minutes at a time. He can roll from his back to his belly, but he mostly chooses not to because he can't roll from his belly to his back, so he gets stuck (and then tired and then mad). He is getting up during the night, sometimes only once but most nights twice. Where did my good sleeper go?! Oh well, at least he is still his smiley happy self!

Levi is almost too big for some of his 9 month clothes, and has several 12 month pieces that he can wear. The kid is only 6 months old! Josiah is getting so tall that his 4T t-shirts are turning into midriffs. Pretty soon I will have giant children that can carry me around in their pockets. Josiah enjoys playing Legos, GI Joes, Star Wars, and mostly anything involving chasing, shooting, etc. He loves watching PBS kids shows (Dinosaur Train, Curious George, etc.) and also loves watching movies, so much so that I am trying to re-direct his attentions to more productive activities. He also loves talking to Levi, and Levi thinks he is hilarious. It is so fun to see them interact.

Pictures coming soon (and by soon I mean within the next couple of weeks)!

Jason and his girls

Well Jason officially has another woman in his life. 9 more actually. Heifers of course! Here he is with his grandpa the day he brought them over (a week ago Sunday).
Here's one of the girls standing in the nice luscious rye grass Jason planted.
Three more who have not figured out how yummy rye grass is yet.
Josiah, the proudest he can be of his daddy's new girls! Now he just has to figure out how to not spook them. Less running at them while mooing might help.
Let us know if you want to buy some beef from us in about 7 months! Just one disclaimer: the price per lb will be about $20 so that we can cover all the farm stuff Jason wants to buy! ;)