39 weeks

This week Levi is starting to clap.

He laughs constantly.

He's a very happy little boy.

He loves making a mess in his room by pulling all the books off the shelves.

He is learning to climb and open all the cabinets and drawers.

He loves to eat and loves real food. Darn, I guess that means I have to start cooking real meals now. 

He loves learning new things - like "high five" and making the "indian" noise with his mouth.

He still sleeps 11-12.5 hours per night and takes 2-3 hours worth of naps. 

He drinks from a straw cup through out the day but still likes his bottle at night and in the morning.

He takes 2-3 steps at a time... when he feels like it. I promise to catch it on camera as soon as he lets me!

3 years

For the most part, these pictures do the talking. 

 Almost 5 years ago this man asked me to marry him, to be his wife...

 And 3 years ago today I did.

 He is the most perfect man for me that there could ever be.

 He is smart, caring, protective, sexy, and loves Levi and I to pieces.

 We have been through so much together.  9.5 years... almost 40% of our lives.

 He puts up with so much of my crazy crap.

 He loves me for exactly who I am.

And I love him for exactly who he is. 

He is my best friend,

the person I can tell anything to,

the only person I want to tell most things to,

he dries my tears,

makes me laugh,

reminds me who I am when I forget,

cheers me on when I don't think I can go anymore,

tells me to stop when I shouldn't go anymore,

is the voice of reason I need,

and just enough silly to keep me sane,

he stuck with me through infertility (even though he was still grasping the thought of having a baby),

he stayed by my side for all the hours of my horrendous labor,

he held our baby, named him and cared for him when I couldn't,

he fed Levi through a tube with his finger, and then dried all my tears when I couldn't feed him, 

he works so hard for us,

he is sacrificing 15 months of his comfortable lifestyle to serve his country. 

He is the BEST husband a woman could ask for... and he's ALL mine. 

Happy Anniversary William. I love you so much. 

38 weeks

You thumbsucker you! At least you are darn cute while doing it!

Hey there owl... I'm going to throw you out of this chair!

You're going down!

Whoops! I didn't meant for you to go that far!

Make no mistake... he's actually yelling at me in these pictures!

Well kid you are getting big on me.  I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. We go next Wednesday on your 9 month birthday for your 9 month check up. I can't believe you are already almost 9 months old! I'm excited to see your stats again.  I know you have grown! This week you really started to get the hang of finger foods! Praise the Lord! I was getting worried. You drink from a sippy cup.  You have taken a few steps here and there but are still acting afraid of it. Tomorrow you are going on your first hunting trip and you are going to celebrate your first thanksgiving Thursday. How exciting!

So stop getting so big okay? You have to stay mommy's baby forever.

Love, Mommy

37 Weeks

Dear Levi,
Are you really 37 weeks old? That's almost as long as I was pregnant with you...

You are such an amazing kid.  You are incredibly smart. I mean scary smart.  Well, it scares me at least.
You now crawl into the kitchen and sit in front of the refrigerator when you want your cup.  You drink out a straw cup like you've been doing it your whole life! You are ALMOST walking... I mean seriously... you take a couple of steps here and there, but really I think you are just sparing Mommy's sanity by not full on walking by now.  You like to wave at everyone and when I say "cheese" you smile and stick your jaw out... to show off your teeth of course.

You are now down to two bottles, one at night and one in the morning, but you don't really need them.  You drink from your straw cup all day and are actually drinking more now than you were from bottles during the day.  You eat 3 solid meals and a "snack". You are FINALLY starting to pick up finger foods... but we are really working on this skill with you (it sort of lags behind your other motor skills).  You've never met a food you didn't like! You now take two naps and they are getting longer and longer, which we are fine with!

You are a really happy baby.  You like playing with your toys, playing peekaboo, playing with Lucy, wrestling with Mommy, going to the store, singing songs, and reading books. You love love love bath time! You only cry when you are extremely tired and never for long.

 Yep, he's still a red head!

Love you baby boy. SO glad you keep me so busy!

Daddy and I love you so much!

Love, Mommy

36 weeks