Spring May be Here!?

We have all been quite skeptical up here in Minnesota as to whether Spring would actually arrive this year. We have had much cooler than normal temperatures and even snow in May. We were reminded of these changes over the course of the last two weeks especially. One day we would have very pleasant temperatures and the next day would be freezing. When living in Minnesota you have to keep all of your seasonal gear in the closet. Last week I dropped Levi off at daycare one day wearing his winter coat and the next day he was in shorts. We have also had both the air conditioner and the furnace on at home in the same day. Crazy. Needless to say, we are SO ready for nice weather. We have been taking advantage of nice weather when we have it. We have a park in our neighborhood and have made several visits already this year.

I have included several pictures below to recap what we have been up to since my last post…which was quite a while ago. Levi is moving so fast these days that it is hard to catch him for a photo. I try my best, but am not the photographer Josh is. He is always trying to give me tips on the photos I take. I have to get better at this. I’ll keep practicingJ

 

Winter Update

Although I think about something each day that I should blog about, I have struggled recently to find the time in a day to sit down with the computer long enough to even check my e-mail…so admittedly, my blog has suffered. But, it is a good thing I have been keeping detailed notes on what has been happening here lately.

Christmas went great! We were able to spend time with both families. Levi loved all of the attention of course! Just as I thought, Levi was slightly interested in his gifts and very interested in the wrapping and boxes they came in. He was fascinated by all the decorations and just wanted to touch everything:)

 

 

Levi loved all of the decorations. He is checking them out here:)

 

 

Levi with Papa and cousin Jacob--not sure what they were discussing,

but it seems like quite the story--so cute!

 

We started the New Year off in style by taking a quick weekend trip to Cragun’s Resort in Brainerd, MN. There we were able to take in New Year’s festivities as well as a sleigh ride around the resort with a view of the lake. It was super cold that weekend, but we braved the cold temps and bundled up for some fun.

Levi has really been moving around more and more. As mentioned in a previous blog post, Levi crawled for a very short time and moved very quickly to walking. He is now attempting to runJ Right around the New Year, Levi started to take just a few steps. It didn’t take him long to figure out that walking was pretty cool. Throughout the month of January, he continued to take more and more steps, and right around Valentine’s Day began to really trust himself to walk across the room. He now prefers to walk vs. crawl.

Since my last post we have also had a few trials. Early in January, Levi suffered a severe allergic reaction while at daycare. It was scary, but he was OK. Shortly after that we learned that Levi is allergic to eggs, milk and peanuts. While this was initially very alarming to us, we have started to adjust to the changes that need to happen when you have a child with food allergies. I prepare all of his food—even for daycare. Right now, we feed him mostly whole foods. He seems to be doing quite well so far. We try to very slowly introduce new foods. I am learning something new every day regarding food allergies and how best to deal with them. Although food allergies can be frustrating, we are so thankful that we have great doctors who can help us deal with them and teach us how to make adjustments. We are blessed that there are so many resources to help with this. God is sure teaching us a lot through all this—especially patienceJ

We took our first family vacation in mid-February to visit Josh’s parents in Florida. We thought we would take a little break from the very snowy winter we have had in Minnesota and enjoy the sun a bit. High hopes were pretty much all we had as the weather was a bit chillier than we were expecting. Even with my over-packing, we were a little short on warmer clothes. The weather aside through, we had a great time visiting a new place and very much enjoyed our time with Josh’s parents. They were able to spend some quality time with Levi, as well! I was a little worried how Levi would do on his first airplane ride. But, both flights actually went quite well.

 

Levi on the airplane to Florida!!

 

Levi taking a bath in the camper--since it only had a shower, we had to get creative:)

Despite the cold weather, we went to a car show in Kissimmee, FL

Levi chatting with Nana:)

Levi and Mommy enjoying Florida!

Beautiful sunset in Clearwater Beach, FL

 

My star-sighting: Gary Burhoff-star on M*A*S*H (Radar)

He is SO nice and very funny:)

Running through the birds on the beach!

Levi showing off his walking skills walking the boardwalk with mom and dad

Mom and Levi on the beach!

Levi with Nana and Papa in Florida!

Family walk on the boardwalk!

 

It was a bit chilly at the beach...at least for Florida:) Still warmer than Minnesota

Dad and Levi on the beach!

 And of course....a silly photo on the beach!

We returned to snow and more snow. I will admit that the snow is a bit more fun when you have a child to play in it with you. Levi and I recently had a chance to build a few snowmen in our yard and just play in the snow. I haven’t done that for a long time! This winter has definitely been one of the snowiest I remember since moving to Minnesota. We currently have nearly 3 feet of snow on our yard. Each time it snows I think (or secretly hope) that it is the last snow storm of the year….we’ll see. Earlier this week we received nearly a foot in one day. My commute that day was not so fun. I am anxiously awaiting spring! It will be so nice not to have to bundle up and leave early for work so I make it on time. I'll try to post a few pictures of Levi playing in the snow soon:)

All in all, winter has been busy for us. Stay tuned, I hope to be back sooner rather than later for my next postJ Thanks for sticking with me!