2 Months Old

Oh, Levi Beckett stop growing so fast! My baby boy is 2 months old today.
Some things about Levi at 2 months old:

• He got his first shots (since birth) and did amazingly well, he's a strong boy
• He weighs 13lbs 12oz (his doctor said he's the size of a 4-5 month old baby!)
• He's 25.5 inches long
• He wears a size 2 diaper
• We changed his formula to one with a rice starch base, reduces his acid reflux
• He eats every 3-4 hours and eats anywhere between 2-4 ounces, usually 4
• He does NOT like it when you take his bottle away to burp him, my boy likes to eat! 
• He started drinking one prune juice bottle a day to help with constipation
• He wears 3-6 month clothes
• He loves to be swaddled at night and held during the day (oops!) 
• He loves his play mat
• He normally is calm, but is starting to show a little temper when his bottle is empty, he's fighting sleep, or when we put him down
• And he finally started smiling at mommy and daddy! Yay! 

 Mark and Levi had a little 2 month photo session tonight at home and boy does our son have some funny expressions! 

My smiley baby boy!

He's so strong!

Mr. Serious

Daddy's Rockstar

Close Up

Welcome to Levi's Spit Up! Comes quick! Ha!

Whoa! I'm 2 Months Old!

Levi, you bring so much joy to our lives. We are so proud to be your mommy and daddy. You are growing up so fast! We love you very much!

On to another month with my baby boy...

Oh and I just want to add, I'm not sure when I'll do his three month post, because there is no February 30th! So does that mean he can stay two months old longer?! ;-)

Back it up...

A month ago today my baby boy turned one month old and since I want to do a two month old post today, I first had to post about him turning a month old! So here is a picture a month ago today....

Happy Birthday x2!!

January 26th is a busy day for birthdays! It's my best friend, Dara's, birthday and it's also Mark's niece, Megan's, birthday! We can't believe you are three Megan! (Dara, I won't say how old you are.) So happy birthday Dara and Megan! We love you both!

Dara and Levi

One of the first photos we received of Megan, 3 years ago

Megan, her mom Rachael, and Levi at Christmas

Pray Please

This past summer my church went on a mission trip to Mexico (I wrote a post about it below.) One of our projects for the week was roofing a house for a middle aged couple, Maria and Epifano. We also ended up painting their house and blessing them with a water tank. Maria and Epi have children and grandchild. We were blessed to meet a few of their family members as well.
Maria and Epi have a "nice" house considering the majority of "houses" we saw in Mexico. So you may ask why we worked on their house... Epi has cancer. And let me tell you, you would have never known it the week we were there. He was full of life, always making jokes. He learned everyone's name and was sure to say thank you several times throughout the day. He and his wife wanted to make sure we were fed daily. They were very giving of what they had and ever so grateful for the work we did.
We have been receiving updates about Epi since returning back to Indiana. He is not doing well. The cancer has taken over his body, he is bleeding out, and has difficulty breathing. He has been in and out of the hospital a few times and they send him home to die each time. His family is by his side. Please pray for Epi. Please pray peace over him and his family as the days become hard. Please pray for the pain to leave Epi's body. God knows His plan for Epi.
I'm very thankful to have met this family. I'm very thankful that we were allowed to bless this family and to give Epi a piece of mind that his wife and family will be taken care of with a new roof, fresh coat of paint, and a water tank.
Epi, thank you for showing kindness to each and every one of us. For loving and accepting us like family.

Epi and Maria

Oh Epi, you made us laugh with your silly jokes and sideways hat!

The Group with Epi, Maria and some of their family members

Photos

I love pictures. They are something you will always have to remind you of people, events, life. Wanted to share a few of my favorite that I came across the other day...

We went to a very neat zoo in Michigan and we got to feed the giraffe's!

On our honeymoon we swam with the dolphins. Amazing.

Mark and Sam, sporting their matching St. Louis Cardinal's Shirts

Our Wedding Party

Mark used to play in a band and yes, he had an Amish beard. This was the first concert I went to. Ah, the memories.

My little rock star, Levi Beckett

July 4, 2008 (July 4th is a special day for us. The day we first met in 2005.)

I love having memories. I love pictures. Now I need to convince my husband for a new camera. :-)

A Piece of My Heart

A piece of my heart is in Mexico. I love it there. No, I'm not talking about the sunny beaches and awesome resort areas, I'm talking about a little valley in Baja California, Mexico. No sunny beaches or resort areas. Just amazing children and adults who are so caring and giving with the little that they have.
Let me start from the beginning... When I was 16 years old I went on my first out of country mission trip to this little valley in Mexico. I admit, I wasn't too keen on the idea when I first arrived. I disliked the sand/dirt/dust that was everywhere. I was scared, saddened, and shocked. I just wanted to go home to my comfortable living space with water I could drink and toilet paper I could flush.
But that quickly changed once I met the children at Welcome Home Orphanage, where we stayed for the week. They stole my heart and I quickly forgot about the rest. They became my every thought. And they took me back to Mexico every summer since. I'm now 27 and I've only missed one summer. Some years, I've traveled there more than once. I've built relationships that will last a lifetime. They are never far from my mind. I still get to see some of the very children I met on my first trip there. Amazing. Yes, I pay every summer to go to Mexico and serve. If I could, I would go more often. My time there is never long enough. I can't explain how amazing it is and awesome the people are there until you experience it yourself.
I've had the opportunity to introduce a few of my friends and my husband, Mark, to this amazing place. And this past summer (July 2010) my church went on a mission trip to this very place. I was overjoyed to share this experience with some of my closest friends.
Over the years we've painted buildings, rooms, and houses. We've built cribs, beds, benches, and tables. We've roofed a house. We've run a bible school and carnival. We've passed out food, clothes, toys, etc. But more importantly, we've built relationships. Relationships that last year after year. I look forward every year traveling back and seeing all of these smiling faces who are awaiting our arrival. Folks I will never, ever forget.
I have thousands and thousands of pictures. I treasure each and every one of them. I'm going to share just a few on here...

Ana (in pink) was the first little one to steal my heart. I met her 11 years ago, she was 2. Oh Ana, I love you.

This is Miguel. His legs "don't work." Neither do his hands. And yes, he is ALWAYS smiling.

Kiana's mom was a caretaker at Welcome Home Orphanage. Kiana's mom died of cancer a few years ago. Kiana now lives with her dad and grandparents. She is an amazing little girl who I will never forget. I'm sad she had to grow up so fast.

Kiana's grandparents and extended family. They have opened their hearts and amazing food to us.

We have so little to complain about. Really.

Jennifer and Melissa, two amazing little girls who have an amazing family.

Our Mission Group, July 2010

One of my favorite places. A large cross up on a hill. You can look out over the valley. It's an amazing view of mountains, crops, houses, roads, etc. A place that gives me hope.

Mark and a little amiga

Maria and Epifanio. We blessed them with a roof. And ended up blessing them with so much more. They had a plastic bucket that they would use for their water. Most little towns & camps do not have running water or consistent water. We blessed this amazing family with a water tank and piping so when their water would run, it would "stock up" and they would always have access to water. The cost: $100. Yes, only $100 for a lifetime of water. Shocking.

Welcome to the kitchen. Enough said.

The reason I'm sharing this photo is because one, I never use big machines like this. I failed industrial tech class in middle school. (I stapled my finger, oops.) And two, I'm 18 weeks pregnant in this photo. Yes, Levi, you traveled to Mexico with me. And I can't wait to take you when you are older. I think this little valley will steal your heart too.

Need to use the bathroom? Shower? Come on in.

Kids running to us for candy. Wish we had clothes to hand out. At least they got candy.

Oh Ruby, your smile will forever melt my heart.

Yes, a piece of my heart is there. And will always be.

3 under 3!

I survived babysitting three children, three and under. My friend, Tobi, has two little girls. I've loved them from the minute they were born! I saw and babysat them often. I love, love, love these girls. Since Levi's birth, I've seen them less, but try to as much as possible. And last Friday evening I even braved babysitting them for 45 minutes. Isabella is three. Blows my mind. And Reese, sweet Reese, is 1. I can't believe she's one. Just seems like yesterday I was in the delivery room with Tobi. Oh these girls have my heart. Well, Bella loves Levi. She even named her twin baby dolls Levi and Kelly. Sweet. She's always asking where he is, Mark too. She loves her "Marky." Reese isn't so keen about the idea of another baby. She didn't like Levi very much when she first met him. She's very jealous of him, but she is getting better. I hope these three grow up being best friends, we sure will try! Here is a few pictures of the girls and Levi and my babysitting adventure!

Here are my sweet girls shortly after Reese was born.

Our babysitting adventure! Levi is checking them out! 

Reese likes to help Levi with his pacifier. At least she tries! 

 

 

 

 

My girl loves to eat! (A whole pack of crackers!)

And I'll leave you with a cute picture of my little guy (who is growing up too quick!)

Oh mommy and daddy love you Levi Beckett!

Boiler Up! I think that's what they say...

Well neither myself or Mark went to Purdue University. However, Mark did go to Purdue North Central which is a branch of Purdue. So we aren't totally Purdue fans, but we don't dislike it either. This post is mainly for my friend, Dara Hale. She's a Purdue freak. And that's to put it nicely. She is Purdue everything. She loves her Purdue. So of course we ended up with Purdue clothes for our little guy. I emailed her this picture the other day and she insisted that I put it on the blog, so here you go folks...

Well I don't know where Levi will end up going to college, but I'm sure Auntie Dara will push Purdue! :-)
And I'll leave you with another cute picture of our little guy. (Since I'm home right now on maternity leave and Mark is at work I try and take a picture a day of Levi and e-mail it to Mark at work. So most of these photos are taken by my iPhone, which isn't the best quality.)

6 weeks old, bright blue eyed baby!

Catching Up!

Well Levi celebrated his first Christmas....We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and went to a Christmas Eve church service at their church. On Christmas day we went to my family's house in IL. It was great spending time with my family. The week after, Mark's family came over and celebrated Christmas. It was nice seeing them as well. And New Years Eve was spent with church friends and New Years day we traveled to the Muncie and Indy areas to visit Mark's extended family and friends of mine, The Reichanadter's and Ead's/Terry's.
Levi received many neat gifts this Christmas-- books, toys, ornaments, clothes, St. Louis Cardinal's gear, gift cards, a music CD,  diapers, wipes, and formula. One really neat gift that he received was from my Nana, his Great Grandma Labaj. She gave him a Hallmark recordable book. It was very funny getting the story recorded and something we will always treasure. Here are pictures from all of our adventures...

Daddy's Little Elf

Papa, Grandma, and Levi on Christmas Eve

Dressed in our Sunday best! Headed to Christmas Eve service

Momma & Me

Aunt Rachael and cousin Megan, meeting them for the first time!

Four Generations-- Great Grandpa Kelly, Grandpa Kelly, Mark, and Levi

Chuck, Kathie, Rachel, and Brandon...notice the great Colt's gear! 

We had a wonderful Christmas and are truly blessed!
2011 here we come!!