Levi's 1st Christmas

Christmas was a blast this year! We got to spend two whole weeks up North with our families so we had plenty of quality time. We started in Atwater with the Lockridges and our cranky Levi who was just getting over a little head cold. He wasn't sleeping very well but he was still his cute-as-ever self during the day for Grandma and Grandpa. We took lots of walks, ate lots of cookies and even opened a few presents early!

Christmas (Eve) Morning at the Lockridges

Dave helping Levi open his presents

Of course, Levi was more interested in the paper

 We even got a date night because Grandma and Grandpa Lockridge watched Levi one night! Dave and I drove into Fresno to see Charlie and Christina and so Dave and Charlie could put their new hockey gear to good use at the open stick night. Before the boys got their hockey on, Dave and I had a nice dinner at Tahoe Joe's and neither of us had to get up at walk around the restaurant or bounce our legs continuously. It was so nice! Then we met up with the newlyweds at the ice skating rink and the boys got to show off their hockey skills. They looked super cute in all the gear and Christina and I got to watch from inside the warm waiting room.

The Lockridge brothers getting ready to take the ice

 On Christmas morning we woke up and drove to Modesto to my Grandma's house. We always do a big breakfast with all of my cousins but the breakfasts have just gotten bigger with spouses and three kids running (or in Levi's case sitting/rolling) around. Then we headed to my parents house for Christmas with the Hardens and our big Christmas dinner.

Christmas morning at Great- Grandma's house

Checking out cousin Jack's toys

We also went to Del Osso Family Farms to go on their new sledding attraction. It was a really neat place with a ropes course, train ride, zip line, and snow sledding. We probably could have spent more time there but with 22 people in your group it can make things a little more complicated. So we sledded for a couple of hours and then went to dinner and the nearby Bass Pro Shop.

Getting ready to go sledding at Del Osso Farms

My look alike boys

He's ready for the cold weather!

Dave and I were also able to go up to the mountains for a couple of days with Joey & Julie and the kids. Dave and Joey got to ski and Julie and I stayed back in the warm cabin and played with the kiddos. Bryan and Alison were able to come up too so we had a couple of extra pairs of hands. It snowed all day long so we were able to sneak outside and play in it for a while. Then the boys came back from skiing and took us out sledding down the middle of the street. Levi still really enjoys being outside and didn't seem to mind the cold at all.

Levi's 1st trip to the snow

Bryan and Alison

Auntie Julie, Jack & Ashley

Sledding down the street in front of the cabin

Then we got in another date night as Grammy and Grandpa Harden took over baby duty on New Years Eve! Dave and I got to be young and fun and ring in the New Year with Crista and Mike. We met some awesome people that night, played a couple of games (Dave won one!) and then I kicked some butt playing the new Michael Jackson game on the Wii. :) We had so much fun!

New Years Eve with my best friend Crista. We've been besties for almost 19 years now!

Dave, Me, Crista & Mike
New Years Eve 

Then Crista and Mike came over the next day so we could both see the little boys together. They played and entertained us all and just as I thought to take a picture- my camera died. Boo!

The only picture I have of Jackson and Levi together before my camera died. I need to work on this next time!

Then as we headed home on Saturday we realized that the Grapevine had been shut down due to snow! So we stopped off in Bakersfield with our good friends Jon & Jen and they let us crash at their house overnight. We got to introduce them to Levi, had a great dinner, played some games and then got up waited for the Grapevine to reopen. We got a phone call from our good friend who is a CHP and he called and said, "It's open! GO! GO! Go!" So we hopped in the car, dismissed all the signs that said it was still closed, and we were one of the first cars back over Monday morning.

Snow on the Grapevine

It was a great trip home and it ended with Levi sleeping 10+ hours at night for the next five nights! We must have worn him out! We're hoping this new trend continues. Thanks to everyone for making Levi's 1st Christmas so special for us and especially to the Grandmas and Grandpas for some much needed date nights! We love you all!

Holiday Traditions in the South Bay

 This past weekend we celebrated the Christmas season with good friends. We attended the 1st ANNUAL Christmas party at the Smarts on Saturday night (it's a tradition now, right?!) and got to see Santa drive down their street too. We had yummy goodies, played with the kids and enjoyed the 80 degree December weather.

The creative group shot. 

Dave and Levi sneaking snacks over the kitchen counter.

Moms & Babies
And yes, it's in height order, thanks for pointing that out Becky! Next time I'm wearing my heels!

The Lockridge family with Santa (Take 2)

We're still trying to get that group shot of the three kids...

Festive Levi with his hands in his mouth. (What's new?)

We also went down the Manhattan Beach pier to watch their annual Christmas fireworks show. For the first time in our 5 years of trekking through the madness down to the sand, the weather was actually pleasant and we didn't even need to bundle up. I LOVE December in the Southbay! We had lots of fun celebrating here with friends before we prepare to head up North for holidays with the families. Our first Christmas as a family of 3 is getting closer! Yay!

A Special Visitor

As we were giving Levi a bath last night we heard a major commotion outside. There were sirens and police lights and a person yelling through a police bullhorn. While we do live around a lot of people we're not used to those kinds of noises so I asked Dave to run downstairs and check it out. 

This is what he saw. Police cars, Fire trucks, lights and people galore.

Then he figured out what was really going on. It wasn't our crazy neighbors across the street again, it was SANTA CLAUS!

So Dave ran back upstairs and told us to hurry. We grabbed our naked boy from his tub, threw on his cutest Christmas pajamas (thanks again Rhonda & Rene!) and ran outside so we wouldn't miss seeing Santa drive by. But then the coolest thing happened... Santa stopped right in the middle of the street and waited to take pictures with all the boys and girls in the neighborhood!  Apparently this is something that the city of Redondo Beach does every year through every neighborhood as a fundraiser for the RB police and fire departments. So they had a professional photographer taking pictures and gave us a card that we could go online and purchase the photos, all for a great cause. So here is Levi's first visit with Santa Claus and we didn't even have to go to the mall!

Happy 1st Christmas Levi!!

 

Thanks Redondo Beach Police & Fire departments for giving us a fun surprise for our Saturday night!

4 Months

We had our check up and two more shots on Tuesday of this week and he's doing great. He weighs 16 lbs. 10 oz. and is wearing mostly 9 months clothes. He's about ready to grow out of his infant car seat so it looks like he's getting a big boy car seat for Christmas! He seems like such a big boy that sometimes I feel like he should be up and walking already and we have to remind ourselves that he's still little. Recently he's really enjoyed using the exersaucer and fell in LOVE with his bear (thanks Rhonda & Rene!). He's getting pretty good at sitting with our assistance and can even go a few seconds on his own before he topples over. He loves to stand and if we're holding him he wants to be facing out because he wants to see the action. He's super social and has a smile for anyone who gives him some attention. We're so in love with this little guy and he brings so much joy into our home. Can't believe he's been here for 4 months already! 

Usually he's a pretty happy guy but we've had a couple of rough weeks. He hasn't been eating as well, which means he's eating more often, which means he's not sleeping very well, which means that his mommy is TIRED! :) The doctor seems to think that he might be dealing with some reflux issues and put him on a prescription. It's been a few days now and I haven't really noticed an improvement so we might have to go back in and see if there's something else going on. He's just not acting like himself which leads me to believe that he's not feeling great. We'll figure it out but we're still new at this whole parent thing so it might take us a few tries. 

He constantly has those two fingers in his mouth right now so his new nickname is Levi Two-Fingers. :)

Other than that life is good and we're loving being parents. We had a great week at home getting to spend time with family and letting them love on Levi too and we can't wait for all the fun and firsts this next month as we get to spend Christmas as a family of 3!

Levi's 1st Thanksgiving

It's so nice that both of our families live close together so we don't have to split up our holidays. Instead we're able to spend time with both sides every holiday and we get to have the best of both worlds! We started our Thanksgiving celebrations in Atwater with Dave's family on Wednesday night. We had the usual big turkey dinner and enjoyed warming up by the cozy fire. It was also fun to be there for Charlie & Christina's first Thanksgiving as a married couple. I've said it before but we're so glad that Charlie picked her and we're so glad that they're back in California! 

Trying to get more laughs with Uncle Charlie.

Staring at beautiful Auntie Christina.

Captivated by the fire place with Daddy.

Then we drove up to Modesto early Thursday morning to run (ok, walk) in the annual Modesto Turkey Trot. It's officially a new Harden Family Tradition! :)

Getting ready for the race!
Alison, Bryan, Sarah, Brad, Lindsey, Megan & Dad

Sibling Love

Grandpa taking baby duty. (Levi almost slept through his 1st 5K!)

And a follow up breakfast to celebrate our run. (Do I sense another tradition??)

Thanksgiving was a blast and Levi did great through two major dinners and lots of people all around. He's so social that he really enjoys all the attention and cuddles and it's so fun to get to take him home and share him with all of our favorites. We definitely have a lot to be thankful for!

Levi Laughing

We had a few laughs before this but weren't able to capture any on camera. Uncle Charlie wins as the one to elicit the first laughs while trying to be funny. Way to go Uncle Charlie! :)

Playing Catch Up

We went home for 10 days to see everyone for Thanksgiving and had so much fun! It used to be that we could pack our stuff, load the car and make the drive pretty quickly but now everything seems to take longer. (And gives me a greater respect for my own parents with 3 kids to get places!) But we made it and saw lots of people and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Now we're back home with lots of dirty laundry, a fussy baby and a doctors appointment, a sleep schedule to get back on track, Christmas decorations and shopping that need to get done and I'm playing catch up... I have a ton of great pictures from the week and a video that I'm so excited to share but it might take a couple of posts which just might take a couple of days... :)

Right before we left Dave gave Levi his first little hair cut! He had a little bit of a monk hair-do going on with this dark baby hair fuzz so Dave trimmed that up with his brand new hair cutters. Levi did great in his Bumbo seat and now he's looking good! 

Grandpa strapped him in the front seat after church in Modesto while Dave was buckling in the car seat. He looked so big and ready to go with his regular seat belt on! (I promise we didn't drive any where like this, it was just a joke!)

A big THANK YOU to cousin ("Auntie") Julie for letting us borrow some great baby gear when we go to Modesto. It is so helpful to have the swing and a bumbo and lots of other goodies that we don't have to bring with us. This time Levi was able to use her exersaucer for the first time and LOVED it! 

When Mom and Aunties and Grandma are away this is what the boys do.
Uncle Bryan's quote was "Apparently riding the dog like a horse is frowned upon in this establishment!" just like the eTrade commercial with the talking baby. And no, Levi doesn't have any stock tips for you. 

We also went to Fresno to hang out with Uncle Charlie and Auntie Christina. Uncle Charlie introduced Levi to his enormous fish tank and kept him entertained for the entire time we were at their house. He also did something else that was mighty funny that you'll have to wait to see the video of later...

This was just some of the excitement leading up to our awesome Thanksgiving. More on that later!