Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend we travelled down to Torrance to go to our very first pumpkin patch. We went with some friends and their kids and had fun taking family pictures of each other. I hope this is the first of many friend experiences that we get to do with our kids! (BTW, I know Levi has been in our lives for twelve weeks now but it still seems surreal to use terms like "our kids" "my son" "Mommy" "Daddy". When did we become parents?! :) )

Our little pumpkin

First Lockridge family trip to the pumpkin patch.

Levi enjoyed time with his Daddy.

And his Mommy.

Group Shot!
Here are the Lockridges, the Smarts and the Holmeses and kids.

Moms & Babies
Becky & Kylie, Sheri & Stevie, Megan & Levi

Levi and Stevie
Stevie was such a trouper but Levi was about to have...

A total meltdown! :)
We need to teach this boy about how lucky he is to be surrounded by such lovely ladies!

And then he conked out in Daddy's arms.

I would say our first pumpkin patch experience was a success. We got the pictures we wanted, had fun with friends and talked about how much bigger they'll all be next year when we come. We didn't even buy a pumpkin this year but no one comes to our house to Trick-or-Treat and we figured Levi was too young to use a knife, next year for sure! 

Go Bulldogs!

We had such a fun, although quick, trip home last weekend! Levi is officially the best car rider in the world. We only had to stop once on the way up and once on the way back. I'm sure all of our trips won't be that easy but this one was a breeze. We made it up to Modesto late Thursday night and got to see the Hardens and go to Grammy's school for the fall festival. We also met up with the Underwood clan at our favorite Mexican restaurant (La Morentia!!!) for dinner with the cousins. 

Hanging out with Uncle Bryan

Trying to stay cool in the Modesto heat with Auntie Alison

Meeting cousin Jack at La Morenita
(With Auntie Julie & Auntie Amy too!)

Then we took off for Fresno on Saturday morning to spend the next two days with the Lockridges. We stopped in Atwater, picked up Grandpa and drove to Uncle Charlie and Aunt Christina's apartment in Fresno. We had some Bulldog Grill (we miss those tri tip sandwiches so much!) and even got to see Fresno State beat New Mexico! Levi did great at the game even though football games are so much louder than the Dodgers game we went to a few weeks ago. There were fireworks going off, a fly over from the air force base and lots and lots of noisy fans but Levi was able to enjoy himself and sleep through most of it. What a champ! 

The best car rider in the world!

Rooting the Bulldogs to a victory!

Getting some quality Grandma & Grandpa time

Auntie Christina & Uncle Charlie have the magic touch getting a 2 month old to sleep in a LOUD stadium

We ran into Auntie Sarah at Home Goods and then at the game!

Loving my new Fresno State sweatshirt! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Lockridge!

Thanks for fun times everyone! We love you and miss you!

Being Crafty

One of our favorite things to do in the South Bay is go to all the free events in the area. Fiesta Hermosa, the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair, the Richmond Street Fair in El Segundo...there are so many. Most of these places have the same types of booths (or the same exact booths) and it's usually the same stuff but it's just a nice excuse to get outside and enjoy our awesome weather and some fair food. As we've walked around this year there have been a few things that I've had my eye on but have been too pricey to buy. I keep telling Dave "I can make that" and he nods his head and says "sure you can honey" and then we move on. Well I finally decided to try out my crafty skills this year and so far so good! I started off with the seashell garland in Levi's room and saved us about $50. 

Then I saw this seashell wreath that they were selling for $68 and I made it for $28.

Then my good friend Becky figured out how to make these awesome onesies! We had a little sewing party at her house last week and learned how to make them. (I also learned how to do a new setting on my sewing machine with only a few user errors!) Again, we were able to save ourselves a few dollars and have a new skill that we can use in the future. And they turned out super cute!

No party at Becky's would be complete without the babies. Here are Levi and Stevie doing what they do best-- SLEEP! Becky's Kylie is way too active to stick around for these guys so she was doing almost-one-year-old things like crawling and eating and playing in her jumper. The kids did such a great job of letting us do our thing that we're already planning our next project.

We also had a great trip home last weekend and have plenty of great pictures to show but I'm still working on getting everything unpacked, cleaned and put away so you'll just have to wait to see our first family Fresno State Bulldogs game!

2 Months

Our little guy is 2 months old! We had his check up today and he is doing great- hitting all his developmental milestones and definitely growing. He also had his very first shots and he handled it like a pro (so did Mommy). Daddy said we could get ice cream afterwards, but I haven't seen any yet...

Height: 23"

Weight: 12 lbs. 10 oz.

Levi at 2 months: He has begun to reach out and grab things on his playmat, he's found his own hands and likes to stare at them, he has awesome control of his neck and is enjoying his tummy time more and more. He even rolled over for the first time on Sunday! (Daddy says that he sort of fell over but Mommy is counting it because he did it a bunch of times. Hey, it's a start, right?!) He is such a happy baby and will smile and talk to anyone who will listen. He's still sitting through the service with us at church and he's started attending Wednesday morning Bible study with me. He's eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours during the day and not much longer at night. He is a great sleeper but his Mommy is so very ready for him to give us some longer stretches in between feedings at night. Fingers crossed, hopefully soon! We think he's pretty awesome and every day is getting more and more fun to watch him learn new things.

This isn't the best picture but I had to show Grammy how blue his eyes are getting. :)

And his famous smile. 

As long as his belly is full then this smile is on his face. Kinda like his Daddy!

One more, had to show his going to church clothes!

Dodgers Fans For Life

Yesterday we were able to use Dave's company's tickets to go to Levi's very first Dodger game! The very first thing we purchased when we found out we were having a boy was a Dodger hat. We have been waiting for the day that we could take him to his first game and tried to take a ton of pictures to commemorate it. We realize that he won't actually remember anything that happened last night but it was an awesome night for the Lockridge family. We went a little early, parked in the reserved parking lot, had dinner in the Stadium Club and walked down to our second row seats behind home base... too bad the Dodgers lost!

Levi is "Thinking Blue" in his Dodger's gear!

First time using the front pack with him facing outwards. 

He loved it and made lots of new friends with his smiley face and Dodger hat.

First family picture in the stadium. Apparently when we were taking this picture we were on the big screen! I found out when I took Levi to the bathroom to change him later that evening and two strangers came up to us to tell us how cute he was and how excited they were to meet us after seeing us on the screen. I still think their reaction was weird, but pretty funny that we were on the screen and didn't know.

He really did love all the lights and the commotion and especially all the attention.

I thought he would just crash in the front pack and sleep most of the game, but this was the only moment of sleepiness the entire 9 innings. Most of the time he smiled and laughed and made cute faces at everyone around us.

In the top of the 6th inning while I was holding Levi, a foul ball came over the net straight at my head. For a split second I was a little worried and then knew that Dave would take care of us. And he did! He caught the ball in his bare hand right over our heads! What an awesome memory and it seems like Levi's our little good luck charm. 

Just another cute one of my boys in their Dodger blue. 

(I'm not sure why there are "ears" on his hoodie but how stinkn' cute is that??!)

Sarah and her friend Whitney were able to meet us at the game at the last minute!

Last picture before we left. 

What a GREAT night with the Dodgers! We'll definitely remember this night forever even if Levi doesn't. Good thing we have enough pictures to prove that he was at his first Dodgers game at 7 weeks old! 

New Things

This week has been filled with fun new things for Levi, and for us too! Here's a quick look at what we've been up to.

Levi has been attending church with us since he was 6 days old. I know they tell you to stay at home for longer, but I was already stir crazy and in need of some social interaction. We feed him, wrap him up in his car seat and sit in the back on the aisle in case we need to step outside. So far I've only had to leave the service once to feed him and the other times he's slept right on through. We're enjoying that time out of the house and he's doing great in his car seat. He's probably used to all the music and Pastor Glen's voice anyway from being there every Sunday in my tummy! The past two weeks we've stepped up his wardrobe a little and got some good use out of all the cute clothes he has. He busted out his first pair of jeans, a polo onesie and shoes last week. He's so cute we had to take a picture of our little man!

He went to the doctor with me this week to get the all clear. I think he was a little bored! Dr. Pinkus was excited to see him again and we both were given a clean bill of health. Now it's time to hit the gym! :)

We met up with our good friends Sheri and Stevie this week for a walk on the Strand. These two don't know it yet but they're going to be very good friends! It was a great time to talk with someone who is going through exactly what I'm going through and get a little exercise in the process. Hopefully this was the first of many!

This weekend we had the Holmes' and the Smarts and the Wimers (minus Travis) over for dinner. We had a potluck bbq and enjoyed having all three little ones together for the first time. Here's all the new daddies and kiddos. What a difference a year makes!

Kylie, Levi and Stevie

How hard is it to photograph three kids???

Daddy and Levi in his cute big boy pants!

We've enjoyed Skype-ing with Grammy and Grandpa this week too! Levi is all smiles and coos as he listens to their voices and tries to figure out what's going on. This Saturday we brought out the Bumbo seat for him to sit on while we're talking and he loved it! It's a little early for him to use it but he has pretty good neck control and seemed to enjoy it. Way to go Levi!

That's been our week of firsts! Another first at the moment-- single parenthood! Dave has been in Houston overnight so Levi and I have been home alone for the first time. It went ok. Let's just say I'm exhausted and SOOOO glad I don't have to do this by myself all the time. So glad Daddy is coming home tonight!

Expectations

I feel like being a Mom has so far met my expectations. We knew that we'd love him with more love than we've ever felt before, we knew that there would be a sleeplessness like we've never known, and we knew that there would be moments of amazement and moments of frustration. But (and this is a HUGE but) I've recently realized that knowing something is completely different than really experiencing it. I told my friend Becky today that I said some pretty insensitive/ignorant comments to her last year after the birth of her daughter. (Thankfully she says she doesn't even remember the conversation but the longer I'm a parent the more things I've said are coming back to me!) Becky had been telling me how Kylie was sleeping great at night but not taking many (any?) naps during the day. I replied, in all my pre-motherhood wisdom, "Well at least she's sleeping at night! That's obviously the more important thing." Ha! While sleeping through the night (heck, even sleeping for four hours straight!) would be heavenly at this point, it is completely different than sleep during the day. On the days that Levi decides that he isn't going to nap I get nothing done. Nothing. I realize that now and relish the days when he takes good naps and lets me do things like empty the dishwasher and take a shower. It's things like this that are transforming my old expectations into my new reality!

So after all of our crazy driving adventures we realized that if we were ever going to get Levi on a schedule then we needed to stay home once in a while. Since we've been back he has done great! No more fussy periods at night and no more days where he won't let me put him down--it's funny how a few days of actual naps in his crib can change his whole demeanor. We're still new at this whole parenthood thing so this may seem like no brainer information but we're learning! Here are a few pictures from our week at home...

Levi is loving bath time!

Our little ducky

Found this at Target and couldn't resist. Baby clothes are so fun!

Auntie Sarah came to visit again last Saturday. We love that she's so close by!