first family road trip

to the....

yes, we went to the abilene zoo yesterday for a little family road trip. we got to the zoo around 3, and it closed at 5, so it was perfect. levi absolutely LOVED every animal we saw...but his favs were the giraffe, rhino, and jaguar. we didn't get any pics of the jaguar, but levi stood on a ledge and there was just a pane of glass between them..they stood eye to eye for several minutes and levi growled the whole time! it was so great...i can't wait to take more road trips! we were supposed to stay the night in abilene and then drive to stephenville on saturday to see kelsey and tanner and his family, but clayton woke up on friday night at 3.30 and was so sick...throwing up sick and weak. so i made the executive decision to pack up and leave. none of us were sleeping at all, and levi absolutely could not sleep. while clayton was making those fun "throw up' noises, levi decided to mimic all the noises his daddy was making...a little too much bonding was made between these two this week (really though, levi has bonded SO much with clayton this week...he wants to do EVERYTHING clayton does. it is the greatest thing to see the two of them together). anyways, clayton was too weak and sick to drive home, so i drove us home...2 1\2 hours in the middle of the night. if you know me at all...you know that is the biggest challenge for me. i fall asleep soooo fast when we travel...so i was very proud of myself for getting us home ALL BY MY BIG GIRL SELF!!! ;) these are just a few of the animals we saw. and it was so great, becuase we could get so close! thank you to rachel for all the abilene advice!!

dads co-pilot

looking at the giraffe for the 3rd time..

this bear was the greatest...he just sat there while we threw bread at him

waiting for the rhino to circle back

bison!!

giraffes, again.

the lions! i was sad because these pics were the worst.

the rhino came over so we could feed him.

zebras, babies and daddies...makes for a great day.

i don't know what this is.

melman...

after a long day...levi fell fast asleep with his new zoo buddy watching over him ;)

inflatable duck + water = TONS OF FUN

well this inflatable duck you are about to see is really for little babies...it's supposed to BE the bathtub...and what do you do when you get to big??? you turn it into a RAFT! yep...a raft that is entirely too big for the bathtub, but nonetheless a blast to play with. so thank you to uncle case for this amazing duck...it quackes as well...so that makes it even cooler. the greatest thing about this video is watching him hit the sides like he's riding a horse...you spur the horse to get it to go, and for levi, you hit the side to make mom and dad make the duck go. he's a quick learner :)

new words

levi is a true texan. of course, i knew he would be growing up in lubbock, but i didn't think i would see it so soon. he has started saying "bye bye" and when he says it, it sounds like the most hickish bye you have ever heard...and when he says it he waves his little arm as frantically as he can. i love it! it is so cute...and it's so weird to hear my BABY forming words!! and now he also says "ball." you can ask him in the bathtub to find his ball, and he gets his little basketball in all the commotion of dinosaurs and boats and ducks and airplanes. I LOVE IT! it's like the last 10 months of teaching and loving on this little guy is finally showing fruit!!! it's so much fun! he knows what "dog" is, but has a hard time saying it still...but we'll get there i'm sure! 

we are excited about spring break next week! this will be the first year since we have been married that we are not taking a trip with the youth, so we are having family week next week!!! i can NOT wait! so our plans are a-plenty! we are hoping that the weather will be good enough to go swimming (matching trunks for the boys :), a day of play at legacy play village (it's this amazingly huge playground that kids flock to), clayton and i will have some dates of our own...movies, drivein, ect. so i am so excited!!! it is so exciting to think about planning "family" things for spring break. anyways, it will be posted about next week as we go through it all!!!

clayton, levi and i went to the hospital this afternoon to see one of our friends who had just had her second baby. the MINUTE i saw the babies in the nursury, their tiny noses, toes, fingers and mouths...i lost it. this HUGE emotion of wanting to have another little one to hold came over me. and then as i walked into her room and saw baby ethan swaddled and asleep in her lap, i got teary-eyed.  i can't believe how much levi has grown out of - the little cooing noises, the jerky yawns and movements, the inability to stay awake for 30 minutes :)  -  he just seems worlds apart from that stage. and he is, of course, but it's hard to believe that in only 10 months that levi went from that newborn to who he is now...it just goes so fast. i guess that's why people keep having kids :) 

i just couldn't resist.

haha!!! can you count the wrinkles?? 1,2,3,4....
hey...what's up mom?

:) close up :) this just makes me smile.

"i'm too sexy for my pants. too sexy for my pants...."

i just had to put these WAY sweet pics of levi's "highnee" (not sure how to spell that one) up for you to see. i don't know why, but i think baby bottoms are SO cute...now this amount of cellulite on any adult would be absolutely nauseating to look at (i mean, hey - NO judgement here..that's for sure :) but on a munchkin, it's precious! so other than not posting in a while, we have been doing relatively good! because it's spring, and because we live in lubbock, the weather has been RIDICULOUS!!! stopped up noses, sinus headaches, sore throats...they have all been present at our house this week. so needless to say, i am ready for the sun to come out and stay out! and for the snow NOT to mix in with all our warm afternoons!! but it will come soon i hope...and aunt kelsey is coming to town next week!!! YAY! she can't stay long, but we will take what we can get! levi is SOOOOO excited! (ok so we all are :)