A little fun. . .

Mackenzi wanted to take some fun pictures of her and Levi today - aren't they precious?

Levi Praying. . .

Levi is so sweet with his little praying bear. . .he focuses so intently on this little bear. You can hear his big sister, Mackenzi, in the background marveling at Levi praying with this bear! It's too sweet!

Levi loves his bouncer!

The ladies of Cross Country Outreach where my father-in-law pastors gave my mother-in-law a "Grandma Shower" before Levi was born. And with that shower came Levi's favorite toy thus far - a bouncer seat! He absolutely LOVES this bouncer seat! We have seen him get excited before, in small amounts - he'll smile, he'll coo, he'll kick his feet. . .but, I don't believe he's done all three at once until he sat down in this bouncer this past weekend in Wylie. He loved it so much, Memaw sent it home with us. Here's just a glimpse of him beginning to get excited in the bouncer. . .

And then until this morning, we didn't have a picture of him smiling. . .and in his bouncer seat, I was able to capture him smiling,

. . .and giving us this sweet grin while cutting his eyes! How precious!

Mackenzi had a great time while we were in Wylie as well. . .Pepaw let her ride his lawn mower and also drive his red truck! She was holding the steering wheel all by herself and doing a pretty good job!! Pepaw has said he'll get the go-kart up and running, and so we'll see how she does with that! We'll definitely have to capture some video footage of that!

Mackenzi's first day of Kindergarten!

Mackenzi started Kindergarten yesterday. She was so excited! The night before she was jumping up and down telling me how excited she was! We had already met her teacher, Mrs. Forbes at DP Morris Elementary last week.

I think it is probably natural that as a parent, we want to protect our kids emotionally - working to keep them from being scared, or anxious, making sure that the other kids are nice to them - hoping they'll like their teacher and the other teachers they come in contact with. . .and unfortunately, it's just not something we can always control. What I've attempted to do as we've led up to Kinder is to be as positive about the experience as possible. Fortunately for me, I have a positive experience of my own kindergarten year. I remember the first day of school as my mom walked me to my class that there was another kid crying, and clinging to their parents. I remember asking my mom, "Doesn't he want to go to school?" I didn't understand why someone wouldn't want to go to school. Mackenzi has seemed to take to that attitude as well. . .today as I was walking to her school to pick her up, I was walking along another parent who lives on our street, his little boy is in Mackenzi's class as well. He told me that Mackenzi has been so sweet to his little boy. His little boy is one who was dragged out from under his bed to get ready for school. Just doesn't want to go - and doesn't understand why his parents are making him go. But, he said that Mackenzi has offered to hold his hand when he's scared, and even offered him some of her brownie today at lunch. How sweet is that? My little princess, whom I worry whether others are being nice to her - is the one who is taking over by being nice to them. . .helping them not miss their mom and dad so much.

And even with that statement, I guess I feel a little sad - who wants to not be missed? In fact, as Mackenzi and I walked through her school today on the way to her room, I held out my hand to her, and she just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Mom, I'm walking right beside you." You're right, Mackenzi, you are walking beside me. She is a very independent little girl. . .and God has graced us with her. It's just the beginning of us helping to prepare her for this world. I pray that we make the right decisions in raising her. . .and continue to see her showing God's love to others when they need it - like she has been with the little boy in her class.

Women of Faith

This past weekend I had the joy of attending the Women of Faith conference in Dallas. Every year for the past 3 or so years, my mother-in-law, Phyllis, has bought tickets for us and also her sister, Aunt Gay, and Phillip's wife, Sara. It's a great weekend filled with lots of music, great speakers, and little sleep! This year we had other reasons behind why we didn't get much sleep - and that's because our precious little "tator tot" as Aunt Gay has coined him was with us. When I got pregnant with Levi, one of things Phyllis asked me was what would I do about the Women of Faith conference? And I answered emphatically, "I'm still going!" Now, of course as the weekend neared, and I began to consider how the semantics of going to the conference would work out with Levi, I began to hesitate - but not for long. . .and am so thankful I did. I had a great time, despite a virus I was fighting. Here's a picture of Aunt Gay outside of the American Airlines center making the same face as Levi. . .

And here is all five of us enjoying the conference. Thanks, Phyllis, for all you do to make this weekend happen for us with Levi sleeping happily!!

A little boy COOING

While we were in Spring visiting Nana and Papa, Levi decided to talk a little bit to his Nana. Here is the video with him telling her a bit of what he was thinking!!

Mackenzi's New Haircut

Mackenzi, Levi and I are in Spring visiting my parents this week. We wanted to come spend some time with Nana and Papa before Mackenzi started school and while I'm still off on maternity leave. Well, Mackenzi would also tell you we're here to see her cousins, Connor and Trevor (how could I forget that?). Mackenzi's getting ready to start Kindergarten and before we left Dallas, Daddy finally agreed to let Mackenzi get a new hairstyle! Once he agreed, Kenzi and I jumped on the idea of getting it taken care of before Daddy changed his mind, and figured we'd take her to where Nana gets her hair cut. Mackenzi has been wanting to get her hair cut for several months now, and Daddy has always refused to let her get it cut. Afterall, it took SO long for her to even get hair! We took several pictures during the haircutting process and then of course some after her hair was cut. Who knew she had so much hair? :) We even saved some of the hair for her baby book because this is the first "real" haircut that she's had. She's had plenty of trimming done, but not very much cut off at once. She is certainly ready for Kindergarten now!

GREAT FRIENDS and our kids!

Four of the funnest years of my life were spent at Dallas Baptist University. In the first of those four years, I met five of the greatest friends! We met our freshman year as either roommates, or neighbors, and have maintained our friendship for the past 13 years. Holly and I were roommates, Jami and Laurie were our next door neighbors, and then Monica and Angela lived just down the hallway. Out of the six of us, four of us have had little ones over the past five years. Mackenzi was born first, and then Jami had Maebry Grace 2 months later. Holly had Summer Elizabeth (in the stroller below) when Kenzi and Maebry were just two years old. Then after three girls, Laurie had the first little boy, Garin Lee in 2007. As we took the picture below, Garin was very interested in playing with his balloon! Following little Garin, we had our precious Levi. Of course Levi managed to sleep the entire birthday party and is snoozing in his car seat in the picture.

The girls had a great time at the party. You can hear how much fun Mackenzi had in this video of her swinging above the foam blocks! She kept asking the guy pushing her to push her HIGHER AND HIGHER!

First trip to Wylie

Levi had the opportunity to travel to Wylie for the first time last weekend. We met the family at El Fenix first and enjoyed some time with Uncle Phillip and Aunt Sara.

Then we headed on to the house and spent some time there, and Levi got to meet his great-grandmothers. Brian's mom's mother, Mamaw Edith, was very excited to see Levi. She came over and Kenzi met her at the door. We didn't know what had happened, but Memaw called out to Mamaw Edith to tell her we were just in the living room with the baby. Mamaw Edith called down from upstairs and said that Mackenzi had told her to come upstairs with her. She thought she was going upstairs to see baby Levi - only, Mackenzi was showing her upstairs where her Uncle Christopher was at! Here's a picture of Mamaw, Kenzi and Levi, and then a picture of Uncle Hilly holding Levi.

Brian's dad's mom, Mamaw Neva Lou, turned 97 this year. She was so excited to see Levi, and said she wished she could see him better so she could tell who he looked like. . .We assured her that after seeing Brian's baby book and a picture of him at 5 days old, that Levi looks exactly as Brian did as a baby!

Mackenzi stayed in Wylie while we came back home so she could spend some time with Memaw and Pepaw. It was interesting just having Levi here at the house during the day. All of the sudden, Newman took a special interest in having Levi around. With Mackenzi here, he has sniffed at him, on a few occasions, but for the most part hasn't had much to do with him. He's a good dog, and doesn't really get in the way either. He was great with Mackenzi when she was a baby too. Well, I had Levi down for a nap in his room, and just had the door slightly pulled closed. I walked through and saw Newman, aka the Guard dog, sitting outside of his room! This is not a place he normally lays down to rest, so it was obvious he was guarding our precious little boy. It was really sweet. What a good dog, Newman!

THE BIG SISTER

Last night Mackenzi's girl scout troup from Cross of Christ had a scrapbooking party at JoAnn Fabric's in Cedar Hill. We wanted her to go so she could see some of her friends from school since she really didn't have much of a notice that she was experiencing her last day of school the day before Levi was born. I didn't get things together ahead of time for it - and so Kenzi and I decided for her to do a "Big Sister" scrapbook page since we had printed pictures of her and her little brother. . .She liked this idea. So, here is the product finished. She had a great time, and enjoyed doing the page. We don't have a book for her - but I am sure I'll do a first year book for Levi like I did Mackenzi and would love to include a page that his big sister did for him. It's turned out cute.

This is just a sweet picture I took yesterday before we headed to JoAnn Fabric's. I had laid Levi down on this little playyard and when I looked back, he was sound asleep. . .too precious to not take the picture - I think he looks like a little turtle! When I see him sleeping like this with his mouth open, I try to close it! I don't want him to get a sore throat sleeping with his mouth open!

Precious Cargo

We have this precious little boy and this precious little girl. . .it's truly remarkable to look at them and know that our love created them. . .

Mackenzi is also known as Levi's other mommy. . .she literally knows about caring for him in ways I had no idea she knew about. . .she sees what he needs before anything is said and takes care of it! She's hilarious! Her understanding is unbelievable. . .she has wanted so badly to change a diaper - and we've told her that when his umbilical cord comes off - she'll have the opportunity. . .well, it came off, and maybe she's forgotten about that. . .because it hasn't come up again. . .but, here you can see in the picture how she's holding him and gazing at him. . .she told me the other night when she headed to bed and kissed him on the forehead that she LOVED him SO much! The sound of her voice when she said it was so sweet. She hasn't shown any jealousy toward him - although she has acted out some - wanting our attention, I suppose. She is willing to do whatever Levi needs - and doesn't seem to mind at all. It's still so surreal to have two children. They are definitely precious cargo!

One day shy of being 3 weeks old

This little life that came to us almost 3 weeks ago is absolutely precious! I can't even put into words how incredible it has been. With our previous history of miscarrying a baby - I think our poor hearts have been so burdened with almost not believing that he was real - my entire pregnancy was filled with worries and fears and at the same time elation that I was pregnant and that everything was going well. I kept believing that when I reached certain milestones I would stop worrying. . .like when I surpass where I was when I miscarried, I would stop worrying. . .or when I reached the sonogram and saw how precious he was I would stop worrying. . .and on into my 3rd trimester with when I had my last sonogram appointment, I would stop worrying. . .and sadly, I couldn't get past worrying. I tried - and I would cling to my faith to attempt to stop worrying. . .and to my credit, I did allow my saviour to comfort me throughout - unfornately I would allow the enemy to creep back in in no time. . .

And so now, we are at 3 weeks, and one would think I would have stopped worrying - and I guess in some ways, I have. . .but in other ways I have added new reasons to worry. . .the latest being that he wasn't eating enough to gain weight. . .when we took him to the doctor the day after we came home from the hospital, he weighed 6lbs 9 1/2 ounces. . .and the doctor explained that it was a little lower than they would have liked to have seen. . .and so, that created great panic in my mind. Thankfully when we took him this past week, he had surpassed his birth weight and had an additional 3 ounces to boot. . .and, I can almost say that today I had a wonderful day just enjoying him the way I know God wants us to!

I've known all along throughout this pregnancy that I would regret worrying so much and not trusting Jesus enough. . .and I have felt that way - I really knew I would. . .and so with today, I'm so thankful for this precious little boy - he's truly incredible.

Yesterday morning I took him into his room to change his clothes. I laid him in his bed and he was so content! We have been having him sleep in the bassinet in our room at night and during the day he sleeps in a little bouncer, or in the evening on Daddy's chest. . .and so when I laid him in his bed and he seemed so happy, I let him stay there - and look around. . .he did that for about 15 or 20 minutes. . .when I picked him up, he looked sleepy, and so I changed him and put him back in his bed. I put him a little on his side and he slept in there for about 1 1/2 hours. Here's a sweet picture of him sleeping in there.

Then later on that evening. . I was playing with yet another new camera (yes, I broke another one) and took some black and white pictures of Levi and Mackenzi. It was a lot of fun, Kenzi was cracking up because Levi was starting to get hungry and was rooting on her. This picture is one of the first ones I took. Mackenzi chose the way they were laying, so we can give her the credit for how sweet it turned out.

Levi Ashton Kreymer born June 27, 2008

JUST A QUICK RECAP SINCE I HAVEN'T BLOGGED SINCE BEFORE HIS ARRIVAL. . .

He was born Friday, June 27 at 10:19pm. He weighed 7lbs 4ounces and was 19.5 inches long. (Although after our pediatrician appointment on June 30th, he measured 20 1/4" long - so he must have been mismeasured in the hospital!)
I went in Thursday afternoon to the doctor for my appointment and she went ahead and sent me to the hospital for a treatment to help soften my cervix. Mackenzi and I headed over there at 3:00pm and started the treatment. The medication they gave me generally will have an affect about 6 hours after treatment. . .however, I started having contractions within the hour observation period. They discharged me and we headed out to Mackenzi's indoor soccer game. My contractions continued throughout the evening, finding us at the triage at the hospital that night around 11pm. They gave me a shot of demerol and sent me home. My parents headed into town and arrived around 2:30am. Throughout the night, I continued contracting, but did get some rest. Then Friday morning when we woke up, we started counting contractions. They continued throughout the morning and on into the afternoon. We decided to head to the hospital around 3:00 and was VERY disappointed to find out I was still only dilated to the same 1 cm I was the night before in the triage. However, they continued to monitor me for the hour as is standard, and within that hour, she came back to check me and I had dilated to a 3-4cm. I was so relieved to know that the pain I was experiencing was going to finally allow us to be admitted!
Unfortunately, Friday was a busy day for babies to be born and I was not the priority because I was not a high risk pregnancy. This meant that I didn't get a room right away, and didn't get an epidural very quickly either. . .so, I continued to work through the contractions until about 6:30 when my best friend came in to help relieve some of the pain! I was already dilated to a 6 by then. After the epidural, I was good for the wait. . .which, thankfully wasn't too long - I was dilated to a 10 by 10pm and he was born 19 minutes later! He is such a blessing!

AND BACK TO TODAY. . .

Today was our 2 week appointment. I was a bit concerned about his weight because he had lost a little more when we took him in the Monday after he was born - he had dropped down to 6lbs 9 1/2 ounces. . .When we took him today he had gained back up to 7lbs 7ounces - so he's gained an additional 3 ounces. He's doing really well, and the doctor doesn't need to see him until he's 2 months old. Unfortunately it's "feeding time" and so I'll have to finish this later!