October - More Cute Pics of Levi & Exploration Acres

Levi is the happiest little man. This is one of my all-time favorite pics of him :)

Sister McKell from Dave's mission sent Levi this cute outfit. I think he liked it!

Dave and I went on a date to Indianpolis. We ate at Red Robin and went for a drive to see the new temple being built! We wish that it was going to be done before we left WL, but we might be staying in Indy, so it could be our temple one day!! :)

We went with our friends to a place called Exploration Acres right before Halloween. They have a GIGANTIC corn maze, and food, and activities. We had a blast exploring the area!

 A picture of us above the corn on a look-out.

  

Levi was a good little trooper in his backpack!

This was on a hay ride out to the corn maze. We are so grateful for our friends, the Rusts. They are wonderful people!

Very flattering half-closed eye picture of me, but look at the cute man beside me :) He's amazing!

We attempted to get a cute picture of the 3 of us. Levi didn't cooperate. Maybe next year we can get a cute pumpkin patch picture! :)

Levi - September

Levi has been growing so fast! I know I'm late, but September was full of muscle building for Levi. He got really good at Tummy Time.

He had fun practicing standing up with daddy! 

He learned how to play with his toys. 

 He made some friends while mommy went to aerobics!

Mommy also made some friends at aerobics!

Ohio State football started up. Levi loved watching games with daddy! 

Grandma and Grandpa Monk Came to WL!!

In September, Dave's dad had some work to do in Ohio. After he was done, they came out to Indiana to spend the weekend with us! We had a quick visit, but it was amazing to see them for as long as we did!! Levi played with grandma and grandpa.

 He was a little stinker for some of the time...

But as long as mommy or daddy stuck around, he was good :)

 

We took a tour of Purdue with them. It was fun to walk around and see all the fountains and buildings!

We missed some type of fair, but there was still some Purdue stuff up. We all had to get our pictures in the displays!

We also saw the World's Largest Drum!! (or so it said... I don't think it's really the largest... who knows?!) 

 

We had to show them the Neil A. Armstrong Hall of Engineering. It is a must see for anyone who comes to West Lafayette! 

We were so glad that the Monks could come and visit us! We had a blast showing them around our little town, and are grateful for their support in everything we are doing :)

Trip to Utah and Idaho - August 2013

In August, we took a trip out to Utah to see family. Everyone had to meet our little guy! Levi was a trooper on the plane. Everyone around us commented on how good he was :)

We arrived in Salt lake city and spent a day with my family. My parents were excited to see Levi again and couldn't believe how big he had gotten already! Then we headed up to Idaho to see Dave's family. Grandma and Grandpa Monk were very excited to be able to meet Levi and the spent plenty of time cuddling with him.

While we were in Idaho, we had fun playing Croquet and going shooting with the family. Dave's parents know that I LOVE shooting - It used to be the "guys" thing that they did, but now the girls are invited as well :) Dave's Grandpa Monk came over for dinner one day, so we had to get a 4 generation shot!

Levi Enjoyed by held by a LOT of people. Aunts:

Our Friends:

And being with his Cousins! (Manda, two looks good on you ;) )

While at the Carter's, we were able to get together with family and have a fun time Swimming, Eating Snow Cones, Playing Pool, and going to the Zoo! 

 When we went to the zoo, we had a lot of fun watching the polar bears, seeing the otters swim, and going to a bird show. Even Levi got in on the action at the bird show!

 My friend Cassie got married while I was in Utah. I was so happy that I was able to go see her get sealed to her love! Brian is a wonderful guy, and VERY lucky to have her. Congratulations, Cassie Hendricks! :)

 We had an amazing time in Utah seeing all our friends and family! We miss you all!! Can't wait to do it again :)

Welcome to Levi!

We welcomed Levi into the world on June 13, 2013. Here is my last pregnant picture! 

The little guy was slightly stubborn and I ended up being induced at 7:30 that morning. Here we are after i got all hooked up to the machines:

The labor progressed slowly at first. They checked me at about 4:00pm and i was still at only a 3.5, so i figured we were in for a really LONG night. The contractions started to get really bad around 5:00, and when they checked me again, I was a 5, so they let me get the epidural. The anesthesiologist finally came about 6. That was AMAZING. I know that some people like to do their births all natural, but the pain relief was absolutely the best thing in the world. The epidural allowed me to relax so much that within one hour, i went from a 5 to a 10 and was ready to start pushing. After about an hour and a half, maybe more, I got to meet the little one: 

He was born at 9:40 pm, and was 7 lbs 14 ounces of perfection!! Dave and I fell in love with him instantly! It was the most tender moment of our lives!

I was glad that my mom was able to be here in Indiana with me for the birth. 

First family photo (where we're all cleaned up)!

Like I said, perfection :) 

My sneaky parents pulled off the best surprise ever!! My dad had told me that he wished he could come visit me after we had the baby, but that he was too busy and couldn't make it out to see us. I figured that it was okay, and that since we were going home in August, so he would just have to see him then... to my surprise, my dad showed up in the hospital on Saturday morning!! I squealed like a school girl and may have cried just a little. I am so happy he got to be here to meet our little Levi!

That night we got to go home (I was REALLY scared about going home and taking care of a living thing without the nurses help)

But, just like all other parents, we did it!! I love how he is crossing his arms and legs in this picture :)

Daddy snuggle time. 

Mommy snuggle time. We think it's so precious how he folds his hands under his face like that.

More mommy snuggles. We slept together a lot during the day that first few weeks. 

We love our little guy so much, and are looking forward to watching him grow and learn! I am so grateful that I get to be the mom of this sweet little one!