This week:

27.Feb.2011 (I just found this and realized I never published it.)
Our family is doing really well. Levi talks a ton and is a socialite. He is very gracious and generous. He loves Ivy and is very helpful in taking care of her and seeing that she has everything she needs. We visited Stampin' Up this week. Kathy was holding Ivy and after a while, Ivy began to cry. Levi very acutely observed, "Ivy needs Mommy." My heart almost burst. I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Levi is also growing up. He is physically more and more a little boy and less and less a toddler. He gets taller every day and can reach new ... heights. He can also be very creative in getting to things he not yet tall enough to reach. On of his favorite things to do is pull the little potty in the half bathroom over to the sink and wash and dry his hands. He uses lots of soap and lots of water and generally leaves the towel on the floor (he's probably just not tall enough to hang it up, and we haven't been very good at teaching him to clean up after himself). Another favorite is to get buck naked and go piddle and poop in the big toilet upstairs. To piddle, he lifts the lid and the seat and sits backward on the rim, piddles a bit, uses some TP, flushes the toilet and generally goes back for more. When "poop"ing, he lowers the seat, sits forward on it, thinks for a second, uses some TP and flushes the toilet, "I pooped!" Yeah, Levi, some day (soon, I hope) you will learn that "poop"ing is when you actually leave something in the toilet rather than saving it for a diaper. Oh, and speaking of diapers, he really like to "dump the poop" when he has a poopy diaper. He'll lift the lid and the seat for me and then flush the toilet and close the lid when I'm done. Funny boy.

Ivy is an expert smiler and makes very good sounds. Hearing her coo or laugh makes my heart warm. She also has the saddest faces when she needs something. I can totally see the super-sad faces she's making when we're traveling in the car and I can't look at her, and she's gearing up, gearing down, or in full swing.

Ivy is also growing like a weed. Today is her 3-month birthday and we'll celebrate by having dinner with Mom and the Randalls, who will be arriving at her house some time today. I need to put away all her 0-3 clothing and pull out the 3-6, which means I need to organize and put away and get out, not exactly my forte. I'm getting a little better, though. Maybe by the time Ivy goes to highschool, I'll have it figured out.

I am doing well. I don't think I'm growing, but you never know. I just got a serger from Mom and am absolutely LOVING it. I have also finally found and figured out a diaper patter than I really like. I made a froggy on for Levi this week and have a bunch cut out to sew together as soon as possible because he is growing (already grown) out of the ones he has. I talked with Kris the other day about cloth daipers and cloth feminine products and had a such an enjoyable conversation, after which I totally laugh at my self. Who gets a high out of talking about cloth diapers? My, my, I'm really ... well really ... something.

I'm still learning to cook meals. I go through short spurts of having a fresh cooked dinner for a few days in a row every once in a while. I'm learning what to have on hand and getting closer to thinking ahead enough to have a plan. I'm finally learning to do coupons, thanks to Mom, who was inspired by Becca while she was visiting in Georgia this January. It's actually exciting and rewarding.

Nathan worked about 55 hours this week. His company is providing a lot of support for one of their contracts. He also traveled out to California alone recently to help a contractee install the program, show them how it works, and answer questions. It went quite well, from what I can tell. At home, Nathan enjoys having time with Levi and Ivy.