:: Levi's 1st Birthday ::

We had such a nice party to celebrate your big day. Grandmama & Grandpapa, Uncle Tim's family, Uncle Tom's family, Uncle Greg's family, Uncle Jeff's family, the Wrights, and Aunt Meg all came over for dinner. We had a yummy feast in your honor...only the best for our son! You loved being the center of attention and were so cute!!! I want you to know that you are LOVED...you have so many people that adore you and will always be there for you. You are such a special little guy and have a great Spirit about you! I love that you are so loving, and the way you cuddle into people when they hold you. You give lots of kisses freely and make a "maaa" sound while doing it that melts hearts. I love it when you walk up to me and hold my legs while looking up at me and reach both hands out to me...knowing I will pick you up. You are such a good little eater, willing to eat just about anything...and mommy really needed that- so thank you! Levi, you are very mischievous and that's okay. You always want to get into everything, especially the stuff you know you are not supposed to (like the game cupboard, under the kitchen sink, the remote control, the toilet bowl brush/toilet paper/anything that has to do with the toilet, the big potted plant, etc...) You are walking like a pro these days, although you still have that cute baby wobble and still crawl from time to time. You can already go up the stairs all by yourself. My favorite thing to do during the day is chase you around the couch, playing peek-a-boo around the corner and catching you off guard...we laugh and roll around on the floor (I think it is your favorite activity too)! You are not as visual as your big brother (you don't love books and TV), you are more hands on. You like playing with toys, coloring, games, dancing, getting tickled, play dough, discovering, playing, but mostly just being in your mommy's arms. You love Tate and are such good buddies. You two love to follow each other around and play so well together, and I am sure that bond will only grow stronger with time! You are just starting to say little words here and there (like tank-u) and we can tell you understand pretty much everything we say...you are just getting so big too fast. You are the baby of our family and we all love and adore you!

Happy Birthday Boo-Bah!!!

No time for a nap on your big day, luckily this little snack held you over until bedtime.

Look how big you have gotten in just one year!

(Now I am going to cry...promise me you will always be my sweet boy.)

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY LEVI!

You knew this party was just for you and clapped & bopped along as we sang to you.

We LOVE our family and were so happy everyone could come to celebrate Levi Lou's birthday with us!

Mommy LOVES you more than words can say! You are such a joy and sweet boy...I just can't get enough of my mamma's boy. =)

Tate LOVES you sooooooooooo much!!!

Mommy made you a delicious coconut lemon curd cake from scratch and you gobbled it up. =)

You have a sweet tooth...just like your momma!

You stayed pretty clean for your first dessert.

You loved all your presents...and all that attention too!

Daddy LOVES his beautiful boy and had so much fun helping you open all your presents.

Aunt Hilary made you this very special book with pictures of all the Weeks' family members in it, she wanted you to have a very thoughtful gift because you are named after Uncle Tim and have a special place in their family's heart.

You really are such a loving little guy, always giving lots of kisses and cuddles.

:: A very Happy Halloween indeed! ::

We had a fabulous Halloween at Tim & Hilary house, along with Grandmama and Grandpapa this year. Delicious soup and scones were served for dinner...perfect for a cold fall evening! Tate loved his "baby dinosaur" outfit that daddy rushed to the store just hours before to buy (I had planned on recycling his cute monkey costume but could not convince him to put it on) and Levi was squeezably cute as a little bear. My favorite part of the night was handing out candy on the porch with Levi, Hilary, Kenzie, and Grandmama. We always have plenty of laughs and good conversation for those couple of hours. Andy had a blast with Tate and the rest of the gang going trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Another perfect Holiday I am sad to be over!

:: artists ::

I think Tate is quite the artist (must be the Browne side of the family)!


I've been meaning to cut their hair for months now...but look at that little face!

Lou coloring his very first picture/eating his first crayon.

kissable fingers...

& toes.

:: XoOxXOooXxxOX ::

We had the most amazing sky here in Lehi...breathtakingly beautiful!!! It had been raining off and on and the combination of the clouds, colors, lighting, and mountains made for a scene right out of the movies. On our drive to Costco for some shopping and a slice of pizza, I pointed it out to Tater. He loved it too!!! He held his toy tractor on his lap and pointed out something to me- all the other tractors by the church under construction near our home. He was very excited about the close resemblance to his toy and that they were also "orange." And then out of no where moments later Tater peeped out from the backseat something I love, and it went like this...

Tate: "I wanna talk to Jesus...Jesus in the sky"
me: "Okay, sweetie...just say a prayer and you can talk to him!"
Tate: "...and kisses too."
me: "awe."
Tate: "I give Jesus BIG hug!!!"
me: "Someday you will give Him a big hug, honey." =)
Tate: "okay."

me: "we love Jesus!"

Tate: "I love Jesus soooooooooo MUCH!"

:: your favorite place in the entire world is in my arms ::

How fast the time I have held you in my arms has flown by...you are already ten months old! Before we know it we will be celebrating your birthday and sending you off to college soon after that (and I will cry at both of those events.) I make sure to really connect with you everyday, trying to permanently embed in my memory everything about you: what you smell like, the sound of your sweet raspy voice, that you love pat-a-cake and always clap along, how efficient you are at scudding across the floor army style and sometimes decide to crawl like a big boy, that you climbed your first stairs just the other day at the cabin in Bear lake with many onlookers to cheer you on, the little rash you get under your bottom lip from your Binky, how ticklish your back and ribs are, the way you reach for me every time you see me and cry when I don't take you in my arms, how much you love your Binky/"ba ba"/ "na na"/fingers/ anything you kind find of the floor...basically anything that can go in your mouth, how cute you are sitting in the tub next to Tate surrounded by bubbles and 20 different toys, your intense blue eyes, that you just started giving your first kisses upon request...open mouth and all, the way you say "yeah yeah" and shake your head up and down anytime we ask you a question, the resemblance you have to your Grandmama Weeks and her side of the family, how much you love me and that I can tell you love me more than anything else in this world, that you can now do peek-a-boo all by yourself, how much your personality reminds me of myself, how much i love to nibble on your ears and kiss your neck, the way you look in your crib waiting for someone to come get you with imprints of your "night night" on your red face and tear streaked cheeks, that you can hold your "ba ba" all by yourself...but I like to do it anyways to spend that special time with you, how you always bop along to my silly beats, when you reach your little hand out to anything or anyone that you want, how soft your skin is and your firm round baby bottom, the love you have for your family, how excited you get talking to daddy on the phone and try your best to talk back, that you cry everytime I put you down and giggle with delight when I pick you up, how cute your coloring is, your love for Cheerios, how much you love to dance...especially in the kitchen, that you hate being alone, the way you pull yourself up on something to stand and hold on tight for support, how you arch your back if you don't get your way, the sound of your baby cry and that frequently it sounds like "maaaa ma", how tired you are of rice cereal, when you rub your eyes because you are tired, that you make daddy's day when snuggle with him, how special you feel when you get time with daddy and I all by yourself, that you don't really care for TV and books as much as your big brother, that you like to play with my jewelry (especially my big turquoise ring), how content you are being held by a stranger, that you are a true "mama's boy", and just how strong your sweet spirit is! I want to remember just the way you are at this moment forever!!! And when I am old and grey I can think of you and feel that joy all over again.

Levi Timothy, WE LOVE YOU beyond expression!

:: sweet skater boy ::

Daddy came home from work and surprised you with a brand new Spider man scooter and Diego helmet...and your little boy dreams came true!

"I wove woo Weevi Woo!" -Tate

Thoughtful Daddy capturing this momentous occasion on film.

Levi was reaching out for Tate, so he scooted his way up to him and gave him a BIG kiss!

"Yikes-a-Day!" ...as Aunt Trina would say. =)

:: Boo-ba-dee-boo-bop's first sleepover! ::

Tate and cousin, Dallin

Grandmama and the boys


...and of course, some kisses with Levi!

Tate received his first sleepover invite from Grandmama, along with his cousin Dallin...to say that he was excited about it would be an understatement!!! Just look at his big grin in these pictures. Grandpapa and Grandmama planned a fun-filled get away for the boys and they all had a blast! Tate and Dallin got Happy Meals (in traditional Weeks' fashion) and then went over to the ward BBQ social. I was told that Tate was sooooo cute and a good boy, becoming more independent as time went on (I guess big cousin rubbed off on him. =) In the morning he ate a pancake at IHop and enjoyed that special treat, followed by a shopping spree at ShopKo (in traditional Weeks' fashion.) He loves his new car and Pelican Webkins that Grandmama bought him -which has become his new sleeping companion. Tatey came home bathed and tired from having so much fun! And I had fun at the homestead with some quality one-on-one time with Levi!

*Thanks again to mom and dad for doing that for our big boy!!!
We LOVE you.

:: Thank you for... ::

-getting up with the boys so I could sleep in until 9:30AM

-mowing the yard

-pulling the weeds

-hauling 15+ loads of heavy dirt/clay a block away at the construction site

-cleaning out the garage

-being such a good friend to all the neighbors

-getting yummy Chinese takeout

-taking a bath with Tate

-encouraging me to tuck Tate in for bed the right way

-praying for me, that I might know how much I am loved and appreciated

-playing Tetris against me until way past our bedtime (even though this hasn't happened...YET)

- being the most wonderful husband and friend that you always are!

:: good night ::

Tonight as I tucked you in bed (hair still wet from your bath with daddy) we held each other tight. Your little arm was clung around my neck so tight and mine around yours as I hummed your special lullaby. You had a permanent smile, and come to think of it so did I. I whispered in your ear, "I love you baby"...and you whispered to me, "I love you baby" (and I corrected him.) I kissed your sweet little face, trying to remember what is was again that frustrated me so much at dinner time. None of that mattered anymore. Then I said, "I love you forever, I will always love you, I will always be your mommy, and I will always be with you!" And he put his little hand on my face and said, "Hmmmm...Mommy." We "hmmmm" a lot to each other, it is a very loving gesture in our home. =)

:: some recent finds ::

This week was a good week...I found this art! It is a vintage 34"X14" acrylic painting on canvas, with a simple wood frame painted gold & signed by the artist. It could possibly be my best find yet! Are you wondering how much I spent? I scored this beautiful baby for $15.00 + $10.00 for shipping!!!

I realize not everyone loves my new vintage lamp with the passion of 100 horses (inside joke)...but I adore it! When the lady at the shop threw in the vintage lamp shade for only $10.00, it was a done deal. It is so nostalgic for me...you see, growing up we always had a cork ball to hold pencils etc... I love the lamp's shiny chrome, scale, shape-you name it!

:: baby food ::

Levi is what I like to call a "human vacuum"...I have to keep my floors clean at all times because he bee-lines it for the littlest things and in it goes! The other day I found a whole blade of grass in his diaper, which does not surprise me in the slightest. But on the bright side, he eats everything we give him...so not a picky eater like big brother. =)

And I love how he sticks his finger in his mouth (sometimes one from each hand) after each bite. What is up with that?

:: cheerios and noodles can be pretty masculine ::

Lindsay came over the other day to teach Tate and I a thing or two about crafts. I don't know if it is because I am raising two boys, but we don't do too many craft projects at the Weeks' home. I thought these necklaces were so clever and simple that we had to try it out. Tate had a blast having his sweet little friend over and worked at his necklace for a long time. I finished it for him and he enjoyed wearing it for a few days. The End.

:: sometimes you want to say, "what the crap!?!" ::

Today I experienced something that all people dread before parenthood. We wonder if we will be able to take care of the business at hand? Is it possible that all the love we have for our precious baby will be enough? I know my mother experienced this with me on far too many occasions as a wee one, so it was surely going to come my way sooner or later! Yes, I am talking about that special moment when you walk into the nursery to snatch up that little bundle of joy as they cry to alert you that they are awake...or in this case awake prematurely because they are covered on every part of their cute little self with their own poo!!! It is funny how when I am in that situation something that is indeed very much poo seems more like just dried dirt.

*No pictures necessary for this post.

I know...your welcome. =)

:: let me count the ways ::

{Em, Tate, and Krista}

My family made the long 24+ hour drive from Arkansas to Utah many times growing up. Even as a young child I realized there was something VERY special about Utah summers. And now that I am blessed to live in this wonderful state my love has grown.

Here are just a few reason's I adore Utah summers:

+ grass...lots of green lush grass (even though our yard is not up to par, at least we some)

+ the gorgeous evenings

+ spending many lovely evenings in the backyard chatting with family & friends while the kids play

+ more daylight...always a major plus in my book

+ tasty produce/farmer's markets/gifts from friend's gardens (hint...hint)

+ barbecue

+ my babies in diapers and shoeless

+ swimming at the pool

+ picnics

+ water Wednesdays

+ motivated to go to the gym...usually anyways

+ being cooled down by AC in a hot car or coming inside to its loveliness indoors

+ vacations...the more the merrier

+ Summer Olympic Games in Cedar City

+ running through the sprinklers

...and the list goes on!