Levi Is One!

Happy Birthday, Levi! What a year it has been! I was kind of under the impression when you arrived that you would be a baby for a LONG time...but here you are, one year old and growing up so fast! 

Starting to use words...eating and sleeping like a big boy...halfway potty trained...and taking his first steps! All with a smiley and very social personality! 

I think Levi's favorite thing is still his Daddy! Dad's arrival home from work is the most exciting part of the day. He loves to greet him with a big grin and "Da-da, da-da, da-da!!!!" It makes me smile to listen to his delightful squeals and giggles coming from wherever they are together!

Reading books also keeps Levi pretty busy during the day. He often goes through about thirty books per minute, due to a two-second attention span rather than advanced reading skills. :)

Levi is quite social and rarely knows a stranger. Piano lessons are often a highlight of the day when he gets to play with other kids! Also loves: bananas ("na-na!" -big grin- "eeeeeeee!!!"), peek-a-boo ("bah!"), puppies, kitties ("tee-tee"), his blankie, babies, playing the piano, and strumming Daddy's guitar.

For now, Levi has developed a fairly routine day. He wakes up around 8am, eats breakfast, plays, takes a morning nap, eats lunch, plays some more, takes an afternoon nap, wakes up when he hears the piano playing for lessons, eats supper, plays some more, and goes to bed sometime between 7:30-9. That said, he is still pretty flexible when other things are on the schedule.

We celebrated Levi's first birthday with both sets of grandparents and the single aunts and uncles. He had so much fun getting lots of attention for the evening! 

It took some work...but he eventually got the candle blown out! 

...and the cake eaten! 

His "puppy dog" cake...(I see I never did get a picture of him with his cake, but he loves puppies and thought this cake was pretty funny!!) 

My camera was having issues the rest of the evening...so I had to get a picture of him the next day with his gift from Daddy. This wooden rocking horse has been Matt's project for the last several weeks and he finished making it just in time (blog post about the rocking horse to follow...)! It turned out great and Levi will get lots of entertainment from it!

And now...the full collection of his first year sticker photos!

Can you believe Levi is about to be a big brother?! I think he is going to love having a little more excitement around here, once he adjusts to getting a little less one-on-one attention! :) 

God's blessings to you, Levi! We love you so much and look forward to watching you grow in the coming years!

The To-Do List is Complete!

Before I begin to ramble about how we are now ready for the baby to come, I will share with you the amazing feat that happened on our ice a couple weeks ago. 

Matt's homemade zamboni has been completed! A zamboni is a machine that smooths out the ice on hockey or skating rinks to make it slick again after being cut up with skates for awhile. 

The zamboni debut after a morning game of ice hockey.

He put a barrel full of water on the back of the Gator and pulled a rug behind it. The barrel drips out water while the rug distributes the water into a thin layer to fill in the cracks. The water quickly refreezes and leaves behind smooth ice for skating!  

...and it worked!!! :)

Back to business...

Well...the countdown is on! I mentioned last time that I had a long to-do list to finish before the baby came, and we have been tackling the tasks one by one! The first week of the month I got Christmas wrapped up, our 2016 yearbook done and ordered, packed my hospital bag, and got things organized in the baby room now that there will be two kids needing the same space. 

Among other things, week two involved moving Levi to his new "bed" - specifically, a crib mattress on the floor next to the crib. If anyone wonders how this transition works with an 11.5-month-old...

It started with a learning session one night to teach him not to get off the mattress when I put him on. After about twenty minutes of training, he pretty well had it figured out that he wasn't allowed to get off. 

Fast asleep on his new bed for nap time the next day! 

He fell asleep, but woke up a few times throughout the night when he rolled off the mattress. Matt decided to make a railing for the side, and had it rigged up in only a few days. What a handyman!

Since Levi had trouble getting in and out on his own with the end rail on, we just left the bottom open for him to crawl in and out as needed. However, he is very hesitant to crawl out without one of us in the room since he knows he is supposed to stay in bed. 

So...we are now calling this transition complete and successful! We promptly got the crib all prepped for the baby. :) 

In the last week and a half, I sewed the third of three maternity skirts (about time!), got Levi's baby book up to date, made my baby announcement (a little premature, but might as well get as much done as possible!), got organized for my baby break from piano lessons, took Levi's one year photos yesterday and got them ordered, and made cupcakes for the freezer for Levi's birthday party on Thursday. 

Last weekend was my two-day kitchen marathon to tackle the long-procrastinated task of filling the freezer with meals for post-baby. We now have about 25 meals worth of food in the freezer! I found that it made things easier to double each recipe for twice the number of meals, and to choose very simple things to make.  As long as we don't get sick of having the same thing to eat for two months straight, we should be good to go! 

The only thing left on my list now is "Clean." I decided to put that one off a little longer. :)

My due date is about 12 days away, but I put on my calendar that the baby will be arriving on Saturday. No, I have no control over when this baby comes; this coming Saturday would just be a good day to have a baby. Stay tuned... ;)

Have a good week!

Our Family Christmas Album

The month of December was pretty well filled with family gatherings, caroling, and other traditional Christmas activities. It was a blessing to spend time with much of our extended family! 

Family Gathering #1: Christmas with the Bill Massner family at Skylines in Peoria.

Levi and Max are the two newest great-grandchildren! 

Levi's FIRST EVER Christmas gift (a booster high chair for when he gets kicked out of his current high chair in a few months). Thank you, Great-Grandma!

Family Gathering #2: Christmas with the Myron Schulz family at Mom and Dad's.

Mom's activity for the evening: Schulz family Bingo! 

Family Gathering #3: Christmas with the Richard Schmidgall family in Minnesota.

The creative new activity idea for this year: Christmas caroling on a hay rack through the streets of Hancock. So much fun! The weather cooperated well, and several people looking out their windows seemed to appreciate the Christmas cheer! 

Levi and Kortlen were the two newbies at the Schmidgall Christmas. They were both entertained by the singing snowman! :) 

Family Gathering #4: Christmas with the Ezra Knobloch family in Lester.

Family interview! 

Kyra and Levi

Levi meets Great-Grandma (Marie) Knobloch for the first time!
(Brain teaser side note: As one may have deduced, Levi is fortunate enough to have TWO Great-Grandma Knoblochs. Yet he still doesn't have an ounce of Knobloch blood in him. Hmm...??)

Kellan brought this shopping cart with him to Lester, so Levi got to have some fun pushing it around! 

Family Gathering #5: Christmas with the Chuck Massner family. 

As some may know from previous years, the program is typically a highlight. This was the front cover. :)

Grandpa got a big chair for Christmas! 

The Christmas band (Levi was the new addition this year on the maracas). 

Family Gathering #6: Christmas with the Gary Schulz family.

All the kids with their red balloons! 

Three new babies in 2016! Levi, Krista, and Weston bring the grandchild tally up to 15!

Family Gathering #7: Christmas with the Matthew Schulz family!

We planned to celebrate Christmas together as the three of us on New Years Day. Matt got sick during church and spent the afternoon in bed while I worked on supper and played with Levi. Eventually Levi went down for a nap, too, so I enjoyed a quiet afternoon of coloring in my new coloring book. :)

They both woke up just in time for supper, and since Matt was feeling better, we resumed our Christmas plans. A nice meal for supper, homemade grape sorbet (I mixed a couple tablespoons of corn syrup with three cups of the slightly-sweetened grape juice concentrate I made from our grapes in August, and put it in our ice cream freezer until it was done. Yummy!), and a few gifts for Levi from his great-grandparents.

We enjoyed the quiet evening to ourselves after a busy two weeks of constant activity!

Our first Christmas as a family of three! A pregnant mom + a sick dad + a confused boy on self-timer = one beautiful family photo. 

In the meantimes of December:

Matt did eventually complete his insulated box for the cattle tank. This isn't necessarily the finished product, but it is out in the horse pasture and seems to be serving its purpose. 

Levi found the go-cart in the shed and had fun driving it! 

Great-Grandpa Schulz brought this chair home from Texas last winter for Levi, and now he thinks he is pretty special when he sits in his chair to watch the fire! 

Yep, it's been another month for this boy, too! He turned 11 months old on Christmas Day, hence the Christmas pajamas. The highlight of this month was learning to use some words: mama, dada, ah-da (all done), old-old (cold), ot-ot (hot), nana (banana), baba (bottle). 

Matt is now busy on yet another project, this time for Levi's birthday gift! He has made a lot of progress the past few days. We will share photos when it is completed! 

And then there is me...the condition of my house would indicate that I have not kept busy, but I have actually been doing everything besides housework. :) Hopefully now that things are settling back down after the holidays, things will get caught up. I came to the startling realization this week that we only have one more month to wait for the baby, and there is a lot on my to-do-before-baby list! I am thankful to be feeling very well and for good reports from the doctors.

We hope you felt the Lord's blessings this Christmas, and that you will seek His presence throughout 2017!