April Showers and May Flowers

Ahhh....we are loving the beautiful days of spring! Things have been busy, but it is so nice to get outside and enjoy God's creation! 

Baby Update: Levi was three months old about three weeks ago. He sleeps eight hours at night and is awake for a total of about five hours during the day. There is nothing super newsworthy to report, but we are starting to see some teeth getting ready to poke through and he is preparing to roll over any day now. 

Three months old! (Three weeks ago)

A few of our attempts at three month photos...

A proud Daddy got a visit from Levi at work! 

Levi met his new cousin in April when Krista Karen joined Phil and Kelli's family! She is such a sweetie! 

Music lessons started for Levi a few weeks ago. Progress is slow, but I think he's catching on. 

Visiting Kyra and Garret in Bloomfield!

We enjoyed a full Mother's Day weekend, spending Friday evening with the extended Schulz family, Saturday evening with my family, and Sunday evening in Fairfield with Matt's family. Another plus to the weekend was town-wide garage sales on Friday and Saturday!

Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning this year. In the past, I've spent the day appreciating the love and care of my own mother and grandmothers, but this year I was overwhelmed by the joy and thankfulness I find in being a mother myself. There are so many women who would do anything to have children of their own, and I feel very unworthy and humbled that God chose to grant me the blessings of motherhood. 

Just Me and My Mom (and baby Justin) - circa 1999

The weather was beautiful for grilling out in the park! 

'Tis the season...for school music programs and concerts as the students anticipate the end of another school year! We attended the 1st & 2nd grade program in April to watch Ethan and Tristan, along with several of my piano students and other friends. Last weekend was the 5-12th grade band concert starring Justin, Travis, and Camille.

And now for the non-social excitement in our lives:

Matt's LATEST project (I feel like I use that phrase often) was to install an aerator on the pond and make a little covered shack for it. The purpose of the aerator was to eventually get rid of the moss/algae that seems to accumulate all summer long (see the sample green stuff around the dock). 

Update on our wildlife refuge:

We had five little goslings on our pond in April! They hatched and waddled around for a day before heading over to the big pond behind Uncle Troy's.

One day, Matt looked out and saw that the mama duck had ten little ducklings with her! He found out that she had left two eggs and three ducklings in the nest, so he collected those to raise in our garage. All of the ducklings that were with the mother disappeared within a couple days, probably due to a raccoon or other animal.

Both eggs eventually hatched, but one of the ducklings died shortly afterward. We were left with four seemingly-healthy ducklings. 

Matt moved them outside into a rabbit box this weekend. They are growing quickly!  

On Saturday, we took full advantage of Levi's 5-hour afternoon nap and did some much-needed maintenance in the 'landscaping' down by the end of the lane. It looks much better than it did and now I am hoping to find some low-maintenance plants to add to the bare plot.

We thinned out the irises a bit (will probably do a more thorough job of it in the fall), dug up the stones and redid the border, added landscape fabric, and then put down mulch! 

In case you wondered why Levi is so good at taking naps...it is probably because Matt reads him the nap book. This sleep-training method will probably work for your three-month-old baby too. 

Since the title of this post mentions showers and flowers, I am including a picture of our own May flowers. This is the month of blooming irises! 

We are thankful for the many "showers" of blessing that God has provided for our "flowers" of faith to grow! 

March On!

Before we could hardly blink, the month of March ended and we were suddenly holding a two-month-old baby! He has changed so much and is now pushing thirteen pounds!

As he mentioned in his post last month, Levi's next tasks in life were to start smiling and sleeping through the night. Both items were checked off the list this month. He has been sleeping around 6-7 hours at night since he was six weeks old. I am so thankful for my consecutive hours of sleep!! He is also now smiling and cooing like he owns the place. And he kind of does. :)

In case he ever wants to be a model, he will have plenty of experience to add to his resume.  

Matt spent several nights out of town for work this month, so Levi and I spent those days and evenings at Grandpa and Grandma Massner's house. One of those nights involved a choir concert for Travis, Justin, and Jonathan. Levi thought the music was so soothing that he slept through the whole thing. His only request for ear plugs was during the applause.

Justin went to the extreme to be able to hold Levi when Justin was sick in March.

Matt must have decided Levi needed a little more training in personal hygiene. I found him teaching Levi how to shave one Sunday morning while I was getting ready for church. Isn't Dad a great babysitter? Levi was a very attentive student.

He's growing up so fast! Already shaving... ;)

The month of March supplied us with unusually beautiful weather! We got to enjoy several days of the fresh air before it cooled down again. Spring seems to be about here and we are so excited to be able to spend some more time outside! 

Matt has taken a liking to my Boba wrap (baby carrier)! :) That is Levi sleeping inside.  

Meet Snowbell, our big fat cat. 

We headed over to Princeville a couple weekends ago for baptisms. We decided to stop and visit Grandma Knobloch in Peoria first so she could meet Levi, and we all had a very nice time!

Great-Grandma Knobloch and Levi

Levi ended up leaving her a smelly present on her lap before we left. I think we went through a few outfits that evening, actually.

We had a very nice weekend in Princeville with our family and friends. It was the first time we had been on a trip or stayed overnight elsewhere since Levi's arrival, and things went very well. 

The next week, I started back up with my piano lesson students. It will be fun to get back into that routine again! There are seven of them, so they give me at least one thing to put on my calendar most weekdays. :)

Levi turned two months old on Good Friday, so we had our photo shoot again. When I set the dog down in front of him this time, he was pretty curious about it. It is so amazing to see how much he has grown and changed in only a month! He has been such a blessing and we are enjoying the wonderful smiles that make us forget our exhaustion from the first month! 

This outfit belonged to his Grandpa Massner (exactly) 49 years ago! The shorts seemed a little chilly to wear to church, so we just took some pictures instead. :)  

Having a chat with his neighbor who is a soon-to-be great-grandparent himself! 

Easter weekend began at my Mom and Dad's with our family. The boys helped design an age-appropriate Easter egg hunt for Levi. Needless to say, he found his share of eggs. 

Sunday evening we enjoyed gathering with over a hundred people from the Lanz family at Matt's family's home for Easter, and Tuesday evening we got together with the Schulz family at Uncle Brian and Aunt Lorna's since Grandpa and Grandma had just come home from Texas.

Great-Grandma Schulz 

The Easter holiday is the most sobering and joyful of all the rest. It was a blessing to spend both Good Friday evening and Sunday in church, reflecting on the price Christ paid to free us from our sins at Calvary many years ago. His shed blood on the cross and His victory over death provides our purpose and hope in life...what a reason to forever rejoice!

Isaiah 53:5 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

My First Month

Since Mommy isn't getting around to sharing any of my handsome pictures and life story with you, I decided to bop in and do it myself. I am one month old today and tried real hard to be a dashing young man for my pictures this morning! 

I've been trying to be a good little boy for Mommy. I figure the best thing I can do is give her plenty of sleep at night, so I make sure I don't cry unless I am really hungry. I have only been waking up about once a night since I came home, with a couple of exceptions. During the day I just like to look around and dance to music.

One of my favorite times of the day is when Daddy gets home. He and I are getting along great, especially ever since I stopped cooperating for him when he was trying to change my diapers. Now Mommy gets to change them all and Daddy likes me all the more. 

Since my pictures are way cuter than my words, I will take a break from writing now. Mommy told me I had to keep this post to less than twenty pictures, so I'll do my best. 

6 Hours

3 Days 

One Week Old

Mommy loves my cuddles!

Daddy calls me "Little Buddy" and I call him *hiccup*. We hit it off right from the start. 

I had a lot of visitors the first week home! I got to meet some of my cousins...

...and my neighbors came over to visit, too!

Two Weeks Old

My crib and I had our first encounter on my two week birthday. Mommy and Daddy decided I was becoming a much too noisy sleeper to sleep in their bedroom anymore. It was a couple days later before Mommy figured out that the only way I was going to sleep in there was if I was swaddled or on my tummy. The crib and I get along great during the day, but I still sleep swaddled in the Rock-n-Play at night (in my own room, of course).

My Schulz Aunts and Uncles came to visit!

I love listening to Daddy and Mommy play their instruments! 

The doctor gave me a clean bill of health at my two week appointment. My bilirubin was down and I was at the 50th percentile for both height and weight (8lb 6oz; 20.5in). I'm still trying to eat a lot so I can be as big as my uncles someday. But sometimes my belly can't handle as much as I think it can so I end up spitting up a lot. Grandma Massner says I'm being just like my Mommy when I do that. Can you believe it that she thinks Mommy used to be as little as me?

Three Weeks Old

I got all dressed up in my church outfit for my first Sunday in Burlington. We had to get a picture before I grew out of it! 

I was warmly welcomed by the Schulz family for my first visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Valentine's Day. 

This is one of my favorite toys! 

But I think this is my all-time favorite place to be! :)

We went over to Uncle Phil and Aunt Kelli's house on Friday night and got to spend some quality time with my cousins! They are getting all practiced up for their baby sister coming in April! 

Four Weeks Old

My Massner uncles think I'm pretty special!

Mommy introduced me to these toys last week. I thought they made me look a little silly at first, but then decided they were kind of fun! Except I  still haven't figured out the point of those rattles on my feet. 

The white dribble running down my face and all over everything is a great visual of the story of my life right now. I try to behave myself most of the time, but it is kind of funny to watch everyone's reactions when I spit up. Mommy doesn't even try to keep up with me anymore and my clothes are pretty much just always soaked with puke. 

I can't think of anything else to tell you except that I am getting ready to make some big changes in the next couple months! The next things on my agenda are smiling and sleeping through the night! ;) (Sorry, Mom, potty training will have to wait until the next month...)