Mid March

The middle of the month has been crazy for a lot of reasons so I haven't had the chance to update the blog. I'm feeling more on track with a lot of things. I've taken a few minutes break from writing my literature review for the class I'm taking this spring to add some new pictures.

We'll start with a play date with the Weigel twins, Maggie and Kate. Dottie is a friend of mine from USC and the girls are 2 weeks younger than Levi. They actually "played" this time and we discovered that Kate (right) likes the camera like Levi.
Our friends from PA, Kevin and Christine stopped by on their whirlwind through the South (Kevin had a lot of work meetings from TN to GA to SC). Christine is looking forward to their first child in October :o)
Our pretty side garden. Ashley surprised me by planting tulips--they look gorgeous, esp. with the pinwheel I bought a month ago.
Levi is still using his Baby Bungee Bouncer occasionally. Here he is with two of his friends, his horse and lion.
Last Saturday we went to the Spring Festival at Riverbanks Zoo with our friends Matt and Claire. We all like the sea lion exhibit.
Here are the Robinsons.
And Levi being cool in his sunglasses (even though he wants to yank them off--notice Ashley's hands holding them on!).
Today we drove to McBee to eat lunch at Bigs (at McLeod Farms) and then ride around on the farm. Levi loved looking at the rain through the car window. Here's a good picture of his chubby hand (the only thing on his body that has that classic baby chub :o)).

He even took us for a spin in the truck.
Pure concentration, keeping it between the ditches.
After lunch we visited with Ashley's grandparents. Grandpa Bob had some funny glasses to share with Levi.
And Grandma Ann had just had her hair done.
I loved the way this windy road looked through the field.
And to top the day off, we got to see Joe, Ashley's cousin, and his General Lee. When Ashley asked Joe if he would be willing to sell it for a million dollars (this right after a guy drove by and asked if the car was for sale), Joe said, "Heck no. This is a member of the family. You wouldn't want to sell Anna would you?" You have to know Joe to fully appreciate this--but leave it to say that he loves his cars, esp. the General Lee.

Hotlanta for Martin and Kristin's wedding

This past weekend, March 13-15, Ashley and I went to Atlanta for his cousin Martin's wedding (to Kristin). We had a great time, especially because we really love M & K. My parents kept Levi in Columbia.

Friday night we went to JCT after the rehearsal dinner at Blue Ridge Grill. Even though it was rainy, we had a good view of downtown.
Saturday while Ashley did wedding things (he was a groomsman), Robert, Debbie and I went to the Georgia Aquarium. I had been a few years ago and loved it. On this second trip, I was still impressed. Here's a view of the largest aquarium tank in the world!
And here's a view of the whale shark (on right) zooming by overhead (we were in the underwater tunnel), chasing the boat that had his food. This was amazing and a little scary at the same time!

A collection of fish from Africa.
Afterward we went to Mary Mac's Tea Room, an Atlanta food institution. Robert and Debbie ate dinner there the night before and loved it so much, were willing to go back to lunch on Saturday. Great homecooking...and the best part was the warm cornbread, yeast rolls and cinnamon rolls served with your meal!
And the main event of our weekend...the wedding. Kristin looked beautiful and you could tell both she and Martin were so happy. The wedding was at Trinity Presbyterian Church.
The wedding party.
The reception was at The Foundry at Puritan Mill. A perfect venue. I didn't get that many pictures because it was dark (and we were having too much fun) but here's one of the Martin's leaving through a funnel of bubbles.
And when we came home on Sunday, it was Levi's 9 month birthday! He had a great time with his Granna and Papa Charles. We went to the doctor for his 9 mo visit yesterday---he weighs 20 lbs 2 oz (50th percentile) and is 29 1/2 inches tall (90th percentile). So no surprise, the little boy is tall and slim!

Lake Time Last Weekend

Last weekend we got to enjoy the lake from the shore. The weather was gorgeous (around 80 degrees and little humidity), which made for an extra nice time.

Saturday we went out to Leighton's parents' house in Saluda. Buffy is about to pop with baby Holly. We're excited about her arriving!
The guys on the dock. Look closely and you see that Levi and Leighton are sharing the same look!
The McLeod family...can't wait until we can get the pontoon out and enjoy the water!
Levi's after dinner snack. We say he's our little puppy dog because he's always putting things in his mouth!
Sunday we walked across Lake Murray Dam with the Rawls.
The whole crew after we made it across to one side. Next time we might pack a picnic lunch to enjoy :o)
Us girls and our boys.
And on Sunday Levi had a grand time feeding himself. This is another thing that he is doing...refusing to eat baby food from a spoon so we're trying all sorts of finger foods. Ashley even tried feeding him with a mixing spoon--it actually worked even though it doesn't look like it here!

Levi's New Skillz

We wondered when the day would come..and boy has it come! Levi has learned how to sit and stand up in his crib!

You can see from these pictures that they're all taken on different days but please be assured that the laying on his back to fully standing maneuver only takes a matter of seconds.



And with all this excitement, who would want to sleep or nap when you can stand up?! Not Levi! Last night he was awake from 11:30 until 1:30 practicing. We were exhausted from it all but not Levi. He was ready to go at 6:30 a.m. What fun!

Updates on the land...

So it's official....we're landowners in Gilbert (again). We closed on 9.5 acres a few weeks ago and Ashley and his dad have begun work on cleaning up the land. There were a lot of scrub pines and underbrush, which they've removed so we can get a better feel for the land. I'm really starting to see the potential for what it will all look like when we build a house.

In this picture, the house site will probably be to the right (near where Ashley's parents are standing). It will overlook the hardwood trees on the property (being that this area of SC doesn't have much hardwood, we're excited about that).

Here's the house we may build (no official decisions yet). It's a big thought process! And we won't begin work until we sell this house first.
Ashley's dad cleared the redtips away from the shop to straighten it up. It looks much better. We're excited about this shop because it has a lot of room. Levi tested it out by using his walker in it (he was so dusty and dirty after a day of playing out on the land--I got a taste of years to come).
Here is the posting where I had the original pictures of the land.

And here's Levi in his new bath! This rubber duck inflates and is the perfect size. Levi loves it (and we do, too, because he's happier out of the infant tub he had outgrown).

Solo (plus Levi) trip to NC

A week ago, Levi and I made the trip to NC by ourselves while Ashley was in Key West for his cousin's Martin's bachelor's party. It really wasn't that bad of a drive...stopped at a Crackle Barrel for a bathroom/diaper change break (which is a GREAT place to stop if you are on the road with kids by yourself...safe and clean)...the only really tough part of the trip was when I got off I-77 onto 421 heading towards Wilkesboro. Levi decided to SCREAM as loud as he could...he was over being in the carseat and no matter how many songs I sang, he did not care!

Once we got to my parents, though, it was a great weekend. We had dinner on Thursday night with Mama's family, with Grandma on Friday (I had a solo lunch with Amanda, which was a nice treat), went to Boone on Saturday a.m. (even though it was 20 degrees) and then enjoyed a spaghetti dinner with Grandma and Craig and Debra that evening.

As you can tell, Levi enjoyed himself....here he is with his Papa Charles.
And Uncle Dee.
and Granna.
Mama had taken some of the forsythia and peach tree branches and forced the blooms out inside. So pretty!


So all in all, it was a good trip. Definitely proved I can do the drive by myself but it is hard that last hour (it's about a 4 hr drive). I missed Ashley and so did Levi (when Ashley would call and talk to Levi, Levi got the biggest grin on his face and tried to gnaw on the phone).