... a new normal

It is amazing how quickly life can change! Levi has only been in our lives for 8 weeks but it seems like forever! We have greatly enjoyed the transition to being parents and a family of 3 (for the most part). I am really thankful to have been able to spend the first 8 weeks at home with Levi. I have one more week to soak up the extra snuggles, cuddles, naps and laughs before I head back to work on the 20th. As I sit here, writing this blog, Levi is sleeping in his swing, my kitchen smells so good with warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookies cooling on the counter, and I am overwhelmingly blessed.

I wanted to take these few quiet moments to share some of the adventures we've had over the past few weeks with our little man, Levi.

Tired out after tummy time with mom

Love this outfit! 

The boys getting some shut-eye on the couch

First wet bath after his cord FINALLY fell off!

Posing for the camera with the tail-end of a smile

More snuggles with dad before bedtime

at the NFL Experience in downtown Indy

boys at the NFL Experience

Future Dolphin?

Getting stronger - holding his head up

Hope you enjoyed these pictures. Keep on the lookout for more of our little man. He keeps changing so fast! He'll be two months old next week and that means time for another tie shot! :)

Okiedokie - now I have to go make sure the cookies are safe to share... 

...smiles!

A smile has a way of changing your perspective and I realized this again at 4am after having been up for almost an hour to take care of Levi. As I was holding him and trying to get him to go to sleep again I was talking to him and he smiled at me. Not a small, accidental smile but a big and purposeful smile. I smiled and he smiled again, and again. Those 3 big, genuine smiles were enough to make me forget that it was 4am and I was tired. Levi smiled! ... at me!

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." 

Mother Teresa

Smiles also make it easier to remember that everything, even middle of the night feedings, can be done with a thankful heart.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him." 

Colossians 3:17

Just wanted to share this little revelation with you. Keep smiling and be thankful!

... 1 month old!

It is hard to believe but Levi is already one month old! Even though it has only been 1 month but it is hard to remember life without him. It is also hard to believe how much he has changed in just 1 month.

Here's a quick glance at Levi over the 1st month of his life.

6 pounds, 15 ounces at birth...

Hanging out with mom

Big truck, little guy

Monkeying around with dad

Sleepy time

Bath time

Merry Christmas, 2011!

Love from Uncle Will and Aunt Mandy

New Year's Eve with the Davy cousins - Jayce 11, Linkin 7, Reagan 6, Hayden 3, Shawn 4 months, Levi 2 weeks

Levi and Adelaide Kriebel (first date) 

All dressed up and ready for church

Such a big boy! 9 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 inches long :)

Life is different with a little guy whose main goals in life are sleeping, peeing, pooping, stretching... but so much fun! We love being parents and are really enjoying watching Levi change and grow.

More to come...

... he's here!

Wow! I didn't realize that I hadn't posted anything since September... time flies when you're having fun... or actually when you're pregnant and working and put on reduced hours and told to rest... ha. A lot has happened since September!

Here's a QUICK synopsis.

I was pregnant and thanks to the little mister (he didn't have a name until after he was born), I got high blood pressure and had to go on meds, cut back on work hours, and take it easy. The doctor threatened to put me on bedrest but luckily with the meds and reduced work hours I didn't have to.

It looks like the last picture was me at 24 weeks, so here's a look at me a little bigger, 31 and 36 weeks.

Luckily, Kyle and I took a Christmas picture at 37 weeks and that was the last preggo pic because the little guy decided he didn't want to hang out until 40 weeks.

Ok, so now onto what you all wanted to hear about, the little mister!

I had a doctor appointment on Wednesday the 14th and at that time the doctor decided I should be induced because my blood pressure was still higher than she would like and it is easy to go into pre-ecclampsia with elevated bp levels. We decided I'd be induced on Friday, December 16th. Well, little mister didn't want to be forced into the world so he decided to send his mom into labor on Wednesday night.

We were out eating Chinese food with my mom and Kyle's parents and brother and I started having contractions. These, unlike the ones I'd had earlier in the week, were actually uncomfortable/painful. They kept coming so we started timing. They were fairly regular so we called the doctor. I headed into the hospital around 10:30 pm and they put me on a monitor. At this point labor wasn't that bad and Kyle and I played Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit on our ipods to keep ourselves entertained. Somehow, I wasn't doing too well at Trivial Pursuit but it always seemed to be my turn during contractions! Unfair. 

They almost sent me home but I had progressed enough to stay. I also had progressed far enough into the painful contractions that I decided I didn't need to be a hero and go all natural, so I got an epidural. I think it was about 5 am. They had given me some Nubane before and it totally made me loopy (think the   YouTube video of the little guy after the dentist appointment asking "is this real life?" ... that was me, according to Kyle). 

After the epidural, I got to sleep for a couple hours. By 7 am, when the doctor came, my water still hadn't broken so they broke it and said it'd probably be around 10 when they'd check me again. Well, I started having pain again around 9:30 and they checked and said it'd be time to push ... when the doctor finished delivering another baby! 

She finally made it and after only 15 minutes of pushing and a little help from a vacuum, Levi Martin Davy was born! 

The rest of the day was kind of a blur - lots of guests, his first bath, regaining the feeling in my legs and finally getting up to walk around. 

Here are a few shots from the hospital of our little guy and some special visitors.

Our first family picture

Proud dad!

Grandma Gwen, aka Gigi

Mamaw, with grandchild #6

Great Grandma Johnson

Great Grandpa Don

Papaw

Aunt Brooke and Reagan

2 days old and getting excited to head home

Going home outfit from Aunt Becca :)

Real clothes felt weird after hospital gowns... ready to go!

Not thrilled about the carseat...

Levi is now 2 weeks old. I really can't remember what life was like before home. It has been fun watching him change already. He's had lots of loving from friends and family. 

Maybe now that he's here, we'll do a better job of keeping up with the blog so you can watch Levi change and grow up.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

... the little guy

This is just a short blog to show some pics of the little guy... and the one who is currently carrying him... We/I had every intention of taking those infamous belly pictures a little more frequently than we have so right now there are only 2...

@ 9 weeks and @ 24 weeks...

The more interesting shots are the pics of the little guy - who still has no name. These were taken at the 18 week ultrasound, before the cake party. Some are super cute and some are super alien-like. Enjoy.

It's a boy!

 This one is a bit creepy - but cool 3D shot

 Look, a yawn :)

We don't have any more ultrasounds scheduled so the next shots you'll see of this little guy will be in December, when he's here! There should be more shots of the mama though.......... 

Happy labor day! :)

and then there were 3, well, almost...

So, I have made it back to the blogging world... only after 3 months! I had been staying away because I couldn't share our exciting news (yep, if you haven't heard, come December there will be 3 Davys to report on!) and then, I wanted to wait to share the news of boy or girl. So here is the long awaited (perhaps) blog to catch you up on the latest Davy doings.

We are pregnant! We found out in April and then discovered this was going to be a Christmas baby. Yep, due date = Christmas 2011. Not really sure how I feel about a Christmas baby but I do know how I feel about a baby - excited!

We (and I think I just mean I in this case) had a lot of fun figuring out fun ways to tell our closest family and friends that we were pregnant. Some highlights - a Mastercard commercial for my parents, Thing 1 and Thing 2 onesies for Megan and Dave, a cookout at our house for the whole Davy clan, aunt and uncle t-shirts for my brother and sister-in-law. It was such an exciting secret to finally get to share!

Once the news was out the waiting game still wasn't over. Had to make it to the all-important mark of week 18 (for those of you out of the pregnancy loop - 40 weeks is full term, 18 weeks is usually when you have an ultrasound that can show gender). We decided to play the game a little differently and not find out at the ultrasound. I can hear some of you saying, "What?!" Let me explain...

I had heard a brilliant idea to have a cake reveal the gender. A blue cake means a boy and a pink cake means a girl - the cake itself NOT the icing. No, that does not mean the baker gets to decide boy/girl (although my doctor thought that when I told her... hmmm). We had the ultrasound tech seal the gender in an envelope and we gave the envelope to the baker... after we finally found one... that was a saga in itself. Anyway, my parents and Will and Mandy were in town, Kyle's family is always here, so are my grandparents and one aunt, two of my other aunts were coming to see Will and Mandy......... translation = lots of family in town. My in-laws graciously hosted a cookout so we could all get together and enjoy food and games and then THE CAKE! It was surprisingly easy to wait to cut the cake.

Here are some shots from that exciting event...

Awaiting the cake cutting... note the pink AND blue shirt :)

 Cornhole - Grandpa Don and Mandy

 Cornhole and chatty ladies

 Hanging out around the food

Getting ready to cut the cake - will it be pink or blue? 

 and the cake was BLUE - it's a boy!

And so, this update concludes with the all important news: on or around December 25, 2011, we will be joined by a little boy :) We are super excited! Hope you'll keep checking in on this adventure. We have a lot to share!