Levi's had a birthday party...

Finally!

Yep. I'm pretty sure I get the "Worst Mother Ever" award for this one, folks. Levi just had his first birthday party ever. And it's 5 months after he turned 2. Yikes!

We had a great time. It was quite impromptu, so we kept it very small. Levi loved having both sets of grandparents over, and his Auntie Kayla. {Yay for airplanes that enable "quick trips" for grandmas missing their grand kids!}

I think his favorite part of the whole thing was getting the balloons...

and his favorite present was stickers, for sure!

This is Levi enjoying the miracle cake! It's wasn't too much to look at, as I was missing a number of ingredients, and couldn't find my decorating supplies to save my life. {Note to self: Never try to throw a "party" on a Sunday if it's not pre-planned and you know in advance that you have everything you need to make it flow, lol.} However, it tasted downright yummy and it matched the balloons and table decorations, so I...errr, I mean...Levi was happy. {I tried to tell Joe-Z that it totally mattered to Levi...he just couldn't bring himself to agree with me...}

Happy Birthday Levi! We love you so much!

January Temple Trip

Okay, so I'm a few weeks late in posting these pics. Good thing our motto is "better late than never!"

We had a great time at the temple that weekend. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, and everything went wrong (as it usually does on the way to the temple) but it was SO worth it (as it always is once you get there!).

The temple was overflowing that day! It was amazing to see so many people! In fact, there were so many people that I ended up waiting an hour and a half longer than planned to get into a session, and Joe-Z ended up not getting to go in at all. That's okay though. He knew that he'd receive blessings for the sacrifice!

A letter to my boy

Dear Levi,

My sweet boy. I love you so much. You are such an unspeakable source of joy in my life. I hope that your life will be fulfilling and rewarding and that I'll raise you with a knowledge of how special you are....to me and to those whose life you will impact, but especially to our Heavenly Father.

However, thinking over my younger years, I'm sure at some point in your life, you may question if I truly have your best interest at heart (after all, if I really loved you, wouldn't I be letting you play in that championship game on Sunday or letting you go to that unsupervised boy-girl party?). Well buddy, should you ever wonder if or how much I love you, please recall in that genius mind of yours the events of this morning.

Remember how we had to get up early and go to the doctors office for John Morgan's check-up? Remember how you had a poopy literally as we were walking out the door. And how freezing cold it was! Boy, that was fun. Especially when you kept running away from me in the doctors office, and defiantly saying "no" every time I asked you to "please come back." Remember when all those people kept staring at us and shaking their heads and saying "You sure have your hands full, don't you." Oh, if only they knew we are expecting another, tee hee hee. And then came the car ride home...that was the best! I'm still not sure why the two of you were so upset, I guess I thought you'd be sad about going to the doctor, not leaving. Anyway, once you were settled down, I found my saving grace. Something that would make everything better. Chick-Fil-A! I pulled away with my Chicken-Mini's meal, hash browns and orange juice included. The greasiness settled so nicely into my tummy, calming my morning sickness. {Note: there is just something to be said for not-so-good food and pregnancy...not sure where that connection comes from or why it exists (except to make me fat again), but it is so very, very real.}

Anyway, we get home and I bring everything into the house. Then I bring you boys in. I realize my orange juice is still sitting in the cup holder in the car. I go back out to grab it, and upon returning to the house, find you running my way with the Chick-Fil-A bag in tow, excitedly screaming "Dinner! Mom look! It's dinner! Come on, Mom. Have some. Come on, Mom!" You were so stinkin' cute! That little sparkle in your eye...gets me every time {seriously, it really does}! So, I sat you down with a plate and filled it with my last chicken-mini and the last of my hash browns. Did you read that? THE LAST ONE!

That is how much I love you sweetie. And I always will. You can always have my last, mouth-watering-ly delicious, morning-sickness-curing chicken-mini. You're that special!


All My Love Always,
Mommy

As most of you know, I've been doing Weight Watchers since shortly after John Morgan was born. I'd done it after I had Levi, and lost a great deal then too. This time around, I've had much success. I absolutely love the program, I can eat anything I want, and I've never felt like I'm "on a diet." As far as weight loss is concerned, {in my opinion, anyway} it's the best! There's nothing better!

All that being said, I've decided to take a break from Weight Watchers. Actually, it's not me. It's them. They've decided I can no longer follow the program. Reason being?

We're 4 weeks along as of today.

We hadn't planned on spilling the beans so early on, but I've leaked the news to a few people, and ya'll know how things like this can spread like wildfire at church, and I hate being the one to make others feel left out!

So there you have it! We have our first appointment February 26th. We'll be seeing one of the few doctors in Tallahassee that actually allows VBAC attempts, so we're excited for that, and hopeful at the same time.

My pregnancy wish list:

* No morning sickness. Or sickness of any other kind, for that matter!

* It will be a girl. Definitely a girl.

* She will be small. Even tiny. Like, 7 pounds would be nice. 6 and a half would be even better.

* I'll be able to sneeze her out, like all of my other friends seem to be doing...even if it's only their first baby {grrrr, in a nice way}. For sure, there will not be 2 hours of pushing involved.

* No complications. No minor surgeries, no back problems, no dental problems, and for heaven's sake, no swelling!!!

* I won't gain too much weight and I'll look super-cute throughout the whole thing in all my awesome new maternity finds.

In all reality, I would really, really, really like to have a little girl. However, truth be told, the idea of another little boy running around after Levi and John Morgan makes my heart swell. The three musketeers, you know? We're just super-excited and even though we've got a long way to go, we can't wait to meet this little Miller bundle of joy!