Busy Bees

Just a bit of an update. Sorry to the relatives, it's a pictureless one. We've been very busy lately, with nothing terribly exciting.
Saturday was spent at the ballpark. Oddly enough, we were not watching a ballgame. I was caricaturing for an event while Nana strolled the little guy around. It was my first time to caricature in almost a year--since I was pregnant with Levi. I had to take a break once my belly began to get in the way of being able to draw. The company sponsoring the event was desperate for caricaturists, so they agreed to let me bring along Nana and Levi and take nursing breaks. I was terribly nervous. I was certain that I had lost all drawing abilities in the past year and would do an awful job, but surprise, surprise, it went way better than I expected. Of course, when you expect the worst, it's really not too difficult for things to go better than planned. Nana and Levi enjoyed the beautiful weather, and afterwards we had a lovely lunch with Bob (you might remember him from here) and the other caricaturists, Jordan and Justin.
It finally hit me on Sunday how exhausted I was from Saturday. I know caricaturing doesn't sound exhausting, but believe me it is--fun but exhausting. I still managed to stay awake through morning church. Then in the evening the youth led a worship service, and I wanted to lend my support, tired or not.
And, along came Monday, which was filled with preschool art classes. Nana usually accompanies us on Monday, but she woke up sick. Luckily for me, Grandpa took over for the day. Yay, Grandpa! After a few preschool style meltdowns, lots of paint and crayons, Levi and I headed home and sunk into bed early. Yay, Levi for giving mommy a break by actually falling asleep at a decent hour.
And, now we're off to Tuesday which has been entirely rearranged because Nana is still under the weather. We had plans--nothing catastrophically important, but now it's just me and Levi. So we're going to run some much needed errands and possibly have lunch with Grandpa. He has to check his schedule and get back with us. Yesterday threw a monkey wrench into his day, but he was mighty sweet about it.

I Tried, And I Tried...

And I tried some more to download a video of the little munchkin. I waited and waited. I even left it to do its thing all night. This morning I wake up to a "Sorry, blah, blah, blah..." message. Is there a better method of downloading videos? I'm telling you, I'm technologically unsavy. I used the Blogger video downloading thing-a-ma-jig. Should I try something different? Is it me or maybe my computer? Arghh!!

On a happier note, I got some cute pics of Levi playing yesterday. If only he had been that happy all day long. He was a mite fussy yesterday--possibly a combination of not having done his proper pottying for the day or a couple of days is more like it (i.e. poo) mixed in with learning some new and improved mommy friendly nursing habits. What I can't hurt mommy? What will I do with my day? I jest, but it was news to him that bouncing and nursing really don't mix well. It's just not the Olympic sport that he makes it out to be. When people refer to "bouncing baby boys," they are so not lying.

And then we have this morning. Levi has this one stubborn patch of hair that just decides to flip up every so often. I must say, I love it. His hair has always been so perfectly clean cut, little boy, so when it shows it's wild side I rather enjoy it.Mischief abounds.Oops! Caught red handed!Seriously, though, if anyone has any tips on downloading videos, I'd be ever so grateful if you shared!

Flying Machines

Today we had a lovely day. My mom's friend Wanda, my friend, Laurie (also Wanda's daughter-in-law), and Laurie's little girl came over for lunch. Then we headed off to my Alma Mater, Belhaven College, for a fabulous, kid-friendly art exhibit by David Lambert. It's an installation of quirky, fun airplanes and helicopters made of found objects and is aptly titled Airshow. This was Levi's first introduction to flying machines. I think all the pointing was a good sign.
Here we have Nana and the little fella' checking out the planes:

An airplane closeup:
Levi likes to grab EVERYTHING that he passes:
More flying objects:
Look Nana:
For some reason the camera turned things a bit orange from here on out:

Meet my very dear friend, Bob, dad to Leigh over at the Marvelous Kiddo, also Associate Professor and Chair of the Visual Arts Department at Belhaven. Levi thought he was pretty swell. I'm thinking it's the height thing.
Of course it could be the funny faces and strange noises Bob was making:

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My

Okay, so there aren't any lions or tigers at our Zoo, but we did see bears, leopards, otters, and lots of other fabulous critters. As you might already know, Levi love, love, loves being outside. Add animals to the mix and you have the perfect Levi-pleasin' combo!
Believe it or not, I managed to leave all of my babywearing devices at home, so Levi was juggled around from one person to the next. At nearly 25 pounds, this chunkeroo gets heavy fast. Luckily there were plenty of available hands.
The stroller is generally used as a purse carrying device. While shopping, it makes for a great shopping cart. Levi did actually spend a few minutes in it at one or two points, but since it didn't offer the best of views, he frequently opted for arms.

Warning: We're practicing our Vanna White pose, so you will find much pointing in the following pics!
Here's a fuzzy pic of some of our group headed up by Nana pushing the purse cart.
A little snuggle and a kiss:

Nana and Grandpa taking a rest with the little fellow:

So, it turns out Levi loves flamingos. Who'd a thunk it? He thought this bird was the tops and really, really, really wanted to go after it. Apparently the flamingo thought pretty highly of Levi as well. He pranced right on over and proceeded to make a very loud noise which sent Levi into a tizzy. Poor kid! Despite the tears, he still wanted to catch the flamingo.
Meet zookeeper Jonathan, Aunt Annie's fella. I know, not the best pic in the world. Sorry!
Aunt Annie showing Levi the ostrich. Those are some freaky looking critters up close! They don't look like their stuffed animal counterparts. Levi and Grandpa checking out the zebra:
Just a cute cuddle moment between Grandpa and Levi.

Look, elephants!
And, Bears. Oh, My!

More pointing.
Checking out the turtle:
And the snakes:
Here's the group taking a break outside the snake house:

And more of me and Levi.
One tired baby cuddling with his Grandpa!

And, of course, more pointing. Can you see the alligators?

I've gone collage crazy. Just a few animals from our little adventure.

Outdoor Fun

I think Levi is destined to be an outdoorsy kind of fellow. You might remember this post. I won't be surprised if his first official word is "outside". He's obsessed, and he gets terribly grumpy if we don't go out multiple times during the day. He points to the door every time we pass it, and stands wistfully looking out windows. Very pitiful indeed! As you can see, I had a little fun with today's photos using Picasa's collage feature. So far Levi sticks mostly to the patio, but he's beginning to realize there's more out there to explore. I just hope it's not too soon before he realizes there's 40 more acres out there. It'll be hard to keep up with him once he figures that one out! Just thought this was a fun sequence:
Currently, Levi is inconsolably screaming and beating on the door. It's raining, so we had to come in. He so doesn't understand that, and he won't let me hold him or take him from the door. Jeepers, he's breakin' my heart and my ear drums! I think "Rain, rain go away, Come again another day. Little Levi wants to play." might become a commonly heard tune at my house.

Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier Giveaway Alert!

Simple is giving away a Beco Buttefly Original I Baby Carrier from babySNAZZ. Currently babySNAZZ's Beco's are on sale here. How fabulous is that! Oooo...I hope I win! I've wanted to try one of these out but just couldn't justify adding to my already too big stash.

Just A Dose Of Cuteness

As we (Nana, myself, and Levi) were heading home yesterday from work, my sweet angel turned a wee bit grumpy. I know it's shocking. My sweet baby--grumpy?--Never! Nana was driving, so mommy was backseat entertainment. Luckily I had a camera and a green ring from Levi's stacking set. The drive was long, but those two items served us well.
Here's his I'm-only-grinning-mid-screaming-fit-because-you-made-me expression: (note the one lone tooth that is still working its way up-slow torturous process that it is)

Here we have the Peek-a-boo game. He loves to play peek-a-boo with objects he can see through. Go figure!
Oops! Now we have an impromptu game of horseshoes with Levi's foot and the fabulous green ring:
And, then we'll just throw in some Grandpa/grandbaby cuteness.

Mommy's Little Helper

Inspiration

This weekend I went fabric shopping. It's a dangerous thing for me to do. I generally come out with more than I need, and that more than I need gets stacked on other piles of more than I need. But those piles make me grin ear to ear. I am a self-confessed fabric junkie. I just love the stuff. Recently I took a hand applique and quilting class at a fabulous local quilting store. Mmmm...I am officially hooked. I also took a machine quilting class, but my machine and I don't get along nearly so well as we ought to. It's me not the machine. Oddly enough, I have more patience with hand work than I do with machine sewing. Maybe it comes from watching my mother finish off sewing projects by hand-those tiny, pretty stitches just make my heart do something funny. So here's the new fabric stash:

Believe it or not, I only went out to get one piece of fabric to finish off a mini-quilt I'm working on. I'm telling you--me and fabric stores, we're just DANGEROUS! I even bought thread that I didn't need. However, I have already used the thread, so maybe, subconsciously I knew that I needed it.

I'd show pics of the pieces I've been working on, but I can't seem to photograph them even halfway decently. The pictures come out awful! Does anyone have any tips on photographing quilted items?

First Sign Of Fall

Naked Ladies (don't get your panties in a wad; they are just flowers) are the first sign that Fall is coming around here. Some early bloomers have been popping up the past couple of days. These are definitely among my top favorite flowers. For your viewing pleasure: