Easter Activities, Part 1

n the Friday before Easter, we went over to my parents house for supper. My dad (aka Poppy) had a little activity for Carter planned out.

They made bird nests with Rice Krispy Treats. Carter had no idea what that meant of course, but he was pumped.
Levi, not so thrilled, but he's only 3 weeks old so we'll cut him some slack!
Carter is VERY much boy, but one thing he does not like is for his hands to be sticky. This obviously proved a problem as he was supposed to mold the marshmallowy bird nests with his hands. It didn't take too long before he was saying "Mommy, hands sticky!" - a phrase we hear at almost every meal.
Another thing that shocked me is that he wasn't a big fan of the yummy treat. What kid doesn't like Rice Krispy Treats!?
He was very happy to share with his Aunt Kristen, though!
Me and my good friends Lisa and Ashley had decided that we wanted to do something special for the kids for Easter, so we got them some cute iron on letters and did some not-so-professional portraits!
Our cuties (L-R): Hudson (1), Aisley (7 mos), Graham (2), Carter (2), Levi (3 weeks).
It didn't take too long before we thought that this might not be the best idea. Ha! Carter licking Graham, Hudson screaming for Mommy. Poor Aisley was just dealing with the madness!

We tried to calm them down with some powdered donuts. Brilliant, huh?
Needless to say, that didn't work. Just got us some sugar-induced meltdowns!
But Levi did get a nice powdered sugar kiss on his forehead from his big brother. So sweet.
He was probably the most well behaved one of the bunch. Slept through the whole circus!

Easter Decorating

Corbin's Aunt Sharon sent Carter a little Easter surprise to decorate our house with!

It kept him busy for QUITE a while, which these days, is a huge blessing!
I tried to get him to put them in the right order, but he was more interested in just slapping them up there...
and tearing them apart!
Oh, and if you can't tell what it says, here is a better picture! I'm not sure what happened to the S.
Annnd of course a cute video:

Happy Easter! from Megan Crittenden on Vimeo.

I could listen to Carter say "Happy Easter" over and over. I think it sounds so cute! I'm not sure if Aunt Sharon reads the blog or not, but I thought I'd post it anyway!

Carter Spotlight

I figured Carter deserved his very own post since things have been very much all about Levi! Here he is being his normal silly self enjoying his grapes at lunch. It must be a two year old thing, because he plays with his food constantly. It drives me crazy.

BUT he was having so much fun with his grapes, I had to take some pictures.
I think he was saying that it was a ring. He did eat it eventually.
And here is a little taste of a Carter-esque meltdown. He got mad at me the other night because he was trying to explain something to me and I had NO idea what he was trying to say. Bless him, he said it over and over and over again, but I was clueless. Then the whining began...
The tears flowed...
and the mean faces.
Needless to say, he went to bed early.
Pitiful huh?

Lately, he's been insisting on shortening Levi's name. He calls him "Weev" (Lev) for some reason. I guess adding the "i" on to the end makes it too long?

Church!

This past Sunday was Levi's first Sunday at church and my first Sunday back in several weeks. I was THRILLED to get out of the house and do something normal...and of course excited to show off our sweet little man. I of course had to have a little photo shoot with the boys!

Have I mentioned how much Carter loves his little brother? Holy cow, he does!
Oh how I love my little guys! Aren't they the cutest?! Levi did great in church. Of course he slept through pretty much all of it!
These pictures have nothing to do with church, but I snapped them without Carter noticing. The other day after his nap, he put his teddy (who he is super attached to) on Levi's tummy for him to hold. Knowing how much he loves teddy, it was so special to see him share it.
He just kept talking to him and loving on him. So sweet.
I will probably bore you with all these "sweet brother" moments, but I can't help but take pictures when they happen. Not that I am ready for Levi to grow up AT ALL, but I can't wait to get pictures of them playing together!

On another unrelated note, Levi had his two week well check today. He has surpassed his birth weight and is growing like a weed. This is so foreign to me since Carter gained weight SO slowly! I am so thankful that we don't have to worry about that with Levi! He is sleeping great at night -even gave me a 5 hour stretch of sleep last night! Hallelujah!

First Family of Four Weekend!

(This is obviously last weekend and not the past weekend - I am just a little behind!)

Our weekend started on Friday when we took Levi to his first well check. Little man is looking healthy, though a little jaundice. He started getting a little fussy while we were waiting on the doctor (it was time to eat), so I pulled out the paci for the first time. He didn't love it, but we're still working on it!

That afternoon we went on a walk in the double stroller. Carter loved riding with Levi! He particularly enjoyed playing with the toy attached to his carrier. Ha!
My sweet boys!
Carter has to be next to Levi if he is sleeping on the couch. Here he is enjoying his after-nap snack while Levi is just snoozing away.
On Saturday, Corbin was cleaning the garage while Carter played, so Levi and I went out to get some sun (doctor prescribed for Levi, not necessarily for me).
Carter of course had to hop in the stroller even though it wasn't moving!
It was a little hot out (like 90 degrees hot), so we didn't last to long, but Levi continued his nap inside. I'd say he was comfortable!

Carter and Levi were hanging out on the floor watching cartoons on Sunday morning when I noticed that Carter was holding his brother's hand. So cute!

One day this will serve as my "see I told you you used to like your brother" picture if the need arises!
I love spending the weekends with my boys! I just wish they were longer!!

Since we've been home...

Since we've been home I've been hanging out with my sweet boys. I am super thankful that my Mom came and helped me the first few days because it is definitely an adjustment dealing with a two year old and a newborn! Corbin had to go back to work (as I will not be contributing to the family income while on maternity leave - ha!), but he came home for lunch several days!

Levi mostly sleeps...as well as other various bodily functions! He really doesn't fuss a whole lot. He is sleeping sooo much better at night than Carter did! I took an afternoon nap with the boys only a couple of times and I really haven't seemed to need one since.
I was wondering how Carter would handle having Levi around and honestly, I couldn't be happier. He LOVES his baby brother. When he wakes up in the morning "Where's Wee-vi at? I want to kiss him." is the one of the first things out of his mouth.
There is definitely a bit of an adjustment for him dealing with a slight lack of attention from me and Corbin, but he is handling it pretty well and doesn't seem to show the slightest bit of jealousy at all. I am so thankful! I hope that the boys grow up to be good buddies!
I can't explain how blessed I feel to have these three boys in my life! I honestly don't know what I would do without each one of them!

Fun in the Kitchen

(The following post was done pre-Levi, but I figured I should go ahead and publish it anyway! - an updated Levi-related post is coming soon!)

Can you guess who found himself a new place to play?? Yep, Carter-man!

When you go from a house with very few cabinets to a house with a LOT of cabinets AND a pantry, you find yourself with cabinets that aren't quite being used. Carter figured this out a few weeks ago and thought it was the funniest thing to "hide" in there. I had to take a video of his silly self!

Hiding in Cabinets from Megan Crittenden on Vimeo.

Another thing that he is obsessed with is "helping" with the dishes. I use the helping in quotes because, quite honestly, it makes the process quite a bit longer...and WET.

But he enjoys it so much, so we let him! I know there will come a day when he will pitch a fit when we ask him to do the dishes, so I'm just going to encourage the helping while I can!

Such a big helper!