Okay, so I have been completely neglectful of my duties as the blogger of the Ferris household. I accept full responsibility for my actions...or lack there of. Here are some pictures of the last month...

This picture is just adorable! We were taking his weekly picture and he was just being silly so I kept taking pictures...this is the best one!

We were at a restaurant waiting 45 minutes to be seated...at 8:00 at night! Luckily, he was in a good mood.

We were at a friends house...it's just a cute picture.

So these are the pictures that he will hate when he's older, but I feel like it is my right as a parent to do these kind of things...it makes up for the rough nights and cranky days that each baby has from time to time :)

When we were at the same friends house as the two pictures above, Levi and Reid decided to taste each other's fingers...what Levi doesn't know is that Reid has several teeth...don't worry no digits were lost.

5 months and tough enough!

Here is Levi showing you how tough he can be. You would think that by this picture he likes the sunglasses...but you would be wrong. He has yet to keep them on when we are outside

Another priceless Levi/Daddy picture.
This is the first picture that I took with my new camera
(thank you, Honey!)

22 weeks old in this picture...it is hard to believe!

Not that 22 weeks is a long time, but he is 5 months old and it just seems to be flying by. Now I understand what people say about time flying once you have children. But I guess that means the the old adage that says, "time flies when you're having fun" is true too. I am having the best time with him and Matthew. The three of us together is my favorite time of day. I really enjoy being with Levi all day and I know that I am blessed to be at home with him, but I like getting to experience the cool stuff with Matthew instead of just telling him about it when he gets home.


As far as the cool stuff I am referring to...he is rolling over from belly to back and back to belly like a pro. He is sitting up beautifully, and he babbles non stop. He smiles and laughs by himself now, no one has to prompt him. He is showing all the signs of wanting to eat food, but we want to wait until he is 6 months old. Then, we will start with some fruit and veggies (slow and steady for a while, I still want breast milk to be his main source of nutrition for as long as he allows, hopefully, through the first year...and that's it).

Then after he is at least 9 months we will introduce grains. That probably sounds strange to a lot of people, but through some research, we have found that to be the earliest opportunity for their little digestive systems to really break down the grains. I am not knocking anyone else's methods, this is just what we want to try. There seems to be a million and one theories out there on what to give your child when, and I am not saying that ours is the best by any means, I personally don't know what is best, but as a mom I find more comfort in being wrong about a decision I made, then being wrong and feeling like I didn't go with my gut.

And finally, here is a video that I took with my new camera...I really just wanted to get a video in the blog, just to see if I could do it. The video is just of Levi babbling...nothing super special. I want you to know that it takes FOREVER to upload videos though so please appreciate all the work that I just put into this, and know that videos in the future will be much more poignant. Enjoy!

He is growing very curious...it is wonderful.

You would not believe how busy we have been!

Levi is just growing like a weed these days! We have really been enjoying watching him advance. He now gets excited when we come to get him out of his crib in the morning and when we come over to his exersaucer and talk to him. He knows who we (Matthew and I) are. He also has picked up this new habit of spitting on himself or whomever is holding him. I don't mean drooling. He actually spits a blob of bubbly spit out onto his face which usually drops on my hand or he rubs it on my shirt. I am not sure what to think about this habit. Is it normal? I know all babies drool, but do they all do this? Someone may what to shed some light on this for me.

We recently went on a trip to Tennessee. Levi did very well considering that we traveled at the worst time of the day. He only fussed a few times. He also got his first taste of great weather. It was warm and sunny the day we left. We let him feel the grass for the first time with his bare feet. Things like that are pretty special. We take that experience for granted, but Levi just felt grass under his feet for the first time, and we introduced him to it...cool huh?

This was Levi's first experience in the water. He didn't fuss at all, it was a bit cold but he didn't seem to mind.

This is a four generation picture.
My Grandmother (Naomi Berry), Mom (Debbie), Myself and Levi! We took this when we were in Kentucky at the end of March.

Here we are at my cousin, Christie's wedding.
We even danced like this with Levi in the sling!

This is the first opportunity that we have had to get all the Ferris grandchildren together. Drew doesn't seem to care for all the babies to be laying all over him...

While Melissa (Matthew's sister) was in town, we decided to go to the pool again. This was Levi's second time. He and drew are sporting their matching swim diapers. Levi's is a little big on him...we hope that it fits better this summer :)


When we went to TN, we stopped in Nashville to visit my friend Rachel, evidently, the trip was already exhausting Levi.

Here we are enjoying the great outdoors in Tennessee.


Here is his first time in the grass in bare feet.
I think he likes it!

Levi was obviously whistling for a cab.

Bath day always brings lots of smiles!

Yes, he is totally relaxed

Well, I know it has been a while since I have posted anything,
but I have a few new things to report.

Levi finally rolled over for Matthew yesterday! We were at his parents house for lunch and after we ate I sat him down on the floor in the front room and I told Matthew to watch him because he was going to roll over for him today...for the past six week he has been rolling over (from belly to back) in his crib two and three times a night, but Matthew had yet to witness the actual rolling over...until yesterday that is. Ironically, he was wearing the exact same outfit that he was the very first time he rolled over! (I know, only a mother would actually know that).

Also we had his four month well check on Tuesday. He weighs 12lbs. 8 oz. and is 25 1/4 inches long. So he is towards the bottom of the weight and towards the top of the height. I expect him to be a bit of a lightweight through most of his infancy...and that is just fine with me :) He is gaining a pound a month and that is a healthy, steady increase according to the doctor :)

Levi must have learned this trick from his cousin Drew.

LEVI has a new Cousin!
Today we welcomed a new baby girl into the Ferris Family!
Kassidy Alyse Ferris was born
at 7:03 am.
Amy, Jeremy, and Kassidy are all doing great!Levi is already taking a liking to her.

Levi let me know on Sunday that it was going to be a girl. I asked him if it was going to be Kassidy or Austin and when I said Kassidy, he started babbling up a storm, but when I said Austin he quit talking and looked away. So I told Matthew on Sunday that Amy was going to have a girl, because Levi said so :)

You can see his dimple in this picture!

Levi pooped and it got on his onesie. I decide that I could change his onesie without taking all his clothes off...I did it,
but at one point he looked like this. In my mind he is saying,
"Help! This lady obviously doesn't know what she is doing!"

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So I have gained more ground this week as a mother. It seems that each week I get a little more into the groove of parenthood. Some weeks I grow in the area of my son and other weeks it I grow personally. This past week was a personal week. I am trying to branch out socially, but I didn't realize that my son would end up being that branch. For instance, I went to a cloth diapering support group. Levi sat on my lap and played while I socialized. He is the reason I was there, but it didn't really benefit him any, ya know. The same way with the holistic moms group. I am also starting a play group at my house, and there will be lots of moms with their children, but the goal is for me and other moms to socialize. So when I think of all these new opportunities to connect with other moms, I know that Levi is the reason I have these opportunities, which makes me think of that guy who buys a dog just so he can go to the dog park and meet girls...but then again I didn't have Levi to join/create social groups ...

Its like Levi is the key to this whole other world where I can connect with women on a mom level. Which, some of you may know, is a very deep level sometimes. Moms have been through more selfless pain than most people. They are (at least in this moment in their lives) living for everyone else most of the time and for themselves a little of the time. And we wouldn't trade it for anything, but meeting another person who is in that same place can make the journey that much more enjoyable. No one understands the sleepless nights, the crying (mom and baby), and the growing pains (mom and baby) like another mother can. The same is true for the wonders of motherhood. The first smile (and every subsequent smile), the first real laugh (I'm still waiting for that one), and the way they wiggle with excitement when they hear your voice and see your face.

Levi looks so cute!

Although, due to the angle, I look rather strange...

BY THE WAY- If you read this blog could you please leave a comment. I changed the filter on the settings page so it should be easy to do now. Thanks :)

We had another wonderful week with little Levi. He is making Matthew wait even longer to see him roll over. He must be working on some sort of routine to go with the roll over. I also tried to get the video to upload to this site and was unsuccessful. I keep getting an error message...I will try again when I get the time.

We had a good Valentine's Day. I took the liberty of making valentine
messages and putting them beside him and taking pictures...it was fun :)

We have had a challenging few days and they are definitely showing me how hard it is to be a mother, and I have a very low-key baby. I actually don't think I could do it without God. I depend on him so much at those times when things are chaotic. I am a logic-based person and when my son is crying for "no good reason" I just get so frustrated. That is when I look to God to help calm my nerves. He is really good at that!

Here are just some cute pictures that I want to share with everyone.

Here we all are in our Colts outfits.


Aunt Sammy took this picture the other day when we were at her house.


This is how we travel these days. We bring "Love You Bear"
with us because he is small and he doesn't make noise.


This is the latest daddy-Levi picture...isn't it cute?

The last week of January was a big one for Levi. He rolled over for the first time on January 31st! Then he did it 3 more times on February 1st. Unfortunately, Matthew has missed all four accounts. However, I did manage to get one on video, and my goal this week is to upload it onto this blog...that will be a learning experience for me.

For myself, I have really started to fall in love with motherhood. I wasn't one of those mothers who could say she was head-over-heels in love with Levi the moment I saw him. I mean I loved him, but it was more because he was mine and Matthew's child and he needed me...this may seem harsh to some people, but it is the reality. The first 2 months of his life were all about me just taking care of him out of love and responsibility...I was just getting to know him...really know him. During all this I am also trying to redefine my relationship with Matthew with the objective of creating a new 'normal' that had a healthy balance. If that weren't enough I had to find myself in all of this chaos. I must end this downward spiral by saying that in the last three weeks I have made peace with this inner battle for now. I love juggling all of these balls in the air now. Matthew and I make each other a priority. It takes the two of us working really hard at finding ways to spend time together, but it is totally worth it. And because we do that, we feel more energized to be with our son. My life as it is now would not be complete without Levi. I have fallen into mother-love with him. I know (for the most part) when he's hungry, sleepy, happy, hurting...

There are a lot of parallels to mother love and romantic love. I guess you could say I was infatuated with Levi at first and we have just made the transition into real love. The kind of love that will cover a multitude of sins...

We had our first run in with the common cold this week. Little Levi had quite the runny nose and that is no fun for anyone...thankfully, he did sleep well last night, but he missed a feeding and we spent the better part of today making up for that. He spent the whole day either nursing or sleeping. He still maintained his happy personality, but I could tell he wasn't feeling very good (a mother always knows). I think we are on the tail end of this whole thing and I think Matthew and I handled our first experience with a sick child pretty well...

Here is our new favorite picture of Levi.
He looks so happy!

We went to the doctor today for Levi's 2 month well check. Here are his stats:

Weight: 10 lbs 8 oz

Height: 23 1/4 inches

Head: 15 inches

I guess you could say that he is small for his age, but I would just say that he is tall and thin. Matthew and I were both small (thin) babies so he is merely following after his parents. He is a good eater and he sleeps like a champ, so we feel truly blessed :)

Little Levi Joshua is now 8 weeks old! He sure has changed in these 8 weeks. The pictures we have here are his week-one picture, his seven-week picture, and a picture of a smile in the making. Since his birth he has learned to sleep for at least 6 hours at night and his latest thing is smiling. We can't seem to capture the full smile on camera yet but when we do we will be sure to post it.

We have started a tradition that I sincerely hope that we keep with all of our children... we take a weekly picture of them in just their diaper (yes we actually use cloth diapers) and a stuffed animal that we give them at birth (that is Elliot the Elephant to Levi's left) . The goal really is monthly, but weekly is what is happening right now. Then we will have a fun way of watching them grow. Each week I look at his week one picture and I am amazed by how much he has changed.

We survived our first Christmas! It started on Saturday with Matthew's side of the family, and ended with my family on Monday and Tuesday. We had a blast getting together with everyone, and I would be lying if I said it wasn't fun showing the little man off. He did really well this year being passed around like a hot potato. Truth be told he slept through most of it.

I, on the other hand, got a new perspective on the holiday season. I look at a lot of things differently now that I am a parent, and you can add Christmas to that growing list. Not that I am wishing the years away, but I am looking forward to the excitement on his face as he opens each gift...as for now we open them for him and thank the giver as he sleeps:)

Introducing...

Levi Joshua...8lbs 2oz. ... 21" long....born at 8:25pm 11-16-07.

No....we are still waiting to have a baby...he is procrastinating