father's day

cory thanked me last night for not "embarrassing" him on social media, as there were many posts celebrating fatherhood. obviously, i just took the gratitude and didn't say anything of my plans to dedicate a whole blog post to cory as a father. sshhhh, don't tell him!

as many of you know, i have an eye disease, retinitis pigmentosa, which means i've been slowly losing my eyesight (if we were talking about this, at this point cory would use his favorite #dadjoke, "what, you're blind?!" to which i'd roll my eyes, having heard this joke, maybe 743 times throughout our marriage). and as if parenting wasn't hard enough, this whole "legally-blind thing" certainly adds a whole new element to taking care of babies. that being said, cory has been the support that every mother needs, especially one who has to deal with her own physical challenges on a daily basis. 

cory and i have been married three years and i am grateful every day that he is my husband. i have numerous blog posts about him and the many little things he has done for me over the last few years. i could easily write a novel on how wonderful he is to me. however, it is only in the last six months that i have watched cory as a father and i guess, that's what my second book would have to be about (how am i going to make this post a reasonable length?!). father's day is a perfect excuse to document the joy i get from watching cory embrace his new role as a dad. 

from the first day our baby was born, cory exemplified his best self as levi's father. parenthood consists of a lot of mundane tasks including diaper changes, feeding, clothing, bathing, rocking to sleep and so on. cory works his 9 hour work days and then takes part in those rituals, without complaint. because i don't drive, we go everywhere as a family, and cory always volunteers to wear levi and journeys around the grocery store with levi in the ergobaby looking at produce or donuts. it is challenging to quickly run errands, especially with a sleeping baby and i often sit in the car with levi, while cory runs into get whatever we need because it really is impossible for me to efficiently do such things. cory also has the keen ability to make levi laugh just by looking at him. he is our resident nail-trimmer. cory cleans up all the dried food that mom missed on levi's face and swims with him in the deep end of the pool. levi spends many nights rolling on the carpet with his daddy, giggling as cory makes absurd noises that i am surely too dignified to utter, and reading in dad's recliner. i never knew my heart could feel so full, as it does when i watch cory and levi together.  

i always knew cory would be a wonderful father. i think that's why i never worried about being a mother and not being able to see if my baby had diaper rash or check on the baby in the dark...cory is the type of person who DOES stuff. he doesn't sit around and talk about learning new things. he orders books or watches tutorials and ignores social conventions (thank you youtube for our new brakes and rotors).  i have no doubt that when our children ask him if they can build a tree house or how fireflies glow, that cory will do everything in his power to show them and teach them. i mean, he's seriously already taught levi that he's the "fun" parent. cory has so many talents, including painting nails (lucky little girls), and levi is lucky that cor is his dad.  

the last six months foreshadow years of sleepless nights and days where i spend one conscious hour alone with my husband and date nights spent shopping for levi...yet, parenthood with cory is the most rewarding experience. when cory and i first started dating, we were talking about some of our short and long-term goals and dreams and i told him i really wanted to be able to see (physically) my babies and he promised me i would. it's been four years to the month since that conversation and i am so happy that we got married and he was right next to me when i held and looked at our son for the first time. thank you for being the best daddy and husband, cor.  

our trip to minnesota

my parents with carmen & levi

my grandma and my aunt wanted to meet the grandbabies (levi and carmen), and were planning to fly to minnesota in may. i decided to save them a trip to nashville, and levi and i flew up to my parents' house for two weeks. levi did so well on the planes-we had one minor incident where cory left the diaper wipes in the airport bathroom, so i had to change his stinky diaper in the airplane bathroom with some toilet paper...other than that, getting there was much better than i worried it would be (mostly because cory and my mom could walk with me to the gates and carry the carseat!).

levi and i got to meet kristi, erik's fiancee, and we had a little party for carmen that first weekend while kristi was there. we ran errands with mom and hung around the house with ainsley and carmen. on wednesday, carmen's birthday, grandma and aunt barb arrived! we had a birthday dinner and some cake and carmen "opened" presents. it's amazing how lovable babies are and i sure love that girl, who is just too funny. she goes "mrow" for a cat, pants like a dog, oinks like a pig and opens her mouth like a fish.

auntie barb & levi

on thursday, mom, barb, levi and i went to the art institute in minneapolis which was pretty neat. we saw an exhibit featuring the austrian royal family and their belongings, including beautiful clothing and a carraige! it was a tough two weeks for us because BABIES. especially when they don't get good sleep, and with all the commotion and the thin floors/ceilings, levi and carmen had a rough time. we went downtown st. paul and minneaplis with the family and took family pictures and ate a nice restaurant for mother's day.

mostly, we had a relaxing trip, spending time with our favorite people! i had looked at the weather forecast and it was supposed to be in the 70-80's, but it totally wasn't and poor levi and i didn't have any sweatshirts or coats. oh minnesota...

erik's customary pose with the babies 

we will be going back up there for erik's wedding in september and i can't wait!

uncle erik with cousins carmen & levi

at the art museum in downtown minneapolis 

what the what

yes, this happened. i went to minnesota and came back without six inches of my hair. it is officially the shortest it has been since i was in first grade. and i can't style it like the way it's pictured, like the stylist did...sigh. oh well, it's still nice not to have to deal with it while nursing and with this 100% humidity.

ALSO, cory got a call a few weeks ago from his trainer, dr. e, in highland, indiana who said he recommended him as one of three people to corporate to work at his office as a partner of sorts to help with his patients and train the new guys. anyway, so the CEO (!!!!!!!) called cory for an "interview" so we thought, but it was really to tell him that the executives had decided cory was the right guy for the job and if wants to accept, he will  get a pay raise, become a corporate employee and he starts working in highland in the fall. the company will pay for our moving expenses and cory can go back to his old position if things don't work out. I KNOW-total shock. we literally signed our lease for another year like two weeks before that call. this means that cory won't go along with the junior/ partner route, which would mean he wouldn't become a regional leader, making lots more money, but sometimes it's not all about the money...that's right, not a golddigger. anyway, so far we are feeling like he should accept this offer because a. he loves teaching and this means he can help ensure the new trainees have good integrity, business ethics etc. b. not as much stress to meet a sales goal each month because they'll be a few guys at the office c. he likes dr. e a lot d. it's a corporate position, so who knows where that could lead

i'm so, so, SO proud of cor. i'm also glad that the executives were able to recognize his potential in the few months he's been working-he really does love helping his patients and everyone around him realizes that through his actions over the last year. so, who knows, we may be back in the midwest by year's end?

my loves

levi: you, little man, are growing so fast. i have held you and loved you and taken care of you from your first day in this world, and i will always do so. yet, i know the days are fast approaching when you're not going to want me. why are the baby years so short? i love the way you grab my shirt or my hair with SUCH fierceness. it's impressive, really. everyone comments on your grip. i love your smiles and laughs-you're definitely a morning person :) i love how you grab your toes and eat all of your fingers.

you move around all the time now! we put you on a blanket and you've done a complete rotation by the time we glance back at you. or when i go to get you in the crib and your head is wedged in a corner. you've started rolling over in your crib which terrifies me. i like that you don't wake up when cory gets ready for work now that you're in your own room, but i miss having you near to hear your breathing.

we tried feeding you rice cereal after your four month appointment and you don't really like it. however, apples, pears and sweet potatoes all meet your approval! i wanted to make homemade baby food, but when you're at the grocery store and you have a cheap blender at home, the little jars are just oh so convenient. maybe in a few weeks! i feel bad that you have to have a blind mom feeding you. you don't like sitting in your bumbo being fed, so i sit you in my lap, cross-legged on the kitchen floor and put one hand by your mouth and then spoon the food in. it's a mess for both of us but hey, we've got nothing else to do or no where to go, so we might as well enjoy it!

after our trip, you completely stopped letting me (loosely) swaddle you and rock you in my arms. the last two days, you've let me cradle you and walk you to sleep, so thank you for that. i'm not ready to give up my little baby yet. we love your talking, your many noises, your smiles.

cory: it's been a crazy few months with all the visitors and trips, and yet you had your best month sales-wise and are carrying your region. i'm glad you have integrity and really adapt the job to fit you and your personal standards versus just trying to sell hearing aids to everyone. it's almost been six months and the results are really showing, with the growing number of patients and referrals.

today, you caught a baby bird from the christmas wreath nest on your office door as it hopped around your office. you wore gloves cause you wanted the mama bird not to reject him. you made me oatmeal with way more brown sugar than i usually put on it because i'm sick.

i feel like we've been up and down lately-you and me, and i think it's because we don't get to spend as much time as we are used to together. i say i miss you a lot and that makes me sad...i'm only 24 and we've got many years of employment ahead of us. oh, why couldn't we have been trust-fund babies?! i know you're just trying to get up to the next level in your company and i'm proud of you. you still have brought me flowers two times in the last few weeks. you rented a mustang when i said i wanted to drive around tennessee. you drove around for twenty minutes looking for a parking spot when i really wanted to go to the mexican popsicle shop. you've done the dishes like three times this month which is a record-i know you think you do them more often but...you're crazy. i love watching you with levi at this stage.  i feel like you and levi really bonded over general conference weekend. i also feel like you're already the fun parent and that's totally not cool.

i love how amazing you are at making and keeping friends. you're turning 27 this year and yet you had SO many people travel to see you the weekend we were in california. people love you because you genuinely care about them and show it on a consistent basis. i admire so much about you and there are so many days i am at home with levi and can't believe how lucky i am to be living my life.

-i'm sorry we didn't get to use your awesome priceline deal for our rental car due to the weather
-i like how you thought getting snoic and redbox would be spontaneous
-you look for the family bathrooms at airports for me cause you know i like those better and always change levi in public places so i don't have to-thank you
-you make me carry your DUMB chipotle tabasco with me whenever we go to restaurants now. and you add it to half the dinners i cook that are already perfectly seasoned, and yet somehow adding tabasco adds a whole new flavor "the pork is sweet and then you get this smoky kick at the end"...okayyy dude.

four months!

my little boy at four months: length-25.25 inches (58%ile), weight-15 lbs 7.5 oz (52%ile), head circumference-16.54 in (63.44%ile). 

levi started rolling over two weeks ago and does a few times a day...but only when no one is looking at him or has a camera out! he is a little songbird. levi's sleeping schedule is currently sleeping from about 9-9, give or take a little while...he feeds about twice-usually 4 & 6:30. we are enjoying getting to sleep in on the weekends! 

first time eating solids! he didn't like rice cereal, so we moved on to fruits and vegetables. 

reading books with daddy.

california adventure

it's hard to believe it's been a whole week since we left for california-what a whirlwind trip! we had been planning this trip for awhile since we knew patti (cory's childhood best friend's mom) was getting married. that being said, i don't think anything could've prepared us for the travel day we had. the whole week before it kept praying levi would be okay and good on the flights...and he totally was! i just didn't think i needed to pray that our travel time would triple!

we left the house at 4 am on friday and caught our first flight to denver at 5:55 am. we flew to denver but there was a crazy blizzard, so we had to change direction and fly to new mexico-the closest airport with space for our plane to land. we sat on the tarmac for an hour, then flew to denver. by then we had missed our connection to san jose. we got to denver where we had to wait in line at customer service with about 50 other people. there was a flight leaving for san jose shortly after we landed but it was full, and the next flight would leave at 5 pm and get us to san jose at 9 pm...not happening for us! we said put us on any flight to a nearby airport (like san francisco, sacramento, oakland). our customer service rep was really, really incompetent and booked us for a 5 pm oakland flight, and let us go standby to a sacramento flight (the plane that we had been on all morning-the flight crew was happy to see us again!). so....we finally made it to california four and a half hours after we should have arrived, and in a different city, no less. with no bags. YES, our bags got sent to san jose, which the southwest lady did not tell us would happen. so many phone calls later, i finally got the san jose airport baggage ladies to agree to fedex our bags (for free). apparently, southwest won't cover baggage problems due to weather. so our bags arrived saturday at NOON. by the way, the flight they had booked to oakland for us got cancelled, so we are sooo lucky we made it on that sacramento flight, even though we had to deal with a baggage nightmare and we lost our amazing car rental reservation. at least we were safe and had an angel baby!

talk about traumatizing!

levi and i went right to sleep when we got to our hotel in merced (two hours away from sacramento) and cory went to the rehearsal dinner, and then hung out with his friends. we all woke up around 7 am and went to a little diner for crepes and bacon and eggs. we went back to the hotel and napped (since we had four hours to kill until we got our suitcases).

the wedding was held at a venue that also serves as a ranch! there was a little house for the caterers, and outside that was a grassy area, with trees, looking straight into a pasture with cows. the guests sat on hay bales looking at the cattle :) levi and i sat on a bench by the house, as i didn't want him to interrupt the wedding at all (which he didn't). that meant we got to see the wedding party and the bride first! patti was beautiful. the reception was held in the same area in a renovated barn. did i mention that patti's husband is a farmer/rancher? so there were many people in tuxes, cowboy boots and wranglers!

cory's cousin and grandparents drove up to see us and levi! we saw them that night and drove to yosemite the next day with them, and three of cory's friends. yosemite was beautiful. we only got to spend a few hours there and didn;t get to hike as much as i would've liked, but man, i'm already waiting for cory to strike it rich so we can stay at the gorgeous hotel they have in the park.

after yosemite, we drove down to stockton to stay at shawn's house and see some more of cory's friends. we went to the staple fast food mexican, adalberto's. the next morning, we left for san jose (another two hour drive) and made it home by 8 pm. it was kind of crazy and makes me appreciate direct flights more than ever. and friends and family and nature and california weather and landscapes.

when my mom came to town!

we've really been spoiled with visitors since moving to tennessee. cory's parents, granny and dorothy, and jodie and brierly all came at the end of march for levi's blessing which was SO nice. as if that wasn't enough, two weeks later, my mom came to see levi! 

it was a quick weekend trip for her to spend some one-on-one time with the little man. she came on thursday night, and on friday, we went up to franklin and did some shopping. she then left me with cory and we went to the temple and cheesecake factory (our first date night since levi was born!). the next day, we went out to lunch and then mom drove us to the airport so cory could rent...a yellow mustang for us to drive around in. mom kept saying she was there to babysit, so i suggested we go for a drive and check out some plantations. cory took that to mean "rent a sports car and drive around". 

i'm not going to lie, you feel really cool riding around in a yellow mustang listening to 2000's pop pandora cause you're not up to date with the current pop music. we jammed to avril lavigne as we drove around and got these AMAZING popsicles from a little shop near nashville-nutella for cory and coconut for me. such a brilliant idea! later that night,we went out to fast and furious with our other couple friends, the hatchers and got sonic and drove around some more. 

sunday was church and family time. monday, we dropped off the car and got martin's BBQ which we ate in cory's office. then target and chuey's for dinner...and on tuesday, mom left. it was so sad to see her go, but i knew i'd be seeing her in a few weeks when levi and i go to minnesota.