Introducing Levi

Levi Edward Barnes

Born Feb 25, 2011 @ 7:04 am

6 lbs, 2 oz

A Caleb Original

Caleb has been working on this drawing off and on for almost a week. He's been sitting on his bedroom floor and looking at his world map and copying what he sees. He's got Russia, China, and India labeled and drew part of Europe and Alaska. I was just really impressed with his dedication to finish the picture.

Franklin Park Zoo

Adelina has been begging to see monkeys at the zoo for weeks now. Even though we made two trips to the Stone Zoo this week, we didn't get to see any monkeys because it was too cold. Randy took the kids to the Franklin Park Zoo today since they have an indoor exhibit with a couple of different primate species. The highlight of course were the gorillas, especially the little baby. Before they left, Randy tried to get a picture of them and they kept making silly faces and laughing...very cute.

It was a pretty cold and windy day, but the kids didn't seem to mind. Lots of animals were not on exhibit because of the temperature, but they had fun running around the zoo.

The look on Lina's face cracks me up.

What a cute little baby!

Mid-50s!

Friday afternoon was glorious! Caleb spent at least 2 hours playing in the back yard and Lina joined him once she woke from her nap. They happily made mud from dirt and snow and enjoyed using the sandbox toys to play in the snow. We've returned to seasonable temperatures and it is supposed to snow a little tomorrow, but the warm weather was amazing while it lasted.

38 Weeks Pregnant and Melting Snow

We've had amazing weather this week, with highs reaching the mid-50s! We've been able to enjoy some nice outside time, but there is still so much snow cover that our options are fairly limited. We've been to the zoo twice and to the cemetery a handful of times. The fresh air and sunshine are simply amazing...I've even got the windows open today. We also had fun this week celebrating Valentine's Day, lots of valentines and heart-shaped food.

Caleb and Ethan at one of our trips to the zoo

Caleb biking in the cemetery

Tonight is a full moon, so we are anxiously awaiting to see if the old-wives tale of full moons bringing on labor applies to me! I took the kids to Demet's donuts in Medford this morning because the last time I ate them when I was pregnant with Caleb, he was born 2 days later. The kids were happy to oblige in my mission!

Can this baby be any lower?

After enjoying donuts, we ran a couple of errands, including a trip to the Learning Store to spend money from the grandparents. Caleb continues to be extremely interested in outer space, but has recently taken a liking to geography. I'm sure it won't be long before he knows all the countries! He was very excited to pick out a new puzzle and a little globe. Lina found a couple new books and a wind chime.


Here's Lina chatting about one of her favorite books, Green Eggs and Ham

Happy Birthday Adelina!!

Yesterday was a very big day in our house...Adelina's second birthday!! She was so excited and it was very fun to see her "get" the significance of the day. Caleb was up before 7 am, running down the hall, yelling "It's February 12th...Lina's birthday"...so needless to say, he was very excited too.

We spent the morning playing and doing a few things to get ready for Adelina's tea party at 10 am. She and Caleb helped me set the kids' table and spread out a blanket for all her animals and friends to have a pretend party. Her outfit was self-chosen for the big day. She's definitely getting more picky about what she wears, but is generally happy to accessorize with a tutu.

Once people started to arrive for the party, plans for the pretend tea party fell by the wayside, but the kids all had a great time playing with toys. All the girls were wearing tutus or fancy dresses...it was very cute. After a while, every one was ready to eat--I just love them all sitting around the table. Starting with Lina and going clockwise: Keira, Gemma, big kids Caleb and Ella (Keira's big sister), Ella, and Ayla.

Since we just served brunch, I hadn't planned on candles, but Lina was insistent. We sang to her once and then she said "I want to blow out the fire". We aren't one to tell the birthday girl, so we did a retake with candles.

Happy Birthday - Take 2

Randy brewed some herbal tea for the kids...Adelina loved it and drank about 4 cups of it!

After a little more play it was time to say good-bye. Adelina had a special birthday hat from Grammy that she was wearing earlier in the morning, but I could never get a picture of her in it. All the kids loved the hat, and Ella was happy to pose for a picture.

Adelina loved opening her presents from her friends. In fact, a couple of times during the party we caught her trying to tear into things! She got lots of fancy things and some cute pajamas....all of which she wanted to try on immediately.

We spread out the gift opening throughout the day...a couple before nap, after nap, and after dinner. After her nap, she spent some time playing in the balloons from Grandma GiGi and PaPa and trying on new clothes from Tate and Emily. She probably didn't nap long enough, so she was also very happy to cuddle on the couch reading books.

Finally it was dinner time....hot dogs! Just like the Iris she's named after, our girl loves some hot dogs!

Caleb made up a birthday song for Adelina, based on the Frosty the Snowman tune.

We must have sung happy birthday to Adelina 5-6 times yesterday...twice after dinner with candles both times. She really loved it!

We decided to just order a cake from Peacuddy's for the occasion...and Lina was very specific about wanting blue, purple, and orange (flowers) on her cake. I think she was pleased with the cake.

And finally, the last presents of the day. She had a wonderful day and definitely felt special....we are still dealing with the aftermath of her day of spoiling this morning! She's an amazing, feisty, spirited, and loving little person and we are so blessed to have her in our family. We love you Ninja!!!