More pictures of our family

Trevor and Calvin at church.



Cute little Levi


My boys!



Levi trying to get on Calvin's shoulders.  This was as close as he got.  :0)












Calvin and Daddy had fun building a fort in our family room and then a ramp for Calvin's ball to go down.



Levi's first bath



2 weeks old!












Another fort picture, but blogger is being weird so I couldn't get the pics in the right order.


Coming home from the hospital!

Levi photo montage!

Lindsay will convey her birthing experience in a future post. For now, here's a bunch of pictures we like!

Calvin and Lindsay made sugar cookies for fun a couple weeks ago.

We bought a twin bed (for $20 bucks!) for visitors. One day Calvin wouldn't take a nap in his crib so we laid him down on the bed and he fell asleep and slept there for three hours!

Already filling daddy's shoes!

Lindsay looking stoic on a birthing ball.

Levi and Lindsay :)

What a cutie!

Daddy reassured that he makes cute babies.

So cute!

Calvin really wanted to hold Levi.

Trevor loves his two boys!

If he keeps this up we'll have an easy time :)

Past Due...

Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised I went past my due date.  I was secretly wishing this pregnancy was going to be different than Calvin's and that I would go early or at least "on time."  Alas, I think my body is a "perfectionist" and wants to make sure everything is completely developed before handing my son over to me.  I realize that's a good thing.  I know there are much worse things than going over your due date and I don't mean to complain.  My hormones are out of whack and it just makes everything seem worse than it is.

Calvin is rapidly turning into a 'toddler' and no longer a 'baby.'  His vocabulary is exploding and while I still can't understand most of his (cute) gibberish, I'm amazed at how much better we have gotten at communicating, which makes being with him more fun in my opinion.  It's really cute because he says 'no' really well but he won't say 'yes' (or 'yeah' or anything to resemble it).  He shrugs his shoulders to say 'yes.'  We've tried many times to get him to say it but he just won't.  He's also started throwing temper tantrums if he doesn't get his way.  Boy is that fun...  I can see why some parents cave in to these tantrums because it does seem a lot easier at the time, but I'm learning to just hold my ground and then he eventually stops and life is back to being hunky dory.

Calvin loves to go to the park and play in the sand and go down the slides.  I feel blessed that even though it rains a lot during the winter where we live, when it's sunny outside we can still enjoy the park. He loves playing with balls, cars, phones, music, coloring, play dough, bubbles, shape sorters, and other typical things children are interested in.  He also loves watching movies.  His favorites include "Sesame Street Presents: Follow that Bird" and "The Muppet Movie."  He is also obsessed with Elmo.  I try not to let him watch too much, but it's been hard the past couple weeks when I've been so tired and don't feel well.

Sorry no pictures this post.  I'm sure I'll have tons the next time I post which I'm planning will be after our son is born!

37 Weeks and Counting!

I realized recently that I have very few pictures of me during this pregnancy. This is me at 37 weeks. We are all anxiously awaiting our little one's arrival! I get told a lot that I don't look like I'm that far along. When people told me that while pregnant with Calvin, it used to really worry me that he wasn't growing/developing correctly (just ask Trevor). Now it doesn't bother me, but I still don't know how to respond to that comment (This is just how I carry my children?).

People also ask me if I'm "ready" and I don't really know how to respond to that either. Are you ever fully ready for labor, delivery and the sleepless nights ahead of you? I guess I'm ready, but it seems there is always something else that needs to be done to prepare for the birth. Just keeping the house clean is a task that never seems to be fully done.

Last Friday, Trevor's cousin Julie invited us to her son's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. Calvin had the time of his life. He didn't even need tokens. He was happy running everywhere, going down the slide, and sitting on all the games without them actually running. Thanks for inviting us Julie!



Calvin's favorite thing to do is go to the park. He LOVES going down the slides and playing in the sand. We got him a sand bucket and shovel recently and he could sit there and play for a really long time. I just wish it would stop raining so we could go to the park more often!

Just a cute picture. Calvin decided to smear his food in his hair, so Trevor washed it with a rag and had fun spiking it.

Update from Christmas

Trevor has been in Arizona for the funeral since Thursday so it's been a little lonely around here. It's true that Calvin keeps me plenty busy, but I miss having adult conversation. I would have liked to go to the funeral, but we just didn't want to subject Calvin to another LONG car ride and it's getting too close to my due date for me to feel comfortable traveling long distances. I probably wouldn't have been able to listen to the funeral anyway because Calvin doesn't sit still and quiet for long periods of time.

Over the Christmas break we misplaced our camera (on the last day we were there so I didn't have time to look for it). Hopefully Trevor's parents can find it otherwise we are going to have to buy another camera really soon. Hence the only pictures I have are ones taken from Trevor's phone. So even though they aren't the greatest quality, it's all we have right now.

We had a great Christmas break with Trevor's family! We surprised them by coming a whole day earlier than planned. Trevor had to work remotely the next day, but it was fun for me and Calvin to be somewhere new!

I don't know who was more grateful--Calvin or his parents that the trip was only 5 1/2 hours. I can't complain, though, because Calvin is a good traveler. He can sit in his car seat for 3 hour stretches before complaining (are we terrible parents?). After 6 hours total, though, he starts to get pretty upset he's still strapped in his chair.



Calvin LOVED playing the piano. Too bad it might be at least a year or two before I save up enough money to get a digital piano. Pretty much all our savings right now are going toward a down payment for a house.

We also liked going for walks in Grandma and Grandpa's cool wagon! The weather in Camarillo is so beautiful. You could not help but want to go outside.


Grandpa Sam and Calvin cuddling. Calvin knows how to get on Grandpa's good side! :0)


Christmas morning was fun! Lots of presents and energetic kids. I think these sunglasses were Alicey's or Olivia's?

I made the Black family's traditional Christmas tree pull-apart with some minor adjustments (this picture didn't really turn out, but it's the only one I have). One adjustment was putting crushed pecans on top along with maraschino cherries--something I'm going to keep doing in the future. They were really good and gone really fast.

Calvin loved his presents and wanted to open each one to play with it after he unwrapped it. Thanks to all his Grandpas and Grandmas, aunts, and uncles for getting him such great gifts!


Trevor and I also celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary over the break. We saw the movie "The Princess and the Frog" and went to the Cheesecake Factory where Trevor's brother Hank works. It was the first time either of us had been there and we had a great time (I did find the length of their menu overwhelming, so it was a good thing we got suggestions of what to order)! Later that evening we went miniature golfing. It was a lot of fun doing things that we can't do with Calvin (sorry Calvin, we still love you!).


We took Calvin to the park and he had a ball going down the slides as many times as he could.



Trevor's parents also have a New Year's Eve party every year where they play games and have prizes for everyone. I got first place this year! Usually I'm not a competitive person, but once I saw that I had a shot at winning, I let that side of me come out. It was a really fun night (and not just because I won)!

In Loving Memory of Pa

Thanksgiving 2005

Thanksgiving 2008

Florence Family Reunion - August 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

We just learned this morning that Trevor's grandpa passed away. He was 92 years old. As hard as his death is, we are happy he is reunited with his wife and he's not in pain anymore.

We are so grateful for the opportunities we have had to visit him when we went to Arizona. He is one of the most generous people you would ever meet. I'm grateful for the knowledge we have that we will be able to see Pa again and that death is not the end. We love you Pa and are looking forward to when we can see you again!