April Picture Extravaganza!!!

4/2/2010 - Cool Breeze and his new sunglasses. (8 months old today!)


4/4/2010 - Easter Sunday - My two men looking very Eastery!


4/10/2010 - Daddy and Levi checking out the spring flowers that are starting to pop up in our yard.

4/12 - Bath time!

4/14 - Pink Flamingos from Grannie Mary & Aunt Tammie... Love them and the box too!

4/17 - Garage time with Daddy... Having too much fun!!!

4/20 - Ready for Church!

4/20 - Visiters... Bethany John & Ian came over after Church! Here's all the boys togehter.

4/20 - Hanging out in the yard after our company left

4/20 - Cool -- Levi hanging out in Daddy's truck

Levi has a tooth finally coming in. It started showing up on the 10th & as of today the 21st, there's still only a sliver of it showing. It doesn't seem to bother him too much.

Levi is growing up so quickly & he is so much fun.

March / snow day & new job

**This post is a little out of date. It took me forever to take the time to upload some pictures...

Hello All,

Well - today is a snow day! We got about a foot of snow between last night at 5:30 to this morning... wet heavy snow! Because of the snow, Levi's daycare was closed today, so that meant that Mommy (me) got to stay home with the sweet little man. Right now, he is napping - we'll see how long that lasts.

Anyhow. He is growing like crazy and oh so much fun. He is doing better on his tummy, but still not crawling. He always wants to stand up and try to walk. He smiles so pretty and big when he's walking between our legs.

Levi has this little red car walker thing that he enjoys being in too... its funny.... his little feet are just a gettin it, but he only goes backwards. So funny!

Levi is eating well too... He likes pears, applesauce, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, peaches, bananas. Joey got this bananas, pears & granola combo thing and Levi was really digging that. He didn't want any part of the plain ol' oatmeal that I was trying to serve with it.

Joey got a new job!!! Yay... he calculated it ... he was out of work for 112 work days - I think that is the longest for him. He started yesterday & thinks he's really going to like it. The company is Rexel. The only negative is that it is quite a bit of a drive for him, but he's making the best of it. The drive will give him time to get prepared for the day and wind down after the day. Another thing is that he won't be getting home till close to 6, so he is missing some Levi time. He'll make up for it though with good quality time with Levi.

I wish I could think of all the great things about Levi that I want to share. As we go throughout our days, I am always thinking that we need to blog about this or that, then I get here and draw a blank. Write it down - y'all are saying... I know! :)

Oh --- one thing, he has a hard time rolling over from his tummy to his back. He does well back to front. So now in the middle of the night and morning, he will get all upset because he has rolled over and can't get back. Its funny & sad. One of us ends up having to go in there and roll him over ... then he's awake and not wanting to go right back to sleep. I know he'll get it figured out someday. For now though... that arm is just in the way!

He still doesn't have any teeth. They say 7 months is the average time when babies get their first teeth... so Joey reminds me that he still has a week to go! But it could be as late as a year old or longer. Can you imagine --- a little toothless grin at his 1 year old birthday?

Here are some random pictures from March... enjoy

My goodness, what a year 2010 has been already...

So - again, it has been a long time since I posted anything and as you know, when you have a little one, so much happens in just a couple of months. This will probably be another long post, filled with Levi updates and also some not so good ones...

First with the bad / sad news.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my Dad was real sick. He had stage 4 lung cancer (was diagnosed around Thanksgiving). He passed away on Jan 9th at home with his wife Shirley. When she called to tell me, I was stunned. I knew that the prognosis wasn't good, but I sure didn't expect it this soon. So we loaded up the family and flew to Pensacola for his service. We were in Pensacola for a week & it was filled with visits with family and my Dad's service. The service was very interesting and I found myself in an awkward situation. Those of you who read this that are my family know that my Dad and I were not super close, but we still had a love for each other and over the past years (since I have been in Denver) we have tried to be better with each other. Well - I was afraid that I would be kind of an outsider at my Dad's service, but that wasn't the case at all. It was real good to see much of my family from his side & they were all good to me. He was cremated and placed at Barrancas National Cemetery on NAS base.

Then for the second round of bad/sad news. We got home from Pensacola on Saturday, Jan 22nd ( I think). Then very late the next Saturday / Sunday morning we got a call from Tammie (Joey's sister) that their father had passed away. Oh man ... did this ever hit Joey hard. We weren't expecting this at all. His dad had Muscular Dystrophy & Diabetes for quite a long time and it finally took it's toll on him. He had struggled to get around for a long time & was on oxygen. When we saw him the previous week, he seemed okay, but was definitely not doing well. He had agreed that he would go to the hospital the next week. Joey loved his dad very much and this was very hard on him. He struggled with whether or not to go back to Pensacola. It was decided that Joseph would be cremated and that they(as a family) would spread his ashes out at Blue Springs in Alabama in June. So we decided we would make the trip home in June. Joey wanted to go home and help his momma get things in order around the house but his sister and mom encouraged him to stay here with me and Levi. Joey did. But then ...

Third round of bad news... On Wednesday, Feb 3rd, Joey's Momma (Mary) was taken to the emergency room and admitted to the SINU at Baptist Hospital. She had been borderline diabetic and with the stress of the recent passing of her husband, her sugar had sky rocketed (into the 900's) and her ph balance had reversed itself in her body. She was not in good shape. Levi and I put Joey on a plane bound for Pensacola the next morning. He needed to be there to be with his Momma and help her out if at all possible.

Good news time ...
Mary is doing well. She spent almost a week in the hospital. They got her blood sugar to within a manageable range & she was able to go home the following Tuesday. Joey stayed with her and they spent time visiting and doing some of the healing things that need to be done. She is still experiencing some of the bad side affects of the sugar getting so high (like blurred vision, etc), but she is doing better and taking care of herself and trying to eat right.

Joey felt comfortable coming back home and he did on Saturday Feb. 13. While he was gone, several of his friends checked in on me and Levi and that was very nice. One couple brought us some groceries and visited for a little bit. We enjoyed that too.

Levi and I were very glad to have Daddy home. We had done okay without him, but we did miss him very much. I told Joey when he got back that I had really missed hearing his voice in our home.

Levi did really well on the plane trip to Pensacola. He & I were both suffering through some congestion so the landings weren't a ton of fun, but we made it through. He was a real trooper. He met so many people while we were in Pensacola and had a smile for every one of them.

He met his Grannie Mary & Paw (Joey's mom and dad). It's crazy, given the circumstances of our trip home, we were so glad that we had made that trip when we did, that way Levi got to meet his Paw before he passed away. He also met his Aunt Tammie and cousins Sam & Adam. Everyone of them was so good to him.
He also met his great Grannie (GG) Beck & countless other relatives and friends.
He sat up for the first time while on this trip & also rolled over from front to back. Like I said before, he smiled pretty for everyone. All of his good moods during the day and entertaining really wore him out, but that didn't mean that he slept well. He didn't. But once we got back to Denver, he was back on track.

Levi turned 6months old on Feb 2nd. He weighed in at 16lbs 13oz and 27 1/2 inches long! He wasn't able to get his shots at his 6month checkup because he was running a slight fever, so we had to reschedule for 2 weeks later. I really think he was just hot because it was hot in the Dr.'s office, but it's okay.

While Joey was in Pensacola Levi and I just hung out & played. We sang and laughed and did the best we could without Joey here. I would send Joey pictures all the time showing him how Levi was doing. He was real close to rolling over from back to front but didn't do it any while Joey was gone.

This past week was kind of tough on little Levi. I am not making as much milk as he needs, so I had to send him to daycare with some formula this week. He didn't do so well with that. They sent him home on Monday because he was throwing up. Joey got him home and he seemed fine. He stayed home with Joey on Tuesday because he finally got his 6 month shots and was good. He drank breast milk all day though. Then back to daycare on Wednesday and they sent him home again because he was throwing up... !!! So - I am wondering what they are doing to him. We took him to the Dr & the Dr said that he has Bronchiolitis (which is a lung infection caused by a virus)... so it was determined that the mucus from that didn't mix well with the formula and that is why he was throwing it up. He stayed home with Joey Thursday and Friday & seems to be doing better. We still can't seem to get him to eat any formula though. He just pushes it away. Joey is gone now to try to find some different kinds so we can test a couple. If I am not making enough milk we have to supplement and Levi has to like it!

I am trying to keep my milk supply up. I feel bad because, when I was pregnant with Levi, I said I was only going to nurse for 6 months... but as it got closer to the 6 I decided I wanted to do it for a year. I am afraid my body heard me saying 6 months for so long that it took me seriously!

Anyhow ... as crazy as the first couple months have been for us, it has been good to. We have started going to church and are really enjoying it. We both have a need to grow in our relationship with God and to raise Levi knowing God as his savior. We are going to do the best we can to make sure that Levi knows and has a relationship with God.

We are still encouraged that this will be a good year.

Sending lots of love your way ...

Lacey, Joey & Levi

I will put up a post later that is just pictures of Levi! He is growing beautifully and y'all need to see him!

Happy My Birthday and other things too.

Hello!
Today found me turning 37 & I couldn't be happier about it. I am lucky to have a wonderful husband and beautiful, happy, healthy son.

I have a lot that I want to talk about, so this could be sort of random... My apologize in advance! :)

1 - Levi was sick with a fever for a few days after Christmas. It was a very worrisome time for me and for us. He ran a fever as high as 103.5 at times, but tylenol would bring it down to about 100 or 101. He was pretty uncomfortable & kind of fussy for about 3 days. We had to keep him home from day care and it is a real blessing that Joey was able to be home with him. Joey took real good care of Levi while he wasn't feeling the best. On the 3rd day we decided to take him to the Dr. & wouldn't you know it... he was cute, cuddly and all smiles for the Dr. The Dr said that that was common. Parents will either come in on the very first day of a fever or on about the 3 day & usually whatever it was is getting better. Anyhow ... he checked him over - no ear infection or anything like that. Breathing good - heck, he wasn't even running a fever. But just to be safe, the Dr wanted to rule out a urinary tract infection. All clear. So - Levi is good as new again & we don't really know what was wrong. Joey and I suspect teething, but the Drs & nurses say that that high of a temp is not normal for teething. We still suspect teething though. He is back to good as new now & we are real happy about that.

2 - I have had a very nice birthday. We started celebrating yesterday. Since Levi was feeling better and not running a fever anymore, we took him to daycare. I took my last vacation day for the year so Joey & I could spend the day together. We went to breakfast, then to the book store. I picked up a new book & then we headed to the movies. It has been a tradition of mine for a long time to go to a movie on my birthday. Since this was going to be our only day alone, we decided to go a day early. We saw "Blind Side" and it was a great movie. Had me tearing up pretty good at times. After the movie, we went and did a little shopping. I was in desperate need of some new clothes. I have lost all my baby weight (48 lbs), but I am not able to wear the same things I was wearing when I got pregnant. My body has changed shape quite a bit. Anyhow... I have been wearing my maternity clothes & Joey told me it was time to get some new clothes. He is so fun to shop with. He helps me think outside the box and my comfort zone. We picked up several new outfits. Then we picked up our little guy and went home.
Part 2 of my birthday today has been great too! I talked to my Momma, Grannie & my Dad this morning. A lady at my work was getting married today and she invited us to go. Joey & Levi got cleaned up and went too. Levi looked real fresh and cute, but he got a little wiggly just before the ceremony so Joey took him outside. The reception was a nice little one in the basement of the church so I stayed and had some cake. It was sweet- I went to tell Mary that I had to go so I could feed Levi & she said wait -- it's your birthday - I have something for you. How sweet is that... she's getting married & thinking of me on my birthday.
We came home & Joey proceded to make us some dinner and me a birthday cake. It's 9:30 and Levi has been in bed for about an hour. That is a little unusual for him, so I don't know what that will mean for the night, but it gives me an opportunity to update this blog before I fall asleep on the sofa. The cake was delicious... Here's some pictures of the day...



3 - My Grannie turned 80 a couple of days before Christmas. She doesn't get around as good as she used to, but she is still so very sweet & I love her to pieces. I wish I could have been there to celebrate it with her. At my Pensacola baby shower she gave Levi a little silver cup with his initials on it. I asked Joey to take some pictures of Levi with his cup & I sent her a frame and these pictures. I think they are worth sharing here too.

Dang - he's sweet!

4. You know - I have tried to keep this blog on the lighter side and try to talk about all the good things in my/our lives, but I feel a need to write this down... My Dad is really sick right now. I found out just shortly after Thanksgiving and it has been kind of an emotional time for me. He has stage 4 lung cancer. I know that time for him is short, but we haven't really discussed that. I thought I was going to be going home either last week or this week to see him, but he asked me not to. This was hard for me to accept, but I had to. Although my Dad and I have not been super close all my life, we have always loved each other very much. When I talked to him, he told me that it is his desire that I not come. He said that he wanted me to remember him the way he was when I saw him last. That was last May when we were home. Joey got to meet him then and really liked him. My Dad liked Joey very much too. I think he liked Joey's good southern ways. Anyhow. I have talked to my Dad almost everyday for the last couple of weeks. They are short conversations and they never get too deep, but I am glad that I am able to talk to him. I do wish that I could have gone home to see him, but I believe that he meant it when he asked me not to come. I would have liked for him to get to see Levi in person, but pictures will have to do for now.

5 - I know this is long - I am sorry for that. I will close with this. 2009 was a good year. 2010 will be even better. I have a great family in my family in and Joey's family. I love my husband & I love my son. I believe that having Levi has changed me forever. I never knew how big my heart could swell to the size it has. I was never one to be all mushy over babies, but dang if I don't tear up when I see little ones these days. I now "get it". The love of a child is amazing & just think...the love I feel is only a smidge of love that God has for each of us, his children. Amazing!!!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful 2010.

Love from the Hardwicks!