Sorry it's been a while.  Anyway, here you go.

We're all good.

Life is exhausting.

Vacations are over, Levi is a year old, Mara turns three at the end of the month, Fall is around the corner, the Pierce bed and breakfast is in full swing, and we can't wait to start the holidays. Life keeps us busy, but someday we'll catch up on the blog :)

Forgive the nudity

Not even a year old, and he can reach the bottom of the countertop while still standing on the ground. We are in for an exciting few years- nothing will be safe!!

Nine months and change :)

This little cutie has arrived at yet another milestone- he turned nine months old on the 16th!! 
He is now 30.25 inches tall (95th percentile) and 18.8 lbs (21st percentile) - tall and skinny, just like his daddy! 

However, before we get to that, lets talk about some change. There's been a lot of change around here!  Mara is fully potty trained, day and night!! When she went two weeks with no accidents, she was able to get a bike, and boy was she happy! 

Since Mara got to learn how to ride a balance bike, Levi got to learn how to drive a car. "Like this dad?"

Dad's been doing a lot of teaching! He also taught Mara how to partner dance- awwwww!

 Speaking of change, the general atmosphere at home has changed too- its a bit more wild now that Levi is fully mobile!

 Did I say wild? I meant messy...

 And its more than just the house. In contrast to his big sister who still says "good!" when given puréed food, Levi refuses just about everything from a spoon (with the exception of green beans, peaches, and pears) and much prefers finger foods. String cheese is by far his favorite, although, those cinnamon maple puffs keep him pretty interested too. (Can you tell I try to avoid the mess at all costs?!)

He started crawling a little before 7 months, and has been given the name explorer boy. I frequently turn around to find him on the opposite end of the house than where I last saw him.

   When on hard surfaces, he almost always prefers to bear crawl though!

 He got his daddy's curls, and he's so precious when he's sleeping :)

 We've all been waiting for the weather to happy up so we can leave the house.

Sometimes the kids kill time with dad at "daddy's store." Its amazing what you can find there!

 The sun decided to cooperate for mothers day weekend and we had a picnic!!

 Mara loved blowing bubbles,

 And Levi had a blast just hanging around outside.

And thats all the change from around here!

 Whew, who knew blogging could be so exhausting, I'm pooped!

Levi's eyes

People always seem to think Levi's eyes are brown because they are sort of dark. I'd say they are more of a blue-green-gray color...and very mesmerizing. I love the way the colors mix to look almost like a marble.

So you see, they aren't brown, just beautiful :)

Also, Levi got his first massage...

....He liked it, of course!!!

Video Insight

Assorted happenings from throughout the beginning of 2012. It's a little longer than usual, but we think the time spent watching will be totally worth it.

It's been a while...

I owe you a real post. Unfortunately, I'm standing at the corner of Procrastination Loop and Exhaustion Highway right how, and all I can seem to muster up are a few pictures. Sorry, and enjoy :)

Mara and Levi have fun together.  Mara just puts Levi where she wants him, and he laughs at her the whole time.

Sometimes you feel like you are all boxed in...And then the toddler comes and picks you up, and you know you just lost all control.  This is when Lenny still had his dignity :)

Mara and Levi love hanging out.  Levi still clings to the couch for dear life, but he wishes he was doing puzzles like his sister.

Seriously, I never get tired of seeing him smile.  This was back when he only had one and an *almost* tooth.

Mara loves when I come play in the toy room with her...loves it like crazy!

Almost as much as she loves playing in the sun outside, and stealing Levi's shade.  But she's so cute, I don't think he minds!

Hope you enjoyed the photos, more to come if I ever get off of Procrastination Loop!!

Some Pictures

These are for those of you who don't check Facebook that often.

Potty training

This toilet seat was designed by a genius. Now Mara can use the big girl potty, and we don't have to bother with a removable seat that seems to be more of a pain than a help.

Potty training is exhausting

For all of us!

Noises

Levi has quite the talent.

What a kid.

The new house

When you come to visit us, this is the house that you stop at.

Walk in the front door, and this is the first room you will see.

The sitting room has a vaulted ceiling, which is convenient, because then I can lean around the corner at the top of the stairs to get a hold of Ian when he's on the "lounging" couch.

When you get to the top of the stairs, turn right and you'll go down this hallway, with a closet on your right.

The first door on the left is Mara's (and someday Levi's) bathroom.

I would also like it known that we didn't paint anything.  The previous owners had bold taste, but it wasn't bad enough to need repainting.  Besides, it matched our curtain!

The next door on the left is the master bedroom, where we sleep.

Levi is still in our room, but literally has five inches before he outgrows the cradle.  I hope he starts sleeping through the night soon!

here is our bathroom, with an arched doorway (my photographer didn't show it, but its fantastic), a double sink, and a garden tub...oh how I love that tub!

This is another view of the master bedroom from in front of the bathroom...it shows the closet...I have a walk in closet- for the first time in my life! :)

When you walk out of the master bedroom, directly ahead of you are the toy room, and the kids bedroom.

Here is the toy room...

And another view of the toy room.

Meet Anastasia, one of our kitties.  They are both Russian Blue's. We named her after the Russian princess, but we call her Stasia for short.

Here is Mara's bedroom, and someday Levi's.  I have to un-girlify that pack'n'play first!

Another view of the kids room- on a side note, soon we will buy half as many diapers...Mara is starting potty training in the next month or so!

When you walk back down the hallway, you have the living room to your right.

(Notice the kitty sleeping in the bouncer.  Thats Lenin- yea, as in the communist leader. We call him Lenny.)

Coming from the hallway, the kitchen is in front of you, and the dining room is in the far corner.

Not only do I finally have all the standard kitchen appliances, I have a pantry too!!

The dining nook is cute and cozy, but the table cloths never stay on long- those kitties do gymnastics all night long.

From the living room, you can go out on the balcony,

which has stairs going down to the back yard.

Now its time to go back down stairs to see the rest of the house.

Its a split entry, so the first set of stairs takes you back down to the sitting room, and then you carry on to the lower level.

Turn right at the bottom of the stairs, and you find the garage on your right...we didn't take pictures in there.  Although Ian has fancied it up a bit, its just a garage :)  There is a random door in the middle of the hallway that provides privacy for the last bedroom and bathroom area.

Before you hit the baby gate, turn left and you find this hallway.  On the left is the utility room, and on the right is the laundry space.  At the end of this hallway is a third full bathroom, with a linen closet next to the laundry and another inside the bathroom.

  

We use this bathroom as the guest bathroom.  Its also the kitties bathroom...this may cause complications if guests are allergic.  Whoopsie!

At the end of the hallway (past the baby gate) is the hobby room.  Its where the sewing and massaging magic happens.  When we have a third child, we'll split the children's rooms into genders, and my special space will go bye bye.  Sad day friends!

Another view of the hobby room....

Now back through the baby gate towards the stairs, and there is one last room.

This is the family room.  A nice, large room for entertaining.

Unfortunately, we haven't gotten a couch for this space yet, so my glider is the only piece of seating.

Wait, whats that?! Is there another door behind the door for this room?!

Wow, a storage space underneath the sitting room! Convenient for food storage and other storage so the garage doesn't start overflowing! (Ian has to duck, but I don't.  See, there are pluses to being shorter!)

So now you've seen the house, thanks for coming to visit....but there's Stasia again.  "Where do you think you are going?! Sit down on the couch and pet me!"