Ellen's Dance Recital

I think that a dance recital for a little girl is almost like a rite of passage. Ellen had her spring dance recital and boy did she shine. She new her stuff up and down and was totally cute while doing it. The theme for this recital was "USA" and her class was by far the cutest. (I am of course biased.) We dolled her up with makeup and everything. She has been waiting since her Christmas Recital to be able to wear makeup again. She was a big help to the other girls and handled Lucy White's wanting to be the leader very well. And, she didn't make any other girls cry. (That happened at the Christmas Recital.) It was a huge success. Her teacher gave her flowers after the final performance and we went out for Coldstone to celebrate her triumph.

What a Smart Friend Have I

Thank you for the outpouring of mental and emotional support from my last post. Luckily, the hurt didn't have to last long, because What a Smart Friend Have I! After my last post my friend Liz made a comment about recovering the card. When I found the pictures were gone I had the thought that too bad you can't recover memory cards like you can computer hard drives. But when Liz made that comment it made me wonder even more, Can you recover an SD card? So, with her encouragement I typed into my search engine that very question....and up popped a program to download that could recover it. It cost me $40 and I wasn't able to get all of the pictures back. (Probably because we started taking pictures again before we noticed they had been deleted.) I am still missing the first pictures we took of our house before we started remodeling and a few pictures from our old house. I am also missing Morgan's first birthday, but besides that I think I have them all.

So in celebration of this joyous event I thought I would share some of the pictures that were worth $40 to me. Thank you Liz!!!

Pardon my icky pregnant belly...Trevor and I belly bumping.

The first pictures of when Ellen and Trevor met their baby brother.

Our summer vacation to Colorado Springs.

Labor day camping and hiking trip.

Levi learning to eat solid food.

Ellen and Jaycee's Christmas dance recital.

Christmas morning 2009. Levi's first.



And while others may have had pictures of this event, I doubt that anyone else got this beautiful shot.

Levi with Papa Kunz on Christmas Day 2009.



My sweet baby Levi sleeping.

Having fun and riding on Daddy!

HELP!!!

So I went to our camera today to look at the pictures we took of Ellen's recital last night and post them on our blog when to my horror I realized that somehow all of the pictures on our camera were missing. Now this wouldn't have been a big deal if I had been cleaning off the camera more regularly, but are you ready for this? I haven't cleaned off our card since we moved into this house. Yep, a year and a half of our life is now missing in pictures.

I have spent the last half an hour crying and being in complete shock and have now tried to move on to remedying the problem somewhat. Luckily I have some of the pictures from January on posted here, but they are only a fraction of even those events.

So, this is my request to my family and friends. Can you please try to help me recreate the last year and a half of my families life in pictures. Some of the first pictures on that camera were from when we moved into our house, so August 2008. Anything you have with us would be great.

Thanks!

STOP and Go

Do you ever feel like life is just a series of Stop and Go's? That is very much how it has been feeling to me lately. Mostly it is a Go, but every now and then you get a huge STOP that makes you have to wait and readjust before proceeding. I wish there were yellow's to give you a heads up before you get the STOP.

We received a huge STOP in life in January when we found out that Landon was getting dismissed from his program. That one really took the breath out of me. It took a while to regroup and move past it, but we are finally doing that. He spent the spring reapplying to the program and paying a ton of money to get readmitted, but we are now finally at a Go with that. Last week he started retaking one of his "too low of grade" classes, a B-. It is just a two week long course, so by the end of the week he should be finished and we will be one B- less on his transcript and one of three classes down that have to be retaken.

There have been some good things come from this STOP in life. I have enjoyed having my husband back. I hadn't realized what the stress of school had really done to him until he has been on this break. Within 6 weeks of getting dismissed my fun loving, happy to play and talk husband was back. He is more willing to be social and go do things and has even picked up a few hobbies. It has been great!

This STOP in life also did some really wonderful things for our finances. We have really just been playing the hold your breath till you make it game with our finances. Just trying to hold on until he graduated. Well, with him not graduating this month, we had to readjust our game plan. We decided that we needed to reign in our money and put our budget on just what we are making from our part time jobs. My in-laws gave us the very best gift ever, Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I finally cracked that open and it has made a world of difference in our lives. I have told them this over and over again, but I have to say it once more, Thank You!!

Since this huge STOP our life really has been on a Go pattern. We got our kitchen remodeled, I have started training for a marathon, our kids have been growing in leaps and bounds. We also felt like we were on a GO with Landon's job. We had heard rumor that there would be a full time position open up at FedEx in August of this year. We were so excited and decided that Landon could just do the odd end jobs around the house until then and then really his schooling could take us as long as he wanted. There would be no rush because we would be having a real paycheck coming in.

Well, of course we had to hit another STOP sometime. We found out last week that the full time job will not be coming this summer. It won't open up until May of next year. A full year away! Oh how I hate stops. While this one stinks, it has not been the horrible set back that it could have been. Because we made so many changes in our life in the last few months, this stinks, but we are no longer just holding our breath and trying to make it to a full time job. It was a quick readjustment in our mental plan and we are trying to GO again. Landon has been applying for part time jobs and we are just waiting until the right one comes along. Then hopefully in a year from now he can really step up and take the full time position from FedEx.

I really do thank the Lord for his counsel in our lives. Sometimes I might not like what he does, but he does have a GO plan for us. We just have to figure out what that is.

On a completely different note, I hit a new milestone in my marathon training today. I ran 9 miles and realized that this is the longest distance I have ever run at one time in my life. My longest before today was 7 miles. So, this means I have hit a point in my training that every long run will now be the longest I have ever run before. Kinda cool. So, lets keep it going! Marathon, here I come...

Bu-Bye

Levi said his first word tonight. At least his first word that I know was really a word. When I go to work in the afternoon Ellen will stand at the front window and wave goodbye to me. She does this everyday and Levi has picked up on it. Whenever Landon or I leave, he likes to go to the window and watch us go.

Last week I caught him waving goodbye to me right along with Ella as I went to work. Well, tonight he was sad to see Landon leaving for a meeting so I took him to the window so he could wave goodbye to Daddy. He stood there and waved goodbye and in plain, understandable English said "Bu-bye." He said it over and over again. I got so excited I picked him up and kissed his little cheeks and then just to be sure I wasn't making it up I made him say it again. And he did.

Levi officially talks. Well, he says "Bu-bye" at least.

The Man of my Reality

Six years ago today Landon and I began our lives together. It was a beautiful spring day and it has continued to be a beautiful six years. Things have not always gone as we would have liked. They have not always been easy, but they have always been right. We have been blessed with three fabulous children and have journied through these years together. Side by side, sometimes holding one another up, but always together.

I don't know if I could have found someone who is more perfect for me. The love that Landon and I share is a treasure. It is deep and frustrating and fulfilling. We are huge movie buffs and so often my reference for something comes from a movie. One of the best ways to describe how wonderful my Landon is comes from the movie "500 Days of Summer." One of the characters in the show explains that his girlfriend is better than the girl of his dreams, because she is real. That is how I feel about my sweet Landon. He is the man of my reality and I am proud and grateful to have spent the last six years of our lives together.

For Valentines Day I gave Landon a reason why I loved him everyday from Valentines Day to our anniversary. So today, on our anniversary, I want to share them with you.

Landon, I love you because:

1. You make me laugh.
2. Your Hotta!!
3. You love our children.
4. Your a GREAT Daddy.
5. You provide for us.
6. You honor your Priesthood.
7. You're a great wrestler.
8. You support me in whatever I'm doing.
9. The way you hug.
10. The way you kiss.
11. How excited you get about hunting.
12. How much you love your family.
13. You play a wicked guitar.
14. The way you hold me.
15. The way you love music just as much as I do.
16. You build me things.
17. You are a handy man.
18. You're not afraid to carry a girly diaper bag.
19. You listen to the promptings of the Spirit.
20. You make me want to be a better person.
21. You look beyond my odditys and love me in spite of them.
22. You're a child at heart.
23. You dance with me.
24. Your patient.
25. It's business time.
26. We make the cutest babies.
27. You're a hard worker.
28. You dance like no one's watching.
29. I love to listen to you sing me to sleep.
30. You're rockin' body!
31. You find joy in all around you.
32. You keep me guessing.
33. You make a great "horsey" for the kids.
34. You trust in the Lord.
35. You teach me how to listen to the Lord better.
36. You are always striving to be the best person you can be.
37. You pray in earnest.
38. You respect me as a woman, a wife and mother.
39. You are a wonderful listener.
40. You're Fantabulosticacious!
41. You're a sexy geek.
42. The way your butt looks in jeans.
43. You're the cool guy at the party.
44. You make me proud to be your wife.
45. You dream BIG!!
46. You can make fun of yourself.
47. You give good advice.
48. You are working with me to be self-reliant.
49. You sleep with a baseball bat under the bed.
50. You would do anything to protect your family.
51. You are a strict disciplinarian.
52. You rock my babies to sleep.
53. I love loving you.
54. I always have fun when I'm with you.
55. You're extensive knowledge of movie lines.
56. I feel loving when I think about you.
57. You are better than the man of my dreams.
58. You are always seeking for ways to grow.
59. Your knowledge of the scriptures.
60. I trust you.
61. You are willing to compromise.
62. When you smile at me everything in the world is right.
63. You made my life happy.
64. You look damn sexy on a motorcycle.
65. You are my favorite person to sleep with.
66. You encourage me to develp my career.
67. You change the fishes dirty water so I don't have to.
68. You never give up despite the adversary.
69. You are continually learning new things.
70. Family is always first for you.
71. I can't imagine raising children with anyone else.
72. You're my own personal heater.
73. You're tall, dar, and handsome.
74. You don't make fun of me when I don't know the definition of a word.
75. You read books to our children.
76. You read books with me.
77. You serve the Lord faithfully.
78. You have perfect teeth.
79. You work hard eeach and every day.
80. You like to watch chick flicks.
81. You like my cooking.
82. You are the best thing to happen in my life.

Happy Birthday Levi

Today is Levi's 1st birthday. It is amazing to me how quickly this last year has gone by. But what an amazing year it has been with this little boy in our lives.

I have dubbed Levi my peace baby. Levi's birth brought a lot of healing and peace to my soul coming just 6 weeks after the loss of Shelly. We also felt strongly to name this baby after Connor, thus Levi Connor Ladwig. I really feel as if he and Connor have a strong connection. After Connor passed away when I would feel the heartache coming on or sense the sadness, I could always feel an angel come to be my companion. I didn't know who it was, but it always brought me peace. Days after my little infant was born we gazed into each other's eyes and I felt a strong connection and assurance that this was my angel who helped me through that pain. Levi hates to see others hurt or crying and will do all he can to help cheer them up. Just his presence will leave your cup full and your heart full of peace. How lucky I am that he chose me to be his mother.

Now for some fun information about Levi. He has the best build up for a cry. When building up for a good cry he sounds like a tea kettle building steam. It starts in his face and as a high pitched but soft squeal. It gradually builds until it is a full blown cry, but he gives you plenty of build up.

This picture comes to us courtesy of my brother-in-law Jason's "Crying Baby File" on his phone.

He loves to smile, yet he can be one of the most somber children.

He has an obsession with hand held electronics. Pretty much anything with buttons, but especially cell phones and remote controls. He believes he owns the rights to these things and will carry them around holding them tightly to his body whenever he gets his hands on them.

Levi always wants to be part of the crowd. He loves getting right in and playing with his siblings even though they are really rough with them. Often he is the instigator of wrestling matches.

Levi throws some of the best fits I have ever seen for a one year old. Full blown on the floor, arching the back, telling you off fits.

He loves baby dolls and has even confiscated one of Ellen's babies to sleep with every night. (Ella was nice enough to say that he could use Baby Jo for a while.) He cuddles her close to him every night as he falls asleep.

He gives really sweet snuggles and is a total Mama's Boy.

Levi loves cake and ice cream. We gave him his first ice cream cone last week and he ended up giving himself a brain freeze. He sat there eating his ice cream crying because he couldn't figure out why he felt so bad but not willing to stop eating the yummy ice cream.

I had his birthday cake sitting on the counter for most of the day and he asked me for it about a hundred times. He would point his finger at us and ask us in baby talk for it. He was very patient waiting clear until the end of the day before he could have it.

He talks while he eats and has since the day he was born. No matter if it is nursing, or baby food, or big kid food he feels he must tell you just how delicious it is. It is like one of the scenes in the movie "What about Bob?" If you have ever seen the movie, you know the one, and Levi is a dead ringer for Bill Murray.

Levi has just recently decided he is not only a walker, but a climber. In the last two days I have found him perched up on a chair, stuck on the couch, and on top of the kids puzzle table, and sopping wet on the floor by the tub. The only problem with this is that he has not figured out to get himself down from even a simple step without going head first.

There is so much I could share about this little angle baby of mine, but the most important is that I love him and we are so grateful he is a part of our family.

Happy Birthday Leviticus Maximus!

The progression of the cake.