Levi's creations

 At various times throughout the past two days, Levi's called my attention to various trucks that he's made out of his blocks. I'm pretty sure these are in chronological order, except the fuel tanker, since he first made that one yesterday and I didn't get my camera out until today. The only one I'm missing right now is the snow plow, which is a pretty complicated contraption. I'll have to get a picture of that to share sometime if he makes it again.

Truck

Camera (not a truck, but this way we got to take pictures of each other!)

Fuel tanker

Fuel tanker

Train (version 1)

Close-up of train, version 1

Train (version 2!)

Train (version 2). Isn't Levi such a cutie??? He's so proud of his creations!

I'm impressed by his creativeness with all of this. And I didn't show him how to make any of these things--he just said, "Mama, fuel tanker!" or, "Mama, choo-choo train!" to let me know that he made something. The only thing we've done with blocks before is make towers.

Atlanta!

We are loving being in our new home. There are several things we have here that we haven't had (or haven't had for long) in the other places we've lived. First, we have a master bathroom. I had no idea how much difference this would make until we actually experienced it. There are so many things that go in (or it's convenient when they go in) a bathroom that toddlers just shouldn't have access to. We can keep cleaning supplies, medicines, razors, and other things in the bathroom without worrying that Levi will get into them. What a relief, and I didn't even know it would be a relief!

Second, an automatic dishwasher (not the manual dishwasher that's typing up this post) has made a HUGE difference! It's so nice to be able to just scrape off the food and stick things in the dishwasher. Levi likes it as well ("Mama! Wheels!" ... Oh yeah, dishwashers do have wheels on the racks). He really loves to "help" me get the dishwasher ready to run, and sometimes it actually does help!

A washer and dryer in the apartment are also fantastic. Levi wanted me to watch him on the potty the other day, and I was able to fold clothes right out of the dryer as I was validating the learning he was doing. Also, laundry doesn't have to be a big deal once a week anymore. Woohoo!

It's also so nice not to be living like college students anymore--Austin has so much more free time, especially on the weekends. We've also been able to get several necessaries that we've been holding off on until we had more financial freedom.

Gratuitous picture of Levi perching on my back and having me in almost a choke hold.
We have a lot of fun like this, but we're still working on the whole choke hold thing.

And of course, let's not overlook the advantages to the location. We are thousands (literally thousands - two thousand, to be exact) of miles closer to my family and several hundred miles closer to Austin's. Fresh and juicy peaches are to be had in abundance, and the mild winter only lasts two or three months here. The beach isn't far, either.

We're happy to be here!