...:::* 12 MONTHS OLD *:::...

October 12th has come and gone... but it was a wonderful day indeed.
A day when we celebrated one year of having our son, Levi Elliot, in our lives.

A little boy who entered the world and our hearts one year ago:


Has now become:



Milestones & Memories of your 12th month:

• 9/15 You stood on your very own
• 9/22 You took your first steps
• Hold your finger in the air & say "Dis, Dis, Dis" for "This Little Light of Mine"- Precious!!
• Really started to point at things
• Love hearing the "Choo Choo" and having Grammy scoop you up to run and see it.
• Playing "Peek-A-Boo"
• Your favorite pass time: Pushing cars all over the floor, bed, table... wherever!
  
• Still a dancing machine
• 10/5 Said some sad good-byes for a little while and boarded our plane in Pittsburgh for your first international traveling
  
• 10/6 Three flights later~ (you were a trooper) You arrived in India... Your new home
• Loving some big people food
• Quickly made new friends and are adored by all of the locals here.
  
• Rode your first auto & bicycle rickshaw~ You were in heaven :)
  

Here are some snapshots of our INDIAN Birthday Boy at his party!


(He was so handsome in his little Indian kurta)

Here's to our Levi ~
We pray for many more memories of loving you and laughing together in the next days, months, and year:

~Privileged to be your Parents~

All of Our Love,
Momma & Papa

:: HOOVER ::

Good to the very last crumb :)

We have been working with Levi on cleaning up his own mess...
Apparently it's working :)

.Music Man.

Levi has always loved music...
From Praise Baby to Mama and Papa's worship music
and an occasional song and dance to Bruno Mars song "Amazing" :)
If the music is playin'- His booty is shakin'

So you better believe he was in his glory as Mr. Ryan played his guitar for him the other night
.:: Our Little Music Man ::.

Levi has his first opportunity to strum the guitar himself :)
It was too precious!

Leyla Jii & Chai Tea

Everyone- Meet Leyla Jii
(pronounced Lee-La... adding "Jii" at the end of someones name is honorific. )



She is our house helper.
She is wonderful.
She has become Levi's new buddy... and she is quite fond of him.
As soon as she sees him, she will say, "Chotta Baby"- which means "little baby"

Leyla's famous chai & these cookies/crackers go great with it.
They have quickly become Levi's favorite.
I think he has been wondering why we waited so long to introduce him to them- haha.
He would eat them all day and night if we let him.

Leyla comes to our home Monday through Friday from 10:30-2:00
She cleans our dishes, sweeps and mops the floors, plays with Levi, makes us chai, cooks us lunch, cleans up after lunch, then heads home.

At each meal she will always make "roti"- similar to a flat bread/ tortilla.
And she always makes us extra so we have some for dinner.
You would be amazed what all we have been able to make out of roti.
One night we had roti pizzas (pictured below)
Other nights we have discovered grilled roti & cheese- delicious.
We are planning on making tacos this week with them.
They are so multi-functional~ It's great!

She does not speak English- which actually is wonderful because it makes us practice our Hindi
while she is here.
She is incredibly patient and gracious with us as we stumble through phrases,
and ask her a million times what something is in Hindi.

The neatest things will happen though-
Despite our mere four days of language class, Leyla will just talk to us in Hindi, and somehow we will get the main idea of what she is saying... and vice versa through our broken Hindi

More than anything- I love the moments that God allows us all to have a good laugh together.
Sweet times!

Yep...

Yep...

There is no denying that this boy is OUR son :)

We busted into some of our "goodies" we brought with us
(since we are such suckers for candy)
and when he saw that Laffy Taffy he just had to have some too.


I think he liked it- what do you think????



:)

.:: Delhi to Dehradun ::.

We woke up bright and early to head out of Delhi and onto Dehradun
Our language city.

Levi was perched at the window and ready for all the sights and sounds we would take in on our 6 1/2 hour trek :)



As we drove, there were so many amazing sights to see and modes of transportation to observe all on the same road.
I wished that I could somehow capture it all to share with you, but the only way to soak it all in is for me to pick you guys up and set you down right beside me to take it in.

Since I can't do that- here is a small attempt to see some modes of transportation
through our eyes:

Some would walk from here to there:
(Look closely- it is unreal how much these people can carry on their head.
I observed one woman with a HUGE bundle of sticks tied together and balanced on her head as she carried off to her home)

Motorcycles and scooters are very popular.
As you can see- it can even transport entire families:

Other amazing feats on a motorcycle: one man driving while another man sits behind him and balances a 3ft by 4ft mirror in between them...
which means: both hands balancing the mirror and no hands to balance himself through the constant slowing down and speeding up~ I often find myself truly amazed here... it's pretty neat

Horse & buggy or Ox & Buggy are a common way of transporting goods:
They seem to not be as concerned with how fast it gets there, but only that it gets there.
Thus, they often LOAD these guys down.

A great example of LOADED to the MAX:
All the while there are huge busses and trucks wizzing by- and it doesn't even phase them!

Tractors pulling trailers:
(A bit more of a contained load... but can you believe how full they fill these puppies?
You could barely see the wheels on some of them)

A few others found on the trip but not pictured:
Auto Rickshaws
Bicycle Rickshaws
Busses (with some rockin' horns- haha)
Cars
Oil tankers- if you look close in some you will spot these in the background.

Brunch Break:
We stopped about 10:00AM at this really nice McDonald's that seemed very randomly located in the middle of nowhere :)
We all enjoyed some delicious hot cakes & hashbrowns
plus I got a yummy cappuccino!
Mmmmm Mmmmm

Levi hung out with Papa and Ronald for a bit until our driver came back.

Levi & I enjoyed some snoozing in the back seat together as well :)

Our little wrestler has become quite a little cuddle bug these days-
He will wrap his little arms around our necks and just squeeze so so tight... we kind of LOVE it!
No worries- not all the time, he is still a wrestler at heart I think. haha.

Thanks for making the trek with us to our new city.
More Eggventures from our city to be shared soon....

Say Whaaaat?

Thaaaaat's Right:

It seriously says:
BURRP CERTIFIED
Khan Chacha's
Kabab Corner
"The place is a landmark in itself"

This is where we went for Levi's Birthday dinner and saw the sign on our way out.
Craig & I cracked up and I insisted that we take a picture of it for you all.

Levi tried his first Indian chicken and enjoyed it!

Hope you all enjoyed this post too :)

. Spending the day with Friends .

We spent October 12th, Levi's Birthday, hanging out with our friends:
Jesse, Shanee, Joya & Gus
for our last day in Delhi



We walked around Lodi Gardens

Had some good chats with Jesse & Shanee and great laughs with Joya :)

They surprised Levi with some cute little farm animals for his birthday-
he loved them so much that he wouldn't put them down when we left the hotel, but insisted on carrying them around- one in each hand- as we rode along in the rickshaw and walked through the park.

Fun Times!

SHOTS = Tuckered out Little Tyke

Unfortunately, this little one got to spend part of his birthday at the doctor's office for his 12 month appointment.

STATS:
Height= 28 inches ~ below 5th percentile
Weight= 20 lbs. 13 oz. (9.43 kg)~ 20th percentile
Head Circumference = 48 1/2 cm ~ (here we go...) 90-95 percentile
WOW- Right? haha.

We were so blessed to find a great pediatrician here in India.

Sleeping those shots off :)

No worries...
The India birthday celebration will be postponed until he is more up to celebrating!

:: Driving with Nana ::

Great Cousins = Great Times

Cousin Tate Marshall & Levi

These two are a hoot to watch play together.

(Starting at the top and circling clock wise)
Cousin Ethan, Cousin Jacob, Cousin Isaiah, Cousin Jeffrey, and Levi

Boys, Boys, and more Boys...
They are certainly all BOYS,
but they all have their sweet side in the way they play with and love on Levi...
It is PRECIOUS!

Miss you boys already- sending hugs your way from Cousin Levi, Aunt D, and Uncle Craig

... Wesleyan Reunion ...

Lady Bobcats (AKA- Jesse's girls) reunite one last time before heading to India
Love you girls!


Stephanie (w/ Gwen & Noah), Me (w/ Levi), Leah (w/ Olivia Joy), and Caitlin
Three of the best friends a girl could ask for.

And our FAMILIES:
(minus Chris, Leah's hubby- we missed you!)

Thank you guys for making the trip to Pennsylvania to see us.
We appreciate it more than you know.

Packing...

Got everything packed that we need?

Yep- everything that's important :)

It's YOUR 1st Birthday- Birthday BOY!

Today Our Sweet Little Boy, Levi Elliot, is a year old.

What a life changing day it was a year ago- one we could never forget
Our lives are forever changed... and we are thankful!

We have thoroughly celebrated this birthday- that's for sure!

West Virginia Birthday Boy:

We celebrated three special people that day:
Mama's 86th Birthday
Craig's 27th Birthday
Levi's 1st Birthday

Aunt Jodi decorated Levi's big cake- and I decorated his little one (my first time- woo hoo)

Pennsylvania Birthday Boy:

The festivities and guests:

"What? It's my Birthday. right?" :)


Sure is, Sugar, it sure is!

To Be Posted.... INDIA Birthday Boy :)