Christmas Tree Hunting

Last weekend we took the kids out to a local tree farm to find this year's Chapin family Christmas tree. Levi had a lot of fun and was a great little helper. He enjoyed helping dad pull the cart and then helping mom decorate the tree with "twinkle lights". Lucas...well he just slept most of the time, which was a nice change of pace since he hasn't been sleeping much lately at all. Here are some pictures from our little adventure...

Daddy and his little helper.

Levi worked hard at pushing the cart.

Daddy and Levi having some fun.

Mommy and our little non-sleeper.

Levi helping mom with the twinkle lights.

Happy Halloween!

It's been a while since my last post so this will be short and sweet. Just some videos and pictures from the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Levi practicing for his future on American Idol.

Not to be outdone, Lucas showing us that he's cute too.
(Now, if he would only go back to sleeping through the night again...)

Our happy boy enjoying his Johnny Jump-Up.

Levi and his cousin Maya enjoying bath time.
What are the odds this picture causes serious embarrassment in about 15 years?

Lucas enjoying his exersaucer.

Lucas in his cool new sling, enjoying his mouse ears.

Getting ready for Halloween.

Showing off their Halloween costumes to Grandma and Grandpa Chapin.

Levi and his friend Annabelle both dressed up as bumblebees.

Levi and Maya before their first trick or treating experience.
Maya couldn't wait to start eating her candy.

The Diarrhea Riverdance

It's been over a month since our last blog update. Its been a busy month, with my 30th birthday, Courtney's 31st birthday, the start of the football season, trips to the zoo and cider mill, golfing, our dishwasher breaking down, growing kids, busy work, and everything else that seems to fill up our crazy days. Both Levi and Lucas are growing so fast. Levi's newest favorite thing in the whole world is Thomas the Train. Pretty much every one of his waking moments is spent talking about Thomas, playing with Thomas, watching Thomas, or singing the Thomas the Train song.

Try getting that song out of your head after hearing it a million times.

Lucas just turned 4 months old. He can roll over already and seems much more coordinated than Levi did at this age. He loves to laugh and coo at mom and dad. And he's been an amazing sleeper...he sleeps through the night better than Levi does.

One story will help illustrate the craziness. So the other day I was running late for work (per usual). I hurried in the the kitchen where Levi was sitting at the table, Courtney was making breakfast for Levi, and Lucas was in his exersaucer just as happy as can be. Courtney told me "I think Lucas just pooped". I looked back at Lucas and he was just smiling and laughing...and then I looked underneath the exersaucer. Lucas had pooped all right, and it was running out of his pants, down his legs, and collecting in a big puddle at the bottom of the exersaucer while he stomped up and down in it. I coined it the Diarrhea Riverdance. Needless to say, I was late to work.

Now that you're sufficiently grossed out, here are some pictures. Enjoy.

Apparently a rainstorm won't stop Levi from mowing the deck.

Lucas can be a very happy boy.

Big smiles with mommy.

Levi enjoying the goats at the petting zoo.

Our first family trip to the zoo.

Lucas showing off his cool winter hat.

Papa Chapin having fun with both his grandsons.

Having some apples at the cider mill.

Lucas enjoying his exersaucer (without pooping this time).

Daddy and Lucas. Awww....

Levi loves holding his brother, Lucas is not so sure.

Apparently Levi got bored with putting the stickers on his paper.

Summer Vacation

Last week the Chapin clan took our first vacation as a family of four. Courtney's parents rented a cottage on Lake Michigan in a town called Shelby (a little north of Muskegon). It was a tight squeeze with our growing clan but we made it work. Courtney's parents and our family were there the whole week, and Courtney's sister and her family were there the first half of the week. We spent a lot of time swimming in Lake Michigan, playing with the kids, playing Settlers of Catan after the kids went to bed, and of course, eating. It was a great week and the kids had a lot of fun. Levi is still talking about Lake Michigan, sailboats, jet skis, kayaks, catamarans, and of course the big camel and zebra he saw (but was afraid to feed) at the petting zoo. All in all, it was a great family vacation. Thank you Freed family for putting such a great vacation together for us.

Here are some pictures from the week. Enjoy!

The cottage.

Daddy and Levi enjoying Lake Michigan.

Best buds, at least until Maya scares Levi.

I apparently didn't get the memo we were all supposed to be wearing sunglasses.

Papa T and Grandma Carla with their 2 eldest grandkids.

Levi scared of the big camel (he's pretty much scared of everything).

Although he did make friends with this little goat.

Enjoying the farmer's market/petting zoo.

Daddy had to ride the train with Levi because he was scared of that too.

Family picture on the beach.

Papa T and Lucas taking a nap.

Lucas hanging out with Grandma Carla.

Eating pretzels on the beach.

Watching Sesame Street with the kids.

We're smiling because we just had dinner without any kids.
It was a good end to the vacation.

Grab Bag

When I was a kid I loved collecting baseball cards. I was always excited when my parents went the big flea market in Shipshewana because most of the time they would bring me home some baseball cards. There was this one booth that sold a "grab bag" of cards in a white paper bag. I can't remember what it cost...something like 100 cards for $5. And I was always so excited for this grab bag of cards. What I didn't realize at the time was that no sane card dealer would package up his best cards in a "grab bag". It was more of a way to get rid of a lot of his junk cards and still make some money. But every time I got one of those grab bags I tore through it hoping to find a big money card, like a Mickey Mantle or Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card or something.

But instead I ended up with a lot of Johnny Wockenfuss cards.

So what does that have to do with you? Well, this blog post is going to be like one of those grab bags. Sure, you'll get a lot of quantity. Its been over a month since my last update and a lot has happened. But will you get the quality you've come to expect? You'll have to read on to find out.

Levi turned two years old last week.

Last year Levi was sick on his birthday and it wasn't a very fun day for him. This year, fortunately, was a lot better. He was in great spirits and had a fantastic day. He had been practicing before his birthday by singing the Happy Birthday song to mom and dad. He was very excited to hear the song finally sung to him on his birthday.

Even though we tried to ruin it for him with our poor vocal skills.

Courtney spent a lot of time and baked him an incredible birthday cake. He loves Sesame Street and his favorite character is Cookie Monster, so guess who ended up on his cake?

"C" is for "Courtney's Custom Cakes"...order yours now.

Levi got a lot of fun gifts, including a garbage truck from Papa and Grandma Chapin, some big (fake) bugs from Papa T and Grandma Carla, a Little People Fire Station from Mom and Dad, some clothes from Aunt Mindy, and a noise making puzzle with all kinds of vehicles on it from Aunt Marnie and Uncle Ryan. He had a great birthday and we are very thankful to our families for their generous gifts.

Levi with his (and my dad's) booty.

The big winner of the day? This little squishy ladybug.

Levi and the ladybug were very excited for the Cookie Monster cake.

Cook didn't stand a chance.

In a less-heralded development, Lucas turned two months old last week as well.

So you may have forgotten that we have another child as well. His name is Lucas, and apparently he's going to be a big kid. He had a great two month check-up and he is a lot bigger than Levi was at his 2 month check-up. How much different were they? Break it down for us, html table (they don't pay me at work to be stupid)!

Category	Levi	Lucas
Weight	11lb, 12oz	12lb, 9oz
Height	22-1/2	24-1/4
Head Circ	37.2	40.2

Lucas is a pretty good baby. He eats and sleeps better than Levi did, but when he gets upset its far worse than Levi ever was. He did sleep through the night a couple nights ago which was awesome. He hasn't done it since though so we hope it wasn't just a fluke occurrence. He's becoming more interactive, which is a lot of fun. He smiles and coos now all the time. I think we'll keep him.

In case we forget the first letter of his name.

Our little girl...er, I mean boy...in his pink Miracle Blanket.

Lucas with Grandma Chapin.

And because we're an equal opportunity blog, here's one with Grandma Carla.

Enjoying the outdoors with daddy.

Showing us how he can smile.

Levi is done with daycare.

Courtney is planning on staying at home with the kids for the next year at least, so we decided to pull Levi out of daycare. It really didn't make sense for him to continue with Courtney at home. This past Monday was his last day and he hasn't talked about school much since then which is nice. He really did enjoy going there and we feel it was very good for him. But now him and Lucas are at home with mommy full-time. Thankfully our families have offered to help her out because I'm pretty sure she'd go crazy by mid-September if not.

Levi's art projects from his time in school.
How many trees died for the sake of Levi's art?

Summer fun.

We've been busy this past month, but we've had some fun as well. I went to New York City for work. We spent a few days at our friend's cottage near Lake Michigan. We went to a Freed family reunion on the 4th of July. We (obviously) celebrated Levi's 2nd birthday. I've been out for more than a few rounds of golf. So in spite of the extreme busyness that comes from having two kids, juggling everyday life, and keeping up with my increased responsibilities at work, we've taken some time to have some fun.

Hanging out with Great-Papa Lucky.

Lucas also met Great-Grandma Hazel.

Lucas and Maya with their 2nd cousin Joselyn, while Levi plays in a box with pinecones.

Levi enjoying Bass Lake.
(Honestly the only reason I posted this picture is my rocking biceps.)

We had a lot of fun with the Smith family.

Good lookin' family.

Levi, Bert, and Ernie were exhausted and slept all the way home from the lake.

Levi enjoying his first solo experience with a creamsicle.

Levi: "No Lucas, this is how your drive it."
Lucas: "I just pooped."

Eating outdoors is a new favorite activity.

If you made it this far, you deserve a reward.

So here it is...some free advice.

1) See Inception. It was incredible...absolutely a Top 10 movie for me. What are my Top 10 movies, you ask? Don't tempt me, you know how much I love making lists. Maybe another post.

2) Watch Arrested Development. Courtney and I just finished all 3 seasons and it was great. My 2nd favorite comedy show ever (behind Seinfeld). I can't believe a show that funny didn't have enough viewers to last...but then again I didn't start watching it until 5 years after the show ended. So maybe I'm partly to blame.



3) That's all. Good night.