Levi Russell Cerkas entered the world on Wednesday, January 19 at 11:50 am! He weighed in at 9lbs 8oz and 20.5 in. We were very thankful that he was born prior to his due date!
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I first thought I might be going into labor at 7am and started timing the contractions. Within a half an hour, I realized that I should probably call Eric home from work (he left a 5:30am and I was fine then) since the contractions were 7 minutes or less apart and pretty strong. I called a friend who picked up Alena (thanks, Lori!) around 8:45. Boy, was I glad I did as the contractions got much stronger after that!
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We arrived at the hospital a little after 9:30 and had just enough time to get our affairs in order before everything got intense. I was already at 7cm when we got there. We got an epidural (which didn't work very well at all this time), doc broke my water, and tried to relax. We had to call the nurse back in a half an hour or so later because I thought we were ready to push... and we were! Like I said, the epidural wasn't working very well, so I was in a hurry to get him out! The doc rushed out of the OR to deliver, and everything got crazy, quickly, and thankfully! Levi was born 5 minutes later!
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He was super healthy from the get go, so we were able to have a "normal" post delivery experience. With Alena, she was rushed off to the nursery right away and we could only spend time with her there. Levi spent is first 45 minutes of life bonding with me instead of with a nurse or getting cleaned up. It was so refreshing for us!! He peed on me twice and pooped once, also making us thankful that his "plumbing" worked great. Right from the get go, he has nursed great, despite the fact that he is mildly tongue-tied.
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I had called my mom earlier to let her know that we were in labor because we wanted her to be there for the delivery. Well, she wasn't able to make it in time for the delivery :( She arrived about 1/2 hour after he was born. We were thankful, though, that she was able to share in the rest of our experience. She was ecstatic to be able to help the nurse to give him his first bath.
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We were able to come home the day after he was born because we were both doing so well! I feel 100 times better than I did after Alena was born! Almost normal, praise the Lord! We've spent the last 24 hours catching up on sleep and getting used to having a baby around again. Alena came home from her grandpa & grandma's house this afternoon and has been adjusting as well. My mom and stepdad are here and have been helping out tremendously!!
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We are all very thankful for how everything has been going and pray that we can continue to adjust easily to a family of 4! We are so very blessed with our son and daughter! The Lord has been good to us!
The day before the wedding, a few people went to Sylvan Hills Recreation Area to go tubing. We didn't end up going, but Alena had a chance to play on the playground, despite the wet equipment (it was raining). Auntie Avery helped her out.
Here we are getting ready and waiting for the ceremony to start. I didn't get any shots of the wedding, for obvious reasons.
The happy couple: Davey & Avery
Alena was the center of attention at the reception, as you can see. She was running around everywhere, saying hello to everyone, making them all smile. 
She danced with the bride, of course!
Grandma Hawkins loved having her around
And they showed each other a few new dance moves!
Here are my DeNamur family aunts, busting a groove... later in the evening.
Our first Christmas celebration was on December 19 with the Kinstetter family in Casco. Santa came and Alena recognized him, but she didn't want to sit on his lap. He did give her a cute little gift and she was eager to open it up. She got het own little princess cell phone and has been chit chatting on it ever since. 
Alena's godparents, Greg and Angie Hudy, sent her a sweet Christmas gift. I let her open it when it arrived. After ripping open the paper, she found a colorful book and immediately started "reading" it. One of her new favorites now!
On Christmas Eve morning, we had our own little family Christmas. Alena woke up to find a large object near the Christmas tree, covered in blue paper. It took her less than a minute to open it and check out her new trike! She knew what to do with it, and figured out the built-in bell. She was tooling around the kitchen and living rooms all morning. She also opened up her other gift of a new fleece blanket that I (Apryl) made for her. She cozied up in it right away and even brought it along for a ride on her trike. We can't wait for spring and the opportunity for her to cruise around the neighborhood!
Later in the day on Christmas Eve, we packed up and went over to Eric's parents house. This was our first Christmas with the newest Cerkas, Benjamin who is less than a month old! Such a sweet little boy! We had a wonderful meal of steaks and all kinds of super yummy sides. Everyone (except for Angie and I) had some of my father in law's tasty, home made wine. Of course, we all opened up our gifts, too. Alena got a play kitchen! Daddy finished putting it together just last night and she was instantly wowed! She plays pretend and makes us food to try. We are so thankful for the gifts that other family members gave to us and Alena! We feel so blessed!
The cute little girls wanted to share a rocking chair :) They play like sisters and love each other so much...
unless Alena starts to pull Aubrey's hair! The girls got a chance to go "swimming" in the pool of wrapping paper that was left over from all of the gifts. I had trouble loading the video, so this photo will have to do, at least for now! Like I said, they act like sisters in a cool way. Cozy cousins!
In the evening on Christmas Eve, we drove up to Tomahawk. Alena was SO tired from not getting a good nap that day and was exhausted from all of the excitement and playing with Aubrey, but she didn't fall asleep until we were in Wausau (3/4 of the way there). She even started crying when Grandma Hawkins said hello to her. 
After going to church on Christmas morning, we prepared food and headed to Rhinelander for the DeNamur family Christmas. This gathering is pretty meaningful for me since it is the one gathering that I've been going to since I was a child. My parents divorced when I was in 6th grade or so, meaning that each Christmas thereafter was split. It was tough with parents fighting over time with my sisters and I, but I always fought to be able to go to the DeNamur Christmas. I hope that we are able to continue this tradition for my children!
We're opening gifts here, and someone captured Alena's goofyness. She looked so adorable in her Christmas dress and pretty hairdo (courtesy of Auntie Avery). 
The day after Christmas, we went to Grandpa Cance's house (my dad). She opened up this gift from Grandpa to find a cute little stuffed puppy that she quickly named "Al." We have no idea how she came up with that name. We don't know how she named her baby doll "Bud," either!