My Last Week of Freedom!

Ok, "freedom" is relative. If you call being at home with a sweet little baby and taking care of him all day "freedom", then yes this was my last week of freedom!


We started the week hanging out with Dawn and Daniel. It was a bittersweet visit since it was officially our last play date before I start back at work. Daniel celebrated the visit by showing off and sitting up! Lincoln, well, he celebrated by sleeping the day away while I held him. Lincoln and I both loved our visits with Dawn and Daniel and while it was our last official visit before work, I'm certain it won't be our last.

Missy and Perrin weren't able to make it over for their visit on Tuesday, but we did take Linc to the docotor for his 2 month appointment. He's a little on the small side, but the PA we saw isn't worried in the least. He's a whopping 11 pounds 8 ounces and 24 inches long. I tell everyone he's long and lanky: like his parents. :) He did ok with the shots, I, on the other hand didn't and managed to cry 2 times just talking about him getting the shots and another time while he got them. I think he's finally getting back to his normal self after the shots.


Linc and I went back to the day care for another look on Thursday. One of the teachers in his room held him and fed him while I hung out and played with the other babies. He's in a mostly boy classroom. The oldest boy is 18 months and there is another little guy Linc's age who will be starting around the same time. So happy he'll have little friends at day care!


Friday, Uncle Dave, Grandpa and Mom came to visit. Uncle David hadn't yet met Lincoln and Gramp hadn't seen him in a while. We had Tomato Brothers for lunch: one of our faves! Lincoln was great at the restaurant and afterward he got some lovin' from Uncle Dave and Grandpa. Linc loves snuggles so it was an all around perfect day for him! And us, of course. :) Kirk really would love to take a trip to AZ by the way of Route 66 someday soon. A perfect way to visit Unlce David and Ilonka!


And, finally, yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Kirk's family. I love it when we see Noah, Oliva and Sophia with Lincoln. They are so sweet with him and I have never seen a little boy who loves babies like Noah. I just love the way Noah snuggles with Lincoln. Besides the love Linc got from everyone, we had a lot of great food, conversation and laughs. It's always a good time.










It has been a quick 12 weeks. Every Saturday since we had Lincoln, I always say to Kirk: "X weeks ago right now we were...". I think he probably gets tired of it, but I love to look back on the day I had Lincoln as one of the best days of my life so far. We always said we'd start trying for a baby when we felt like something was missing from our lives. I don't think we realized what was missing until we brought Lincoln home. Having him home has been more wonderful than I ever could have imagined. All the crying (that's his and mine), all the stinky diapers, all the sleepless nights are worth it. I can see now he's exactly what was missing. And while I'm happy we waited as long as we did and I wouldn't change a thing, and sure there are nights when I'd love to be hanging out with our friends, I think Kirk would agree Lincoln is the very best thing to happen to us since the day we said "I do".

While I'm sad to start working again, I know Lincoln will be well taken care of by women who love babies and will do nothing but love him. He doesn't start day care until nexDecember 1st. Kirk will be home with him the next 3 days. I'm happy to have a few days to adjust to work before we take Lincoln to day care.


We have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Thank you to all of our friends and family who have been there for us the last 12 weeks. We love you all!

Friends and Family

Last week Kirk, Linc and I headed to our dear friend's, Eric and Allison's, for dinner. We were also able to meet their newest addition, Isabelle Faith. Isabelle was born about 3 weeks after Lincoln. She is precious! So adorable! We thought Linc was a good baby: sweet Isabelle slept almost the entire time in her mama's arms. I look forward to watching all of our little ones (their son Ezra, too!) grow up together.




We headed to Zeeland today to celebrate Papa's 29th (or so...) birthday. I always love spending time and hanging out with my family. It's a little different now with all the babies and Quinners running around, but I still love it.

One of my favorite parts of the day was Quin running all around the house taking pictures of anyone and anything. I didn't include her shots of the floor, or the ceiling or of the food in the fridge...she took so many pictures!! Here are a couple. Can you tell where her eye level is? We think she has a future in photography. Wouldn't you agree?








Oh, how I love that little girl! She is a ray of sunshine. I love her smiling face, her sweet voice and the naivete of a 2 year old. I love it.


We had to take our usual picture of all the cousins together.



It amazes me how fast they grow! They normally look happier than this!! (L to R: Gianna, Easton, Ellery, Quin, Lincoln)

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Well, this is it. My last week before going back to work. I'm having a hard time, but we know this is what we have to do right now for our family. It's not ideal and hopefully someday I'll be able to stay home with Lincoln. He starts day care December 1st. I'm sure I'll have a tearful blog after his first week at day care. Or maybe a happy one telling everyone how easy it was and how great he did!

We have a busy week ahead of us: a visit from Dawn and Daniel tomorrow, a visit from Missy and Perrin Tuesday, Linc's 2 month appointment (a few weeks late!) and even a visit from Uncle Dave, Grandpa and Gigi (a.k.a. Mom) on Friday. Hopefully all the excitement will take my mind off of my first week back at work.

Give Cloth a Chance!

Forgive me for going on a bit of a rampage...I can't make any promises, but I'm pretty sure this will be my only "blog rampage".

When I first found out I was pregnant, my assumption was I'd be using disposable diapers. When my mom, my sister and Kirk all mentioned using cloth diapers, I decided to look into a little bit further. I did my own research on-line and talked with one of our friends who used them with her first to get the truth behind cloth.

After doing some research, Kirk and I found a local lady who offered cloth diaper informative classes (for the true cloth diaper novice). From that moment on, we knew cloth diapers were the way we wanted to go. The shop where we get the diapers offers a starter package: we have 2 diapers of 5 different brands in order to determine which diaper is best for us and for Lincoln. Once we decide which brand we like, we'll return the rest and get store credit toward the diapers of our choice.

I'll never ask anyone (except the day care people) to change a cloth diaper. They aren't for everyone. For us, though, we have found they aren't as bad as you remember (I promise and for you Aquino's insert me riding around on my bike with rubber pants on my head), they're more affordable (we'll be spending about $500 on cloth diapers until Linc is potty trained as opposed to nearly $2000) and most importantly, they are better for the environment.

We put Lincoln in disposable while we were out of town this past weekend. When we arrived at the hotel, we found he had pooped right through to the car seat. That night, he pooped through his sleep sack and this morning I had him in disposable and, you guessed, it: another blow out.

I'm not a cloth diaper pusher, I'm not a pusher of anything. I will tell you, however, that cloth diapers have come a long way and I'm fairly certain they aren't what you remember. And after 3 blow outs in only a matter of days, the verdict is in: we're sticking with cloth.

Weekend in The Badger State

We had a fabulous weekend in Wisconsin visiting with Jason, Nikki and Gavin. The wedding was beautiful and the weather could not have been more perfect. Not to mention SE Wisconsin! What a gorgeous and under-rated part of the country.

Lincoln had a fabulous time hanging out with his aunt, uncle and cousin. We are so happy he was in excellent hands while we were at the wedding. He was showered with love and kisses from everyone! Even Gavin!


We can't thank Jason, Nikki and Gavin enough for their help with Lincoln.

As for the wedding: it was beautiful! We had to make a pit stop to pick up Kirk's tux in a small town about 20 minutes from the ceremony and reception. You know you are in small town USA when the place where you pick up your tux is also the place where you buy your Packers gear, your UW gear, your work clothes, your work out clothes, your hunting attire and everyday clothes! The long trip was worth it. Congratulations to Andy and Kyle.

On the way home we stopped in Chicago to visit Lisa, Julia and Rick. We had yummy pizza and came across a tavern named after Lincoln:

What are the chances? :)

Day Out

Since Lincoln was about 4 weeks old, we've had a weekly playdate with our great friends Dawn and her sweet son, Daniel. Daniel was born June 3rd. I'm so happy Lincoln will have a playmate once they both are a little older. This week it was our turn to head over to their place for a fun little visit.

I'm so sad that our weekly playdates will be coming to an end in only a couple of weeks when I head back to work. I'm afraid we'll never see Dawn and Daniel! :(

This weekend we are heading to Wisconsin for the wedding of one of our college friends, Andy. Kirk's brother Jason, his wife Nikki and their son Gavin haven't yet met Lincoln so they are going to come and watch him while we are at the wedding. We are really excited!

Cooing Machine