Playing Catch Up

I know...it's been a long time!  That is an indication of how exciting things are around here these days.

Last year was so different because Lincoln was always doing something new.  These days, it's a lot of the same thing: Lincoln running around and us chasing him.  Kirk and I are both looking forward to the weather getting warmer.  Last week, Mother Nature played a joke on us and we were able to get out of the house.  Lincoln LOVES being outside.  On more than one occasion when I have gone to pick him up from day care, Lincoln will be playing outside with his friends and as soon as he sees me, he cries.  Not because he's so happy to see me, but because he'd rather hang out outside.  (On another note, he's usually so excited to see me, he can't run over to me fast enough!)

Kirk and Lincoln were playing outside one day earlier this week when Lincoln's legs started moving faster than his little body.  As a result, he fell face first onto the cement and ended up with a nice strawberry on his chin.  I think it hurt us more than it hurt him.

There are a couple things Lincoln is into right now.  One is his pacifier and the other is pulling his pants down.  I know: strange!  Lincoln wasn't a pacifier baby.  We'd try every now and then to give him his pacifier, but it was never his thing.  I'm not sure where or when he found his pacifiers, but we turned around one day and there he was with his pacifier his mouth.

I'm not sure where he got this pulling his pants down thing, but it's slightly annoying.  The ladies at day care think it's because he sees the bigger kids learning to use the potty and pulling their pants down.  I'm not sure if that's the reason, but when Lincoln stops dead in his tracks and starts pulling his pants down, I can't help but laugh.  I probably won't laugh if he ever does it in public.

This past weekend, Dawn and her son Daniel invited us to Eaton Rapids to see Maisy.  (Maisy is a character in books by Lucy Cousins.  She's a giant mouse: need I say more?)  The event was actually way more fun than I expected.  It wasn't just Maisy standing there waving.  There were a lot of activities for the kids AND Maisy.  She was happy to take pictures with the kids.  Lincoln wasn't necessarily happy to have his picture taken with her, but he warmed up to her.

Lincoln kept his distance at first, but eventually he got a little bit closer to her and was giving her fives by the end of our time with Maisy.

I think it's hilarious that Maisy's nose is blocking out Dawn's head.  Not sure why I find this so ammusing.

Sooo, that's our update!  Hope this finds everyone out there doing well.  Time is flying for us!  We're looking forward to the warmer days ahead.  :)

Long Time, No Write

I know, I know...I've been MIA.  It's been THAT exciting around here since Christmas!  :)

The biggest news around here is that Lincoln is well on his way to being a full-fledged walker!  Kirk and I went to Vegas for a few days for our friend Kristina and RJ's wedding, (a big Thank-you to my parents for watching Lincoln while we were away!) and wouldn't you know it: he took his first unassisted steps the day after we left!  I was a little sad we weren't here to see it, but I'm glad my parents were able to be here for the momentous occasion.  He's getting better and taking a few more steps everyday.  Right now he's doing the "drunken Frankenstein walk" with his arms outstretched and his legs straight.  It makes me laugh.

In other news, I know parts of my reading area were slammed with inches and inches of snow, but we weren't.  The weather was crummy, for sure, but I don't think we got more than 8 or 9 inches.  We hadn't taken Lincoln out in the snow yet, so I took advantage of the day off from day care and took him out on his sled.  We didn't last too long, but we still had fun.  I know it won't be long before Lincoln wants to spend hours and hours playing in the snow.  One of my favorite childhood memories is my mom having homemade hot chocolate waiting for us when we'd come in from playing out in the snow.  It's a tradition I hope to continue with Lincoln someday.

Today we took Lincoln to a carnival at his day care.  He was a little young for a lot of the games, but we were able to "bowl", play in the science experiment room, jump (ok, sit while the other kids jumped) in the toddler bounce house and shoot some hoops.  It was a really fun time and Lincoln loved the people watching and hanging out with his friends from "school".  I think next year when he can do the cupcake walk, pop balloons, play in the big bounce house, sit still long enough to have his face painted, will be a lot more fun!

 
Love the static hair!

I hope this finds everyone well and warm!  Here's to hoping spring is on the way!!

Christmas!

Despite a bout with a stomach bug, we had a really fantastic Christmas!  We were able to see our families and hang out with everyone before we all got sick, but not before infecting everyone else.  I feel TERRIBLE about this!!

Anyway, we decided to give Lincoln a new pair of pjs each Christmas Eve.  This was our inaugural year.  :)  I love the footie pajamas.  They're so cute and I don't have to worry about his tootsies getting cold at night.  He won't keep a pair of socks on for anything.  



We spent Christmas Eve with the Schultz Family.  From L to R: Lincoln, Noah, Olivia, Lexi and Sophia.



Lincoln had a great time opening all his gifts but I'm pretty sure this CAT bulldozer thing was his favorite.  It makes noise and shakes.  He loves to press the button.  I, on the other hand, do not love the noises or the shaking.  It's so loud!  And there's no volume button!  And the on/off switch is hidden on the bottom and to get to it, you need a screwdriver.  Oh well...I'll let him enjoy it a little longer. 

Lincoln's favorite thing to do at day care is play in the sandbox.  We decided it was time he got his own.  Grandma and Grandpa Schultz got him a fun sandbox to play in when the weather gets warmer.



Lexi, Amy and Drew's daughter, is such a sweetie!  She's 10 months younger than Lincoln.  It's so hard to believe Lincoln was ever this small.  It won't be long before they're running all over the place together, I'm sure.  In fact, she may be running all over the place before Lincoln. 





Christmas morning was so fun!!  When I was growing up, my favorite part of Christmas was opening my stocking.  Don't get me wrong: I loved all of Christmas, but Santa always filled my stocking with the best stuff!  Books, CDs, movies, jewelry, candy, fun little toys, even an orange!  Nate, Joelee (if she was up early enough) and I would all sit on the heat and open our stockings until Mom and Pop would wake for us to open gifts.  

Lincoln had a great time opening his stocking.  Here he is playing with his favorite toy, a fake cell phone.  He loves the noises it makes.  It makes me laugh when he gives me the phone or puts it up to his ear (or on his shoulder) and says "hi". 



Santa was really good to Lincoln this year!  He got a lot of fun toys.  His favorite gifts were an activity center, a tunnel and a plastic truck to ride around on.  Lincoln has had so much fun playing with his new toys. 



Christmas Day we made the trip to Grand Rapids to visit with my family.  It was chaos, as usual!  :)  The best kind of chaos, of course.  I didn't get any pictures of all the kids opening gifts (darn!) but it really was crazy!  I know it'll only get more fun and more chaotic and even more loud (is this possible?!)

Lincoln got this great little magnet that hangs on the refrigerator.  Right now he just loves the music it plays but eventually, maybe it'll help him to learn sounds and the alphabet.  Although, I did hear him repeating the "K" sound the other day after playing this.  Hmmmm...



This summer Kirk will have a helper to mow the lawn!  

I love everything about Christmas.  Everything.  This year, though, one of my very favorite things was this concert Quin put on for us.  She gathered us all in the living room, told us where to sit and played her new keyboard and sang "ABCD..." to us.  Sometimes she sang different words, but it was always to the tune of "ABCD".  I loved it. 



We made a pretty quick exit after dinner (thank you stomach virus) so we weren't able to get any pictures of the kids altogether.  :(  These are all I have!  Ellery (isn't she too cute with her new bangs??), Jason and Gianna.



The handsome-est almost 2 year old I know!  Easton:



 

A big, huge, GIANT thank you to everyone!  Thank you for the gifts and the memories.  It couldn't have been a better Christmas.

 

Also, thanks to Gigi and Papa for Lincoln's new chair.  He loves it!

 

 

 

 

Visit with Santa

Last weekend, Lincoln and I went to the Potter Park Zoo with my friend Dawn, her husaband Reed and their son, (a.k.a. Lincoln's BFF) Daniel to visit Santa Claus.  The event was called "Breakfast with Santa".  None of us were really sure what to expect, but it was actually really fun for the kids!

We first went to see Santa Claus.  Kirk and I thought the Santa we saw last year with the cubicle backdrop was bad...weeeell, this Santa had a dry earase board for a backdrop.  Lincoln was really good (surprisingly) and just started at Santa.

After Santa, we went to the animal room where we were met by creepy crawler critters.  I had to take a picture of a o'possum seeing as we had a colony of them living under our deck this past winter.  There was also a snake that Lincoln didn't seem to mind and a gross spider.  I took the picture and ran!  They also had some other random animals.  It was really cool!

Our last stop was breakfast.  They had a really nice spread of food.  The best part about it was that it was all food our boys could eat (pancakes, eggs, etc.).  We had a really good time!  A special thank-you to Dawn for inviting us!

Our Little Peanut

This week we had Lincoln's 15 month appointment.  It is so hard to believe that Lincoln is almos 16 months!  Time flies!  Our biggest concern at this appointment was that Lincoln isn't walking yet.  The doctor didn't seem to be all that concerned yet since Lincoln cruises and pushes things all around the house.  Also, I didn't walk until I was 18 months old and the doctor said walking is very familial.  So, for now, we'll keep doing what we're doing and hope he walks soon.  Seems funny in one of my last entries a year ago I mentioned how much we were looking forward to having a toddler running around.

Anyway, yes, Lincoln is small.  His stats were:

Height: 29 3/4 inches (9th percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs. 13 ounces (5th percentile)

The doctor still isn't worried about him being small.  He's growing on the curve and that's really all that matters.

Lincoln had some immunizations at the appointment on Tuesday and he's just now his normal little self.  I actually had to pick him up early from daycare this week because he was feeling so miserable. 

Our next appointment isn't until March.  Let's hope he's walking by then!

Christmas Tree Hunt

It was C-O-L-D COLD when we went to get our tree on Sunday.  Not sure what I was thinking wearing only jeans and my Chuck Taylors.  You'd think I hadn't grown up in West Michigan with my thought of "if there's no snow, it's not THAT cold".  Duh.  At least Kirk and Lincoln were bundled up.

We've been going to the same Christmas tree farm for 3 or 4 years now.  Last year it was so much easier when we could just carry Lincoln around in the Baby Bjorn.  This year, we had to push the trusty stroller through all the bumps and humps trying to find the right tree.  It took a long time to find the right tree.  A really long time.  And a really long time when it's ice cold outside translates to A REEEEEEAAAALLLLY LOOOOOONG time.

I feel like we both kept saying "yep, that's the one" and then we'd look on the other side of the tree and there would be a big hole in the back of it.  Or we'd think we'd found the perfect tree only to see an even more perfect one just a tree or 2 down.  Lincoln was getting antsy in the stroller since it was taking so long but there were just sooo many trees!

When all was said and done and just before my toes broke off from frostbite, (seriously: I was limping my way back to the warm barn) we saw our tree and snatched it right up.  We were afraid we had made an impulse decision, but we both agree this is one of the best trees we've ever picked. 

Picking out a tree is hard work.  :)

So far we've been able to keep Lincoln away from the tree.  He's been a little bit curious, but all in all, he'd rather be pushing the santa stool around the room than touching the lights or the ornaments on the tree.  We'll see how long that lasts.

November

That was a quick month!  I can't believe I didn't update the blog AT ALL the entire month of November! 

I guess that's an indication of how exciting our month was!  :)

Besdies a couple of highlights, it was a really uneventful month.  We were lucky enough to have Easton and Quin hang out with us for an afternoon while Joelee stayed at home with G and Elle and Jason went to his old high school's football game.  (They were playing in Howell.)  While Lincoln was napping, Easton, Quin and I headed to the park.  It was so much fun to spend time with just the two of them.  Quin got really tired walking there.

Lincoln was awake by the time we got back.  I promise there was much more fun to be had than the 2 boys sitting around!

Quin and Easton were so well-behaved.  We had so much fun!

This year for Thanksgiving, we had my whole family over.  It was a lot of work but well worth it!  The kids are so good together and make for a whole new form of entertainment.  I believe Gianna (and maybe Easton?) was dancing on the coffee table at one point.  I hardly got any pictures...they must be on Joelee's camera.  Sorry!

Lincoln was feeling under the weather when we were at Kirk's parent's for his family's Thanksgiving.  No pictures either!  :(