So Much To Say!!

Did Someone See A PANTHER???
I did. On the freaking prowl again, gettin' in people's heads, creating holy terror for those who try and match it's ferociousness...Yes. Here they come. Straight from the depths of the mysterious jungles to the great plains of, yes, no other than Alma, Arkansas. What more intimidating territory could one ask for? Right.

Nonetheless, my ever so brilliant husband did it again and the Panthers are in fact on their way to the state tournament this Wednesday. You're amazing baby. You see, I have this facial expression I make (see the photo n the left of our blog where we're on the way to the hospital)...it always reads the same expression that Jason has now come to know so well...the expression being "Here we go!". He says it's the face I had as I walked down the aisle...the one when we found out we were pregnant...and then on our way to the hospital...I gave it to him last year at this time before the state championship game...sometimes it's followed with a quick wink...and today, babe, I have it again as you take your boys down the state title road again. A road most have said is impossible for Siloam, but one that you paved, and then charged down last year, and are starting that trek yet again. So Panthers, here we go. (I think the Joker also had this same expression in the Dark Knight...mine's not so freakish and twisted...hmm).

Anyway, game's at 2:30 at Alma Wednesday...I'll keep ya posted how they do.

Lincoln's Latest...
In Lincoln news, this is an exciting time for us cause exactly one year ago tomorrow (Sunday), is when I took that pregnancy test (okay - I took 8 just to make sure) and found out the little man was living in my belly!!!! I can't BELIEVE it's already been a year since that moment - one I'll never forget for sure.

Mr. Lincoln found his feet today...and what does he try and do with them? Shove them in his mouth. Impressive thing is he's actually a hair shy of being extremely successful with this task! Mamma's so proud...he can't even talk but he can already put his foot in his mouth (haha...lame I know).

Now in SCARY news, there's been an odd discovery made recently that Jason and I are in debate about. First off, this is no exaggeration (ask my parents)...but it all started a few weeks ago when the little angel got upset.

We rocked him...no success.

Walked him...no success.

Laid him with his toys...no success.

Gripe water...no success.

Pacifier...no success.

ESPN???? (dear Lord I hate admitting this)...freaking SUCCESS. It's a fluke, right? My child really doesn't calm down to ESPN...right? So we began testing the theory (because off course my husband was so humored by it), and after extensive testing, it's not ESPN, it's BASKETBALL. You've got to be kidding me. I've even tried other TV shows and even other sports (thinking it's just the colors), but no. Basketball. Only basketball.

For a long time I just said, "Oh it's the movement back and forth and the colors, and it doesn't have to be a basketball game - maybe he just likes the TV??"

But then after attempting to calm him last week, I heard myself utter words I never thought would leave my lips:

"Babe! What channel is ESPN???!!!!!"

I say it's the past paced movement.
Jason says it's a gift from God.

But there you have it. When I'm up in the morning and need to get ready, I pull up a DVR game Jason has saved (since basketball games encompass 90% of our DVR space) and let the little man eat his heart out while I get ready.

And below are some latest shots of the little rock star. He's been so cute to see with Bruce Wayne - I think their gonna be pretty good buds. He's started LOVING to pull and tug his ears. Today I looked over at him and he had reached out for Papi's snout, with both hands, and was, yes - trying to shove Papi's snout in his mouth! Don't worry, mommy got there before he actually did it. It was still pretty hilarious though.

And this picture below is one of my favorites. After watching their basketball game together (apparently now both of their favorite things to do!), I captured this shot. Precious.

I'm Still Alive

But barely. I haven't posted on here in ages it seems. This week has been that overload crazy BUSY BUSY week where in the midst of it all, somehow, Jason, me AND Lincoln all decided to get sick at the exact same time...not a good thing.
So our little Lincoln, who was sleeping through the night last week, now wakes up on the dot at 3:30 every morning. I know I'm suppose to let him cry it out, but the poor thing is so snot nosed and when he cries for a long period of time, he has trouble breathing because his nose gets double snotty! He sounds so tragic, poor guy.
So were're up...from 3:30 on...and resultantly, Jason nor I aren't getting any better because of lack os sleep. At least Lincoln sounds better today. Maybe he'll start feeling better and get bck in his routine??

That's my prayer - my plea!!!

Lunch Breaks

Aren't they nice? Whoever decided that us hard working Americans need 30 minutes to do nothing and re-fuel...thanks. I truly am appreciative, but not too excited considering I have been to Africa and now know what other parts of the world do...in Africa, everything shuts down at noon and everyone goes home for "lunch" (I say that in quotations because I also found out through my AIDS education that most people use this time to have sex - no joke; there's lots more I could say about that stuff I learned but I'll save it for another post). And then when everything shuts down at noon, it may or may not open back up. So we always had to get all of our errands done by noon in case those "eating lunch" decided they were having too much fun to come back.
Yeah, but not us here. I am writing this over a turkey sandwich from school cafeteria (appetizing) while simultaneous listening to this soulful song on repeat that I just found out I am singing in church on Sunday morning and should probably learn by then.

After work today, I am headed to pick up Lincoln and we are off to the duo game mess in Little Rock this weekend - thanks ice storm. We play Greenbriar tonight and Morrilton in the morning - ouch. Sounds exhausting. Poor guys. The fun and exciting news is that Lincoln gets to see his grandparents who haven't seen him in months! They're gonna go crazy with how much the little fellow has grown!

Speaking of grown, Lincoln had a well visit today for his 4 month deal...he weighs 13.7 lbs. and is in the 20% for his weight supposedly...he is 24 in. long which they said is a little small. He was really long last visit and hasn't grown much more. I asked the doc why that is and he said that he'll probably catch up, some take longer to grow, and then he said it could just have to do w/ genetics. Did he notice my husband is 6'5??? :)
Lincoln did AMAZING at his visit! He as quite the show off, talking, laughing, doing his cute high pitched squeal, and trying SOOO desperately to show doc how good he can roll over and how all he's lacking is to roll that one shoulder. He was adorable and knows how to make mommy proud.

Some of Life's Greatest Joys

1. Seeing my sweet little baby look up and smile at my face...because he knows I'm mom (I'm a mom!)
2. Holding my husband's hand...feeling protected, loved, and important.
3. Being blessed with an amazing family who is so supportive.
4. Beating Harrison by 25 points - on our home court :)

Go Panthers.

More Butt Pictures

My friend Meredith gave Lincoln this adorable outfit...he's finally big enough to wear it and it looks so freaking cute on the little guy - thanks Meredith! I think you can see by the pictures that he's quite fond of the overalls. :)
Ha...and check out the pictures below...Lincoln's grandma MacMahan got him the cutest diapers ever - they have his name on the buttocks! Another item I thought he'd be able to wear months ago, but no. He just grew a butt big enough to fill them last week.
This is Lincoln, NOT wanting me to take a picture of his buttocks...
And these are the ones where mommy won the battle. :)

By the way...we have now had TWO consecutive nights of Lincoln sleeping from 10:00pm - 7:00am...UNBELIEVABLE!!! Our little plan and method has worked like a charm. :) I wished I would have known how easy that would have been and we would have done it a month ago!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Today is very exciting because we get to spend the morning w/ the little Valentine, and here in the next hour, we're dropping him off at his Mimi and Papa's house. They've offered to keep him until late tonight so Jason and I can try and find some romance in the midst of this crazy thing called parenthood - SO excited. And what are we doing?? Absolutely NOTHING. Well, not entirely, I guess. But nothing extravagant or anything. We're staying home, cooking
Fillet Mignon's and just spending uninterrupted time together - now that is priceless and the best gift ever. I'm so excited. :)

And check out what this little rockstar did last night...we saw daddy coach (and won again in the last seconds!!), then came home and put him to bed at 10:00. Jason's brother and his wife stayed the night last night and we let them sleep in our room cause it was our third night of C.I.O. and we didn't want them having to stay up and here Lincoln scream. And we couldn't NOT do it tonight or we start back at square one.
So, we put him down at 10:00 and the little booger did not make a PEEP - a PEEP people, until 7:20 this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's a miracle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I know I shouldn't get crazy excited yet, because who knows if this will last, but this is the first time he has EVER done this, in his CRIB, and I'm SO excited that I might see more sleep in my future. :)

These pictures below are Lincoln's Valentine photos with his puppy his Grandma and Poppa McMahan sent him... I was disappointed that I never could flash at the moment he was smiling...he sees the light on my camera when it focuses, and he always stops smiling because he gets so intrigued by it. Oh well...he's still stinkin' adorable.

Night #2 of C.I.O

Well last night was Jason's turn to stay up w/ Lincoln in attempts to help him get through that night feeding (or very early morning, to be exact). So before bedtime, I coached Jason up BIG TIME:
"Okay honey - now he's gonna scream starting at about 4:00am...and it's gonna be hard to listen to and you're gonna think the little fella is suffering and possibly on his death bed, but DON'T GIVE IN. If you feel like giving in, come get me first and I'll take over! Now he'll cry like this on and off for about 3 hours until he's suppose to get up. You'll be miserable. You'll wanna give up. You'll say it's not worth it. But DON'T GIVE IN. The end results far outweigh this one night. Did I mention, DON'T GIVE IN????"

So I get up this morning at my usual time, walk into the living room where Jason is asleep on the couch. I hesitate waking him up because I'm sure Lincoln was screaming all night and what if he just FINALLY fell asleep?? But then I figure he'd rather be in the bed, so I wake him.

"Honey - how'd it go??" I say with a sheepish look, scared that the answer is "awful!"
Here's what he said...

"Oh he woke up at 4:30, cried for about 20 minutes, and he's been asleep ever since."

What?! You mean our child, only on the second night of letting him cry it out, only cried for 20 minutes??? WHAT?! How could that night be so drastically different than the night I had w/ him when it was my turn?? Couldn't believe it. So excited. So proud. And all those speeches I gave him to pump him up last night...not needed apparently.

So I'm hopeful this is the turn of a new era for Lincoln's sleeping habits - wouldn't that be amazing!!! But I'm not getting my hopes up yet, because tonight is my turn, and well, I wouldn't be surprised if I'm just not that lucky. But it can be done, people...it CAN be done.

It's Friday. Go Panthers.

Brokedown Papi

Well he's done it again folks. Except this time he didn't get himself stuck in the bottom of an abandon swimming pool for an entire week.
We woke up to shrills from Papi who was simultaneously, frantically running in circles on our bed, SCREAMING (if a dog can scream) and his heart was racing at a pace that would have hinted he just finished a marathon if I hadn't known otherwise.
I freaked out.
We couldn't get him calm.
Couldn't figure out what was wrong.
I freaked out some more.
Because this scenario went on ALL night long,
I balled...all night long.
I don't know why, but he kept acting so disoriented and like he was having constant panic attacks, my mind kept coming back to the fact that some was internally wrong. Brain cancer was all I could think of that would be causing these odd behaviors.
So we sat up with him, trying to comfort him, watching him, trying to figure out what was wrong...helping him calm through each wave of panic...and I was certain these were the last hours with our Mr. Papi. I know I sound dramatic, but I truly had these feelings.
So this morning Jason took him into the vet (I couldn't do it) and I said my goodbyes and my prayers that God would make the cancer go away.
Well, after 2 hours and many tests at the vet, the conclusion?
Papi's playful spirit had finally gotten the best of him.
Bruce Wayne broke Papi's tail.
No cancer.
No more goodbyes.
Just a broken tail.
So I'm sorry Papi and I truly feel bad for your poor little tail, but PRAISE the LORD.
For those who have read this blog, that's TWICE now in the past 3 months I thought we'd lost our Papi.
I really am melodramatic. Gosh.

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In other news, since I was up w/ Papi all night, I decided to do Lincoln's first "crying it out" night to get him past his early morning feeding he still insists on.He actually did okay...cried on and off from 4-6:45am, but he at least had some off moments where his shrill and Papi's weren't the deafening duets of the house. We're gonna keep it up these next few nights and hope to eliminate it by the end of the weekend. And can I brag on him for a bit?? He has been getting WONDERFUL reports from the lady that keeps him! She says he's the hit of the other three little girls that stay there and that he is the happiest baby - just laughing, smiling, and taking it all in. That makes a mamma proud. :)

Because They're Too Pathetic to Keep to Myself

Who's in the Bed?
Husband? check
Lincoln? check
Bruce Wayne? check
Big Papi? check
Benny? check
Mamma? Of course not. Apparently she's the only productive/non-lazy one in the house. That's what I get for having a house full of boys.

The Butt Finally Came!

Mr. Lincoln's turning into quite the beefcake these days. As a new mom, you become obsessed with all the milestones your little one's suppose to accomplish and wonder how your baby's comparing to all other's out there and how he matches up to the "milestone averages". When he accomplishes them before the average time frame, you think "Oh my gosh! I have a genius on my hands!!" and truly believe he's on his way to busting off the intellectual, giftedness charts just because he babbled "arg...arg...argOOO!" 3 weeks before he's "suppose" to. Or then the moment where you're looking at the milestone charts averages and see baby's are suppose to be able to hold their heads up pretty good somewhere around 6 months and you realize in utter horror that yours still looks like a bobble-head. Then you find yourself frantically looking for specialists' numbers and googling "persistent bobbleheadedness" to see what the name is of the rare condition your child must have.
For us, numerous people advised us to only have one package of newborn diapers on hand because Lincoln would outgrown them, probably even before we could finish the package. So we took that advice. We have a gazillion size "1" diapers (next size up from newborns), knowing we would needs tons of them...waiting to use up that "one" package of newborns.
Well folks, we waited...strapped on the newborns...waited...kept strapping...and about 30 packages of newborn diapers and 3.5 months later - LINCOLN's BUSTED THROUGH A MILESTONE into size 1 diapers!!!!! I thought he'd never grow a butt! My little sister, Amy (bless her heart) used to ask my mother when she was little if she could go "buy a butt" at the supermarket because she didn't have one like her older sisters did.
I was starting to get worried that we'd have to go buy one for Lincoln...or that he'd be 3 years old and needing newborn pull-ups. But no, the butt has finally grown (now if we can just work on those scrawny cute little legs!!)

Below is our Mr. Bruce Wayne and Little Batman...when you have a house full or boys, you naturally get a house full of playful superheroes. :)

Below is from the Panther game...you guess who won the game.

There are thoe scrany legs I was talking about...

The Dog Theme

Jason saw the pictures of Bruce Wayne I had on the side of the blog and he thought I should post some of him now to show what a gigantic polar bear he's turned out to be in 4 months! He's pushing 80lbs at this point. And he truly is a polar bear...that's what he reminds us of at least. When I found him on the highway, he was bony and starving and the vet thought for sure he had worms and would die...but after a thorough examination, to the vet's surprise - he was totally healthy - and now totally our's...all 80 lbs of him. He really has turned out to be the sweetest dog - he LOVES Lincoln. When knew people come over to hold Lincoln, he'll sit at your feet staring at you to make sure you don't harm the little fella - too cute. So here's his growth progress:

Here Come the Panthers

Alright. Panther's are out again tonight. We need this win.
Desperately.
I keep telling Jason he needs to use Papi as the mascot and when they announce the team, turn all the lights off and have a spotlight on the floor then have Papi run across the court (he's crazy fast). Then everyone will be like "Was that a panther? Surely not...did you see that?" And it would send the opposing guests/team into mass confusion. Yes. I think my plan is brilliant.

Doesn't he look like a panther?? :)

Tough Loss

Sad day. The Panther's had a rough night last night (even my little baby Panther...he's only 3 1/2 months old and already hates to lose). It's funny after games like that because I always get these pity looks and comments like "Poor thing - you have to go home with him" or "Guess you'll have a rough night tonight"...comments that insinuate that my husband explodes into a furry angry ball when he gets home after a loss, and me, poor pitiful house wife is forced to bask in his anger and self-pity.

Just to set the record straight, Jason never comes home and throws the lamp across the room or starts cursing out his anger and his players and all that went wrong (nor me, in that case), nor does he walk in and snap at me or not wanna talk because he's so mad or upset.

Yeah. Not the case.

I know it's the typical MO of a coach (so I've heard at least), but I don't have a typical husband (hints he's already won a state championship in his second year as a head coach - 1st time in school history added to that). So yes, very atypical in all aspects.

In fact, my husband has an amazing ability of not losing his temper - it's phenomenal. Admirable. Thanks baby for making it so easy to be a coach's wife and remember: you're still reigning state champs for a least two more months :)




PS. How about the sports coat?? It was quite a hit with the media and started out as a joke when I bought it on like tripple clearance and told him he had to wear it if they made the state championship - we laughed about it cause we both knew it was near impossible at the time. Little did we know!

In Case You Were Wondering...

I know you're probably really not, but I'll copy you Mer and post my "25 Random Facts About Me" for those of you who have been sitting around thinking "Wow - I really would like to know 25 random facts about Melissa...not 24 and definitely not 26, but 25 please."

Well for those of you, it's your lucky day.

1. When I was in the 4th grade, I was 4th in the state of Texas for free throw shooting (according to the Elk's Club)
2. An ideal vacation would be traveling to the poorest, most remote part of the world and living amongst its people and their way of life - no joke.
3. I tried out for American Idol's 2nd season in Cali...even worse, I auditioned with a Bjork song (in case you haven't figured that out already - big mistake).
4. On the same line of singing, my fame to claim is the National Anthem - have performed that one more times than I can count - impressed? didn't think so.
5. I HATE injustice...passionately and emotionally.
6. Think of the biggest dog lover you know, then multiply that by 1000, and you've got me. They tend to keep multiplying in our house because I have a compulsion of rescuing them...then keeping them.
7. If I'm watching a movie and a dog dies, I BAWL...if it's a person, I don't seem to mind as much (don't worry - I'm in therapy for this one).
8. I used to only want 2 kids and always wanted to continue working cause I loved my job...now I want at least 4 kids and there's no job better than being a mom (never thought I'd say that!)
9. If I drink orange juice, I have to drink it with a spoon - but only orange juice
10. When I was little and my mom wouldn't let me buy something in a store, I would throw a fit; when she would grab my arm to tell me stop, I would yell loudly "She's hurting me!!!" and drop to my knees like I was being abused. That's where the drama started
11. My nickname was "Drama Queen" (see #10)
12. When I go running, I think of how I am going to escape kidnappers if they try and abduct me
13. My story in Germany (high school) when I would go running was: "I am the daughter of the US Consulate in Germany and if you kidnap me, you'll have swarms of CIA agents on your ass!" Thankfully I never got abducted b/c I wasn't smart enough to realize they'd just use me for ransom then kill me when they figured out I was worthless...smart Melissa.
14. I used to call radio stations (delilah) and give sob stories so I could my favorite songs played...and hear myself on the radio - I was cool.
15. When I was little I would create Christmas pageants and force my little sister to perform them (she did everything I told her to).
16. I always knew I'd work with those less fortunate for a living...
17. I've eaten fried bugs before (in Africa)
18. I could live off Black Forrest Gummy Worms (must be black forest, though) or Johannesberren gummies (only in Germany - I stock up when I have layovers there)
19. I wish Jason could do the nine months of pregnancy and I'd do the labor/delivery part...wouldn't it be more fair if it could all be split up? And yes, I'd chose the labor part every time.
20. I have this knack for shrinking my husband's sweaters...I'm starting to think it's a talent
21. I can play about any song imaginable on the piano and most on guitar because I play by ear. I took piano lessons when I was younger but quit because I hated reading music and would go home and play what I heard my teacher play - I think this frustrated her. Now I wish I could read music better though...
22. I sang and performed a Britney Spears song for the cast of "Friends" at a taping...yeah, and then one Brad Pitt as one of all episodes.
23. And when I had a chance to meet Brad Pitt (rememeber this one Cory!), he smiled at me, I opened my mouth to talk, and NOTHING came out - yeah, I'm one of those now
24. I once let my friend Adri cut about 10 inches off my hair with craft sissors in Ukraine cause I was hot...i also let my sister do the same thing in high school, the night before Junior Homecoming (and I was on the homecoming court) - i'm impulsive sometimes
25. I rarely cry in front of people...when I feel like I'm about to, I pinch the fire out of my hand to distract myself.

Sorry

So you can't really see the comics...another reason why Monday's so aweful. It doesn't even wanna give you the chance to laugh. :(

Too Many Blues

That's Baby, Hubby, AND Monday blues. :(

How are you suppose to return to work in full swing after an unexpected week-vacation (pretty much a vacation, at least)? This Monday has got to rank up there with one of the worst ever. It's like "here - let me give you a taste of what it would be like to stay at home with the love of your life and your little bundle of joy for a week..." Then, BAMM..."Now let me take it away."

Simply uncool.

I mean, I'm grateful and all for the break, but it's left me wanting more, hating today, and missing my boys. So for all of you who share the same sentiments, try and find some humor like I did (note: it doesn't really work, but you can try it anyway).

Might have to click on images to actually see them better...and it might not be worth it so don't feel like you have to.