The Big, Bad Lion and His Razorback

The Last of the Birthday Celebration

What a fun weekend! I know I've been blogging about the birthday all week, but when you've been sick for an entire week and bogged down in yuckiness, a little sunshine goes a LOOONG way. I'm just so thankful for HEALTH, family, great friends, and lots of smiles. It's been exciting.
Chuck E. Cheese was a hit last night (I think uncle Na-Na had the most fun - Dave and Buster's trip in our future).


And then his birthday party in the park (his favorite park!) with all of his little friends...it turned out to be perfect. Couldn't of asked for better weather! Almost all of his friends were there which was such a blessing and so much fun for the little guy. He had his favorite people there, his favorite food, in one of his favorite places in Bentonville. His party started at 4:30 and we closed the place down when it became dark. Loved it. I got the bucket of M&M's and tried to coerce the kids to all come together for a group photo (it worked, by the way!):

But then we had to get them to smoosh closer together :) And then the aftermath...our living room looks like #2 toy room! Not sure where we're gonna store all the fun new stuff, but I bet we can find a place. :) So fun! So now for a little rest and another party tomorrow night! I think Monday's plans will consist of NOTHING. :)

October 29

Mission Accomplished.

I heard the Wildcat rustling with the door knob around 8:00am, grabbed my camera, and anticipated the entrance. And it was grand...good ole Lincoln fashion with the eyes of wonder, raised eyebrows, and gasps. And of course he came bolting through with his Bible and his Tiger (of course, right?).
Last night Jason and I lingered in his bed with him for longer than normal, read a few more stories from his Bible than normal, and gave a few more hugs and kisses. We talked about how crazy it was that 2 years ago we were sleepless anticipating being induced the next morning with this rascal.
We will have his appointment (along with Noah's 9 month) next week to see where he is on the growth charts so I'll update that when I have them.
For now...I'll do a little run-down for memories purposes:

SLEEPING: recent big task accomplished? He now sleeps in a twin bed in his new room (that has another twin bed ready for Noah!). He's done great with this transition. We've had a few instances where he gets up in the middle of the night (2 I think), but other than that, we have had no problems.

EATING: His favorite foods are eggs, any kind of fruit, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, toast, pancakes, chocolate, suckers, hotdogs, Cheetos puffs, yogurt, crackers, popcorn, nutrigrain bars, string cheese, turkey, and cupcakes. :)

PLAY: He's still very social and loves being around his little friends. We're working on sharing and respecting others. He generally plays well with others, but can get the "No...MINE!" mentality for sure. We talk about the words "patience" and "share" often. :)

SHOWS: He loves Nick Jr...Yo Gabba Gabba, Diego, Backyardigans, Fresh Beat Band, Toot and Puddle...the other day we noticed our memory space on DVR was fuller than normal. Jason looked into it and saw that Lincoln has set it up on season pass for "Little Bear" - he had 37 episodes set to record. Funny.

SONGS: He loves the Diego song, Jesus Loves Me, a breakfast song we made up, and anything with a fast tempo that he can dance to.

TROUBLE: The little guy has his moments, but nothing too bad (at least it doesn't seem that way). HE mainly gets in trouble for kicking Noah, hitting Noah with his hammers and such, taking away Noah's toys when he is playing with them, or pulling Benny's tail.

VOCAB: Over the past month or so, his vocab has taken off! It seems like he learns more words and associations every day at a rapid pace - it's remarkable. He can say a lot of sentences now and is finally getting on the language train. :)

FAVORITE PLACES: (This is what he tells me): Church, Park, Chuck E. Cheese (he gets to go here when gparents visit), Amy and Na-Na's, Mimi and Papa's, Harry's (his friend next door), Wal-mart (seriously), and of course - the Gym.

*And then a few of my favorite things. I love Lincoln's personality. Love it. One thing I love is how when we are at Walmart, he says hi to EVERYONE. It's humbling because he even seeks out people I would walk on by and never notice. No discrimination with that guy - everyone's getting a "HIII!!" and most even get a hi-5. We've prayed for him to be a leader since before he was born and it's neat to see little aspects of that already cultivating.

*And then this:
I know he doesn't understand fully the love of Christ and what a privilege it is to pray and enter into the presence of an almighty GOD, but these moments of praying together are very treasured.

Happy Birthday big boy!!!!!

Pre-Game

Okay. Toddler in bed...mom and dad wasted from blowing up balloons...foyer decorated so he knows this is the day when he toddles from his room to ours in the morning.
I'm excited!!!
This will kick-off the weekend festivities!
As you can see, he has a Handy Manny Tool Workstation from yours truly waiting on him as well. I have no doubt he'll flip over this. We have another gift (still in the works) that we're gonna wait to give him at his party Saturday afternoon. This is so fun! I see now why my parents made us wait to come out of our rooms at Christmas (wait till they were set up with cameras to capture our faces!)...it used to drive us crazy, but I get it, mom. :)

The Plan

Tomorrow is Lincoln's 2nd Birthday (**pause** for brief freak out...okay, I'm better).


We have big plans for this weekend, which is also why Jason and I frantically got our hands on a pair of antibiotics last night to ensure a full load of energy.


A few weeks ago, I was randomly talking to Lincoln about these "big plans" and he caught me off guard with his over-dramatic enthusiasm as I mentioned each detail of what we were going to do. The huge expressions in his eyes, the way he through his hands up in the air and gasped with glee, the jumps up and down, the roll-call (asking who all was going to be there), and then the even more excited glees when I you give a "yes, uncle Na-Na's gonna be there, too...".


So after that day which brought extra warmth to my heart, we made it tradition - pretty much daily - going over all the details of his birthday and what he's going to get to do and who will be here to share it with him.


His reaction never ceases to disappoint...each and every time.


If you ask him about his birthday, he exclaim, "I'm gonna be two!! Cake! Cake! Chuck E. Cheese!!" and then he'll proceed to tell you everyone who is going to be there.


So after two weeks of doing this, I wanted to make tomorrow morning extra special and give him no doubt that this was the day.

Therefore, when Jason gets home from work, I am going to go get tons of balloons filled with helium and put them throughout the livingroom area, then buy some separate packs of balloons to blow up and have in the floor (he's a balloon kind of kid), and hand streamers from his bedroom door. I also, of course have plans to cook his absolute fav breakfast (pancakes, eggs, fruit, and milk). We're also going to have his presents from us set up/wrapped so he can dig into them in the morning. I might be more excited than him!

I'm excited for him to burst out of his room in the morning (typical Lincoln fashion), get excited for all the balloons and realize this is the day we've been talking about for TWO WEEKS!

So what are the big weekend plans???

Tomorrow night, it's family birthday time at Chuck E. Cheese, then Saturday will be his party in the park with some friends, then on to Sunday festivities with more friends (this obviously isn't part of his birthday, but he'll probably think so nonetheless!).

Little Blessings

It's next to impossible to capture a picture with both kids together + smiling + looking in the semi-direction of the lense. Thus, this picture makes my heart leap with giggles. :)

And this one is a close second.

In other news, my little sis's baby shower for Baby Tucker was yesterday! I was super nervous I wouldn't make it because everyone was still sick, but Jason got better by time of the shower!! I would have gotten sick all over again if I would have missed this!! I just get giddy thinking about baby Tucker's future and what God has in store for this little angel. :)

Yuckiness

Well, I have a long night ahead of me...no more DVR's to watch, nothing good on TV, have been update on all facebook status's and blog reader, so I guess it's time to write a post about why tonight's going to be a long night. :)

Thursday afternoon I was dressed, ready to go run at the gym, when about 10 minutes before we were planning on going I started feeling pretty bad. My body started aching, I was spacey, and my head hurt.

Fast forward 6 hours and I was puking with all the fun trimmings (insert "fun mental picture" here).

And just when I thought "it was over"...well, it wasn't.

And before I go on complaining about how it was the worst I can ever remember being sick in my life (even though I've been blessed to get this nastiness sparingly), I will take a moment to share of my blessings - cause that's what we're suppose to do when we're miserable, right?

Blessings:
1. MY HUSBAND. Oh. My. He's a freaking trooper. If any of yall ever get sick, you should hire this guy. He's truly amazing. He'll clean your house, disinfect the whole house, go to the store countless amounts of time to get you what you need, throw away your nasty stuff that didn't make it in time (over and over again), feed the kids, bathe the kids, change the kids, play with the kids, and smile the whole time he's doing it. He should start a business.
2. In case you didn't get how amazing #1 was, let me paint a more vivid picture for you (warning: it really is more vivid): Lincoln has a touch of this fun stuff, too (could be where I got it from) and his diapers EVER-SO-MUCH represent this fact. For instance, He woke up this morning with the big "D" (or #3, as some households call it) running all out his PJ's and had saturated his bed with it. When the lovely hubby went to change his clothes, whole kernels of corn and green beans fell out of his pants in heaps - disgusting. And yes - the hubby changed countless of those diapers in the past 24 hours.
3. A doctor who is also a friend (able to get speedy phenogren to the house!)
4. A child that, even though his diapers would conclude that he is sick, acts extremely happy and lively
5. That same child slept 5 hours today
6. While child #2 slept 4 hours
7. Today I was not nauseated, but unbelievable weak - but that when the great hubby starts running a fever this afternoon, followed by my symptoms two days prior, I all the sudden have all the energy in the world (thank the LORD!)

Yes. Ten loads of laundry have been done today. I am feeling better. Kids are bathed and in bed early. Husband is lying in bed with fever and stomach-wrenching pain.
Looks like I'm about to get my shot at "super-mom" and see if I can match up to "super-dad".

And why the long night? Jason gave me the whole bed when I was sick to writhe in my pain and dispose in peace (let's face it - not fun to hear)...so I'm doing the same for him. I would sleep on the extra bed in Lincoln's room, but this is what Jason did 2 nights ago and he said he would wake up from a dead sleep with a toddler's face right next to his giggling (happened like 3 times!) - that's just creepy. :)

My Little Mess

Today when Noah went down for his early nap I wanted to some kind of activity with Lincoln. I pulled up the website I often get ideas from and check in the October section.
And, to everyone's surprise, I decided on the messiest activity for the month of October (I generally HATE messes and try to avoid them at all costs!).
We got daddy's shaving cream out, coupled with our big pumpkin and a handful of kitchen tools, and had fun! The activity was "shaving the pumpkin"...not sure we ever got to that part, but it sure was fun!
At first Lincoln didn't like getting it on his hands...then I put globs on his toes - he didn't like that either. But after 5 minutes or so, he was LOVING it all and going to town on this project.

I don't have pictures of this part, but the activity ended with him stripping his clothes off, smearing it all over his body (while hackling of course), then chasing mommy in the yard with globs of shaving cream. When I'd let him catch me, he would smear it all over my pants and belly laugh...it was pretty fun (once I surrendered to the absolute mess!).

I know these pictures look like he's having a blast (which he was), but when it was time to take a bath, he cried and wailed the whole time going "But my pumpkin! My pumpkin!!"

We need to work on endings apparently.

Baby Transitions

Yall know I'm typical on the back end of transitions. I'm not a fan of them with the kids - especially when things are going so well! So I tend to start a lot of things later than normal (whatever normal means, I guess) including: starting solids, introducing fruits, giving them real food, letting them eat sweats, switching to sippy cups ONLY, carrying the child in instead of the child-in-the-carseat, etc.

And then there's the transitions (that some think I'm already behind on) that I'm still holding on to: Paci's, Diapers, Crib-sleeping.

My philosophy is (and has been), why push transitions if they're really not necessary? Yes it's necessary to have your child potty trained by pre-school, as an example. But is it that big of a deal if they're not drinking solely out of a sippy cup by their first birthday?

I've always been on team "not-a-big-deal".

Someone (can't remember who) once told me - in regards to potty training - not to do it until your child is ready, to go on their timing.

So you can pretty much say I've adopted this philosophy to all transitions. It keeps baby sane, but more importantly, it keeps me sane!

So when Lincoln went to his big-boy bed (in our guest bedroom that has been set up for a few months now) and got in the bed, asked to pray, and told us "nigh-nigh" two days ago, I took that as "he's ready"...right?

So far, so good! He slept perfect the whole night, didn't come out until 8:00am, and when he did come out, he BURST through the door with a huge smile on his face, yelling as he ran around the kitchen. It was hilarious. It was like he was so proud.

Night #2 came last night. I held my breath, and once again, a little burst of energy comes popping through the door at 8:00am on the dot.

So today I decided to completely transition their rooms, hang pictures, and make them "their own". It was a daunting task, but it was fun. Pack n play is packed away and Noah officially has his own crib.

So today's nap was the first time I've let Lincoln nap in his big bed. I was nervous about doing this because he is such a great napper and I didn't want to mess that up.

But it's been 30 minutes, and so far so good!

I'm super thankful at how easy this transition has been so far! I was dreading it because I thought it would mess up Lincoln's great sleeping antics.

Now if I can just get him to initiate potty training on his own and throw all his paci's in the "tash" by himself...hmm...that would be amazing.

Two Little Pumpkins This Year (our list keeps growing)

Why is it that I never went to Pumpkin Patches (not even ONE) until I had kids?? They're super fun and festive!
This was last years event...as you can see, I had both of my boys with me - just one was being carried at all times. :)

There wasn't a whole lot Lincoln could do last year except sit where I plopped him. He had just started walking but not good enough to take off on his own.

Enter 2010 family getaway to the pumpkin patch - a whole different story.

There were barrels of corn to sit and play in...
Or stand and throw (take one guess where that corn was heading!)...

Hay tunnels to run through...

Hayrides to embark on (though when we learned this one lasted 40 minutes, I "bailed" off the back and Jason tossed the kids over)...

Samurai Swords to be found...

Hot dog buns to munch on (Noah's first taste of real food not pureed)...

Cow trains to be hitched (this was Noah's personal favorite - he giggled the whole ride)...

Marshmallows to be roasted and crammed in one tiny little mouth...
6'5'' shoulders to hitch rides on...

Grumpy bulldogs to laugh at...

Slides to race down...

"Pumpkin Ball" to be played (of course we had to do this first)...

Hay to be tossed all over mommy ...

By Mr. Lincoln, of course...

Oh - and hay to be eaten...

And of course, lots of pumpkins!!!

I LOVE (adore, cherish, anticipate, relish, you get the ides) FALL!!!!! I prefer the name "Autumn" cause it sounds do much prettier, but nonetheless, this season is fantastic. Now if the weather would stay a consistent cool temperature, all would be perfect.