Quick Update

We're just going to do this in outline form :)



1. Lincoln is 3 weeks old TODAY!!! Went for a weight check and he is a pound heavier than when he was born.



2. Lincoln's getting more into a routine (sort of) with his feeding and sleeping. He's doing quite well at it, too!!



3. He was awake for his first basketball game last night...we had fun hanging out w/ Jason while he ran the tournament last night.



4. Papi is still missing. An add was run in the paper today and we decided to offer a $100 cash reward for him - yeah, so not joking either. We both agreed it would come out of our Christmas money for each other b/c there's no present either of us would rather have than out Mr. Papi back.



5. I'm about to go to Ft. Smith w/ mom and Amy to let my grandma meet her new great grandson...she's excited and so are we!



6. I started pumping today (and not weights!)...yeah - this could get exhausting. But I'm excited that Jason gets to start giving him bottles sometimes!



7. I'm going to start exercising next week, I think...gonna try at least. I've got some firming up to do! I'm gonna start doing a strength class with Bethany but will have to wait a while to do that one...



8. I'm LOVING not working and DREADING going back...looking at part-time options after this fiscal year possibly



And I guess that's all for now :)

All Clean

Tonight we gave Lincoln his first "tub" bath since his little cord stump finally fell off. We also started him on somewhat of a schedule today...feeding every three hours, playtime, then nap time for about an hour and a half. It went so-so. :) Hopefully we can get better!! His bath went great - he was so precious (see pictures below) and didn't cry at all! As I'm writing this, though, he's screaming his head off in his crib. This whole "cry it out" thing gets tough :( But it works...he does eventually fall asleep (well, he did this morning, but I'm kind of doubting it right now!).

Today Jason and I spent the day putting flyers all over Siloam for Papi. We've prayed a lot for him today and really put forth a crazy effort to try and find the little guy. I know some of you might think it's trivial, but we really have been distraught that he's missing. Jason said finding him would actually produce better feelings than winning state last year even - gosh we just love that little man. Thanks to everyone that has been helping us find him!!!!

This weekend was Vicki Dee's women's conference...it was such a blessing and I truly enjoyed hearing what god as laid on this amazing woman's heart!!! Those who don't already, you should read her blog. Her link is on my page. One of the points was on praying for your children and it really touched my heart. I plan on writing more about that later.

Another point was about how God is in ultimate control of literally everything. Obviously us Christians know that but how often do we truly believe and practice that?? I know I struggle with this. And again, though this may sound trite, it reminded me (and I was able to share with Jason) that God is in ultimate control of Papi's situation right now and has a greater plan.

I also loved the emphasis on how our children are lent to us from God...they are not our own. Anyway, it was a great conference and like I said, I plan on talking about it more later.

Well, off to hang out with Lincoln. :) He's been a trooper today!

1440 Minutes...and Counting

That's how many minutes I've had to agonize through wondering where precious Papi is. :( About 1/10th of those minutes have been spent in tears, and about 1/3rd have been sent driving around this city aimlessly - to some parts I never even knew existed. The worst part is that you spend that many minutes thinking and imagining the absolute worst. So instead - while I anxiously await a call from the pound saying they have him, or hear feet puttering up to the front door, I thought I'd focus on the things I love about Mr. Papi and what makes him so special to us (this is more for my own therapy and sanity right now so feel free to check out of this post at any time):

1. We love all our dogs, but Papi could possibly be our favorite because of his sweet spirit. We joke that Papi actually has a heart and soul b/c he is overly caring and sweet

2. He's seemingly all tough and is our "warning bell" when someone's here who's not suppose to be, BUT:

3. He's TERRIFIED of vacuum cleaners, tape measures, lawn mowers, and most of Lincoln's toys

4. He loves to snuggle...up tight and close. He jumps in the bed every morning when the alarm goes off and gets right up under your neck

5. He loves to play and his new best friend is Bruce Wayne

6. I have to drag him out of bed on Saturdays, sometimes as late as 2:00pm!!!!

7. His favorite foods are grapes and watermelon

8. He's an AMAZING catcher...he's also our athletic one

9. He's extremely loyal - way more than any other dog I've ever owned

10. He loves to sit in the kitchen with me when I cook

We miss you Papi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Papi Come Home!!!!!!!!!

So our lovely beagle (Benny) decided to lead the way again, under the fence and into the big wide world...taking Papi w/ him. For those of you who don't know Benny, he has dug out at least 100 times in the past three years - no exaggeration. So after a few hour, Benny (as always) shows up at the front door - but this time without Papi!! And now it's been about 8 hours since they've been out and still no Papi!!! Usually he comes back, but usually before now.

So I'm crazy worried right now. And to make matters worse, just the other day, bruce and papi were fighting and they bit each others collars off...so he has no collar on. :(

If you see Papi roaming around, bring him home!!! I don't even think I'll be able to sleep tonight till he comes home...I love that little sucker. Papi - come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Praying For Lincoln's Soul!

So we're REAL concerned cause already Lincoln doesn't like church!!! Ha. We were excited to go back to CCF yesterday morning, got up, fed Lincoln (twice), gave him a bath, dressed him all up cute and got ready to load him up in the car to go to church. Wouldn't you know that about 5 minutes before we were to leave, he starts crying. No panic - he LOVES the car and we'll just drive around the neighborhood a few times to get him quiet and asleep. Yeah - plan didn't work - AT ALL. We made it to the church parking lot and Jason sat in the back seat with him to try and help him calm down, but the little booger was wide-eyed and NOT HAVING the whole church thing! So we ended up having to turn around and come back home. Of course, within the minute of us walking in the door, he fell asleep. Little stinker. :)
So we'll try church again next week! With lots of prayer and a full tummy, maybe he'll be interested in learning about Jesus next week. :)
He has been pretty good these past few days! He'll stay awake at least 4 hours usually throughout the day where he is just wide-eyed and curious - not crying - which is always fun. He has VERY strong hands (and very large) and is already trying hard to roll himself over and support his head even. He likes to hold his own pacifier in his hand and will rip it out with his hand when he doesn't want it anymore. Pretty cute and I think the little man's gonna be smart and strong. :) Jason keeps eyeing which hand he uses and gets SUPER excited everytime he's sees him using his left hand (apparently this is good for sports??).
He's also sleeping well at night. None of his "wide-eyed" awake moments are at night which means he has it figured out that night time is when we all sleep! Thank goodness!
Tonight i the start of Jason's basketball season - we're gonna try and go watch a little of the scrimmage...I am so excited for Panther Basketball! Obviously last year was a phenomenal year and it would be so exciting to have another repeat state championship. My husband is the best high school coach in the state (I swear I'm not biased - he won the award!!!), so we have a chance, right??
Off to wake a sleeping baby...aren't I brave??

Mr. Fussy Pants

That's Jason's new name for Lincoln the past 24-hours. Poor guy. Lincoln has been doing exceptionally well adjusting to his new home...until today :) The poor little guy just can't seem to get happy and when he's not screaming bloody murder, he has a look on his face that says "don't mess with me lady - I'm in a very bad mood!!" In fact, he's starting to get fussy again right now so I'm gonna have to save this post and finish it up later...I'll be back. :)

Okay..the boy must be going through a growth spurt or something b/c he has gone from eating every 2-3 hours to ON the hour! It's EXHAUSTING. But I love it...I really do. It's one of my favorite things. :) So he just finished his 10th meal of the day (okay - a little exaggerated) and is finally sleeping...any bets on how long it will last??? I must have eaten something he's not fond of cause this fussiness is quite uncharacteristic of the little man!

We went up to the school to eat lunch w/ Daddy today cause I had to show Jason Mr. Fussy Pant's true colors while he was gone away at work. :) Daddy was able to calm him down briefly, but that didn't last. The world obviously ran on Lincoln-time today!

Tonight mom is coming over to watch Mr. Fussy Pants while Jason and I go to the football game. I'm kind of excited to get out and it will be fun to see friends for a bit. We probably won't stay the whole time cause it's hard to be away from the little guy - even if he is Mr. Fussy Pants.

Tomorrow night the parentals are having the family over for dinner. My dad is giddy excited to introduce Lincoln to their home - he's cute. Other than that we have a pretty low-key weekend planned.

I will say one thing I've been amazed at through this whole pregnancy thing is how FAST your body reshapes and gets back to normal! That means internally and externally...it's phenomenal how fast everything is healing (healed in most cases) and also how fast my body has shrunk back! I still have about 8 lbs. to go before I'm where I was pre-pregnancy, but it's only been a week! I really thought that would take a lot longer...weird, but no complaints here. It's probably those last 8 that take 9 months, though, huh? Joke's on me.

Below is Lincoln 98% of the day today...second picture is after I fed him for the 100th time...

Heard This Quote Today...

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so our children can fly..."

Just thought I'd share :)