Turkey Pants

Ha. This picture belw was taken on Thanksgiving Day...Jason called his pants "turkey pants"...he was precious that day :)

So I went to write this post the day after Thanksgiving, but having a tiny tiny little one at your hip will delay things drastically, I'm coming to realize! I posted the pictures and then don't remember what happened as to why I was never able to finish the post, but I'm guessing it was either picking up screaming Lincoln cause his gas was bothering him (or cause he's just spoiled!), desperately search for the Mylecon, feed Lincoln one of his 8 thanksgiving dinners for the day, or change an icky diaper - nonetheless, I'm finishing the post now.

Thanksgiving was great!! Lincoln was very fussy that morning and we couldn't figure out what was wrong, but we thought it was going to be a LONG day at the grandparents house! But don't you know, that when we went over there (early - so they could take a shot a their soothing techniques!), he immediately stopped, and was angelic the rest of the day and night! Oh Lincoln. :)

The next day we went to my dad's side in the ole Fort...afterwards we took on the frantic crowds at the mall where my parents bought a beautiful coat for me for my birthday!!! It's red and I'm super excited about it! Jason and I went shopping at Pinnacle on Saturday and let em tell ya that Lincoln is quite the shopper! He just sleeps throughout the day and after we feed him he'll sit in his stroller and look at you wide eyed while making adorable noises! Love it. :)

Lincoln's seems to be getting somewhat better...we've figured out some tricks to help him get calm and reduce his gas problem that vary from positions when holding him to burping techniques. My favorite trick, however is Jason's invention that works like a charm!! He puts a drop of Mylecon on Lincoln's pacifier and he'll calm down IMMEDIATELY - literally. And it will usually last, too. Do all infants like medicine like this? He must be bored with drinking the same milk everyday - I would be.

Below are some pics from Thanksgiving...I also decorated my house yesterday wth my mom's help - it looks so pretty!! I'll post some pictures later.

Anyone Up For a "Baby Book Burning" Party??

Cause I think one of these would truly help my sanity and prevent any further damage from being done to my psyche (unless the damage is already too great beyond repair - Lord I hope not!). You see ever since I found out I was pregnant I was penciling advice given by friends, reading random parenting blogs, buying and borrowing any and every baby advice book I could get my hands on, then staying up to insane hours reading them in detail...all the while thinking "what's really so hard about putting your baby on a schedule? Surely we'll be able to figure this out and have a relatively "easy" baby...we're good with consistency...how hard can all this be???"
Then Melissa, the new mom, was given a brutal shot of reality - the reality more than anything, however is that I think I read too many books and now they're all running together and what one says, the other contradicts, and I feel like I'm in this never-ending circular mess of advice that really is now made a pile of mush out my brain that used to function fairly well (I thought at least). HOLY CRAP THE BOOKS ARE PUSHING ME TO THE BRINK OF INSANITY!!!!!!

Lincoln has had a difficult time this week transitioning to his crib and he's had really bad gas problems which result in hours of screaming bloody murder- not joking. So what do I do? I go to my trusty books....and I try everything they suggest - nothing works. So how do I eel? Like a terrible mom who can't figure out her child and is ailing because things aren't working like the books said they should. So by the end of the day yesterday, I had succeeded in to running in circles, plopping down on the couch and literally feeling like a complete failure. I mean, what would they say ("they" being the books!) if they knew my child still slept in a cradle swing at night because it was the only place where we could all 3 get sleep all through the night??? The SIDS police would be all over my butt and the books would put me in their "what not to do" book edition...or how the "wake time"?? Yeah, this work sometimes, but below is a classic example of our "awake time" yesterday after one of the feedings:

Put Lincoln on play mat for "awake time"....

5 minutes into "awake time"...

I know I'm not a bad mom and I don't want any books making me feel that way anymore...it's funny because things were going great until a few days ago when I busted out these books again and started feeling like I wasn't doing things right...why ix it when it wasn't broken at all!!! So instead of busting out the books last night, I prayed that God would help me not be frustrated and to trust my own instincts and to rely on Him versus freaking books.

Okay - I feel better. Now some more precious pictures from yesterday...I'll post about Thanksgiving tomorrow and put those pictures up. :)

Precious

I had to get up earlier than Jason this morning b/c Lincoln had a very early dosctor's appointment (I'll get to that in a minute). When I got out of the shower, Jason had gotten Lincoln and they had fallen asleep together...oh my gosh, the most precious thing EVER! I was scrambling all over the house for the camera and had a hard time remembering where I put it last, but thank goodness I finally found it to get the shots below...so freaking cute!!!

I took him to the doctor this morning b/c for the last three days he has been screaming (I mean the kind where whoever was walking by would swear I was abusing the poor child) after I feed him. He curls his knees up to his chest and I just can't stand to watch him do it! I know it's probably just gas and there's not much doc can do about it but I wanted to make sure. Well, he's fine...doc just gave us some tips on how to help his little tummy. He said it was more than likely due tot he fact that we've started giving him one bottle a day of breastmilk to get him used to a bottle for when I go to work. So the little sucker's fine...and still gaining weight - he's 8lbs 8 oz. :)

And today he has been angelic!!! Taking his naps and not being fussy at all! We're going to watch the Panthers again tonight - very excited about that!!!

And Bruce - just b/c he's pretty :)

Guess Who's Back??!!!

Oh yeah - Jack's back. It was last year at about this time that I was a pathetic loser and watched seasons 1-5 of "24"...that's 120 hours (hours, people) of Jack Bauer...and the REAL pathetic part is that I accomplished this amazing feat in a matter of about 1.5 months.

So SUPER EXCITED for the start of a new season tonight - especially after waiting, oh so patiently, for an entire YEAR for this return. And I think they wrote the new season for me - Africa, refugee camps, civil war, fighting international injustice???? Yeah, Jack's back and I'm excited.

In other news, Jason's parents came down for the weekend to see Lincoln and watch some Panther basketball. It was fun having them visit and Jason's mother gave us great gift of sleep last night!! She stayed up with Lincoln and we slept a whole entire 6 hours STRAIGHT. SOOO exciting! Especially since I had to get up super early to sing in church. What a blessing!!!!

Lincoln's doing good. He has been having a real gassy tummy lately...I think it's because we've been introducing a bottle a day...maybe?? I think it's getting better though cause he is sleeping right now for (what seems like at least) the first time since Thursday. :)

My Husband...part 2

So last night was the start of Panther Basketball 2008-2009...so naturally it brought back memories of last year which literally was a Cinderella story and such an amazing accomplishment. To back up, for those of you who don't know, the Panther's were State Champs and definitely the underdogs who had NUMEROUS upsets throughout the season! I give lots of credit to the amazing head coach and his coaching staff. Hey - I can do that cause I write this blog - not Jason :) Jason and that brain of his seriously AMAZED me last season. The guy's brilliant when it comes to basketball...seriously. Again, I know I'm his wife, but a state championship in your second year as head coach doesn't lie!!
So here we go, starting a new season, losing a chunk of last year's team - and last night we played Springdale which has some pretty good talent!! Throughout the game they were beating us, sometimes as much as 15 points. We didn't have the lead until the last couple of minutes, and were truly out-talented - but not out-coached. :) So here comes the brains of my brilliant husband, shuffling his cards around, and low and behold we freaking WON the game. I don't know how the hell he does it to be honest!!!!! I've stopped trying to figure it out and just enjoy the fact that I'm married to one hell of a coach!!!
In all seriousness, God has truly blessed Jason as a coach - it's unbelievable how hard that guy works and I know God recognizes that and honors him for it. I really am excited to see what God has in store for Jason's career...I love just sitting back and watching him utilize his gifts of communication, of leadership, of connecting with young kids and creating passion within them - as I've said before, Jason definitely doesn't lack in the passion arena. :)

Here are some press pics from last year's championship....what an amazing time! And we had just found out we were pregnant the week before the state finals...crazy times!!!

Visit to Nana's (Lincoln's Great G-Ma)

Just some pictures of our visit yesterday...and some other ones cause he's just so stinking cute.

Papi's Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cannot even express how crazy excited we are!!!!!!!!!!!! I was in Ft. Smith visiting my grandmother tonight and I got a call from a man saying he thinks he found my dog...turns out, Papi had wandered into an empty swimming pool at a house that was for sale and had no one living in it...he got stuck in the pool and couldn't get out!! The neighbors (the man who called) heard something moaning next door and went over to check it out and found Papi in the pool. The man said he was terrified and wouldn't come to him, but we told him his name and when the man said "Papi"...he came right to him. That's when I knew we really had found the little guy!! The man said that when he found the dog, he remembered a flyer he had gotten in his mailbox Sunday and called the number...the flyers worked!! The miracle about it is that we only put flyers on malboxes in one small neighborhood for some reason (and it wasn't even our own neighborhood!). We prayed over the flyers before we passed them out Sunday and God answered our prayers - they landed in the right hands!

We're not sure if he has been stuck in this pool for the whole week, but he is very tired and has lost weight, and REAL skiddish - but he's home and were gonna be okay. :)

Thanks to allwho have looked and prayed for our little guy!!!