Wordless Wednesday

Well, Lincoln had a few things to add...

I like hanging out with my daddy!

And I love my mommy a lot!

And she loves me a whole lot!
I like her so much that sometimes I want to eat her delicious face!

I love this jumparoo thing my mommy and daddy got for me!

Time to what? Read a book? Ok.

I love Panda Bear, Panda Bear!

Goodbye blog readers! Time for me to get in bed!

O wait -- I thought you were gone! Well you have caught me I love to sleep with my face in the bumper. Its comfortable, you should try is sometime!

Except the only bad part is your hair sticks up like this when you do!

Thanks for stoppin by! Sorry this wasn't wordless -- I take after my mommy and its hard to do anything without talking!

The BEST Medicine.

Lincoln Miles, 5 months.

Family Reunion.

Over the fourth of July weekend we were fortunate to get to see LOTS of family because my dad's side of the family had a family reunion. This included my aunts and uncles, cousins and their spouses and kids. My dad has 3 siblings and between the four of them there are nine children. So the reunion consisted of my aunts and uncles and five out of the nine cousins! So, if I am counting correctly there were 24 of us total including kids. And out of the 24 of us we spans 7 states {Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Michigan, and New Jersey.} We had a pre-reunion Luau party Saturday evening at my parents house before the "real" reunion on Sunday the 4th. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

My dad, his sister Grace, his twin sister Phyllis and his brother Larry

My dad and brother

My cousin's daughter, Aris, and my nephew Carter

My older but much wiser cousins -- Jeff and Ashley

My dad and Lincoln. Some people think Lincoln favors my dad!

My mom, Lincoln and me.

My counsin, Yvonne, me and my cousin Ashley

Me and my cousin, Yvonne. My dad and her mom are twins! Don't we look a little alike as well?

The "girls"

My cousin, Yvonne and my niece, Tilly

I have MANY, MANY memories of growing up spending the Christmas holidays with my cousins on BOTH sides. I am so blessed to have such an amazing immediate family as well as extended family!

Party of Six.

"Mom, I have soo many cousins!!!"

Lincoln Miles (4 months) and Story Leigh (1 month)

Over the fourth of July weekend, we FINALLY got to meet baby Story and see the remainder of the Party of Six as they have so correctly termed themselves! They took the trek across the south to head to my parents for a visit and to attend the O'Dell reunion, which is the next blog! Story Leigh was more beautiful than the pictures! How can that be?? It has been fun to meet our two newest nieces AFTER we have had a baby of our own! It definitely gives you a whole other perspective. The visit was busy and crazy so I was only able to catch a couple of pictures of me, Story and Lincoln. I have no pictures to prove Cory met her! Ha. In fact, last night I asked "Did you even get to hold her?" He said "Yeah, one time when I picked her up off the grass in between photo takes with Lindsey!" Poor guy. Next time we see her I have a feeling he will take first dibs from me but I don't' think that will be happening! Here are the pictures:

Story at the Family ReunionLincoln and Story
Aunt Juie and Story!

And of course, I had to get lots of hugs, kisses and quality time with Story's older siblings -- Carter, Summer and Tilly. Summer was definitely the most interested in Lincoln. She would follow me out of the room and ask me "What is Lincoln doing?" She is so fun! We celebrated her 3rd birthday while they were in town. Princess style, of course! Here are some pictures with the rest of the O'Dell crew and from Summer's Princess party.

Tilly eating a snow cone! Carter


Carter LOVES balloons!

Carter and Summer

Tilly and Lincoln

Summer, Carter, Lincoln and Tilly.

I love the way Tilly is checking Lincoln out!

Tilly saying "Court" pronounced Qwarrrt. She kept asking where he was. I guess every time she asked he was in the shower so she would walk around after that saying -- "Court, Sour"

Summer's Princess Cake

The princess herself!

Showing off her new earrings I bought her.

Gotta get a pic with the b-day girl.

This was also the first time that Lincoln met all of his other cousin as well as his Aunt Heather and Uncle David (my brother). Lincoln decided it was the perfect time to start showing his stranger anxiety! He was scared of David for the first several days but by the end he had warmed up! Lincoln and I stayed a few extra days than Cory. So, David and Heather drove us halfway home one evening to meet up with Cory. Before we departed we had dinner at none other than the Jackson Family Steakhouse.
Lincoln was worn out on the ride home!

I had such a wonderful time hanging out with this crew! We only get to see each other about once every 6 months so we try to make the most of it. I just love my family!! And there was more family than this...family reunion post to come!

And while all 11 of us (wow we have really grown!) were in town Lindsey so graciously took our family pictures! It was hot and we had 5 children 4 years of age and under! Go HERE to see the awesome pics.

B.F.F.

Three years ago next month we moved to NWA and bought our first home! I remember seeing this home on the internet and I truly felt as if God was telling me that we needed to buy that home. One night after Cory got off work we drove three hours to look at it and both decided it was the home for us! We returned the three hour trip that night to our duplex and made a crazy offer that the builder accepted. Our real estate agent told us it was one of the best deals she had ever seen. It was truly a gift from God. Little did we know how perfect this house would be for us. The perfection does not lie in the bricks and mortar but in the location and the friends he has given us in this neighborhood. In fact, the biggest blessing about our home is in our next door neighbors.

I remember one October Sunday afternoon Trey and Christina were leaving from spending the weekend visiting and going to a Razorback football game with us. We waved goodbye and came inside our home. We had only lived here about two months and the loneliness had begun to set in. I sat down in our living room and through my tears told Cory how I missed our old friends and I was ready to make new friends and find our own community here. After an hour long conversation (or more with my reputation of chatting) we decided to go for a drive. We walked out to our car and there we met Justin and Erin, our neighbors! Our paths had not crossed in the two months that we had lived there thus far. We struck up a conversation and discovered that Erin and I work for the same school district and Justin is on staff at the church we had been visiting. From that point forward we were fast friends! We enjoyed game nights at each other's houses, an occasional movie and frequent dinners at our favorite local Mexican restaurant!


Little did we know that soon Erin and I would both become pregnant and both due in September 2009 just days apart. I miscarried at 6 weeks and Erin miscarried at 12 weeks. I cherished her friendship during this season of life. Its not often you know of a friend going through a miscarriage at the same time who lives next door! Soon after this Erin became pregnant with Will and was due in January and I became pregnant with Lincoln due in February! It was so fun having a friend pregnant the same time as you! We would go on walks and talk about our sickness, swollen feet or cravings. In fact, Erin was the first person that I told when I found out I was pregnant.


On December 17th , Erin was rushed in for an emergency c-section due to her blood pressure being high! I'll never forget Will's birthday because it was my grandmother's birthday and the anniversary of mine and Cory's engagement! When Lincoln was born Erin arrived at the hospital with a basket of snacks and goodies that was much needed after 16 hours of labor! She also arranged for dinners to be brought to our house by our friends. I could go on forever. What a sweet friend she has been to me, Justin has been to Cory and they have been to us as a couple!

Last week we went to their house for dinner. Both boys were awake and it was the first time (sadly) that we got their picture taken together! Will and Lincoln are exactly 8 weeks apart!

The boys checking each other out.

Sweet boys.

Lincoln grabbing Will's bib.

Will trying to eat Lincoln's bib.

Looks like a cheesy Olan Mills pose. Ha!

It's likely we won't always be neighbors but I truly hope we are friends for a lifetime!

Five Months Old.

Lincoln has been waiting 5 VERY LONG months to get his hands on these blocks! "Not even the laughing turtle can distract me, Mommy!"

"I got 'em!"

Five Month Stats:

• Estimated weight about 15.5-16 pounds and estimated length is 26 inches.
• He eats 6 ounces 5 times a day. -- kicks legs and swings arms in the air when he sees his bottle
• He started solids on June 18th and his favorite is definitely sweet potatoes. After a couple of helpings of avocados he came around and he is also a fan of bananas. He will only eat homemade baby food now. We tried jarred baby food and he cried after two bites and wouldn't open his mouth. I guess that's a good thing. He eats solids once a day but we started giving him some twice a day as of today.
• He is up to sleeping a pretty consistent 12 hours a night and an occasional 13 hours! His bedtime is around 7:15-7:30 p.m. He sleeps on his stomach almost all night!
• Size 3 diapers and 3-6 month clothing for the most part
• He is getting more blonde/slightly brown/slightly red hair! I love it.



• He sleeps with his lovie and a blanket - no sleep sack or swaddle. He does not like to be confined in any way!
• He has pretty much dropped his pacifier himself with an occasional use


• He loves to reach out and touch your face while you are talking to him. This melts my heart!
• He rolls over both directions. Once on his stomach he tries to lift his rear end up in the air by digging his feet into the ground. Also when on his stomach he kicks his legs and moves his arms like a fish out of water. He can turn himself in circles while on his stomach as well.


• He has become a much better car rider.
• He can sit supported for a minute or two but he honestly just wants to stand up.
  



• His naps have improved tremendously. He takes about 4 naps a day ranging from an hour to two hours for each. And an occasional 2.5 hour nap is the longest he has ever had!

You want me to take a what? Nap?




• He still enjoys babbling and smiling A LOT! He wakes up out of his sleep and will laugh in bed and babbble, then roll over and go back to sleep. Laughs without being tickled and thinks its funny to be scared. He does this thing we call his hair-ball cough/yell that he will do over and over when he is really tired or bored.
• He loves hands, his own and others. He always reaches for my hands and loves to watch me move my fingers towards his face.
• He stares at new people for a long time really checking them out before he will smile for them or interact with them. He stares at people that walk by our table in a restaurant.
• He has what we call "super-sonic" hearing. He can hear a pin drop on the other side of the house and whip his head around to see what it was.

We love you LMC!