Fall is in the air!

Ok, maybe not quite yet but tomorrow is September first and college football does start this weekend so there is no better time for a new "Autumn" layout than now! The only bad thing about this new layout is that I lost both of my "blog roll" lists when I "installed it"! Ouch! That is going to take some time to recover. I guess you know what I will be doing the next few days....

On a much happier note, here are two new pics of Lincoln from my phone in his overalls ready for fall y'all!!

Happy September 1st {tomorrow!}.

Uncommon.

The local Christian radio station was talking the other day about this post on another blog. It's the prayer of a mom for her daugther to be "uncommon." Although this post spoke to her daughter I found it pulling at my heart strings for Lincoln. I remember moments after I found out I was pregnant I journaled that I wanted our child (who at the time ws 4 weeks gestation) to be a leader {among several other attributes}. Someone who did not follow the crowd but lead the crowd in a way that impacted the Kingdom. When we chose the name Lincoln and discovered it meant Leader -- I knew it was the right name for our child. I often pray that Lincoln is one who leads and not one that follows. One that is different or as this lady so simply phrased it -- "uncommon."

Go HERE to read this blog entry. You will be glad you did!

Our Little Blue Jean Elvis.

On Friday afternoon {I am learning that your child always decides to get sick about 3 hours before the start of a weekend -- how do that know its about to be the weekend and no doctor will be readily available if needed?} Anways, Lincoln started showing signs of being sick. I knew that on Monday afternoon we had his 6 month well-child check up scheduled so I decided to hold off on calling Friday afternoon and wait till Monday. Bad decision.

Saturday morning, Lindsey met us at the Arkansas Studies Institute in downtown LR to take Lincoln's 6 month pictures. Needless to say, he was not up to his normal happy/smiley self but we persevered and Lindsey hung in there while we changed outfits and tried to make the best of the shoot. Well, hindsight is always right! I just don't like that hindsight sometimes!! Nobody likes someone who is ALWAYS right. I regretted my decision all weekend b/c Lincoln started running a temp on Saturday night {after the pics} and I just felt terrible the rest of the weekend. I took him in for his 6 month well-child on Monday and she determined he had an ear infection, some major congestion, sore throat and still running a fever! No shots were given b/c he was so sick. He did weight 17 lbs. 2 oz. and his length was 26.5 inches long. Both are in the 50th percentile still. All else looked good besides him being so sick.

Lincoln and I have spent some quality time together while he has been sick. You know, crib parties at 3:00 a.m. that last 2 hours. He was having a hard time sleeping laying down because of all the congestion. So he was napping better sitting up. We were both pretty exhausted.

On Monday, Dr. A. gave him the grape tongue depressor which he proceeded to play with for hours after we got home!

He is on the mend now and we will all be resuming our normal activities tomorrow! Despite being "under the weather" Lindsey, of course!, managed to get some super fun and cute shots. We received this onesie in a bag of hand-me-down clothes from Tara. We knew it was the perfect outfit for his 6 month shots!! And I just couldn't pass up the jean diapers. Totally fun and cheesy on so many levels but you are only 6 months old once so you gotta live it up big.

Here is our Little Blue Jean Elvis.

Thanks Aunt Z -- you are the B-E-S-T best!!

Happy Birthday to my MAN!

Happy Birthday, Cory!!

Off the top of my head, here are some things I love about Cory:


1. He helps with EVERYTHING and never complains.
2. He listens to me ramble everyday about my analyses of the latest situation I am facing.
3. He loves sports but he is not overly competitive.
4. He has surprised himself with how much he loves being a dad. Lincoln likes Cory A LOT, but can you really blame him?
5. He genuinely cares for the needs and well-being of others. When someone is hurt or has made a mistake you can see the look of compassion on his face for them.
6. He hearts the Razorbacks and always knows what newest recruits are on the horizon. In fact, the other night in a local Mexican restaurant he pointed out the Razorbacks newest recruit that will be a senior at the local high school. He knew what the guy looked like in street clothes, his name, about his family and his stats.
7. He likes to help cook.
8. He has learned to love a to-do list as much as me.
9. He grocery shops for our family.
10. He can laugh at anything.
11. He has the ability to make the simplest thing hilarious.
12. He gases up my car for me.
13. He never makes me have to wonder if he loves me!

Here are some fun pictures I found of us over the last several years --

2005

2006

2007

2008

We love you Cory!!!

Six Months Old.

Happy 6 months, Lincoln!

It is crazy to think that we have come from this....

to this....
in six short, at times LONG, months!

Wow, I can hardly believe we have come HALF A YEAR (gulp!). Every day I think I could not love Lincoln anymore than I do and the next day I always prove myself wrong. At the rate I am multiplying my love for him my heart will burst into pieces any day now. Six months seems like such a big milestone. He is no longer a "newborn" but more of a baby. He is getting to be more active and enjoying "playing" more. He loves to try and find me or Cory in the room just to smile at us. Just because. He is also getting to be so big!! People in stores often ask me how old he is and when I reply with his age they say, "He is going to be a big boy!" In fact, the sales lady at Ashley Furniture was talking about how big he was and he was just smiling at her. She said, "I know one thing for sure, he is going to be a flirty boy!" Cracked me up. Watch out ladies!

Here is a photo collage I made of Lincoln's month-by-month pictures from the first 6 months. The background picture is the awesome maternity picture that Lindsey took! (Click to make it bigger)

Six month stats:

• He weighs weighs 16 lb. 13 oz. (Thank you, Erin!) and estimated length is about 27 inches (Go to the doctor on the 23rd.) He is longer in the torso than the legs.
• He wears size 3 diapers and is still in 3-6 clothes for the most part but I think he will be moving up to 6-9 months soon.
• He drinks a bottle 5 times a day and eats solids 2-3 oz. of solids a day. He eats homemade baby food for the most part. We did feed him store bought the other day and he ate it no problem! I still plan to feed him homemade but wanted to make sure he would eat store bought if needed. He hasn't shown dislike to any food -- he's not picky, he eats it all! Gets that from his daddy!
• If anyone walks in the room or talks while he is drinking his bottle he has to sit up and see what is going on.
• He sleeps 11-12 hours a night and we are very grateful. He has some regression in night time sleep when he is going through a teething phase or is trying to hit a milestone, but he has always returned back to 11-12 hours nightime sleep.
• He takes 2 naps a day and an occasional cat nap in the evenings. His morning nap is about 1 hour 15 minutes and his afternoon nap is around 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours.
• His hair is filling in as you can see.

• He has 2 teeth on the bottom that are about 50% in.
• He kicks his legs when we walk into the room and he sees us
• He can sit up if we put him in the sitting position. This happened last Friday, August 6th! I put him down and he kept sitting there and sitting there without falling over! I think the first time was about 7 minutes. He even managed to get a little crying session in when I left the room to get his bottle and still didn't fall over! Now, that is talent!

• And when laying on his back he can pick his head up pretty far with his ab muscles. I am wondering if soon he will be able to pull himself up into a sitting position.

• He has learned to bang toys on surfaces
• He likes to gurgle and is combing syllables in his babble and it sounds more like jabber and at times words.
• In fact, he has started making a "hi"/"hey" noise. Cory and I keep wondering if he is really saying "hey" to us but he does it when one of us walks in the room and he looks right at us. Its the appropriate context and he doesn't do it any other time. Its crazy but we are still on the fence as to whether or not he is using it as a word or a babble-sound. Its definitely fun nonetheless!
• He put his left fist into his mouth when he gets really tickled; never his right, always his left.

• He wants to and can hold his bottle for the most part
• His main mode of transportation -- rolling. He rolls from one side of the room to the next! Its weird to walk in the room and he not be where you put him! I guess I better get use to that! Overall, he is an ACTIVE baby. He does not sit still he is either rolling, kicking or moving his arms at all times!
• He loves to jump in the jumparoo. He will bounce in there for a good 10 minutes without stopping!
• He laughs a lot! He dies laughing when you move your head back and forth and sing a song to him. And he thinks its funny to be "scared." He is very ticklish on the bottom of his feet.
• He loves to lay around and hold onto his feet

• He continues to be terrified of public restrooms. This started when he was about 2 months old which was probably the first time I took him in one to change his diaper. He cries as soon as we walk in the door of the restroom and then cries and screams as soon as I lay him on the changing table. Not sure about this. Thinking I may need to whip up a behavior plan to shape this behavior! :) (I have to suppress the School Psych. in me as a mom!)
• He enjoys "playing" in the bath more now that he can sit up.

• He is the most loved, hugged and kissed child in the world! With a face like this we just can't help ourselves!
  

Happy 6 months, Lincoln!

Oh how we love your sweet face and personality. You are truly a joy to have in our home. We love to watch you grow, explore and learn new things. It causes us to stop more often and think of our creator and how He so perfectly created man. What an amazing God we serve! We truly love you more each day although it just doesn't seem possible. We are looking forward to seeing what new things you learn in the coming month.

Mommy and Daddy!

Life.

We have been enjoying life around here -- to the fullest! Here is a little update, accompanied with pictures, on what has been going on in our world!

For starters, about 3 weeks ago I was driving my car and as I entered the on-ramp a deer (doe) ran into my front right passenger headlight and then ran back to where she came from! I was accelerating to get on the freeway so I was probably going about 40-50 mph. It scared me b/c I did not see her coming at all, which was best case scenario. If I had seen the deer then I would have probably swerved and it would have been a lot worse! Anywho, it just jarred my car a little bit and that was it. Lincoln was with me and after that he just kept starring at that side of the car like "what just happened?" Luckily we got it fixed pretty quickly, but here is a picture of what it looked like before it was fixed.

Secondly, 2 weekends ago one of my best friends and her husband came to visit and meet Lincoln! Beka and I first met at CBC where we played basketball - or as we joke we sat the bench, we didn't play! We became fast friends and she was actually the maid of honor in our wedding. Beka married Clint three year ago and they reside in the great city of Memphis! Beka will be graduating this month with her Master's in Communications and Clint is currently in his fourth and FINAL year of dental school! These two stay busy! Also, the big news with them is that -- they are expecting a baby on February 12th! (The day after Lincoln was born I might add!). Very exciting! We had a great time catching up and laughing with them. Here are a few pictures of their visit.

Crazy to think that this time next year this will be them with their own

Baby Conner who will be about the same age.

Thirdly, Lincoln has teeth!!! Two to be exact. His lower central incisors (yes, I know I'm using technical terms thanks to the baby book that helped me out on that one!) are both in. Just the little tops of both of them are showing but hey -- its a start. The first one broke through on July 31st and the second one on August 2nd. He has been pretty fussy especially yesterday and today he is running a very slight temp. We are just ready for those two to show themselves - completely! Here is the best picture I could get of them. He is not fan of me looking and poking around in his mouth, but really who is? (I think you can click on it to make it a little larger)

Fourthly (is that even a word?), I got all my hair cut off. With these three digit temps I needed something much cooler! I had Cory take a few pics so that my mom and MIL could see it. No pony tail for me for a while, but I hope it takes me less time to get ready in the mornings!

And Fifthly, we are gearing up for school to start back which means a whole new routine will be taking place at our house! I will only be working part time this year! Yay!! I am excited about this opportunity! Lincoln will be attending "school" for the days I am working! We went last night and met his teacher. It will be a whole new experience for him but one that I think once he gets adjusted to will love. He is quite the people-watcher and I know he will enjoy seeing all the new people and things around him. Here is Lincoln in his back to school gear! I mean, doesn't everyone in NWA wear a Razorback outfit to their first day of school? Ok, maybe not. Just had to do a little photo shoot before he outgrew this cute onesie and it seemed like the perfect place to share them.

Hard to believe that in a week he will be half a year old. (Man, that was hard to type!)