Eighteen Month Visit

Lincoln had his 18 month well-child checkup this morning. It was at 11:00 so he was a little hungry and cranky but all-in-all he did well. I snapped a few pictures of him while we waited for Dr. A.



He checked out well for all his milestones, considered above average for his language (30-40 words and about 3 or 4 phrases) and the heart murmur the doctor heard for the first time at 15 months was not heard this time!! Wahoo!

She was also still able to see the tubes in one ear but once again his small ear canals hindered her from seeing the other ear. I am positive they are still in b/c the canal is so small they couldn't fall out if they tried. I pray they stay in for a long time b/c they have made a world of difference!

Lincoln measured 32.5 inches tall (50%) and 28.6 pounds (75%). The boy LOVES his milk but Dr. A. told us to cut him back some to help even out his weight with his height. He would easily drink 30+ ounces of milk a day. However, we are going to try to stick around 16 ounces a day. The child never sits down so I have no clue how he ever gains any weight! Ha!

We are extremely grateful for a healthy little guy!!

Birthdays all around!

This past weekend Mimi came up to visit and help us begin our birthday celebrations.  My birthday is the 14th and Cory's is the 16th.  Mimi watched Lincoln on Friday while I continued my inservice for the beginning of the school year.  They had a fun time playing outside, shopping and cooking our dinner for Friday night.  Saturday we ran a few errands and then on Saturday afternoon she left to make 4 hour trip home.  Thanks Mimi for coming to visit!

Sunday we enjoyed the afternoon eating lunch at a one of our local favorites and more shopping!  I had so much fun hanging out with my boys.  Lincoln was feeling very affectionate, as if he knew it was my birthday!  Cory caught these priceless pictures of us. 

Then on Tuesday evening, we celebrated Cory's birthday by cooking his favorite dinner at home, opening presents and going to the local park to play with Lincoln. Here are two pictures of Lincoln and Cory back in June that I adore and I am not sure I ever blogged.

I love having mine and Cory's birthdays so close together.  As Cory tells it, I LOVE "togetherness" so I enjoy getting to basically share our special days.  However it should be noted that Cory is...ahem...older :)!  There is no one I would rather share with. 

Speaking of sharing, Cory is quite use to sharing his birthday since he is a twin and all.  Happy Birthday, Uncle Cody!  Here is one of my favorite pictures taken of Cody and Lincoln last October.  

And last but definitely not least our little princess of a niece has her special day on Friday!  We love you Tilly.  We hope you have a wonderful day!  This picture more than sums up her little personality...

Lots of people to celebrate and lots of reason to eat cake around here!

Happy Hump Day!

Happy Birthday, Cory!

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband and father!

  

We love you Cory!!

Happy 1.5 Years, Lincoln!

Happy 18 month, Lincoln! 

You are such a joy and keep us on our toes at all times. We love the energy and happiness that you bring our home.   

Here is what you are up to:

• You weigh almost 28 pounds and somewhere around 32-33 inches tall.  Your well-child checkup is at the end of the month so I will be interested to see your official stats. 
• You wear 5.5-6 size shoe, 18 month shorts and 24 month shirts.
• You are a great sleeper at night and naptime.  This summer while off with mommy you slept from 8:00 p.m. till about 8:30 everyday!  It was a drastic change from last summer when we were starting our day around 6:30 or so.  However, the school year has just started so an earlier bedtime and earlier is now happening.  
• You also recognize when bedtime is coming and you keep handing us books to read them to you to avoid going to bed.

• You love to eat. This month you discovered ketchup and it has revolutionized your world.  You love to dip anything in there and sometimes just eat it up with your fingers.  You also discovered "dipping" your chips and want to do this constantly, especially if we are eating Mexican.  You love salsa and cheesdip.
• You LOVE milk.  You only drink that and water but you probably drink on upwards of 20 ounces of milk a day.  You start laughing, giggling and stomping your feet when you see pouring milk into your sippy cup. 
• You are EXTREMELY active and truly never sit down.  You love to play with anything you can get your hands on and you always have something in your hand.  You love to play with balls and more traditional toys like jump ropes, yo-yo's and just a good ole fashioned bowl and spoon makes you content. 

• You throw everything and I do mean everything -- balls, sippy cups, toys, hairbrush, blankets, etc.  I have decided that dodging objects you throw if a full time job.  I have been told by your babysitter that you throw hard, accurate and fast.  Maybe we should consider finding you a baseball team to join. 
• You LOVE music.  Your most recent favorite thing is to sit up on mommy and daddy's bed with the laptop on the dresser and watch You Tube worship LIVE worship videos.  You love to watch the bands play, see all the people in the audience and hear them clap.  Your most favorite songs are the Itsy-Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus.   You can do the hand motions to both songs pretty well.
• This past week when we picked you up from the church nursery the lady asked me if you had older brothers.  I told her you were an only child and she was shocked.  She said "He just loves to play, interact and have a good time.  He is just so playful."

• You have lots of new words and even have some phrases.  Your favorite words are: mama, dada, bowl, hot dog, ouch, uh-oh, bye-bye, bana (banana), ball and elbow.  Your favorite phrases are: hello papa, bye-bye dada, and I did it.  You love to just spout out all the words you know at once in a big long phrase like you are saying a sentence (i.e. mama-dada-bowl-mama-dada-bowl-bye-bye)
• You love to wave at people while riding in the shopping and blow kisses to people on occasion. 
• You know several body parts but your favorite ones to show us are your elbow and your cheeks which you say both words when showing us where they are. 
• Your biting has slowed down quite a bit.  It is the throwing objects at other children that gets you in trouble the most at the babysitters. 
• You love to stack blocks and the other night before bed you stacked 7 blocks all by yourself.  Daddy was there to witness it all.  We were so impressed. 

• You are really getting into pretend play.  You love to get out your stuff animals, hold them, feed them and cover them up for bed. 

• You still have a strong affection for your "lovie" and the other two blankets you sleep with as well as your stuff dog "Buddy."  You love to try and carry all four items around the house at once. 
• You love to play outside but due to the extreme 3 digit temps this summer that has not happened a ton.

Lincoln, you are rapidly becoming your own individual.  I know I have said this numerous times but there is no place you would rather be than right by my side.  It's not as if you cannot be away from me but rather that you need social contact often.  When others are around you are so happy.  When we have company you love to go get each toy individually and take it to them.  You are extremely social but yet around unfamiliar men you are very reserved.  You love to run up to me or your daddy and give us a hug with your arms around our neck.  And while you give the hug you say "Awww."  You LOVE other little kids and babies.  When we see a baby out in public you turn your head to the side and say "Awww" and you insist on getting closer and waving at the baby.  We often comment that we just love that you love life.  My prayer lately for you has been that you will have a heart that wants to be obedient and do what is right.

We love you Honey Bunches of Oats! :)

Wordless Wednesday

The end.

Unfortunately most good things must come to an end. I would be totally ok if good things never ended. Wouldn't you?

School starts back tomorrow. I am not too excited about it but I know once I get in the routine it will all be good. I am working part time again so I am very grateful for that.

I decided to photo log mine and Lincoln's last day. This morning when he got up (@8:30, awesome!) he wanted to sit on the floor of the kitchen and drink his milk.


In the pic on the bottom right he was saying and showing me his cheeks. Which sounds more like "keeesssss"."

Then we headed to Chickfila for breakfast. Lincoln was more interested in talking to everyone than eating. He especially loved the table of high school girls and they loved him.



We, of course, could not leave without visiting the playground.



Then we did some shopping for Daddy's birthday and came home and ate some yummy Rotini bake leftovers.



Which was followed up with a bath to clean up this pasta baby...



After bath time Lincoln took a 2.5 hour nap. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon baking muffins, eating them, playing with mommy's brush, discovering cotton balls and cutting some coupons!











We made dinner, daddy came home, ate and then ran to the store to pick up a few things. And we ended the day with some ice cream!





We had a blast of a summer together and we are sad it is over!

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Recipe Roundup {Stoby's Chicken Salad}

Prior to our move north, Cory and I both went to college and met in a small town in the central part of the state.  There is a local restaurant there that is a HUGE favorite - Stoby's.  They are most famous for their cheese dip but they have plenty of other good items to offer.  When we lived near Stoby's we probably ate there once a week!  Cory's favorite was the Tuna Salad on a pita.  That and their peanut butter shake.  I just love the cheese dip.  About a year ago we were reminiscing about the good food at Stoby's and decided to pay Google a visit to see if we could steal find a recipe for something off their menu.  Sure enough we ran across this blog that had blogged the recipe (in June 2008) for Stoby's Chicken salad. We whipped it up that night and it is a staple in our home now.

If you are like me then you look for recipes of things to make that DO NOT involve the oven in this crazy heat!  This is a recipe that will keep you coming back for more - I promise.  Cory thinks the sliced almond are what set it apart.  I just think it is easy, creamy and yummy.

Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken (I prefer to use 5-6 chicken breast)
2 Gallons of water (a little less if using chicken breast)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 sticks of celery (2 sticks chopped)
3/4 cups sliced almonds
1 cup seedless grapes (white or red)

Base:
2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 cup soy sauce

Directions:
In a large pot place your water and chicken along with 1 stick of celery, curry powder, salt and pepper.  Boil for 1 hour if using whole chicken and boil for about 30 minutes if using the chicken breasts.  While your chicken is cooking prepare the base.  In a large bowl combine the mayonnaise, curry powder and soy sauce.  Mix thoroughly.  Next, remove the chicken from the pot, debone (if needed) and cut into small pieces.  In a large bowl, combine the base, chicken, chopped celery, almonds and grapes.  Stir until completely coated and chill immediately.  Ready to serve in about 2 hours and will serve about 6 people. 

Now, I am not a huge fan of celery so I put a little less in mine and I love grapes so I put MORE grapes in mine.  It is delicious on any type of bread or even a salad! 

And because everyone loves a picture...here is a picture of it from my phone!  It never stays around long enough for me to remember to take a real picture. 





It is delish. Enjoy and stay cool.

Let's Pretend

Lincoln has very much been into "pretending."  Here are few examples, of course, accompanied by pictures!

He has been very interested in his stuffed animals and has been interacting with them more.  The other day we were playing in his room and he ran out to go explore for a little bit so I lined up some of his stuff animals in front of his crib.  When he came back in he went and joined them in the line-up. Then he started picking them up, one-by-one patting them while holding them on his shoulder, covering them up and kissing them goodnight. 

I even caught him feeding his animal a chip the other day, but once he realized the bear was not going to eat it then he ate the chip himself.

He has also loved playing with his shopping cart, acting like he is checking out, bagging up his groceries, getting his keys out and saying "Bye, bye Momma!" 

The one that cracks me up the most is his interest in "cleaning."  He must see us do this often b/c he loves for me to give him a towel or paper towel and will walk around cleaning the walls or his toys. 

And on just on a fun note, Saturday when we were out and about he wore his baseball hat the whole time!  He has NEVER liked anything on his head.  He thought he was pretty cool stuff wearing a hat like daddy.  And I have always secretly wished he would like to wear baseball hats!  He is getting soo big.

Happy August 1st!!