Christmas Recap

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!  Lincoln definitely enjoyed it more than last year but not near as much as I think he will next year.  Everytime he opened a present he would say "Wow."  He enjoyed the act of opening them more than the actual toy at times.  He was definitely spoiled ROTTEN by all the love, attention and gifts during our 5 day trip.  Cory and I, of course, were not left out and were given way more than we deserve.  It was a joy to spend some with our families and to find out at the same time we would be having a girl!  Such a treat.  All that being said, here are the pics from Christmas!

Opening presents at Pop-pa Don's

Christmas morning at Papa and Gigi's

 Christmas at Mimi and Poppy's

Dragging Lincoln all over definitely started to be apparant towards the end of the trip.  He is a pretty good traveler but too many days out of his routine and not sleeping in his own bed really starts to catch up with him.  He slept extra long at night and took extra long naps the few days we were back home. 

And this is this is the only picture we took of our family at Chrstmas so I will post it again.

Thanksgiving Recap

Umm,  yes I a little behind.  So is life right now. 

We "hosted" Thanksgiving at our house this year with my parents.  I use the term "hosted" lightly b/c we basically provided the house, table and chairs.  Well, we did contribute a little more than that but my mom and dad did a lot of the work.  Dad and Cory fried the turkey while mom prepared the rest of the meal inside.  I did not feel well on Thanksgiving day so I laid in bed most of the morning.  After we ate Thanksgiving lunch we loaded up the car and headed to Branson for the rest of the week.  We lounged around, shopped some and lounged around somemore. 

On Friday night we went to the Dixie Stampede.  I was a little nervous about taking Lincoln but figured with four adults and one child we could manage to corral him throughout the show.  Boy, was I proven wrong.  Lincoln LOVED the show.  It was by far the best 2 hours of his life.  Seriously, if he could talk more I am pretty sure he would be asking to go back again - everyday!  He sat in his high chair for 2 hours, clapping, dancing, "neighing" at the horses, and waving and talking to our waitress.  He would often go down the row "dada?" "mama?" "Gigi?" "Papa?" and point out at the arena to make sure we were all paying attention.  I truly never thought it would go over as well as it did.  Lincoln has never sat still for 2 hours in his life except in the carseat and even at that he wants out by about an hour.  We only managed to get a few pictures after the show and at that point he was tired. 

We enjoyed our holiday very much!  We have so much to be grateful for. 

Halloween Festivities

We spent Halloween weekend at my parents house.  On Saturday we enjoyed some ribs while we watched the Hogs barely win their game.  Sunday we went to my parents church and that evening before heading back we went to Trunk or Treat at their church. 

Our sweet little Wild Thing all dressed up.  Lincoln LOVES the book Where the Wild Things Are. During the book when the Wild Things dance we made up this little tune "Na Na Na Na" type thing.  He has picked up the tune and walks around holding the book singing it.  He wasn't too sure about wearing the costume at first but he loved to hold it and look at it.  He would ask for it by saying "Na na?" and when we would put it away he would say "bye bye na na."

On Monday evening we went to our friend Harper's birthday party.  This was our second year to celebrate with Harper.  The party was tons of fun.  Caroline, Harper's mom, did a great job making fun Halloween-inspired foods.  I was too busy chasing Lincoln to get any good pics but here are a few.  Lincoln ended up eating a sucker and getting a balloon so he rated it the most fun party he has ever been too.

A picture of Lincoln, Harper (Elmo) and Hayley (Lady Bug) from a cell phone. 

 

Lincoln's night was complete with his balloon.  His fake smile cracks me up. 

When we got home from Harper's party we went to trick-or-treat at a couple of our neighbor's house.  I wish I would have taken my camera b/c Lincoln caught on super fast and had a fun time.  In fact, he was so eager for the candy that he pushed the door open and walked right into 2 of our neighbors homes!  He has since continued his knocking skills that he learned by going over and knocking on our front door. 

Halloween #2 is in the books. 

Papa and Gigi's

Last week we spent a few days at my parent's house.  My SIL and nieces were staying there while my brother and nephew were in Wyoming on a mission trip.  Also, a bonus is that my cousin Jordan flew into town to visit as well.  I loved seeing so many fun girls at one time!  For the most part we lounged around Papa and Gigi's house.  One day, we (Heather, my two oldest nieces, Jordan and myself) went to Wild River Country for a few hours!  It was overcast so we were actually able to stay about 4 hours. We rode some rides with the girls and really had a lot of fun.  The babies (Story and Lincoln) stayed at home with Gigi. 

Summer and Tilly had fun putting barrettes and rollers in Jordan's hair!

 And Tilly dressed up in her new chef outfit from Cory, Juie and Lincoln.

And Jordan also managed to sqeeze in some time with Lincoln too.  He really liked Jordan although the pictures might lead you to believe otherwise!

And we were also able to celebrate Gigi's big news on her new job!  She has been without a job for three months and accepted a position at a new company on Wednesday.  Congrats mom!!

taken with my iphone

We had a great visit and always look forward to seeing these faces again! 

And just for a side note, this was the first time I took Lincoln by myself  on a road trip!  The trip there was slightly rough but on the way home he slept about 2 of the 3 hours! 

Beach Vaca: Day Three

On Tuesday morning we woke up and headed to PCB to go to the arcade for a few hours.  We ended up with a little over 2000 tickets between all of us and the kids were able to pick up some fun things to take home.  It was lots of fun.  The only pic we took was on our phone of Lincoln playing skeeball. 

For lunch we headed over to Pier Park for lunch at The Back Porch and then walked out onto the Pier.   

All five kids in the big chair.  I love all these sweet faces.

Slightly windy out on the Pier that day.

We headed back to the house and beach for the afternoon.  Heather, my SIL, and I enjoyed several hours of mommy time on the beach. We had dinner at the house and then that evening we headed out for ice cream!  

This guy is the bomb.com
(he hates when I use that phrase) :)