Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Lincoln's Two! Wooo Wooo!!

On Saturday, December 4th, we had a fun little birthday party for our big 2-year old. We invited some friends and family to join us on a tour of the local fire station, then back to our house for lunch, cupcakes and playing. It was a really fun way to celebrate!
The fire station was such a great idea (and totally free!). The firefighters gave the whole group of us a thorough tour and explanation of their ladder truck and fire engine (there is a difference between them), explained all their various tools, dressed in full fire protection gear for us, showed us how they slide down the ladder, and gave us a tour of their living and working quarters. They were incredibly generous with their time and patience! The two year olds lost interest in the tour pretty quick, but the 3-4 year olds (and parents!) were very interested. Everyone enjoyed climbing around on the engines and getting pictures taken!






And since the Fire Station is only a few blocks from our house, it was an easy transition back to our place for eating and more celebrating. Lincoln got some really fun toys and had a great birthday! Thanks to everyone that could join us and Fire Station #14 for giving us a fun day!







Monday, December 20, 2010

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lincoln!

On December 1st we celebrated Lincoln's 2nd birthday. It is truly amazing to watch your children grow before your eyes, start asking questions, figuring out how things work, make others happy on purpose, and share in their everyday adventures. This second year with Lincoln has been all of those things and so much more! I got way off schedule with doing regular updates on him, but I'll include a few "what he's up to" bullet points after some birthday pictures...
~The kid is all BOY- running, jumping, falling, crashing, being noisy, making messes. Based on what he's "in to" right now I'd say its a toss up on him becoming a WWF wrestler, a sports star, a race car driver or a handyman when he grows up! He got a tool bench, a bunch of matchbox cars, some big blocks and a tricycle for Christmas (among 147 other toys) and he can't decide which he loves more!
~All that being said, he's still my snuggler and I LOVE IT! He loves to sit on my lap and just snuggle for about 30 mins after naptime. He gives great hugs and big wet kisses. He will get quite upset if he misses giving one person "hugs & kisses" before you leave or before bed. He's quite a lover and I hope he always keeps that sweet side!
~He's really gotten into books lately. Both of my kids are such busy-bodies it took them a little while to grow into being able to sit thru storytime. But Lincoln brings me books all the time now and I've found him in his sister's bed "reading" out of her book basket. Being a bit of a bookworm myself, I love to share this with my kids!
~He's decided he wants to be potty trained. I keep telling him "please, not yet" but he insists on trying it out all the time. He usually goes when I put him on there. Georgia was not hard to potty train, but I still remember it being a stressful time for mommy and going thru a lot of public messes and laundry. But I guess I'll have to give Lincoln his turn at it soon! Or maybe he'll just do it all by himself! (in my dreams ;)
~Lincoln is a very good communicator. He speaks much better than I remember Georgia doing at this age, and is very clear at telling you what he wants. He usually uses full sentences and repeats most anything we ask him to try. He can almost say his ABCs and can kinda count to 10. Whenever he sees letters, like his name on his bedroom wall, he tells us "abc-lmnop" indicating he knows those are letters! I guess having a sister just 20 months ahead of you can push you in the right direction sometimes!
~Speaking of pushing... actually Georgia and Lincoln are really playing together very well, most of the time. He's big enough to keep up and almost understand all her directions, and also offer his own "opinions" on what they're doing! I love seeing them play together or her Georgia say, "come on Lincoln, lets play" and he always answers "okay Georgia". They also fight together really well, as any siblings do, but they're learning a lot about sharing too!

I'm sure there's lots more, but those are some highlights! Happy 2nd Birthday my precious son! We all love you so much and thank the Lord for you! We pray He will continue to protect you and grow you up to be a wonderful boy!

Candy Cane Kiss Blossoms: A simple and yummy Christmas cookie

When I saw these in the grocery store,
I knew I had to try to make something with them! I usually do Peanut Butter Blossoms with the chocolate kisses in the middle, but I thought sugar cookies would pair better with the Candy Cane kisses. Yummy!!
I just used the Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix (the kind you just add an egg and sick of butter to) and added 2 Tablespoons of flour to the cookie dough- this makes them fluffier. I rolled the tops of the sugar cookie balls in red crystal sprinkles (the regular sprinkles melt when you bake them). After baking I moved them to a cooling rack and added the Candy Cane kisses.
So simple even a busy mom of toddlers can do it!! ;)

PS- New post from Thanksgiving below! (I'm trying to get caught up before all the fun of Christmas gets here! :)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving week in Birmingham, visiting with family and friends. I have a TON of pictures, but I'll try to to over whelm you!
A special thanks to our dear friends the Phelps for hosting all of us for the week. It was so great to get that extra hang out time with you guys! It was also great to finally get to meet Miss Avery- Georgia was in love with her! She's a "little tiny baby" Georgia would tell us! Now she's hoping another "little tiny baby" girl like Avery is growing in mommy's tummy!
She also loved having another little guy around- and I think she found Logan a bit more snuggly than her own little brother!
We got to join Emmie, and her parents Jeremy & Michelle for lunch...
And spend a fun evening with the deVilleneuve's, Brooms and Wrights!



Aunt Heather and Nana joined us at Pump It Up for some fun one morning!

It was great to spend some good time with the family! Uncle T, Uncle Jon, Jaclyn, me and Aunt Heather
Georgia shared her coloring with great-Grannie.
Lincoln having fun with Uncle Jon- "hot dog!!"
Uncle Jon is all smiles wearing his AUBURN sticker!! ;) (got ya, Jonathan!!)
The siblings with mom.
Lincoln getting a horsey-ride from PawPaw.
Georgia & Uncle T check out some games on the phone.
Lincoln and Nana puzzling over a puzzle.
Georgia helped Jaclyn beat me in mexican train dominoes!
Lincoln getting giggly with Francis!
The little Auburn boys- nice hat, buddy!!

Our best attempt at a picture with all kids!
Loved this pic- where's Avery?!

Thank you all for sharing your time with us! We are so Thankful for such sweet family and friends and our time with you! We love you and miss you!!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Another Hippo in the Herd

If that title sounds familiar, I think it's the same thing I said when I announced we were expecting Lincoln... So, Yes- you guessed it! If you haven't heard,
we are Expecting Baby #3!!
We decided why not keep the chaos coming! ;)
We are very excited about this little one, who should be making an appearance into the world around June 20, 2011. That makes me just over 13 weeks along. I am feeling better- the first trimester was rougher than I experienced with either of the first 2 kiddos. I was just very nausous all day, didn't even like to make meals let alone eat, and exhausted. Now I'm getting some of my energy back and my appetite is coming back- as Larry would probably agree as he watched me take down half a jar of sweet pickles last night right before bed! I don't know- they just tasted really good!
Here are some pictures of the newest member of our family that I got today-
Big sister Georgia and Big brother Lincoln seem excited about the new little one. Georgia really seems to understand and asks every day if God is still growing the baby in my tummy. She shares her blanket with the baby (my belly) during our story at bedtime and will only carefully hug from from the side so she doesn't squish the baby. I'm amazed she understands so much when I don't even have a baby belly as a visual yet! Here are the shirts they wore to tell Grammie and Grandad the big news:
I'm the Big Sister AGAIN & Not the Baby ANYMORE

I'm way behind on other blogging- Thanksgiving, Lincoln's 2nd Birthday, Firetrucks, Aunt Heather's UA graduation... hopefully I'll catch up at some point now that my body is not demanding 2 hour naps every afternoon! But had to get this great and exciting news out to you!!