Lincoln is {has been} ONE!

I realize I am a bit behind on this post…. Once December arrived it seemed as if someone hit the fast forward button to our lives….

 Thanksgiving, Birthday, Christmas #1, Christmas #2, Christmas #3-#23, New Years, first day of school, first day of daycare (cue meltdown)….and here I am. Finally throwing away the leftover turkey and birthday cake and taking down the Christmas tree. Whew.

 I started planning Linc's birthday around October and thanks to Pinterest his theme changed every week. I finally decided on Yellow (hints of Chevron), Burlap, and Owls. Since my amazing husband is the only one working, I tried to be frugal and attempted making as much as I could. Burlap is cheap yall! A few late nights and glue gun scars later I was ready!

I had this adorable shirt made last minute...Yes, husband, you bought me a sewing maching a few months ago, but there is no way I could've pulled this off ;) I found this on Etsy, through lilthreadzclothing. I highly reccommend her shop....Not only was his shirt here in a snap, but her designs her perfectly simple and oh-so-sweet.



Not yo mama's banana pudding, owl pops, & ONE centerpiece 

On the menu:

Not-yo-mama's Banana Pudding
Fruit kabobs (Pineapple, Blueberries, & Strawberries)
Owl Pops

Cheese & Cracker Tray

Veggie Tray with Ranch

*I obviously made a variation of the owl pops using orange wafers cut into triangles and skipped dipping them in chocolate. Hint: I would use less butter & more marshmellows with these. My owls slowly slid down. Better yet, test them out a month ahead of time....not the night before :)

*The pudding jars are small mason jars with burlap and a small piece of yellow

edging hot glued.

*The centerpiece is simply a 'birdsnest' and woodland accents borrowed from my mom. The '1' I painted with leftover paint from my dining room & the owl is from Hobby Lobby.

 

Happy Birthday burlap bunting, First birthday book & Welcome sign
 



 *The birthday bunting was easy peasy. I traced triangles on burlap, cut them out, and stenciled on letters with felt pen. After painting in the letters I simply hot glued burlap twine onto the back. Boom! I-look-expensive-but-am-super-cheap decoration.
It was so easy, I made two.

Not because I let my husband pick out the font on the first one and I hated it....just because it was easy. You believe me, right?

 

Watch Me Grow Banner

Highchair garland & Floating ONE :)

Easily my two favorites. Look at my little man grow....My heart just melts everytime I look at this (yes, it's still hanging).

*I painted an old frame from the garage & wrapped cardboard with burlap for the backing. The birthday hat I cheated on. I attempted one from a cereal box, totally not worth it. I bought an 8-pack of party hats from the dollar store, wrapped it in burlap & glued a yellow 'fluffy'(?) to the top.

*The highchair garland is scrap burlap & yellow fabric strips tied to twine; the backdrop is streamers. The 'floating ONE' are cardboard letters wrapped in burlap (this took the most time, by far) with owls perched on the top with hot glue. (hanging this sucker was a PAIN, enlist help)

 

First Birthday memory book
 

I have seen this done with a book matching the theme of the party, but I thought using Lincoln's baby book "1st birthday" page was even more perfect. Lucky me, this page is even yellow! The sign reads "Pleas sign here so Lincoln may always remember the celebration of his first year!"

Everything was going perfectly, after presents we quickly moved on to the most important part of the party....the smash cake! My lovely friend Amy M. made Lincoln's cake, another sheet cake & 24 cupcakes that were absolutely delicious! Did I mention I have the most amazing, talented friends?

As I was saying....all was perfect. Lincoln was cheerful and seemed to really be soaking in the attention as we all sang Happy Birthday.

Right as he was diving in, I insisted we derobe him.... Which led to this lovely kodak moment.  

 I guess he loved his shirt as much as mommy did :)

 

Yellow, Burlap & Owl birthday

 The Owl Lanterns were a simple touch I was rather pleased with. My first attempts looked more like puppies than owls, so don't lose hope if you try to tackle this one!

This picture was from our family celebration on his actually birthday during the week. Isn't that a lovely cake with the "chevron" stripe melting down the sides?!

November. Start to Finish.

In effort to get myself caught up I will be attempting to cram an entire month into this one ;) 

We kicked off November with a mother/son 5k. This definitley wasn't planned, but my brother has become quite the runner and can have you committed to a race before you even realise what the conversation is about. So, my sister-in-law and I broke out the jogging strollers and took our boys for a joyride.
Linc loved it, my calves, not so much ;)

Let Freedom Run 5k, Jenks, OK



Jess & Linc
 watching Sid the Scince Kid

Just before Thanksgiving my pawpaw was scheduled for pretty serious surgery. I'm fortunate enough to be staying home with Lincoln until the end of the year so Linc and I loaded up with mom for a short trip to St. Louis.

Thankfully, little man stays pretty content on road trips....Ok, until he wants yogurt and the spoons you knew you packed have disappeared...trying to pour little yogurt droplets into his mouth? Went as smoothly as imagined....Go ahead. Please, try it.
And of course, he sleeps extremely well away from home too. Takes a little more cuddling and lullabying that's all. Oh right! That's until he decides he wants his pacifier....In that case, make sure you didn't pack them in the 'secondary' diaper bag you left by the door at home. Fabulous! Not to worry, as soon as we unpacked my mom found a nearby pharmacy and picked up a few. You know those sizes on the top of the pacifier package you've seen and all thought, this will never matter? When you desperately want your precious baby to sleep and he can't decide whether to gag on a gianormous pacifier or cry you will suddenly realize just how important this little detail is. Excuse me, why wasn't that part in your "know-it-all-mom" book??


Papa & Lincoln.

Once you get over forgetting everything you need at home and aside from adding an hour or so to your trip, lacking precious sleep and coming moments from possibly losing your mind, road trips with a baby to see family really is totally worth it.
When this moment arrives, the lack of sleep matters not.
And it won't even phase you that the only article of clothing your wearing without spitup, snot or milk on it is your underwear.





Up Next, Thanksgiving! It was little man's first Turkey Day....


Lincoln's first Thanksgiving Nov. 2012

I've never seen him eat so much! After both dinners we all indulged in long much needed naps and for two nights Lincoln slept 13+ hours! Can we please have this holiday twice a year?
Please ignore my son's lack of Thanksgiving realted attire. That's right, not a "My 1st" bib, no orange and brown, no turkey feathers on his bottom....Fail on my part? Au contraire! I blame his grandparents... the baby handbook states they are responsible for providing all cheesy "My 1st" gear.

Pa & Lincoln

This shot of Lincoln and his Pa (his great grandfather) after lunch I just had to include. We are so blessed to have the family we do. This little guy is so spoiled loved.




Christmas for Halloween, anyone?

Short blurb on my absence:
After a two month hiatus, I am challenging myself to catch up on my blog that has been much neglected. Shortly after Lincoln's last update my computer took a little field trip from the table to the floor....(was this my fault or Lincoln's continues to be a hot debate). ;)
After a few weeks I learned everything on my hard drive was not retrievable.....everything. Thousands of pictures, school work, resumes, editing software....gone. I'm now forced to use my husbands computer which is nothing more than a device to check e-mail and write word documents - bleh. So, after scouring my social media sites to save every photo of my baby boy and downloading some basic software to this puppy I am attempting to make a come back.

Enough of my complaining already, huh? You came by to catch up on my handsome little guy, not me. I know, I know.

First up - Halloween.
We went through so many ideas when coming up with Lincoln's costume. At one point we even considered just skipping the dressing up gig....he can't walk, can't eat candy, can't play games. Would it even be worth it? Then my husband had a genius idea (crazy, right?)....to incorporate his walker into the costume. It was a risky move because he isn't always fond of his walker and it meant hauling the thing around all night. While brainstorming I remembered I found an infant Santa outfit at a Just Between Friends sale. Boom! Baby Santa in his sleigh  was born....let the attempt at crafting begin.

Baby Santa Clause - Halloween 2012

It was much easier than I thought & a huge success! We took him to our church's Pumpkin Palooza and the best part was not having to carry him around the whole time (and of course, everyone telling me how absolutely adorable he was). He cruised for almost an hour and loved every minute of it.

 

I had many people asking how I made this. It was honestly very simple. The entire thing is simply a cardboard box and scrap peices covered in duct tape. To cover the food tray on the walker I added a "hood" made from a spare piece of cardboard. Inside the sleigh I attached an envelope to hold an iphone playing Christmas tunes and filled the back with wrapped packages.

 

Now to only top this next year.....might be a toughie!

 

Here is a quick video of Santa in action. :)

One, two....TEN!

Since Lincoln was born it sure seems the months have passed by quicker than ever.... As much I beg time to slow down, there is nothing I enjoy more than watching the new things my little man learns each day. He is now ten months! His monthly checkup was last week and I'm stoked to tell you he gained 19 oz. over the past month.....we're back on the charts, folks! He weighed in at 16lbs 13oz.

Here is this months milestone chart from Babycenter:

Child's Age

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

10 months

Waves goodbye Picks things up with pincer grasp Crawls well, with belly off the ground

Says "mama" or "dada" to the correct parent Indicates wants with gestures

Stands alone for a couple of seconds Puts objects into a container

He's 'meeting' all these goals....with a few exceptions, of course. He's not necessarily waving goodbye, he just waves sporadically, unless you want him to :). And if by 'container' they mean mouth, then he's got that down, too. No, I'm not just talking his mouth (because everything goes in there), he wants to put things in everyones mouth! His items of choice are his wooden blocks. He loves to carry one over in his mouth and transfer it to you, dripping slobber (and occasional banana mush) included.

He still randomaly says 'mama' and 'dada' to anyone and everyone, but he is finally saying 'mama' when I pick him up in the morning. Oh my goodness, this makes waking up such a joy (insert small tear).

10 month Lincoln, everyone. :)

A few other new things this precious boy is up to:
- Turning the page at story time....whether momma is done reading or not. I love watching him turn through the pages, he turns with a bright big smile with each new picture.
- Giving kisses and hugs. Again, not on command, but randomly he comes at us with a big open mouthed smile and lays it on us.
- He also took his first step! This was so exciting, yet terrifying at the same time. One second he's holding onto the couch playing and the next he turns toward us, lets go and takes two falling steps in my direction. I got so excited/emotional I think I scared him :)/:(..... I'm excited for a new chapter in his life, it's just crazy this moment has already arrived. This means a whole new kind of baby proofing, huh? That must be the reason I teared up.

I am so thankful to my husband for convincing me it was OK to follow my heart and stay home with my baby for a few more months. It has honestly been the best decision I have ever made. Never have I felt such pure joy and happiness. Never have I known the capacity for love my heart held. And never have I found such cuteness in a 'poop face'. 
I pray the next two months crawl by. I'm not ready for this fairytale to be over.

Snap, snap....click, click

Growing up I heard those sounds nearly evaryday of my life.....My dad was constantly behind the camera taking our picture. Whether we liked it or not, whether we agreed to smile or insisted on pouting he was going to capture the moment. I used to get so irriatated....Why the heck could he not just put the camera down, who cares that we just crossed the Mexican border or got an A on a math test?? Well, he did......and he knew down the road we would too. Now that I have Lincoln, I completely understand. My dad gave me a great camera and I find myself constantly snapping away. I'm definitley not a professional photographer and half of the photos aren't neccesarily pretty, but I'm determined to nab every last moment I can and save them forever.

So, here are just a few of those photos from the past month.

The weather has been so beautiful the past few weeks. We've taken every oppurtunity to get out and about. Thanks to our neighbor, Barry, we finally have a somewhat decent family photo (for once it's my husband in sweats and not me!).

September 23, 2012. Introducing Lincoln to OU football.

 

 

October 15th, 2012. Pizza pie!

October 1st, 2012. Pancakes!

Lincoln now has 7 teeth!! I've seen near two year olds with less teeth! I've been pretty hesitant feeding him a big vairety of foods due to his previous tummy trouble, but our doctor told me to go ahead and jump in (with a few exceptions, of course)....and because he didn't gain much weight over the past few months he even encouraged bulking up his calories. The words from his mouth were "add some butter and sour cream to those mashed potatos".
Paula Deen style everything?.... I can do that!
So, we added plain pancakes and waffles with butter and he even tried a little pizza! Although certain "someones" have been trying to give him pizza for months! ;)

October 5th, 2012.

This is just one of my favorite outfits and thanks to the overnight dip in weather not long ago he had a chance to wear it before he was too big!
Don't those elbow patches just make ya grin and say 'awww'?

Last Sunday's dinner was spent at Poppa-T and Shanny's house (my husband's grandparents). Linc played with two of his cousins, Amelia (20 mos.) and Abigail (almost 3) and as you can imagine, dinner was more than entertaining. I am so thankful for all the 'grands' and 'greatgrands' he has in his life. 






We spent an afternoon at the pumpkin patch...It was everyones first trip to one! He may be too young to really enjoy anything and was certianly only interested in trying to eat the pumpkins and hay, but I'm still so happy we took the time to go.


October 14th, 2012. Pumpkin patch wagon ride :)

I love my sweet little family. Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with such an amazing husband and happy baby boy.

We Rock.

I love rocking my sweet little guy.

Whether it's for 2 minutes or 20 minutes, it's one of the best parts of my day. Those are the times I clear my mind of everything else going on and just smile and sing to the most precious gift God has given me.

It's hard to believe all the books and women that advised me NOT to rock my baby to sleep. I remember a friend coming over when I was putting Linc to bed.... she said to me, "Do you always rock him to sleep? My husband wouldn't let me do that....you know they become dependent on you rocking them, right?"

I just gave her a smile and said "I'm okay with that".

I mean, I get it. If I spent an hour before bedtime rocking him completely to sleep every night since birth then he might expect that every night. But, telling me not to hold my little guy close and help soothe him for a few minutes before I lay him down? Why not? And, in the future, if he needs me to rock him longer occasionally, I sure won't mind doing so. Some nights I've even gone in when he's already asleep and held him for a while before I go to bed.

Our bedtime routine goes something like this....It's our version of "Leading baby to sleep"....I can't remember which book this was in, but we've used this method for the past 6-7 months and bedtime has been rahter peacful :)
To wind him down we take him into the nursery and dim the lights. We change his diaper and clothes, followed with a warm bottle and bedtime story. Next, we turn on the sound machine, turn off the remaining lights and sing him a song (or three) while rocking him. By this time his eyes start getting heavier and he gets a little squirmy (meaning put me down so I can sleep!). The first 4 months(ish) we waited until he was completly asleep to lay him down, but since then he's been pretty much awake when he goes down. We never had to let him cry it out for half an hour... not even fifteen minutes (I honestly have no idea how people do this!). And he isn't dependent on us rocking him every night, in fact, some nights he just wants us to put him down so he can flop on his belly and pass out.

So, what wackadoo know-it-all convinced all these women that rocking their baby would make them so dependent? Please, tell me why I would want to just lie him down and leave....I mean, I know Big Brother is on, but with TiVo, YouTube, etc....who needs to rush? Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't get it.

Here's what I think. Don't believe everything you read in books and don't listen to all the advice from other moms.  Spend every moment with your precious little baby and soak up every moment that you're able to just hold them. Do what feels right to you.

As for me and my house....we shall rock!

NiNE mOnths!

Oh my how our little guy is growing! Each day his personality shines through a little more. As I'm writing this he is snacking away....with each bite he grins and "mmmmm's"....I must admit it's difficult to focus when you have such a cutie babbling away next to you. :)

Linc was officially nine months on Friday (the 14th). Each month I check out BabyCenter's Milestone Chart just to make sure he's meeting all his developmental milestones. The chart is broken into three categories for each month of the first year.

So for nine months:

Child's Age

Mastered Skills (most kids can do)

Emerging Skills (half of kids can do)

Advanced Skills (a few kids can do)

9 months

Stands while holding onto something Jabbers or combines syllables Understands object permanence

Cruises while holding onto furniture Drinks from a sippy cup Eats with fingers Bangs objects together

Plays patty-cake and peek-a-boo Says "mama" or "dada" to the correct parent

According to this chart we are right on track! First column: Check. He's been jabbering for quite a while now and hiding my phone under the pillow and pretending it disappeared no longer works (its his favorite teether). Second column: Check. He's cruising all over the house for at least a month now and is beginning to let go of things and stay standing. He hasn't necessarily shown any signs of taking steps from there and I haven't focused much on trying to get him to either. I'm excited for him to walk, but I won't mind if he takes his time...he's moving too fast as it is! Next on the list is drinking from a sippy cup. We introduced his 'sippy' at six months. It was more of a teething toy until about eight months when he really got the hang of it. My only hangup now is he will only drink water from it....if I try milk (warm or cold) he's not interested....hmmmm?? Moving along to eating with his fingers. Recently, he would much rather feed himself and is rarely interested in baby food 'mush'. Try feeding him a mashed up banana or pureed green beans, not happening. Slice them up and let him dive in, he'll eat it all! His favorite foods right now appear to be bananas, potatoes and avocados. Third column: half-check? quarter-check? I'm skipping over patty-cake...I'm not sure I even know how to play. He loves peek-a-boo, though (Still reminds me of Up All Night every time). He says 'mama' and 'dada' all the time, but I'm not so sure it counts....sometimes it's to me or my husband, sometimes to the wall, and occasionally to a strange old man behind us at the store (awkward). He's gettin' there :)

A couple other new things he's been up to....
He's begun to understand "no".
He's waving....his little arm flails up and down and his whole body moves with him. So adorable!
He counts to ten in french and can do the worm.


We were out of town on the 14th and my husband has been working late this week so we haven't had a chance to go out for nine month pictures yet, but here's one from this week...Sporting his green gDiaper, which I adore!


Oh, I just love that cute little bum!!


We've been cloth diapering for a while now and it's going great! I remember when I first heard that people still used cloth diapers I thought it was the weirdest thing....Well, now I'm proud to be one of those "weird-o's". Not only are we saving money and doing a little more to help reduce waste, but look at that heiny!! I will definitely be filling you all in on this soon!