Brought to you by the letter of the day

So, out of the blue Lincoln has been saying his letters. So far he can identify A E O S T M. The only color he knows his purple. If I hold up something purple, he says "urple". I'm giving up posting about his new words because there are too many to count. I have them logged in a journal. But here are a few of his best words.

Bunny

Fish

Chocolate

Burrr-when he's cold

Ice

Bubbles

Water

Diaper "iaper"

Rocks

Conner

Today Lincoln and I met Megan and Conner at the mall. The boys played in the play area, we ate lunch at Chick Fil A and rode the carousel. We even managed a quick trip to Gap. Of course, I found a cute shirt for Lincoln. Lincoln and Conner had lots of fun and are really great playmates even though Conner is 7 months older. Here they are riding the carousel.

Houston Texan's Cheerleaders

My grad-school roommate and fellow counselor Lindsey emailed me this afternoon. Her cousin Mindy is a Houston Texans' Cheerleader finalist. The fans will make the final choices. You can go HERE to vote for Mindy Moulder #20.

Five Year Anniversary

Today, Ryan and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. At times, it seems like a million years ago, other times, it seems like yesterday. Here are a few pictures from the vault.

Ryan and I when we were dating in 2000

At the rehearsal dinner, the night before our wedding

Just Married!

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Blake

One of my favorite shots of the day.

Marrying Ryan is the best thing I've done. He is a fantastic husband. I love knowing that no matter what happens, good or bad, I have a forever partner in life! I keep a box of cards, letter, and other mementos from Ryan and I came across something I wrote for him in August 2003, about four months before we got engaged. Here is a little part.

I remember the boy who melted me.

He was charming, engaging and handsome.

He gave me a smile with a future in it.

This boy was honest, romantic and kind-hearted.

He did not endeavor to be,

He just was.

As I thought about the path my life would take,

I saw his face, I felt his hand,

I heard his voice.

He knew what to say to reach me,

And he always reached me.

He had hopes, plans and dreams.

I was part of them. He was my dream.

As I think of the boy who melted me,

I smile because I love him.

For his character inspires me,

He presence comforts me,

And his love sustains me.

I remember the boy who melted me,

For I was never the same.

$40.12

Here is my shopping picture for the week. Since we celebrated Earth Day at the Dallas Zoo, we postponed shopping until today. Total for the week = $40.12 I had plenty of meat in the freezer, so I mostly got milk, fruit, cheese, lunch meat and yogurt. I was most excited about free rice cakes, yogurt and toilet paper as well as 2lbs of strawberries for $2.77. Bon Appetit!

Z is for Zoo!

Today my sister Holly and I took Lincoln and Chance to the Dallas Zoo. Holly is Chance's nanny. Here are a few pictures from today.

Lincoln and Chance on the Elephant

Thanks to the book, Goodnight Gorilla, Lincoln is obsessed with Gorillas.
He calls them "luh luh luh luh"



Hello!

The water fountain was a close 2nd to the Gorilla exhibit!

Riding the Endangered Species Carousel

Nice choice, Lincoln.

Here he is saying "luh luh luh luh"

Up close and personal with his friend, Mr. Gorilla.

Pretty in Pink

Thank goodness for a digital camera. I love being able to take tons of shots, and then pick out the good ones. Since the weather was horrible on Easter, we took Lincoln outside after his nap this weekend and had our own mini photo shoot. Check out some of my favorites.

Great smile!

This is his pose when we say Cheese!

My little Zoolander. He posed himself here, believe it or not.

Eat your heart out Ralph Lauren.

We have to update his agency every other month with his stats (height, weight, clothing size) as well as provide some pictures. These are the best ones we've sent so far.

Easter Outfit

My Easter Sunday Best

Hunting eggs at Memer and Gigi's with cousin Cason



Me and my Easter Goodies!



Putting a flower on the cross at church with Daddy.

Lincoln had a great Easter. After church he napped, then we went to hunt eggs, open Easter baskets and eat an Easter meal. Even though Lincoln doesn't understand the meaning of Easter, it takes on an even more special meaning for us this year in having a son of our own and thinking about God giving his son to die for our sins. What an incredible gift. Happy Easter.

Shopping for boys

This is consignment sale season people. I hit three big sales this year: Divine Consign, Sweet Repeats and Just Between Friends. Divine Consign is by far the best, but I have a "you never know what you might find" attitude and try to hit them all.

But, if I see one more cartoon screen tee, or a Disney Cars tee, one more embroidered puppy or firetruck, or one more shirt that says "Lil Slugger", I think I am going to barf. Shopping for boys is a completely different experience from shopping for little girls...Can I get an "Amen" from the Mom's of boys? For girls, run in ANYWHERE...Target, Gymboree, even Carters and you can find something cute. Try those and other places for a boy, and you run the risk of a playground smackdown!

At these consignment sales this year, I only bought a few things. A red Gap polo shirt, a short-sleeved Ralph Lauren Polo dress shirt, a navy Ralph Lauren Polo and a red/white striped Ralph Lauren Polo shirt with matching red Polo shorts, and a pair of plaid slip on shoes. You'd think out of the thousands, and I mean thousands of clothing items, I could find more than this. I wish the manufacturers would be as creative with boys clothing as they are with the girls. But...I also think Mom's of boys need to step it up a bit and think outside of the "muscle shirt and knit shorts" box. Little boys deserve to looks as cute and stylish as their girl counterparts.

And yeah, yeah, yeah...I know it doesn't matter what is on the outside, and that what is important is the kind of person you are...but come one...it doesn't hurt for Lincoln to look cute while obeying and being kind and considerate, right?

Things We Stopped Buying..and never even miss!

In the last 12+ months, I have really made some major changes. Last summer, I was a guest writer at Today's Housewife about "Going Green". You can read that post here. We are still going strong with our recycling efforts, removing our address from junk mail lists and using reusable shopping bags, but two things are different since that post:

1. I no longer buy paper towels

2. Lincoln is NOT laid back...sweet spirited, yes, laid back...Can I get a "heck no"?

We stopped buying paper towels and bottled water in early 2008. This wasn't a major sit-down, discussion type of decision. It just sorta happened when I didn't buy them for a week or two and I realized I didn't need those things. I use the paper towels we bought 12-14 months ago so infrequently, I still have a roll and a half to go. In stead, I use dish towels to clean messes and counters and baby wash cloths to wipe Lincoln's face and hands. I also stopped buying bottled water and fill my reusable bottle right from the fridge. Give it a try. You probably won't even miss it.