My Little Sponge

Lincoln has been able to recognize all his letters and numbers for quite sometime now. He has also mastered his lower case letters. I figure the next logical step is practicing his sounds. He walks around the house all the time saying "M say mmmmm" or "B say buhhhh". It's really cute and of course we cheer him on. On his own, he decided to take it a step further and over exaggerate the first letter of his words. I am now known as "mm mmm mommy" and we "guh guh Go" and he gives "ka ka kisses". It was cute at first, now I think people assumes he has a bad lisp:)

Pumpkin Patch

We finally made it out to a pumpkin patch in Flower Mound this year. The weather hasn't cooperated so far for October, but we managed to go despite the cold. It was fun to be able to bundled up in October for once. I love buying cheesy winter sweaters for Lincoln. This year was no exception. He was decked out in his wooly moose sweater, I love it. Lincoln had a ball and enjoyed the hayride and kettle corn and of course showing off for Memer and Gigi. Our camera broke...our $500 camera...the camera we've had less than two years...the camera that we did not buy an extended warranty on...so I used the blackberry instead, BOO!

Gap

It's that time of year again, Gap is hosting it's annual model contest. You can vote for Lincoln here. You never know, it could happen!

Wedding Weekend!

We had a fantastic weekend celebrating Holly and Brian's wedding with old and new friends and family. I got very few pictures with my own camera, but will be sure to post some once we get them back from the photographer.

As I stood up there next to Holly and watched the ceremony unfold, I had a chance to look around and see our family and friends. God is so faithful and has truly blessed our family beyond anything I could have ever imagined. It was so neat to see four generations represented, my cousins and their spouses, Jody and Mike and their seven little bright eyed kids, and all the years and years of marriage represented there that afternoon.

I love going to weddings and silently remembering my own wedding five years ago. Ryan and I locked eyes at one point and I know he was thinking the exact same thing! God is Good!

Right before the ceremony

4 generations

Lincoln and cousin Cason

WHOOP!

Just one of a million reasons I love being an Aggie. This is a must read for all Aggies and for those of you who aren't, first let me say "I'm Sorry", and secondly, read this anyway. It's a great story. Gig 'Em Ags! BTHO Arkansas!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/john_lopez/09/30/jerrod-johnson/index.html?bcnn=yes#

Surprises

Everything about having kids is a surprise. Being a parent is nothing like I anticipated, it's better in every way. Here are a few of my biggest surprises along the way.

1. How easy my pregnancy was

2. How quickly the maternal instinct set in

3. How intensely I love Lincoln

4. How much I love being home with Lincoln

5. How hilarious he can be.

Today, Lincoln was singing, as only he can, the theme to Elmo's World. The last line is "That's Elmo's world!". He is what I overheard.

La, la, la, la Elmo's world, Elmo loves goldfish, crayons too, That's Elmo's world.

Long pause, big grin and then he said this...

No, that's Lincoln's world.

Seriously...does that make him a narcissist?!? This kid cracks me up. Equally surprising is what Lincoln had for lunch. Spicy chicken corn chowder...who knew kids liked soup?

A conversation with Lincoln

Did I mention that Lincoln is a talker? We can actually have conversations with each other. These usually occur a the kitchen table. Here is one we had while Lincoln was eating lunch.

Lincoln: tapping his fork on the table

Me: turned to look at him

Lincoln: kept tapping

Me: took the fork away without saying a word

Lincoln: said "time out"

Me: "time out?"

Lincoln: "yes mommy, time out"

Me: trying so hard not to laugh, but cracked a smile anyway

Lincoln: seeing me smile says "I'm crazy"

Yes Lincoln, you are crazy!

Do Your Eyes Light Up?

A few years ago, I heard someone quoting Maya Angelo. To summarize, she says one of the greatest gifts you can give your child is for you eyes to light up when they walk into a room. For some reason, this really stuck with me. I go into Lincoln's room every morning with a big smile and a hug and try to "light up" when I see him. Most of the time, it's easy to do and comes naturally. I would never want him to see disappointment, anger or boredom in my eyes.

Now that he's a bit older, I love it when others light up when the see him. Of course family members do this, but my friends Megan and Angi are so good at this and always acknowledge him when they see him. Lincoln just beams!

So...do your eyes light up when you see your children?!?

(PS--this works great with husbands, too)

2 year visit

Lincoln had his 2 year visit yesterday. Here are his stats.

Height 36in 90%

Weight 30 lb 71%

He actually weighed in a pound lighter than our scale at home. If I can brag a bit (the grandparents love this stuff), she said to start working on numbers, letters and colors and I was proud to say he can recognize all his letters, numbers up to 10 and all his colors (he's recently added silver:), and his shapes. He counted to twenty in the car today, blows me away. We're so proud of him, and get tickeled hearing him counting in bed.

A New Addition

Here is the newest addition to our backyard! My Dad came up with the idea to get Lincoln a wooden swing set for his birthday. He did the research and found this one. So with a little help from some other family members, and after anxiously awaiting approval from our HOA, and a good 8-10 hours of labor, we finished. While my Dad and Ryan did the vast majority of the work, Uncle Dillon and Aunt Maria, Uncle John and I helped a bit too. It looks great and Lincoln loves it. Here are a few shots of him in action for the first time.

Ta da

Swinging

Rope ladder

Swinging like "an airplane"

Sliding down

Our little boy quickly figured out how to climb the rock wall, fence the rope ladder and slide, face first down the slide. We hope to add a little sand at the bottom for a sandbox and look forward to many years of active play!