Lincoln turns 9

Tomorrow marks this little man's 9th birthday! 
He is the sweetest, most talkative and energetic one in this family and we love him to pieces. 

I love that he still wants me to lay with him at night, reading stories until it's late. He will try to chat with me to avoid going to sleep and often I will have to remind him it's time for bed, no more talking. 

Lately I've been asking him to help me in the kitchen. It helps when he's cranky and hungry, engaging him in a task; plus, he loves that he gets to use the sharp knives! I have to say, he is getting quite good at chopping vegetables my little lefty sous chef.

He often tells us that one of his most favorite places to go is the MN State Fair. He doesn't so much love it for the same reasons we do (like Ryan's giant pickle), but he does love the rides and the animals and a lot of the attractions. 

But his absolute favorite summer event is the annual cabin trip with some extended family. He adores driving the pontoon, fishing as much as possible, riding the jet ski, catching frogs and going tubing. 

I think we could probably make his 9th birthday even brighter if we would buy him a faithful companion, but alas, that is not likely to happen. So instead, he gets to enjoy the occasional visit from either Pepper or Quinn. He loves it when they come into his toy room so he can narrate to them his video games :) 

For 9 years, he has graced the sidelines of a softball field, and done so with a lot of patience. Some friends laugh because he hollers pretty loudly if we accidentally move our phones too far away from him. He will often scream: MOM, THE WIFI!

Between both girls, this kid has been to more tournaments, scrimmages, practices and lessons. We've waited it out in the car, found local playgrounds, explored area drive thrus and spent far too much money at concession stands! 

Regan seems to be the sibling with the most patience for him lately, and he adores her for it. Having a license has opened up a lot of opportunities for them. Over the summer, the two had many adventures, going to Valleyfair, Como, Minihaha and lots of ice cream treats. I love their relationship, and it brings me to tears to think she'll be in college before we know it. I hope he cherishes these memories forever! 

As he turns 9, he is less and less into traditional toys, and more and more into video games, exploring or board games. 

We're heading into the cold weather which brings along with it the regular hockey season. While he's excited when we get there, he does a lot of complaining as he puts on his hockey gear. It's a lot of work and he's our little "Princess and the Pea" when it comes to adjusting his skates and elbow pads and shin guards, oh and his neck guard, breezers and helmet! 

As is tradition (minus that one year we went to Hawaii and couldn't find leaves), he was super excited to remind me that we had to take a "9" picture. 

I love that he has core memories, created from the little things. 

Happy 9th Birthday Lincoln Ryan! 

 

Happy 8th Birthday!

 Our favorite little boy turned EIGHT last month, and I honestly can hardly believe it. How in the world is he growing up so fast, right before our eyes. It honestly feels faster with him than with the girls. Maybe it's because we are busier these days and have fewer days to lounge and 'play'; moving from field to rink, one school to the next. 

He's just so grown up 

Eight things I love about him: 

            * He is incredibly loud, talking non-stop, about absolutely nothing relevant. Literally, it can make your head spin, he talks so much. But I hope he never stops telling me about his days. 

            * He also loves to run and climb and jump and often makes my heart stop when he says "watch this!" from a structure far too high as he leaps to the ground. 

            * He is so so so social, loving up on everyone he meets (maybe because it's someone new for him to talk to!). He easily talks with adults and kids alike. 

            * Linc loves when anyone will wrestle, tickle, or play tag with him. Large muscle activities is where he lives. 

           * He eats more fruit than anyone I know. And will compliment his fruit with a snack of pickle chips. 

          * Daily will tell me that he loves me, and mean it. Random times throughout the day he will stop what he is doing and holler out "Love you mom!". Melts. My. Heart. 

          * He loves to learn and experiment, play sports and fly his new drone that takes those lovely pictures (thanks Grandma Jan). His newest favorite books are the Who Will Win books, so much so that we bought all 45 of them! He loves learning about which animal will win the battle. 

          * He speaks the truth. Good or bad, he's going to tell it like it is! 

The cake he insisted on decorating himself

We were so excited to celebrate him turning 8! With a Halloween birthday, it's fun to incorporate the holiday into his birthday. This year we went to the pumpkin event at the zoo and he had a B-L-A-S-T!

Happy Birthday buddy! 

Lincoln turns 7

We celebrated Lincoln’s 7th birthday this month, with gifts and cake and a big huge uncut 12” Subway sandwich; his dinner choice was pretty specific! Not to worry, it took him several meals to actually finish that gigantic sandwich. 

We opted to spread out his gifts over the week, so each day he opened a couple gifts from family. 

Rollerblades from Grandma Jan

Fortnite Nerf gun and a box FILLED with bullets from Uncles Ben and Jon. 

Look out, because as much as we beg him to shoot at his targets, he much prefers humans as his targets!

I was able to take a day off work and we reserved a slot at the zoo, a place he’s been begging to go during this pandemic. Although I was leery, we felt pretty safe, and we did a good job social distancing. The gorilla was his most favorite! 

Since his birthday falls within a few days of Halloween, we often are celebrating both at the same time. Because the pandemic shut down Halloween this year, we opted for a drive-through Halloween event that landed right on his birthday. He hung out in the backseat while collecting stashes of candy and toys, all from a safe distance. He loved it!  

He’s growing up so fast, and turning into such a little man. He opens doors for his sisters, squeezes us tight and begs every night for me to rub his back as he falls asleep. Slow down sweet boy! 

Every year I have been taking a number picture of Lincoln in the leaves. I compiled what I had on my phone in this collage. We missed last year because Hawaii just didn't have enough leaves for us, but the boogie board picture is a fun substitute. 

 

Happy 6th Birthday Lincoln

The day after we returned home from Hawaii, Lincoln turned 6 years old. Talk about an understanding manager, letting me take a 2 hour lunch break on my first day back after vacation :)

But I was encouraged long ago to take advantages of these moments....because I know I'm going to miss this time.

So I grabbed him Subway and met Ryan for lunch at school. Lincoln man was over the moon to have his parents show up at lunch!

For the record, he has asked us to pack up all of our stuff and move to Hawaii; he misses it as much as we do.

 



 

He opened presents and was pretty excited for these gifts from Uncles Ben and Jon.

 

 

And then it was a few more days until his big party day: his first friend birthday party! What a fun experience for this group of boys to run around and get out their energy at Pump It Up.

 

 

Lincoln Ryan, we love you to pieces. You are my favorite snuggle bug and the best caboose to our family. You have an impressive ability to meet new friends, find adventure wherever we go and are always moving! You teach me so much about life and remind me every day to slow down and take in these moments.

Happy 6th Birthday!

Happy 5th Birthday Lincoln Ryan!

This handsome little devil turned 5 at the end of October. 

He was beyond excited for his big celebration. Like jump out of bed at the crack of dawn (wait, he does that everyday!), run down the stairs and beg to open his presents. 

Just look at that little ham of a smile :)
Oh how I love him!

A whole hand! Check out that concentration to put up 5 fingers. 

Five things I love about him: 

* his energy. He can go and go and go, and talk and talk and talk

* how he loves his family. He gives the most amazing hugs and tells us all how much he loves us. 

* he is polite. Don't you dare miss an opportunity to say "thank you" with him around. He will remind you. 

* his animal impersonations. Especially the tiger! ROARRRRR. 

* he's wicked smart. He's mastered writing his name and numbers up to 10, and most recently, told Regan she needed to turn left while we were out walking. And was correct in his directions. she looked at him in shock, joking that she still has to use her hands to show which way is left :) 

Happy 5th Birthday Lincoln Ryan! We love you :) 

Lincoln turns 4

It's happening. Our kids are growing up right before our eyes. And this weekend, we celebrated the baby of the family turning 4! Four just seems like such a big jump. He's no longer the baby I cuddled in my arms for hours on end. We're finished with diapers and bottles, nursing and pacifiers. 

We've conquered skipping and jumping, counting and the alphabet. He's moving in to boyhood and adores all the super-hero costumes he discovered this weekend (before Halloween). His preschool education is taking on more of a learning approach nowadays as he learns how to cut, rhyme and work on his social skills. I know he'll always be my baby, but he's sure looking less of a baby right now. 

Here's a list of the FOUR things we love about him: 

He is outgoing, eager to meet new friends and wanting to play together. 

He is sweet and gentle, quick to give a hug and a kiss when you're feeling down or hurt. 

He is appreciative, always thanking me for buying him new clothes or new toys or a special treat. 

He is loving, insisting on saying "I LOVE YOU!" 

Happy Birthday Lincoln! 

We love you :) 

Lincoln turns 4-birthday eve

Well here we are, the last night with a 3 year old. How in the world can that be? Tomorrow we will wake up and he will be 4. It's surreal, because I still think of him as my toddler, or my baby (who am I kidding, he will always be my baby). But this baby of mine is getting bigger, growing older and I love him more everyday. 

I can't help but think back on this birthday eve of his, to 4 years ago. It was a Sunday, and I sat on the couch with Ryan and my parents...my big round belly serving as a table for Ryan's water. Man was that belly big (who would've thought there was a 9 1/2 lb baby in there!)! 

And following that night, we headed to the hospital where (thanks to some meds), our baby boy was born only 45 minutes after my water broke. He showed us his stubborn side 4 years ago, refusing to come out without a gentle nudge. I firmly believe he would still be in there if it weren't for the medication that jump started my labor! 

Oh how we love our soon-to-be 4 year old! This last go around the sun was pretty awesome for our sweet little boy. Looking forward to what 4 has in store!

Party day!

With how busy full life has been for us lately, we ended up doing a combined family birthday party for Sidney and Lincoln. Sometimes it's just the little things, like finding an open weekend, that can prove super challenging!
This sums up what our calendar looks like right now....

We found a Saturday that happened to land pretty much between the two kids' actual birthdays and it just made the most sense for everyone to combine the two. These two were easy peasy when it came to picking out decorations and themes as well (whew!). One wanted ORANGE everything, the other didn't care at all :) Made my life so much easier. Lincoln and I ventured to the party store and picked out an assortment of orange and pink items and viola, we had ourselves decorations for a dual birthday party!

The weather cooperated with us in a big way too. Despite the rainy dreary morning, the sun peaked out around party time, dried up all the rain and made for a great day to play outside. I was beyond thrilled that all those kiddos could run off some energy (and cake and treats) OUTSIDE!

 Too bad Regan missed out on this picture :( 

We are so thankful to everyone who came and helped celebrate these two munchkins of ours. Where has the time gone?!

Happiest of birthdays to our two littles!