14 months

Lincoln is now 14 months old and getting more and more mobile...and cute! His sandy blond locks now curl out over his ears and are simply adorable; we can't even imagine cutting them. He is officially walking (as of Christmas Eve) and gives us this monster looking walk currently. It's just so cute. He is beyond proud of himself when he goes from sitting in the middle of the floor, to bent over on all 4's position and then to standing. All without holding on to anything. He takes off walking (arms straight out) towards his destination, all with a big grin across his face. He loves walking and we love his new ability to explore his environment. 

He continues to have an extreme love of books. My goodness sakes it is ALL he wants to do! Unfortunately, he doesn't really want us to read the entire book, just let him sit on our lap while he flips the pages and we get one, maybe two, sentences out per page. And then we read the entire stack over again. He knows just what books he likes and will only let us read those books. If we pick one of his not so loved books, he fusses and tosses it aside or slams the cover shut. And so, we read the same 10 books over and over again. Even Regan whines that she is bored reading those same books to him. 

As for eating, he prefers anything fruit. Oranges, bananas, kiwi, peaches, etc. If it's fruit, he will eat it. Everything else?, well, that's anyones guess. He likes cheese, pizza, sausage, quesadillas, ravioli and sometimes chicken or hamburger. If I'm eating it, chances are he wants it. And recently that included a salad. Most of it ended up on the floor after he sucked off the salad dressing from each piece of lettuce. Oh...the floor. I'm telling ya, he is a messy eater! If the food on his tray is not appetizing, he will toss it. Not just drop it on the floor next to him (sometimes that works for him), but actually wind up and toss it across the high chair, the table and watch as it lands on the floor. I have tried putting my  hand out to tell him to "give it to mommy", but he just grins and tosses. Stinker. 

Sleeping is not his forte. He naps like a champ most of the time (two naps each about 2 hours), but as for overnight, well, that's another story. He's been cutting all 4 molars for the last month and had a cold prior to that so I'm chalking it up to some bad sleeping habits that developed. He goes down well, but wakes up around midnight and in an effort to keep the rest of the house asleep, we plop him between us for the remainder of the night. Some nights we have to hold him close to us all night (flashbacks to Sidney) and my back is totally whacked as a result. I think it's time to get in for a massage :) 

He loves his big sisters more than anything. Sidney can make him laugh and giggle and Regan can come up with some creative distractions. He still has a strong preference for me and that frustrates the girls and I often hear...."why does Lincoln always want you?". If I'm in the kitchen cooking, he wants me to hold him, if I'm getting ready in the morning, he wants to sit near my feet, if I am vacuuming, he wants to be on my hip. I've become an expert in one handed techniques. 

He loves his play time with daddy too, however, and they will toss a ball back and forth for 30 minutes sometimes. 

Besides the obvious "mom" and "dad" that come out of his mouth, he has now started saying "hot" when Ryan builds a fire. It doesn't quite sound like 'hot', more like 'homp' and he says it in a whisper just like we all do. 

He also despises car rides now also. With the recommendations that kids stay rear facing until age 2, we have opted to keep him backwards longer than the usual. Unfortunately, he screams like crazy in the car...often for the entire car ride. And so, we may end up turning him around soon. Yesterday during a short car ride, Lincoln screamed the entire 10 minutes and Sidney mumbled "I would rather be in church!" (if you don't know Sidney, she does not like church because it means sitting still and quiet for far too long). 

He's grown like a weed over the past 14 months and we love him to pieces! 

Happy 14 months buddy. 

Christmas day 2014

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone already. We look forward to this day for 364 days out of the year, and when it arrives, it goes so fast. Christmas morning this year, was filled with presents, love and food. 

Hope was with us and I'll just call her my own personal elf. We are so grateful for all of her help with the prep work :) I'll leave it at that.... 

I didn't take too many pictures of the kids opening presents because I didn't want to miss any of their excitement. I did, however, take this one as the girls spotted their new amazing Barbie Dream House and were giddy with excitement and so eager to play with it! I'm pretty sure Sidney would  play with that every second of every day (except she begs Regan to play with her and Regan likes to move on to something different every 15 minutes...but that's another post). It is by far Sidney's favorite toy. Regan's favorite gift would have to be the stilts from Santa. With a few pointers from Papa out on the deck (on yet another balmy day), she was able to walk easily and is so proud!

Lincoln was essentially uninterested in his presents. He played with books all morning and when the chaos was over, and the girls were off to explore their new toys, he and I sat quietly near the tree and opened his gifts one by one, taking our time to play with each new toy from Santa. 

He was such a stud in his Christmas outfit, giving us the "monster walk" now that he is a full fledged walker. 

Eventually my parents and Hope departed and just a couple of hours later, Grandpa Arnie/Grandma Sheri, Shane and Kik arrived for the final Christmas celebration. It was more gifts, more food and more fun as we celebrated late in the evening. 

I think these two were beyond excited to see each other. We are so sad that Shane lives on the exact other side of the world now, but it sure makes for a fun reunion! We were so excited to finally meet Kik and the girls clung to her all night as they took selfies and she was sandwiched between them at dinner. 

It was yet another wonderful Christmas and we are so thankful for our health and happiness. We wish everyone a very special Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Eve 2014

Christmas eve was a buzz of excitement around our home. Sadly I had to work for a portion of the day, but I was able to get home at a reasonable time, in order to start the prep for dinner, fix the girls' hair and be ready for church in time. Indeed we had a brown Christmas, but the balmy temps made for great travel conditions and even some outdoor play!

Unfortunately, Lincoln was napping just up until it was time for church, so I didn't get a picture of all 3 of the kids together. 

 We are so lucky that all of the grandparents agreed to travel up to us again this year. Christmas Eve was my side and Christmas day (another post) was Ryan's side. It's been fun to make it a family tradition to host Christmas rather than travel. I can't tell you how much the girls love waking up to presents from Santa on Christmas morning in their own home! This was something Regan started asking about when she was about 5 years old. We had many discussions over how to handle Christmas (living 100 miles from our extended families), and ultimately, this seems to work best for our family. 

We waited before waking up Lincoln and I snapped a couple pictures of the girls with Grandma Jan and Papa too.

After church, we took a quick family picture (Lincoln lacks a smile, the entire family was starving, and the girls were soooooo ready to open a few presents). 

But the picture turned out pretty good. 

 

We were blessed to have Hope with us this Christmas. My mom's extended family gave her the best Christmas possible and she opened present upon present filled with such practical things for a 19 year old college student: food, gift cards and clothes. There were many moments of laughter and many quiet tears. We are so proud of her for finishing this semester with straight A's and we know her mom is smiling down on her with pride too.

And when the presents were all opened, the kiddos got ready for bed so Santa could come! The girls gathered up some cookies and milk and left their reindeer food nearby for Santa to hand feed to them. Without any snow, the girls decided not to sprinkle the food in the grass....and Ryan was very happy for that decision fearing some other critter would come into the yard. 

And when we awoke the next morning, there were presents beneath the tree, just like Ellie our Elf had promised! It was a lovely Christmas Eve :) 

To be continued.....

Heavenly birthday

In addition to celebrating Christmas eve, we wanted to also celebrate my aunt Cheryl's first heavenly birthday. I was lucky enough to find yellow smiley face balloons, which I thought would be a perfect present to her, considering her nickname was sunshine.
Just before church, we headed outside with balloons in tow. 

We sung Happy Birthday between sobs, wiped away our tears, and on the count of three, let our balloons drift up to her. 

Happy Birthday Cheryl. 

We miss you each and everyday. 

House guest

We were blessed to welcome Ryan's cousin's dog, Nala, into our house last weekend. I'm telling you, if I could clone her, I would be begging Ryan for a dog! All 3 of our little ones adore her. Regan was most excited to just snuggle up on the couch together. 

As for Lincoln...well he likes to chase her. What you can't see in this picture is Nala perched atop the couch. Lincoln was heading straight towards her, giggly and jibbering the whole way. 

Shockingly, Sidney sat down long enough to have Nala curl up beside her too. Sid didn't sit long though, and then she got frustrated that her fluffy companion wouldn't stay with her. 

Thank you Maddi for letting us have your baby for a little! We love her to pieces! 

Almost Christmas

As we get closer and closer to Christmas, the girls have reminded us that we haven't done this, or haven't done that. And so, it was time to get busy checking off their "to do" lists. Afterall, this season is about family time, making memories and traditions. 

First up: reindeer food. Each one packed up a small amount of "reindeer food". It was a bit spur of the moment and I was trying to think quickly so Santa will be feeding them oats, popcorn kernels, seeds with a dash of sprinkles. 

It'll work

From there it was on to the beloved gingerbread house. Each year, we purchase a kit and the girls share in the task of decorating. Never have they asked for their own house and for this I'm thankful. Let's be real, the stuff can't taste that good that it's worth two houses. 

I love watching them work on this project. It really is a team effort as they announce what color candy they want to use and make sure there's enough for each. 

And the concentration and effort is intense. 

 They are quite proud of this house! 

I think their favorite is what comes next.... 

SNACK TIME!

This is what was left after the each took a 'few' nibbles. 

With some dreary weather of rain, lack of snow, and girls with too much energy, I opted to give them a new project this weekend. I handed them each a blank canvas and told them to paint a picture.
Of winter.
Of summer. 

Of anything.
Just paint. 

Here is Regan's creation: 

And Sidney's: 

Pretty impressed at their work.

 I debated on the whole cut-out cookies, but I couldn't get the girls to let it go. 

They can be relentless! And it was "mom!, we don't have any cookies left for Santa!".
And so I caved, and they rolled, cut and baked this afternoon. 

Tonight we drove up to see the light display around Lake Phalen. It's something we started last year when Lincoln was only 2 months old and far too young to do anything outside. We all fell in love with this light display and it did not disappoint this year. 

When we got home, I had an inspiration (thank you Pinterest) to try taking Lincoln's picture in front of our lit-up tree at night. 

He's moving and so it's a little blurry, but I'm in love with the idea....now I just need to perfect it and try again. 

Christmas is near and we're feeling the love. The shopping is done, the presents are wrapped. We've seen Santa and lights, baked cookies and read stories. We sure have spent some quality family time in the last few weeks; and to me, that's the best part of this season. 

Angelica Winter Show

 Thanks to this fine young neighbor of ours, Regan was introduced to the Angelica choir when we moved in several years ago. Turns out, Regan kinda shines up on stage. 

 And she loves it. 

Today was the annual winter choir concert at a nearby church. I have to say, we are beyond blessed that this choir calls "home" to our city, even though it is open to all students throughout the metro. There are folks that drive 40 minutes through traffic each week to attend practice. Yikes. I digress....

Regan is in the youngest of the choirs: Con Brio. It is comprised of students in grades 2-4. She was NOT a fan of the uniform, but once she got passed feeling like "I look like a boy!", she was all about being on those risers. She is our performer that girl. Nothing much rattles her. And she loves being in front of a crowd, doing something she loves. 

See her beaming with pride on the back of the riser? 

After each choir performed their own 20 minute part of the concert, they came together for the finale. And I'm telling you the acoustics are just incredible. Click HERE for just a snippet. 

Regan is towards the far left, about middle of the riser. 

Ryan and I were really impressed tonight (more so Ryan, who, let's face it, isn't much of a choir follower). The grandparents were too :) This girl of ours, she really showed us her talent. As for Sidney....well, one and a half hours of singing (often in a different language), is a bit much. And the same goes for Lincoln who is pushing through 2 molars and has ZERO desire to sit still. 

Well, except to snuggle in to my shoulder to take this picture :) 

Way to go Regan! We are so proud of you!

A visit with Santa

So our visit with Santa went about as planned: 

the girls handed him their lists, reviewing what they each want (Barbie dream house for Sidney, along with La La Loopsie poopsie, more Barbies and a Wubble; Regan wants stilts, gift cards and a Wubble), and then it was time to snap a quick picture.

I plopped Lincoln onto Santa's lap but just as I did, I could feel his arm clenching around mine as if to tell me "do NOT set me on that bearded man!". I did anyway, and he screamed his head off. 

We thought moving him over to Regan's lap would do the trick to calm him.....

nope.  

Ah, but it's a classic Christmas picture, isn't it!? 

Books, books and more books

Lincoln is in love with books. 

A love that ranks right up there with balls.
He will whimper and whine until someone sits down with a pile of books and reads them over and over and over again. 

And when our voices cannot read any longer, he takes it upon himself to sit and read a little longer. 

We all get a kick out of how he continues to cross his feet. It just cracks us up to turn the corner into the family room and see him, resting his feet atop one another while reading his book. 

He does this with his feet all the time. Whether sitting on our lap or alone on the floor. 

I love that he loves his books, just wish he would like a larger variety of them than he currently does! 

Christmas Round 1

It was Christmas Round 1 this weekend, as my brother and Jon were in town for an early Christmas. 

We gathered up Hope and all hung around our fire place to open presents and make memories. 

Like trying to take a big family picture and having Ryan screw off with his posing....

 The girls were eager to change into pajamas and Grandma Jan played Santa with the girls as her elves. 

We were all over-joyed to have Hope join us for the weekend.

It all becomes a little overwhelming and eventually Lincoln snuggled up with his puppy card from Ben and Jon and watched as everyone around him tossed paper and showed the gifts. 

Eventually we got a good family picture with everyone looking at the camera :)
That's a success with 10 people!

Merry Christmas! 

Macy's 8th floor and Como

We celebrated Christmas with Ben and Jon this past weekend as they came to town ahead of Christmas this year. We decided to go downtown to the Macy's 8th floor display to show them A Day in the Life of an Elf. It was a fun morning and we were able to beat the crowd by arriving at 9am. 

 We ooed and ahhed over all the fun movements of the elves, even though my family had seen them yearly for 7 years (or so!). Lincoln was so excited, kicking his legs and pointing to all of the elves. His favorite part was the hot air balloons of mail passing over head. So sweet to hear his excitement. 

Once we finished walking through the display, the girls found a spot at the table and wrote their letters to Santa. It makes me tear up every single year. 

I just can't help it. 

I know it won't be long and Regan will be over the whole Santa thing and the idea of writing him a letter will be behind her. So I'll treasure these moments every chance I get. 

We sure hope that Regan isn't disappointed when she doesn't get a really big piggy or a really big horsey! 

Sidney wants a La La Loopsie that poops. 

Awesome. 

From there we headed over to Como to check out the sunken garden and warmth of the conservatory and then take a trip around the zoo. 

We took the opportunity to snap a few pictures along the way. Boy we wish it were 70 and tropical feeling outside! 

And from here it was on to a big meal and some present-opening.....(next post)