Como

When Lincoln was born, Regan sobbed one night commenting that we had already done so much before he was a part of our family. She cried about all of our fun experiences, saying he had missed all of them. 

Gosh that was sweet. 

So sweet that it brings me to tears as I remember her that evening, sobbing away at bedtime. 

And at the time, I wasn't able to help her understand that there is joy in taking him to all of those fun places and seeing all of those fun things. But today she was able to see it firsthand. 

We took our first trip as a family of 5 to Como Zoo and Conservatory this weekend.

We were joined by some good friends (and about 1000 other people!)

Holy buckets it was PACKED! 

He got out of the stroller after the first exhibit and spent the rest of the time hanging out in the carrier snuggled warm under the Peek A Roo. 

That thing is the best darn invention out there. It's incredible to keep baby warm while we are out and about. A fleece jacket type vest that goes around both him and me: brilliant. 

We were quite the sight too; people all around us commenting at either 1) Lincoln's cheeks or 2) how snuggly he looked. I saw a few surprised faces too, folks that were a shocked to see his head peeking out. 

So adorable!

After the zoo and a snack, I convinced the family to take some pictures inside the conservatory. Lincoln's face just lit up as the warmth surrounded him. It was so fun to watch! I just held him and pointed out all that was around us, telling him "this is what summer feels like!". 

Regan was pretty excited to show him the sunken garden. 

The smell of tulips all around us was overwhelming. It was beautiful and the most pleasant smell. Again, too bad we had to share this moment with 400 other people. 

Seriously, it was practically a line to get in there! 

We rushed to get in a few pictures and Sidney was only remotely cooperating. I eventually showed her that her pouty face was making for some bad pictures and then mentioned those would be on her birthday slideshow....and she perked right up, not wanting a pouty face on her show! 

Sometimes I have to pull out the threats :) 

Love these 3 adorable children and feel so blessed they are ours! 

Barbie's Dreamhouse

It's been two week since the girls and I walked through the very PINK Barbie's Dreamhouse and I am still singing the song " hey hey life in the dreamhouse". 

over 

and over 

and over

Let's not forget the other popular song "everybody needs a Ken".

Yea, so that's my takeaway after spending $90 for the 3 of us to experience life in the dreamhouse. 

The girls really had an absolute blast. So much fun, that we lost track of time and Ryan started to wonder if we had gotten lost! There were lots of these photo ops through out; Sidney still relives being in Barbie's bedroom, Barbie's runway, Barbie's elevator, ... You get the point. She loved it.

And outside was Barbie's car. 

Regan walked away, giving me a tight squeeze and a BIG thank you for taking them. 

And that...well, that made it all worth it.  

five months...and growing

There's no denying it, our big guy is getting bigger. Lincoln just keeps growing and growing. But man alive, he is such a stud! That hair, it just does what it wants!

Today he flipped to 5 months old, and I cleaned out his closet of most 6 months clothes because well, they were tight! And I have found so many adorable 9 month clothes shopping around lately....gosh it's fun!

And when he eats and gets messy, it just means I have a good excuse to change him into another cute outfit! Who says boy clothes aren't as cute?!

At 5 months:
* we are still squeezing him into size 2 diapers but only til these are gone. Then it's onto 3's.
* clothes are mostly size 9 months now
* sleeping 10pm-7am and short 20 min to long 1.5 hour naps.
* sleeps in the family cradle beside our bed overnight often going to bed awake but sometimes not.
* naps wherever: car seat, my arms, swing, crib, bouncy chair, etc and we LOVE this!
* the most flexible baby ever (except feeding), just goes with the flow
* happiest of all our babies. Laughs at anything and smiles easily. Such a good baby
* enjoys light up toys or plush things to chew on.
* loves his bouncy chair that lights up, just started to use exersaucer and likes this too
* still breastfeeding: eating every 3 hours about 5 ounces
* started eating home made baby food (so far carrots, bananas, avocados and sweet potatoes)
* says "mmmooommm" and "ma" all the time :)
* not very mobile: still doesn't roll much, but does lift his legs and slams them down to move
* has had 2 ear infections, both cleared with amoxicillin
* eczema on his face can get out of control if not treated daily: was all swollen last week.
* drools like crazy and still spits up all day long.
* at the doctor this week weighed in about 21 lbs!

Take a look at those thighs! 

Seriously, they are gigantic. 

When people hold him, I am constantly asked "how do you do this?!"...referring to how heavy he is. I think I just adjust. Ryan can't get his car seat into my car (middle seat) because it hurts his back. Regan even comments that it's easier to hold Harlow, and she's right!

Happy 5 months to our big boy!

here we go again

Sadly, I think Lincoln is following in his sweet big sister's footsteps. At just under 5 months, he's been hit with another ear infection. Thankfully, we caught it pretty early after just one sleepless night. Sunday we traveled to New Ulm and could tell he wasn't his usual self but chalked it up to being out of his element and it being a long day for him. By Monday he wasn't much better and didn't sleep well at all overnight. So on Tuesday, I brought him in and the results weren't surprising: double ear infection. We had thought maybe he was teething the way he was chomping away on his nuk, but the doc says he's just showing normal infant behavior by chewing and drooling. 

So back onto antibiotics he goes; after being off them for only 6 weeks. Now I know people have all sorts of stories about chiropractors and herbal remedies. But we'll go with our experience and if history repeats itself, we'll go back to our amazing pediatric ENT and get the job done. At this point, we aren't there yet and I thank my lucky stars that it's simply an ear infection. I'm praying the spring weather will help. For now, we'll just keep snuggling this growing baby boy who continually repeats "mmmooomm" and gives us all sorts of smiles and giggles! He's into this new toy lately...and having so much fun! 

And he rolls

It's not yet on video camera, but Lincoln managed to roll over twice last Saturday (3/15). The first time, Regan and I were cheering and coaxing him to let go and roll himself over before he finally did it. We went nuts congratulating him!! Sidney had to get in on the comotion and witnessed the second one. By then, Ryan came into the room....and the little stinker wouldn't do it again :( Sorry dad!

Giggles and first word!

Regan loves getting Lincoln to laugh. Tonight, as Ryan was changing out of his work clothes, she grabbed his belt and did to Lincoln what Ryan has done to the girls to get them giggling. She proceeded to snap his belt over and over and Lincoln went crazy, laughing away at her! He wasn't laughing nearly as much once I pulled out the camera, but you can see he was still entertained. Then, at about the 1:05 mark....you'll hear him, plain as day, say "mom". He does it more than once and I'm so happy I had it on camera! Clearly he's just making noises, but I'm happy as pie to believe he is saying "mom"!! Click HERE to watch. Enjoy!  

Sidney says...

Well folks, she's at it again. This was my conversation today with Sidney:
Sid: "I want boobies like you"
Me: no response but to chuckle
Sid: "It's because I want to do this"...and starts jiggling her top half

Then she laughs so hard she toots!!!

What will she think of next!? Gosh she is something else; we love you to pieces Sidney!

Another Friday night

It's far too late at night for me to be up blogging, especially considering I am like a pharmacy with my throat lozenges, Tylenol and Amoxicillin for strep. And don't let me forget the warm salt water. But life sure has been busy around here and I like to try to keep documenting. 

Regan is the best helper with Lincoln. She loves him to pieces and I think she'd stash him in her backpack so he could come to school with her...if only he'd fit :) 

She loves to pick him up, play with him, snuggle, feed, you name it. She helps bathe him, wipes up spit up and just loves every second. I'll never forget that she cried when he was about 2 weeks old, saying that he was growing so fast already. Her motherly nature is so beautiful. 

He's rocking the tummy time, as Ryan likes to say, and is so very close to rolling over. So close! Too bad he grabs the blanket trying to hold himself back; I even placed a toy above his head so he could have something to look for to help turn his body. But that darn hand clung to the blanket to help hold him steady!

That little spit fire was at it again today. Sidney got a little angry disgusted and slammed the fridge door. A shelf in the fridge door totally fell down and she opened it back up to see what she had done. Out fell a hot sauce bottle onto the floor, breaking it and sending glass flying. A piece slashed Sidney's foot. It's pretty deep and probably almost an inch long but I'm thinking we can get by with a little skin glue and avoid stitches. The neighbors think I'm a nurse and send over their kid for fix ups...I played one tonight wrapping up her little foot to get the bleeding to stop.  

Lesson learned: We don't slam anything.

Outtake

Sometimes an outtake makes the best picture.....

Tonight I was snapping away pictures of the family: Sidney holding Lincoln (who frankly is much too large for her to hold! Cripes, he's half her size already) and Ryan helping Regan with her homework. I was trying to get Lincoln to smile, when he burped. Which Sidney knows leads to spit up, and quickly. And a lot.

I think the picture is priceless. 

Welcome back!

My parents have finally returned from their status as "snow birds", and I can tell you, we are soooo happy to have them back! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for them to be able to live out their dreams and spend a couple of months each year in a warmer climate. I'm pretty sure that Ryan would adore being in a state where he could golf in January and February; so snow bird status is hopefully in my future too :) 

Lincoln has grown exponentially since they left. He was 2 months to the day back then, and despite lots of pictures, videos and Face Time, seeing him in person is a whole different view. My dad could not believe his eyes "look at how BIG he is!". 

I think it's cute that they match in their stripes

Regan cried her eyes out for days after Grandma Jan left in December, so she was pleased as punch to have her back. Even better, she was off school for two days this week so Grandma got to hang out a little extra. 

This little man warmed right up to the grandparents he hadn't seen in 2 months. He showed them his smiley-happy-spit uppy- usual self! 

Welcome back mom and dad, I'm so happy to see your tan faces in person!

Mid-March update

As we are full into March, I thought I'd give an update into what's going on in our world. For starters, I'm now driving around in a car with duct tape on it (sorry, no picture). Thanks to my dad for "fixing" up my car last night so I can drive it. He chuckled "you know you're a red neck when you have duct tape on your bumper". I'm not one to want a new car, it's not that I don't like new things, I do, but a new vehicle isn't my top priority. We know this 2002 Nissan Altima with 130,000 miles is worth next to nothing, and so the plan is to drive it into the ground. So duct tape it is :) I really should try to find some black duct tape, then I might not look so red-neck. HA!

A bigger issue is with our pool. Throughout the winter, we noticed the green pool cover was caving in (ie: detaching from the deck and sinking onto the pool). Now this is wrong on many levels. Most importantly, the pool should have sufficient water/ice to hold up the cover. Once or twice, I went out to get a closer look at the actual liner (this is the blue part of the pool that holds in the water, often it is cement in public pools) but I wasn't able to really see past the mounds of snow.

 

Until this week. We slowly walked around the pool, and I pointed out what I thought was just a stretch in the liner (under the circular jet in the picture above). Ryan leaned in for a closer look and mumbled "well, that's the end of that". DARN! (I might have said a few other words....). The liner has a hole in it. Not a little tiny patchable hole, but a big one. We knew we were on borrowed time, those suckers cost a pretty penny and last anywhere from 7-10 years. At a minimum, we were on year 9. Schnikey. After a quick call to our pool store, we are on the way to replacement: estimated time frame-end of May. Estimated dollar amount-A LOT! I like to see the silver lining in things. And so as much as the liner will cost (and the water to fill the entire thing. and the gas to heat all the water), the beauty is that we will have a brand new liner that is sure to look gorgeous, and not have to waste half the summer on waiting for installation. See?, silver lining :)

 

Onto more exciting updates.....We are muddling through the end of this winter and gearing up for amazing weather. We are ready to play outside, splash in puddles, go for walks, ride our bikes and just enjoy some fresh air as a family of five. The kids enjoyed their first outside walk of the year on Monday with Grandma Jan and she captured this picture:

This morning I asked Ryan, Regan and Sidney (and myself) to give me one word to describe the three kids in our family. And here's what they came up with along with a glimpse into each of their lives as it is now:

 

Regan-She's 8 going on 18. Seriously. This girl has a sense of sass and is wise beyond her years sometimes. She is a critical thinker and questions authority like it's second nature to her. Boy that can be frustrating! Recently, she earned herself a prize like none other. After saving up for a very long time, she bought herself an iPod Touch. Like a big one. The one with the fancy shmancy camera that takes pictures beyond selfies. So while she is busy Face-Timing with her friends, texting with her parents while we are away at work, and playing games, we are busy trying to figure out how to parent in the world of technology. This stuff is tricky. She has never played with toys. Like ever. So while we can push her in the direction of arts/crafts and books, she whines and complains that she just wants to play on her iPod. With the recommendations to "limit non-learning screen time to less than 2 hours/day", and an infant in our arms, this sometimes gets tricky. Do we count Face-Time as screen time?, essentially it's like talking on the phone. How long can we listen to her beg and whine? Darn it the weather has NOT been nice and frankly, she's B-O-R-E-D, and so are we. And when they sit nicely like this and learn how to operate that thing, it's pretty darn cute:

Our words to describe her: growing up (much too quickly), playmate, helper.

 

Sidney-She's 5.5 but I still pretend she's my sweet little 3 year old. Shh, don't tell her that :) She wants to be a big girl, and have sleepovers at friends' and playdates and I'm not ready to let her enter that world because our calendar is already busting at the seams. Honestly, we don't believe she'd actually last at a sleepover. She leaves me for a couple of hours and admits to Ryan "I miss mommy". Yea right babe, you want a sleepover?! Not yet sweet little girl. Sidney has an imagination as big as the sky. Lately she's let Regan in on her adventures, and together they hide behind the couch with barbies spread out 10 feet around them. It's heavenly to listen to them play. She loves Lincoln like he's the best thing since peanut butter and jelly. And boy can she get him to laugh. Like belly laughs. Sidney has never sat still. She moves and dances and talks the day away. And he adores watching/listening to her. She only wishes he didn't weigh so darn much, as she would love to carry him like Regan does. I sense those two will get into some trouble together when he gets a wee bit older. Bring it on :)

Our words to describe her: playful, sweet and energetic.

 

Lincoln-He's 4 months and the sweetest little baby. He snuggles into my arms when he's tired, falling asleep as he listens to my voice. This past weekend we visited some friends and he sat on my lap, blabbering like he was part of the conversation. Eventually he grew tired and just closed his eyes. We have never experienced such an easy baby. He is content and sweet all wrapped up into a big bundle. When he is awake, he is LOUD! Like incredibly loud. If he's slightly upset, he'll seemingly holler at you until you pick him up. Not cry, but holler. And we can't help but laugh, he sure knows how to get his needs met. His personality is evolving and he is soaking up all that we have to offer him. He loves to laugh and is so ticklish that it's funny to the 'tickler'. He giggles and giggles and it's just contagious. Those rolls are beyond adorable, even when they are stinky from spit up :)

Our words to describe him: blabber mouth, cute, laughter and snuggly.

 

Life around here isn't perfect, afterall, I'm driving around a car with duct tape on it. But it's our life and we are happy and healthy. We couldn't ask for anything more.

Food

Lincoln has started the journey of food exploration. He was showing interest and at the right age per our pediatrician's recommendation. And so, we tried. First day was an epic fail. Little did anyone realize, but he was actually really hungry, and so trying something new isn't a good idea. But he wasn't "due" to eat, and so no one knew he was actually hungry. And holy moly was he mad when the spoon didn't deliver food like he was accustomed to. So the next day, I timed it much better and there was no way he was possibly hungry.
Success!
Of course, it's messy and according to Uncle Shane, very gross, but he likes it and we are having fun introducing him to textures :) My amazingly dedicated parents are embarking on a new journey as they have agreed to make his baby food. Like with real food. So there's cleaning, cooking/boiling, pureeing and freezing going on and we cannot wait until he's ready to try this healthy stuff. Thanks mom and dad!!

Thankful for time

If there's one thing we never seem to have enough of, it's time. Over and over I have told Ryan that our time is more valuable than money. And he seems to get that and share in that same feeling. I'm so thankful to be able to take some time off work and hang with our growing family. And ever so thankful for his new job that brings him home for lunch :) yesterday, it was family art at lunch.