December Festivities

Yesterday we celebrated Ricky's birthday. It was really nice because Mom and Talicee were here so they were able to tend the boys so that we could spend the afternoon and evening out. We spent the morning having an early Christmas (mom had to leave this morning) so Michaela and Jared came over too. We opened presents and Mom picked up Mexican food for our Christmas lunch. Ricky and I then left for the remainder of the day. When we got home we sang to Ricky and had cake and ice cream. Thanks Mom for the nice Christmas morning and for tending the boys.

We've certainly kept busy this month with doctor's appointments, visitors, shopping, and just doing projects around the house. Here are a few pictures of the boys, our projects and yesterday's festivities.

Home photo session because he was so cute lying on the bed with Ricky.

He is such a cool kid with a very calm personality...unless he's hungry...then he is very vocal.

Lincoln loves to line things up. He is very organized.

I see a smile! (The quality is poor because it was taken on my phone.)

Stacking and building with his legos. He has gotten quite good at building and I notice he uses his left and right hand to build them.

My cutie pie!

I made chocolate covered caramel apples for our friends and neighbors this year. I always enjoy making candy but it's harder to do now with two little ones around the house.

Lincoln is so tall and Logan is following his growth pattern. Lincoln is adapting well to brother.

Happy Birthday, Ricky! Lincoln was so excited to eat the clown and the frosting.

This was part of our early Christmas with Grandma.

We're Making Progress

We were really looking forward to taking the boys to see Santa this year because Rick's uncle is Santa five days a week at our local mall. We thought it would be so fun for the boys to have their picture with him. I was also hoping that it would help Lincoln to have a better experience this year then he did last year. We've been talking to him about Santa and that he would get to tell Santa what toys he wanted for Christmas. Lincoln decided all on his own that he would tell Santa that he wanted more Legos and two vroom vrooms (motorcycles) like daddy's. He made sure that he wanted big ones - as opposed to little pretend ones that he has. Uncle Lee has also been working to create a special bond, like touching his beard or giving him knuckles, so that he would recognize or feel comfortable when he was sitting with Santa but it didn't quite work. Lincoln had no clue that it was really Uncle Lee. In a way I was glad so that he can still have the innocence of believing in Santa and it all worked out in the end. Lincoln sat on his lap and told him that he wanted Legos and two vroom vrooms but as you can tell from the picture he was a bit apprehensive and didn't want to get too comfortable on his lap. I have to say though that I think we're making progress.

Poor Logan had just woken up as I handed him to Santa. I was hoping that he would sleep but I'm not that lucky.

2008 Lincoln with Santa

2009 - Lincoln and Logan

Logan just relaxing on the couch.

My boys!

We've resorted to bribing Lincoln with Skittles and Nerds to get him to pose long enough to take a picture.

Lincoln loves to give his brother kisses and hugs. We're working on being soft with him though.

Lincoln is growing so fast and now with Logan here I think it makes Lincoln look more like a big boy than ever before.

Too Cute!

We took the boys in yesterday for pictures. Lincoln needed his two year pictures and Logan was getting one month milestone pictures. Neither of the boys were having the best day but since it was on the calendar and the appointment was booked, we went forward with it. I figured it we got a couple good pictures then it would be worth it. I think that we ended up with a couple cute pictures of them both.

Daddy's A Hero

I just wanted to say that CPR classes have paid off! Yesterday, Lincoln choked on a chip. With panic in his eyes he turned to his Daddy and reached out to him for help. Ricky instantly grabbed Lincoln, flipped him onto his stomach with his head down and feet up, and gave Lincoln a couple hits to the middle of his back. Just a couple seconds later Lincoln was able to cough up/spit out the chip he was choking on. Poor Lincoln cried as he was pretty scared, not understanding what just happened. It all happened so quickly. Luckily Ricky was there and was able to spring into action. He's a hero!!

Lincoln Turned Two!

Two just happens to be Lincoln's favorite number. His definition of two is anything more than one - no matter how many. If it's plural - then it's two. We are working with him now to actually count out the numbers instead of just saying two for everything. It was pretty easy to teach him to say two when we asked him how old he is. He has a harder time actually holding up two fingers on one hand so he holds up one finger on each hand.

His birthday this year was a small family celebration. With Logan only being a week old it wasn't realistic for us to go out or have a bunch of people over. Grammy and Aunt Talicee were here from California to help celebrate. Ricky took Lincoln to the zoo for the morning and then we had birthday cake and ice cream and opened presents that evening. We decorated with balloons, party hats, banners and little center pieces to add so color to the house. Grammy spoiled him with toys and we tried to give him a lot of extra attention, since he is having to adjust to sharing the attention with Logan around now. It was a nice simple day!

Lincoln helped me make his cake. His favorite part is using the beaters to mix everything. He loves helping in the kitchen. Who knows...maybe I have a little chef!

He isn't shy when it comes to unwrapping presents.

A little taste of the cake quickly turned into a mess and Lincoln's piece being the bottom half of the cake.

He thinks he's so funny...and he was.

Really he doesn't even eat the cake - just the frosting!

Grammy got him this little car for his birthday and he loves it!

He's Here!

Logan has finally arrived. We've been anticipating his arrival for the last several weeks, especially since my doctor didn't think we would make it to my due date. Everything went according to plan. Rick and I arrived at the hospital at 4:00 am for me to be induced. I got an epidural (which, by the way, was awesome! I don't know why I didn't get one with Lincoln) and then less than four hours later Logan was born. The doctor was barely able to get dressed in time to catch Logan on his way out. He was 9.53 pounds and healthy. He is such a good baby! He eats well and sleeps even better. He's decided that he is a night owl and want to be awake in the middle of the night so we will have to work on changing his schedule.

Lincoln came to the hospital to pick him up so that we could go home as a family. Lincoln seems to love baby brother and is exciting to share his toys with him...we'll see how long that lasts. Lincoln is adjusting to not having all of mommy and daddy's attention and some days are smoother than others.

Recovery is so much easier this time and I'm sure it's because I didn't have to labor without pain meds for eight hours this time. I'm still sleep deprived but nothing like it would have been if I didn't have an epidural. I was amazed at how different the birthing process can be with a little drugs =). I didn't feel a thing!

Here is our big little guy!

I can't believe how big he was!

Proud Daddy!

Proud Grammy! She even cut the cord.

Lincoln meeting Logan for the first time.

Lincoln wanted to hold Logan right when we got home...so I let him and it lasted about 20 seconds.

Any Day Now

So, Logan should be here any day now. In fact, even though my due date isn't for another nine days, the doctors thought that he would've come sometime this last week. On the 16th I had pretty consistent contractions and was pretty sure that we would have a baby before we got through the weekend. While I'm very anxious and ready for him to come, 37-38 weeks sounded too early to me. I would rather he come when he's ready. I definitely don't want him to be born on Halloween so I've started being more active the last couple of days in hopes that we can make something happen but no luck with that plan so far. My doctor was sure that I wouldn't make it to my due date and nine days sure sounds like a long time away. Now that I've made it this far, I would love to have two November babies. At this point we'll just have to wait and see.

Trunk-or-Treat

Lincoln decided that he wanted to be a skeleton this year for Halloween...or as he calls it...bones. We put several costumes in front of him including Buzz Lightyear, Wubbzy, Spiderman, and Thomas the Train. He quickly narrowed it down to Wubbzy and the skeleton and then when I asked him to choose one he quickly replied by saying, "Mama, two!" Explaining that he could only have one he finally decided on the bones. When we finally put it in him he didn't want to take it off. He thought he was so cool and special in his costume. He picked out a little green pumpkin bucket to collect his candy in. He also named that Happy. Now, any pumpkins name is Happy.

Lincoln seemed to quickly learn the art of trunk-or-treating. He would walk right up to the person sitting at the trunk, hold up his bucket and wait for the candy. Every so often we could get him to say "trick or treat" but body language worked out well for him. Luckily Ricky was with him to say thank you. I sat at the bed of our truck, with my big pregnant belly, handing out candy. Now that Lincoln is finally getting old enough to understand things better and how the holidays work, it brings a different and special meaning to them for me. I enjoy being able to see the holidays through his eyes. To experience the magic, enthusiasm and excitement as he does.