Lincoln's T & A...it's not what you think.

Lincoln had his tonsils and adenoids removed today at the Texan Surgery Center by Dr. Steven Fyfe. We had to be there very early this morning at 6:30 am, but that meant we had to leave our house at 5:15 am in order to get there on time. So leaving at 5:15 am meant waking up at 4:45 am. Josh and I are exhausted.

We did all of the above and got to the surgery center on time. They brought us back, got him dressed for the O.R. and took his vitals, weight (39 lbs) and talked to us about the post-op things we should do for him, how would feel and what he could eat afterward. Not long after the Anesthesiologist and Doctor came to talk with us and come get him. While we were waiting, we found a play room with one of those little tyke red cars. He was driving around the room when it was time to go, so they let him drive the car into the O.R. He took Leonard, his leopard, with him and gave me kisses bye.

About 30 minutes later, he was done. The Dr. said he was great and that both his tonsils and adenoids were extremely large. He cleared out his sinuses and told us he should sleep MUCH better now. The nurses came back in to get us when he was waking up from surgery. I climbed in bed with him and he just snuggled and fell back asleep. As I was laying with him, Josh and I noticed how quiet his breathing was compared to his breathing before the surgery. We were amazed.

It took him quite awhile to wake up fully. He was in and out the whole time and we tried to get him up to drink some juice or cough. Finally after a full 2 hrs he woke up enough for the nurse to discharge him.
He's home now and has been sleeping most of the day. We're going to try for bed a little later than usual, since he sleep until about 2:00 pm. We'll see how tonight goes. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully a new life for this kiddo. Breathe a little easier tonight baby!

Then and Now Photo Shoot

The year Lincoln was born, we were living in Waxahachie, TX. In Spring 2008, I took Lincoln out to the playground to take pictures for Father's Day to surprise Josh. Ironically enough, Josh found the photos and framed them for me for Mother's Day the month before.

Not long ago, I found a shirt that was made of the same material as the shirt Lincoln wore in that 2008 photo shoot. So yesterday he wanted to wear his green shirt, so I thought it was a great opportunity to do another photo shoot. Our little boy is no longer little. He's growing up so fast. It's fun to watch him grow. Love you Linc!

Here is kiddo in April 2008...

Here is November 2011...

Enchanted Rock Trip

Every now and then we like to get together with our friends from the old San Marcos University Branch. This time around we met up with Adam and Rachael Bond and their family and Dan and Tannie Smith and their boys. We thought about going camping, but the burn ban is still in effect at every State Park. Camp fires are prohibited.


So our next thought was of Enchanted Rock. I hadn't been there in years and thought it might be a good place for the kiddos to climb rocks and play. We all met at Enchanted Rock and after a quick update on everyone and bathroom break, we began to climb.


Enchanted Rock is much bigger than I remember. Lincoln did a great job on the way up. He walked up with all the other big kids and stopped to climb on every rock he could. There is a cave system at the top of the rock, but it would have taken an hour to get through it because there were so many people there that day. We stopped and had a snack at the very top, which was a little difficult because of the wind. It was a beautiful day though.


The climb down, was a little different than on the way up. Linc started to have a melt down about half way down, and Josh and I took turns carrying him down on our backs. He would try to run, and soon found that running downhill can cause you to fall....which of course happened. I bet everyone that Lincoln would be the first to bleed and I won the bet. He scraped his hand and knee, and got in trouble for not listening to us telling him NOT to run! Bad trip down for kiddo.


We got to the car and determined our next destination for some well known hamburgers. It took about an hour to get to the restaraunt, outside of Fredericksburg, so that gave Linc time to nap in the car.

Head Staples

Lincoln fell down about two weeks ago and cracked the back of his head open. It was bleeding quite a bit but slowed when I put him in the shower, but he still needed stitches or something to close the wound. We took him to a Minor Emergency Clinic in Marble Falls to see the Doctor, since it was a Saturday.

They looked at him and said he needed one staple to keep it shut. So I hugged him hard and wrapped him in a sheet then we laid down on the table. It took all of 10 seconds for the Doctor to clean and staple his head. No problem.

We were on our way to check out and were told it would be almost $400!!! FOR ONE STAPLE!! Our country's medical system is SO messed up. Then we were told that we would have to pay to have it removed too. After talking with one of the nurses, I convinced her to take it out at no charge. When she did so, she told me it was difficult to remove because it was in there crooked! Ah, the frustrations of the medical system!!

My First Bout with Strep Throat

Early last week, I had a really sore throat and couldn't sleep because it hurt so much. It burned to swallow or even breathe. So, after a quick doctor's visit, I tested positive for Strep. I spent the next two days in bed, on antibiotics, sipping soup that Josh so lovingly ordered for me. He took a couple days off work to take care of me and keep Lincoln away from me. I didn't want to get either of them sick.

I'm feeling much better now, but still have a few days worth of antibiotics to take. Hopefully no one else catches this.

Poor kiddo...

Lincoln woke up yesterday morning with red, puss-filled bumps all over his chin and cheeks. I took him to the school nurse to get her opinion. She thought it looked like a staph infection or impetigo. His pediatrican concurred and gave us a topical anti-biotic cream that seems to be helping, thus far.

However, today was picture day at school. Ugggggh. I called his teacher to make sure he could do a "make up" picture another day. I don't want him to miss school pictures. His pics last year were so cute!

He looks so much younger in this photo. He's getting so grown up!

Sea World Trip

We took a trip to Sea World at the end of the summer. We usually go in October when it cools down, but we decided to go while the water park was still open. It was hot, but really fun. Lincoln's favorite part was definitely seeing Elmo and the whole Sesame Street gang perform. After the show, the characters came down to take pictures with the kids and Lincoln was literally running after Ernie and Bert screaming, "Ernie, wait! Wait for me Ernie!"

He was SO happy to see Ernie and Bert!


"Wait for me Ernie!"

Ice Cream and swimming. Doesn't get much better!

He wasn't very keen on the whales. It was too loud for him and he spent most of the time covering his ears with his hands. But what really sent him over the edge was when the whales splashed us. That over-stimulated him and he was not happy until the show was over. As we were walking out, he saw a stuffed whale. I'm a sucker and bought it for him, and it is now a favorite. He pretends the whale is splashing with his tale and jumping around.

Baby and Mommy Whale

The trainers are not allowed in the water with the whales anymore and they all had their hair in buns. The whale that was involved in last year's accident killing his trainer was shipped to the San Antonio Sea World. He was performing on the other side of the tank. It was amazing to see them perform, but also scary to think of something THAT size swimming at you at break-neck speeds. Just amazing though.

Makes me want to be a trainer, but with dolphins.

Happy 4th Birthday Lincoln!!

Enjoying his birthday cake!

Our little boy turned 4 years old today. As they say, time flies. We are amazed at how fast the time has flown. He is as tall, as fast, and as fearless as any older boy. We had a school evaluation today and were told that he is above his age range academically but still needs to work on his speech. We are SO proud of him and all the progress he has made. This year in class with his wonderful teachers should be a great one.

Saturday we had a birthday swim party for Lincoln and his friends at the City pool. Last year, we had his party at the pumpkin patch and it was too hot. This year, at the pool, the weather was perfect for a swim. The water was VERY cold at first, but still felt nice.

He had lots of friends there and received lots of cool gifts, including a Toy Story Sherriff Woody and Bullseye Josh and I got him. Everyone had a good time.

Angelene, two weeks away from kiddo #5 and Finley looking on.

Nice ears hon!

Samuel and Mom, Amy

Curtis and Jane Hale

Lincoln and Nana, enjoying a Mickey Mouse cupcake.

Samuel and Lincoln

Our playdate friends, Amy and Samuel

Every birthday, I've made Lincoln a Birthday hat and shirt. This year's theme was Mickey Mouse. Happy Birthday my big boy!!!

Back to School

Lincoln started school again and he is in the same class as last year, the Pre-school Program for Children with Disabilities (PPCD). He has been making lots of progress verbally and academically. His teachers have said that he still is a little behind in his speech, but he is ahead of his age group academically. Right now, he has three teachers and about 6 or 7 kids in his class. He is attending the Pre-K class every day for about 30 minutes, but his teacher, Ms. Tina, wants to increase his time in Pre-K to an hour. We'll see how his does in a class with two teachers and 18 or 19 kids. Either he will flourish or he won't. We'll see...

His teachers are amazing!! Ms. Tina and Ms. Hollie were with him last year and now he also has Ms. Carmen helping too. They really CARE about the kids in their class. I can tell because I've seen them talking to and dealing with the kids, and they are tremendous!! They really care about Lincoln and how he is progressing. We feel so blessed to have them working with Lincoln. I can see a huge difference in his behavior and speech. WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!

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We also just had Lincoln tested for food allergies. We knew he was allergic to peanuts, which was confirmed, but we also found out that he is slightly allergic to milk, soy, and egg whites, which basically excluded all dairy products. He is already on a Gluten-free diet but now we have to remove all dairy, egg, and codfish too. He is slightly more allergic to codfish (fish sticks, etc) than milk and eggs. I really need to do my homework to research in order to provide dinner for a month with all these restrictions. We take it away for a month, then introduce each one back into his diet to see how he reacts to it. Wish us luck!!!

Fun in the Sun!

We've had a lot of fun this summer so far, filled with swim lessons, trips to Nana's house, swimming at the pool, bowling, playdates, dinosaur bones, more swimming and even more swimming (especially since we've had over 30 consecutive days of 100 degrees or more)! It's gone by very quickly and we can't believe it's almost time for school again.
Here is a little peak at our summer so far....


Playing Wii baseball and giving mommy "scary eyes"


Horseshoe Bay Resort

He wasn't quite sure of the turtle at first, but his friend helped him feel better.

Swimming with his "gobbles" on.

Underwater looking at each other. Always funny.

Miss Martha helping me to dive.

"Kick those legs!"

At a friends birthday party..."Happy BIRTHDAY!!" squeeze!

Our favorite past time...being naked!

Last day of School

Lincoln's teachers: Angie, Hollie, and Christina

During the last few weeks of school for Lincoln his class was learning about the ocean and summer. Since both the morning and the afternoon classes would be meeting together on the final day to watch "Finding Nemo", I told his teachers that I would bring a cake for everyone.

Then, Miss Tina approached me about possibly doing a baby shower cake for Miss Hollie (another teacher who is expecting her first boy). Two cakes in two days was a fun and I think they turned out great. I didn't want to make the kids cake too crazy, so a plain sheet cake did the trick. The last day of school arrived and I was sad because Lincoln wouldn't have his teachers to help him over the summer (and I'm worried about my own teaching abilities) and that he wouldn't see his class mates until August!

They had a fun day though. Everyone watched the movie and had snacks, then the Pre-K class (who had also joined the PPCD class) left and the rest of us had cake. It was lots of fun.

As a "Thank You" to his teachers, I photoshopped Lincoln's head into a book that is about a little boy who is always in trouble. I thought it was appropriate. At the end of the book, Lincoln gets a gold star and a "Good Job, Lincoln" from his teacher and skips home. Everyone really liked it and Miss Tina said another teacher saw it and cried. These teachers REALLY love their kids!! Here a few of my favorite pages.

Here are some of his crafts from the last few weeks of school...

I'm SO grateful to Christina, Hollie, and Angie for all their hard work and support this year! They were instrumental to the progress Lincoln made since last October. They will forever be in our hearts and loved by us all!

So we've got a handwriting ciriculum to work on over the summer, lots of swimming planned, a trip or two to San Antonio Sea World and the zoo, and lots of sunscreen ahead of us. It's going to be a great summer!!

We grow 'em bigger in Texas...

Almost every time I take Lincoln to the store or somewhere out in public, someone asks me how old he is. When I tell them he is 3 1/2 yrs old, they always say, "Oh my! I thought he was 4 or 5! He is a big boy!"

Today at the park, a friend of ours pointed out that Lincoln is half my size. He is as tall as my belly button already and I guess I never think about how big he is until I see him next to some of his friends at school and the park that are his age. He usually stands head and shoulders above them. Maybe he'll be a star basketball player, or possibly the next Michael Phelps. He does have a very long torso, somewhat stumpy legs, and big feet! ha ha
Here's hoping...

Port Aransas Beach Trip

We finally made it back to Port Aransas this year. We hadn't been in two years and I was getting anxious to go. Our friends ended up joining us and we had a great time! We stayed at a condo with a kitchen, living room and one bedroom. It was so much better than a hotel room. We grabbed some groceries to fill the fridge with breakfast and lunch stuff then went out to eat for dinner.

We didn't get down to the coast until early evening on Friday and went straight to the beach! Lincoln loved it even more than last time we were there. He especially loved jumping in the waves. Digging in the sand, running through the seaweed, chasing Allie and Sam, and hugging Noah took up the rest of Lincoln's time at the beach....but Lincoln's favorite activity of the weekend has been peeing outside! Ever since Josh had to pull over on the way to school to let Lincoln pee, Linc has gone out of his way to pee outside. And since we were outside almost all weekend, he took advantage of it. Everywhere we went, I would turn around to find he had pulled down his drawers and was relieving himself. He never had to pee this much before.



This tree is over 1,000 years old!! Amazing. Lincoln peed here too.

Yet again...

Linc at the pier. He's got a good stream going!

Sam, Linc, and Allie on the pier at Rockport.