Tennessee Trip

(Mike, Lila holding Evan, Lacey holding Lincoln, and Josh)

We had a great time with our friends the Stuteville's in Tennessee last week. Josh and Mike are brother's from another mother, and his wife, Lila, is one of my best friends. We met them when we lived in Tennessee while Josh was attending Graduate School at Middle Tenn. State Univ.

One reason we flew out there was for Josh and pal to attend the latest U2 concert in Atlanta together. Another reason was to meet the Stute's new adpoted son, Evan, who was turning 1 yr old. So the boys left Tuesday morning for the concert, leaving Lincoln, me, Lila and Evan to play at home for a couple days.

We had a great time, although I'm not sure that Lila appreciated Lincoln encouraging (or increasing) Evan's screeching. We played on the playground, bought Halloween costumes, and got ready for Evan's early b-day party the following Saturday.

When the boys came home and the kids went to bed, it was just like old times; playing dominos, laughing at/with each other, and having fun. It was like we hadn't been gone for 4 years. That's the sign of a true friendship.

The last night we were there, we got together with another family of friends, the West's, and the same comfortable feeling came over me. I missed seeing them and it was wonderful to just hang out and let the kids run around while we chatted. I know we will probably move back to Tennessee one day. Who knows when, but it was great getting to spend time with GREAT friends!!!

New Use for Veggies

We had our first experience with shoving food up our nose yesterday. Lincoln started crying during dinner while Josh and I were cleaning the kitchen. I saw he was rubbing and sticking his finger up his nose. I said, "I wonder if he stuck something up there." So I left to get a flashlight. While I was gone, Josh said that he sneezed out an entire lima bean! I saw it on the table and couldn't believe how BIG it was. I thought maybe a piece of corn or something.

(Who can guess which nostril was stuffed from this picture?)

But he was still picking his nose. I started rubbing in a downward motion and out popped a pea! His nose was really runny and irritated for a little while, but he is fine.

I couldn't stop laughing at the situation and Josh was just the opposite. He was worried about going to the doctor at 6:00 pm the night before our trip to Tennessee. Oh the joys of having a two-year old!!! You MUST laugh or you'd go crazy!!! (Ignore the dates on the pics.)

Three Birthday Parties?

Lincoln got spoiled this year with birthday parties. We had his first party here at our house the weekend before his actual birthday because we would out of town on his birthday. We invited lots of kids from church and friends so our small dining room felt even smaller.

I made an Elmo/drum cake for him. The only Elmo topper I could find was of several Sesame Street characters (including Elmo) playing musical instruments. Thus the drum cake. It was cute, but if I ever make another drum cake I'll do it differently.

Lincoln did a great job with all the kids around and with the cake. He tried to blow out his candles but they were kind of stubborn, so mom helped. Then cake and ice cream for all.

The next party was actually ON his birthday, Sept. 27th at a friend's house outside the Dallas area. Our hostess made cupcakes with a different Elmo topper (way cutier than mine) and we celebrated with her family and us. It was very nice to keep it smaller. Linc succeeded at blowing out the candle this time and was absolutely delighted when we cheered. I think he finally was understanding that he was doing something fun. It was lots of fun!

The final stop on the birthday train took us to Nana and Papa's house in San Marcos the Monday following Linc's b-day. My mom (Nana) made a Turkey and had everyone bring a side, then we ate an octopus shaped pound cake that is always a crowd pleaser. Nana didn't have any candles, so we used fire starter matches. He is the 6th grandson...give her a break. She can't get candles for ALL of them! hee hee

We made our way home the next day, totally exhausted and ready for a good night sleep in our own beds. Thank you to everyone who made Lincoln's birthday special for us. Lots of Love!!!

Year Two

Year One

My baby boy!

2009 Summer in Review

Although we still have the Texas heat, the end of summer is rapidly approaching and I thought it was a good time to look back at how fast this summer went by and the fun things we did. Here are just a few of the cool things we did and the great people we saw.

We went swimming with our Johnson City friends at the lakeside pool in Marble Falls. The jetski's had everyone's attention;

Celebrated Independence Day with a pancake breakfast;

Spent fun time with Daddy around town (Waterfall at the golf course in Horseshoe Bay). You can see the golf carts go over a water crossing right in front of the falls. Very fancy...;

Took our first trip to the beach (Port Aransas). Got to see my "little brother" Keith Banks before he leaves for Costa Rica again for fishing (he's a boat captain);



Learned Lincoln likes to "cook" with mom;

Graduated to our "big boy" chair from the highchair;


Visited several Texas Hill Country swimming holes, including Hamilton Pool with Dan and Tannie Smith and family;

(can't remember why he's fussy. It happens so often these days.)

Road Trip: Tagged along with Daddy to a couple out-of-town conferences, including San Antonio and Galveston. This is of our hotel window in Galveston overlooking Schlitterbahn on the right side;

Floated Lake Marble Falls in a paddle boat;

We did so many fun things this summer it's tough to list them all. It's great that Linc is getting big enough to do alot more with us. Now if we can only get him to sleep in the car when he is supposed to. Then we can take more road trips!!! hee hee.

Fun Videos

I haven't been posting lately, but I have been taking pictures and video over the past month. Here are just a few of my favorites. Our "little" boy is not so little any more. He will be two in a couple months! Wow! Although, he has acted two years old for 4 months now.

Eating Watermelon on the back porch----------Putting animal crackers in my ears! (July 12th)

I'm sad he's growing up so fast, frustrated when he won't listen, amazed at how much and how fast he learns, embarrassed when he throws a fit in public, amused at his great sense of humor, and so proud when he does something the right way or shows me what he is learning.

I know one thing for sure....I wouldn't trade these days for ANYTHING! Fun times...

Sorry this one is sideways.

The kid has rhythm!

Fun things this summer, thus far...

So far this summer, we've done a few fun things and plan for many more.

San Antonio Zoo:
Lincoln and I went to the SA Zoo while waiting for Daddy to finish his conference sessions. They have a fun little kid's area with a "river" where the kids can splash around and get wet. Lincoln LOVED it! We went at the wrong time of day to see all the animals so the water area was a great way to spend some time there. It was way too hot by the time we got there and the animals were all either sleeping or hiding from the sun.

Linc loves older kids, especially girls! Every time I turn around he's kissing someone. Below is a picture of him trying to kiss the older girl in the water. Heart-breaker! I'm worried already!

Other activities include visiting the public library, swimming at the public pool, and playing in the back yard. Hopefully our trip to the beach will materialize soon and we are looking forward to our up coming trip to Nashville/Atlanta!!! We're trying to get a trip planned to go to Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve and some other swimming holes in the area! It's just too hot to do anything NOT water related!