With a name like Deerdorf, how could this mountain not be special to us?

I'm usually the worst at keeping surprises. THE WORST. Especially with Ryan. And ESPECIALLY when it comes to telling him.... oh ya know... we're pregnant again. Yeah, it's a little hard. (That's what she said). But somehow, I managed to go a full week until we made our trip out to his family's ranch in Colorado. It was actually quite funny because the whole time we were there I was extremely tired, taking one to two naps every day. Surprisingly, Ryan just thought I was taking advantage of the vacation and available family to babysit.

I decided to tell him a few days into our trip. Lincoln was down for the night and the sun was just beginning to set. We decided to go for a hike and watch the sun go down. It was a good idea.... but a bad idea at the same time. I had no energy whatsoever and Ryan, who was unaware I was pregnant, was showing no mercy and we had few breaks as we practically ran to the top to catch the sunset.

We made it, barely. And the view was perfect. This is my most absolute favoritest time of the year there. Everything is green green green. Right before haying season so I had zero allergies while I was there. Could you imagine me telling Ryan this glorious news with blood shot eyes, a runny/stuffed nose, and a scratchy throat? Not a pretty sight.

We took in the beautiful view and then I asked him, "What would make this night better?" And his first response was.... "snacks?" Yes Ryan, snacks would have been nice. His second choice, "Having Lincoln up here with us." I finally told him, "What about having Lincoln and his sibling up here with us because 9 months from now we can!" One of the best parts of telling your husband you're pregnant is their reaction immediately after telling them. Completely priceless, which is why, like I did with Lincoln, filmed the whole thing and plan on showing our next child the moment daddy found out the happy news. We are ecstatic for baby boy 2 to join our family and eventually all 4 of us hiking this mountain together. :) And when he gets older, I can say, "Here are pictures the night your daddy found out you were coming. Look how cool your parents were and still are!"

mothers

And since I saw all my mom friends posting these ADORABLE pictures of them and their kids being all cute....I thought I'd share MY Mother's Day pictures.

This is what I got: Lincoln giving DAD the kiss and the other?

Him squirming out of my arms to push the stroller. 

This is my mother's day picture, just keeping it REAL folks. :) 

I'm not sure what's funnier. Lincoln looking like he's busting out of his diaper??

 or me getting kicked in the bladder but still smiling about it??? What I'm really thinking is: "Lincoln, let go of this stupid stroller and act like you love me gosh DANGIT!!!!"

Ryan walked through the door a few weeks ago after work and told me to close me eyes. I love surprises, especially from Ryan. He can be surprisingly romantic. Well, I close me eyes, and when he tells me to open, he has a bouquet of daisies held out for me with a big grin (I'd take daisies over roses ANY day). As pretty as the flowers were, what was even more beautiful were the words he said to me after.

And, in summary, this is what he said. 

I wanted to get you flowers to show you how grateful I am you are able to be home with Lincoln. I know it is hard work, but it's the most important work you could do as a mother. You are a great mom and wife.Lincoln and I are blessed to have you.

Those words were simple but extremely meaningful to me, especially since I've struggled emotionally on becoming a mother even before Lincoln was born. A little background of my struggles...

Ryan and I were married almost 5 years before we got pregnant. He had brought up the "baby-talk" several times in our marriage, but I managed to either sway the topic of conversation onto a different path, or pacify him saying "I'm not quite ready now, I feel I will be soon..." He was ready, I was not. As I look back now, my fears were mostly a result of not feeling like I would be a good mother. I had COMPLETE lack of maternal instincts. I thought my desire would eventually come, but I preferred looking at babies only from a distance. I felt like those maternal instincts and love for babies would eventually find its way in my heart.

And then we got pregnant, unexpectedly.

Before Lincoln was born, I had no hesitation going back to work. I was lucky to have a job I LOVED-- My boss, my friends at work, my hours..... I was foolishly convincing myself that having a baby wouldn't affect me working as a nurse.

But something someone changed whatever plans I had for myself.

Lincoln was born and my life changed. And I knew within the first week of maternity leave I couldn't go back to work as a full-time nurse; I couldn't leave Lincoln with someone else to care for him while I was gone all day. My priorities changed. Any desires that I had for myself were set aside, and the desires I had for Lincoln became my priority.

I knew I wanted to be the one to be home and raise him myself. I wanted to be the one he saw first in the morning and after his naps, I wanted to be the one to feed him, play toys with him, read to him, and chase after him. I was there the first time he rolled over, the first time he crawled, the first time he stood and the first time he walked. It's not always easy; it can be tiring and frustrating and I'm working on my patience daily. Some days I think working 2 shifts a month aren't enough, and most days I still feel inadequate as a mother, but through the good, the bad, and sometimes ugly parts of raising a child, I know I am doing the Lord's work and that is the most beautiful thing in the world. I cherish the divine calling I have of being a mother, especially Lincoln's mother. :) I'm grateful 14 months ago I got to become a mother to this wonderful boy..... 

And through everything I have experience so far with Lincoln, my appreciation for my own mother has grown heaps and bounds. She has always been an example of a selfless caring mother and I love her for all that she has, and continues to do for me.

This picture is a few months old, but it's definitely one of my favorites.

our prince turns 1

And here we are, almost a month later...

I've finally found some time to sit and write a post on Lincoln's birthday.....and not just the cliche, "Where does the time go?" and "He's growing up too fast" remarks. I've ran those lines into the ground this past month and even as I'm typing it, I'm thinking, "Seriously, this year has gone by too fast. Please slow down." 

We have a little tradition around here when it comes to birthdays. Ryan was the one who started this tradition actually. Naturally, I didn't love the idea since it started on his birthday, but once I had mine, I was completely on board. The tradition is terribly abused, but hey, it's only once a year. 

Our birthday tradition is as follows: Your birthday celebration isn't just one day, it's the entire week of your birthday!

See why this tradition can get terribly abused? We try and milk it for all we can get by saying

 "......but it's my birthday week!!"

Well, Lincoln had his birthday week alright... and then some. His birthday fell on a Thursday and his birthday party was planned for Saturday. But family got sick and we reschedule his party for the following week, which meant this boy had 9 days of wearing his birthday crown. 

And here we go, pictures over the span of his "birthday week +2 days"

Actual birthday morning.

I was completely stoked to go in there the morning of, video camera in hand, singing happy birthday and cheerfully starting his birthday week celebration. He knew it was a special day alright. He hammed it up for the camera when usually, on any other day, he would have been fussy having to wait any longer than necessary for his breakfast.

Some may think this is bed head, when in fact it's not. That's his hair 24/7. And it's become one of his characteristics I love most about him. 

He suited up for the day in his outfit and crown....

Showing off his teeth....

& smiling for all of mommy's pictures......

......except for this one. 

Maybe because our lunch date with daddy was over. Yes, I'm sure that's what it was. He has a keen sense of when it's time to get back in the car seat and he really dislikes being in his car seat. Almost as much as his dislikes when all the food is gone. Lincoln is weighing just over 23lbs at his one year appointment. 85% for weight, and 95% for height. He's a big boy.

So about that birthday party we were going to have- Well, Papa Z was recovering from being sick, Great Gma had just caught bronchitis, and Uncle Zach was throwing up all night from some food poisoning. Considering we only invited 6 people over and 3 of them were sick, we had to ixnay the par-tay till the following weekend. That just meant more time wearing his crown he loved.  

And the conclusion of his Birthday Week +2 days, we had his party.

We have realized there is a form of true happiness that can only come through being a parent
and we are blessed to be parents of Lincoln. We've rocked with him, sang to him, changed his diaper, fed him, changed his diaper again, stacked blocks with him, re-stacked them after he knocked them down again, read to him, taped pages in the book he tore while we were reading to him, cleaned out the fridge trying to feed his erratic picky appetite, changed his diaper again, bathed him, took him on stroller rides, bike rides, hikes, trips, dressed him, drove him to the doctors, comforted him after shots, hugged him, kissed him, chased after him, gave him piggy-back rides, clapped for him when he rolled over, cheered for him when he started crawling, clapped AND cheered when he started standing, and went full-blown crazy when he started walking.
We do this, happily, because of what Lincoln has given us: he's given us the gift of being HIS parents and all the happiness that comes with it. We love you Lincoln!
At the end of the party, I wanted to get a picture of everyone with Lincoln. Lincoln was everything but cooperative. I can't blame him. He partied hard and it was time for his nap. So even though he wasn't smiling on the outside for these pictures, I'm sure he wanted to on the inside. :)

audition for Newsies

If you haven't seen the musical Newsies you are lame. And if you did see it and didn't like it, you're double lame. A bunch of teenage boys selling newspaper, bursting out into song and dance... that's my kinda movie. And if that still isn't motivation enough to see it, Christian Bale is in it. Does that help?

Anyway, Lincoln in his little hat reminded me of that musical and so now, I'll refer to him as my little Newsie throughout the remainder of this post. 

A friend from church is a photographer who takes pictures for business who sells photography backdrops. She had a few backdrops she needed to take pictures of and asked if she could use Lincoln the Newsie... uhhh YES! PLEASE! & THANK YOU! 

I was pretty thrilled since I never had professional pictures of Lincoln the Newsie all by himself. Something about babies in hats and suspenders that really melts a mom's heart. 

And my Newsie is all ready to bust out some moves and sing!

Happy 10 months to this boy!

I haven't shared any of my Parenthood Club knowledge in awhile, but here's one I've learned recently. 

1. Pavlov's Law. It works on babies...or at least on Lincoln. 

We have our routine in the morning when it comes to breakfast time. I love my oatmeal, have it just about every morning. Sometimes I'll cook a big pot of oatmeal on the stove and have it for the week and just reheat some in the morning. Well, Lincoln's caught on to the beeping of the microwave. He KNOWS when I go and start pushing buttons, food will magically come out and it's time to eat. I'll try to set him on the floor to play with toys while I'm getting us breakfast. He'll play for a few minutes until he hears the microwave.... then I hear the pitter-patter of his hands and knees bolting to the kitchen until he gets to the microwave and pulls himself up and just stares at it. oooooh! aaaaaaaah!

double feature for this growing boy

I promise Lincoln isn't ALWAYS smiling, but for the most part he is a super happy and easy-going baby. Don't get me wrong, he does cry and have tantrums....ESPECIALLY when you take his food away. Now THAT is some cringe-worthy screaming. 

He eats pretty much anything that's edible (EXCEPT avocados), and tries to eat some things that aren't (mostly paper, and any type of electronic device). He's still crawling around like he's always in a race, and when daddy gets home he will book it for the door.  

When I put him down to bed at night, we have our little routine. Before I lay him down, I'll hold him in my arms and sing him a little song. He lays his tired head on my shoulder and just listens to me sing. The other night, as I was singing a song, he busted up laughing. This has never happened. Like EVER. My singing usually has a calming affect on him, I guess not anymore. But his giggling got me to start laughing and so he laughed some more and then I laughed some. It was a contagious cycle we were stuck in. The best sound in the world is hearing your baby laugh.

It is THE. BEST. :)

Other news, we finally cut his hair and I'm deeply saddened by the loss..... the loss of hair. 

We didn't want to completely buzz it, but the sides were getting long and turning into a white-boy-fro and we wanted to tame the locks a bit. I bet I'm the only mom who has cut their child's hair while breastfeeding. We didn't have many options and it was the only way we could get him to stay still. Yep. Which is why it turned out pretty scary. When you can only cut one side at a time, getting even sides can be a little challenging. 

I only took a teeny-tiny bit off the top because let's face it, this mom is obsessed with his hair. My Fabio.

These pictures are pre-haircut. Even the sides were getting some height. Anyway, I was taking pictures of him and kept telling him to smile. Every time I did, he would squint his eyes and nose and give me the cheesiest smile. So I got a video to show you.

This boy cracks me UP! 

AND, for another video. 

Ryan's parents were in town this past weekend. They liked sitting in the back seat of the car to keep Lincoln company. His dad was fake sneezing and Lincoln thought it was HYSTERICAL! The fake sneezing made Barry cough, but grandpa was a sport and kept the sneezing coming despite him coughing up a lung inbetween. All for our entertainment... and yours too. :)

7 month milestones and some really good advice

Lincoln turned 7 months this month. Yep! 7 WHOLE months and about 7 inches of hair! jk. 

This has been my favorite stage, especially since he's mastered clapping. There's Ryan and I standing in front of him, wide-eyed, clapping and cheering YAYYY!!!! And soon to follow, Lincoln will join in and clap with us. Sometimes it takes some concentration, sometimes it just flows naturally for him...either way, he's the best at it. 

I took his 7 month pictures, but he despised just laying there, especially since he is a crawling machine. So I pulled the whole, "clapping and yayyy!" card on him and he actually bought into it. All the pictures I have of him for his 7 months is him clapping, which is perfectly suiting for him at this time. 

Did I mention he's part Canadian? Ok no, not really. We're Americans here and proud of it! But he must be getting some Canadian influence from somewhere because a majority of his talking sounds like this

 (in crescendo)

eh? EH! EEHHH!

And another milestone???

He stood up on his own!!! it may have been only TWO full seconds. But he STOOD UP!!! 

My clapping-standing-Canadian, eh!

And here's some advice for the Parenthood Club, I haven't had one of these in awhile but this is a good one, I PROMISE. 

1. What to do if your child appears to have poor circulation in his knees?

I had Lincoln sitting on my lap when I looked down at his knees and shins. I immediately panicked, his legs looked like the circulation was being cut off, a musky grey color. I checked the capillary refill time (the nurse side of me kicked in) but it was fine.What the?? Upon closer examination, I realized, the musky grey color in his legs was actually a light layer of dirt he picked up from crawling around the kitchen floors!!!!!

DISGUSTING RIGHT?? but a huge relief that it wasn't anything else. But still, DISGUSTING!

So pretty much, if you can't figure out why your baby's legs are cyanotic looking, check the cleanliness of your floors. I now have Linc's chubby dirty legs as my indicator to mop. :)

boo

BOO!

It's Lincoln's first Halloween today and I'm pretty sure he couldn't care less. He's actually napping right now, which if I had any smarts, I would be doing the same. 

Halloween is my FA-FA-FA-FAVORITE! So of course I wanted to have the BESTEST costume for Lincoln and do all the spooktacular things involved with Halloween. I tried my best to decorate our little home with painted pumpkins and cut-out bats on the wall.... BUT there's been a lot of things going on this past week....blah blah blah, so unfortunately, 2 top priorities were put on the back burner: Lincoln's costume and going to the pumpkin patch. I have to slap myself and say, Stop putting more on your plate than you can eat! There are some things that aren't worth being squeezed into "to-do's" just to say you did it..... it'll end up giving you gray hair and a heart attack because of the unneeded stress it put you through!! Take a deep breath, Elizabeth. 

Anyhoo, 

No apologies, Lincoln, for not having you in an extravagant costume or taking you to a "real" pumpkin patch farm for your first Halloween. Instead, you have a simple ghost onesie your unstressed mom made for you out of LOVE that only took 20 minutes. And instead of driving you to the pumpkin patch that  mommy REALLY wanted to go 40 minutes away, you were able to cruise in the comfort of your stroller (instead of that stupid car seat) and enjoy the view on our 10 minute walk to the most humble road-side pumpkin patch instead. And guess what? You pretty much had that WHOLE little pumpkin patch to yourself!! I think your first Halloween turned out better than what I had originally wanted.... silly mom, when will I learn. 

solution for all the veggies starting to go bad in your fridge.

Since we've started this month with Ryan's cleanse, I've really looked forward to dinner time. It's like the stars have aligned to make our evenings so enjoyable. I'm having the best time trying out new recipes (some great, some not so great). When I start preparing for dinner, I put Lincoln in his chair with some toys at the kitchen counter, I turn on Pandora to either Motown or Mana (Spanish station) and I'll start preparing food while singing and dancing for Lincoln. :He's too young to be embarrassed by his mother. :)

Before this month, we weren't the best at sitting down together and eating as a family at the table. But now, since the stars have aligned, we've been eating out on the patio every night. Dinner time is right at sunset, so we have beautiful skies and cool evening weather. We drag Lincoln's high chair outside and he'll jump in on conversation and steal the spotlight every night. Last night our food went practically cold because we were too busy laughing at Lincoln gnawing on an orange and making his puckered faces. :)

Dinner wasn't a planned meal. It was more like, we have a lot of stuff going bad, let's just grill it all and eat it all tonight. It was a double bonus, no food was wasted AND it tasted great!

Grilled Veggie Sandwich
Green Peppers
Red Peppers
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Avocado
Tomato
Salt & Pepper
Cooking oil
Toasted bread (gluten free optional)
And another other veggies your heart desires

I used a mandolin slicer to make long thin strips of zucchini and squash. Then just hand cut the peppers into large chunks that would lay on the grill. I drizzled oil, sprinkled salt & pepper on top, and put them on a med/high heat. Grilled until tender. 

While the veggies are grilling, I smashed up some avocado, chopped some tomatoes, and mixed them together with a dash of garlic salt. Toast some bread, spread the guacamole mixture on it, and throw on some veggies. I threw some leftover cooked potatoes and broccoli on the grill to reheat for a side. I put them on tin foil with oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Bam. Delish. 

cha-cha-cha-chia

Gosh this kid is so dang cute. I know I'm bias but he REALLY is. It's the facial expressions.... and the hair. 

This weekend was absolutely AMAZING......not! It was the absolute worst!!!! It was one of those weekends where you actually wish Monday would hurry up and rear its ugly head. Those are few and very far in-between. But when you're sick... that happens. I actually started crying from being so tired---- scary flashback from when Lincoln was first brought home. Although this time I had my husband and Lincoln staring at me like, 'why you so emotional woman?' I slept like crap all weekend, my throat was killing me, and allergies, and I wanted some junk food. Not a good time to withhold sweets. I might have popped those cough drops like candy because of the sugar in them. 

But now look, it's Monday, I'm feeling so much better, and now I'd like the weekend to come back. 

And now for an update: Can we get a WOOT! WOOT! ??

Cause we just finished our first week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryan and I were talking about it yesterday. The good and bad of it all. Here's what we discussed. 

The bad: it is more work. OBVIOUSLY. There is a lot more preparation that goes into everything. If you are out of food, it's not a quick drive to the closest fast food place. It's required detailed grocery lists and meal planning, lots of cutting and preparing and cooking what I can in bulk to have throughout the week. This is the big drawback for me, since I'm the one doing all of it. 

So what's the biggest drawback for Ryan? Yesterday I made pizza-- with a gluten free pizza crust might I add. I asked him what could make it better and you know what he said? It wasn't the crust, he actually thought it tasted good, but the one critique he gave me... it needs meat.

And the good? Ryan has told me he hasn't felt so tired in the mornings. He believes it's from eliminating the soda and aspartame. The headaches he had during the first week have gone away as well. Caffeine withdrawal? We also agreed we haven't felt like complete CRAP from anything we've eaten. We haven't seen any improvement with his joints, but he says he feels really good overall which is a HUGE perk. 

Saturday called for some special pancakes to celebrate the ending of our first week. Delish. 

Why did I think pancakes from scratch were difficult? Because they're definitely not.

Coconut Carrot Pancakes
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached all purpose)
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 cup almond milk
1/2 cup grated carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs coconut oil
2 tbs agave
1 tbs cinnamon
pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add flour, baking powder, sea salt, cinnamon and half of the shredded coconut in a large bowl and whisk to combine. 
2. Pour almond milk into a large liquid measuring cup. Add oil, vanilla, and agave and whisk to combine. Add wet to dry and stir.
3. Stir in carrot and let batter rest for 5 minutes while preheating skillet to medium heat.
4. Once skillet is hot, lightly grease the surface with non-stick spray and spoon on 1/4 cup measurements of batter. 
5. Cook for another couple minutes on the other side. 
6. Serve with warm maple syrup or agave and sprinkle the other half of coconut on top. 

Adapted from Minimalistbaker