one for the parenthood score board and the shortest trip to Tucson ever.

Lincoln's been on a roller-coaster with his eating habits: when he's up he eats anything and everything, and when he's down, he will only eat bread, applesauce, and now blueberries. It's a battle every time I try to get him to eat something else, a battle that he always wins.

I tell ya, I'm catching on to Lincoln's sneakiness and manipulations. Yes, for a one year old he's become quite the feisty one. What I've noticed is that he only wants what Ryan and I are eating, not what's on his own plate.....LITERALLY. We could all be eating the same thing, and he could have his own serving on his own tray, but if it's in OUR plates, he wants OURS instead. So we end up giving him our chunk of food and I end up eating the tiny scraps off his tray for myself. 

One night it hit me though. What if, just what if, I pretend to make myself a big bowl of veggies all for myself!!!! and I'd sit on the floor and eat them right of the bowl with my fingers and pretend like I don't want to share. I'll tell you what happened. He came over to me and sat next to me peering into the bowl, then peering up at me like, "Aren't you going to share?" And this is where your acting skills as a parent comes in. At first, you need to act reluctant because it's SOOOO DELICIOUS you want it all for yourself, but then after he bats his eyes at you, you have a change of heart and allow him to grab some. He takes a bite.....and then another. Worked like a charm.

It was Lincoln and I, sitting on the kitchen floor, eating a bowl of veggies straight out of the bowl, hovering over them and taking turns eating our carrots, peas, and corn. This was the first time he was eating something more than bread. I attribute my success to Lincoln's natural greediness to take whatever I have, but mostly to my amazing acting skills. And because of my success, this was the first time I started keeping score: 1 Point for Mom! :)

And as far as the shortest trip to Tucson ever? We drove 1.5 hours on Saturday down to Sabino Canyon, but Lincoln was really on one. He had a crappy nap beforehand, which made him extremely irritable. We sat to have a little lunch and if we didn't have the blueberries right in his lap he would scream. We stayed 1.5 hours and then drove 1.5 hours back home. It was rough. I think the only time he was being cute was when we gave him the map and let him lead the way on the trail. That was short lived though because he biffed it TWICE and did two face-plants onto concrete. That was the cherry on top of our disastrous Saturday day trip. Making memories right?

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.

the cauliflower bandwagon

Remember that month when Ryan and I went super clean and healthy with eating? Yah, it only lasted a month but to our defense it was extremely intense. It was CLEAN to the EXTREME. You can read about it HERE.

Anyhoo, some of the recipes were surprisingly delicious...others, not so much. But this one? Delicious, incredibly easy, super healthy, AND!!! DRUMROLL PLEASE............... Lincoln approved!!! 

I know what you're thinking. I'm part psychic (not psycho). 

You're thinking, this is SOOO last year. I've seen this on Pinterest forever. Well, you're right. But I finally made it last October and have made it several times since then and just want to say "make it already!"

You can find several variations, but HERE is the recipe I used.

And to make it even easier, just throw the cauliflower in a steamer to soften instead of boiling in water and broth. And to make it even easier, I may be guilty of using garlic powder instead of sauteing them. 

the one from Easter

Lincoln is going through a funk right now. I think the genes he got from his mom are taking over with a vengeance because all he wants to eat is bread. I promise I had a bunch of food on his tray before I took this picture. Anything that isn't bread gets a quick swipe onto the floor. He's slowly breaking out of his bread funk and actually ate some tomatoes and carrots yesterday. It's quite unfortunate he is being so picky during this Easter dinner. He missed out on some of Gma Tina's ribs and sweet potatoes. :)

And guess what was part of Lincoln's Easter basket but not necessarily IN it. 

Papa and Nana Z built his first fort!

I really need to take more pictures to show off their awesome work. His fort came equipped with a little bow & arrow and basket hanging from the entrance....thank goodness for awesome grandparents who go above and beyond to compensate for the parents who didn't even by their own child an Easter basket. :) That's just in their job description of being a grandparent right?

Happy Easter!

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. :)

one of my favorite places in the whole wide world. MOAB!

I'm completely behind on here. March was a busy one... and a special one too might I add. Our little prince turned the big 1, bu I'll have to save pictures and my ramblings of how freaking awesome my son is and how ridiculously happy our lives have been since he joined this Shideler clan in a later post. I have a gazillion pictures to go through first; yes, a gazillion.

First things first. Beginning of March we drove 7 1/2 hours up to Moab, Utah for another half marathon my sister-in-law and I were running. She's pretty much the best girl ever. We're convinced we were best friends in heaven. She ran the Canyonlands Half last year and when I found out she ran in one of my favorite places in the world, I had to convince her to do it again this year with me! It really didn't take much convincing even though she had a baby 3 months prior!!!!! She's pretty hard core.

Our weekend was short so we tried to pack in as much as we could considering we had a 5 year old, 3 year old, almost 1 year old, 3 month old, and 2 mommy's who just ran a half marathon and were a tiny bit sore on our hikes.

We rented a house to stay in, which was BEAUTIFUL. A big porch with amazing views of the red mountains...sigh.....I love this place. Moab has a special place in my heart because Ryan and I had spent a week there for our 3 year anniversary. Since then, Moab has nuzzled its way into a corner of my heart and found a permanent home there. We have a picture we took for our 3 Year anniversary last time we were at Delicate Arch and I wanted us to replicate it again this trip almost 3 years later. Lincoln looks thrilled huh?

Pictures of our 3 year Moab SMOOCH and  Moab Trip 2011.

Not only did she run her half marathon, Alicia also hiked up to the Delicate Arch carrying her precious 3 month old, Sydney. Hard core I tell ya. Hard core.

Okay I love this picture of Lincoln..... but what's so crazy to see is him wearing shoes. Seriously, this may be one of the first times he wore shoes this long. And by "this long" I mean a few hours. He usually rips them off.... who am I kidding? More like we just never put them on him.

  Shideler boys-- they're a special breed alright. 

february date hike(s)

^I was setting the camera up to take our picture and as I was running back to Ryan, I almost fell off the ledge. I looked worried and Ryan's just laughing. Typical. 

Leave it to us to go out on our date night the very last day of the month. Leave it to us to also go on our date night hike on the only weekend there's a rainstorm. And leave it to us to hike the mountain as the rain clouds come rolling in. It's actually great motivation to pick up the pace and finish the hike as quickly as possible. 

We had enough time to have a rock throwing competition and sing some Mest and Radiohead and a little bit of Sound of Music.... okay, just me on the last one. 

We hiked the Kiwani trail on South Mountain right by our place. It was an improvise to our original February date plans. We wanted to hike Camelback Mountain, which is like the Mount Everest of the valley, but with limited time to sunset, and a storm coming in, we chose a shorter, easier, and closer hike. 

Take II of our February date (which we were able to finish up last weekend) was hiking Camelback Mountain. Ryan got off work early and although 3pm on a warm AZ day isn't the prime time to hike, we dropped Lincoln off at my neighbors and went on our "February date" for real this time. 

The up-side to hiking the Camelback at 3pm? It's less busy and you can actually find a parking spot. The only people who are hiking at the hottest point of the day are people who are incredibly slow and need plenty of time to finish before dusk....or people on vacation who just don't know better.... OR people like us who go on dates and like to be home before 7pm sharp. 

I've got the itch to go again; this time to watch the sunset. The view was amazing, obviously, but at least during sunset you can get some beautiful colors to disguise the city haze. :)