eat your carrots and peas

Had to stand on a chair to get a good picture of these beauties.

yes Lincoln. You will eat it and you will like it.

"Will" just means "eventually" in this situation. Because right now, he's not digging the vegetables. So he doesn't eat them and he does NOT like them. But....eventually he will. :)

 

Bananas are probably his favorite, which comes to no surprise since he's my chunky monkey. Seriously, did you see the rolls on his arms?!!??

5 months

20/52

21/52

 and now he's 5 months

I've loved taking at least one picture a week of Lincoln-- and one picture is never the least.

He's started crawling, mostly when we aren't watching him or trying to video tape this milestone... such a tease. And we've slowly started incorporating soft foods.... although he still has the tongue extrusion obstacle to overcome. I have some homemade baby food in the freezer when he's past that small hurdle. :) But boy is he eager for food. He un-hinges his jaw to make sure he doesn't miss the any of it. Even though his tongue isn't cooperating, it's not hindering his eagerness for another taste.

child's pose

Sometimes I'll buy something thinking, I HAVE TO HAVE IT... I'LL WEAR/USE  it ALL.THE.TIME. And then there's those items where I think, I don't really want it, but for this price, I should just buy it. Surprisingly, whatever it is I think I HAVE to have, I usually get rid of it. But the items that I don't think much of, I hang on to forever. Weird.

Going back now 7 years ago. I bought this yoga mat before I left for college. It must have been really cheap. I think it's been used 5 times since then. But I've never gotten rid of it because I knew there would come a day where I would want to brush off the dust and bust out a yoga mat. I carefully maneuvered my way through the maze in storage closet and found it in the very back. I'm surprised the mat wasn't in the original packaging still.

Until it cools off enough to go outside running, this yoga mat will suffice for some workouts. Oh, and there's that half marathon I signed up for in 2 months. The last one I did was when I was 21 weeks pregnant. I'm hoping this one will have less port-a-potty visits since I don't have a baby pounding on my bladder. :)

day trip to nowhere

 

 

I've made more of an effort since having Lincoln to be more laid back. Seems like I set myself up for failure right? A new mother trying to learn the ropes of motherhood with a new baby--yes, trying to be more laid back can be a challenge. I love planning. I'll research everything.. the route of travel, things to do, the weather, the whole she-bang.
Well, this past Saturday, when we decided to just head north and not have anything planned, I thought to myself, "Yah, I can do this. I'm not even going to check the weather, I'm feeling that crazy." It was decided last minute we'd go to Snowflake, but we made it 20 minutes past Globe when our precious cargo in the back seat stopped being so precious. Change of plans. Flipped a U-ey and went back to Globe to see if there was SOMETHING in this small town... and then we found that something-- the Besh Ba Gowah ruins. And then it was lunch in Superior at one of the few places that was open. We drove down main street and it was seriously a ghost town. When a mining town has the mine shut down, so do all the businesses. But we found one of the few places still open to eat before heading back home.
The unplanned and disorganized day trip to nowhere was perfect with just me and my boys.

18/52, 19/52

18/52

 

 19/52

18/52- Parenthood club knowledge.

Dates now consists of just being alone, regardless of time and what you're doing... even if it's grocery shopping.

Before we were married, we'd go out on dates usually at night. Now, it's right after his feeding at 3pm so we can be home in time to put him to bed at 7pm. It works out because gma and gpa like to be able to play with him and not just come over when he's asleep. We don't have to worry about leaving a bottle or giving instructions. It's literally handing them Lincoln, saying hello, thank you, and goodbye and we're out the door.
 

gma and gpa came over to babysit so we could have our date "afternoon". It super spur of the moment with nothing "special" planned. Having alone time is special in itself. Awwww....ain't I so sweet?
 So what did our date consist of?

- Tom's Warehouse- new shoes for mommy and Linc

-QuickTrip stop for a slushee--- It was a scorcher outside

-Browsing items for our 72 hour kits---- we're in the process of being a prepared family

-Indian food-- found a new place that might have to replace our last. Their naan was the best hands-down naan.

19/52- oh, the many faces of Lincoln. In no particular order, these are some faces he pulls: 1. bubble blowing 2. cooing 3. his gummy smile and 4. pooping. I know it's hard to decipher which is which. :)

chopped

 I met up with these lovely ladies last week. We try and get together every few months in spite of our busy schedules, work, and schooling. When we manage to plan a day with all of us there it's a real miracle. And as excited as we are to see each other and catch up, I think secretly we're excited for the food just as much. Our meet-ups are at the usual spot- La Grande Orange. YUM!

 and it was a day of firsts for me.

 

first first- I broke from the usual commuter sandwich (their English muffins -TA-DIE-FOR!) and went for the spicy chickpea lettuce wrap. I'll be recreating recipe here in the near future because it was a pleasant surprise for this palate of mine. 

 

second first- This picture was snapped an hour prior to my mommy-makeover.

I told myself I wouldn't cut my hair. I really didn't think I would because it's been YEARS and YEARS since I've ever cut more than an inch. There was that one time I cut 4inches--- many tears shed and consoling from Ryan.

But then the whole post-pregnancy hair falling out--- yah, no one told me about that. And when your hair is long, and you have a nest of hair on the shower wall that your husbands keeps complaining about, it's time to chop it.

I chopped 10inches (to be exact) and it's in the mail being sent to Locks of Love as I'm typing this. :) Bucket list- CHECK.

I thought I would cry, but the only sadness I've felt is from not doing this a long time ago.

4 months

I am Lincoln's mother, so without fail, everything he does is the most precious and cutest thing to me. And this picture sums up his spunky personality and how preciously cute he is. Every once in awhile, he will grace us with his little dance on the floor. We'll stand over him and give him some encouragement to keep kicking those chubby legs. He'll just stare at us, knowing our anticipation to see him dance will keep us hovering over him as long as he wants to make us wait. And just when we finally give up and think he's done, he'll give us a little show to pull us back in a little longer. He's a tease that child of ours.

This past month has been my absolute favorite thus far. And I know it will keep getting better and better, but to his self-inflicted challenge, he has set the bar really high this last month. Ryan's been teaching him a little Spanish here and there. I'll say a few phrases to him, but I'm probably more hindering than helpful with my pathetic accent. Oh, and this boy loves standing. We'll hold him up and he'll show off his thunder thighs. He'll lock out his knees and just stand on our laps and look at us like, "So what should we talk about guys?" He just wants to get in on our conversation.

He's been a great sleeper since 8 weeks, but lately, we've hit a few potholes in the road. I've been reading about sleep troubles and I quickly discovered the cause to his sleeping set-backs. His rolling. We lay him on his back and he'll roll over to his tummy, play there for awhile until his arms get tired, and then he fusses because he can't roll back over. Thus lies the problem for naps and bedtime. I'll lay him down, leave the room, and 15 min later he's fussing because he's stuck on his tummy and needs to be turned over. If only there was a long stick that would reach from our room to his that I could use to prod him back over.....

Given a few days to adjust, Lincoln is officially a tummy sleeper and I don't think he's going back.

Parenthood Club Knowledge:
1. A dirty diaper is rated on wipes needed. We haven't started him on foods yet, so when he has a dirty diaper, one wipe, maybe two, is all we need to get the job done. Awhile back, Ryan was home watching Lincoln while I was out running errands. I texted him to see how things were going when he told me Lincoln just had a 5-wipes-diaper-change. WHOA!!!!! I don't even need to see it, but having to use 5 wipes, it must have looked like a murder scene!!!!!!

my chubby fish

There's a mommy-n-me class Lincoln and I signed up for. The class is more for moms to parade their pride & joy around than it is for introducing the baby to water. It's a class for stage moms and I'm in the front row with Linc, who is sporting his speedo quite snuggly. 

 

The grandparents and uncles came to cheer him on. In fact, Lincoln was the only swimmer who had a fan club lined up on the bench watching his every kick....or lack thereof. The paparazzi follows him wherever he goes and he acts nonchalantly for the cameras. 

 

Surprisingly, he doesn't mind the water. He actually finds it quite relaxing.... HA!

prescott,az

This weekend was a pleasant change in our usual preferred lazy weekends. After stopping at the gas station for drinks and snacks, we made the drive up to Prescott. I realized on our drive, how grateful I was for the conversations we are able to have on these drives. In comparison to our first year of marriage and our first year of road trips, this was a proud moment, indeed. I know this sounds odd, but I'll quickly explain.

 

When Ryan and I were first married, we did a ridiculous amount of road trips and driving. 14 hr drives to Phoenix, 9 hour drives to Colorado, or 4 hour drives to Utah; we put a lot of miles on Ole' Red. And those confined quarters led to certain topics, which in turn led to a rude awakening on my part that my newlywed husband did not always have the same opinions as me. WHAT?!??
 

I had to hand it to him though; he was just as good at giving me the silent treatment as I was with him. This always made for an even longer drive. And ironically, this always seemed to happen within the first hour or so. Good times.
 

My oh my have we matured.  Ha. That, or we've gotten good at steering clear of certain topics.

 

My point being, I can honestly say I LOVE being stuck in our small Honda with our family of 3. Sure there's the occasional bickering here and there, and now with the occasional screaming and crying of a baby, but it's the best getting away from the distractions of day-to-day and just be us 3. It's my new favorite way to spend time with Ryan: driving in the car and talking about everything and anything. We laugh, we plan goals, we recognize our blessings, and we can always learn something new about each other.

^ ^ Doesn't this picture just melt your heart? Well it melts mine. Even if Lincoln stops smiling moments before I take the picture. Stinker. Saturday was Lincoln's 4 month birthday. Yes, we are new parents and every month of our first child's life is a huge celebration to us. Up to Prescott we went and it was a real beauty of a drive.

They had a big fund raiser for the 19 firefighters who were lost in the Yarnell fire. They had old fire trucks on main street displaying the names of the fallen men, most of them were in their 20's. It's heart breaking what happened. Many leaving behind wives and children. Ever since Lincoln was born, the emotional side of me has grown ten-fold. I start getting choked up on what used to be a passing thought. Now I take things to heart and imagining I lost Ryan and was raising Lincoln on my own. As I start letting my imagination and "what ifs" take over, I can only find peace knowing this is not the end for them. How comforting to know there is life after death and those families will be together again some day.

photo challenge

I see all these photo challenges online and thought I would partake in one. I love looking through old photos and having those memories to look back on. One day, maybe, I will have them printed out in an album or displayed in our home. But for now, I'll post some of my favorites on our blog to share and document some of the memories we're making as a family.

One of the challenges I saw was a photo-a-week of your kid(s). Which was perfect because realistically, I can easily take a photo once a week to share of Lincoln's first year. I think the real challenge is not sharing a photo-a-day on here, but instagram has nixed that itch of mine. :)
And here's catch up of the past weeks of Lincoln 14-17 which he had many "firsts".
1. Leaving daddy for a week
2. to fly his first plane ride to Idaho
3. for his first family reunion.
4. He spent his first night away from home, in his travel bed, AND thankfully still slept through the night.
5. He flew to the Shideler ranch and had his first 4-wheeler ride and met all of his cousins
6. and finally made it back to Arizona on his first 10 hr road-trip, and, thankfully, slept most of the way.