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.

rifle, part II, our tie-dyed 4th

My type A personality was in full swing before our trips. I had packed two separate bags for each trip; one my dad would drive up to Idaho for Linc and I, and the other Ryan would drive to Colorado. This way, I didn't have to worry about checking in bags at the airport. My dad would take my Idaho back to Arizona after our reunion and my new bag would be waiting for me in Colorado. All I had to worry about was Lincoln strapped to my chest and a small backpack with a few items. Sounds nice right?

That is until Ryan picked me up from the airport and on our drive to the ranch we found out he forgot to put my packed suitcase IN the car (small detail). Which meant the only things I had for the next week was the clothes on my back and a few shirts I had in the backpack. Frustrating right? I can only blame myself. I didn't know I had to put the suitcase in the car for him.... (sigh). Nothing Walmart can't fix. (Options are very limited when you're out in the middle of nowhere).

But what I was most bumbed about was the tie-dye outfits I had made for the 4th! I was a total Debbie Downer, but Ryan suggested we make new outfits to wear.....and even better, we can make some for the whole family! Even my sister-in-law who despises tie-dye agreed to wear it! And to be honest, she rocked it more than the rest of us. :)

We got the supplies at like 8pm July 3rd. 24 shirts and a onesie for Lincoln. We were up till midnight dying. And even though the fireworks were banned this year (GRRRRRRRR), I have to say, it was the most colorful 4th I've had. Not just the t-shirts, but the hands of those who made them. When you're dying this many shirts and have a deadline... your hands are bound to look smurfed.

 

rifle, part I

Lincoln and I flew from our Idaho reunion to Colorado to meet up with daddy and the Shideler clan. I've never been so relieved to see Ryan curb-side at the airport waiting to pick us up. We had a lay-over flight before reaching Colorado and the first flight was absolutely BRUTAL! It was one of those flights where all the passengers are biting their tongues and holding themselves back from going over to the haggard mother and calming the baby themselves once and for all.

Before we took off, Lincoln was crying and fussing and arching his back and kicking his legs in a manner that made holding him extremely difficult. I tried having him look out the window, sitting up, over the shoulder, rocking, laying, playing with toys, giving him his pacifier, trying to get him to nurse... he wasn't having ANY of it.

I had multiple little prayers that flight. One of which was for my seat-mate. I was hoping those little ear phones he had in were drowning out the screams. I also prayed the empty seat between us was enough distance to not notice me ripping off my shirt to get this bucking-baby of mine to nurse.

My other little prayer was for the guy in first class who kept turning around giving me this annoyed look like I was incompetent to comfort my own baby. (Did I mentioned I was the first row behind first class? Perfect place for a new baby). I hoped one day he would have to join us commoners in coach and be smooshed between two crying babies; one of which would throw up on him and the other might bite him.

And my last prayer was for Lincoln. That he would calm down or at least the next flight wouldn't be nearly as difficult and challenging as this one. Well, he didn't calm down. And when we finally landed, I quickly strapped Lincoln back in his carrier and bolted off that plane never to look back at the passengers glaring me down (although I did feel the stares at the back of my head). HOWEVER! My prayer was answered and our final flight to Colorado was extremely peaceful. Not only that, I had two people tell me after we landed how he's well-behaved and surprised he didn't cry. I had my proud mommy moment, but it only lasted for a second. I quickly realized his silence was probably due to his worn out vocal cords.

albion, id

 

What: Zollinger Family Reunion. 2013.
Where: Albion, Idaho

I have to ask myself why did we ever leave Idaho in the first place? I guess there was the whole graduating and Ryan getting a job elsewhere factor, but still I have to ask, WHY????? IT'S BEAUTIFUL THERE!

First time to Albion, Idaho and even though this small town had a population of about 250, it was still a gem. Nothing can replace Rexburg, but this town quenched my thirst for a Idaho trip quite nicely. My dad, bros, and I thought we would take a little drive to see the town. I think we drove 4 blocks and saw everything.

We made a half-day trip to City of Rocks, which looked just like the name, a city of rocks. A breathtaking view until it started to get crazy windy and rain a bit. Which meant our packed lunches would be either devoured while admiring the rocks or taking cover in the comfort of our rental car. I for one enjoyed my lunch with Lincoln in the comfort of a car.

 

And then there was the big event of rounding up grandma (the easiest part since she's in a wheelchair) her 7 kids and their spouses, about 20 grandkids and their spouses, and about 30 great grandkids. I'm anxiously awaiting to see how those photos turned out. The pictures will either be a real success or down right hilarious.

Our beautiful accommodations was once the campus of Southern Idaho College of Education that closed down in 1951. One of the buildings is now a museum, another is a refurbished boys dormitory (which is where we stayed), and the other 3 buildings are turned into haunted mansions for Halloween. What more can this campus offer for a perfect family reunion location. :)

mama's boy.... or so I'd like to think.

I have a crazy amount of pictures from the past 2 weeks. We finally made it home on Saturday from our 2 week vacation. We were in for a shock when we came home. We had the AC off while we were away and we went from beautiful weather in Idaho/Colorado to 115 degree Arizona weather and a 98 degree house. Home sweet home. We were unpacking and cranking on the AC when Ryan called me upstairs to show me something. I had a candle in our room with drops of melted wax on top. That's a first.

With all the pictures I have to upload, I wanted to share these first. While Linc and I were in Idaho, my sweet, beautiful, extremely talented cousin took pictures of us. I had a CD of pictures waiting for me when we got home. It was perfect for delaying all the unpacking I needed to do. The pictures are all beautiful. She did such a wonderful job I HAD to share. :) Thanks Hilary!

Quick funny story on our little photo shoot. I actually had a grey tank top on over my white shirt, but about 3 minutes into taking pictures, Lincoln spit up everywhere!! I took off my mommy-bib tank top and carried on with the shoot. A mommy's gotta do what a mommy's gotta do.