Fun Stuff

Baby Ian is here!!! He was born Sunday, June 20th....Father's Day. What a great gift for Jeromy! This is my first snuggle. He weighed a whopping 6 pounds, 15 ounces! He's so tiny beside my giant boy!

Erin has a new man in her life!!!

New mommy Anna...with my chunker!!

Erin's two favorite boys!!! They love you, too Erin!

What a sweet family photo!!

Who doesn't love a yawning baby?!

Can we say 11 weeks makes a BIG difference?!

Our boys...with their boys...on Father's Day.

Sorry it's sideways!! Erin bought both boys their first guitars!! How fun.

Lincoln got his first piece of mail. His Social Security Card!! He's official! (Even though I haven't yet ventured to the court house to pick up his birth certificate!!)

My precious fellas on the way to church! Man they're awfully cute!

We've been spending lots of time in the neighbor's pool lately. Lincoln absolutely loves it! And so do we! It wears him out and he usually takes a nice long nap and goes right to sleep that night! He just kicks away.

Amy and Aydan came to visit just the other day. Aydan had been practicing at home how to play with babies so he could play with Lincoln when he came over. Sweet! We took our boys outside to play in a little splashy pool. Aydan was so cute with Lincoln.  

Kayaking

We decided it was time to initiate Lincoln to the kayaks. We love to go and we wanted him to be able to go with us. It took a few minutes to figure out what we needed to pack and how we were going to keep him in the boat. A friend gave us this wrap and we thought it might help keep him sitting up straight, so he wouldn't be so floppy. Anthony decided he wanted to wear him since he's a more experienced kayaker. 

This is us testing the plan at home to see how it would ultimately work.

He seemed like he was going to tolerate it and didn't mind too much. 

We had on sunscreen, swim trunks, a swim shirt....then we had his super cool shades and his hat to keep the sun off his face. He was asleep for the first 30 minutes then just hung out while we paddled around. It was a lot of fun. We even got sprinkled on while we were there and that helped cool us off. It was a beautiful day, but we shuffled in before the afternoon thundershowers popped up.

Our cute little paddling family!

Erin went with us and was a HUGE help juggling boats and paddles and babies!! She's also in the market for a boat herself, so she took a turn in all three boats to see what they were like. I think she fell in love with Anthony's because it's the longest, so the easiest to maneuver. (It's also the most expensive!!)

Just a few of the pictures from the last two weeks...

I LOVE these elephant overalls. This was the second time we've worn them and it's going to be the last! The little blue shirt constantly rides up (no onesies with overalls) and the straps are tight. It was cute while it lasted!

What a little stinker!!!! Don't you love that smirk?!

We put up the Johnny Jumper the other day and he absolutely LOVES it!! He'll sit and twist and turn and bounce for almost an hour. It's so funny. He turns and looks over the deck for a while, then turns and looks at his exersaucer which is right beside him, then he'll look in the living room. He sometimes even watches TV from it. It's the funniest thing! There's NO fussing in the jumper! He'll sit in his exersaucer, too. It doesn't lower farther so his feet touch the bottom so he doesn't like to stay as long. I put a pillow under his feet so he can push but it's not the same. It sure is cute to see him growing up a little bit more each day!

Weeks 6-9

We've been busy lately and up to quite a bit of fun. We've got some fun pictures to share!

Lincoln and Lile love to take strolls through the neighborhood. Lincoln usually ends up falling asleep and Lile barks at all the neighbor's dogs. It's usually quite interesting! 

Mom and I went to Gaffney, SC to hit the outlets last week. We didn't come home with anything fantastic but we sure had a really good day. That's the giant "peach butt" to tell you you're in Gaffney. 

Lincoln and I have started walking with my old friend, Jessica, and her sweet baby Avah. Lincoln and Avah were due one day apart but Avah was two weeks early and Lincoln waited a week late. They ended up three weeks apart. But we've been hanging out alot and going to baby massage and such. I always ask Lincoln if he wants to go see his girlfriend. We took these pics the last time we walked.

We're pretty happy babies!

Avah: "Waaahhhhh!" Lincoln: "Oh, maybe I should cry, too!!"

Avah: "Waaaaahhhhhh!" Lincoln: "Ugh...girls!"

We've been walking about twice a week for the last two weeks. We're up to almost 3 miles at a time. Not bad!

We just took our first overnight trip with Lincoln. We wanted to run away for the weekend of Memorial Day because all we've been doing on the weekends since we got pregnant was working on the bathroom. I thought it might be nice to do nothing! Or at least do something for fun. We decided on Columbia, SC so we could go to the Riverbanks Zoo. 

We had a reallllly fun day! Lincoln was asleep when we first got there and probably slept for about half an hour. After that he was awake alllllll day! He didn't take a single nap all day. I guess there was just so much going on and so much to see and hear that he couldn't stand to shut his eyes for one second! 

This is a Galapagos tortoise that was bigger than you could imagine! We tried to get the stroller beside him so you could see the size of him but those pesky kids kept getting in the way!! 

Lincoln even had his first amusement park ride while we were there! We chose the cheetah because it's the fastest land mammal. He seemed to enjoy it. He liked the air blowing through his hair. He's such a hot baby. He's always sweaty! It was fun.

Daddy and baby on the tram ride between the zoo and the gardens. He's not sleeping, just enjoying the movement of the air! Not that he's in a different shirt this time....pooping accident!

I even nursed him at the zoo. Good for me. It's a little uncomfortable just physically, not very comfy places to sit. But all went well and we were all very happy. It was a little warm, but the humidity was gross. It rained around lunchtime so we left and had lunch outside the zoo and came back when the rain had passed. That cooled it down quite nicely. 

We stayed in downtown Columbia in the Vista area. It was nice. You can walk to tons of restaurants and shops and such. Saturday night we ate at California Dreaming.

It's an old train depot that's been remodeled. I'd only been one other time when my cousins, Tony & Stephanie, got married. I remembered it being a pretty nice place and I was right. It was really good. 

Here's a pic of me and baby before dinner...he's sooo cute!

Sunday was zoo day and afterwards we had dinner at Mellow Mushroom. It was just a few blocks up from the hotel. I'm NOT a fan, but Anthony loves it. I made him swing by Marble Slab Creamery on the way back to the hotel as my reward for eating at the Mushroom!

We had a lamaze reunion where we got all our babies together. It was so much fun and they were very cute! They all have such different personalities and are such different sizes even though they're not very far apart in age. Note Lincoln asleep in the Boppy. The only one who was conked out. Left to right they're Lincoln, Sarah Paige, Layla, Samantha, and Reid. Sarah is the oldest and Layla is the youngest. We'll have to get them together again. 

We had our 2 month doctor's visit yesterday. He weighs a Whopping 14 pounds, 7 1/2 ounces!!!!! He's 25 inches long. What a big boy. He's over the 95th percentile for height and weight. He's in the 50th percentile for his head, 14 1/2 inches. Dr. Todd said he looked wonderful and was impressed with his head and trunk control. He had to have his first shots. How sad that was! Notice in the pic he's checking out his hand. He's found them and will just stare. It's so cute.

The shots were not fun, talk about an unhappy baby.

Note the battle wounds! His first bandaids! He was a little extra fussy for a while later in the day. His legs were sore and he didn't want me to touch them and he even cried when he wiggled them on accident! He slept wonderful last night, even though I was nervous. We had to give him some Tylenol for the first time, too. He had 100.5 last night before bed. Just from the shots, though. All is well today and he's been a pretty happy boy. I'm glad it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. 

He's still sleeping from 10-7 every night. Talk about wonderful!!

We don't have anything coming up lately...but we'll post again soon.

LATELY

Last week I went to the doctor for my postpartum checkup. I got to see Val, the midwife who delivered Lincoln. All the girls at the office oohed and aahed over the baby, of course! My favorite nurse, Katie, is also pregnant with a boy and is due around the same time Anna is! It's so cute to see so many women fawning over your baby. I mean, I know he's cute...but it's fun to have other people share that feeling! All was well at the checkup, except my iron levels were low again. They want it to be 12 or over and I was at 10.5. I was low at the end of my pregnancy, too. No big deal, I'll just eat more raisins! The big news from that appointment is that I've lost all but 4 pounds of my baby weight!! I wouldn't step on the scale until they told me where I started and ended my pregnancy. It's nice to know it's almost all gone in only 6 weeks! Hopefully there will be more pounds that melt away since I'm exclusively breastfeeding. If I start walking regularly I'm sure I'll see some fall off!

Lincoln is wonderful. He'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow! My how time flies! He's giggling and smiling more. He's looking at us and I know he recognizes me. He's eating about every 2 1/2-3 hours during the day but makes it longer at night. Speaking of sleeping....We had our first ALL-NIGHTER last night! We gave him a bottle of about 5 ounces and then laid him down around 10. He slept until 6am!! What a wonderful feeling! I knew he had it in him, I'm just glad he's found it already. Now I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch and I know he won't always sleep through the night, but we're hoping it'll happen again..and again...and again!! 

As nice as the all night sleep was, it was tainted by yesterday's accident. Anthony was riding his bicycle along his regular route yesterday around 6:30 and he was hit by a car. It's never good when your hubby is supposed to be riding his bike, but instead he's calling you. NOT a nice phone call. I rushed over to where he was, along with the ambulance, first responders, and state troopers! Ooh man my heart was pounding.

He was hit by an old lady driving a minivan. She simply said she didn't see him. She didn't even hit the brakes. He was thrown into the air 43 feet past where she hit him. He landed in the yard of an old family friend and he was in his house and came out because he heard the impact and dialed 911. He's very scratched and bruised.

 Obviously, his bike is trashed. His dad is taking it to the shop today to have the frame checked out. He wasn't worried about himself, he just wanted to make sure her insurance would pay to replace his bike.

 

His elbow has a NASTY big hole in it where the skin has been totally removed. The EMT wrapped him up but he showed it to me later and it seriously made me want to be sick! Not very pleasant.

We finally made it home after talking to the troopers and collecting all of the information we needed. There's no telling how long he'll be sore or how much he'll sleep tonight. Last night he didn't sleep at all. He was in too much pain. Dr. Todd called in something for pain today, so hopefully it will help.

His shorts were trashed...he's got boo boos on his bottom. He flipped up in the air, flew 43 feet across a driveway and skidded to a landing in the grass. Never have I tossed the baby in the carseat so fast!

We're just thankful he's not hurt more than he is. He went in to work today thinking that if he laid around all day today he'd just feel worse. Plus, at the clinic they can use ultrasound to help break up the nasty eggplant colored bruises on the back of his left knee. He's also planning on having one of their ortho docs look at his knee, he thinks it might be sprained. 

God is good....we can buy a new bike, but Lincoln only has one daddy! 

Mother's Day

What a GREAT day it was Sunday!! My sweet sweet husband and son both got me a very nice card. Anthony had asked me when I wanted my cards and I had just said I wanted them before I put on my makeup for church! He gave them to me as soon as we woke up. Of course I cried! What a sweet thing....to get a Mommy card for the first time! (Well, technically I got a Mommy valentine card, too.) We were reveling in the sweetness and then we got ready for church. I asked Anthony what he thought of my pretty new dress and he said it was really nice, but "these" might look better! Out of his pocket he pulled a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings!! Talk about shocked....NO IDEA he was thinking of something that incredible! I've wanted diamond earrings for ages, but he always said I didn't need any more diamonds! He said I had been such a great mommy that I deserved them! What a sneaky little booger!

He also said it was my day so I was able to pick what we did for the day. I wanted to see my family, so after church we went to my grandma's house in Canton. My mom and dad, Aunt Sheila and Uncle Terry, Aunt Karen and Uncle Rick and the twins were all there. It was great to see them again. It was the first time Rick & Karen had seen Lincoln. Aunt Sheila got to snuggle Lincoln again...she hasn't seen him since he was a week old. 

Mamaw was in a great mood and we had a yummy lunch. It was a great way to spend the day. Lincoln was well behaved and we took pictures of the 4 generations that were present.

I still can't believe I have a baby!! It's such a surreal feeling and I still feel like I'm just a kid. I can't believe God created something so beautiful and we brought him to life. It's an incredible thing, and it's nothing anyone can explain to you. No matter what people try to tell you it just doesn't explain it, and you can't explain it to anyone else. It was very nice to be included in this holiday.

I am so thankful for my child, for my husband...for my little family. God has truly blessed us. What a beautiful Mother's Day. 

 He loves hanging out on his Boppy!!

These are such sweet moments...

Lincoln loves to sit up straight. So we opened his Bumbo and propped him up. He really liked it! Yes, we made sure his head was supported and watched him carefully!

Comments please!!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have opened the blog to anonymous comments. I know there are more than two people who read this (Thanks Anna F & Anna R!!!!) and I never hear from you. I know my most wonderful, super sweet Aunt Sheila reads this and looks at Lincoln quite often! LOVE YOU!! I also think my sweet cousins in South Carolina read it sometimes, too. I'd love to hear from you guys! If you want to post a comment, just click on the comments link at the bottom of the post. Just make sure you add your name to your post so I know who you are!!! I know that's not anonymous, but I want to know who you are!! I'll post again later this weekend....

Interesting weekend...

Holy cow what a weekend!!!

Friday morning I was getting ready for the day and Lincoln was just hanging out on his Boppy on my bed. In fact, I was getting ready to give him a bath but he fell asleep. I was waiting for him to wake up when all of a sudden.....blech......oodles of vomit out of the mouth and nose. ALL OVER my baby, my bed, the Boppy, you name it and it was covered. That's not the worst part. The first part of the vomit came out normal and white. The second half of it was brown/red and bloody. It was VERY scary. I didn't know what to do. That's not something any mommy wants to see come out of her baby's tummy! Of course, the weekend I need Dr. Todd he's out of town. I called the doctor's office and they said just come on in to the office. I told Anthony and my friend, Michelle. I was crying on the phone with her and she offered to go with me to the doctor's office. It felt good to have a friend by my side, so she tagged along. 

The doctor said he looked fine. He pushed on his belly for pain and there was none. He listened to his heart and lungs, but nothing. He said sometimes babies hold too much vomit in their tummies and it can tear their esophagus before it comes up. It's a really tender spot and a tiny tear could bleed a lot. Dr. Byrd said as long as Lincoln doesn't get a fever or change his behaviors or sleeping/waking patterns that he's probably fine. Just to keep him posted. Phew, what a relief! He's been fine ever since. I hope that's all it was. It was a TERRIBLE feeling...that helpless feeling where you have no idea what to do or what's wrong. I'm sure this won't be the last time I feel that way...but I don't want to feel that way again soon.

The only good thing that came of this is that we got to weigh Lincoln again! Last week (last Friday) he weighed 9 lbs. 11 ounces. But this past Friday...April 30...he weighed 10 lbs. 10 ounces!!! What a chunker!! I love a fat baby. If he doesn't slow down he's gonna outgrow his car seat in just a few more months! We may have to trade Jeromy & Anna and Baby Ian for their 30 pound car seat instead of our 22 pound seat.

As if that wasn't enough Anthony started feeling bad on Saturday morning...laid on the couch and moaned and groaned. That quickly turned into very violent vomiting. It was AWFUL! He just kept throwing up...he even took some Finnagrin and he kept throwing up. As soon as he would try to drink water or Gatorade it would come right back up. He had eaten nothing for hours..and couldn't keep any liquids down. I felt terrible for him, but I was afraid to get too close. I don't want the germs to make me or Lincoln sick! So I had to hang onto the baby all day and he was a little fussy. I was exhausted!! 

Sunday I knew I couldn't be by myself all day again with Lincoln and Anthony so I called for backup! Erin came and spent the day with us. She held the baby when he fussed and changed diapers while Anthony rested and napped on the couch. What a wonderful thing!! 

So to sum it up....we are tired! So tired in fact that I slept through the first feeding while Anthony was in charge Sunday night...and he slept through the second feeding when it was my turn. I hope we don't have that kind of weekend again any time soon. Someone will have to come stay with us if we do!