Holy Cow!!! 6 Months!

Our life has been kinda crazy lately. Here's an abbreviated version in pictures. Here are some updates.

Our friend, Gary, FINALLY met Lincoln! It only took 6 months! Crazy guy lives in Raleigh and has been super busy and hasn't been in to meet Ian or Lincoln. This day at the mall he met them both! It's about time!!

Lincoln is the happiest baby in the world!! He and Daddy were playing peek-a-boo with Mommy over the couch cushions. That open mouth, full faced smile is just one of those things you can never get enough of!

I finally got a picture of Lincoln with Poppy! He's seen him tons and we just live a few miles apart, but for some reason there weren't any pictures of Poppy. Lincoln and I went over to visit Moppy a few weeks ago and we finally snapped a good one! Now we'll just have to get a picture of the two of them on the tractor!

Do you remember my little rabbit??? Look at how much he's grown!!!!!

As of October 2 Lincoln was 6 months old. It's so hard to believe and imagine that six months ago he wasn't here. That he was just a wiggly mass in my belly. And to think that 9 months before that we were still praying for him to be here. My how time flies! This baby brings us more joy and happiness than anyone could possibly express. We've heard a thousand times how fast they grow up and how wonderful kids are, but when you're childless you just don't understand. It's not until you actually hold that tiny miracle in your arms and he looks at your with unabashed innocence that you begin to understand. The faith, trust, and understanding these children have is remarkable. It might be tough for the first few months. Ok, it might be REALLY tough. But there is no way anyone can measure the greatness that is to follow. It's amazing that people can question whether there is a God. I see Him every day in the eyes of my son. 

I love this "big boy" vest! We wore it to church. He's posing while sitting up by himself!! :)

"Come on Lincoln, let's go take some fall pictures!" So we changed his clothes and got him dressed to be super cute, and all the boy wanted to do was eat the leaves!! Just keep looking! I had to stick my finger in his mouth to rake some of them out. It was GROSS! But he sure had a good time. 

This one is by far my favorite, and makes me laugh out loud!!!

Serious leaf munching!

Mommy's little angel....what a perfect picture!

October 1st marked the 5th year that I have been married to my best friend. I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. What a wonderful, Godly husband he is. Anthony is my strength and guide. I don't know where I'd be without him.

To celebrate our anniversary we decided it was time to have our first sleep-away from Lincoln. What a big step! We left him at my mom and dad's for one night while we went to Bryson City to ride the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. It seems like everyone we know has done it, and we couldn't figure out why we hadn't. So we did!! We were a little apprehensive about leaving Little Man behind. Not nervous to leave him with Mom, but worried that we would miss him terribly while we were gone. Good thing we weren't gone for more than two whole days and a night. By Saturday night we were really missing him badly! He did great with Mom and Dad. He slept well, ate well, and just played and played. What more could we ask for?! 

Friday night, Oct. 1, we drove into Cherokee and stayed the night. We visited the Harrah's Cherokee Casino just to see what was going on. We spent about $20 and played for maybe an hour or so. I always seem to lose my money lickety-split, but Anthony can hold onto his and keep playing. So not fair. Anyway, we were pretty close to the train for our Saturday morning ride. We chose the Nantahala Gorge trip to see the Nantahala River and the rafters, and also the Nantahala Outdoor Center. 

We were in a first-class, adult only dining car. We were seated at a table across from an older couple from Florida. They weren't very chatty and that was fine by us. For the beginning of our journey we were traveling backwards. Not the train, just that our seats were facing the caboose. It was a little disappointing. And a little gross to see everything race by...

It was a beautiful fall day, even though most of the leaves were still bright green. The weather was cool and it was nice to be in a car with heat, instead of one of the open-air cars farther back in the train. Brrrr! It was quite an interesting trip. Before we even left Bryson City Station there was an announcement that one of the servers had gotten sick and had to be taken off the train. We had to wait for that, and for another server to come on board. Once we finally got underway we had about a 2 hour ride until the engines were separated from the train to take us back towards Bryson City. On our way back we stopped at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. That's where so many rafting adventures begin. There is a restaurant, and tons of little shops with outdoor gear and everything you could need for rafting or kayaking. 

We had an hour layover there.

 We were served lunch and had unlimited sodas. 

What a beautiful day it was!

Some of the beautiful scenery. This is Fontana Lake. Home to the Fontana Dam, the largest Dam east of the Mississippi. It was a beautiful ride. And it was nice to finally be traveling in the "correct" direction so we didn't feel woozy anymore. 

We were already behind schedule because of the server's sickness in the morning and it didn't get any better. Right as we were beginning to pull out of the Wesser Station at NOC we got word that there was a medical emergency on board. We waited. And waited. And waited. It turned out that an elderly woman had fallen ill, possibly had a stroke. The ambulance was called and we waited. It took about an hour for the emergency crews to stabilize her and move her to the ambulance and for the train to keep moving. At this point what was supposed to be a 4 hour train trip has turned into about 6 hours. All of this would have been fine, except for the fact that I hadn't pumped since 8:30 that morning, and it was now going on 2 pm. The train didn't pull back into the station until after 4:00 and I was VERY ready to get off the train!

All in all it was a wonderful trip. The ride was beautiful and it was GREAT to spend time with just Anthony. Lincoln is fabulous, and I wouldn't trade him for the world....but it's nice to remember how much in love you are with your spouse. Sometimes you need to be just the two of you, so you can remember why you fell in love in the first place...which lead to that beautiful baby. 

Thank you, Lord, for our beautiful family. We are truly blessed.

Progress

We went to the Catawba Science Center on Labor Day. It was the last day for the "Flutter By" butterfly habitat exhibit. Anthony and I have been to several different butterfly pavilions but this was Lincoln's first time. Since it was the last day, the butterflies were a little scarce. Danielle said they had lots of other different kinds while they were still actively shipping new ones in. Either way, it was very pretty and Lincoln would just be still and watch. We went with my friend, Tori, and we had a sweet time. This is a picture of him staring at one perched on a leaf. It's hard to find... almost like Where's Waldo.

Just hanging out. We were sporting our Appalachian wear on Saturday in support of the home game. I guess we did a pretty good job supporting because they came out with a win! He's rolling alllll over the place and is soo close to crawling. He's got the actions all figured out, he just hasn't put them all together, yet! Tonight it was almost like he was getting ready to army crawl. He's very good at getting up on his knees, and just today he started pushing forward with his knees and his little elbows would slide forward. Precious! I'm so not ready for that! It's exciting, don't get me wrong, but I just dread having to put things up for a while until he gets the hang of "no." Oh yeah, and tonight we tried squash for the first time. He's had carrots and green beans and he much preferred the green beans. He really liked the squash, no funny faces or anything. And he ate almost the whole container! We'll have that two or three more times this week and try something else new next week. I think maybe sweet potatoes. We'll see.

This is his favorite past time! Lounging in the floor with the puppy! He absolutely loves her and watches her all the time. He just laughs and cackles when she comes near. She's doing very well with him and is being very patient. I have a feeling this immobility will not last much longer. *sigh*

There's also progress on the deck! It's so exciting... Anthony was placing the very first row of boards here. Isn't he cute?! It's nice to have the support system finished so he can work by himself, or with a little help from me every now and then.

This is the very first time someone stood on our deck!! It's my toes! Hooray!

This is what it looked like Saturday morning. We got all the way past those support joists you see running parallel to the deck boards. Anthony did most of the measuring and all of the cutting, but I did a lot of the drilling of screws. Since it opens up to the kitchen it's really easy to let the baby play in the floor and just step outside and drill in a few. I just took breaks to make Lincoln happy, or to feed him. Either way, it worked out quite nicely. If we can do that again next Saturday we'll be nearly finished with the flooring. Then it's on to support of the roof since we're covering almost all of it. Then handrails and steps and such. 

It's also nice that now there's enough room up on the deck to put the saw horses and some boards so he can work all on one level instead of up and down the ladder. It will definitely be more efficient, and I think things will move a lot faster. We both walked around out there tonight. It's funny how we didn't really use it  a lot because it was a little scary, but when it's gone we sure do miss it! I guess I walk out with Lile a few times a week, or I just open the door to let her walk around outside. When it's not there I can't lay out wet clothes or put my plants outside for some sun. It's surprising how much I've missed having a deck out there. 

I would also like to amend my last post. Our previous deck was 16 X 12. We're rebuilding this one to 

16 X 20. Anthony wanted to make sure it was correctly documented.

Getting better every day...

Just some of the pictures from our latest baby group!! There's Lynette and Baby Kyra (in the back, in purple), Samantha is trying to hold Lincoln's hand :), Madline is wearing the pink fishy dress and that's Sarah Paige's head there in the foreground. They were just talking to each other and rolling all over the place. I can't tell you how relieved I felt to get back together with all those girls! They're like my lifeline, my source of energy when it comes to all things mommy. We're all so open and honest, nothing's off limits. It's wonderful. It was a breath of fresh air after my first week back to work. I have missed them SOO much. It's so much to adjust to, work, leaving Lincoln behind, missing baby massage. 

Here's Jenn loving on Lincoln!! Baby Carter was acting like the king of the room with his boppies holding him up!!! And that's Sarah Paige in the foreground again!! She's so long! Man I miss these girls! It's so incredibly sweet of them to start coming to the support group at the 5:00 time so all us mommies who had to go back to work can still get together with all our new friends and playmates. It's so important to have a mommy outlet - this is mine.

Oh I LOVE this picture!! Mom and I went to spend some time with Ma-maw not too long ago. It was such a great day for all of us! Anthony had a continuing ed class in Asheville so Mom went with us all and we meet Ma-maw at the mall and did a little shopping and had lunch. It was so sweet to spend some time with her, and to let her munch on my Lincoln. I think this is just a fabulous picture taken at the end of an equally fabulous day!! Love it!

That silly Zane came to see Lincoln the other day. Leslie and Zane dropped off Anthony's (late) birthday present and he just had to snuggle the baby! He was a total mess from daycare, or hanging out with Kaleb, who knows. But he was sweet. He wanted to play with all of Lincoln's toys and he just couldn't understand why Lincoln couldn't just get up and play with him!

Oh my goodness.....my heart just melts at this. My sweet, sweet boy, fresh and clean out of the tub. Anthony was there to help us and we just loved and snuggled. He loves a bath. He just kicks and squeals and talks. It's terribly cute. There aren't many things better than a squeaky clean baby.

I have to admit I teared up a little here. I was in the bedroom getting my pajamas on while Anthony got Lincoln ready for bed. They were in the nursery for a very long time and I went to peek in on them and this is what I found: Anthony reading a book to the babies. Even Lile was in on the fun. My heart skidded to a stop and my eyes welled up. It's just one of those sweet moments in time you wish you could freeze and just play over and over again when you have a bad day. What  sweet sound...to hear the man of your dreams reading a silly book to the baby you've always prayed for. Oh, my eyes are even getting a little misty as I type this. What a beautiful family God has blessed me with! It's incredible the love we share and the bonds we're growing.

Would you just look at this?! Do you see this?! YES!!! That's MY Lincoln, sitting. ALONE! IN THE FLOOR!! By HIMSELF!!! He can now sit and play alone. Can you believe it?! This was one week before he turned 5 months old! And he's been working on it since we went to the beach in early August. He can lean over and grab a toy and play with it. He still falls over of course, and he sometimes pushes back because he wants to stand up instead. But this is huge. Goodness, this just flies right by.

This is what our deck used to look like. (Well, it used to have a railing there on the end too, I just didn't snap a picture until Anthony had already knocked it off!) 

Then it looked like this:

That's right....it's gone. So we're in the process of rebuilding something YET again! But it's dreadfully fun! I love watching Anthony out those doors making our house beautiful. I also have to giggle at all the times he makes up his mind...and then changes it!

This is what it looks like out our double kitchen doors as of yesterday, September 4, 2010:

Yep....a whole new structure is rising up! The deck is growing from 16x16 to 16x20. And we're going to cover almost all of it, leaving 4 feet uncovered so I can catch some rays :) and we can use the grill up there.  He spent all day Saturday working with his dad, and he's off tomorrow, Labor Day, and plans to work most of the day as well. Although, he's promised to take Lincoln and me to see the butterfly exhibit at the Catawba Science Center before it's gone! It gets better every day.

We also put up Lincoln's very first swing!

It's hanging in the tree right outside the door, under the living room windows. It's so sweet to walk by and catch a glimpse of the swing in the yard. Even when it's empty it holds the promise of so many sweet moments. He just loves it! He smiles and just cackles.

Oh my gosh, couldn't you just eat him?! He's had fun in there today and yesterday. I figure it will become a favorite past time for all of us as the days continue to be cool and fresh like this weekend.

While Anthony was outside yesterday, I was busy inside. I cleaned the house and even managed to rustle up some fall decorations since the weather was so inspiring! Here's my dining room table, all decked out for fall! I love those pilgrims! Can't wait to hang my leaf garland when it gets a little cooler. It's my favorite time of the year. I'm already trying to figure out something for Lincoln for Halloween. Stay tuned for updates!

We met up with Jeromy, Anna, and Ian today for lunch after church. This is Lincoln's first time seeing him in about 5 weeks. He was a little excited, if you couldn't tell. He wanted to eat him!

HA! What a sweet Ian smile!

Now that is a lap-full of babies!!!! Is it time for #2 yet?!?!

Oh those sweet boys! We had a lovely time. Hopefully we're going to see them again next weekend, yay! And I'm doubly hoping that our long-lost friend, Gary, will be with us! He still hasn't met either one of these fellows...it's high time he did!!

Now that I've run out of pictures from the last week and a half I guess it's time to get down to what you all really want to know. Lincoln spent the week with Denise this week....the family friend who's offered to keep him for me so I don't have to send him back to daycare. We talked on the phone tonight after her "trial run" and she's officially decided to take the job!! WOOT WOOT!!! Hooray!! No more daycare for Lincoln!!! She had a good time this week, and he was an extra good baby. It sealed the deal for Anthony when she told us he had been fussy one afternoon, so she took him outside and they sat and watched the humming birds. Now that's something you just can't do at daycare. He's been to the middle school to pick up her oldest daughter and he's come to my school several times this week when Denise had to pick her kids up for dentist appointments and piano lessons. He even went with her to her grandmother's house to give her a bath. She said he was fabulous and very well behaved. Tonight she said she just thought she'd cry if I had to take him back to the daycare. 

See, it turns out that she and her husband, David, had been talking about her getting a job since all the kids were in school and he's traveling like every other week. Problem was she needed a job where she could leave by 2:30 to pick up her girl from the middle school. Where was she going to find that? So while I was desperately praying for a solution to the daycare problem, they were praying to find a job to help ends meet around their house. Isn't God good?! We just "happened" to find each other and answer both prayers! 

This week at work it's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I'm not constantly rushing to the computer to see the webcam to see if the girls are taking care of my baby. I wasn't worried about whether he was getting interaction and attention. I can't even put into words how different my heart feels knowing that he's with someone who will love him and care for him. When his needs are met, my needs are met. And when Mommy's happy, everyone's happy! It just keeps getting better.....every day.

We've decided on a payment plan that makes us all happy and we've even shuffled some toys her way so they can play with familiar things during the day. He seems happy, he's eating well, and is taking great naps! That goes to show he feels safe and secure, that's all I need to know. Here's hoping for a great relationship with family members, and new friends. I just know this is going to be wonderful for everyone. Of course I'd still love to be at home. That's where my heart is. But Anthony and I are already  making plans for how it would work to stay home next time. It's going to happen, we just have to figure out the lay of the land so to speak. So glad he's willing to help me make that sacrifice for our babies. Gosh, he's pretty great!

Love you all...

Craziness

What a crazy time we've had lately. I finally got my new PINK DELL computer!! I also found some time to upload some pictures to this new laptop....So lately we've had TONS of stuff going on and we've been realllly busy. 

Anna and Baby Ian came to stay a few days with us and we tried to take some pictures of these boys....this is what we ended up with!! Lincoln was soooo tired he couldn't stand himself. We wanted cute cloth diaper pictures...but it just didn't happen. Some days are just like that!

We've been to the beach!!! Virginia Beach. Lincoln has officially put his toes in the Atlantic.

 We had a very great time. We spent two mornings on the beach with our sweet beach shade. We spent one morning at the pool in the hotel, that was sadly an indoor pool. We thought the pool next door to our hotel's parking garage was huge and beautiful and ours....only to find out it belonged to the hotel across the way. How disappointing! The indoor pool was so cold we wouldn't even put the baby in. No sun to warm it up, or warm us up. It just wasn't a very good time. However, we went tot the Virginia Aquarium.

It was so nice. They have tons of fish and sharks, and sting rays and such. There is a walk-through tunnel in one of the huge tanks and Lincoln couldn't get enough of it! He loved it....he just looked and looked and looked. 

We also visited Nauticus.

 It's like a science center that's all about the ocean, water, and the Navy. We watched a video about the tides, played with ropes and knots and explored a battleship. 

We even got to board a small schooner, the Virginia. It was all very nice. That was a nice way to spend the super hot afternoons after we'd cleaned up from the morning at the beach. 

We had to sleep in the same room with the baby...of course. That's just not so enjoyable! He makes so much noise at night time. It's so funny! I wonder why he makes so much noise while sleeping?! He grunts, wollers the bed, and sometimes fusses. He also had his very own bed to play on and for changing diapers and such. I thought we requested a king room, but the double queen ended up being wonderful so we could leave all the diapering stuff out all the time. It was beach front and I got to sit in the bed each morning and watch the dolphins jump while I nursed the baby. It makes for a great way to start the day!!  The drive wasn't too bad. We stopped several times on the way there and on the way home. We got the baby out so he could nurse and be out of his car seat for a while. It took longer to get there, but he was a little happier that way. He sure hated going in his car seat after that!

Most recently...and most painfully I have gone back to work. Yuck. There really are no words. I knew it would be hard, really I did. I just didn't think that handing my child to someone else to care for during the day would rip my heart out. They don't love him the way I do. And at daycare he will get every sickness coming and going. I dropped him off at daycare with Anthony the first day he went. It was Wednesday, the 18th. I have to say it's the hardest thing I've ever done, to turn and walk away from my baby....my love...my sweet, sweet boy. I had a terrible day at work and cried allll day. Every time someone mentioned him I cried again. The next day was easier because I didn't have to take him to daycare, Anthony drops him off on his way to work. Not to say it was easy to see him go, but it was infinitely easier than actually having to leave him there. I called a couple times a way to check on him. They didn't feed him at the right times, he didn't sleep well...they didn't follow my schedule. It was a train wreck. Every day something else went wrong and I just couldn't stand it. There are webcams in every room so I can watch what goes on all day....and no one holds him unless they're feeding him a bottle. He rotates from the exersaucer to the floor to the swing....to the exersaucer, to the floor, to the swing. I started coming home every day and begging Anthony to just stay home. He held me and petted me and said he thought I could be strong. Then the next day he didn't sleep well....and I begged again. The latest breakdown came on Tuesday of this week. The day before the kids came back...

It's just one thing after another...and I realized they've been heating his bottles because they were starting to melt on the bottom. I specifically told them NOT to heat them, he eats them straight out of the fridge. Anyway, it was like the straw that broke the camel's back. I just broke down again. I was a disaster when Anthony got home and spent my whole evening promising to clip coupons, shop at Aldi, use ALL cloth diapers, sell my breastmilk....just so I could stay home with him. It was another terrible day. Anthony said he wants to give it at least one more week. He's afraid if I made the decision to go back to work..then walk away a few days in that I'm shooting myself in the foot and won't be able to get my job back next year. I'm willing to take that risk, he's not willing to let me.

SO I've asked a distant cousin to keep Lincoln. I think if he were by himself with just one person he would get the interaction I think he needs. He wouldn't get all those nasty germs from sick kids. It would make me feel a million times better, I think. She wants to try a week trial run next week, so we'll see how it goes. I'll keep you posted!

AND...as if that's not enough craziness: Lincoln got his first tooth today!!! It's officially up through his gums! What a big boy! He's growing up WAYYY to fast. He's still mostly on breastmilk, but he's getting cereal at home once a day. I can start fruits and veggies....I'm just not ready to let him yet! I don't want him to grow up so fast. I know I can't hold him back, but it just seems like it's flying by! The last time we went to the doctor he weighed 17 pounds, 14 ounces. He had a fever before he started daycare last week so I took him to get checked out...just teething I guess. Anyway...tomorrow is support group with the baby girls! I'm so excited to see them all again. It's been a while! We'll weigh him again, I'm sure he's passed the 18 pound mark by  now! 

He'll be 5 months old next week!! He's rolling allll over the floor...he is starting to sit up by himself, too! I think today he sat by himself for almost 3 minutes! It's crazy! I put him in the middle of the bed yesterday and he rolled off!! It didn't take 5 seconds, and there he was...bonk!...in the floor screaming at me! I just turned my back for a second....bless his heart! I know mommies do silly stuff....I guess I can count that as one of mine. I felt so terrible! 

I'm still trying to get over feeling like I had a baby so I can go to work and support him. It's so silly to only see him for 4 hours a day. Why do we do this to ourselves?! Why can't all mommies just stay home and raise their babies? I'll keep you posted, but I'm guessing I'm going to stay at work. I just hope Denise just LOVES this baby and wants to love him as much as I do! 

Meltdown

Ok...I know it's been officially forever!!!! But our computer just kinda crashed and I've been waiting and waiting to get this new one! It's finally here and I promise I'll update you all on the goings on soon. I've gotta get some pics loaded onto this new laptop and then I'll post them!  Sorry, Aunt Sheila...I know I let you down!!