Video Highlights of April

Here are some fun videos of Lincoln. He makes us laugh all of the time.

Fathers and Sons Campout

A couple of nights ago, Vance and Lincoln went to a nearby campground for a stake fathers and sons campout. Although they just spent the evening and didn't stay overnight in a tent, they still had some great bonding time....and I got the evening to myself!

Loves to eat dirt!

 

I got this picture last week. We got Cookie Monster a couple of years ago after Vance won 400 tickets twice in one night while playing Deal or No Deal (arcade game). We were on a double date with another couple and after mini-golfing we spent some time playing some of those games. Too bad Cookie Monster already has a small rip in his leg...surely it won't be around forever.

May Flowers

I have a few pots on our patio with flowers that I am really enjoying lately. I have to be a little choosy in the flowers I buy because I only get sun on portions of the patio for a few hours in the morning. I'm not able to grow some of the vegetables (especially tomatoes) that I would like because I get little sun, but flowers are fun too.

My new favorite flower to grow are these yellow tuberous begonias.  I love the middle of the flowers. Do you see all the wiggly tubes on one of the flowers? These are so cool!

Then here is Lincoln on our balcony patio. He has been having lots of runny noses these days. We go through lots of Kleenex tissues to try to keep him clean! He has already gotten a little too close to my flowers and has already pulled out an entire plant and ripped off some flowers and leaves of another, but I still love him to pieces. I have to be a little more careful!

Vance's 26th Birthday and Lincoln's first tooth

Yesterday was Vance's birthday. We got a babysitter and went out to our new favorite restaurant, the Hu Hot Mongolian Grill. We went there once before with my parents and siblings last month in Wisconsin and loved it. We highly recommend it. We then had some fun at a park playing basketball and frisbee. The weather was perfect. By then it was time to get our little boy from the sitter. After we got him to bed at our home, we had some dessert and gifts.

Funny face Vance....I know his Reese's dessert is small, but this was his dessert by request! Notice the candles make the shape of a 26.

 

Happy Birthday Vance! We love you!

Lincoln's special gift to his father was his first tooth!! His bottom-middle left tooth has come through. We were wondering when this day would happen and it finally came.

Dad's Shoes, Bubble Baths, and More...

Last week we took a family trip to buy Vance some basketball shoes. He often plays "church ball" on Wednesday nights and we thought he needed some new shoes. His old ones had been giving him blisters and new shoes were definitely overdue. We came home with these and we all enjoyed them.

Lincoln got some new cute Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls last week too.  Here he is just enjoying an afternoon.

In the picture above you can see my potted plants! I have a patio where I can actually grow something. We don't get enough sun on the patio to grow much...so they are part-shade to shade flowers. They are doing well and thriving. Somehow I usually have killed my indoor plants...maybe outdoor is the way to go.


This picture below is from a couple of weeks ago. It is getting easier these days to get pictures with him looking directly into the camera.

Vance has fun with Lincoln these days. Lincoln loves to be on his shoulders. It is fun having him get old enough where we can toss him a little or spin him around....  although the newborn stage where you really do have to hold them like they are porcelain dolls is so fun too! Here he is last Sunday before his bedtime.

Today when we were on some errands, I remembered that I had wanted to buy some bubble bath liquid. For our family home evening activity, we decided to use the bubbles in the bath for the first time. He just barely had a huge blow-out during our lesson and Vance needed to get back to campus...so the bath time was a practical activity! I ended up probably putting too much in his bath.... (can you have too many bubbles?) I don't think Lincoln felt me put the bubbles on his head or was really aware. Maybe the bubbles were more fun for us than him!

All About Lincoln:

• Nurses about 4 times per day (starting formula for some feedings and more solids now)
• Loves to sit up just about all of the time.
• Does not like tummy time still... I have a feeling he might start crawling later because of this....
• Will smile at strangers and doesn't have too much stranger anxiety 
• Will grunt and growl to get our attention
• He loves it when we touch face to face. He makes the sweetest sounds and has the biggest smile.
• Definitely has an occasional fake-laugh...but don't we all?
• Enjoys "dancing" with mom and dad
• Loves to "walk" around the house (of course with maximum assistance)
• Sleeps from 8:30 pm to 6:30-7:30 am (and we wake him up at about 2:00 AM each morning for meds and feeding)
• He is a generally happy child
• People say he's a strong boy...like father, like son.
  

It has been a long semester for us. I sometimes feel like I am in grad school again! But Vance has finals this week and hopefully this summer will be a little less crazy. Vance will just be focusing on his thesis and research. Lincoln has been a little sick these past few days. He's been having a runny nose, coughing, and constantly wheezing since Friday morning. We're keeping an eye on him. Tomorrow we go to his pediatrician's office to get his second dose of the influenza vaccine, and I think I'll ask the nurse to listen to his lungs and tell me if I should be more or less worried. He has been quite whiny today, and I wonder if he just doesn't feel well. Anyway, I'm just so grateful for him and my husband. I love my boys!