Open House in Milwaukee, Diaper Changes, and Rental Cars!

The following post is all pretty random. I just wanted to post some of our recent pictures!

Bath time is fun for all of us. Lincoln knows where to crawl to get his bath. Please excuse the hard water stain on the faucet. I really try to keep my home clean but somehow those water stains show up so quickly.

Any diaper or clothes changes are difficult now. I wish he knew I was doing him a favor! It seems to literally be a wrestling match to get a new diaper or clothes on him! We try to give him the most exciting toys or anything distracting, but it doesn't distract him for very long. He has things to do and places to go!

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated our two year anniversary.  Here is what he have to display from that morning! We picked up the pottery we made, but I didn't take any pictures of those yet.

That is a "2" sign, not a peace sign.

Once in a while, Lincoln and I go out to meet Vance as he is coming home from school.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we were rear ended on the highway in the Chicago area on our way to Oshkosh. Everyone was alright. Luckily our absorber was ok, but we got the paint refinished. It was funny because the guy who hit us was actually from Oshkosh, our hometown and he was headed back there as well. Anyway, we got a rental car for a few days, while they repainted the bumper. It was a 2011 Dodge Caliber. It felt great to drive and was fun, but we probably wouldn't buy one. The visibility was horrible. It was so hard to back up or change lanes. We felt like you couldn't see very well.

Yesterday Lincoln had a rough day. He is not napping as well as he used to. As we have shown on this blog, Lincoln loves water. Maybe we fostered this when he was a baby. We used to turn on the faucet and let the water run and it soothed him to sleep. Nothing else seemed to work. I usually don't let him, but yesterday I let him play in the sink. He was in heaven. I just had to make sure he didn't turn the water onto a hot setting. 

Last weekend we went to Milwaukee for an open house. My cousin Elizabeth married Jason Dimond in December at the Nauvoo LDS Temple. I took a few pictures there of just a few of the family members that were there. We had a great time. We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express, which is pretty fancy for us!

Megan and Rachel. They are some of my cousins from Iowa. They also have a brother Matthew and little sisters Mary, Grace, Emma, and Lucy. They are such cute and fun cousins.

 Uncle Nick, baby Lucy, Matthew, and Vance.

Below: Uncle Tim and Aunt Marta (from Mesa, Arizona). i wish I took more pictures of all the family that was there.

The newlyweds...Jason and Elizabeth. Congratulations guys! It was so good to meet Jason. We really like Jason and think they are great together.

Lincoln Crawls on His Knees and Two Year Anniversary

Lincoln started crawling on his knees consistently yesterday. We are so proud of him. He had been army crawling since the beginning of June, so we are excited about this. Vance took this when he got home from school and I was finishing our dinner.

Yesterday he also tried to feed us with the spoon he played with during dinner. It was sure cute. He tries to pull himself to stand on everything, and seems more determined than ever to stand on the faucet in the tub....which makes us so nervous. We try to distract him to play with his toys in the tub, but sometimes all he tries to do is stand!!

Lincoln also has learned "peek a boo." Below is a video of him playing in the tub with our version of the game with the shower curtain.

This last video is about two weeks old. We got him a walker and he loves the independence it brings him. We have to watch our toes when he's in it, though...

We have been having all sorts of fun here lately. It has been extremely hot and humid, with the heat index at 115 degrees for the past three days. We are so grateful for our air conditioning (the bill will be high this month!) Anyway, we have been having fun. I have baked lots of bread (white, banana, pumpkin, zucchini), tried new recipes for dinner, got a new jogging stroller which is AWESOME, and got rid of a lot of extra things we don't need in the house. I also am almost finished with a great book called "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor E. Frankl. He survived the Holocaust and tells of his experience there but also relates it to many things he has learned about love and the purpose in life and suffering. He gained so much from his experience. Very inspiring and definitely not a downer.

In the last few days we went to the Tippecanoe County Fair and saw lots of pigs, sheep, horses, cows, chickens, rabbits, crafts, and more. Lincoln seemed to enjoy the horses the most.  We also have gone to a nearby tumbling gym and played in the foam pit, crawled through tunnels, etc. Yesterday we went to the Tropicanoe Cove pool in Lafayette. It is the fanciest pool/waterpark in town. Lincoln didn't especially enjoy the lazy river (I suppose there is nothing to "do" while you float, however I loved it!). He was pretty daring and walked right up to the falling water toys, even if the water got in his eyes.

We celebrated our two year anniversary on Monday, July 18th!  Vance was so thoughtful and did some sweet things throughout the day. When I opened the laptop at about noon, the "Love Songs" station on pandora started, and he had a card for me waiting there. I woke up to two bouquets or two dozen flowers for each month we have been married. Then I found Ghirradelli chocolates on the bed! Vance is good at making special days like birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays extra special.  I thought of a few things...one of them making a homemade card.  I actually made a successful and cute one which makes me feel super crafty.  Deep down I want to be more crafty.

A newly married couple in our ward volunteered to babysit for us, so we went out on the town in the evening. We went to La Scala, a fine Italian restaurant, for dinner. The food was soooo tasty and the servings were generous. We took home the rest that made enough leftovers for two meals for both of us. We also went to "All Fired Up," a pottery place in town where you can paint pottery. I painted a utensil holder and Vance painted a spoon rest. Then after that we went for a romantic walk down by the celery bog. The sun was setting and the wild flowers smelled beautiful. It was such a nice night and was fun to think about how glad we were that we chose to marry each other. It was nice to reflect on all the experiences, whether joyous or sad, we have been through. Love you Vance.

Who Does Lincoln Look Like?

We hear it all the time. "He looks just like _____." We thought it would be fun to let those who read our blog give their opinion. So here are the candidates:

The Cousins: Left to Right - Hunter, Sawyer, Jared, Mason, Avely, Aubrey, Jack Jack, Camden, Dallin, Brynn, Kayla, Lyndee.

Mom and Dad:

Summer Fun

Last Saturday, Vance, Lincoln and I attended the Wabash Riverfest. It is a yearly fest along the river with river boat racing, food to buy, face painting, balloon tying, live music, booths, pony rides, etc. We thought Lincoln might enjoy a pony ride. Vance walked along with him, because Lincoln definitely doesn't have the balance to hold himself.  I think he enjoyed it but also was ready to be done at the end. They only went around about 5 or 6 times which was perfect. Then we enjoyed some tasty Italian Ice treats, which was wonderful! It was so good to eat on such a hot day. It has definitely been so hot and humid here lately. To some degree, we've stayed inside a bit more because it has been so warm.

 Lincoln and I had a great day today. We went to the library for the birth to 24 month story/singing time. I haven't been in a while. There were a few other kids that looked just about his age. Lincoln definitely was the most vocal/wiggly one. He was very excited and wanted to crawl forward but then would come back almost instantly to give me a hug and be held. I guess I can't expect a 9.5 month old to sit still, though! Many people have said how active and wiggly he is, and I thought that maybe all kids his age are THIS active. However, as time goes by, and I have more time to observe, Lincoln definitely is a super wiggly kid! Tonight when I was wrestling him to get his pajamas on, I even broke a nail. Man!

Anyway, we read some books, played in the kid section, checked out books, and then headed to the zoo. They have this group of 6 or 7 gibbons (like monkeys) that sing and howl in unison that are always so fun and amusing to listen to. Well, our favorite animals to see today were the new baby goats. We went to the zoo a few weeks ago but a couple of the mothers hadn't delivered their babies yet! They were still so tiny. They also were remarkably tolerant of little children and specifically my baby "touching" them (which wasn't always a soft petting action, but more of a hit). It was really fun to see Lincoln enjoy them. There must have been 8 or 10 new baby goats. All of the sudden a couple of the baby goats kept sniffing Lincoln's shirt, and then were trying to eat his shirt! It was funny and fortunately Lincoln wasn't scared at all.

9 Months Old

Lincoln turned 9 months old a week and a half ago, but he just had his checkup appointment with his pediatrician last Friday. I was expecting a few shots at this appointment, but they said they wouldn't do any more vaccinations until he is one year old. I guess I was a little relieved. Although I know vaccinations are good, I was not excited about watching the shots. Anyway, they took his measurements and discussed his development.

Height: 29 inches/ 75%ile
Weight: 21 lbs 3.6 oz/ 50-75%ile
Head Circumference: 46 1/2 cm/ 75-90th %ile

 His 6-12 month old sized summer hat does not fit his head any longer, so I am not surprised his head measured so large!! Larger heads come from my side, the Kindt side, of the family (large brains as well). His head was in the 25%ile when he was born, so it has grown quite a bit!


What Lincoln does now...

Army crawls everywhere (starting to get up on all fours)

Loves to pull out DVDs, books, CDs from where they belong

Loves his walker and likes to open and close and open and close and open and close the cupboard doors (not enough time to type all the "open and closes" that he does)

Kitchen utensils, spatulas, etc are some of his favorites, along with pots and pans!

Enjoys it when we sing to him. Whenever I sing "Edelweiss" from the Sound of Music, he will start rubbing his eyes because he knows it is time to sleep.

Will always cheer up if we "walk" him

Points at people and objects

Has waved "bye" a couple of times

Tries to put his spoon in a bowl and mimic eating

Says "dada" "yaya" and a few "baba" sounds

Still makes raspberries, squeals, and loves to vary his pitch

Lately he insists on drinking his bottles 1. by himself and 2. laying down.

Loves his dad and gives him the biggest smiles when he sees him

Wakes up happy in the mornings

Loves turning fans on and off

Favorite toy of all time.......drum roll please........mom's keys!

Loves to play in sinks with the water running

Likes bananas, peaches, peas, brocolli, bread, crackers, tiny bits of chicken, just about any baby food, and loves his cereals!

Now drinks soy-based formula...had non-stop diarrhea for 3 or so weeks since he got sick in California.  But he loves it and had no problem switching formulas, luckily. We'll try switching him back to a milk-based formula in a couple of weeks.

Independence Day weekend in Wisconsin- Part 2

 

We went to the Oshkosh Fourth of July parade and met Vance and Janessa's first cousin and her family there...

Colored Bread

A few days ago I decided I wanted to make some bread. A friend of mine did an official "rainbow bread" but I only used four colors and also made them swirl. So it was a little different, but fun to make, although my arms and hands were very tired afterwards! It took a lot of time and effort kneading all the food coloring into the separate pieces of dough. As you can see, it wasn't perfect....but it was fun enough that I'll probably do it again in a year or so when Lincoln will appreciate it more.

Independence Day weekend in Wisconsin (Part 1)

We have done a lot of traveling lately! Last weekend we went to Wisconsin for the holiday weekend. We stayed with my parents and little brother and invited our sister and brother in law Janessa and Jeremy to spend the weekend with us. One afternoon, after going to our city's farmer's market, we went tubing and skiing.

 Peter and Janessa at the head of the boat.

Jeremy and my dad tubing!

Our great driver, Rob Rhodes. Thanks so much!

Peter and Jeremy tubing...

Vance and I. It was such nice day. It was windy, hence my bangs just NOT cooperating.

My handsome husband, Vance.

My dad...

 Vance and I tubing...

I tried skiing as well. The first time I wasn't able to get up (it has been a couple of years) but was able to after that. It felt great.

Louisville Trip

Two weeks ago, Vance, Lincoln, and I drove to Louisville, Kentucky two weeks ago for a quick weekend trip. We visited my college roommate Jodie and her family. It was so fun to see them and to catch up!

Jodie and her husband watched Lincoln one morning so we could attend the temple together. If you want to learn more about what we believe, click here.

Jodie's little boy, Peter was so cute. We went to the Splash Pad, a small playground/water park one afternoon. I got a little shot of his cute grin.

Vance and Lincoln just enjoying the day...

 

Part of the gang (Clark, Peter, Claire, Jodie, Lincoln and Vance). I was taking the picture, of course, and Jodie's husband was probably watching our bags. 

Cute picture of Lincoln playing in the water. He looooves water. 

Clark was such a fun kid to talk to. He was fearless at this park and also on the merry-go-round. There must have been 20 kids on the merry-go-round and he was hanging on the edge, and some older kids were spinning them so fast. Clark fell off and didn't even shed a tear!

Jodie and I. It was fun to reminisce. Her husband took a picture of us looking through a freshman year photo book. It was embarrassing to see all the pictures and remember all the typical freshman-like things we did!

This is the only picture I have of the adorable and little Claire. Lincoln apparently wanted her sunglasses but she didn't like it! (I wouldn't either if some big kid was trying to take mine:))

The last three pictures were stolen from Jodie's blog. Thanks Jodie:) We had such a great time!

The Beaches of California...before we went to Nevada and then came back to Cali:)

Here are some pictures from my phone that I wanted to add to our blog. We spent a bit of time in San Francisco and the surrounding area before heading to Nevada.  We already missed Vance but were having a great time. Here are some pictures!

I remembered how chilly it was in San Francisco from our trip last summer! 

My brother Peter...

My parents with Lincoln along the beach.

Lincoln LOOOOVED  the beach! This was his first time in the ocean. After a bit he was getting fussy because it was so cold, but then when we took him out of the water he fussed because he wanted to get back in!  My mom was great at letting Lincoln get dirty and just play in all the stream beds/lakes/oceans throughout the trip (because that is what he LOVES). She taught me how to loosen up a little bit and be a little less concerned about how dirty and wet he gets from it all!

I love his adorable feet in the water.

This summer has been filled with lots of traveling so far. I think I have spent more days living out of a suitcase this month than at home!! Vance, Lincoln and I are heading up to Wisconsin this afternoon to spend the Independence Day weekend with my parents and our sister and brother-in-law Janessa and Jeremy and their two little girls. It will be fun. We are hoping for not a lot of traffic on the way there. Wish us luck!

Last weekend Vance and I went to Louisville, Kentucky for a couple of days. We visited my old roommate Jodie (Cozza) Heiselt and her family. I'll have to blog about it next week...