Lincoln at 3 1/2 months....

Christmas

Christmas was busy this year! We spent the holidays in Michigan, and Lincoln surely got his share of attention. He was a great, laid-back traveler for his first flight (despite a 5 hour delay in the airport...which Lincoln tolerated much better than Andrew and I) And, in addition to celebrating his first Christmas morning (which he slept through) Lincoln also attended his first wedding (cousin Arianne), a birthday party (cousin Maddux), and a baby shower (for soon-to-be-born cousin Braylyn - Amanda was excited that Braylyn was given lots of U of M gear...Drew was less than thrilled, being an OU fan). Linc also finally got to meet his great-aunts and uncles, and great-grandpa Leeser, and his newest cousins, Owen Zichske (7 months) and Morgan Baker (4 months)...although I think the parents had more fun taking photos of the babies together than the kids did.

Some of the most fun memories occurred watching Gaines, our nephew, interact with Lincoln. (Note their coordinating Christmas PJs...very cute, thanks to their Nana.) Several times throughout the week Gaines said "Baby Lincoln is my friend" and would then bring him toys to play with, or help give him a bottle. It's a good thing that Gaines loves babies - because he is about to get a new baby sister any day...and Lincoln will have yet another cousin! In fact, there are three new cousins being born this spring, and, God willing, a baby on the way from Vietnam for Josh and Marcie. The next family get-together will be crazy, since most of the babies will be "mobile" by then. Heaven help us! Also, Linc experienced his first snowstorm, and Amber loaned us some "baby winter gear" which we were very thankful for. Gaines took advantage of the snow to go sledding a few times, which was fun to watch. (And many of us - myself included-made a trip down the hill with him. It made Andrew and I excited about the future, when Linc will be old enough to do things like that!

And as you see in the picture above (and the video link below) we gave Gaines a drumset for Christmas which (unfortunately for Will and Shawna) went home with him to North Carolina. What are aunts and uncles for, after all? (Although we have a feeling that we'll be...repaid...a few years down the line. :) All in all, it was a cold, snowy, busy, fun, and wonderful Christmas. We were thankful most of all for the gift that God gave us all so long ago. Having a baby boy made me a bit reflective this year, and even more amazed that God would give up his one and only son for us.