Leeser Livin'

Lawson's newborn photo shoot

2010-05-21T20:08:00.006-05:00

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-21T18:18:00.004-05:00

Mother's Day this year fell on Andrew's 32nd birthday, so we had two things to celebrate. I loved my home-made card from Lincoln, and the sweet cards from Lawson and Andrew. I feel so blessed to have two wonderful sons - they (and Andrew) are God's greatest blessings to me!

April and May fun 2010

2010-05-21T17:59:00.014-05:00

I have thoroughly enjoyed being home on maternity leave. (I took 14 weeks this time!) It has been so wonderful to spend time with the boys. We've tried to make the most of it - lots of outings, play dates, time at the park and museums, and just hanging out around the house together. (It's amazing - when Lincoln was a baby, I thought leaving the house with an infant was so hard. Now I realize that's the easy age - they sleep anywhere, and it doesn't take much to make Lawson content.)

Lincoln is such a joy to be around. He talks nonstop, and says the sweetest, funniest things. Lawson is a wonderful baby; now he smiles all the time, and is a total snuggle bug. I feel so blessd to have had this time to be home with them both. While I am sad my leave is coming to an end, I feel great about the fact that "Miss Amanda" will be starting soon as our nanny, and then Linc will begin preschool at Southminster Presbyterian in the fall.

Over the past few months Linc has enjoyed picnics in the park, kyaking with Uncle Brandon, playing in the fountains at Discovery Green, playing in his wading pool, swimming, riding the train at Hermann park, making cookies with friends, riding bikes with daddy, and "playing baseball." Little boys are so much fun! Here are a few photos:

Decorating cookies with Carson

Riding the train at Hermann Park (a bit daring to let Linc hold Lawson for a picture unassisted, but I wanted a shot of both of them.)

Playing with Carson, Jack, Kate, and Scarlet in the wading pool

The boys in their matching tee-shirts. (I originally bought these for a hospital photo...but obviously Lawson was way too small to wear his for a few months. Oh well! At least I tried to get a shot (it's hard to prop up a 2 month old and get him to stay still so you can read his tee-shirt!)

We enjoyed a picnic at Discovery Green downtown, and then Linc played in the fountains.

Linc and Andrew go on several bike rides a week, or enjoy playing basketball in the driveway. (Andrew reworked some of the landscaping in the back so he has a "full court" with two basketball goals. I have a feeling I know where our boys will be spending a lot of time once they grow up!)

Linc is really into baseball at the moment - he loves to practice batting and throwing (catching is still a major work in progress, but it's so cute to watch.) Andrew is so patient with him and a great teacher.

Linc is also really into pirates right now. He especially enjoys sword fights (with these foam swords I found...thank goodness they are foam, his fencing skills are a bit lacking :)

When Linc plays in his wading pool in the driveway, Lawson hangs out in the "baby cabana." (Though Linc usually ends up in there too - what a great invention!)

Lawson has just recently began to hold his head up well enough to sit in the bumbo - so convenient! (But he always looks a bit confused, like "what is this thing?")

Linc is a GREAT big brother - always really sweet to Lawson. He likes to hold him, talk to him, and always turns on the music in his bouncer or finds his pacifier if Lawson cries.

We've enjoyed many "lunch play dates" with Bryce, Payton and Parker. I love these kids! They are so precious.

Linc LOVES playing with Jackson, and it's hilarious to listen to them play and talk to each other. (Mary Beth and I love that they are becoming such good buddies! Now we can switch off babysitting so the other couple gets a date night. It's been so nice.) The funniest thing recently was when Jackson came over one evening and they decided to act out "David and Goliath." It was going well until Linc actually hit "Goliath" (Jackson) in the head with a (fake) rock. Then Goliath hit David with a (foam) sword. They decided that they would both be "dead" even though in the story, only Goliath dies. Hysterical.

Easter 2010

2010-05-21T14:35:00.008-05:00

This Easter we stuck with tradition and celebrated with the Bordens. Brandon also came down from Austin for the weekend. Gina and I cooked, and after lunch Bryce and Linc hunted eggs in our front yard. Jayden and Lawson just watched...but I bet next year they will be all over the egg hunt.

A "pre-Easter dinner" nap:

Jayden (5 months) & Lawson (2 months):

Bryce and Linc were excited to have their own table - I was excited that they would eat the strawberry jello pretzel salad over the marble entryway, rather than our carpeted dining room. Everybody wins!

Gina and Brandon at the table (just before Brandon drizzled ham glaze all over his mashed potatoes, thinking it was gravy. Oops!)

The egg hunt: sheer determination!

Counting the haul...
Hopefully Linc won't "find" any more poison ivy in our yard...been there, done that.

We started Easter morning by having Lincoln "hunt" for his Easter basket that the Easter bunny had hidden. His favorite part of his basket was an outdoor soccer ball.

Found it! That sneaky bunny...

Life is funny. For some reason, I had Easter morning all pictured in my head - it would be glorious. The kids would be in a good mood, wouldn't fight us to get dressed up, we'd get some great family photos, and Lincoln would gush over his Easter basket (rather than whine to eat more candy before church.) I quickly realized I was being unrealistic. It didn't exactly turn out like I envisioned...here is our "family photo" :

After some threats of an "Easter morning timeout" this is the best family shot I could get (yes, Linc was still not happy about the fact that he could not eat all the chocolate out of his basket before church, but he perked up when we said he could take his new, stuffed Easter bunny with him.)

At least Lawson was in a good mood - he must have loved his sweater vest and matching argyle socks. He knew he was stylin'.

And Lawson grows!

2010-05-21T14:20:00.007-05:00

Lawson at one week (5.2 lbs):

Lawson's first bath (sorry for the naked shot, but funny that he was too little even for the sink in our master bath!

Lawson at 6 weeks (7.7 lbs):
Lawson at 2 months (9.5 lbs):

Lawson at 2 1/2 months: Lawson at 3 months: (12.5 lbs!)
My three favorite men!

A visit with Uncle Barrett and Aunt Tiffany!

A visit with Uncle Brandon!

Lawson Andrew Leeser has arrived!

2010-05-20T21:11:00.013-05:00

He's Here! Lawson Andrew Leeser was born on February 15, 2010 at 7:58 p.m., weighing 5 lbs, 8 0z. He surprised us and came about 5 weeks early!

His birth was a bit of a whirlwind. That afternoon I was sitting at home, on a conference call for work (on only day 2 of bedrest) when I noticed that I was having contractions. After a few hours I thought "maybe I should count these...but they feel different than last time, so there's no way I am in labor..." After having 8 contractions in an hour I called my doctor and she sent me to to hospital. I swung by Andrew's office to pick him up on the way, and we laughed about how it was probably a false alarm and a total waste of time. But... 30 minutes later we learned that I was in labor (and leaking amniotic fluid) and we'd have the baby that evening! After scrambling to get Lincoln picked up from school and taken care of for the night (thanks to friends Nicole and MaryBeth) we found ourselves sort-of in shock...and worried about the baby's health. (An ultrasound a few days earlier estimated that the baby weighed 4 and a half pounds, but with limited movement, due to the fact that my stomach had pretty much quit growing and the placenta shut down.) After some prayer we headed down to the OR. It was a bizarre experience - I walked to the OR with Andrew, my doctor and the nurses, laughing and joking. I watched them prep the OR and I got a spinal. Then, my friend Alissa strolled in to to be my anesthesiologist! She was so sweet and came in to the hospital even though she wasn't on call- I was very well taken care of! It was fun that she was a part of Lawson's birth.

This time, unlike my emergency c-section with Lincoln, I was VERY aware of every step of the surgery (although the nurses, Alissa, my doctor (who also delivered Alissa's baby) and Andrew were joking around and chatting the whole time - the fact I was being cut open was clearly no big deal to them :) But soon enough I heard those wonderful words - "there he is!" Lawson was breech, so they pulled him out "bottom first." He was screaming (a good sign) and was so little and adorable!

First family photo

Lawson being delivered

Me with Alissa, in recovery (though I really don't recall having this photo taken :)

Our fabulous doctor, Dr. Beard

Immediately after delivering Lawson the NICU team took him to check him out. He was having some difficulty breathing, but weighed 5 lbs 8 oz (a full pound more than we expected.) Andrew got to hold him for a few minutes and I got to see him before they took him to the NICU. He was so precious! After that, the last thing I remember is Alissa asking me if I wanted to "take a long nap" - I said yes, and woke up a few hours later :) Andrew had gone up to the NICU to see Lawson already. I had to wait until the next morning to get out of bed so I could see him, and I felt a little overwhelmed seeing him in the NICU for the first time with lots of tubes and monitors attached to him. But, he was so precious and snuggly, even from the beginning! The NICU nurses were great and we got to visit him as often as we wanted.

NICU, day one

First time to be held by mommy

Although Lincoln wasn't old enough to visit Lawson in the NICU, he hung out with me in my hospital room to keep me company each day. He saw some pictures and videos of Lawson, and was very excited about his "big brother present" - a baseball glove

NICU, day 3 - most of my tubes are out!

Lawson got lots of visitors in the NICU - his grandma Sims, Bryan and Gina Borden, Matt and Jeri Davis, Krystal Scott and Nicole Mitchell.

Lawson with Grandma

Lawson with Krystal and Nicole

God was so good - Lawson improved steadily over the next few days and we got to take him home on Thursday, February 18th. He weighed right at 5 lbs. My mom had flown in on the 16th to help take care of Lincoln, and she had scoured Sugar Land for preemie clothes...it never dawned on me to buy any just in case. The recovery was a little harder from this c-section, and unfortunately, Andrew was in the middle of busy season and had to work some crazy hours for the first few weeks that Lawson was home. I was so thankful that my mom could stay for 2 weeks. She was amazing - she cooked, cleaned, babysat, entertained Linc, shopped, and even took some middle of the night feedings. Moms are the best!

Getting ready to leave the hospital!

Lawson and the "car seat test" (doesn't he look ridiculous? Thankfully, he passed and the insert was small enough to cushion him appropriately.)

Some other pics:

Valentines Day 2010

2010-04-12T12:09:00.007-05:00

Well, this Valentines Day was a bit unusual. I spent the two days before Valentines Day admitted to the hospital because my amniotic fluid was low. Lawson is not due until March 8th, but it looks like I won't make it that far. We aren't sure what is going on, but thankfully the baby is still growing and looks fine. The placenta on the other hand, looks like it is about finished (doing whatever it is that it does :). Luckily, the doctor discharged me from the hospital on Febuary 13th so I got to celebrate Valentines with my 2 favorite boys (but she has put me on strict bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy.)

SO....there went our Valentines Day date plans! But making the best of it, Andrew picked up Carrabbas to-go and the 3 of us had a nice "family dinner date." Nothing could be sweeter than the sound of Lincoln running in the door, clutching a big bouquet of flowers and yelling "mommy - happy valentines mommy --here are some flowers!!" I feel so blessed to have two wonderful guys to celebrate with! It was a perfect day.

Preparing for Lawson

2010-04-12T12:01:00.009-05:00

Wow...how time has flown with this 2nd pregnancy! I think Lincoln's nursery was ready 3 months early, and by January and we still hadn't bought a crib for Lawson! We have been so busy lately, and I find myself procrastinating. Maybe it's because I'm not nervous about having another baby - we are just thrilled and excited. Or, maybe it's because I realize that the baby won't even know where is he (or if his nursery is ready) for the first few months.

Finally, however, we bought furniture and my parents helped us put it together one weekend in January. I'm not due until March 17th (the C-section will occur on March 8th), but it will make me feel better to have the nursery completed by then, all the baby clothing washed and ready to go, etc. The theme is cute and is something that will hopefully grow with Lawson - potterybarn pirate ship bedding, and my mom made coordinated crib bedding. (Lincoln has decided that he now wants a pirate room...but we told him he is welcome to play in Lawson's room anytime. His room is staying themed as "safari" for quite a while.)

Here are some photos of us getting the nursery ready:

(Well, this photo actually shows Dad putting Linc's hut back together in his room (it had been disassembled since our move several months before.)

Me, almost 8 months pregnant.

Lawson's dresser came from Ikea...not the easiest assembly instructions to follow. Mom and I spent quite a while trying to figure it all out!

Linc enjoyed "helping" (sometimes playing with real tools, or when we needed to use them, he'd run and get "his" (fake) tools from his tool set.

*As I am writing this post months later, to catch up on blogging, Lawson surprised us and arrived 5 weeks early. The nursery wasn't quite complete when he was born, but my mom came to Houston and made the crib bedding during those first few weeks. It turned out great! Moms are simply the best :)

Christmas 2009

2010-03-31T22:41:00.013-05:00

We celebrated Christmas multiple time this year - first in Houston, just the 3 of us. Then, we went to Michigan. In January my parents came to Houston for a "3rd" Christmas (I'll post pictures of that later.) Lincoln will probably grow up thinking it's normal to celebrate several times, but as I adore Christmas time, I say the more times we celebrate, the better!! :) It was really fun to have a White Christmas up north, to be able to visit with both families, and enjoy our last holiday as a "family of 3" before our sweet baby is born.

Christmas in Houston

Before we left we did our own family Christmas at home as we've done the past few years. But instead of picking up dinner, or cooking (in the past we've done We went out to dinner, then came back to open gifts. Lincoln got a tool set (his favorite gift) some bath toys, a foam sword (Yes, I only bought one...being a girl, it did not occur to me to buy 2, so he could sword fight with someone. Andrew immediately caught this disparity, but since Christmas I have been unable to find another one. I'll keep looking :) The funniest part, however, was that a few weeks earlier Linc had seen "Spike Jr. Dinosaur" on display at Target and declared that he really wanted one. It walked, roared, laughed, etc. (He's been very into Dinos lately.) I then did something I swore I'd never do - I became that parent who tried to track down "the it toy" for Christmas. Of course, every store was sold out by this time. But on a 3rd round of calls (yes, I spent a whole day at work not billing, trying to find this silly dinosaur) I struck gold at a Toys R Us. They had one returned! So I leave work early to rush over there and buy it. I got caught in a freak rain storm and spent 1 1/2 hrs on the highway attempting to get home, due to traffic accidents. BUT STILL, I HAD TRIUMPHED. As I glowered in traffic I glanced at Spike and felt justified - Lincoln would be so excited! I couldn't wait for him to open it. So, imagine my surprise when Lincoln opened Spike, we got him out of the box and turned him on, and Lincoln burst into tears. He leapt into Andrew's lap yelling "no, no, no, scary. Put him back." Humph. As I write this entry (3 months later) Spike is still sitting on a shelf, barely played with.

Christmas in Michigan

We had a fun, busy trip up North. We spent time in Battle Creek and Grand Rapids, saw tons of family, and loved watching all the little cousins play together. We especially loved watching Linc interact with all of his cousins. (Lincoln thought Gaines was the coolest person on earth and also enjoyed playing with Ana, Maddux, Mya, Braylon, Riley, Carter, and Morgan.) They all kept us laughing! Linc and Ana both loved to dance, and turn on every single Hallmark Christmas toy that made noise in Grandma and Grampa's house (and they had several...by the end of our visit, all the adults were a little sick and tired of hearing "Frosty the Snowman" or "Grandma got run over by a reindeer." But not the kiddos! The 110th time was just as hilarious as the 10th.) They loved playing with all of the toys down in the basement, and even tried their hand at baseball on the Wii (Gaines was old enough to begin to get it...Lincoln just liked to swing the controller around :) Andrew, Lincoln, Gaines, Ana, Shawna, Will, Steve and Brandon also went sledding. Lincoln thought the sledding part was fun, but didn't like falling in the snow. Gaines and Ana, however, were ALL OVER IT. They all looked so cute bundled up.

Here are some pictures that captured our trip -

The last Christmas morning just the three of us!

"GG" bought all the great-grandkids matching Christmas outfits...and we managed to get all of them in one photo (but not all looking at the camera, of course!) (Except Maeley, who was in Georgia with her other grandparents.)
And on the Leeser side (minus Maeley):
Love my "sista" Shawna!

Linc with his great grandpa Leeser (86):

Linc and Gaines - Best Buddies!
We love Uncle Brandon! (Next Christmas, Brandon will be deployed in Iraq, so it was especially good to be able to spend this holiday with him.)

And...sledding!

This was also the first year that Linc started to understand some Christmas traditions. We had not talked much about Santa, figuring that he was still a bit young to care. But boy were we wrong; apparently they talked A LOT about Santa at his school. On Christmas Eve, as he was going to bed, Lincoln asked "Santa will come because I've been a good boy? Will I get presents?" When we assured him that was correct he said "Good - because I want a reindeer." We tried to explain that Santa didn't leave reindeer under the tree, but he wasn't disuaded. He then declared that we should go to the North Pole to "visit the deer" like "Pooh and Piglet did." (A Winnie the Pooh Christmas special had aired recently, stoking this desire :)

"2nd Christmas" in Houston

In early January, Grandma and PJ came to visit and have Christmas with Lincoln. By this time, he was a pro opening gifts. He loved his Melissa and Doug puzzles, playdough set, and set of fake food and a knife that he could cut. (who knew that slicing wooden zucchinis and loaves of bread could be so exciting to a toddler? But it was!) It was a great visit. Mom and Dad were also very helpful getting the nursery ready for Lawson's arrival - but that will be another post!

Basketball shorts...

2010-03-31T22:38:00.004-05:00

Lately, Lincoln has one outfit of choice - "basketball shorts" (any athletic shorts, similar to those his daddy wears) and a t-shirt. Regardless of the fact that it's cold outside, or that he's worn them every day for a week (yes, I wash them in between wearings...and have bought more pairs) and he seems to think that this is an appropriate outfit for any occassion. It's hilarious. Every day, he begs to wear them to school (he can't, since it's winter) and every day when I pick him up says "go home and put on basketball shorts, mom?" It's like his "home uniform." His latest favorite is a pair of black Nike mesh shorts, but they are a bit big...he looks like he's playing basketball in the hood, sagging the shorts to his calves.

Super hero fun - the latest clothing obsession

2010-03-31T22:34:00.006-05:00

When my mom was here after Lawson's birth, she bought Lincoln a set of Superman pajamas (yep, the cute kind with the cape.) He went crazy over them - for a solid week, all that he wanted to wear. We had to pry them off of him to wash them. I caved and just let him wear them to the park, the mall, and on errands (you're only 2 once, right?) and it was pretty cute. My mom decided to buy him "a spare" and Lincoln chose Batman. (Keep in mind, I don't think he really understands who Batman or Superman really are; he's never seen the cartoons or movies...but the fact that they have a cape is all the info the boy needs.)

One day while my parents were in town, Linc decided that he wanted to wear his Superman pajamas to the park. Why not? You're only 2 once...

I have decided that I absolutely adore this age - there is nothing more precious than little boys!

Baking with Lincoln

2010-03-31T22:31:00.005-05:00

Over the past few months, Lincoln has been so much fun in the kitchen. He LOVES to help bake (especially cupcakes and muffins.) His favorite part is to crack the eggs (this often leads to me fishing egg shell out of the muffin mix, but oh well) and to watch the Kitchen Aid mix it all together. He's a joy!

Halloween 2009

2010-03-31T22:23:00.008-05:00

This year at Halloween, Lincoln cried a little less when he wore his costume. He was Curious George (yes, that's right - the little monkey that is supposedly always happy. No so much.)

We actually had 3 chances to wear the Halloween costume, and went 1 for 3.

The first was his parade and carnival at school. It did not go well. As his class rounded the corner in the parade we could tell that Lincoln was on the verge of tears....as soon as he saw us, he broke rank and ran straight for Andrew sobbing.

The second was trick or treating in our neighborhood. Linc actually got really into this - as soon as the first trick or treaters came to our door, he decided that maybe going to get his own candy was a good idea :) Andrew took him down one side of our block, and then I did the other. He was precious. When he would go to the door sometimes he would remember to say "Trick or Treat" - but other times he would say "Candy, please?" At least he always said "Thank you." It was fun.

The third "costume opportunity" occurred the next night at our church's Family Fest. It, too, did not go well. Linc was totally over Halloweedn - he refused to wear his monkey mask (so he looked like a monk in a brown jumpsuit) and refused to smile or play games, and instead just held out his candy bucket and frowning until people gave him candy. He kept asking to "go home now" and informed everyone at the carnival that "he was sad." So he and I left early. Maybe next year!

Thanksgiving 2009

2010-03-05T18:35:00.019-06:00

Western Carribean Cruise

Ports of Call: Ft. Lauderdale, Grand Caymen, Cozumel, Roatan, Bahamas

For Thanksgiving we took a Carribean cruise with my parents and Barrett and Tiffany. We had a great time! The ship left out of Ft. Lauderdale, and stopped in Roatan, Cozumel, Grand Caymen, and the Bahamas. We had a great time at dinner every night with the whole family together. (Lincoln actually did very well, sitting through a formal dinner most nights. My mom brought a whole bag of toys and "surprises" that he always looked forward to.)

We went on Princess Lines, and the ship was wonderful. There were several restaurants (the steakhouse restaurant was great, and Lincoln especially enjoyed the pizza and ice cream parlor--I think he had pizza at least once everyday). Another fun feature was "movies under the stars" which they showed on a huge TV screen up on the top deck. (Sports and movies were also on during the day, but the ambience was better at night!) Linc enjoyed swimming and playing in the kids' club. I went to the spa one day for a wonderful pregnancy massage, and Andrew enjoyed some training programs offered at the fitness center.

Linc thought sitting out on the balcony was "very very cool" because "maybe we could see whales or fish" (his words)...to my knowledge he saw no whales, but he did see some dolphins one afternoon.

Some pictures from dinner:

I mean, seriously, who doesn't love a little boy in a tie?! It was a struggle getting him to wear it, but he looked so darn cute.

Linc really loved his bunk in our cabin. We thought he'd never go to sleep!

Thankfully, we wore him out most days :)

Grand Caymen was probably our favorite stop because of the gorgeous water. (Although I keep asking myself-WHY do we seem to take beach vacations when I'm pregnant?? Must be because maternity swim suits are so awesome....)

Anyway, our family joined a sailboat charter and went snorkeling and swam with the stingrays. (We were all a little surprised by the size of the stingrays! I know I was expecting small stingrays - maybe the size of a dinner plate...not stingrays that were 4 or 5 feet across.) Lincoln loved the boat ride, and liked the stingrays (as long as he didn't actually have to touch them :) Once we got back to the island Barrett and Tiffany bought him a stuffed stingray ("Stingy") which he loved and carried around for the rest of the trip. (Stingy also made several trips to "show and tell" once we got back from the cruise and is, as I type this, sitting on Linc's bed along with all his other stuffed animals.)

snorkeling

In Cozumel, the weather started off nice, but turned into a torential downpour. My parents, Linc and I had visited a museum, and were headed to go shopping when the storm hit; we ended up just heading back to the dock and having lunch. We were luckier than Barrett, Tiffany, and Andrew, who were on a dune buggy / snorkeling excursion. They FROZE and spent much of the day taking shelter in a little beach bar.

In Roatan, Honduras we hired a private driver and guide who took us around the island. We stopped and did a little (forced) souvenir shopping and then went to a farm that had monkeys you could pet, parrots that would sit on your arm, etc. It was entertaining. (To everyone's amazement, my mom actually let a parrot land on her arm--if you know her, you know she absolutely detests birds.)

After visiting the "wildlife" we went to a beach club. The water was absolutely gorgeous! (Unfortunately we spent most of our time there sitting in the restaurant waiting on our lunch order, but we did get a chance to swim for about half an hour.) Linc enjoyed playing in the sand, and it was actually the only "beach" time we got on the cruise since our stop in the Bahamas was canceled due to weather.

This photo was worth the whole trip!

At the beach club

Some of my favorite memories of the trip:

--Linc dancing along to a calypso band by the pool, to the delight of the band members (who came and danced with him) and the hundreds of people on the pool deck below, watching.

--Andrew and I got some time to just relax together, thanks to my parents who watched Lincoln for a few nights on the trip!

--Nightly dinners with my wonderful family!

--Lots of time to just relax and read!

It was a wonderful trip.

Lincoln's 2nd birthday (September 20, 2009)

2010-02-28T21:38:00.008-06:00

It is hard to believe that Lincoln turned two on September 20th! The past two years have been such a blessing. He is a precious, funny, witty, sweet, and adorable little boy. We just love him more than we ever imagined possible.

Lincoln did not have a 1st birthday party, thanks to Hurricane Ike, but he celebrated his 2nd birthday multiple times!

Amarillo Birthday Celebration: First, we celebrated in Amarillo with my parents and Uncle Barrett and Aunt Tiffany. Lincoln got a radio flyer tricycle from my parents, and a teeball set (tee, bat, balls) from Barrett and Tiff. He loved them all! (Although he is still working at peddling the tricycle; right now he just scoots his feet on the floor. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it soon.)

School "party" Then, we celebrated with cookies with his class at Cathedral House:

Home party: Finally, we decided to have a pretty laid-back 2nd birthday party at our house with lots of friends from church, work, and Lincoln's school. We were a little nervous whether Lincoln would like the bouncer and slide (it was a little .... larger and steeper than the picture on the rental website showed) but from the second that the bouncer was set up in our driveway the night before, Linc was an addict! He wouldn't get off of it (he asked if he could sleep in it) and, was pretty devastated when the company came and picked it up after the party was over! Linc wanted a "Cars" movie cupcake cake, and he seemed to have a good time with all of his little friends. Some kids that attended included: Bryce Borden, Payton and Parker Carlisle, Kyleigh Brigham, Grace Brannum, Emory Carrol, Trey Edwards, Miles Mitchell, Walker Byrd, Carson Tichenor, Adelaide Ervin, Ivy Frankel, Austin Harris, Avery and Livvy Crider, and Jack and Kate Gowens. Even though it was about 90 degrees, we had a good time visiting with friends and watching the kids play. (Though next year, I'll skip any cupcakes with black or red icing - talk about a mess!)

Linc loved his "Cars" balloons that decorated the table. (He asked to sleep with his Lightening McQueen balloon the night that the party was over.)

Linc, about to blow out his candles.

A family picture (though Linc had already gotten into the icing!)
The cake!

Some of Linc's friends - Bryce and Payton

Grace, Adelaide, Avery, Olivia The bouncer had a huge slide, that was a bit...steeper...than we expected, but the kids had a blast. (I was worried that they might shoot off the end, onto our driveway, though, and get hurt. We had all sorts of blankets and mats down at the end, to try and soften up the cement, but thankfully it turned out fine :)

We busted out lots of riding toys, and "baby" toys in the driveway, plus chalk and bubbles, since we had such a range of ages. The 2 year olds seemed to be the ones playing in the baby ball pit the most, though!

Andrew made sure that college football was showing on the patio (a way to get the husbands to attend a 2 year old birthday party!)

Again...I am WAY behind on posting!

2010-02-28T21:32:00.002-06:00

WOW - I am embarassed at how long it has been since I have posted! We've had a few things happening in our lives since Labor Day :) And, since I am now convinced I'll never actually complete the type of scrapbooking that I once envisioned, perhaps I can revive the blog (and then let one of those companies turn it into a scrapbook for me :) So, here goes - I am committed to at least blogging more than once every 4 months!

Labor Day Weekend trip to Red River, NM

2009-09-10T13:01:00.008-05:00

We enjoyed a getaway to Red River up to my parent's cabin over Labor Day weekend. Andrew and I went to Amarillo, dropped Lincoln off with my parents for a day or so, and then they joined us for the rest of the weekend. (We thought he might be sad to see us leave, but just hugged us and said "Bye mom, bye dad. I with Gramma and Grampa.") Why can't he have that calm attitude when we drop him off in the church nursery, or lately, at school?

Highlights of our little trip - Linc caught his first fish (on his brand new Spiderman fishing pole, courtesy of my dad), Andrew and I enjoyed four wheeling and hiking on the trails around town, and my mom and I shopped (even though the stores rarely change up there, you gotta go into town, visit them all, and make sure...)

When we got back to Amarillo we celebrated Lincoln's 2nd birthday (a few weeks early) with a "jungle animal theme" family party. It was fun getting to see Barrett and Tiffany's new house in Amarillo (we miss them like crazy!) and Lincoln made himself at home, just like he used to do in Sugar Land. Linc is finally getting the idea of the whole "birthday thing" - he got very excited about his presents and about the cake. (And later that night, got a major sugar high, as Aunt Tiffany can attest. He kept asking her to run back and forth across the backyard with him.)

Linc enjoyed his presents - a very cool tricycle from my parents (although he currently refuses to pedal it, saying "I don't like to pedal"), some Curious George books, and a tee-ball / automatic pitching machine from Barrett and Tiffany.

It was fun to get away, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and it all made me miss Amarillo (and being so close to the mountains.) Here are a few photos:

A fun, busy summer

2009-08-05T13:06:00.007-05:00

Well, it's been months and months since I've updated this blog (I got sidetracked by Facebook - it's just so much easier to post pictures there!) but I have some free time and want to update on our busy summer. It's been a great one. It is hard to believe that Lincoln will be 2 next month!

here are a few of our summer highlights:

An update on Lincoln's funny comments / habits:

Linc is talking up a storm now, and says some pretty funny things. Yesterday he informed me that he wanted "waffles for breakfast" not muffins, because "today muffins are yucky." (Despite the fact that all he has wanted for the past week are muffins....) When asked what he did at school, the other day he said "had fun with friends." He can name every kid in his class, and occassionally tells me who is "no nice." :) Last week he informed me that "God loves mommy, God loves Daddy, God loves Lincoln, and God loves Major"

He is also becoming quite opinionated, and will tell us exactly what songs he wants to listen to, or what cartoons he wants to watch. It's been funny watching him go from quiet and signing to jabbering all the time. He has such a precious little voice!

He is obsessed with "Clifford Big Red Dog" and "George Silly Monkey" (curious george) He has a stuffed curious george that he likes to carry about (and boss around. "Sit down George", etc.) He is also obsessed with pointing out every "big truck" that we pass on the highway. He loves to count (he's got 1-9 down, then skips to 11...not sure what happened to #10.) He also loves to sing parts of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" at the top of his lungs, and every other word to "Jesus Loves Me." (Which, is absolutely precious.) He loves to "read his Bible" before bed, which consists of him patting and holding this tiny little New Testament while we read a Bible Story out of the Toddler Baby Story Book. (His current favorite story is "Noah's big boat") He also loves to build with blocks and color (and, last week, decided to color on the walls. Not a good thing.) He is very into "helping cook" too, and loves to poor things into bowls and stir when I'm making banana bread or muffins. He loves going on bike rides with Andrew and playing with any sort of ball - basketball, football, soccer, tennis, you name it. He also loves playgrounds and trying to play fetch with Major. (Major will occassionally bring Lincoln the ball back after he throws it for him; this gets Lincoln ridiculously excited. I think the dog is beginning to see a purpose for Linc's existance. While Andrew and I get tired of fetch after a few throws, Linc could bounce and throw the ball for Major all night long.)

New baby on the way!

We are also thrilled that we are expecting "Baby Leeser #2" next March...due date is St. Patrick's Day. Lincoln's world is about to be rocked! Aside from the violent "all day sickness," as I will now call it, the pregnancy is rocking along. (We discovered I was pregnant when, during a jog w/ Shawna on vacation, I had to stop and throw up twice. Good times :)

FLORIDA trip:

We took a trip to Destin, FL with a bunch of friends in June (7 couples, with 14 kids 3 and under....) It was a blast! (And a bit insane, with that many kiddos. We quickly figured out that if anyone saw anyone else's kid wandering off, or headed towards the water, we were all free to "parent" them.) I think the funniest was seeing our slew of cabanas, chairs, blankets, wading pools, coolers, snacks, "nap tents" and umbrellas on the beach each morning. But, we went with the most relaxed group of friends ever, so it was all just fun.

It was especially great getting to see friends that have moved away, like Libby and Kenny from Dallas, David and Whitney from Dallas, and Heidi and Phillip from Nashville. I think we all agreed once a year might be a bit ambitious to repeat the trip, but looking forward to Destin 2011. :) We hope our kiddos will grow up to be friends. (AND, maybe by next year, Lincoln will actually have learned to share some sand toys....)

Here are a few photos...
Linc playing in the sand....(and, getting sprayed with 70 spf sunscreen every 30 minutes so his fair little skin wouldn't burn. This picture must have been a moment where he refused to wear his hat...shocker.)

Ah, a picture of him with the hat on. See, I'm a good mom!

The girls! I miss them already (well, I guess I get to see half of them in Houston...but I really miss the other half :) This was before our big "girls night out" - where the husbands offered to watch the kiddos so we could go to dinner. Although we had glorious plans of a big night, I think after a couple of margaritas, we were all home and back in bed by 10. (WOW, we have gotten old!)

Macy and Miley playing together, Linc being antisocial :) And, just one portion of our "beach gear" in the background.

The group, after dinner one night. Didn't you know the waiter loved to see us coming! As someone said "You guys took the instruction to "be fruitful and multiply" literally!"

Another group shot, on the beach

4th of July trip to Michigan

In July we headed up to Michigan for a visit with Andrew's family. We had a great time, with stops in Detroit, BattleCreek, and Trout Lake in the UP. It was busy, with 2 baby showers, a large family get-together on each side, and a trip to the UP.

Uncle Brandon got leave from the base for a few days, which was fun! (He is moving to Austin (to be based out of Ft. Hood) TODAY, so we look forward to seeing him more often.

During the trip, Lincoln loved playing with all his cousins. One of my favorite moments is when several of them were together in Cradle Roll at the Battle Creek Church of Christ. The usual class size is 2 ... but this Sunday, it was 5 cousins all sitting together for baby bible class--and cousin Morgan wasn't even there yet. (The class was expertly taught by cousin Marcie, might I add :) It was so precious! I think the adults were a bit distracting trying to get pictures, though. Then, we tried to get a picture after church will all of the rest of "that generation" of cousins (including the older 3s and 4s), but the kids were NOT cooperative. There was a lot of crying...and crawling off...the clamoring for lunch. Maybe next time.

From the left: Lincoln, 22 months, Ana (our niece, 18 months) Maeley (Josh and Marcie's little girl from Vietnam, 18 months) Mya (Amber and Logan's little girl, 18 months) and Braylon (Amanda and Drew's son, 14 months)

Ever since we came home, Linc has been asking us "where Gaines and Ana?" and "call Gaines and Ana, say hi?" He LOVES and misses them so much. Too bad North Carolina is so far away, but it was precious to see them play together. Linc thinks Gaines (4 yrs old) is about the coolest thing on the planet. Here is a photo of all of them up on the top bunk, up at the cabin at the lake.

Other trip highlights:

The weather was absolutely perfect - highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s. (Although we did not pack enough jeans or sweaters. who knew it would be so cold?)

We had a family outing to the zoo. (Linc was a fan of the elevated giraffe viewing platform, until they came close enough to eat the Lettuce leaves you can purchase and feed them. Once they stuck their heads through and stuck their tongues out, he freaked out.)

In this photo, Linc is between cousins Taylor and Forrest, with cousin Brooke. (Linc LOVED Forrest, Taylor and Brooke, and they were so sweet to play with him the whole trip. They taught him to "play " tennis, and Linc still talks about it. (last week he asked if "Forrest come play today?") Even though Taylor is about to be a senior, and the twins are all grown up, Andrew and I appreciate them loving on Linc. If only I could hire you guys to babysit for us down in TX....

At night, we loved hanging out with all of Andrew's cousins and siblings (once the kids had gone to bed) and just laughing and playing Wii or pingpong. It reminded us of hanging out together when we were all in college. (It's so fun when your family members, and their spouses, are all friends. Hard to believe most of us now have kids of our own. When we get together, we still act like kids.)

And, last but not least, was a trip to the Upper Penninsula to Trout Lake. Absolutely gorgeous. This is a special spot for Andrew and his family, with lots of great memories. I enjoyed my second trip there (first one was the summer Andrew and I started dating, 10 years ago!!) The weather was much cooler than expected the first few days, which caused lots of sitting in the cabin and playing card games or napping....not a bad way to spend a day! Then, the weather on our last day was perfect for playing on the water, taking the canoe or paddle boat out, or letting the kids catch minnows with Grandpa. We all enjoyed s'mores by the campfire, too.

Unfortunately, our camera stopped working on the last day of our trip (my photos are still trapped inside and not uploaded until I can get it's electrical issues fixed) so I only have a few snapshots from my phone to post.

Trout Lake

Linc and Gaines with Uncle Will, "looking for fish" by the dock.

Andrew helping Ana eat a s'more...not that she needed much help!

After his first s'more, Linc informed me "Chocolate is yummy, mommy." A boy after my own heart :)

Steve, Grandpa Leeser, Uncle Bob and cousin Dustin all got in on the s'more action, too.

Our family by the campfire...

Valentines Day

2009-02-16T22:24:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to put a short post out there to my sweet husband. We had a great Valentines Day dinner, and it was just so much fun to spend the evening together (and without a highchair or goldfish cracker in sight....) Thanks for being so wonderful, Drew!

Linc and his buddy Jackson

2009-02-16T22:14:00.002-06:00

Linc and Jackson were cracking us up at lunch the other day...

Zoo times

2009-02-16T22:08:00.002-06:00

Linc and I hung out at the zoo the other day - it was a beautiful sunny day and we got to see the new baby giraffe (6 days old, and 6 feet tall....crazy.) Linc kept saying "where baby?" and I kept pointing to the giraffe - he just looked at me like I was nuts. Anyway, I made the mistake of giving him cotton candy, and created a fiend. He gobbled it up and was a gooey mess by the end of the day...and I'm pretty sure he got licked by a goat in the petting zoo as a result. But he didn't seem to mind.

Sweet Lincoln moments

2009-02-02T20:40:00.002-06:00

I was able to spend this afternoon with Lincoln, and he was in a particularly cute mood. His little personality is really coming out. He LOVES books, and today sat down and tried to "read" a story to me - complete with guestures and voice inflection, although no intelligible words. (It was the book "Moo, Baa, La La La" - one of his personal favorites. He especially loves making the sheep noise.) Then, while playing outside he and I picked an orange from our neighbor's tree and he giggled so loudly as we peeled it together, and ate it while sitting in the grass. What a sweet, precious moment! I definitely don't want to take it for granted. He was so fascinated by the whole process-from picking the orange off the tree, (which got a big "WHOA" to getting to throw the orange peel at the dog as he ran by. I especially enjoy his impromtu kisses (even though the post-orange kisses were incredibly sticky - and drooly.)

Some cute, recent school moments:

--Linc LOVES his backpack (thanks, mom) and likes to put his cars in it and carry it around the house
--He is learning lots of new words, like "airplane," "eat," "nap," "soccer" and "Bryce" (for Bryce Borden)
--Linc loves playing in his hut and dragging all of his stuffed animals in - then throwing them out the window while yelling "out" "out" "out"
-He still stops and starts bopping up and down every time he hears music
--Linc loves throwing his football at anything and everyone - and esp. at Major the dog
--Linc loves watching basketball (seriously) and every few seconds will say "Shoot it." (Andrew is so proud. I am just going to give up and surrender the TV to ESPN 24/7 one of these days.)
--He started gymnastics today, and according to his teacher, laughed the whole time and just ran up and down on the foam mats like a little wild man. Perhaps one day he'll learn a front roll.
--This morning at school he grabbed his breakfast from his backpack (a nutra grain bar and a banana) before I could take it out for him and just walked over to the table. Then he grabbed a plate from the end of the table, sat down in a little chair, and started unwrapping his nutragrain bar. I was like "stop growing up - don't you need to me do that??"
--And finally, Linc loves kissing his friend Grace at school (we'll have to have a chat about that at some point.)

Back home and on the mend...

2009-02-02T20:35:00.002-06:00

Although I plan to personnally thank everyone who has helped us out so much this past week, I wanted to post and say a general "THANKS!" Andrew and I realized that we have the BEST friends, and we appreciate you all! We were so thankful for our church family, too. (For those who I haven't talked to, I was in the hospital a few days last week, and in and out of the doctor and the ER on other days with a massive headache and other issues. Unfortunately, the doctors were not able to definitively diagnose what was wrong, but they are operating on 2 theories - either viral meningitis with a secondary sinus infection, or the "worst migraine of my life" with a secondary sinus infection. Either way, miserable time. To those of you who emailed, texted, called, prayed, brought us food, and babysat Lincoln, we can't thank you enough. (I would have thanked you at the time, but I seem to have spent most of last week in a narcotic-induced haze....) Anyway, I have some follow-up tests scheduled and still have a nagging headache to get rid of, so maybe they will get to the bottom of it. I am thankful to be home, though.

MLK day playdate

2009-01-25T14:21:00.005-06:00

Last week some of us got together when we had the day off for MLK day. It was fun to catch up and see the kids in different stages. Here are some cute photos (thanks DeAndria!) -

From left to right (and I hope I have the ages right) - Linc (16 mon...that age I know is correct), Kyleigh (6 mon - going on 20 years old...), Greysen (8 weeks - so tiny!), Riley (4 mon - and a little fashionista), and Austin (9 mon - he laughed and laughed all afternoon; such a happy guy)

Kyleigh was cracking us up - what a cutie. She kept hugging Lincoln during photo time. We didn't get it on camera, but Linc gave her a hug back and kissed her on the cheek. We have been told that Tiger gave her a stern talking to when he saw these pictures...but give them 25 years, and who knows.... :) I'm going to save the picture below in case there's ever a need for it at an engagement party...

Update - our last few months...

2009-01-18T09:38:00.000-06:00

It has been WAY too long since I've updated our blog. So much has happened in the past few months, and we've been busy. Here are some photos

UPDATE: Linc LOVES hats at the moment - any type of hat.

Yes, aren't we proud....our son in a beer hat. :) Andrew went to The Netherlands for work last month and didn't take quite warm-enough clothing. A restauranteur gave him and some others Heineken hats for their cold walk back to the hotel. Lincoln loved it.

Barrett picked out this hat for Linc, and he wears it around the house (or carries it around) all the time.

And, last but not least is Linc's cowboy hat. He especially enjoys trying to put this on my or Andrew's head...for some reason, he finds that funny.

UPDATE: Linc loves the petting zoo. We recently took Linc to the Houston Zoo. He loves looking at the animals (especially the giraffes, elephants, and cheetahs.) He also enjoyed the goats in the petting zoo.

UPDATE: Linc loves putting food in his hair. You might ask - is that gel in his hair? OH NO, it is Banana. It guess he thought we weren't letting him express his alternative side.

And the bath that followed...isn't he a cute little lion? Update: Linc loves to be outside now, for any reason. The other day Linc enjoyed "helping" me rake the leaves in the front yard....

CHRISTMAS 2008

Christmas was so much fun this year. We went to Amarillo for about a week and then up to Red River, NM to the cabin and enjoyed the snow for a few days. It was fun to see my grandparents and Uncle Scott and, as usual, my mom and dad hosted a wonderful holiday. We all ate too much and had a blast.

One of the most fun parts for us was watching Linc open gifts - we weren't sure if he was still too young to enjoy it....but he did not disappoint. With every gift he would exclaim "Ooh, Ooh, Ooh!" By the end of Christmas Eve he on a tear playing with everything, and every bag and tissue paper, in sight. He got totally spoiled by my parents (as you'll see in the photos below) but had a wonderful time. When we made it to the cabin, Linc wasn't quite sure what to think of the snow. Barrett, Tiffany, Andrew, Linc and I went sledding while my parents were on "photo duty." (I think they had the most fun, laughing at us as we'd crash and burn. Tiffany, especially, seemed magnetically drawn to a very large pine tree - that her sled would crash under every time. ) After my first sledding attempt it was clear that I was not the best...nor the safest - Linc could only sled down with Andrew, who somehow managed to stay upright. Linc was so bundled up that we couldn't tell if he was having fun or not. He just looked....perplexed (but CUTE in his snow gear.) Thanks again, mom and dad, for a wonderful Christmas!

Wow, what a happy little santa..

Linc and his new wagon, and Uncle Scott who must have made 100 passes around the living room and kitchen!

Aunt Tiff trying to teach Linc "guns up" for Texas Tech; Barrett trying to pretend that she isn't. :)

CHRISTMAS EVE, present time

You have to hug your gifts, just to make sure they are soft....apparently "pillow pets" were the big gift item this year. Linc got 3 :) But they are all different animals, and he enjoys sleeping with all 3. (Our pedeatrician would kill us.)

Mom and Dad being silly.

Our family on Christmas eve.

Do you think Linc had enough gifts to open???

"Mom...I LOVE Christmas. And I love this tree behind me, where I can take things off the branches....and chew on them...."

At the cabin - one of my favorite places in the world!
Andrew and Lincoln sledding...

Doesn't Lincoln look like he's having fun??

THANKSGIVING - 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving up in Michigan with Andrew's family. There were 6 babies there under 15 months, (not to mention other toddlers and little ones) which made for a fun time. We enjoyed a big Leeser family Thanksgiving (held at a church, since there were over 50 people there) and Brandon surprised the family by coming in when we thought he had to stay in Kentucky for work. Linc enjoyed spending time with his grandparents, great grandparents, great uncles and aunts, and tons of cousins. He is pretty sure that cousin Gaines is the coolest kid ever! One of my favorite moments was when all of the baby cousins were together for class at church, and sitting around the little table hearing a bible lesson. It was precious! We celebrated Christmas with Andrew's parents and the Tuckers, and got to spend lots of time with family in Battle Creek. And, we sneaked out just before the big snow storm hit the next week.

One of the best parts of Thanksgiving was getting to meet Maeley, Josh and Marcie's little girl that they just adopted from Vietnam. After praying for her for over a year, it was awesome to meet her and watch her play with all her new cousins. (She was 8 months old, approximately, at Thanksgiving and seems to have adjusted extremely well to her new home. Josh and Marce are great parents! I'll add a photo of Maeley once I locate it on my camera :)

Here are some photos of the rest of our trip..

Linc with his great grandpa Leeser

Lincoln loved playing outside at Grandpa Leeser's farm...and we got some great photos

Uncle Brandon...what are you doing here? What a fun surprise! We thought you had to stay in Kentucky and work??

Brenda and Steve got Linc, Gaines and Ana matching Christmas PJs...so cute! We combined Thanksgiving with Christmas with Andrew's family.

The Leeser Thanksgiving dinner had more than 50 people there, so we had it at Grandpa Leeser's church. It was lots of fun...and awesome food. Thank you Aunt Susan for coordinating!

Some of the kiddos...Linc, Braylon, Maddux, Mya, Gaines, and Ana

Friends!

2008-11-10T21:41:00.000-06:00

We got together with friends the other night (thanks again, Criders!) and it was so fun to see Whitney, David, Mylie and Coley who were in town from Dallas. It was also fun to be with Fran and Guy - even though Fran cheated and got off bedrest to come. We couldn't help but laugh as what used to be calm, lingering dinners has turned into "no, you have to eat your vegetables" and "don't throw that on the floor, please" and "please share that toy with so-and-so" all night long. How quickly times change! Below is a photo of all the kiddos (minus Livvy, who had already gone to bed.) Any day now Grayson Guy Mays will be joining the crew!

From the left: Mylie and Coley, Kaylynn and John David, Avery and Lincoln. We were lucky to get one photo of them before they all squirmed off the couch!

Playing around the house

2008-11-10T21:34:00.000-06:00

One thing I adore about Lincoln is his grin - he is such a happy little guy. He makes us smile all the time and is such a blessing. Now that he's starting to walk more (still only about 6-8 steps at once, but progress nonetheless, he likes to be outside and if we aren't careful, he has the door open to the backyard in a flash. Here are some recent photos of him cracking us up when we were just hanging around the house.

Halloween and the Pumpkin Patch, and FCCC Fall Festival

2008-11-10T21:24:00.000-06:00

These pictures are from the fall festival at church - each grade in the youth group is in chare of a booth, and "our kids" ... (the 12th graders) had a great one. They did "whack a mole" and it was pretty funny to see them pop up and down like a life-size version of the arcade game. Here are a few of them.

Berkely, Amy, and Ben...wearing the appropriate "brown" for a fashionable mole...

Jake is WAY excited about whack a mole . . .

Anna...

Hillary...

And, Bryan and Brice, and Lincoln and Andrew. On this particular evening, Lincoln refused to wear his costume. But, Lincoln was supposed to be a dragon for Halloween...but in reality it was more like the body of a dragon since he detested wearing the hood portion of his costume. (And, it was 80 degrees here for the fall festivals, so who can blame him?) I think this is the only picture we have of him in the full costume where he's not crying. This was taken at his school Halloween parade.

We took Lincoln to a pumpkin patch and farm this past weekend; he enjoyed the pumpkins but did not enjoy feeding the goats! Even though it was 82 degrees, being around the pumpkins sort-of made it feel like fall...

Hurricane - induced Road Trip

2008-10-03T09:51:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been too long since I've posted, but we have been busy! Since we were without power for about a week following the hurricane, we decided to take a little road trip to Dallas, Oklahoma, and Amarillo. We had a great time!

First, the three of us headed off to Dallas to spend the wekend with Michael and Karri.
Lincoln LOVED these fur pillows that they had in their living room

On Saturday afternoon we met up with our dear friends Shane and Abbie Melton, and sweet little Macie Melton (who is 4 months older than Lincoln.) It was so fun to catch up, and to get the kiddos together - I think Lincoln was a little smitten with Macie (what guy wouldn't love a girl in a pink Tony Romo jersey?) but he especially liked playing with Macie's toys, which are apparently MUCH cooler than the toys he owns. Who knows, maybe if they go to ACU they'll be friends one day. And actually, we'd be totally fine with going ahead and arranging a marriage...)

And now for the birthday celebration...sortof. So much for all of my planning for a big 1st party and an outdoor brunch. (Which was to occur the day of the hurricane...in our wreck of a backyard, with no fence. Needless to say, it was canceled. Sadly, I didn't get to try and make one of those 3-D basketball cakes (which, if you know me, I was really excited about; I had already read the directions like 20 times) and unfortunately, our plans of celebrating with all of the grandparents, and great-grandparents, and friends also didn't happen. Lots of flights had to be canceled and plans were changed at the last minute--which turned out to be the smart move.) So, maybe for his second birthday. It was fun to celebrate with "Uncle" Mikey and "Aunt" Karri (because 2nd-cousin Michael doesn't really have a good ring to it) a week later. Perhaps I can save the sports-themed party favors for next year...will a ridiculous amount of brunch food last that long?? We have enough muffin mix to last a year. Anyway, I digress...here is the chronicle of Linc's first cupcake experience.

READY...SET....

GO!

"Hmm...what do I do with this?? It's squishy!"

"Wait...I can EAT IT!"

" Look at me, they said I looked like a smurf--wait, what'a smurf? Is that one of those OLD cartoons my mom and dad watched? So passe'...everyone knows Baby Einstein the thing these days..."

"I really don't see the big deal - it's just icing. Why do mom and dad insist on pictures of EVERYTHING??"

"No, I don't need a bath!!"

What I didn't think about is that the blue dye in the icing stained everything. It left stains on the floor, his skin, his nails, his hair, ...even after exfoliating his sweet baby skin with bath and body works exfoliator, his little knee caps were a tinge of light blue for about a week. Sorry about the mess, Karri and Mikey.

Seriously, mom, exfoliation is totally unnecessary...blue is totally in right now."

Then came a few presents. "A toy that makes animal noises! My favorite thing!" This birthday thing is all right.."

After Dallas, Andrew had to fly to Miami for work (poor him :) so Lincoln and I drove to Ardmore, OK to visit my grandparents for the afternoon. Lincoln enjoyed hanging out on their front porch, and I know my Nonny and Papa loved spending some time with him. (It was funny to see how much Linc enjoyed playing on the porch and swinging on the swing; my brother and I used to do that for hours when we were little and would visit my grandparents.)

After our quick trip to Oklahoma, we continued driving to my parent's house. They had a great time hanging out and playing with Lincoln. We "re-celebrated" his birthday and took Linc to the Amarillo zoo. My mom, in true former-preschool teacher and preschool minister fashion, has the BEST toys...which Lincoln loved playing with all week. He also loved trying to snuggle with their dog, Yukon (who I think Lincoln equated with one of his stuffed animals. Thankfully, Yukon was okay with it.)

Our afternoon at the zoo was great. Because the zoo is TINY, the fences are very close-up, letting you get VERY close to the animals, like the Lion (below.) But the funniest part was that Linc, as he was looking at the lion, pointed to him and confidently said "DOG." Then, he also declared that the longhorn, donkey, and bear were also all "dogs"...this shows me that we may need to work on his animal recognition skills. But at least he didn't call them "mom."

And, to top off our trip, we got to hang out with my dear friend Leann and precious Jaida Grace (who is 4 months older than Lincoln. As I type this, I realize that Lincoln met lots of little ladies on this roadtrip!) It is so much fun that Lea and I got to have children at about the same time - a very cool blessing. While we were hanging out we kept laughing, as our conversation now centers on "mommy things" like"developmental milestones" and "how to balance a career and motherhood" - topics we never expected to get to discuss with each other! Watching Jaida made me excited for all of the neat things Linc may start doing over the coming months...but also made me realize life is about to get much busier!

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-16T10:48:00.001-05:00

As I post this, we are still without power at our house. Thankfully, though, we only suffered some tree damage, lost part of our fence, and lost the spark arrestor off of our chimney. If this was only a Category 2, that made it all the way to Sugar Land, I'd hate to see a Category 4.

The bigger issue with our neighborhood is that a tornado went down Lexington Blvd, though between Williams Trace and Dulles. Here are some photos of it's aftermath that we took on our way over to my brother's house. Not sure how long the power will be down, as some of the poles on Lexington were snapped in half.

Trying to learn to walk

2008-09-16T09:26:00.000-05:00

Linc is getting pretty close to walking. He stands up, sometimes takes a step, then decides it's much more efficient to just crawl. He was our entertainment the other night while waiting for Hurricane Ike to strike Sugar Land.

Disney World

2008-09-12T20:58:00.000-05:00

Andrew had a conference in Orlando last week, so Linc and I joined him for a long weekend. We went to the Magic Kingdom one day. We took the obligatory picture in front of the castle and just abandoned all pretense of coolness, and had a great time! (Regardless of the liability issues that might ensue, Disney allows one year olds to ride on a parent's lap for almost all of the rides at the Magic Kingdom - flying Dumbo elephants and all. And, they made it really easy for strollers. Disney has this baby thing down; I'm glad we picked that particular park to visit.) Linc seemed like he enjoyed it - he smiled and laughed at everything, although he'll have no memory of ever being there :) He especially liked the play area in Mickey's "toon town" where he crawled up the slide, and then slid down (He would turn around and slide on his stomach almost before we could catch him...we are realizing he is becoming quite the little dare devil. We're going to have our hands full pretty soon!) He also liked chewing on the 3-D glasses used in one show...but didn't exactly enjoy wearing them. He giggled through the Haunted Mansion and loved the Jungle Cruise ride. The only ride he didn't like was the "Snow White and the 7 Dwarves Adventure" ... apparently, the Dwarves scared the crud out of him. There was a ton of screaming....the poor folks behind us.

A boy and his dog..

2008-08-20T22:17:00.001-05:00

Lincoln's favorite word (and most understandable word at the moment) is "dog" -- which he says any time he (1) sees Major (2) hears Major's name (3) wants to see Major (4) thinks he sees Major (5) looks outside in the backyard or (6) sees a picture of a dog in a book. He also enjoys feeding Major from his highchair (a habit we are trying to break him of) and "chasing" Major all over the house, crawling as fast as he can go. He doesn't seem to mind a bit when Major licks him in the face...which, is unfortunately, a constant despite my nagging at the dog. Hopefully what they say about dog's mouths is true....or sort-of true.

Play time with Jackson

2008-08-20T22:11:00.000-05:00

Jackson came over the other night (along w/ his parents) to play and watch the Olympics. Of course, the Olympics weren't exactly a priority for them...playing in the ball pit was more exciting. They were funny playing side by side and occasionally taking a toy away from the other. We are all looking forward to watching the boys grow up together!

Linc enjoys time with his cousins

2008-08-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

In early July, Lincoln enjoyed some time with his cousins Ana, Maddux, and Gaines (as well as Mya, Riley, Carter, and Morgan...not pictured :) up in Michigan.

Mexico and Linc's new toy

2008-08-01T22:08:00.001-05:00

My mom came down and kept Linc for a week so Andrew and I could go with the sophomores and juniors to Mexico on a mission trip. He and my mom had a great time, and created some precious memories. Andrew and I missed him like crazy, but had a great trip. A few photos are below; the trip was a lot of manual labor! But our kids were amazing - they worked so hard, and had great attitudes, as most of the days were wet and muddy. I've also attached a video of Linc playing with his favorite new toy, a truck, courtesy of my mom. He loves all of the sounds that it makes, and just yesterday learned how to turn the key to make the engine "start." He giggles everytime he does it. Besides playing with his truck, his other favorite activity is to try and eat Major's dog food and turn over the water bowl...we have decided he has selective retention of what the word "no" means...he seems to understand it for just about everything BESIDES the dog food and water bowl :)

Captain Leeser

2008-08-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

Brandon (aka Captain Leeser) stopped by Houston on his way back to Tennessee following Officer Basic Course in San Antonio. We are really proud of him, and wish him the best as he starts his dental career at Fort Campbell.

that sweet Lincoln smile . . .

2008-06-27T16:04:00.000-05:00

I LOVE animals....

2008-06-27T15:43:00.000-05:00

Linc is now becoming VERY aware of the different stuffed animals in his safari nursery...every time we walk in the nursery he wants to play with the giraffe, elephant, or cheetah. He just giggles and smiles at all of them (and tries to chew on them, of course.) If he could talk, I'm sure he would say "Thanks for the elephant, Great Uncle Scott! Thanks for the Giraffe, PJ!"

Dallas basketball tourney

2008-06-27T14:55:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Andrew, Drew, Luke, and Michael played in the annual "hoop it up" - and, like almost every year, won :) I'm not sure it was the most fun tournament they've ever played in, due to the terrible refereeing (and not the most fun one for the wives to watch, due to the 100 plus heat, on the asphalt!) but we had a great time hanging out together and getting to meet the newest cousin, Braylon Whitmire.

Playing in the wading pool

2008-06-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

Playing with Brice...

2008-06-27T14:51:00.000-05:00

Brice came over to play the other day while Gina and Bryan went to a wedding. It was all fun and games playing with, in, and under the laundry basket...until Brice decided he'd had enough.

Visit with Uncle Brandon

2008-06-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

Brandon spent a few days with us before he headed off to his Army Officer Basic Course in San Antonio. He's currently "in the field" . . . so we're interested to hear from him when he returns!

Lincoln's first haircut

2008-06-02T07:48:00.000-05:00

Andrew never ceases to amaze me - he's got talents I never thought he had! He decided last weekend that Linc needed a hair cut...and proceeded to give him one. He actually did a really good job. There's one spot where he nicked him (which, I of course, had to capture on film- note the "bald spot" near his ear) Overall, I was very impressed and it was pretty funny to watch. :)

Lincoln's favorite toy...

2008-06-02T07:46:00.000-05:00

Lincoln's favorite toy at the moment is a plastic laundry basket...so much for all of the "stimulating" toys we've bought him, and others have given him...but whatever works!

Brandon's Graduation / trip to Detroit

2008-06-02T07:34:00.000-05:00

Andrew's brother, Brandon, graduated from Dental school a few weeks ago in Detroit. We are so proud of him!! Brandon has joined the Army, and will be in San Antonio this summer for about six weeks for training before heading to Kentucky for a one-year dental internship. We can't wait to have him in Texas, even if he will be a few hours away. Lincoln enjoyed time with his grandparents, and we also got to meet our new niece, Ana, for the first time. (As well as new cousin Mya.) Lincoln wasn't so sure what to do with the girls, as you see in the photos. Lincoln also enjoyed seeing his cousin Owen at Brandon's open house - it will be fun to watch them play together when they get a bit older. Owen tried to play with Lincoln...but Lincoln isn't quite into it yet :) AND, right before we left for Detroit we learned the great news - Praise God, Josh and Marcie got confirmation that they have a daughter in Vietnam, waiting for them later this summer!! They've been so faithful and patient throughout the adoption process. The family is growing by leaps and bounds, and it will be so fun to watch all of the kiddos grow up. (By the end of the summer, there will be six babies under the age of 1! Next Thanksgiving will be a bit insane when we are all back together!)

Little Water Dog

2008-06-02T07:32:00.001-05:00

Lincoln loves the pool!

And, he's off!

2008-06-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

Lincoln started crawling this weekend! I have a feeling our life just got a whole lot busier...

Our little helper..

2008-05-15T00:11:00.000-05:00

Since we are traveling this week to Detroit for Brandon's graduation from Dental school (Hooray!) Andrew and I each had some work to get done over the weekend. Lincoln didn't mind a bit - as long as we were holding him :) (He's been especially cuddly lately since he's teething and hasn't been feeling his best; I am cherishing it!)

Mother's Day

2008-05-15T00:04:00.000-05:00

My first Mother's Day was wonderful - Lincoln and Andrew gave me a gorgeous arrangment of Tulips and Andrew cooked a gourmet lunch (seriously!) and invited Barrett and Tiffany over. It was great! (and so pampering - after watching him fix lunch, set the table, clean up...I started feeling sorta lazy :) I kept trying to get Linc to say "Mama" (figuring it was just the perfect day for it) but no such luck! He just grinned and giggled at me, making a fool of myself. I feel so blessed to have a wonderful husband and a precious son.

Swimming!

2008-05-15T00:02:00.001-05:00

We took Lincoln swimming for the first time the other night; he seemed to like the water, once he figured out that we weren't going to let go of him!

Apparently, being barked at is hilarious...

2008-04-30T21:04:00.000-05:00

A budding pianist?

2008-04-30T20:46:00.000-05:00

Trip to Amarillo

2008-04-30T20:23:00.001-05:00

Last weekend Lincoln had a big time. He saw his Gram & PJ and met his Great Uncle Scott (for the first time) in Amarillo. My mom provided some very cool toys (apparently MUCH cooler than anything we had at home, from Lincoln's perspective :) and my dad baby-sat for an entire afternoon while my mom and I went shopping. He also saw Nonny & Papa as they came through Houston. He is becoming quite the little traveler, as he flirted with everyone on the plane. Lincoln also got to meet cutie-pie Jaida Gabel for the first time! It was very fun to see them together. Lincoln also had fun w/ Yukon. I was afraid he might be overwhelmed since Yukon is huge compared to our dog, but Lincoln loved him!

Go 'Stros!

2008-04-30T20:21:00.000-05:00

Lincoln went to his first Astros game a few weekends ago, and was mesmerized looking at the field. It will probably be the first of many more games to come this summer! Now he just needs a hat and a jersey....

Isn't he a little young for this...?

2008-04-30T20:02:00.000-05:00

Well, a few weekends ago we went to the Davises' beach house in Galveston for Jake's 17th birthday. Despite my protesting (and definitive proof that I'm not a "cool" mom, :) Andrew took Linc out on the innertube! (No worries, Matt was driving the boat very slowly, but still, it was nervewracking for me. Lincoln, however, apparently wasn't nervous - he slept through the whole thing! He also didn't seem to mind the life jacket. It was a fun day, and we look forward to more beach time, swimming, and boating with him in the future.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T20:02:00.000-05:00

I think Lincoln had a fun first Easter - (even though he didn't understand what was going on!) We went to the Carlisle's Easter party, which was great. Linc LOVED the Easter bunny (he just kept giggling at him), and he, Brice, Jackson, and Peyton all enjoyed playing in the grass with confetti eggs. It's hard to believe that next year they will all be running around hunting eggs with the big kids.

6 months old!

2008-03-23T19:56:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that Linc is 6 months old now. He's sitting up really well, and trying to crawl (but hasn't yet figured out how to go anywhere). He's a blast.

Yee-Haw!

2008-03-12T16:40:00.000-05:00

Last week was Rodeo Day at Lincoln's school (he goes to Cathedral House at Christ Church Cathedral downtown) It was in honor of the kick-off of the Houston Rodeo. (For those of you that read this blog and aren't from Houston, or even Texas, I realize that must seem bizarre - but the rodeo here goes for 3 weeks and is a HUGE event, so around here, it seems normal.) Anyway - all the kids were encouraged to dress up. Here is Linc in his cowboy outfit (the boots are courtesy of Will and Shawna). He even took a stuffed horse to school with him (which given to him by Alex Crawford and Malinda Allison, appropriately!) It was pretty funny.

Lincoln meets Macy

2008-03-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago we met up with Andy and Mandy Luster at a youth retreat (Soul Link) in North Houston. It was the first time we got to meet Macy, and they got to meet Lincoln. It was fun...and very surreal...to hang out with the babies together. (And not suprisingly, that's mostly what our conversation was about, making Mandy and I laugh about how much things have changed since college!) Lincoln enjoyed grinning at Macy, and enjoyed trying to pull her hairbow off her headband. After that they chewed on each other's toys and pretty much ignored each other. We also got to see Maddie (big sister to Macy) who just gets cuter by the day. It was a fun morning, but left me wondering - when did we get so old? It seems like we just graduated college!

Linc at 5 months

2008-02-24T21:44:00.000-06:00

It is hard to believe Linc is already 5 months old! He continues to be incredibly laid-back with a ready smile. He's enjoying eating cereal now (although at first, he wasn't so sure) but I'm still trying to get the hang of feeding it to him without creating a HUGE mess!

An unexpected twist...

2008-02-24T20:49:00.000-06:00

I returned from maternity leave on Jan. 7th to learn that I was set for trial on Feb. 4th in Texarkana, for 2 weeks. It was NOT what we had planned (esp. as it is during Andrew's busy season!) But, as trial experience is rather hard to come by, I knew I needed to take it. Thankfully our moms came to the rescue! My mom came down to stay with Linc for 2 weeks (pretrial and 1st week) and Andrew's mom came down to stay with him for the last week of trial. Thankfully, I got to fly home for about 24 hours on the weekend in between and see everyone. All in all, I'm thankful for the experience (and the jury saw things our way and we won, which was satisfying) but it was very tough to be away from Linc for that long. (although I've jokingly told Andrew that I've never worked that much, or that hard, in my life - so that was a helpful distraction.)

Here are some pictures of Linc's "adventures with his grandmothers" - I think they all had a great time getting some one on one time with him. It also worked out well that Barrett and Tiffany moved into their house over the time that my mom and dad came down. Everyone got to help with the move and getting the house ready - and we love the fact that they are only 5 minutes away now!

Lincoln at 3 1/2 months....

2008-01-04T23:48:00.001-06:00

Christmas

2008-01-04T22:54:00.000-06:00

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.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-12-03T09:55:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My parents came down from Amarillo, and my grandparents came in from Oklahoma. The meal was great thanks to help from my mom and Tiffany (thankfully the turkey turned out fine; I was a little nervous!) Since Barrett and Tiffany live in Houston now, everyone got to be together. My grandparents had a wonderful time holding Lincoln. He is their first great-grandson; they already have two great-granddaughters. My parents watched Linc for us one day while Andrew and I went to a football game. It was nice to have them baby-sit...and fun for them to get some "alone time" with him. My mom bought Lincoln his first sweater - which is adorable - and he now has a few pairs of Christmas pajamas, courtesy of both grandmothers. The kid is stylin' (if I say so myself :) and is more interactive and alert every day. He's starting to show some interest in toys - but lights are still his favorite thing. He can stare at them, or the ceiling fan, for hours :) It is hard to believe he is 2 1/2 months old already. He is a joy!

Smiles!

2007-11-17T15:18:00.001-06:00

Link has now learned to smile. It is adorable!

Go Blue!

2007-11-17T15:01:00.000-06:00

Unlce Brandon came in town this weekend, with Grandma Cope and cousins Michael and Karri, to meet Lincoln. It was also (conveniently) the Michigan v. Ohio State game. Brandon brought Link a U of M onesie (it said "The Big House, 107,501 1/2" - very cute) and U of M pacifier. Link was all decked out to watch Michigan lose, but he sure looked cute! Lincoln now weighs 10.14 pounds and is 24 inches long. The kid definitely likes to eat. Grandma had lots of fun holding her sixth great-grandchild (with 3 more on the way, due next spring.)

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-06T19:08:00.000-06:00

Lincoln was 6 weeks old on Halloween. He was dressed up as a bear (in my biased opinion, he was the cutest little bear EVER) and we went to the Fall Festival at church. (He wasn't all that wild about his costume; he kept trying to push his hood off of his head and cried for most of the evening...) He took pictures with all of his little pals ... us parents were, of course, much more into this activity than the kids. He also had several Halloween "accessories" that he had been given at various showers. So, we had fun dressing him up in his little pumpkin shoes, pants, hat and Halloween bib. (Poor kid :) He will hate that picture someday. My parents were in town before leaving for a cruise out of Galveston. They had a great time with Link; it seems like he gets more interactive every day.

2007-11-04T12:37:00.000-06:00

Lincoln has been introduced to college football already - he likes to watch Game Day with Daddy on Saturday mornings and hang out with Andrew's friends - and our youthgroup guys - to watch the games. Even though we don't let him face the TV (we do read parenting books on newborn neurological development - no worries!) I think he's already becoming a Wolverine fan...his head turns toward the TV when the fight song plays. :) Too bad he's still too skinny to wear his Michigan onesie...maybe next season.

Hanging out with friends

2007-10-25T22:03:00.000-05:00

Today Link hung out with three of his "friends" - Harper, Brice, and Petyon. Although Link wasn't completely into it, it will be fun to show these pictures to the kids when they get older. (And while the kids didn't think the photo op was that fun, the moms had fun trying to get all 4 of them to look at the camera and not squish each other...or roll over onto Lincoln. Brice kept trying to "play" with Lincoln this afternoon, while Peyton graciously tried to share her toys with him - by stacking them on him while he was in his bouncer. He and Brice are lucky boys to have two adorable girls around them! :)

Five weeks old...

2007-10-23T17:34:00.000-05:00

It's so hard to believe that Lincoln is five weeks old now! Every day he gets more interactive, and is still a very sweet, laid-back baby. He is already growing so quickly! He's had a lot of comlpany lately. Over the past month he's met both sets of grandparents, his aunt Tiffany and Uncle Barrett and his aunt Shawna. Next month he is set to meet his uncle Brandon, cousins Michael and Karri, GG (great grandma Cope), and Nonny and Papa (his other set of great grandparents). What a lucky kid! Here are some photos of the recent visits.

Lincoln's first week home

2007-10-01T18:42:00.000-05:00

Lincoln had a great first week at home. He's still trying to figure out his days versus nights, and is a bit fussy during the evenings, but is so much fun! We sit and stare at him all the time, just amazed at this little, precious person! Andrew and I are having a great time figuring out "parenthood."

We've had a lot of help, though. My mom and dad were here for his birth, and then my mom stayed a week and was a huge help around the house, and with him. We, and Link, enjoyed time w/ her! Tiffany and Barrett have gotten to spend some time with him, and Andrew's parents and sister are coming in next week. Also, thanks to all of our friends who have brought dinner - that has been a blessing!

Lincoln has arrived

2007-09-22T21:52:00.000-05:00

What a week! Erin's due date was September 26th, but she was put on bedrest unexpectedly on the 12th. A few days later she had contractions 5 minutes apart for a few hours and we went to the hospital, hoping it was time...but no such luck. Although the contractions stayed regular and close for 4 DAYS the baby was not in the correct position to make labor progress. So, on doctor's orders, Erin and her mom walked...and walked...and walked...and walked. (Only the dog enjoyed it, however.) Even with all the walking, labor didn't progress. Then, after a regular doctor's appointment, we were sent to the hospital when Erin's blood pressure was elevated. Due to headaches and other symptoms of pre-eclampsia, Erin was induced on Wednesday the 19th.

Unfortunately, only the contractions progressed-nothing else. By Thursday morning, Erin was in full transition-labor contractions, but had no other progression. Andrew stepped out with Erin's dad to grab breakfast in the hospital cafeteria about 8:00, as the anesthesiologist was contemplating whether to go ahead and administer an epidural. (It looked like it could be a VERY long day...) until things drastically changed.

The baby's umbilical cord became wrapped around his neck and his heart rate suddenly plummeted. Alarms started going off, and within seconds there were multiple nurses and doctors in Erin's room. Although they tried all sorts of things, the baby's heart rate dropped consistently for six minutes and eventually was undetectable. At that point, they (literally) raced Erin to the OR. (You can ask Erin the details, but let's just say it was an ... interesting... ride down to the OR) Although they planned to put her under general anesthesia, once in the OR they were able to get a heart rate on the baby. That gave them time to give Erin an epidural (and get ahold of Andrew so that he was in the OR when the C-section began). 10 minutes later Lincoln came out crying! Erin and Andrew got to hold him for a few minutes in the OR and Erin's parents and his Uncle Barrett got to see him immediately afterwards. Lincoln was born officially at 8:47 a.m, weighing 7 lbs 6 ounces, and was 20 1/2 inches long.

We would like to thank everyone for their prayers. So far, Lincoln is healthy and perfect, showing no effects of cord compression. And, after his rather chaotic arrival he is (at least so far) a very laid-back baby! We just sit and stare at him, amazed by God's goodness. He's beautiful, with the cutest little face, a full head of sandy blonde hair...and big feet!! What a miracle.

2007-09-15T11:34:00.001-05:00

Gaines & Shawna come to visit

2007-09-12T09:00:00.000-05:00

Gaines and Shawna flew in to visit for a few days before driving up with us to Abilene for Michael and Karri's wedding. We had a blast. Gaines is at a very fun age - talking non-stop, and very inquisitive. He played with Major, went to the children's museum, and Andrew took him to Build-a-Bear where he got a bear dressed in a basketball uniform (strangely, with the colors of the Detroit Pistons...I think he has his uncle to thank for that.) It was wonderful to get to hang out with Shawna (who is pregnant and due at the end of January); we only wish we all lived closer. And - Mikey and Karri's wedding was beautiful. Everyone had a great time hanging out and just celebrating them.

What a great suprise!

2007-09-11T12:08:00.000-05:00

On January 23rd, Andrew and I got the suprise of our lives when we found out we were expecting a baby! Although we were planning to start trying for a family in the spring of '08...early '07 would also work just fine. :) As much as I tried to keep the secret until I was further along, I was terrible at it - and within a few days we had already told our families, and then the news started to spread. We were thrilled, overwhelmed, excited, and nervous - probably the same things that everyone feels when they find out that they are going to be responsible for someone else's life. Our parents, on the other hand, were just plain ecstatic--and very ready for a grandchild. (My parents' first, his parents' second.) It seems like that all happened so long ago - and we've been waiting to meet him ever since.

Of course, the past 7 months have been busy. We've done the typical first-time parent things: I've read all the books I can find; woken Andrew up in the middle of the night so he can feel the baby kicking (who, of couse, won't kick on command); driven around in desperate search for a snowcone, when that was the only thing that sounded good to eat; Andrew has reworked the budget and thought about college savings plans, assembled the baby furniture, rearranged the guest room into a study / guest room combo, and put up with me "nesting" and rearranging kitchen cabinets and the pantry. We've taken the child and baby classes, and Andrew has been kind enough to accompany me on NUMEROUS trips to Babies R Us and patiently listen as I agonize over jogging strollers. We've debated over names (and almost more importantly, what nicknames mean kids could come up for potential names we like). But most of all, we've prayed, together and separately, for the wisdom to be godly parents and for a healthy pregnancy and baby. We are thankful for all of our friends that we have watched become parents over the past couple of years -their advice has already been so helpful. (And, will be more frequently sought-after, soon, I'm sure!) We're also so thankful that the baby will be born into a family where he is well-loved.

We are getting down to the wire now and are so excited to meet him. I'm due September 26th...so who knows when he will choose to arrive. But whenever he comes we, and his extended family, are ready to meet him. (We've even tried to explain things to the dog--although, Major doesn't quite seem to get it. At the moment he is much more interested in trying to chew up the stuffed animals now residing in the nursery.)

As we anxiously await his arrival, I am just amazed at how much we already love him - and we haven't even met him yet. We'll keep everyone updated!

Welcome to our blog!

2007-09-11T11:53:00.000-05:00

Well, Andrew & I decided to join everyone else and set up a blog so that people can keep up with what is happening in our lives. (And, what is happening with our soon-to-be growing family!) While neither one of us are exactly...technology-savvy, we'll attempt to update it often with news and pictures--so check back soon!