Easter 2014

Here are our pictures from Easter this year.  I had fun coordinating all three kiddos!!  I wish we had gotten a family picture, but it just didn't play out.  

Six Months Old!

As promised, here is Lincoln's 6 month post....when he is almost 7 months old, ha!

At 6 months LJ can:

- Roll from belly to back and sometimes rolls from back to belly (when he's angry enough....which is super rare)

- Play with toys

- Sit up independently for short periods of time

- Smile from ear to ear.  

- Laugh a big belly laugh (that sounds like a goose's honk)

At 6 months Lincoln is:

-Wearing size 6-12 month clothing.  Some 9-12 month stuff.  I've found we mostly have to shop at gap, Janie and Jack and Boden for his clothing because it will provide us with the longest lasting stuff (they all have size 6-12 month).  We recently discovered Boden jersey shorts because they are the only baby shorts we can find that have an actual drawstring....which sweet Linc needs.  :)

- Weighing 20lbs even.  He's in the 85% for his weight and I can't remember his height (maybe 26 inches?), but he's in the 23% for his height.  Short and solid!!

- Wearing a size 4 disposable and still in the smallest snap size on his all in one cloth diapers (which he's in 99% of the time, now).

- Sleeping through the night and taking two solid naps a day.

- Eating solid foods.  I have yet to feed him something he doesn't devour.  Sweet potatoes, avocado, peaches, spinach, blueberries, bananas....he eats it all.  

Lincoln's favorites:

- Toy: Sophie the giraffe

- Person(s): Logan and Brody.  They can, without fail, make him smile when he's at his worst.  He and Logan have a really special bond, though.  She can instantly calm him.  I always feel better when she's at home if I have to leave him to go somewhere because I know that he's got his person there.  

-Food: Probably sweet potatoes mixed with peaches.  Though, he went crazy over the spinach/blueberry/banana/applesauce combo we fed him tonight!!

Overall Lincoln is still proving to be my most chill baby.  He is content just hanging out with others in the room.  He naps more on the go than he does at home.  Though, the last week we've been at home a lot and so he's getting into a nice routine.  We're working on sleep training.  Right now it's hit or miss if we can lay him down and have him just fall asleep.  We'll get there!!

He is such a sweet little joy.  I can't believe how fast the last six months have FLOWN.  I am not ready for him to be on the other half of the year, but here it comes.  Thanking the Lord for this perfect addition to our family daily!!

Five Months Old

Lincoln is 5 months old!  And as it seems to go with a third child, his 5 month post is almost 2 months late and will be immediately followed by his 6 month post.  At least I recorded the information to get in here at some point, right?!

At 5 months old Link can:

- Sometimes roll from back to belly.  If he's motivated enough.

- Smile from ear to ear.

-Giggle incessantly.

- Get the whole room smiling.

- Snuggle up a storm.

- Sleep from 9pm-7am solid.

At 5 months old Lincoln is:

- Wearing size 6-9 month clothes.

- Wearing a size 3 or 4 disposable diaper (depending on if it's day or night).

- Wearing an all in one cloth diaper on the smallest setting (Brody was not in these until he was 8 months old!!)

- Weighs 18lbs.

Things I notice about Lincoln's personality at this age:

He is incredibly laid back.  He just rolls with whatever.  This is fantastic because we're nearing the end of our school year and are driving all over the place at all sorts of odd times and he just sleeps in the car.  It's going to make sleep training him when all of this is over rough, but at least he's handling it well.  

He is such a sweet and lovable baby.  He doesn't really fuss much unless he needs something.  And contrary to the way he looks, he really doesn't eat all the time.  He's on a solid feeding schedule and nurses about every 4 hours with the exception of his "night cap" at nine.  He just is a solid little man.

We are so thankful and joyful for his sweet life and all that it brings to our life as a family.  

Everyone just loves the mess out of him!!

Visiting Daddy/CHBOLC Graduation/Formal

Surprisingly, the 7 weeks we were away from Mike seemed to go very quickly.  I think because it was during the spring and we were still so busy with our school year routine (school, MOPS, ballet, soccer, playdates, etc), it seemed to just glide right along.  We definitely counted down the days until we got to drive down to SC to see our guy, though!!  

I had a spouses course to attend, so while we initially thought we'd be going down just a day before his graduation, we ended up going almost a full week before!  The kids were THRILLED when we finally reunited and had such a great time hanging out with Mike on post.  It was like a small taste of what life may look like in a couple of years.

While I thought the idea of a spouse's course sounded a little hokey and had no idea how they'd pack enough information into two full days, I was shocked at how informative it was!  We had sessions on security, the FRG, getting involved as a Chaplain's wife, all the things the Army offers to spouses & children, deployment policies, how to connect your children with their dad/mom during deployment, how to stay connected with your spouse during deployment, formalities, and those things only skim the surface of what we learned!  I was sad to have missed the last day where all of the spouses got to repel from victory tower, but Brody had had enough of the daycare and they had initially told us that our spouses would be available to watch our kids and at the last minute had to cancel--I think they just wanted us to all get a good dose of what was in store with the Army and it's ever changing plans!

On the last day of the course, we had a formal banquet to attend.  It was fun to shop for a formal dress, I took a good friend with me and we made a long morning of it.  I honestly thought I had left those days behind after prom.  Oddly enough, it was prom season, so I was sharing dressing areas with teenage girls....and got many odd looks as I walked around the store carrying prom dresses while pushing a stroller with a baby.

It was a different kind of date night, but one that I'd definitely enjoy getting used to.

 We had a great time, but were excited to pick up our sweet kiddos from the CDC when the night was over.  They were excited to see us, too!

The week ended with our much anticipated graduation!  This may have been a more exciting graduation for me than his seminary graduation.  It at least ranked right up there next to it!  The months we had to spend away from him as he completed this course were exhausting, but it was a growing experience and really allowed me to see how much I need to depend on the Lord.  I was thankful for a faith growing opportunity like it.

A perk to him being in Columbia was that he was only about 30 minutes away from some of our favorite people!  It was good to get to spend a few days with Patty and her sweet family.  It was an encouraging time of fellowship.  It's fun to have seen growth from high school friends, to married life, to seminary, to kids and get to share it together.  Here we are a few years ago and then again now, we've filled the swing up!!

Bikers

Before Mike left for his Chaplain school, Logan begged for him to take her training wheels off.  After a few weeks of her asking, it was finally warm enough to pull them off.  Before taking them off, Mike warned Logan that he wasn't going to put them back on after he took them off.  After her first lesson, he came in and let me know that he was really sorry he had told her he wouldn't put them back on because she wasn't quite ready.  And he was leaving in two days.  Imagine my panic!  

She and I talked after he left and decided we were going to have a secret mission to get her riding on two wheels so she could surprise her daddy.  It took 4 days, 4 little boy naps and a lot of patience and persistence, but she got it!

(you can see her riding way up in front of us)

She was so enthusiastic about biking that she made it her goal to help Brody graduate from his tricycle (which had JUST learned to ride) to his bike with training wheels.  A few days of Logan and me pushing him and coaching and he was riding, too!

It was such a fun way to work together to accomplish a goal and we really surprised Mike.  Now they both bike like pros all over the backyard!

Soccer

Brody has been itching to play a sport and with Mike gone, he needed an outlet where he could be a boy and run and fall and enjoy himself without worrying about hurting his siblings.  

I found an 8 week class that was at an indoor field.  Logan and I loved to go sit and watch him play and do schoolwork and Lincoln happily completed his morning nap in the Ergo while we were there weekly.  

It was fun to see Brody doing his own activity, and it was fun to have special time with Logan.

By his last session, Brody's coordination had improved quite a bit and he was dribbling the ball, kicking goals and doing all kinds of fun exercises.

His class size was small, but it made for a lot of quality one on one time with the coaches.

And they finished off the "season" with medals.

I really can't believe he's big enough to be doing things like this!  

Everyone Loves The Baby!

The older kids frequently ask me to take pictures of them with our sweet JuJu.  I think they want to keep him this size, too!