4th of July 2014

It is SO nice having John and Lindsey just two hours away!!  We had a great time spending the fourth of July with them this year.  Fun, fireworks, splash ground....what more could we have asked for?!

Father's Day 2014

It's always so fun to celebrate anything, but I particularly love reasons to celebrate this man.  He is the definition of amazing in my world.  The way he loves us, takes care of us, has fun with us.  He rarely is in a bad mood, almost never complains and is the best husband/father I could never have imagined having.  I'm so thankful for him and his leadership in our family.  

Daddy and his boys. 

And his little girl.

This stud got several comments in his little outfit!

Tiny Dancer

Logan's recital came and went this year.  I can't believe how fast it all went!  This year, Logan took ballet and tap at a local studio.  It has been a fantastic year and she has learned so much and developed quite a bit as a dancer.

This year, she danced to "For the First Time In Forever" for her ballet routine (from Frozen).  For her tap number, they danced to "Supercalafragalistic."  It was fun to go and see all that she had learned on stage.  She is quite a performer!!

This was her ballet costume:

We would love to stay with this studio next year.  She'll be taking ballet, tap and jazz if we do!

This was her tap costume:

It's been fun to watch her learn and change as a dancer in the last three years!!

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!!