Kirstie and Roman visit!

Kirstie and Roman came for a visit this week! It was the first time I got to see baby Roman and he is already 10 whole weeks old! He is just too cute and I can't wait to see Max and Roman raise Hell together soon :)

The boys playing together!

Isn't he SO cute??

I still can't believe that we have babies! Kirstie and I have been friends for 8 years and it's crazy that now our children will be friends! I'm so happy to have them in our lives!

Auntie Kirstie with the boys. Max just loves her and I know that

we will all have so much fun together in the years to come!

Ritchie's 27th Birthday

Ritchie celebrated his 27th birthday this week and I just wanted to say what an awesome husband I have. Ritchie could not be a better person to journey through this life with. He makes me laugh, listens to my (many) concerns (about everything), and I couldn't think of a better man to father my children. Watching the way he loves Max has taken my feelings for him to a whole new level, a level I never thought possible. With each passing year I love him more.

Ritchie has so much to celebrate this year! It's his first birthday as a father, he just got a promotion at work and will finally be doing something he's excited about, and in 5 weeks he's officially done with his degree! That's right, people. Ritchie manages to not only work 9-5, but he completes school work from home in the evenings (often acing classes), takes care of all of Max's nightly bedtime dinner and bath routines, makes home improvements and cleans and makes dinner, AND he manages to find time to still blow me away with romantic gestures and tenderness. He is the man who will cross the room to sit on the same couch as me and rub MY feet as if he didn't have the busiest day and isn't exhausted.

And to top it all off: he's gorgeous.

So to my husband, the love of my life - Happy Birthday! Thank you for everything that you do for our family. Our life is RITCHer with you in it :)

Houston, We Have A Tooth!

Yesterday, TAX DAY - haha, Maxton cut his first tooth!! It's his bottom right and it just gleams up at us when he flashes those smiles! I'm trying to catch a pic and will have it posted as soon as I can capture it :)

What I Know Now

Now that we're halfway to the year mark, I wanted to record what I've learned about Maxton's personality and character and see how much it changes or not over the next 6 months. I am adoring witnessing his development and I've noticed some very specific traits that I wonder if he'll keep or not.

The first thing I've noticed is that Max has the hardest time waking up! It's so precious. He will be "awake" for about 15 minutes but his eyes are closed and he's squirming around and burying his head into my chest. When he does open his eyes he's happy and peaceful. I wonder if he'll always have this difficulty waking... which means I also wonder if he'll be prone to sleeping in (score!)

The second trait in Max, and one of my personal favorites, is his thoughtful nature. He is an observer. He watches and thinks about the things and people around him. He studies his toys with a furrowed brow and I always wonder what he's thinking about. When people approach him he tends to hang back and ponder them before choosing to smile. I love how he seems to think before acting at such a young age. I don't possess this particular trait and I'm VERY happy that this seems to be just one of the ways that Max is like his daddy.

The last thing I want to document is how attached he is to me. He likes me to hold him when he wakes up for awhile versus anyone else! When he sits and plays he fusses a bit until I come sit with him and he puts on hand on me and plays with the other. He also sporadically reaches out to "hug" me and burry his head in my chest. I just adore how much he loves me and hope this continues to be present as we hit his first birthday.

Watching Maxton grow is the joy of my life. He is the most amazing, sweetest little boy.

Adventures in Business

In an effort to stay home with Maxton I've begun an at home business as a stylist for Stella & Dot! Check out my website and let me know when you want to book that trunk show!

www.stelladot.com/jamielincoln

6 Months

A whole half a year... yikes! I cannot believe that we are entering the second half of Maxton's first year of life already. It really seems like yesterday that we found out we were pregnant and now here we are. Max has continued to amaze us this month with new milestones such as sitting more reliably, grabbing his feet and putting them in his mouth, and using a sippy cup independently. It seems like things are happening so quickly now and before we know it he'll be moving around on us! I'm just trying to savor these last few months (or weeks maybe?) of him wanting to be held versus aching to get away because he can go anywhere he wants! Here are the stats from his 6 month doctor appointment:

Weight: 20 pounds 2 ounces

Height: 27 inches

He was in the 75-90th percentile for both (huge range I know). He did really well with his shots, not even crying for one of them! A big bonus for mom here. We recently discovered that he has some eczema and the doctor assures us that his bottom 2 teeth are on the verge of emerging any day now. However, it could take another 4 weeks or so. Teething has caused some disruptions in sleep this month as has Max's increasing awareness of his surroundings. His favorite spot to sleep is snuggled up next to me while nursing and every time he woke up he expected those same circumstances to fall back asleep. We're working on that now and I'll update you next month ;)

Here is our little cutie on a beautiful day at the park: