The Gillettes Visit!

We were so lucky to have the Gillettes visit us recently. I feel so fueled and happy when I get to spend time with my friends and, even though I talk to Kim almost daily, it's no substitution for getting to be with her, play games, talk, watch Quinn playing and interacting with Max, and just loving them all! It was so wonderful to be together again and I'm already looking forward to the next visit.

We squeezed in so much on the trip and were horrible at taking pictures to capture it all (or, well - I was horrible) but here's just a glimpse at some of the fun that was had.

The boys had a grand time jumping on beds together. Max tried SO hard to keep up with Quinn but doesn't quite have the leg strength for jumping yet. The outcome, I must say, was pretty adorable!

Just a small glimpse of them playing in the house together. They really enjoyed their time together, I think!

We visited Ortega park, which has a small water component. Quinn was thrilled, Max... not so much.

Max spent most of the time either wandering off away from the water or in someone's arms.

Quinn spent most of his time drenched in the water!

We finally were able to get some fun shots of the boys together by playing a bit of, "Ready, Set, GO!" a running game where everyone holds hands.

The boys each have such a unique personality and it was amazing to see them together. They can play and interact, and be so incredibly different and wonderful in their own ways. I love these boys!

And I love my friend who also loves my boy and me and my whole family! I'm so glad that no amount of distance has changed our friendship.

Come again soon, Gillettes!! You're always welcome!

18 Months

I can't believe that Maxton is already 18 months! The past few months have been SO much fun as he is rapidly becoming quite the little boy who is full of curiosity, mischief and joy for life.

This kid is ALL boy. He has a love for the outdoors, exploring, sticks, rocks, bugs, animals, dirt, and anything he can throw! He loves balls, blocks and cars at home, but mostly prefers to just be outdoors.

Witness the joy a stick can bring him.

When we are home he is OBSESSED with Elmo on TV or the ipad. He says Elmo quite well now and requests him often. We try hard to keep the TV time to no more than an hour day, but I think at this point we may be bordering on more like an hour and a half. I wish I could say it allowed for some productivity, but really he just wants mommy to watch Elmo with him rather than clean the kitchen or get ready for the day. I'm working on it - haha!

His vocabulary has taken off and I'm finally feeling less worried about his speech. Last time I counted we were at roughly 30 words, but he's added at least 3 in the past two days alone, so who knows where we're at now. His favorite words right now are Elmo, Daaaaaaady, Mama, doggy, eat, cracker, cookie and night night when he's tired. We also hear a lot about cars, airplanes and food and water (mostly Gracie's food and water as he gives us fair warning that it's out and he's going to get into it by running to us and bringing us to the said food and water with a look of great concern and quite the pointer finger working madly - hey, at least he warns us).

This past month we switched to cloth diapering and are really liking it so far! Sure, it's a lot more laundry, but it's manageable. I wish I could say I have some cute fluffy butt pictures, but nope, I don't. Sorry! I can show you this cute one though!

At Max's 18 month appointment he weighed 27 pounds and was 31 inches tall. He's a big boy with an even bigger heart. He fills our days with adventure and bliss. Little man has me wrapped around his finger because his smile is so freaking contagious that I'll pretty much do anything to see it. Lucky for us, he smiles all the time and easily. I just love this boy more than I can even describe in one blog post.

Baby B

It's been SO long since I even blogged! Yikes! It's time to get caught up and update you all on our sweet baby B brewin' in there.

Here's Baby B at roughly 12 weeks!

I'm now 21 weeks (insert mini panic attack here) and despite one minor incident where I thought I had either a UTI or kidney stones (neither of which I have, thankfully) all has been so...easy. Max's pregnancy was anything but (although I still had it easier than some) so I've been very thankful that Baby B is making it easy on me.

And again at almost 19 weeks.

We were scheduled to find out the gender at our 18+ week anatomy ultrasound, but I got this weird fit of uneasiness at not knowing when I was 15 weeks and decided to get an elective ultrasound at 15 weeks 6 days to find out what kind of cargo I was a towin'. And, just like Max, this one is NOT shy. Showed the goods right away.

And... just in case you couldn't tell.

Yup, it's another little BOY! We're thrilled! I immediately got excited about having brothers and watching them grow. I just know they'll be amazing friends and the anticipation of starting our life as a family of four is starting to grow. I still get really nervous at the idea of TWO kids running around and managing nursing sessions with Max's ever growing curiosity at everything around him (read that as Max's constant trouble making) but, for the most part, I'm just really anticipating more love, joy, friendship between my boys, and a tad bit of insanity that all of us mothers need to make it through. I intend to rock it out.

My best friend Kim is also pregnant and due just a few weeks before me with a sweet, albeit nameless, girl (hah - just poking fun, Kim!). She was just here with her wonderful family visiting and we snuck in a very, very short photo shoot to capture our bellies. I'm on the left and she's on the right. I'm 20 weeks and she's 22 1/2.

It's always so fun to go through pregnancy with a friend and this is our second time going through this journey together!

I simply cannot believe that the whole pregnancy is over half way done now. I'm getting big, I'm peeing frequently, and soon I'll be banned to flip flops due to the inability to bend over to strap or tie shoes. Ahh, the joys. I'll try to keep you guys updated on our little guy in there.

16 Months

I was going to do a 15 month update, but clearly I've missed the boat on that one since my little guy turned 16 months on Monday. I don't even know where to begin since SO much has happened in the past 4 months. I suppose I'll start with the biggest milestone first. Max started walking soon after his first birthday! He started with darling, wobbly and unsure steps and over the course of roughly 4-6 weeks he gained more confidence and began to fore go crawling for being upright. Around 14 months he began standing up on his own which led to much more walking power for him! He now walks all day and is attempting jumping and running! The fun has truly just begun!

Soon after his first birthday his baby signing also picked up. He began to sign "more" regularly and then "please" followed. Soon he was signing "milk" and "all done" too! As his signing increased so did his words. He had regularly been saying, "Dada" directed at Ritchie and over the next month he began to say, "Daddy" also. He has since slowed on that word because he's added so many more sounds and words to his repertoire. In the past 2 months specifically, Max began saying, "Mama" sometimes in context, "nana" for banana, "hot", "wawa" for water, "va va va" for vroom when he sees a car, and "eaa" for eat. He says all of these words regularly now and most often says "eaa" and "hot". He seems to think everything is hot ;) Just in the past few days he's played around with trying to say "rock" and "again" which sounds like "gin"! It's so fun to hear these words and I find myself eagerly asking him to repeat any word I say.

At 14 months we found out Max is going to be a big brother in August. While I'm very nervous about this transition, I just know Max will be an amazing big brother. I couldn't ask for a better role model for a younger child than Max.

I don't even know how else to document all of the incredible things Max does on a daily basis! He often pretends to be a dog and crawls around chasing after Gracie. Those two are going to be BEST friends. His favorite foods are bananas, any other fruits, peanut butter sandwiches, bananas, milk, fresh juice, bananas, popsicles (he's been teething a ton!), oh, and did I mention bananas? He asks for his nanas about 5 times a day. Usually we only let him eat 3 per day and have verified that you cannot overdose on potassium.

Max broke 2 molars and now has all 4 bottom teeth. We're awaiting 2 more molars and all of those vampire teeth and then are hoping for a freaking break!! Poor kid is miserable some days from those teeth.

Maxton also has a LOVE of books. He has several favorites; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, From Head to Toe, Oh My, Oh My, Oh Dinosaurs, The Belly Button Book, Binky, Touch and Feel Animal Farm, and Mr. Brown Can Moo. He wants them read over and over and over and over again. It's pretty precious how he brings you the book and crawls into your lap, but I swear, sometimes I want to hide those books! He also loves anything musical and runs around the room turning on anything that plays music and clapping his hands with joy. He adores his Scout toy and often hugs him and plays with him repeatedly. He's FINALLY started to snuggle with the puppy we got him at bedtime and naptime in his crib. He's as attached as ever to his binky and I find myself letting him have it to play with more and more. I figure we'll deal with it at some point. I'm just not ready yet.

At 16 months, Max is sheer joy to have around. His laughter is contagious and, for the most part, he is a happy, healthy little boy. I cannot wait to keep seeing him grow and learn and discover. He's so bright and charming and is loved by so many!

And there will be... JOY.

It's 9:31, and therefore on the East Coast they've already rung in the new year and have delved into 2011. Their futures. This new year's is hitting me hard and making me reflect. This past year was what Ritchie and I call a "transitional" year. It was great, sure. But not much happened. We lived, we loved and what more can you ask for, really? Ritchie moved jobs (but that happens like every other month, so what's new - haha!) but it wasn't the move his soul had been searching for. Max grew and learned and became so... BIG. I continued my journey of being a stay at home mom, for better or worse. But, there wasn't a significant happening this year. But, oh, in 2011 you better believe there will be.

Let me start off by doing a quicky recap of our Christmas. It blew. Ritchie and I both got the flu about 16 hours apart from one another on Christmas day and Max was just too young to get the whole sit down and open presents thing. He was much more interested in the dog's new toys. Oh well, what are you going to do? Some years will go like that I suppose. Christmas eve was nice. We had family and love and laughter so I will always remember that on the crappy Christmas of the flu, at least there was a wonderful Christmas eve and preceded it.

And the holiday season was wonderful for many, many reasons, but mostly because the whole Lincoln family got the best early Christmas gift we could have ever received.
That's right! I'm hesitant to blog openly about it since I'm only 8 weeks this Sunday but it's what I'm feeling so I'm going with it. If the worst happens and we lose this little life inside I'm sure I'll need love and support through blogging anyway. So, for now, I'm just happy in my pregnant state. Happy and scared and feeling a bit rocked to my core sometimes with the whole idea of parenting children. Because as much as I love Max, he's not easy to raise. He takes work and commitment and endless love and patience. Will I have it in me to stretch all of that out to another whole human being? I'm sure. But, I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. Scared, and effing HUGE. Who knew you got SO big, so fast with your second? It takes courage, my friends, to post this next picture as you can see I am not only braless (and low hanging thanks to 14 months of breastfeeding) but also mighty large for the ripe old 7 weeks 5 days that I am pregnant. Let's just all send singleton thoughts out into the universe for me, okay? If I have twins, I don't think I'll ever recover.
So, yes. As we enter this new year there are many changes ahead. Challenges that will push me to evolve into this stronger, more patient mother and wife. In addition to being pregnant (and exhausted!!), Ritchie begins a new job on Monday. A job that he is excited about and that will require things from him that he hasn't had to give before. Time away from us being one of them. I will be challenged to be supportive of this because I know he needs this. Not just for his career, but for his own personal satisfaction and growth. I will need to run the household and mother often without help and find satisfaction in that.

As much as I wouldn't trade staying home with Max, it's hard. It can be lonely and boring and frustrating. I will dig deep and find renewed love for being home all day and watching Max grow into this incredible little being that he is fast becoming. I will take joy in quiet time with my boy because I know that all too soon, our moments alone will be gone. Our days of just us will be a thing of the past as we welcome in his brother or sister and learn to fill our days just the three of us. So I will revel in this time with him and in being home and I will be happy for Ritchie and hope that he finds fulfillment in his job. Because this is our journey. And I'm out to enjoy it, difficult or not.

Max rung in the new year with his favorite meal of spaghetti and made quite a mess at the restaurant. We actually had to strip him down in the restroom and change his shirt afterwards. But, it was worth it to see this face.

We've enjoyed having Ritchie home SO much this week and I'm feeling a bit depressed at the thought of him being gone again next week. But, like I said, being positive and soaking it UP! We went to Monterey and took our boy to the aquarium. It was packed and he was tired so it wasn't the best experience ever, but it was wonderful to get away for a day and enjoy the sea-kissed air.
I hope that you are all enjoying your new year's eve and, of course, being safe. I'm not sure how much safer you can get than indoors blogging and eating frozen grapes so you don't have to worry about us Lincolns :) We do new year's up right! Have a glass of champagne for me tonight and cheers to all my dear friends and their families. May next year bring us all joy.

Ritchie-isms

Ritchie is always saying the funniest things. Wonderful nuggets of wisdom to teach Maxton, justifications for why he does the things he does, and many other humorous anecdotes. I'm going to start keeping track of them for your blogging pleasure.

While trying to make armpit farting noises and failing miserably Ritchie proclaims, "Hmm... I must be too muscular now."

The Kickoff to the Holiday Season!

The weekend after Thanksgiving always marks the kickoff to the holiday season. We celebrate this kickoff with our annual Christmas tree cutting event. This is a favorite in our household.

Andrew donning a festive hat for the activities.

Soon all the boys joined in the hat fun.

Papa, those aren't for playing with.

It was such a gorgeous day. A bit chilly (which we enjoyed), but perfectly clear skies and sunny. Soon after arriving (and after a bit of goofing around - which you saw in the above pictures) we began the hunt for the perfect tree.

Of course we stopped for a few pictures in a gorgeous little clearing.

Then we scouted out and found the perfect little Charlie Brown tree. Our own Lincoln tradition.

Ritchie's a skilled lumberjack.

Max was very excited about having found the perfect tree.

Very, very excited.

The whole gang enjoying a final picture before going home to dress

the tree with twinkling lights and sacred ornaments.

It was, as always, a fabulous kickoff.