Funny thing...

okay, maybe it's not funny. I just thought it was interesting. So, for all our Christmas travels there was at least one dog at every house we visited... except for Pop's and Nona's. All together... there were 10 dogs for the 5 houses we went to!!!

It was interesting to see all of the different reactions the dogs had to Lincoln. Some could care less... some were interested and sniffed him... one wanted to protect home... one seemed worried whenever Lincoln would fuss... two of them wanted nothing to do with him and would take off as soon as we came close to them with Lincoln. Haha... that's my parents two dogs. They like to sit on the furniture... we finally found the easiest way to get them to get up and move!!!!!

Anyways....

First Christmas

I know I'm late with this... but, so much has been going on and we've been out of town... and I'm just behind. So, if you're just now getting around to reading my blog make sure you read that last two also (1st tooth and Santa!).

Wow, we survived the holidays!! We started out by going to my parents the weekend before Christmas. Which made it only an hours drive. We just hung out... no Christmas yet. It was a great thing to do because then it made it only a 3 hour drive down to Houston instead of 4... which was a life saver!!! Lincoln hasn't always done very well with long car rides!

Oh, here's a picture of Lincoln with the first Christmas card we received... which happened to be from my parents... I think he liked it!
We left the lakehouse and made our way to Houston on Christmas Eve Day. We headed to Brad's mom's (Gramma) house. We have always done Christmas Eve with her. She makes this amazing lasagna! We have friends over, play games and eat good food... it's tradition! One of our friends had a baby girl not but a couple of weeks after Lincoln was born. Her name is Jai'Anna... I'm not sure how they spell it (sorry!).
They became fast friends....
And, here's a picture of Lincoln on one of his gifts that he got from Gramma. Isn't he cute!?
So, on Christmas day we were off to the Pereira's to be with Brad's Dad's side of the family. Lincoln got to meet his Uncle Taylor for the first time. By the way, Taylor is getting married this weekend... wish Lincoln and I could be there... congrats Taylor and Krista!!
We were having so much fun... but, had to take off. We had another house to go to!! We went to my aunt's house to spend some time with my mom's side of the family... they hadn't met Lincoln yet! Here's one of Lincoln opening a gift from Maw Maw.
And, again... we were having so much fun... but, had to take off. Lincoln was getting tired and we were actually spending the night at Brad's Dad's house. So, we made our way over there, settled in and went to bed. It had been a long day! The day after Christmas we opened gifts with Brad's Dad. We also went down to Kemah to have lunch at this great little Greek place. Driving down there you can still see the damage that Ike caused!! Here's one of us... Lincoln's first view of the ocean.
Pops and Lincoln spending quality time together...
Alright, after Pops and Nona's we drove back to my parents at the lake... for Christmas with my parents, brother and sister-in-law!


After a couple of days there... we finally made it back to Dallas.

Did you get all that??

We had a really really great time! We loved seeing everyone!! And, Lincoln did so well... all the travelling, sleeping in a different place every couple of days, being passed around from stranger to stranger..........

I don't know how he did it!!

I hope everyone else had a merry, Merry Christmas!!!

His 1st Toofie

It happened... on Christmas day... as my son was gnawing on my finger I felt it!! His first little tooth has erupted!!! It's so funny... he moves his mouth different now. And, you can see him using his tongue to feel it. I tried to get a picture of it but it didn't go too well. If you look real close maybe you can see it.
Awwww, my little boy....

Santa

Let's start by saying that I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! We did!!

I want to tell you the story of Lincoln's first encounter with Santa. It's about the things parents will do for their children... really, this wasn't for Lincoln... it was for me. Hmmm?! It'll be a long post. I'll post again real soon about our Christmas!

So, we finally made it to see Santa. I had been going back and forth on whether or not to take Lincoln to see Santa. I thought, "He's too young and won't remember anything." Then, "But, we have to have that picture... as a keepsake... doesn't everyone have one??" And, when a weekend would roll around to where Brad could go with us we would be so busy with other stuff that I'd never bring it up. But, on the last weekend to where we would be able to go I said something to Brad. And, we trotted up to the mall to see Santa. I figured we'd hope in a long line and have our turn in an hour or so. Boy, was I wrong! Who knew it was such a big production?! Not me, of course... which irritated Brad! We were at the mall at 11:30... to get a number... like at Central Market when you're waiting your turn to get meat. Our number was 176... I think. They had started handing numbers out at 9 in the morning. Now, I had gone online and read this... but, just didn't fully understand what it was all about. The guy handing out tickets told us to come back around 5:30 or 6 at NIGHT!! So, Brad wasn't too happy with me. But, we did do a little shopping for Lincoln at these really cute stores... Peek... Aren't You Curious and Play @ PlanetFunk.

So, we shopped, ate lunch and headed back home. Time passed and I never said if I wanted to go back or not. I was afraid that if we tried to go back Brad would not be happy. But, around 4-ish I did say something. And, Brad got all huffy-puffy. He said that if I had wanted to go we should have left already and that we would hit traffic now. I said nevermind. He said no, I'm going to take you to see Santa. I said no... I don't want to go and have missed our number and you be mad! He said no, we're going. And, we went. Got on the freeway drove for a couple of exits and I relaized we didn't have our camera. One 5 x7 was like $15 or something if you used their guy. I got all teary eyed... Brad was going to LOVE ME! All I wanted was a sweet little picture of Lincoln with Santa for his very first Christmas!!!! I told him and he, somehow, remained calmed and turned around. I definetly insisted on not going back... it wasn't meant to be. We got home and got the camara and... headed back to the mall. Brad was insistent on seeing Santa now. That and he had thougt our number was 120 something instead of 170 something which gave us some time. We made it to the mall and......... had to wait!!! They were doing the 160's!!!

Now, I was getting worried that Lincoln wasn't going to make it to our turn. Around 7 or 8 is when he starts to get a little fussy and ready for bed. That and there were all these screaming kids running around making the waiting room loud. I nursed him but he was still getting a little fussy. I left Brad in line and walked out into the mall with Lincoln. Within a couple of minuets it was our turn!! And, we FINALLY got our picture!! Isn't it perfect. We tried to get a picture without his hands in his mouth... actually, the camara person wanted that. We didn't care. That was the mood Lincoln was in at the time... it was true snapshot! We messed around until he started to cry! Should have just left him alone!!

Now that it's all said and done... I'm glad we did it. I hope we didn't torture him too much! I don't want to have too many regrets with raising Lincoln. I know things aren't always going to be perfect or turn out the way we want them. There are going to be things that we want for him that we just won't be able to do. But, when we have a chance to do something let's take it....

It could be the right choice or it could be the wrong choice... we'll never know until we make it!

Getting ready for Christmas!

So, Christmas is a week away. I realized that I haven't blogged in awhile! I recently joined Face Book and have added pictures there but have neglected my poor blog. So, here we are!

We've been very busy! We went looking for a real tree...

But, then we realized we probably didn't have lights or a tree stand anymore... and decided to go with our trusty 12 foot artifical tree. Next year we're going to go cut down our own tree. I've always wanted to that.

We've done our shopping. Speaking of shopping... I've come to the conclusion that I can not judge how big my child is!! I went to buy a few footed pj's for Lincoln. They had 3 mos and 6 mos sizes. I picked up the 6 mos and just thought that there was no way he was that long. So, I bought 3 mos... even though he's 4 mos. Well, he can wear them but not for too much longer! When did he get so big??? I went back and bought a few 6 mos. Here's a picture of him in Christmas pj's that he CAN'T wear anymore...

I've been on the hunt for the most perfect Baby's First ornament. You'd think that would be easy, right. Um, no... I finally decided on one I found online. It'll do! I still haven't bought Lincoln a stocking... but, we won't be here Christmas morning and he doesn't know the difference... so, I think I'm ok. There's so much to think about when you have a baby at the holidays!! Oh, but it's been so much fun. And, it's not even Christmas yet!!!

I've got some wrapping to do... and, start the long process of packing. We're heading to Houston for Christmas. There are still so many people that haven't met him yet! I'm excited to see family but not so excited about the packing and long drive. Oh well, it'll be worth it.

Lincoln rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time last Friday! Now, he does it constantly. He can pull himself forward a little before he gets frustrated. He lifts his little cute hiney trying to get on his hands and knees. But, he's not there yet. He's better at moving himself in a circle. He's also teething!! There's drool, the constant need to bite on something and you can see two little white spots on his lower gum!!! He'll be 5 mos the day after Christmas... crazy!

I can't wait to see what goodies he gets for Christmas! He got a few early Christmas gifts from us... his very first bowl, spoon and mug. So cute!!

Ok, the little guy is waking up.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and safe travels!!!!

First Thanksgiving

So, I'm just now getting around to blogging about our Thanksgiving holiday. We spent it at my parents lakehouse. We went down early to get settled in before my dad's family arrived. I felt like we were moving in... we must have packed everything we owned... just in case!

We took the cats with us since it was going to be a long trip. So, that added to the things we had to pack. The cats look like they're having fun... don't they?!

We did get settled in and really had a wonderful time. Brad and my dad both caught fish.

Here's us trying to stay warm while everyone fished.

We went on nature walks and saw all kids of stuff. We saw hawks, fish, turtles, wild pigs and even a coyote! The coyote walked right by the house. I tried to get a better picture when it was closer but... my camera sucks! It was really cool... and Lincoln just loves being outside!!

Thanksgiving came and all our family was there (on my dad's side). We had a really great time visiting with everyone. They were so happy to get to finally meet Lincoln. Lincoln enjoyed himself as you can tell...

Everyone stayed the night at a hotel in town. That allowed them to come back the next day for lunch (except for the twins). I hate that we only get together once a year!!!!!!!!

We finally made it home... settled in and are back to our normal routine....

THANKS MOM AND DAD FOR AN AMAZING FIRST THANKSGIVING!!

Oh, what a joy....

So, it's been awhile since I've blogged and so much has been going on!

Lincoln is 4 months old! Boy, does time fly! He is so much fun!!! What has he been up to? He "talks" so much now. He has also started squealing... as loud as he can, which he gets a kick out of doing! He's still putting everything into his mouth. The drool is so abundant that we now keep a bib on him all the time just to try and keep his clothes and skin dry!! When that first tooth appears I know I will shed some tears!! And, at last... sweet, sweet giggles. We finally got a good video of him laughing. I'm going to attempt to load to this blog. Let's see how that goes....