"stay"cation

A few weeks ago we had our very first family staycation! Here is a little glimpse back to what we did....

We started out going to Lake Limestone to spend the weekend at a friend's lake house. We had a good time hanging out with friends, swimming in the lake, enjoying good food and playing games!


We left from there and headed to Austin. This is were Brad is working for now. This was Lincoln's first stay in a hotel. He did really well! His absolute favorite things where to run down the halls and push the buttons on the elevator. Seriously, he was SOOOOO excited... every time!! I tried to get video of him walking down the hall... but, of course, it doesn't quite capture the pure joy he really must have felt!!




So, while Brad was working Lincoln and I hung out and explored downtown Austin. We took walks in the mornings while the weather was still bearable. We checked out the Children's Museum. I wasn't too impressed with it... definitely better for older kids (but even still...). On Monday mornings they were opened just to little ones. We didn't make it there to check it out though. But, they did have a section for little ones available at all times.
This is the girl that tried to take the paintbrush out of Lincoln's hand. Seriously?!?! Who taught her manners????
We never made it to any story times. It seemed like they ALL fell around the times when Lincoln was napping. And, for those two weeks... Lincoln was actually napping at his normal times consistently (can't say that now!).

We went to Hobby Lobby and bought some art supplies. So, we did some coloring. Lincoln loved playing in the kitchen. There were all sorts of pots and pans. And, a colander that he seemed to think was a chair!
We met Brad for lunch most of the time. And, look what we found...
Like the plunger we found for Lincoln? It is just the right size!!!

The weekend that we were in Austin we went to Horseshoe Bay... for a mini-staycation within a staycation. We ate some really great home cookin at this little place... can't think of the name. I'm sure Brad remembers. Anyways... Brad played some tennis. We hung out at the pool...
went for walks... checked out the birds...
and the Andy Roddick tennis court.
Then, we headed back to downtown Austin for another week. We then went by my parent's house to pick up the cats (they had been taking care of them). AND, after ALL that... headed back home!!!

Ah, home....

We have tons more pictures. So, go check them out here! They are under 12 months old. There's a cute one of Lincoln trying on daddy's shoes... one with the capital building in the background... and one of Lincoln eating some of daddy's soup (which I really like for some reason).

Enjoy!!

When it rains... it POURS!!!

This has been a hard week....

Last Sunday Lincoln started to run a fever. He ran a fever off and on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. My mom came up to help love on my baby boy on Tuesday so I could go and get some groceries. See, we had returned home on Sunday after being out of town for two weeks (I'll post about that later)... so, we had no food in the house and I had ran out of left over pizza from Sunday night. Anyways, I wasn't too worried about the fever because I knew it was just his body fighting off a virus. When his fever wasn't high he was still moving around, playing and interacting with me. And, even when his fever was high he didn't seem that bad... just wanted some extra lovin and cuddling! But, when Wednesday came and he was still running a fever I decided to take him to the pedi just to make sure there wasn't something more going on. Went to the pedi and she said it was more than likely a virus and that his fever would break today (Wednesday) or tomorrow... and that a rash might appear. We tested for the flu just to make sure... no flu. She also said that his throat was raw but, not like strep. Well, she was right (I guess that's why she's the doctor). Wednesday night we were fever free and no fever on Thursday. And, the rash did appear! And, by the way... Lincoln hated the pedi visit. Screamed his head off. It made me cry. And, if you ask me, that's why his throat was red!

So, I thought... yea! We made it... my little guy will start to feel better now!! Um, that morning (Thursday... the day his fever broke... the day he was suppose to get some relief) he had one small bout of diarrhea. He fell and hit his cheek... which left a lovely bruise. He fell again and hit the space under his nose... which left a mark that made him look like Hitler. And then... the worst... he burnt three of his precious little fingers. I was holding him and went to turn off the baby steamer. Before I knew it he had lunged forward and stuck his hand in the steam. It was the most awful thing. He was in so much pain and nothing I was doing seemed to help. I was useless and I just felt horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was screaming like I've never heard him scream before... it was killing me... it was awful, awful... horrible!

He finally calmed down. We continued to put aloe vera on his fingers... which he now thought was funny. Go figure. And, it was time for a nap. After nap Lincoln fell and hit his other cheek... left a mark And, later on... he fell and hit his ear... which left a rug burn. If you've lost count... that's four falls and four marks... and, let's not forget the burnt fingers... and the diarrhea... all in ONE day! Could it get any worse???

Yes.

Brad came home that night. Lincoln was irritable and cranky. I couldn't really blame him. He had had a rough day. He has been more irritable since his fever broke than when he was running the actual fever!

Friday... no falls. Better disposition. But, still irritable and cranky in the evening.

This morning, Saturday (no, it's not over) I got this brilliant idea to let Lincoln try eggs. He seemed to like them. He ate eggs, broccoli, potatoes and fruit. I went to put him to sleep for his nap a little later. And, as he was drifting off to sleep in my arms... he started to throw up. He threw up every last bit of what he had eaten that morning. It didn't seem to bother him quite as much as I thought it would or as much as it bothered me! We both had to strip and get cleaned up. Brad got to clean up the carpet. Once cleaned up... Lincoln got to sleep.

No more eggs for Lincoln!

The rest of the day went much smoother. No fever, no falls with bumps and bruises, no burns, no diarrhea, and no more vomiting. We even made it out of the house to run a few errands. The irritability and crankiness has subsided considerably. And, it's night time... he's asleep.

Tomorrow starts a new week.

Randomness....

We went to Whole Foods (downtown Austin) yesterday to eat dinner and do some shopping.

I was looking for the coconut oil. This guy asked if he could help. Sure, why not... so, I told him what I was looking for and he pointed the way. I asked which he thought was the best for cooking. Blah, blah blah... skip to the end... after I said thank you he said... "do you know that margarine is one molecule away from being a plastic and flies won't land on it?!"

Hm, no... I didn't know that.....

Ewww!

Sewing... who knew!

I decided that I wanted to chart Lincoln's growth over the years. I didn't want to mark it on the wall... well, because when you move you can't take the wall with you! I searched online for a chart to buy. They were either cheap and ugly or expensive and not as ugly, but not cute enough to spend THAT kind of money.

So, I thought I could make a growth chart. But, I don't sew. I asked my mom pretty please! I didn't really think the whole thing through... had an idea, just went with it and made changes as we went along... which, I don't think my mom appreciated!!

But, we got it done. Well, my mom got the sewing part done. I have to say... it looks fabulous!! I don't have pictures of it yet because it's not all decorated. I still need to mark off the inches, stencil Lincoln's name and sew on a few buttons here and there for color. The fabric that makes up the chart is alternating squares of tan and brown... except, they aren't perfect squares. The edges that meet are cut at an angle and have a tad of fringe. If that makes sense?! Each year we will make a hand print. I'm planning on using shades of green, orange and blue for the hands and buttons. Lincoln's first year hand print is green!! So cute!!!

Anyways, the reason for this post is to a) say thanks to my mom... who is awesome!! And, b) to show this video of Lincoln watching my mom sew. Apparently, sewing is hilarious!!!

A Kleenex Box

Today, Lincoln played with a empty kleenex box for 45 minutes!

As Lincoln was taking a bath, I used the last kleenex. So, I got a new box, tore off the cardboard piece on top, put it in the empty box and placed the empty box on the floor. After bath time, Lincoln found the empty kleenex box with the cardboard piece inside. It made a lovely sound as he started to shake the box up and down. He apparently loved it... he walked around and around and around his room shaking the box. He'd go behind the rocker, between the ottoman and rocker, out of his room, into his room, on to his bed, off his bed... just shaking that box.

He sat down beside me and I took on of his rings (that go to the cone thing... whatever that's called) and dropped it into the kleenex box. He looked at the box and then shook it. WOW. A new sound!! So, he shook it and shook it. Then, Lincoln decided to try and take the ring out of the box... which, proved to be a tad tricky. He had to hold the ring and pull his hand just right to get the ring out without dropping it back into the box. He tried and tried and tried... and then, out it came! He took all of the rings (smaller ones that had been lying on the floor) and put them into the box. Then, he'd take one out and put it back in. Take another out and put it back in. Then, on one pull out came the cardboard piece! Oh, this was different... he explored it for awhile. Put it back into the box! And... pull out... a ring! No, that's not what he wanted. He tossed the ring to the side. He reached in to find the cardboard piece and pulled out... a ring. Toss it aside. He continued to pull out the rings and toss them aside till he FINALLY found that cardboard piece.

He abandoned the kleenex box. He had a new treasure. Oh, sweet cardboard piece. He carried it around... transferring it from hand to hand... turning it over to see it from all angles. He now carried it from room to room... around the rocker and in between the ottoman and rocker. On to the bed... where he laid his little head down and rested... with that precious cardboard piece in his hand.

Then, we went to bed....

Seriously....

Why does it take me so long to blog about something. I mean, I realize I have an ALMOST ONE YEAR OLD in the house... but, he does sleep.

So, there are several things that I have been wanting to blog about. I'll try to get it all done tonight!

First up....

From pretty early on we let Lincoln play with a spoon. We then started putting food on his spoon and he would then put the spoon with the food on it in his mouth. Now, he's practicing getting the food on his spoon and into his mouth all by himself. Still needs a little some work!





Lincoln was an early walker... but, seems to be a late talker. No meaningful words yet. But, he has been practicing new sounds this past week. It's a little long....



Last week we had a hail storm. At least, I think it was last week. I lose track of time very easily these days! It was very VERY loud... that's what you get when you live in a metal house, sky light and hail. It was so loud that it freaked one of our cats out. She came barreling down the stairs, ran across the room into the wall, back across the room and down stairs to the first floor. Lincoln and I went to check on her and found her hiding between the tub and toilet!!






And, lastly... meet the two newest members of our family...


For those that may not know we have two cats, a turtle, a gecko and now two russian dwarf hamsters. The gecko is in a long tank on the top of a stand. On the bottom of the stand was a small tank which use to house the gecko... so, that tank was empty. The turtle is on top of a file cabinet in the study. So, both animals were too high for Lincoln to look into by himself. He enjoys watching the turtle and gecko. He points at the tanks and says "uh." We pick him up and let him watch. But, he'd go to the tank that sat on the bottom of the stand, squat down and peer into it looking for something... with those big blue eyes... and there was NOTHING in there!! It made me sad. So, I told Brad we should get a hamster. He said no. Then, later on Lincoln peered into the empty cage again and I told Brad... then, Brad said yes! And, off to the pet store we went. I already had the set up from when I was working at school so we just needed the hamsters.


They don't really have names yet. Brad wants to call the white one Large Marge b/c she's really big. But, I'm thinking that's not really appropriate!! So, we're working on names. But, regardless... we have a happy boy!!

July 4th

Let me start by saying that I can not believe that my dad is 60!! I remembered his birthday... June 29th... but, failed to realize that he turned 60!! I mean, he just doesn't seem 60. I would have never have guessed 60!! Sorry dad, did I mention how old you really are a few too many times?!?! I love you and again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
We were at the lake for this fourth of July. On the drive in Brad and Lincoln got out at the side of the road to talk to some cows.
My grandparents, aunt Connie, uncle Nelson and cousins Blake, Tyler and Travis spent the weekend (nights) at the Country. They came and hung out with us at the lake. The guys spent a lot of time out on the lake wake boarding (one word or two?). The rest of us just hung out around the house... in the a/c!

Here, Lincoln's playing peek-a-boo with Mawmaw.Lincoln enjoying a plum!We left Saturday night. Brad had a flight out the next morning and we had to be home early that morning anyways so we could watch Roger Federer make history and become the best tennis player of all time!! Before we left my mom, Lincoln and I went outside to light a few sparklers.
So, we headed home with patriotic music on the radio and fireworks going off all around us....



ps... just because it's so darn cute....