Turkey Day

My parents started going to the beach during Thanksgiving, since we don't have a ton of family close by.  This was our second year to join them, and the second year the boys were sick! I can't complain, because this is the first sickness since last winter. Lincoln was still getting over a cough, and Drake came down with the cold while we were there.

We went to Hilton Head, and stayed at a tiny place that was a little bit of a hike to get to the beach. When it was warm enough, we flew kites, played in the sand, and rode bikes on the beach. The boys thought it was great to both ride in the trailer behind Dave's bike. Dave's leg muscles didn't think it was so great the next day! I really wanted a nice picture of the boys for our Christmas cards. I mostly got these kind of shots though.

We found a bike without training wheels at a garage sale and were so excited to teach Lincoln how to ride a bike. He didn't really catch on, but he kept trying!

Mom and Dad were kind enough to let Dave and me go see a movie, Catching Fire. We figured it would be our last date for a while, since the countdown is at 5 1/2 weeks! Baby girl is still nameless though.

I'm worried about how Drake will handle the transition to baby girl. When we talk about her he will say things like, "NO, NO baby." He has also been pushing and hitting little girls, once at the library and a couple times at church. Here are some other phrases we hear multiple times a day from the little monster:

"I do it all myself"
"I fix it with my tools"
"Can I be a firefighter"
"Can we go see Mickey Mouse"
"Can I go on a rocket ship"
"Can I ride a helicopter"

Sometimes I do hear, "I wove you too much, Mommy." I think that's a good thing though.

How Can Anyone Not Like Fall?

We love this time of year! There are tons of fun activities going on, and the weather is perfect.

The boys and I met some of the other MOPS ladies at a pumpkin patch. It is the same place we went strawberry picking, and they do such a good job with kids. There are multiple playgrounds, and my boys favorite part, the tractor ride!

Drake and Lincoln also got to ride another tractor when we went to a dairy farm for a field trip. The farmer was surprised to find an egg in the tractor seat. The kids enjoyed making butter, seeing the cows and goats, and jumping in a sack race.

Mom and Dad swapped houses with Dave and me one weekend. The point was for Drake to get used to being a few days without me, since I'll be in the hospital in January. BB and Papaw took the boys to another pumpkin patch, Mc Donalds, and a Fall Festival downtown. Besides all that, they found time to do some landscaping in our yard and paint our front door red, which Lincoln and I have been wanting to do for a long time. Dave and I ate at a restaurant, went shopping, and saw a movie. It was amazing!

The  boys painted the pumpkins they picked out. Lincoln lives in footie pj's during the colder weather, and Drake wears goggles whenever he can.

Halloween night finally came. The boys were so excited the night before, they stayed up so late. We had been practicing what to say and proper manners, so they were ready! Lincoln was blue Rayman (his favorite video game character) and Drake pulled Spiderman out of the costume box. We just walked up and down our little neighborhood. They still had plenty, and had to dump it out as soon as we got home.

So far the weather in November has been so mild. The boys asked to eat lunch outside on the playground, where we could enjoy the scenery. Now the boys are counting down the days until Thanksgiving. Counting down the days helps distract me from this rather large pumpkin inside my tummy!

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Disney World

For the past 50 days, Drake had been telling us every day, "You know what? We go see Mickey Mouse in ___ days!" He and Lincoln were pretty thrilled when it was finally down to the day we left. We woke them up really early, hoping they would sleep during the 8 hour car ride down. They were just too excited, because Lincoln never shut his eyes, and Drake maybe slept 45 minutes; however, they were fantastic travelers! They watched lots of Disney cartoons on the way down: old Mickey Mouse cartoons and Doc McStuffins (Drake calls it the "Blue Doggy show" because of the blue dragon.

I have to tell on myself that I was probably just as excited as them, and especially when we saw this:

 We went for a swim as soon as we checked into our hotel, the Polynesian. The weather was beautiful and the pool was great because it has a zero entry. After our dip, Grandma and Papa showed up! We had a great dinner at the Kona Cafe that night.

I was determined not to spend a lot of money on souvenirs, so I shopped before Disney.  "Tinkerbell" left the boys gifts every night, so we didn't have to be tempted to purchase anything in the stores. Drake got a huge Mickey Mouse the first night and Lincoln got a Pirates of the Carribean lego set.

We chose our hotel, because we could take both the monorail and ferry boat to the park. It really only took about 5 minutes to get to the park by monorail. The boys had been looking forward to this part, since they saw the monorails as soon as we drove on Disney property.

Drake's first ride was the People Mover's. I took him on it alone, since the others went on one he was too small for. He loved every single ride! As soon as we got done with one, he would call out another one to ride on. His favorite was the Barnstormer, a mini roller coaster. He would raise his arms up and just giggle (as I was told, not as I experienced...no pregnant ladies allowed on that one). 

The famous Teacup ride. Lincoln is staring at the mouse that pops his head out of the teacup.  His smile was so big when the ride started and we went spinning around!

We went on such a great day, because there were no lines. We literally just walked up to the Dumbo ride and only had to wait until the previous ride ended. This was a hit with Drake!

So hard to see, but Lincoln was brave enough to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster. He wouldn't be convinced to ride Splash Mountain, because he heard the people scream on their way down.

Lincoln loves pirates and especially Capt. Jack Sparrow (No, he has not watched the movie, only played lego pirates.). We were excited to take him on the Pirates ride. After, Capt Jack was doing a show, and Lincoln got to "join his crew" at the end. I think Papa has pictures of that, because I don't. Lincoln took everything in around him, and sometimes I thought his head was going to explode. There is so much to see and constant activity!

 

Lincoln's favorite ride was the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride. Each rider had their own laser gun to defeat Zorg. Lincoln's eyes are black, because he did the pirate league, where he got his face painted and took a pirate oath.

Lincoln requested that I make him a Stitch shirt, so Stitch was flattered. Dave and I made 8 shirts for the trip.

 We took the kids back to rest every afternoon and then would come back to the park. Because the hotel was so close to the park, we were able to see the fireworks from the beach area at our hotel. One night we even watched them while we swam in the pool! We also were able to watch the electric water parade from our little beach area.

The park was decorated beautifully for Fall!

The boys got so attached to Dave during this trip. Lincoln would only ride some rides with Dave, and Drake wanted Dave to carry him and play with him in the pool. Our last meal was at Ohana's, where we dined with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey and Pluto. It was a great ending to a wonderful vacation!

Lincoln turns 5

It really doesn't seem possible for me to have a 5 year old. I guess I will feel that way about every birthday my eldest child has. He was a lucky boy this year, because his preschool class went to the fire station on his birthday. Drake and I got to join him. The fire men were so friendly to the kids and even let them climb on their beds! They showed the class all the tools in the firetruck. One man was telling about this special tool that could make their mommies cars into convertables because it was so strong and can cut cars, and Lincoln said, "That's the jaws of life." What?? I asked him how he knew that and he replied, "Fireman Sam." Thank you Netflix!

After the field trip, he was able to open up the present he had been talking about the entire summer, Rayman Legends. This is a video game sequel to Rayman Origins. He just loves the cute characters and although I am not a fan of him playing video games, it is by far the best motivator for him to make good decisions during the day.

We knew a big party wouldn't happen this year, because of our Disney trip the next week. Instead we had some of his favorite people over for quesadillas, mushrooms, and blue cupcakes (Lincoln's menu planning). Tristan came over with his mom, my parents came down, and Rache was there too!

Lincoln loved the card Grandma and Papa sent him. It had talking pirates on it. Most of the pictures I have of Lincoln this night are of him looking at his card.

Tristan's mom had off work the next day, so we introduced them to Discovery Zone. All the boys had a blast. Drake would run away from me and go straight to the fire pole.  He loves sliding down poles at parks, so this was a favorite. Does he want help, absolutely not! He will tell me "No mamma, I do it all by myself."

The End of Summer

I remember how my mom used to cry at the end of summer, because she loved having us home and playing most of the day. I understand how she felt know that is the end of our summer.

The boys had to get some last minute swimming in our bathtub. Lincoln has done so well this year at the pool! He can swim under water, come up for breaths and put his head back under. He jumps in without me catching him too. Drake is absolutely fearless and will tell me, "No Mommy" if I try to catch him or hang on to him. He has some floaties that go around his chest and arms and just wants to be left alone to swim.

 Lincoln started pre kindergarten this year. I'm so relieved that he loves it: his favorite part of the day is recess, where he can chase his friends and run around. He comes home with very sweaty hair and dirty shoes. We just have to work on him adjusting to the classroom setting and listening to other adults.

We have started to transition drake to a bed in Lincoln's room. They talk and play for a while before they fall asleep. It is fun for me to go up there once it is quiet to see where they are sleeping. Sometimes drake is on the love sac, sometimes both boys are on the same bed. One night I came upstairs to warn drake that is he wouldn't stop being so loud, I would have to put him in his old room. Lincoln was the first to say, "no mom, don't take drake out!" I'm so glad they love each other!

One reason I needed drake out of the crib, is because he is getting too heavy for me to lift up and over. Here is a belly shot, where I only have 17 more weeks of being pregnant.

Drake is talking so much more, and his little personality is really coming though. He can be so sassy! He loves to tell me "no" when I ask him to do something. The other day he told me, " My tummy hurts." When I asked him why he said, "Because my tummy hurts!" He will also ask me "why" when I correct his behavior. He always wants it to be his turn to say the prayer, and will yell "my turn!" but once he starts, he uses his sweet prayer voice.

Lincoln has started soccer this fall. He is the oldest and biggest on his team, so he dominates. It's pretty bad when he gets benched after a few minutes, because he has already scored so many goals. When they let him back in. The coaches will hold him back to give some other kids a turn and then let him loose when the other team is about to score. He is just so determined to get that ball in the goal. I hope he keeps it up and its not just his age, because I'm already seeing scholarship dollar signs!

Sweet Note

Lincoln gave this sweet note to me yesterday. It so doesn't matter that he spelled Mom wrong, or that the picture of me looks like a zombie: I treasure it!

He has said some really tender things to me lately. He asked me about the baby moving, gave my tummy a kiss, and said "I love this baby!" Today, he asked me about when we gave him his name Lincoln, so I told him the story of him being born, and then Drake. He replied, "oh I just love Drake."  This baby girl and Drake are so lucky to have him as a big brother. He also can see when I am sad about something. He will tell me, "I have a surprise you are really going to like," and then gives me a hug.

All of these sweet moments really helps make up for the times he can be a stinker!

Third Time's a Charm

It's a GIRL!!!! I still can't believe it. I still just keep repeating it to myself. I still get excited when I think about buying dresses, bows, and tights with ruffles on the bottom!

I can't ever tell what the ultra sound pictures are supposed to be, but I figure I should post them.

I really thought it was going to be a boy, but I would have these fleeting thoughts like, "you know it just might be a girl." All of my symptoms have been different, but I have always heard, each pregnancy is different. With my boys, I was never nauseous, but I was feeling pretty seasick for 15 weeks with this one. I have also had headaches almost every day and heartburn after certain foods, which I never had with the boys. The one different thing that has been nice is that my skin has looked fabulous! My due date is Jan 16th, but I will go in a week early for my third and final c-section.

Surprise Visitors

Lincoln was bummed to leave New Jersey, so I told him some surprise visitors were coming to our house later that month. He threw around a ton of guesses, but was still very surprised to see Grandma and Papa at the airport. I video tapped his reaction, while I was driving. He started kicking his feet and put his hands to his mouth when he saw Papa. It was so cute!

It had been Christmas since we saw them last, so Drake was a little shy in the beginning. Lincoln talked and talked the whole way back to the house. It didn't take Drake very long to warm up, because I had a Young Women's meeting I had to go to that night, and Dave's flight was delayed. Grandma and Papa got to put the boys down for bed that night.

Dave didn't get in until 2 am, so the next day we took it easy. Thursday, we went to the Aviation Museum and IKEA. The boys always like going to the "airport museum" and it was fun to show Papa around. We even got to try out the inflatable slide/raft.

Our bed needed to be replaced, so it was great to have Grandma and Papa at IKEA to watch kids while we tried out different mattresses and checked out. While standing in the check-out line, I looked over and the boys were like billy goats: climbing all over the boxes and outdoor furniture. It is so nice not to sink into the middle of the bed now!

Friday was our day at the US National White water Center. This is such an amazing place, and it's only 10 minutes from our house! Olympic athletes come to train here and they do time trial events also. Lincoln had been counting down the days until he weighed 45 pounds: even weight to ride on the zip lines. This was a great way to motivate him to eat his dinner! Grandma, Papa, and Dave joined Lincoln on the zip lines.

 Drake was so ticked he couldn't go on the zip lines, so he made up his own rope's course.

 Lincoln also got to try out rock climbing. I am so impressed at how brave he was to try new things!

After lunch and climbing on some rocks, we were excited to go on our "War Canoe."

 Turns out it was more like a scenic ride. We were hoping for some water guns or something!

After a whole day in the sun, we were exhausted; however, we still found some energy to go eat BBQ with my mom and dad! We celebrated Papa's birthday the next day, and not much else as the weather was horrible. On their last day, Papa, Dave, and my dad all drove in the truck to pick up a huge lathe. This was a 3 person job, so I'm glad the 3 dudes could do that together. I can't wait to see the beautiful things Dave will create with that lathe, even though it makes it a little tricky walking in the garage!!

We are incredibly lucky to have such wonderful family and to live during these modern times, where we can travel across the country quickly. We are already counting down the days until we see our surprise visitors again!

Mother's Day-Present

One of my favorite things about Mother's Day and Father's Day, is hearing the Primary kids sing songs for everyone at church. Lincoln did not disappoint this year. He was the most energetic and enthusiastic singer up there. We had many "compliments" on his singing. One woman told me, "I bet he is work, huh?" Dave made me a nice dinner and installed some shelves in our 2nd pantry (it was the best gift!). I tried to have a nice shot of me and the kids, but we ended up with only a funny one.

The kids and I met a couple other families new to our town. They both have 4 year old boys, which has been such a blessing! We threw a Memorial Day party and invited our new friends. Just like most other boys, Drake loves to hang out with the big boys.

I took the kids strawberry picking the day after Memorial Day. A friend told me how beautiful the strawberries were and you can just grab them by the handful. I was hesitant to take both boys by myself, but decided the strawberries were worth it. Let me brag for 2 sentences please. My boys were wonderful! They followed all the rules; didn't run in between the paths; didn't grab the green strawberries; and stayed right by me. I wanted to yell to the other people there, "See my children. Do you see that they are following rules?" We picked a couple boxes full and then got to play on all the fun playground equipment on the farm.

This has been the craziest summer: we have had non-stop rain! Our pool membership is barely getting used, but we did sneak in some swim lessons for Lincoln. He actually did really well, and is comfortable putting his face under the water if he has goggles. He was also very brave and jumped off the diving board a couple times.

We celebrated Drake's 2nd birthday at Tweetsie Railroad. My parents also met us there. Luckily, we had nice weather, and the boys had a great time. It didnt' really surprise me Drake wanted to go on the bigger rides that Lincoln rode on. He even went on the Cyclone, where he was squeezed between my mom and Dave. I remember Maxine and I went on a ride like this at the fair. We screamed/laughed the whole time! Drake was just kind of stone faced.

Drake enjoyed opening presents and being sung to. I made him a doggy cake, which I have no pictures of. I also don't have any picture of Dave and the boys on Father's Day. I guess that was Dave's present this year! I did make him a yummy peach pie though.

I love fireworks, but Dave is not a huge fan. I decided to take Lincoln with me to watch the fireworks at our downtown, July 4th celebration. We played on the playground, danced to a live band, shared a cupcake and watched the fireworks in the rain. It was such a fun mommy/son date.

Unfortunately, Dave was swamped with work, so my parents drove the kids and I up to New Jersey for a little family reunion. We left at 3 a.m., hoping the kids would sleep in the car. They were too excited about the road trip, and being in a cool rental van, that their little eyes were wide open, even in the dark. Instead of sleeping, they watched Max and Ruby. We made a stop at Roadside America, a place with tons of model trains. My mom would visit there when she was a little girl, and I have lots of memories of stopping there as well.

 

 

Reed, Chelsea, my uncle's family, my grandma and parents had a fantastic trip. The weather was great: we went swimming in the lake everyday. Drake has no fear of the water, and would jump right in from the dock. My cousins loved playing with the boys. Lincoln was in heaven when he got to spend the night at Graham's house twice. It is always hard to leave family, but it was so nice to get home to Dave.

 Tons of pictures to come!