a better balloon experience

 Remember Lincoln's face in the picture from the last time I got him a balloon? So sad. Today I went to the craft store again and decided to try again. I mean, every kid needs to appreciate a good balloon. He loved it this time. Maybe it was because it was blue. Last time was yellow. Maybe he doesn't like yellow (just kidding). Anyway, look at how happy he is with his balloon.

On another note, I had to get a different high chair for Lincoln too. The other one (which I got because it was the cheapest) was not making the cut. Lincoln immediately loved this too. He was so excited to have lunch in his new chair. Man, I never get him to smile for pictures, so these ones are totally thrilling for me.

One more thing. Just because it's pretty funny. We have these little cheapo plastic ornaments that I let Lincoln play with. He loves to put them in his mouth by the string, and just hold them there. He will crawl around with the ornament just dangling from his mouth. (Sorry for the blurry pic)

T-day and some other recent stuff

We had a fun turkey day. We ended up eating with a couple of friends (thanks, guys!). Derick and I both enjoyed cooking the night before and day of. Derick tackled the turkey (which was so YUMMY) and I made pies, including my first-ever, completely from scratch apple pie, complete with a lattice crust. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Our little fam in our warm and cozy sweaters (We already had these, but I love how we coordinate without planning it and they are all fallish in color).

Lincoln with his Thanksgiving feast. He ate really well, so.....

...he got to have pumpkin pie for dessert.

Lincoln has been pulling up on everything for a little while now. I love going in to his room to get him when he is standing up waiting for me. He is upset in this pic because I am taking the pic and not getting him out. HA! Most of the time, however, he is totally happy when we go in to get him and I just think it's adorable how he just stands there, looking at the door, anticipating the minute when we will enter the room.

Happy dude.

We have been lucky. For some reason, Lincoln doesn't care too much about the Christmas tree or the gifts. He ignores them most of the time. Occasionally, however, he will make his way over.

He ripped one of his gifts. Here's a sneaky peek.

Lincoln has been lovin' the laundry basket lately. He likes to take rides around the living room in it. And I think that this pic is hilarious because he is just chillin' with his blanket in his mouth.

I have thought that Lincoln has been teething for like a month now. I have been expecting to find the two top ones coming in, but they haven't made their debut yet. We will see if it happens soon though. Lincoln has been a little slobbery monster for a few weeks. If you look closely at this pic you can see a string of drool from his mouth to the laundry basket. Ha ha ha.

Snuggling with Daddy.

It has snowed a couple of times in the last few days. Here's what we woke up to this morning.

BRRRRRRR

Also, guess what we are doing next week? Derick has to take a business trip to NYC, and Lincoln and I get to go with him! Derick and I have each been on our own, so now it will be fun to take Lincoln. Plus, Derick has been taking so many business trips lately that I am excited to be able to join him on this one and not have to stay home! Can't wait!

the highs and lows of living in the Salt Lake Valley

Or maybe just the lows. Will you please look at our projected "high" temperature for Wednesday and Thursday? This is not Arizona girl weather. I think I may cry on those days. I think I may cry right now.

Happy Thanksgiving.

FIRST Christmas tree

This is Lincoln's first-ever Christmas tree, but it's also our first "good" Christmas tree. For the last 3 Christmases, we have just had a little dinky 2-footer. We bought our new one last year after Christmas at half price, and we couldn't wait to set it up. We were going to wait until the day after Thanksgiving, but last Saturday we had the whole day together and I decided that I just wanted it up. I was too excited! 

Derick and I set up the tree while Lincoln was taking a nap. When he woke up, we were so excited to have him come out and see it. We had him crawl out into the living room. Here is the cute little guy peeking around the corner at us.

Here he is noticing the tree. Such a sweet face.

He honestly didn't seem to care about it all that much at first. Derick and I were desperately trying to get him to pay attention to it (we should have just been thankful that he didn't care, huh?).

Anyway, after just a couple of minutes, he decided that it was really cool and made his way over.

 At first, he just ate one of the branches.

 Then, he decided that he wanted an ornament. I tried to put some that I thought he would like (and that were kid-friendly) towards to bottom. But he didn't want one of my soft, plush, baby-friendly ornaments.

 He had to have a shiny ball. Of course. Finally he reached far enough and just ripped it right off the tree. Thank goodness this one is plastic.

 Then he noticed the tree skirt and all of the awesome pom-poms on it. Yes, he is lifting it off the ground with his mouth right here.

Lincoln now loves the tree, but pays the most attention when it's lit up. He is so fun and we love his curiosity. So far we are loving our new tree. I am busy adding other decor to the house! Pillows and a banner are in the works, and I just hung the stockings this morning! I love Christmas!

a few firsts

FIRST time sitting on the couch alone to watch something. (Of course I had to stay close) So cute.

FIRST time helping Daddy unpack from a business trip.

FIRST bloody owie (sorry for those of you that are weak-stomached).

 This is just a bad cardboard cut. It looks worse that it really was.

FIRST winter beanie that actually fit. (He is wearing size 2T-5T in hats). And I guess I could say that this picture is the FIRST where he looks like a thug. Ha.

FIRST time eating lasagna. YUM. Derick had to help him eat it b/c it was too slimy for his little hands to get to his mouth. He eats real food every day, but every kid has to have a first spaghetti/lasagna picture, right?

FIRST balloon. Ok, so for some reason he wasn't happy about it to begin with. Not happy at all.

I don't exactly know if it was the balloon or something else, but when I took it away he calmed down. Anyway, I am happy to report that he liked it once we got home.

FIRST lollipop. I don't think I need to explain how much he LOVED it.

soon to come...FIRST Christmas tree!

the heater

Derick and I were cracking up last night thinking about this heater? Why?

Well, Lincoln's room is unusually freezing. For some reason, his room won't heat up like the rest of the house. So we went to Costco and bought this heater for his room.

The funny thing is that Lincoln is obsessed with it. Seriously. He's fascinated. Sometimes we will hear him talking while in his crib. If we peek in on him, he will be looking at the heater.

At night when I nurse him before bed, he will eat for a couple minutes, and then pop up to stare at the heater. Then he will go back to eating, and a few minutes later he will pop up to look at the heater again.

Sometimes he tries to crawl up and touch it. Thankfully it doesn't get hot on the outside, so I know he would be fine. He changes his mind though when he gets warm air blown in his face. 

He is so hilarious. We get a kick out of his curiosity. Of all things...the heater?

pumpkin whoopies

If you want a good pumpkin treat, try these. They are seriously delish. You will not be disappointed.

I tried them last year for the first time and they were a hit (especially for Derick) so I have more in the oven right now. YUM.

You can get the recipe here.

it's working!

Oh my goodness...remember how I had to start up this blog because our old one got deleted??

Well, I was logging into our blog today and I accidentally clicked on our old one (because it still was showing under my login, so I have to choose which one). Anyway, it was there!!!!  What the heck!??  I about died a couple months ago because it said that we had deleted it and I couldn't get access, and today, all of a sudden, it's working!!!!

Now, what to do....I think I will just keep the new one going. But I am so happy because at least now I can make our annual blog book and have all of the posts from the old blog! Hooray!

a THORN in my side

I am plagued by these {sorry for the blurry pic}:

What are they, you ask? Goat head thorns.

I love our neighborhood. It's quiet, and quite charming if you ask me. However, despite the many homeowners that take pride in their yards, there are many that don't {the city could probably do better too}.

These thorns are EVERYWHERE. 

More than I love our neighborhood, I love my stroller.

And I mean I LOVE it. It has been terrific. However, those aired up tires have been abused since moving to Lehi. I have gotten like 5 flats in 2 months {and I have never gotten one before moving here}. I think that the bike shop owner around the corner is getting quite sick of me. Frankly, I am getting quite sick of opening up my wallet for him.

Thorns, thorns, go away!

all smiles

Grammy got some good smiley pics of Lincoln while she was here. I am so happy to have them because I can never get Lincoln to smile for me.

playin' with Papa

such a round face! Look at that blonde hair, those blue eyes, and those red lips! He is like a male sleeping beauty! {Babe, don't get mad at me for the comparison, but it's true. :-)}.

I jumped out from behind a door and made him laugh for this one. I think this is a cute pic b/c it's kind of like a candid 3-generation picture of Derick, his dad, and Lincoln.

another project...Christmas tree skirt

I finished our Christmas tree skirt tonight! You are probably wondering how I got two big projects done in two days. This has been in the works since July and has been nearly done for a couple of months. I just finished it tonight. Derick is out of town on a business trip for 6 days, so I fill my nights with projects after Lincoln goes to sleep. 

Anyway, the tree skirt has a TON of flaws, but it should be good enough. The way that I wanted it was kind of hard to execute, so I am proud of how I did for just kind of making it up as I went along.

Oh, and you may be wondering why there isn't an opening so that it can wrap around. Well, I think that with the tree I will be able to just stick the bottom of the trunk through, and then attach the feet underneath. If not, then I will make a cut from the outside to the middle and hem it up to make it be able to wrap.

Here's a close-up of the fabrics (from JoAnn)

My favorite part? The pom-pom trim. I love this stuff.

Now I can't wait to use it! For our last 3 Christmases together, Derick and I have only had a tiny 2 or 3-foot tree. Last year, after Christmas, we went and got one 50% off to use this year {I would rather have a real tree, but the fake is just easier}. After buying the tree, I immediately started making some ornaments, and now we have our tree skirt to complete the ensemble! 

latest project...Birdie Sling

 Today I finished making this cute bag (Birdie Sling)...

...using this pattern.

It was actually pretty simple. It took quite a bit of time (which could be because I am such an amateur), but wasn't hard to understand or put together at all. Trust me. I am not good at sewing at all and it was pretty easy for me. To make the project fairly inexpensive, I got fabric from Hobby Lobby (at 30% off) and instead of using a printed fabric for the interior, I just used a solid brown fabric. I figure that it's hard enough to find stuff inside anyway, so why would you want a crazy pattern inside to make it even harder?

If you want to make one, you can find the pattern here (or on ebay or amazon...he he).

I think it's a good mommy-on-the-go bag, because it is cute, but can also hold lots of stuff!