one of these things is not like the others...

Can you tell which item is out of place here?

It's a good thing that I was putting away dishes and found them. Otherwise I would have gone crazy when it came time to run errands today! HA! Silly Lincoln.

{PS...please ignore how dirty the shelves look. They are just stained. Oh, the perks of renting. I am not that nasty, I promise.}

 My birthday {27!} was last week, and I don't like talking about myself, so I usually don't talk about my birthdays, but I wanted to thank Derick for making it great! Lincoln was sick so we didn't go out much, but Derick got some doughnuts from the Lehi bakery (delish) and then made me a delicious dinner of honey mustard pork chops and mashed potatoes {he is such a good cook!}. Tomorrow I am going to a spa and he is watching Lincoln. Thanks, Babe!  I also wanted to show what I bought yesterday with some birthday. Love it! I am trying to make Springtime come faster.

Oh, and little bit of news...I am gonna have a new sister-in-law! My brother, Greg, got engaged a couple of days ago. He and Karla are going to get married the end of May in Mesa! Yay! So for those of you living down there, we will be there in May!

11 months

Lincoln turned 11 months yesterday. One more month and I have a one-year-old! He is such a fun little guy with a crazy/goofy personality. Here are a few things about him:

1. He is so good at standing on his own right now. We just need to get him to take those first steps!
2. Yesterday, he tried to take a step. He failed, but at least he tried.
3. He dances to any kind of noise. It doesn't have to be music.
4. He says "mom," "dad," "ball," and "moo." And I think that he sometimes says "dat?" to ask us what something is.
5. Every time I open the refrigerator, he makes a mad dash towards it to try to get all the treasures inside. He does the same thing with the pantry too.
6. He always finds things off of the floor to put in his mouth (even when I vacuum and sweep a million times a day!) and when I try to get it out, he bites my finger. He cut me one time because he bit so hard!
7. He is a picky eater. It's been a bit rough. But at least he eats and I think he's getting better. I hope.
8. At night, or before a nap, I will go to his crib and pull his blanket through the bars just a little bit so that he can see it. He thinks that this is so funny and he crawls as fast as he can to get to it.
9. He won't let me put things in his mouth anymore. He has to do it himself.
10. We can ask him where his ball, blanket, or cow (yes, cow...it's a puppet) are, and he will stop, look around the room, and go find them.
11. When Derick gets home from work, Lincoln lets out an excited shriek when he hears the door opening, and runs (well, crawls really fast) to Derick when he walks in.
12. He can walk across the full length of any room with his walker.
13. He loves to wrestle. If I am lying on the floor, he will come over and crawl all over me. It's pretty hilarious. The sad part is that half of the time I can't get up because he is stronger than I am! ha ha
14. Sometimes I will hear him giggle and when I look over, he is laying flat on the floor, kicking his legs, thinking that he is so funny, and waiting for me to come play with him. It's hilarious.
15. He loves to help me do laundry. He loves to stand up at the washer and pull out everything that I just put in. And he thinks he is so cool when he does it.
16. When he's in his high chair, I usually try to get the mopping done. He is so fascinated by the mop. If he can't see it, he will wriggle any which way just so that he can.
17. He is obsessed with TV remotes. And he now knows our hiding places. He always finds them.
18. His hair is getting to be in the out-of-control/doesn't look that great shaggy stage. We are debating on whether we should cut it or not. I mean, it's so cute, but it would look cute cut too.
19. He is starting to pay better attention to books, but he mostly still just crawls away to find another toy.
20. Peek-a-boo is still a favorite. Especially when we hide around the ottoman.
21. If he gets hot (like while in the car with his coat on) he definitely lets you hear about it.
22. He is learning how to throw (pass) a ball. When I ask him to throw it to me, he reaches out and hands it to me. Too, too cute.
23. He loves asparagus. Of all things!
24. Blueberries are basically his favorite food. When he sees me pull the container out of the fridge, he joyfully kicks his legs and lets out a squeal and I can't get them to him fast enough!
25. He is learning to kick a ball. Derick's fantasy is coming true.
26. He's been doing this for a while, but he will reach around in the shopping cart and grab things that I put in.
27. He digs through the diaper bag/primary bag to find paper to eat. The kid loves paper.
28. I can't find any shoes to fit him because his feet are so fat! He would need like a 7 or 8 for them to be wide enough, but of course they are way too long. So he doesn't really have any shoes and the online search for soft-soled shoes must begin!
29. He is a snacker. He loves just eating snacks. That doesn't help my "needing to get him to eat better" cause. But it's so cute watching him with the munchies.
30. Whenever Derick picks him up, Lincoln is so excited but tries to act "cool" so you can tell that he's hiding a little smile. It's absolutely hilarious.
31. He can clap now! I love it!

thank heaven for bathtubs

In this situation (and many others), Derick and I are thankful for the bathtub.

I think that Lincoln is thankful for spaghetti.

read this article

My cousin shared this article, and I loved it so much that I had to share it too. Read it. It's so true. Hope you like it!

our funny boy

First off, now that Lincoln's hair is getting so long, look at how curly it gets in the back! It usually gets the curliest after bath time and will flatten out a bit after he sleeps, but still. We all know it was bound to happen sometime.

Lincoln loves when I do laundry. He thinks that washing machine is so fascinating. He loves to reach in and pull out all the clothes that I just put in, or reach in to the empty washer to feel the texture of the metal inside. When it's running, he loves watching it spin.

The goofball also loves to climb on to the piles of dirty clothes and lay down on them. Seriously. It's the funniest thing. He has done it several times lately. I don't know what he loves about it, but he thinks it's so fun. He will get a big old smile and a little giggle because he thinks he is being so funny.

A couple of weeks ago, Lincoln had a fever. We never figured out why. We gave him some Tylenol to break the fever and it worked, but he didn't have any other symptoms of being sick, and he was fine after that. Weird. Anyway, look at this sad face.

This picture just breaks my heart. He is trying so hard to smile for the camera (I didn't even ask him to) but he just can't get one out.

Lincoln has also been doing this crazy thing where he purses his lips tightly together to make a pouty face, and then huffs and puffs. It's hilarious. I got this picture of him doing it the other day.

just some pictures

Remember the tunnel that we got for Lincoln to crawl through? Well, the other day he decided to crawl through it with it still being folded up. You can still see his foot sticking out of the bottom in this pic.

What a goofy kid. He did get out on his own though! 

He loves to play with his Mickey Mouse walker toy that he got for Christmas. Sometimes he will just crawl with one hand, and the other hand on the toy and push it around the house. Here he is pushing it into the bathroom. For some reason he LOVES the bathroom and kitchen.

He is also getting good at walking with it too. It's so cute.

Sunday #1

Well, yesterday was our first Sunday teaching our class. We have 10 kids on our list, but only 4 came. Actually, there was another kid at church, but he was too shy to come. Apparently he had just gotten used to the other teachers, and then they put us in, so it will probably take him a couple of months to come. Bless his heart. Anyway, the kids were great! They were so good during sharing/singing time, and were really good in class too. They paid attention well and they did their activities so peacefully. They weren't scared of having new teachers either. They talked to us like we had been in there for forever. The hardest part of the day was dealing with Lincoln. He has been so active, and he's so fast and so strong, that I can't even control him sometimes. We had to take him out of sacrament meeting soon after it started. Then he was pretty good in singing time because he loves music. During the first part of class, he had plenty of room to play so he loved that. But then....then he got too tired. By the time church was done, he had been awake for nearly 5 hours, and was about 2 hours late going down for a nap. He was beyond exhausted and cranky. But that's ok. We made it through and he got a nap when we got home. Let's just hope that our Sundays keep going this well!

climbing

Lincoln learned how to climb stairs while we were in Arizona. What a little monkey.

He normally will climb the whole flight. I guess he got camera shy. 

Also, don't mind our little background conversations! ha ha

like fingernails on a chalkboard

Lincoln has been grinding his teeth. I hate the sound. From what I have been reading online, it's normal and he will just grow out of it. It's probably because he's teething. Do any of you have kids that did this? Was there anything you did to help them stop? I try to lightly pat Lincoln's mouth each time, but it's so frequent now. Plus, I don't think he really understands why I am doing it, so it doesn't help.
Anyone?

new calling

Derick and I got called on Sunday to be the CTR 4 teachers in our ward.

Here is why I am excited:

1. We get to teach together! Not many people get to be with their husbands for all of church.
2. It will be better for Lincoln. We don't get to ever go to classes b/c Lincoln is either to grouchy or too active. He is going to LOVE being in a room with other kids. He loves being around kids. I can't wait until nursery. Only 7.5 months to go. he he
3. Little kids that age, no matter how obnoxious, really are adorable.

Here's why I am nervous:

1. I taught the same age group right after we got married. I went home crying every Sunday. They were so hard! I guess I am supposed to learn something, if I am getting put into the same age group. Thank goodness Derick is going to be with me!

2. The Primary President told us on Sunday that we have a lot of "grouches" in our class. Yep. That's what she said. Grouches. Ha! Let's hope we can cheer them up a bit.

We are glad that we finally get to have a calling (I personally haven't had a calling in 2 years). We'll see how it goes! We are excited.

there aren't words

I don't know what words to describe this picture. Lincoln woke up with the craziest puffy, wavy, fro-like hair-do, and then made this crazy face when I took the picture. Hilarious is all I can come up with!

future businessman

Whenever Derick is working on his laptop, Lincoln tries so dang hard to get his hands on it. In fact, the first time that he ever walked while holding on to something, he walked along the sofa to get to the laptop that was sitting at the other end.

Last night, Derick gave in. Lincoln was in his 7th heaven. Look, he even has his fingers close to the right positions! He's a natural, I tell ya, a natural.

I love it when he poses for pictures!

mashed potatoes

One night in AZ, my mom fixed roast and mashed potatoes for dinner. I gave Lincoln a blob of mashed potatoes on his tray to eat. He decided to grab the entire pile and attempt to put it all in his mouth at once.

It looks like he's thinking, "uh-oh."

I guess his eyes were bigger than his mouth because some of it had to come out!

chutes and ladders

I played Chutes and Ladders with Christie while visiting my family over Christmas. Lincoln decided he wanted to play too. I guess he decided to be his own playing piece.

a yummy tradition

When Derick and I started dating, he was living in Prescott with his parents, which is about 2 hours away from where I was living in Mesa. When I would travel up to Prescott to visit, we had a tradition of going here:

the St. Michael hotel cafe. We would get French sodas (which are a delicious fruity soda with cream mixed in).

While in Prescott over Christmas, we had to keep the tradition alive. Sooooo good.

Lincoln is such a champ when it comes to going places. He was able to enjoy the delicious raspberry-stuffed croissant that we also got. That had to be one of the most delicious things ever.

Mexican food

For Derick's birthday (back on December 15), we were able to go to lunch at Macayo's with some of his family. I love taking Lincoln to eat Mexican food because he loves it. He will chow down on beans, tomatoes, cheese, etc. Here's how he looked after his meal. I wish you could see how messy the underside of his arms were. Plus, he decided to be a little cutie/goofball and pose for the camera.

asleep in the car

It kills me and melts my heart all at the same time. So sweet, yet so uncomfortable!

the organ

Derick's parents have an organ and Lincoln was quite amused. He climbed right in and played with the pedals.

 Then, Grammy held him while she played it. 

 Lincoln decided to make himself a little more comfortable. He kicked his foot up onto the keys. I came downstairs to the loud noise of the note he was playing with his foot, along with Grammy's hymns. So funny.

Grammy's wind chimes

Derick's mom has several wind chimes out on their deck. Lincoln found them quite interesting and fun.

Our Christmas

Naturally, Derick and I were so excited for Christmas this year, as it was Lincoln's first.

We had a fun day. My mom and siblings drove up to Prescott on Christmas Eve and spent Christmas with us and Derick's parents at their home.

All of our stockings. Like I mentioned before, we forgot to bring ours in the rush of leaving Utah, so we had to just borrow a couple. Nothing really fit in them, so Derick and I just used grocery bags to put our stuff in. ha ha.

 Lincoln's gifts. The wooden toys on the left were made by Derick's grandpa when he was little. Now he is passing them on to Lincoln. I love it.

All of the kids had to line up down the hall. When the rest of us were ready, they got to come into the family room. Here is Lincoln leading the pack.

 He knew right where to go. He spotted his treasures immediately.

Turtle to ride from Grammy and Papa.

Musical instruments from Santa.

New clothes from Mommy and Daddy. (He's wearing size 2T now)

Mickey Mouse walker/riding airplane from Grammy and Papa. The propeller spins and everything.

All of the kids in my family draw names for Christmas. This year, Christie had Lincoln and she made him this super cute quilt (with my mom's help) and also got him the cute teddy bear loofa.

My mom made Lincoln this awesome hooded towel. He looks so stinkin' cute in it. It's perfect too b/c he grew out of his other hooded towels at like 3 months.

My friend Jenae showed me how to make tile board pictures, and we made a few as gifts. I made one of the Mesa Temple for Derick. We don't have a picture of it, but Derick made me an awesome calendar with tons of pictures/memories in it for each month. I love it.

Farm animal puppets from Grammy and Papa. Lincoln loves the cow. He even says, "MOO!" It's so cute.

Lincoln's stocking and all the goodies from inside.

Yeah for a fun Christmas!!!