birthday fun

Lincoln had a fun birthday. Here he is enjoying his birthday donut for breakfast. He at the whole thing. Ok, we have the most delicious bakery just 2 blocks away from us. It's dangerous, I tell you. Dangerous.

Here he is in his super duper cute birthday outfit. I love this shirt on him.

We all headed over to the party store and got some balloons, etc. Then while Lincoln was sleeping, Derick and I got everything set up. It's so fun planning a party for your own kid!

I originally had all these ideas of themes, and I love doing that kind of stuff and really wanted to, but our place isn't big enough to have a bunch of people over, and if I was gonna go crazy with a theme, I wanted it to be for more people {not that you guys aren't worth it, Amber!}. So, I just decided to do a simple, colorful party. Here's the cake table and Lincoln's throne.

By the window you can see the cute balloons that we got as party favors.

The fun streamers and Derick in the background pretending like he was asleep.

The party hats that we made. When they put them on they looked like wizards b/c of the stars. Pretty funny.

We ended up inviting our friends Matt and Amber, and their 2 kids, Ana and Donny {thanks, guys!!}. Donny is only 6 months older than Lincoln, and we can already tell that they are gonna be buds. They were rolling around on the floor together and it was hilarious.

Lincoln loves hot dogs and tater tots, so we decided to have those for his dinner. Derick BBQ'd burgers and dogs, even though it was snowing all day!

Here is the little man with his feast. He ate SO much {which I was super glad about b/c he hasn't been eating well lately, but I also wanted him to eat a good meal before cake}

Look at how cute Lincoln looks in this pic. I am not thrilled with the rest of the pictures...a couple of the light bulbs went out in our living room so the lighting was really bad and our iPhones just didn't take the best pics under those lighting conditions. I should have grabbed our actual camera, but the phone was just so convenient and there's no delay when snapping shots. Oh, well. At least we got pictures.

Lincoln got lots of fun gifts! A basketball hoop...

...cars {which he loves and will make noises for them}...

...a book {to follow our family tradition}...

...a sand pail, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and other fun stuff from Ana and Donny {thanks, Amber! I am thrilled to have summer stuff to entertain him}...

...a super cute soccer blanket and matching pillow from Aunt Debbie {Debbie, he seriously loves it!}

see how excited he is??

And then it was cake time. I made Lincoln one of the giant cupcakes. I have been dying to use my pan. I turned out NOTHING like I wanted, but you can't win all your battles. I think I am just way too much of a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like that. 

Lincoln was so excited when we sang to him.

At first, he just picked off the sprinkles {and so did Donny! HA!}

And then he really got into it. REALLY INTO IT.

I think he was on a major sugar high after that. He was being so silly.

Happy Birthday, Lincoln! We love you!!

guess what today is!!?

Lincoln is a year old today! We just can't believe it!

Happy Birthday, little Buddy! We love you!

{pictures to come}

sneaky

Yesterday I found Lincoln hiding between the sofa and the ottoman with my wallet (which is not where he found my wallet, so I know he tried to hide). What a sneaky little guy.

Graham

Lincoln has a new cousin! Richie and Krystal (my bro and sis-in-law) had their precious little guy yesterday. They named him Graham Richard Carpenter. He is the only other grandchild besides Lincoln in my family, so we are excited to have a new nephew and a new little buddy for Lincoln!

Grahamster was 9 pounds, 15 ounces (basically 10 pounds) so Krystal and I can share stories of carrying beastly babies.

Just look at how cute he is! Congrats, you guys!

not a great start to the weekend

Well, first of all, before I get to the crappy stuff, here is a cute picture of Lincoln from the other night. We went to watch Derick play soccer and I snapped this picture of Lincoln clapping as he was watching the game before Derick's. 

Turns out that I couldn't really stay for Derick's game because it was later than we thought and it was past Lincoln's bedtime. I missed something happening at the game though, and that's where the bad start to the weekend comes in.

Derick got hurt. He was playing goalie and when he was diving for a ball, one of the players stomped on his leg/knee. this is what it looked like while he was still at the game. It swelled up immediately. The lump on the left? The injury. The smaller lump on the right? His knee cap.

The pictures really don't do it justice. It was HUGE.

From this angle the lump looks like his knee cap. But it's not. That's the injury. It seriously doesn't even look as big in this picture as it really was. It was unbelievable.

And here's what it looked like this morning. His whole leg is bruising and is swollen.

So anyway, Derick can't really walk around much. It hurts too bad. Plus, he is getting a cold. 

Me? I have felt like I am going to throw up for the last 24 hours? (No, I am not prego).

So, I don't want to move. Derick can't move.

And we have an almost one-year-old to take care of.

Yikes.

Not a fun weekend so far. Not at all.

storms

Last week we had a crazy blizzard. It didn't last for too long, but it was intense while it lasted. I was kind of at a loss for what to do with Lincoln at that time, so I turned on Toy Story 3 and gave him a dum dum. He sat in his chair and was quite content. It was the cutest thing.

Watching...

"I hear something crazy outside."

"Wow, that snow is pretty intense."

"Oh, well. The movie is more interesting."

"Mom, you're in the way."

And then he came to snuggle with me. Yes!

Ok, so last night we had another storm. The weather here is so crazy. Yesterday was like the warmest day we have had all winter, and then it all went downhill from there. The wind started up. And I have NEVER seen wind as intense as this. I am not kidding. So it was howling and banging things around. I thought our cars were gonna blow away. It was that strong. Then our power went out. Sheesh. We had just put Lincoln to bed, so we thought it would be ok with just the two of us, but the wind was so noisy and his room was pitch black b/c the night light went out, so Lincoln wouldn't go to sleep. Plus, we have to have a heater in his room b/c it's so cold in there and of course that was out too. So we got him up. We sat and watched season 4 of Happy Days on Derick's laptop and it was pretty fun, until Lincoln got over-exhausted. So I tried to take him in our room and lay down with him. But that didn't work. He can't sleep with anyone in the same room, and he thinks it's awesome to be on our bed, so he was too excited.

Anyway, I finally just had to put him back in his own bed, hoping that the power would come back on soon so that he could be warm. He went to sleep after just a few minutes. A little while later, the power did come back on. Thank goodness.

Derick and I kept watching the show on his laptop even though we could have used the TV. Why? It was fun.

The night brought what is probably the most unattractive picture known to man, but it's hilarious and it will hold memories for us. I can't believe I am even putting it on here. This is while we were watching the show. Since the lights were out the flash was extra bright as you can tell by our faces.

Oh, and thank goodness for the flashlights we got a couple of months ago at Costco. And thanks to Derick for strategically placing them around the house. Way to go, Eagle Scout. It is nice to be prepared.

Valentine's Day

Derick and I are not very big Valentine's Day people. We like to do something nice for each other, but we don't go crazy spending money or go out to eat or anything. I do like to make it fun though.

For breakfast? Heart-shaped pancakes, of course!

For Dinner? When we were dating, we had dinner at his house with his parents and we had BBQ ribs. That started a tradition of grilling on Valentine's Day! We got a grill for our wedding, but couldn't take it with us to VA. We recently brought it up to UT and are so excited to have it back! Derick has become quite the grilling machine. Everything is so good. For V-Day he made lemon pepper chicken. Delish!

He is also wearing his V-Day gift. I made him an apron for grilling.

My V-Day gift was this window. It's an antique from the 1940s and we found it online last week and snatched it up for a steal. It did have all of the glass panes in it, but we took them out for the makeover. Derick spent a lot of time on Saturday sanding it down for me and taking out the glass. I painted it white and have plans for the openings. Why, you ask? Well, it's going to make the cutest headboard! Just wait and see. Our bedroom is my next big project. I am so excited.

With my little Valentine.

Lincoln with his V-Day gift. We made it a tradition to give our kids a book for every holiday (the major ones) and birthday. I am loving that tradition so far.

Ok, so Lincoln isn't quite a year yet, but he will be in less than 2 weeks (!!!!) and I was dying to flip his car seat around. So we did it. I think I was more excited than anyone. I was seriously giddy about it. Here he is when we went out to get our V-day treat (shakes from our favorite burger place). He doesn't look thrilled b/c he was pretty tired, but trust me. He was excited.

Hope you all had a good V-Day!

my little "helper"

Lincoln likes to unfold all of the clothes that I just get done folding. So I let him play with the socks. (This pic taken before his haircut)

And he likes to empty out my dresser drawers on a daily basis. (Also taken before haircut)

I could go on and on about the "help" that Lincoln gives me. But I don't care if it takes a little longer to get things done. I love having him at my side and it's so cute to watch (even if it can get frustrating)!

I love Lincoln's eyes in this picture. So big and blue. Don't you love his peanut butter mustache?

Not sure what  this face means...I know he wasn't mad. I think he was just making crazy noises and I happened to capture a priceless face. Apparently he eats in these jammies a lot.

We have those bath letters that stick to the tub and Lincoln usually chooses one to put in his mouth and he will keep it there for his entire bath. Silly.

quote of the week

As you all know, Derick and I teach the 4/5-year-olds at church. Today, when we were teaching, I asked the question along the lines of "Why do we need to be baptized?" The immediate response from one of the girls was, "To get cake." Yep. She remembers the cake from her brother's baptism quite well.

first hair cut!

We did it. We gave in and got Lincoln his first cut. I was pretty sad at first because I loved his  long, luscious locks of silky, golden hair, but he was starting to look a little crazy. Still cute, but crazy. He didn't pull of the shag as well as we had hoped. When he would get out of the tub, his hair was all cute and curly, but the curls went away and it was just crazy after that. 

Here are a few recent pictures of the shag. Because his hair is so blonde, you can't quite get the full effect, but just trust me, it was long. He was getting close to a full-on mullet in the back, too.

We took Lincoln to a place called Cookie Cutters, which is a hair cut place just for kids. I think it was worth the extra couple of bucks. They have a little playland, a TV screen at each station for movies, fun chairs to sit in, and balloons. Lincoln was totally entertained and he did awesome! 

 Before:

 Lincoln was so thrilled that we let him play on the little playland (despite my hesitation because it's germ-infested and it's wintertime). He was just shrieking with delight.

Can't you see the joy on his face? He was sooo excited. Here he is climbing the steps.

Sliding down the slide. He did do it on his own a couple of times but Derick is holding him still for the picture.

Staticky long hair.

Ok, sorry. Now back to the haircut. Here is Lincoln in his awesome airplane chair. He loved turning the wheel.

The stylist couldn't believe how long and thick his hair was for being blonde.

Look at those locks! *tear* I think she took off like 4 inches in some places.

Watching a movie.

Lincoln was so good. He held so still most of the time.

What a handsome dude!!! We just love his new hair. It has opened up his face so much and his cheeks look chunkier and even more kissable!

Playing with his prized balloon.

I can't wait to get the fohawk and some spikes going on. It was too late (bedtime) when we got home last night. 

Love it!