a nasty surprise {gag}

Look at what Derick discovered in Lincoln's little kiddie pool the other day:

SO gross! Obviously, it needed to be cleaned anyway, so Derick did the job (thank goodness....I would have just died if he would have been out of town or something). Needless to say, it was cleaned extra well that day!

a visitor and a day away

Two weeks ago, my little sister, Christie, came up to Prescott to spend a week with us. Lincoln sure LOVED having his Aunt Christie around to play with (which was nice for me too!). We had lots of fun. We baked, went to the zoo, went shopping, went to the library, etc.

Here are a couple of pictures of Lincoln and Christie playing together at the zoo.

Last weekend, I drove down to the valley to take Christie home, and for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Karla's, bridal shower. Derick stayed in Prescott with Lincoln. I have to say, it was a nice little break for me. I have never been away from Lincoln for more than a couple of hours. I know...crazy, right? I have never really had a reason to though. Anyway, it sure made the trip easier, with not having to worry about packing extra clothes and snacks!

While I was away, Derick and Lincoln had a super fun day together. They went shopping at a camping store, went out to lunch, and went out to the woods and a nearby water hole to play. Lincoln loves being outdoors, and so of course he loved being in the GREAT outdoors. I smiled and loved it when Derick text me this picture:

This next picture makes me laugh. Apparently Lincoln heard a woodpecker and didn't know what it was, so he started to look around for it. I love how he is looking out of the corner of his eye.

 

 

My boys surprised me with this lovely arrangement when I got home. It was so cute. I loved it. Don't you love the vase that Derick came up with? It makes me smile.

i am a blog slacker

That's the truth. I really have been slacking.

My biggest excuse, other than keeping up with Lincoln, is that I am working on a project for him (that I will hopefully have done soon....it's taken a couple of months (yes, MONTHS) and I will show some pictures another time.

I have a few pictures of recent happenings...I will try to get those up too.

We are doing well...
Derick is going to be finishing his anatomy summer class this week (woo hoo!).
 Lincoln has been sick all week long, which is never fun, but I think that we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with that.
Richie, Krystal and Graham came up for the weekend and we always have fun with them! Lincoln LOVES his Aunt Krystal to death and would go to her for everything (stories, comfort when he bumped his head, etc.) and he also loves to give Graham hugs and kisses. It is so cute.
I have been working on the previously mentioned project in all of my spare time (including time that I should be cleaning....oops!)
Things are good!

Sorry for the lack of stuff lately!

father/son swim time

Derick's parents bought a small blow-up pool for Lincoln and he loves to play in it. The other day when we were all outside watching him, Derick decided to hop in too...in his clothes. The sight was worth a few laughs, to say the least.

Here are a few other recent pictures that make me laugh:

Lincoln is a pro and getting up the stairs, but we keep trying to teach him how to get down safely and he doesn't want to do it. He would rather just walk down like we do. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, he climbed up one stair, but then he didn't know how to get down.

Lincoln loves playing in piles of clothes. Let's just say that I never get to fold any laundry. We got some of our clothes out of storage the other day and when I was unpacking, Lincoln climbed right in to the suitcase. I love his smile/laugh.

His new favorite game is hiding behind the clothes in our new closet.

(See his legs in there?)

Lincoln loves to get on his hands and feet and stick his bum in the air. He loves it even more when I come up and peek between his legs. He is getting close to learning to somersault.

Last but not least, here are some words that Lincoln has added to his vocabulary for the 16-month mark.

Bubble

Basketball

Bird

Baby

Bounce (not pronounced correctly, of course)

Baseball

(yeah...he's good with the b's)

Peek-a-boo

You're Welcome

Mimi (Grammy)

Grandma

Juice

Shoe 

More (when he wants anything, not just more of something)

Christie (his aunt)

All done

Mmmm...good

All done

Oh, yeah!

donut

.......

.......

and he pretty much copies many other words that we say, when we say them.

Our 4th

I just realized that this year was our fourth 4th of July since we have been married. Not that that means anything, but I am a dork and enjoy little random tidbits like that.

Anyway, we had a super duper fun weekend.

On Saturday, we went to the parade here in Prescott. To say that Lincoln loved it would be an understatement. Dozens of fire trucks, tractors, cars, floats, etc. sure did make this little guy happy.

And when he got this sucker from someone in the parade, he was thrilled.

After about 1.5 hours of parade with no end in sight (seriously...it was so long) we decided to walk around a bit and get some drinks. Derick and I have a tradition of getting French sodas from a little cafe whenever we are downtown. We started doing this when we were dating and I love it.

Lincoln got hooked on the French sodas too. He drank like 1/2 of mine!

On Sunday, we drove up to Flagstaff to see my friend's baby blessing. I hadn't seen Stephanie since Derick and I got married and it was so good to see her and Kai and meet their little guys!

(Steph...can I get a pic from you??)

Later in the day, my brother, Greg, and his fiance, Karla, came to Prescott. It was fun to hang out with them. 

On Monday morning, Richie, Krystal and Graham drove up to hang out with all of us too. It was awesome! The boys really wanted to go shooting during the day. Because of all the fires here in AZ, you can't go out and shoot anywhere, so they went to a shooting range. It was time for Lincoln's nap, and to spare Lincoln and Graham's ears. Krystal and I took the little ones home for nap time. 

When the guys and Karla were done shooting, we made a yummy dinner of ribs, chicken, corn, potatoes and watermelon. Yum. 

We then went out to claim our spot for watching fireworks. The place we were planning on going ended up being full already, so we went somewhere else, but it worked out for the best! We drove to a nearby park that has baseball fields, and we had a whole field to ourselves! We played soccer, frisbee, and let Lincoln run free. 

Cute boy.

Cute Graham.

Lincoln love Graham so much. He wanted to be by him the whole day.

Here's a pic of Lincoln "holding" Graham from earlier in the day:

Lincoln kept giving G kisses. It was so precious.

Anyway...back to the nighttime.

Lincoln having fun in the dirt. Seriously, if you want to make Lincoln happy, give him a big open field and pile of dirt.

Quick note: I took some of Derick's old shorts and made these shorts for Lincoln. The red and blue plaid was perfect for the 4th!

This is what the sky looked like the whole time. Thankfully it didn't pour on us.

Us.

Greg and Karla.

Richie, Krystal and Graham. No, they weren't trying to do a cheesy pose. It just happened. :-)

Playing soccer.

Lincoln found Uncle Richie's milkshake. Enough said.

At the end of the night, we went to see fireworks, of course!
Lincoln was going "oh!" and pointing at them the whole time. Too cute.