To My Not So Little Boy...On Turning 3

Today, my baby is turning 3. I cannot believe how fast we got here.

Lincoln,

You are the sweetest, kindest, most cuddly little boy I know. You have the sweetest disposition and light up our lives in so many ways. I love watching you grow and learn and be curious each and every day.

At the ripe old age of three you are loving all things construction trucks (still!), dinosaurs and choo choo trains. You are 100% boy and absolutely love playing in the dirt, "camping," and "doing work" with daddy. You desperately need a bath every 6 hours or so, but we're lucky if you get one every other day. Each and every day we drive home, your favorite phrase as we pull into the driveway is "more work to do daddy, more work." But you also love to bake with your mama, and I sure do love baking "keekies (cookies)" with you too sweet boy.

You have the kindest heart and anytime you see someone cry, you race to their side to hug them and tell them "don't cry....ok? no cry." You're in this adorable phase where when you tell someone "thank you," you do so with the addition of a great big hug (the best!). You are just the cuddliest boy ever, and my absolute favorite is when you wake up and crawl into bed with us in the morning to "watch teebee (TV)" while you wake up, and mama and daddy get dressed. We do the same thing each evening as we wind down before bedtime and those morning and evening cuddles are the best! I hope they never end.

You are constant motion as papa would say. You're boundless energy, while exhausting, is also so infectious. You are constantly telling us to "come on!" and "Let's do it mama/daddy" and your excitement and curiosity are so fun to watch. Watching you learn each and every day is eye opening and now that you are talking up a storm it is so fun to have full blown conversations with you.

And while you are kind, sweet, cuddly and curious, you are also very much three and I would be lying if I didn't also say you can be stubborn ( I can't imagine where that comes from) and ornery from time to time. While temper tantrums and hearing "no" are also more frequent these days, your daddy and I are quickly learning that you respond much better if we talk calmly and quietly to you and try and understand your frustration as opposed to yelling and putting you in timeout. You don't like loud noises and harsh, loud voices frighten you and often bring you to tears. In these moments, when mama or daddy have yelled you frequently tell us "mama/daddy scare me." Another sign of your kind, quiet disposition. I can't promise to always stay calm and collected when we are in these tough moments, but I will do my best, and I will always alway say I'm sorry if I lose my temper with you too quickly.

I am so so proud of the boy you are becoming. It has gone by way too quickly and feels like just yesterday, I was holding you as a squishy newborn, but each and every day continues to be better than the next. I can't wait to see what three has in store for you!

Happiest of birthdays to you Lincoln. Your mama and daddy love you so very much.

Backyard Campout!

This past weekend, Lincoln asked if we could go camping...Kevin responded in the best way possible, by suggesting a backyard campout! We pulled out the tents and camp chairs and I made a run to the grocery store for the essentials...aka s'mores.

We also used our fire pit in the backyard for the first time ever! Kevin was able to clean it out (it was full of so much crap!) and lit a fire, roasted marshmallows and ended the night with the ooey gooey chocolate marshmallow goodness ever.

And as the sun went down, this mama went inside to sleep in the comfort of her own bed while the boys slept outside under the stars!

Cherry Picking!

This past weekend we headed up to Greenbluff to pick cherries for the first time! Kevin has gone in the past with his mom, but it was mine and Lincoln's first time up and it did not disappoint!

We started at Beck's Harvest House because they're doing a special where they brought back their famous pumpkin donuts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings. I've mentioned it a time or two before, but we LIVE for those pumpkin donuts come Fall, so the chance to snag them early was AMAZING.

The "country limo" picked up up to take us out into the fields and we snagged a ton of bing cherries. The Rainier were already pretty picked over, so no luck there, but we didn't mind. After picking close to 5 lbs, we weighed in, and purchased our cherries before heading over to Walter's Fruit Ranch.

At Walter's Fruit Ranch, we fed the sheep! And then headed out to their cherry orchard to see what we could find. Similar to Beck's, most of the Rainier were picked over, but we did manage to find a few. In addition, there were a ton of Lapin Cherries, which are a mix between Rainier and Bing. So we filled our bag full of those and headed back to grab lunch before heading home for afternoon naps.

It was a fun filled day, and I'm already itching for apple and pumpkin season. Fall can't come soon enough!

Red, White and Blue!

Hello and Happy day after the 4th of July! I hope everyone enjoyed a fun filled holiday.

We stuck around in town this year since I had to work Monday and come back to work again on Wednesday, but we made the best of our 24 hours of freedom in the middle of the week.

The day started off gloriously when Kevin let me sleep in till 8:30 (and yes 8:30 is sleeping in #adulting). Once I was up, we dressed Lincoln for the splash pad and walked over to the park to enjoy some fun in the sun before the day got too hot. While tentative at first, he ended up loving the splash pad and spent a good hour running in and out of the water and trying to step on the water holes only to be squirted (repeatedly) in the face haha!

After the park, we headed back home for lunch, crossed of some household "to-do's" and a nap before heading back out for our evening 4th of July plans!

This year, we met up with some good friends to watch the fireworks from their apartment in Kendall Yards. Olmstead Park had a band and food trucks set up as well so we walked down there for some more park time play and dinner. We headed home before the band started to play, but there was plenty of festive fun including holiday ice cream sandwiches to enjoy before we settled in for the firework show put on in downtown.

Once the 15 minute show was over, we packed up as quickly as we could and headed home to go to bed with a busy work/school week ahead of us.

It was fun to stay local this year (although I think we'll try and hit up the island next year!) and see the big fireworks show put on by the city.

Happy Independence Day!!

#MakeHerMarboe

Hello! Happy Monday and 4th of July eve. I hope everyone is enjoying a long holiday weekend! Unfortunately, I had to head back to work today, but we did get to enjoy a quick weekend getaway to Wenatchee and Lake Chelan for my cousin's wedding.

Lincoln had the big important job of ring bearer and he absolutely loved it! He was so cute in his little suspenders and bow tie and the flower girls loved him! We weren't sure how he was going to do, but he wasn't scared at all and rocked it. I think it helped that he had four of the cutest flower girls loving on him and showing him the ropes.

The wedding was at Karma Vineyards in Lake Chelan. It was beautiful, with stunning views of the lake for the ceremony. The reception was down in the vineyard which was equally pretty, especially after the sun went down and the patio lights were twinkling. The bride and groom both looked so happy and I'm so excited for my cousin as he ventures into this next big journey in life. His new wife is the sweetest and we were so honored that they asked Lincoln to be a part of their big day.

After the ceremony and dinner, the dancing began and it was so funny to see the flower girls pull Lincoln out onto the dance floor. He absolutely loved the attention and was quite the ladies man.