Put Your Hands Up!!! || A Cops & Robbers themed 5th Birthday Party

A few weeks ago, Lincoln turned five. FIVE!! Five seems so old to me!

We celebrated his birthday with friends and family at a nearby park with a Cops and Robbers themed birthday party. It was easy to put together thanks to some great finds at Etsy and the party store and even easier clean up thanks to not having it at our house!

At five years old, Lincoln has grown up so much and is the very best five year old I know. He's kind, inquisitive, extremely sensitive and is determined to be the best big brother he can be. He loves his family and friends fiercely and has a very distinct definition of right and wrong. He's strong-willed and stubborn, but always willing to share with his friends and little brother.

He gets easily frustrated when he can't do something and sometimes his self-confidence wavers, but I hope that he knows he can learn and do anything he puts his mind to with a little bit of patience and perseverance.

Because he is a young 5 year old (summer birthday!), we're spending one year in Pre-K before moving on to Kindergarten and I can't see what this year will bring for our little guy. His mind is incredible, he can put complex legos together, really seems to "get" numbers, even doing simple addition and subtraction already, but he struggles a bit with letters and the alphabet. I'm confident this extra year of Pre-K will help boost his confidence before he starts school next fall and can't wait to watch him grow!

Photos from our big boy's 5th birthday party are below!

Mommy and Me Date || Lincoln James

A few weeks ago, Lincoln and I got to spend a whole day together enjoying a few fun things around town. It was so fun to get some one-on-one time with my one of my favorite guys. We started our morning off by heading down to AMC and watching Secret Life of Pets 2. After the movie we headed over to Riverfront Park to play and ride the carousel (a million and one times). Then it was back to the mall for lunch before heading home for naps.

It was a busy fun day for our little due who is quickly becoming a big kid!

Fund Run 2019!

Each year our school hosts an annual Fund Run to raise money for the school. All ages compete from as young as Finn through the 8th grade. Lincoln was a rockstar this year and ran his little heart out!

He was so very excited to win a medal for running hard too! Below are a few photos from the day!

Lincoln James || My First Bike!

A few weeks ago we made the move to a big boy bike for our Mr. Lincoln! He was so excited!!!

He's been riding around like a champ, and while the training wheels are still on, we'll be taking those bad boys off sooner as opposed to later so he can officially transition to big kid status. We are so so proud of our big boy!!

And I think he's pretty proud of his new bike ;0)!

Lincoln James || Four Years Old

Today, my sweet baby boy turned four. I can't believe how quickly the past fours year have gone by and yet here we are.

There is so much to say about Lincoln. He is a sweet and gentle little soul, but at the same time is very much a four year old. Each day he is growing more and more independent and wants to exert that independence just a tiny bit more.

And as often as he comes out exclaiming...."I have a good idea" and "Sure, you can play with me," and so many other sweet sweet comments, minutes later, I'll hear "See...I told ya!" or "You don't tell me that."

He is slowly growing into his role of big brother. He loves baby Finn something fierce, but is very much struggling with the fact that he is no longer our one and only baby. He is still wanting to revert back into "baby mode" and is constantly asking us to sleep with him or if he can sleep in our bed. It breaks my little heart to see him feel a little bit discombobulated by the arrival of Finn. I know he'll get through it, but it's been a tough five months for sure.

While Finn seems to be proving himself as a little force of nature, Lincoln is our quiet, gentle and strong soul. He is very sensitive and still cries if he gets in trouble. When his feelings are hurt, you can see his little eyes well up with tears and he tries to be strong and asks "Ugh...why do my eyes keep watering?"

He is so joyful too, with such an easy going nature and can find fun and happiness in any little activity. Just running through the sprinklers has him screaming with delight. He is always up to try new things, probably one of my favorite characteristics about him, and is willing to try anything once, especially if mommy and daddy are there to try it too.

He is still very much a "truck" guy...loving fire trucks, garbage trucks, construction trucks and even mail trucks. He has a newly peaked interest in dinosaurs and most recently told me he wants to be an archaeologist when he grows up, which is just so cool to me.

Daddy is still his favorite for playing and getting down and dirty. They love to do yard work, dig in the garden, and just be outdoors in general. They headed off on their first father, son camping trip this summer and Lincoln go to go fishing for the first time! But as much as he loves his daddy and playing with him, I think I'm still his home base. He'll cuddle with me, curled up in my lap to watch a show at the end of the day. I'm his comforter when he's hurt, and I can calm his tears much easier than Kevin can. And he is, and always will be, my favorite little baker, always up for making cookies with me!

Lincoln makes each and every day an adventure, always up for anything and like his mama, always looking for something fun to do. I am so excited to see what four entails for our first little man.

Happy Birthday Lincoln Log! We love you so very much.

Little Man's Construction Themed Birthday Party!

L turned TWO on Sunday! We didn't go all out and throw a big party like last year, but we did gather the family and have a mini construction themed birthday party for our little dude.

L is currently OBSESSED with all things construction and we regular hear "dig!" More "dig!" DIG!!!!! around here. He loves Mighty Machines and we watch construction truck shows regularly. Needless to say it was easy to find a theme for this year's celebration. 

I must admit, I was pretty excited about how great his cake turned out! And little man was spoiled with lots of construction themed toys AND a new tricycle courtesy of Nana and Papa. 

Things are a little hectic these days as we get ready to move, but I think we successfully squeezed in a quality 2nd birthday party for our little man. 

Lincoln James: One Year

we made it! we made it through the long, terrifying at times, difficult, wonderful, amazing first year of Lincoln's life. yesterday morning, i woke up and thought how is it even possible that one whole year has gone by. but it has, in what seems like a blink of an eye, and we officially have a one year old. we'll no longer count his age in months, but in years and while i am so excited for everything that is to come, i can't help but be a little sad that my baby is not a baby anymore.

we weighed the little guy yesterday, a monthly tradition and by our scales he is weighing in at 21.8 lbs (he was sick again this month so we didn't have much weight gain), but we'll get the official height and weight, etc. at his one year checkup next week.

and once again, lincoln has developed by leaps and bounds this month. we are so so so so close to walking. he walks along everything and is so fast with his little walker, but he doesn't yet seem to have the confidence to let go and do it on his own, even though i'm confident that if he tried, he 100% would. we still don't have any teeth yet, but they tell me the longer it takes for your teeth to come in, the stronger they are, so i'm rolling with the old wives tale and am convinced he will have teeth as strong and as sharp as T-Rex ;0p

he is talking up a storm! we say "mama" "dada" and "baba" - which i think he's either using to describe the ball or his bottle. he says it when referring to both so who knows? he can "shake his head no," waves "hello" and "bye-bye!" and loves to play ball (we roll it back and forth), peekaboo! and while the swings still remain his absolute favorite at the park, we also now like to climb up the slide (no joke, the kid won't walk but he'll climb up a freaking slide!).

we have officially made the switch to whole milk and he is down to only 3 bottles a day. the rest of the time he is drinking water out of a sippy cup. after this weekend, we're switching him to just two bottles a day and he'll drink milk and water out of his sippy cup the rest of the time. he is the best eater and i know how fortunate i am for that.

as far as sleep goes....we are back in a no sleeping stage, unfortunately, but husband is home for good the end of August!!!!! and we'll get back on the sleep training wagon and hopefully officially have a good sleeper on our hands.

we celebrated Lincoln's first birthday with a little sock monkey themed party on thursday evening, his birthday eve and had friends and family with us. he was the most adorable birthday boy and such a delicate cake smasher. we were lucky enough to be able to hire a friend to photograph the evening and i'll share those photos when i get them here.

in the meantime here are photos from the last month! this is the last "monthly update" for little man, and it's been so fun to document his growth here. i know they'll be so much more to document as he continues to grow and i'm excited to share it here as this has become an online journal of sorts.

before i sign off, some words to my dear sweet boy. lincoln james, we love you so very much. you are the best thing to happen to your daddy and i. this has been the most amazing year watching you grow and i know it is only going to get better from here. just do your mama a favor and go easy on her with the dare devil, houdini acts....we want you around for a long long time! with all my heart,
love, mama.