7.29.2012

three months.

Buster Boo/Lincoln Loo, our little Linc is three months already. Which is crazy to me, because hello, he isn't a newborn now. But I keep calling him one. He is still next to us in our room in our co-sleeper at night. I still hold him for almost every (20 minute) nap he has. We nap/lay together in the afternoon while the girls are napping. It's my favorite time--nursing and napping with him. He did his first belly laugh on Friday and I caught it on video. I've watched it no less than 50 times.

He is our last baby, can you tell?


I'm not sure what he weighs at three months. But I do know his 3-6 months clothes don't fit anymore. Let's take a peek at his growin' over the last three months, shall we? 

freshly baked...



He's kind of a stud, no? Now your Sunday is complete. 
[What can I say, I have no shame in sharing his cuteness.]

Hope your week is filled with many joyful moments!





7.20.2012

diy birthday gift for the kiddos.

I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. There are some pretty things are there that inspire me by words, or in decorating my home, or what to cook. It's been handy to find a craft for the kiddos to do. But sometimes I get rather overwhelmed and the "am I doing enough?" feeling comes into play. That's when I close it up and stay off Pinterest for a couple of days.

Recently, though, I have opened it back up to find some yummy recipes and great activities for the girls. One of the easiest and fun things to do is make homemade play-dough using this recipe. The girls enjoy the mixing then of course the playing right afterwards. Yesterday we made a double batch so we could give some as a gift for my nephew who turned four.

To store the play dough in, I bought some small mason jars and took to another Pinterest idea. [Although I never actually pinned the idea.] I had everything else I needed---super glue, little plastic animals, and spray paint. I super glued the animals onto the lids, let it dry overnight and the next day put a couple of coats of spray paint on the lids.

And ta-dah!

The little gift turned out like this:




Pretty cute, huh? I'm thinking this might become the year of play-dough and cute containers for gift-giving. 

7.18.2012

little linc.

Little Linc ain't so little anymore, folks. As a 2.5 month old he compares to the size of a 6 month old. I figured it was time for an update on this little-big man.

When it comes to his sisters, he is a good sport. He takes the tight hugs, head-butt kisses, and occasional step on his foot/hand/body very well. The other day I went upstairs for .2 seconds and came back down to find what I thought to be pinch marks on his belly, by, you guessed it, Naomi. She loves him, she really does. But she also finds him to be a fun thing to explore and touch. Her new favorite thing is to show him every toy and say "see, baby. see." Audrey talks to him in THE cutest voice ever. And the minute he starts getting fussy she tells me I need to nurse him. The other day Audrey was holding a bag of pumped milk and standing outside my friend's home, when two older gentlemen walked by, she proudly announced and held the bag up "this is my mama's milk!" And I was totally standing right there. Yeah, that definitely happened.


Lincoln is a great sleeper...at night. He has consistently been sleeping at least 6 hours in a row and up to 8-9 hours sometimes too. Then wakes up, eats, and sleeps another 3-4 hours. He is in the co-sleeper in our room and I'm loving it. He has slept TWICE in his own crib. Ever. Which is about complete opposite of how his sisters were. Funny how parenting style changes with each one, huh? During the day he isn't much of a napper. He takes short 20 minute naps here and there. If I'm lucky I can sometimes get a 2 hour nap out of him when the girls nap, in which he sleeps in our bed all sprawled out on his belly. [Like right now! Yay!] He takes a paci, but mainly just in the evening times when he starts to get over-stimulated and tired.


He loves baths, I don't think he has ever cried during one. We try to give him one every other night, but occasionally we pull the "um, when is the last time this kid took a bath?" He also doesn't mind the carseat for the most part, as long as he his fed. He was a great traveler to Chicago this past weekend too! It is helpful he takes a bottle when need be. My girls were never big on the bottles. He loves to be worn. Which happens at some point every day out of necessity. Right now I mainly use the ring sling and occasional Sleepy Wrap. 



I started cloth diapering again when he was about 5 weeks old. I love fluffed bums, they are so cute. At night though, we stick with disposables. He is starting to get on a fairly predictable routine and nursing about every 2 hours (instead of the newborn stage when it was whenever and always). And he doesn't let one drop go to waste, he never spits up any of it, which is probably why the kid came in at 15lbs 2 oz at his two month check up (97%). 


[His bum looks twice as big as his head because of the cloth diaper.]

He is seriously so sweet and delicious. I just stare at him. A lot. I ask him all the time how did you get cuter? I didn't think that could happen. There you go again, cuter by the second. 

My only complaint is he likes to be held most of the day. But really is that a bad thing? Nah. A good excuse to not do dishes and laundry. I'll take it. 






7.17.2012

my best friend's wedding.

For months now, I mean months, Audrey couldn't wait to be a flower girl in my best friend's wedding. When I bought her dress and shoes she had to put them on almost daily. Well, over the weekend, Audrey and Naomi were the sweetest little flower girls. The rehearsal didn't go so well, it was basically a dumping fest of flowers for Naomi as Audrey kept telling her "no, no! don't do that!" BUT, come wedding day, and both girls did very well. I was one of the matrons of honor, so the girls were able to walk right up to me. I can't wait to see the professional pictures, but for now I have my nifty iPhone pictures to share.

 Rehearsal night. 
Andrew and I pretty much had to tag-team the whole weekend so this is the only picture I took of us two. It was on our way to the rehearsal, which just happened to be on his birthday! My hunk of a man on his 31st birthday!

Wedding day! Naomi is really into saying "cheese" when a camera or a phone gets in her face. 

She looks innocent. But I call her my spit-fire child. 


My best friend, Kacie, had all the bridesmaids wear pretty much whatever they wanted as long as it was cream based. It was so, so awesome. 
The gorgeous couple. They didn't see each other before the ceremony, but still got a picture together!

We drove to Chicago for the event and stayed for four days. It was so fun to spend some quality time with some of my best girlfriends. But I will say, traveling with three kids, three and under is no easy task. We were so, so exhausted by the time we came home. When we were approaching our house, we talked about how thankful we were to be going home to our home. Two months ago, we would have been heading to my dad's, where we lived for almost three months. 

There is no place like home. Or sweet flower girls for that matter. 





7.16.2012

summer mantel.

When we made our "must-have" list when shopping for a new home, I put on it-- fireplace. Not because I wanted something extra to heat the house, but because of a mantel to decorate. I needed a place I could change up every season/holiday. Plus, I bought new handmade stockings this past January  for our next Christmas, a mantel was requirement for those purty things to be hung on.

Our new home has a fireplace. I wood burning one at that--I can't wait for the smell of wood to linger through our home this winter. The mantel was a typical wood colored one. Being that I'm obsessed with grey and white (and turquoise), I painted it white. Then added my summer touches.

Before:


After:

(I didn't paint the wall, it just appears different in the before-picture because I only had lamp lighting that made everything had a yellow glow. In the after-picture, I was able to use natural light. Natural light always wins.) 

I have plans to whitewash the stone and paint the walls a light grey, eventually. We have plans to change quite a bit more in our new home, but for now we are settled and enjoying it so, so much. When we first moved (about a month and a half ago), I had about three weeks of insanity. I seriously didn't know if I was going to make it between caring for a newborn, a 1.5 year old, and 3.5 year old, unpacking/cleaning/decorating, and taking care of sickness that we had over and over and over. BUT, things are good now. We have reached the light at the end of the tunnel and it feels good. 

7.04.2012

fourth.

It's his first Fourth of July, I must document.

And there isn't any cuter way than this...I'm pretty sure...


You guys, he is already two months. Growing like a six month old and as sweet and snuggly as can be.  I really should blog more so I can share in his delight (and his sisters). 


Hope you are enjoying time with family and friends this lovely, but very hot Fourth!