Hiking: 3rd Ravine

We went on a hike today because it was a beautiful day today! Upper 60's and a blue sky... perfect hiking weather.

Lincoln had a short little nap along the way and had a pretty good time.

I'm just glad I wasn't the one carrying him on my back. Thanks, Jesse. :)

Pretend Food

We thought this was pretty funny because it is such a big spoon!

A Big Bathtub for a Big Boy

Lincoln has outgrown his infant bathtub (1-2 months ago, anyway) and now takes a bath in a regular bathtub. He seems to like baths more and more each time. He really likes the 2 toys I put in with him. I love bath time pictures!

What a cute kid.

Another Year with the Back-Porch Garden

Until we get a house I will just have to continue to make do with my 8' x 8' piece of concrete for a garden.

This year (back to front):
a row of radishes & a row of green onions
Solar Fire tomatoes (heat tolerant... we'll see...)
Husky Cherry Red tomatoes
cantaloupe (this one will definitely surprise me if it works in a pot...)

Any tips/advice to keep a potted garden from drying up and dying? Last year, I didn't have very much success. I thought I'd try again, nevertheless.

Trip to the Mailbox

When Lincoln gets fussy for seemingly no reason, I like to take him on a (really) short walk to the mailboxes. He's probably bored, so this makes him happy. I decided to take Flora yesterday since she was over, and they both got into Lincoln's stroller.

At first, they both didn't mind being in the stroller together...

But after a minute or so...

Lincoln kept trying to push Flora away and wasn't too happy with me taking so long to get pictures. Separate seats in strollers for kids makes a lot more sense to me now. :)

8 Months Old

Lincoln is getting big! He's over 20 lbs now, and about 28.5 inches long (both 50-75 percentile based on THIS website). Here are a few pictures of the guy with his cousin, Flora.

Flora was much more into smiling for me

Lincoln is thinking, "Could you have picked a more manly backdrop for me, Mom?"

Holding hands.. :)

It's interesting Audrey's baby is so white and my baby is so tan-looking... if you know us, you would have expected the opposite in our babies.

Lincoln was just not into pictures this day..
I got great smiles from Flora!

Lincoln with his little dog.
Lincoln used to be the little one.

Still no rolling over! Can you believe it? When he does actually roll over, it seems to be an accident. He seems surprised it happens! He sits up really well and likes to lunge forward, which gets him to his belly. He just can't get that belly off the ground! It doesn't look like he tries to get it off the ground, but you can tell he wants to be mobile. He eyes toys, lunges for them, but then realizes he will end up on his belly and loses interest. He is completely weaned from breastfeeding now - his choice. He just wanted it less and less and would rather fall asleep a little hungry than breastfeed. He has bottles (formula), but I think his favorite is eating cereal and pureed things. He loves to eat everything, and is always eyeballing my food. Lately, his new thing is he needs anyone near to him, meaning not across the room but right by him. He will happily play for a long time if he is close enough to touch you. Feisty, demanding, but usually happy along with them (as long as he's got something in his belly!). I love you, little guy!

Lincoln's Laugh

It's easy to get the guy to smile, but to get him to laugh AND catch it on camera is pretty tough. He gets so distracted by the camera.

Here is Lincoln's sweet giggle/laugh/squeal:

Lincoln & the Mirror

Here are a couple times I got Lincoln checking himself out in the mirror.

Babies sure like to look at themselves!

My First Tooth

Lincoln got his first tooth a few weeks ago (Feb 26). Let's just say it is near impossible to get a picture of it. And if you can't tell, Lincoln HATED me trying.

(you can't really tell... but it is his bottom right tooth)

I Love My Bottle!

I babysit Flora a couple times a week and so I get a feel (sort of) for how it would be to have 2 kids really close together or twins. Whenever Lincoln sees her bottle he is automatically hungry and wants it. So they get bottles at the same time... which is a little difficult (I'm not sure how I actually got pictures of it...

Lincoln can hold his own bottle now. :)

Happy 4th, Babe

4 years ago today Jesse & were married.

The 4 best things about Jesse:

1. treats me with respect and like a princess
2. wonderful father and role model for our son
3. patient with all my shortcomings (setting a great example for me to follow)
   
4. works harder than anyone i know

I am amazed at how much more I love you now than I did this day:

I love you with all my heart, Jesse. Happy Anniversary.

Tuacahn Duathlon

(Feb. 27)

This past weekend all 5 of the Bird-Sisters-in-law did the Olympic distance Tuacahn Duathlon. It was run-bike-run (5K, 24 mile, 5K). It was definitely a tough race! It was a bit chilly, but overall good weather for a race. Peggy won, by quite a ways - good job!

My splits (approx.) were:
5K run- 26:22
T1- 1:30
24 mile bike- 1:23:00
T2- 1:30
5K run- 30:00
Overall: 2:23:17

Before the race (Peggy not in the picture)
Mindy, Audrey, Jana, & Sabrina

Audrey on the bike

Mindy on the bike

Sabrina on the bike

Mindy on the run

Peggy after the race

Lincoln cheering mommy on!

Mindy at the finish line

Carly running with her mom, Jana, to the finish line

Great job, everyone! We should make this race a tradition.

I really wanted a girl...

(Feb. 23)

...just kidding!!! We were over at Lindsay's new house and I found Ella's pink tutu. Wouldn't Lincoln be such a cute girl? Haha... I kept him in the striped outfit on purpose... that way it wouldn't be too mean.

How cute.. :) haha...

Trying to look tough..

Swings

(about~Feb. 13)

A few weeks ago it was SO warm! I think it might have been in the low 70's. It really made me excited for spring! (Since it has rained, and rained, and been cold. It was warm today, though!)

We all got Cafe Rio to go and went to Vernon Worthen Park for a picnic. I even had Lincoln try the swings. He liked it for about 2 minutes, and then wanted out. But it was fun to see him excited about the big swings!

New Year's Eve: Hiking!

(Dec. 31, '09)

We got this sweet hiking backpack for Christmas from the Slemboski's... and it was nice enough New Year's Eve to go out on a hike. We went up past the water tower in Kayenta - pretty fun and Lincoln loved it!

New Year's Eve: Shooting!

(Dec. 31, '09)

For Christmas (and his birthday...) I got Jesse a hunting rifle & scope (Venture 270). He doesn't hunt... but we have a gun now. On New Year's Eve we all went out shooting and Jesse sighted in his gun (get the scope properly aligned). It was pretty scary to shoot, but cool at the same time. Once was definitely enough.

Kurt, Ashley, Jesse, & Adam

Putting in the earplugs..

Getting ready to shoot

Kurt helped Jesse sight in his gun. The rest of us were there to have fun. :)

In Ronald's words, "She got Jesse a gun? What kind of girl is she?"

Bowling & Bingo

(Dec. 12, '09)

For Matt's birthday (back in December...) we all went to Mesquite to go bowling & play bingo. It ended up being pretty fun, and we got a night away from Lincoln. :)

I got my best score EVER! (157)

The Group:
(L to R) Cody, Alec, Matt, Lindsay, Corinne, Mindy, Jesse, Nathan, & Audrey

Cody with PERFECT form... :)

7 Months Old!

It's hard to believe how fast they really do grow! You can also see I did his hair in a little Mohawk since it is getting longer. He's (approx.) 20 lbs and 26 inches now. He is sure getting big! And as you can see in the pictures... he doesn't just sit next to his dog anymore.. he has to play with it!

Loves His Fuzzies

(Feb. 17)

One of Lincoln's ways to soothe himself is rubbing his face on anything fuzzy. One afternoon I went to check on him during his nap and this is what I found:

Starting Solids...

(Feb. 16)

Starting at about 6 months, we started Lincoln on solid foods. He basically demanded more and more food, and that was the only way he was happy - adding to his all-milk meals. His favorites so far are pears, sweet potatoes, and bananas. I think if he didn't have solid foods, he would want a bottle every 1 1/2 hours... but he is getting really good at eating from a spoon. He even recognizes the bowls we feed him from.

Laundry & Shoes

(Feb. 6-7)

When I fold laundry, Lincoln is pretty happy when I have him surrounded by clothes. This time he got a hold of one of my socks. Lincoln is finally helping me with the laundry! :)

Now that his shoes actually stay on his feet, he likes to check them out whenever I put them on him.

Cute kid!

Cuddling with Mom

(Jan. 16)

If you have ever held Lincoln, you would know he is NOT a cuddler. This makes me very sad. However, there are a handful of times (other than when he was teeny-tiny) he actually WILL cuddle. And this is one of those times. They hardly ever happen so I asked Jesse to take a picture!

6 Month Picture

Date: January 15, 2010 - Lincoln is 6 months old! 1/2 way to one!

Christmas

Wow. It is March 1st. I guess I didn't quite realize how far I am behind.

Anyway, we went to Idaho to visit my side of the family this year. We went bowling (of course), and had a great time. Here are the pictures!

Breakfast Christmas Morning
Delicious waffles with blackberry sauce and whip cream...mmm...

Opening presents... Angela helping Lincoln

Jesse with the boys (Lincoln & Matthew)

Family picture in the Kitchen

and in front of the Tree

One of the cutest pictures of Lincoln (thanks Mom!)

cheesy smile

Lincoln seems to like this...

Grandpa with happy Linc

Daddy with super-happy Linc

Ronald (Jesse's grandpa), Jesse, & Linc

When we went to visit Ronald, Nate & Audrey met us there at the same time.

Here they are with their little girl, Flora May.

It was fun to see Susan, Erin, & Bailey while we were there! (some friends from high school) We went to Mrs. Powell's for our little tradition.

Overall, we had a great time! It was fun to see family. Lincoln did really well for the car trip, both there and back. Total fussy time in the car: maybe an hour total (8-9 hours each way, including the stops). We'll see how well he does next time!