teeth or no teeth

oh henry....you are so cute and sweet, but your teeth look so silly! henry now has 4 teeth, two up, two down, but the two on top are not his front teeth. They are the teeth next to the front teeth and there is no sign of any front teeth coming in. I did a little quick research and found out that he may get his front teeth and that they just came in out of order; however, there is an equally good chance that he doesn't have any front teeth to come in..and in that case would remain toothless until we see if he has any permanant teeth up there to fill the gaps. I'm sure that at some point we will visit the dentist if we don't see some front teeth by the first of the year, but I really don't want to make the little guy have an xray...he's just a sweet baby with a silly looking grin. i wish i had a picture of it, but it's almost impossible to see in there!

 

Aren't I big?! Standing!

 

 

on a side note, we decorated for halloween today and my guys are thoroughly thrilled with the idea of ghosts, witches, and anything spooky! hope everyone else is enjoying fall as much as we are! (costume pictures to come soon...they are ordered and on there way!)

 

 

shhhhhh...don't let daddy know we jumped on the new couch!

entitlement...

When, as a society, did we determine that we were entitled to so many things? At what point in our history did we make the shift from a hard-working, grateful nation with Christian roots and values to the hodge-podge of rights, entitlements, and political correctness that we are swimming in today? I am disgusted every time I see children or adults behaving in a way that proves that they truly believe they have a right to anything that they want. When did the definition of "pursuit of happiness" become garbled into some extent of nonsense where everyone should have everything anyone else has...its like living in a land of 2 year olds!

Kevin and I have really had some serious discussions of late on how to appropriately teach our kids that there are consequences, often hard ones, and that you don't deserve things you work for them and earn them over time. We want children who are grateful, considerate of others, take their consequences solemnly and learn from them! Now if we just knew how to do this in a world where everything and everyone around them preaches the opposite...

7 months young

Henry was official 7 months old on the 21st...he's so grown up, can do so many things and is getting so independent already, but he is still my smiley, cuddley little baby...and for now we want him to stay just like that!

Here is an update on his stats, so to speak....
At 7 months Henry,
-crawls
-has THREE teeth...got one of the ones up top last Thursday
-pulls up to a stand and tries to climb anything and everything in his sight!
-feeds himself Gerber puffs (by the fistful and LOVES them)
-has tried all his fruits and veggies and seems to be a good eater so far
-says, "Dada, Baba, Gaga, Yaya" and any other noise he can get his mouth and tongue to make
-he's 18 lbs, 27 inches
-wears 12-18 month clothes
-thinks his big sister is the very best toy in the world (and she's pretty crazy about him too)
-wants any toy Lincoln is playing with and is getting pretty good at swiping them..."Mom, Henry spitted on my guy AGAIN!"
-LOVES to be outside and especially in the grass...he tries to get fistfulls in both hands, in both feet (clutching with his toes) and then waving his hands and screams with delight

baths and bikes

we've really gotten into riding bikes down our street the last week or so...Lincoln got a new "big kid" bike and is absolutely in LOVE with it. He learned how to ride it within hours of getting it home, but because "he's a Lincoln" it took us almost 3 days to teach him to stop! He would ride down the hill as fast as his little legs could turn and then scream STOP and try to put his feet down. anyone who has ridden a bike knows that if you are going fast enough your feet don't work very well at helping you stop (only at throwing you off the bike and into the street). After several bad crashes he decided it was time to slow down and listen to mom and dad about learning to stop...now he's got the hang of it!

Meanwhile, Avery could not stand it that her little brother was riding better than she was. Ave has had her bike for awhile, but being my overly cautious girl that she is, never wanted to ride because she 'might' fall off. However, over the last few days I have been teaching her to ride and last night she got it. AVERY CAN RIDE HER BIKE WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS!!!!!! amazing to me, and she is so proud of herself! after her last successful ride, we were walking into the house and she says, "This IS the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad...that I can ride my bike!" hilarious! I don't have any pictures of her on her bike as I have been the one running up and down the street with her

Bath time...over the last year we have been taking less and less baths (Avery and Lincoln that is) because well, baths take longer, make mom kneel and bend over and when we have busy, fun-filled evenings are just harder to get done. that means that instead we have been taking showers, which is a plus cause I can get cleaned up too and it is faster...however, there isn't really time/opportunity to play like there is in the bath tub. As much as I like the ease of the shower, I am sad that the expereince of bathtime is getting skipped. when avery was little it used to be an event to look forward to...bathtime was a whole process that took up much of our evening after supper and involved buckets of toys and lots of giggling. I am going to make a real effort to slow things down and let my little guys still be little and enjoy their baths...

 avery...5 months

 Lincoln...5 weeks

 Avery 2 and 1/2....Lincoln 8 months

Henry...6 months

 

 

found these pics and are matting and framing them for the kids' bathroom, that way I can see their sweet, clean cuteness everyday!

kc trip

we spent saturday in kansas city for the first time in over a month. we had so much fun and were able to pack a lot of great times into only a short daytrip. we started the morning with cartoons and a relaxed breakfast together, then loaded up and hit the road about 8:30...which seemed like late in the day since we are out the door before 7:30 M-F. Henry had a GREAT ride with NO crying...he slept awhile then woke up and happily played a few toys and looked out the window! It was awesome, as we have maybe only had one or two other trips go that smoothly...it totally helped my sanity and I think led to the rest of the days success.

Once in kc we spent a couple of hours with Nana and Grandpa running around their house and being silly before meeting Grammy and Papa for lunch at our all-time favorite Jalapenos!!!! Yum!!! the kids ate like crazy of course and had a lot of fun. After nap, the boys and I were off to our great friend Max's 3rd birthday party where we got to see almost all of our old playgroup friends. It was so fun to see everyone, chat with my mom friends, and let the boys run wild! It was sad to say goodbye again to such a great group of women, but I have to say it felt good this time...I don't know what was different because I still miss playgroup each week and OP in general, but I was content knowing we were going home! Yay! I obviously did an awful job of taking pictures this trip, but did manage to catch some priceless photos of my dad riding in a wagon with Avery...he pulled her up the hill and rode down with her at least 10 times!!!

school age memories

I seriously can't believe that I have a kid who goes to school skating parties, has homework, allows me to be involved in the PTA, and is required to do school-wide fundraisers! What?! I remember doing all of those things and it seems so crazy that now its Avery who is the one experiencing all of this and having fun at school. When Avery was first born it was such a life changer for Kevin and I, and then  the next 5 years felt like business as usual...we had adjusted to life with kids, so carting them to playgroups, activities, parties, and even preschool seemed normal. They still spent most of their time with me and life was scheduled around naps, meals, and bedtimes. But now, its like another whole stage in life...a totally different type of schedule, almost as disruptive/life changing as bringing her home 5 years ago...hopefully I'll adjust soon!

Lincoln has been a real little stinker lately, exerting his independence (often at inappropriate times) like crazy at home, but of course he's a little angel at school. As one of his many different types of 'punishment' that works for him is being sent to his room to settle down and change his attitude/behavior. Well, the last couple of weeks when I go to let him out of his room he is sitting in his chair, or walking around with his guitar singing songs from Zac Brown Band! It is hilarious!

We have been completely enjoying this much cooler, nicer weather! As someone who likes the colder months, I would have never thought that I would have been so happy to see 70s and 80s, but compared to 100s+ this feels great!

 Just loungin' in the clubhouse!

 

 

Does it make me a bad mom if I let my kid play in the backyard in his underpants?

 

 

Wearin' my Mizzou hat, just like Daddy!

"Mom," Lincoln says at lunch yesterday, "I'm pretending my milk is beer. Do you want to drink my beer...no, you can't. Daddy's drink beer, Mommy's drink diet coke."



weekend update

We had a great weekend playing together and having guests! My parents and my grandparents came down on Saturday and played all day with the kiddos. They had so much fun: playdoh, chasing, shooting, kitty set-ups, playing outside...it was a great time!

Back in the swing of things now, with school fundraisers, bringing snacks, and oh yeah, a crawling 6 month old!!!!!!!!!!!!! Henry took his first few "crawls" yesterday, but thank goodness doesn't really know that he can do it so he still just goes a few 'steps' forward and then sits up again. Seriously, Hen, do we need to remind you that you are only 6 months old?!

First day of preschool!

Lincoln had his first day of preschool Tuesday and did great! He LOVED it and can't wait to go back...I was the only one who had to shed a few tears :( but enjoyed my time with Henry of course!

I took this quick video at lunch and Lincoln sumed up his first day, enjoy!

 

long weekend, lots of fun

 

 

it has been such a fun long weekend. we haven't really done much of anything, but played and hung out here at home! I think that we all needed this type of down time playing together and enjoying each other's company.

 

 

 

Avery and Henry playing "farm"...he thinks she is the best thing on earth...

 

Lincoln and Green Lantern getting ready to attack!!!

I especially remember Saturday night at dinner while we were all sitting at the table talking, giggling, and listening to some nice background music (thanks dad and Pandora). it seemed so perfect, so fun, and so cool to like and love your family this much! it is especially rewarding, i think, as a mom to hear your kids talking and playing together just because they like each other!! Fun, fun, fun memories

 

Chasing dad is so fun!!

 

 

"Claus and Fraus" the diabolical duo