Funny Tid Bits To Share

Have you seen this? I appreciate a good laugh!

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And following the DC area Earthquake this photo really tickled me:

"Thanks to all of you for your kind words of support,

as we look to recover from the devastation of today's quake!"

MSPI update

Mostly for my record keeping, Lincoln has been doing great on yogurt and has had some small amounts of soy (in cooked/baked foods) and so far so good. He even had some tidbits of cheese yesterday with no noticeable reaction. Wahoo! We're on our way... last foods to try will be ice cream and straight milk. Here's to hoping we're in the clear!

Lincoln: 1 year old!!

Our Baby Bumble Bee

{Lincoln's favorite song is "Baby Bumble Bee". Although I am not a big party planner (besides planning the menu), I thought it'd be fun to do his birthday party with that theme - hence all the black/yellow!}

(wall word, year of pictures, bumble bees on the wall!)

About Lincoln... has the sweetest face, a darling smile, and is a very happy boy. He loves to play, rough and tumble with his brother, and do dare-devil stunts (he currently loves to climb onto Mason's toddler bed and then jump off... ah!). When the boys play we hold our breath because we think Lincoln is going to get hurt... but there he is, pinned down or bowled over, and he just looks up and smiles and laughs. He loves to be held (most of the time) and is a Momma's boy. He is still a big eater and is in the stage where he thinks it is funny to throw food on the floor. He has had small amounts of yogurt 4 times now and is handling it great (a million thumbs up!). Next up will be small bits of cheese. He is now off the million dollar Alimentum formula and is drinking Rice Milk (for now until we get him onto reg milk). He is also into throwing things into the toilet (yuck!) and is SO fast at opening that lid and chucking it in. He walks like a pro now-a-days and is walking 95+% of the time. He is still "squawk-a-mole-ee" - Mr. Vocal! He waves bye bye (and is starting to say bye-bye), is beginning to blow kisses, and still refuses to clap his hands. He does great when I cut his hair with clippers but hates to hold still when I get him dressed. He LOVES his Daddy and lights up and runs for the door as soon as he gets home. We had his 1st year appointment and he is 19 lb 13 oz and 30 1/4 inches. The doc said he seems more flexible than the average kid... random, right?

{Bumblee Cup Cakes!

Not pictured is our 'black/yellow' table with lemon drops, butterscotch candies, reisen chocolates, and mini oreos. Golden yellow punch, and black/yellow plates and napkins.... I had great intentions to take lots of pictures, whoops!)

{black/yellow party hat smash cake.... milk and soy free :) }

We love you Lincoln!!! We are so blessed to have you in our family!

Sleep Roulette ?

I've started the journey (albeit, cautiously) of introducing Lincoln to small amounts of dairy & soy to see how he digests it and whether he has outgrown his intolerance. I'll be honest, every time I do it I mentally think, "am I prepared to forego sleep tonight?" because that is the way it is likely to present itself - a very upset baby for several hours in the night. But what is worse is when that happens... you're left trying to be optimistic, "maybe he just wasn't feeling good and it wasn't the soy that caused that?" Let's face it, babies aren't always consistent, so you really can't be sure without trialing that same item a few times. How fun, right?? My type-A personality thinks this whole process is crazy (why cant they just do a test and tell me? unfortunately, those allergy tests aren't always very accurate ...this is the way my doc suggested I do it). On the bright side, it is teaching me to relax and accept that everything will be fine in the end... even if today isn't the 'end'. Tonight *I think* I'll be giving him some chicken w/bread crumbs on it... which contain soy. Hope we all get some sleep tonight like that cute little kitty :)

Sweet deal

I realize they are my kids... but aren't these adorable?????

The volunteer fire department comes around asking for donations and in return for a donation you get a free session with a photographer and a free 10x13 portrait. You don't expect much for a 'free' portrait, but how cute?! Of course I bought a 5x7 of each of the boys too :) They're growing so fast!

Potty Talk

... potty trained!?!?

Here is our synopsis thus far:

Day 1: started with the method of putting in underwear (big to-do of throwing away diapers), watching like a hawk, sprinting to the bathroom every time you saw him start/need to go, telling him to "tell mommy when you need to go potty" and "stay clean and dry. are you dry?" constantly. Eh, disaster? He wasn't caring when he had an accident (would just want to keep playing) and FLIPPED out when I would run him to the bathroom or tell him we needed to change underwear bc his were wet. I was being really calm and nonchalant about it but he was not calm at all. It was really, really bizarre to me because we had had success with the toilet before - he had used it and had a good attitude with it, etc. Where was this anxious, stressed attitude coming from??? Nap time came and went and after nap he woke up in the same mood. I was 2 seconds from calling it off and just trying again another day, but was trying to tell myself to just wait. At 4:15 (man, from 8:30 A-4:15P felt like THE LONGEST DAY EVER), I saw my little lady bug timer in the basement and had inspiration: use the timer to "tell" him to go try to go (no more trying to catch him in the act). Alas, from 4:15-8P we went potty about every 15 mins (ha! I figured we'd start short!) thanks to the lady bug's instructions and made it to bedtime without any more accidents... or tantrums.

Day 2: Lady Bug continued her presence - although I gradually extended the time from 20 minutes and up over the course of the day. He had a tiny accident mid-day and a pretty good one late afternoon as I was pushing the length between bathroom visits (whoops!). It was a very successful, low-stress day!

Day 3: Only one tiny accident and I phased the lady bug out completely by mid afternoon. I continued to tell him to go try every so often, but just by how long it felt like it had been.

Day 4: No accidents and he even told ME he needed to go once! (my biggest concern has been when he would be the one deciding to go to the potty....).

Day 5: No accidents again!

Day 6: No accidents!

I am still prompting him to go (when waking, before napping, during play, etc) but he is also occasionally telling me he needs to go. We've managed to run an errand once, go to dinner once, and go to our 3-hour block of church accident free.

I AM SO EXCITED! And SO PROUD of him!

He has been spoiled with (mostly dollar store) presents, lots of stickers, and M&Ms. I think he now expects everyone coming over to bring him some kind of a present. :-p One day this week I asked him if he wanted to call my Dad to tell him he had used the potty (reinforce, reinforce) and when he called he says, "Pop Pop, I peepee in the potty! You bring me present?" LOL He told him he'd give him some corn from the garden :)

Somebody pinch me. I really thought this was going to be dreadful, but it has gone so smooth overall! Sure hope this continues!

Way to go Mase!

Mondays

When I woke up this morning it looked like my house had exploded. I am happy to report that it is 9:52A and it is only looking 1/4 exploded now. Mondays can be so crazy sometimes. Hence why I plan to start potty training on a Tuesday. As in, tomorrow Tuesday. Wish us luck!