Growing with the Gambills

2010-12-25T14:11:00.000-06:00

Halloween x 3

2010-11-11T00:05:00.004-06:00

We had a fun but exhausting Halloween weekend. We ended up gong to 2 parties and then taking the kids out on Halloween. We did a lot of dressing up, which I love.

Friday night was a party at my boss's house. He pulls out all the stops-pony rides, balloon artists, pumpkin carving, smores, you name it, he had it. We were not a united front that night. Ryan was Don King and Madden was his boxer. I was Ursula and Harper was my Ariel (we won the costume contest). As you can see from the picture, Lincoln was Ironman.

Saturday night was our other annual Halloween party at Ryan's brother's house. We decided to get a little more themed and we rounded out the cast of The Little Mermaid with Ryan as King Triton and Madden as Sebastian. I am proud to say that I made everyone's costumes but my own which I borrowed.

Halloween came around and we met at my mom's house for some pre-trick or treating dinner. Lincoln had to throw a few energy bombs (no idea what Iron Man really calls them) at me so I could capture his true persona.

This was Madden's first time to trick or treat and since he doesn't really talk well he kind of just yelled 3 syllables at people. It worked and he got his candy. He only made it to a few houses though because he kept wanting to eat as he was collecting. It wasn't working out so well because he wasn't bothering to have us open the candy for him. We found 1/2 chewed up candy in the wrappers in his bucket when we got home, gross.

We had a good time, I love Halloween and I love dressing up as long as I have a great costume. I better start thinking about next year's costumes so I'm not trying to make them day of. Maybe next year we'll be KISS......

Pumpkintown

2010-11-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

Due to time constraints (or the fact that we didn't want to drag 3 kids too far away), we decided to try out Pumpkintown. We went a little close to Halloween so it was a tad crowded but not too bad. This was Madden's first time at a pumpkin patch where he could actually walk around. It was quite amusing. Apparently, Madden had his own method for picking pumpkins.

"Hey Madden, let's go and pick a pumpkin. What are you doing?! Quit licking them, wait, are you kissing them?" Maybe he thought we said let's go and kiss a pumpkin, not pick a pumpkin.

"Madden, let's go over here and pick pumpkins. Can you pick one up? Oh, wait, stop kissing them." I promise you that I could have taken more pumpkin kissing pictures but I got tired. I think he tried out each one that he passed.

Lincoln enjoyed jumping on the hay bales.

If any of you have been around Madden, you know he is a big boy in a tiny body. He is certain that he can do anything that his big brother can do. I think this picture kind of sums up how I think he feels most of the time. Little guy in a big world.

Lincoln found himself a perfect pumpkin. It did not go home with us because I am too cheap to buy one of these $20 pumpkins. We left with $2 ones.

Harper was pretty much wondering why we dragged her to the pumpkin patch on a windy day. It's not easy on her hair.

And, alas, the attempt at the group shot. I had to make it quick because it was a dirt floor and apparently Lincoln is not as strong as he thinks he is. You can barely see Ryan's hand at the bottom of the picture. Believe me, you can never be too safe.

3 Months Old

2010-11-10T23:10:00.005-06:00

Time is flying by and I am barely getting a chance to document it. It is very true that with each subsequent child there are less and less pictures taken. Poor Harper never even got a birth announcement. Maybe I'll make one just to keep for memory sake. Anyways, she is already 3 months old (almost 4) and I really need to buckle down and quit making excuses.

Here's a few facts about Miss Harper:

1. She loves to smile and is starting to coo.

2. She gets a very concerned look on her face when Madden comes too close to her. This could be because he lays on her and likes to poke at her eyeballs.

3. Madden calls her Ha-Ha, which is very cute (okay that was actually about Madden, but whatever).

4. She weighs about 11ish pounds.

5. She can manage to keep her daddy's undivided attention.

6. Her hair is getting wilder by the minute.

7. Her thighs are getting chunkier by the minute.

8. She is cute, cute, cute.

Okay, I know that wasn't much, but that's all I got for now. I will post more pictures up as I take them. Until then, enjoy this last pic of this cute little crazy haired lady.

Backyard Guest

2010-11-01T20:27:00.002-05:00

*Warning*-Do not read any further if you have any sort of phobia towards eight legged creatures, you may faint in your seat.

This is in my backyard.

Not by choice, although it is contained.

Apparently, this may become our new family pet, again, not by choice.

This thing is huge, those are Lincoln's feet.

I'm with you on this one, buddy, that thing is CREEPY!! We have learned though that tarantulas eat crickets. Apparently, the best crickets are fortified ones from the pet store. I mean really. Can't it just eat yard bugs? Hopefully, we don't kill the poor tarantula. If there is anyone who actually really wants one of these things then let me know. I would be more than happy to give it up.

A Concession

2010-09-27T22:28:00.002-05:00

I have a concession to make, not to be confused with a confession. I have told more than one person lately that adjusting to having 3 kids has been, well, awful. I have to clarify my statement a little because I don't want to give anyone the idea that I don't love having 3 kids or that having 3 kids is a frightening thing. It is, in fact, wonderful, fun, and always exciting. You get 3 times the hugs, kisses, and best of all, they fight for your attention. All of a sudden you become 3 times more awesome than you were before.

Now, is it easy, no. Can it be stressful, frustrating, sleepless, and just plain overwhelming, yes. Does it sometimes just make you want to do this, yes. But, it is worth every second and would I trade it for anything else in the world, no.

So, please do not judge me the next time I sigh when someone asks me what it's like having 3. I probably don't mean it : )

Back to Reality

2010-09-14T22:33:00.002-05:00

Well, the time has finally come for me to go back to work. I left the 2 terrors and baby sister off at Nana's on Monday morning to begin our new daily routine. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but they were also all 3 asleep. It made for an easy getaway, but required 4 trips to the car, 1 for the bags and 1 for each child, wow! We'll see if I can continue to get out of the house at a decent time. I'm not a morning person so this has been quite an adjustment.

I wish that I had more exciting news than that, but with 3 kids we haven't done much lately. Miss Harper is growing by the minute. She gets lots of love from her big brothers and most of the time it's nice. Madden is still getting himself into every predicament imaginable and has lots of bruises to show for it. Lincoln has started preschool and acts like he's 3 going on 13. He says the most random things and the conversations end like this. Me-"How do you know that?", Him-"I know everything". Okay, who can argue with that.

Well, I will attempt to get some more pics up soon. Hopefully that will include some pictures of Harper's room and our new multi-purpose family room. Right now, I have to go and put a 3-year-old back to bed, and yes, it is almost 11:00 (sigh).

Settling In

2010-08-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

I never thought that life with 3 kids 3 and under would be easy, but, I'm not sure how people do it. The most common scenario these days- I have a baby nursing in my lap, a one year old about to leap off the coffee table, and a 3 1/2 year old egging him on and occasionally giving him a "helpful" push.

But, alas, there are the few moments of silence when they are all asleep and I can bask in the peacefulness of our new baby girl. She is sweet, calm, and smells delicious. I know that many of you may not believe me, but boys really do have a boyish smell, even from the time that they are born.

I love how she still keeps her feet curled up beneath her.

She has some long, delicate fingers and toes. Maybe she'll be a pianist or a ballerina.

As for now, baby Harper sleeps through the commotion. I know that soon she will all too much a part of the commotion or even the cause of it. Until that time comes, I'm just going to enjoy her sweet, wonderful calmness and pray that it lasts for a little while.

Welcome Baby Harper

2010-08-07T12:58:00.006-05:00

I know this post is long overdue, especially since I have been plastering her all over Facebook, but I wanted to make sure I got an official blog post in. As many of you know, Harper was a little stubborn in her arrival. My body was ready to go but she was just hanging out right on the brink of....well, you know. Dr. Sterling suggested that I could go ahead and be induced because he felt like she would come too quickly if my water were to break. I opted for yes, please help encourage her into this world. Well, we went in Wednesday morning at 7:30 am on July 21st and baby Harper entered the world at 1:01 pm.

I could not have asked for a better birth. It was calm and for the most part pain free. The best part is that she literally entered this world amidst laughter. Who could ask for a more joyous birth! I hope that reflects in her personality. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and was 19 inches long.

Proud parents of our new baby girl (which I did have the Dr. confirm when she came out, you never know).

Ryan's parents brought the boys up later that night once we were settled into a room. Lincoln was enthralled, while Madden, on the other hand, would barely give her the time of day. He's finally starting to come around.

Here's our first picture as a new family of 5.

Unfortunately, Ryan had to go to work the next day. Here are some pics that I snapped of Harper while we were hanging out at the hospital.

Love her little newborn feet.

Ryan came back to get us after he got off of work. It was a very short hospital stay, which was nice.

We went and picked up the boys from his parent's house. People suggested that we leave them there one more night and spend our first night with baby alone. I really missed my boys though so I wanted us all to go home together. Later I realized that "the people" were probably right. It was quite chaotic but we made it through.

As you can tell, Madden was still not quite sure what to think.

So here she is, our new baby girl. Welcome to the world little one! We love you so much and we are so excited to add you to our family. We cannot wait to watch you grow and see your personality blossom.

The Last Time....

2010-07-20T22:08:00.004-05:00

I actually finished this post yesterday, but I woke up last night and realized that this was going to be the last time (if we can help it) that I am going to be pregnant. This will be the last night that I will feel little kicks in my belly. This will be the last time that I will get to anticipate seeing our little peanut grow in ultrasounds each month. This will be the last time that I will get to feel the excitement of adding a new addition to our family.

This will be the last time that our family photo will include only 4 people. It's very strange to actually say that we will be a family of 5 very shortly. FIVE, that sounds like a lot, and when the kids outnumber the parents, it can't be a good thing. This will also be the last time that I can say "boys" when referring to my kids.

And last but not least, this will be the last that you will see baby girl's picture from the inside. Tomorrow, she will make her debut into this world and will hopefully do it in a speedy manner. We are so excited to meet her and see how she will perfectly round out our growing family.

Lincoln can't wait and Madden has no idea what's about to happen. Ryan is excited and nervous at the same time. I am ready, excited, and can't wait to fall in love with our newest addition. Please keep us in your thoughts and I will keep everyone posted on her arrival. Hopefully, this won't be the last time that I post for awhile.

Some Random Goodness

2010-07-16T22:43:00.002-05:00

There's not been a whole lot going on in the Gambill household, just the same old, same old. We are definitely anticipating the arrival of this baby girl. She is already making a spectacle of her arrival, as girls will do. She's sent me to the hospital once, only to be sent home and has provided multiple contractions that last just long enough to really start hurting but not quite long enough to qualify as labor. The boys were easy, water breaks, and off you go. If this is forewarning of what's to come, please help me.

These are some shoes that my cousin brought her back from China, can't wait to get them on her.

My sister is in town this weekend and all the cousins got together. They are a mess and my mom is exhausted after attempting to keep them all amused. Girls seem to be a scarce commodity in this family.

Madden's personality is starting to shine and at times it's not so nice. He doesn't say much, so there's a lot of grunting and screaming that goes on in our household. He loves to put hats on his head and will actually leave them on. Here he is with Daddy's cowboy hat, love it!

I've decided that I am starting trade school early with the boys to make sure that they turn out to be handy husbands. Remember, always wear your safety goggles. Ryan was the one who was brave enough to actually let Lincoln hammer in nails while he was holding them. No thanks on that one, I need my opposable thumbs.

Madden "participated" as well and by that I mean he attempted to hammer everything in site as well as chunk it across the room, not good.

So, that about sums up a whole lot of nothing. Next time I post I hope that it will include the picture of a sweet baby girl. Until then, I'm going to attempt to stay cool.

Happy Fourth of Fuly!

2010-07-06T21:14:00.007-05:00

Lincoln was so excited about the 4th of Fuly (as he pronounced it). It actually took us a minute to decode exactly what he was talking about and why he kept calling it a birthday party. I kept telling him that just because we were having a party it wasn't anyone's birthday. Well, silly me, he pointed out it was America's birthday, man did that make me feel not smart. So, here a few pictures from our "birthday party".

Here's Lincoln with that lovely watermelon, maybe this will help put it's size into perspective.

Madden enjoying a piece of that juicy thing once it was cut open (at least for picture purposes only).

Everyone enjoying the fireworks, Madden was so cute in his little chair. He would gasp and point when he saw a big one.

Lincoln enjoying some snap and pops.

Madden loved the poppers too, he was stomping all over them. I tried to get a video but by the time I came back with it, his interest had waned, oh well.

Madden and daddy.

Cousins, kind of funny the variety of skin tones they are.

This is how the kiddos and Ryan celebrated America's birthday. They lined up a ton of sparklers, got them all lit, and then shouted "Happy Birthday, America".

I hope that everyone had a great 4th of July and all were safe. We only ended up with one punk burn this year, that's pretty good stats for our group of crazies.

Watermelon Baby

2010-07-05T21:51:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I'm for sure not one to normally take, or nonetheless, post a naked belly pic, but when my mom brought over this watermelon I couldn't resist. It was a perfectly round melon that I thought was going to be the same size if not bigger than my belly. Well, as you can see, I won (not necessarily a good thing). And, if you think you noticed some airbrushing going on, you are correct, no way could I post stretch marks too. So, next time you bite into a juicy watermelon, you can think of this!

A Tea Party for Baby Girl

2010-07-05T21:20:00.002-05:00

I wasn't too sure about having another shower seeing as to how I just had one a year ago. Well, everyone agreed that since it was a girl I needed to at least have a small one. My bestie, Shay, decided to have it at Nibbles, a great little cafe/bakery at 81st & Memorial. The owner does a "high tea" which was the perfect theme for a girly baby shower.

Let me just tell you, it was wonderful and so much more than I could have asked for. Talk about a fun girly thing to do. The owner made all kinds of yummy things, like tea sandwiches, scones, and quiche.

Those strawberry pinwheels on the top were DELICIOUS!!

We drank from dainty little china teacups and the tea was served out beautiful blue teapots.

Best of all, was the mocha cake with mocha filling. I could have finished half of it by myself, which I may have by the time I finished off what I brought home.

It was really the perfect way to celebrate bringing a baby girl into this world, especially after seeing nothing but blue the past few years. Thank you so much to my dear friends and family that were able to make it out and for all the wonderful gifts. It's a good feeling to know how many people already love her even before she has made her appearance.

Modes of Attack and a Smoking Man

2010-06-06T21:40:00.004-05:00

We thought that Lincoln had energy, he was nothing compared to this little terror. There is truly not a toy in our house (except for his blue dog) that can hold his interest. He is more interested in getting into every cabinet, bathroom, or closet that he is not supposed to be in. He also enjoys climbing on anything and everything which leads to lots of bruises. I think his favorite thing is to see what his big brother is doing and attempt to join in. I attempted to document his nightly mode of attack on his brother's computer time. The chair is laid on it's side to attempt to keep him out. It does not deter him.

Step 1- Scope out your next victim and assess the situation.

Step 2- Find a mode of entry, regardless of how tight the spot is or if you have to climb over a computer tower.

Step 3- Mission accomplished. Entry was gained, a keyboard was stepped on, and a big brother is yelling. Pretty much all he wanted to to do.

And, on to the next random subject. We celebrated June birthdays with the Gambill's this weekend and Ryan's mom asked if he would smoke some meat. Well, a brisket and a few ribs turned into a huge brisket, 5 racks of ribs, and 12 ginormous chicken breasts. My sweet, smoking husband, woke up at 6:00 and started a fire and got it all going. It took a lot of time but I will have to say, was well worth it.

I am trying to prepare him for the competitive BBQ circuit, but I don't think he's quite ready for that yet.

Happy Birthday Madden!

2010-05-24T08:00:00.002-05:00

It's hard to believe that just a year ago, we were blessed with our 2nd baby boy. He was born at 9:00 pm and weighed in at 7 lbs 4 oz. He doesn't weigh a whole lot more than that now, at least not comparatively. He keeps us busy though. He's too busy exploring the world that he has no time for toys. He pretty much likes to climb on anything available and walk around the house screaming. He doesn't have many words yet but he can get his point across when he needs to. It's hard to believe that in a few months, he is going to be the big brother. I hope he doesn't feel the need to grow up too quickly.

To our sweet baby boy, we hope you have a great birthday. Your dad and brother and I love you very much and we are so thankful that we were chosen to be your family!

Here's a quick peek at Madden's 1st year.

Madden's Sock Monkey Birthday

2010-05-23T21:36:00.004-05:00

Madden's birthday party sort of just snuck right up on me. Pretty much with 2 little ones and being pregnant, I apparently have lost all track of time. I only got a few hand delivered invitations out and the rest went out via e-mail (probably not proper invitation etiquette to some). We went with a sock monkey theme and started scouting out as many as we could.

Luckily, we were able to get quite a few from my boss, including one ginormous one that was about 4 ft. tall. I had to get creative with other decorations because apparently they don't make sock monkey themed party supplies (at least not ones that take less than 5 days to get to you).

Madden was not too interested in opening gifts. I at least got one picture before he ran away, at least there were no tears.

Trying out his gift from his mommy, daddy, and big brother. Pretty sure this is going to cause an injury when he figures out how to work out.

We got him all undressed and ready for his big cake debut.

He was more interested in trying to figure out why everyone was singing to him and didn't even notice the burning candle in his face.

He wasn't really sure what to do with the cake so I decided I would help him out a little. There was really only one good hand smoosh and that was the one I helped him make.

The cake devouring didn't last long and he was done.

He was exhausted after his party and laid down on the floor with his dog. I think he had a good time. There were no melt-downs and all the other little kids stayed outside making it a nice, cool, stress-free adult zone inside.

Happy birthday, little Madden! We love you very much and hope you had a great time.

A quick anatomy lesson

2010-04-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

I knew that this day would be coming soon. I didn't quite think this soon. Lincoln came up to me after he had just finished using the bathroom and wanted to know why girls didn't have weiners. Well, I quickly diverted that one to Ryan. So, Lincoln marches in and asks his daddy the same question. After some thought, Ryan replied, "Well, boys have weiners and girls have not weiners. How else would we be able to tell boys from girls." Good thing he's only 3, because that answer sufficed, be it a not so scientific answer, but good enough for now. Let's hope the questions don't get much harder than this.

Where has the time gone?!

2010-04-16T23:20:00.008-05:00

Well, I will make no apologies for my lack of blogging. (Hopefully there are still people out there that do still check in on this pitiful thing.) Life has been a whirlwind and somehow I have managed to let it all pass by without getting one thing down on this blog. Let's do a brief, and I mean brief, catch up. Let's see....

1. Found out I was pregnant (yes, again) in early December.
2. Celebrated Lincoln's 3rd birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.
3. Found out it was a girl in early February (woo-hoo).

4. Turned 30!
5. Watched our little Madden decide to go from being a happy on my back baby to a I'm not going to sit still baby.

6. Watched Lincoln "play" soccer for the first time as a Cottontail. I have to admit, the kid had some mad soccer skills.

Getting stamps was always his favorite part.

You always end with a team cheer!!

In short, life right now is crazy with our 2 boys. They are both getting so big and it's all I can do just to keep up with them in real life. Not sure where I'm going to get the energy for 3. Keep checking back, it may not be as often as I would like, but I promise it will get more interesting around here.

What Motivates You

2009-10-26T19:43:00.002-05:00

So, I promise pictures will be coming soon. But here's a little conversation I had with Lincoln.

Lincoln: Mommy, I need to poop
Me: Okay, hurry, let's go
Lincoln: I need to poop so I can get gummies
Me: Is that the only reason that you need to poop?
Lincoln: Yep, I poop for gummies

So that being said, what do you poop for?

Dear blog...

2009-09-27T21:52:00.002-05:00

I know that it has been so long since I have visited you. As soon as I am no longer constantly getting pooped, peed, or thrown up on, I will see you again. Until then, don't give up on me.

Love,
Me

What I Love About Summer

2009-08-09T08:15:00.010-05:00

Well, this is the first time in many years that I have actually got to really enjoy summer. Here are a few of the things that I love and will miss.

Fingerpainting on the back patio.

Hanging out on our (finally) finished back patio.

Playing horseshoes (or at least begging Lincoln to share them with us).

Going to the zoo.

Pretty pots of flowers (this one was unfortunately ravaged by hungry caterpillars).

Setting up a makeshift waterpark for our 2 year old.

Going to the pool and the cold shivers that you get when you get out.

Sleeping in and having pancakes for breakfast even when it's almost lunchtime.

And, last but not least, getting to wear whatever you want, whenever you want!

2 Months Old

2009-08-09T07:48:00.004-05:00

Madden is officially 11 weeks old today but since I can only find time to blog either in the wee hours of the morning or late hours of the night, here is his 2 month update.

We finally made it to the Dr. Jones for his 2-month check-up after my first failed attempt. He weighed in at 11 lbs. 2 1/2 oz. and was 23 1/2 inches long. Well, our little plumpy, is not really that plumpy. He is 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for length. I think he just carries it in his cheeks and I don't mean the ones under his diaper.

He is starting to smile, laugh, and coo at us and his personality is really starting to emerge. As one friend described him, he's pretty "chill". He pretty much will just hang out and only cries when he's hungry.

He is doing good at keeping that little head up which is starting to make for much cuter picture taking.

No matter what we do, there is no way to tame that hair. I have to admit I like it all wild, it gives him personality. The other day his Nana wet it to get it to lay down and he didn't even look like the same baby.

We don't have much to complain about with this one (not that we would). He is a sweet, precious little guy. It also doesn't hurt that he sleeps from 9:30 until almost 7:00. He's going to be a good sleeper unlike his big brother who sleeps from 11:00 until 10:00 if he could. With all that sleep that Madden is letting me have, I'm still exhausted, go figure. I think it's the nursing. Like someone said, they're sucking the nutrients right out of you. It's all worth it though, I gotta keep those chubby cheeks fed!

When They're Ready.....

2009-08-01T17:56:00.004-05:00

When they're ready, they'll let you know. We heard that plenty of times, but who doesn't push just a little to get their little ones out of diapers. Well, we prodded and with no success, until one day....he decided he was ready. About 5 days ago he started going in the potty and has been pretty good at not having any accidents unless we just don't quite get there in time. We are still having trouble with #2's so we have been trying to get him to sit on the potty and just relax and hope that it will happen. I know I shouldn't have snuck in on him with the camera but I couldn't resist. He'll appreciate this one day (or at least a future girlfriend will).

Unfortunately, his success did not happen on the potty but a little later in his room. Let's just say we have been doing a lot of laundry lately. Oh, and by the way, I missed Madden's 2-mth checkup because I got my days confused, so that update is now re-scheduled for next week (bad mommy moment).

More of Madden

2009-07-27T15:27:00.003-05:00

Nothing really new going on so I thought I would share some cute pics of our little plumpy guy. We go in next week for his 2 month check up so I will be able to report his official weight. Here he is flexing for the fans.

He is getting very good at keeping his head up. As soon as he gets a little stronger we'll be putting him in his bumbo.

Doesn't the shirt just say it all.

I'll have a better post once I get his official stats, thanks for checking in!

Fireworks, Food, Family and Friends

2009-07-20T20:24:00.004-05:00

The 4th is the holiday that is designated for our house. We have all of our family and friends over for lots of food and LOTS of fireworks. Ryan went a little overboard this year with all the big fireworks. Our neighborhood also went a little crazy and there were fireworks everywhere you looked. We try to get the kids together for a picture. I decided that it's easier to get a picture and have them act silly because that's pretty much how it's going to turn out anyways.

Cute little cousin Ethan, look at those pretty blue eyes.

Madden didn't mind the fireworks at all. He pretty much just sat with whoever would hold him.

Lincoln also didn't mind the fireworks. He wasn't really too interested in sparklers so I got no fun sparkler pics.

All the men set up little shows for us, they are quite impressive but not always the safest.

The weather was nice, the food was good, and there were fireworks a plenty. There's nothing that I love more than to sit and watch a good show with my favorite people. I leave you with a picture of Madden in the special commemorative bib that his Pa got him. I think we are going to have another boy who loves his pat-pat.

Lake Trip

2009-07-17T22:04:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago, we were able to make it out to the lake with Pa and Ryan's sister's family. My dear, sweet friend Debi agreed to watch Madden for us since her house is on the way to the lake. We didn't think he was quite ready for tubing.

Here is Aunt Jeannie and Cousin Ethan.

This was Lincoln's first time on the tube when it was actually moving. I was pretty impressed by how brave he was, he even got up on the middle of the tube by himself. The boat wasn't going too fast and I think he was hoping it would go faster. His cousins weren't too sure about the ride and didn't last too long out in the water.

After his 2nd round on the tube he was pretty wiped out. He cried when we made him come in but then was too tired to go back out. It's amazing the conditions that little kids can fall asleep in.

Pa lets them drive the boat, Lincoln was the worst driver of all of them. He kept going back and forth and back and forth.

I think this will probably be one of the few trips that I will get to take to the lake this summer. Madden and I prefer the clean waters of the pool anyways.

Father's Day (a month later)

2009-07-17T21:36:00.006-05:00

There were some special occasions that I failed to blog about when they happened but were very important to our family. One was Ryan's first Father's Day as a daddy of 2. Here he is with his 2 boys. As you can see picture cooperation is not one of their strong suits.

Here is Lincoln working on his Father's Day card. We got a card that you could record a message on and Lincoln made the cutest recording. Ryan only got to listen to it once before Lincoln erased it and recorded another not so nice message.

One of the main reasons that I blog is for us to be able to remember some of the stories and things that go on in our lives that we will probably one day forget. For this Father's Day, remember that Madden was just 4 weeks old and how much you love to hold him. You think that he's pretty cute and you say that he looks like a cartoon character with his big brown eyes.

Remember that Lincoln loves for you to play trains with him and how excited he gets when you build him a great big track. Remember how much he thanks you for fixing his trains when all you do is replace the batteries. Remember how he says, "Daddy, you play cars with me?" and how you can't say no as you are dragged into his room.

Remember that we think that you are a wonderful daddy and that we love you very much. I could not have asked for a better father for our 2 sons. Happy Father's Day!!

The Day has Come

2009-07-13T21:53:00.004-05:00

After....

The birth of one bouncing baby boy

50 days off of work

250 oz. of frozen breast milk

50 nights of 3 a.m. feedings

Hundreds of dirty diapers

Hours of entertaining a 2 1/2 year old

One trip to the zoo and

Not enough trips to the pool

....I reluctantly went back to work today.

I knew this day was coming, but I never knew how quickly it would approach. Luckily, I have my mother-in-law to love and care for my boys while I am gone so that makes the return to work much easier. Hopefully, I won't miss these 2 little guys too much. How could you not miss these sweet little faces though.

Week Four

2009-07-03T08:39:00.006-05:00

Time is going by so quickly and this little guy is growing by the minute. He's starting to smile, just every once in a while, but for the most part just kind of sits around and stares. He has already skipped one of his nighttime feedings (thank goodness).

His feet seem to be the only thing on him that is not growing.

Love the little man boobs, he's going to be a plumpy one.

We finally gave him his first tub bath. He loved it and especially likes getting his hair washed. (I promise he has been previously bathed, just in the sink for convenience).

For Father's day, I took pictures of all the grandkids and put them in a frame for Ryan's dad. This was the best I could get my kiddos to do. We tried a lot of options but either Madden was upset or Lincoln was being resistant.

I can't believe that I have to go back to work in 3 more weeks. I love my job but how can you stand to leave this cutie!

Well, I think the week by week updates are coming to a close. I will still keep on as best as I can (no promises) so you can see these two little guys grow.

Week Three

2009-07-03T07:45:00.004-05:00

3 weeks sounds like a while until you are actually living it. Things are finally starting to settle down and I'm starting to feel more like a normal person again. Madden is doing great and starting to fall into a routine. Lincoln is getting less whiny but still needing lots of attention.

Lincoln's personality is really starting to come full term. He talks non-stop and is picking up on everything that he hears. The other day he said to me, "Come here you big lug". Hmmm, not quite sure where he learned that but it was quite amusing. He also likes to tell jokes, quite the comedian. He thinks it's funny to shut his eyes and say, "Can you see my eyes?". He then laughs at himself for a good minute.

Ryan finally was able to feed Madden a bottle. We tried it once before and it didn't go over so well. I think that Madden is finally getting the hang of it. Lucky for us, he will easily nurse and take a bottle with little complaint.

Snoozing away, as you can see, he has traded in his wrinkly legs for some nice plumpy ones. I think he's going to be a big one.

I thought this one was cute, I walked in on this scene. Lincoln was just laying next to him and watching tv. He has his moments.

For some reason, time won't stop so that I can get caught up on this blog. Oh well, the updates may come late but they will keep on coming.

Lincoln's Special Day

2009-07-03T07:24:00.003-05:00

We wanted to do something special for Lincoln so that he didn't feel left out during all this new baby fever. What better than a day of Thomas Live and trains. Thomas & Friends came to town on June 6th and if you've been doing your reading then you know that Lincoln is obsessed. He carries trains with him wherever he goes and we have more Thomas stuff than you can imagine. The show was neat and I think he was a little in awe of the big moving trains on stage.

Here's a shot of the mischievious Percy (one of Lincoln's favorites).

The cast with the round Sir Tophum Hat.

Thomas and his conductor.

We decided to continue on with the train theme so we took him to Ollie's restaurant in west Tulsa. This was our first time there. They have model trains that run all around their restaurant. Fun for the little ones. The food was home cooking, nothing too spectacular.

I'm pretty sure that Lincoln had a good time and I think he enjoyed the fact that he got to go solo. As for us, well, let's just say that Thomas Live once is enough for this lifetime.

Week Two

2009-06-25T15:33:00.003-05:00

Well, I think that sleep deprivation has set in and so has the milk, so now I officially feel like a dairy cow. Don't get me wrong, I am proud to provide my son with all the nutrients that he needs, but it is exhausting. He is growing well though, so I can't complain. We brought him in for his 2 week check-up and he weighed 7 lbs. 8 1/2 oz. He looked good but had to have his circumcision area pulled back so that was a little unsettling for him.

Here's another sock monkey picture.

These are some of my favorite pictures that I took of him. He is so sweet when he looks at you with those big brown eyes and chubby cheeks.

This was my first week alone with Lincoln and Madden both. It wasn't too bad but I'm not sure how stay at home moms can get anything else done. Trying to entertain a 2 1/2 year old and feed and change a newborn is a lot of work. I haven't yet ventured out of the house with both of them and I'm not sure when I will get that brave.

Has It Been a Month?!

2009-06-24T12:59:00.005-05:00

It's hard to believe that a month has passed since we welcomed little Madden into this world and since I have last updated this blog. Get ready for some reading because I am going to catch everyone up. I'll try to do it in a few posts so as not to overwhelm anyone. I'll start where I left off, right after we brought him home.

Little ones change so much within the first few months so we decided to use something to compare Madden's size to in pictures. The sock monkey was close to his size so here he is. Surprisingly, he was already about the same size as the monkey.

We brought him to see Dr. Jones on the Friday after we brought him home. He weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 1/2 oz. She thought that everything looked good and no signs of jaundice.

Lincoln loves his little brother. He wakes up every morning and says good morning to him and give him a kiss, too cute.

This is Madden and Lincoln's feet, I never thought that Lincoln was as big as he is until now. My first baby is growing up.

Sleeping soundly.

The weather was actually not scorching hot then so Lincoln was out watering the front flower bed. Our daylilies were in full bloom.

Well, that was week one in summary. Madden is sleeping well and eating about every 2-3 hours. He is such a sweet baby and really only cries when he wants to eat. Let's hope this continues.

Getting Settled In

2009-05-26T23:12:00.000-05:00

Well, our last day in the hospital I tried to take some pictures to capture his newness. He is wearing the outfit that his daddy came home from the hospital in 30 years ago from the same pink palace. It's hard to believe that Lincoln was even smaller than him. I forget how tiny and fragile they are at first and how much they depend on you.

I love this picture. Ryan thinks the world of our new little one. He has also done a good job of making sure that Lincoln is getting the attention that he needs too. He is truly a great daddy.

We made it home and I have no pictures to commemorate the occasion because I was busy trying to not throw up in the car. I made the mistake of taking a pain pill before I left on an empty stomach and it did not settle well. I felt bad because Ryan was looking forward to bringing us all home and not one picture was snapped. Here is Madden once he was settled in. The ride home must have worn him out.

Later that night Nana, Pa, and G.G. came to visit. This is Madden's only great-grandparent that is still with us.

We did get settled in and he was very good that first night. He pretty much only cries when he is hungry, otherwise, he is pretty content just laying in his boppy or in your arms. We'll see how long that lasts.

Lincoln Meet Madden

2009-05-25T11:32:00.000-05:00

We wanted to introduce Lincoln to his new baby brother Madden without a lot of distractions. Ryan went to go and pick him up and then we had Ryan get the baby from the nursery. Lincoln was somewhat excited but still a little timid. When we first introduced him he was a little unsure of how he got out of my belly. He quickly took to him and kept saying, "Madden is so cute". That will melt your heart and then he told him that he loved him. I hope he keeps this same viewpoint of his little brother for the rest of his life.

All the men in my life getting to know each other.

We have been reading a book called I'm a Big Brother and it's about a boy who has a new little brother and he is waiting for him to grow up so that he can play with him. It was very cute because Lincoln kept asking, "He play with my cars when he grow up?".

I am actually starting to feel outnumbered but look at how cute all those boys are.

One last story for memories sake. Lincoln came in later and saw me nursing him. He asked what I was doing and I told him that Madden was eating. His response in question form, "He eat your nipple?". You can't help but laugh at that. He then asked my cousin who came in later, "He going to eat your nipple too?". We then had to explain that he only eats from mommy. Love the mind of a 2-year-old!

Memorial Day Visitors

2009-05-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

Monday was Memorial Day so most of our family was able to make it up to visit Baby Madden. Here are the boys with my mom. She works at the hospital so she was able to pop in and out all day.

Ryan's whole family showed up at about the same time so we had a room full of boys. It was a bit rowdy but what do you expect. Madden makes the 6th grandson (in a row) that we will have on that side.

Here is Aunt Sonya, we were so grateful that they kept Lincoln for us the night before. That was his first time to spend the night with someone other than his grandparents. I think he did fairly well.

This is Aunt Jeannie with Cousin Mason.

The rest of the cousins, Kaleb, Jordan, and Morgan. I got pictures of all them except for Ethan, he was not quite as cooperative.

Pa and Nana were in Branson and weren't able to make it for his birth. They did come up as soon as they got home on Monday to visit. Here is Nana with her 6th grandson.

Pa was excited but looked a little tired after the long drive back.

Our last visitor for the day was our best buddy, Shay. These pictures are rare because she admittedly not the most kid friendly person there is. She, however, makes exceptions for our cute little ones.

Thank you to all those that called and visited. Madden will be very excited when he looks back one day to see all the people that came to welcome him into the world.

Welcome Baby Madden!

2009-05-24T11:03:00.001-05:00

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new little one and he finally decided to make his appearance on Sunday night. After doing more walking than I have ever wanted to do 9 mths. pregnant, it all finally paid off. My water broke at about 3:15 on Sunday afternoon so we headed to the hospital after dropping Lincoln off with his Uncle Tommy. They verified that it was actually my water that broke and we got settled in. Here I am in my last pregnant pic and Ryan expressing his anxiousness about leaving here with another baby.

A few hours later, some potacin, and an epidural we were ready to push. After a bit of a struggle due to some broad shoulders and a bit of help from Dr. Sterling, Madden Lun Gambill joined the world at 9:00 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long. He was a bit bigger than we all had expected. He outweighed his brother by exactly 1 lb. and was exactly 1 in. longer than him. I think he even beat the amount of hair Lincoln had.

Here's our 1st look at our new baby boy. I have to admit I thought he was pretty cute with those chubby cheeks.

This is his 1st picture with his mommy. Don't you just love how swollen you look.

I was absolutely exhausted so I actually took a nap while they had him down in the room getting him all cleaned up. It actually wasn't that long of a delivery but it felt like forever to me. In the end it was all worth it and we had a beautiful little boy who was wide-eyed from the minute he came out. It was late when we made it to a room so Lincoln wasn't able to come up and meet his brother. I am very interested to see what his reaction will be. We'll keep you posted!

Still Waiting (Anxiously, I might add!)

2009-05-20T07:44:00.002-05:00

I appreciate all the comments and calls, but, yes, unfortunately, I am still with child at this point. Still with child and still dilated beyond belief. He did an office procedure on Monday to help naturally induce (not comfortable at all). I guess our little one is too comfy and being a little stubborn. I am determined to coax him out before this weekend because the Doogie Howser doctor is on call and I am not necessarily wanting him to deliver. But, if that's what happens, so be it, I am just ready for him to join us in the real world. Talk to everyone soon (I hope)!

Pregnancy Update

2009-05-11T22:21:00.003-05:00

Just a short post- went to see Dr. Williamson today and he had some interesting news. This was my first "getting checked" appointment. I was actually anticipating it because Lincoln came so early. He checked me and looked at me kind of shocked and told me I was at a 4 and almost completely effaced. I asked if he was kidding and he told me that he doesn't joke about things like that. I'm thinking that we are going to meet our new little guy pretty soon. Very exciting but very nerve racking because again I am not ready!!

A Perfect Mother's Day Weekend

2009-05-10T21:49:00.004-05:00

I had a great Mother's Day weekend that included all of my favorite things. Ryan and Lincoln took me to the Wild Fork for breakfast on Saturday morning. If you have not been there for breakfast then you need to go and go soon. I think they have the best breakfast around. We then headed out to Philbrook for the 2nd Saturday Family Day. This was our 1st time and Lincoln had a great time. I was able to get some good pictures of Lincoln making art. Unfortunately he was too young to sign up for the My Museum program but he still had a good time.

Here is his finished painting.

We then headed out to the gardens. It was a tad dreary but the rain at least quit long enough for us to get some pictures. Here I am in all my glory, only 3 1/2 weeks left to go, yeah!

Lincoln had a good time running around and luckily Ryan was there to run after him. I thought I was going to pass out just walking back up all the steps. He is not quite cooperative with pictures these days so but I was bound and determined to get a good one of me and him to commemorate the day.

Ryan did a pretty good job and I was happy that Lincoln looked and smiled long enough to get a few good pics.

I hope that everyone had as good a weekend as I did. The best part was just getting to spend time with Lincoln and Ryan and doing things we don't normally do. I think I got an extra special weekend because I was pregnant, who's complaining though right.

Happy Mother's Day to all of my wonderful friends who are mothers. I hope that you were all able to sit back and relax.

Enjoying the Weather

2009-05-08T21:27:00.003-05:00

It seems like so long ago that we actually had a dry day with sunshine. I think about 2 weekends ago we were actually able to play outside and we broke out our sidewalk chalk for the first time and piddled around in our front flower gardens.

Here is the art that we ended up with on our sidewalk. Most came from Ryan, quite creative.

Lincoln loves his dinosaur that blows bubbles. I would recommend these automatic bubble blowers for anyone who has almost passed out trying to blow bubbles for their children.

He is quite the helper when it comes to getting to use the watering can. I share this picture because Ryan was glueing the foot back onto my flower pot and managed to glue a few fingers together as well. He tried to blame me for making him fix it, but I blamed his inability to squeeze a tube of super glue. Either way, I think only a minimal amount of skin was lost.

I think it's time for the nice spring weather to stay. Who knew that the weather could really depress people. I actually have been cringing every time I get hit with a new raindrop. I guess the only thing that is nice is that everything is turning green, soggy but yet still green.

A Scrapbooking Shower

2009-05-08T20:22:00.004-05:00

My 2 sister-in-laws and my good friend threw me a wonderful baby shower on April 25th. I wanted to keep it small since it was my second go round. I was so impressed with all the neat things that they did that I wanted to share them. Everything was so pretty and the cupcakes that my friend made were very intricate.

These cupcakes were so cute and they tasted just as good.

My sister-in-law made this arrangement out of all fresh fruit, very cool.

The shower activity was to make scrapbook pages for the new baby's book. Let's just say that some people were not into scrapbooking but they all at least made the attempt. Thank you girls for all the great pages. Maybe I won't be so behind all the time.

It was such a great shower and I got a ton of fun things that have come out since Lincoln was born. It's amazing how things change in just a few years. Thank you girls for such a great shower and for all the effort that you put into it. I love you all!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-05-03T20:58:00.003-05:00

April 18th was my dad's 67th birthday. Since he is gone, we try to always celebrate his birthday in a special way. My sister and my nephew were able to make it into town from Houston to join us. My mom made a traditional big lunch and we lit incense for him and sent him good wishes. We try to always talk to Lincoln about his Tha so that he won't forget what little time that he had with him. These events are good reminders.

After lunch we all ventured to Floral Haven to put spring flowers out on his grave. I do have a hard time going out there but I try hard around these important times. I always thought that I would visit often but it's harder for me to actually go there than I thought it would be.

The boys are singing happy birthday to him. It was very sweet and so sincere.

Here is me and my mom, this day was hard for her but having her grandsons around was helpful.

Although the day itself was dreary, it was a very nice day for our family. We got to celebrate the day our dad was brought into this world and not dwell on the day he left. We miss him dearly but I try to remember that he is up in Heaven watching over us.

Why I Love My Husband

2009-05-03T20:50:00.004-05:00

There are many reasons that I love my husband but there are just certain things that make you realize even more how cute he is. The other morning (well a few weeks ago), I was rushing around getting ready to leave for work. I walked through the kitchen to find this little scene. It made me stop and just thank the Lord for what a great husband I have.

Coconut Cream Cake

2009-05-03T20:39:00.003-05:00

For those of you that love coconut, there is a very easy and very yummy cake that I like to make in the spring. I promise that if you make it, you will continually get asked to make it again. The best part is that it is so easy to make and can be made ahead. People are always asking for the recipe, so here it is. It's so easy, it's almost embarrassing.

1 box white cake mix
8 oz. flaked coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can cream of coconut (usually found where the pina colada mixes are)
1 tub cool whip

Prepare the cake mix as directed on package and add in 1/2 the package of flaked coconut into the batter. Bake as directed in a 9 x 13 inch pan. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, poke holes all over the cake using a fork (the more holes the better). Mix together the condensed milk and the cream of coconut and pour over the cake while warm. Let the cake cool completely (it's better if you can leave it in the refrigerator overnight). Ice the cake with the tub of cool whip and then sprinkle with the remaining coconut flakes and enjoy!

Happy Easter!

2009-05-03T20:07:00.005-05:00

I've decided that I'm not going to worry anymore about blogging in a timely fashion, so my posts may be a few weeks late but they will still all be here. Easter was fun but unfortunately wet. We started the day at church and didn't get to the Easter basket until we got home. I am into themes, so this year was Curious George (courtesy of Target's dollar aisle).

He pretty much opened up one egg that was full of jelly beans and was not quite concerned about anything else in the basket. I thought this picture was so cute and didn't even notice the tear. He got upset when I tried to make him quit eating jelly beans.

He finally made it to the rest of the basket and realized there were actually some fun things in there.

He is really into puzzles right now and loved his new puzzle. He is getting better at them but still has a hard time with the ones that are fully interlocking.

He decided to let his daddy in on some of the basket action.

Easter lunch is always at Ryan's parents house. We usually do a big egg hunt in their big backyard, but due to the rain we moved it indoors. Not quite as exciting picture wise but the kids still had fun.

The little kids headed upstairs for their 5 minute head start.

He did finally get the hang of picking up eggs, but still got easily sidetracked with the candy in the eggs.

We ended up with a lot of candy and a lot of eggs, all of which we attempted to piece back together to refill for next year. I keep thinking that next year we will have 2 boys, what an exhausting and exciting thought!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

2009-04-19T21:30:00.000-05:00

It's a little belated, but last Saturday was cousin Ethan's birthday and party. I tried to get some pictures of him but he does not really like to sit in one spot. This was about as still as I could get him. He is only a few months younger than Lincoln so they are the best of buddies.

Since it was the day before Easter, the party activity was easter egg coloring. There were 170 hard boiled eggs for 9 kids, 2 of which (the little ones) only dyed about 4 each. I think Pa was just making sure that each one had enough to do. There were so many eggs that the adults had their own dyeing party after all the kids gave up.

Lincoln was interested for about 10 minutes. He was more interested in playing with train track as always.

After all the egg fun was over, Lincoln enjoyed some Mickey Mouse cake and ice cream.

Lincoln had a really good time playing with all his cousins. The best part for me was the fun of dyeing eggs without all the mess at my own house!

My 1st Practice Session with Lincoln

2009-04-19T21:15:00.006-05:00

I borrowed my boss's beautifully landscaped backyard to practice taking some pictures of Lincoln. He had a wonderful time climbing up and down the rocks and chasing a bunny around the yard. I was a little disappointed because I realized about halfway through that my white balance was set for flourescent lighting and causing all my pictures to have a blue hue. I took Ashley's tip and just turned them into black and white or sepia. Here are a few of my favorites.

Lincoln heading down into the bottom part of the yard.

He was looking for a bunny rabbit that was hopping through the garden.

I think this one is my favorite. He looks like a little model with such a serious face. It makes me a little sad because he for sure does not look like a 2 year old.

This was also another one of my favorites but the color was ruined on it. It was so pretty because the tulips were bright red in the background. Oh well, lesson learned.

I'm sure that I will have more practice sessions to post later. Until then, I just keep on clicking away!

Snap Shop with Ashley Ann Photography

2009-04-13T20:45:00.002-05:00

A few Saturdays ago, I was fortunate enough to get to attend one of Ashley's Snap Shops while Lincoln and Ryan were out fishing. I really learned a ton and would recommend it to anyone who has a DSLR and doesn't really know how to use it. You have to be on the lookout for the announcement of dates because the spots go quick. We used her kiddos as subjects and a friend's daughter joined in the modeling fun. You can see some of the practice shots on her blog. I put up just a few of my practice shots without faces for privacy sake.

I will admit that shooting on manual mode can be frustrating especially if you are trying to capture something "in the moment". It's all worth it though when you get that perfect picture.

Lincoln's 1st Fishing Trip

2009-04-09T22:27:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday, Lincoln got to take his first fishing trip with Ryan and his Pa. I was sad that I had to miss out but I was spending the day at a SnapShop. I made sure that I sent the camera with Ryan and stressed the importance that he get me some good pictures. He didn't do too bad.

The night before he went, we ventured out to the Bass Pro Shop to get him a fishing pole. He picked out a Spiderman pole that came with a cute backpack, tackle box, and sunglasses. Saturday morning I asked him what he was going to do that day to see if he remembered. He replied, "play track, play trains, cars, watch thomas." It was pretty cute to hear what a 2-year old has planned for his day.

Lincoln enjoying some chips and dip on the dock. I asked him if he took it in black and white on purpose. Not on purpose, but I thought it was pretty cool.

He apparently is a very serious fisherman. Ryan said that he would actually keep his pole in the water and keep "casting" it back in. I was worried we were going to lose the new pole but he never dropped it once.

Looking cute in his new Spiderman sunglasses that came with his new fishing pole.

Lincoln and Pa driving the boat.

The only 2 fish that these fishermen caught were a small crappie and a catfish. Pa has the only picture of Lincoln with a fish, so when I get them from him I will be sure to put them up.

He loves to dance!

2009-04-09T22:16:00.005-05:00

We didn't really venture out much the weekend that the March blizzard rolled in so Lincoln was finding things to amuse himself indoors. He watched Madagascar 2 a few too many times and decided he would learn the dance that they do when Alex and his dad are about to be caught. I had to share this video (watch the TV if you can because he does a good job of mimicking the moves).

Remember the Alamo

2009-03-30T21:26:00.009-05:00

Last week we took our first long road trip to San Antonio. I was a little leary, seeing as how Lincoln doesn't like riding in the car for 20 minutes, let alone 4 1/2 hours at a time. But with the upcoming baby, we had no flying options so we had to pick somewhere close.

Amazingly enough, he did pretty good on each leg of the trip. We did get stuck in some Saturday afternoon traffic going through downtown Austin. Here is Ryan paying homage to the Longhorns at UT (their stadium is in the background).

We met my sister and her family down there on Saturday and ventured out to Sea World on Sunday. The weather was perfect and the Spring Break crowd had all gone home. We had good seats at all the shows and no lines for any of the rides. Here is Lincoln waiting to get onto a kiddie ride.

This was handprint art that he made. I thought it was very cute but it got wrinkled on the ride home.

The sea lion show had to have been one of the best parts because they had them out there like actors. Not sure if you can tell but the walrus is doing sit-ups (who knew you could train a walrus to exercise).

My one pregnancy craving (for both of them) is frozen lemonade which, believe it or not, is very hard to find unless you are at a fair. Well, they had them and let me tell you they were delicious!

We were lucky enough to get to catch a short Sesame Street Live show on their last day there.

Here is Shamu and his buddies, very sad that their fins are droopy. Hasn't anyone seen Free Willy.

This is what happens when you keep a 2-year-old awake until 4:00. He missed the dolphin and beluga show. He didn't miss out on much, it was more of a Cirque de Soleil meets Sea World, very strange and not a lot of dolphin tricks.

The dolphin pool was one of my favorite parts. I, however, had difficulty getting close due to my belly. Oh well, I guess I can touch one next time. Lincoln's tears were from grumpiness not scarediness.

If anyone goes to San Antonio, you should definitely take your kids to the Children's Museum which is only a few blocks from the Alamo. Lincoln (and Ryan) had tons of fun. Older kids would have gotten a more educational experience but it was still fun.

Building a log cabin with his dad. Ryan wanted to give up, he said it was too hard.

They even had a real front loader that you could sit and scoop up and dump out rocks.

This was hard to get a picture of because he kept wanting to pop the bubble. This was so neat that we all had to do it.

They had a giant sized pin cushion, we took some whole body impressions. I will spare you my shot, I didn't realize that certain things had gotten so big.

Lincoln as an old west store clerk.

Here he is driving a trolley.

The whole downstairs was a fully working grocery store where the kids could shop and then have someone check them out. I think this was Ryan's favorite part.

Wow, David Robinson is very, very tall.

Here is Lincoln in front of the infamous Alamo. He went up and down the street shouting "Remember the Alamo", it was pretty funny.

We went on a riverboat tour. He wasn't too impressed with the scenery and architecture but we enjoyed it.

Yes, we think it's funny to torture our child. This was at Rainforest Cafe. The animals come alive every 10 minutes and make noise. Let's just say this was the calmest restaurant experience we had all week because he refused to get out of his seat.

There is a great park right in the middle of Market Square that has a great playground. It's so cool because it's right in the middle of the downtown area. Here I am in all my pregnancy glory.

We found a very neat, authentic Mexican restaurant in Market Square that is open 24 hours called Mi Tiera. I would definitely recommend it. They have a great bakery if you just wanted to stop in for coffee and pastries. Here is Ryan enjoying some coffee.

Here is Lincoln enjoying some mexican hot chocolate. I'm not sure what makes it mexican hot chocolate but it is EXCELLENT!

And here is the Huevos Rancheros that I enjoyed.

So that pretty much sums up our San Antonio adventure. We did stop in Allen, TX on our way home to stay the night and do some outlet shopping. It rained pretty much the whole way back from Texas until we reached Atoka. It's hard to believe that the end of our vacation week ended with 7 inches of snow. I will save that for another post!

The Circus and Underwear

2009-03-16T20:50:00.005-05:00

So, weekly blogging has escaped me. I say that I will try harder but I feel that it can really only get worse from here. As my 2 boys continue to grow (one making me more uncomfortable), my emotional, pregnant self almost gets teary thinking about how not so little Lincoln is getting. Here is our most recent picture of baby boy #2 (no, we have not yet decided on a name or to continue on the presidential theme). We are now almost a week into the 3rd trimester which means impending labor is near (I am mentally preparing myself). His profile shot is starting to look more and more like Lincoln's ultrasounds. I can't wait to see how this little guy is going to look.

We got to go to the Akdar Shrine Circus a few weeks back in the freezing cold temperatures. Lincoln had a good time. He had his face painted with a red and white OU. Why the lady felt that he needed glitter on it, I'm not so sure. But, I wasn't about to stop the eighty-year-old lady who was more than likely volunteering her time from glittering up my boy. Here you can see his face tat along with the glow sword that he kept wacking the girls in front of us with. It's a good thing they thought he was so cute because he was very much annoying them with his feet and sword.

We took my niece, Skylar, with us and they had a good time sharing popcorn, a seat, and light up toys.

Lincoln's newest infatuation is wearing socks on his hands as gloves.

As you can see, they provide for the utmost dexterity when working puzzles.

So, I've been keeping up with other friend's blogs and enviously reading about how their kids are potty training and wearing underwear. Lincoln has no interest whatsoever in really going on the potty. I found some Thomas underwear at Target (which I have within 3 miles of my house now, yeah!) that I thought might peak his interest. He immediately wanted to put them on. Maybe the problem is we've never showed him what you do with undies as you can see below.

We finally got him redirected and he was getting the idea of how to get them on.

Here he is showing of his big boy underwears (as he calls them). I thought to myself that this might be the key. We explained to him that he didn't want to pee-pee on Thomas. He shook his head in agreement and said "no pee on Thomas". Well, what's the next thing that he did, he looked down, strained a little, shivered, and said proudly, "I pee on Thomas" and laughed. Oh well, what do you do.

That is our current world in a nutshell. We will be leaving this Friday for San Antonio and we will both be taking a much needed week long break from our jobs. Hooray!

Filling in the gaps

2009-02-26T17:38:00.007-06:00

I thought that I would post a few things that I happened to leave out. For those that know me well enough, this kills me to post out of order, but oh well, they are things worth mentioning.

We have been trying to find our dog a new home. She has "issues" way too complicated to expound on. Unfortunately, she really needs to be gone before baby #2 gets here, so if anyone knows of anyone that would like a small chocolate lab please let me know. Here is a picture of here and Lincoln (one of the few since he's gotten older). See how stressed out she looks because she has to sit by him, that is one of the main reasons she has got to go. He loves her but she does not reciprocate the feelings.

The next fun event was the celebration of the final year of my twenties. Yes, the countdown to 30 begins. I'm not quite where I pictured myself at this point in my life, mainly with more kids, but other than that I have no complaints. My life is good and it can only get better from here, minus all the effects of gravity! This is a video of Lincoln singing me Happy Birthday, but he kind of changed the words a bit. It was still nice of him to sing to me or himself?!

Lincoln loves to blow out candles and everyone time he sees one he tries to blow it out and sings Happy Birthday. Knowing this, Ryan brought out a candle so that he could trick Lincoln into singing to me. If you watch the video, notice his hair and the fact that the candle is not going out very quickly (pardon the shakiness too, he was sitting in my lap).

Okay, last but not least, we are now to Valentine's Day. Lincoln and I decided to make some cookies to send to Nana's house for his Valentine's Day party. Here is my little helper. I was not quite adventerous enough to let him ice the cookies so he just sprinkled.

And sprinkled, and sprinkled some more.

Here were his finished hearts. I advised Nana to avoid the ones with the fingerpokes in the icing. She just sweetly replied, "I'm sure his hands were clean." Don't you just love Nanas!

Here is the crew from Nana's house enjoying their treats.

Like the boy needs any more sugar, if we could only bottle his energy and sell it, we'd be rich!

They all exchanged Valentine's, too cute.

I think that catches us up to present day, at least what I have documented in pictures. Until next time, enjoy all this crazy weather that we have been having.

Pat Pat Detox

2009-02-19T12:57:00.006-06:00

Lincoln has had one best friend since birth, and that is his pat-pat. We have seen a lot of this because he usually only gets it when he goes to bed. We do always have one for public emergencies (in other words, an easy way to get him quiet). I have always wondered how we were going to break this habit. Well, we ended up without a plan because we lost them all and I wasn't going to replace them.

He asked for it a few times but we just kept telling him that we couldn't find it. He would say, "Find him please". We then went 2 nights without it and on the 3rd night he was sitting on my lap and sighed, "I miss my pat-pat", and that was that. His nana said that he had told her that day how much he liked his pat-pat. I thought to myself, this was easier than I thought.

Oh the horror of nights 5 and 6. It didn't help that he wasn't feeling good and he kept asking for it. When we told him that we couldn't find it he just kept pleading with us to find it. He then decided he would go and find it with no luck himself. It was pitiful but I stood my ground (meaning I didn't run out and buy him some more). We'll see how this continues but I am hoping the worst is over. Pat-pat detox has not been quite as hard as I'd imagined and hopefully it doesn't get any worse. Now if we can just get him to sleep in his own bed...........

Short little Branson getaway

2009-02-10T20:50:00.007-06:00

A couple of weekends ago we decided we would take a short weekend trip to Branson, just the 3 of us. As our luck would have it, the ice storm hit about 3 days before we were supposed to leave. We had no idea that Branson had gotten so much snow. Here is a picture of the Thousand Hills golf course that was right next to our condo. It was very pretty to see the mountains covered in snow.

We were also not aware that Branson shuts down from Jan-Feb, which included the shows and some of the local restaurants. The stuff that was left open was on winter hours which meant that everything closed at 8:00. We were really feeling like Branson old-timers at that point. Fortunately, the shops were open. We went down to Branson Landing and let Lincoln make an animal at Build-A-Bear. He chose a tiger and liked listening to all the sounds that he could stuff inside.

He got to step on the pedal that filled his tiger with fluff and then we gave him a bath. He gave his tiger a very unique name, "Rah", like the sound a tiger makes. This was pretty much the highlight of Lincoln's trip.

We ate at one of our favorite Branson eateries, The Pasta House. I had to take a picture to show how dead it was. This was 7:00 pm on a saturday night and we were the 5th table in the place.

So we pretty much shopped, which I can't complain about because the outlet malls were completely empty so there was plenty of good deals to pick from. We headed home on Sunday afternoon and our little car rider decided to snuggle in with George, Rah, Mojo, his pat-pat, and his Thomas blanket, too cute. He fell asleep about 30 minutes into the ride so it was a peaceful drive home.

All in all, despite the lack of activity, we had a good time. If you ever want to go to Branson to just shop and not have to sit in traffic, January is the time to go.

Snow days

2009-01-27T20:41:00.004-06:00

I'm not sure if the rest of you have noticed, but it is REALLY cold outside. At least I was able to enjoy the day with my sweet boy and my hubby. Let me back up just a little. We went to Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday to celebrate my nephew, Mason's, 4th birthday. That place was so crowded and I am still wondering how they manage to keep it clean. Way too many hands and fingers all over the soda fountain and salad bar. I forgot my camera so no pictures, sorry.

We went out Saturday night with our good friends Dave & Sarah. I love them because even though they don't have kids they always want to be able to include Lincoln in our plans (even though sometimes we'd rather not). I had to share this picture of Lincoln, the hair and the shirt, this needs no further explanation.

Okay, now back to today. We were fortunate enough to get to stay home and avoid all the bad streets. We decided to take Lincoln out and let him play in the snow for a little bit. I bundled him up in a 12-month snowsuit (it was all we had) and we set out. The suit was a little small but I hope that it kept him warm.

He loved the snow, so much in fact, I couldn't keep it out of his mouth. I just gave up and steered him away from anything that wasn't white.

Ryan and Lincoln decided to try sledding down our driveway. It didn't work out that well but I think that he had fun.

Here is a picture of the two of them. He was also enthralled with icicles and kept on wanting to eat them. I know, not the most sanitary, but I'm sure that we have all eaten them and we're still here.

I hope that everyone was able to enjoy a little of the snow. We actually ventured back out 8:00 p.m. at Lincoln's request. He brought us all our boots and asked that we put them on to go out in the snow. He was so cute that we couldn't resist and we all went out for about a whole 5 minutes. I will say that it was very pretty out because everything was covered in snow and it lit up the night. I am now definitely ready to get in bed and warm up so I will say goodnight and happy winter!

Growing up and out

2009-01-19T19:49:00.006-06:00

I hate that it has been so long since there has been a new post, but our lives have been fairly calm and uneventful. We have had and will have multiple cousin birthday parties to attend. 5 of my 9 nieces and nephews all have January birthdays. What a way to follow up Christmas!

I decided to spend some of my Christmas money on a new lens for my camera. What an exciting investment. Here are a few pics of Lincoln with the new lens.

He is getting so big and talking up a storm. He has recently decided to refer to us as "mom" and "dad". I guess he has outgrown "mommy" and "daddy" for now, how sad! I think he will eventually revert back. Let's see what else, we are still terrified at the thought of sitting on the potty without our britches on. He will sit on fully clothed and say "I poop" and hop off proudly, too bad that doesn't count.

I bet you thought by the title that I would be posting an image of my ever expanding waistline but you aren't that lucky today. We are doing well and we have reached the halfway mark. I won't say that I am huge but let's just say I do need to make sure I have ample room to get out of my car in tight parking lot situations.

I hope that we have more exciting things to keep everyone up to date on. We are going for a short weekend trip to Branson in a few weeks so that should be interesting and will provide with more entertaining pics.

Christmas, New Year & Other Things

2009-01-05T20:30:00.007-06:00

The lights are down and the tree is put away so I can finally get down to business. It's hard to believe that the holidays are here and gone, but I'm kind of glad that's it's finally all over and I can sit down and just breathe. Let me walk you through a quick run-down of our last 2 weeks.

We had a Tiem family Christmas the weekend before Christmas so that we could celebrate with my brother's kids from Texas. It was nice and small and we had bbq, yummm, a small break from ham and turkey.

We then spent Christmas Eve with the Gambill's. This year was just immediate family because most of his other relatives moved away. This is our infamous yearly picture. Not too easy to get that many people to cooperate, this was the best we could do.

Here is Ryan's dad, Pa, with all of his grandkids. Nana always makes sure that they have Christmas pajamas to wear. It's getting harder to get them to match now that they are ranging so far in age.

The amount of gifts that get stacked under that tree is just insane. Here is Lincoln enjoying his new Thomas book. He got lots of Thomas the Train stuff, probably more than we will ever need.

So at 11:00 pm, all the festivities were over and we headed home to be Santa for the first time. We actually had something to put together and Ryan, I mean Santa, did not appreciate that it had lots of little screws and it took him until 1 am. I, on the other hand, was nestled all snug in my bed.

It was well worth it, because when Lincoln saw his new "crashie" track, that was all he wanted to do. He did not want to open up any other gifts. We actually had to coerce him to keep going.

He didn't quite get that the stocking was filled with things all the way to the bottom. He would pull out one thing and try to go back to the track.

This is about the only really cute picture that I got of him on Christmas morning. This is a little Ashley Ann style. I am learning.

We headed out to Rhema on Friday night because the weather was so nice. We didn't even have to wear coats, there is something wrong with that on Dec. 26th. He loved it. I unfortunately could not manage a good shot so here is one of him enjoying some ice cream from Braums after our outing. This was his first time to be independent with a cone, he didn't get the rotation so I had to help him out there.

A few days back at work and we were back to another holiday. We ate dinner with Ryan's family at Lone Star. We should have eaten at Outback but that's a whole other story. We then went to Ryan's brothers house to ring in the New Year. Lincoln enjoyed the blowers (or at least just being allowed to make so much noise). He's not wearing pants because he pooped out in his jeans (I won't miss that).

You can't ring in the New Year without a kiss from someone you love!

Well, that catches us up and brings us to today. I went in for my monthly appointment and things are going well. I was a little concerned because this little guy hardly moves, but Dr. W says that he looks picture perfect and seems to be growing about a week ahead of schedule. He is approximately 11 oz. and still very much a little boy.

You will have to check Tulsa Women's Healthcare website when it is up and running because they asked if they could photograph my ultrasound session. I agreed but realized that I just said yes to having a picture of my bare belly displayed to half of Tulsa. I say about half of Tulsa because I think that almost all pregnant women I know go there. This wasn't how I wanted to break into fame.

I am now caught up and I hope that you all enjoyed the recap. Sorry that it was so long but that's what happens when life seems to speed right past you.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T13:31:00.004-06:00

We want to wish all of our dear friends and family

a wonderful and merry Christmas!

Although this year has had it's share of heartbreak,

we are still very grateful for the blessings

that it has also brought to us.

We are so thankful for all the love and support

that we receive from everyone year round.

May God bless you and yours this Christmas and New Year!

Lincoln and his "choo-choo twack"

2008-12-19T20:56:00.003-06:00

For the past couple of months, Lincoln has been obsessed (that's putting it lightly) with Thomas the Tank Engine. He loves the "gween" one, which is Percy (that's also his choice for little brother's name). When I pick him up from Nana's it was always "I want choo-choo", now all I hear is "I want choo-choo twack" (thanks to Aunt Jeannie). He can literally sit there for a good hour and watch the trains go around and push each other or pull each other. He does eventually get bored and rips the whole track apart and just watches the trains fight each other (at least that's what he calls it). Here are some pictures of him with his choo-choo twack. Please dismiss the dirty face but note the cute hat that he wore the whole time he was playing.

We also went to the doctor on Monday for his 2-year check-up. He is a whopping 22 lbs. 4 oz., which puts him in the less than 3rd percentile for his age. Everything else was good except for that she wants him to fatten up. I'm not too concerned, he eats a ton and has a little belly. Give the kid a break! I have been warned that I need to keep up the blogging more regularly so I will try to do my best. Hope that everyone is staying somewhat stress free and enjoying all the important things of the holidays.

Question

2008-12-19T20:50:00.004-06:00

What do you do when it's 8:00 pm and you are 4 months pregnant?

What do you do when you're 4 months pregnant and exhausted and your now very opinionated 2-year old insists on having strawberry and chocolate milk?

Food for thought.

We're having a............!

2008-12-08T20:33:00.004-06:00

So, we had our 3rd visit with Dr. Williamson today and everything is going well. He was able to tell what we are going to have. Take a look and see if you can figure it out. I knew as soon as he got the good angle shot (right between the legs and butt up). Yes, those of you that guessed boy got it right. Dr. Williamson said that he was quite a "proud little boy". The arrow is pointing at the you know what. We are so excited that Lincoln will have a little brother to play with!

Here is a good profile shot. He has quite some prominent features for being only 14 1/2 weeks old, isn't technology amazing!

I will keep everyone updated on how this little guy is growing. At this point, all is well in baby land.

Lincoln is TWO!

2008-12-06T22:39:00.004-06:00

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we brought home an under 6-lb. sweet baby boy from the hospital. It is now 2 years later and we have a rambunctious, fun, choo-choo loving little man. Here is a brief view of how he has grown.

Here is Lincoln when he was just a few days old. He was so tiny that we had to go out and buy preemie outfits just so he could wear something that didn't swallow him.

This is Lincoln at six months. Love the ears, they are a Tiem trademark.

Here is Lincoln enjoying his 1st birthday cake. He was a little overwhelmed by the situation and I think enjoyed himself more this year.

This is Lincoln at 18 months, the difference between these two pictures is amazing. This must have been when he grew out of his baby look.

And this is our little Lincoln just this morning. He was getting ready to enjoy a birthday cinnamon roll.

Lincoln, we love you very much and wish you the happiest birthday ever. You have brought such a joy into our lives. We are continually amazed by all the wonderful things that you do. You are a smart, handsome, and loving little man. Your daddy and I will always love you, forever and always!

Thanksgiving...3 days later

2008-11-30T14:37:00.005-06:00

Hello to all my friends that so wonderfully check this blog. I have to apologize for being such a slacker but we have been busy and I haven't really been taking many pictures. We had a great Thanksgiving and I hope that everyone else did as well. We were fortunate enough to get to have Thanksgiving dinner with the Gambill's on Thursday and then again with the Tiem's on Saturday (no complaints here).

Here is Lincoln over at Nana's house. His personality has really blossomed and this is his new "cheese" face. I'm not sure how excited I am about it, but I have to admit it's pretty cute.

Here he is with his daddy, I love my two handsome guys!

This is Lincoln and cousin Ethan just hanging out after filling their bellies.

I filled my pregnant belly with lots of turkey and dressing (my favorite) and of course some pumpkin pie. Things seem to be going smoothly but very slowly. We are at about 13 1/2 weeks and will be going to see the doctor on Dec. 8th. Hopefully, he can see what we are having, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

I hope that everyone is staying sane during the beginning of the busy holidays. We have so many events coming up that it exhausts me just to look at our calendar. Take time to take it all in and enjoy life, it only happens once! I promise I will be blogging again soon as our little Lincoln turns 2 on Saturday.

Fall Photos

2008-11-04T20:04:00.003-06:00

We had some pictures taken on Saturday with the infamous photographer, Ashley Ann. For those of you that don't already religiously read her blog (which you should) check out her blog post for more fun pictures from our session.

Happy Halloween (a few days late)

2008-11-02T18:41:00.005-06:00

It was a weekend filled with pumpkins, costumes, and lots of candy. Needless to say, Lincoln had a good time. His lasting impression of the weekend was candy. For example-

"Hey Lincoln, what do you want to drink?"
"Candy"
"Are you tired?"
"Candy, please"
That went on all night.

We started the weekend with pumpkin carving. He was semi-interested but did enjoy coloring on the pumpkins and digging his hands in the gooey middle.

He was quite the pumpkin design master.

It's a good thing that it was so warm on Halloween because his Bam-Bam costume worked out pretty well. I actually made this (after multiple attempts). My first attempt looked like a skirt with a sewn line down the middle, not too cute. We couldn't get the hat together so we powdered his hair to try and turn it white.

Betty and Bam-Bam

The whole Rubble family. (I just want to let everyone know that my niece has a Halloween party every year so we don't just dress up to go trick or treating, however, I do enjoy dressing up so I just use that as my excuse.)

This is cousin Ethan giving some pirate love.

Lincoln had a good time trick-or-treating, he would go to most doors but was reluctant at the "sca-wee" houses. He didn't understand the concept of collecting candy and wanted to eat each piece as it was given. (Hopefully this lady doesn't mind she's in the pic, no idea who she is.)

There was a pinata at the party and Lincoln got a few good hits in. I think he was confused that we were encouraging him to hit things with the bat.

I am adding this picture in because my child ceases to amaze me. Who knew that an almost 2-year old could play air hockey. He is quite the little grown-up.

That concludes our fun-filled Halloween weekend. Hopefully everyone has come out of their sugar comas and is ready for the start of another week.

We're Expanding!

2008-10-29T16:15:00.003-05:00

Well, it's time to let the cat out of the bag. For those of you who know me, you would be proud that I have managed to keep this somewhat to myself. Now it's time for all to know that our family of 3 will now become 4 sometime in early June.

I found out very early (4 1/2 weeks) and wanted to wait until we went to see Dr. Williamson and then still a few more weeks just to be on the safe side. I am now 9 weeks and things seem to be going smoothly. I have definitely been sicker than before but I'm blaming that on the extra progesterone that I have to take (only 1 more week of that left though, yeah!). Our exact due date is June 4, which is also Ryan's brother's birthday. I would have posted the first ultrasound but it was really just a blob and fortunately there was only just one blob there (there were some questions because of my extra high HCG count). Please keep us in your prayers and I will keep updating you about baby Gambill and baby Lincoln.

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-15T20:03:00.004-05:00

It's always a good day when you get to take the day off work to spend with your family. Ryan and I both took Monday off and headed out with Lincoln to Carmichael's pumpkin patch in Bixby. Activities like this get more fun the older that Lincoln gets. He was so awed by all the stacks of pumpkins that he wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do.

It didn't take him long before he started picking up pumpkins and transferring them into different piles. It was kind of gross because he kept picking up the strays which were usually not stacked because they were rotten.

They had a hay maze that we kind of forced Lincoln to go through. It was pitch black inside and even though Ryan was holding him he was still screaming. I snapped some pictures in the dark and I can't believe this look of horror that I captured on his face. The things we put our kids through.

We of course had to feed all the goats. Thankfully, these were hungrier than the fair goats. He gets an attitude with animals and I'm not quite sure what he was telling this one. Looks like a threat to me.

This is Lincoln on Shadow. He loves horses and just kept saying "neigh-neigh" and "wee-haw".

Lincoln and mommy, I love my little man!

We finished up the activities with a hayride, Lincoln was not too impressed (let's just say it was one lap around a dirt track with fields as scenery).

We finally found ourselves a wheelbarrow and loaded up with a few pumpkins. We didn't get too many big ones because at .35 cents a pound, they added up quick. We decided we're in the wrong business.

Well, that's our pumpkin patch fun in a nutshell. I hope that all the rest of you get to go out and enjoy this cool fall weather and maybe some pumpkin fun too!

The Beginning of a Bunch of Boo-Boos

2008-10-10T20:27:00.002-05:00

I think that we have entered the daredevil age, or at least the age where his mind thinks he can handle more than what his little body can do. Last week Lincoln injured himself 4/5 days at Nana's house. That's the most we have ever had.
Day 1-He fell off of a slide face first onto the patio. You can see his beautiful abrasions.

Day 2- He fell and skinned up his knee.
Day 3- He shut his finger in the doors beneath the grill and turned it purple.
Day 4- He fell of a riding toy and bruised his face on the handle bar.
If this is an indicator of what is to come, then it's a good thing we have insurance.

I also wanted to share with you Lincoln's first piece of real artwork that was sent home from Sunday school.

Well, I hope that until I post again, we all stay injury free.

Tulsa State Fair

2008-09-30T20:55:00.003-05:00

I love the fair, and I have ever since I was a kid. Who doesn't love the food, the games, and for those of you thrill seekers, the rides. We ventured out this past Saturday to the fairgrounds, where we found a very hot and very crowded fair.

I think the fair gets stranger every year. This year, there was a monkey in a dress that was giving 5's for $1 (quite a deal for the monkey). Lincoln found it pretty amusing.

We then visited the petting zoo area. This was the only animal that we could get to eat because they were all so full from all the other visitors. The petting zoo was about the same except for there was a giraffe there this year. Lincoln loved the animals and said goodbye to each one as we left their pen.

If you go right outside the just for kids area and head towards the east entrance, there is a pioneer station set up. They were letting the kids ride the horse for free (not a word you see much at the fair). I was surprised that he let Lincoln ride alone and that Lincoln was willing. He did so good and held on like he was a natural.

This is our fondant and icing decorated rice krispy treat, it was a little messy.

This is Lincoln after he finished the fondant and icing covered rice krispy treat.

The buildings were extra crowded because it was so hot outside, but who can pass up a free yard stick. Here is Lincoln against a police car (this was staged). Let's hope this scene never gets repeated in Lincoln's lifetime.

Well, I hope that everyone gets to go out and enjoy the fair. The real fair weather starts soon. If you go, have a corndog, funnel cake, turkey leg, roasted corn, and cinnamon roll for me!

P.S. Lincoln is sitting here with me and would like to blog as well, here he is.........m m nn gfgf weee.

Our Mexican Vacation

2008-09-23T22:08:00.011-05:00

We are back from Cancun and back in the swing of things. We had a really relaxing, fun, hot, and tiring trip to Mexico. Lincoln did very well on the plane and slept for the majority of the time. The flight wasn't too crowded so he actually got to sit in his own seat, he didn't last long.

Our hotel was nice and the view from our balcony was amazing. We had the view of all the pools with the ocean in the background, very relaxing. This was a shot taken in the morning when we would sit on the balcony and drink coffee.

Our first day was slightly uneventful, we went to La Isla shopping center and had dinner seated between a dolphin tank and a bull shark tank. Unfortunately, it was late so we missed the dolphin show but we got to see mommy and baby swimming around and playing with a ball. Most of the restaurants there are open air, so dinners there were hot and sticky.

We headed to Market 28 the next day. That is the authentic Mexican markets that you can haggle with all the salespeople. I was terrible at it and probably paid too much for everything I bought. After the market we went straight for the beach. Our resort did not have the best beach so we went to a sister resort and camped out there. They also had a great kiddie pool that the boys could swim around in. Lincoln loved the beach, this was the first time that he had been that he wasn't too little to get in.

Lincoln also finally learned to swim with arm floaties on (I know they are pink, they are Uniqua from Backyardigans, the only other option was Dora, you decide which is less girly). That was nice because we didn't have to stand 6 inches away from him at all times and we could relax a little ourselves.

Thursday brought us on our own independent adventure to Isla Mujeres. It is a small island off the coast of Cancun. You have to take a 20-minute ferry ride to get there. This is a picture of Lincoln sporting his new hat. Amazingly enough, he wore it almost the whole trip.

Our main mode of transportation around Cancun was the city bus, it was very cheap (maybe due to the lack of air conditioning), only 6.5 pesos (.65 cents).

We left from Playa Tortugas and took a ferry over to Isla Mujeres. It is a very rustic and non-commercialized area. We rented a golf cart to drive us around the island. Our other option was a moped, but not very safe for 3, which is not to say that the Mexican people weren't riding that many.

Our first stop off on the island was Tortugagranja, a sea turtle farm. Sea turtle preservation is a very big thing there. We had actually just missed an ocean release that they had the day before. They had so many sea turtles of all sizes and you could feed them dog food that they sold.

These are albino sea turtles.

They had hundreds of these tiny, baby sea turtles. They were so cute!

After the turtle farm, we headed off to Playa Tiburon. It's a small, private beach with a restaurant and a captive shark. The beach was nice and calm, which was good for Lincoln. We couldn't get a good picture of the shark, but he was there and about 4 feet long. People were getting in the water and taking pictures with it, no thanks for the Gambills.

We had some good Mexican food there, probably the best we had all trip.

Lincoln loved the beach and he especially liked the sand. He was covered in it and was practically rolling around on the beach.

Mommy and Lincoln enjoying the warm waters.

We went to a mariachi and dance show that night. The boys had a great time and we, of course, forgot the camera. Let's just say the dancers weren't wearing too much and the singing was all lounge act.

We decided to get some beach pictures on our last day. It was very windy out, so they didn't turn out that great. This is Lincoln and his cousin Chase, they had a blast together.

Our little family.

The whole gang.

That night we went back to La Isla for some shopping. Lincoln was terrified of the cookie monster, he would only take a picture with him from the safety of his stroller.

This was one of those guys who sits there for hours at a time and only moves if you tip him. He offered me a ride so I hopped on (okay, so we didn't really go anywhere).

There were so many lizards that ran all over Cancun, I thought a picture with one would be appropriate.

A clown on stilts who made animal balloons, need I say more.

And what Mexico vacation would be complete without a picture in a sombrero, for $25 dollars we weren't bringing one home with us.

Well, I know it was long, but I hope that you enjoyed our vacation recap. We had a good time but there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

Lincoln learned a few spanish words that he used while we were in Mexico. I leave you with this short video, until next time!

Blogging from...........Broken Arrow

2008-09-15T09:36:00.006-05:00

I know that the next time I said that I would post that it would be with wonderful beach pictures. Well, things didn't quite work out as planned. Due to the mother nature, we will not be leaving for Cancun until tomorrow morning. I'm just thankful that we are still getting to go. Hurricane Ike really took it's toll on Houston. My sister lives in Friendswood and was evacuated last Thursday (she went straight to Cancun). She thinks that her house is okay and not flooded. Her husband's work place, on the other hand, had it's roof ripped right off. She won't be back until Saturday to be able to see if there was any damage so pray that there wasn't anything major.

We did still have a little weekend excitement, so I thought I could at least blog about Lincoln's first bowling experience. We went to our 2 nephews birthday party at Mickey's bowling alley. Just to fill you in, Ryan's brother and his sister both had boys on the same day (unplanned) and they were born on the actual 9/11. We won't ever forget the day they came into the world.

Okay, back to bowling. Lincoln loved it and stuck with it for a full game and wanted to keep going. We were having him use the ramp at first, but being the independent little one that he is, he didn't want to use and wanted to roll the ball. I'm not exactly sure how many balls we had to have retrieved because they would stop halfway down the lane.

Here is his first push-off (love that he would only do it with one finger).

Watching the ball roll down the lane.

Finally, the celebratory dance. He always cheered for himself after every bowl.

Now, this is what happened when we tried to make him use the ramp after he threw a fit because we were trying to help him roll it down the lane. I think we have hit the terrible almost 2's.

All in all, it was a good party with some very yummy chocolate cake balls that my sister-in-law made. She took a chocolate cake mix and baked it as directed. Then she mushed in a whole can of ready made chocolate icing. You make tightly packed balls (about ping pong ball size or smaller) and then dip the whole thing in chocolate. They were rich and delicious. I think you can also do it with about any cake and icing combo or use white choc to dip them in.

Speaking of terrible 2's, we have found that we have a very stubborn child. There are also some things that these days he just insists on. This morning at breakfast, he was adament that he wear this hat while he ate. Let me just tell you that he has never, ever worn this hat upon our request. I guess I just need to start preparing to pick my battles.

Well, we really are off to Cancun tomorrow, granted there are no more delays. Have a great week- Adios mi amigos!!

We don't like Ike (Hurricane Ike, that is)

2008-09-10T21:03:00.007-05:00

We are down to 4 days until we get to leave for Cancun! If anyone has been watching the news, there is this little hurricane that happens to be heading towards the gulf coast. This won't so much affect Cancun, but it might affect our connecting flight out of Houston, cross your fingers that it doesn't.

I have been a blogger slacker, so I will quickly bring you up to speed. We spent Labor Day with some of our friends out in Inola. They had 2 puppies that they had left from their litter and Lincoln loved them. He was pretty much carrying them around like they were stuffed animals, and oddly enough, the puppies didn't mind.

My friends kept trying to get us to take one, but that is the last thing we need right now. We are going to have to find a new home for our dog. If you know of anyone that might want a chocolate lab, please let us know. She needs a good home with someone who has time to deal with her "issues".

Lincoln had his first can of Coke over Labor day (not by my doing). When I say first Coke, I don't just mean a drink, I mean someone thought it would be a good idea to give him a full can of Coke. Let's just say he thoroughly enjoyed every drop, what the heck, it was a holiday after all.

This is a picture of Lincoln, Ryan, and our friends' daughter, Sydnie.

Lincoln has started trying to do somersaults. He is getting better, but doesn't quite have the full roll-over yet. He was contorting and keeping himself in the most awkward positions, so when I snapped his picture, he kind of looks like an exorcist spider walking kid. Creepy!

Well, that is about all for now. Next time I post I will have some wonderful beach pictures, granted all the hurricanes stay away. Until then, have a great week!

The Countdown Begins.....

2008-08-27T22:41:00.007-05:00

This post might be a long one because I've got a lot to say (not unusual for those of you that know me) and it's been a while. The first and most exciting thing is that the countdown to our beach vacation begins. We will be leaving for Cancun in exactly 18 days and yes, we are bringing little Lincoln. Some of you may think this is crazy and we are not quite convinced ourselves that it is not. We weren't sure if he was going to get to go because getting his passport was a mess (I will spare the details). I thought I would share his passport picture with you (too cute).

This is the resort that we will be staying at for 5 days, it's called the Royal Mayan. If anyone has been there please feel free to leave me a comment, hopefully all good. We are going to spend 5 glorious days on the beach with my sister's family and my mom.

This leads us into our next subject, Lincoln's new obsession with Elmo. I don't know what it is about that little red monster, but kids, especially mine, love him. He sits in front of the computer and says "elmo" over and over again until someone puts it on for him. We decided that we would get him some Elmo DVD's so that he would stay entertained on the plane ride down. Here is some of the other Elmo things that we have recently accumulated. Here is TMX Lincoln proudly showing his TMX Elmo (he loves to dance and fall over with it).

This is Lincoln in his Elmo bath towel. It looks like his 2nd birthday party might just have to revolve around you know who (I know, thinking kind of far ahead).

I don't know about the rest of you readers out there but I loved the cool weather that we had last week. It made me ready for fall. Well, unfortunately, Oklahoma decided to get scorching again so we decided we would beat the heat with some popsicles. We usually only do this outdoors and you can definitely see why.

Notice that the popsicle is much smaller and most of it is dripped on his chest.

We went to Los Cabos this past weekend and there was a clown making balloon animals. I only post this because I think this is the most gi-normous sword balloon that I have ever seen (I couldn't even get it all in the picture). Needless to say, Lincoln was very impressed.

And as final closing, I leave you with a picture that was taken only a few hours ago. This is Lincoln with his shoes on. Look closely and you will see that he is in full bedtime mode with the pj's, cup, and paci. He loves to wear shoes and picked this pair personally out of his drawer. He insisted that he wear them to bed and it was only until he fell asleep that I could pull them off.

So, I say goodnight to the rest of you, shoeless or not!

5 Year Anniversary

2008-08-16T23:22:00.006-05:00

Today, we celebrated our 5-year anniversary. Time has flown by so quickly that before we know it, we'll be old and gray, and looking back to when we were so young. I could never have imagined how great my life would be with Ryan by my side. He is a devoted husband and a terrific father. He always treats Lincoln and I like we are the most important things in his life. He is always thoughtful and always willing to put my needs in front of his. Here is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. We were married on a very hot day at a beautiful chapel out at Camp Loughridge. There are so many things that I can remember (mainly the heat), and so many things that escape my memory until reminded by pictures. I don't need a picture, however, to remind me of all the wonderful emotions that came on that day.

And here we are, 5 years later, with 1 wonderful little boy in tow. Who could ask for a better life?

I look forward to the upcoming years and getting to share in the making of more memories with my sweet husband. Knowing that you have found that perfect someone is the most reassuring feeling that life will always be wonderful. In the midst of sounding cheesy, I really hope that I can relish all these special moments that we have together so that when I look back I will always be able to feel the love that we have shared for so many years.

Faux-hawks

2008-08-10T14:55:00.004-05:00

If you have seen Lincoln lately, you knew it was time for a haircut. He was getting very shaggy and we weren't going for the whole High School Musical shag look. He is 20 months old and I would say this was his 6th haircut, so he is an old pro at them. We headed out to Super Cuts and they had 9 people on their waiting list, so we ventured over to Top Cuts. It was dead there (not always a good sign). This is Lincoln pre-haircut.

And this is him after, with his new big boy faux hawk look. I decided to go with something that matched his new found attitude. I think it works but the poor boy's hair is so thin, thanks to genetics, that you can see right down to his scalp.

You can't miss the profile view.

I have also decided that I need to learn how to cut boy's hair. It is so expensive and it seems like boys need cuts so much more often, at least Lincoln does. When I master that I will add that to my list of skills and open up lolicuts (so, just kidding!)

Potty Time- A story worthy of it's own post

2008-07-27T22:41:00.005-05:00

The time has arrived for a little potty at our house. Lincoln has been doing a good job of using the bathroom or at least trying to (it's very cute, he grunts) when you put him on the big potty. He will pretty much go after naps and when he wakes up in the morning. He will do a #2 in the potty if you catch him in time. Okay, enough about that. I was dreading doing this only because I am afraid we will have to do it all over when we have our next kid (who knows when). But all the signs are pointing to now. Well, we went to Babies R Us and found the perfect potty with a nice cushy seat. He was enthralled with it as you can see. He sat on the potty for a while with no success so he got up and started playing with the cushy seat.

The gross part was (promised he hadn't peed on it) that he wanted to only wear it around his neck and was really mad when you took it off. So, of course, I go and grab my camera because he is on the potty with the "seat" around his neck.

Well, Lincoln must know that I blog and need great stories, because he looks down and starts peeing right off the potty in the middle of the living room. He would do that after he sat on the potty for about 10 minutes. I'm cracking up because I can't believe I have just captured this string of events on my camera. PRICELESS!!

I'm still not sure if he has figured out exactly what the little potty is for so we just adapted it to the big one and are now using the potty as a step stool. All he wanted to do with the little one was step in it anyways.

Here he is on the big potty reading a little Runaway Bunny to help him relax! I'm sure you will be seeing more potty pictures. I'm not quite sure if I'm as hard core as the Kate from Jon & Kate Plus 8, so don't worry about any 1st poop pictures. If anyone has any good suggestions though on making this potty training easier, I'm all ears.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh

2008-07-20T21:57:00.006-05:00

There are many things that I have learned from being a first time parent. One of the more recent things that keeps getting reiterated is that he is going to do a lot of things that are hilarious but that we don't want to encourage. As you can see below, this was priceless, and very hard not to laugh at. I tried to inconspicuously get the camera and snap some photos but he figured out my game. Oh well, sometimes you just gotta laugh and enjoy these moments that hopefully happen only once.

Surely he wasn't looking for attention as he was yelling at the top of his lungs.

If you remember from previous posts, this goes right along with his fascination with making anything a hat.

Say Cheese!

Catch the Reading Bug

2008-07-18T21:16:00.003-05:00

I love that Tulsa/Broken Arrow has so much to offer when it come to children's activities. I'm sure that most of you moms out there know about the summer reading program at the local libraries. I did not know what great prizes they gave away for completing the program. All you have to do is read or have read to you 20 books plus make 4 trips to your local library. Once this is completed you get a book of coupons. These coupons are great and they could make your summer fun a lot cheaper. The coupon book includes:

One free admission to the Jenks aquarium
One free admission to the Tulsa 66ers game (basketball)
One free hamburger and drink from McDonald's
One free 5 piece Wendy's chicken nuggets
One free order of Mazzio's cinnamon sticks (yum!)
One free admission to the Tulsa zoo
One free admission to the Tulsa Air & Space Museum
One Krispy Kreme Doughnut
Two one-way bus rides on any Tulsa Transit route
One free kids meal at Mimi's Cafe (they have really good pineapple-carrot bread)
One free end zone ticket for the TU vs. Tulane game

Any child can do this as long as they haven't finished the 6th grade. For those of you who haven't done this yet, make the 4 trips to the library, it is well worth it!

Doctors..a love/hate relationship

2008-07-15T22:36:00.005-05:00

Lincoln woke up very early on Monday morning with a temperature of about 103. I did the usual and gave him Tylenol and tried to cool him down with a cool washcloth. Well, his fever persisted all day Monday and Tuesday. He wasn't doing anything to indicate that he was sick (no crankiness, snotty nose, etc.). So, I was torn on whether or not to take him in to the doctor because he really had no other symptoms to report except for the fever.

I decided to take him into the urgent care center just in case there was something major going on (I would have felt bad if he was really sick and I didn't go). After 2 hrs, a rectal temperature taking, a strep culture, a chest x-ray, and lots of tears, the doctor came to the conclusion that he had a viral upper respiratory infection. So, for those of you familiar with that diagnosis, that means he's sick but there's nothing you can do about it. How frustrating is that. I dread taking him to the doctor because that is usually always the case. They are better at ruling out than ruling in. So, now we will wait and see what our non-productive doctor's visit is going to cost us. Despite the disappointing diagnosis, Lincoln left with lots of stickers, some 3-d glasses (no idea what those are for), and a rubber glove balloon.

The Elmo stickers are on his leg and the balloon is slightly deflated. Note to all you parents, those big stickers are very sticky and very difficult to peel off skin. Good thing Lincoln doesn't have any leg hairs yet.

The Art of BBQ

2008-07-13T22:42:00.006-05:00

Saturday, we went to the Art of BBQ, which we look forward to every year. For those of you who have never been, it is pretty much a fun place to stuff your face with all sorts of BBQ from a bunch of different smoking experts. They have really expanded the event and this year it included a fun kids area. It was very hot out but we tried our best to keep all the kids cool while we were out trying to enjoy the activities. You will notice that they all look wet, it's all not entirely sweat because we kept dousing them water. Sorry about the pictures, they were from a camera phone so they are tiny. Here is Lincoln on the mechanical bull, he did not want to get off of it even though it wasn't even moving.

The kids were all enjoying one snowcone. That was quite a sight, 5 kids eating out of one cup. They were all so hot that they couldn't get the snowcone in their mouths quick enough.

Okay, here's the best part and probably my main reason for even blogging this. This is a video of Ryan on the mechanical bull. He actually rode for 35 seconds, but I had to pair it down for size sake. It's so funny because they look like they are going fairly slow, but I think to the person that is on, it is much more intense.

We all had a really good time, despite the extreme temperatures. If anyone likes BBQ, you should definitely try to make it out next year. It's usually in the middle of July. I'll try to give everyone a heads up when I know when it's coming up.

4th of July Weekend and more

2008-07-13T09:28:00.000-05:00

4th of July has come and gone and I am finally just getting around to blogging about it. It was a very jam packed weekend so I will try to make it brief. Our house has been designated as the 4th of July house host home by both sides of our family. We expanded this year to include our neighbors, which was really fun.

Everyone was in town this 4th so that made for a full house. We started out the 4th with all the boys playing out back in a tiny pool that we stuck under Lincoln's slide. Wet slides are very slippery, the boys were just shooting off the end. It was a little dangerous but they were having a great time.

Everyone headed over that night to start the grilling and the fireworks. This is a picture of all the nieces and nephews from Ryan's side of the family plus a few extras. Of course, the one on the far left is not a niece but his sister.

We had more fireworks than we knew what to do with, but it made for a good show. This was Lincoln's reaction to his first "big" firework. He was not the least bit scared which was kind of a bad thing because he kept trying to get close to the ones that all the other kids were lighting.

He really liked doing the sparklers, but again, he didn't quite understand that actually touching the fireworks were not a good idea. Fortunately, we made it through the night with no injuries.

Here is our customary family pic, if you look in Lincoln's hand he is holding a water balloon. We had about 100 of those filled up, he pretty much just carried his around all night.

The next day, we all went to the lake and had a good but very hot time out on the boat. I didn't have my camera with me but once I get the ones from my father-in-law I will put them up. Lincoln actually went out on the tube and rode in it for the first time. Not bad for a 1 1/2 year old. He really enjoyed all the bouncing up and down but not so much all the water in his face. I'm not really sure how kids nap just about anywhere, but he slept on the boat while we were skiing all the adults around, amazing. We all came home exhausted that night.

The end of the weekend came and we all just sat around and recuperated on Sunday. Holiday weekends are fun but are so tiring. Well that's all about our 4th, hope that everyone had as good a weekend as we did!

The Tiem Cousins

2008-07-04T13:32:00.001-05:00

We don't get to see all our nieces and nephews together at the same time, especially since most of them have moved to Texas. They were all here for the weekend so I thought that I would get them together for some group pics. They are so cute because they get so excited to be together (especially the little ones).

Aysha is the oldest of my brother's kids and she is getting ready to turn 13 in a few weeks. She is really starting to mature and all of the little kids love her.

Jadon is 8 1/2 and loves coming to visit because he gets to eat all of my mom's home cooking. He is very bright and pretty good with a Nintendo DS.

Skylar is the youngest of my brother's kids and turned 3 in January. She is a girly-girl to the max and very, very sweet. I love her curly hair!

Chase is my sister's little boy who turned 3 in January (the day after Skylar). They are living in Houston and visit as much as they can. As you can see, he is very silly. I think his hidden talent is singing, he knows the words to more songs than I do.

And this, of course, is Lincoln. I couldn't leave his picture out.

I leave you with a picture of all the silly fun that we had.

Shari's 30th Birthday Party

2008-07-01T23:32:00.000-05:00

My good friend, Shari, had her 30th birthday party this past weekend. We had a really good time, it's always fun getting to catch up with old friends. I have to brag on her because she looks so great for having a 5 month old. She's one of the lucky ones who shrank after having a baby. Her little (figuratively speaking) one is named Andrew and he is absolutely adorable. I love his big blue eyes.

Andrew is only 5 months old. It won't be long until he's caught up with Lincoln. They look like they are old buddies, too cute!

Gotta throw in those super cute pictures of Lincoln, he looks so big, what happened to our little baby?

Okay, I promise I will slow down on the blogging as soon as I get caught up. Until then, hope it's interesting.

A boy and his hats

2008-06-30T21:56:00.000-05:00

Lincoln loves to put anything on his head and wear it as a hat. When I say anything, I mean, but am not limited to, butter tubs, colanders, and most recently small boxes. I walked into the room to find him playing with this on his head like it was no big deal.

He then got mad at me for making him stop playing and take his picture. I repositioned the box and he thought that I was taking it. He has quite the mind of his own and is very stubborn.

Sunday was also my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, mom! She is wonderful and does so much for all of us, we love her very much. I know this birthday is tough because it's one of the many first holidays that she is experiencing without my dad. We tried to keep her mind off by keeping her busy with Lincoln (not too hard to do).

Well, that's the latest and the greatest, just thought I would share some of the funny sides of Lincoln. Until next time!

Lincoln- 18 months

2008-06-28T00:27:00.000-05:00

Lincoln finally made it in for his 18 month check-up. He weighs in at whopping 21 lbs 9 oz, which only puts him in the 4th percentile and he is 32 1/4 in. long, which is the 50th percentile. He had to give blood for an allergy test and he was amazingly good. He squirmed but never cried and was kind of amazed by the blood going into the vial. Well, we found out that he is allergic to dogs (sorry Dutchess), eggs, milk, and peanuts but only mildly to all 4. It's a good thing that it's not severe, he wouldn't be able to eat anything. Here are a few pictures of the current Lincoln.

Enjoying a spatula of leftover cool whip (I think this was also about 9:00 am, oops)

As you can tell, he loves the water. I guess we should get him a pool so he doesn't have to swim in a bucket.

A Family Blog

2008-06-28T00:18:00.001-05:00

Well, the Lolibaby blog has been going so well that I thought it was time to start a more personal site that was just about our family. Just for those who are tuning in with us, we are currently a family of 3. Ryan and I were highschool sweethearts who have been married for almost 5 years. We have a wonderful, energetic 1 1/2 year old boy named Lincoln. We are still living in Broken Arrow, a city that I love and will probably stick around in. We both work in town, I'm a physical therapist and Ryan works for Fed Ex. That catches most everything up. I will attempt to get down a good once a week schedule, so stay tuned, you never know what kind of exciting things might take place.