the two best st. patrick's days ever.

It's mid-March - and 80 degrees outside.  There's no doubt we are enjoying the weather this week.  We've been to the zoo, the park, and on many many walks.

Today I realized that I've been taking my baby for walks for a year.  This is Lincoln and me in 2011:

Look at that sleepy smile!  I'm pretty sure that St. Patrick's Day walk last year was the very first time I ventured out in the neighborhood with the (then) almost 4-week-old.  We are mostly past the days when a calm walk through the neighborhood would lull the little guy to sleep.  It happens occasionally, but usually only around naptime. 

Things have definitely changed in the past year!

On today's walk - the little man was chattering away, looking over the edge of the stroller (trying to figure out how the wheels work), and pointing at puppies and birds. 

His shirt says Lucky Me, but I'm pretty sure I'm the lucky one.  How blessed I am to get to spend my days with this sweet little boy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

stunts and ceiling fans

I have a daredevil on my hands.  A crazy, very determined, little man. 

Need proof?  While I wrote that first line, he climbed the baker's rack and tried to pull the microwave down on his head.  Not even kidding.

Every time I turn around, he is climbing something else. 

Or playing with something that is definitely not a toy (and how he managed to find it is always beyond me)!

And for some reason, he just can't understand why Daddy and I won't let him pull the ceiling fans down.  That would be the most fun thing ever, right?  Obviously.

His obsession with ceiling fans is pretty funny.  We walk into a room and the first thing he does is point at the lights.  Or, if you ask him "Where's the light?" he will immediately point and try to climb up your arms to reach it.  Daddy laughed about this when I pointed out the phenomenon.  He insists that it's just the asking of a question which prompts the reaction.  He demonstrated his point by saying "Lincoln!  Where's the beef?!"  And that child pointed at the fan, just the same.  Whatever.  I hold to my belief that he's a genius baby.

But, regardless of all the craziness and no matter how exhausted I am at the end of each day's near-death experiences, it's worth it.  I am blessed to be spending my time with this precious child.  And I know that someday, I will long for the days when the ceiling fan was the most awesome thing imaginable.

5 days until 4mo. Today.

Wow.  It's been awhile. 

I'll post again soon with more updates from the last few months.  But for now, I want to share about today.

Lincoln, today...

*you think your Exersaucer is fabulous.  You're talking to it, beating on the little rolling wheel, and attacking the sunshiney toy like the world is coming to an end. 

*you slept 8 1/2 hours in your crib last night - and you put yourself to sleep.  I set you in your crib wide-awake at 10:20pm, thinking I would have to stay up with you for several more hours.  But you just rolled right over to your tummy, made some little noises, and went right to sleep.  I couldn't believe it.  Still can't.

*you're starting to stick your little legs under you and try to shove off the ground when you're on your tummy.  I'm not ready for you to crawl yet, kiddo.  Not ready at all.

*you have decided that rolling is awesome.  Back to front, front to back, round and round.  As much as you can, you are rolling.  You're trying to roll off my lap and off the changing table, which is a whole different story. 

*your bedroom is a mess because I'm in the middle of putting away your 0-3 month clothes and getting out the 3-6 month stuff.  How are you so big?  I cried a couple nights ago when your Daddy took your 0-3 month jammies out of your drawer.

*you love your binky, but in the past couple of days you have truly discovered your thumb.  I think it's rivaling binky for your love.

*you are loving books!  We read a couple of stories every night before bed (at the very least) and you chatter at the pictures.  Unless you're super hungry.

*you sometimes can't decide if you're laughing or crying.  Which means I have no idea, either.

*you love the puppy dog toy that hangs on your carseat.  You've started reaching out to grab it. 

*you frequently have a moment during your naps where you just SCREAM at the top of your lungs.  You're still asleep.  But it scares me to death every time.

*you love to go outside.  But you sneeze every time we head out into the sunshine.  Allergic to the sun?  I think your Daddy is, so maybe.  :)

*you have a lot of very light hair on the top of your head.  If it's brushed sideways you can see it, but otherwise people think you have no hair.

*you love to talk.  Loudly.  Especially when Mommy and Daddy are trying to watch TV.

*you have a monkey on your bum.  And I think it's the cutest thing ever.

I love you, sweet baby!

27 weeks, 5 days.

I don't blog much anymore. In case you haven't noticed.

I also don't sleep much. Even though I need more sleep.

I also don't craft much. And that makes me sad. :(

But I am done with fall drama classes. I am about half done with Christmas shopping. And I have a relatively free schedule from now until baby...and then three months of maternity leave. So I am hopeful. Someday....someday I will be caught up.

Sad to report that I don't think 2010's 20 batches of cookies resolution is going to happen. I have the recipe for Batch #6 sitting on my kitchen counter. It's been there for weeks. I'm always out of one ingredient or another. Right now it's eggs. Oh well.

McKinley Top 10 Moments of 2010

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19 weeks, 5 days.

Whoa. The time is flying.

I'm super tired. all the time. There is no apparent end to exhaustion. I'm also sad to report that I'm not one of those women who feels beautiful and "glows" while pregnant. I wish that were the case.

Just under 4 days to our 20-week ultrasound, when we hopefully get to find out if the little person is a prince or a princess. I'm so excited I can't stand it.

Had a massive organizing spree on my house this weekend. Maybe this is a good sign that a part of the real me is still hiding in here somewhere??? It's kind of hard to find her these days. :)

Happy Autumn!

a little something awesome.

I guess it's good I don't have many faithful blog followers...as I'm not very faithful about updating.

This time, I swear I really do have a good excuse. It's a very small something (right now). It's currently about the size of a lemon. And I don't know much about it - but it has affected my whole life...quite a lot.



Yep. There's a little person in the works. Currently, he/she is eating up about 115% of my energy, causing daily almost-constant nausea (9 weeks of this and going strong), and consuming just about all of my thoughts.

So you might understand why I've been slacking in other areas, like blogging.

The photos are from our ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty sure the little tiny kicking feet are the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. So excited to meet this little person. Expected arrival - late February/early March 2011. Only a few months to go!

yay!