first vacation with the little man!

Hello there! It's only been a whole month or more since I last posted. Sheesh! I keep saying I'll do better but honestly I just don't know when.  Our family just returned from our first vacation with Lincoln.  It was a blast!  We drove all the way to Outer Banks, North Carolina. This is where I grew up going every summer and Lucas and I couldn't wait to take Lincoln!  We went with several friends too! Aunt Sindi was there and so was Aunt Nanci and Uncle Adam with cousin Emmi.  Karli, Kyle and buddy Trace were there too!  And Kyle, Angie, Jamie, and Brian! We just had the best time.  It wasn't very relaxing...with 3 one year olds, but it was very enjoyable.  We did have to make a trip to the urgent care while we were there because little man had a double ear infection! I just knew he was getting sick when he left home but I thought maybe just a cold. Nope. Poor guy. He actually wasn't too grumpy, just very tired and not normally himself. We got a round of antibiotics in him and he was good to go!

It was so nice spending a week with my sister Sindi too, who lives in North Carolina. Lincoln had so much fun getting lots of attention from her! Sindi was great in planning most of the vacation too...especially dinners! They were delicious! We also had a special fun pirate night and it was hilarious!

Here are some pics from our week!

Our little man, all smiles!

 Love those blue eyes...

 Lincoln really loved climbing the outdoor stairs. He has become very good at climbing stairs lately.  He is our little monkey!

My two favorite boys :)

Drinking the water from the "fountain!"

Here is our first family beach picture!

 Lincoln LOVED the ocean! He really liked to stand and let the water splash up against his legs.  A few times it splashed him in the face and he would just laugh! He also liked to feel the sand on his feet, especially when the tide would go back out. A few times he tried to escape our grasp to run right into the water but we wouldn't let him. :)

 Linc and Trace!  Trace is my cousin Karli's son who was born just 3 days after Lincoln! :)

The Custer's and the DeShong's! Adam, Nanci and Emmiline

 

Aunt Sindi (with some wind blown hair :) )

Here he is sporting his cover up from GiGi and Grandad.

Here is Lincoln playing in our makeshift baby pool on the beach!

Hanging with Aunt Sindi!

 Cousin Em! At this point Lincoln was so over pictures. He might actually be eating sand in this picture!

 This was probably take forty of trying to get a picture of all 3 kiddos on the beach. Oh well, it was worth the try! They are still so cute!

 We were very sad to come home, but it was nice getting back to our normal routine. All of Lincoln's grandparents missed him bunches too! We can't wait until our next family vacation! Not sure when that will be.  Lucas and I talked about taking a short trip this fall just the 3 of us.  Hopefully we can work that out! :)

Lincoln is ONE!

Well, it's official. My baby boy turned ONE on May 1st, 2011. Where has the time gone? I know everyone says this but this past year has really been the fastest year ever. But it has also been the most rewarding! Lincoln has been a complete joy every day. Lucas and I couldn't be prouder parents! :) we are very blessed. There are so many pictures I would love to share from this past year, but I'm afraid it would take me FOREVER to load them. I did get his First year baby book finished and I also made another book with all of his monthly pictures in the brown chair. Each month I would take a picture and then write down what he was up to that month. I'm so glad I did this! It took some time but it was worth it and I know I'll be glad to look at it even in 20 years :)

Ok, so before we get to his 12 month pics, let's take a quick stroll down memory lane...
This is me at 41 weeks pregnant, just before we left for the hospital to be induced. I really still felt great! Uncomfortable, but still pretty good for 41 weeks. This is us on my first mother's day! Lincoln was one WEEK old! I was so excited to dress him in his first sweater vest. :)

And here is our first family photo as a family of 3!

Lincoln Edward DeShong moments after birth! This brings back such good memories of that day.

What a cutie! I love this picture because it shows him with his tongue hanging out...which he had hanging out for like the first 4 months of his life! ha!

Headed home from the hospital!

And now.... here is our Little Man at ONE!

I didn't realize that last pic he had his eyes closed. Oh well, we had several out-takes! My mom bought the tie shirt for him before he was even born. I couldn't wait until he was big enough to wear it! I love it so much on him!

I will post pictures of his birthday party soon. Lucas loaded them onto the computer and I'm not sure where he stored them...they aren't in the usual place I keep my pictures...but I know they are safe somewhere!

Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!

Here are Lincoln's 11 and 10 month pictures! I really tried to load more but the computer is acting up tonight. Taking forever to load! As you can see from the pics below he does not sit still very long! He is holding his favorite toy in this pic...a ball. He loves all balls and loves carry them around everywhere! He can already say "basketball" and he recognizes basketball goals on our walks through town. It's pretty funny!

At 10 months he learned to take his first steps! It didn't take long and he was off and going. Looking back at some earlier months in his baby book I wrote down that we thought he was going to be an early mover. We were right! Crawling at 6.5 months and walking at 10. He has kept us very busy!

Next update will be his 1st birthday party!! YIKES!

Feeling a bit down...

Can I be real for a minute? I've been so down on myself lately. Mostly as a mom, but also as a wife, daughter, employee, sister, friend...and the list goes on. Why is it that as moms we are constantly comparing ourselves to other moms? You want to know if you're child is getting the right food, the right care...are you giving them enough stimulation, too much stimulation? Should you take them to the doctor, give them medicine? Or forgo traditional medicine? Seriously, I've had about all I can take with constantly questioning my abilities as a mother. And I'm so.over.it. You know why? Because none of that matters. God does NOT want me to feel this way...the devil does. God wants only good for me and my family and I must remind myself of this daily.

So, today I figured I should write about this on my blog...in case there are any other mother's out there reading and thinking the same thing. You are all amazing mothers! Lincoln loves me, Lucas loves me and most importantly God loves me just the way I am and I can rest in that.

Thanks for letting me be honest and random for this post. I've read recently on other blogs that when you stop blogging it's probably because you are not feeling like yourself or a bit down...that's the truth. Here's to happier days and more blogging my friends!

"So don't worry about tomorrow. Tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 (NIrV)

Some more pictures

Merry Christmas 2010!

Our sweet little family

With Aunt Sindi

with cousins: Gavin, Marah, and Mallory Schug

With Grandad! (my dad)

His first guitar! From Nana and Pop (Luc's parents)

This was his first Christmas gift from us. Not as cool as the guitar from nana and pop.

This year he really enjoyed the paper and boxes.

We had a wonderful 1st Christmas with our little man. He got so many new toys. Right now he'd rather pull the dvd's off the shelves and get into everything he shouldn't. Some day the toys will be cool :)

Let's Catch Up!

Ok, so I'm still trying to get used to this blog lay out. Hopefully the more I use it the better I will get. But for now this is what you get! ha! Here are some updated pics of our little man.

"I don't want to sit for a picture, mom! I wanna stand!"

Here is his 8 month picture. He is such a joy :)

This is his 7 month picture, but I forgot the sign. Oh well! He probably would have just eaten it anyway. :)

Lincoln is now 8 1/2 months old. He is SO busy these days. He has been an early developer in moving. He sat up at 5 1/2 months and since then he has been on the fast track. Here is what he's up to at 8 months:

-crawling everywhere!

-standing and pulling up on everything. walking along the couch, entertainment center or whatever is in his path.

-he loves to listen and dance to music. especially when daddy plays the bass

-he can say a few words. his first word was "hot". this was because we taught him to say this when he sees a candle. he now also tells Sean to "hush" (hmmm wonder where he learned that?!) it doesn't come out sounding exactly like that but I know that's what he's saying because he's imitating me

-he still isn't a huge fan of food. he likes his milk a lot!

-he has two bottom teeth and 1 top tooth. the second one on top is going to pop through any day now!

-he wears size 3 diaper and 6-9 month clothes

-he now can climb the bottom 3 steps!! yikes!

-And he is FINALLY sleeping through the night (most nights anyway). Once we finally moved him to his own room and upstairs this made it a lot better. Of course he is very stubborn and some nights he will still put up a strong fight for bedtime.

He is such a joy every single day and we are so amazed by everything he learns. He is so smart!! We can't wait for everything 2011 holds for our little family. I know big things and changes are in store for us and we can't wait!

Welcome 2011

Well it's a new year and I always look forward to new years. It means we get a fresh start to change things and many things to look forward to over the next several months. I've got several things I need to work on this new year, but who doesn't right? ha! Anyway, the truth is, I have had a hard time keeping up with everything. Turns out life with an 8 1/2 month old is hard! yes, I admitted it! I've always been one to try and do things perfectly and organized and well... you know how that turned out.

I'm looking forward to all the new things Lincoln will learn this year and all the fun and exciting things Lucas and I get to do with him. And I'm even looking forward to all of the loops and twists and turns that come with motherhood, that will put me right back in my place and let me know that I can't plan everything.

Thank you Lord for loving me no matter what. And thank you Lord for this most precious gift, my child.