DC Visit #1

So Lincoln and I arrived in D.C. after a very LONG day of flying (which he did wonderfully by the way) and stayed with friends of ours until Tyler was able to meet up with us Friday evening.  We had a wonderful weekend with him and were sad for him to go back but we'll have a fun week with Craig, Allie and baby Elise and before we know it it'll be Friday again and we'll get to see Tyler again!

My happy traveler in his "Airplane Onesie" and all ready to fly!

New Momma Allie and her precious baby Elise (and Lincoln trying to check out the new baby!)

Little Lincoln lounging at our hotel

Our family back together for the weekend!  Lincoln was so happy to see his Daddy (and so was I of course)!  

He would just sit and stare at him it was so cute.

Linc-man and I are hanging out in MD for the rest of the week and are planning to head back to "The Good Life" June 1st.

1st Haircut

I know, I know, Lincoln hardly has any hair and your probably thinking, "why did she get it cut?  what could she have cut off?"  Well here is proof that L's hair was getting too long.  Too long over his ears at least. 

So Grandma Hunni got the privilege of giving Lincoln his first hair cut!  He didn't sit still at all and it took longer than it should of because he kept turning his head to try and see what she was doing. 

Now Lincoln will look great when we get to see Daddy on Friday!

Lincoln and Grandpa H. after their hair cuts

We went to the Dr. again today and found out that Lincoln still has an ear infection in both ears.  Poor guy just can't get rid of this!  We got bigger and better antibiotics and are armed and ready for our trip out to VA to see Tyler.  Hopefully this new medicine will work and he will feel all better.  Otherwise it's looking like we'll be on our way to tubes.  I had a really bad time with ear infections when I was a baby and had tubes put in.  I just hope we can avoid that with Lincoln but I'm more than willing to get it done if it makes him feel better.  

Oh and just because I think it's a cute picture and I just Luuurve it, here is a picture from last Friday when I was preparing food for Rasmus's graduation party.  Lincoln put his hand on mine and was helping me scoop the pineapple. 

1 year ago....

...tomorrow my water broke.  Before I start I need to have a small disclaimer on this post.  It's probably TMI for some of you so if you need to stop reading now here is your cue. :)  Now for most pregnant women that's a welcomed sign at the end of their pregnancy and labor is soon to follow (if it hasn't already started) and they will welcome their precious baby into the world within 24 hrs (they usually want you to have the baby within 24 hrs after your water has broken because of risk of infection).

But for me it was a different story....

I remember it just like it was yesterday.  It was a Thursday morning (early morning 5:45am to be exact) and I had spend the day before cleaning our house and getting ready for guests that weekend for my college graduation.  I had just finish student teaching the Friday before and was all set to graduate.  I had gone in for my 24 week appt. with my OB the day before and she even told me I was a BORING patient because everything was so normal (which is a good thing, it's not good to be an exciting patient, as I've now learned!).  I had told her of having more than normal discharge but she said that was normal.  Well as it turns out that was probably my water bag slowly leaking until it broke the next morning.  I was laying in bed and felt wet but was in denial  because "This could not be happening, there's NO way my water could've broken!" so I rolled over in bed and fell back asleep for about 5 more minutes until I was a little panicy and thought I should get up and see what was going on.  Well I had my answer as soon as I stood up.  Gush.....and I did not pee my pants!  I woke Tyler up in a panic and told him to call Dr. Mroz.  She told us to go straight to labor and delivery at St. Joseph.  So we were admitted and they checked me to see if it really was my water and started monitoring me and preparing me to have this baby within the next couple days.  Neonatal Doctors were coming in and preparing me for what a baby at 24 weeks is going to be like and possible complications.  I was a whirlwind of emotions and just praying that this baby of mine would not come.  I had no idea what to expect and just kept praying that I wouldn't go into labor.  I got past the first night and then day 2 came and went and then days 3 and 4 came and went (after getting past day 4 I became less likely to go into labor right away).  I was moved to a more comfortable room and told by my Doctor to get myself psyched up for this marathon I was just beginning.  Little did I know I wouldn't see the outside world for another 8 weeks and how this little, precious life inside of me was going to change my life in ways I couldn't imagine before he was even born!

After a couple days in the hospital with my amazingly strong and supportive husband

Happy Graduation Day to me! And I've loved using my degree to do my dream job this past year.  

 My precious Lincoln, the only way I knew him a year ago.  

It was a scary time in our lives but it really made us lean on the Lord, HARD.  It's sure amazing all that can happen in a years time. 

I have my smiley and giggly boy back!

Lincoln's All Ready for Aunt Hope's Wedding!

We found Lincoln's suit that he'll wear for the wedding since he's the ring bearer.  We figured we could save some money by just getting him a suit instead of a tux.  Little did we know we would save SO much money!  Dillard's had all the little boy suits on sale 70% off!  And if you know me, I LOVE a good deal!  We got his suit for..........drum roll please...............$9!!

Well I couldn't get the picture to turn but here is his suit!  Isn't it adorable?!

And the price was so good I just HAD to take a picture! :)

Oh and Hope kindly reminded me that Kyle (Derek's best man) claims his speech is going to be SO much better than mine....and right now he's right because I haven't even started!  yikes!  Maybe I'll just watch the video from my wedding and the speech that Hope gave and copy it! :) hehe, She wouldn't notice would she?

My First Mother's Day

I was SOO, SOOO, SOOO thankful and excited to celebrate my first Mother's Day and got to celebrate the day with Lincoln waking up sick and puking all over me (oh I LOVE being a mom! Although that seems sarcastic it really isn't.  I'm thankful for the puke that gets all over me because that means he is HERE and he is HEALTHY (well not at the moment but no problems from being born early) and he is MINE.  How did I get so lucky?!) 

Tyler was so sweet and sent me these flowers on Saturday.  I really wish he could've been here but the good thing is, WE GET TO SEE HIM IN 9 DAYS! :)

A family friend of ours came over Sunday afternoon and decided to cook an amazing meal for his mom, my mom and me to celebrate Mother's Day.  Here are some pictures of the meal.  

All the steaks marinating.....and right before we put them on the grill

My poor sick boy :(

Cutting, slicing, dicing, mixing, mashing, pouring, baking, getting it all ready!

The Twice Baked Potatoes being baked for the first time

Lincoln was feeling a little better so he decided to pull up and look out the window at Thomas as he was grilling the steaks.

Everyone getting ready to dig in!

It was SO yummy!  Thanks so much Thomas, John, Trey and Rasmus (mostly Thomas though) for serving us moms!  The meal was amazing!

10 Months!

Lincoln is 10 months old!

 This was the best "bear picture" I could get today.

And then he crawled away....

Lincoln seemed to finally be feeling better so we took a few more pictures...

This rocking chair was my mom's when she was little

At 10 months you weigh (or at least last week) 15 lbs. 10 oz. (I'm guessing you've lost some weight from being sick this week)

You still LOVE smiling at everyone and as shown in the second picture, you are crawling all over the place! And you. are. fast!
I love his surprised face.

You sure keep us laughing!  You've been saying all sorts of interesting things "dada," "nana," "lala," "pppppppp(spit)ppppppp(spit some more)" and all sorts of squeals of excitement!

Grandma is teaching him bad things!

Lincoln and Grandma Hunni

And this was the best picture I could get of him and I, poor guy was all "pictured" out

I found my 9 month pictures and at first thought Lincoln looked like me but not so much in this picture.  (Think Tyler would like it if I put a curl on the top of Lincoln's head like that? hehe)

You've also tried some "flavored puffs" to see how you handle picking up foods and feeding yourself.  You did NOT like the flavor (banana) and spit it right back out!  

You are a very flexible (schedule-wise) baby.  We've had quite the month, this past month with sleeping in all different kinds of places and seeing lots of different people.  You adjust well and just go with the flow.  I'm SO thankful for that trait of yours!  You also travel really well!  You usually take a LONG nap and then just babble to yourself and play with toys for the rest of the ride.  

We'll see how you do on our first plane ride in 9 days!  Yep that's right, we're going to see Tyler May 20-June 1!  I'm so excited and I know Lincoln is really missing his Daddy, it'll be a very special time for our family.  

And here's a quick video I took while we were snapping pictures of Linc 

I just CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF HIM! :)

Transracial Adoption Article From CNN

Read this great article on Transracial Adoption my friend posted on her blog! 

Being Sick Is No Fun

Lincoln has been sick this whole week and I can really tell that it's starting to wear on him.  Actually it wasn't until today (day 3 after finding out he had a bad ear infection) that he finally started acting sick.  Until today he would play, play, play and laugh and smile and then every once in awhile he would fuss but hardly at all!

But today was a different story.....

Poor little guy would crawl up on my legs and do this and then snuggle with me in the rocking chair for SO long!  I loved all the cuddle time of course but feel so bad for this sick boy.  :(  He has slept so much today, basically waking up to drink some pedialyte every couple hours and then going back to sleep.  I hope the antiobiotics will start kicking in soon so he can get back to his normal ornery self :) 

Lincoln NEVER just lays on the floor like this.....a sure sign of feeling miserable.

I was this smiley little boy back :)

Trampoline Fun

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Living Each Day As If It Were My Last

That is what I have tried to aim for this past year after all that we went through and today was just a huge reminder of how God really did spare mine and Lincoln's life.  I hate that we are so far removed from what all happened last summer that I start to take days for granted and time with Lincoln for granted. 

After many phone calls to our Doctor in Wichita and a trip to Hastings to see a new Doctor we finally figured out why Lincoln was throwing up so violently.....a bad ear infection!  Poor little guy has probably had it for awhile and until he started throwing up this morning he had no other symptoms (he started pulling on his ear this morning too).  So since it was a new Doctor I had to fill him in on all that happened last summer.  When I got to the part about me getting H.E.L.L.P. syndrome he looked at me very seriously and told me I was very lucky to be sitting here holding my baby.  If that's not a reminder of how lucky I am to be here I don't know what is.  I guess I shouldn't say "lucky" because it was "luck" that I survived that horrible syndrome it was all God.  He knew that I would get it and that it wouldn't be what would take me home.  I take comfort in Psalms 139:14-16

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Only God knows when it's our time and I'm thankful that it wasn't my time yet.  On that same note this is the verse that allows me to support Tyler in his new career choice.  Our days are numbered even if he was sitting behind a desk and had the safest job on earth he still has to travel to and from work.  God won't take him a day or second before he is supposed to go and I know this isn't the "happiest" of topics to think about but it's true and that verse up there is my comfort and what I lean on.  I fully put my husband's safety in God's hands and completely trust him there.  That is how I support my husband and I'm so proud of him and what he is doing. 

This is what Lincoln was like between spurts of puking today!  You wouldn't even be able to tell he had just projectile vomited all over himself and me!

As the one year anniversary comes up of when my water broke and this whole ordeal started, I am so thankful for everything that has happened, for our health and how he has grown our family and knit us so tightly.  Although the road my be hard the reward is great.  How GREAT is our God!

My Brother's Prom

Oh good ole high school prom!  I love that I'm able to be apart of things that Trey is doing.  He spent his entire childhood at the gym watching my volleyball and basketball games and practices and I feel like I haven't been able to see as many of his things as I would like.  Well I was lucky enough to get to send him off to his prom, wow I can't believe he's THAT old already!  I FEEL SO OLD!  Here are some pictures from the evening:

My Studdly bro

Trey and I (my "little" brother)

The awesome coursage and boutinerre he made out of duct tape!

Lyndsee and her two dates :)

Our family except Tyler :(

Trey and Lincoln

Trey, Rasmus and Lyndsee with Pastor Scotty and Carrielynn

Their whole group on the slide

Lincoln got to play in the park while we took pictures :)

This picture turned out great!