Portrait of a Baby

This afternoon, by the window, my Lincoln...

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He's a mighty boy. Mighty BIG. It's just so funny to me, how he looks like the baby he is, with characteristic chubby cheeks, a fuzzy head, etc, but it's like he's half again the SIZE of the average baby his age! His head is so large. His hands. His feet. His BOD! He's HUGE! He's only 10 months old! Good grief!
In order to get the most genuinely happy smiles out of Linc, get Wendy to simply smile at him. He loves her tremendously! These were taken the other day. Wendy just looked at him, you know, gave him some of her attention.

Finally, she appreciates that he loves her. She knows it. My mom helped her to realize that to him, she is the world!

And, I crack up now, when I bathe them together. His head is about as big as hers, and his body is quickly catching up. From this point of view, I was reminded of ducklings in the water, with their little wet heads bobbing to and fro.

Linc can pull himself up over the edge of the tub and he can crawl around in the shallow water while holding his head high up, and I don't remember Wendy being as in control of her body in the tub. This shot is dear to me because you can see from Wendy's expression that she's enjoying him more now. Praise the Lord.

Independently playing...

Wendy thinks it's delightful to open the fridge door for Linc, who, like Wendy as a baby, loves to rummage around in there!

Some guilty little rascals...

"Now Wendy, you know you're too old to get into this sort of mischief!"

Of course, getting the two of them to cooperate, at the same time, for Christmas card photos was, well, impossible. We tried on two separate occasions, and we got nothing. I made silly noises, I jumped up and down, I begged, I scolded, I bribed, and I got nothing. This year's card will be a collage of what we did get. Here are some, a good sampling of the sort of shots we got. Oh well. Below, not exactly a smile out of Wendy, and none of Linc's face shows...

"Lincoln! Lincoln! Lincoln!" Nope, he's really interested in the leaves.

"Lincoln! Come back, Sweetie! Wendy, look UP! Look into my CAMERA! Smile, Wendy! Come on! Wendy!"

I desperately wanted for Wendy to look up at this moment, because the golden sun made her eyes sparkle brilliantly blue, but if she did, it was for a split-second, and the shots I got were of her head falling back down again.

So, don't laugh when you get our Christmas card. Hopefully next year's will be better!

Ho Ho Ho!

Without a break in the chain, James and I have gotten pics with Santa since we started dating! First time, it was just the two of us with ole St. Nick--totally as a joke. Then later, as newly weds, we took our two cats, Daisy and Shasta, to the pet store for a "family" picture with Santa! It was hysterical. Wendy's first Santa pic was a cute image indeed, with a tiny, bald, Santa dress-wearing Baby Woo Loo! And we've got one of a screaming Toddler Wendy as well! If they weren't all in storage, I would blog all 7 or 8 of these pics in order, and you'd get to see the whole collection! One day, I will frame them all together and whip it out at Christmas time. Such a treasure, these Santa pics. Yesterday, Linc was somewhat under the weather, and getting a smile at this moment in time was impossible. Wendy was very agreeable, however, and more than eager to tell Santa that she'd like a bike for Christmas. She asked him, "Santa, are YOU going to make my bike?!" To which he replied, "My elves will." That works for her!

Don't Trust The Better Business Bureau

You all know what happened to us. How we consulted the Better Business Bureau's website for a moving company with an A-rating and that was BBB-accredited? How this company BOTCHED our move (and yes, our moving experience was worse than any of the horror stories anyone had heard of before hearing ours!), and how it was a fierce battle to get the BBB to lower this company's rating?! James had to imply that we suspected some shadiness before they finally took us seriously. Well...
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-money-buy/story?id=12123843

A Boy is a Boy

My mom is visiting. I love it when she comes! She adds such a ray of sunshine to our humble town house with her laughter, her fun suggestions for outings, her presence. Today, we took the kids to Chili's for salads (well, they had baby food and a corn dog). And then, we visited our local library! Something I hadn't done with both of them yet! She sat at a table in the youth books area, and read to Wendy, while I followed a crawling Lincoln throughout the aisles. One thing about Lincoln. He's rough. Wendy was a dainty and gentle baby who handled objects gently. Lincoln is a solid tank who yanks things, throws things, bangs things together. Today, at the library, he'd pull books out and discard them rather callously onto the floor. If the book was large and heavy or wedged in tightly, he pulled HARDER! He'd grip the spine of the book with his chubby man-hands and YANK! And then toss it and move on to another. A boy is a boy. A totally different creature. Below is a pic of him with another rough and tumbly boy, the son of a friend who goes to our new church. Timothy and Lincoln had a ball standing here at this bench and just laughing at anything and everything!

Filling y'all in on the latest, yesterday I went to the ER. At 6 a.m., I had a severe headache behind my right eye and couldn't stop throwing up. So, after several hours of this misery, James and the kids took me. They gave me an iv with meds, made me feel much better, and then did a cat scan and spinal tap. I'm fine, thank the Lord! It stinks that we will be paying for these tests, however, better safe than sorry. I was told my symptoms were consistent with a brain aneurysm, and the first ones are often missed, and it's the second ones that kill, so I went ahead and had the tests done. So, my first migraine. Mom, go ahead and write it down in the baby book. Just kidding. Not fun. At all.

And In other news, we love our new babysitter, Mattison! She's 18, one of 7 kids, a Christian, home-schooled, and a blessing! Here's a pic of her recently with the kids!

Life is good.

Babies, Babies, Babies!

Introducing my brand new nephew, Benjamin Patrick! We went over to meet the newest little guy, and wow, he is such a cutie. Here is a pic of my dad holding his grandson. My sister-in-law had a totally natural birth, in a hospital, but with a midwife, and I am in awe of her!

Checking out this stud.

Proud Aunt Lolly!

And then yesterday, I got to see my dear friend, Julie, again and her baby girl, Izzie (Isabella Claire)! Here they are together right after they arrived at my mom's.

My mom thinks she is just so pretty. She truly is gorgeous.

I love her so much!

And here we are, two old college friends, who used to walk the campus together, wondering where on Earth our Mr. Rights were! Now, we're moms! And wouldn't it be somethin' if these two fall in love someday?! Hey, I can dream, can't I?

In other news, I'm 32 today. I cannot believe I am that old, however, I was born in 1978, so yeah, that's about right! Dang! It's okay though. It's a great birthday so far! I am on a major diet, and have lost 10 lbs! I cut out the wine, the fast food, sweets, and some carbs. I have about 15 to go. And, last night, as a gift from my love, I went to Juan to get my hair done. Juan was my stylist 5 years ago. Then, I moved to WA and lost the cell that contained his number! I tried tracking him down, once or twice, but the salon said he'd moved on. I've had too many botched hairstyles, so this time, for my birthday, I was determined to hunt him down. At last, I succeeded! He was amazed I found him online, and it made his day! And I was ecstatic because this man is the single most talented hair stylist I've ever had the pleasure of surrendering my tresses to! He goes to Paris for hair shows, he has a side business styling these amazing wigs of human hair threaded through custom made silicone molds, and he's able to fix any disaster. The new salon was quite nice, I might add. Valet parking, coffee, and tons of fascinating reading material! And, it sounds like he'd be super spendy, but actually, he charges what others out there charge. He's just fabulous and now, I will never again touch my own hair, or let anyone else! My hair belongs to Juan.

Sharing Pics~

I played around with this pic, adjusting the light, and I like the way it came out!

Granddaddy and Lincoln....

Winston and Lincoln-----

Some pics my mom took yesterday in her backyard---

I adore this one~