Erie Balloon Festival

the first balloon

she didn't want to get to close
Lincoln and Papa enjoyin the early morning fun

Mommy and Averie The four balloons that were up when we left.

I have always wanted to go the Erie Balloon Festival and this year I decided to make it happen. With Danton working on Saturdays I decided to ask my dad to go with me. This meant for a very early morning because the launch started at 6:30 a.m. and we would need to be out the door at 6:00. That week we also hadn't had very good weather. It had been raining the night before and they even cancelled the launch the day before. So when I woke at 5:00 it wasn't raining anymore but the clouds were very low and it wasn't very warm. They hadn't cancelled the launch so with kids in tow we left the house at 6:00 and headed for the launch. When we got there they hadn't filled any of the balloons so we started to loose Averie. After they started filling the first ballon she perked up a little but then when we walked over to see it in the wet and muddy grass she started checking out again. She did enjoy it but after watching the same thing over and over she told me her wet feet were telling her it was time to go home. Because of the cloud cover the FAA regulates that balloons can't take off, so they were all grounded. We were there about an hour when we called it quits, maybe we will brave it out again next year and maybe the weather will be bright and suny and maybe I will be able to convince Averie to try it again. Oh, and Auntie Kate do you recognize anything in these pictures!!!

A Look back at Lincon's first 6 Months

Lincoln month one~ Well not much to report for month one. He was a great baby and he slept a lot. It was also a learning experience since we were still living with people. We did say with my parents for the first two weeks. He got a love of love and attention.


Lincoln month two~ He started interacting with us more and more. Lincoln enjoyed his first Christmas in Nebraska with his Mimi, Uncle Shane and Aunt Kayla. Because of the terrible snow storm he really didn't get to meet the rest of Danton's family.
Lincoln month three~ I love this picture of Danton and Lincoln. We just moved into our new home and now Lincoln has his very own room, which he loves. He loves to sleep in his crib, when he is restless and you put in it he calms right down. He rolled over for the first time this month, I can't believe all the things they learn to do so quickly.

Lincoln month four~ Lincoln loves to be outside. He enjoys the park and loves sitting in the swing. He is becoming more and more active every day. He loves to smile,he is starting to giggle and he loves his sister. He also started taking big boy baths in the tub. He loves to splash and play in the water.

Lincoln month five~ What a little man he is becoming. He is now rolling around everywhere. And he can get something if he really wants it. You can tell from the picture he is trying so hard to crawl. In my opinion he has the best little laugh. When someone holds out their arms he is starting to get to put his out too. For now he just shakes, snorts and gets really excited. He also started sitting on his own this month. He enjoys sitting and playing with his toys. He loves playing with his cars and banging with spoons the most. He is also starting to eat more big boy food and he really seems to like sweet potatoes and isn't digging the fruits. Funny since that seems to be what most babies like the most.

Lincoln month six~ We are just starting this month. He is on the verge of crawling and if I was to bet I think it will happen in the next week. That will mean our world will be changing more and more but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lincolon enjoying bath time

Here is the link to the newest video from Lincoln. I found this so cute because he spent a good 5 minutes in the tub just making himself laugh I didn't have to do a thing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD7nmFG8Kqw

Enjoying time with Piper and Lily, and Jake and Rebecca!!!

Lincoln with his new buddy Piper. He was so mesmorized by her. So Cute!

Averie getting to hold and feed Piper. She was on cloud 9!

Rebecca holding Lily and Averie holding Piper.

About a month ago Rebecca and Jake welcomed Piper and Lily into their home. Because we had been a little sick in our house we were holding off meeting them.

Averie was so excited that the day finally arrived. What precious little girls. We also enjoyed our time with Jake and Rebecca as well. We enjoyed a good taco dinner and some root beer floats. Food and Friends always a good combination.

Averie and Lincoln Firsts

Let me start by telling you how this all began. The other day I caught Averie spitting on my bathroom floor and her consequence was that she had to clean my bathroom floor. She was so excited to do it that she asked to help me clean the house. So I gave her the job of using the little vaccuum. She was so excited and so was I because I am not a fan of vaccuuming the stairs!!! We started giving her an allowence recently and I told her that for helping me clean the house she could earn some extra money. I was so proud of her she did a great job and didn't even complain once.

Lincoln in his first big boy ride in his Radio Flyer wagon. My parents gave this to Lincoln for Christmas. It has been very rainy and cold so we have had a little bit of cabin fever. So today when the sun came out I bundled everyone up and took them to the park in his wagon. Lincoln took it all in and mostly stared at the ground.

What a fun day.

Field Trip to the Butterfly Pavillion

holding Rosie the trantula

touching a starfish

touching a horseshoe crab

Owl Butterflies

Pretty

Averie the Beautiful Butterfly

About a month ago Averie's class sent a letter home that they were going on a field trip to the Butterfly Pavillion. And if you don't know I am petrified of flying things , yes even butterflies. So, I got nervous thinking about all the butterfies flying around and landing on me. Knowing how sad Averie would be if she didn't go I had to find a way for her to go that didn't require me to. I so thankful to my mom who offered to take her. I think the funniest part was me having her teachers ask me why I wasn't going. At first Averie was sad that I wasn't taking her but in the end I think she is glad because her mom would have screamed the whole time, did you see the trantula!!
Thanks to my mom I also have some great pictures! She even wanted to go back and hold Rosie. Averie told me later that day that I really should like spiders and God really doesn't want me to smack all of them. In our home flying or crawling things don't survive. And yes butterflies are pretty but I think they are prettier from a distance.
Thank so much mom for taking Averie she had a GREAT time. Maybe there is hope and she won't grow up to be so scared of things like her mom.

Achievments

It was just over 5 years ago that we welcomed Miss Averie into our family. What a adventure. Since about 9 months she has been pretty non stop and has always kept us on our toes. She is such a delight to us, she loves to learn, talk, dance and she is very very creative. We have enjoyed almost every moment with her!!!
We were able to have almost 5 years with her before we had Mr Lincoln. At first having two kids really didn't seem like that big a deal. I think that is because Lincoln slept most of the time and really didn't move much. But a couple months ago I really started noticing a change in reality. Lincoln started becoming more active and demanded more of my attention and Averie was still her busy self. Lincoln's sleep was starting to be affected because he would move all over his crib and then not be able to calm himself down. That also affected my sleep. I was very very very tired most of the time.
So, for the last month I have been proud of the little accomplishments I have achieved. For one month I have cleaned the house, all of it on the same day. When I have done a load of laundry I have folded it and put it away on the same day I did it. I have started running again and thanks to Angela I may also be doing a 5K in a month! I have the house picked up and presentable at the end of everyday. Thanks to Angela as well I have been working on new meals for the family and am really enjoying that. I think everyone else is as well. I have been working on not letting the stress of little sleep affect my attitude and realize this to shall pass.
At the end of the day I am trying to remind myself that these are precious times. I love having a little girl who is just as stubborn and determined as she is so sweet and a little boy who in the few short months he has been with us is so much to be around. His smile is contagious and he is almost always happy.
Maybe next month I will get caught up on Danton's ironing.