Weekend Recap

Our weekend began a little differently than our normal Friday night.  We always go to Mi Cocina with the Kuhlmans and Hoggs and various other participants, but Daddy took us to a surprise destination.  We were all wondering what dinner spot he had in mind until he pulled up to Mia's in Uptown.  It was super yummy, and everyone definitely made happy plates!  Beau was totally loving their rice.  Mmmm!

 Little construction worker Lincoln has been busy building lots of things for us with his tool belt and Beau as his apprentice.  At this picture he was hard at work on our lake house.  We had to build it then jump in to the lake and float with the fish. 

 Beau was trying to get in the game and hammer something.  Love those big blue eyes! 

 The guys were chilling a bit after lots of activities this weekend.  We had a great baseball lesson and a few fun shopping trips.

 Lincoln decided that he and Beau needed to get away for a while under the table.  He kept telling Beau that they were going somewhere important.  Beau seemed skeptical at one point but went along for the ride.  There is a lot of imagination around here! 

After so much playing, a relaxing bath was the ending on Sunday night.  These are two silly and active boys who love to play. 

We didn't stray far from home this weekend, but we had a lot of fun!  Lincoln's imagination is growing by leaps and bounds each day, and Beau's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds each day.  I can hardly keep up with these two! 

Peek-A-Boo!

Beau has really been enjoying peek-a-boo lately.  He likes to hide where he thinks we can't see him, then surprise us!  I remember Lincoln playing peek-a-boo over and over, and he's even getting into the game with Beau. 

 We always act happy and surprised when Beau leans out to peek-a-boo!  What a cutie!

Happy Birthday, America!!

Lincoln is obsessed with America's birthday, and we are so glad it's finally here!!!  He's been telling me all about the states, how Betsy Ross made the first flag and why she put the on the stars and stripes.  He learns so much at Preschool, and he always keeps me on my toes!  Our neighborhood had a fun parade this morning, and we were ready.  Last year Beau was too little to pay attention, but this year everyone was excited.  We decorated our wagon in ribbons, streamers, bows and a sign and headed down the street to see the parade.  The boys loved when the boy scouts tossed them candy and suckers!  One scout even hand delivered a sucker to each of them . . . so sweet.  (I immediately confiscated Beau's and Linc's got "lost" on the way.  Sorry, guys!!!  I've got a yummy fruit salad ready though!!!)

The police car and fire truck really got their attention.  They tossed a few more suckers, so Linc got to keep two . . . Beau got to keep his Teddy Graham snack cup.  There were fun antique cars, lots of kids on decorated bikes, and our neighborhood celebrity (TV weatherman) to top it off!  Fun parade!

 The tradition of the Prestonwood Parade is to join the procession as the last of the participants pass.  We all eventually parade to the neighborhood elementary school for tours of the fire truck, lemonade, hot dogs, music and even a dunking booth.  We watched that one for a long time with confusion then laughter!  Lincoln enjoyed a few glasses of lemonade, and Beau scored a bag of Cheetos to take home.  He had a death grip on that bag . . . little did he know that he and Linc would be sharing that at lunch!  It was a fun morning for sure!  

Nana decorated Linc's tricycle with a birthday sign, a flag, and fun red, white and blue decor so we had to take it out for a spin.  It has been the best America's Birthday EVER for Lincoln!

 Swimming lessons don't take a break for holidays, so we headed to the pool this evening.  Surprisingly, Beau has never accompanied us to a lesson.  Tonight was his first, and he was on his best behavior.  Lincoln did great . . . he swam 12 feet, floated on back with the slightest assistance, swam all the way back to the wall, and so many more things.  He's a little fishy!  Beau really took it all in and was desperate for me to know that his brother was out there and desperate for Linc to see him and wave.  I think he stood at the window for half the class waving.  Luckily, Lincoln reciprocated!   

"Mom, can I PLEASE take swimming lessons too???  This looks like so much fun, and I can't stand when Lincoln does something that I can't do too.  Pretty please with a cherry on top???"

One day, my dear Beau, I will be ready to sign up for Mommy and Beau lessons.  I'm not sure if I've got excited enough about it for the fall semester yet, so we may be looking at January.  We'll see . . . but yes, everyone gets to cheer each other on at swimming lessons.  The Fourth of July was a pretty fun day.  We definitely celebrated America's birthday and had a lot of fun doing it.  I'm not sure I can make the next holiday quite as exciting - I don't think Labor Day has a lot to offer a 3 year old, but his parents will be quite thrilled to celebrate it!

Lots Going On Here

Beau's recovery from a possible stomach bug is conflicting with his last molar.  I think he maybe had a little bug over the weekend, but he's been eating like a horse.  (Well, he always does that!)  He has a few wild poops each day now that I really think are the result of his tummy getting back to normal combined with the normal symptoms of molar-getting.  He got sent home from school this morning because of too many poops.  There is a little virus going around in the toddler area.  I think he already got it, but I'm ok with getting him out of there so we don't get it again!  He got to spend some time with Daddy, Nana and Pops while I worked and Linc played in Preschool.  Lincoln came home today with stories of Betsy Ross sewing the first American Flag.  He's obsessed with America's Birthday and all things American Flag.  I bought them little flags last week, and both boys have been carrying them everywhere.  Linc loves to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and wave his flag, while Beau cheers him on while waving his flag.  Our neighborhood parade tomorrow is all we can talk about!  In between being not actually sick, these boys have been loving each other.  Lincoln helped Beau practice saying "cheese" with much success!

 Hugging is still super fun right now.  They usually both love it.  Sometimes Linc squeezes to hard and Beau cries, and sometimes Beau pulls at Linc to let him go and Linc gets his feelings hurt.  All in all, I'll take every single hug they can do.

 Priceless . . . I'm going to crop and enhance this one and put in their rooms so they will forever remember that at one moment in their lives they TOTALLY loved each other. 

Tomorrow's parade and playground picnic is sure to produce a few great patriotic pictures.  They have new red, white and blue shirts to wear, the wagon and bicycle are decked out in streamers and ribbons, and excitement is running high about seeing a fire truck and getting candy.  Stay tuned . . . 

Three Day Wrap Up

Those visitors I teased about earlier came and went without a single photograph!  My Aunt Sarah and her best friend Cheryl came from Arkansas on Thursday and Friday to spend some time with the boys.  I had a nice time with them, but the boys had a GREAT time with them.  They are both kindergarten teachers and super great at all things kid-related.  Lincoln latched on to Cheryl and wouldn't give her a second of rest.  They were totally attached at the hip.  I even caught him waiting outside the bathroom door for her to come out . . . geez, Linc!  Beau charmed Sarah with his big blue eyes while Linc and Cheryl were playing, but Linc eventually let us all back in the game.  Thanks for visiting!!

Saturday morning brought a little surprise in that Beau wasn't feeling too good.  Either he has a little stomach bug or that last molar is giving him a hard time.  He really played well and even ate well, but he was super clingy by the end of the night.  Linc and I got him to perk up for most of the day.  We had lots of silly pretend fun with the blocks.  Linc built a surfboard and went out to catch a few waves . . . I don't know where he gets this stuff!  (I can't recall Elmo or Mickey Mouse surfing on any videos or books!)

 He built countless towers, castles, zoo cages, parking garages, and on and on.  We've really gotten someone's money's worth out of those cardboard blocks!  (By the way, he does own more than just Texas Rangers shirts, but he always wears one to baseball practice on Saturdays.  It seems like every picture I take is of Linc in a Rangers tshirt!)

 Beau destroyed a few of Linc's creations throughout the day, but that's what brothers are for I guess!  We tried to give Linc some space, so we built our own towers.  We also spent a lot of time on identifying body parts today.  Beau really likes this game!  He loves to show his fingers . . .

  . . . but his favorite body part is his belly!!!  He must raise his shirt each time he's asked where his belly is, and don't even ask him if he's wearing a one piece suit.  (He gets furious that he can't actually see/touch it!)  It's quite a large target, so I can see why it's his favorite!

The other body parts that Beau knows are ears, hair, eyes, mouth, and toes.  I wasn't successful in getting pictures of those.  We also sat together reading books and singing songs a lot this evening.  That was best for a tired and not-feeling-right Beau.  Linc helped us sing The Wheels on the Bus, If You're Happy And You Know It, Old MacDonald, and several more songs over and over.  I hope tomorrow is less sickly and more happy.  Beau learned how to "cheers" us with his SmartWater-filled cup tonight, so let's raise an electrolyte enhanced water bottle to a good night's sleep and feeling great tomorrow!

Charts and Stickers ... Success???

The longer that I am a Mom, the more I learn about phases.  Kids go through lots of phases . . . whiney phases, Mommy-obsessed phases, fit phases, and on and on.  I know that whatever phase we're going through, it will eventually end and normal life will return.  Lincoln has been going through a "scream and cry in my bed when Mommy leaves my room at night" phase for over a month.  He's always been great with the bedtime routine, and he's always been a great sleeper.  This latest phase is NOT fun for any of us.  After a few weeks of ridiculous screaming that lasted for 5-10 minutes, followed by 5-10 minutes of sad crying, followed by 5-10 minutes of lots of happy singing, I decided we needed to do something!  I hated sitting by the monitor listening to Lincoln's drama, only to then listen to him singing silly songs until he fell asleep.  Last Wednesday we instituted our first chart . . . surely stickers can cure anything right???  The promise of a trip to the toy store when he earned the required amount of stickers was super enticing!  He was immediately thrilled with the chart and was so eager to behave right away so he could get stickers.  I think he cleaned the playroom and his bedroom 5 times the first night!  I decided that Beau needed a chart too - just so Linc could have a little comparison or even engage in a little sibling rivalry if Beau's stickers surpassed his.  Ok, by night two we still hadn't seen any progress in the screaming/crying in the bed, but we pressed on.

 One full week of the sticker chart made for lots of stickers for Linc, but not one single sticker in the row of "no screaming or crying in my bed".  I really did notice that the sticker threat/reward worked in the sharing/taking turns with Beau row, the eating a healthy meal row, and the mind Mommy and Daddy row.  We just weren't making any progress in the one row that was the whole point of this exercise!  Beau gets lots of stickers because he never cries in his bed and is much better at minding!  (I'm sure that will change, and I'll be charting once again when he's three!)  The whole sibling rivalry thing was not at all important to Linc . . . maybe I'll be thankful of that at some point, but I guess I thought that was a sure thing!

 So I was a little disappointed in the first effort but decided to give the chart method one more week.  Today we debuted fresh new charts and new stickers.  The goals are the same, and I really worked hard to get Lincoln to understand that the one row of "no screaming or crying in my bed" needs some attention.  I'm so happy to report that on our first night of the new sticker chart, everyone got a full column of stickers!!!!  I usually let Linc pick the stickers and place them himself, but I couldn't wait!  I hope he is as proud as I am when I wake him tomorrow.  He'll love that a Razorback sticker marks his first success for no crying!

I think I need to disclose one more detail that may have been relevant.  Lincoln gets to sleep with his pillow, blanket and an appliqued Mickey Mouse little pillow (from Auntie) each night, and he's always been ok with that.  I added a Mickey Mouse book that could sleep under his pillow, and I think that was the magic that calmed him.  I told him that Mickey, Donald and Goffy (on the cover) weren't crying because I was leaving the room, so he shouldn't either.  He said ok!  (I gave him the book last night too, but it didn't work.)  Whatever led to him being calm is a blessing to us all.  I can't only post pictures of charts because those aren't cute.  Linc did great at his swimming lesson tonight!  They began working on a new skill, and he really started to get the hang of it.  He loves Ms. Kerin and loves to swim!

I'm hoping there are a lot of stickers and not a lot of crying in our future, but I know that life is made up of lots of phases that pass in their own time.  I guess a month of crying at bedtime is a drop in the bucket in the whole scheme of life.  I'm thankful for the progress, but I guess I have to be on the alert for the next phase!!!

Freeman Weekend Fun

Minnie and Bubbles came to visit this weekend!!!  Ally is enjoying the beach for the week, so we missed her.  I got Linc a book about Elmo's visit to the beach, so he would feel a little connection!  I think Minnie and Bubbles were prety impressed with the little guys.  Linc was reciting the Pledge of Alleigance and practicing his subtraction skills, while Beau was singing the Alphabet Song (for a few bars) and doing animal sounds.  Smart kiddos!!  There was lots on the agenda, but mostly it was our normal weekend stuff.  We hit up Mooyah for burgers and hot dogs on Friday night, slept in on Saturday morning (thank you boys!!!!), had a full day of baseball, swimming, puzzles, books, a yummy dinner at Bandito's and lots of fun.  Whew!  We stopped for a pic outside on the patio at dinner. 

 Beau was so excited to play on the playground after church.  He was determined to climb up the ramp and was successfull.  What did that mean, you ask?  That meant that he reached the slide, so Mommy had to climb up and slide down with him.  (Yes, in my dress . . . I hope I didn't flash anyone!)  He was loving the playground today!

I think Beau was looking super handsome in his firetruck suit!  I don't think his Daddy likes when I dress him in these one piece suits, but he was busy at a convention today so he didn't get a vote!!!  What a cutie!  He totally loves to slide and thinks he can do it alone.  Not yet, buddy!

We spent a lot of time playing pretend, as usual.  I think we made pretend visits to go camping, the library, Target, the beach, and the hospital (to sing, not because we were pretending to be sick!).  We can have our pretend adventures from the floor or the bed or the rocker, but Linc set up the little chairs so he and Beau could drive in their car to the store tonight.  He was really excited about getting to sit in the front seat and steer.  It is amazing to hear the stories he creates.  Beau was eager to participate, but he eventually made Lincoln give up his drivers seat to he could steer.  So funny!

What a wonderful weekend; the time always goes so quickly.  It's back to school and work on Monday, but the boys may get a surprise visit on Thursday from two ladies who love them so much!  

Hug It Out!

Having a brother can be really great and really frustrating.  I mean you get someone available to play all the time, but you have to share and take turns a lot.  I try to document the good moments, and the boys had a little hug session that I couldn't pass up.  Beau likes to tackle Linc when he's feeling lovey.  At this moment he had a mouthful of golfish . . . I hope big brother didn't mind the cracker breath!

 Awwww . . . sometimes they can be so sweet!  I really do know that they love each other, but sometimes that's easier from afar.  Linc loves to talk about his "baby" when Beau's not around, and Beau is constantly searching for "bubba" if Linc's gone off to his room.  Big squeezy bear hug! 

This will never get old . . . I'm just not sure how many more times it will happen!!  If I see this happy, smiling hug again, I'll do my best to get photographic evidence.   

Having a sibling doesn't mean guaranteed love, or even friendship, but I totally think my sis is the best!  Love you, Ally!  We have a very different relationship from Lincoln and Beau given that I am 13 years older than her, and their age difference is barely 2 years.  We didn't have to "grow up" together, as I left for college the week she started kindergarten.  Linc and Beau will never remember life without each other, and I love that!  Here's to brother moments that are oh so sweet!!

Getting Ready for Summer

The official start of summer is almost here, and we are getting ready for all the heat.  We don't spend many evenings outside when it's over 100 degrees, so we were happy to have a few more nights of fun walks.  Beau was adamant that he was not going to be pushed in the car anymore . . . he marched right over to Lincoln's scooter and climbed on with a determined look!  We made our usual trek down the street in an unconventional way - I was holding Beau under the arms while steering/pushing the scooter.  I'm not sure I enjoyed this mode of transportation, but I can assure you that Beau did.  He was feeling like the ultimate Big Boy tonight! 

 After our neighborhood inspection, we cooled off with watermelon slices.  Linc was all excited at first and couldn't wait to dive in.  This is the only picture of him actually eating the watermelon.  I left him for a second to hand Beau his slice, and after that Lincoln decided that he only wanted to lick the rind.  Hmmm . . . glad he at least tried it, but we may need to work on this one.

Beau was all excited about getting his watermelon too, and he couldn't wait to dive in.  The only difference is that Beau actually liked the watermelon!  There aren't many things that Beau doesn't like, and I'm glad most healthy fruits and veggies top his list.

I know the super hot summer is almost here, and I'm thankful we've had a few cool days this June.  Last year, we had already begun our over 100 degree streak by this time.  I bought a few new puzzles for when we get a little stir crazy, and we can still eat popsicles and watermelon at the table.  I guess when it's too hot to go outside, I'll be glad I don't have to bend over and push Beau on that scooter for half a mile.  (Just looking at the bright side!)

Fun Times

The weekends are always a whirlwind of activity, and this Friday and Saturday have been no different.  I really enjoy not working on Fridays, but it might be more exhausting to stay at home with two wild boys.  Lincoln and Beau are at such fun ages to really get out and have fun.  The neighborhood library is so exciting to Lincoln, so we stopped in for a visit.  I'm always nervous to check out books . . . how can I locate the borrowed ones to return from the million we already have?  We had already lost one by Friday afternoon, but we've since discovered it hiding in a basket.  It was nice that the library was actually pretty busy with people of all ages.  Who knew?!?!

 We hit up the playground before it got too hot and did lots of climbing and sliding.  Beau has decided he wants to do everything that Lincoln does.  That meant lots of climbing and sliding for Mommy too!  No workout for me this weekend!!!  Popsicles were definitely necessary on this warm day.  Linc is so proud when he eats his all the way down to the stick.  He likes to say the word "enormous" right now, so he told me his popsicle was enormous today!  Beau mastered saying "cheese" when I ask for a picture.  This picture-taking Mommy is super excited!  Here's his first cheese!

 First of all . . . yes, Kevin and Lincoln are sitting in a car seat!  Not sure why, but whatever.  They were testing out the new PS3.  Nana and Pops gave them a Cars game to play, so they were racing Tow Mater around the track.  Beau was so bummed that he wasn't getting to play.  He tried and tried to get involved, but it just isn't a 15 month old thing. 

 Luckily, Beau really likes cookies and is fairly easy to distract when food is involved.  A bowl of mini vanilla wafers solved the problem!  Is he going to be telling some psychiatrist in 40 years that his Mom healed his sadness with food????  Oh, I hope not! 

 Not captured in pictures were trips to baseball practice, Mi Cocina, the swimming pool, Father's Day present shopping, Bandito's and a run through the sprinkler.  Also not captured in pictures were the not-so-sharing moments that are all too common.  It's so hard to share all the time, and that toy that someone else has is magically more appealing than when you had it.  All in all, we've had a busy and fun few days.  I hope everyone sleeps really well tonight.  I got to enjoy both of my boys at bedtime.  We usually split it up, but I was happy to have a few minutes of peaceful and semi-still boys who love to read books. 

Father's Day is up next.  I hope we've got a few silly surprises up our sleeves for Daddy.