November 2016--Lincoln 3 Month

Lincoln is 3 Months

Height: 23.5 inches 

Weight: 10 lbs 4 oz (2%)
Clothes: 0-3 (finally) and size 1 diapers
Eating 3.5-4 oz every 3 hours
Likes coos and when you talk to him, being swaddled for bedtime and naps, and endless attention--especially eye contact.
Gives mom long stretches at night. Usually sleeps from 8:00ish-2:00 and is up around 7.
Starting to fake cry when you leave him or put him down
Gives BIG smiles and is on the verge of giving a good laugh
Tracks Maverick's movements with his eyes
Likes to munch on his hand when bink it out of range

We had a 3 month weight check to see if we could get Lincoln on the chart--and he is! Doctor said to keep the current feeding frequency and see if we can get him a little higher in the percentiles. But the fact he is on the chart is a huge yay for us! Even if it's still 2%. :)

                   

                     

5k Run 

Lehi signed us up for a 5K at his work in honor of Veteran's day. We got there way to early, but Maverick enjoyed playing on the play place on campus with all the other kiddos for a solid half hour. The beginning of the "race" was super packed and we wondered if we would be stuck in a walking stampede for the duration of the 3.1 miles. Well, Maverick proved to be entertaining, by insisting on running rather than sit in his double stroller throne. I am guessing he walk/ran about a half a mile. We were rather impressed. Lincoln decided he was hungry towards the last mile, so Lehi and I traded off feeding him and holding him through the end of the race. We didn't run it like we wanted to, but it was a good way to get up and moving that Saturday morning. 

Grandma and Grandpa McDonald Visit 

Lincoln was blessed this month, so Grandma and Grandpa McDonald came in town to be there for the event and meet their newest grandbaby. Their flights kept getting delayed, so Tash and I picked them up around 2:30 am the day of the blessing (thank goodness for 1:00 church)! We took some pictures after the blessing (Dad and Lehi were reluctant to do so and only came outside because the Seahawks vs. Eagles game was on commercial break).

The next day, we did some road acrobatics--with mom, Tash, myself and all the kids in one car and Andrew and Lehi in the other. Long story short, Tasha left her purse in Andrew's car, which was at work but we couldn't get on campus because Tasha's ID badge was in the purse. So we decided to meet up for lunch and collect Tasha's belongings. We weren't sure where we were going to eat lunch (indecision, surprise, surprise), so among the deciding, Tasha and Andrew both flipped a U-turn at the same intersection, going different directions, and then did so again. Eventually, we sat down for a delicious lunch at Ginos.

That evening, we joined Tasha's family and the missionaries for dinner and then us girls ditched the boys (and kids) to go to a Lula Rue party. It was quite the adventure, with us laughing over stupid and sly comments all night long. We convinced mom to get a couple of items and made a fool of ourselves when completing the purchase. We discovered that Tasha should NOT have been driving while taking Sudafed, I got a hanger stuck in my hair, and when Tasha dropped her wallet I kicked it away from her when we went to pick it up (just a few of the many highlights).

 I had been dying for a Peppermint shake, so we stopped at Chick-fil-a for some dessert. We all ordered and I also decided I needed an oatmeal cookie. At the window, we got our shakes and Tasha started to drive off when I exclaimed, "COOKIE!!" And Tasha asked that we get our cookie while laughing at my dramatic, desperate plea for my succulent circle of goodness. Mom then asked, "Why do you get a cookie?" To which I quickly responded, "Because I paid for it, Mom." Apparently, she thought we were getting a cookie just because. And the three little piggies laughed all the way home over the piggy who almost had none with the cookie mishap.

We decided to continue our luck with clothes shopping the next day while Dad was in Alice for some business. Tash and I dragged Mom (and Lincoln) into Maceys where we spent about 3.5 hours picking out clothes and having mom try them on. This woman never buys things for herself so it was a trip much needed. It was a huge success with Mom securing 4 pairs of jeans and a few shirts, too. In the process, we lost a pajama onsie to a full on Lincoln blow out--which caused us all to gag in the changing room and laugh while Tasha held him like Simba and I stripped him down. The span of the liquid mess began at the bottom of the diaper and extended his back to about him armpits and all over his blanket. There was no hope for those PJ's so I disposed of them in an outside garbage can. Thank goodness this momma was packing an extra onsie in her diaper bag!

Thanksgiving day was a little crazy--with me making an entryway table with Dad in Tasha's garage, then going home to put the ham in my oven while Tasha had the turkey in hers, and then making pretzel salad an apple pie in the remaining 2 hours and Dad making mashed potatoes. Tasha had mom's jello salad, rolls, stuffing, and sweet potatoes to work on, too. I am pretty sure we made 3 trips to Tasha's house in the meantime--dropping off a chair, getting stuff to make the pretzel salad that was left at her house,  and getting more butter for Dad's mashed potatoes. Dad and I also went to the store for some more potatoes and then Dad sent Lehi to get a "real" potato masher. It was nice to all sit down around 4 and eat dinner and be done with the busy busy day. Our cousin, Brittany and her cute son also joined us, since they are in San Antonio for a few weeks. I am pretty sure I haven't seen her since I was 8 or 9, so it was super fun to catch up with her.

Mav in Grandpa's Shoes

Friday morning, Dad and I got up to try to finish up my entry way table Dad was building me for my Christmas present. We had been working on it here and there when we could find time since Tuesday when he bought all the wood and tools. Dad had had some pretty bad fits of vertigo and some out of body experiences that week that really threw him for a loop, too. But he insisted in building the table with me, because I am the favorite daughter. We almost got it completely built--but didn't quite finish. Just a few more boards to put on and it will be ready for me to sand and stain! I can't wait to see it all finished! It was sad to see Mom and Dad go, but the fact we will be together in less than a month made it much easier. Maverick is still calling multi-grain cheerios, "Grandma cereal" and will request every morning (he ate some today, in fact). 

Mav and Parker were pretty proud of their outfits

Memorable Maverick 

I thought I would write down some of the funny things Maverick says so we can remember them. After all, this is a blog for our family and not selectively Lincoln's monthly updates. I may need to preface this with full acknowledgement I will not do justice to Maverick in this short list. He makes us laugh every single day with the things he says and his creative mind. We sure do love him!

"I batman!" and a few minutes later, "No, I Mabick" (Maverick). "I a monster!! Grrr."

"You good guy!" (We are pretty sure he is always the bad guy when he plays with his cousins, so he automatically deems us the good guys.)

"Ta-da!" When waking up in the morning or from a nap, accompanied with hands outstretched and a proud grin.

"I happy, mommy!" I often tell him he needs a nap because he is grumpy.

When he ate his last piece of Halloween candy, we explained to him it was all gone now. "No. We say 'trick treat' and get more!"

Lehi asking how to get rid of a snuggle monster--"You beat them!"

We have been using the newest Christmas decoration (an awesome train that goes around our tree, courtesy of Bill and Gina) as a form of punishment/bribery. Maverick LOVES playing with the train, so we will tell him he can't play with it when he misbehaves or we say he can play with it as a reward (like going potty). One afternoon, I opened a pudding cup for him and asked him to put the lid in the garbage. He put it in a bowl instead and proceeded to head towards the table to eat his pudding. I simply said, "Ok, no choo choo." and he quickly responded, "Oh..I sorry mommy! Didn't mean too!" as he ran to grab the lid and put it the garbage. This train may stay up year-round!

"I snuggle you" is one of my favorites! and "I need you" is one of my least favorites (as sweet as it may sound, he uses this to buy more time before bed).

"I kidding."

"One more minute!" When requesting to play longer, watch TV more, or stay at Bobo's house

"I snuggle heem" When he is holding Lincoln.

"Please sing my song." Every night before bed. It used to be "You are my Sunshine" (which was his lullaby song), and now it is "I am a Child of God," which he sings along with us.

"Oh coco nuts!" He has started watching Jake and the Never-land Pirates and picked that one up.

He LOVES to help in the kitchen

Graduated

I finished up my Master's degree in Exercise Science this past month! It was a lot of work, but it was so worth it. I really enjoyed the program and the professors I worked with. I was able to finish with a 4.0 GPA (which was one of my goals going into it) and passed my thesis defense with flying colors. Lehi was so awesome in supporting me and telling me "you will be fine, Brei" when I was stressing about a test, assignment, or paper. He was good to watch Maverick (and towards the end, Mav and Linc) so I would attend my online  weekly Monday lectures and when I needed some extra time to complete class work. I was the only one in my cohort to do the thesis option and loved every second of it. I had amazing mentoring by Eli Lankford in my undergrad work and when I was teaching labs on campus. He also stepping in and was a major help during the thesis-hooking me up with some amazing stats students to work with and allowing me to take his research class to Bozeman, MT to collect data with me. Cheri Jerguens was also a major blessing, helping set up assessments in Montana at the senior center and being an absolute delight to work with. My thesis project wouldn't have happened without her and Eli's collaboration. All in all, this expensive piece of paper is just a reminder of the love, help, and support I have received from my family and friends I consider to be family.