June 2019

Birthday Bash

Most of my birthday was celebrated in San Diego, but we wanted to do something with the boys on my actual birthday. We went to Chuck E Cheese ($10, unlimited 30 minutes of play), where the boys played their hearts out. I kicked Lehi's butt shooting hoops and he owned in Skibowl. The boys were so excited to have our tickets counted and claim their $0.25 worth of plastic toys & candy. Experiences over things, right? ;) The boys got me flowers (Maverick picked them out), Tasha brought me my seasonal peach milkshake from Chick-fil-et, and we had a super relaxing, low key day. Maverick also drew me a picture--it is me holding a rose (with a baby in my belly, as Lehi reminded him), the Earth breaking (in the colors to the side of the rose), and the Earth reforming on the opposite side. It was quite the birthday card.

My girlfriends also took me out to Cheesecake factory a few days before my actual birthday. We shared lovely avocado egg rolls and ate our weight in a variety of cheesecakes. Oh how I love these ladies!

Millions of Snowmen 

Maverick will often go through photo books, bringing us random pictures and ask or tell us about them. The kid has a crazy good memory for events. He brought this picture to Lehi and said, "I wish we still loved in this state that I was born. If I stayed there until I was an adult, I would have made lots of snowmans!" This was a few weeks before we left Rexburg for the last time--Lincoln was technically pictured, just not visible. ;)

Batman Plays Alone 

We will often find Lincoln playing alone in the game room, perfectly content with his solitude. One afternoon, we had lots of kiddos playing at our house. I was folding laundry in my room when Lincoln wandered in, Batman tower in tow. I didn't think much of it, as he quickly left. A couple of minutes later, he came back with a Batman figurine, set it by the tower, closed the door, and locked it. I guess there were too many friends and he wasn't feeling people. I took this picture after he decided to be social again, about 20 minutes later.

Ice Cream Party 

With summers in Texas, we have to have cold treats. Being brave, I invited the cousins over to make ice cream. They had so much fun. We did an assembly line when putting everything into their bags. They had Oreo or m&m add ins to choose from--everyone when Oreo except Lincoln. Then they paired up for the freezing (aka tossing) process. I had to double and triple bag quickly, as some of the tossing/dropping resulted in holes & salt water messes, but they kids had so much fun and were so proud of their fruit of their labors. Next time, I think I am going to try the can method for freezing to try to avoid messes. ;) Parker's & Maverick's didn't set quite as well as Brooklynn/Tayson/Lincoln's, but I think Brooklynn was much more patient/thorough in the tossing process. 

Lincoln was a little upset that he didn't get his own bag of ice 

Lincoln didn't want more M&Ms in his ice cream...so he pretty much just ate that pile on the side

Need a Boost?

Maverick recently started asking Lincoln if he "needs a boost" when they are playing & want to go behind a chair, needing to get a high book, etc. It has been pretty awesome to see. It took me forever to get a picture, but finally I snapped this one. Linc needed more water in his cup, so Mav gave him a boost. 

Swim Lessons 

My awesome deal-knower friend, Brittany told me about 2 weeks of free swim lessons you can sign up for through the city. We happened to be at a Relief Society activity when the sign-up opened, so all of us hopped on and got a spot. Maverick has a fear of water, so I figured if it was a total nightmare, we could just let them know to have someone on the wait list take his spot and we didn't lose any money. I talked it up for an entire month--about how much fun he was going to have, how it was important to learn, etc. I was shocked a few days before when Maverick told Lehi he was excited for swim lessons. The first day he did pretty darn good--considering his fear. He was pretty honest in telling the instructor, "No, I'm not doing that" if he wasn't comfortable with it. The next day he got a little better (sitting on the second step of the pool during the skill practice) and the third day...was a hot mess. He decided he wanted to be in the more advanced group and refused to go with the group he needed to be in. So we sat on the side, he cried, and we watched the other kids practice, and then left. After a long pep talk at home from both Lehi and I, and a recommencement to the lessons and listening from Maverick, the last 3 lessons were awesome. I was crazy impressed, not with how his skills progressed, but how much more comfortable he is in the water. Lincoln was a patient trooper, always sitting with me and watching Maverick (yay for 30 minutes lessons!)

Evening Bliss

We don't get too many cooler, perfect evenings in our little sauna of a state, but June has some pretty awesome ones. Maverick was playing at his cousin's house, so Lehi and I played transformers with Lincoln in the yard, throwing the ball for the dog, and absorbing one cool day we could enjoy before the summer heat struck us! I am pretty sure Lincoln was in heaven.

Father's Day 

We like to keep these "holidays" simple. The boys drew pictures, I made Lehi breakfast in bed and an angel food cake for dessert. The boys loved on Lehi. They also sang him "Happy Father's Day" and insisted in putting a candle in the cake--which he did not find very amusing.

Cibolo Nature Park 

Lehi and I took the boys to the Cibolo Nature Park--it was so much fun, even though we got suck in traffic on the way there (boo). They have a great visitor's/information center, a ton of trails, and a lovely creek to play in. We started on the quickest trail to the water, let the boys play--mainly throwing rocks and getting our feet wet. It was perfect weather. We took a break from water and took to a random path. Lincoln would borrow my sunglasses anytime we were in a non-shaded area, proclaiming "too bright!" We found a bench along the path and ate our packed lunch. Around this time, a runner came by (from the direction we were headed) and told us there was a big rattlesnake up the path, not too far from where we were. We thanked him, finished eating, and headed back to where we started. We spotted lots of turtles in the water, butterflies, dragon flies, and (luckily) no snakes.

Lincoln got his share of plyometrics in--he jumped off, back on, off, back off, every rock down the line, many time

Looking for sea shells; Lincoln using his "goggles"

We Found Out It's a Girl!

Lehi was planning on going to the doctor's with me...and then Lincoln has strep-like symptoms (aka fever and big, swollen, white tonsils), so he ended up staying home with the boys. I video chatted him during the ultrasound--the tech did not wait to find out gender. After measuring how tall the baby was she said, "Ok here is the gender--it's a girl!" Lehi said, "Oh joy!!" and I hung up while they did the rest of the measuring. I was in total shock, and honestly still am a bit. When we told the boys, Lincoln seemed excited, Maverick was grumpy and said he didn't care hahaha A new adventure awaits!

Quotes:

Mav the Manipulator 

Lehi and I noticed this month, how casual Maverick is with his manipulation. Not just with convincing Lincoln to play with the "cool, better toy that can do this..." so he can trade Linc with the one he really wants--but also with us. For example. "Wow, Mom. That looks delicious. I bet I would think it was really yummy, too." 

Geese Louise!!! 

Has become a recent catch-phrase for Maverick, too. Usually it is used when I ask him to do something 5 times and he says, "I'm doing it, I'm doing it....Geese Louise!" 

Bubby

Lincoln woke up one morning and couldn't find Maverick. He had a complete meltdown and came running into my room, crying, "bubby!!!" (We have never called Mav bubby in our lives). 

Rotten Egg 

Lincoln, Mav, and I headed downstairs for breakfast. Maverick reached the bottom first, with me only a few steps away, and Lincoln about half way. Lincoln suddenly collapsed in a heap, crying. I crouched down, asked him what was wrong, and in his own broken language said, "me no rot eg!!" I let him pass me, proclaiming myself the rotten egg, and all was magically well. 

Bo--No!!!! 

Maverick randomly asked me when we were driving in the car if we are sealed to our cousins. I said, "sort of, because I am sealed to my parents and Tasha" and elaborated a bit. Lehi commented, "That's right. We are stuck with Bobo forever." Lincoln chimed in, and yelled, "NOOOOO!" with all the energy of his little body. 

Teddy Grahams 

Teddy Grahams have been Lincoln's jam recently. When he requests them, it is my favorite thing in the world because he called them "Teddy Bears." Maverick has started to correct him, so I am not sure how long it will last, but it is dang cute. 

More Pictures:

True love is rescuing my hanging baskets in the middle of an insane wind/rain storm

I couldn't get Linc to eat his dinner--Lehi sent me this picture later with a "success" caption

The last line used to say "be kind"...until Lehi got a hold of t. 

Amazon delivers smiles in so many ways

Lincoln has been fighting step-throat symptoms that keep coming back negative :(
Second time in 3 weeks in the doctors office

When I come to bed and find someone in my spot.

They didn't misadvertise when they called it a "gazillion bubble machine"

Date night: Tiu Steppi's. Delicious.

When I asked Lincoln what he was doing in my bed, he responded with this.

Brooklynn teaching how to make slime...you know, the kit Maverick got for Christmas. ;)

Last night out with our beautiful Stephani!! We will miss her so so much.

Spontaneous Ikea run...if you look carefully, you will see two ice cream cones in Lincoln's hands
Why Lehi gave him two to carry back is beyond me
Milliseconds after this was taken, Lincoln dropped one. 

 

Summer movie nights