Little Eli

Melissa and Lincoln

Norma and Eli

Baby Eli

Eli at 3 months old

People are continually asking us who we think Lincoln looks like and as adults you can't really tell which one of us he looks like, but when you see Eli's baby pictures he looks like a little Eli. I think he has my chin and my eyes but the rest is all Eli. He even has the same hair that Eli had except Lincolns flops to the right and Eli's went to the left. We tell Lincoln often to enjoy his hair while he has it.

Lincoln's First Camping Trip

We headed back to Nebraska for Fathers day weekend. The Howell reunion is always over fathers day weekend so we were able to go to that this year. The Howell's are my grandma's family. We headed out to Cambridge lake on Friday night. Mom and Dad had set up their pop up camper for us to use. We had four spots right next to each other. Mom, Dad and Grandma were in Grandma's camper, Marlyn, Rod and Tonya were in their camper and then Bill, Deb, Nicole, Rhett, Sara and Brody were all in their camper. Ryan and Kendee also joined us. Mom, Dad, Eli, Lincoln and I took the boat out for a nice night ride around the lake. We all spent the evening around the camp fire.
On Friday night Eli and I headed off to the pop up with the two dogs and Lincoln. Eli crawled into bed on the one side and the two dogs got up in the bed on the other side and I put Lincoln in his pac n play in the middle of the camper. I laid Lincoln down gently hoping that he would sleep through the night and then I crawled into bed. Well as soon as I crawled in next to Eli the whole camper tipped to the one side and Eli and I hit the ground. The pop up is a bit like a teeter totter and with all of the weight on one side it caused the camper to tip. After the shock had passed I crawled out of the bed, or should I say up and out of the bed since we were now on the bottom side of the teeter totter and ran to Lincoln's pac n play. His eyes were wide open. He wasn't crying but he was definitely awake. He had only rolled slightly in his pac n play because he was in the exact center of the camper. My dad came running over and once he found out we were all ok he bust up laughing. Eli had to muffle his face with a pillow because he was laughing so hard. My dad though that we would have to sleep on different sides of the camper to even out the weight, but then my mom came over and asked if he had put the hitch down. He smiled and said he had forgotten. That is what levels the hitch side with the tire side on a pop up. So that made Eli and I feel a little less fat. We got the camper all leveled out and went back to bed. Lincoln was of course still wide awake so we took him to bed with us.
We spent Saturday on the boat and attended the reunion. The actual reunion was at a camp pavilion near the lake. Everyone brought a dish to share. I haven't been around my grandma's family a whole lot so it was nice to see her brothers and sisters again. I could tell how much she enjoyed it. They brought out a bunch of old pictures and had a good time reminiscing.
Saturday night was a much more peaceful night in the camper. Lincoln slept through the night in his pac n play and the camper stayed level. We went back out on the boat Sunday and did some swimming. Mom stayed behind to watch Lincoln so I could swim. We packed up camp Sunday afternoon and then headed back to Colorado after stopping at mom and dad's for a quick shower. It was a great weekend full of family and fun. Lincoln is a great camper. He loved staring up at the trees and he really liked being on the boat. His grandpa is super excited to take him fishing when he gets bigger.

Got Milk?

So before I start complaining I want to start by thanking God for our miraculous bodies. A women's body truly is miraculous in every way. We can grow another person inside of us. We can not only grow another person but we can sustain it's life inside and outside of the womb. Our body is all that baby needs for the full 40 weeks and it lives solely off of the umbilical cord and then once they are born our body can sustain them solely off of breast milk. I think the fact that our breast can make milk and feed our babies is amazing, but I also think it is a huge responsibility. Our babies depend entirely on us for survival. Lincoln has had nothing but breast milk in his 12 weeks of life. Granted sometimes Eli feeds him a bottle but even when he feeds him it is still milk that came from my breasts. It is amazing how personal we take comments about our milk. Eli grabbed a bottle out of the refrigerator the other night and he made a comment that there was only 4 and half ounces in the bottle and that he thought we were going to start giving him 5oz. I immediately got defensive and said, "Unless you can produce milk from your breasts then I guess that is all there is." Yes I said that. To him he was just asking a question, but to me he was insulting my ability to be a good mother and provide for my child. I am constantly wondering if I am making enough milk or how long I will be able to breast feed. I feel guilty if I drink too much coffee and not enough water. I feel guilty if I have a drink later than the 2 hour window before pumping. It is just a huge responsibility and it becomes overwhelming at times. We are constantly in demand. I can only be away from him for a total of 2 and half hours. I was talking to a close girlfriend of mine the other day who has a baby the same age as Lincoln and she made me feel a little less crazy. She was laying in bed the other morning while her baby cried and she was tyring to get him to go another half hour so they could keep their morning schedule and she could get to work on time. Her husband rolled over and asked her if she was really going to make the baby wait a half an hour to eat. She was totally hurt by this because to her it meant that her husband thought she was torturing their baby by making him wait a half hour to eat. Every time someone looks at you and says I think the baby is hungry you immediately get defensive and say no he's not! People of course do not say that to hurt me or to question my ability as a mother but that is how I take it. And from what I have heard so do most other mothers. I want to conclude by thanking our Heavenly Father for my milk!

Three Months Old

Our baby Lincoln is three months old. Wow how time flies. He is more amazing every day. I just can't get enough of him. I literally stare at him all day long and probably kiss him way more than any little boy would like to be kissed by his mom. I have to get the kisses in now before he is too "cool" to let his mommy kiss him. He has started "talking" a lot more and he still smiles a lot. I have tried laying him on his tummy to practice rolling over but he is not a fan of tummy time. He is still not a big fan of naps. I have learned that I have to let him fall asleep on his own. If I lay him down in his crib or pac n play for a nap he will just scream. He will literally cry for 45 mins. Now I just allow him to fall asleep in his bouncy seat or on our bed. He sleeps really well if he just moves into his nap after he is done playing. He is still wearing his size 1 diapers during the day and size 2 at night to help him sleep longer. I think we could move him up to a size 2 for the day as well. He has some chubby little legs. I am still feeding him every 3 hours but he has been sleeping through his 3am feeding pretty consistently now. He goes to bed around 9:30 and sleeps until around 6:30. This sleeping through the night thing is great! Eli is still giving him a bottle of pumped milk at 9. He is eating 6oz now so it is hard for me to keep up with him. I am also trying to pump extra so we can do an overnight trip for our anniversary. Our 4 year anniversary is on the 26th and my mom is going to come out so we can do dinner and stay at a bed and breakfast. Grandma will be his first ever babysitter!

We took him to Wash Park after Church for his birthday and then out to lunch at our favorite Mexican Restaurant La Fogata. We took lots of pictures at the park. It was a walk down memory lane for us because 4 years ago this month we were getting married there and now here we are walking through the park with our son. God is Great!

Check out the rest of the pictures at this link.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67914&l=c9023&id=1018812840

Mommy Time

I have had a lot of mommy time lately which has been nice. On Friday night Kari hosted a clothing swap party at her apartment. Each girl was to bring at least 5 items from her closet that she doesn't wear anymore. It could be clothes, purses, jewelry just anything that you thought someone else might like. It was a great way to clean out your closet and bring a few new things home. It was a nice ladies night out for me. On Saturday Lincoln and I went to a baby shower for our friend Kim. Kim and Matt had a baby girl named Lila Ann Farwell in April. They didn't find out the sex of the baby until the birth so they had the baby shower after she was born. Sunday we went to Church and then headed to Wash Park to take pictures in the flower garden but the flowers weren't in yet. On Monday night I had some more mommy time. I play on a our women's church softball team on Monday nights. Tuesday night I had yet another night out. I met some girl friends downtown to see Sex and the City. I was very excited to finally see it. It was good. I was shocked at some of the graphic scenes though because I have only ever watched the TBS reruns and they are not nearly as graphic as the true HBO ones. I am so lucky to have a husband that wants me to go out and have some me time. It is great to leave and know that Lincoln is in great hands with his daddy.

Here are some cute pictures from the weekend.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67813&l=2758c&id=1018812840