Lincoln turns 1!

This little man got so many presents! He is so well-loved!

 We had a small family gathering -- my second oldest brother, Nate and one of his best friends, Eric, came over for the celebration too!

 Jane and the Mitchells from Oakland also made their presence known.

 I made knock-off Betty's sandies. Oh, I love me some fried chicken and cabbage slaw.

 At first, Lincoln needed a little coaxing to open the presents.

But he had some fabulous helpers.

 Ethan had the next present ready for Lincoln, as soon as he was finished exploring the current one.

 But Lincoln caught on quickly and seemed to enjoy himself just fine.

 Of course, sometimes I wonder why we buy presents, when these kids would be perfectly fine with a box and some peanuts.

 I made Lincoln a cute shirt with some leftover quilt pieces, couldn't let those got to waste!

 This part, Lincoln needed absolutely no coaxing, and no instruction. We put his cupcake in front of him, and he went to town.

 I love me some cream cheese frosting too, Buddy.

 This little guy is such a joy in our family. So easy going, and SUCH a good sleeper. He is always happy and ready to explore everything around him. Happy Boy little man!

Justin goes to Discovery Kingdom

While Justin was here visiting, we took our first trip of the year to good ol' Discovery Kingdom. I think it was drizzling when we left to go there, leaving the park practically empty! By, the time we arrived, it was sunny and awesome!

 We took some time hanging out with the penguins.

 And giving Shouka some hugs.

 All the boys studying the general life habits of the dolphins ever-so-intently.

 The dolphins even came over for some socialization.

 Can you tell me, why on why do they make garbage cans look like dolphins? How many thousands of kids put their hands and faces on this disgusting trash can because it looks cute?! People, trash cans should look like trash cans. You're not hiding anything. You're just making it harder on parents, and making me want to dry heave.

 Justin and Ethan stopped for a quick break.

 Then the big boys got a chance to do some rides. I think they rode at least 5 times in a row because the lines were so short!

 Did you think you would get away with a trip to Discovery Kingdom without the Looney Tunes zone? Nope. Not ever. Ethan is enjoying the airplanes as much as ever!

 Look at this handsome little conductor. I think the entire train was empty this ride!

 The brave guy even rode on the teacups. I think I got sick just watching him. 

Keeping Busy in February

This month we went to the Jelly Belly with friends. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take pictures inside the factory, you know, just in case I decide to use some trade secrets and start making jelly bellies at home.

Tammy, Sophie, and Violet met us there.

 Here are the cute kiddies with the Jelly Belly man himself.

 Lincoln is starting to walk with an assistive device now, well as long as Ethan will let him have it. Unfortunately, since Lincoln has shown an interest in push toys now, they have become much more interesting to Ethan as well.

 But he's slowly getting the hang of it. Literally.

 I remember I have a picture of Ethan in this exact same position. Why, oh why must they want to get beyond this gate so much?

 But since they are as cute as they are, we let them hang out for a bit.

 Ethan loves helping mommy. Any time he can be next to me in the kitchen, he will be. Dishes, Cooking, all of it.

 He's an expert stirrer and actually manages to keep most of the food in the pot, so that's a bonus.

 This little guy is definitely into cruising right now too.

 This little one either poses nicely for the camera,

 OR works on his comedy routine. You just never know.

 This video is extremely long and meant for grandparent perusal. Basically, Lincoln has learned to clap and is showing off his skills, it just takes over a minute for that process to happen, so you may here an excessive amount of "motherese" happening.

Academy of Sciences with the McMillans!

Our friends, the McMillans, invited us to go to the Academy of sciences with them. Ethan and their little boy, Tyler are only 1 week apart, and their next child is I think 3 days apart from Lincoln, so Heidi and I have had a lot of fun with our kids playing together. This was our first visit ever to the Academy of Sciences and I had been wanting to go here for a long time! We jumped at the chance when they invited us to go with them! They had this awesome fish tank that you could walk all across the top with peeking windows. Can you see the stingray swimming by?

 The famous Albino Alligator! John says, he remembers with alligator being there when he was little.

 Ethan loved watching them clean the massive fish tanks.

 There is something about watching the fish in a massive tank that you can kind of get lost in it. I find it very relaxing, which is saying something when you're chasing around this little munchkins.

 Can you tell what this is? I didn't even know that there were upside-down jellyfish living in the oceans!

 Ethan also loved looking at the turtles. John has been working on convincing me to get one of those massive turtles that will grow to be like 3 feet tall. Although I think they are nice, they just don't seem to offer all that much back to the family.

The penguins were awfully friendly and kept the kids entertained for quite a while.

  They also had this huge area of stuffed animals. I guess it beats paying for the care of all of them!

 But in the end, the boys preferred the little portals to the underwater.

 And by the end, they were ready to have some hands on experiences.

 They had this awesome play area for little kids to run some energy out. It included a huge treehouse.

And a giant boat, which Ethan gladly took the helm.

 I loved the little bunkhouse.

 The porthole was cute too.

 We had such a fun time McMillans, Thank you!

Lincoln's First Haircut!

I know he's cute, but this kid need a cut!

 Ethan was very helpful in showing Lincoln exactly what was happening during the whole ordeal.

 Lincoln wasn't quite sure he was into the whole idea.

 But as long as he was chewing on something or playing with my necklace, he seemed to do just fine.

 He looks so much older now!