Fall is busy around these parts...

The end of summer through the end of the year is full of birthdays in our families and friend groups. It all starts mid August with my adorable friend Courtney's birthday. She turned 30 this year...exactly 3 months ahead of me on August 15th. Here she is below with her awesome boyfriend. 

 

Next up, we helped celebrate my friend Lori's boyfriend's children's birthdays on the same day we celebrated Fred turning 40....I tell ya, its a busy fall!

Here is my girl Brittani below with Mr. Lincoln. I think she likes him :)

And below is the Birthday Girl Megan with Brits boyfriend Brian and Lincoln.  

Then it was on to Bucca De Beppos for Fred's 40th Birthday celebration with his family. It was a great night and Fred really enjoyed and appreciated everybody coming out. Although I do have to say we were a bit disappointed in the food.

The following day Fred's birthday "weekend" continued with a BBQ at his mother's house where Lincoln got to play with his cousins, Richie and Gentry- he clearly adores them just like we do :)

Next up! Amelie Jo kicks off the October birthday celebrations by turning 4 years old. She is not a fan of having of having her photo taken but I manage to get a few candid shots of this beauty anyway. She is absolutely breath-taking.

And as an extra special surprise one of my favorite people, my cousin Andy, and his wife came into town with their new baby girl- Sophia! Sophia was born only 4 days before Lincoln. I know, once these three get back to town, she and Linc will become fast friends.

Here is Linc and Sophie...getting acquainted :)

This girl has the most beautiful porcelain, fair skin and very light blue eyes and full lips. We do make some good looking kids in our family, I must say :)

We also had to acknowledge our sitter and close friend Nicole's birthday on October 11th...she is so great with Lincoln and has agreed to help us watch him until next July and we couldn't be more grateful. She is such a great friend.

Next up is my friend Brittani's birthday at the end of October- the day before my father's birthday and the start of the November birthday marathon. There are 10 birthdays between November 2nd and December 2nd in our families...so its a busy month! And right before Christmas too...

I am super excited to goo to Zoo Boo at the Detroit Zoo with our friends and to celebrate my upcoming 30th birthday. It is so surreal to be turning 30- but I'm ready for it. I hear that most women love their 30's...I guess I'll have to see...but then again any birthday is certainly better then the alternative!

Lincoln Three Months

Our little man is three months old and life is so incredible now. Watching him grow and learn is my greatest joy these days. And watching his face light up with a smile when he sees me, make my heart melt. He is doing very good considering he got off to a rough start in life. He has grown to the 50th percentile in length and the 25th percentile in weight (when he was born he was in the 5th and 2nd respectively). He is cognitively on-par or a bit advanced. He recognizes people, places and responds to talking with coos and changes in facial expressions. He "talks" on and on sometimes and I know he can't wait to communicate with us. He tracks objects easily and is already anticipating sequences of events and studies everything around him. He is incredibly alert and aware.

He is a little behind in his physical development though - which is not a surprise because he started off small. He is starting to hold his head steady but throws it back every now and then and he can sit up assisted, but not for too long. He does hold some weight on his legs but screams through tummy-time so he is way off from being able to lift his chest off the floor. I think he'll be delayed in sitting unassisted and he may be delayed in crawling and even walking...but from what I hear...that might not be a bad thing :)

His cousin Lorenzo didn't sit unassisted until 7 months and walked around 15 months and is one of the smartest little boys in his pre-school. I'm really trying to just relax about it all. We do everything we are supposed to. We "exercise" him daily and read to him and point out objects and name them. We make different sounds and expose him to different textures. We try to give him tummy time...even making the ground more interesting with a colorful playmat and it just doesn't work. After three minutes of screaming I cave and snuggle him...its so hard for me to let him cry like that. I know some say at one point they need to "cry it out" but I'm just not sure I can do it...especially when he's still so young.

So, we're trying to let him develop as he is and not compare him to other babies. I see parents do this all the time- bragging about why their child is superior to others and making justifications for where they're lacking. Why? All children develop differently and at different rates- so what does it matter? At the end of the day most of them end up walking and talking eventually and doing just fine. We're all ordinary in some ways and extraordinary in others...why isn't it ok for our children to be the same way?

As you can see I went a little crazy on the photos for this milestone. I just couldn't help it and Lincoln was being so cooperative. We got so many adorable shots and of course each "look:" of his makes me laugh so I posted them all!

Our life is certainly very different now then it used to be. We are lucky to get 8 hours of sleep and "couple" time is pretty non-existent during the week...both because of Lincoln and my husbands work schedule. Going out is a lot harder...although we've been lucky to have many baby-sitting offers so I would say we still each individually go out a much as we used to with friends...but a little less as a couple. Our marriage is different. We share a connection and bond through Lincoln that is so special, but there is a downside too. Our attention is definitely more on him then each other and at times that can be hard. We have to make a very great effort now to have time to talk and hold each other and work on our marriage...where as before we had all the time in the world and it was so easy.

The little guy is expensive (at least right now) and that can be hard. He is pretty happy most of the time and started sleeping through the night around 12 weeks. But he hates to nap during the day and spends a lot of the evening screaming before he finally gives up and goes to sleep. His reflux is better but still there and he spits up a lot and ruins my outfit at least two days a week lol!. But I have to say, even with all the hard-ships he is the single greatest thing we have done in our lives. We love him so unconditionally and completely that it is beyond overwhelming. I used to look at other people and their kids and think "aw that's cute" but I didn't really know...you can't until you experience it with your own. Now I look at him in utter amazement and think "we did that." I would do absolutely anything for him and he is our entire world. Its about the best feeling in the world.

And of course we have to see where our lives take us in the next year or so...but at this point I want another baby badly. My husband is a bit more on the fence about it...so we'll wait the appropriate amount of time and make that decision then. But, I can tell you one thing- this feeling I have and the way I feel about myself as a mother- I only want more of it. I mean I would never have more then two kids for many personal reasons...but I'm definitely leaning more towards two then one at this point. We'll see what the future holds :)