Pittsburgh, we're comin for you

Summer living has begun! We packed our stuff and moved across the country again. This year to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I have been dreading this summer so much. I cried as we left our apartment, not because I wanted to stay, but because I can't handle another summer of disappointment like last year. Kalob has decided to become an alarm salesman this year. He gives up salary, managing, and his years of experience in installation for this. We are crossing our fingers it pays off. We are hoping for less stress, better hours, and more respect. Let's find out! 

 We actually won't get to our new home til tomorrow. It's been a rough ride with Lincoln so far. Two year olds have a lot of energy. Far too much for 10 hours in a car seat. He has been very emotional about the move. We've been talking to him about it for months. He screamed "don't pack my clothes!" And " don't put my tricycle in the trailor"  and yes, he can articulate that well. And now on the road he's been yelling " I don't wanna go to Pittsburgh, I wanna stay in heretah (Utah for some reason)" " I just want to snuggle, out my car seat" " do you hear me!!!?" It's no fun, let me tell you.  We had to add one more day to our trip to make the days a little shorter. 10 hours the first day, 6 the second, 12 today, and 6 tomorrow!  

 We were able to see Mt Rushmore and stretch our legs.

That and visiting one of my oldest and best friends in South Dakota have been the highlights so far.

I am soo tired of McDonalds, I could not eat it for a year and be perfectly happy. 

This creepy goat was standing right next to us. We didn't even notice til Lincoln said " I see a goat" I turned around and screamed ;) 

so.

So. 

 life changes everyday. good and bad things happen. life sucks sometimes. Sometimes I'm so happy I could burst.  I haven't been keeping up with the blog, because I'm keepin up with a two year old.  

 Today was one of the first times I saw my lil boy get hurt, on purpose. my heart broke a little bit inside. I realize that the other kid was young, and learning, just like Lincoln, but it put me in a bad place. When I hear about bombings, and attacks, planes going missing, these days I just don't feel safe anymore. How are we to protect our little ones from insane and/or cruel people.

  Just last week, my brothers were working sound at the SXSW concert week in Texas. Some drunk maniac drove straight through a crowd, killing and maiming people. Luckily everyone I love was safe, but so easily it could have been different.  Why are people so senseless? Why do humans hurt eachother? 

these are really heavy thoughts, I know. 

As I watched Lincoln get pushed at the top of the tallest slide for entering the bigger boy's "castle,"  he fell backward down the slide head first,  and flew out the end into the bark, I felt hopeless. His mouth was bleeding, he had bitten the side of his cheek. He was terrified. He cried the hard cry, where you wonder when the next sound will come out. He wouldn't go on the slide anymore. He kept coming to find me, every couple minutes he'd pop up from the sandbox and yell for me. My sweet boy. hopefully he's not traumatized and will slide again. I hear kids are resilient. I hope he's already forgotten. 

 I took him to Smith's after, and pushed a racecar cart around, a little longer than necessary since he loves it so much, and they gave him a balloon. Now he's tucked away in his crib, and I'm wishing he will stay my little baby forever, that he'll always pop up looking for me, that he will feel safe and protected. The world is a hard place to live in sometimes.

 

Goodbye 2013!!!

Oh boy! I always feel like I'm playing catch up! Christmas time was soo great. I love spending time with family more than anything. Socializing ( I think I don't get enough adult conversation in my life which revolves around diaper changes, naps, and caillou,) eating, playing games! I wish we could be closer to everyone. But maybe if we were together all the time, it wouldn't be joyous when we are. The things I loved most about Christmas were

• how much Lincoln loves his cousins. we went to see Frozen(see it!!!) and he was yelling "hey lily!" down the aisle!

• remembering last Christmas and how much Lincoln has grown! he was so excited to wake everyone up on Xmas day because he Knew Santa came and Santa brings presents! 

• I feel like Lincoln got perfect gifts! Mommy knows what to ask Santa for! He got a ride on horse named Cowboy from his great grandma which made me tear up, he was so happy bouncing around. And the klip klop castle from santa. it's just too cute. 

• late night card games with the siblings. I love it , I love it. I look forward to Screw Your Neighbor every year. 

• tamales!

 Ok, I realize this is not a tamale that beautiful emi is eating. Kellen made homemade Twinkies too! I wish to make tamales every single Christmas for the rest of my life! I love that it's a team effort! and I love eating them! It seems like we made so many but they were all eaten by lunchtime the next day. Because we ate them for dinner and then breakfast hehe. We had to ration the tamales!!! I'm going to attempt making them soon, but it won't be as good because I'll be alone. 

• rocket launching! We buy the girls a non traditional science type gift every year. since we knew how much Lincoln likes them, kalob figured the girls would too. He was right. And the whole family plodded outside into the snow across the  street to watch our rocket shoot So high and then parachute down.

It was Really awesome! they took turns pushing the button to ignite the engine; it would catch fire and Blastoff Lincoln would yell. It was sooo cold might I add. 

• the cute little projects my mom had everyday for the kids. Coloring pages, building a ginger bread house, and my favorite...Christmas tree pine cones. They painted their cones and then decorated them with pompoms. Lincoln found a bag of googley eyes. Needless to say, his  tree was watching us :) 

• my most favorite moment was when my sister got her big present. A guitar, that she didn't know if she was getting. The fam was playing hide and seek the night before, and Jency his behind the couch, where said guitar was also hiding.  She pushed it out not realizing, and Riley said " whose guitar is this?" and emi was sitting right there on the couch. I panicked!! And kalob said "whose getting a guitar for Christmas? Kellen? " I was like "Shut your mouth!" I thought the surprised was surely ruined. But emi didn't hear I guess, because Christmas morning came and went. And she didn't get it. My mom announced Xmas was all over, and emi just slouched with sadness. then mom said "wait! There's one more!" And Clint pulled it out! And emi just cried with joy, and I cried with joy. And who knows if anyone else cried. But I just love when people are so happy. It was the best!  I received good stuff of my own, but seeing other people that happy...that's my favorite.  

 Hope everyone's Christmas holiday was as equally good as mine! 

Holiday cheer, Lincoln's sad ear

This little cutie has his first ear infection. he has always liked to play with his ears, and ours, so it's hard to tell if his ears are bothering him or if it's just habit. We bought a scope so we could see for ourselves. He got super grumpy that last 3 days, and we checked his ears daily, and yesterday he had a lot of redness. The dr didn't like the idea of us having our own scope, but she was delighted that he had no problem letting her check his out. he sits perfectly still for it. 

 Other than that, our holidays have been going well! we drove to ca for thanksgiving. 

we stopped in mesquite for $5.99 prime rib.  They had no kids menu, so Lincoln got his very own huge breakfast for dinner. He ate an entire giant pancake and 2 eggs! He tried a bite of bacon, he didn't spit it out but he didn't want anymore. 

thanksgiving dinner was at Kalob's grandma's in LA this year. we ate outside because the weather was nice. we also walked to the park to let Lincoln have some fun. 

Then we watched some movies.  Lincoln wants to be just like dad! Here they are sharing an apple 

And then he worked off the thanksgiving slog by jumping on a trampoline 

 Kiersten wanted to try somthing wild with her hair, so here are her aquamarine tips 

Lincoln likes to ride the fake turtle

And that was that. We spent a day in Bakersfield, Lincoln was able to play with his cousins that he has never met. He was their chef at their play diner. He loves nothing more than playing "with kids." We ate 2nd thanksgiving out at my Aunt Ladonna's and planned a trip to Disney in the new year!!! Lincoln is going to love it!  

We stopped in primm to visit best friends 

I watched a couple games of craps, kalob tryin to explain it. there are a lot of rules! One of them being No cell phones at the table! Who knew!? then I went upstairs to help babysit these little buddies. They jumped on the bed and zoomed hot wheels across the hotel room floor. 

 And now we've been back 2 weeks and Lincoln's sick. I've been doing a lot of online shopping :) and trying to make it Christmas in our apartment. We got a real tree this year, first time since kalob and I's first Christmas as a married couple. 

I really love it and it smells sooo good! 

Loving our Lincoln

Blurry but I love it.

Lincoln is a creative boy these days. He loves play dough, painting, markers and crayons, playing with puffs and pipe cleaners, and we just got him some flash cards to practice numbers and letters. he blows us away with his comprehension. I can't believe he will be 2 in March! here's a peak into his life as of late 

Here we took egg carton( we bought a case at SAMs club, so he has Lots of egg crate to play with) I cut it up and had him paint the "flowers". Then I glued a button in the center and hot glued a pipe cleaner stem onto the base . The results were awesome, and his grandma really appreciated her flowers for her birthday :) 

he was really proud of them; he dumped her gift bag out, he was so eager to give them to her. 

Pushing puffs through a water bottle top. 

Playing spaghetti! I gave him a bowl and some tongs, but they are in motion in this picture, they disappeared. 

Playing with his locks and latches board.

Playing hamburger. It's the strangest game. But this happens daily. He says he's the meat and the cushions are bun. 

It doesn't even matter if you're sleeping on the couch either :)

Oh you know, just riding a buffalo. 

And lastly helping dad work on the car. He has a great personality and he brings so much joy to our lives. we love our Lincoln!