Lincoln: 7 Months

You turned 7 months on April 11th. We are loving your sweet & feisty spirit, little boy! The theme of the last month was, "Thank goodness you're cute!" As in, you were not letting Mama sleep. Praying we're on to better days --errr, nights!

Your pictures this month are just the sweetest.

{You just want to be held - all the time} 

{"Don't take my elephant."} 

Here's what you've been up to this month:
-You want to stand -all the time. Those legs are always so stiff!
-Miss Jannah came to visit all the way from Washington DC. She was so happy to meet you!
-You sat up unassisted for the first time on April 2 and have only had a couple of wobbly tumbles to the ground.
-You lost your title as baby of the family on Daddy's side. We welcomed sweet baby Elsie to the family this month!
-On March 15 you had your first taste of egg yolk and weren't too sure about it! We've tried a few more times, and you're starting to warm up to it.
-You and Mama took a little drive to Canandaigua to meet friends for lunch. You were quite the little ladies man!
-Your first Easter was a hit! We went to Wickham Farms for a fun afternoon with cousins on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went to church, opened Easter baskets and had a full afternoon of egg hunting and family at Grandpa & Nana's house, followed by more fun at Grammie & Grampa's house.
-Nana and Pa came for a whole week to visit at the end of March. You love them so much -and look so much like your Pa!
-Aunt Kiki helped us with our first successful back carry! You loved being able to look over my shoulder at all that was going on around us.
-To celebrate ringing in 7 months, you spent the night in your nursery and only woke up once to eat. Woo hoo!

Here are a few pictures from our fun month:

You sure are one of the best things about our little family. So much joy in the midst of so much busy. Thank you for making us slow down and snuggle every now and then!

Lincoln: 2 Months

Month number 2 had it's ups and downs in our little Lincoln's life!

Here are your stats for the month:

Here's what you've been up to this month:

-You've been eating like a champ every 2-3 hours and going 8-9 hours overnight. Mommy and Daddy are so excited for the long night stretches!
-You are still passing out as soon as I take off in the car! This makes life easier for everyone!
-You are so smiley and grinning when Mommy and Daddy see you.
-Mommy started wearing you in the Tula and you love it. There's so much sleepy dust in that thing.
-We had a lot of outings for the fall: We went to the Garden Factory for the fall festival with cousins, went to the market for breakfast and picked apples and pumpkins!
-On October 28th, you had a very high fever. We rushed you to the ER at the request of Dr. Davis. All of the doctors and nurses at RGH took wonderful care of you and we were so thankful it was just a virus and about 48 hours we were headed home! We are so thankful the Lord protected your little body!
-You're still sleeping in mommy and daddy's room, but we're all sleeping so well we just haven't moved you over yet.
-We love that we can lay you down to go to sleep awake and you just fall asleep! Your big brother NEVER did this! It's so wonderful.
-Mommy has watched the entire series of Gilmore Girls while on maternity leave. I really hope this doesn't affect you as you grow up! Ha!
-You attended your first birthday party for your cousin Avery's 1st birthday and slept right through it!

Here are pictures from this month:

 You were really happy to be wearing a hat!

All snuggly in mommy's favorite ring sling from Sakura Bloom!

This heartbreaking view, but worth chronicling! We are so happy to be on the other side!

Happy Halloween from these two skeletons!

Those cheeks.

All of the grand kids together!

We just can't help matching them!!!

We are loving our busy little life with you and your big brother!

Stephanie

Choo Choo I'm 2!

I cannot believe we are here. Starting tomorrow, the Bills in a Bungalow will have a 2 year old among us. Potty training is on the horizon, and all the other things that come with the twos are either already here or will be soon.

Today, I just want to pause and share Dayton's sweet Thomas the Train birthday party. The look on his face this morning when he came down to the house being decorated with Thomas and all his friends was beyond priceless!

Can't he just stay this age forever?

We invited family over for lunch after church. Thanks to a generous friend, we were stocked with awesome Thomas decorations. My parents are in town and are really the best help you could ever imagine. My house is cleaner after the party than when they arrived! We worked most of yesterday to prep for company and all the food.

I failed to snap a picture of the table with the food on it, but we served baked potatoes with chili and all the toppings! Such an easy, cheap and super filling lunch for a cool day. For the cupcakes, I used the following recipe for Hummingbird Cake adapted from the Paula Deen Celebrates! cookbook. This is one of my favorite cake recipes, but I needed it to stretch and feed a lot of people so cupcakes were in order.

Dayton's Birthday Cupcakes
Made 21 cupcakes (Could easily make 24)

Cake Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
2 very ripe large bananas, mashed
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, with juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 large eggs, beaten

Icing Ingredients
1 1-pound box confectioners' sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons milk

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Either grease cupcake tins or use cupcake liners.
3. Sift flour, baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt. (Don't skip this step as tempting as it may seem. This gives you a light and fluffy cake!)
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the cake ingredients. Stir well with a spoon until batter is mixed.
5. Fill each cupcake 2/3 full for 24 cupcakes. Bake for 25-30 minutes, checking for a clean toothpick to come out. Let rest for 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rake and cool completely.
6. Meanwhile, make the icing. Mix all ingredients with a mixer until smooth. Add more milk if too thick, but you do want an icing that stands on its own. Ice each cupcake with an offset spatula.

Here are a few more pictures from our sweet boy's celebration!

Such sweet, sweet family helped celebrate. The number of cousins keeps growing, and I wouldn't change it for the world!

We love you, baby boy! As much as I want you to stay little, I can't wait to watch you grow into a fun & exciting little boy! We are beyond blessed.