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: 6 Months

I'm going to stop apologizing for being late on posting these! The pictures are surprisingly taken on your monthly birthday, so what am I really even apologizing for, right?

We've been so busy this winter / spring! We're ready for a slow down when Daddy is done with his first busy season -just in time to have lots of outdoor family time when the springlike weather decides to show up.

Here are your stats this month:
You turned 6 months on March 11th
Length - 27 inches
Weight - 17 pounds 1 ounces

Here is a recap of your first 6 months in pictures, Lincoln, and my have you grown!

You and your 6 month pictures didn't quite cooperate -just kidding! You're a ham and love that camera!

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

-Well, I thought you would be sleeping in your own room and yet here we another month bigger and still in the co-sleeper. There's always next month!

-You are sitting up assisted. Yay!

-You love sitting in your laundry basket to play with all your toys (pic below). It has really helped you learn to sit up and get the weight off of that big noggin we love so much.

-We started practicing baby sign language -"milkie" and "all done."

-Songs we've been singing: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Honey Bunch Song, This is the Day (we love the updated version from our favorite Boombox Kids) and Amazing Grace.

-We survived the 4 months sleep regression that lasted until almost 6 months! You're back to sleeping between 9 & 10 hours at night! Woo hoo!!!

-Your first Valentine's Day was super cute in coordinating ocean life v-day shirts designed and made by our friend Audrey at Gracie J Designs. I'm loving coordinating these sweet boys!

Here are a few more pictures from your month:

{My sweet Valentines!}

{Blurry, but sweet selfie with mama and daddy}

{Bubba teaching you how to color while mama cooks -a typical weeknight}

{All smiles!}

{Having fun in your basket -thanks Nana for the great idea!}

We can't believe we've made it halfway through your first year! It's flying by little boy and we are soaking it all up!

Mama

Bills Family Christmas 2015

We had so much fun celebrating with Josh's family the weekend before Christmas. We cherish setting time apart to enjoy our family and reflect on the birth of our Savior. Here are some pictures of our time together!

{Fletcher hanging out} 

 {The beauty of celebrating early is that Starbucks is open!}

{Lincoln loves his big cousins} 

{Christmas carols with Aunt Kissy}

{There are so many of us and so many gifts!!! We are indeed blessed.}

{My two itty bitty guys}

{Lincoln's cute Rudolph hat from Aunt Anna}

{Sweet Audrey Girl}

{This kid.}

{Sweet boys. May they be the best of friends throughout this life.}

Thanksgiving Dinner

We were so thankful to share Thanksgiving dinner with my brother and family! It was relaxing and stress free even with so much food to prepare. Here are a few pictures of the food and fun -with recipes!

Holiday Cocktails. Recipe here.

We love Heron Hill Winery, and their Unoaked Chardonnay is great with pretty much everything!

Amanda set such a pretty table for us! She loves a DIY project and took some pinecones from a neighbors yard and then spray painted them. The table is so festive without being overly fall.

The pinot noir was recommended as a red that goes well with turkey. I didn't try it because of my love of the chardonnay we picked, but I'm sure it was great.

The kids had their own fun table with plates from World Market and another DIY project from Amanda. Their little turkeys with veggie sticks are so cute!

Josh captured all the yummy food pictures. I successfully made delicious gravy!!!

Classic Thanksgiving day fail: We didn't get a picture of the beautiful bird!!! However, our turkey was local from Autumn Harvest Farm via The Good Food Collective. This is the second time we've used Good Food Collective to get a turkey, and it's always so delicious!!!

These sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts are fantastic!!! I want to eat them again already! You can find the recipe here.

Amanda made these wonderful Oatmeal Molasses Rolls!

I have been making this apple pie for many years now thanks to a good friend sharing it with me! You must go make it now. Recipe below...

Crumb Topping Apple Pie

Pie Filling:
6 c. sliced and peeled apples, such as Golden Delicious (about 5 lg. apples)
1 (9-inch) unbaked deep-dish pie shell
1 1/4/ c. granulated sugar
2/ tbsp. cornstarch
4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled
3 lg. eggs yolks, beaten
1/4 c. whipping cream
1/4 c. milk
Juice of 1/2 lg. lemon

Crumb Topping:
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 stick melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make pie: place the apples in the pie shell. In a large bowl or in a food processor, combine the granulated sugar, cornstarch, butter, and egg yolks. Mix until the sugar has dissolved.

Add the cream, milk and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Pour the filling over the apples and set aside.

Make the crumb topping: in a food processor in a bowl, cream together the butter (about 1/2 a stick) and brown sugar. Add the flour and cinnamon and process or stir until the mixture forms medium-size crumbs. Evenly sprinkle the top of the pie with the crumbs.

Place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the crumbs are lightly browned.

Coll to room temperature and to allow the custard to set. Cut into wedges and serve, accompanied by vanilla ice cream.

Serves 6-8.

NOTE: Be sure to use a DEEP 9-inch pie place or an ordinary 10-inch pie plate.

We love these boys so much! Their "Happy Fall Y'all" shirts are from the Twinkle Hearts Etsy shop with an awesome owner, Kristen, that was able to customize these for me!

These three babes make everything more fun and are teaching my boys to be wild and crazy. We love it!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Pickney and Bills Families!

Stephanie