What Has Monkey Been Up To?

What has my monkey been up to this past week???

Well he certainly had his does of daily bananas. We had to photograph just how much he loves them. Look at that satisfied face!

That is one good banana!

He wouldn't be a monkey if he didn't like them. This is the cool bottle that Paula bought Linc. He loves it because it has a straw!

Get after that banana monkey.

This week has been pretty busy for us all. Linc got a bad fever and runny eyes and nose and we had to go to the doctor. They said he just had a virus, so he took some meds and headed back to school on Wednesday. He got to spend all day with Yong (Craig's mom) on Tuesday and they had a blast.

My mom had a Elementary School Cafeteria Themed Luncheon on Wednesday and I got to help her make the cheese sandwiches. I had to wear a hair net, it was so funny. I almost walked around work for the rest of the day in it, haha!

Thursday was my first work trip where I flew in and flew out in the same day. I had to go to Victoria which is two hours outside of Houston. I had to fly into Houston and then drive and do the same coming back, needless to say I got home very late (11:30). I didn't want to stay over because I have to do that tomorrow again for work and I didn't want to have to leave to boys so much. Plus Friday was my off day and we had tons of things planned.

Friday started off with us going to a trial Little Gym class. I figured our little monkey would enjoy swinging on the bars and boy was I right. He really loved the class, but does not listen to directions so well so he was all over the place. He was very brave and was getting on everything. We decided to sign him up for the semester and see if he continues to like it, we start next weekend.

Saturday we a lot of fun, but I will have to post about that later. So that brings us to Sunday. Linc and I started off with a run in the running stroller while daddy mowed. We tried to find things indoors to keep Linc happy all day because it was super hot out today. We finally decided that maybe we should take him to the mall's inside play area. He loved it last time so it seemed like a good idea. Well I forgot that this was tax free weekend and the play area was packed. We were not sure what to do so we rode around and found the pay toys.

We started him off on Clifford the dog. He was not sure about it moving, but seemed to have fun.

Then we tried the horse.

But he liked the ice cream truck the most, should have known! Duh, sweets, haha!

Oh and his other favorite thing, the steering wheel.

"What flavor would you like?" Maybe this will be Linc's future summer job!

He eventually got bored of this area and traveled over to the NM side of the mall. He found a water fountain and wanted to get to it!

He was not sure what to think of this mannequin. He came back to it several time, I think he was wondering why it was starring at him.

I love my little boy!

Tomorrow I am off to Edinburg, TX. This will be my first night without both of my boys, I bet I won't sleep very good. I am going to miss this so much.

Weekend Whirlwind

My week and weekend were full of multitasking activities! Both of my two best grade school friends where in town and we had lots of catching up to do. I had not seen either of them in so long, so a lot of my week was spent finding time where I could see them. This continued into the weekend and thus today I was one tired girl.

Paula came by to visit and play with baby Linc. They had a good time having snacks and laughing together.

Teeth! Linc's vocab in the past few weeks has grown a lot. A lot of things that we say now he will repeat and we are so surprised to hear him say it. It is such a huge difference.

Now that is a smile!

Mmm, cookies!

Craig went to the Ranger's game Friday night, so I went to hang out with Jenny. We took the kids to Chick'fila and the kids played on the playground. We had a good time catching up and the boys had fun playing together.

Saturday morning Paula and I went for a run at the Benbrook Trail. I was trying to squeeze in as much face time with each of them as I could. After our run I ran home to change and head out to Niki's grandparents lake house with Craig and Linc. As soon as we got there we all changed into our suits and headed down to the water. Linc enjoyed the cool water and floating in his float. He also really wanted to see Avery. The were on opposite nap schedules, so they didn't get to hang too much.

Here they kids are walking up to Niki.

It was super hot out, so Avery decided to take a break and have some water.

Linc wanted that water, haha!

Philip and Craig throwing the ball around. Later we all tried to throw it around but Niki and I decided that softball was not our sport, haha!

Levi with his buds Caden and Parker in the hot tub. They were having a blast (b/c it was really a cool tub).

Getting a sun tan with Mom.

Launching Levi!

Later in the afternoon I headed back to my house to get ready for Jenny's brother's wedding reception. I swung by to pick up Paula and we headed over to the Strain's for the reception. It was so great to see Jenny and Paula one more time before the both headed back home (New Mexico and Iraq). It will be a while before I get to see them again.

Here is Jenny! The reception was for her brother Wyatt. I am hoping to see Jenny again soon, maybe in January when she has her baby!

Jack, Jenny's dad and the person the married Craig and I. He is an artist and such a great person.

This is Wells, Jenny's youngest boy. He is super shy, but so cute!

Some of the yummy cakes at the reception. They also had 3 black forest cakes which is now my new favorite cake!

Here is the happy new couple, Wyatt and Jourdan. This is their second reception, the first one was in California. Isn't it great that she got to use her dress twice!

Yummy fruit bouquet

This was the coolest drink fountain I have ever seen!

This is Niki's dad and he was helping keep the party rolling. We all ended up helping make the party great in some way. Niki helped replenish the food and wash dishes. Paula and I were in charge of making some of the entrees and washing dishes. It ended up being a lot of fun because I got to talk to a lot of the guests at the party!

I miss you already Paula, I hope you are safe when you get back to Iraq.

Niki and I look like lobsters. We got fried during the day, it still hurts. I hate having fair skin.

After the reception, I headed back to Niki's grandparents lake house to meet back up with everyone. We had a fun night of games and hanging out in the hot tub (this time it was really hot). We stayed up pretty late (at least by my standards) and we were pretty much tired all day today. Talking about maxing out your weekend, we sure did that! It was all worth it though and I can't wait to do it again!

3 Years and Counting

3 years ago today, Craig and I officially tied the knot, but our story started long before that.

Craig and I met our senior year of high school where we were both office aids. This would turn out to be the best class I had that year. We had our first date at Chuck ' E ' Cheese where my nephew had a blast and Craig and I got to know each other over pizza. He finally asked me to be his girlfriend on February 3rd, 2001. From that day on we have always said 3 would be our lucky number, so I bet good things will come from this anniversary!

We continued to date through college and through our first jobs. Craig proposed on my 23 birthday with a fun scavenger hunt that ending in him proposing on the bathroom floor! It was a really fun, super romantic and unforgettable proposal!

We had a wonderful 9 month engagement. I loved doing all the fun planning things like tasting cake and getting pictures taken. But of course it was not all flowers and chocolate doves, planning a wedding is stressful!

All the plans were made, now it was time to enjoy the fruits of our labor, or in this case the wonderful prime rib. Our rehearsal dinner was great and we were pumped for the wedding day!

We finally made it to our wedding day! I was so excited to see my man in a tux because he wears it will. We were all ready to get the show on the road when the rain showed up! Oh and did I mention we had planned for an outdoor wedding? Once we all got our act together I finally got to see my man in waiting. We exchanged vows (inside) and had a beautiful ceremony.

Here are our new shinny rings to show that we are now man and wife!

We were so ready to party and celebrate our new life together!

This is my favorite picture of us as man and wife!

Craig normally doesn't understand my obsession with sugar, but this night he loved the cake just as much as me!

What a wonderful wedding, off to the honeymoon!

Here we are 3 years later and as happy as ever. This year we decided to celebrate our anniversary at the new Omni hotel in Fort Worth. We have wanted to stay here since it opened. I know it seems silly to stay in a hotel when you live in the same city, but when you have kids this is almost like a mini honeymoon. We even ate at the famous Bob's Chop and Steakhouse. It was great! Craig had a 16 oz filet, it was huge and super yummy! It was a great short getaway and Lincoln had a great time staying at his grandparents.

Here is our room, it was done in a Cowtown theme, well the whole hotel was.

I love you so much Craig. You have brought so much joy and life into my world and I don't know what I would do without you. Happy Anniversary!

Give it time...

"Man, this is tough."
"Ouch, this does not feel natural!"
"How long do I have to let him go?"
"Is he getting enough?"

As you can see our relationship started out pretty rough. A lot of pain, confusion and worry. I would say that most great relationships don't start out that way. They start out all flowery with hearts flying all around. But that is exactly how this great relationship started out. In case you have not caught on yet, I am talking about our (Lincoln and I) breastfeeding relationship.

I remember those first days just like they were yesterday. My milk didn't come in for 4 days, my baby had bad jaundice and it hurt like heck! (Don't believe what the books tell you, that it shouldn't hurt if you do it right.) But I was determined to do what I believed was best for him and I. I don't know where I got my determination from, but I was determined to make this relationship work. So we worked and worked at it, not having a clue what we were doing. Then finally one day we finally clicked and the relationship turned from tough to smooth sailing and filled with love, at least for a while...

I set goals for myself. I said I would try to nurse until he was 6 months. Our relationship proved hard again when I went back to work and was pumping. I had great accommodations at work, but Lincoln was such a piggy that I was afraid that I would not have enough for him while I was away. I lived in that limbo until he turned six months. Finally he started solids and I felt the pressure release and it was smooth sailing again.

Once I made it to six months I set another goal, this time to make it to a year. And made it we did and beyond. I finally stopped pumping at 14 months, but we kept nursing at home. I was so proud to have made my goal, but neither of us were ready to dissolve this relationship. The months kept passing by and occasionally I would think about weaning him, but I always really wanted him to decide when that would be.

Well for the past month he has been nursing less and less, about 1 to 2 times a day (because he started his new school and I leave for work too early). Then about a week and a half ago, he would just nurse at night for like 1 minute and be done. I started to think maybe he was weaning himself finally. So about a week ago I put him down without nursing him. He did cry a bit but then went to sleep and didn't wake up until morning (just like normal). So the next night I did the same thing, down without nursing. Now here we are a week later and he has not nursed a all.

He did show some signs here and there that he would like to, but I just directed his attention somewhere else and he gave it up, no protest. I wanted to write about this because this is a huge milestone in our lives. This relationship is 17 months old and now it is time for it to evolve. But what will it evolve too? I am sad, I feel like a lot of change has happened to us all in the past month and I am not sure I was ready to give up my one on one time with Lincoln. It was something so special that only he and I shared, our time to reconnect after a long day or a restless night. When I was asked when I was going to stop nursing, this would always be my reason not to stop. I was afraid that I would not know how to have this type of connection with him if it was not through nursing. He is such a busy little guy and this was the only time he would sit down and relax with me. I think the hardest thing for me is that I did not cherish that last nursing session since I didn't know he was going to wean, so I feel like I missed out on a special memory.

I know there are many views on this subject, but nursing just worked for us. Now I have to find a new way to connect with my ever growing, always changing and over active toddler.