Big 3!

Lincoln's 3rd Birthday (all 3 parties!) was a success!  

Our first party was at MimMim and Pap's red barn.  MimMim got Lincoln a farm cake and let him do all of the decorating.  He was in love!

 If you'll look closely, you'll notice that he decided to "drive" a few of the tractors through the field. :)

 Liam really wanted to participate, but I thought it may be best if the cake were actually edible afterwards.

 Lots of good company came to celebrate with him.  Here are Lincoln's GREAT grandparents - Owen D and Lova Vincent and Wanda and Bill Douglas.  There were aunts, uncles, and cousins there also.

 Then he even got to help light the candle!

 And this was Lincoln's reaction to the "Happy Birthday" song.  He obviously didn't want to be the center of attention...

 Guess who else got to sneak a little bite?

 Going for a ride!

 Liam really loves Annalee.  Always wanting to kiss or pet her!

 And here's MimMim and Pap after the party.  Such great party planners!

On Lincoln's actual birthday, we hung a bunch of streamers over his door, so when he opened it, he had to walk through them to get out.  He LOVED them!  Made me keep them up for 2 weeks after his birthday was over!

 The Big 3!!!

 I asked Lincoln what kind of cake he wanted, and he said he wanted a cake that looked like a pumpkin (so random!).  So here is my *lame* attempt at a pumpkin cake!

 I think he liked it...  :)

We also had Ashley's family over for dinner.  Here's Ninny and Papoo with the birthday boy.

 Loving his new leafblower!

Last but not least, we had a "Cat in the Hat" party at the bounce house.  Needless to say, I didn't fit in too many pictures here, but we all had a blast!

 Lincoln with some of his best buds, Ellison McCormick and Ashton Thorpe.

 Going down the "big slide" with Sam Day.

 Sadly, this was about the best "group" shot I could manage.

 Even Liam had a blast!

Updates on Lincoln at age three:

Lincoln wears a 4t in everything.  He's been completely pottytrained for about 5 months now.  He wears a size 9 shoe.

His favorite things:  "Chase" - would prefer for you to chase him at all times...

Food: Chicken nuggets, pizza, spaghetti-o's, candy, chocolate milk and apples.

Shows/movies: octonauts, toy story, Phineas and Ferb, Megamind, Despicable Me

Lincoln can count to thirteen without trouble, once you get that far, you get a seventeen thrown in occasionally.  :)

He can spell his name and can recognize it when it's written.  He can also name/recognize most colors, including stating colors are "light" or "dark" (ie light blue).  He loves to trace and cut.

He has recently learned to hop on one foot, and loves to march.

He has a VERY big imagination.  He has had an imaginary friend "Mouse" for about the past 6 months.  Mouse does everything with us, unless he's at work.  Sometimes Mouse even pinches Liam and tries to make it look like Lincoln's fault.  He will tell full stories about what Mouse is up to today.  For example, "Mouse is in the back of the car (me: what is he doing?) - He's just going for a ride.  Maybe to Target."

Asks "why?" about eeeeeevvverything.

Funnies:
Laughing at a funny part in MegaMind and says "That's wiggin me out!"

Sees a very busy drive through and says, "Those cars are really piling up!"

Plugs his ears while MimMim is singing, she asks him why, he says "that is REALLY annoying!"

On the way to MimMims "hey, mom.  Remind me when we get to MimMims, that we're at MimMims, ok?"

Yells at Mom for attention, and she wasn't listening.  He yells, "MimMim Gunner!!"

"My feet are sprinkling!" (his feet were asleep)

"Hey, I got a crack in my butt!"

When I walk into the bathroom while he's doing business "Hey, ya smell that?  That's my poop!"

This kid is an absolute riot!

Too cute not to share....

Muscle Men!!

The Yearly Jackson's Visit!

Once upon a time, someone told me that getting a good picture of two brothers smiling at the camera would be impossible.  Thank you, Nadina, for the warning.  You were 100% correct!

These two really loved the orchard this year - both of them were actually big enough to run around and enjoy playing!  Of course I had to bribe them to get a few pics...

MimMim went with us to help, as she always does.  For some reason, getting pictures taken is always much easier with MimMim there doing the "siwy dance" as Lincoln calls it.

Notice Lincoln's tongue!

 Liam wanted to kiss the goats SO BAD!

 My babies...

Ate plenty of apples, picked out pumpkins, had apple cider - and of course chased the cats and dogs around.  The only "uh-oh" this year was when Lincoln unhooked the water fountain...  Sorry Mr. Jackson!  All in all another successful Jackson's trip!

17 months

"Hey, I'm Liam.  I'm 17 months old.  I'm getting pretty tall, and mom says I'm not as chunky as I was a month or so ago.  I'm in 18-24 sized stuff.  I wear a 6 shoe.  I like to be on the go.  Seriously.  Like 24-7.  And I really like to yell.  Preferably for "Mammy" until she answers... Or until it's been three seconds - cause by then I totally need to yell it again."

 "That's my brother.  See him quietly crafting at the table?  I just don't get it.  What's the fun in markers and crayons if you can't eat them?  He's weird like that.  But I really like to hang with him.  Or take whatever he's playing with.  Or try to sit in his lap while he's watching Octonauts."

 "See, I can craft, too!  Truthfully, I tried to eat these things also, but they were too fuzzy."

 "I'll drink my milk and juice or whatever, but you should know that if you come into MY house with a 'coke' it's gonna get got.  Or donuts.  I really like those, too.  But whatever it is you bring me, you better darn well put it in a bowl.  Seriously."

 "If mom would just leave me naked, she'd have a lot less trouble.  Why doesn't she get that?  I mean, does she not get - from my wild screams - that I DO NOT like to have my diaper changed?  I've started telling her when I have to poop, but I totally fake her out by grunting and pooting when she sits me on the pot.  Ha!  She thinks I'm really doing something!  You kiddin me?  I'm totally waiting till that clean diaper gets on for the real deal."

 "Did I mention I like hats?  I do."

 "And mom always says I make a mess.  I don't get it?  I think you should really 'experience' your food.  Yeah, a fork and spoon is cool, I can use those, but what fun is that?
The crazy woman doesn't always get my one word commands, so I've started using two-three words together.  Maybe she'll get it now.  I really like to make animal sounds - I totally know a bunch of em.  My mom always laughs when I bark and then say 'hush dog' - she's easily amused."

 "Now how did she make that stuff come out of this thing?  Ah, forget it.  I'll move on to the hot thing.  Are those cookies in there?"

 "There's my crazy brother again - he quotes this movie a lot.  Ya know what that means?  Means I got to try and do it too.  I can totally dance just as good as he can now, by the way.  And the hotdog song?  I can SO sing it better than him."

 "I'm pretty awesome.  People tell me that a lot.  They also say I'm a handful, but I hear that's a pretty cool way to be, too."