Lincoln's Dedication Day

Yesterday was definately a special day for us. At church, Rob and I dedicated Lincoln to the Lord. We had many family and friends join us for our special day. For the most part, the kids did well (we did take Avonlea up with us) although right in the middle of the ceremony, Lincoln began crying and he was definately hungry! Luckily, I had taken a pacifier but that wasn't cuttin' it. Avonlea did well too and I think the congregation got a kick out of her yelling from the stage, "Hi Gracey!" (which is her three-year-old cousin).:) The day was wonderful. We had a small get-to-gether at our house afterwards where we ate lunch and let all the kids play together (we have some family here from North Carolina).

As a parent, yesterday was probably one of the most important day (if not THE most important day) of our lives as far as raising our son. I know I felt the same way when Avonlea was dedicated. Yesterday we stated in front of our church family that we would raise our child(ren) in the way of the Lord. I can't wait for the day when my kids come to Rob and I and ask how to receive salvation or ask who Jesus is and as a Mommy, I get the priveledge of telling them all about my Savior!!! My biggest prayer in life is that my children receive Christ and live a life for Him.

On another note, the four Bates' members of this house are definately SICK. :(
It started with Avonlea a few weeks ago. She has sniffles and then Lincoln got sick. Now Rob and I have it and it stinks! I took the kiddos to the pediatrician's this morning and got them perscriptions and then called my OB for a perscription as well. Now I'm just waiting on Rob to visit the doctor and get something for him. We'll all be on antibiotics and hopefully, with us all be "drugged" at the same time, we'll fight this nasty virus or whatever it may be.

Just Another Lazy Saturday

What a wonderful day it has been so far. Not only did Lincoln sleep really well last night (two 5 hour stretches), but Rob booked me a massage this morning for 8:45 a.m. and it was so wonderful. I also got a much needed pedicure. The past few days have been a little weary on me. Not only have I been fighting a cold (along with the kids and Rob), but Lincoln has been going through his 6-week growth spurt meaning he eats CONSTANTLY and every one to two hours. Luckily, I think we're over it. I guess babies' growth spurts can last anywhere from 24 hours to 1 week! Avonlea has also been testing my patience lately. So if you combine sleep deprivation with a cranky toddler and a nasty cold, yep...you get "grumpy Kelli" as Rob puts it. :) He has been so sweet though. He stayed home Friday morning until 10:00p.m. so that I could get two hours of sleep and pop some Tylenol. (I can't take anything but Tylenol since I'm feeding the baby...sigh.) Needless to say, I do have the best husband in the world (who is currently at Home Depot shopping for new power tools to finish Avonlea and Lincoln's play fort out in the back yard).

Demolition day isn't far away. Everything is in place and we're just waiting on the city to approve the plans and then we're off! I have about 1 1/2 weeks to get the house emptied out and ready.

Enjoy the new pictures!

Lincoln Sleeps Through the Night

No cute pics this morning (I'ts 3:20 a.m.) but Lincoln officially slept 6 hours straight! Whoo hoo!!! He ate and went down at 8:30 p.m. and didn't wake up until 2:40 a.m. I'm so excited! This is the third time in the past week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is a growing trend. :)

Six Weeks Old!

It's hard to believe that my sweet newborn little boy is now 6 weeks old. He's growing so fast. His next appointment isn't until the tenth of next month, but I'm guessing he's around 12-13 pounds already! He definately gained his lost weight back from being sick. He's feeling better, although still stuffy in his nose (poor little guy)and also still on amoxacillin.

Today we've hit a major milestone...I currently have both children napping at the same time and in their own beds!!! Yeah for me! :) Normally, Avonlea sleeps in her own bed and Lincoln is always in a bouncy chair, laying on a Boppy pillow or on our bed. With my mother-in-law being here, we've given her his room so we haven't had a chance to really begin a routine with him being in his room. Judy leaves to head back for China tomorrow morning at 4:00 a.m. (yikes!) and we're going to miss her greatly. She's been such a help with the kids and it's been great to just sit and talk with her and her experiences in China.

Right now, I'm contemplating what to do for Avonlea's birthday. It's September 27th so I'm just sort of brainstorming, but I need to "book" a place since our house will be in shambles due to construction (beginning in 2 weeks). I wanted to have it at The Ultimate Party and Play Zone, but it's $250.00 for only 2 hours of playtime. Way too expensive for what you get. I think we'll most likely have a birthday like last year at the park. We had it at Fort DeSoto beach and it worked out well. We shall see. This year, I'll bring more water balloons and I'll remember to actually hand out the goodie bags! I'll also have more food. :) We had some people forget to RSVP last year (but of coarse we're glad they came!!) and we ran out of food. Oops!

So, I guess I'll end my blogging and get a few things done around the house.

Here's a picture of Avonlea on her new bike...

The Morning Post

So it's 1:50 a.m. and yep, I'm blogging. It's the only "me time" I get. I go to bed at 8:30 p.m. every night and Rob wakes me up to feed the baby roughly four hours later so that's the only guaranteed sleep I get during the day. Then it's me and Lincoln all night. He's awake right now, hence why I'm blogging and then he'll drift off to sleep shortly so that I can get a little shut-eye too.

It was a great day today. The kiddos and I headed over to the museum for a few hours and ran into our friends the Mayers. Avonlea and Emily are quite the little pals. They truly love each other. Emily is only two days younger than Avy so they play really well together.

For those of you who didn't know, Lincoln has been sick. It started with a cough about a week ago and then developed into lots of congestion and eventually he wound up on amoxacillin. Poor baby. I can't believe my 5-week-old has to be medicated, but at least he's feeling better. We've had SOOOO many people coming in and out of this house the past two weeks that it's impossible to keep tabs on who's washed hands, who's carrying what germs, etc. We're just thankful it's a cold and not something too serious. He's getting much better though.

As for me, my incision from the c-section has healed completely and has been for a few weeks now. I can't believe how much quicker I recovered this time around. I truly believe that recovery is 50% mental so because I have a busy toddler to take care of on top of a newborn, I had to learn to bounce back quicker. I have my 6-week checkup this upcoming Thursday so hopefully I'll get the go-ahead to begin exercising. Gotta get those abbs back into shape! :) With feeding the baby, I've been able to loose a lot of weight so far, but not nearly what I'd like to and I think exercise will help a lot.

Avonlea's second birthday is coming up in September and Rob and I are contimplating what to do for a party. Any suggestions? We'll be right in the middle of construction on our house so it can't be here.

Well, my little guy is heading off to dreamland (see, I told you he would) so I think I'll get a little shut eye until the next feeding, diaper change, etc.

Oh yeah! I almost forgot to mention that he's smiling now!!! Just a bit ago I needed to readjust his pacifier and he looked up at me with the cutest smile ever. Wish I had the camera to capture the cuteness. It's in the car. Oh well. Next time.

Lincoln Turns 1 Month

Here are some new pictures I've taken with the new camera. What do you think?






So things have been busy around here, but good. Having Judy and Connie here has been a tremendous help. An extra set of hands with two small little ones is great to have. I've also been able to have some one on one time with Avonlea which has been wonderful.

Rob is still working on the jungle gym in the backyard. It's coming along beautifully although we still have to find a slide and swings. The ones we ordered online wound up costing us a small fortune with the shipping tacked on to it.

Lincoln had his one month checkup this past week and he weighed 12.7 lbs. !!! He was 22 and 1/2 inches long and he's in the 97th percentile for his weight. His head circumference is in the 50-something percentile and his height is in the 75th percentile. Needless to say, he's growing well. Last night he slept for 4 and 1/2 hours straight (on my shift) so I was a happy camper waking up this morning. :) Rob also got some sleep as well. He's definately the grunter if I haven't mentioned that before. He grunts ALL the time. We're slowly learning how to zone him out as we sleep.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!!!

Today is:

Chocolate Day, Macaroni Day,Father And Daughter Take A Walk Together Day and
Strawberry Sundae Day. So make sure you eat some macaroni, a strawberry sundae and chocolate today. Daddys, make sure you take a walk with your daughter too. :)

Rob's mom flies in from China tonight at 10:30p.m. and we're VERY excited! Rob is picking her up and bringing her home pretty late I imagine.

Today we hit the mall in Tampa with the kiddos. Lincoln slept through the whole thing and Avonlea was good herself. I waited in line at Chick-Fil-A for 20 minutes for a fruit cup!!! (No joke!) They had plenty of small fruit cups, but only one medium fruit cup and I just so happened to ask for a medium fruit cup. It took them 20 minutes to figure out that they could just give me two small fruit cups and the one medium. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer today!!

I hit the beach this afternoon for some much needed sun. I know I'm crazy, but I'm pretty close to being back to my pre-pregnancy weight and could fit back into my swimsuit so I was daring and went for about an hour and a half. It was some much needed alone time as well as some much needed sun on my rather white body. :)

Good news...I FINALLY got a digital camera so I'll be able to post "clear" pictures right away from now on. Yeah!

We had a wonderful Fourth of July yesterday. Nothing big or fancy, just went to my parents' house, grilled out and did fireworks. It's been really nice having Rob off and home with us this week. He decided to undertake a new project...a jungle gym for the kids. This first picture is just the framework of it. Today, he had all the walls, windows and the door finished by 3:00 p.m. He has no "plans" drawn up, he just envisioned it in his head and built it. The people at Home Depot are going to know him by name soon. :) The jungle gym will include an upstairs/downstairs enclosed play area, two swings on the left, a slide down the middle, a telescope, a pully system with a bucket and yes, a few window boxes on the windows. We're debating whether or not to paint it. We'll see.


We had a blast with my good friend from Illinois and her daughter (Melissa and Emily) this week as they came for a visit. The girls had a blast once they warmed up to each other. They enjoyed painting on the porch, playing outside and a trip to the beach. Glad they are back safe and sound. (We miss you Mel and Emily!)





Lincoln is growing like a weed. I'd say he's a good 11 pounds by now. We have his one month doctor's appointment in a week so we'll get the official measurements then. He's so strong and able to hold his head up very well now. We can set him on his tummy and he'll hold his head up for quite some time. He's definately a good eater and the sleep...well, let's just say that he's NOT sleeping through the night yet! Rob and I are pretty tired, but Avonlea keeps us on our toes and positive throughout the day. Her smile makes me forget that I'm so tired. :)