Politics...

Glenn Beck - "I'm no exception. Although I am a "conservative," I'm not a "Republican," and there's a big difference. A true Republican, or a true Democrat, is someone who puts their party above their principles and their candidate above their conscience."
Rob and I (especially Rob) listen to talk radio quite frequently and are supporters of Glenn Beck. I thought THIS ARTICLE was interesting so read it and see what you think. I feel like Beck took the words right out of my mouth and I know a lot of Americans feel this way about the coming presidential elections as well.

Walking, Walking, Walking...

Here's Lincoln walking. The noise in the background is Rob hammering nails into our new windowsills he built, painted and installed this weekend. They look great...go Rob! Some of the words our little guys says are: ma-ma, da-da, Addie (for Avy), all done, vroom-vroom (for when he watched Daddy's truck pull away in the morning), up and na-na-na-na (for no no). It amazes me how much he's grown in just the past month.

Somewhere Out There...

I just had to post this because I cried the other night watching it!!!!!!

The Boardwalk and Beach at Sunset

Tonight, we headed out to the boardwalk for some dolphin watching (we always see so many), icecream and then to the beach for the sunset. It was so nice out and although we were scared we might get stuck out in the rain (there was a storm brewing close...see the grey, storm clouds in the pictures), we still headed out to the beach afterwards for some splashing in the waves and building sand castles. Despite the clouds, the sunset was beautiful (as always) and just the smell of the ocean and the breeze in my hair was enough to take away all the "Mommy Stress" of the day. What a blessing it is to live 5 minutes away from the beach. I always feel so belittled and amazed at how large God really is when I see the ocean and it's greatness.
Watching dolphins at the boardwalk. Grandma and Avonlea playing in the sand. The Linkster playing in the sand

Father's Day, 2008

Rob had a great Father's Day this year and I felt like I could actually plan for it and do some fun things for him this year. Last year, I had JUST had Lincoln (a few days before) so there wasn't anything crazy planned. This year, I was able to cook him breakfast, take on all "kid duties" (diaper changes, dressing them, bath, etc.) and we visited my parents' house for dinner. Happy Father's Day Rob! We love you.

Father's Day breakfast...scrambled eggs, blueberries, smoked sausage and Pillsbury cinnamon buns. Nothing like a good, hardy breakfast to start Father's Day.

Here are the homemade cinnamon buns (Rob's favorite) that didn't rise and wound up in the trash. =( There was effort there folks!

Here's Avonlea learning how to ride a bike. The first few times, she was quite wobbly, but she's really getting the hang of it now and loves to go for rides around our block. We recently bought one of those bike trailers in which you can tow kids behind an adult bike. Both kids can fit, but Avonlea prefers riding her own bike.

Opening gifts with Papa.

Lincoln's First Birthday Party

MY CAMERA IS BACK...YEAH!!!Yesterday we had Lincoln's first birthday party. Although his birthday was actually on the 11th, we decided to have his party later so that Grandma Bates could be here. She flew in from China last Monday and we're definately enjoying her company, hearing her China stories and spending time with her this summer. The party was small and family only, but we had so much fun and it wasn't too over-stimulating for Lincoln. He was able to take his normal morning nap and then wake up to greet family, have a party and get tired out for his second afternoon nap. Perfect! =) Thanks to all who came to show your love and support for our little guy. He means so much to us and the fact that you all played a part in celebrating was special. Enjoy the pictures!

Here's the cake I made for the party. It was a double layered, chocolate cake and for last minute, it turned out pretty good. I found the little jungle animals at the dollar store of all places!

Diggin' in to some cake!

The Linkster got his first Little Tikes baseball tee/bat and basketball hoop. We've spent hours playing in his room and the fact that he sets his baseball on the tee, grabs his bat and hits it off is so neat!


Opening gifts and reading cards

Papa and Lincoln sharing some laughs

Delay in Posting

Sorry for the delay in posting guys. Not that I haven't thought about it, but my camera got stuck at my parents' house on Father's Day and I will be getting it back Saturday. I'll have lots to post so stay tuned! =)

Happy 1st Birthday Lincoln!

Back in 2007...

One, proud Pa-pa! =)

Avonlea holding her new baby brother right after we got home. She was so gentle with him then, now she tosses him around like it's nothing!

This picture was taken right before we went to the hospital for the scheduled c-section. I was HUGE! I actually had multiple people ask if I was having TWINS!

Getting ready to go home from the hospital...June 13th, 2007

Meeting my son for the first time...June 11, 2007

The Big #1!

So my little slugger is now officially 1 year old. It seems like just yesterday that we were in the hospital having him. What a joy he is to our lives and even though we would've loved another girl just the same, the Lord truly blessed us with the priveledge of having a son.

So far, Lincoln has been having a pretty normal day today with the exception of a trip to the pediatrician for a well checkup and two shots...ouch! He did fine with the checkup, but the shots definately hurt. Poor, little guy. He weighs 26 pounds and is 32 inches tall with a head circumference of 18 inches. He's in the 95th percentile for his weight, 97th percentile for height and 90th percentile for head cir. He says: ma-ma, da-da, ball, "Addy" for Avy, "dis" for this, "ish" for fish and I swore he tried to say bye-bye the other day. He knows how to wave hi and goodbye (we do it every morning as we wave goodbye to Daddy), give kisses, do a touchdown with his arms (he'll be ready for Bucs season!), crawl ever-so-fast, open and close doors (from the ground), he likes reading books although doesn't have the patience that Avonlea did with reading...she'd sit and listen for a long time whereas Lincoln will usually sit for only two books at a time. He takes sippy cups during the day with a bottle of whole milk (warmed) right when he wakes up and before he goes to sleep(Avonlea was weaned off the bottle at 8 months so I'm slacking with him, but we'll get there). He loves to clap and dance to music and he's taking lots of steps these days. You have to be careful because he's almost hit the "no fear" stage where he just takes off and you hope he lands alright. He can take up to 8 steps on his own and then plops down to applaud himself, smiling ear to ear. =) It's precious. He loves and adores his big sister and they have formed quite a close bond this year. He can be a pain in her side at times, messing up her carefully, put-together puzzles and games, messing up her room and getting in the way (did I mention he bee-lines it for the toilet if the bathroom door is left open...gotta watch that!).

I made cupcakes during the kids' nap time today and Avonlea has decided she wants to help do the sprinkles, so that's what our afternoon will consist of...cupcake decorating-fun! She's a good helper. We'll be having a small birthday party with just us tonight, singing "Happy Birthday" and all. Should be fun.

I got this picture taken in Tampa and they did a great job. I also have other pics of the kiddos that I'm trying to figure out how to post (it's tricky) so stay tuned for those.

Welcome Butterfly and Responsibility

Our butterfly emerged from his/her chrysalis this afternoon and is getting used to his/her wings. Not flying yet, but I'm sure there will be some fluttering around later today. =) I was at our local home improvement store yesterday getting some plants for our front yard and I grazed by the butterfly section of the gardening area to look at the milkweed plants for caterpillars or eggs. Low and behold, there were SO many that of coarse, I had to embark on just a few more (okay, I took 29!). They don't want those pesky caterpillars eating their plants anyway right? =) So, we currently have 1 butterfly, 1 caterpillar big enough to create a chrysalis, 8 more little caterpillars and 28 eggs (1 hatched last night). I'm telling you, I should go into the business!! I'm just glad I didn't fork out a million bucks for this experiment, Avonlea gets to learn about metamorphasis and our butterfly garden will soon be full of butterflies!


Avonlea has a new responsibility chart which I made last week. She's learning how to do things on her own lately and isn't keen on being independant...which is hard to believe for a first child! Anyway, she's perfectly capable of getting dressed (for the most part) by herself, brushing her teeth (with a follow up from Rob or I), brushing her hair, getting her shoes on, etc., but I'm not sure if it's a regression due to the fact that we do everything for Lincoln. It's a work in progress. =)

Fishing

Rob and I had such a nice, relaxing weekend full of rest as well as getting some things done around the house/yard. I did some gardeing, planting and landscaping and Robbie mowed the grass and planted some grass seed in our front yard. He got in plenty of PS2 football and I actaully got in a nap today.

After our much-needed rest, we all headed out to a beach that's only 5 minutes down the street and sought out some fishing. We were enjoying ourselves, but after only 15 minutes of "fishing" (no one caught anything!), the rain clouds were covering us and we got to the car just in time for it to downpour. We headed home and watched the rain fall from the back porch, ordered in a pizza and watched "Robin Hood" (Avonlea's first time). The rain eventually subsided and I got an urge to plant some plants I got the other day.

With the kids in bed, Rob and I watched a movie and I finally got some scrapbooking done. What a wonderful and restful weekend. Next weekend, we'll be busy getting a room ready for Rob's mom who will be flying in from China to stay for two months. Exciting things are in the works! We are so BLESSED!

"First Steps" and "Riley's Back"

A few new happenings in the Bates house this week. For starters, our son is walking! He turns one on the 11th (next week) and he's getting quite daring as far as taking steps. He mostly takes steps to something that's interesting or something he wants (Mommy/Daddy, food, the camera, etc.). The most steps he's taken are about 4. He's growing up so fast! It's amazing how fast the first year flies by. I know you fellow mothers can relate.
Secondly(and not as exciting), our Golden Retriever, Riley, has been an inside dog her whole life with an exception for the past few months. Due to the fact that we had construction going on in our house back in September to January, Riley had some "living quarters" built for her out back (aka: a fence) and it's been quite an adjustment for her. Well, let's just say that she got a good scrub-down on Monday as well as an ear cleaning, teeth cleaning, new tag (somehow the old one got lost) and I made her a vet appointment to get a checkup. She was so excited to get back in the house and play with the kids again. Another reason we haven't brought her in sooner is because Lincoln is a human vacuum. He eats everything off the floor (including dog fur!!!) so now that he's growing out of that stage and walking around more, I thought it would be a good time to bring Riley back inside. So, welcome back Riley girl!
Goofin' around!
)

Swimming With Old Friends and a Baby Shower

In the past few days, we've gone to a baby shower (congrats Jana and Charles!), met with old friends and had a playdate with the kiddos. Lincoln has also taken some steps!!! We tried to get video of him walking last night, but no luck. There is however, a video of the Linkster trying to get a sticker off his arm from church the other day. Enjoy!

Kayleigh and Lincoln after swimming...what a fun time! Lincoln had a blast swimming today. For the first time, he jumped off the side, went under water and with help, swam to the side. Avonlea went under the water and that was the end of that. Hopefully with taking swimming lessons this summer, she'll feel better in the water. Avonlea conveniently pouring pool water on Polly's head. Oops! Here's a picture of Jana at her baby shower this past weekend. It was a nautical theme since her baby boy's nursery is a nautical theme. Everything was was fantastic and oh so fun! The best part was seeing friends that I hadn't seen in ages...old high school friends. What a blast! Great job Polly!!!

Caterpillar Update

I have to share my information with my fellow bloggers. If you sparked an interest in our metamorphasis experiment, you should know this. I like to think of Rob and I as people who are smart with our money, so whenever I find things for free, I get psyched. =) As I mentioned before, caterpillars or eggs online are very expensive (roughly $8.00 each!). The kids and I took a trip to our local home improvement store and we found some milkweed in the gardening section. We did need to buy a few more plants to feed our caterpillar. I took the plants and looked underneath some leaves just to see if we could find any caterpillars or eggs and sure enough...jackpot! We found 17 eggs and 7 caterpillars that had already hatched. So, wha-la! Free eggs/caterpillars. So friends, DON'T buy eggs/caterpillars online. Just visit your local nursery or home improvement store and buy plants already containing them. The store will probably be happy that you took those due to the fact that the caterpiallars eat the milkweed leaves and the plants don't look very pretty. So happy hunting!

We have a chrysalis!

Leaves from local nursery, each one containing a caterpillar egg or caterpillar.