The Devlins

4th of July

2011-07-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

We spread 4th of July out over two days. Our town had a fireworks show over the lake on Sunday night. Then Monday we went to the Vernon Hills Parade (still the best 4th of July Parade I have ever been to), to mom and dad's for a barbecue, and then the Vernon Hills Fireworks show. The kids had so much fun but we were all exhausted- it took Nate and I a full 24 hours to recuperate!

Linc trying to get in a little extra sand time

Enjoying the parade and the candy!

Linc with the creepy Buzz Lightyear that made Reagan scream!

Reagan fell asleep during fireworks

Linc made himself very comfy

Spending time with Grandma and Grandpa was the best part

Concert in the Park

2011-07-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

We made our way to Arlington Heights one Tuesday afternoon for a kids concert in the park. We ate a picnic lunch, danced to the music, and played at the playground- a pretty fun day!

Why I love summer

2011-06-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Waking up late,

heading to the beach for two hours,

coming home to eat PB&J's,

showering all the sand off,

followed by a little of this...

and this...

watching movies all afternoon while a thunderstorm rolls through,

Pot roast cooking in the crock pot,

BEST DAY EVER!!

A warm sunny day

2011-05-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up to thunder, lightning, and 50 deg temps so I decided to post about a lovely sunny day we had a few weeks ago- if only to remind myself that we do see the sun every now and then here in Chicago. My friend Laura invited us over for an impromptu playgroup with a couple other moms in the ward. Laura has a huge backyard and a sprinkler so my kids put on their swimsuits for the first time this year...

Such a sweet face

Linc and his buddy Bryson

Reagan was gifted this Dora purse and carried it around with her all day!

Reagan and her little friend Imogene, who I think at this moment is

thinking "why am I standing next to this crazy girl?"

Trying to get a decent picture of all the kids together

Why I haven't been blogging...

2011-05-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

Don't let the innocent look fool you...

...she has been a holy terror for three weeks now. Reagan thinks she doesn't need to sleep anymore (naps, nighttime, nothing!) and if she does sleep it has to be right in the middle of Nathan and I in the "big bed". It has been a rough three weeks, nobody but Lincoln is sleeping and we are all walking around like zombies. I think I got more sleep when she was a newborn!

General Conference Weekend

2011-04-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to make an effort this year to have our family sit down and watch all four sessions of General Conference (or at least sit in the same room). I found that the internet has a wealth of information for mom's trying to keep kids entertained during Conference and armed with a load of coloring pages, activities, toys, and food I set up on Saturday morning

We cleared everything out of the living room and let the kids

occupy whatever space they wanted

Can you tell who my easygoing kid is? At this point Lincoln was

running in circles around the room

Food, Food, and more Food- that was my trick for getting the

kids to stay in the living room with me :)

Mom and dad came over Sunday morning and we had a big brunch (complete with ham and cheese souffle- made me miss the Devlins). The kids loved having Grandma and Grandpa to play with all morning although I think Linc distracted Grandma through most of the session! All in all I would say we did pretty well, hopefully it will continue to get better as the kids get older!

Catch-up

2011-04-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

So far I have been really bad about posting, always room for improvement. We had a fun time last week with Mom during her Spring Break (makes me long for the summer when we can play together all the time!) We took the kids to the mall playplace...

Lincoln found Yertle the Turtle

(thank you Grandma for teaching him that- now every turtle is named Yertle!)

Playing together - they seem to do this a lot lately, SO NICE!

Reagan was playing in the car with another little girl when a little boy decided

to join them- he sat right down in Reagan's lap!!

She didn't cry or anything, just kind of looked at us like, what the heck??

Playing at Grandma's school- we love going there for lunch!

Finally warm enough to go outside, this was Reagan's first time on a bike- she was pretty good!

Lincoln won't even touch his big boy bike that Santa brought him,

we'll have to work on that this summer!

The kids in the last three months

2011-03-14T14:48:00.001-07:00

I know it has been a very long time since I have blogged but no internet means no blog. We finally got connected today so here is the update for the last few months...

Linc continues to get bigger, sillier, and more lovable... we are almost done with the terrible 3's

Reagan is so big now- no longer my baby...makes me miss having a tiny little thing around the house. She is starting to learn more words- her favorites are "No" and "Book". She can't say Lincoln yet so she just calls him "Bubba"

We went to the ward "Minute to Win It" party- it is always fun to see all our friends

Linc tried really hard to blow up a balloon but never quite succeeded.

He was much better at the puzzles

We took the kids to a party at the Library (we have an awesome one here). Linc got his face painted- a dog. Don't feel bad if you didn't recognize that from this picture, I thought it looked more like an orange cat with horns

Reagan got a tattoo but she wasn't too sure about it

This is Reagan's new horsey that Santa brought her, she loves to sit on it and listen to it sing. It's a little creepy- we didn't realize it sang (and moved it's mouth) when we bought it!

Combining her two favorite things, her horsey and her books. All she needs to be happy!

Nate found a really fun kids indoor playplace and took the kids there one weekend, they both loved it! Nate and I got super sweaty trying to help Reagan through the mazes and slides.

In February we had the most amazing visit with Aunt Marcia. She spoiled our kids (and us) rotten and now our house looks amazing! We always love having her in town, Lincoln keeps asking when Grandma Marcia is going to come back. We will definitely miss being a three hour drive from her home :(

Goodbye Facebook, Hello (again) Blog!!

2011-03-06T12:45:00.000-08:00

So due to some privacy issues that I was having with Facebook, mainly that several friends accounts had been hacked, I decided to leave it behind once and for all. As nice as it was to catch up with old friends, I think it was sapping too much of my time away from better pursuits. Having made that decision I also realized that we still have many friends and family across the country who would like to keep up with our lives (or at least the kids lives). So back to blogging I go. Hopefully, this will become a more regular thing and we can put up pictures and funny stories about our mostly mundane life. Love you all!

Ok- I REALLY want one of these....

2010-12-26T08:20:00.000-08:00

So one of my favorite blogs, Brown Paper Packages, is offering a giveaway for a Silhouette. I have never entered a blog giveaway but there is nothing on this earth I want more than a Silhouette- oh the possibilities!! Follow the link and check it out, and look around the blog for awhile- pure genius!!

http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/2010/12/silhouette-machine-giveaway.html

25 Days of Christmas- Days 1-5

2010-12-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to squeeze every last moment

of Christmas fun out of this December, I created 25 Days of Christmas. Start with one advent calendar, add some candy, mix in 25 Christmas activities and TA DA- a month full of fun! Here are the highlights so far...

Day 1- Take a Santa lunch to Daddy at work

The kids were super excited to surprise Nate at work with Einsteins Bagel sandwiches (I craved these in California where nobody can make a decent bagel). No pictures due to the fact that Nate would have killed me if I had whipped out the camera in front of the entire cafeteria at his building but we had a good time.

Day 2- Sugar Cookies

We had to bring 4 dozen sugar cookies to the Ward party so Linc and I strapped on our aprons and made a giant mess in the kitchen. The cookies were baked and cooled by the time Grandma and Grandpa got home so we frosted and sprinkled for the rest of the night. Martha Stewart may not have approved of the decorating but they did taste good!

Day 3- BG1 Ward Christmas Party

We took the family to the Christmas party at the church building and we all had a good time- the kids mostly enjoyed the cookies and rolls! Linc found some new friends to run around with and we enjoyed catching up with old friends.

Day 4- Decorate the Christmas tree

In our house growing up this was always done the day after Thanksgiving but thanks to mom and dad's new windows being installed, decorating got pushed back into December- which was perfect for us! Reagan wanted to eat the ornaments and actually broke a large glass one (there was only temporary panic :) and Linc wanted to put every single ornament on the same branch. We had to do some adjusting afterwards. Nate helped Linc put the angel on the top of the tree (but not before Nate reminded me, once again, that angels do not have wings!) Now the tree is up and gorgeous and Reagan wants to walk in the room and touch it at least five times a day!

Day 5-Write our Letter to Santa

I found this cute Santa letter design on one of my favorite Blogs and did my best to replicate it with my own humble computer and printer. I thought it turned out cute but I was definitely more excited about it than Linc was. I had to practically staple him to the floor so he would sit still long enough to tell me what he wanted to write to Santa. Although he has no problem telling me every day what he wants (a hippopotamus and a bike) he just didn't want to bother writing it to Santa- maybe next year :)

My baby is ONE!!

2010-07-16T01:35:00.001-07:00

I don't know where the time went but suddenly our baby girl was a year old!! She has really been such a fun and easy baby that I sometimes feel like we forget her in the chaos of our lives! Somehow she has survived though and we love watching her learn new things and grow into a little person. Reagan is an extremely lazy baby and is content to just sit there and watch the world pass by. She loves noise and activity and is the most content when surrounded by lots of people. Everyday she looks more and more like her Aunt Kimmy and her Grandma Devlin- I often wonder if strangers think I am her nanny since she looks nothing like me! We are working on pulling up to standing and one day, I hope, she will start walking. She was definitely born to live life at her own pace, much like her daddy! She and her brother are starting to play together which is fun to watch and Linc, for the most part, has been a very good big brother. We had a fun little party for Reagan with family and friends at our house. We had a great time celebrating our baby girl with those we love...

Just woke up from her nap to discover a bunch of people in her house

With cousin Haylee- the girls have to stick together

All pretty and ready for her party

The table decorations- Pinwheels and Polka Dots was the theme

Trying to touch the lit candle

Enjoying her cake- definitely my daughter!

Looks just like Aunt Kimmy

New books from Grandpa Bond

She wouldn't let go of the puppy- she's a snuggler

Thanks to Aunt Brenna who took all the beautiful pictures of the party!

4th of July

2010-07-16T01:25:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun 4th of July although I missed the Vernon Hills Parade- it's a slice of Americana you know :) So we had our ward picnic on Saturday and the kids had fun swimming and playing in the Malcolms fabulous backyard. Sunday we had church, dinner at the Stokes, and fireworks at the Berretts. Everything went according to plan until Linc touched a sparkler to his face and got a nasty burn on his forehead (you turn away for one second and that's what happens!) Of course I forgot my camera for fireworks but here are some cute ones of the kids at the picnic.

Mom and Ray Ray

Linc played in this castle for the entire party- he cried when we had to leave it behind!

Dad and Reagan enjoying the picnic

On the Lake

2010-07-16T01:08:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky to be friends with the Berretts, I have truly never met two people who were as kind, thoughtful, and generous as they are. What would my life have been like if I had never met Carroll?? She really is the sister I never had. So not only are they awesome people but they also have a boat. Now Nathan and I have never been boating people- it just isn't in our genetic makeup- but the Berretts have shown us the error of our ways. They took us to Pine Flats in April and we got to enjoy a beautiful day on the lake. We thought Linc would be terrified of tubing but he was super excited to get on it and loved every minute. He kept saying "faster, faster"- he is always full of surprises.

Nate and I went out first- so fun!

Nate with Linc, he wanted to go faster than Dad did!

Concentrating on keeping the front of the tube up- great face!!

Reagan chilled out the entire time in the boat. At least she looked good!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

2010-07-16T00:34:00.000-07:00

So we have a lot of catching up to do, starting with our fabulous visit from my parents in March. We enjoyed showing them around Clovis and making a trip up to Sacramento to see David, Kelly, and their babies- Bear and Ripley. We also got to take Lincoln and Reagan to the California State Railroad Museum. We were so happy that Mom and Dad could visit- we don't get to see them often enough.

Almost everyone (we really missed Matt and his family)

David and Kelly and their babies

Linc loved watching Uncle Dave play his bagpipes

Nate really enjoying the museum

Our Family

Lincoln couldn't get enough of the Thomas Trains!

Grandpa showing Linc the kinds of trains he played with as a kid

Doesn't that just say it all??

Our kids are so lucky to have two grandparents who love them so much.

Love you mom and dad!

Kites, Leprechauns, and Bunnies!!

2010-04-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

We have had quite an eventful few months here in Clovis and I just finally got around to downloading all our pictures from the new camera to the computer. We had a great time when Aunt Hedder and Jordan came for a visit. The weather was great and Heather and Jordan took all the kids on a picnic at the park. They even surprised the kids with kites to fly and, of course, Jordan took amazing pictures of the whole outing...

For St. Patrick's Day we started with a breakfast of green applesauce and french toast and then we organized a Leprechaun Hunt with some good friends (I copied the idea from my uber creative cousin Lacey- gotta give credit where credit is due). The kids followed shamrocks around the yard and found little surprises that the leprechaun had left for them until they finally found his pot of gold! I think they had a great time and I enjoyed celebrating our kid's Irish heritage!

Easter was a little hectic this year but the kids had fun so that's all that matters. Lincoln woke up and found not only his easter basket but also his sisters (Reagan slept through all the excitement). We tried to scale back on the candy this year since the past few years we have had a ton of candy lying around for months afterward and who really needs that? After baskets we had brunch at the Devlin's, then a fabulous easter egg hunt at Carroll's dad's home, back home for whirlwind naps, and then back to the Stokes for dinner. We were all a little exhausted by the end of the day. I think Lincoln liked the egg dying the most- we almost didn't do it but I'm glad we pulled it out in the end (even if it was at 9pm the night before!)

My parents had a wonderful visit this past week, I will try to blog about all the fun we had before the end of the week!

Some better news...

2010-03-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

All is not lost! Our wonderful friends the Healys informed us that there is another 10k race in Morro Bay the weekend of July 17th so now I can still compete in the race (hopefully with Megan, hint hint:) and I won't be interrupting Nathan's school work! Yea- I love when things work out.

P.S.- A big apology to Nate Healy who had already taken off of work to go to the race on Apr. 17th, I will forever be sorry for that but maybe we can convince the Berretts to go to out on the boat that weekend!!

Some bad news...

2010-03-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

So I had grand plans to be in Morro Bay on the weekend of April 17th to run a 10k. Unfortunately, nobody explained that to Fresno State University and they scheduled Nathan's comprehensive exams (7 very long papers) from April 5- 30. So I can't exactly ask my very kind, loving, and patient husband to skip out of town with me for a weekend so that I can run in a race while he has hours and hours of writing to do. So we are postponing the race for a little while...I guess we will see what comes up this summer.

8 months old already

2010-03-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

My favorite picture of Reagan- notice all the fat rolls and the awesome hair!

I was really good at writing about Lincoln's life every month during his first year but, as is always the case, I have two children now and Reagan has been neglected. So today she turns 8 months old and I thought I would finally get around to writing about her many talents and new discoveries. Reagan...

...can now roll over both ways

...will go from a sitting position to her stomach, but she screams when she realizes she is on her stomach

...hates being on her stomach so much that she will probably never crawl

...has two teeth on the bottom and is currently getting her two top ones

...loves her solid foods, as long as it is fruit- she makes a funny face and spits out any vegetables we try to feed her

...wants us to do everything for her, anytime we try to get her to hold her own bottle she puts her hands behind her back and looks at us like, "no- that's your job"

...LOVES paper- especially her brother's coloring books and her dad's textbooks

...is very happy and smiley as long as there is someone paying attention to her

...is the best snuggler

...is so great about letting me play with her hair and she doesn't even rip her bows out (although I am sure that is coming)

...weighs a whopping 22lbs

...is so much fun to be with everyday!

I just can't tell you how much we love our little girl. It is so much fun to watch her grow and learn. Love you baby!!

DISNEYLAND!!

2010-03-03T11:40:00.001-08:00

We took Lincoln to Disneyland this weekend and it was such an awesome experience! I didn't know if Lincoln would even like the park but he loved almost every second of our time there and it was so much fun to see how excited he was. None of it would have been possible without my wonderful Aunt Marcia who not only housed our family and our friends the Berretts for two nights, but also watched Reagan ALL day so that we could enjoy Disneyland without a baby in tow. A million thank yous would not be enough to explain how grateful we are to her.

Anyone who knows me knows how crazy I get with planning things, and our trip to Disneyland was no exception. I think I spent three weeks online looking for tips and suggestions for taking toddlers to Disneyland. I even found a software that will plan out your entire day so that you don't have to wait for longer than 20 minutes in any ride (totally worth it, if you are going to Disneyland any time soon think about getting RIDEMAX). So everyone thought I was a little psycho when I dragged all seven of us out of bed at 6:30am so we could be at the park by 7:20am and walking through the gates as soon as they opened. I'm sure people thought we had lost it when they saw Carroll and I running down mainstreet with two giant strollers but we were at Dumbo by 8:05am and we walked right on (the rest of the day, the line for Dumbo was at least 45min.) The rest of the day went so smoothly- we rode everything we wanted to ride, had good seats for the parade, and even had an hour and half to go back to Marcia's for lunch and relaxing. The kids hung in there with us and stayed up late enough to watch fireworks (my personal favorite). At the end of the day, we just couldn't stop talking about how wonderful everything was, definately my best day at Disney ever!

Riding Dumbo- he wouldn't let us go down at all, he only wanted to fly as high as it would go

Meeting Mickey for the first time

Had to stop and climb on the firetruck at ToonTown

On the caroussel- his favorite ride

At Tarzan's Treehouse

Jungle Cruise

Autopia- his second favorite ride. Nate said the whole time he kept saying, "Daddy, I driving"

The teacups- Nate was getting sick but Lincoln kept wanting to go faster

It was such a great day, we had so much fun with the Berretts, it would not have been the same without them there. Now to plan our next family trip together, I'm pushing for Hawaii...

Bowling

2010-02-20T23:02:00.000-08:00

We decided to take Lincoln bowling for the first time at Fresno State's bowling alley. He was a little scared when we first walked in but after seeing Daddy and Mommy do it a couple times, Linc was ready to go. He bowled his own 10 frames and half of mom's and ended up with an 83, not bad for a two year old! He didn't want to leave but we promised we would come back soon, Grandma and Grandpa Bond are so excited to take him when they come to visit in March! Maybe he will pay for our retirement with his PBA tournament winnings!

He was a little nervous at first...

I LOVED the shoes!!

He loved pushing his ball down the ramp

His favorite ball (only 6lbs!). I made him hold it for the picture and

when he handed it back to me he said, "Mama- that heavy!"

He thought it was so fun to pull the ramp out of the way so Mom and Dad could bowl

Reagan enjoyed the show

On an unrelated note, after we finished bowling- Lincoln requested Chicken Nuggets so we went to McD's for dinner and...

Reagan had her first French Fry! YUM!

Our Week in the Hospital

2010-02-15T21:33:00.000-08:00

So by now I'm sure everyone has heard that our little Reagan was in the hospital last week with a bad case of RSV. Here's the details about our crazy week...

Reagan started wheezing on and off last Monday after having a cold for most of the previous weekend. On Tuesday she was wheezing pretty constantly and I thought it sounded like she was breathing hard. Our good friends stopped by on their way to dinner so that THE P.A. (his new superhero title) could check her out and tell me if we needed to get her checked out. He listened to her breath and sent us packing to the urgent care. So Reagan and I headed out to the doctor.

We finally got in to see someone at the Urgent Care. After two breathing treatments, a steroid, and a chest xray still didn't stop her wheezing the doctor came in and told me he was calling the paramedics to transfer her to Valley Children's Hospital. I had been trying to hold it together up to that point but when the paramedics strapped her into her carseat and put her on the stretcher I very nearly lost it.

That night in the ER seemed never ending. Nate and his dad had come to give Reagan a blessing and then Nate and I just sat there with our poor wheezing daughter. We were finally admitted to the hospital around 5am and after Reagan got used to the breathing tube up her nose, she got some much needed sleep.

The next five days were a blur... we had great nurses and doctors who took care of our daughter and we are so thankful that we have such a wonderful pediatric hospital close by. Everyone who took care of her commented on how cute and chubby she was- I think every nurse on the floor had to squeeze her chubby thighs!

Enjoying her toys after a very long night

She hated her breathing tube, I don't really blame her

Our home away from home for five days, notice

the SUPER comfy sofa bed by the window (my neck is still recovering)

the annoying foot monitor that came off about every 10 seconds

Feeling a little better

She would only sleep sideways in her crib

A very big THANK YOU to all of our friends and family who took care of Lincoln, made us meals, and called. Although I was physically exhausted I always felt bouyed up by the outpouring of love and support from so many people. A thousand THANK YOUS!!

Reagan at 6 months (and a couple weeks)

2010-01-25T17:53:00.001-08:00

Photo courtesy of Jordan Juarez Photography :)

I haven't written much about Reagan, mainly because we haven't had internet for most of her short life, so I wanted to write about how much we love our sweet little girl...

At her most recent checkup Reagan weighed in at 20lb 8oz and 27.5 inches long so she is keeping pace with her big brother.

She has now had three ear infections in six months and if this most recent round of antibiotics doesn't work we may be looking at getting tubes put in her ears (it pains me to even think about it)

She is sleeping through the night and taking naps during the day- definately loves sleep WAY more than Lincoln ever did

She is a semi-picky eater. She loves her fruit and cereal but we haven't really found a vegetable that she likes yet

Reagan is a VERY happy baby- as long as she is being held, talked to, or simply looked at. She will literally scream her head off until she sees you looking in her direction and then she is all smiles. Where did I get these kids that always have to be the center of attention? (I blame my mother)

We have decided that Reagan looks just like her Grandma Sandy, I have the baby pictures to prove it

We do love our little girl and really can't remember what life was like without her. It has been fun to watch her grow up but I'm starting to think it is going by too quickly, I need her to slow down a bit so I can enjoy the ride a little more

Here goes nothing

2010-01-15T22:54:00.001-08:00

My wonderful husband is a lover of running. I, on the other hand, can barely run a mile. Yet, a few months after we got married (almost five years ago) we ran a 5k race and a biathalon together and it turned out to be a lot of fun! Who knew? But in the last five years we have moved 9 times to three different states and had two children so, needless to say, running has not been a top priority. With the new year I have been wanting to get in better shape and when a friend told me about the Couch to 5k program it seemed like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, there are no 5k races near Fresno around the time that I want to run one. And then I stumbled upon the Morro Bay 10k in April. So I think to myself, I can do a 10k (I am not getting a lot of sleep right now so that may have something to do with the crazy idea!) I even found a Couch to 10k program online and here I am in the middle of training! If anyone would like to make a trip to Morro Bay the weekend of April 17th I could sure use a huge cheering section to get through this race. Here's hoping I can make it!

October 2009

2010-01-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

Fall finally arrived in Clovis, although it only lasted for two weeks, but we enjoyed the cooler temps after what seemed like a VERY long hot summer. Lincoln and Reagan had their very first sleepover (sort of) with our good friends the Berretts. Nate and I went to the Rascall Flatts concert, so both kids got to stay with the Berretts until Mom and Dad got home around 1am. I couldn't help but take a picture of my little boy on his first overnight trip.

We had a wonderful time at the concert, easily one of the greatest nights of my life. Rascall Flatts was amazing and Darius Rucker, who opened for them, was equally good. Nate and I found ourselves singing along to a lot of the old Hootie and the Blowfish songs- I was amazed at how well we remembered them! Here is us posing in front of Nate's new truck. We didn't actually take the truck to the concert but I thought it was only appropriate to take a picture with it since we were going to a country concert. I felt a little more redneck!

Nate finally got his long awaited Ford Truck. It is truly his baby, he spends at least a few hours a week cleaning it and buying new things for it. He is so excited not to have to drive my sissy Toyota Corrolla around anymore, I think he feels more manly driving his truck.

We had a great Halloween. Lincoln was Diego (although nobody knew because he is a little too white to pass for hispanic boy) and Reagan was baby jaguaer (sp?). I only got one picture of Lincoln, I can never remember to take pictures at important events.

Another great month, not enough pictures. Maybe November will bring more photos to look at...

September 2009

2010-01-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

We finally have internet again so I am going to try to catch up month by month. September was a great month for our family.

We started out at the Clovis Hot Air Balloon Fest. The balloons were amazing, and HUGE! We had to wake up super early to get there before they all took off but it was well worth it, Lincoln loved seeing the balloons up close.

We watched a lot of football, most of the BYU games and a Michigan game or two when they were available in Cali (which is not nearly enough). Linc learned to yell at the TV and shout GO GO GO whenever his father did (which was quite a lot). I was a bit disappointed with both our teams this year but there is always next year. Here is a picture of the kids showing their school spirit.

And, finally, we celebrated Lincoln's 2nd Birthday at the end of the month. We invited a few friends and family over for a barbeque and a Dora and Diego cake. Originally it was supposed to be just a Dora cake but Nathan didn't think that was manly enough for his little boy so it quickly became a Dora AND Diego cake. Linc had a great time, sang Happy Birthday to himself, and received WAY too many presents. Thanks to everyone who helped make our boy's day so special.

Reagan continued to get bigger and cuter. I think she looks more and more like her dad but everyone seems to have a different opinion. One thing we know for sure, she got my pasty white skin- now both our kids are doomed to a life of sunburns and white legs :)

So that's September in a nutshell...I'll try to get to October sometime soon.

New pictures

2009-08-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting going on in our household. It has been terribly hot so we have spent most of the past few weeks couped up in our little house with the AC blasting and the fans on so that nobody overheats! Reagan is still a bit fussy but has gotten much better since I cut all dairy out of my diet- guess lactose intolerance runs in the family! Lincoln is bored out of his mind but has loved the occasional visits from good friends who take pity on my lack of a car and drive to our place to play for a few hours.

We may be buying a new truck for Nathan since his scooter died and the place that sold it to us (and the only place that can fix it) went out of business. He has been using my car to get to work and school, leaving me without a car all day- not an ideal situation! So w'll keep you all posted on the truck if it happens... I swear Nathan prays every night that he will get his truck, even big boys love there toys!

We were so lucky to get to spend time with my cousin Lacey and her family when they were in town a couple weeks ago. Lacey and I haven't seen each other in nearly 20 years but we somehow both married boys from the Fresno area so we got to intrude upon her family vacation for a day and catch up on life.

Nathan started school this week and is slowly getting back into the routine of reading and writing papers. It gets a little tedious but I keep reminding him that he only has four more classes and then he will have his Masters degree!!

I had a wonderful birthday, Nathan got me tickets to see Rascal Flatts (again) when they come back to Fresno in October and he also got me their new CD. We had some close friends and family over for cake and ice cream and I got to eat as much cake as I wanted without feeling guilty. All in all, a great day.

That's about it, our internet is still slow so here is the newest photo collage of the kids...

The many faces of Reagan

2009-07-30T16:03:00.000-07:00

So far, Reagan has been a great baby with the exception of some pretty bad gas pains that can make her rather fussy. We are all having a fun time getting acquainted with Reagan, all except Lincoln who doesn't even acknowledge that she exists. In the process of taking pictures for her birth announcement, we got some pretty funny faces out of our daughter that I wanted to share with you all...

Gas??
Don't you just want to kiss this face??

What you talking about mama??

She looks just like her dad when she wakes up...

Reagan Elizabeth Devlin

2009-07-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

Reagan Elizabeth Devlin

11:55pm July 10th 2009. 8lbs. 12 oz. 20 inches long

She's healthy. She has a ton of dark thick hair. She's so adorable.
I thought I would post some pictures so everyone can get a little glimpse of baby Reagan.
Michele is doing well and is enjoying having her mother around to help her out.
(This is Aunt Heather blogging ,What a proud Aunt I am!)

The Cakes

2009-07-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Note to self- when your husband says, "Hey honey, do you want to bake four individual birthday cakes for my family when you are 37 weeks pregnant??" JUST SAY NO!
The cakes did turn out pretty good, but I won't take credit for Kim's shoe cake since she made the whole thing by herself. We had a ton of cake left over but everyone enjoyed their special cakes on their special days.

While Mommy's away, the boys will play...

2009-07-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

With school out for the summer we have enjoyed having Nathan home much more often but I am learning that with the extra set of hands comes a lot more mischief. In the past month I have come home to find the following going on at my house (except the sand- we took Lincoln to the beach and I was a willing participant in the mess making). I have often told Nathan that he has an uncanny knack for making my job harder...

The ongoing baby saga...

2009-06-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have blogged but I have a very good reason- this baby has decided to make things interesting in her last trimester. It all started at one of my routine office visits about three weeks ago. The doctor informed me that my past two urine samples (sorry for the gross details) had come back with elevated protein levels and that I needed to go home, get my bag packed, and go to the hospital! I came home crying. We left Lincoln at the Stokes and drove to the hospital within the hour. They proceeded to pump me full of steroids and antibiotics in case I suddenly lapsed into preeclampsia and they had to deliver the baby. After 24 hours of observation they discovered that while I do have elevated protein levels I do not have any other symptoms of preeclampsia and should be able to carry this baby to full term. But not before a very abrupt doctor walked in,told me my elevated protein levels were probably due to kidney disease, asked if I had any questions, and walked out (so much for bedside manner). Not much we can do about that until after I give birth, at which point I am sure I am in for quite a lot of tests. So we went back home with new orders from the doctor. I now have to go for stress testing twice a week, one ultrasound a week, and my regular weekly appointment with my OBGYN. Needless to say, I feel like I just bounce from one appointment to the next. Luckily, Nathan and his family have been absolutely wonderful about watching Lincoln so I haven't had to take him to many appointments with me.
Part 2 of this ordeal actually began at the beginning of my pregnancy when I explained to my doctor that Lincoln had weighed 9lbs at birth and I really didn't want to go through that again. My doctor agreed and said he would most likely schedule an induction a couple weeks before my due date. So the past few visits I have been looking forward to picking an induction date. I went in this past Tuesday, thinking the doctor would call the hospital and schedule me right away for next week sometime. Unfortunately, I have not really dialated at all and her head is still WAY up inside me so the dr will not induce me until she drops down farther. I am totally bummed but I have an appointment next Tuesday and I am determined to get this baby to drop before then so we can schedule an induction later on next week. Leave it to my daughter to be too stubborn to drop down and come out when Nate's whole family is in town!
Bottom line- I am sick of being pregnant and I want this baby out NOW!! If anyone has any good suggestions I would love to hear them. Hopefully the next time I blog it will be to share the good news of our new baby girl!

The last couple months

2009-05-08T21:41:00.000-07:00

Well our dial-up internet has been nice on our budget but not so great for downloading pictures to my blog. I tried to download one picture of Lincoln and it took 35 minutes (not even kidding). So my only option is to make a collage of all our pictures of Lincoln from the last two months and post that. Alright, so now the update on our family.

Lincoln and I took a trip to Chicago to visit my parents and other the nightmarish airplane ride in which I got more than a few dirty looks from passengers, who did not appreciate my son's screaming, the trip was very successful. My parents got to spoil Lincoln like crazy (Mom made sure he ate whatever and whenever he wanted- resulting in a string of very diry diapers). We went to the Milwaukee County Zoo, which I highly recommend, and saw some cool animals up close and personal. I don't know who enjoyed it more, Lincoln or my parents who loved watching Lincoln's reaction to every single animal! I, of course, did not prepare adequately for the weather (it was 90deg in CA that same week) so when it snowed we were stuck with no jacket, no hat or mittens, and no real shoes!! Luckily my mother's very kind neighbor saw our predicament and dropped off some of her son's snow clothes for Lincoln to use. He is definately his father's son- he played in the snow for about 5minutes and then turned right back around to go inside the house- he was not going to just hang out in the cold!

Easter was a lot of fun this year as Lincoln got into dying eggs. We put him in an old t-shirt, set him up at the table with his cousins, and let him go to town (well, not really- I'm still a control freak...baby steps). But with a little help he dyed about 10 eggs and seemed really proud of himself. We got him all dressed for Easter Sunday and of course I forgot to take pictures. Make that two years in a row now that I have bought him a special outfit for easter and told Nate we would take cute spring pictures and not a single picture has been taken. He didn't even make it across the street to church without messing up his outfit. Nate insisted that he open his basket before church and somehow the little bugger snuck a chocolate egg when we weren't looking and proceeded to eat it while walking to church. When we got to the chapel and sat down I looked at Lincoln and there he was with a face and shirt covered in chocolate!! At least he enjoyed himself. That afternoon Lincoln got to participate in his first Easter Egg hunt with the Berrett girls, thanks to there very kind Grandma and Grandpa who invited us to their family's annual Easter brunch. We had such a great time and Lincoln actually understood that he was supposed to search for eggs and put them in his bag. It was rather fun to watch.
In not so great news, we learned this month that the class Nathan was supposed to take this summer has been blocked because of budget cuts at the university (gotta love CA's budget crisis!) and that puts him one class shy of graduating in Decemeber so it looks like we will be staying here in Fresno until next May. We were initially a little bummed about the change in plans but we are starting to see how this might work out better for us. Nathan will be home a lot more this summer and with a new baby on the way I'm excited that he will be home to help.

Nothing too exciting in baby news, I just keep getting bigger and bigger. McKinley is a mover and shaker- compared to Lincoln (who never moved) this girl is crazy!! We have definately decided on the name McKinley but are still going back and forth on the middle name, hopefully we will have it figured out before she comes into the world. We haven't done much to prepare for her arrival- mostly because I am exhausted. I have bought quite a few clothes and Mom and Dad enjoyed buying many new baby things while we were visiting. Right now I'm just trying to master chasing after my big boy while suffering through really strong Braxton Hicks contractions. My doctor said I can't lift anything over 20lbs, unfortunately he doesn't know that my son weighs 30lbs and I can't really go a day without lifting him at leasthalf a dozen times!

Ok- so that's it from us for the last couple months, I'm sure I left out a number of very important moments but it's late and I can't think of them right now. Now that I have figured out pictures I will post again soon!

WE'RE BACK!!!

2009-02-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

It has been a harrowing two months in the Devlin household- no internet! I never realized how many things we do on the internet until it was gone. I couldn't check email, blogs, facebook, our bank account, or even the daily news. We were pretty close to losing it but our phone line was fixed today and our internet server was downloaded so we are back in action! So, let me update you on the family:

Nate...
- started another semester of school! Since he has decided to speed up his program and graduate in December, he has a very full class load which I know is stressing him out but we just keep thinking how happy we will be when he is all done.
- says he hasn't done anything else in the last two months so I don't need to spend anymore time talking about him (his words- not mine)

Michele...
- has spent the last two months getting bigger and bigger, thinking this might be another 9lb baby (or maybe just hoping so that I can justify all my weight gain!)
- had a little pregnancy scare when I went to take Lincoln out of the tub and accidentally slipped and fell on my stomach. We spent the rest of the day in the doctor's office (everything is fine) and ended our day with a fun trip to get an ultrasound where we found out that WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!
- is terrified about having a girl!

Lincoln... (disclaimer- I am bragging about my child, skip down if you don't want to hear what an amazing, gifted, and talented child he is!)
- got a very bad haircut from mom. Let's just say he ended up with a very short buzz cut (I will post pictures later)
- can now say 9 words- mama, dada, papa, no, cracker, shoes, Haylee, ball, and hot. As well as saying "one, two, three" and then jumping off the couch or bed or whatever he can climb on.
- can now use a fork and spoon like a pro. He can finish a meal without half of it ending up all over himself.
- is learning new things everyday, it has been so fun to watch him figure things out and gain new skills.
- has only four more weeks until he starts Nursery at church! We cannot wait to enjoy church once again!

So it has been a busy couple of months for us but life is good in our home. I will try to post cute pictures soon. I'll blog again soon!!

My lack of blogging...

2009-02-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

We have now been without the internet in our home for four weeks, so I have not abandoned blogging forever, I'm just waiting for the new phone line and internet to show up... I promise to update soon!!

Merry Christmas to All

2008-12-16T22:12:00.000-08:00

Lincoln got to meet Santa! We thought he would scream like crazy but Lincoln just looked at Santa a little funny and then smiled for the camera! Thank you to Brad and Carroll for inviting us out to their ward party so Lincoln could have the experience of meeting Santa in his PJ's!! Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season...

What were we thinking? Oh, that's right... we weren't!!

2008-12-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Yes- we are having a baby. No- we weren't planning it. Let the nervous breakdown begin...

The Zoo

2008-11-24T16:56:00.000-08:00

It took us a year but we finally took Lincoln to the Zoo and he loved it!! He loves animals, he will sit and stare at them as long as we let him. So here are the cute pictures of Lincoln at the Zoo. Sorry, my posts have been a little boring lately, nothing exciting going on around our house!

Not quite as big as a gorilla (although sometimes it feels like he is)

Getting a better view of the Flamingos

Daddy and the arangutang

Mommy and the Elephant

Lincoln's One Year Pictures

2008-11-09T21:24:00.000-08:00

He really is the cutest boy ever (although, I may be biased)

Pictures, Pictures, and more Pictures!!

2008-11-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to post all of these for awhile but haven't so now they are all getting combined into one giant post- hope you enjoy! We had a really fun time with the Reid's during their visit to California, our trip to Yosemite was great! Halloween went well, Lincoln was a golfer since I am secretly hoping he will grow up to be one! We decorated our trunk for the ward's trunk or treat and Lincoln really enjoyed going around to everyone's trunk (even though he really had no idea what was going on!)

Digging into his candy- we only let him have the sucker...

Lincoln in his golfer costume

In the wagon with his new pumpkin

At the pumpkin patch

Our family in Yosemite

The cousins in Yosemite

Lincoln's friend Andrew

Loving the swings

Happy Birthday Part Deux

2008-10-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to again thank everyone for coming out to Lincoln's birthday party. Especially, AUNT MARCIA, aunt susan, grandma, chelsea, and whitney who all endured a very long car trip and multiple stops in order to be here for Lincoln's big day. It would not have been the same party without all their hard work and input. A big THANK YOU from all of us!! ;)

Adventures in a box

2008-10-08T10:15:00.001-07:00

Checking out the box

Climbing in the box

Taking a nap in the box

Don't you just love boxes??

Happy Birthday Baby!!

2008-10-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

Lincoln turned 1 this past Saturday and we were so excited to share his birthday with many of our friends and family. Thanks to everyone who went out of their way to attend his party! Especially my mother who flew all the way from Chicago for a whirlwind trip. We had too much fun shopping, cooking, and having sleepovers. So our baby is now a toddler and is doing so many fun things.
Lincoln can now:
- RUN, mostly away from me
- wave bye-bye
- give kisses, mostly open mouthed (we'll have to nip that in the bud before he starts dating)
- shake his head NO
- clap his hands when you say "YEA"
- get into everything!

So those are all his new tricks, don't expect to see them anytime soon though- he doesn't like an audience. We had a jungle party to celebrate his birthday and it turned out pretty well. Other than Mom and I buying WAY too much food and my minor panic attack when Lincoln fell and hit his head on cement 10 minutes before the party started!! Here are some pictures for those of you not lucky enough to be there in person :)

Another cake for one of my boys

Pre cake

Post cake

The Party Scene

Landscaping: Before and After

2008-10-01T19:27:00.000-07:00

So it took about six weeks but we finally finished landscaping our part of the yard and now Lincoln has grass to play on (although it is still too hot here to play outside). Here are some pictures of the whole experience:

The Before

Nate laying sod

The boys pouring the cement driveway

More cement

The finished product

Cousins, haircuts, and trips to Utah

2008-09-21T11:14:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun seeing Jeremy, Holly, and Peyton a couple weeks ago. Lincoln just loved playing with Peyton and it was nice to compare notes with Holly over our Devlin babies!! We went to Utah last weekend for the BYU game- we won 59-0!!! It was a great game and we had so much fun with the Atwoods and Reids. We finally took Lincoln for another haircut, he was starting to look like a girl! But now he looks like a big boy, almost one year old! So here are some pictures of our last few weeks...

Having fun with his cousin Peyton- we were so excited to have them visit.

Pre Haircut

Post Haircut- can you tell he doesn't like to pose for pictures?

How he slept for the entire cartrip to Utah

Our cute boy

And we're off...

2008-09-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

So we are leaving tommorow morning for our annual trek to Provo, Utah for the BYU-UCLA game!! Here's to hoping that the Cougars kick Ben Olsen and Norm Chow's butts back to SoCal (a part of me will always love Norm for his years at the Y but now I consider him somewhat of a traitor :) I am looking forward to almost every aspect of the weekend, everything except the 12 hour car ride with our 11 month old baby! When did I decide this would be a good idea? I think Nathan secretly waits until I'm half asleep to ask if he can do crazy things (like pack up our whole family and take a 12 hour rode trip to see a football game) just because he knows that I will go along with whatever he says just to get him to be quiet and let me go to sleep!! Tricky husband... GO COUGARS!!

What we do while Daddy is away...

2008-09-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

playing with the umbrella

playing in mommy's new fountain

playing with the broom

trying on new shoes

Nathan started his masters program last week so Lincoln and I now have three nights a week without daddy. We have been coming up with some very interesting activities to keep ourselves busy...
P.S- It has been over 100 deg here for the last three weeks, hence our naked baby!!

Family Camp (what were we thinking??)

2008-08-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

We attended the Peachwood Ward family campout a couple of weekends ago and I now know why people do not take 10 month old babies camping! What a nightmare!! The campout went well and I think everyone else enjoyed themselves but after two days of no sleep and running around trying to make sure Lincoln didn't eat half the forest- I was EXHAUSTED!! I had spent a day and a half packing and then another day unpacking and washing everything- definately too much work for one night of camping. I made Nathan promise that we would not go camping again until Lincoln understands that he cannot eat dirt and sticks! We did get some cute pictures from the experience...

Enjoying another stick
Banished to the stroller after eating one too many sticks

It's your birthday...shout Hooray!!

2008-08-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

So as of yesterday, I have made it another year! Now that I am the big 26, I am officially on the downward slope to 30!! We had a great day, I got to sleep in and Nate took care of Lincoln for most of the day. We had an ice cream cake (my first) with Nate's parents and Brenna's family. I thought that for my birthday I was getting a water feature for our front yard (yes, I realize that's kind of a dorky gift but it's what I really wanted). So how suprised was I when my husband handed me a small wrapped package and it turned out to be...

I sat there for at least ten minutes- unsure of whether or not Nathan was just playing a cruel joke on me. I do realize that I am probably the last person on the planet to own an IPOD but I just couldn't ever justify the cost. But my loving husband somehow realized how badly I wanted one (that- and he was sick of me stealing his!) So now I have my own to go running with- this is the best birthday ever!

For Uncle David and (soon to be) Aunt Kelly

2008-08-19T10:23:00.001-07:00

David and Kelly bought Lincoln this adorable Chicago Bears jersey for Christmas and Kelly even embroidered his name on the back. It only took him 8 months to fit into it! He looks so cute but now I'm afraid that Nathan is having grand illusions of our child growing up to be a football player... after watching both my brothers seriously injured playing football I think I would rather have my baby boy play something a little safer- like Tennis or Golf!!

Our Summer

2008-08-13T10:26:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy summer- two trips to Chicago, a road trip to Ohio, and a day at the beach! It was fun to see so many people and places.

Lincoln was so happy and smiley for the entire trip- even when we were dragging him from one place to another, completely ignoring naptimes!

Lincoln with his great great grandfather's grave (I'm not exactly sure what the relation is but he's the one who came to America from Ireland)

Lincoln and Nate at the Devlin family farm in Ohio

Lincoln and Aunt Brenna at the theater in Ohio where we watched Oklahoma on the big screen!

Lincoln enjoying the beach- he ate about a pound of sand!!

Lincoln enjoying the company of several beautiful girls

All of us at the beach

Lincoln and I with my cousin Chelsea and her little boy Logan

Our Ten Month Old!

2008-07-27T22:41:00.001-07:00

Lincoln is now officially ten months old, which means the birthday party countdown has begun. We took Lincoln in for his checkup (technically, supposed to be a nine month checkup but our vacation set us back a month) and he measures 31 inches long and 23lbs 11oz. I felt like this was an ok size until the doctor read his chart and literally laughed out loud. I didn't know if I should laugh along with him or be extremely offended. So, now for the monthly breakdown of Lincoln's new tricks:

In the past month, Lincoln has...
- learned how to say Da Da, although it is very rarely directed at Nathan
- begun to walk, sort of- he is now up to four steps
- begun letting us know when he wants something (usually food) with little grunts
- learned how to wave bye bye
- taken a liking to feeding himself
- started sleeping like the books said he would (4 hours of naps and 11 hours at night- yes!!)
- traveled to four time zones in 48 hours (Ohio-Illinois-Denver-Cali)
- discovered that he loves to eat sand but isn't so sure about the ocean (thanks Aunt Marcia and fam for letting him have the experience)

So our little boy continues to grow. Mark your calendars for Saturday September 27th, we are planning a rockin 1st Birthday party for our favorite little party animal!

A Day in the City with Auntie Brenna

2008-07-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

We were so excited to have Brenna come out to Chicago to visit us for a couple days before we all packed up for our rode trip to Ohio. We decided to take a trip to the city to go to the Field Museum. Everything went smoothly until we got on the train to go home and realized that we only had enough money to pay for one ticket. Luckily, our conductor let it slide and Brenna and I rode for free (I figure our two years of Illinois taxes may have entilted me to two free tickets). It was fun but I had an epiphany that I would NEVER want to live in a big city- too many people and too much noise- I think I'm a country girl at heart (or at least a suburban girl :)

Lincoln's first train ride

The whole family on the trolley in the city

The Chicago Skyline

Brenna with Sue the T-Rex

Lincoln and Aunt Brenna with a giant ape

Leave it to Nate and Brenna to find an exhibit about the people of Clovis

Me and Brenna outside the museum

Big Boy Haircut

2008-07-21T12:09:00.000-07:00

We finally took Lincoln to get his first real haircut- he was getting really shaggy! He was great for the whole thing, he sat in the chair by himself and didn't cry once. Grandpa Bond bought him a basketball as a prize for being such a good boy (that, and he bought one for Kyle after his first haircut- my parents are nothing if not fair!) Now my little baby looks like a real boy, I don't know if I should be sad or excited...

The Before

Hey Lady- what are you doing back there??

How do I look??

And a basketball- score!!

Our Son...The Vampire

2008-07-17T17:55:00.001-07:00

Don't ask me why but Lincoln has taken to biting anyone and everyone!! Is this normal or is my child just some weird biting freak?? Either way, I don't know if I can stand it anymore- he may only have two teeth but it really hurts!!

Baseball, birthdays, bowling, bathing suits, and the 4th of July!!

2008-07-05T19:50:00.001-07:00

I have so many pictures on our camera that I have been meaning to post that my memory card is almost full. So at long last I am sitting down to let you all know what we have been up to in the last few weeks.
First- Nathan and I took Lincoln to his first baseball game (the Fresno Grizzlies) and he had a great time. We even kept him up a couple hours past bedtime when the game went into extra innings and he didn't mind at all.

Second- Nathan celebrated his 27th birthday (yes, he is old:) This year he decided he wanted a Batman cake in honor of the new Batman movie coming out this summer. I decided I wanted to give fondant cake decorating a shot- it turned out pretty well.

Third- Lincoln and I flew back to Chicago about two weeks ago (yes, we are still here and yes this is the world's longest vacation) to help with the Vernon Hills Pageant. As part of our pageant week events we took all the girls bowling and Lincoln got to tag along. We learned that he loves to crawl onto the lanes and play with the biggest bowling balls he can find. Maybe one day he'll be a championship bowler like his grandfather!!

Fourth- we discovered that Lincoln is very timid when it comes to swimming. He loves his bath so we figured he would really love a pool. We went out and bought the pool, brought it home, filled it up, put on the necessary swim trunks and sunscreen and the kid wouldn't go anywhere near the pool. The only way he would even be in the pool is if I stood right next to him and even then he clung to my legs for dear life. So we sat on the sidelines and watched his cousins. We tried again when we got to Grandma's house and although this time he would get into the pool by himself he refused to sit in the water- standing only.

And finally- we had a really fun 4th of July (as always- is it any wonder that it's my favorite holiday?) We had the parade in the morning, which mom and dad rode in and Lincoln and I watched. Then we had our good friends over for a bbq and Nathan flew in from California. Lincoln was so excited to see his dad, and I guess I was too! After that we all went to watch fireworks which Lincoln absolutely LOVED. He was mesmerized by them the whole time, I don't think he blinked once during the entire show. It was really nice to get together with our friends and it is great having Nate with us again.

So that is our update, I promise to be more dilligent in blogging now that life is slowing down a bit...

What are you trying to say?

2008-06-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

The other day Nathan and I went to Target to pick up a few items (which quickly turned into more than a few, it is Target ). When we got up to the checkout the clerk asked if we wanted to open a charge card. Nathan took one look at me and said to the clerk "that would be dangerous". Needless to say, we walked out of the store without a pretty red charge card. I guess my husband doesn't trust me to have unlimited monetary access to Target- who would blame him?

WANTED

2008-06-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Wanted: Wholesome family home evening lessons and activites
Budget: NONE!!
Restrictions: A husband who does not sing or perform in any way, an eight month old who will not listen and/or sit still, and a mom who is usually exhausted by the end of the day!

Please help us in our quest to have FHE!! We have been severely lacking in the last year or so- I need help!

Swimmin' Cousins

2008-06-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

Couldn't resist taking a picture of Hayley, Connor, and Lincoln all ready to go swimming :)

EIGHT IS GREAT!

2008-05-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

Lincoln turned eight months old on Tuesday (where does the time go?) and has grown up SO much in the last little while. His newest tricks are:

- pulling himself up onto everything which means nothing is safe anymore
- opening the kitchen drawers, especially the tupperware drawer
- smiling all the time, although there is still a good bit of crying during the day
- playing with his new tooth (one more on the way)
- babbling, we have yet to hear any discernable sounds
- smiling and acting cheesy anytime someone pulls out a camera or their cell phone
- smiling anytime someone pulls out the tylenol bottle (maybe I've abused it?)
- crawling into the bathroom when mommy is using it
- crawling into the dishwasher when mommy is filling it
- crawling into the refridgerator when mommy opens it
- crawling into EVERYTHING!

We really love our little boy, who isn't so little anymore, and can't wait to see what he does next. Life with Lincoln is always an adventure...
smiling
not smiling
pulling himself up on the side of his crib- hi Mommy!

Home sweet home

2008-05-30T13:29:00.001-07:00

Lincoln and I made a whirlwind, and unexpected, trip to Chicago last week to help my mother who was having a mental breakdown because of the many demands on her time and energy. I spent the entire week planning the pageant- it's done!!- and mom and dad got to spend an entire week spoiling their grandson. Lincoln LOVED all the attention- is there really any doubt that he takes after his Grandma Bond?? We went to Wisconsin to shop at the outlet mall. We found many cute clothes for Lincoln, who has promptly grown out of just about every outfit we own, and I also got a little something for myself- an APPLE PEELER CORER SLICER!!! I ducked into a random kitchen store hoping they might have one and low and behold there it was sitting on the shelf with a light shining on it like the spirit was just leading me to it!! I bought it right away (or maybe daddy bought it :) and proceeded to go home and make an apple pie that night (dad got to eat the pie so I feel like that was a good return on his investment) I had to take a picture just to prove to you all that I now own the greatest piece of kitchenware ever invented...

We also went to Wisconsin to see mom at her Outdoor Ed program (does anyone think we visit the land of cheese a bit too much?) in Burlington. For those of you who are not up to date on the town history of Burlingtion, WI, and really- who is?, it just happens to be the birthplace of Tony Romo. He just so happens to be the quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, current boyfriend of Jessica Simpson(boo), and my husband's hero. The town has a population of a little over 10,000 and maybe two stoplights- we were hoping to find a lifesize cutout of Tony with a big sign saying Home of Tony Romo but no such luck (maybe they took it down when he started dating jessica). So we had to settle for the dinky little sign on the side of the road...

Here are some pictures of Lincoln with his grandparents and his uncle David and soon to be Aunt Kelly

So the trip was great and very productive. We are going back in three weeks, not that I'm looking forward to another day of traveling with a baby but it will be fun to be home for almost a month. We move into our new apartment tommorrow, it has been really fun to watch the guys build it from the ground up! I will take a bunch of pictures and post them when we get all moved in and settled.

Trip to Utah

2008-05-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time visiting Nate's family in Utah- although the trip was way too short. We got to meet our new niece, Lindsey, who is by far the best baby I have ever seen in my entire life. I thought all babies screamed like my child does but, oh no, the only peep I heard out of Lindsey was a slight whimper when she wanted to be held. So when do I get a baby like that?? I never realized how much Lincoln has grown in the last seven months until we held him up next to Lindsey- he was HUGE! He looked like King Kong (a movie I hated by the way) next to sweet little Lindsey. But I love my little gorilla. Maybe that's what his nickname should be, hmmm... Here are some pics from the weekend, we were really smart and didn't take any of the baby :)

Can we bring some books mom??

I'm all ready

Lincoln on the giant rocking chair in Beaver (my cousin Chelsea introduced me to this in college)

The whole family

Anyway- in unrelated news, Lincoln has outgrown his 9 month clothing but I have been putting off taking his 12 month clothes out of storage because they are in the garage and it's just a hassle. But I found myself with nothing to do on Wednesday (like I ever really have anything to do!) so I bit the bullet and pulled out all the clothes. An hour later I found myself buried in mounds of clothing and wanting to cry. Why didn't anyone warn me that putting away baby clothes is like slow torture for a mother? I kept pulling out onesies that were too big on him when we brought him home from the hospital and now they look itty bitty. I forgot how small he was- I wanted to grab on to him and somehow keep him from getting any bigger. I feel like I'm going to blink and he'll be grown up. But I digress. I just keep having to remind myself that I still have 18 years of him being my little boy. But if you ever find me in a pile of baby clothes crying my eyes out, just don't ask.

Calling all Devlins!

2008-05-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Ok- we are officially planning a Devlin Family Reunion! YEA!! We would like to do it in St. George sometime in June of 2009. We need to get a date nailed down pretty quick here so if everyone would comment and let me know if there are any dates in June that WILL NOT work for your family. We are giving everyone one year notice so you had all better be there...I am not above threatening family members. Everyone will be assigned jobs later (we will make sure that everyone has something to do:) Let me know...

The Rodeo

2008-04-27T23:28:00.001-07:00

Mom and Lincoln at the Miss Clovis Rodeo Pageant
Miss Clovis Rodeo
Enjoying the parade (and the fingers)

Dad and Lincoln enjoying the parade

We went to the Clovis Rodeo Parade this weekend and had a great time (the Clovis Rodeo is one of the largest in the US). We took Lincoln, thinking he would love the horses but he could have cared less- he loved all the firetrucks that made loud noises! I guess he will fit right in with his two fireman uncles! Personally, I liked going to the Miss Clovis Rodeo Pageant- who would have thought you could have a beauty pageant on horses?? I made sure to tell Nathan at least a dozen times that I would like to live on a ranch and have one horse for every member of our family- can you say 4H club??
Also, today is Lincoln's seven month birthday, I feel like the months go by so quickly now. He is officially crawling and is so close to being able to pull himself up. Still no teeth. Growing well though, he last weighed in at 19lb 2oz and 27inches long. He is getting cuter and cuter everyday and cannot wait to see his cousins next weekend- Utah, here we come!!

How Time Flies!

2008-04-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Got this off my friend Elizabeth's blog and I thought it was pretty fun. Well, that and I have total writer's block today...

twenty years ago I...
1) was enjoying kindergarten
2) was falling in love with Chris Dierkman at the art easels (a crush that would last for the next seven years)
3) was bugging the heck out of my brothers

ten years ago I...
1) had just gotten my first job, as a lifeguard and snack stand waitress
2) was gearing up for my 16th birthday!!(dating, driving- could life get any better?)
3) was not playing any sports, for the first time in ten years- it only lasted for a year!

five years ago I...
1) was enjoying my senior year at BYU
2) took my senior trip to Washington D.C. and New York
3) decided to be teacher

three years ago I...
1) got married!
2) worried about money and how we would ever make it
3) got my first nephew and then adopted nine more shortly thereafter

one year ago I...
1) was pregnant...whew- glad that is over with!
2) was teaching in middle school
3) was tramping through the snow for Outdoor Ed!

so far this year I have...
1) moved to California
2) gotten a tax refund
3) fallen more in love with my little boy

yesterday I...
1) sat in a doctor's office for 3 hours waiting for the doctor to weigh and measure my son
2) came home in a very bad mood
3) took a trip to Goodwill, Michaels and Sonic all by myself- the first time I have been out of the house on my own in weeks

today I...
1) did the dishes
2) did pageant stuff
3) put my son down for a nap

tomorrow I will...
1) go to the Clovis Rodeo Queen competition
2) run errands
3) tell my husband that I love him

in the next year I may...
1) move out of my in-laws house :)
2) give up being the Vernon Hills Pageant Director :(
3) begin exercising again!

The Upset List

2008-04-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

When I was in high school I used to tie myself up in knots over all the little things that upset me in life. It got so bad that I began having panic attacks and went to the doctor for some help. He told me to keep a list of all the things that were bugging me and writing it down really helped me get over it. So I am currently going through a bad bout of anxiety and I thought you all may be interested in my current "upset list" (yes- I realize I have a HUGE ego). A disclaimer- this is not meant to make anyone feel bad so please don't call me hysterically crying- MOM THIS MEANS YOU!!

I'm upset because:
1. I going to have to pay $4.00 a gallon for gas this summer
2. My son woke up last night at 3am and cried for an hour- what??
3. I miss our friends in Chicago and knowing that I could call Hilary and Laura and go to lunch and have an hour of adult conversation
4. I miss my parents
5. I'm saddened by the tv shows I've been seeing lately- do I have to be reminded that my son could be kidnapped and I could be raped at any time?
6. I go to Target and all I can buy is more tshirts and jeans when I want to buy all the frilly dresses and cute skirts
7. I want David Archuletta to win American Idol and I think David Cook is going to.
8. My teams ALWAYS lose- the past four NCAA Football and Basketball champions have been the team I rooted against and don't even get me started on the Super Bowl
9. I want white cabinets in my new kitchen and I have to have stained ones
10. Lincoln gets grumpy and gets a fever and I think- finally we're teething- and then NOTHING HAPPENS!!
11. I can't go to my cousins wedding this summer and I want to, mostly because I know this will be the last excuse to see my cousins and aunts and uncles for a very long time
12. I hate money and bills- and everything just keeps getting more expensive
13. I want to buy a home but we won't for another 3 or 4 years
14. Rascal Flatts didn't play the song I really wanted to hear (but still a great concert)
15. The Pottery Barn catalog gives me unrealistic expectations of what I want my home to look like

So if you have made it to the end of this truly depressing post I applaud your fortitude and ask you to forgive me my weak moments of ungratefulness. We do have a great life and are lucky to be healthy and happy. Thanks for letting me vent- now you can scroll down and read my other, much happier post about our lives lately. :)

Concerts, Sippy Cups and Yoga

2008-04-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

I can now die a happy woman. For the past 8 years Rascal Flatts has been my favorite band, I own all their cds (except the latest one- birthday present??) and know every song they have ever released. So on Wednesday night I got to see them in concert for the first time and it was the most amazing moment of my life (besides marrying Nathan and having Lincoln). They gave a great performance and were actually really funny. They told jokes and did funny voices and Jay did a dead on impersonation of California girls. Unfortunately, we got all the way to the concert and realized we had forgotten the camera so I have no pictures to remember the night by but I have many great memories. Thank you sweetie for making my dream come true!

In another exciting first, Lincoln got his first sippy cup. It is probably a little young for him to use it but I wanted him to get used to it. He mostly chews on it. But he can hold it by himself and get it into his mouth so it's a start.

We have also been attempting mom and baby yoga (mostly when nobody is home) and it's kicking my trash- who would have ever thought stretching would hurt so much?? Lincoln likes laughing at the baby on the video so whatever keeps him entertained :)

Also, a birthday shout out to my cousin Chelsea- the big 25!! When I was younger I always loved Chelsea's birthday because it meant that we got to be the same age for four months. Chelsea will always be the most fashionable and crazy person I have ever known and the only relative I have ever called the cops on. Happy Birthday Chels!

A Devlin or a Bond??

2008-04-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to think we will never know who Lincoln looks like- maybe he's just a really good mix. What's your vote??

Happy Half Birthday!

2008-03-27T14:15:00.001-07:00

We have made it to Lincoln's six month birthday! Sometimes I felt like we would never get here but now I look at how much my little boy has grown up and I want to go back to the beginning (alright, I'm suffering from a little amnesia when it comes to Lincoln's first four months of life) I think God purposefully makes us forget about what babies are like so that we will continue to have more children (he also does this with labor and delivery). So here we are and what an eventful month we have had. Lincoln has all of a sudden grown up very fast and it seems like everyday he does new things. So here is six month old Lincoln in a nutshell:
1. Lincoln finally sleeps through the night, usually from 8:30p-7:00a, unless there is some sort of sickness or teething (and to be honest, I can't really tell the difference between the two)
2. Lincoln can also put himself to sleep (HOORAH) which means no more endless hours of rocking him until he was passed out- now it's read a book, sing a song, and off to la la land (with minimal crying)
3. Lincoln still loves every single piece of food you put into his mouth. He has yet to show any aversions to fruits or veggies and/or anything that Papa Devlin pops in his mouth when mom isn't looking.
4. Lincoln is doing a little better at entertaining himself but often gets bored after about 10 min. and wants to move on to the next thing (usually pulling mom's hair)
5. No matter how many fun and exciting toys Lincoln has in front of him, he always wants what Mom has, whether that is keys, a cell phone, or the remote. I have seriously contemplated buying him one of each of these just so he'll stop bugging me!!
6. Lincoln is almost crawling. He gets up on all fours and can scoot backwards but has yet to go forwards. Sometimes I'll put him down in one place and come back to find him across the room! He has also started doing little baby pushups, if we put him on his tummy he gets up on his hands and toes so he is in pushup position. I've tried to tell him that football tryouts aren't for another 10 years!!
7. And finally, Lincoln is such a joy to have around. We fall more and more in love with him everyday that he is in our lives. Here is to many more birthdays with our beautiful little boy!

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

Lincoln with his easter basket and presents

Nathan dying easter eggs

Lincoln playing with his blocks from Grandma and Grandpa Bond

In an unrelated subject, Lincoln has now started getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth... next stop- CRAWLING!!

We had a great Easter, church was uplifting and our easter dinner was delicious. Lincoln got blocks from his grandparents and Nate and I bought him a caterpillar that sings. The present he loved the most? The 99cent plastic eggs! Next time I am buying him a box and letting him go wild! So as you can see, our little boy is getting very big. His 6 month birthday is on Thursday so I will fill you all in on his progress then. I hope everyone had a wonderful easter and was able to spend time reflecting on the glorious blessing of the resurrection.

Me and the Scooter

2008-03-21T16:48:00.001-07:00

What was I thinking??

Lincoln thinking his mom is SO COOL!!

So I took the scooter for a spin today and I actually really liked it! I've gotten a little better at turning and I made it all the way around the block without crashing. We are starting to get into a good schedule here. Although, Rick has been at home this whole week for Spring Break and Nate has been off of work so Lincoln is reveling in all the attention he is receiving. I don't know what we will do when everyone goes back to work- he gets bored with me quite easily. We have successfully made it through another growth spurt (all we did for three days was eat and sleep) and the last time I weighed Lincoln he was 20lb but we go in for his 6 month checkup next week so we will see if he has grown anymore. I need him to stop growing- I only have two more pounds to go before I have buy him a new carseat. We are looking forward to a busy summer (baby blessings, trips to Chicago and Ohio) but I was saddened to find out today that we won't be able to go to my cousin Lindsey's wedding this summer (we are flying to Chicago the same day and mom has grad school). I was hoping to make it but we will just have to see the whole family another time. We are taking Lincoln's easter pictures on Monday (I know it's AFTER easter) so I will try to get those on here soon.

Boys and their Toys

2008-03-20T12:09:00.001-07:00

Nate and his dad went yesterday and bought themselves a pair of black 150cc scooters. I have to admit I kind of pushed Nate into getting it. It will save us a TON on gas this summer and fall and Nate can drive it to school which means I get the car to run errands all day! We found a place that gave us a really good deal and even threw in free helmets! I've only driven it once so far and I'm not so sure I like it- I'm not very good at turning, I almost ran into a car this morning :) I think I need a bit more practice. It is kind of fun having a new toy...

Go Bulldogs!!

2008-03-13T21:36:00.001-07:00

It's official- Nate got into Fresno State University's MPA program so we are in Cali for good (or at least for the next two years). I'm so proud of Nate for all his hard work and dedication, I just knew he could do it!

My Soapbox

2008-03-11T14:19:00.000-07:00

Alright, I am blaming my good friend Mrs, Dub for my sudden need to blog about the upcoming Presidential election. She just HAD to bring it up as one of her Hot Topics which got me thinking about it all over again and since Nathan refuses to argue with me anymore about politics I will just have to vent for all my family and friends who happen to wonder onto my blog. I feel paralyzed by my choices in this year's presidential election. I have always been a card carrying republican. I believe that Americans should be given the ability to decide what they want to do within their own families and with their hard earned money. So normally, when this election process comes around, I have no trouble deciding who to vote for. I walk in that polling booth and check Republican- easy as pie! But all of a sudden I am torn about what to do. I don't like John McCain, there I have said it- good thing my father doesn't read this blog or else I would be in big trouble (I may be disavowed as a member of my family). I have tried to like him, I've tried to jump on the band wagon in order to stop another Clinton from taking office but I just can't do it. I think he is too old, too liberal, too soft on immigration, too uneducated about the economy, and too gung-ho about the war. Now, don't get me wrong, I am in favor of the war but I am starting to wonder why we are spending $11 billion a MONTH fighting a war to protect people who are charging us $4 a gallon for gas (yes, I realize there are many nuances of the oil industry that I am missing in that statement but that is how I see it, so deal). Maybe we could be spending that $11 billion on researching new energy sources, or getting out of debt, or fixing the problems with Social Security so that the money I am paying into the program right now will actually be there when I retire.
So that then brings me to the Democrat candidates- Obama or Clinton? I must say I actually spent a split second pondering if I should vote for Barack. I figured, a nice young guy- seems smart enough and his wife doesn't totally bug me. And best of all- HE ISN'T A CLINTON!! I think I would vote for Elmo if it kept Hillary Clinton from being elected- I would never want her representing our country or the female population. So I decided to do some research on Obama- needless to say, I was NOT happy with what I found. Turns out, he's just as liberal as Clinton (if not more) he just comes in prettier packaging (and without Bill). I think the day he came out in favor of driver's licenses for illegal immigrants was the day I threw my hands up in disgust and lamented my current situation!
So my new plan of attack- I AM NOT VOTING IN THIS YEAR'S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
I am staying home and forsaking my I VOTED sticker. I feel like whatever decision I made, I would walk out of the booth feeling mad at myself so I am giving up and allowing all you people, who are not undergoing this great moral dilemma, to choose my next president. In turn, I promise not to complain about whomever you choose for the next four years. There, I have made my peace, I am stepping down now...
P.S.- Daddy, please don't hate me :)

Si El Puede- Yes He Can!!

2008-03-04T09:12:00.000-08:00

Obama will have to forgive my borrowing of his new catch phrase but my excitement is too much to handle- LINCOLN SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! We aren't just talking 10p-5a, he slept from 9:00 last night until 7:00 this morning!! I didn't hear a single peep out of him all night long. After so many months of only getting 5-6 hours of highly interrupted sleep, I am actually feeling a little drunk off of sleep (does that make sense?) I feel like I have taken one too many sleeping pills and my mind is in a fog. Let's just hope he keeps this up so my body can readjust to 8 hours of sleep every night!

5 Months Old

2008-02-27T22:17:00.001-08:00

I know this is my second post of the day but I wanted to praise Lincoln's many accomplishments in the past 5 months. So here are ten unique things about our baby. Lincoln:
1. weighs in at a whopping 18lb 12oz
2. loves an audience and demands Mom's attention ALL the time
3. will eat anything you put in his mouth
4. will immediately put anything he can find in his mouth and slobber all over it
5. can roll both ways but chooses not to
6. prefers scooting around in a circle until he gets to what he wants
7. still doesn't sleep through the night
8. loves to suck on his toes more than anything else
9. can almost sit up by himself
10. has the greatest laugh of any baby on the planet (but I may be biased)
So Happy 5 Month Birthday to our little boy!!

First Veggies!!

2008-02-27T16:51:00.000-08:00

Before

During

After

After much pondering and praying we finally decided to feed Lincoln carrots for his first "real" food. He didn't seem like he loved or hated them- he just kind of found the new taste interesting. So carrots are a go, now we are on allergy watch. If all goes well for the next four or five days we will introduce him to squash- stay tuned!!

Sick Baby

2008-02-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

We have been dealing with a little bit of sickness in our home. Lincoln began coughing and sneezing about a week ago, we rushed him to the urgent care and were told that the best way to cure a cold was to do nothing (but we were given a prescription for an inhaler and a steroid just in case). So we waited only to have him begin wheezing two days later. So I freaked out, just a little bit (ok Nate found me in the bathroom crying my eyes out) and my father-in-law made an emergency trip to the pharmacy for the prescriptions and a vaporizer. All is well now though, Lincoln's only symptom left is a slight cough. I would like to say this is the only time our baby will ever be sick but I know this is only the first of many. Here's hoping this is the worst we ever have to deal with.

We're here

2008-02-09T09:46:00.000-08:00

So we have arrived in California and life is starting to settle down. We miss all of our friends and family in Chicago but the weather here is partly making up for that. I posted some pictures of Lincoln (mostly for grandma) so scroll down and look through those. Once we are a little less chaotic I will write a nice long blog...

New Highchair

2008-02-09T09:40:00.001-08:00

Lincoln has pretty much grown out of his bouncy seat and since he is now eating solids three times a day, we gave in and bought him a high chair. He wasn't so sure about it at first but once he realized he was as tall as all the adults he loved it!

The Super Bowl

2008-02-09T09:38:00.003-08:00

I wasn't so happy about the outcome of the game but the shirt was cute...

Such a big boy!

2008-02-09T09:32:00.000-08:00

Lincoln truly believes that he is 6 months older than he is. He tries so hard to do things that the big kids do. He recently started sitting up (although he can barely keep his stomach off the floor) and tries to hold his bottle. He is getting so big I can hardly believe this is my little baby!

First Haircut

2008-02-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

These pictures are from way long ago but I'm just now getting around to posting them. Lincoln was pretty good through the whole experience but I butchered his hair- that is probably the first and last time I will cut his hair by myself!

Really??

2008-01-25T14:42:00.001-08:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

To cry or not to cry??

2008-01-23T11:53:00.000-08:00

Lincoln doesn't fall asleep on his own. Now, I have heard all the advice about "training" your newborn to fall asleep by laying them down in bed when they were partially awake so that they can learn the fine art of going to sleep by themselves. Prior to actually having a child I fully subscribed to these ideas but then Lincoln actually came into the world. My sweet baby boy was not the quiet child I had pictured in my mind, instead I was handed a big sack of crying and fussing. The colic kept him crying for hours at a time and the only way to calm him down enough so he would sleep was to rock him until he finally dozed off. So the first 12 weeks of Lincoln's life came and went and now the colic is gone and my baby has no ability to go to sleep on his own. Now, I have no problem rocking him to sleep and then putting him in his crib- this is pretty much our routine now. The problem is that Lincoln is also a baby that wakes up 45min into every nap (something about sleep cycles). Since he has no ability to put himself to sleep, he also has no ability to put himself BACK to sleep when he awakens. I have told our pediatrician about this problem and her advice was to let him cry for 20min before going in to comfort him. We tried this, he cried for an hour and still wasn't sleeping. Normally I would perservere (sp?) but for three reasons I have not been able to. First- my husband cannot stand the sound of crying babies- I think he is ten times more sensitive than a normal human being. I can only let Lincoln cry for about 5min before Nathan is asking when I am going to pick him up. Second- we live in an apartment and for fear of being a bad neighbor, I just can't let my child scream for an hour at 3am- I would have the entire building hating me! Third- in a week we are moving in with my in-laws (who I love) and the thought of subjecting them to nights of a baby crying just seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Lincoln has yet to actually cry himself to sleep so my question for all of you out there is this...
Do babies actually cry themselves to sleep?
Should I let him cry it out and risk my husband,neighbors, and in-laws hating me?
Has anyone ever taught their child how to fall asleep on their own without letting them cry it out?
Any and all advice would be appreciated...

Are you going to have a baby?

2008-01-11T10:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know that Christa and Greg will hate me for sharing this story but it is just too funny. We got to stay with the Reid's for New Year's, which was a blast, especially getting to see Sydney and Austin. They have gotten so big and absolutely adorable! So the last night that we were in Utah, we were all sitting around and I stood up to walk Lincoln around the room and ended up having an interesting interaction with Sydney. My conversation with Sydney went something like this:
Sydney: Michele- are you going to have a baby? (as she pats my belly)
Michele: No
Sydney: But your stomach is big like my mommy's and she's going to have a baby
Michele: Well, that's just left over from the last baby
Alright, so I get the point, my holiday eating got a little out of hand! I guess my New Year's resolution will be to get on the treadmill a little more often! I love the honesty of children!

Christmas, New Year's, HE CAN ROLL, and, oh yea, we're moving!!

2008-01-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a long time and so much has happened that this may be a long post, so sit back, relax, and enjoy your update of the Devlin family... The holidays were wonderful, they started with the joyous celebration of Hanukkah I don't think Lincoln enjoyed his mennorah shirt quite as much as we did! Then came Christmas- we spent the day with my parents who showered Lincoln with gifts As you can tell, Lincoln is just overjoyed about all his presents- I don't think he understood what was going on and why all of us kept taking pictures of him. He recieved books and toys from Grandma and Grandpa and, in a true mom moment, I bought him a six pack of socks! I think we enjoyed opening the gifts more than he did but we always have next year to look forward to. A few days after Christmas we jetted off to Utah to spend New Year's with Nate's family. We woke up at 2am on New Year's Eve to be to the airport by 4am for our 5:30am flight (who said flying cheap isn't fun?). Now we have never traveled with a baby before but we had gotten some good advice from others and I thought I had it pretty under control, until we got Phoenix. Since our layover was a couple of hours we went outside the terminal to meet Nate's sister Kim who lives in Phoenix and who we haven't seen in quite awhile. We had a great time catching up and she got to meet her cute nephew but the problem came when we tried to get back through security to get to our flight. We underestimated how much time it would take and only left ourselves about 30min to get to the gate. Well, long story short, our line took FOREVER, I almost punched the lady behind us for her snide comments about our predicament, and the funniest part of the whole trip was the site of me sprinting down the hall (I literally started having an asthma attack- that's how out of shape I am), with Lincoln in his carrier, clutching the diaper bag, my purse, and our tickets with 5 minutes until our flight was taking off. Luckily we made it but I don't think we will ever make that mistake again. So we got to Utah and had a great time with the family. It was so fun to see all our nieces and nephews- they have all gotten so big! We only took one picture the entire trip (sorry- I am not a picture person) but it's a cute one so I'll post it That would be Christa's new sink- I turned around for a minute and Nate put Lincoln in it- it was too cute to not take a picture! We got home from vacation and about three days later, Lincoln rolled over all by himself! Here is the progression in pictures- one of these days we will get a video camera.

Ok- so if you have bravely made it to the end of this post than you will be rewarded with the exciting news that we are moving to Clovis, California on Jan. 30! I don't really know anybody who reads this blog that doesn't already know that but on the off chance... I now have three weeks to pack up our entire apartment (which I will remind you I just did 6 months ago) and move across the country! I'm so overwhelmed right now I don't know which end is up so please keep us in your prayers and we look forward to seeing you all soon...

Giggles and Grins

2007-12-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the smile is the only thing that makes it all worthwhile!

To swing or not to swing???

2007-12-05T09:08:00.000-08:00

So, as most of you know, Lincoln does not sleep well on his own. He almost always wakes up about 45min into his naps, screaming, and since his doctor insisted that we get him to sleep as long as possible I have been holding him while he sleeps (yes- I know I am creating bad habits but what can I do?) So I discovered yesterday that I can put Lincoln in his swing while still awake and not only will it put him to sleep, if he wakes up in it he is happy to just lay there staring. This means that I have a good 1-2 hours to shower, clean, do laundry, and cook dinner. So here is my dilema... I can't help but feel like a neglectful parent when I put him in the swing and leave him. In fact, I have been known to get upset with Nathan for putting Lincoln in the swing, telling him that he is using it as a "substitute parent". So I am asking for everyone's opinion on the swing issue... am I a neglectful parent or just a resourceful one?

Precious Moments

2007-11-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

Nothing too exciting to report but Lincoln did sleep for a whopping SIX HOURS last night (I thought had died and gone to heaven). I took these pictures in the last few days and wanted to share them with our friends and family.

I was blowdrying my hair and put Lincoln in his chair (which he hates). In a desperate attempt to stop the crying I handed him this stuffed bunny which seemed to work pretty well. I went back to blowdrying and when I turned back around he had wrapped his little arm around the bunny and was cuddling it! Too cute for words!

This picture is for Aunt Marcia who bought this adorable bear suit for Lincoln. He wasn't so sure about the hood (he hates anything on his head) but he sure did look cute.

A picture for my friend Deb Buchweitz who gave us this Cubs mobile with the advice to put it on his changing table to distract him, possibly the best advice I have received yet. Lincoln absolutely adores his "Cubbys" and always smiles when we put him on his changing table.

So that's it for us here, I'll try to post after Thanksgiving to let you all know how our delicious Thanksgiving dinner at Baker's Square is...

Why did I bother to read the books??

2007-11-11T19:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, so no pictures this time, this is my own personal rant about my life right now. Now, don't get me wrong- I love our son, he is a beautiful and precious gift and we are so lucky that he is here and healthy. My problem is with the many, many books that I read about raising our child during my pregnancy. While reading these books I often pictured my angel baby gently falling asleep in his crib while Nathan and I stared at his beautiful happy face. I imagined that I would know exactly what to do in every situation that arose because I had not only read the books- oh no, I had read them, memorized them, and then annotated them (I was suddenly back in high school english class with my highlighter and post-it notes). So when my child arrived I felt like I was fully prepared to be the world's best mom. The first weeks, as my child slept 90% of the time and awoke only to eat, I felt like I was doing great- my books had served me well. And then Lincoln turned three weeks old and my books suddenly turned against me. I tried for several weeks to stick with what my beloved books were saying (after all, they had never failed me before). It took two weeks, several nights of screaming (Lincoln, not me), and many tearful meltdowns (Me, not Lincoln) before I had a sudden epiphany- OUR CHILD DOES NOT FOLLOW THE BOOK!! Now this has been a very hard lesson for me to learn but Nathan has been very kind to gently remind me that Lincoln is not a textbook baby. This is the first time that my beloved books have ever failed me, it was disappointing to say the least but I am slowly learning to be a go with the flow mom (although Nathan will tell you that I am not great at it- yet!) So, stayed tuned for my many attempts at being a more laid back mom- we'll see if Lincoln and I will survive each other!

SUCCESS!!

2007-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

yes, that is my son sleeping in his crib!! Lincoln decided that in honor of his 6 week birthday he would take all his naps in his crib- yea! Truth be told, he will only sleep in there for about an hour but we are taking baby steps... More good news- Lincoln is sleeping between 5-6 hours at night, a welcome relief for his tired mother. So everything is improving here and BYU plays TCU tonight- go Cougars!
P.S- Upon closer examination of this picture I feel the need to explain that I am not trying to endanger our child's life by putting pillows and blankets in his crib (our childcare class teacher would be VERY upset)- we think that Lincoln didn't like his crib at first because it was too big so we followed our friend's advice and placed rolled up blankets on either side of him (one was in the wash- hence the Bobby pillow). So thanks go out to Laura (aka Mrs. Dub) for her fabulous parenting tips.

Lincoln's Blessing and Halloween

2007-11-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

First, an apology to my aunts for not posting these pictures earlier. We have had an interesting few weeks, we found out Lincoln is lactose intolerant and also has acid reflux so we have been struggling through several days and nights of unconsolable crying. After a few days of medication I am happy to report that Lincoln is doing a lot better although we still have to visit the doctor to cure the painful gas pains that are causing him to wake up 40 minutes into every nap he takes but one problem at a time... We haven't even begun to address the fact that he still won't sleep in his crib. Why doesn't God give us babies at 6 months old? I think this is another one of those times in my life where God is trying to teach me to have patience (not one of my strong suits).
So we had most of Nathan's family here for Lincoln's blessing on October 28th. It was so fun to get our families together. We went to dinner at Portillo's on Friday night (a Bond family favorite) and then to Lou Malnotti's Pizza on Saturday. My mother, being the kind and wonderful person that she is, made an entire Thanksgiving meal on Sunday for both our families and some of our friends. I know she spent the entire night in the kitchen but the food was great and it was nice to have a Thanksgiving with all the people we can't spend the holiday with this year.

Us and the Grandparents

The Whole Family (ignore the weird face I am making!)

Lincoln with Mom and Dad- yes he is screaming his head off luckily he was quiet during his blessing

The family at the Jelly Belly factory in Wisconsin

Lincoln sleeping peacefully on Uncle Brian

Also, we owe a big THANKS to Nathan's parents for Lincoln's awesome swing. It is now the only thing (besides us) that he sleeps in.

Lincoln also had a very exciting First Halloween. Although he did not have a costume he did have a very cute Halloween outfit. Check it out...

He also got to go to Grandma Bond's school for the annual Halloween Parade. Grandma was a fifties girl...

That's all for now, I will try to find some time later to update everyone again.

Ode to our Two-Week Old

2007-10-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

Our child has officially been in our lives for 16 days and for those of you who don't get to spend every waking moment with the cutest baby in the world I thought I would update you on Lincoln's life so far.

Lincoln...
...LOVES his hands. They have to be on or near his face at all times and his mom is dying for him to gain enough control over them to actually keep his thumb in his mouth. He yells at us every time we try to swaddle his hands in a blanket.

...does not like his crib, at least not yet, leaving his parents to wonder why they bought it in the first place

...is a pooping machine. In fact, we have yet to change a diaper that does not have poop in it

...becomes more of a red head everyday, I am convinced that this is payback for all the jokes we made about having a red headed baby during my pregnancy.

...is gaining weight like a champ. At his last weigh in he was 9lb 8oz.

...is the laziest eater ever, it sometimes takes 45 minutes to get 20 minutes of food in him, wonder where he gets his laid back attitude from?? (DAD)

...doesn't like to sleep, much to the chagrin of his mom and dad

...thinks his mom and dad are crazy, especially when they drag him to the pediatrician to be told that he is a very healthy baby, he just cries like a normal baby. And here we were thinking we got a baby that doesn't cry! Dad's response to Lincoln crying- "Wow, that's really loud!"

So our baby boy is doing well, he is healthy and (generally) happy. I'll post more pictures later.

The Stump is Gone!!

2007-10-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, I can hear Lincoln fussing in the other room right now which means that naptime is rapidly coming to an end but I wanted to tell everyone that our child finally has a normal belly button! His black umbilical cord stump has been hanging on by a thread for several days now but last night (at 2am) I went to change his diaper and it was gone! And I mean really gone, we had to strip him down to find it. I think he was just waiting for his two week birthday to get rid of it. So that means that he also had his first REAL bath today and I think he actually liked it (well, at least he didn't scream). I wanted to take a bunch of pictures since his dad wasn't home for the big event but the minute I went to take the first picture our camera ran out of batteries so I will have to document the event tommorow and post pictures for you all later. Alright, well there goes my baby, duty calls!

More pictures of our little guy...

2007-10-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, I realize that the one picture I posted was not as detailed as everyone wanted but I have been a little busy. So here are some more...

Yes, that scale says 8lbs 15.9oz (they called him at 9lbs even)

He was very alert at first, now all he wants to do is sleep

If anyone can tell us who he looks like we would love to know... so far we can't tell!

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures, we are slowly but surely adjusting to life with Lincoln. We aren't sleeping much at night but we take lots of naps during the day so we are surviving. Thanks for all your comments, it's great to know we have so many people who love our little boy already!

He's Here!!

2007-09-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

Lincoln Richard Devlin
9lb. 22in.
9/27/07 5:13pm

We were very excited to welcome Lincoln into our family on Thursday evening. All are doing well and adjusting to a new and exciting life! More info to come...

Baby Shower

2007-09-15T16:26:00.000-07:00

I posted these pictures yesterday but I just got the time to sit down and write about what they actually are. I was very lucky to have a beautiful baby shower thrown by my mother, my aunt Marcia, and David's girlfriend Kelly. The Carter family graciously let us use their backyard and we had a lovely garden party with 40 of our closest friends and family. I was delighted that Marcia and Grandma Waalkes could both fly out for the shower and to spend the weekend with mom and I. I forgot how much fun it is to sit around with our female relatives and a bowl of Peanut M&M's (that is, until Mom mixes them with the plain M&M's and Marcia refuses to eat them). We did miss Susan and her girls but we understood that watching BYU lose to UCLA was more important :) One of these days we are all going to get together for a weekend of doing nothing but eating and shopping- doesn't that sound delightful? Well, hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later...

This is David's cute girlfriend Kelly. She did all the baking for the shower, including...

... this adorable baby cake, it was the hit of the party! For those of you who don't know- LRD= Lincoln Richard Devlin

This picture doesn't really do it justice but the tables looked amazing thanks to my unbelievably creative Aunt! The centerpieces turned out great, I even got to keep one for Lincoln's bedroom. Thanks again to everyone and all their hard work, I had a great time and I finally feel like we are prepared for our new little boy!

I've Been Tagged!

2007-08-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my cousin Melissa!

1. Where did I meet my husband?
In Provo, UT at the Hogi Yogi on University Ave.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
I don't really remember but probably something really cool like, "where do we keep the mayonnaise?"- he was training me for my new job as a sandwich maker!

3. Where was your first date?
It was a marathon date! He asked me to go to the BYU Blue and White basketball game and said it started at 5:30pm so he picked me up promptly at 5pm. Turns out, the game didn't start until 7pm so we sat in the empty Marriott Center watching warmups and talking. After that he took me for a very nice dinner at Fazoli's (sp?) and then we went back to my apartment and watched DVDs of Alias. I think in total the date was 8 hours long! I knew if we could enjoy each other's company for that long we had something special!

4. Where was your first kiss?
In the hallway outside my apartment after our 4th date. I thought he was going to kiss me earlier at his apartment but he didn't so I was a little bummed but then he walked me to the door and planted one on me!

5. Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?
We started dating in October and were engaged by December but weren't married until the following July (thanks to the three month internship that Nathan went on to the Phillipines right after he proposed)- we got married 9 months to the day of our first date.

6. Where did you get engaged?
At the Fresno Temple (isn't it funny that Lacey and I got engaged just a few miles away from each other).

7. Where did you get married?
In the temple in Chicago, IL

8. How did the reception go?
It was HUGE! We had 200 people for a sit down dinner at the Hilton Northbrook. I think Nathan's family was a little scared by how big and formal everything was but it was exactly how I dreamed it would be (sometimes it's nice being the only girl!) A week later we had an open house in Fresno that was beautiful and relaxing! Nate's mom and sisters did a great job!

9. How was the Honeymoon?
Great! We went to downtown Chicago and stayed in a hotel for three days. We ordered in pizza and lounged around all day long, it was so relaxing. Sometimes I wish we could go and do it all over again...

OK, I tag...
My cousin Chelsea and my mother

32 Week Baby Bump!

2007-08-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

I apologize to everyone for my lack of blogging lately, the past month seems like it has just flown by! We got all moved into our new apartment. It took nearly five days to pack our stuff, paint the new place, move all our stuff into the new place, and then go back to the old place and prime over the walls we so carefully painted only a year ago. After it was all over Nathan and I looked at each other and decided we never want to move again. Too bad we are going to be doing this all over again next summer when Nate begins grad school. One day, when we have lived in the same town for 20 years, I am sure we will look back at this transient time and laugh. Well, as you can see from the picture I am officially getting HUGE! I'm actually 33 weeks along so the picture is a little outdated but I haven't grown that much in a week. We have made a lot of progress in getting ready for the baby to come. Our crib was delivered two weeks ago and it only took Nathan 3 days to get around to putting it together. I think he figured that the longer he stalled the longer he could put off Lincoln actually coming... no such luck! Our stroller also arrived (a big thank you to my aunts and grandma for that amazing gift!). This time Grandpa Bond was given the challenge of putting it together. He did a great job and debriefed Nathan and I on how to use it (you would not believe how many bells and whistles this thing has!) So I am waking up less frequently with panic attacks about the baby coming and not being prepared. Everyone keeps saying that first babies are always overdue but I have a weird feeling that this kid is going to make his grand entrance a little early. Maybe it is my type A personality but I want to have everything washed, built,and settled three weeks before this baby arrives. Considering my baby shower is scheduled 4 weeks before my due date and we don't want to buy anything else until after the shower, I'm not sure I'm going to make my own deadline. Everyone say a little prayer that Lincoln Richard will come on or after his due date, for the sanity of his mother! So I think that is all that has been happening in the Devlin household. As soon as we get the apartment completely finished I will post some pictures of the new place for everyone to see. Until then...