Day 2 in Hooper

Ever since we found out we were having another little Swan, we've been thinking about getting a double stroller. Ya, I know, wow. It is quite the step. We've been looking around a lot and came to the conclusion that they are expensive! :( So we were holding off on getting one. I'm really glad we did. Tami, my friend from high school, called the other day and said that her aunt had a double stroller that she was just giving away because she didn't need it anymore and did we want it? We did. Tami dropped it off to us last night.

We spent the whole morning figuring out how it works. It's still in really nice condition. I'm pretty excited about it. Both seats lay down, and the front one turns around so the kids can face each other. There is lots of storage underneath, and a cup holder in the front and one for my by the handle. It's kind of big when it folds up, but that is to be expected from a double stroller I would think. Lincoln loved it too. He spent the whole morning climbing in and out of it and then just sitting in it. It was funny. We couldn't get him to come out.

But one thought I had, was how it's amazing how the Lord blesses us with what we need. I mean, Tami's aunt just so happened to be getting rid of the stroller and Tami just so happened to think about us and give us a call. Pretty cool if you ask me. We have also been really blessed lately in finding a reasonable priced dresser ($45, and it came with a matching night stand) for the baby's room as well, and it's in great condition. I just feel like we've been really blessed in the preparation for this baby.

Also today, Aaron decided to clean out our car, yay! It really, really, REALLY, needed it. Lincoln was a big "helper" and got to play in the car while dad cleaned. He thought that was great fun. Now our car looks so good, and it will probably stay that way for at least a week since Aaron will be the only one driving it. (I have my mom's Rav for the week, so I can take the carpool.)

Later in the day we went and watched Tanner play in his basketball game. He did really well. He made two back to back layups to put his team ahead in the last minute of the came. Unfortunately the other team made a buzzer beater, game winning basket and Tanner's team lost. But Tanner did awesome. Lincoln loved the excitement of the gym. He's never really been in that kind of environment before, and having so much going on at once kept him pretty entertained.

So, I guess we've survived day 2 in Hooper!

Day 1 in Hooper

My mom and step-dad decided to skip the country on a ten day cruise to Mexico. Guess who is watching Tanner and Jackson while they are gone? Yup, me. I've suddenly found myself to be the mother of not only my toddler and one on the way, but of two teenagers as well. Yikes!

Day 1, Friday January 31st, Aaron, Lincoln and I packed up and headed to Hooper. We got there around 6:00pm and decided that we'd take Tanner (and Lincoln of course) out on date night with us. We went to ABC Mandarin in Roy. This place has great Chinese food. It was packed but it was well worth the wait.

We ordered shrimp lo mein (which is what I always order at Chinese places) and sesame chicken, a few egg rolls, and some ham fried rice. Delicious. We even attempted to use chop sticks. Well, all except for Lincoln, he makes a big enough mess as it is with a spoon. Notice how his corner of the table is completely open. All the food was crammed on the rest of the table so he couldn't reach it. Ha! But we had a great time.

A Regular Little Chatter-Box

Over the last few months it has just amazed me how much Lincoln's language skills are developing. He said his first word (Dada, of course * rolls eyes *) about a year ago, and then for a long time nothing else. But lately he's been a regular little chatter-box. He jabbers on while he plays with toys, and if he gets hurt, he's very dramatic about pointing and trying to tell me exactly what happened. Not that I ever understand a word, but it's still fun to see that he realizes what those sounds coming out of his mouth are for. He does say words that we understand too, and the other night Aaron and I decided to count them. There were over 50 words that he can say! Wow. And that's not counting the ones he understands but doesn't say. Anyways, I thought for the record's sake I would list the words Lincoln can say, in no particular order:

Dad, Mom, baby, bear, please, no, yes, banana, hat, light, snow, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, teeth, shoes, socks, thank you, Jesus, breakfast, duck, bath, door, bubbles, diaper, Mo (G-ma Swan's dog), more, grapes, cheese, yogurt, rice, ice, piece, blocks, horse, juice, water, uh-oh, yo-yo, trees, stick, puppies, Kelly (uncle), Zac (cousin), vroom (car noise), ball, oof-oof (dog noise), fish, tickle-tickle, kiss, house, erase, Doodle (his magna-doodle), book, wipes, toes, beads

What I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging

Yikes, I know, time to update the blog already! Well here's what I've been up to while Lincoln is sleeping instead of blogging (which is what I normally do when he sleeps).

A Blanket For Shark Bait

Well, a few years ago I inherited a sewing machine from my great-grandmother. The thing is probably older than I am, and it weighs more than Lincoln (probably about 50 pounds, no exaggeration) and it is practically an antique. It's been sitting in my mom's barn for a few years. Well, I've gotten the sewing bug lately, so instead of making a trip to Hooper to use my mom's machine every time I wanted to sew, we decided to dig this dinosaur out of the barn. And guess what...it works! Thanks to Aaron who put a lot of TLC and some bike chain grease into it for me. Anyways, it's the perfect thing for a beginning sewer.

Back in October I made a baby blanket for Aaron's sister Stacey's baby Jeremiah. It turned out so well (at least as far as my very limited sewing skills are concerned) that I wanted to make another one for Shark Bait. I got some material (and who knew how difficult it would be to find six different kinds of fabric that had a similar theme/color scheme to them?) then I cut it out, and we decided to make the quilt a little bigger than the original pattern called for, so Aaron (the math brain in this relationship) helped me adjust the pattern size and keep all the right dimensions. And then away I went on the sewing machine.

I think it came out pretty darn good for a first try all by myself. There are lots of crooked parts that you can't really see, and a couple lines that don't match up perfectly that you can see. But all in all I'm happy with it, and I'll probably keep sewing.

Yesterday I went up to Hooper and my mom helped me put the batting in and the backing on. So now all that's left is to sew up the little gap where we pulled the quilt right side out and then it'll be all done!

In the midst of this project, I decided that since Lincoln has started using a pillow now, that I should probably make him a pillow case so he doesn't have to keep using our old camping one. Well, at the fabric store (it's starting to be a dangerous place) I found the cutest pirate material, so I got it to make Lincoln a pillow case out of. Then I got to thinking how we are going to take all the crib bedding out of Lincoln's crib to use for Shark Bait's crib, and how Lincoln wouldn't have a dust ruffle on his crib anymore (I know, disastrous!) and I got to looking at the dust ruffle, and it didn't look too difficult, so I made the decision that I would make Lincoln a dust ruffle and a blanket to match his pirate pillow case. And if I still feel ambitious after that, I'll attempt curtains for his window! Wow, so I did the pillow case at my mom's yesterday (sorry no picture yet, Lincoln is currently napping on it) and at night while Aaron does homework I've been working on the dust ruffle. I'm pretty excited about it all.

Trying Out Christmas Gifts


Also I've been trying out all our new Christmas gifts! Aaron's mom gave me a Pampered Chef melon baller/cookie scoop and a Pampered Chef cooling rack and a PC cutting board, and a PC potato peeler. I have been going to town! Isn't it amazing how a few good tools can make life so much easier? My cookies were so round, and all I had to do was use the scoop. No more balling them by hand. And even better than round cookies, when I pulled them out of the oven to put on the cooling rack, they didn't fall between the cracks (which is what they always did on my old ones) so they stayed in a nice shape instead of sagging through the bottom. I was very pleased with the results. And Lincoln and Aaron both seemed to like the cookies, so I guess it's a keeper. :)

Oh ya, and a quick side note that has nothing to do with this post: Lincoln's souvenir from Texas finally fits him! Hooray! It's cute too. Don't mess with Texas. Ok, that's all, back to the post.

My parents made us a book case. Which I was really excited about because our other three were running out of room. So I've been reorganizing books so that we can spread them out across 4 book cases. Admittedly, one of the bookcases is only a half size, we used to use it for the reference shelf, but now we've emptied it and it's in Lincoln's room holding all of his books.

Teachin Linc to Be a Band Nerd

Maternal Instinct Kickin' In?

So, I don't know what it is, but for some reason yesterday all of the sudden, I just felt this, what could I even call it? A craving? A burning desire? A very strong urge, to get things ready for Shark Bait. I just kept coming up with lists of things we need to get and do and make.

He needs a car seat, a dresser, I need to go through Lincoln's baby clothes and see what we have so I can make a list of what we need, I want to make him blankets, burp clothes, toys, an Easter basket (ok I didn't say all of this was realistic or rational, it's just what was running through my head), we need to decide how to organize his room, where to put the computer (currently Shark Bait's room is the study), and I, for serious real, had to stop myself about 3 times from going and setting up the crib to be ready for him. Like I wanted to put the bumpers on and raise it up to the bassinet setting, and the whole works.

In a way it's kind of ridiculous, all this sudden rush, he's not going to be here until mid-March (and no I don't think he's coming early). And yet here I am pulling up craig's list and KSL to see if anyone has posted a cheap dresser in our area. And here I am frantically crocheting around a baby blanket (like we don't already have 500 from when Lincoln was born), and here I am frustrated that I can't find what I want at the fabric store, and that I bought the wrong kind of cloth diapers for making burp clothes out of.

Last night Aaron humored me and we got online and ordered a car seat. I feel good about that. I mean, it's not a bad thing to want to be prepared. But why all the rush all the sudden? Maybe my maternal instinct is kicking in on over-drive. Who knows. Aaron said I acted the same way with Lincoln, but I don't remember.

Lincoln's First Snow Fort

It appears that the Arctic Blast followed us back to Provo. Monday night it started snowing and it still hasn't stopped! This afternoon Lincoln and I bundled up and headed out into the winter wonderland.

I didn't know what Lincoln would think of all the snow, he didn't really like it before, but this time he loved it. He just kept saying "Snow, snow." And then he would pick some up and throw it and laugh really hard. The sidewalks had been shoveled but the roads and parking lots were covered.



On our way to the backyard, Lincoln found some really deep (for him) snow to walk it. I thought it was so funny, but he kept at it and eventually we did make it to the fenced play area in the back of our complex.

The snow was really easy to gather and pack, so I decided that we would make a snow fort. I piled the snow, and Lincoln caught on really quickly with how to help me pack it down. When his attention span ended, he'd just go around and pick up snow and throw it at me, and then he'd come back and help. It was great to watch him having such a good time.

We stayed out so long, that before we knew it Aaron was home from school. He couldn't resist and came to help us finish up the fort. The arch on the doorway was his idea, and he did most of the construction while I took pictures and piled more snow.

My boys and their completed snow fort. It looked really cool. Too bad other kids from the complex will probably knock it down tomorrow. Oh well.

And here's Lincoln going in and out of the door to his snow fort. He thought it was the coolest thing to have a door that was just his size.

Late Christmas in Hooper

Saturday night we all made it to Hooper safely. Aaron by car with Kelly, and Lincoln and I by airplane. My mom and Kerry had saved all of our Christmas gifts so we could unwrap them when we got there. They had made Lincoln an adorable wooden rocking horse. I was really impressed with how well it turned out. They used a mop for the hair, and even some vinyl lettering to spell Swan on the bottom of the rocker.


Lincoln loved the horse. Even though he's not tall enough yet to get on and off by himself. I'd put him on it, and then after a while ask him if he wanted to get down and he'd say "NO!" and start rocking harder.


While we were in Washington, Aaron and Kelly divided up their 5,000 piece set of K'nex. Of course we brought ours home with us. Aaron was (unadmittingly) desperate to play with them, and so was thrilled when Tanner wanted to play to. Lincoln even got in on the action! Who said you have to be 11 to play with these things?

.JPG" border=0>I was surprised how long the K'nex held Lincoln's attention. And he didn't even make a mess out off all the small pieces like I thought he would. Aaron built him a lawn mower, which he pushed around and around the house all day.

This is a great video of Lincoln making building sound effects and then falling down and saying "Ah-oh" one of his favorite words. He's a pretty silly little boy, but we love him.

We weren't sure we'd be able to get all our stuff home in one load. We had all our luggage that we took to Washington, plus all the Christmas presents from there, plus all the Christmas presents from Hooper. But my husband just so happens to be the master packer, and we fit in everything except the bookcase Mom and Kerry made for us, which we knew wouldn't fit in our car in the first place. Here is a picture of it all jammed into our car. The trunk is full too. We even had room for all three of us to ride home comfortably. Way to go Aaron!