Lincoln Loves...

Lincoln loves...

being swaddled

(and sleeping),

cuddling

(and sleeping),

his binky

(and sleeping),

laying in the "poof"

(and sleeping),

his bouncy seat

(and sleeping),

and tummy time

(and sleeping).

I could add a few more things he loves, but I think my point is made clear that our little man has slept his whole first month away! He is starting to wake up a little bit more now, but it is still kind of a rare thing to catch him with his eyes open. He's such a sweet little guy! We love everything about him.

Sleepy Big Boys

There is something about a sleeping child that just melts my heart. Seeing my boys sleep reminds me of their purity and innocence. Each night when I go into their room to check on them before I go to bed, I like to take a moment to just watch them and remind myself that no matter what took place during the day, they are pure spirits, given to me to teach. It reminds me to be gentle and patient in my teaching and guiding and encourages me through the sometimes mundane tasks of motherhood. Watching them sleep makes me wish they would stay small forever.

And seeing them sleep during the day is just as sweet:

Wesley has really struggled with not having a morning nap, even though he is just a couple of weeks away from being 2. For months he would get so tired in the morning that he would fall asleep just about every time we drove somewhere. But I dropped his morning nap when I moved him into a regular twin bed and wasn't sure how I'd be able to pick it up again. On this day, we had gone grocery shopping and he fell asleep in the car on the way home. I got him out of the car, he walked in the house, and promptly lay down like this in the midst of all the groceries and continued sleeping!

Big Brother Love

I can't get enough of these three! Talmage and Wesley have, overall, done great with the transition. They LOVE everything about Lincoln and being involved with him in any way possible.

(And by the way, Wesley is still a head shorter than Talmage but apparently the height difference is all in their legs--they look the same size when sitting. People often ask if they're twins!)

This was our first day home with 2-day-old Lincoln. Wesley is so proud and always gets this grin on his face when he's interacting with him.

Talmage has been a huge help and loves giving Lincoln his binky, wiping his spit-up, holding him, and "tending" him when I leave the room for a moment.

I put Lincoln down for some tummy time and Talmage wanted to give him some toys. This mountain was quickly formed next to him!

My little sillies!

This is a very common scene: the boys maul Lincoln while he sleeps.

And here they are, just enjoying some light reading together. :)

A Black Eye

On Sunday afternoon, Wesley climbed on the armrest of the couch and then fell backwards and hit his eye on the corner of the windowsill. He was screaming and in an effort to console him I asked, "Is there anything that will make you feel better?" He sobbed out, "BAND-AID!!!" After a band-aid and a kiss he was back to his normal self, but he got a pretty nice black eye from it all!

I took these pictures a couple of days later and I couldn't seem to capture the dark color very well, but you get the general idea. Poor little guy!

He gets so many comments on his beautiful baby blues and long, dark lashes.

This is Wesley's opinion of the whole thing. :)

9 Days Old

A few of my sweet boy at 9 days old:

I adore his chubby cheeks!

Meeting Big Brothers and Going Home!

The morning after Lincoln was born, I started asking if we could go home ASAP. Or I guess I should say, ASAR--As Soon As Reasonable. I didn't want to leave until it was safe for us to take Lincoln home, but I am not a fan of hospitals and never like to stay longer than absolutely necessary. Well, the doctors cleared us to go home that evening--Lincoln just needed to have his bilirubin levels checked at least 24 hours after birth and then we would be good to go.

But even though we were going to come home in just a few hours, I wanted our boys to be able to come to the hospital to see him--to have the opportunity to see where their parents had been the last day and a half and to be able to make the connection I had been telling them about for months previously (that of our baby "coming out of Mommy's tummy" at the hospital when he was big enough).

So Sam left Friday afternoon and picked up the boys to bring them up to the hospital (a 35ish minute drive away). They came in and were so excited to meet Lincoln! Talmage said, "Now we have 3 brothers! 1...2...3!" Here he is pointing and counting brothers.

. 

Wesley was especially anxious to hold him.

I LOVE this one!

I called a nurse to come snap a few pictures of the whole family together. Wesley couldn't seem to keep his hands off Lincoln, and pretty much hasn't ever since!

Then some major excitement began as I pulled out the toys Lincoln got for them. New Hot Wheels cars immediately endeared him to his brothers. Talmage would thank him every time he was near for days following!

The hospital provides a sibling cake and juice to celebrate--another thrill for the boys!

Then Sam left to take them to one more friend's house and when he returned we gathered our things to go! I hurriedly got Lincoln dressed in his "going-home" outfit. Never mind the fact that it was already almost bedtime and I changed him into pjs as soon as we got home... I still had to snap a few pictures while Sam was pulling the car up to the pick-up zone.

For being over 9 lbs, he certainly didn't look it! But this picture makes him look so chubby!

And with that, we headed home about 27 hours after birth, still somewhat in disbelief that we were parents of 3 sons!

This big, tiny baby certainly is adored!