We had the honor and pleasure of attending the wedding reception of our good friends Nick and Trish in Salt Lake City last month. What a joyous day to celebrate such a great couple after being together for 10 years! It was wonderful to be a part of their big day. We love you Nick & Trish!
Congratulations to our friends Preston & Jodi! After a very long wait they finally welcomed little
Shaw Katherine Price
into the world on October 13th!
Shaw is adorable with chubby chipmunk cheeks and Preston & Jodi are doing great with her. Lincoln insisted we go visit them last week and I'm so glad we did. I loved holding her - Shaw seems so tiny next to our monster five month old!
We're looking forward to having all sorts of fun with Shaw and her parents over the coming years :-)
Miss Lillian Craft made her arrival two weeks ago today! She surprised her mommy and daddy by coming a week early but we're all just so glad she's here safely. She is beautiful with a full head of dark hair and adorable big chubby cheeks. Amber and Andy are doing a great job with their new daughter. We can't wait for all the adventures our little families will have together!
Lillian and Lincoln meeting for the first time. Clearly Lincoln was more interested in attempting to shove his entire fist in his mouth than saying hi to Lillian. I'm sure he'll be teaching her how to do that in no time!
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20
On Sunday, August 14th, we asked for God's blessing upon our sweet son as he was baptized into the Body of Christ. We made committments and promises and were reminded what a precious gift God has entrusted to us.
We were honored to have so many of our family members and close friends there to celebrate with us. It was a joyous day! Lincoln was all smiles in his Great Grandpa Wilson's heirloom gown and just beamed away each time Pastor Jim poured the water over his head.
Daddy, Mommy, Pastor Jim, and Godmother Nicki with the guest of honor.
Lincoln's cheering section. (Too bad no one loves our little boy!)
Back row: Amber, Jodi, Preston, Daniel, Grandpa Todd, Lincoln, Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Pat, Aunt Kassi, Aunt/Godmother Nicki Front row: Gruncle Stevie, Grant Sessie, Grandpa Rick, Grape Grandma, Grandma Giesler, Katie, Uncle Rick, Grandpa Harv, and Linda.
(Great Grandma and Grandpa Giesler were there too but somehow didn't make it into the picture.)
Lincoln was so happy his godmother was able to come to Boise to join us for his special day! Thanks Aunt Nicki!
Lincoln and I had a great time celebrating the coming of Little Miss Craft a few Saturdays back at Amber's baby shower. Mama Amber is looking and feeling great and we are all just so excited to meet Baby Craft! She and Andy will be such great parents - that is one lucky baby.
Isn't that one of the most darling cakes you've ever seen?
Amber's sister in law Lindsay was at the shower with her new lil guy, Brody. He and Lincoln met back when they were fetuses so it was only fitting for them to re-meet as babies. They had tons of fun being cute, taking turns crying, and laying together on the floor staring at the ceiling fan.
Soon-to-be Grandma Nancy enjoyed practicing on Lincoln. She got my fussy boy to sleep - she's a natural!
If you look closely at this picture of Mama Amber you can see that Lincoln is starting to spit up all over her. She handled it like a champ - a true mother already!
Lincoln had a great time chillin' at the gym today. Right after I shot this video I flipped him over for tummy time and no more than 5 seconds later he rolled right back over! I could hardly belive it - my baby rolled over! I'm such a mom, I know, but I am just so excited and proud of my little guy. Go Lincoln go!
Mr. B turned another year older last week and to celebrate we had a BBQ at our place with friends and family. It's so nice living close to so many people we love! Case manned the grill and everyone brought a side to share. Gotta love potlucks (especially when you have a new baby and don't feel like cooking for 20 people).
Kass and I got together to make Casey's cake for the big day. I had lots of fun making his sushi cake a few years ago and wanted to do something creative again. Kassi did some research and came across a BBQ cake online. We all know Casey loves to grill so we thought we'd give it a whirl. I saw the corn on the cob cupcakes on a magazine cover and thought they'd make a nice "side dish."
So here's the finished product - a burgers and dogs on the grill cake. Whatcha think?
I can hardly believe it, Lincoln is one month old today! Time has just flown by. He has grown and changed so much in such a short time. He gets bigger, stronger, and has more hair every single day. He is just getting more and more interactive and fun, too. We've tried tickling him in the past and he just kind of blankly stares at us. This morning, though, Casey tried tickling him and he just smiled and smiled. It was pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Even more adorable than this:
Now that was pretty adorable - but our kid is even more adorable. And cuter. And smarter =) I could have stared at him smiling all day long. Maybe tomorrow I will...
It may not seem like a big deal to some, but another big milestone today was Lincoln being able to hold his bink (pacifier) in his mouth all by himself for about 10 minutes. Normally if he's upset and wants to suck we pop that baby in and he settles right down. But he hadn't quite figured out how to keep it in so we were always having to either hold it in or constantly put it back in. You can imagine how challenging this is when I'm by myself with him in the car. Today though I popped it in his mouth at a stoplight and he was able to hold it in all by himself! Driving in the car is so much more pleasant when he's not screaming =)
I just can't explain how much we love our lil guy. He is an absolute joy to parent. It's amazing to watch him discover himself and discover the world - I have a feeling that will never get old.
He is just the best thing ever! Happy one month birthday Lincoln!!!
P.S. Actual video of our smiley boy coming soon!!!
There are so many wonderful fathers in my life and I am incredibly grateful for each of them and all the ways they enrich both my life and my son's life!
My dad
My Papa
My step dad
My father-in-law.
Sorry you're sideways Harv - Blogger is just not cooperating tonight!
I can't believe our baby boy is three weeks old already! In some ways it feels like a whole new life we're leading and in some ways it seems like he has blended right into our world. We are just so in love.
Lincoln is getting so big and strong. He has always been great at holding his head up but he is able to do it for longer stretches of time now. He has been accidentally smiling for a week or two now but they seem to be coming more frequently and sometimes intentionally! He put on quite the show for Casey and me this morning. Those little gummy grins just make my heart melt. Lincoln has also just about perfected his nursing skills. This boy loves to eat – he’s definitely got some Richner genes in him! I love that when he’s nursing his hands are usually right up by his face or clinging to me as if to say “Hey Mom, you’re not going anywhere until I’m done.” He likes to stick his pinky out while he eats too - such a refined young man.
He is a great little snuggler and loves to snooze in the crook of your arm or on your chest. He doesn’t mind being swaddled as long as he has his arms free so that he can put them by his face. He always has his hands up by his face – it must be how he was positioned in utero because he is not comfortable unless his hands are there. His legs on the other hand, he loves to stretch out. I joke that he is loving all this space in first class after being stuck in coach for nine months. He is also beginning to interact with the world. Link loves to stare at faces and if you stick out and wiggle your tongue he'll try to mimic you by sticking out his tongue (sometimes). If you put a toy up to the side of his head and jiggle it he'll turn toward the sound. He is just getting more and more fun every day.
Life with a newborn is of course not all rainbows and sunshine. There are lots of diapers, lots of spit up, and lots of crying. The nights are short and sometimes it seems that all I do is breastfeed, change diapers, repeat. But he is so so so worth it. The good outweighs the bad (I wouldn't even call it bad, more like the "not so fun stuff") exponentially.
Benny and Kimmy were down over the weekend for a long overdue visit. It was so great to see them! Now that we're both grown-up(ish) Ben and I really get along well. He is so fun to hang out with and I always appreciate his sense of humor. I'm so glad he's my big brother :-)
Our family and Kim's parents all got together for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate Ben and Kim's engagement. It was great - good food, good laughs, and a fantastic reason to celebrate. Ben and Kim are so great together and I couldn't have asked for a better girl for my brother to marry. I know they will be very happy for a very long time. Here's to the happy couple!
Now that we have lived here for two weeks (as of today) I thought it was about time to post some pictures to give you a tour of our new home! We absolutely love our house and are so happy we get to live here. So without further ado:
Ta-da!
A very sleepy yet excited Casey and Molly waking up
after staying our first night in our new home on an air mattress :-)
Master bath with walk-in shower.
I love our tile!
Master vanity (don't worry there's now a mirror in the frame).
Our closet (swoon!).
Baby's room. Can't wait to bring him/her home to be with us :-)
Guest room / Baby #2's room.
Built-in shelves in upstairs hallway.
The laundry chute!!!
It dumps straight into a cupboard in our laundry room.
Guest/kids' bath (the mirror is now in here, too).
Bonus room aka Casey's man cave.
Stairwell. (I love having that window there!)
Master bedroom.
Dining room. (Hard to see I know but basically it's three walls
with the fourth open to the kitchen and a light fixture in the middle.)
Our backyard. Plenty of room for a BBQ's, a swing set and a garden.
Oh kitchen how I love thee.
Living room as seen from kitchen.
(The buckets of paint have now been relocated to the garage where they belong.)
Eek! One of my favorite purchases ever.
I have wanted these for soooo long.
Powder room (downstairs).
Mudroom (right when you walk in from the garage).
Front room / sewing room.
Front door / entry way.
We woke up to snow our first morning in our new house.
It was fun and magical and glorious!
These pictures were taken when our house was all shiny and pretty looking. It's still gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but the overall vibe is a bit cluttered with all the boxes strewn about. Hopefully soon we'll have most things put away and feel semi-organized. I'm hoping to at least have the kitchen/living/dining rooms all put together this week so I can decorate for Christmas. We are loving our home so much and feel so blessed and lucky to get to live here and raise our family here. And we'd love to have you over so if you want to visit and poke your head around just let us know :-)
