Happy Birthday's

Today we'd like to take a moment to remember what would have been the 27th Birthday of our dear friend Shannon. We miss him a ton, and can't believe it's been 6 1/2 months since the accident. We'll release a balloon tonight to honor his memory and the wonderful friend that he was. We miss him and love him very much.

Also, since it's been since Thanksgiving since I updated the blog, I want to wish a Happy Belated Birthday to my Nana, who's birthday was December 6th. We love you Nana! Here's a picture that is a 'blast from the past', it was taken the day I checked into the hospital to prepare for my induction with Lincoln. :)

Happy Thanksgiving...

Since I probably won't get around to it tomorrow, here's wishing you all a delicious and Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. As I'm sure everyone does, I have times where I am unhappy or angry with things going on in my life, but I know it could always be worse. I know that I am very lucky for the life that I have and like every year, I have much to be thankful for this year. Here's just a few that I could come up with off the top of my head:

For these things, I am thankful:

*First and foremost, my beautiful, healthy little boy Lincoln.

*My health, home, freedom.
*Having a wonderful family, and the best friends I could ask for.

*2 adorable dogs.
*Waking up each day with the opportunity to live how I want that day.

Sadly, this is the first Thanksgiving without my Papa. I miss him dearly, and know he's looking down on us all. I'm thankful to have had such a wonderful Papa. :) Miss you Papa, and love you forever.

Lastly, I want to take the time to remember a dear friend of ours, Shannon Jacob Smith, who 6 months ago yesterday was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident. We miss him dearly and as we celebrate this Thanksgiving, we are thankful for having this wonderful man grace our lives. He was so special to us, as he was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity with Scott (along with brothers Spencer and Steven) and Shannon lived with us on 2 occasions when he started at P&G. He was such a wonderful friend and such an amazing person. We will think of him as we cut into the turkey we will be preparing, because it actually was Shannon's turkey from his freezer. The turkey was given to Scott by Shannon's family, when Scott went to help clean out Shannon's Iowa City home in the weeks following the funeral. Part of me doesn't even want to cut into it, because it was supposed to be Shannon's Thanksgiving turkey this year. :( It will be so bittersweet. Shannon, we miss you, love you, and thank you for the turkey.

Another one bites the dust...

Well, up until late last week, our family had remained healthy. But it seems that everything that has been going around has unfortunately finally caught up to us. Thankfully, (knock on wood), it's not H1N1 or other influenza. It started over the weekend, Lincoln was a bear. He lost a lot of his appetite for food and drinks and was 'Oscar the grouch'. He never had a fever, but nonetheless we gave him motrin because we could tell he wasn't feeling that good.

On another note, I accepted my first nursing job working in a pediatric office in Cedar Rapids!

http://www.pediatric-center.com/

Our practice is a group of 7 pediatricians, 1 Nurse Practitioner, & 1 Physician's Assistant (7 people are in my office and 2 in the other, there are two locations in CR) and I will be the primary nurse to one of the pediatricians! The picture below are the providers (minus one). I will be working for Dr. Linda McDermott. She is the 3rd in from the right, with the striped shirt. She's very nice and I think I will enjoy working with her. =)

So, I accepted my job on Monday but waited to start until Wednesday because of Lincoln not feeling well. Today (Thursday), I got my first call at work. It was from Lincoln's daycare. He woke up from his nap and wasn't acting like his usual self. So the teacher took his temperature and yup, he had a fever. So I put in a call to daddy who was able to pick him up and take him to the doctor and our poor guy has a double ear infection. =( So he's now on a 10 day course of Amoxicillin. He can't go back to daycare until he's been fever free for 24 hours. So, Scott will be staying home with him tomorrow so I don't have to call in my first week of work.

Now, to add more fuel to the fire, I started developing a sore throat Tuesday night, of course, the night before I started my new job! I still have it, making it painful to swallow and everything. So, mommy might end up going into the doctor too. My co-workers were like 'How can you already be sick? It's only your second day!' because well, basically when you work in a doctor's office, especially a pediatricians office, you're working in a petri dish. I was told I'd probably often be sick, but I didn't expect it to start right away. (really, I'm joking, I know it wasn't from my new job.)

Here's hoping Lincoln and I get to feeling better over the weekend!

Returning after a long hiatus...

Hi everyone. When I started the blog, I was pretty good about updating it. I had gone on a trip to see one of my best friends and the day after I got home, I went to be with my Papa and my family at the hospital for the next 3-4 days until my Papa (my mom's father) passed away. He was very special to me. I always knew that when I had a son, the middle name would be after my Papa. Papa was (it's hard to say 'was') "John David", and Lincoln is "Lincoln John".

Lincoln and Papa had a very special bond between them. I loved seeing Lincoln interact with his Papa when he saw him. I was fortunate to have my mom babysit Lincoln for about a year. My mom happens to live with my Nana & Papa, so Lincoln spent many days of every week while I was in school with the 3 of them. Lincoln would sit on Papa's lap and get cookies, crackers, & puff popcorn from him. He loved playing in Papa's room with Papa's cars that were on his shelf. I didn't smiles come often from Papa over the years, but when Lincoln I'd walk into the room with Lincoln, I saw one...everytime.

Right after Halloween last year, I purchased a mailman costume online for Halloween this year. Papa used to be a mailman. He was the oldest ever employed by the Cedar Rapids post office. I took it over to show Papa and he just grinned. I think he forgot about it after awhile. This year, I decided a month in advance to take it over to Nana & Papa's to have Nana & Nonie (the name the grandkids have for my mom) look at it to see if it would need altered. Lincoln ran into the living room in full USPS mailman attire and Papa's face just lit up. I said "look Papa, Lincoln is YOU for Halloween!"

I'm so glad I decided to do that, because a week later, Papa was gone. I will miss him very much, and I will tell Lincoln about his Papa, how his middle name is after him, and about the special bond they shared. :)

IN LOVING MEMORY OF:

John David "Papa" Reader

February 23, 1925-October 5, 2009

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

Like Father, Like Son--Vol. 2

I've established that Lincoln is definitely 'all boy'. Not only is he into 'planes, trains, and automobiles' as the saying goes, but he is also into 'helping' Daddy do 'big boy' stuff and doing 'big boy' stuff like Daddy does. So, I decided to take Lincoln outside after he woke up from his nap. I really thought he was going to dive into helping Scott with washing the cars. Nope. He instead spotted his 'wheels' or so we call it. It is no secret that Scott's favorite hobby is to play golf.

So, in the spirit of maybe passing down the love of this pastime to Lincoln, Lincoln owns his very own golf cart!! Above is the 'Little Driver' Golf Cart that Lincoln has. I know for sure it is sold on target.com We got it for a deal however from the store 'Tuesday Morning' before Christmas. Ours did come with the golf clubs and balls shown, but not the little flag and hole. It seats one child up to 3 years old and 65 pounds.

This is the 'Big Driver' golf cart. I thought I'd post it as well for those of you who may have 2 little people that would like it. :) Also sold on target.com it looks like it seats 2 kids ages 3+ and up to 90 pounds.

Anyway, Lincoln's just recently figured out how to drive his golf cart. Before he didn't make the connection that keeping the foot constant on the pedal makes it go, and turning the wheel helps you NOT run into things. Well, I must say, he's become a pretty good driver now, at the age of 2 1/2. Kinda scares a mommy a bit. ;) He tears off down the cul-de-sac (I LOVE living on a quiet cul-de-sac) in his little golf cart, entertaining both myself and Scott, but the neighbors who hear the little cart and come out to investigate only to find out it's our little man driving like a big boy. :)

In the foreward to his late father Earl Woods' book, Tiger Woods quoted 'In retrospect, golf for me was an apparent attempt to emulate the person I looked up to more than anyone: my father. He was instrumental in helping me develop the drive to achieve, but his role — as well as my mother's — was one of support and guidance, not interference.'

Well, Lincoln may never grow up to be on the PGA tour, and that is just fine with us. If he does love golf as much as Tiger does and grows up to be 'the next Tiger', that is just fine with us too. But we would like to adopt the same lesson from Tiger's parents in instilling into Lincoln the 'drive to achieve, support, guide, and not interfere.'

Message from McDonald's...

To start, HAPPY BIRTHDAY'S TO MY MOM (DIANE) AND MY NIECE SOPHIA TODAY!!!

Before I hit the books to study for my board exam, I felt compelled to share about my morning trip to McDonald's. I rarely go to McDonald's, honestly, and it is even more few and far between that I go into McDonald's to eat. When thinking about it, I think I've been inside the Coraville McDonald's twice before today in the 6 years we've lived here.

For some reason, this morning I decided to take Lincoln to McDonald's for breakfast before dropping him off at preschool. While walking in, we were greeted by a friendly elderly employee at the door. I ordered our food, sat down with Lincoln, proceeded to get Lincoln's hotcakes prepared for him. The same man who greeted us at the door said 'would you like some more coffee?', I stated 'no, I'm ok, but thank-you'. He said 'ya know what? I drink 45 of those everyday', meaning 45 cups of coffee!! I said 'really!?!' He said he has an entire pot before he comes to work at 4am, which he says is 16 cups, and then he drinks coffee the entire shift at work. I asked him if he sleeps, he said about 1-1 1/2 hrs. per night!! He also said that people always ask him how his blood pressure is, and he laughed and gestured that it is through the roof. He said his last one was 290/90! The nurse in me came out and told him that a BP like that coupled with that much coffee is not healthy and that he really should be careful. He just shrugged his shoulders and laughed.

He then asked me if Lincoln was about 2 and I said yes, that he turned 2 this past May. He then proceeded to strike up a conversation with me that I'm still thinking about right now. The man's name was Bill. Bill began to tell me about how for his entire life, he has tried to help people. He spoke of his late father, and the life lessons that his father passed onto him that he says contribute to the person he is today. His father, he said, told him to accept anyone and everyone, no matter the sex, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc... as we are all God's children. He said his father was his insipiration and still is, to how he lives his life everyday. Bill said his Mother never told him things like that throughout his life, and that she was jealous of the close relationship Bill had with his father and that he will remember that for the rest of his life. This made my heartache, especially being a mother myself, I wouldn't want my child to feel like Bill said he felt. I hope to pass on the same life lessons to Lincoln as Bill's father did to him. He said it's very important to listen to our kids, to talk to them, because many of the problems kids get into aren't necessarily because they're bad kids, but because the parents never sat down to talk to them. He said 'tie the kid to a chair if you have to' or rather yet, if it's the parents not listening, he said he's told kids to make them listen.

Bill has been with McDonald's 8 years, and according to him has had 30+ years in the restaurant industry. He says he loves brightenening people's days and offering to help them. He said that he always asks if you'd like more coffee, because he said 'you never know when you might make a difference in someone's day'. I know this story seems rather lengthy, but I really enjoyed the conversation and wanted to share it with you, sort of a 'pay it forward' type thing.

Bill also shared with me some interesting facts about his life. He is a godfather to 33 children, from the SAME FAMILY!!! Yes, he used to work with a 50 year old woman who is devout Catholic who is married to a 51 year old man, they don't believe in birth control. They have 33 children!!! She has given birth to ALL of them! I said, 'no way', he said 'yes'. I guess both the woman and man have multiple sets of multiples on each side of their families. This couple has sets of twins, triplets, and Bill said their last pregnancy was quintuplets (5)!!! With 33 children already, they are pregnant again, with septuplets (7)!!!!! Another crazy part, none were conceived with fertility treatments. Supposedly their house has 10 bedrooms. I still find that whole story hard to believe. But nonetheless, it was entertaining.

You are all probably thinking, my gosh, this all happened in a morning trip to McDonald's? Yes, but I didn't mind listening to him, because he had such sweet and things to say, I almost wish Lincoln was old enough to understand this stranger with the powerful life lessons. Bill said he loves being a soundboard for people, because as he said 'you never know when you're going to offer the solution someone was looking for.'

Ironically, he said his mother's mother's mother's mother or something to that effect, was married to the President of the United States, Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln!!!!! I laughed and said, Lincoln is my son's name, as I pointed to Linc. He said had his parents not married, or something, his last name would be Lincoln.

There is something to be learned from someone like Bill, with such a positive outlook on life. Even more interesting, he has been through a lot of tragedy in his life. His father, the person he loved most in the world, died in his arms. He lost his wife and a child in a car accident, and the woman he was dating after the death of his wife died. Someone he said asked him how much more could he take and he said 'with God's help, I'll get through it.' Wow. He then said that he has 3 operations coming up. He has no life insurance policy on himself and all 3 are life threatening. He has thyroid cancer, double hernias in his lower abdomen, and has a blood infection that may result in the double amputation of his legs. I just shook my head in amazement how he is still so positive and caring admist having the medical issues he's battling. He said he told his boss at McDonald's that even if he ends up confined to a wheelchair, he will still find a way to come to work and wipe tables or something in order to help the store.

Well, that's it. I learned a lot about this man obviously, but I wouldn't take back the conversation I had with him. You never know when you walk into a McDonald's that you could leave having been inspired by a stranger. If any of you live in the Coralville area, Bill told me he works Tuesday-Saturday from 8-4 and is always happy to talk to people, maybe if you need your day lightened, go see Bill. :)

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind', and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' " Luke 10:27

Like Father, Like Son--Vol. 1

When Scott traveled to Broken Bow this past 4th of July, Jerry & Linda brought out Scott's old tractor that his Grandpa had made and decided to let Lincoln have a try on it.

So I thought it'd be fun to periodically post some of the 'like' photos I have of Scott when he was a little guy, and Lincoln in similar photos. So born now into my blog is the 'Like Father, Like Son' volumes. It's also fun to look back on Scott's baby photos because people always ask me how Lincoln got the blonde hair he has when I've had dark hair from the moment I was born. Well, he gets it from his Daddy, only Scott had whiter blonde hair and Lincoln has more golden blonde hair. Nonetheless, my Italian genes are obviously not dominant. Enjoy the photos. :)

Lincoln John-July 2009 (Age 2)

Scott Jeremy-August 1984 (Age 3)

Life Laughs by Lincoln--Vol.1

So this past weekend I realized my toes were in some serious need of re-painting. Since it was the Cyclones vs. Hawkeyes game I decided to support our alma mater Iowa State by sporting red toenails. Evidently, the 'Clones weren't informed of my painting my toes red to support them, as evidenced by the final score of the game. Anyway, as I was painting my toenails, Lincoln comes into the bathroom and looks at my toes and curiously points to them, looks up at me and says 'it hurts?'. My sweet little guy evidently thought my toes were bleeding!! I smiled and had a little chuckle and said 'no sweetie, it doesn't hurt'. Periodically he still touches my toes and says 'it hurts?' and each time I have to gladly remind him, 'no hunny, mommy's toes don't hurt.' Out of the mouths of babes. :)

YoGos

When my mom used to watch Lincoln she came across these little yogurt covered snacks. Kellogg's YoGos. They come in a variety of different flavors and even a few are sour versions. Lincoln LOVES most of the regular flavors, the sour he doesn't care for.

He's even developed his own little tradition, when I pick him up from preschool and we get home, within 5 minutes he runs to his little Fisher-Price chair that Scott's parents bought him for his very first Christmas. Now, he's been too big for this cute little chair for awhile now. On the little sidebar table that is attached to the chair it has a little 'bowl-like' dip underneath the little flippy book that is his designated 'yogo dish'.

So I ask, how can I put this chair away when Lincoln is so cute and runs to sit on it and asks for his yogos? Well, I haven't yet been able to. :)

No Pacifier = No Sleep

I am writing this post after having one of the most sleepless nights I've ever had with Lincoln, maybe even worse than his newborn days. :( Lincoln has had pacifier priveledges at bedtime for quite some time and I decided that since he doesn't use it for naps at daycare, he shouldn't have to use it at home either. Sunday was our first trial of no paci. He napped without it, and slept through the night only waking up once. I thought to myself, 'hey, that was easy'. Wow was I in for it. Last night, being night two without paci, was what I expected night one to be like. He cried until 10:30 (he's in bed anywhere between 8-8:30), so I didn't want to go to bed until he fell asleep. Finally he did and I went to bed not knowing I'd spend most of the night getting in and out of it. I lost count of how many times I woke up with Lincoln crying, and I tell you what, I was ready to cave in and get the pacifier out of the cupboard, but I didn't. Eventually I pulled him into bed with us even though I really don't want him to get into the habit of sleeping in our bed, but I was so tired I thought maybe he'd sleep if he was with us. NOPE! He still woke up frequently. So I gave up and we're up for the day. I really hope tonight doesn't go like last night did, because I'm in a vulnerable state that I just may forget taking the pacifier away and my child will end up a 5 year old who still uses it to sleep. Gosh I hope not...

Kinks...

So I originally compared setting up our blogger and the cute backgrounds to maintaining my MYSPACE when I had it. That's what I loved about it when I did have it, the cute customizations I could add. However, setting up the background for this has been a task to say the least. For those of you pros who use blogger, evidently I can't use "3 column layouts", otherwise it cuts off a good portion of the layout depending on how big of a computer screen you're viewing it on. Boo. I had a really cute one originally. If any of you have any tips or suggestions for me, send em' my way. Otherwise lots of people are going to be getting phone calls from me asking 'how much of my background can you see?' :)

Blog beginning...

For those of you who used to follow our babysite, you've probably figured out it is no more. Because more and more people are doing blogger these days, I caught on to the buzz that it must be a lot easier than all the hoopla of getting into the babysite. So, here we are. Scott had created a blog on here for Lincoln's videos a long time ago, but since I can't figure out how to take over that one, I just started this one. :) I'm pretty good about updating facebook with photos of Lincoln, but I realize that not everyone has a facebook account, so this is for you. :) Bear with me as I figure out the ins and outs of blogger.