Family Insanity!

So, we had guests from December 27th till January 5th. It was crazy, but fun. Ryan and Mandi and Co. were the first to arrive early on the 27th, and Steph flew in that night. Mom flew in the next evening, and Dad, Caroline, Skylar, and Collin trailed in via car. The Wilcox's arrived that night. On the morning of the 29th, Nikkia, Wendy (his girlfriend), and Shelley flew in.
Sunday directly after the blessing, Mom, Dad, Steph, and Collin left for Charleston. Shelley flew out on Monday the 31st. Nikkia and Wendy left on the 1st. Ryan and Mandi and Co. and the Wilcox's departed on the 2nd, and Caroline and Skylar stayed until the morning of the 5th. Some people had hotel rooms and Shelley stayed at the Winfield's for a night, but for two nights in a row we had ten extra people and one extra dog in our house!
We played LOTS of games--Dominion, this name game thingy, improv games, What If, and the Game of Things. We stayed up way too late every night. We had the Cooper family gift and book exchange (gifts for the kiddos, books exchanged white elephant style for the adults). We went to the aquarium and REI. We ate at Pinche Tacos, Watercourse Foods, and Toast. We had homemade pizza, homemade shrimp and grits, WAY too many sweets, and of course the famous Snack City. And we had a really, really awesome time. It was nice to return to our quiet ways after everyone left, but that doesn't mean I didn't immediately miss them like crazy!
(More pics coming soon--Kurt took a bunch with his phone.)

Lincoln's Blessing

On January 30th, we blessed Lincoln. It was a beautiful blessing promising, among other things, that Lincoln will have a strong personal relationship with Heavenly Father and that he'll live a long life. My entire family came out for it, as well as Kurt's mom, brother, and his girlfriend, and our awesome friends the Wilcox's. The Winfield's, Bergam's, and my cousin Michelle and her family all came too! After, we had a casual lunch in the gym (because there was no way all of us were going to fit comfortably in our house), and my parents, Stephanie, and Collin headed home after they ate. It was such a beautiful day. I'm so grateful for this amazing Gospel!
Also, I forgot to take pictures of Lincoln in his adorable blessing outfit, so I did two weeks later. He's laying on a beautiful blanket that my mom crocheted for him, which he was blessed on. He looked pretty similar, except he was already growing too long for the outfit. This kid is a weed! But a cute weed. Yay!

 All the men who were in the circle

 Friends

 Michelle and her cute family (plus Xandrie, the Wilcox's daughter who's in my arms)
Also, Kurt was not stifling Lincoln. Lincoln was hungry, so he was sucking on Kurt's hand.

 Everyone goofy pic

Meeting Nonny

The day before Alisse flew in, I picked up my Grandma Cooper and aunt Lisa from the airport. I took them up to my cousin Michelle's in Broomfield. It was fun hanging out for the day, and then again on Thursday (I took to the airport too--yep, 4 times to the airport in a week, twice in one day!). I only got one picture, though, of Lincoln meeting my Grandma, his Nonny.

Attack of the ginormous baby!

Al + Kris + Mo = Love

In December, I got to see two of my best friends from BYU, Alisse and Mo (not her real name, just our nickname for her). I haven't seen these girls in YEARS and yet it was like we'd never been apart. Except, OH YEAH, we all kids now. Alisse flew up on Tuesday (from Mesa, AZ) and she and I drove up to Greeley to hang out with Mo (she was in town staying at her parents' house). Alisse stayed there for the night, and I came home. The next day, Mo and Alisse came down to my house to hang. Mo and her kids, Finn and Era, said their goodbyes that afternoon. Alisse and I spent the night eating cookies and watching Sister Wives CUZ THAT'S HOW WE ROLL! It was like college all over again! In the morning, I took her and Lucy back to the airport. Sad day. But it was so fun seeing them and finally meeting their adorable kiddos! I freaking love those girls.

 Don't mind me being all ugly and what not.

Mo with Finn and Era, me with Lincoln, and Alisse with Lucy (and baby boy in utero)

 "High five baby." - Lucy

 Lincoln slept four hours in his swing while Finn and Lucy ran around screaming and playing. It was almost a miracle.

 Yes, I wore sweat pants the whole day. And of course, Mo was lovely and fashionable as always.

 "I'm chubby!"

January Goals

It's halfway through the month, so I'll go easy on myself. :)

1. Hang up shelf and finish word art in Lincoln's room.
2. Sew Lincoln's baby boots.
3. Finish all Lincoln's thank you cards. Cuz, you know, he's only 3 months on Saturday.

I'm starting a new incentive for myself. Every day I write, I'm going to put a dollar in a jar. And every monthly goal I accomplish, I'll put a dollar in that very same jar. And every yearly goal I accomplish, I'll donate $5 to the jar. At the end of the year, I'm going to treat myself.

Christmas Time in the Mornin'!

Kurt loves singing that song, for some reason. He's weird.

So, we celebrated our first ever Christmas at home. And our first ever Christmas just us. It was really quiet, but really nice. I'm so excited for when Santa visits our house in a few years, but in the meantime, I'll enjoy my extra sleep. :) Christmas Eve started with a bang--literally. At 7, I was awakened by the sound of the blower on our furnace breaking. Kurt hurried to fix it, and in the meantime, to stay warm, Lincoln and I ran some errands. And let me say, the grocery store was crazy! I'll never do that again. Lincoln and I stayed relaxed the rest of the day until Kurt got home from work. Then we enjoyed shrimp and grits for dinner, followed by watching A Christmas Story and reading the Christmas story in the Bible.
Christmas morning we opened presents and ate something for breakfast (I don't remember what because we decided to hold off on apple pancakes until my family got here). No pictures though because Kurt took it all on video. That night we went over to the Winfield's house for dinner and games. It had been warmer until Christmas Eve, and then it snowed that night. Christmas night, on the way home from the Winfield's, it was 11 degrees. Brrr! Needless to say, we bundled Lincoln up. And my new gloves came in handy.

Finally, 2013 Goals

I haven't posted my goals for the year yet because I've still been thinking about them. There will be a lot of repeats this year, due to the fact that I met almost none of my goals from last year. But that's okay, because as I've said already, I finally managed to get pregnant last year and have a baby, so that was a success. Plus, I had a great year. Kurt and I took lots of trips, and I did lots of house projects (my third favorite thing, after exercising and writing, and reading... so 4th favorite) and was a happy person. So yay. :)

1. Write for at least 20 minutes every day. Totally manageable.
2. Complete current WIP to queriable quality.
3. Complete first draft of thesis novel.
4. Query agents.
5. At least outline next WIP, if not start on the first draft.
6. Read at least 24 books this year. I wish I could do more, but with being a mom and trying really hard with my writing, I think 24 is a good enough goal. That's two books a month, and I already have 12 built in with my book club. So, I might even read more, who knows.
7. Go to the temple every month, even if not with Kurt.
8. Finally, finally, finally learn to coupon.

That's it for now. I might add more. We'll see. And obviously, I'll have my monthly goals. So this is a good start, really.

Yay for 2013!

2012 Goals Recap

1. Do everything I can in my power to get a literary agent. Which can be broken into the following sub-goals: 

     1a. Write the best damn book I can. Fail.
     1b. Write the best damn query letter I can. Fail.
     1c. Send those out to agents. :) Fail.
2. Finish and edit my two works-in-progress and draft a third novel. Fail.
3. Read 50 books, with at least 30 being young adult. Fail.
4. Practice 2 new hymns a week. Success! Until I got released as RS Pianist. Still, good enough to be a success.
5. Attend the temple once a month. Fail.
6. Have a family over for Sunday dinner twice a month (preferably a new family we haven't had over yet). Fail.
7. Read the Book of Mormon and New Testament all the way through (read BoM on Sunday School lesson schedule, and of course read scriptures daily). Fail.
8. Eat at least 3 servings of veggies a day (throw back from last year). Fail.
9. Coupon! Fail.
10. Fully build our one-year emergency supply. Fail.
11. Write in my personal journal weekly (so, this is the only soft goal ... but I still want to do it at least monthly). Fail.

So ... I kinda anticipated this. But it still stings. I almost didn't do this recap post, but the whole point of posting my goals is to be held accountable. So ... looking back on all this, 2012 was a big failure. However, I failed on so many of these goals because I got pregnant and delivered an awesome baby boy, so really, 2012 was a big success in my book. :)

Two Months Old

At two months old, Lincoln:

-Is a big boy! 13 pounds 8 ounces (95th percentile), 24 3/4 inches long (97th percentile) and 16ish inches for head circumference (97th percentile).

-Is a very smiley big boy. He smiles and talks at just about everyone, after a short introduction.

-Is a very talkative big boy. He loves to carry on conversations with me. He talks, then when I'm talking, he watches my mouth--trying to figure out how to say all these words.

-Especially loves kids. He talks/smiles to them immediately and watches them walk around the room

-Is so very close to laughing!

-Averages about one blow-out diaper a day. This kid can poop.

-Has beautiful eyes. Still newborn dark blue, but there's a ring of light blue around his irises. Love them.

-Still loves his swing like crazy.

-Also loves laying on his back, talking, and kicking his legs.

-Recognizes mine and Kurt's voices.

-Can lift his head, neck, and shoulders off the ground when on his stomach (but not for long).

-Can support his full body weight on his legs for quite a while.

-Can support his neck and head when upright 85% of the time.

-Planks when I hold him in the air above my head.

-Fights sleep/fusses when he realizes he's being put to bed. He doesn't want to miss anything.

-Has started sleeping through the night (5 hours).

-Loves to suck on his hands to soothe himself.

-Has deliberately brought his hands to his mouth one time.

-Is still my favorite little boy in the whole history of ever.

*Even though I'm writing this on January 3rd, I'm writing as if it were December 19th (so, for instance, he deliberately brings his hands to his face multiple times a day now.)

Movember

Kurt participated in Movember for the 5th time this year. Movember is a charity in which men grow mustaches during November and get donations for man cancer research (I'm not sure if it's testicular or prostate, but some kind of cancer only men can get). I don't exactly love the stache every year, but it's for a good cause. And, I'll admit it, it can be fun. This year he bought mustache stickers and fake mustaches to give to people who donated. We had some fun with the leftovers at the end of the month. Some of the young men in our ward got in on it too. (Kurt's the young men's president, so they're over at our house often.)

Thanksgiving!

We had a quiet but fun Thanksgiving. Collin hitched a ride down from the Y of I on Tuesday to hang with us boring old folks slash new parents. I think he had fun? He and Kurt saved Thanksgiving dinner by making just about everything because Lincoln was being a needy little munchkin all day. He even made the sweet potato souffle all by himself! Impressive, no? Shelley surprised us by driving down last minute on Friday to hang for the weekend. On my birthday (Saturday) we got our very first real Christmas tree from a real tree lot. No King Soopers tree for us! Lincoln gave me the best present ever--his very first social smile! I am now 28 and that's kinda crazy but enough about that because Lincoln's cute!

The days are long, and the weeks are short

My mom told me her old principal used to say that. I think it applies perfectly to these first weeks as a new mom. The days are long because you're constantly breastfeeding and then up all night, but when you get to the weekend you can't believe another week has flown by.

Anyhow, here is a smorgasbord of pictures from Lincoln's first 7 weeks of life:
Grandma's Visit

Halloween:

More of Grandma's Visit:

Random pictures:

Celebrating Movember:

Kurt is so cute. He's always coming up to me with the camera and asking me to take pictures of him and Lincoln. Melts my heart.