Survival

The last 3 months my little family has been in survival mode. We have been trying to survive while Mike is gone all week. It comes with its challenges and its blessings but mostly challenges. I have gained a GREATER respect for single parents.

When Friday hits I have usually had enough and can't wait until Mike comes home. Some days are much harder than others but we seem to survive and make it through. There are days that I just want to go somewhere without my kids or run errands without my kids. However, they are quickly learning that they get to come with me everywhere. For the most part they are pretty good troupers.

I barely have time to get the basic cleaning done: bathrooms, dishes, kitchen, beds made, laundry, and some times vacuuming. A lot of times Mike comes home and he gets to vacuum and mop the floors. I don't think that is what my husband is looking forward to after being away all week. Oh well it is what it is.

I have been trying to run errands during Lincoln's morning nap which in turn throws off the rest of the day. But I think now I have found my sanity (I know it is about time). The last few days I have been trying to run errands before Lincoln's morning nap. That means I need to get out of the house by about 8 or 8:30. That also means that I need to stop working by 7:30 so I can get the kids ready to leave the house and hopefully have the beds made before we leave. So far it has been working out really well.

Today we had a great day. We left the house just before nine because the kids slept in a little bit and ran to the post office and then off to the park for 45 min. Lincoln did fall asleep on the way home but only for a few minutes. The day went a lot smoother and we were even able to go for a walk this afternoon since the boys woke up about the same time.

I am hoping that we now have it figured out; well for the most part. (But in thinking about it what am I going to do when I have to run errands to a store that doesn't open that early. Let's not get to ahead of ourself because I might just revert back to my survival mode.)

Growing Up

Lincoln is growing up and I can't believe that he is SIX MONTHS. We love him so much and Grant loves him a lot too. Linc is a very very happy baby and pretty mild. He loves to play with his toys and is loving baby food.






He is a super loud baby. He squeals when he is happy and sometimes your aren't sure if he is crying or not. Linc is also sitting up by himself now and of course still has moments where he falls over.

He is a thumb sucker just like his older brother. Hopefully it won't be too bad of a habit to break when he get a little older.

Grant loves Lincoln so much and is always worried about him and frequently asks me, "Where Lincoln?" Grant can't leave his hands off of Lincoln and I am constantly telling him to give Lincoln space. Poor Lincoln will have just woken up from a nap and Grant is down in his face saying, "Linc you waked up. Hi, Lincoln, hi, Lincoln."

We had Lincoln's well check up this past week and here is how is is measuring:
Weight: 20 lbs 7 oz = 95%
Height: 28" long = 95%

Here is where Grant was at 6 months:
Weight: 21 lbs 4 oz = 97%
Height: 28 1/2" long = 95%

It looks they are keeping pretty close to each other.

Trick or Treat

We had a great Halloween. Our Halloween was celebrated on Saturday. It started out with a trip up to Cottonwood to carve pumpkins and bob for apples.

We ended the night with the Trunk or Treat in Mesa. Grant got a enough candy that a 2 year old needs. He of course wanted to eat every piece of candy right on the spot. He was pretty hyped up on sugar but he loved every minute of it.

Grant was a little ghost and Lincoln was a cute little penguin. Mike even had blue hair which Grant thought was pretty cool.



Grant bobbing for apples and boy does he know how to get the job done.


We even made it to the pumpkin patch a couple of days before Halloween. Grant got to see 11 new piglets that were less than 24 hours old. They were super cute.
Grant did NOT like sitting on the poky hay and complained the whole time I was taking pictures.

San Francisco

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I went to San Francisco with several of my co-workers for the weekend. We had such a blast and it was great to actually get away from real life for a little while.



We rented bikes at Pier 39 and rode across the Golden Gate bridge. It started out to be a beautiful over cast morning.



Along our ride we got to see these amazing little house that face the bay. I thought they were beautiful and added such character to the street. Most of the houses had big front windows and they all seemed to have a beautiful center piece sitting on a table in front of the window for everybody to see.

(I had to try to take the picture while I was riding my bike. I think the runners that kept running past thought I was crazy. I am surprised I didn't crash.)






We made it across the bridge and it started to rain when we were about half way across. We finally made it to Sausalito where we took a break for a late lunch. Thankfully we had planned on riding ferry back across the bay to San Francisco.




On Sunday we went to the Aquarium while we waited for our boat to Alcatraz. It was pretty cool to see all the great things they had at the Aquarium.



Sunday was a rainy rainy day. As you can see Mike is loving the weather on Alcatraz. You would never have thought we had spent most of the morning inside with how wet we were by the time we got to Alcatraz. Thankfully the Alcatraz tour was mostly inside.


(The MediServe crew)

We did get a reprieve from the rain late afternoon on Sunday. Of course by the time we made it back to our hotel we were wet and cold and ready for a warm shower. However, the hotel had lost power and had no idea when the power would be back up and running. The power in the hotel didn't come back on until Monday morning. Poor Mike had to pack in the dark and take a cold shower on Monday morning to catch a flight back to Phoenix.

We did have a blast though and loved having a weekend away.