Big Boy Indeed

Today is Day 4 of Lincoln sleeping in his big boy room! So far, so good. I'm not betting that it will stay as easy as it has been, but I'm enjoying the ease as it comes. He has not tried to climb out of the bed once, & he loves the extra room he has. He was all grown out of that crib he was in. However, he has gotten all of Levi's "night-nights" & new toys/rattles, & carries them around with him. I can't decide if this is jealousy rearing its ugly head even before the baby is born, or if this is just "proud big brother" behavior. I'm going to go with the latter, in hopes that it might be true. Wish us luck in the coming weeks before Levi arrives that Lincoln will feel comfortable in his racecar bed & not want to go back to his crib.
Y'all sleep tight in your big boy beds.

mewwy chrit-mas!

In the words of Lincoln, Mewwy Chrit-mas! He can't quite say the words correctly, but the spirit is there nevertheless. Our Christmas was merry & bright, filled with family, caroling, good food & laughter. We just got home from the 10-hour drive this afternoon, after a very early morning departure of 5:00am. Linc-Man was a champ though...barely a tear during the entire trip. Wowsa.
Here are some pics of Christmas morning of my boy & me. We're eating Cheerios together...I won't post the picture of Lincoln trying to push a Cheerio through my belly button to feed Levi...this is a public blog after all, & I won't subject any of y'all to that sort of view. But take my word for it, it's a hoot & a holler.


Lincoln's big Christmas present was a GeoTrax Airport and Grand Central Station. He could play with it for hours. And he did. After he came down the stairs to see the GeoTrax all set up, he said "No" to opening up any other presents. So Ben & I were forced to open up his presents for him, showing him each gift. Funny.



After the big Christmas dinner, we all stood around the piano while my mom played Christmas carols & all sang together. My mama's an amazing piano player, BTW.



The three little munchkins...Tatum, Lincoln & Lucy

And here's the cutest one of all...he's taking a breather from the presents by having some breakfast.

I pray that all of your Christmases were just as joyful as ours. Thankfully, my water didn't break during the Christmas dinner...although several times during the holiday, I thought it would get to that point. Not too much longer!

writers strike is cramping my style

Seriously, what's going on with this writer's strike? I'm being forced to watch re-runs of every single show I enjoy, & I am now being shoved into the corner to watch The Real Housewives of Orange County...which ever so shamefully, I actually enjoy. Dreadful. Hate to love it, love to hate it.
Can't we all just get along here...pay the writers more money & be done with it. I tried watching The Colbert Report without their usual writers & it was torture. Just not funny. And that's just not funny to me.
One thing that did brighten my spirits last night was getting a preview for American Idol next month. Praise the Lord that Simon is back in full effect, tight shirt included. I saw a close-up of Paula claiming, "We are looking for greatness." She didn't even slur her words this time. Sure Paula, what you're looking for is a full flask & a plastic surgeon who is also a magician.
Ahh, the season is soon to begin. Blogging about AI makes me giddy.

lincoln and his logs

quick update

Hello all. Just wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going. I had another ultrasound this morning & everything looks good & healthy. Levi was kicking up a storm in there, while I tried not to pee all over the bed because my bladder was so full. Gotta love that.

Here's something that made me smile. The first thing the tech said when Levi popped up on the screen was, "Good Lord, your baby's got a head of hair!" We could see it waving around on the ultrasound...like he was running on the beach. Which is weird considering Lincoln had some slight peachfuzz & that was it. Some people might have even debated the presence of the fuzz at all. I'm hoping it's dark brown hair with some matching big brown eyes. He would be the first out of 8 grandchildren with a pair of brownies. Crossing our fingers.
Here's something that made me cringe. The tech's words: "Big round head!" Those words alone aren't really scary. But when you match them up with the terms: labor, pushing, and sweating...they become quite terrifying. Labor indeed.

I could go about 10-14 days earlier than expected, which would put his arrival in late January. But come on, who really knows.

More to blog about at a later time...until then.

keep on corralling

"That day when you stood before God, your God, at Horeb...You gathered. You stood in the shadow of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze wtih fire, blazing high into the very heart of Heaven. You stood in deep darkness and thick clouds. God spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but you saw nothing--no form, only a voice. He announced his covenant, the Ten Words, by which he commanded you to live...Guard yourselves...stay alert. Don't for a minute forget the covenant which God, your God, made with you.
You were shown all this so that you would know that God is, well, God. He's the only God there is. He's it...Obediently live by his rules and commands which I'm giving you today so that you'll live well and your children after you..."--Dueteronomy 4

Moses spoke these strong warnings to the Israelites when they were on the brink of entering the Promised Land. Years of wandering the desert, years of disobeying God, & years of incessant grumbling had brought them to this very point with God speaking through Moses, informing the chosen people of what they would be faced with. God's chosen child, Israel, had heard the very voice of God, seen His power through fire, seen the very heart of Heaven--yet she was still disobedient. Still grumbling. Still prone to wander. If Israel had to be reminded over & over again after having heard God Himself (it's almost embarrassing how often throughout Deuteronomy they had to be reminded) to trust & obey God's commands, how much more do I need reminding? A girl living in Franklin Tennessee, age 29, is prone to searching for children's furniture online, prone to watching Days of Our Lives, prone to fixing my gaze on winter coats and home decor...prone to wander anywhere that takes the focus away from Jesus & places the focus directly on me. Jesus knows this about me. Jesus knows I have to be corralled back into His gates. I am that sheep; that distracted, wayward sheep who wanders out on his own looking for other pastures in which to graze. I am so thankful that He warns us, cautions us, begs us to come back to Him. He will plead forever on my behalf to return my obedience to where it has come, & to where it should rightfully be placed. To read straight from Scripture that the Lord will be there if we seek Him out, that He'll find us when we want to be found, is a real comfort & joy. Keep on Corralling, Lord.

thankful for my pizza waiter & eddie the monkey

Happy Post-Thanksgiving Everybody. This post has nothing to do with the holiday of Thanksgiving, but it has everything to do with me being thankful. We were in St. Louis for the turkey feast & while we were there, some hilarious things happened. First things first: we learned that Lincoln loves running around the house at full speed with a mesh laundry basket over his head. He thinks this is the best thing in the universe, & it was a good hour of entertainment for him (and for everyone else in the house). See for yourself:



Don't ask why.
Here's another fun tidbit. Lincoln made a very good friend this trip named Eddie the Monkey. Eddie usually lives on the Cissell's basement pole, with his long arms & legs wrapped around it...waiting for a hand, any hand... to give him life. Well, Ben gave Eddie life this trip. Ben's voice transformed into this somewhat obnoxious, gruff, old-man sound...and Eddie was born. Lincoln didn't seem to notice that Ben's mouth moved to all of Eddie's words; he just thought it was so cool that Eddie talked & could look around, & could ask Lincoln questions. Lincoln loved him to pieces...hugging him, laughing at him, asking him questions, patting him on the back, you name it. We had to put Eddie back on the basement pole, however, when Eddie, Mike (Ben's dad), and Chris (Ben's brother) started making obscene & inappropriate jokes. Back in your corner, Eddie.


We made a trip to the Magic House, which for those of you who don't know, is a huge monster of a facility that offers tons of learning activites for kids of all ages. Lincoln had a blast, while I thought my water was going to break. My feet were killing me & I felt like a huge blob waddling around. Aaah, pregnancy is fun. Here he is playing in the water:

going shopping at the grocery store...

checking out the produce...

making sure the eggs aren't cracked...


And here's my darling pizza waiter, working so hard at giving good & prompt service to the patrons:



Whew, that's heavy...

We had a wonderful time with our family over the break. I am thankful for my pizza boy & Eddie the Monkey because these two things brought smiles to me and my boys. And I am so thankful for smiles & laughs.
I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too.

I'll waddle back here soon.

old mcdonald had a farm...

Every night when we put Lincoln to bed, Ben & I stand over his crib & sing "Old McDonald". I doubt you have ever heard an "Old McDonald" rendition quite like we do it here at our house. Ben drummed professionally for 12 years. Imagine the innovative beats he puts to this old-fashioned rhyme & then imagine some random raps he incorporates into every verse. I almost pee my pants listening to Ben try to make the song all its own & brand new every single night. But you haven't heard the kicker. We have a rather chaotic bunch of animals/transportation vehicles on our farm. We leave the lyric "and on that farm he had a...." wide open so Lincoln can incorporate his own animals into the mix. Let me paint the picture for you. The Cissell Farm tonight included the following: helicopter, crocodile, baby goose, airplane, parrot, giraffe, & last but certainly not least, a shark. Wow, that's one tropical, swampish, airport-ish, & oceanic farm.

Happy Thanksgiving!

EeiEeiO

Information that I could've used 7 months ago...

Here's something to give you some comic relief today. Or if not comic relief, then maybe just pity. My OB informed me on Monday that she's retiring next month. Retiring. As in not practicing her medical field. Which her medical field involves extracting a living creature out of a human body. Which means that she won't be delivering my baby in February. When my face contorted into something that must have resembled horror, she proceeded to say, "We thought we told you months ago!" I pointed to my belly & said, "Um...should I state the obvious here?" Telling a pregnant girl that you can't deliver her baby?...what a novel idea. Seems like that little bit of smarts would be in the "Bedside Manner 101 Course". Maybe she was out sick that day.

So I left the office feeling unprepared, totally left out of the loop, & frankly...invisible. I got home & started doing research on doctors here in Franklin that could deliver me. Let's face it--driving to Baptist every 2 weeks now & pretty soon--driving there once a week, is not a trip to Disney. We live literally 2 minutes away from Williamson Medical Center & 30-40 minutes away from Baptist, so it would make much more sense to labor & deliver at WMC instead of downtown Nashville. I was successful in my search of a new OB, & more importantly, Ben & I had a guided tour yesterday of WMC's Labor/Delivery wing. We were super impressed. It's much nicer than Baptist (aesthetically), although certainly not the baby factory that Baptist is. I have been told that this results in more specialized care, more doting on your newborn, & nurses who have more concentration on their patients & pray over you before you deliver. After we left the hospital, Ben looked at me & said, "Why didn't we have Lincoln there?" So after little consideration or vacillation, our decision was made that Levi will be born at WMC.

To anyone trying to get pregnant or who may already be knocked up: You may want to ask your doctor beforehand if she still plans on being a doctor by the time you deliver.

talk to y'all soon.

the termite

Ben brought home a termite for Lincoln yesterday. For those of you who are not in the skateboarding loop, (really, who is besides 15-year olds? oh, and Ben) it is a skateboard specifically designed for toddlers. Hello ER. As soon as Lincoln saw it, he jumped up & down & said, "Lincoln's skateboard!" It was love at first sight. There was so much love going on that he has to have the board with him wherever he goes. Here he is while we were on our way to Target:

Here he is watching his TV show with of course, the termite:

He even had to have it with him while he got into the bath:

And then he had to have it with him on the couch before he went to bed:

Clearly, he loves his new skateboard...although standing on it is an entirely different subject. He only sits on it for now. Standing is another post altogether.
Night-Night.

Trick or Treat!

Here Comes Curious George! A great Halloween Night was had by our family tonight. We trick-or-treated here in McKay's Mill, just the three of us, for about an hour and a half...and then Lincoln was plum tuckered out. Here are a few pics of the night getting started:


Here are a few of him in action, attempting to say clearly "Trick or Treat", "Happy Halloween", & "Thanks for the candy!":





Towards the end of our trek, he got very tired & just wanted to be held by Ben.


Enough with the monkey hood! He had had enough of it:



All in all, we had a great time with our boy, & he had a terrific Halloween. Did I mention the first house we went to, he took the lollipop, sat down on the cement & unwrapped it immediately? It was a night of magic for him.
xoxo

Camp Cissell's Face-Lift

Hey guys. Y'all like my new pimped-out blog? It was in desperate need of a renovation...she's way overdue for a make-over. A girl named Jennisa did it, & you can click on her link at the bottom of my blog to be directed to her information & website. She's got some really cool stuff going on.

On another note, Lincoln crawled out of his crib yesterday. For the next few hours, I walked around in a shocked state, wondering how my life had drastically gotten harder, now that the little curtain climber can crawl out. But last night, we told him "Stay in your crib, don't get out..." and the same thing this afternoon, & so far so good. We'll see how long this lasts. For those of you who know Lincoln, you know he's quite the rambunctious character...wish us luck.

Meet Fancy Blue! She's the newest addition to our family

Here she is, friends. Here's our new car that we got in Atlanta this past weekend. We made a family road trip of it & drove to Atlanta early Saturday morning & came back on Saturday night. It was a very fast trip, but oh so fun. Lincoln was so funny on the trip out there...we watched Shrek 4 times. Ah, good times. You can never hear too much of a donkey screaming, "Don't be a jackass!"



Until next time...

gentry's farm

Today we went to Gentry's Farm. My parents are in town, so we decided to brave the masses & join the fun. The only thing that is not so fun is trying to keep Lincoln still enough to get a decent picture. I think it is impossible. So many attempts & still nothing. Oh well, he is 2 1/2. My parents loved spending time with Lincoln & playing with him. Here's him & my dad:

Having fun in the kitchen...

my sweet parents...

playing with the corn with my dad...


It was a good day.
Happy Fall everybody.