Happy Birthday, Lincoln!

It's 5:30 in the morning... I've been restless in bed for about a half an hour thinking of my birthday boy, so I decided to get up and finish his little 'birthday blog'. Maybe I'm up this early because this is the time I got up 4 years ago to get ready to go to the hospital to have my first child. I remember feeling so anxious... anxious for the pregnancy to be over... anxious for the labor to be over... mostly anxious to feel my sweet baby in my arms for the very first time. I was so excited to be a mommy. One of my wildest dreams was about to come true... a baby! Our baby... I get choked up just thinking about that morning.

The induction was set for early morning... they started the pitocin and things progressed well. It was long... very long... but I remember being happy during most of it. It was so great to have both of our moms and my dad there for most of the day. My favorite memory was playing cards with them while we waited for our little guy to make his entrance into the big world.

I remember the doctor coming to check me... turning to me and saying, "I'll see you at 3 in the morning... that's when this little man is going to come out!" or something like that. I was shocked... that much longer? Sure enough... he entered the world in the wee hours of the morning!

Those first few days were a dream. I was a little tired from the long labor... and from getting used to a newborn... but Lincoln has always been such an easygoing child. We felt so blessed to have such a sweet new little spirit in our home. It's hard to believe that it's been 4 years since that day! They have been 4 fantastic years full of lots of love, giggles, and so much more. I feel my Heavenly Fathers love for me every time I look at Lincoln, because he is just such a perfect match for me.

He can make you laugh so quick... he has such a fun sense of humor. His smile is so contagious! He is the best big brother... Grace and Graham light up whenever they see him because they know that when Lincoln is around... the fun begins!

He has this one smile that is my favorite... he does it when he is telling us something that he's super excited about. He kind of looks to the side... raises his eyebrows, and nods his head. It's my favorite! He is the sweetest little thing... at least once a day... he'll come to me and say, "Mommy?" and then he'll wait until he has my full attention. I'm thinking he has some question to ask me or something... but he just simply says, "Mommy, I love you." It melts my heart every time.

I have really enjoyed this last year with him because we've spent many a nap time together. He doesn't take naps anymore... but the other two still do. We get lots of alone time together, which is always a fun time.

He gets so animated about the things that he loves. One of my favorite things to do is listen to him talk about dinosaurs in the car... he could go on for hours! He gets in these crazy moods sometimes where he just talks nonsense... he'll say things like "Doink!" or "Cheeky Chocky Chooky!" all of a sudden. He gets a little silly!

He has so many good friends. I think it's because he's so good natured. He gets along with almost anybody.

He loves his Daddy. The minute Jeremy comes home from his day at school, Lincoln wants to play basketball, or video games... anything to spend time with his favorite man in the world.

He pulls all kinds of faces. Silly faces, mad faces, crazy faces, happy faces. He is always making us laugh!

One of my favorite things he says is, "Mommy, can we have a snack and watch a show?" That usually happens right around 10am every single day!

Another favorite is, "Mommy, let's just do something together..." and he'll put his little arms out like it's the best thing in the world to hang out with me.

He has been so patient with Jeremy and I over the years as we've experimented new parenting strategies and things out on him. We haven't been perfect parents.... but we try really hard. He's been such an easy first child to deal with.

He has this eagerness to learn that I love. He loves to 'talk about things' with daddy. He's very inquisitive. I can see in him that he'll have the same love for knowledge that Jeremy has.

He loves to read. If I could read to him the entire day, he would be in heaven. There have been lots of times where the house has gotten really quiet... and I'm afraid to go upstairs for fear of seeing what in the world my two toddlers are doing together... and they'll be quietly reading on the big chair in our bedroom!

One of my most favorite things about Lincoln... is that he already has a little testimony of his own. He knows so much about the Gospel already. One of my favorite times of day is listening to him pray. He really thinks about who he is talking to.

He is very smart. I love sitting in Family Home Evening each week... teaching him about the scriptures, or the prophet, anything really. We'll ask him a question, and he can usually come up with some sort of answer. I love watching his little mind work. I can't wait to see what the future holds for my little man.

What else can I say? I am so blessed to have such an amazing little boy. I am so proud to be his mommy. The best part is... he's all mine! Happy Birthday, my sweet Lincoln man!