I know this is a little late! Lincoln is now 13 months but I wanted to post all of his monthly pictures til he turned one so here they are!! It's incredible how fast they grow! I keep thinking Lincoln is still a baby but I recently visited some friends with newborns and they were so tiny compared to our little guy!
1 month
3 months
4 months
5 months
6 months
7 months
9 months (he turned 8 months in the middle of our BT Shunt hospital stay so no picture)
10 months
11 months
My little boy is ONE YEARS OLD. I don’t even know where to begin…
Over a year ago after Lincoln was diagnosed with a heart defect, I felt strange having baby showers and getting things I didn’t know if I would use. I didn’t want to put up a crib or get his room ready in case we didn’t use it. When people who where ignorant of his diagnosis would ask ‘are you excited?’ I never knew what to answer. I literally did not know if I would bring a baby home from the hospital, let alone be celebrating his one year birthday. But he made it! He is now one years old. He is strong, smart, and healthy and I didn’t know that I could love an individual as much as I love him! Here is his year in review…
January 16, 2010: Lincoln was born and passed through the window into the NICU.
He was then transported to Primary Children's Medical center ICU and we were able to go visit and hold him for the first time.
January 18, 2010: Lincoln’s first Catheter surgery to open his pulmonary valve. The surgery was successful but he acquired a blood clot that had to be watched carefully and treated with medication.
For the next 2 weeks Link went on and off of Prostaglandin to see if he needed the BT Shunt…
February 2: BT Shunt
February 7: Take Lincoln HOME!
Thursday April 25- Friday April 26: Lincoln’s LONG Dr.’s apt- He went in to get an upper GI done for acid reflux and Russ got his oxygen stats checked and they were in the 50's so they put oxygen on him and he stayed in the PICU over night. He was a completely different baby with oxygen and we were happy to take it home with us.
April 30th: 2nd Heart Catheter Surgery to figure out why Lincoln's oxygen stats were too low and if he needed the Glenn at that time. Found that with oxygen, he would be fine to wait.
August 2: 3rd Heart Catheter Surgery- to prepare for the Glenn Surgery
September 14: Glenn Surgery: This was a miracle surgery! I remember blogging about how I didn't think Link needed this surgery because he was so energetic and happy. But I was amazed at how everything has worked better since this surgery. He has been a better eater, has digested everything better, has been more energetic and been even happier than he was before the surgery. 
September 29: Goodbye Oxygen!!
January 2011
I've had a lot of mixed feelings at Lincoln's birthday but the overriding feeling that I've felt is GRATITUDE. I am so grateful for the doctors, nurses, and surgeons that have worked with Lincoln. I am grateful for the medical advances that have made his life possible. I am grateful for the many many prayers that have been offered in Lincoln's behalf. I am grateful for all the prayers that Heavenly Father has answered. I am grateful for Russ and the support and love that he has provided to Lincoln and to me throughout Link's life. But most of all, I am grateful for Lincoln. I am grateful that I was able to bring my baby home from the hospital. I am grateful that I have been able to continue to bring him home after all his hospital stays. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to see his smiling face every morning. I am grateful that he is a healthy busy boy that I get to try to keep up with everyday. I am grateful for how strong he is and for all that he has taught me this past year. Happy Birthday Lincoln!
For New Years Eve we went to Russ's house and were able to spend the evening with all his brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews. Everyone was there this year and it was so great to eat and talk and eat and talk and eat! But once 2011 hit, the real fun began...
12:00- HAPPY NEW YEAR!
12:10- We go to bed (we are party animals!) (and just for a little background- EVERYONE was there so Link slept in a pack n' play in the same room)
4:00- Link wakes up
4:05- We feed him a bottle
4:10- We put him back in his pack n' play
4:11- We get into bed (and it's squeaky) so Link starts to cry
4:13- I get up and hold him and wipe his nose because he has a cold and can't breathe
4:15- I put him back in his pack n'play
4:16- He hears us and starts to cry
4:20-Russ gets up with him and holds him...etc... this goes on until...
5:10- We decide that Link is NOT going back to sleep and if we keep letting him cry he's going to wake up EVERYONE in the house and then there will be a multitude of crying babies and children so we decide to head home (20-30 miles away)
5:15- Russ goes into the FREEZING cold to turn our cars on (we have seperate cars because Russ came straight from work)
5:16- Lincoln is all smiles playing with his blocks and jabbering away
5:20- Link has a stinky diaper
5:21- I realize that I have a diaper and not wipes
5:25- Grandma wakes up and finds wipes for us
5:26- I change Link's diaper
5:30- We get in our cars and drive home (Link falls immediately to sleep)
6:05- We get home and put link to sleep
6:15- We go back to sleep
8:30- Link wakes up (He usually wakes up at 7:00 so we were very glad that he slept in... or we didn't hear him until then!)
How did you spend the first hours of 2011?
For the last month and a half whenever anything happened, I would think "I should blog that" but then I didn't. So, I'll try to catch you up on our life.
Lincoln turned 11 MONTHS OLD today!! I remember seeing one of my friend's little boy who was about two years old and I told her how big he was getting and she responded with "don't blink". I had no idea how right she was! I don't know where the time went! My little baby is about to be a year old- that's a toddler! I love the stage he is in but I can't believe he is not a little baby anymore. He is crawling all over the place (even though he would rather be walking) and gets into EVERYTHING he is not supposed to. He LOVES remotes, paper, piles of DVD's, mail, Christmas trees, etc. He is getting to be a big eater. He's a pretty good sleeper and usually sleeps from 7ish to 7ish and usually wakes up to eat about 5 or 6ish. He cut his first tooth!! Better late than never! And we LOVE him to pieces!
And by the way... a month ago he turned 10 months old! Here is his picture I didn't blog!
We spent Thanksgiving morning at my mom's house then went to Thanksgiving dinner at Russ's aunts house in Logan. It was so great to see both sides of our family and to be with them on Thanksgiving.
Lincoln has loved spending a little more time with his cousins. Here's a picture of Link with his cousin Briggy- they are only a month and a half apart in age! 
Other random things that have happened in the last month and a half-
*Black tongue: Russ woke up one day with a black tongue. We had no idea what was wrong with him! He said the only thing he knew that was associated with a black tongue was the Black Plague. I googled it and learned that you can get a black tongue if you take certain medications such as pepto bismol. Crazy, huh?! So Russ is okay and doesn't have the black plague!
*Preschool: I've been working at the Preschool along with the intermediate school the past couple months and LOVE it! I love being back there and working with the incredible staff and cute kids! It's been busy being back almost full time but it's been a great experience!
*Date night: Russ and I are really bad at having date nights... we never do. But we decided to have one and 'go big or go home' so we went to Salt Lake, went to dinner at the Olive Garden, walked around the gateway, and stayed at the Anniversary Inn (if you haven't been there- I highly recommend it). It was so great to go on a date night (I highly recommend them as well) and be with my incredible husband!
*Graduation: Russ is graduating! Russ took his last class this semester and is OFFICIALLY graduating with two bachelors degrees in Philosophy and Religious Studies! We are so proud of him!! His plan right now is to keep going to school to get his MBA. It's been busy and will continue to be so but it will be worth it.
*Birthday: Russ had a BIRTHDAY! We worked all day but went to MADDOX with his parents that night. Good times were had by all!
We met Russ in the Logan Canyon today after work to look at leaves and take some fall pictures. Lincoln wasn't too excited about it because it was a little chilly and almost bedtime! Here are some of our favorites!
Link's face here is priceless!
Lincoln in now 9 months old! I can't believe it's already been nine months! He just keeps growing...fast!
Russ was doing 'peek-a-boo' to get him to smile and apparently Link thought that was pretty funny!
He still likes to spit his tongue out...especially when he's concentrating...he's a BECK!
And this is his signature face that he like to pull where he puts his lips together!
My Uncle John came up last weekend from California for my Grandpa's 80th Birthday. Lincoln loved meeting him and it was so fun to spend some time with him. Thanks for a GREAT weekend John!
I was a BAD mommy today. I let my 8 MONTH OLD eat a CUPCAKE all by HIMSELF BEFORE his bottle! He of course loved it... whatever he got into his mouth and not all over him. I wasn't planning on feeding him cake until his birthday but oh well. It ended up just being a lot more work for me. He got it EVERYWHERE so I had to give him another bath and change his clothes. Right after the bath he was ready for his bottle so I just fed him while he was in his towel and he decided that was a great time to go pee which soaked through the towel and all over my pants so I had to change as well! It was quite the event all for a little cupcake!
The reason we had cupcakes today was because for Activity Days we made these...
They were super cute, fun, and easy!
LINK UPDATE: Lincoln is doing GREAT! He is even happier than before surgery- I didn't think that was possible! He has a bigger appetite and loves to eat now! He was a horrible sleeper for the first couple weeks we were home- he was acting like a newborn getting up every couple hours and Russ and I were EXHAUSTED! But the last few nights he's gotten almost back to normal! Thank you again for thinking of us and praying for us during his surgery. It worked and Lincoln is feeling GREAT!
