Lincoln Lately

 Oh how I love this boy!  We love our daytime adventures together, and we're loving the nicer weather that lets us explore the playgrounds around here!  Its a whole different world this Spring, being able to run around!  He'll stay all day if I let him, and will run around making the sign for "more, more more".

  Linkers used to keep getting stuck in our desk chair and would push himself around and bump into things like this.  Pretty funny.   He's VERY attached to this blanket, and won't sleep without it.  

Nevermind the mismatched clothes.  When we don't go out, we kind of just wear whats clean around here.

 L loves to climb and crawl over and under everything!  I made him a little playhouse to throw over our kitchen table, and he loves it!  Its quite possibly the ugliest thing I've ever put together, but I figured I'd spend an hour of time and just use the scraps I had lying around then see if he actually likes it.  One day I'll make a super cute one.

 Look at those eyebrows!  They're crazy!  They're not mine or Jason's.  They actually look a lot like his Uncle Travis's :)

Sometimes he gets in a fit and doesn't want anything to eat except for, say, ketchup.  Or this raw potato.  Whatever, crazy kid.  Well Dude, lets make the most of this last month of exclusive one-on-one time together!

I Swallowed the Basketball

Boston Celtics vs. Utah Jazz game last night!  

We figured we'd try to fit in one last date (boo hoo hoo) in what will surely be a very long time.

I figured I couldn't go to a basketball game looking THIS pregnant, and not have a little fun with it!  I got SO many comments from fans, as if this was some crazy thing never been done before!  

Showered

 Thank you Emily & Emily for a fabulous baby shower!  I was blown away by the craftiness of these sisters in putting everything together.  Beginning with this announcement:

 The little baby owl hat?  Oh my word!  I felt so loved today, by so many friends.  The cherry on top was coming home to Jason scrubbing the high chair clean.  Just a wonderful day!  Thanks everyone!

A Little Purple

 My darling friends Emily W and Emily M are throwing me and friend Rebeckah a joint baby shower tomorrow!  Those little dears.
 

And here's the little baby skirt and matching headband (which I may or may not have tried on Lincoln) that I made for Rebeckah's baby!  (Rebeckah, if you follow this blog, stop reading now.)  I used some scraps from the Prom dress you'll see in a few weeks.  I ran the skirt downstairs to show Jason and squeal about it a little, and realized: I know exactly why God doesn't give me any girls.  I would spend WAY too much money on fabric and WAY too much time making frilly things.  Good thing I have friends who keep having girls!

Happy Patty

Happy green day!  Everything we did that was St. Patty's-related was centered around food, though I did go down to Haymarket yesterday morning (which I guess is also food-related), and even at 10:30am, the city was preeeetty crazy with drinkers.  We thought we'd stay indoors.

A. Green waffles & banana coins

B. Shamrock Shakes

C. Normal deviled eggs (I got a little too excited about using my new shamrock plate, that I totally forgot to dye the filling green)

D. Jason brought me home a gorgeous St. Patrick's green bouquet of flowers on Monday to enjoy all week!  How perfectly seasonally thoughtful to a girl who loves the holidays so much!

E. Zucchini muffins (which look green when you bite into them)

F. Key lime yogurt pie

Can You Find the Baby?

I found a place even more trashy and more fun than a thrift store!  The Garment District in Cambridge opens a bale of clothes every day, dumps it in a big room, and you get to climb and swim in the mounds of junk and pay only $1-a-pound for what you find.  Seriously.

Lincoln seems to think its the greatest place in the world!  I usually leave with a big bag of things I rip apart for the fabric, trim, and buttons for under $2.  And for the entertainment of watching a rolling, tumbling toddler playing in a room of laundry?  Priceless.

Hockey Mom

This commercial came up during one of our latest guilty pleasure Castle episodes.  I kept thinking "That's going to be me!  Oh my gosh, that's going to be me!"

 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfwk5y_subaru-trailer-hockey-mom_auto

31 Weeks

Have a Seat

 

In junior high, I remember taking some career test and based on my interests and skills, my results said I would become a "Furniture Upholsterer".  How odd, I thought, because I was mostly thinking musical theater or nursing at the time, but lately, how strangely accurate.  These are some dining room chairs I took apart and re-covered with my trusty staple gun.  The previous orange did look pretty hideous in my client's $6000/month rental.  I didn't feel bad charging the rightful $500 for doing six chairs and three 10-foot long sets of curtains and window seat cushions.  It took me freakin forever while I was in the depths of morning sickness. 
These window seat cushions seam to be my business niche lately.  Since October, I've made 8 different cushions for clients.  I feel like a piping professional.  And a furniture upholsterer.

My Doggy Does Tricks

Little Link FINALLY walks!  He tries a few more steps and longer distances every day and he seems to love his new skill.  Way to go, little one!  Just in time, because I was getting a little worried that I'd be carrying 2 babies around everywhere I go!

Our Lincoln may be a little behind on some things (crawling at 10 months, walking at 16 months, still not talking), but he always gets there eventually!  He's just been workin so hard keeping up his 29-pound, 95%ile body figure!

PS--Carla, thank you for the darling leather shoes (from my baby shower a year and a half ago) he is now finally able to wear!  They're perfect!

Super Model

 I decided Jason needed a stress-reducing hobby to play with after long hours at work. For Christmas, I got him a model car, and I can't think of anything I've seen him enjoy more than putting in the 20+ hours on this little guy. He meticulously hand-painted every piece of the engine, dashboard, headlight, etc., coated pieces with shiny pearl gloss to make them look "chromy", and sent me on a special mission to get the perfect shade of tan for the seats. Ya, he's a nerd, and I love him!  I really hope our boys will get excited about putting model cars together someday, because their Dad will certainly have a ball helping them.



Dinner Date

Our McD down the street has $.49 McChickens on Tuesdays, and lately this cute boy has been taking me out for dinner.  We spend $1.05 for our two sandwhiches and a water, then we get a quiet table in the back.  We make small talk, play footsie, and sometimes we share the same straw.  I think he's a great guy and really cute, and we'll probably go out again, but he makes me drive every time.



Auntie Janae

Sister-lister came to visit for a few days!  We've had SO many visitors come to Boston!  In less than a year, we've had my family come for their Spring Break, Derek & friends for a Senior road trip, my dad, Jason's mom for a week, my friend Natalie, my mom for a week, and Janae!  I mean this in the kindest way: please no more house guests for a while.  I'm exhausted!

We, of course, hit up the Freedom Trail, and this time we found Mother Goose and Elizabeth Payne, the real Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter, which Janae got really excited about because she's reading it in English class right now.

Saturday we went to the New England Aquarium!  Tickets are something like $25/adult, $13/children, but we got a 4-person free pass from our library!  Being a Boston resident has its perks.  I wish you all could have heard Janae squeal in delight and run over to the tank to see a giant turtle. 
(She has somewhat of a turtle obsession).

We got to touch star fish and sting-rays in the touch tanks!

We made Boston Cream Pie desserts and earrings out of buttons.  We ordered pizzas and got Mike's Pastry cannolis.  Most importantly, we took a big trip to the fabric store and have been tackling some Prom dresses!  Janae wanted some help designing for her lime green dress and I'm making a lovely purple one for a cute girl named Nancy.

Because Hancocks love all things peanut-butter, we made homemade Peanut Butter Cup ice cream for Janae's 17th birthday!!  How great that we got to celebrate it while she was out here.  Thanks for coming Auntie Janae!

Hearty Party

And what's a holiday without a party!  These are the other LDS couples in East Boston we had over last weekend for treats and games.

...brought the 'wine', cheese, and crackers,

 

...made crepes, (Rebeckah is due just 3 days before me!) and

did chocolate covered pretzels and banana splits with our super cool ice cream maker! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Banner Day

I'm a sucker for holidays.  If I had a spare $10/month, I'd spend it all on holiday decor and not regret a single purchase.  When my mom came to visit last week, she brought some extra scrapbook paper and we made a Valentines banner with all the sewing scraps I have!  The Valentine Loofahs were the project two years ago. Mom talked me into laminating the letters so they'll last longer, because this will indeed be seen up in our house for every February as long as I live.  That's the great thing about holiday decorations--they get used again and again!  I liken holiday decor unto baby clothes.  So fun to buy and make, but then almost equally wonderful to pull out the next year and reuse!

 

Heart Art

 At play group this week, we had a Valentine's Party!  Oh how I love a good holiday!

What an artist!

When I've Grown a Foot or Two

For Christmas, Lincoln got a "Future Missionary" tag (along with his little brother) to wear to church, and he was too cute to not take a picture of yesterday. 

House Rules:


1.  Always check the toaster for objects before you toast anything.

2.  Don't bother putting a new roll of toilet paper on the dispenser, L will only unroll it as soon as he sees it.

3.  Only feed L vegetables that are frozen.  Soft and warm veggies will be immediately thrown on the floor.

4.  Do not open the fridge when L is within 5 yards, unless you can 'throw in and shut' in under 2 seconds.

5.  Kitchen chairs must remain facing away from the table to avoid toddlers falling off of said tables.

6.  You have exactly the time it takes L to drink 4 ounces worth of milk to change and dress him for bed and throw him in. When the bottle is gone, time is up and you lose.

7.  Do not eat anything between the hours of 6am and 7pm that you do not want to share atleast half of.  Eat special treats as fast as you can. Once the frosted flakes are in view, game over.

8.  Do not touch the computer unless you are willing to let L sit on your lap and watch Elmo at the same time.

9.  Use the following words cautiously as they will elicit positive results, but you must follow through with your offer: 'bottle', 'brush your teeth', 'orange', and 'go get in the car'.



Grandma Hancock Comes to Town

 This post is brought to you by the letters M, H, L, G, and P.

 My mom came to visit us for a few days!  

We had a ball lounging, eating, chatting, crafting, and speculating :)

We went out for my favorite soup & breadbowls and stopped by Haymarket for some weekend produce.

 And came across the biggest live lobster we've ever seen!  Speaking of big lobsters, perhaps my favorite moment of the week was at church--when we arrived I ran to the bathroom first, so my mom & the boys walked in and everyone was asking if I had had the baby.

 Thanks to Groupon, we had another lovely lunch downtown with Jason at Casa Razdora.  I love Lincoln's food faces.

If you've visited us before, you know how we take visitors on a walk out on our Piers Park to see the view.  Thank you mom for coming to visit!  Thanks for all your help with grocery shopping, baby gear hoisting, and playing with Lincoln all weekend!  See you here again soon!