16 mos update!

Quick update on the lad:

-16 mos old

-23.5 pounds

-32 1/8 inches

-head circumference is 18 3/4 inches

-16 teeth! (13 since January...only 4 more to go)

-uses sign language to communicate words such as please, hungry, thank you, more, dad, shoe, socks, lots of animals, etc...

-he's really goofy& clever

-wears cloth diapers

-grunts when we talk about peeing or pooping! hahaha!

-is obsessed with wearing his shoes specifically his Nikes. he wants them on as soon as he wakes up and we don't take them off until he's too groggy to care!

-eats lots of veggies and loves smoothies

-yes, he's vegetarian

-and still breastfeeding!

-he loves animals, flowers, birds, fish, and cars!

Josh and I are so in love with him. He's amazing and fascinates us everyday with his development, sense of humor, and kisses! He's precious!

even further south!

After we (thankfully) left LA we drove down to San Diego to visit our friends. We went to dog beach, hung out with several AWESOME people, ate at some of our favorite restaurants, strolled around Balboa park, and stayed up too late! Lincoln was relentless with the pigeons (see above)!

It says "mom and dad love lincoln" but you know who destroyed mom!

yay dirt! and tall trees!

he is a professional cart pusher. the only items he intended to purchase were two boxes of cookies!

Down South!

This past weekend we visited my brother in LA and my dad, Ashley, and Jordan who had flown in for a visit. We went out to eat several times and went to Venice beach on Sunday. (fyi...Venice beach = nasty)!

Buried alive!

The cutest man ever!

Wondering if the waves are worth it!

19 years brings a lot of change

4th of July, 1989
Lake Pomme de Terre, Hermitage, MO
I'm 8 yrs old (2nd from right next to Cory, ahhhhh)

4th of July, 2008
Lake of the Ozarks, MO
I'm 27 and have a cute nino (2nd from right, 2nd row)

pomme 2008

a couple of weeks ago, Lincoln and I flew with Cory to the great and humid state of Missouri! Josh wasn't able to go since he had to work the 4th of July event in Monterey. we visited our Meyerkord relatives in fully glory at Lake Pomme de Terre. we boated, jet-skied, wake-boarded, water skied, tubed, mega sliced, and swam. lincoln was really intrigued by all of this but couldn't help but fall asleep from the rocking boat. just below is a pic of him sleeping in his life jacket in the boat. when he was awake on the boat he wanted to watch whatever was going on but he didn't like the wind blowing in his face. i love being with family and was sad that josh wasn't there. lincoln walked down to the garage and waited at the closed door. when i caught up him he did the sign for dad and said "da" and pointed at the door. it was very adorable.

cousin tyler and lincoln with pudding lips!

uncle cory holding lincoln and watching cousins erika and tyler on the mega slice.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Having lived in San Diego, I thought I'd seen beaches. Nice with the beautiful view of the ocean. I seem to have forgotten that even better beaches do, in fact, exist. (Sorry, San Diego, oh and LA especially!). Josh said Carmel beach would be pretty but I underestimated his statement. As we drove down Ocean Ave towards the Pacific Ocean I suddenly realized why people think Carmel is sooooooooo special. I first noticed the ocean as it peaked through the tree-lined streets and bled into the sky. As we drove closer, the water became teal as it approached the beach. The sand is white-ish (I think it's imported) and there are beautiful hillsides that frame this mile-long beach. It is quite captivating. Oh and just above the beach is a sandy area that overlooks the water and would be PERFECT for a wedding! or our vow renewal in a couple of decades! What captured me even more was that this is an international tourist spot...i can't believe we live 30 minutes from it! Wow! Not only is the ocean soooo close but when you are just seconds inland it feels like you are up in the Colorado mountains. Huge Pine trees line the streets and highways! What a great combo-pack!

This was our first official beach day and I think Lincoln has dedicated himself to beach living. I could tell he loves the feel of the sand against his feet just like I do! He even loved it so much that he was dipping his animal crackers in it! MMMMMMM!

Here are some pictures of our adventure today:

june pictures!

peek-a-boo!

"help daddy"

sweaty baby!

jammin' with dad!

i love these men

quick doula update!

i had my second client give birth last sunday. this is how much i dislike hospitals...the rn said to her "here's your pitocin shot" (post-birth after clamping the cord much sooner than client wished). client said "wait, what? why do i need that?" rn said "everyone gets one, if you had had an iv (client refused!) we would have given it to you and you wouldn't have even known." and "the doc ordered it." she also said that this was the only chance she had to get the pitocin, even if she does bleed. after being hassled into getting the unnecessary dose of pitocin for the off-chance that she bleeds out, my client and i were quite thrown off by this wretched rn. hospitals have procedures but everything is an option unless you are unconscious. most women are not unconscious after giving birth so why are they not informed that they are getting pitocin after delivery??? just because "everyone gets it" and "the doc ordered it" doesn't mean she can't refuse it. birth centers and home birth midwives have pitocin shots on hand to use WHEN NECESSARY! people...i plead to you...trust your body. don't take everything your doc or rn says as an absolute. while they may give you an impression that it is an absolute, 9 times out of 10 there is another, probably healthier, more personalized option. so many people say they hate doctors...then why trust them with the birth of another life. unless you have a high-risk pregnancy there is no need to be in a hospital. midwives are trained to allow the mother to do her body's work through labor, pushing and delivery. they are also trained to handle medical emergencies during labor and delivery JUST IN CASE. midwives do not assume that every birth will entail an emergency like hospitals do. hospitals are for the very sick and those in need of emergent care.

please rethink your trust in hospitals!

my new biz card

my new biz card.

here's my current plan:

substitute teach when called
grow my doula biz (know any prego ladies in the monterey area?)

josh is working for the city of monterey as a recycling coordinator part-time and the other part-time he'll be working construction for a guy he knows from way-back-when.

lincoln is growing some teeth! today his gums were bleeding a little. darn molars!

gotta go make a lunch for tomorrow.

ciao for now

love you all!

life in salinas

best smile yet!

learning sign language "light" (his favorite)

snoozers on the way here! ahhhhhh

how funny is it that the very next post i do is about living here in salinas?! apparently i was a major slacker on the blog posting last month. well, i won't sweat it. i'm glad april is over...it was a trying month. lots and lots of packing and waiting and waiting and waiting. our first closing date on our house was april 9th and we didn't end up actually closing til the 23rd. plus, i was living at a friend's house for the last 10 days i was in colorado while josh was setting up our humble abode here in salinas. (i was really glad not to be involved in that part!). the reason i stayed back in colorado was to attend a friend's birth as a doula. it was awesome. first time i'd seen a birth. i had my eyes closed at mine during the final push! it was awesome. i cried!

linkers and i got here a week ago. i'm feeling pretty settled but i don't think he is. the drive here was remarkably easy. we (meaning cory and i) just tried to give him a good break from the car seat every few hours. it worked until the final stretch when lincoln had had enough and so had we. i drove as fast as i could to get us here (read...speeding ticket).

anyways, then a day later lincoln developed a 100+ fever. we're pretty sure it's from teething. i think he's working on 4 teeth including 2 molars. the fever lasted two days and he's been uncharacteristically sensitive, whiny, and clingy since. the teeth have yet to pop through so we're definitely praying for that to happen soon. we want our carefree silly boy back!

our apartment complex is really nice. we have a large garage in which we store unpacked stuff so it doesn't clutter the apartment...so nice! there's a pool, hot tub, basketball court, playground, and volleyball court within steps of our steps! the stairs to our apartment (2nd floor) come off the large courtyard that is in the center of the complex. it's very nicely landscaped too. it's nice to take a break from home improvements!

i'm so glad that josh's parents are here. we have already spent lots of time with them and intend to continue to do so! i like having another place to go where you don't really have to ask if you can come over.

oh, i found an awesome coffee shop near our house. it's an all organic, fair trade, and local coffee shop. plus, they make a mexican mocha...meaning chocolate, coffee, and cinnamon! mmmmmmmmmmmm! love it!

driving 25 minutes to the nearest natural grocery store is a bit of an annoyance but in june we are gonna start getting an organic fruit/veggie box direct from a local organic farm. i'm excited to try all the new fruits and veggies we'll be getting. stay posted for recipes!

alright...well thats our last month in a nutshell. glad that we are settled...at least until we find a house!

oh and no jobs yet but i'm in the process of becoming a substitute teacher.

same phone numbers as of yet.

stay posted!