The Falk Family Blog

2008 In Review

I got this idea from another blog I visit. (Thanks Brittani)

Highlights of 2008:

January:
Warren’s parents spent week one of 2008 helping us during my recovery from having Lincoln. Ethan and Isaac happily adjusted to a brand new brother. Warren turned 30! My mom came for a few days to see her grandsons and meet Lincoln for the first time.

February: The boys had a big pillow fight with Daddy.  Lincoln learned to smile. Valentine’s Day.

March:
Isaac turned 4 and had a ‘Go Diego Go’ themed party. We had a snowstorm that left tons of snow in a short amount of time. Warren took Ethan sledding. We went to Tennessee for Easter.

April:
I turned 28. Ethan turned 6 and had a camouflage themed party. My Dad and Sister came to visit us for a few days. Isaac played soccer at the YMCA. The boys took Tae Kwan Do at the YMCA. (but didn’t like it) Ethan and Isaac went to the dentist. Lincoln started “growling.”

May:
Warren and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Ethan went to his first LAN party. My first Mother’s Day with 3 boys. Lincoln learned how to sit up. Ethan graduated from Kindergarten.

June:
Spent a lot of time with Warren’s parents. They were in the area staying with Dan and Kari. (Dan and Kari had their second son, Alexander.) Took Lincoln swimming for the first time. The boys had a blast collecting Cicadas. Warren’s first Father’s Day with 3 sons. Ethan and Isaac got strep throat. Warren went through a rubiks cube phase. Lincoln turned 6 months! Lincoln learned the army crawl.

July:
We went to New York to visit my family during July 4th weekend. Took the boys for a boat ride and tubing for the first time. Went to the Anderson family reunion in Pigeon Forge, TN. Lincoln and Isaac got bigger carseats.

August:
Warren had his diving “accident” at Dan and Kari’s neighborhood pool. Lincoln got his first haircut. Went to the zoo. Ethan started first grade. Isaac started Pre-K. Lincoln turned 8 months and pulled up on everything, ate lots of table food, danced, did sign for ‘all done’ and ‘so big’ and had four teeth.

September:
Melissa and her family stayed the night. We had a big wind storm. Lincoln learned to climb up the stairs. Warren grilled the perfect hamburgers.

October:
Ethan’s class field trip. Beth and John stayed the night. Family day at the pumpkin patch. Isaac’s class field trip. We took a trip to Tennessee to visit Warren’s family and also got to see my Dad and Debbie. Halloween. Ethan was batman, Isaac was spiderman, and Lincoln was a giraffe.

November:
Ethan learned how to play chess. Isaac got eye glasses. Lincoln learned to walk. We went to Tennessee for Thanksgiving.

December:
We went to Owen’s 2nd birthday party. Christmas Tea at church. Lots of baking. Christmas parties. Lincoln’s first Christmas and 1st birthday! Warren made giraffe cake.

Birthday Boy!

Here is Lincoln first thing in the morning on his very first birthday. He just smiled and soaked in all the special attention.

Eat Your Heart Out, Martha Stewart!

It doesn’t look like much yet…just wait! Tomorrow is Lincoln’s 1st birthday (sniff, sniff) and sticking with the giraffe theme, I wanted him to have a giraffe cake for his highchair. I talked to Warren about it and he agreed to make the attempt. I baked the cake and made the frosting. But, that is all I can take credit for! Warren impressed me beyond belief with this cake! I didn’t know he had it in him. Hiding this secret talent from me all these years…

Warren decided to take his long sleeve shirt off. Apparently it kept smearing the frosting. But, from the beads of sweat on his forehead from the sheer concentration, I believe he was just too hot!

The important spots are making their appearance…

The eyes! I can take credit for these too, I forgot. They are white life savers that I painted with gel food-coloring. Even after the eyes dried they remained shiny. It worked perfectly!

The finished product! Not bad, eh? My hubby can do anything 🙂

(Oh, the corner piece of cake is where we are putting the #1 candle.)

It’s hard to believe my baby will be one tomorrow! What an awesome year it has been. Lincoln has brought tons of joy to our family. We couldn’t imagine life without him.

Christmas Day

Here is our family with our favorite gifts. Ethan and Isaac both LOVE all the Lego they got. They made something to hold in this picture. Warren liked his flashlights, Lincoln loves his popper, and of course, I love my new vacuum!

This is the beginning of our Lego collection. Ethan and Isaac are at great ages for it. They (we) played Lego for hours and hours on Christmas day! It’s something Warren really enjoys doing with them. In fact, sometimes the boys were off doing something else and Warren was still there building! The trays in the picture are from Grandma and Grandpa Falk. I told Ethan it was a great idea to use the new trays for building Lego. He asked, “What else would we use them for?” Apparently he thought the two went together. 🙂

Lincoln loves this toy!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning started with my shower at 6:00 AM. I wanted to get ready before the eager munchkins came running into our room. At 6:50 I heard Lincoln waking up. When I walked into the room to get my precious baby on his first Christmas I smelled a horrible smell. I soon discovered that he had thrown up sometime during the night. Needless to say he got a bath right away and was not able to wear his matching PJ’s with the boys. Good news, he never seemed sick after that… He was his happy normal little, cute self.

We opened our stockings while it was still dark outside!

Baby’s First Stocking.

This is the shirt Lincoln will be wearing for his 1st birthday!

My first attempt at cinnamon rolls from scratch was a success! It will be our new tradition. Good bye, Pillsbury! 🙂

Silly!

I gift for me! Isaac was very excited to give this to me. I pretended to think it was a huge book. He laughed and laughed and told me that I was right. Really, it was my new bulletin board to help me get organized. Isaac was really sweet. He was more excited about giving gifts than receiving them! Instead of asking to open his next present, he asked if there were more to give to Mommy.

Ethan’s gift to Isaac. Just right!

My favorite gift! Warren surprised me with a new vacuum cleaner! I love good practical gifts like this. I have been vacuuming so much since Christmas. Just tonight Ethan said, “Are you vacuuming again!?” Hehe.

This was a GREAT Christmas! The boys were a lot of fun! We spent the whole day together playing and having fun.

Christmas Eve Night Just Before Heading To Bed At Midnight

Merry Christmas To All!

And To All A Good Night!

Christmas Eve

It’s a tradition in our house to open one gift on Christmas Eve. The boys asked ALL day for their gift. Finally, after dinner, it was time! Ethan and Isaac each got a Lego knight set. They were thrilled! We spent the next 30 minutes putting it together. Tomorrow will be a day filled with playing, I’m sure!

I’m not sure if he was going after a candy cane or a bow, but when I called his name, Lincoln turned with a guilty look! This is Lincoln’s first Christmas so it will be extra special!

Family Christmas Pictures

Ethan’s Class Party

Ethan’s class had a pajama and movie day party. The kids brought their sleeping bags and pillows to class. They even had pizza delivered to the classroom for lunch. Not a bad way to start the Christmas vacation!