Visit From the Soldiers

Today we had a great visit from my brother and his wife who are home from Iraq for a short two week leave. Jay and Amy arrived on US soil sometime around labor day (no, I don't think it's "classified" I just can't remember) and they'll be in town for just a couple more days.

Today we had a little party for them and it was a lot of fun. Quite a few friends and family from Massena came over to see them and wish them well.

Here are some pictures from the great party...
















Sergeant First Class Jason Lehman and his lovely wife Sergeant Amy Lehman with Allie Grace Lincoln. They are currently deployed to Iraq with the US Army. Amy's a natural....

















Allie Grace with her Aunt Jennifer.


















Kellon and Robbie in their very brief moments of rest. They watched about 15 minutes of "Bob the Builder" and the rest of the time was spent screaming, running, and other general boy behavior. Like....
















Driving the Gator that Grandma Cindy and John brought! They had a blast in that thing...















They had only a few mishaps with running into a few things....
















The ladies "chatted"...and Kellon and Robby....
















Did what boys do!
















They jumped...
















And screamed....
















And had a blast! It was a great day to see some great people. We didn't get any pictures of the 20 or so folks at our house today, but it was a great time.

















"Uncle" Jay and "Aunt" Amy: we love you guys and we wish you a safe and secure finish to your deployment. Regardless of your actual job descriptions (I don't even know what they are), you are still putting yourselves in harms way for our country. We're grateful to you both and look forward to your safe return. Love you both and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

A Sleeping Child

Bedtime...it's such a special thing. We don't have a routine with Allie yet...she sleeps whenever she wants, and often! With Kellon, we have a fairly regular routine that includes running from the bathroom "all the way to his bed" after brushing his teeth, a story (often repeated...), prayer, and brief time of back-rubbing. Each night, I can't go to sleep until I check on him and touch his head. There's just something about a sleeping child!

Thought you might enjoy a few of these pics...





















Allie enjoying some "siesta"...

















This picture was taken in the pitch black with the flash. Kellon never even moved...He's cuddling with "Puppy" - his favorite.

















Another picture taken in the dark. She didn't move either! She's not actually sucking her thumb...

Brother and Sister

It has been so amazing to see Kellon and Allie together. We tried our best to prepare Kellon for a baby sister and it seems like he is adapting so well. He is already looking out for her and very concerned if she ever cries or even whimpers. He loves to cuddle with Allie and "give her squeezes" which is a term that we've long used with him. To watch him kiss her is a special thing - he's so gentle and something so very "big brotherish" about it. It's going to be fun to watch them as they both grow! Here are some more pictures....
















Kellon loves to get close to Allie...
















Kellon is so kind and compassionate towards Allie...He's even sharing! Here he's telling Allie that he wants her to have his new favorite car! (It's "Doc" from the movie "Cars".)
















I think Allie really enjoyed the car...

Kellon's 2nd Memory Verse!

Here's Kellon sharing his 2nd memory verse...his parents like this one!

Allie Grace Lincoln - She's HERE!

We're proud to announce the birth of our beautiful daughter - Allie Grace. She was born at 2:33am on Saturday, August 16th. She weighed in at 6lbs 8oz and was 19in long. Lisa did a fantastic job of birthing this little girl - even going "au naturale" and not taking any pain medication or epidural.

Mommy and baby are doing great. Enjoy these early pictures. We'll upload more over the next several days...

















Lisa and Allie Grace, just moments after she was born...
















Two beautiful ladies...
















Kellon meeting his little sister for the first time...he's SO good with her.
















Mommy with her little girl...

















Kellon holding Allie Grace...it's so cool to see how gentle and aware he is with her already.
















Kellon giving kisses to Allie Grace.

















Kellon with Allie Grace...I love this picture.

















Allie's first visitors - Dale, Susie, and Danny.

















Danny jumped right in...he's a natural.

















Grandma Cindy and John stopped by for a visit...

















Lisa's parents (Opa and Oma) stopped by with Cheryl, Ryan, Kevin, and Karen.

Mom and baby are doing really great. We're hoping that they'll both be able to come home by Monday morning. We're still waiting for visits from Grandma Carol, Grandpa Dean, Uncle JD, and a host of other family members and friends.

Lisa and I are very excited that Allie Grace is so healthy and strong! More pictures and posts to come...

Kellon's first memory verse

Lehmans Visit

Matt, Tasha and the boys came for a great visit in the middle of June. We thought we would post some pictures from that visit. Kellon had a great time having his cousins here. He really looks up to Chandler and Chase. They stayed with us for about a week and it seemed so short. We're really looking forward to their return to the northeast - hopefully in just a few months!

So we decided to post some pictures and make some comments...This first picture is of the boys getting cozy on the couch and watching some TV.
















Here the boys are having too much fun on the gator at Grandma Cindy's. I can't help but comment on this one: Charlie is driving and definitely looking for the next thing to run into; Kellon is the passenger and he's trying to determine if he should get off now; and Chase is giving Charlie an earful on how to drive. What a great picture!
















Here's Kellon teaching Charlie how to rock out.

















More jammin'.
















The boys loved to ride in the trailer behind the tractor...Lots of fun.
















Notice who's driving this time! It was so funny, Chandler could barely reach the pedals, he had to almost lie down to drive it. BUT, he also had to keep pressure on the seat to keep the safety trigger from stalling the machine. It was probably harder for him to drive it than anyone....a lot of skill to be able to pull that off!

















Chandler must be a nice big brother because his younger siblings aren't worried at all that he's at the wheel!
















I think this picture says a lot about these boys. Chase is relaxing but he's VERY aware of everything going on around him. Kellon is attached to his ball and sitting forward - because he hardly every relaxes. Chandler is being his goofy self....and Charlie....well, he's a cautious happy.


WHAT A GREAT VISIT from the Lehmans! We thoroughly enjoyed having them here and the only bad thing was that they only stayed for one week. If you notice, there are no pictures of the adults: we were too busy having fun watching the kids!


We love you Matt, Tasha, Chase, Chandler, and Charlie. We're praying the God directs every step of this next season and that your transition back to the northeast will be smooth and quick!