Congratulations, Brian & Ashley!

My brother, Brian, proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas Eve. We are thrilled that Ashley is going to join the family...hope she knows what she is getting herself into. ;-)

Christmas # 4: Grandma & Grandpa

After we finished our Christmas morning, we headed out to Grandma and Grandpa's (Walker's parents) to celebrate Christmas with them. Austin hadn't seen his cousins in a while, and was very interested in them. He watched their every move. I don't think he was quite sure about Bryleigh at first (She is only 8 months older than Austin), but he seemed to warm up to her later....especially when she got a vtech rocker that he wanted to try out. ;-)

Austin was excited about his push/ride toy as well as his animal train that Grandma and Grandpa gave him.... But he loved his cousin Bryce's football helmet.....Do you think he looks like a young Tom Brady? ;-) haha!

Milestone: Austin started saying "da-da" today. After a week of being called "ma-ma", it made Walker's day.

Christmas # 3: Christmas Morning

Since Austin is a little young to understand about Santa and we knew he was already going to be getting a ton of toys...we told Santa that he could wait until next year to make an appearance at our house. Of course, Austin still had a few things from Mommy and Daddy to open on Christmas morning. At this point, he seemed to have caught on that wrapping paper means toys, and he was very excited to see the packages under the Christmas tree. He loved his fridge farm that makes animal sounds (He LOVES farm animal sounds) and his new truck.
Of course, once he noticed that we had set the camcorder up on the tripod, he forgot all about the presents and set his sights on attacking the "tower". ;-)

Eventually he decided that the shopping bag that Nonna had sent his loot home in the night before, made the best toy of all. ;-)

Christmas #2: Papa & Nonna (Christmas Eve)

We celebrated Christmas with Nonna & Papa (Michelle's Parents) today. Austin is finally over his cold, and seemed to be much more into it today. As always, he was a bundle of energy and couldn't explore the new toys (or Nonna's Christmas decorations) fast enough. Austin is a very blessed little boy and came home with a ton of loot. (Walker and I already have plans to hide some of the toys and bring them out gradually ;-) Currently, his favorite is the xylophone/ball pounding toy that his uncle Brian gave him. We could not get it out of the box quick enough.

8 Months Old

I cannot believe that our baby boy is 8 months old already. Wow, does time fly. Here are some random pictures that I took this week of him.

And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

Well, we don't have a chimney, so this will have to do....

Milestone: First Tooth

"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...." ..that song has been stuck in my head all day! Austin has had a bottom tooth right underneath the gum for a while now, but it finally broke through during the night. At least now we know that all of that drool is actually there for a reason. ;-)

While I have been typing, Austin pulled himself up to standing by the entertainment center, turned on the stereo and pushed play. It scared me to death when the speaker next to me suddenly started playing music....especially when he decided that the volume needed to be turned WAY up. ;-)

Christmas #1: Extended Family

This past weekend, we celebrated Christmas with my extended family. (The first of FOUR Christmases that Austin will have!) As always, Austin was the center of attention. It was his first experience opening presents, and he seemed to enjoy it. Of course, he was much more interested in trying to eat the wrapping paper than he was in what was inside the wrapping paper. Between his cold and the fountain of drool that we are dealing with these days, it made things rather wet. (as you can tell by looking at his shirt) I never knew that wrapping paper could actually dissolve in a child's hands. ;-)

This musical Christmas bear survived both my brother and I growing up, but has already suffered a casualty at the hands of Austin....luckily, Nonna was able to sew the ball back onto his hat. ;-)

Bed Head

This is what Austin looked like when he woke up from his nap this afternoon.....The hair cracked me up. As you can also tell from the photo, he has been a fountain of drool lately. I don't know if it just due to the cold he has (and the fact that he has to breath through his mouth) or if he is teething.

Christmas Portraits

After several failed attempts to take my own Christmas card photo of Austin (I just couldn't seem to find a good time to do it when I had extra hands to help keep him in place and smiling), I gave up and let the pros do it for me. I am so glad that I did...it is amazing what 3 sets of hands and professional lighting can do! ;-) I didn't spend enough to get the CD, so I had to scan them in...they may not be the highest quality.

New Trick

Austin learned something new today...Only problem is that he still needs to learn about gravity. He will be standing and then something will catch his eye. He gets distracted and will fall backwards.....hard.

Addendum: Tonight he learned to say "Mom" and "Ma-Ma"...made my day!!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

I am definitely in the Christmas Spirit....even more so than usual. Maybe it is because we sort of missed out on the holidays last year being on bed rest and worrying about our little guy...maybe it is simply because it is Austin's First Christmas and I am excited about all of the memories we will make (and photos I will take ;-)...probably a little of both.

This morning we went to the annual "Breakfast with Santa" at church. Being our first year to go, I really didn't know what to expect. It was so neat to see all of the little ones running around bubbling with excitement...after all, the big guy himself was in the building. Did you know that the REAL Santa goes to our church? He must, because I have never seen such a great Santa....down to the natural jolliness and twinkle in his eyes. (And you would have to be the real Santa in order to still be jolly after having that many children sit on your lap in 2 hours. ;-) Austin was just fascinated by him. I wish I could tell what he was thinking at that moment as he studied him. I was a little afraid he was about to reach up and yank his beard. This photo is the one that Walker took....we haven't gotten the official photos yet (I think there were a few where he actually tore his gaze from Santa long enough to look at the camera ;-) I was so proud of Austin this morning. Because of the 9am starting time, he had to miss his morning nap. I was worried we were in for a meltdown, but he held out long enough for me to get my "First Christmas with Santa" photos as well as several others. Afterwards, he fell right asleep in the car and even slept through a bit of Christmas shopping.

Austin has been kind enough to humor me as I dress him up in various Christmas outfits. Here is a photo I took of one of the potential Christmas morning outfits. (I worked up a sweat getting him to sit still long enough for me to take a picture ;-)

Hide-n-Seek

Austin's favorite game right now is hide-n-seek....with me hiding, and Austin seeking. Whenever I have to go into another room to put something away or even to use the restroom, I know that about 30 seconds later, I will hear panting, followed by this adorable face peeking around the door. He always seems so proud of himself for finding me.

Mr. Mischievous

Austin's mischievous side is starting to show more. He is beginning to learn which items are "off limits". I know this because he will check and see if I am looking before he heads for certain things...he will then smile his "you cannot get mad at me because I am just too darn cute" smile before he continues towards the object. I am working on using my stern voice without laughing. ;-) He is starting to understand and obey "NO" periodically, but more often it just makes him laugh.

This morning I was moving a load of laundry to the dryer, and noticed that Austin was suddenly very quiet. That usually means he is up to something because normally he is practicing his B and TH sounds as he plays. I went to check on him and found him standing. I guess he decided that the end table would make a great item to pull up on. (In the past, he has only pulled up on either Walker or I) He was quite please with himself. Sadly, by the time I grabbed my camera, he was trying to climb through the end table, so I did not get a shot of him standing.

Lately, Austin has been discovering a whole new world through his crawling adventures. As a result, he often decides that random household items are much more fun than any of his toys. Today the item of choice was my laundry basket.

7 months old

I am a week behind on taking some photos to commemorate the 7 month mark, but in my defense, I have been a little busy chasing my very fast, very mischievous little boy around. ;-) I have to say the "photo shoot" was a perfect example of our life right now. I couldn't even sit him down and get back to my camera before he was off and crawling. I would barely get a shot off before he would grab my camera or tackle me. The results are definitely not examples of great photography, but I love them because they show who he is at this point. (Right down to the orange nose and cheeks from all the squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes he has been eating ;-) Here are some of my favorites.

Fun with Daddy

I just love this sound. (The laughter, not the hiccups ;-)

Crawling

I am attempting to post my first video. My brother has been wanting to see Austin crawl, so here it goes....

I took this a few days ago. He has already doubled his speed since then. He continues to amaze Walker and I. It is so neat to see him explore his world and discover all sorts of new things. The Christmas Tree fascinates him. ;-)

Long Overdue

I finally finished decorating Austin's nursery. Yes, I know he is 7 months old, but better late than never, right? ;-) When we first found out that we were having a little boy, I bought some canvases to paint and hang on the wall. I sketched out the designs, but then bed rest and Walker's back surgery happened and they got put in the back of the closet and were forgotten. The blank wall in Austin's room has been driving me crazy for months, but I couldn't find anything suitable to hang there. Then, thanks to a little inspiration from a friend (thanks, HB!) I decided to resurrect the canvases and finally finish them. It has been a while since I have gotten to use my creative side, so it was a lot of fun for me. I am not sure I am completely pleased with how they turned out, but at least I no longer have to stare at a blank wall. ;-)

Austin's First Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we had Thanksgiving at my parents house. Being as it was Austin's first Thanksgiving, this year was a little different from previous years. There was no Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade or football (well, Walker did sneak up to the Bonus Room for a little while to watch the Cowboys ;-)
Instead, this year, Austin was the entertainment. ;-) Being the first grandchild for my parents and the first great-grandchild for my grandparents, he is quite the novelty at family gatherings.
Austin had a blast being the center of all the attention. He had story time with Nonna, and got to ride his wooden horse. He really enjoyed watching Papa's fish. His favorite is "Bubbles", the Yellow Tang.
I really enjoyed Thanksgiving as well. My mom went to a lot of trouble to figure out how to make all of her traditional Thanksgiving recipes Dairy-free so that I could eat them, and they were wonderful. It was the best I have eaten in a while, and I pigged out.

Playtime Pics

I have been on a mission lately to attempt the impossible. I have been trying to capture Austin's personality with the camera. I definitely did not achieve my goal, but here is a glimpse....