Houston zoo

We took Austin to the zoo on his birthday. He LOVES animals so we thought it would be the perfect outing. I think his favorite animal was the elephant, but he loved them all. Check out the video of him petting/slapping the goat at the petting zoo. Hilarious!

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Austin- 1 year

Austin turned 1 on 12/15. It still amazes me that he is 1 already! He is walking and fast walking everywhere. He is eating regular meals. His favorite foods are macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly (oops, Dr. B said I shouldn't give Austin peanut butter until he is 3. But he loves it and hasn't had any allergic reactions!), strawberries, bananas, grapes, oranges, pears and applesauce. He also eats bagels, toast, english muffins, yogurt, cottage cheese, enchiladas, chicken, beans, some rice. He basically likes fruit, cheese, and bread! The only veggie I can get him to eat is carrots. To get him to eat other veggies I still have to give him babyfood. He is still on formula, but I am going to start trying to transition him to milk soon. I'm waiting until he gets rid of his cold before I start. He says mama, dada, uh oh, "d" for deer, "ahya" for Alex, "ju" for juice, the "h" sound for hot (with his mouth wide open and his hand waving!). He tries to imitate other words and sounds daily. He would much rather play with everything in the kitchen and bathroom cabinets then his toys. If he is going to play with a toy he would rather play with his brothers' toys! He loves putting things inside things. Many times we can't find his bottles or pacifiers because he has hidden them inside something else. We got him his first pair of shoes a couple of weeks ago. He wears a 6 wide, which is the largest size they go up to (at Stride Rite) for the first time walker shoes! We didn't have many choices in shoes! He loves wearing his shoes, and walks really well in them. He also has a new car seat with more room! Everything about him is growing up! He has a big boy toothbrush, he is starting to get the hang of a sippee cup, he has a better understanding of what I tell him each day. He knows when he shouldn't touch something, or get into something. He will walk up to it and start shaking his head no! It cracks me up! Before I know it he will be in kindergarten, sniff!
Here are a couple of pics of him on his birthday.

Alex's 7th birthday

I'm way behind on blogging, but since this blog is my family record I wanted to post about Alex's 7th birthday. Poor Alex has had an ear infection since Thanksgiving. He is still on antibiotics. He wasn't feeling great for his birthday, but he was a trooper anyway. On his actual birthday we went to Seaworld. We had a small birthday party for him at Silverwings the weekend after his birthday. I think he skated once around the rink the entire 2.5 hours we were there! He likes to go to play the games, win tickets, and cash them in for prizes. He came home with lots of trinkets. His closest friends came to his party and that made him a happy guy!
This 7 year old amazes me more and more each day. He is so respectful, has great manners, makes straight A's in school, is a huge helper, makes me laugh, gives me all the details of his day, shares, cares, and loves. He is a great big and little brother. I would be lost without this guy in my life. I hope Alex's 7th year is filled with many blessings, happiness, and accomplishments. I love you Ali-boy!

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Austin's 1st cupcake- early bday celebration

Since we had Alex's birthday party yesterday, and family was in town, we decided to have an early birthday celebration for Austin too. He turns one next Saturday. Here is a little clip on him devouring his very first cupcake. He literally ate every crumb! I had to use a safety q-tip to get the icing out of his nose! He thoroughly enjoyed it and wanted seconds! Can't believe this little man is almost one!

Indoor snowball fight

We have accomplished 4 of the 6 advent calendar activities so far. Maybe it won't be a disaster afterall. Here is one activity that was a hit, literally!

This video is pretty calm, Austin was napping. They had a snowball fight last night that was pure laughter. Well, until Mason pegged Alex in the face! They promised to aim below the neck and not wake the baby up this time!

Seaworld- Alex turns 7

Sunday Alex turned 7 years old! Crazy! We bought Seaworld tickets through a fundraiser earlier in the year and they were going to expire at the end of the month. We thought we would use them Sunday as a special treat for Alex's birthday. The boys were excited about going but after 3 hours in the car, rain, chilly temperatures and lots of stress over where to eat lunch, it didn't start off great. When we got there it was so nice to walk right in and not fight any crowds. It turned out to be the perfect day to go with great weather and no crowd. The only downside was all of the water rides were closed and Alex thought the other rides were either too scary or too baby.



                       


                       

Austin's favorite part of Seaworld was the duck pond. He talked to the ducks, waved to the ducks. He loved the ducks!

                 

Austin couldn't sit through the Shamu show, but the big kids really enjoyed it!

           

After Shamu we saw the penguins.

           

And alligators

Mason and Andy rode a roller coaster called the Steel Eel. Mason was nervous about it at first, but I knew once he got on it he would love it. Sure enough, as soon as he got off the ride he wanted to go again. That boy is an adreniline junky!
There was one water ride open that Andy and the boys went on at the end of the day. The loved it and came off of the ride soaken wet!

















We bought a cake in San Antonio and planned to have it when we stopped for dinner but I didn't have any way to light the candles. Alex decided we could just have it when we got home. By the time we got home that night he was too tired to even blow out his own candles and didn't even want a bite of cake.
The next day I went to eat lunch with him at school and he had a big cotton ball in his ear. I went and talked to the nurse and she said his ear was infected. Poor guy has been sick with something for the past two weeks! Hopefully this round of antibiotic will get him feeling better!
It's still hard to believe Alex is 7 already. What's even crazier is that he is our MIDDLE child now. He has been my baby for 6 years! He is one super kid. Smart, funny, creative, caring, responsible, great friend, well mannered, and a great big and little brother. I don't know how I deserve 3 awesome kids. But I sure am thankful!

CPA ceremony

Last Saturday Andy was sworn in as a CPA by the Texas Board of Public Accountants. One of the speakers gave some stats in his speech that were interesting. The oldest person receiving a new CPA certification in Andy's class was 81 years old! Amazing! That person knows what it means to go after a dream and achieve it! There was another stat that a person in their group finally passed all 4 exams on the 11th try. That is perseverance! The speaker also stated that over 50% of people have to take at least one exam twice before passing. I was so proud of Andy for passing with awesome grades on the 1st try, all 4 exams. What was even more amazing is that he didn't start studying until 10 or 11 at night and would stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning, then go to work the next day. He was studying for his last exam when Austin was born so he also did all of the night feedings, you know, since he was already up. I am pretty sure I wouldn't have had the determination and drive he had to complete the qualifications for his CPA. But now he is official! It doesn't change anything in his job, but like he always says, "it tells people I know what the heck I'm talking about!" Congratulations honey!

Christmas Tree

The boys actually decorated the tree this year and I didn't even have to threaten them! I think it turned out pretty good! Now to fix the section of lights that don't work! Austin has done a good job of leaving the tree alone, so far!




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Reality check

I was so excited about the Advent calendar this year. We have never used one so I was hoping it would help us focus on family, fun, and Jesus. We completely skipped the activities for 12/1 and 12/2 because we were out of town. Yesterday we were to read a bible verse and make an ornament. I wanted to do this when Austin was napping but we did homework instead. Once homework was done Austin was awake. Focusing on a bible passage while the reader is chasing a now walking baby is not the easiest. Then one didn't have any interest at all in making the angel ornament and the other needed help. So I ended up doing the craft myself. Big time fail so far. I guess I shouldn't set myself up to fail like that. I'm just afraid if we wait until Austin is old enough to not be such a distraction the big kids will have zero interest in hanging out with mom. Maybe I'll figure out a better system before Christmas actually gets here!

Homeade snow globes

I totally copied my talented friend Natalie's blog when she posted about making the easiest snow globe ever. Usually things that come easy to her are still pretty hard for me. But this time, she was right! Just take any clear glass container you have, fill it with baking soda and add figurines, pine cones, ornaments, cars, trucks, toys, etc. The coolest part is once you get tired of staring at these scenes you can change them out with ease. I'm pretty excited about mine. The kids didn't seem too impressed, but whatever! If you make one, send me a pic!

Our advent calendar

I wanted to create an advent calendar this year but I didn't want to spend a ton of money and I'm not that creative, so... this is what I came up with. I cut out squares of dollar store wrapping paper and glued it to card stock. Then I cut out squares of construction paper and glued them to the wrapping paper. I numbered each square from 1-24. Then I wrote each day's activity on the back. The most time consuming part was coming up with the activities each day. First I came up with all of the activities then I looked at the calendar to determine how much time we would have each day. I put the more time consuming activities on the weekends. Our activities are a mixture of family time (movies, games, looking at Christmas lights, indoor snowball fight), reading bible verses, doing things for others (making cookies for the mailman and garbage man), crafts (painting ornaments, making ornaments, making Christmas cards), creative thinking (writing our own Christmas song, coming up with a our own family meal time prayer), adventures (Christmas scavenger hunt), decorating (decorating bedroom doors, decorating the boys beds with lights, decorating the Christmas tree), etc. Once all the cards were labeled I hung a string of garland on the mantle and clipped the cards to it. We'll see if this method works. I don't want the boys to read ahead to the next day's activity. If I see them peaking I am going to pin them to a memo board I have and hang it.

The boys are almost 10 and 7 and I haven't done a very good job over the years making sure they focus on the real reasons of Christmas. My hope is that the advent calendar will give us some family time, allow them the opportunity to give to others, as well as some time to read a bible verse and talk about Jesus. I can't wait to see Austin this Christmas season. We were in the Christmas section at Walmart today and he saw the blow up characters and Christmas lights and was so excited!

Austin is walking

Austin started walking over the Thanksgiving break. Each day he puts more and more miles in! Even today, feeling under the weather, he did some walking. So cute!

Thankful

I feel like I need to do a follow up post from my last rant. In the midst of the illness, unhelpful clinics, sleepless nights, and grouchy mama I have so much to be thankful for. Just last night alone, I am thankful for a friend who is a PA that I could bug many times, up until 10:30 last night, with questions. I am thankful that my sister-in-law was able to watch Alex so I didn't have to bring him into the clinic. I am beyond thankful that my dear friend Missy came walking through those clinic doors with a big smile and a hot cup of coffee for me. Just to sit with me and keep me company. She was so helpful with Austin and really cheered me up. I'm telling you, I have the greatest friends! Kristi, wanted to watch Alex for me but was at home with a sick child of her own! I'm thankful that as we were sitting in the ER room last night, I knew we were going home with a dose of steroids and a baby that would be on the mend pretty soon. Unlike, the kid in the room next to us that was getting transported to Texas Children's. I'm thankful that my mother-in-law sat at my house until after midnight so Andy could go with me to the ER. I'm thankful that my big boys got a good nights sleep and were able to go to school today. My list could go on and on. So thank you God for all of the blessings in my life!

It's my 3rd

We spent the entire Thanksgiving break passing a virus from one brother to the next. It started with Mason the Saturday before Thanksgiving. He had fever for 4 days accompanied by a terrible cough, that still exists. Alex got sick the day before Thanksgiving with the same virus. Austin woke up at 3am Sunday with a terrible barking cough, later it was accompanied by fever. It sounded like croup to me. We haven't ever experienced croup but after looking up the symptoms, Austin was a text book case. I decided to take him to the walk in clinic we have here yesterday afternoon in hopes of getting a steroid prescription. The doctor tested him for RSV and the flu, but I couldn't convince her of the croup, even with his seal barking cough and all the other signs. The doctor wouldn't write me a steroid prescription. About 10:00 last night Andy and I were so worried about his breathing and fever we decided to take him to the ER. Without a doubt, he has croup and they gave him a dose of steroid in the hospital. By 5am this morning I could tell a drastic difference in his breathing. I think in a couple of days he will be back to normal!
My beef is with the walk in clinic doctor. I could tell right from the start she didn't appreciate a mom's opinion of what was wrong with her child. Even after letting her know Austin was our 3rd and this wasn't our first rodeo with labored breathing and bad viruses. She insisted we needed to give breathing treatments, even after determining his lungs were clear. I hated that Austin had to suffer 6 more hours before we got him treatment at the ER. Lesson learned for me, no more St. Joe's walk in clinic. And all you mom's out there, keep listening to your gut!
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Austin- 11 months

I'm just a week late, but hey, at least I'm posting while he is still 11 months! Austin has definitely found his personality. He is sweet, funny, curious, adventurous, hard headed, opinionated, silly and super cute! He is everywhere! I know I've said that the last few months, but he is really everywhere now. He would rather walk holding your hand or furniture then crawl. So I am constantly having to watch him to make sure he doesn't bust his head on the tile, fire place, furniture, etc. This is all new to me because when the big boys were babies we had carpet and no fireplace. There are lots of baby hazards in this house! He can take a few steps on his own and is so proud of himself when he does it! He will stand without holding on to something and clap!

At the beginning of October Austin had a mini photo shoot with Kathlyn. She took our family pictures in April but Austin still wasn't even sitting up on his own. So Kathlyn did a little shoot for Austin so we would have some that really showed his personality. Even though this picture is almost two months old, it shows his latest fascination with using furniture to pull himself up. So cute!

Austin can say Mama, Dada, uh oh, thank you, juice, cheese and deer. The funny thing is he can say juice, but he really isn't a fan of it. But he LOVES cheese! He may have a limited vocabulary right now, but he definitely understands what you are saying. He can wave, clap, and tell Shelby to come to him. He also understands "No". I haven't done much child proofing, other than covering outlets and moving a few breakables up. We still have breakables in his reach and I am just teaching him not to mess with them. He knows the things he shouldn't touch but will try to touch them and look at you with the look you see in the picture below. Sometimes after you tell him no, he will look at the object and then shake his head no.

Then there are other times like yesterday when I told him not to touch my coffee cup, but when I turned my back for a second he was pouring it out all over Alex's cloth bean bag and book shelf. While I was trying to clean that up, he decided it was a good time to play in the toilet. A little while later he decided to throw Shelby's water bowl on the floor spilling water everywhere. He is definitely into the exploring stage! But he is still so darn cute, you can't really get mad at him!

He LOVES his bath and loves to be silly. I started out brushing his teeth with this finger toothbrush, but he was not a fan. He would rather chew on it. So now we use a regular toothbrush and he lets me brush his teeth. He still has 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. He loves to throw his toys out of the bathtub and then look over the edge and say "uh oh".
He will crawl on, in, under, and over anything. It doesn't bother him if he gets stuck. He eventually figures it out!
His hair is finally long enough for a mohawk. We had to send this picture to Aunt Heather the other night. He still has lots of curls in the back of his blond hair. I'm sure once he gets his first haircut they won't come back, but in the meantime I'm loving it.
Tice let us borrow this great activity table (along with everything else of his we borrow- thank you Nat!) He loves it. He will start out at the activity table then walk around the coffee table, holding on to the couch or table. I'm pretty sure he will walk by his 1st birthday. That's different for me because Mason was 14 months and Alex was 17 months. But I think Austin is desperate to catch up with his big brothers!
The other day Mason told me that a classmate dressed up as a "nerd" for Halloween. He described the glasses he wore and decided to make some out of some 3D glasses we had. Austin put them on to model. Too funny!

His favorite food is macaroni and cheese or anything with cheese. He loves yogurt and any bread product. He is definitely our child. His favorite fruits are strawberries and bananas. His favorite veggie is carrots. The only meat I can get him to eat is very tender chicken or turkey.
He loves outside & riding in his stroller. He has enjoyed soccer season! He loves animals! Any type! He loves to go to Grandpa's and pet the deer mounted on the walls in the living room! One day when we get a dog, all of our boys will be in ecstatic!
We decided not to do a birthday party for Austin's 1st birthday. I hope he forgives us later when he looks back on pictures of Mason and Alex's first birthdays! We will still get him a cake to smash in his fingers and sing to him. And I'm sure there will be a present or two! And hopefully some pictures! :)

Halloween

This year Mason wanted to dress up like Al Capone. He toured Alcatraz this summer, hence the fascination! We found this cool gangster costume at Party City a few weeks ago. It seemed like he was very excited about wearing it until yesterday morning. Then all of a sudden maybe it wasn't the "cool" thing to do, you know, dress up in FORTH grade. After a little encouragement..ok maybe I yelled that he WAS wearing it because I PAID for him to wear it this ONE day of the year. He wore it for the parade at school and then for trick or treating last night. I think he looks pretty cool it in myself!
Alex wanted to be a SWAT officer originally, like his buddy, Bodie. But they didn't have a costume in his size. Then we found this cool FBI costume. I thought it worked out perfect that Mason was the gangster and Alex the FBI agent. Alex didn't have his cool shades or badge for the pic below.
The boys had a blast hanging out with friends, and making new friends last night. They got to take a hay ride around the neighborhood trick or treating. Talk about service!


Here are a few friends that were willing to be in the pic!


As the big boys were riding on the trailer Andy, Austin and I were following behind. Little man was a trooper. He slept through most of the trick or treating.


When we got home he was wide awake!


Thanks Fleetwoods for having us over! Fun was had by all! Now if only I can resist all of the candy while everyone else is at work and school!

Add a caption

Austin has lots of facial expressions and hand motions. He is very entertaining. I so wish I could get into his head and find out what he is thinking...I think! I have thought of lots of different captions for the pictures below, but I would like to know what you think the captions should be. Come on, play along. I'm a stay at home mom. I need an extra laugh or two sometimes!

Austin pics- 10.5 months

The weather lately has been amazing. We sat outside for a little bit today. Austin was busy playing with the lens cap on the camera. He did look up for a few seconds and gave me a courtesy laugh so I would leave him alone. Check out those teeth!

Back to the lens cap.

Soccer Stars

Mason and Alex are really enjoying playing soccer this season. Mason has been practicing at home and his coach has noticed. He came over after the game last night to compliment Mason on how much he has improved. Andy has seen Alex improve too. I'm glad they are improving, but most of all I'm glad they are having FUN. They are also making new friends, which is always a good thing.


They happen to be the same number this season!


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Growing up with memories

I always talk about how fast Austin is growing but the same applies to my big boys too. Alex has always been a pretty mature kid for his age. He is extremely responsible, respectful, generous and thoughtful. He has the biggest heart. He is doing so well in school. He loves to read and tries to take AR tests as often as he can. He is playing soccer again this year and is doing great. Andy is his coach so he loves that!

When we moved to Brenham we decorated his room in a cowboy theme. It's super cute, but it's really not him. He told me the other day, "Now that I can read, I know those signs in my room say 'I want to be a cowboy when I grow up' and I DEFINITELY do not want to be a cowboy when I grow up!" He asked if he could change the paint color on his wall, get rid of the cowboy stuff and have a more grown up room. He also said, "Mommy, I know Papa gave me my art table and helped put it together, but I think I am too big for a plastic art table now. Do you think I could have one of his old desks at Gammie's house?" I relayed the message to my mom and she was more then willing to give him the desk. We picked it up this weekend. He is so thrilled! The first step to a more mature room. His plastic art table has already made it's way to the garage and will wait until Austin is old enough to use it.

Here is his new desk, ready for his creations!

The coolest part about the whole thing... Alex noticed last night that my dad had carved his initials (LS) in the desk when he refinished it. I'm pretty sure he will think of my dad each time he works at his desk. Makes my heart happy.

Austin- 10 months

This little dude is 10 months old today! I can't believe we are getting so close to his 1 year birthday! Yikes! He is still crawling everywhere. He has decided to give up baby food. He has 4 top teeth and 2 bottom teeth. He still says uh oh and thank you. But he also says mama and tries to say deer. He loves the mounted deer heads at Andy's parent's house. He loves any and all animals. He wants to be right next to them but is pretty cautious about petting them (which is a good thing in my book!).

He opens draws and cabinets and will open and close bedroom doors from the bottom of the door. Time to finish child proofing the house! I haven't found a food he doesn't like yet. Last night he ate cheese enchiladas, rice and beans! He loves mac and cheese too! He has a very hearty appetite but he also works off his calories!

He likes to walk with you holding his hands. He still hasn't figured out pulling himself up to a standing position or going from crawling to a sitting position. One day! He keeps us busy, entertained and full of happiness! I love this guy!