My little helper

Today I decided to try on my pre-pregnancy clothes. Let's just say it wasn't a pretty sight.

My adorable little helper made it all the better though. Austin is deep in thought in this picture. He might be thinking "so many clothes Mommy....how come none of them fit you anymore??"

And just like his Mommy, Austin enjoys wearing hats. As Cousin Kristin would say "he looks gangsta'!" We sure miss Cousin Kristin! :(

Austin played in the childcare room at the gym today while Mommy taught class. He had a great time, even though he was the only one not allowed to eat goldfish.
He'll thank me later in life, right?

Anyone have a boat?

The rain continues to fall and thwarted our last minute plans to head to Delaware today. (GROAN!!!)

We were cooped up all day long and had several hours worth of "Row, Row, Row your boat" and the "Wheels on the Bus". I'm telling ya....big stuff going on here at the compound!!

Austin attempted to eat some fresh banana today but as you can see from the picture, he's not quite sure where it ended up!!!!

It's still raining!!

It seems likes it has been raining forever and we don't like being cooped up in the house!!

Today Austin worked on his ball push-ups and some ab work.
He is wondering when he gets to sit on the couch and eat cookies!?

Well, that is mommy's job for right now, as you can tell by the jiggly thighs in the background!

We love visitors!!

Mommy's long lost friend Amy came out to visit with her boyfriend Rob. Austin was very impressed that they drove all the way out to the compound just to see us!!

He enjoyed pulling Amy's hair and playing ball with Rob. Mommy babbled on and on about baby stuff that probably bored them to death! (They don't have any kids)

Amy reminded Mommy of a few embarrassing stories from her past and thankfully Austin is too young to understand what she was talking about!

Rob was looking at a family picture and asked Mommy how long ago the picture was taken. When I told him it was taken in December 2004, he could hardly contain his shock as he said "wow...you look so young in that picture!!!" (Sigh)
Having a baby ages a mommy by at least 10 years!!!

Thanks for coming out to see us and we hope to see you again very soon!

Look at me!

The crib has been lowered! Thanks Uncle Ian. Unfortunately, Austin is still able to pull himself up---although he is no longer on the verge of falling overboard.

Here he is showing off his new skills when he should have been napping!! He was so proud of himself when I walked into the room ---and all I was thinking was "will he ever sleep again?!


His legs can't hold for long though and he topples over. Don't be fooled by this picture though, he was crying loudly until he saw the camera. He stopped crying each time!!


And here he is trying to escape the Cisco-free zone.


Help me Mommy, I'm in jail!


Mommy is too tired to help! She needs sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppp!!!!!

Mommy needs more grey hair!

Austin has learned a new trick which has caused Mommy to grow more grey hair! During his naptime today, he discovered that he can pull himself up to a standing position in his crib. I walked in to find him chomping on the wood only centimeters away from falling overboard! Good GRIEF!!! I need to lower his crib but the tools that came with it are nowhere to be found. Grandpa came over to help, but one of the screws is stuck. (of course!)
So right now Austin is sleeping in the pack n play in Mommy's room. Basically, we won't be sleeping much tonight!

This picture is too cute not to post. Austin loves spending time with Grandma!

It's hot outside!!

It was too hot to be outside today, so we headed to the mall and met up with our good friend, S.
(Ok, S. is paranoid and didn't want us to post her full name!!!)

Mommy and S. chatted while Austin was a perfect little boy in his stroller. He enjoyed all the activity and was "chill-axin" as we cruised around the mall.

It was a fun adventure and I was even able to convince S. to let me take her picture!

Mobility is right around the corner!

Mommy is so not ready for Austin to be mobile!!! He loves to be helped up into a standing position and test out his jelly legs. He isn't crawling yet, but he is very close to putting all the pieces together!



We dropped Cisco off at at the pet-spa today and went shopping while we waited. Austin was a great shopper and "talked" away while hanging out in his stroller.
















We also ran into Aunt Patty out at the stores today, but forgot to get her picture---I'm sure she is happy that we forgot!!! :)

surgery on your child=pure agony

Let me start off by saying Austin is doing awesome and back to his smiling bouncy self!

Now that we all know this story has a happy ending, I don't think I can fully express in words just how heartbreaking it was for me. I carried Austin to the operating room, placed him on the table, and then had to hold his arms and talk to him while they placed the mask over his face.
He screamed.
He kicked.
He whimpered.
And then he was asleep.
I was a puddle and had to go sit in the waiting room to spend the next 90 minutes wondering "what did I just do to my little boy????"
It was heartwrenching and made me sick to my stomach.

The call then came from the doctor (yes, he called in to tell me how surgery went. I guess those face to face meetings are a thing of the past!)--everything went as planned and soon I could go be with him.

As we were walking back to recovery, I could hear him. The screaming. The wailing. He looked at me like "WHY did you let them do this to me Mommy?!"
Again, my heart broke in a zillion pieces.
After feeding and changing, we were on our way home and the little guy fell asleep soon after. (thankfully!)

I was worried that he would be super cranky and upset all day long but that definitely wasn't the case! He was ready to bounce and play like nothing had ever happened!!!!
Amazing how resilient babies really are!

I am traumatized for life over this but Austin will probably have no memory of it whatsoever!

Due to extreme emotional distress right now, I must go and administer chocolate right away!!!

Moral of today's adventure..... Life is short!
Go tell your mom and dad that you love them, because being a parent is a tough job!!!


We love you!

Post-vacation blues

We are back at the Compound and very depressed.
We miss Delaware!!!!

Here are some more pictures from our fun trip to cheer us up!

Austin wore his 'party shirt' for the big shin-dig on Saturday. Someone (was it Kristin?) commented that he was wearing a wife beater tshirt! (Grandma was very confused by this comment!)

Austin got a big kick out of the Baa Baa sheep. He also got big fistfuls of fur! (He must of thought it was Cisco!)

Like mother, like son. It's hard to tell from this picture, but Austin has a death grip on a bag of chocolate chips. No worries, I ate them all for him!

This was Austin's reaction when I told him we had to go back to the Compound.
I did the same thing but fortunately no one caught it on film!

Party!

Yesterday was Cousin Kristin's graduation party and Austin was a party guy! He spent time with many different people and has quite the social personality!

Here he is reading with Grandma.

He had fun spending time with Grandpa too! (Grandpa decided to turn softball into a contact sport and is recovering from his injury.)


Austin even was caught hitting on little Julia, who seems to be enjoying his company!

We enjoyed a surprise visit from Uncle John and Aunt Lois! Austin got to hear lots of race talk! He thinks a fall marathon is a GREAT idea!!! Now we just have to convince Grandma to get up very, very, VERY, early. What do you think Grandma???

There was tons of fun and yummy food at the party and this morning Mommy is suffering from a food-hangover!

We are headed back home today and back to our same (old) routine at the Compound. (sigh)

It's a rough life!

Coming to Delaware means eating M-n-M cookies!! Therefore, I went off to the gym with Aunt Terry this morning in hopes of burning off a few of those yummy treats. (I know...I need several hours to burn off what I ate!!!)
Austin got to hang out with Cousin Kristin and apparently they had so much fun that he needed a little siesta!

Cousin Scott and Austin are buddies too. He is fascinated by his eyebrows!!

Scrub a dub-dub!

Aunt Terry is a pro at kitchen sink baths!! Austin is clearly having a great time!!
Thanks Aunt Terry!!!

Adventures in Delaware

Austin is getting the royal treatment from Cousin Kristin and Aunt Terry! It is quite the scene---they fight over who gets to hold him! If only I could convince them to take turns during the middle of the night!!!

Today was a very busy day in Delaware with Cousin Kristin and Aunt Terry! We did some shopping and then went out to lunch. We went to a Mexican restaurant so Austin could practice his spanish skills. (muy bien!)
He was hoping to get a bite of chips and salsa, but we didn't share with him!

Tonight we went to Cousin Scott's lacrosse banquet. Austin got to have his dinner in the
high school cafeteria and was excited by everyone clapping. (I think he thought they were clapping for him!)

It was a great day in Delaware and we're looking forward to tomorrow!

Out and about!

Austin came to the club today so Mommy could earn some cash teaching a yoga class. It was his first time in this childcare room and Mommy was a little nervous. The childcare room is upstairs though, so Mommy thought "if he cries, at least I won't know or hear it".

Well....silly Mommy!! She was in the middle of a yoga sequence and could actually hear Austin screaming!!!!! Even over the peaceful (HA!) yoga music, she could hear her pumpkin wailing away. Needless to say, the class wrapped up rather abruptly and Mommy scrambled upstairs to rescue her baby. (sorry to the older women that almost got trampled on the stairs!)
Austin was fine..... but Mommy is still rattled!!

Later on today we ventured out to Ashburn to drop Cisco off at Camp Charles. Austin and I are heading north tomorrow and as you can see, he'll be treated like a king for a few days!

We also visited some of our boot camp friends. We stopped by Kathie's beautiful house and then visited with Christina and her new bundle of joy.

It was an adventurous day for all!!

Babies grow up too fast!!!

Austin is growing up so fast!!!
Here are some of his old favorites (especially that carseat/crib!) that have been "retired".
Seeing them all here side by side makes mommy very nostalgic.

Here is a big "shout out" to another baby that grew up too fast----Austin's cousin Kristin!!! She graduated from high school yesterday.

Congrats Kristin!! We love you!!!!

weekend adventures!

Austin has had a very busy weekend!!! (and mommy didn't capture a lot of it because the batteries on her camera were dead!)

Yesterday we ventured out to the mall to visit with my friend Natalia and her cutie little boy, Omar. The mall was packed full of crazy people, including an older woman who would not leave us alone! She keep saying that she knows children and that we should be doing this, doing that, etc. We were polite at first, but when she tried to touch Austin's eyes (no idea why she wanted to do that!), we promptly jumped up and ditched her! As Aunt Debra would say..."Please don't touch my baby!!!!"

Other than that, we had a fun visit with friends.

Austin spent lots of time with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend and of course Daddy too.

He is working on his crawling technique and (unfortunately for mommy!) is getting very close to putting it all together!!!! Right now his skills include the butt scoot and the backwards shimmee.

Feel free to stop by our neighborhood (which I like to refer to as "the compound") sometime to say Hi!