Mr. Giggles!

Yellow ducky, you're the one...

...you make bathtime SO much fun!

May flowers

This past weekend, Ryan and I (and Austin too) spent a fabulous weekend outside in our own backyard. It was time to catch up on all that yard work and plant some beautiful May flowers. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and Austin loved being outdoors. It's almost like being outside just calmed him and he spent a lot of time just gazing and taking in all the new sights and smells.

Pretty flowers in the front porch planters

Austin outside watching mommy & daddy work in the yard!

Ok, so daddy did most of the work and mommy played with Austin (here he's installing our new walkway lights).

Austin wanted his Boogie Wipes (stupid allergies)!

All of our flowers prior to planting

The pond, before...

...and after!

Another shot!

Austin hanging out in his Pack n Play while we planted.

"Hello up there!"

"Not me!" Monday

Friday night, Ryan and I took Austin over to Grandma and Grandpa Harris' house and they babysat while the hubby and myself headed out to our favorite Italian restaurant for some much needed "us" time. I definitely did NOT order a second bottle of wine with our meal and upon standing up from the table, see the room spinning as I carefully made my way to the car. Also, I most certainly did NOT ask Ryan to stop by the house before picking up my beloved son so that him (and his grandparents) would not see me in such a state!

On Saturday, which is usually my morning to sleep in, I somehow woke up at 5:30 am and just couldn't get back to sleep! I went upstairs to gaze upon my beautiful son, got something to drink, and then got back in bed to try and get some more zzzz's. I was still awake at 6:45am when Austin woke up but I surely did NOT pretend I was asleep so Ryan would get up and feed and change him. That would just be mean if I were to make him get up even though I was already awake! I mean, I already get up with him 5 days a week, one more wouldn't hurt would it?

On Sunday we woke up and decided to go to the early service at church. We wanted to go ahead and go (instead of waiting for the noon service like usual) so that we could get an early start to the day, definitely NOT because we were hoping to see Biggest Loser contestants Phil & Amy who often attend the first service. Not me, I wouldn't go to church early just because I was hoping to see some minor local celebs, that's just silly!...and speaking of church, when the teleprompter went out in the middle of our morning worship, I definitely didn't mouth random lyrics to make it look like I knew the song, nope, not me!

Last night, a few hours after we put Austin to bed, he started to wake up. Ryan and I went upstairs to check on him and get him back to sleep. We gave him his passy and turned on his lullaby CD to help soothe him. Ryan and I certainly did NOT slow dance in the middle of his nursery to the song that was playing on the CD. Not us, that would just be so ridiculous!

So, today was a dreary day from the beginning and days like this just zap my energy. I didn't feel like cooking, or even making a sandwich but I certainly did NOT eat a couple of handfuls of Raisinets for breakfast...and lunch. Ruin my diet?...not me! And speaking of the weather, Ryan had two softball games tonight and I know I did NOT secretly wish they would get cancelled due to the weather so he could stay home with me and Austin. I just wouldn't do that, nope, not me!

Lastly, today on our trip to Babies R Us, Austin was getting whiny in the car. I surely did NOT put the Backyardigans CD on and repeat the theme song half a dozen times so he would be quiet and I could drive in peace. Not me! And when he finally started to fall asleep in the backseat as we were driving, I also did NOT drive up and down Haywood Rd. several times so that he would go to sleep in his car seat, ensuring a hassle free trip to pick up the essentials. Not me, I completely deny it all!

Well, that's all for now, hope you enjoyed my first "Not me!" Monday. I challenge all you other bloggers out there reading to think of your own "Not me!" post. It's actually pretty fun and I bet it would make for some pretty enjoyable reading!

Vrooom!

I really wish this picture hadn't turned out all blurry because I think it's just too hilarious! Austin was sitting on the floor playing and he was starting to get a little irritable. (He was probably mad that mommy was sitting there snapping pictures when he wanted to play!) When he gets irritable or frusterated he holds his arms out like he's revving up a motorcycle and getting ready to ride. He also does it when he's eating and I'm not spooning the food in fast enough! I just think this picture is so cute and really show off his marshmallow arms too!

Peek-a-boo!

So, I absolutely love going to get Austin when he wakes up from his naps. We often play for several minutes before I even get him out of his crib. Recently we have been playing peek-a-boo and I have been sitting him up, then ducking beside the crib and jumping up and saying "Peek-a-boo!" He used to just sit there and wait for me to pop up, but recently he has begun to look for me (what a smart boy I have)! He was in a particularly good and playful mood this morning so I ran to get the camera. He's even learned to pull the crib bumper back to try and find me!

I said, I don't like peas!

If you saw the earlier post about the first time I fed Austin peas, you know that he isn't the biggest fan of that particular mushy green vegetable. However, the pediatrician said to continue to try and feed him things he may not have liked at first because a baby's tastes can change and their refusal to eat certain foods could have a lot to do with their mood at that time as well. So, I tried again with no such luck, but then got a bright idea and decided to try and "hide" the peas with some other veggies I know he likes. This is what happened....

I think we're just going to throw out the peas for now. I guess he doesn't have to eat EVERY vegetable!

Still here!

I thought this was rather funny, but Ryan actually commented the other day that he noticed that I hadn't been updating the blog as much lately. I took a look and realized that he was quite right and that my April blog post count was down about 10 posts from average. Well, no need to worry, we are still here and doing fabulous, and I think I've figured out the reason for the drop in posts.

First of all, I have been sick for the past 2 weeks with some sort of flu/cold/sinus infection type of thing. (NO, it's not swine flu!) I went to the doctor for the first time in several years, with the exception of my OB/GYN visits, which tells you how awful I was feeling, but even she couldn't give me a good answer as to what was going on and just gave me a list of things to buy from the drugstore to feel better. (Yeah, I wasted a $25 co-pay to have a doctor tell me to go buy soup and tylenol at CVS! Maybe this is why I don't go to see doctors...)

Anyway, since I try to do all my blogging during Austin's nap times, and since I've been feeling so awful lately, I usually end up napping right along with him instead of updating everyone about our daily adventures. So, there's one excuse and here's the second:

In the past few weeks Austin has become so much more playful, interactive, animated and is an all-around happy baby boy! His favorite thing to do is sit on the floor and examine/bang/chew/throw his toys around. The jumper just isn't enough anymore and the exersaucer gets boring after he's made his rounds a couple times and the swing...that's just an obstacle to try and wiggle out of! He loves playing with his toys on the floor and moves from one to the next and likes scooting all over the place and finding new things to entertain him. I caught him yesterday with one of my shoes that I took off just a little too close to his play area!

Austin also loves playing peek-a-boo now and it's one of my favorite games to play with him. He lets out the cutest little laughs every time he spots me peering around a corner or peeking from behind a blanket. He seems to have the concept of object permanence down pretty well because he just sits there and looks for me and waits for me to reappear and then squeals with delight!! Tickle time is also fun and he really like it when the "mommy monster" comes to get him!

While I have loved and enjoyed every stage of Austin's life thus far, I think this time right now has been the most fun and is probably my favorite. He's not so such a tiny fragile doll anymore but a little playmate who loves to smile and laugh and play games with mommy and daddy. He's developing a personality and I just love to see it shine! He's also really trying to figure out the best way to move around on the floor and it's so fun to watch him try new things and learn how to move around. I swear I'm going to turn my back one day and he's going to have crawled across the room. Even now when I sit him down, I turn my back for a second and he's in a totally different position and I have no idea how he got there!

So, as you can tell, the blog has become lower on the list of things I like to do everyday because there's just so much other fun stuff going on that I don't want to miss out on! It's still important to me and it's still up and running, but forgive me if I go 3, 4, maybe even 5 days without and new post. Austin and I are just having so much fun that I completely forget about it sometimes!

The yogurt incident...

Are words really necessary?

Tyler's 1st birthday party

Today was Tyler's birthday party so we spent the afternoon in Seneca celebrating the special occasion with The Johnson's and some of their family. All the little ones were fantastic and had a lot of fun. Austin discovered balloons and absolutely loves them now. He also loves to watch other kids and play with his buddy Tyler. I took a ton of pictures, but here are a few of my favorites.

The Birthday boy!

Austin & mommy

Tyler's crazy parents!

" Does this thing come off?"

Admiring the gifts!

"It's all mine!"

Balloon!

"Tasty!"

Time for cake!

Austin's first taste of icing.

"Give me back my balloon!"

Happy 1st Birthday to Tyler!

Austin's buddy Tyler turns 1 year old today! It seems like just yesterday when Ryan and I were visiting the newest baby Johnson at the hospital. He's such a cute and sweet little boy with some of the best parents around! We hope you all enjoy your big special day!!

Wordless Wednesday

Sofia's Baptism

Saturday evening we attended Sofia's baptism at St. Mary's downtown. She looked so beautiful in her white gown and was so good during the entire ceremony. Austin remained unusually quiet during the ceremony and we were so pleased that he didn't cause a scene since talking is one of his favorite things to do right now.

We went to dinner at Soby's right afterwards and sat at a table with 2 other couples who both have 6 month old babies all born in October as well. That means that there were 4 babies there born within days of Austin. October...and February...must have been pretty busy months last year!!

Colors of Spring!

Here are some shots of the beautiful new Spring blooms in our own front yard. If only it could look this gorgeous all year long!