Being silly in his party hat! 

Getting ready to stand up in his birthday hat! 

Austin & Mommy all clean and ready for bed! Hope you enjoy our picture Daddy! We love you! 

Ready, Set, Walk

Wow, Austin has really made improvement in the walking department this week! He finally figured out how to push himself up to standing from the middle of the floor. He's still crawling to things to help pull himself up but it's a huge improvement that he's finally figured it out!

I talked to Michael this morning! He seems to be in great spirits, considering the situation and where he's at in the world! It's so weird to talk to him considering the time difference! When we were talking this morning I was getting up for the day and he was heading to dinner! I'm glad he's gotten to call as many times as he has, it's nice to hear his voice! Austin is finally starting to listen to him talk when I put the phone up to his ear! He usually pushes the phone away and wants me to talk! He was grinning ear to ear this morning when his Daddy was talking to him!

I had so much fun this weekend! I went bowling with Lisa and Libby! Austin stayed home with my parents so I could have a little break! It was so much fun! I can't wait to do it again!

Austin's 1st birthday is tomorrow! I can't believe it! Did anyone know that he was born in a leap year? Libby figured it out! He was born on a Sunday but his birthday is on a Tuesday this year! Weird! And his birthday is exactly 2 weeks apart from Libby's! The big birthday party is on Saturday! He's having a Blues Clues birthday, with party hats and all! I also ordered him a Blues Clues cake, but Grandpa is making him his own birthday cake just for him to dig into! Grandpa is making the same birthday cake for Austin that he made for me on my 1st birthday! Of course Austin's is going to be blue instead of pink!

I'm going to start looking for a job soon! I have to figure out where Austin is going to go for daycare and all of that first! Hopefully it will be a fun experience for him and not traumatizing! He should do fine, he loves playing with other kids!

Hope everyone has a good week!
Love you Daddy!
Andi

What a silly boy! He was having fun riding in the stroller as I pushed him around the house in Texas! 

Spaghetti boy! Can you see all of the little "worms" on his belly? He loved it! 

Here's Austin riding in his wagon with Dylan! Austin can not keep his hand off his wagon, he loves it! 

And he's off...

Austin is being really brave in the walking department! He has started to let go of things and able to walk farther than he has been! It's so exciting to see him taking steps! He walked from my parent's kitchen to their bedroom door yesterday, all with a broom in his hand! He loves to stand up with the broom and walk all over with it! He's such a great sweeper! Before I know it he won't be crawling anymore, he'll want to walk everywhere, then run everywhere!

We're adjusting to life in Michigan as well as we can! This weather is killing me though! It's supposed to be 70 down in Texas today! I could definitely go back to that weather again! I almost have everything where it's supposed to be, but not quite everything! I've been concentrating on getting everything all wrapped up in Texas, but I should have that done today! Then it's time to start looking for a job to keep me busy! That way the year goes by even faster! I'm not sure what I want to do but I figured that I'd do something that's fun so I'm not stressed out and things like that! Heck, it's only for a year anyways!

Keep safe Daddy, we love you! We're counting down the days too!

Playing ball! He is the biggest ham ever! 

Here's Austin riding on the suitcase cart when we stopped in Arkadelphia, Arkansas on our way up to Michigan! He loved riding on it and sat perfectly still! He's too funny! 

Adventures in traveling! 

We made it!

We made it back to this freezing weather! We got into town on Friday morning at about 1:45 am! It's hard to believe that a few days ago we were wearing short sleeve shirts and riding in the car with the window's down! But I'm glad to be home!

I have been in contact with Michael since he left and I'm continuing to get updates through the FRG (Family Readiness Group) so I still feel like I'm in the loop!

I can't believe that Austin will be a year old in 10 days! It hasn't seemed like it's been that long! I'm having a birthday party for him so look for your invitations in the mail!

I'll get some pictures on here when I get a minute to spare! I've been working so hard to get everything situated that I'm just exhausted! Hopefully Austin will let me sleep all night without getting up...

For those of you who are worried about me not keeping up on the website...don't! It may not be as often but I will keep it up so that Daddy can look at it whenever he can! Love to him wherever he may be!

And...Welcome Home Kyle! See you soon!

It's Moving Day!

It's moving day...therefore the computer goes into storage with everything else!

We'll see everyone in Michigan by the end of the week!

Love to everyone!
Andi

I love lasagna!!!! 

Austin and Grandma Ringman! Doesn't he look cute in his overalls!

Bye Daddy! We love you and we'll see you soon!

Caught in the corner playing with all of his new toys! 

Still Packing

Hello everyone! Thought I'd do a quick update. We had a very nice trip up to Michigan but we're glad we're back to the weather down here! It's been in the 70's everyday since our return! Christmas was great, we got to see everyone and I think Austin has enough new stuff to last him two years!

Since our return we've been busy packing things up! I'm sure we'll be done packing things up by the end of the week so that we can get out of here next week! Michael is still scheduled to leave on Friday but everything keeps changing so we're just waiting for that phone call! It's so hard not knowing what is going on, they're really toying with our emotions! He's all packed and ready to go...too bad he can barely pick up his bags! He put his ruck sack on his back last night and had to keep leaning forward, otherwise it was going to make him tumble backwards! That's how heavy they are, I think they weigh as much as he does!

My mom is flying down on Saturday to help me move the rest of our stuff to the storage unit and to make the long drive home with us. I'm hoping to be on the road next Wednesday, making us arrive back in Kalamazoo on Friday or Saturday, it all depends on Austin's attitude in the car! Poor little guy, all he's done is ride in the car the last month. Although I do have to say that he was very good on both of the rides to and from Michigan!

I can't believe that Austin is going to be a year old in 21 days! I can't believe that a whole year has gone by already, where does the time go? I'm hoping to be settled enough to have a b-day party for him when we come back. It will probably be the weekend after his birthday, I'll send out invitations and let everyone know more about it once I get things settled down here!

Well, Austin is starting to get into things he's not supposed to! Talk to everyone soon!
Andi

Nice face! Daddy caught him in the middle of a huge yawn! 

Jackson and Austin playing with Jackson's new Thomas toy! 

We're home! 

Today is the big day

We're leaving tonight to begin our trip to Michigan! We should hopefully be leaving around midnight or shortly after! We're all packed and ready to head out, now we just have to wait until midnight!

Happy moving day Libby! How exciting for you! I can't wait to see you and Jackson and your new place!

Happy Anniversary! Today is our one year anniversary! I can't believe it's been a year already!

We'll see everyone soon!
Love to all

Here's Austin helping me pack things up! He's such a great helper!

Eating Cheerios! He has to dump them out of the bowl and then eat them off the floor! He can't just take them out of the bowl and eat them! 

Not ready to leave the weather

I'm excited about going to Michigan, but I'm not excited to leave the weather down here. It's still in the 70's nearly everyday! There was a guy outside yesterday with no shirt, shorts and flip flops on! Can you believe that, in December! Is it snowing in Michigan yet? We're not even wearing coats down here all the time! It's going to be a big shock when we get there! We'll see everyone soon! We're leaving in a week!!!!!!!!!!!

Austin is such a big boy he can eat his own popsicle now! He is even good about sharing it! 

It's been awhile

I thought I might write an update...it's been awhile!

Austin's other front tooth finally broke through the skin this week! So now he has all four front teeth! He doesn't look like a jack-o-lantern anymore! He has also started walking on his own. He starts out by holding onto something then lets go and takes anywhere from 3-6 steps! He does so good! He doesn't do it all the time because he still knows that he can get somewhere faster if he crawls!

We've also been dealing with a semi-sick child for almost a week now. We took Austin to the ER last Thursday night because he woke up in the middle of the night vomiting and had a very high temperature. When we got him to the ER his temperature was 101.9! After that he never vomited again and his fever went down Saturday morning but he has had the runs ever since! His regular doctor said that it was a touch of the flu and he should get better by the end of the week! In the meantime he has been extremely crabby and has not had his usual appetite. He's on a liquid diet until it clears up and he gets his appetite back! I will be extremely happy when he feels better!

The countdown has begun for our vacation! We leave in 9 days to begin our long drive! We'll be leaving at midnight on Friday the 17th and we're looking forward to seeing everyone during the holidays! We'll see everyone soon!

Andi

Austin thought he'd help himself to taking his leftover cereal off the table and playing with it! By the time it was all said and done he had cereal all over his highchair, all over himself and all in his hair! Oh well, he cleaned up just fine with a bath! 

Austin & Daddy on Thanksgiving! Don't they both look happy! 

Doing what he does best, eating Daddy's popsicle! 

Playing in the fridge! 

Here's the one under his eye! You can barely see it because his cheek is scruched up! 

Here is the black eye where he ran eye first into the coffee table! 

We've got snow...

Just Kidding! There is frost on the ground this morning! It kind-of reminds me of snow!

Austin has started doing lots of new things since my last update! He now dances when he hears music, claps his hands and is starting to take some steps! I stand him up in the middle of the living room then go in front of him and he takes steps towards me! Usually he ends up lunging himself at me after a couple of steps but this morning he got really brave and let go of the table to take a step before loosing his balance and falling on his bottom! But it's a start!

He has also achieved two black eyes this week! The first one he opened the entertainment door into himself and got a bruise under his eye. Then last night he dove eye first into the coffee table with the other eye! So now his has one above his left eye and one below his right eye! Check out the pictures!

Only two and a half weeks before we head up to Michigan. We're getting excited and I know everyone else is! We're looking forward to seeing everyone! Hope everyone has a good week!

Andi