Battalion Halloween Party

Daddy's battalion had a Halloween party last night. They had games and candy and Daddy was running the photo booth. Austin had a lot of fun and didn't want to leave when it was time. We're going to the Halloween party at the Library tonight.

Our cute little turtle. He picked his own costume; however, I probably should have ordered a bigger size!

Our pretty little flower

Taking their turn at the photo booth

Abigail & Daddy

Austin got to pick out one piece of candy before bed

I'll have more pictures after tonight!

All jumped out

Abigail jumped herself to the point of exhaustion yesterday!

Dare devil

Austin has become quite the dare devil lately. He was riding his tractor outside on Sunday when I saw him go past the window. He was standing up driving his tractor. He's also been climbing and jumping on everything. He's constantly jumping on his bed or the couch, even though he's not supposed to. And he loves to jump from the couch to the floor. He's got so much energy!

Standing fun

Abigail is having so much fun pulling herself up on things. I thought it might be fun to see what she did when I got the Leap Pad Learning Table out. She does a little bit of dancing in the video. She's been dancing lately whenever she hears music. It's so cute!

Contained

Now that Abigail is mobile, and tends to get into things she's not supposed to, I need to contain her when I go out into the garage to switch my loads of laundry. I've been putting her in the laundry basket. So far she hasn't figured out how to stand up in the laundry basket... yet.



*Yes, my washer and dryer are in the garage. That's how they do things down here in Texas. ??

We're in trouble now - Part II

Oh boy, this is getting fun. When Michael went to get Abigail out of bed yesterday, he returned to our room and said that she was standing up in her crib when he went in to get her.

Fast forward to her morning nap. After she woke up and played in her bed until she got bored, I went in to get her. Guess what? Yup, she was standing up in her crib.

Fast forward again to her afternoon nap. Once again when I went in to get her, she was standing up in her crib.

Then, out of nowhere, she pulls herself up to a standing position against the couch.

Great... not only do we have to worry about her crawling everywhere, we now have to worry about what she's going to pull herself up onto. She may find herself living in a gated community in the near future!

Not a good picture of Abigail, but proof of her accomplishment!

Reminds me of when someone else made that same accomplishment... looking at this picture of Austin made me smile.

And then...

...there are times like this:

He was so excited to "cook maw-mellows" he could hardly contain himself.

Never mind that the marshmellows were only on the fire for about 2.2 seconds before he exclaimed, "They're cooked just how I like them Mommy. Can I eat them now?"

I love when he's such a good big brother to Abigail.

You can also tell by the pictures that once again he was outside playing today. And once again he took the sand out of the sandbox to make another road...

Oh Austin

Someone please tell me the fours are better than the threes. Austin has been something else lately. I don't know where he is getting all of this energy & naughty behavior from. For instance, we've been letting him play outside in the sandbox by himself. We always have the side door open when he goes out to play and about every 5 minutes or when I don't hear him, I call his name. He usually replies with, "Huh" indicating he's still outside the door and not getting into trouble. For three days in a row he proceeded to take the sand out of his sandbox, put it in a dump truck and dump it all over the patio. What was he doing? He was making a road, with his construction hat and all on. He and I got most of the sand back into the sandbox the other night when I was out grilling our dinner. Do you know where most of the sand is at now? All over the patio...

(pictures below are from the other day, but you get the idea!)

Last week Austin went out to play. I was in the living room folding their clothes when I didn't hear him.

I called his name, no answer.

I called his name again, no answer.

I jumped up, and ran to the door, no Austin in sight.

I called his name again, nothing.

I could hear the water running somewhere, but didn't know where. Usually he'll turn on the hose on the side of the garage to wash his tractor or play in.

I ran around the house calling his name, nothing. He was no where in sight.

I ran inside. I checked the living room, I checked the kitchen, I checked Abigail's room, I checked Austin's room, I checked Austin's bathroom, I checked our bedroom, still no Austin.

The whole time I was checking in the house I was calling his name, no response.

I ran into the living room and told Michael I couldn't find him anywhere. We both jumped up. The only thing I thought he could be doing is going around the block on one of his bikes. I didn't know where he was at.

Then I remembered hearing water again. I ran back to our bathroom... and there he was, shaving...

He's had to take a time out for spitting.

He's had to take a time out for spilling water all over the kitchen table and floor, on purpose.

He's had to take a time out for roughing his sister up.

He carried his dinner plate to the garbage the other night like a waiter. One hand, plate half full of spaghetti... got the picture yet?

Please let the fours be easier than the threes...

Ready to camp?

Austin got his tent out yesterday to play in. He really wanted Abigail to get in with him. He even put some of her toys in his tent so she would have something to do while she was in there.

He even had to eat his jello in his tent!

8 Months

Abigail is two thirds through her first year today. I say it every month, but I can't believe she's already 8 months old. It's also hard to believe that she could be walking in the next three to four months. In the short time she's been crawling, I've found that she has to be in someones sight at all times. She is fast! Her favorite area is the toy area, meaning Austin and I have some re-organizing to do. All of his toys with small parts are going to have to go in his room or in his toy box so her little fingers don't get them and stick them in her mouth. Speaking of mouth, she doesn't have any more teeth, but they've got to be on their way. She's constantly chewing on something. I can't wait to see what the next month brings!

Officer in training

Getting into the cable box - this used to be one of Austin's favorite things too!

====>> Make sure you check out the new poll. When do you think Abigail will walk?

Hair

I am so excited!!!! Abigail's hair is long enough for me to put a bow in it! It has grown so much in the last month. I can't wait until she can wear piggy tails.


This is not the greatest picture of her hair because it's a little blurry, but look at that smile!

Austin's hair is in desperate need of a hair cut. We'll have to wait until his stitches dissolve and his incision heals. He went to Dr. R for his follow up appointment this afternoon. Both of his ears looked good. His right ear required a little dose of medication, but is healing well. He has to see Dr. R again in 6 weeks.

Crawling update

For your viewing pleasure... a new movie of the speed queen!

I'll have to catch her at another time. I think she knew I was trying to get a new movie of her crawling. She wouldn't go for anything across the room, she would get distracted by something near her. Little stinker.

Raising the bars

After discovering Abigail attempting to stand up in her crib, we lowered her mattress the other day. I'm sure it won't be long before she does pull herself to standing, so to ensure she doesn't fall out of her bed when she does, we thought it was a good idea to lower her mattress.

Abigail continues to crawl all over the place. Although she's only been crawling for about a week, she already seems like a pro. Of course with the crawling comes getting into things she shouldn't. So far her favorite things are to head for the outlets and the tv. She's learning the word "NO" very quickly. She's been pulling herself up to her knees on many things but hasn't figured out how to get to her feet. I'm sure it won't be long before she's cruising around the coffee table and the living room furniture.

Austin was back to himself Thursday evening after his surgery. As I suspected, the large bandages over his ears came off that evening. He's done really well with keeping band aids over his ear since the large bandages came off. Hopefully we'll be able to wash his hair after he sees Dr. R on Wednesday for his post-op appointment. He desperately needs a hair cut too. Had I known they were going to take a piece of skin from behind his ear, I would have had his hair cut before the procedure.

Here are some pictures of Austin's first bug catch.

Austin's surgery

Before surgery

Austin's surgery to remove his tubes and reconstruct the hole left by the tubes went well this morning. He headed back to the operating room with the anesthesiologist this morning at 7:10 am and Dr. R came to talk to me at 8:10 am to let me know the procedure was over and things went well. Austin's anesthesiologist turned out to be the same doctor who did my epidural when I delivered Abigail.

Still sleepy from the anesthesia

Taking a cat nap

Austin was so brave today, I'm so proud of him. He didn't shed a tear when they took him back to the operating room or when he was brought back to me. He's been really sleepy from the anesthesia and has a little bit of an upset stomach. He's gotten sick a couple of times but is now eating some Cheerios. I'm hoping once he gets something solid in his stomach he might feel less nauseous.

Dressed and ready to go home

Still sleepy but he's got his Spiderman sticker on!



In the stroller and ready to head home

Details regarding the procedure:


Dr. R stated the left tube was no longer in place but was still in his ear. The tube was still in his ear because of some dry bloody discharge. He had to remove the right tube because it was still in place and attached. They used a piece of skin from behind his right ear to use in both ears to close the holes left by the tube. From the picture below you can see that he has a band aid over the skin graph and a big plastic bandage over his ears. Dr. R would like the bandages to stay in place until his follow up appointment, next Wednesday. It should be interesting to see how long they last. If the big bandages come off they instructed us to keep a band aid over the skin graph site.

Surgery Day

Austin has to report to the hospital at 6:45 this morning for his surgery. We've been told the procedure will only take 10-15 minutes and should expect to be at the hospital between 2-4 hours. I'm so glad his procedure is this morning. He can't have anything to eat or drink until he wakes up from anesthesia. He usually heads right for the refrigerator for a drink as soon as he wakes up. I'll let you know how he did when we get home.

We're in trouble now

Abigail has finally figured it out, she's crawling! She mastered going from sitting to her belly and then back to sitting over the weekend. She was getting so frustrated when she would get on her hands and knees because she couldn't figure out where to go from there. She would get so mad and scream. As crazy as it may seem, I was getting anxious for her to figure out how to crawl. I'm sure it won't be long before she's pulling herself up on the coffee table or the couch, she loves to stand up and her little legs are really strong. Let the races begin!

Going for a bike ride

I finally decided that Abigail was big enough to ride in my bike cart. Although, I wasn't quite ready for the bike ride! While the scale shows that I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I just don't feel the same. So I thought maybe I would start riding my bike with the kids in the back to get some exercise. Of course someone had to point out that we were only gone 6 minutes before we pulled back into the driveway, but I was pooped. Now I just have to motivate myself to get out and go for a ride more often. Abigail did well; however, had slipped to a more reclined position by the time we pulled back into the driveway. Boy was she mad! Austin, like always, was shouting for me to go faster throughout the entire ride.

Show me your teeth

You can really see Abigail's teeth now. Her new favorite thing is the Gerber Sweet Potato veggie puffs. She's starting to figure out how to mash things with her gums but she can't quite pick them up between her little fingers yet. She's going to be wanting table food in the next couple of months. I have a feeling she's going to eat anything and everything. She loves her veggies, unlike her brother, and will eat just about any of the fruits, with the exception of Hawaiian Delight. She's like a little baby bird, she already has her mouth open by the time you get to her mouth with the next bite!

And of course Austin had to show me his teeth too! It probably wasn't a good idea to take a picture of their teeth while they were eating.

William Tell Overture for Moms

I got this in an email from my Mom. It's hilarious!

Four generations

Pictured are myself, my Grandma holding my kids and my Mom.

Trying my luck!

I'm trying to win a custom template for my blog. The templates this girl makes are awesome! Wish me luck.

The scooter

My Mom bought Austin a scooter and a bike at a garage sale to ride while we were at their house visiting. Austin loved them both and got some really good use out of them. Here's a short video of him riding the scooter. He was so fun to watch!

Time to say good bye to the tubes

Austin visited his ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist) on Monday for a tube check. Dr. R has decided that his tubes may now be causing more of a problem than they are doing good. Austin is going to have surgery next Thursday (October 4th) so Dr. R can remove the tubes and repair the hole in each ear caused by the removal of the tube. He will be placed under general anesthesia for the 10-15 minute procedure and will get to go home afterwards. It should provide us with a low key day as he will be pretty sleepy after the procedure. What a great 25 months we've had with the tubes in his ears. Let's hope we don't have any further issues once the tubes have been removed.

Austin also has an appointment this Thursday to have his allergies/asthma re-evaluated. I'm not sure if they will be able to diagnose anything at his regular doctor, or if they will refer him to an allergist. He has never officially been diagnosed with asthma, but his doctor asked us how it was when he had his three year physical. I'm also hoping he has grown out of his milk allergy. He doesn't seem to be effected by milk products like he used to. I have a feeling that we may have a hard time getting him to drink milk or eat cheese if he isn't allergic anymore. He knows that he is not supposed to have these things and will tell you if he is offered either milk or cheese.