December 2015 and a New Year

December!  What a fun month!  I have always loved the holidays but this time of year with Austin made it 10x better.  I loved starting our own little family traditions and already can't wait until next year when he'll be able to participate even more.

December started off with this gem of a conversation I had with my nephew.  His mom denied it went down this way but I think I trust Will on this one.

In our last ward there was a group of ladies I became good friends with and four of us have done IVF.  I've lost track of how many cycles they have all done but between all of us it's right around 20!  Those mamas sure have been dedicated to get their babies here!  At the beginning of the month we were able to get some of the miracle babies together.

Adelaide: 2 | Russell: 2.5 Weeks | Austin: 6 Months | Eddie: 6 Weeks | Ruby: 2

The Festival of Trees is one of my favorite Christmas traditions, especially since Eli had a tree there.  Every time I walk through the doors I feel the most special spirit the entire time.  Can you imagine how many angles are in there?  This year I was able to go with my mom and sister-in-law.  The kids were so cute sitting on Santa's lap!  My niece, Lily, kept saying: "I didn't know he would be here?!"  Austin wasn't too impressed with him but at least he didn't cry, right?

 

Austin turned seven months in December!  He woke up with a nasty ear infection the day he turned seven months so we went straight to the doctor to get him on an antibiotic.  I couldn't believe how fast it came on but I knew that's what it was.  He suddenly had a fever, runny nose, and was pulling on his ears.  He had a rough 24 hours but as soon as the antibiotic kicked in he was back to his happy self.  At the doctor he weighed 15lb 13oz and the doctor (who we had never seen before) kept saying how much she loved his Buddha belly :) At seven months, Austin is a happy clam and surprises us with hilarious noises, faces, and mannerisms every day.  I can tell he's dying to crawl by the way he looks at things and kicks his legs but he's not there yet.  

Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions is going to dinner and Temple Square with my family.  Fortunately we had awesome weather and we went in the middle of the week so it wasn't too crowded at all.  We made sure to bundle Austin up really well just to be safe and he enjoyed a nice snooze the whole time.

We had a really nice Christmas Eve with Logan's family this year and enjoyed being at his parents' house eating dinner and watching the kids open a few presents.  Austin loves attention (which he gets a lot of) and thought it was pretty great wearing his older cousin's Santa hat.  We made it a fairly early night so we could get Austin to bed and because Santa had quite a bit of work to do still!  Minus the awful migraine I got toward the end of the night, Christmas Eve was a great success!

Matching cousin PJs from my parents :)

Christmas Day was perfect!  Our busy day began bright and early but we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We spent the morning at home opening a few presents each and enjoying our time as a little family.  We only got Austin a couple of presents and it's a good thing because he hated every present that was given to him that day!  I think he was super overwhelmed by everything that was going on because every time we put him in front of a new toy he would shake and burst into tears!  (Thankfully he has since warmed up to all of them and loves his new toys.)

Don't let this smile fool you--he HATED this thing all day!  Now that it's at home he is a much bigger fan.

After getting ready we made a quick stop at the cemetery to wish our boy a Merry Christmas.  Logan and I were FREEZING but Austin had a giant grin on his face the entire time.  I like to think his brother was there making him smile :)

We then went over to my parents' house for my mom's traditional Christmas brunch.  We spent awhile with my family enjoying being all together and feeling so blessed for everything we have.  I feel so fortunate to have so much in my life when so many others have much less.  After my parents' house we made our way to be with Logan's family at his aunt and uncle's for dinner.  Logan's uncle is a great cook and capped our day off with a super tasty dinner.  The day couldn't have been more magical and I feel like Austin's first Christmas was perfect!

Exhausted baby boy cuddling his mimi :)

My parents' neighbors set up a really neat Christmas village/train display every year and we love going to see it. Austin was fascinated by everything and was being such a good boy watching the train go by until he quickly whipped his hand out and derailed one of the trains before I could stop him!  A little girl looked up at me and said: "You're not supposed to touch the trains!" and I couldn't help but laugh and defend myself.  You bet I blamed it on my baby!  We were super embarrassed but fortunately no damage was done :)

I have two great friends that I went to college with who both had babies a couple months ago and we were finally able to get together for lunch!  I love that we all had babies this year and can't wait to get them together for many more play dates!

Bo: 2.5 Months | Korynn: 2.5 Months | Austin: 7.5 months

We celebrated New Years Eve with my family by going bowling and it was so much fun!  I hadn't been bowling in years and man, I'm terrible!  My brother and Logan were both on the bowling team in high school so it was a bit competitive between them but we all had a great time ringing in the new year!

I can't believe 2015 is over!  This past year was filled with miracles and blessings we could only dream of and also had several challenges that made us much stronger people.  I'm sure everyone can guess what our highlight of the year was!  Austin has brought us more happiness than we ever imagined possible and has brought a light back into our home that we have sorely missed since Eli died.  The spirit of a child is incredibly powerful and our home feels like a new place since Austin has come into our lives.

Austin's health challenges this year were unexpected and at times difficult to handle but we know they helped him and us become who we are right now.  We are grateful the Lord has continued to give us trials and challenges because we have so much to learn!  There were times earlier this year that it was hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel with Austin's health but here we are at the start of a new year and he couldn't be healthier!  In the next month or so we expect him to be discharged from all PCH services and be given a clean bill of health.  I can't express what an amazing feeling that is!

We are looking forward to 2016 and are sure it will be a great year!  No doubt there will be trials this year but we are confident we can make it through them if we continue to rely on the gospel and our families and friends. Many, many prayers have been offered on our family's behalf this year and I wish there were words to express our gratitude to all of you who have remembered us in yours this year.  Please know that we pray everyone will feel of our gratitude for all that has been done for our little family.

So long, 2015!  

November 2015

November is always the start to my favorite time of year!  Birthdays and holidays fill the next few months for our family and I love the happy, holiday spirit in the air.  Life is great and Austin's medical issues are *almost* seeming like a bad dream and not something that actually happened.  Fortunately he is doing great!

At the beginning of the month we were finally able to meet Austin's buddy, Luke!  Luke's mom and I have been dear friends since before Kindergarten so Austin and Luke are bound to follow in our footsteps, right?? I hope so! We just need to get him to move back from Milwaukee first!  Luke may seem bigger but he's actually 3 months younger :)

 

Austin started solids in November and was a bit skeptical at first but has loved everything ever since except for peas.  I wish I would have had my camera out when he tried them.  I died laughing!  He managed to try a few bites before gagging and spitting them right back out.  I don't blame you, buddy!  Peas are nasty.

Several people have asked us lately if we think Eli and Austin look alike and my answer always seemed to change so I did a side-by-side of them to make the comparison easier.  Now that Austin is finally putting on some weight, I definitely think he looks more like his brother.  

Their eyebrows and foreheads are identical but they definitely have different eyes and noses.  We love both of these boys to pieces, that's for sure!

Austin turned 6 months in November!  He is such a happy baby and rarely complains.  As long as he isn't tired or hungry and has a few toys to play with then he's set.  He learned to sit up in November and also started rolling back to tummy.  He weighed 14b 5oz at his 6 month well check which means he's finally on the charts at 2%!  He also found is super loud voice in November and likes to scream ALL DAY LONG.  We love it!

 

 

 

 

My birthday is in November and we went with my family to Asian Start to celebrate (along with the other November birthdays).  Any time I get to eat Asian Star and be with this boy it's definitely a great night!

Just a cute picture I had to share :)

We FINALLY got Austin transitioned from his Rock N Play (bassinet) to his crib this month!  I can't believe it was such a nightmare getting him out of that thing.  He has always slept in his own room but he had severe reflux coming home from the NICU so one of their requirements to bring him home was to make sure he slept elevated. Unfortunately he fell in love with his dang Rock N Play so getting him out of it made for a few rough nights and lots of tears but we finally did it and he has never looked back, thank goodness!

We've started setting our Christmas things up the Saturday before Thanksgiving and I love it.  I used to always set it up after but I love having the weekend after Thanksgiving to relax and not stress about getting everything out of storage.  This is our third year with Eli's tree and unfortunately I think it will be our last.  I'm sure those amazing Festival trees are meant to last for a lot longer but ours has been through quite a beating.  It has been transferred several times to different storage places and shoved through very small doorways so there are a lot of broken branches and ornaments.  It's hard to tell unless you're looking close and it still looks beautiful but I don't think it will last another year in storage.  We'll find some clever way of saving parts of the tree to display each year!

 

This may be TMI for some people but I don't want to forget it :) Austin gets backed up pretty easily and will go days without pooping.  In order to keep him regular and help him do his thing we have to give him Apple Prune juice every few days and he thinks it's the greatest thing ever!  We only give him a small amount so as soon as it's gone he gets super mad and does this funny growl/scream thing.  Sorry, buddy, can't load ya up on the juice just yet!

Thanksgiving was great!  It was my family's off year so we were with the Jorgensens and had a really nice time.  We had a lazy morning looking through ads and then went to visit Logan's mom's side of the family before spending the rest of the day with his dad's side.  It was a smaller group this year but still great nonetheless!  Logan's uncle is an excellent cook so we had delicious food and yummy homemade pies.  Nobody was up for much Black Friday shopping that night so we just hung around and played games.  I love how much fun family time there is on Thanksgiving and this year didn't disappoint!

 

 

Logan has been getting into drones lately and has a few in his collection now.  Austin loves watching the drones fly around and clearly doesn't appreciate me asking them to stop for pictures :)

 

 

It's hard to believe we're almost halfway through December already!  Things continue to go well for our family and we're so grateful Austin is healthy and happy.  Logan has two finals next week followed by a three week break so we're all excited for that!  We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

October 2015

Time seems to pass extremely fast lately so I now have a new goal of updating my blog once a month.  Hopefully I can be better about that!  October was great and we were able to create many fun memories!  It's amazing how much faster time passes when things are going well! The first few months of Austin's life felt like years but now I'm having a hard time believing that he's six months old! I'm happy to report that we avoided the hospital since my last post and Austin is doing extremely well!

Just checkin out our new Harry Potter books!
(October 4th)

Starting to love his Bumbo
(October 5th)

5 Months old!  At 5 months Austin weighed around 11.5 pounds and had just started rolling over.  He officially acquired a nickname--Tin Man--from Uncle Blake.
(October 9th)

On October 10th we were lucky enough to fly to Minnesota to visit my brother and his wife and kids.  They have lived there for over five years now and we miss them like crazy!  Logan had never been to MN so I made sure we went during the most beautiful time of the year!  We had such a fun time and wish we could go more often!

Authentic Chicago pizza--it was amazing!

 

October 20th

Austin had two amazing primary care nurses at PCH, Jane and Jordan, and they have both moved away now unfortunately.  We were lucky enough to meet Jordan for lunch before she moved home to Florida.

October 26th

We hope this boy loves basketball as much as his mommy and daddy!
(October 27th)

For Halloween Austin was a sock monkey!  He hated wearing the costume so I'm glad we didn't spend much time or money on it.  We went to my parents' ward Trunk-Or-Treat and spent some time with family but other than that we had a pretty low-key holiday.  I'm sure we'll be more exciting next year when Austin is a bit older. 

I can't believe October is already over and we're almost halfway into November!  Now that Austin is healthy the time flies by and we are soaking it up as much as possible.  School and work are going well for Logan and we're really looking forward to Thanksgiving!  We had our first snowfall today so it truly feels like holiday season now!