We began the month by going to a special breakfast on New Years Day with some of our close couple friends. The Boswells were kind enough to host us all and it was so good to see them again since it doesn't happen often enough! The Andersons, Boswells and us all have little boys fairly close in age so naturally we had to have a photo shoot. I love these three boys too much!
Several of the couples had left by the time we took a group picture but we were able to get one of a few of us. We had a great time catching up with all of these wonderful friends!
One of Austin's favorite activities lately is rolling a ball back and forth with someone. He is getting really good at catching the ball when it comes to him and letting go so it will roll back!
Eli's birthday is on the fourth and we always try to make that day special. We don't do anything over-the-top but we definitely try to make it fun and memorable. This year we met our families at the cemetery to sing and release balloons before going back to our place for cake and ice cream. I could tell Eli was close to us all day and I know Austin could see and feel him. He was extra happy that day and I'm sure it was because his big brother was close by.
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| (I promise we brought Eli with us to the cemetery! It was freezing though and he had just fallen asleep in the car so there was no way we were disturbing his nap!) |
I had a wonderful birth experience with Eli and have only happy memories of that day. I love thinking back to that special time and feel so grateful we were able to be at home as a family for six weeks before going to the hospital. It's hard to believe we should have a three year old and I wish so much he was here but I am so grateful for our faith and the comfort it brings to us. Happy Birthday, angel boy!
Austin isn't crawling yet but that doesn't mean he doesn't find some way to get around! He currently pushes backwards (which makes him very frustrated) and spins around on his tummy. One day I had put him on his tummy with some toys and then sat down on the couch and a couple minutes later I turned around to this.
He had pushed backwards toward me and then spun around so he could face me and get my attention. Such a smart little ham!
Logan's birthday is on the 6th of January and I always try to make it extra special because I feel like it gets overshadowed by Eli's. When Eli was born, we were still in the hospital on Logan's birthday and I COMPLETELY forgot it was his birthday until someone reminded me. I felt awful! Ever since then I've tried to go out of my way to make sure he knows how important he is to us. Unfortunately Logan had to work on his birthday this year but he came home to his favorite dinner (The Dodo!) and his favorite dessert from Kneaders. I surprised him with something he wanted for his Xbox and Austin was super happy all day so I think it was a good day for Logan! Happy birthday, daddy! We sure love you!
We finally gave in this month and invested in a test that would tell us whether Logan is Homozygous or Heterozygous. This was important because if he is Heterozygous, we would have a 50% chance of having a baby with negative blood and thus avoiding Rh Disease. However, if it came back that he is Homozygous then we would always have positive blood babies who would not be able to avoid Rh Disease. Unfortunately Logan is Homozygous so we will always be dealing with the Rh incompatibility.
We still have two SCID-free embryos frozen which are extremely valuable so we will definitely use those. "They" say that Rh Disease gets progressively worse with each pregnancy so that doesn't bode well for our future pregnancies/babies but we don't want to give up yet. We'll keep trusting in God's plan for our little family and take it one step at a time. For now, we are loving that Austin is so healthy and happy and we're excited to focus on him for awhile before looking to the future too much.
Austin turned eight months in January! I can't believe it has been that long yet at the same time it feels like he has been with us forever. At eight months, Austin weighed somewhere between 16.5 and 17 pounds and was just over 25 inches long. He doesn't crawl yet but he's getting really close! He has started recognizing more words that we say like: "hungry" "kisses" and "bath" and knows exactly what they mean. He is a really good sleeper, typically going down around 8:00, waking up to eat around 6:00, and going back to bed until 8:00. Austin used to entertain himself pretty well but now he is much more demanding and almost always wants someone to play with him. We love it but it definitely makes getting anything done a bit hard! He is a great little eater and eats just about anything we give him, with the exception of a few baby foods that I myself wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole so I don't blame him! We sure are grateful for our blue-eyed boy!
We were over visiting my mom one day and Austin was getting the biggest kick out of watching her throw a ball up in the air and catching it. It was too cute! He couldn't stop giggling and had the biggest grin on his face the entire time :)
There was one night this month that Austin was in a really silly mood and I thought his new jammies from his cousin were super cute so I attempted a mini photo shoot and he was so cooperative!
We were able to go to the Museum of Natural Curiosity this month for the first time and it was so much fun! My mom bought a "Grandparents' Pass" so I'm sure we'll spend a lot of time there this year! Austin was a big fan of everything there and loved watching his older cousins run around and climb on things. I can tell he'll be a mover as soon as he learns to walk! They have this really cool water table there that most kids played in but when I felt the freezing water I was sure Austin would hate it. I couldn't help myself though and had to let him try it out...aka I needed some pictures! Awful mom award, I know. I was right, he hated it! As soon as the water soaked through his diaper and he started getting wet he wanted right out! Luckily I got some pretty adorable angry pictures :)
It's amazing how much kids pick up on when you don't even notice them paying attention! Logan and I had taken Austin for his routine labs one day and it was a super long wait so we were all bored. Logan had gotten a drink from the cafeteria and Austin wanted it really bad! Logan eventually let him hold it and he stuck the straw right in his mouth! We couldn't believe it because we've never given him a cup like that before. We both got quite a kick out of it and he was so proud of himself even though he didn't get anything.
January 15th was a big day as it was my grandpa's 91st birthday! Logan and I have the opportunity of living with him right now and it's such a treat knowing he likely doesn't have a whole lot of time left. His memory is fading but he's super healthy for a 91 year old and quite independent. Some of the family was able to go out to his favorite Mexican restaurant for his birthday and he seemed to have a great time receiving so much attention. We sure love our papa!
On Saturday the 23rd we had family pictures taken with the Jorgensens. They hadn't had pictures taken since before Logan's mission so they were long overdue! We went to Camera Shy in Jordan Landing and thought they did a pretty good job! I wasn't a big fan of how they had me standing in our little family picture but everything else turned out pretty cute so I can't complain too much :)
Toward the end of the month Austin started refusing his afternoon nap and it was dreadful for both of us! He still really needs it so I hope it's just a phase he's going through. I got some great suggestions from other moms about ways to get him to take his second nap so I'm really hoping they work!
Austin LOVES standing any time he can! He'll stand hanging on to furniture, toys, or your hands. We have always helped him but one day Logan and I were doing something else and looked over to see him pull himself up! I love how big he's getting!
Finally, we wrapped up our month with a day like this!
Austin was cranky which meant I was cranky and when I was feeding him dinner he smacked the spoon away and got a face full of veggies! I lost it and could not stop laughing. We definitely got a kick out of the mess :)
January was great to us and we can't wait to see what next month brings! We hope the weather starts being kinder as well because we want to go outside more!
