March 2016

It's finally Spring!  Yahoo! We cannot wait for it to really warm up so we can spend a lot more time outside.  Every morning after breakfast I ask Austin if he wants to go outside and get the newspaper and he gets SO excited!  He squeals and has the biggest grin on his face the entire time.  I know he'll be thrilled when we can go outside and stay out without freezing.  

Between the three of us our month was filled with a lot of sickness.  Toward the end of February I came down with something nasty and for two days I had awful hot flashes and chills.  I hadn't felt that miserable in a long time.  I was hoping to keep it away from Austin but unfortunately he got it just as I was getting better.  He had just finished a 10 day course of antibiotics for his ear infections so I ran him back to the doctor to make sure it was actually gone.  Thankfully it was but they could see that he had a virus and told us it would need to run its course. He spiked a low-grade fever the next morning but by that evening he hit 103 and within a few minutes had violent chills.  It was SO sad!  The minute we would bundle him up and get him warm, he would start sweating.  It was exactly how I was and it was terrible.  His doctor's office told us things to watch for but figured we would just have to let Austin's body work itself out.  My fever only lasted a couple days so I was hopeful it would be the same for Austin.  Unfortunately after four days he was STILL fevering!  I had been in contact a couple times with the nurse at our peds office and she told us that as long as it continued to go down with Motrin, his fevering could last five days.  Talk about miserable!  After a week or so Austin finally started feeling better but never seemed to fully recover all month.  He would act healthy for a few days and then get a nasty cough for a few days.  We passed it around to each other for most of the month so I hope we have a break for a while!

Austin's third swim class was another success!  During that session we worked on vertical submersion (which I had a harder time with than Austin) and we also learned all about the proper use of life jackets.  I thought Tin would hate wearing one but he was actually in Heaven floating around!  My mom was able to come for the first time since getting home from Maui so it was fun having her there too.

On the days we aren't out and about doing something fun, we spent lots of time playing at home and this was one of those days.  Austin was very proud wearing daddy's hat :)

A couple months ago I found the most adorable little playhouse at Sam's Club and had to have it!  I imagined Austin and his little cousins playing in it and knew they would love it.  I bought it knowing we couldn't set it up for awhile so as soon as we had a few warm days in a row I somehow talked Logan into putting it together.  His dad came along and helped which is a good thing because it was a really big job.  The company basically supplied the wood and expected you to put every little piece together!  They worked on it for 5-6 hours over a Friday and Saturday at the beginning of March and it turned out perfect!  I know Austin is a bit small for it right now but he will love it as he gets bigger.  

Wishing he could help!

 

 

 

 

As many of you probably saw, Costco was selling tulips in a vase that you could keep inside!  I had never seen anything like it and had to have them.  They were so pretty for a week or so in our living room!  I wish I could have them year-round.

My mom took the cousins to the Museum of Natural Curiosity again this month which is always a super fun time.  I know Austin will love it even more now that he is becoming more mobile.

 

We had super warm weather one day early in the month so we went with some cousins to a nearby park and Austin tried out the swing for the first time.  To say he loved it was an understatement!  This was actually the day that Austin turned 10 months as well!  At ten months, Austin is a great sleeper and eater, he's happy 90% of the time, he still nurses a ton throughout the day, and he LOVES stuffed animals!  His little personality gets cuter and cuter every day and we love it!

Logan upgraded his drone this month and we are all having a lot of fun with it--especially the boys!  The video and pictures he can take are quite impressive!

Austin and I went to the mall with Staci, Liam, and Lily this month to look for Easter outfits and I couldn't pass up this hat and sunglasses!  Look how adorable!  Austin and Liam are going to be best buds when they get a bit older :)

 

 

One of Austin's favorite things to do is sit in the driver's seat while one of us is in the car.  He honks the horn and thinks it's the greatest thing in the world.  I love when such simple things make babies so happy!

For a few weeks Austin wasn't crawling but he was SO close!  I knew it would happen soon and it was so funny watching him figure it out.  He did this constantly until he actually figured out how to move.

Un-related to our family...I'm sure everyone is aware by now that there is a Swig in Murray!  Talk about temptation! Thankfully we don't live in Murray anymore otherwise I would probably spend a lot more money there.  

Any holiday with a baby is fun even if it only means dressing them up and not doing much else.  We didn't do much for St. Patty's Day in our house but Austin looked too cute in his shirt.  He also finally fits into these darling Chuck Taylors that Blake and Staci got for Eli when he was in the hospital.  They are too freakin cute!

 

Austin officially became a crawler on St. Patrick's Day!  He was super close for a long time but didn't get it down until the 17th.  After a day or so he really took off and hasn't looked back since!  He loves his new found freedom!

Okay, this next picture is not flattering at all but I have to post it because you're looking at the RS basketball region champs!  Oh man, I hadn't played organized bball in forever and it was so much fun.  I'm WAY out of shape, not to mention basketball shape, and I felt like I completely forgot how to play the game but it was still a ton of fun.  I even discovered part way through the game that the new girls' coach for Murray was on our team so it was really fun talking to her.

On March 18th (I want to remember that date!) I cut my hair.  Not just a trim or even several inches but completely chopped it!  I had thought about trying a pixie cut for years but never had the guts until my neighbor did it a few weeks ago and looked adorable.  I talked to her about it and then asked Logan what he thought and he really wanted me to try it.  He kept telling me that I would never know if I liked it or not unless I tried it.  I wear my hair up 99% of the time anyway so it's not like I was going to miss having it down.  When I came home after cutting it my mom was watching Austin and he didn't recognize me!  It was too funny.  He didn't want to go to me but as soon as I nursed him he was okay :)  I'm really happy with how it turned out!  I'm still trying to figure out the exact length I want certain parts and how I want to style it but overall I'm really glad I made the change.

I know everyone talks about this on social media but I have to add my two cents.  I love living in Utah with all four seasons but it's quite annoying when one day it's like this on the left and the next day I see this when I wake up!

One of Austin's favorite pastimes right now is playing with the pole that we use to help lock our our door.  He could bang this around for ages if we let him!

Even if it's not super warm outside, we try to sneak out for just a few minutes as often as we can and this was one of those days.  Austin and daddy checking out the playhouse :)

The Easter bunny visited our house this year!  Our sweet Tinny was the cutest bunny and may not have had a clue what was going on but we sure loved watching him rummage through his little basket :) He loved the bubbles, a squishy bunny/snake thing and the race car!

 

We spent the evening with Logan's family this year and had a nice dinner and fun easter egg hunt at his aunt and uncle's.  Logan's aunt always hides a ton of eggs and the kids go crazy loading up on candy.  Austin was satisfied with one egg and then just crawled around the yard.

 

 

I love that we get to do fun things with Austin on holidays but I also love the spirit that comes with holidays like Easter.  Easter is obviously special to our family because of the reminder it brings of Eli's resurrection.  I get goosebumps thinking about what that day will be like!  I know it will be infinitely better than I can possibly imagine and I am so grateful for our Savior who made it all possible.  Eli's first and only Easter pictures are my favorite of him.

Austin obviously doesn't say anything yet but I can tell he is starting to understand most of what we say.  If you ask him where Eli is he will look for the gallery wall we have of Eli's pictures and smile so big.  Nothing makes my heart happier than that :)

We had a wonderful month and know April will be great too!

February 2016

Another great month is officially in the books!  I really can't believe how fast February flew by.  I'm not complaining too much because I am so excited for it to warm up finally!  We did a lot of fun things with Austin this month and love how much he is growing and learning!

Austin perfected rocking on his hands and knees and pulling himself up to anything and everything he can reach but he isn't quite crawling yet. He thinks he is so much bigger than he really is so he is very proud of himself anytime he stands up and hangs on to the furniture.  He's still pretty short so it's hard for him to reach most things which means he constantly whines at us until we help him stand up.

 

One of Austin's favorite things to do is watch for cars and people outside and he gets SO excited when he sees Logan's car pull up.

At the beginning of the month we had a few really nice days and we were desperate to get outside so we took Austin for a walk and watched Logan fly his drones.  Drones are one of Austin's favorite toys so he had a great time. He must have been completely wiped out from being outside because he never falls asleep sitting straight up. I was sure he would wake up when we took him out of his stroller but he stayed sound asleep!  We were even able to undress him and sneak a few minutes of cuddle time in before laying him down in his crib.  I couldn't believe it!

 

 

February 8th was a big day for our family!  Austin was officially discharged from all PCH services after attending liver clinic for the last time.  We knew it was coming soon and we haven't worried about his health for a while now but for him to officially receive a clean bill of health was the best feeling in the world!  He must have known we were getting good news because he was HAPPY!

This face of his kills me.  It's him trying to squeal as loud as possible!

 

 

 

One day later, Austin turned 9 months!  Time is flying now that he is healthy and we are loving each new stage he enters.  In case you're wondering...no, Austin still doesn't have any teeth!  I'm not super surprised because that seems to run in my family.  In a way, Austin's teeth coming in slow could actually be a big blessing.  We were told early on that if his teeth formed early, there was a greater chance they would be yellow or green from his jaundice so I'm hoping they didn't form until after his liver issues were resolved.  We'll see!

 

 

Austin loves playing on the kitchen floor with bowls and spatulas while we make and clean up dinner.  I used to feel like it was too dirty but now I just love that it keeps him busy!

Our little heart breaker had his first Valentine's party this year with our ward "Mommy and Me" Group. It was a lot of fun seeing all the cute kids in their pink and red showing off their boxes.  We didn't make one this year but maybe next!

 

 

Austin's face kills me in this picture!  Haha...he was sooo mad I had set him down for another picture.

Logan and I celebrated Valentine's Day a couple days early by keeping it low-key and ordering our favorite food from The Dodo and bringing it home.  We have just as much fun right now staying home with Austin as we do going out so it was a fun night.

Super pretty flowers from Logan

My family finally found time in February to celebrate the January and February birthdays.  We always have a lot of fun together and of course loved our dinner at Asian Star (a regular for us!).  

A couple weeks ago Austin started swimming lessons and he loves it!  I was worried how it would go over because they are right during his morning nap but that doesn't seem to bother him too much.  He had never been swimming before so Logan and I decided to take him for the first time the day before his class started to see how he did and he had a blast!  I thought it would be a good idea to take him down the tube slide but I didn't realize there isn't an opening until the very end so I was never able to hold him up which meant we both got a face full of water :| Whoops!  Thankfully he calmed down really fast.

 

 

I thought the swim class would be a cute little splash party so the babies could get used to the water but I was definitely wrong!  They teach us water safety, how to teach our babies to get in and out of the water properly, how to float on their tummy and back (with assistance, of course) and we've even put them under the water. During the first class, Austin had fun but was a bit apprehensive.  He liked certain things and really disliked others. When we went back for the second time, however, he was having the time of his life!  People were asking if he had taken the class before because he was having so much fun.  He was squealing and splashing the entire time and couldn't get enough of it.  I hope it continues this well!

Anxiously waiting his turn!  Those eyes though :)

Getting instructions before we get in the pool.  Austin is still working on being patient ;)

Teaching him to wait until I tell him it's "safe to get in the water".

"Walking the wall"
If you look at the little girl to the left you can see her mom showing her the proper way to get in the pool.  It's fascinating how much they actually pick up on at such a young age!

 

 

There's that screaming face again! Haha!

A few days after his first swimming lesson, Austin started coming down with something.  I was having that battle of whether or not to keep him at home and let him fight it on his own or take him to the doctor to make sure it wasn't his ears but exposing him to all those germs.  After a day or so my "mommy's intuition" gave me a clue he needed to go in.  Sure enough, he had a nasty double ear infection.  His ears were filled with pus and everything :( Thankfully he never got a fever this time around but he has had a pretty nasty cold ever since so we've been trying to keep him in for the most part.  I was told by a mom at swimming lessons that chlorinated water has a bacteria in it that is much harder on a baby's ears than regular bath water so that could have easily been how he got it. Considering we went two days in a row, I'm sure that's what happened.  I started using little ear plugs the second time around and they seemed to work real well.

Playing the piano is one of Austin's favorite activities lately!  I was able to snap this happy picture of him not too long ago :) Our dear family friends are all musically gifted so we hope he takes after them!

Toward the end of the month it finally started warming up so we have been going outside a lot more lately even if it's just to sit on a blanket in the back yard.  Austin loves eating sticks, "chatting" with my grandpa, and watching Logan's drones fly around.  I know we are going to have tons of fun this Spring/Summer!

 

Helping dad get the drone ready!

 

Today is "Rare Disease Day" which is a special thing in our family.  Both of our boys were born with rare diseases, SCID and Rh Disease.  There are many incredible people in our lives now because of what our boys have fought through and we are so grateful for each one of them.  If not for these difficult roads we've traveled, we never would have met most of these friends!  We sure love our rare boys!

 
 
 

And that's a wrap for this month!  We are thrilled it's March because we are eagerly anticipating SPRING!