Happy 30th Birthday Josh!

Josh had a pretty rockin' birthday this year! He turned 30 after all, so we had to make it good! The party started the weekend before his actual birthday. My Mom and Briana came over to watch Austin and I took Josh out for his big birthday surprise! I tried so hard to keep it a secret but he always guesses what my surprises are! Somehow he knew we were going to see the show Rock of Ages at the Venetian and eat at the Grand Lux Cafe. Either he is just that good at guessing, or someone took a peek at the credit card bill when I told him not to....

The meal was AMAZING! We decided to be brave and try the Asian nachos for an appetizer and split a pizza. Seriously, it was to die for! We also had a great time wandering around the Venetian while we waited for the show to start. The Venetian and the Bellagio are our two favorite casinos because of how beautiful they are. You could wander around for hours looking at the beautiful gardens and cool Parisian style shops. The greatest part of the whole night, however, was Rock of Ages! Josh was soooooo excited! I had the most fun just watching him :). He is a HUGE 80's rock fan and he has been wanting to see this show for quite a while now. They gave us these plastic lighters so people don't feel the need to pull out a real lighter and set the place on fire. Most of the people were drunk so there were still some rebels who pulled out their real lighters anyway and we had fun watching security try and explain to their drunken brains why that wasn't okay ;). The music was great, the acting was hilarious, and to be totally honest, we felt like a young childless couple again! We didn't want to go home just yet, so we bought a chocolate covered caramel apple at a cute little cafe and talked for a while before the night came to an end. Josh said it was the perfect birthday and I couldn't argue with him there!

The birthday boy!

Wandering around the Venetian.

A little pre-show lovin'

Walking around the beautiful Venetian gardens.

The AMAZING ASIAN NACHOS!!

Seriously, best rock show EVER!

Josh's actual birthday fell in the middle of the week and it just happened to be "Financials Week" at work which meant he was home super late and was feeling pretty stressed out. When he finally got home on his birthday, he came bearing gifts from his coworkers. It was very sweet of them and they were very generous. So we took one of the gift cards they'd given and went out to eat at Chili's. Then we came home and had birthday cake that I had made earlier that day. Austin thought the candles were pretty cool! It was a nice, relaxing evening.

The Birthday Cake!

Blowing out the candles!

The party continued into the next weekend when Josh's Dad flew down to celebrate with us! I kept joking with Josh that his birthday was the day that just keeps giving. We had a great time with Papa Art and crammed a lot of fun stuff into one weekend. We started by going out to eat at Lucille's BBQ at the District. We had never been there before but are now HUGE fans! Seriously, it was the best dang BBQ any of us had eaten in a long time! The weather is so beautiful now so we chose to eat outside and I'm glad we did because it kept Austin entertained a little longer than usual. The funniest part of the whole meal was when Josh told the waitress that he turned 21 and she actually believed him and brought out an ice-cream sundae and a card saying Happy 21st Birthday! It's sickening that he looks so young.....

YUMMY!!

Next, we went over to the Silverton where the Bass Pro Shop is because Grandpa has been looking for bullets for his 22 but they seem to be all sold out everywhere he goes in Utah. Sadly, they were sold out in Nevada too! Apparently people are stocking up for the end of the world. We had fun wandering around the store though and looking at all the cool fish and taxidermy. There was a mermaid show that we wanted to see but didn't have time because it was Austin's nap time and Josh and I had a movie to catch! So we headed home, put Austin to bed, and headed off to the movie theater! We love our baby, but nothing beats a few hours alone with your spouse. It's like you suddenly feel freedom you never knew you had! We saw the new DRACULA movie and, like everything else we did this week, it was dang good! After the movie we picked up a pizza and headed home for dinner. Austin had a great time with Grandpa and they were at the park when we got home. It normally takes Austin a little while to warm up to men for some reason but this time he had no problem being Papa Art's little buddy all weekend long!

Mom and Dad on our movie date!

After dinner we headed out for the last fun event of the night, the pumpkin patch! Austin was starting to get really tired so he didn't show much excitement in any of the pictures we took, but he had a really great time! He rode the train with Momma, braved the huge slide with Dada, attempted to pick up every pumpkin he came across, and had a blast at the petting zoo with Papa Art! The petting zoo was by far his favorite part. We thought he might be timid with the animals but we were so wrong! He went right up to them and started petting them! He loved petting the goats and had fun chasing the chickens. It was all fun and games until he discovered the yucky water troughs and then it was game over.

He loves his Papa.

Farmer Austin trying to pick up all the pumpkins.

The best part of the whole night! The petting zoo!!

Too cute :).

Papa rescuing Austin from the disgusting trough water...

Riding the train.

Right as Josh was about to go down the slide with Austin, this little boy asked him if he could ride on his lap too! It was too funny!

Such a good night :).

Josh had to speak in Sacrament the next day and it was nice to have Art here to help me wrestle with Austin while Josh was up at the podium. Josh did a fantastic job on his talk and we were all so proud of him! Austin liked watching his Dad talk and kept pointing and saying, "Dada!" It was the perfect end to the perfect Birthday week. After church we went to IN N OUT BURGER and picked up lunch/dinner and brought it home so Austin could take his much needed nap. Then Art left soon after that. We were sad to say goodbye and sad that our super fun weekend was coming to an end.

Taking some Sunday pictures before church.

Austin wasn't intrigued....

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY JOSH!!! We love you so much and are so grateful to have you as a husband/father!

Milestones: 15 Months Old

At 15 Months, Austin:

- Is still getting his top molars. We are going on a month now! It's getting ridiculous. Part of them have popped through but the rest of the teeth just don't want to come in. It makes the poor boy miserable and in turn makes Mom and Dad crazy.... :(

- Has this new game he plays with his Dad where they head butt each other. Austin thinks it's hilarious! He keeps trying to do it to me but I don't find it so amusing. Their relationship is one of a kind I tell you....

- Started screaming one day while we were sitting in the living room watching a movie. We jumped and ran to him only to find that he was scared of his shadow on the wall! Every time he saw it move, he freaked out! We couldn't stop laughing once we realized what was going on. To try and calm him down we started doing shadow puppets on the wall. He stared at our creativeness on the wall in awe but stayed close to us the rest of the night.

- LOVES HIS MOMMA! All throughout the day he will stop what he is doing and run over to me with open arms saying, "Mama!" and hug me. He also holds my hand in the car (our car is pretty small so it's not as tricky as it sounds with him being in the back seat). Not only does he hold my hand, but he hugs it and lovingly says "Mama...." People always told me that boys are so much fun because they adore their Moms and I am starting to see that it's true :).

- Is becoming more and more independent. He hates his stroller (grrrr...) and feels the need to run by himself everywhere. This means he is extremely difficult to take anywhere because he freaks out in the shopping cart, freaks out in the high chair, and freaks out if I try and hold him when he wants to get down and wreak havoc. Honestly, I wouldn't care if he wanted to get down and stand next to me like a good little boy, but instead I get the child who instantly runs away, throwing things on the ground and leaving utter destruction in his wake. Because of his need for independence and our need to keep him safe and alive, he has started throwing tantrums. We have already entered the terrible two's! He will literally lay on the ground in the middle of the store or restaurant and dare us to try and pick him up. We have our hands full to say the least!

- Loves to be outside, especially when we are exploring our new park! They just put two new parks in down the street from us and we are LOVING them! It's hilarious watching him enjoy his freedom. He runs around screaming in complete happiness, playing in the park sprinklers, digging in the dirt, and trying to do what all the big kids around him are doing. We are at the park at least twice a day. Now that fall is here the evenings are perfect for a family stroll :).

- Throws things on the floor and adorably says, "Uh-Oh...." It's so cute when it's a toy or a ball..... and not so cute when it's his dinner.....

Some Fun Moments over the Past Month:

Playing in the sprinklers at the park!

Spending Saturday morning walking around the community garage sale with Mom. As you can see, he is very interested in the cute Halloween wreath I got for two bucks!

He gets at least a million kisses per day from Momma. I can't resist those squishy cheeks and adorable smile!

Making a new friend at the park. She was so cute with him and even though she was at least 3 years older, she played with him anyway.

He fell asleep on the car ride home after playing over at his friend Emmett's house. They have a great time together and I love anything that will tire him out ;).

He is obsessed with the dishwasher and all day long I am yelling, "No!" at him as she his reaching for the steak knives or trying to eat the detergent. I've tried the time out corner but I realized it wasn't working when he ran and put himself in time out. He just sat there smiling at me with that mischievous face....

Eating Italian ice with Dad at the new park grand opening.

Baking banana bread with Mom. Yummy!!

He prefers to push the stroller now, rather than sit in it.

We love gymboree! He runs straight for the jump rope every time :).

Playing peek-a-boo with Momma. He was laughing hysterically until he ran into the table. After that incident he had no interest that game anymore.

So handsome! Heading to church.

Celebrating Auntie Sadie's birthday at the Cheesecake Factory! He made us all work for our supper. He wanted to be passed around from person to person and run around the restaurant. Basically I asked for a to go box and ate my dinner at home :(.

Auntie Bri was a big help at the Cheesecake Factory. She took him into the bathroom and entertained him by taking pictures! lol

While we should have been enjoying our cheesecake...

On a side note, speaking of Sadie, she got into the fire academy for a second time!! Fingers crossed that there will be no political drama this time and all her dreams will come true!

Baby plumber's crack.... cutest thing in the world!

He has had shoes for months now but never wanted to wear them. They always made him trip and fall down. Well, all that changed on day when he grabbed his shoes and begged us to put them on him by saying, "shoes! shoes!" He now LOVES wearing shoes because he knows that means he gets to go outside and play!

Dad likes to push him around in the laundry basket :).

He loves his Daddy so much!

Walking around enjoying our Friday morning and Starbucks.

Sitting in his wagon waiting for Mom to give him a ride!

Playing at Emmett's house. Emmett loves to feed Austin his snacks and give him drinks. They are so stinking cute!!

He wasn't feeling good thanks to those dang molars so I asked him if he wanted to watch his favorite show and he quickly grabbed his big fish pillow, his blankie, and a cracker and made himself comfortable next to me. He's never done anything like that before!

The two of us have a lot of fun at home :). Sometimes we just lounge around on the floor playing with toys and taking pictures!

Love my Bubbas!

Sometimes taking pictures in the bathroom is the only thing we can do to keep his mind occupied while he is in pain from teething :(. Poor kid! He has been so miserable!

Mom hasn't been feeling very good with the pregnancy but that doesn't stop Austin from running 100mph. Most of the pictures we take of him are blurry!

Ignore how large my butt looks here... it's just a bad angle okay! I just wanted to show Austin's other favorite past-time. He likes to sit on my back and play with my hair! I don't mind it one bit :).