Thanksgiving 2014!

Our little trio, soon to be 4!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving that was full of love, life, and laughter! We had originally planned on spending the holiday in St. George at my Grandma Wiegel's house but she had some drama going on and it ended up being easier for us to host it again at our house instead. At first I wasn't very happy about the situation because I was really looking forward to getting away, messing up someone else's house, and going rock climbing around Zion's National Park. But everyone chipped in A LOT and we had a really great time!

The food was seriously to die for! Maybe it was just the pregnancy making it taste so good, but I felt like I had died and gone to heaven! Or maybe it tasted so wonderful because we fed Austin first and then sent him up to bed for his nap, allowing me to actually enjoy a meal for once! He didn't sleep long, if at all but it was long enough for me to enjoy my meal in peace before round two began. The company was a lot of fun too! Austin, as always, was the center of attention and was acting so silly! After dinner he started playing a game with all of his Grandmas where they would roll a plastic cup across the table and he would try to hit it. I don't know why but that game made him laugh so hard! Which in turn made the rest of us laugh uncontrollably.... there's nothing as contagious as baby laughter!

After cleaning up dinner, we all sat around for a while trying to digest the massive meal we had just eaten. That was when Grandma and Briana started giving Austin piggy back rides! He took it so seriously, it was so cute! It was like he knew the consequence of falling off the horse and there was no way he was going to let that happen!

As the evening progressed, we packed up the pies, said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Porter, and headed off to Aunt Heidi's house for party #2! Nathan and Josh decided to stay home and have guy time. Neither of them are fond of big crowds and when you get with my extended family, it's one gigantic, loud party! I loved every minute of it! That's where Josh and I are very different. At our second party, we ate pie and talked/laughed until we wanted to throw up. At least I did anyway! Austin had fun with Heidi's dog and exploring the new surroundings, but towards bedtime he started asking to go home. He kept pointing at the door and saying, "Go!" I was sad to pack up and leave because I have craved the happy social interaction of my family so much, but I also didn't want to deal with the impending tantrum. So we said goodbye to everyone and headed home to Daddy.

At home we finished watching the 49'ers game with Josh and ate some more food. I don't know where we put it all, but yes, we ate more! Briana then headed off to go Black Friday shopping with her friends, and my Mom slept over at our house. I was happy she did because I had fun with her the next morning doing some online shopping of our own together for Christmas!

This Thanksgiving was its usual fun charade, but it had deeper meaning to all of us due to a tragic death in the family..... An extended cousin's 17 year old son committed suicide just days previous and the sadness of it hung heavy over us all. Yes, I come from a family so close knit that I actually know and have memories with my second and third cousins! This tragedy brought on a solemn and almost reverent feeling of love for me towards all of my loved ones. It reminded me that life is short and even more precious than we realize. I couldn't help but tear up when I thought about losing anyone at that Thanksgiving table, or even those who weren't able to make it! Basically, what I am saying is I couldn't be more grateful for family. They are the cornerstone in who you are, the support system you turn to when your world is falling down around you, and the people you want to share your happiness and success with.

Our fun Thanksgiving memories this year:

Oh you know.... just chillin'

That face!! I could just eat him!

Auntie Sadie's little buddy.

Our traditional sister photo (plus 1).

How lucky are we to have four generations of special people still very much alive to make wonderful memories with?!

The men sitting around while the women did all the work.....

Cooking with Grandma Wiegel!

Austin laughing hysterically during the "cup game"

Such a silly kid! He loved the game so much that he then followed Grandma Wiegel around the whole night with a cup trying to get her to play again!

Having a little chat with Grandpa.

Getting a pony ride from Auntie Bri!

Every cowboy has multiple horses....

giddy'up!

LOVE these two!

Can you guess how spoiled he is??

Grandma is his favorite person in the whole world. He throws major fits whenever she leaves :(.

What would I do without my sisters? They each hold such a special place in my heart.

Pretty soon we will have another little one for everyone to love on!

Austin patiently waiting for some food!

Baby Bump News: 18 Weeks!

18 Week photo with Baby #2

.....compared to the 18 Week photo with Austin.

Wow, 18 weeks already?! This pregnancy is flying by! It seems to be moving much faster than it did with Austin. Perhaps that's because I'm much busier now with a toddler on the loose so I don't have as much time to stop and think about the other little one growing inside of me.

I've been wondering when I would feel the first obvious kick, since I had already felt it by now with Austin. I've felt random twinges of movement here and there but it's so hard to determine if the sensation is coming from the baby or gas bubbles! Then, last night Josh and I were lying in bed talking when I felt it! I had Josh put his hand on my belly to see if he could feel it too but he didn't feel anything when the baby moved a second time. We were both excited though! It all becomes more real once you can feel movement! Proof that there really is something in there!

I've been feeling MUCH better now and rarely feel nauseous. However, I can't say the same for my hormones! HOLY DRAMA QUEEN!!! It's like I am having an outer body experience, watching myself in horror as I blow up over stupid things, get angry over nothing, or just burst into tears when nobody understands me. I feel like I have no power over the rage and outbursts and once I calm down (usually it goes as fast as it comes) I feel really bad for whoever I was upset at.....

And then there's the acne.... I keep telling myself to be grateful that it isn't as bad as it was with Austin, but it's still pretty depressing! I'm sure looking forward to those post-baby laser treatments, pain and all!

I have been craving anything citrus, but mainly oranges. Luckily, it's the perfect season for oranges! I've also been loving juices, mainly cranberry juice. That's about it for the cravings....

Clothing is getting trickier now that my belly is growing, but even more tricky now that my butt seems to want to win that race! I have my favorite pair of pants that are wayyyy too big, sweat pants, yoga pants, and maternity pants! None are extremely cute, but it's all about comfort nowadays!

We have been having fun coming up with baby names, and can't wait for December 11th when we will have the anatomy ultrasound done and hopefully find out the gender! Just in time for Christmas!!

Milestones: 16 Months Old

At 16 Months, Austin:

- Jabbers all day long and mimics every word we say. I know I am his Mom and therefore inclined to think he is a genius but I have never seen a kid say as many words as Austin can say at this age! Just the other night he said his own name! I was rocking him to sleep and we were playing a little mimicking game. I said, "Where's Momma?" and he then pointed to my chest and said, "Momma!" I then said, "Where's Austin?" and he pointed to his head and said, "Stau-stin!" I was so proud!!! We started adding up all the words he can say and came up with about 25-30 and the list grows each day...... I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. My Mom told me that by the time I was 18 months old I could count to 10 in Spanish AND English. Not to brag or anything, but I think he takes after me hehe! ;)

- Not only is he mimicking our words, but he is also mimicking our actions. We have to be really careful what we do around him because he tries to do it too! For example, I can't load the dishwasher in front of him or he will try to "help" me. I actually enjoy his help with unloading because he runs over and begins handing me all the dishes and waits for me to say "thank you" in between each dish, but loading is dirty and gets to be too much. Whenever Josh kisses me, Austin has to run over and hug/kiss us both. We are working on him helping clean up his toys. He will grab a few toys and put them in the basket, or pick up a few cheerios and put them in the cup, but that's about it.... we will work on it. 

- Has started calling us by our first names! It all comes back to the mimicking thing. He started with saying "Josh" or "Ash" whenever we would say it to each other, or yell for the other person up the stairs. Then he figured out we actually answer to those names and started using them on his own! It's so cute, you can't help but smile :).

- Started climbing out of his crib (grrrrr.....). We were so shocked the day he was supposed to be sleeping and we found him at the top of the stairs staring back at us! We tried the putting him back in his bed and hoping he'd learn routine but it wasn't working. He would climb right back out before we could even walk out of the room! I have to admit, I was impressed with his agility and escape artist skills! So, while Josh was giving him a bath one night, I took the crib apart and put the mattress on the floor where it would be too far down for him to pull himself out. It has worked for now, but I'm sure we will be right back where we were when he grows a bit taller.

- LOVES our bed! The second he is free upstairs he runs into our bedroom and climbs up on our bed to jump and roll around. It's so cute! He enjoys the challenge of getting off the bed as much as he does getting on it, so he climbs up and down over and over and over..... We are just happy to watch him entertain himself with an activity that isn't destructive!

- Enjoys playing in the toilet (again, grrrrr....). Whenever it's too quiet I run into the nearest bathroom because I know what he is up to! It's so disgusting!

- Throws tantrums regularly now. It really gets on my nerves but I try to ignore him. If we tell him "NO!" and he doesn't think that is fair, he throws himself on the floor and begins kicking and crying. Then he will stop for a second and peak up at us to make sure we are watching. I can't help but laugh sometimes even though I know I shouldn't. 

- Doesn't walk, HE RUNS!!! It is so cute watching his little legs go as fast as they can, and he is fast! If we don't pay close attention, he is halfway down the block before we can catch up with him!

- Struggles with eating. This has been a challenge for him since day 1 of trying solids. He is a HUGE milk drinker and would honestly live off of milk if we allowed it. His doctor told me I need to cut down on the milk and basically starve him until he feels hungry for actual food but it has been harder than you'd think due to the tantrums :(. I can't figure out if it is textures or tastes that he struggles with because what he loves one day, he refuses to ever eat again. Some things he chews around for a while and then spits out, while others he spits out the second it hits his tongue. This led me to think that it might be a gag reflex problem? His Dad has a similar problem where he can't always swallow so he basically pouches the food in his cheek like a chipmunk until he can swallow it. So whatever it is, it must be hereditary.... hmmmm.

Some Fun Moments Over the Past Month:

Austin LOVES bath time!

And we LOVE that smile!

We had bought him winter clothes months ago and it is finally cold enough to wear them!

He doesn't quite fit into 18 month clothing yet so we have to roll up the sleeves and pants but he still looks adorable nonetheless :).

Getting loves from Momma! This is an almost every 10 minutes occurrence. If I'm not the one to pick him up and squeeze the guts out of him, he finds me and latches onto my leg, whining until I do!

Trying to undress himself.... It has been hard keeping him warm this winter when he has a hatred for long clothing! He won't even sleep with a blanket on top of him because it is too restrictive!

I gave him apples and peanut butter.... all he ate was the peanut butter ;).

He wants to be a big boy so badly! He likes eating his food at the table now. We are fine with this if it is food that doesn't leave a big mess. But if it does, it's back to the high chair for him!

Always so busy and finding new ways to entertain himself! No object is too high and no space is too small apparently..... hahaha

Little UNC stud muffin :).

Helping Dada download music. He loves technology!

Veterans Day!

Austin and I went to Logandale to spend Veterans Day with my family this year since Josh was working and we both really needed to get out of the house! We had so much fun at the Veterans Day Parade my home town puts on every year. Austin was a big fan of the people waving at him and all the candy they were throwing his way! He would race onto the road to grab it along with all the other little kids around us and then bring it back, totally proud of himself :).

At the parade, waiting for the candy!

Having fun with Grandma :).

Stealing Grandma's chair and feeling pretty proud of it!

Where's the candy, guys?

Oh how I love this stud!

Waiting for the next chance to run out into the street and grab some loot!

Auntie Bri was in the parade, handing out candy for her work (she works at the Inside Scoop Ice Cream and Sandwich Shop), so we ran out to wave to her as she went by! In return, she gave us lots of candy!

Austin loved all the attention :).

You can't help but squeeze those cheeks!

He loved those chairs! He sat there thinking he was so big!

After the parade, my Mom took us and Briana to breakfast at Sugar's. Austin kept us entertained while we waited for our food with his lemon eating skills and funny faces. If only he could have remained entertained when our food actually came. That was the moment when he chose to be over it and we ended up eating our food at home...

Waiting for our food!

Austin and his lemons...

the "bitter beer face."

Taking a drink and then tackling the next lemon! Such a crazy kid....

We hung out at my parent's house, talking and watching a movie while Austin took his nap. Once he woke up, Nathan came home from work and we headed to the park. We had a lot of fun talking and watching Austin run around until it started getting dark. Then we headed home to make dinner before my Mom, Austin, and I went to a Relief Society activity! Austin was quite a handful during that and enjoyed being the entertainment while we were all trying to pay attention. He ran around saying "hi" to all the ladies and giving kisses to my old young women's leader. It was definitely time for bed by the end of that night!

Playing at the park with Grandma and Grandpa!

He loves his Auntie Bri :).

It is rare to snap a picture with Grandpa because he is always working, so this is a special one!

The next day my Mom had to work and Briana had school. So Nathan took me and Austin out to breakfast and then we drove back to Henderson. We were very glad to see Daddy that night and wished he could have gone on our little trip with us.

I am so thankful for the Veterans whom we honored that day and for the freedom we have because of their sacrifice.