Milestones: 20 Months Old

Austin's vocabulary is growing like crazy! He chats away all day long and sometimes clear into the night when he should be sleeping.... We get a kick out of standing by his door at night and listening to him talk to himself ;).

I had a very special moment with Austin a few weeks ago that left me slightly freaked out, but in awe of how close our little ones are to heaven and what's on the other side of the veil. It was one of those nights when we could hear him talking instead of sleeping and I was getting tired of waiting for him to go to bed so I went into his room to try and rock him to sleep. What I saw was eerie and had me slightly creeped out. Austin was sitting cross-legged in his bed, staring at something in front of him. Normally when someone enters the room he immediately turns his attention to them, but not this time. Not even me walking over to him and picking him up got him to look away at whatever it was he was staring at. I sat in the rocking chair with him on my lap and began rocking and quietly talking to him, but he just kept staring! I was starting to freak out, thinking he might have had a stroke or a seizure or something! What in the world was going on?! Why was he so calm and unresponsive?! Why wouldn't he look at me when I talked to him?! Then it got even more scary when he started whispering to whatever it was he was looking at..... That's when it hit me. We weren't alone. I tried so hard to look in the same direction and see if I could see it too, but there was nothing. I tried really hard to not get totally freaked out and leave the room that was obviously haunted but I was intrigued all at the same time. So there we sat, rocking, staring, and whispering to our unseen friend for over an hour until I realized he wasn't going to go to sleep. So I put him back in his bed and left him and his friend alone to converse so one of us could get some shut eye.

Here's where it gets crazy! The next morning Austin was suddenly very aware of my belly and what was inside! We have tried explaining the whole pregnancy/baby sister coming soon thing but he always seemed too young to understand..... until now. Now, he knew very well what was inside. Not only was he obsessed with rubbing and talking to my belly, but he started kissing it too! I asked him, "Austin, is that your baby sister inside?" He responded with, "Sister! Baby!" and lifted up my shirt yet again to give my belly one more kiss! Now he kisses my belly constantly and it is obvious that he is very much aware he has a sister in there. I talked to my Mom and Josh both about it and we all feel his invisible friend he was chatting with that night was either his baby sister visiting him or someone else who explained he has a sister coming to him! It makes me tear up every time I think about it! How amazing is that?!

Another fun story about Austin happened just a couple days ago. I took Austin for our usual afternoon trip to the park and sat in the shade while he ran up and down the big grassy hill in front of me. Then, suddenly he fell to his knees and started yelling, "Momma! Momma!" over and over again until I ran to his side. Once I got there he pointed to the grass and said, "Bee!" I looked down and saw a little box-elder bug (or firebug as we used to call them as kids). I told him that it wasn't a bee and tried getting him to say "firebug" but he was busy making buzzing noises while trying to catch it. I picked it up and showed it to him while it ran over my hands and then passed the bug on to him. He got really excited and spent the next ten minutes dropping it and picking it up again. Then, out of the blue, his boy'ish side got the best of him and he suddenly got the urge to squish the bug! He made his hulk face and did the hulk grunt and then the poor bug was history..... I tried explaining to him that he had now killed the bug and it couldn't play with him anymore, but he was too busy blowing on it, trying to get it to come back to life. The innocence of his thinking made me laugh so hard! I pity that poor bug and all the other bugs that are yet to cross Austin's path.....

Some fun moments over the past month:

Playing at the park with Momma!

Mom, Austin, and the belly (33 weeks) catching some sun!

My baby boy.

Getting up the nerve to tackle the big boy slide!

Play date with his best friend Emmett!

cute baby bums :).

"Look what I found, Austin!"

They were so cute taking turns pushing each other around in the doll stroller :).

And of course Austin had to take a moment to study the mechanics of the stroller. He has done that since he was just a tiny baby! I can see him becoming an engineer when he grows up.

Another thing they have done since they were babies: feeding each other and giving each other drinks! It's so funny to watch!

Being a little stud at Chuck-E-Cheese with Grandma P.

Taking a ride in his big boy car seat! He loves being able to face forward and see out the window and I love being able to see him better and watch all the funny things he does!

Hanging out with Mom and eating popcorn when he should have been napping....

Playing in the box the new car seat came in with Daddy! You can't see this, but he has his monkey, bottle, snacks, and blankets in his "house" too! (hehe)

Playing outside in the beautiful spring weather with Grandma P.

Taking a break from all that playing to eat a snack.

He is so lucky to have his own personal Montessori teacher (Grandma P.)! She comes up with the greatest activities to teach him sensory learning and other life skills he will need for the future! I'm just happy to see him doing the dishes! :)

Baby Shower for Our Baby Girl!!

I have the most amazing best friend! Living so close and being able to raise our babies together has been such a blessing!

My Mom and best friend, Jura, threw me a beautiful baby shower! It was complete with amazing food, adorable decorations, and wonderful friends and family who came to share in the excitement of our baby girl! As always, there were a few minor glitches (like two of my Aunts who were supposed to help out ended up not even coming), but we all pitched in and it turned out just fine :). Austin did great and had a fun time with the other little kids who tagged along with their Mommas. Later that night while we were getting him ready for bed he kept saying, "party, fun!" His vocabulary just keeps growing and he is constantly surprising us with new words and phrases! 

My Mom did a great job organizing all the food!

Grandma Weigel made her famous chicken salad puffs! I must have eaten a dozen of them.....

cupcakes with little babies on them!

Jura did a fantastic job planning the games and decorations!

Casey's (Jura's sister) daughter, Bronwyn, came along to help watch the little ones while we were busy with preparations. It's crazy that I used to babysit her and now she is babysitting my kid!

 

Opening gifts!

I felt like I had died and gone to heaven when I saw all the adorable dresses!

My Grandma Weigel gave me a beautiful quilt!

Grandma Porter crocheted this beautiful afghan!

Oh the little swimsuits.... I am dying to take her swimming!!

It's a tutu swimsuit! I'm so in love!!!

Heidi and Jessica hanging out.

Bronwyn and Austin taking selfies :).

Chatting with my wonderful friends from church.

Catching up with Grandma Porter and Aunt April

Little Juliette did such a great job helping her Mommy with the games!

Austin never strays far from Grandma. This shower had her pretty stressed out but it couldn't have turned out any better :).

I am so grateful to be the mother of this busy boy and his already beloved unborn sister!

Josh and Jura's husband, Adrien, decided to take advantage of us not needing them around and went out for a "guys day." They played racquetball, went to the Henderson St. Patrick's Day parade, and went go-carting! They came back to us tired, sweaty, and starving! We had plenty of food left over from the shower so they were in luck ;). 

Daddy at the races!

All geared up and ready to go!

After all our guests went home, Jura and Adrien stayed to help clean up and then we enjoyed the rest of the night eating, relaxing, and laughing at our kids playing together :). Austin is fascinated with babies and loves helping take care of them! It makes me very happy to see this in him because we are going to need all the help we can get once baby girl arrives! I just hope he doesn't get jealous and suddenly find her not so interesting.....

Feeding the baby a bottle :).

Austin thought Juliette REALLY needed her bottle and she thought it was hilarious! She was all smiles  and giggles!

Turning 27!

Even though I had to work on my Birthday, I had a great day! It started the night before when Josh came home with roses, a box of Cadbury Eggs, and a Starbucks gift card (all my favorites!). Then, I was showered with love from friends and family all throughout the day via sweet texts and voice-mails. My manager even made the day special with a yummy cake and announcing my Birthday in our morning meeting. I prayed that everything would go smoothly at work that day so I could make it home on time to spend quality time with my family and even that wish came true!

My piece of amazing cake at work!

I was so tired when I got home, but my energy level instantly perked up when I saw all the flowers, balloons, gifts/treats left from neighborhood friends, and three happy faces excited to see me!! Austin ran into my arms and gave me a big Birthday hug and spent the rest of the night running around with all my balloons yelling, "birfday!" We ate Cafe Rio for dinner (Yayy for not having to cook!) and had mint chocolate chip ice cream for my Birthday dessert (my favorite)! It was the perfect meal! Thank you Josh, Mom, and Austin for making my day so special!

I had already received my birthday gift from Josh the week before when Art was here to babysit. I had the whole day to myself and spent it relaxing at Starbucks, shopping for a dress that actually fits me at this point in the pregnancy for Josh's work dinner, getting a facial and manicure, and I even snuck in a quick trip to the car wash to get my whole car interior detailed! I know that sounds weird but I get so tired of seeing Austin's mess in the back seat and yet I don't have the energy or ability to bend over and deep clean everything.

It was amazing to have so much freedom!!

Once the weekend rolled around, the party continued in Logandale with my family!

Off to Grandma's house! Austin was so excited!! He loves my parent's dogs and couldn't stop saying "Buddy, Buddy!"

We had a great time eating the yummy chicken fettuccine alfredo my Mom had made and sang Happy Birthday with strawberry shortcake! Austin helped me blow out the candles :).

The pretty table :).

Blowing out the candles!

The gang... Briana was taking the picture and Sadie came the next day after work.

My favorite part of spending the weekend in the country is letting Austin run around wild! He is totally in his element barefoot and digging in the dirt. He and Buddy were out there for hours digging side by side..... it was the cutest thing ever! Then Austin discovered he could throw the dirt in the air and Buddy would attempt to jump in the air and catch it! That little game went on for a good long time. They were out there together all day long and only came inside for food and water and then it was off to play again!

Grandpa even helped dig for a while :).

And then Austin discovered the wheelbarrow.....

We played Yahtzee later that night and had a great time! Austin loved sitting on Grandma's lap and rolling the dice for her :).

Suckers and game faces....

Can you guess who won? Grandma claims it's because she rubbed Austin's belly each time for good luck ;).

The next morning Sadie showed up! We all went out to breakfast at Sugar's and amazingly Austin did pretty good! The last time we attempted to go out to eat for breakfast was a miserable enough experience to make us swear off eating out completely. So this was a pleasant surprise.

Riding in the back seat with Auntie Sadie is always a good time :).

Eating lemons..... We did anything we could to keep him entertained!

We were quite entertained ourselves.... gotta love that face!

Next we came home and took advantage of the beautiful day by having a water balloon war! It was so much fun! Austin was just as fascinated with the process of filling up the balloons as he was throwing them and jumping on them to make them pop!

Aunt Sadie showing Austin how to pop the balloon in your hands. That was a big hit!

There are certain moments in life that I wish could be bottled up and kept forever. This was definitely one of them!

filling up the balloons with Momma.

Making Grandma our next target.....

The bigger I get with this baby, the less I want to be in photos.... but this was such a happy moment and I want to remember it!

We drove home later that day all worn out from playing so hard and in the best of moods from all that sunshine and fresh country air! I needed that weekend and realized it is something we need to do more often before it gets too dang hot to go outside! Thank you everyone for the fantastic birthday! 27 is already looking pretty awesome!