Austin at 3.5

You have this beautiful passion for life and a big 'ol smile that gets me every time!

Austin you are three and a half! You are the sweetest little terror in the world. We are either laughing or fighting. It seems like you and I will forever be caught up in this power struggle. It all began when you were just a teeny tiny baby..... Your Dad laughs at us and says, "You guys are two peas in a pod." Although it can be rough at times, you are always making me a better person and I love you for that!

Every morning you come down after I finish exercising and we cuddle. I love that small amount of time when it is just us. Such a rarity these days!

You can be such a goof! We have some pretty cute early morning conversations about your dreams and reasoning for why you should be able to eat candy at 6am :).

Hugging Mom and thanking me for taking you guys on a cookie date. You were the whole reason we went on this little outing because you were being such a stinker and I could tell you needed some TLC. Obviously I was right ;).

You love to play with play dough and your imagination is growing!

You really struggle with preschool drop off and bed time when you know we aren't there with you anymore (even if we are just a door away). I have found that books help out a TON with helping you deal with these feelings. My favorite was Llama Llama Misses Mama until I found The Kissing Hand.... It's such a sweet story of a little Raccoon who is scared to go to school and leave his Mama so she kisses his hand and he gets to take her kiss with him in case he ever feels lonely. This is you holding my kiss in your hand while you read the book :). You take it with you everywhere and sometimes even have a panic attack when you think you might have lost it. At night you have me kiss both hands and fall asleep holding onto them. It makes me tear up every time.

Always the first to volunteer to help me in the kitchen! You don't care if it is washing dishes or stirring the batter. You love it all!

Making silly faces at me while we watch your sister throw her millionth tantrum that morning....

I love you Austin, thank you for being my sunshine :).

You officially graduated out of the Nursery at church and into Sunbeams! This was a big day for you! What made it even more exciting is that your Daddy is your teacher! I am super jealous that he gets to see your sweet self singing and learning. I just want to be a fly on the wall so I can see it all too! Dad says you are the most reverent kid in the class and you give very good answers to the questions :).

First day of Sunbeams and someone is pretty excited about it!

You love your Daddy so much and I am so glad you get to have memories together with him as your teacher :).

Always trying to pull your sisters hair.... This time caught on camera!