Milestones: 17 - 18 Months Old

**We have been so busy with the holidays that I fell behind in my monthly blogging of Austin! So this little excerpt will be about his past two months :).

Dearest Austin, you are becoming more challenging by the day as you strive to exert your independence. However, you are also the most adorable little terror we have ever seen so it is hard to stay mad at you. I am trying to figure out the best way to handle your little outbursts because you have started mimicking everything I do and then I realize I need to control my own anger if I am to try and contain yours. We are a lot alike in that way..... very passionate. I see many extreme power struggles in our future.

You have become such a little social butterfly and you LOVE attention! Especially from women. At the ward Christmas party you spent the entire time running around tapping on all the women and saying hi to them. They of course loved you and you loved the attention they gave you! You do the same thing in restaurants and in sacrament you around socializing with all your friends and collecting snacks from all of their mothers.

You have become very fascinated by my growing belly and are constantly lifting up my shirt to see what's inside. I have no idea how to explain it to you so we just gently pat my stomach and say, "belly!" and leave it at that. Then you run over to your dad to see if there is anything inside his shirt too.... hahaha you crack us up :).

Patting my stomach and saying, "belly!"

The weather has been perfect lately and every day you and I go on an afternoon walk. You don't need your stroller anymore and can actually go quite a long distance before you get tired! Yesterday you insisted on bringing your car with you and pushed it all the way to the park and back. It was so cute! You kept stopping to turn on the music your car plays and then would commence pushing it as fast as you could go until the music stopped and then you would repeat the process. You also love to collect rocks any time we go outside. I find your pockets full of them by the end of the day and you like to store them in little secret places in your room. Whenever I open up something and find a rock I can't help but smile. I love how intrigued you are by the beauty of the world..... even something as simple as a rock!

putting rocks in the trunk every couple yards.

And then off we go again!

For the most part, you have adjusted pretty well to me going back to work. Well, until I did a later shift and didn't come home til 9:00pm.... You were supposed to be asleep by 7:30pm but apparently you missed me so much that you stayed up and cried the entire time saying "momma!" until I got home! I was heartbroken to hear that and see you so upset! So I spent a few hours that night rocking you and singing to you, trying to get you to go to sleep. It was the sweetest moment because you were stroking my face as I sang and quietly whispering, "momma" in my ear :). The hard part was actually getting you to fall asleep because you were scared I was going to leave you again so you freaked out the second I tried putting you into your crib :(. That was a long night and I hope we don't repeat it any time soon....

You love to sit on our laps and read books, sing songs, go for walks, have play dates with all your neighborhood friends, and take baths! We try so hard to keep you busy all the time because your naughty side comes out when you are bored. This makes for two very tired parents by the end of the day!

You have become obsessed with your Baby Einstein shows and to our dismay you want to watch them ALL THE TIME..... we get so sick of them and you have them all memorized but if we don't play them for you, you throw major tantrums and make our lives miserable. We are working on this.... We hope your stubbornness and persistence will help you out later on in life because right now it is something we aren't enjoying so much....

You are the sweetest kid when you play with your friends. I hope I'm not jinxing myself here but while other children are stealing toys from each other and hitting each other when they want something the other child has, you are quietly watching and playing by yourself. You don't seem to have the ability to hurt others like the other kids do. Maybe that's a stage you will go through later on? Like I said, I hope I didn't just jinx it because I love hearing from the other mothers how you are such a joy to have around and how you make their kids look bad whenever they are around you ;).

Playing at your friend Sailor's house while Mom got some much needed sleep for her head cold :).

You love doing anything you see adults doing. That includes, pushing any button like the garage door opener, the play station buttons, the stove, the dishwasher.....  basically anything we don't want you to touch. You have also gotten over your fear of the vacuum and like attempting to push that around with me! You are a huge mess maker but you also enjoy cleaning up the messes. Any time you spill something I hand you a towel and you race over to wipe it up! I'm hoping that little trait continues :).

You don't like being contained. This means we struggle any time we try and put you into your carseat, you no longer want to sit in a high chair, and you even try taking off your diaper if we aren't watching you closely. It is so hard to go anywhere with you because of this. You are such a free spirit....

You went to Nursery at church for the first time today and did fantastic! You played well with all the kids, ate your snack at the table like a pro, and only got whiny towards the end when you started getting sleepy and it was almost time to go home. We spent the whole time with you just to watch you and see how everything went and were excited to see that you won't be needing us in the future :). That means two hours of freedom my friend!

Oh your silly faces....

You instantly found a toy cell phone and car keys and played with them the entire time which didn't surprise us one bit....

You are such a little stud :).

Fun Moments Over the Past Two Months:

Grandpa Porter came over to help with a few handy man things around the house and you LOVED his ladder!

Future handyman :).

Grandma Porter bought you a balloon while she was babysitting you and you had so much fun!

Until it popped.....

You two also had a good time at the park. And of course you made some more silly faces :).

You love pushing this thing in circles. It must make you feel strong haha.

Playing outside on an especially challenging day.

Even though you are a handful, you know how to do the silliest things to make me laugh!

You love to read books.

It feels like you are always teething!

You LOVE your blankies and you love playing in your cupboard in the kitchen. You make such a mess but it keeps you busy so we allow it :).

Cuddling with Momma :).

I LOVE that big cheesy grin!

You love oranges and have a lot of fun peeling them. You become so focused on the task at hand and can't stop until the whole orange is finished..... a trait you may have picked up from your Momma....

We had snow in Henderson! But sadly, by the time we put our coats and shoes on it had already melted :(.

You carry your monkey everywhere and expect us to carry it around as well! This is especially difficult for me to do since my belly takes up a lot of room so now you always go to your dad for that job.

In your happy place :).

Whenever we go to a buffet you always get a sprinkle ice cream cone and it totally makes your day!

Being crazy at gymboree!

Hanging out with Dad at the park.

The Holidays

I'm trying to play catch up here because we have been sooooooo busy over the past two months! If we weren't hosting a holiday and spending every second with family, we were sick and dying on the couch. If we weren't lying on the couch dying, we were working and wishing we were at home lying on the couch dying. Now we are finally getting our health back and the Christmas decorations have officially been put away, so it's time to recap!

Austin and I decorated our Christmas tree together and he loved it! We had the music going, the apple pie scented candle burning, and together we put together a masterpiece which he then went about undecorating and then redecorating over again. Every morning he would run to the tree and say "On!" because he wanted us to turn it on. Once we plugged it in he would then get really excited and say, "OOOoooo! Pretty!"

Austin met Santa for the first time this year! We don't know what he thought of the experience because he made no expression whatsoever.... But he sure liked the cool giant gold key Santa was wearing around his neck :).

The family Christmas picture that never got turned into a Christmas card..... Oh well, someday I will have it all together.....

Along with the decorating, Austin also helped me do some pre-Christmas baking!

His job was to turn on the blender and he took it very seriously.

We made cream cheese danishes on Christmas Eve to put in the oven for breakfast on Christmas morning! They were soooooo delicious and might just be our new yearly tradition!

Like I said before, Austin LOVED our tree! He pulled it down on top of himself more times than I can count and by the end of the holidays we only had half of the ornaments left that hadn't been lost or broken. He's sure a handful but he really made the spirit of Christmas come alive for us this year!

A few days before Christmas my Dad made a surprise visit to see us! Austin has only met his Grandpa Helm once in his life (when he was 6 months old) so it took him a little while to warm up. But once he did, they had a fun time :).

Great Grandma Helm brought Austin that singing snowman and it quickly became his favorite toy! He carried it around with him EVERYWHERE and loved pushing the button to turn the music on and off.

This was the first time my Dad had seen our new house so I had fun showing him around and then we sat in the living room and talked/played with Austin. I could tell the role of being a Grandpa was foreign to him but he warmed up fast to Austin (it's hard not to) and I enjoyed watching them play together on the floor.

Once Josh got home from work, we went out to dinner! Austin was a little terror as usual so we all took turns going outside with him to let him run around while everyone else ate and talked. My Dad seemed fascinated with us and watching us be parents. Like I said, he doesn't come around much and hasn't seen us in this role yet. By the end of the night he told us how proud he was and how good of a job we are doing. He also said how much Austin reminds him of me when I was a baby because of how serious he gets about learning and experiencing new things. I loved having this little experience with him and hope he comes around again soon! It kills me that Austin will grow up not really knowing his blood Grandpa very well......

Showing Grandpa Helm all of his toys.

Christmas Eve was spent with just us three. We watched Christmas movies and went to Panda Express for dinner. While we were there we befriended a homeless guy and bought him some Christmas Eve dinner as well. I spent the rest of the night thinking about all of our many blessings and how grateful I am to have my family together in our cozy home drinking egg nog on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning we woke up to presents from Santa and a yummy breakfast! The best part of the morning was watching Austin and being a part of his excitement :).

Checking out his Stocking and seeing what Santa brought!

Looking over Mom and Dad's stockings to see if there was anything good.

Asking Mom to open up his new toy!

Santa brought him a whole safari full of animals to play with because he knew how much Austin LOVES animals!

My two studs in the new Christmas Jammies sent from Grandma Porter :).

Sitting in Mom's lap while it was Dad's turn to open his gifts....

....then deciding he was taking too long and going over there to open them for him ;). After opening presents and eating breakfast, we got dressed and ready for the rest of the party to show up! Austin and Dad had a lot of fun playing with Austin's toys while we waited ;).

Once Grandma Porter showed up, Austin got to open some of his gifts early! His favorite was this giant stuffed monkey! He had so much fun hugging it, jumping on it, and dragging it all around the house with him :).

Great Grandpa Frank has a long list of ailments that prevents him from coming to a lot of family functions so we were happy he made it to this one!

As usual, the men sat around talking while the women ran around cooking, laughing, and taking lots and lots of pictures!

Picture with Great Grandma Porter!

Hanging out in the kitchen and chatting about my Mom's disgusting fermented drink that she somehow manages to swallow. Oh the things we women do for our health....

Picture with my baby sister! I can't believe she is going to graduate from High School in just a few short months!

Austin and Grandma playing with his new electric truck. He and his Dad spent the entire morning driving this thing around. It was quite the hit!

Awwwweee.... loves :).

This picture captures perfectly how hard it is to get a group photo in my family! There's always too much going on and it is so hard to get everyone to focus! I love it though :).

Sisters, Mommy, and the only grandchild (plus baby in my belly!)

We hardly ever get pictures with Nate because he is usually in the background somewhere trying to keep away from our girly craziness.... ;)

Austin and his new BFF!

Grandma and Grandpa Porter also bought Austin a new table for Christmas! It has been perfect for him and he loves having little picnics at it with his buddy :).

Eating our Christmas feast!

Austin attempting to use his fork to feed himself. He makes such a mess but is determined to not be a baby anymore :(.

We tried getting a good family picture but this is how it went.....

.....so we kicked out the trouble maker and got a good one of Mom and Dad (and sister)!

The next day we had a little Christmas with Great Grandma Helm! We met up with her, Sadie, and my Uncle Ken and Aunt Diana at the Conductor's Room inside the Railroad Pass Casino and enjoyed a wonderful fancy meal together. Or more like everyone else enjoyed their meal while Sadie and I wrestled with Austin and I got all my food to go...

Afterwards we went back to Grandma's house and opened presents!

Josh and Sadie checking out all of Austin's new books.

We love Grandma so much and especially love her generous Christmases!

As you can see, we had quite the Christmas! Sadly, the day after we celebrated with Grandma Helm we got super sick :(. So for two weeks afterwards we were out for the count. That meant that our New Years was extremely pathetic and we were in bed and asleep by 9:00pm. I guess we just partied too hard this year!

Baby Bump News: IT'S A GIRL!!!

Proof that she's a girl! It says "I'm STILL a girl" because I made the technician double check before I would believe her hahaha.

The profile picture at 20 weeks. I love that little arm and those hands!!

Well, as you can see, we found out the gender of our baby today!! We knew from the beginning that she was a girl but it was nice to have proof just in case ;). Plus, last night I had a dream that I was decorating our spare bedroom for a baby girl so that had to count for something, right?! She was all curled up in a ball sleeping with her hands up to her face so it was hard to get a good picture. We have 8 pictures and these two were the only decent ones.... But it was so sweet to watch her sleeping all cozy and cuddled up inside me that I was actually sad to watch the technician start shaking my belly to wake her up so we could get a good shot of the goods! Luckily she cooperated and it didn't take long to find out for sure that I will no longer be outnumbered in this family!

We invited my Mom and Grandma Helm to come with us and I am so glad we did. It was such a special experience for them and I was so happy to see their excitement and to watch my Mom cry when she heard the heartbeat. My Grandma has never seen an ultrasound before so this was an extra special moment for her. She said, "Now I can die happy. I finally have a Great Granddaughter!"

After taking the pictures of all her anatomy the technician told us she needed to do a vaginal ultrasound to check for premature labor. Apparently that's something they do for everyone nowadays. So my Mom and Grandma went out to the waiting room and Josh and I got to laugh as we watched the baby's little foot kicking against my cervix every time the technician tried to take a picture of it :).
After she left to let me get dressed, I felt like I was in a happy daze listening to Josh talk excitedly of shot guns and chasing off boyfriends and how she is going to look just like him and how she is going to have him wrapped around his finger. He kept saying, "A little baby girl! We are having a baby girl!" I was in heaven listening to him and it made me so happy to see him so happy and to think that I had a part in that. It made all the puking, mood swings, acne, headaches, etc. worth it just to be a part of that special moment :).

Afterwards, we went out to breakfast at Coco's Bakery and spent the entire time talking excitedly about girl stuff, girl names, and basically anything girly :). We were all in such a happy mood! I had left Austin with a babysitter and Josh still had to go to work for the rest of the day so we had to make it a quick breakfast. Then when we got home we realized I had locked the keys in the house and since we didn't have my car, we didn't have the garage opener..... At first I was freaking out but it all worked out after I drove to Josh's work to get his keys, and now we are back to being incredibly happy again! Nothing could dampen this mood!

Welcome Baby Girl LaFeber! We can't wait to meet you in person, but for now, we are happy to just enjoy your sweet little presence we feel hanging around us and to imagine how much fun we are going to have when you arrive!