A Riddle...

What weighs 3-5 oz?

Measures 4.5 in?

Would fit in the palm of your hand?

Lives underwater?

Is furry?

And gets the hiccups?





Answer:

Austin's younger sibling!!! Surprise! Laura is pregnant again. We will find out the gender at the end of May. The baby is due October 26th.

Happy Birthday, Little One!

Austin's birthday was so much fun! Joseph took the day off of work and we had planned to go to a park with Austin and have a day of family playing. I, however, have never had a kid with a birthday before and did not realize the almost all day nature of the birthday cake preparations, even when the cake was baked the night before. It basically turned into an Austin and Joseph play day while my mom helped me with my cake decorating endeavors. It was worth it though. It was my first cake and I think it turned out adorable. :)

I made Austin his own little "smash cake" so he wouldn't have to destroy the big one that we were all going to eat from.

Aunt Sarah and Uncle Cuyler joined us for dinner that night, along with my mom who drove out from CA just to spend Austin's birthday with him. We feasted on waffles with fresh strawberries, homemade strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. Austin loved the new flavors and textures. It was delicious!

Austin was a bit overwhelmed by his dinner when it was all in front of him at once. Once we took some of it off his try, he totally dug right in.

After dinner we enjoyed some birthday cake and Austin had his first taste of a real dessert. We pretty much kept him away from sugary stuff until his birthday. At first, he seemed to not know quite what to do, so Daddy helped him get started. Then, he loved it. He was squishing his frosting in his fingers and giggling as he ate.

Of course, there were also presents. I think his top picks for the night (although he loved them all) were the CAT dump truck, the singing rocking horse from Grandma Lisa & Gramps, and the ribbon that Aunt Sarah and Uncle Cuyler wrapped their present in (he's holding it in both pictures below).

Thanks to everyone who sent gifts and their happy birthday wishes. It was a great day.
We love you, Austin!

Some Highlights

I was looking through some pictures today and realized I've not been much of a blogger this year. I just thought I'd post some highlights of our year so far...

This is Austin at about 11 months. I thought he looked like such a big boy in
these pajamas.

All dressed up in his Sunday best. Thanks Aunt Rachel for the bow tie!

Austin's favorite place to reek havoc. Watch your step if you come visit. You never know when the shoe monster will strike again! :)

Austin looked so peaceful sleeping I just had to take a picture. There's something about a sleeping baby that melts my heart, especially when it's my sweet
sleeping baby.

On the hunt for lost puffs. He'd probably go anywhere to get a puff. We can't blame him though, they are quite delicious!

Here is Joseph teaching Austin to drink straight out of the pitcher (Austin did an incredible job of not spilling). I think his face is the cutest thing here.

Here is Austin playing in the cupboard in his bathroom. Somewhere there is a picture of Joseph playing in a kitchen cupboard around the same age as Austin here. We were trying to get a picture of this for a while but he'd always crawl out when he saw the camera.

This was Austin's first taste of a pickle. He must have liked it because he practically sucked the thing dry, although his facial expression never really changed through the whole experience.

For a while we were having a really hard time getting Austin to go to sleep at night. This was at the end of January and Joseph had gone up to help Austin go to sleep while I was downstairs doing dishes or something. I got a text from him saying to come help because he was trapped. I went upstairs to find this.

This is the walker Austin got for Christmas. He loved it when we would get down and crawl next to him. He would just laugh and laugh.

This is the cool hiking backpack my parents gave us for Christmas. We went on a hike on New Year's Day on some trails near our neighborhood. It turned out to be more of a nature walk, but Austin loved being up high and able to see so much.

Austin and Joseph sharing a laugh.

Our happy family.