Where have I been??

Well, I wish I had a good, exciting story about some wonderful vacation, or something to give as an excuse for why I haven't blogged lately. But, I don't.

The week after my family left, Austin and I were sick with a nasty cold. Then, I spent five full days cleaning the house. I know, I'm crazy. But, I cleaned the entire house...from the baseboards to the blinds on the windows...it all got cleaned. Then, Justin got our cold. So, we have just had a grand old final few weeks of summer.

Austin is still cuter than ever. He is growing like crazy. He weighed in at 13 pounds (according to the home scale) and 25 inches on his 3 month birthday! Here are a few recent pictures for you all to enjoy!

All ready for church...and looking so grown up!

He loves to nap on Justin...can you tell?

Happy Boy! He has a great toothless smile!!

Letting go...kind of!!

Well, I finally moved Austin out of his cradle a few weeks ago. I know... who in their right mind keeps a baby in a cradle for nearly three months. Well, the kind of mom that just can't quite seem to let go of the "newborn baby" stage (uh hum- ME!) He was pretty much busting out of the thing, so I had to finally do it. These pictures are proof that is was way past time when I finally did say goodbye to the cradle.

Now, don't get too excited. I still can't bear the thought of him not being in my room (partially becasue it is so much easier to have him that close when he needs to eat in the middle of the night...or early morning)! So, we have moved on to the Co-Sleeper, graciously lent to us by my aunt and uncle. It is like a pack-n-play, but one side comes down part way, so that you can attach it to your bed. So, he is still right next to me.

I am slowly breaking us in to the idea of him being in another room in the crib. He is taking his naps in there now....it is a step!!

Get well soon Grand Daddy

We just want you to know that we are thinking about you and praying for you! We hope the surgery goes well. We are trying to plan a trip down to Houston in the next couple months so that you and Gran Mama can meet your beautiful new GREAT grandson!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Sleeping through the night!!

I have thought about putting a post about this up for a while now, but thought it might be bad luck to do so. Austin has been sleeping through the night for a couple weeks now (except for an occasional night when he wakes up once). He usually goes to sleep between 10 and 10:30, and sleeps until about 6. Not too bad for a 2 1/2 month old. I found that swaddling him helps out a lot though.. He likes to sleep with his arms up next to his head, but then he startles himself awake. So, we vote for the swaddle so that he will sleep better at night!

My little sleeping beauty!

We really couldn't ask for a better baby!!

Austin loves his aunts and uncle

I can't believe that we are all alone now! We had family with us for the last month, and Austin was definitely spoiled. He loved all the attention, and took a real liking to my siblings. I am so glad that they have all had the opportunity to come meet him and spend time with us this summer. (It helped the home-sickness a little bit too....until they all had to leave.) So, now they will each get their own spot on my blog....I am sure they are just thrilled!!

Me, James, and Austin

Austin and Aunt Sis

Austin and Aunt Ernie

My mom, James, me, Austin, Erin, and Sarah

Too bad Shannon couldn't have been here when everyone else was, so that we could have all had a picture together!

Austin and Uncle James

We had a lot of fun while everyone here. We mostly just hung out at home, but they came to see the baby...so that is what we did. We went to the neighborhood pool with Sarah and Erin one night. This was Austin getting ready to go. The girls didn't approve of the hat with a chin strap, but I thought he still looked pretty darn cute! He really enjoyed putting his feet in the water. He doesn't have a swim suit yet, so that is all he got to do.

We did go see a movie while James was here. Justin, James, Austin, and I went and saw the Bourne Ultimatum. Austin was so good...especially considering it was a pretty loud movie. He slept through the first part of it, then sat and stared at the screen for the rest of it.

I got a pretty bad cold last week, and unfortunately, Austin now has has it. So, we are trying to get him over that quickly. He is a little fussy, but considering how wonderful of a baby he is, his fussiness is still very minimal. I took these pictures yesterday. He is such a happy baby, you would never be able to guess that he wasn't feeling well.

Family Time

We have been enjoying the company of lots of visitors this summer. My mom was here for the month of June, Shannon was for 3 weeks in July. Sarah and Erin are here now for almost 2 weeks. James is coming up next week for a couple days too.

Austin has been a little bit spoiled since there are so many people here that just want to love and snuggle him. It has been very nice to have them all around, and for the chance it gives them to meet and fall in love with my little boy!

Austin had his 2 month check up last week. He weighed in at 12 pounds 0.4 ounces, and is 23 3/4 inches long. I can't believe how big he is getting. He got his first set of shots too. He handled it pretty well...a little fussy and a low grade fever for the next day. Here is a picture of him with his band aids on.

Sarah bought this cute Astros beanie for Austin. Justin had an Astros hat already. I am trying to teach him early to love baseball. This picture is so cute, hopefully it will help entice him someday.

Photo studio

Well, since Shannon is here, I have been trying to get some good pictures of Austin so that I can send out birth announcements. He has been pretty patient with us, but gets sick of posing after a while. We have converted his bedoom into our own little mock photo studio for now. It won't last long because it is bit of a mess, which is making me crazy.

He will sit like this for a while, but then tries to push himself up. He looks pretty cute though.

I like this one cause you can see all of him. He is getting so big!

Look at that face! He even gave a little smile!

"Why are we doing this, Mom?"

"I'm done!"