We're Officially 9 Months Old Now

It's so true when people tell you that children change your life. Austin has changed our life in ways that we never imagined but are so greatful for. In the past 9 months, I can say that we've gained confidence, compassion, patience, maturity, wisdom and an overall new prospective on the things that truly matter in life. Our marriage has changed and become stronger, we work and function together as a team more now, than ever before. Having a child is hard work, takes dedication, is frustrating at times, and exhausting, but it truly is the best, single most important thing that will happen in your life. I wouldn't change it for the world. The small things in life that used to be such a big deal, seem like such small things now. You wake up to that smiling face and big eyes each morning, and it truly does change your life. Even when we have bad days, I remember the good time that we had that day or the single smile that I received when I got him out of his crib first thing in the morning. Children are a blessing, and I am so blessed that we get to share the blessings that Austin brings us with so many people we are so close to. Not saying people should just rush out to have kids, but it really does change everything in the best way possible. It's hard to believe that he's 9 Month's old already (his 9 month photo is shown above). The time has just flown by. I remember when he was first born, slept all the time, and only drinking from a bottle. Now he's eating food, moving all over the place, smiling, laughing. Those things are truly the best moments in life.

In the past week, Austin has started to crawl a lot more. He's up on all fours constantly and is gaining speed quickly! I would almost go as far to say that he is crawling more now than he army crawls. Last week, Austin discovered the dog's water bowls. What a treat that was. He now bee lines for them, on all fours, and dumps the water all over the floor. Sadly enough, I've let him do it twice. I try to stop him as often as I can, but it's hard sometimes because he's getting so fast! The way I look at it, it's only water, and we have plenty of clothes. The last time he did it, he used himself as a mop. That was nice for me, because it was less water that I had to mop off the floor. On the flip side of that, for anyone who may know, changing a 9 month old's clothes is hard work! In fact, I like to only do it once in the morning and once in the evening if at all possible. He's too funny though. It just fascinates him. I've heard from many people that the best toys are the ones you wouldn't think of and that are free....and I swear that's the truth on many occasions! Dog bowls, blankets, boxes, cups....those are some of his favorites. I even bought him cars this past week, and the dog bowls are still more interesting! He is also no longer a vegetarian because he's now tried Turkey, Chicken, and Beef purees. He doesn't really seem to be too thrilled with the taste of any of them, and I can't say that I blame him. They stink! He has also started to pick up some of his own food now with his entire hand. It usually ends up with him having a fistful of Cheerios in his hand, and then he smears them all over his face. But soon enough, he'll start feeding himself. His favorite word now is "uh-oh" which he is saying pretty clearly now. It's adorable. Everyday it seems like he's either doing something new, or he's into something new. It's never ending!

This past week, Austin got to meet a few new people. He got to meet my dad's cousin, Jeff, and my dad's friend Ken. He also got to visit with his Uncle Chris and Aunt Kristin (Aunt K, as we call her). Austin got two new toys from Ken, one called Mr. Bump ( he says, "Ouch, Ew, Oh, It's the simple things in life I find most difficult), and a piano that he can bang on the keys. He really enjoys these new toys, as you can see in this picture. Granted, you can't see the piano, but he was playing some interesting music on it, that's for sure. Aunt K bought him some adorable new clothes. One of the outfits she bought him, you can see in his 9 month pictures, and the other is this cute polo shirt he's wearing above. The girl knows how to dress babies, that's for sure!

His Uncle Chris and Aunt K spent several days with him, and sadly enough, they had to go home to Atlanta on Wednesday. When they are in town, they take full advantage of their time with Austin. While they are here, they play with him on the floor non-stop, stimulating him to the max :) Aunt K changes his diapers and clothes, feeds him, plays with him, and just plain spoils him. Like I've said in the past, they truly do act like he is part of their family, and although they aren't related by blood, they will always be considered his Aunt and Uncle. This year, for obvious financial reasons, we weren't able to go to a cabin in GA this year which we've done for the past two years, so our group photo was taken in a beautiful nature preserve here in Fort Wayne. It's not mountains, but it is still a nice place to go! Someone said earlier this week, that "true friends are the ones that you don't talk to or see in months, and when you get back together, you pick up from where you left off." That statement is so true. That being said, true friends are also those who admit when they do things right and wrong, and you are able to forget the past and move on. They are the ones who realize that friendships have their ups and downs, just like relationships do. They are the ones who don't give up and stop trying when things get tough, but try to work things out. They are the ones who think the best of you, instead of expecting the worst out of you. That being said, Jared and I value every friendship that we have, even the ones that are struggling at this point in our lives. We are glad that people care enough to talk about things and work things out, but also wish that people would realize that people do things and say things that they don't mean, many times, it's not intentional; that what happened in the past can't fix or determine what happens in the future. All we can do is to work on ourselves and hope things improve. Just my two cent's :)