It's been so long!

I'll go ahead and warn you all, this post is long, and has a TON of pictures. I started writing a Blog post about two weeks ago, when I was just about done, and we got an "Aw, Snap!" error that something had gone wrong. Needless to say, I got frustrated, lost all my work, and have boycotted writing one every since that day!

So, we've been busy with a lot of things. With Easter, a quick trip to Georgia to visit friends, and a swingset building party this past weekend (couldn't have done it without your help, Uncle Matt!), and a deck being built within the next two weeks, our lives have been pretty crazy. We've also managed to cover our entire yard with well over 1,000 lbs of topsoil in hopes of getting the grass to grow where it otherwise hasn't for 6 years now. So, we're all sore, tired, and busy!

Since I wrote last, Austin has now cut 3 out of his 4 incisor teeth, and is working on his fourth. These have been quite painful for him, especially since they have all come one right after the other. Because of this, he hasn't really wanted to eat much food. He's been going on food binges sort of. For example, for an entire week or more, he only wanted to eat Apple Jacks cereal. This week, he only wants waffles, or "waf-waf's" as Austin likes to call them. When he's eating cereal, he loves to eat it out of the bag like this. Notice his audience, Jacks and Al-Allie as Austin calles them! They love him more and more each day!

Since it has been so nice outside, we spend most of our time out there. Austin LOVES it. And that's actually a bit of an understatement. He cries most of the time when we come in for dinner or a break. So far, his favorite things to do outside is to pull anything and everything he can out of the garage, play in his sandbox, push around his bubble mower, blow bubbles, color with sidewalk chalk (and taste some too), get in and out of his new Cozy Coupe, and slide down his brand new slide. Since this is the first year Austin's actually been able to play outside, it's been an expensive one for us. He didn't have any toys for outside last year, so this year, we've spent some money on the outdoors. Just this week, I picked up a Cozy Coupe for him at Meijer. He loves it! He enjoys opening the doors, and getting in and out of it the most. My parents bought him something similar to this for Christmas and it's at their house. He loves that one also, but he's too big to fit in it and he ends up riding it around on his knees most of the time. So far the Cozy Coupe has been a good investment, and hopefully he'll figure out the other car someday so he has one to play with at their house also. So far, it looks like he's going to be one of those kids who loves being outdoors and getting dirty. So far, so good on that one!

One of our favorite meals lately or dinner has been Blueberry waffles. As you look at the picture, you can see why! Austin still doesn't eat meat, unless it's a chicken nugget. For some reason lately, he's started to like Bacon and Maple flavored Sausage. He couldn't have picked a healthier meat to eat, huh? We'll take it though, hopefully it's a step in the right direction at least. He still only eats fruits mostly, some vegetables, pasta, grilled cheese, peanut butter toast, and crackers and cereal. He had his 18 month check up last week and we talked to the doctor about his picky eating. He said since he's growing big and strong quickly, not to worry about it. It's a phase, like all things, and he'll grow out of it eventually. And as long as he's eating mostly fruits and vegetables and plenty of milk, not to worry about it. So far, we've got those three things down! Here he is eating an apple like adults do. He ruined his shirt, but oh well. It was cute to watch him tear into the apple. So, if anyone knows how to get that stain out, let me know! I've washed the shirt at least 5 times now, soaked it in vinegar, used hairspray on it, and spray and wash with no luck!

Austin has recently started to mimic us a lot more. Here he is putting on Aunt Drew's shoes! This weekend, he even managed to get Jared's shoes on his feet. He also managed to check out the smell of the shoes. Too bad we didn't get a picture of his "stinky face", because i'm sure with as old as these boots are, they didn't smell good! Austin has also started to pretend to be asleep, making snoring noises, and he's also tried to roll over like the dogs do. It's too cute to watch him pick up on these things!

We all had a great Easter. Austin loved everything the Easter Bunny brought him this year. He loved playing with the Easter eggs, and he really discovered that he loves M&M's, which he calls "num-nums". Here he is helping me make Sugar cookies. They were for his Easter basket, but he ended up not liking them at all, so we gave them to Grandma. Hopefully his hands were clean, Grandma, because they were all in the dough!

Speaking of stinky face, here it is. Austin is telling Uncle Chris how stinky his flower is. Here are a few shots from our trip to Georgia to visit Chris and Kristin. Austin had a blast with them, and left the trip saying "Kiss" meaning Chris. We got to ride on the golf cart, which Austin loved, and we all even made the trip to a playground one day. Austin cried when we left. It's always so nice to go down and visit, but the drive there and back is terrible. We drove during the night to get down and arrived at 5 a.m. and we left at noon to get back, and arrived at 2 a.m. The drive back took us 14 hours! Ouch! Good thing we invested in a dvd player for Austin, because we wouldn't have been able to make it without that thing!

They always say the best things in life are free....well, isn't that the truth? Austin loves to play with just about anything, but this day, he loved the milk jugs. Lately, he's been really into Matchbox Cars and trucks. Everything to him is a "dump truck". He has pulled out some trucks he got for Christmas and is finally starting to take an interest in them. His favorite things to do right now are to read books, and play with cars probably. And of course, get into everything else that he's not supposed to be into!

Austin has changed so much. I know everyone has always said, kids grow up so fast. I don't think one can fully understand that until they have their own, because it's so true. I was writing down all of the words that he knows how to say today so I can write it in his memory book, and the list amazed me. As of right now, he can say the following words, most of which, in my opinion, are pretty clear and easy to understand: Nana (for banana), cup, shovel, grandpa, go-go (for car, or to go bye-bye), Jacks, Allie, kitty, mama, da-daddy, kiss (for Uncle Chris), apple, waf-waf (for waffle), pop, jump, bye-bye, num-num (for M&M's), more, cereal, shoes, coat, Marley, octo (for octopus), dol (for dolphin), dump truck, show (for a T.V. show), spoon, fork, fish, bubble, go-bye, ball, tickle, baby (which ever kid to him is now a baby), Elmo, chicken, kick, book, walk (which he says galk, most of the time), cookie, sock, and cheese. The list just amazed me. It seems like just in the last week or two, he's started to just say stuff daily. It's amazing to think of where he was at a year and a half ago compared to where he is now. It's truly amazing.

So, at his 18 month check-up, everything went well. He's got two speeds of walking/running-fast, and faster. He got two shots, his teeth are all coming in well, no ear infections yet, and he's growing like a weed! He now weighs almost 30 lbs (85th percentile), is almost 34 inches tall (90th percentile), and his head is 19 and a half inches around (90th percentile). Everything was great!

Austin is such a sweet little boy, and I'm so blessed to get to spend every day with him. I couldn't ask for anything more out of life!