Disneyland's Mickey Mouse Trick or Treat

Last night we packed up the car after dinner and were off to Disneyland for the Mickey's Trick or Treat night. Kristen was dressed up as a bumble bee and Austin was a turtle. They were adorable! Well the night started out by going through a few stands that were Trick or Treat stations. At these stations Disneyland workers would give you two huge handfuls of candy. The first time we went through one, Kristen opened her bag and said, "Trick or Treat" and to her suprise got a ton of candy. She looked into the bag to see what it was that they put in there, and she figured out it was candy. Well from there she was the happiest girl, holding her candy bag tight and eating it ALL night! She had so much fun..you should have seen her eating NERDS..it was too cute. I taught her how to tip the box up in her mouth to get more than one, she loved it! She was a candy eating pro by the end of the night. She had so much fun, hanging out, eating candy, going on rides, taking pictures with Mickey and Minnie, and just being with the family.

Austin had a good time as well, although he didn't get to enjoy any candy, he loved looking at all the lights and characters, and of course everybody dressed up in costumes. It was a super fun night, the children were totally in their element which is always so fun to see.

Some time away

This weekend Paul and I went to Warner Springs to have some alone time..and left our children with my mom (Marmee) and Uncle Joe. Paul and I had a great time just hanging out and playing golf together (me for the first time). Who knew golf was such a hard game? I would have never put those together!

Kristen and Austin had a great time with Marmee and Uncle Joe. They played non-stop! Kristen couldn't stop talking about all the things that they did while Mommy and Daddy were away. We would talk to them both on the phone before they went to bed, and every time Kristen would rehearse what they did that day. The neatest thing was that while we were away she told Marmee and Uncle Joe that, "I miss my Mommy. And, I miss my Daddy." Can I just tell you how good that makes you feel as a parent. I know those days that she actually misses us will be few..so we just have to soak it all in for now!

Almost walking!

Today Austin finally got behind his walker dealy/thingy and pushed and walked at the same time!!! (10 months) YAY!!! He is so close. I think if he knew he was able to walk without holding onto something, he totally would! He is so cute when he walks, because he doesn't really bend his knees at all..so he just walks like he has sticks for legs..so cute!! I am really excited for him to walk..crawling is good, but I could do without dirty hands and knees from dirty floors!

Yay and Bye Bye

Austin claps now when he hears other clap or you say, "Yay" while clapping your hands. It's so cute. He also just started waving "bye, bye". He is 1o months. Amazing how fast this year of his life is going by...I would have to say that it is going to fast...actually. Another thing he is doing is eating more table food, such as cheese, meat, peas, black eyed peas, carrots...and a few other things. He is finally not gagging over everything and he seems to really be enjoying trying all these new foods and textures. It's so fun to watch him look and examine something new that I have put on his tray. He has to take a good look at it before he will put it in his mouth!

Funny Words

I love the way Kristen says, elbow, BELBOW. It is just the best thing to hear when you wanna smile. She is speaking in full sentences which is just crazy to me. It's neat to watch her wheels spin as she tries to put together a sentence that makes sense. Sometimes she says the cutest things, like, "A sneeze my nose" for "I need to blow my nose". We love her...she makes us laugh everyday!

Croup

Austin (9 months) has croup...so sad. I have to say that this is probably the scariest illness I have ever experienced...he is on steriods...which seem to be helping..hopefully this won't last for more than a few days..so I am praying anyway.

Kristen feeding Austin

Kristen is very into what Austin is eating and also into feeding him pretty much anything. Usually she tries to feed him what is on his tray, like cheerios. Well today she thought it would be a good idea to feed him her dinner, which consisted of salmon, yogurt, and brocoli. Luckily only a few bites of yogurt made it into his mouth once I clued in and turned around to see what my two sweeties were up to!

Eyes of love

Tonight I was feeding Austin while Kristen was eating her dinner at the table. Every few minutes Austin would look over at Kristen and just smile a little grin. It was absolutely adorable..and it was just so obvious how fond he is of her!

Play Wax...

A few days ago I was waxing a few hairs off my chin and Kristen looked at me and said, "Mommy what's that?". I told her what I was doing and not two minutes later she was off playing. Later in the evening, the wax was sitting on the stairs to go up to my bathroom, Kristen was sitting on the stairs ready to go to bed and she looked at me and said, "Mommy, play wax?" I laughed and explained to her that wax was only for Mommy and we hope she never has to use it!

Pee pee and poo poo....

This morning I was changing Austin's diaper and of course I wasn't fast enough and he decided to go pee pee...but the craziest thing was he peed in his own eye! I felt so bad..so I quickly undressed him and put him in the bathtub, and not two minutes later did he poo poo all in the tub!!! aaaaaaahhhhh! What a bodily function morning!

Eczema

Both Kristen and Austin have Eczema..sad..Kristen's little hands are all red and itchy..no fun.

Army Crawl

Austin has begun to do the Army Crawl!! 7 mo. He loves to stand and has two teeth now! He is getting so big...we are anxious to see how much he weighs at our next appointment.

Austin's new tooth!

Austin cut a tooth...yay for the 7 month mark.

It's been awhile...Kristen's now 2

Well a ton has gone on in the past month. We went to Ohio to visit my dad and Judy and had a great time. Kristen and Austin loved spending time with Grandfather and Gran. We went to water parks, the zoo, hung out with family, and swam in the pool until we were prunes! Kristen remembered a ton from her swimming lessons..we were so proud. Austin went into the pool for the first time and loved it! We really had a wonderful time!

Kristen turned 2 on July 11th. Auntie Stacy came out for a few days and both Kristen and Austin loved having her here (and me too of course!). For Kristen's birthday we went to the park and ate some packed dinners..and then Kristen played her heart out..she and her Daddy flew kites, and Auntie Stacy went down the slide with her many times. When we got home we opened some presents and ate cake..good times. Kristen really enjoyed opening presents..she gets it now!

We had her birthday party on July 14th and we celebrated Winnie the Pooh style. The tables were covered with red gingham table clothes and blue honey pots that Daddy painted. We had tons of balloons..that Kristen loved...a few streamers..and a big cling on thingy that had Pooh and friends that said "Happy Birthday!". We had hamburgers, salad, watermelon, baked beans, and good o'le cake. Kristen loved opening all her presents and has enjoyed playing with everything. She was so cute when we sang Happy Birthday, her face looked like, "Really, for me, my birthday, wow!"

Kristen also got her Big Girl Bed..which as of now is box springs and a mattress..with super cute bedding! She loves it...although she has had a hard time sleeping at night...tonight was the first night that she fell asleep within an hour..usually it has been a 2-3 hour battle...let's not talk about it..it gives me the shivers thinking about it!

Two is a good age! We are excited about this year to come!

Cereal then Pears

A few days ago I gave Austin cereal for the first time and he loved it so much that he didn't want to stop eating. We started him on Oatmeal cereal and he just can't get enough...then we tried pears.

Tomorrow it will be a week since we started cereal..so I thought today would be a good day to try a new food, pears. Well I am not really sure how well it went..because at first it looked like Austin really liked the pears, but then he started shuddering every time I gave him a bite, and then he just started to cry..so as of now I am not sure if he had had enough food or if he just doesn't really care for pears...we will see.

Tomorrow we will try again.

Laughter

Recently Kristen has been making Austin laugh with the silly things she does. (They are 22 months and 5 months) All I have to say is when this happens I usually stop, drop what I am doing and just watch and smile...it is the best thing to me right now...

Sprinklers

Today we were suppose to have swim lessons for Kristen, but since it is Memorial day they were cancelled..so we had Kristen all ready to go swimming and needless to say, she was really bummed she wasn't going to get in the pool. So Paul and I thought fast and we thought of running through the sprinklers! Let's just say that Kristen had the best time running through the sprinklers with her Daddy..Austin and Mommy just watched and took pictures! It was pretty cold out, but Kristen just kept on running back and forth, back and forth. She really loves water.

SD Zoo

Two weeks ago we went to the zoo and Kristen, and Austin too, saw an elephant in real life. Kristen is very into elephants...I should say all animals and of course what sounds they make (22 months). It was so fun to see her reaction to the huge beast just walking around...she was pretty amazed.

The love that Kristen shows to Austin is exactly the love that I want them to show to each other the rest of their lives. Austin always smiles at her with sweet adoration.

Tonight we were rocking in the rocking chair, reading a book, when Kristen just started to gently rub Austin's head just the way he likes it. His heavy eyes blinked slowly and began to shut, but of course Kristen moved on and was ready to go to bed herself.

This is the love I pray for daily. This sibling love. I want it so bad for them. I want them to be two peas in a pod, always looking out for each other, and always reaching out a hand when one is in need, hugging each other with a kiss on the cheek. Sibling love.

Tonight

Before I lay Kristen in her bed I pray with her. Tonight I closed the door and as I was about to walk away I heard her start praying again..boy it made me proud.