Better Late Than Never

Austin turned 9 months old last week. We would have posted these pictures last week, but we’ve been busy chasing the kid around the house, trying to keep him from permanently injuring himself or others. One would think that since he has an older sister, the house would be baby-proofed. However, the baby-proofing we did for Addison doesn’t seem to hold up for him. He is pulling over his diaper disposal can, the fireplace screen, climbing on stuff and opening drawers and cabinets she never found. He’s also started picking up some signs, so hopefully he’ll be as proficient as his sister in the world of pre-verbal communication. He will certainly have a good teacher!

Today's Top Ten

The ten most commonly seen/heard happenings in our house today…

10. “crckr, psss” (translation: “cracker, please”)

9. “Soft hands, Addison” (translation: please don’t smack your brother on the head)

8. Addison sitting on Austin

7. Addison emptying any cabinet without a child-lock.

6. “ooooh’s, psss” (Cheerios, please)

5. Austin climbing/standing in Addison’s foam chair

4. Addison strangling hugging Austin

3. Austin pulling vent covers off of the air conditioning ducts

2. Me body-blocking Addison from reaching the dirty diaper as I wipe poop off of Austin’s foot that is there as a result of our full-contact diaper change.

1. The occasional moment when everyone’s happy, playing together and all is right with the world.

One good thing about big sisters...

...sometimes they drop their cookie crumbs.

Beach "Vacation"

We learned this week that a vacation is not a vacation when traveling with two small children. It seems some trips are doomed from the beginning. Maybe we should have aborted the mission when our flight to Florida was cancelled for “maintenance” (i.e., not enough people onboard to make it worthwhile for the airline). However, once we got to Florida, we had a great time. It was so good to spend time with family, and the kids LOVED the ocean. They both would run/crawl straight into the ocean and would laugh when waves splashed them in the face. In fact, I think our times on the beach just might have been worth the sleepless nights and endless airplane rides.

The Graduate

The weekend before the beach we made a pit-stop in Dallas to attend my cousin’s high school graduation. We had such a wonderful time with our family. The kids (little & big) enjoyed the pool, and it was really great to sit around after dinner and laugh together. Thanks to Janet & Greg for hosting such a wonderful weekend!

(We really did go to her graduation. We just weren't allowed to take pictures. And, we were chasing two rugrats during most of it, anyway.)

Busy Boy

(My good friend Meredith took this picture, and I absolutely love it! You can see all more of her work at www.meredithgutshall.com.)

I remember when I was pregnant saying to my dad, "I'm glad I'm not chasing this kid around yet because he's constantly moving." Well, that day has come. In the last two days Austin has started scooting across the floor, can get himself from lying to sitting, and pulled himself to standing. He is in constant motion. Even if he's just sitting in my lap, he's always reaching, pulling, squirming, standing or grabbing for something. Take a good look at us now, because once this kid is truly mobile, we will be nothing but a blur as we chase him down the street, across the parking lot and thru the halls.

So proud of himself!

Timber!

I’m sure most of you have heard about the excitement around our house. But for those who haven’t, the huge oak tree in our front yard was snapped at the base and fell right outside our bedroom window in the storms Thursday morning. We’re happy to have our power back and are no worse for the wear.

Austin is 8 months old (tomorrow). We can’t believe how quickly it’s gone by.

He’s not crawling yet, but he rocks on his hands & knees. He scoots around on his belly, but only in reverse. This sometimes gets him into a predicament.

Other than that, we’ve just been enjoying our kids and the outdoors (when it’s not storming).