Austin 4 months

4 months already. Especially with the holidays, time has flown by! Austin was 4 months old on Christmas Eve. It's unbelievable how much he changes each month. He is still the happiest baby ever and melts my heart daily. These pictures depict his daily life so well. EVERYTHING now goes into his mouth, fitting or not, he tries...even a Dr. Suess book. He also smiles and giggles always and is super strong holding himself up. He doesn't even get upset during tummy time anymore. He can roll from his belly to his back when he wants to. The newest thing is he drools, a lot. All the time. We used to be able to wear an outfit all day, I have clean babies. But now he's becoming a 2 outfit a day baby. I for some reason am not a fan of a bib when he's not eating (which we haven't started yet) so I let him get all drooly (is that a word?) then change him. I did take him to the dr before we left for CA (waiting on shots...a later post) and he is almost 17 lbs and 26 inches long! He has nearly doubled his birth weight and is 5 inches taller. 95th percentile in both height and weight. Weird part...only the 70% percentile in head circumference. Normal for my children, Courtney was the same way. But seriously, he wears 6 month clothes already and 9 month hats - what if his head was bigger? Really? I will take the 70th percentile. :-) We sure do love this little boy.

California Vacation...Austin's 1st trip

We all went to CA for a week when the kids got out of school. All of us, even my husband! It was really nice for all of us to make it together. We had a great time visiting with family and introducing Austin to some people he hadn't met yet. Like his Great-Nana and Great-Grandma Pursley and his Auntie Gaunga and Uncle Westen. It took him about a day to get comfortable and on CA time but then he was all warmed up and his little personality shone through. We also took a trip to Disneyland one day as Ethan hadn't been since he was 5 (and didn't remember) and Courtney hadn't ever been. We had so much fun with the whole family.

 (Auntie Gaunga is nearly 5 months pregnant...the light was perfect but unintentional)

Thanksgiving 2011

Looks like I just skipped Thanksgiving here this year. Probably because I used Dad's camera and didn't have pictures...my bad. We had a great thanksgiving down at my parent's house with my whole family. We got to "camp" in the motorhome since we had Austin and, well, he didn't like it very much. I'm sure in time he will be a master camper, but at 3 months old he wasn't a fan.

Austin 3 months

Really. 3 months old. Already. It is amazing how fast time goes. I will say with Austin I have looked forward to him getting "older". I LOVED him being tiny, I truly embraced him being small and sleeping all day...in my arms at times...regardless of the criticism I got. He was held SO much and I don't regret a single moment of it. I did NOT spoil him, it wasn't possible. He now sleeps in his own bed, all the time. He actually won't sleep on me or with me; he loves HIS bed. The other night he was "needy" and he fell asleep while I held him; you should have seen me; I stood as long as I could then I...s l o w l y....sat down so he would stay asleep since it had been so long since he did that. He goes to bed all on his own, doesn't need to be rocked or talked to or a noise maker or a paci. You wrap him up, lay him down and he will go to sleep. So, the moral of my story? Hold your babies, sleep with them during the day, pick them up when they cry, coddle them, cuddle them, spend every second you want with them in your arms. They will grow out of it, they will not "need" you every second of every day when they get "bigger". He is 3 months old and that time of "spoiling him" is gone and again, looking back, I don't regret a single second of it and at the same time I don't feel like I missed a single second of it.

So anyway, here are his 3 month pictures. Gorgeous as can be. He is a smiling machine, LOVES to smile and talk - especially if I talk back in 'baby talk'. He laughs and is ticklish under his arms. The funniest part of him so far is when you undress him...he L O V E S it. He can be in a full out cry and if you take his shirt off he smiles and draws his hand up to his face...it is the cutest thing EVER. He has also found his hands and will suck his thumb (or whole hand if he can fit it) which is precious. He rolled from his back to his belly the other day, total accident though. And he spins in his bed...something Courtney never did so it creeped me out at first. I put him in bed one way and find him turned 180 degrees many times. Austin is also much different than his sister in he will wake up and "play" for a good hour before he needs me to get him from bed. Maybe God's way of helping me out when I need to get Courtney ready for school? I think so. :-)

Austin's Dedication

A couple of weeks ago we dedicated Austin to the Lord. We believe that as Christian parents we dedicate our children to the Lord, making a promise to the Lord to do everything within our power to raise them in a godly way, prayerfully until they can make the decision to follow Christ on their own. We were excited to learn that our church was doing a special service for baby dedications and making it a night just about dedication. We are blessed to have some wonderful friends who were there with us along with my parents and brother.

November in a flash...

Where did November go? I do not know but I have a few pictures from the whole month. :-) Having a 4 year old and an infant is time consuming. I will say that at the least. As winter rolls around we are spending more and more time in the house and trying to find new and exciting things to do. One night Courtney and I made donuts, heart shaped donuts. We are finding that making things from scratch is fun and not too hard and we have a blast doing it!

Austin is amazing. He is growing SO fast. He hasn't been back to the doctor yet but the scale says he weighs about 16 lbs already! Almost double is birth weight in less than 3 months!

Courtney got to wear purple (instead of uniform dress) a few weeks ago to honor all the veterans. She learned that when they are wounded in war they get a purple heart. She also learned that her Great Bopa and Great Grandpa earned purple hearts. 

I just think this picture is funny.

The K-4 classes at school put on a Thanksgiving program that was SO cute! Courtney had her first line in the program and she did great! She told part of the story saying "They crossed the ocean in a ship called the Mayflower". I was so proud of her because as outgoing as she is, every time she had been on stage before she clammed up, and that was in a group. So when she had to stand with only a couple other kids with a microphone I was wondering how she would do. She nailed it! I love being a mom!

"Floating Butterfly" - her indian name she chose.

Halloween 2011...our little bees

 I must admit, I'm not a fan of halloween. Sorry. Just not. It's scary for little ones, it's expensive for 3 hours of enjoyment and all these people give my children tons of candy for me to have to tell them no they can't eat it. Seriously, who came up with this??? :-) Anyway, all that aside, we had a wonderful time this year to tell the truth. I found these bee outfits at a consignment sale for a whoppin...ready?...$5 a piece! Austin's came with ALL of that! We got the kids ready and headed over to a larger neighborhood and walked (yes, we still walked...we didn't drive along side of her like some weird-o parents) up and down street after street and had a blast. Austin slept the whole time and didn't mind I wasn't getting him candy...I think that's just weird when parents do that for the baby. And Courtney had an absolute blast. So much so that when we got home, her and Daddy went all around our neighborhood too...and the neighborhood next to ours...and across from ours. She scored TONS of candy, but most of all had a fun time running around with her Daddy. As you can see in the last picture, Courtney was HAPPY. Possibly because I decided long ago that when they get home from trick-or-treating, they can have as much candy as they want. I know, that's horrible, right?  Most parents probably say "pick one"...I mean, seriously, that is just cruel! You go to Starbucks and just take one sip of your pumpkin spice latte! Try it. So, she was all sugared up and happy as can be. (she only ate 3-4 pieces, kids don't really want THAT much candy either).

I love my Grandma

What else is there to say? I love her. I'm sure I have written about it before but I LOVE seeing her and talking to her and learning about her (I think you can always learn more about someone who has lived 82 years!) She lives 5 hours aways so I don't get to see her too much and if you know me at all you know I do NOT like talking on the phone (no excuse I know) but when I get to see her I totally enjoy it! This trip was a special trip for her to meet Austin for the first time and of course get our "4 generations" picture. After many great-grandchildren she still lit up when I handed him to her...made my heart melt. He fell asleep in her arms at the pumpkin patch which was simply priceless. I am SO thankful that my children have the chance to know her; she truly is an amazing woman.

Austin is 2 months old...already!

Boy has time flown by. Austin is now 2 months old and huge! He is into 3-6 mo clothes for the most part and probably a size 2 baby shoe. Seriously, can you say football player?!?! He is amazing and LOVES to smile! He is for sure our "fussy" baby though and also LOVES to be held...bummer. :-)

My word his is CUTE!

Beyond Photography

Ok, so, I really want to start doing photography. You may say "you already do photography. a lot. all the time. maybe too much." Yes. I do. But I want to "do photography". Like to make money, for people I know and don't know. So, I am starting with this post. Posting pics I have done of people I do know, not for money. For experience. If you like it, let me know, let your friends know, let random people know. I LOVE taking pictures. I LOVE how people react when they see them. I LOVE creating memories (Beyond Photography) for people. So, take a look and let me know and send people my way!

Here are some couple shots of my brother-in-law and his girlfriend.

And here are some 1 year old pics I did for a friend...these little guys were TOUGH. (Mama knows) but they were fun and turned out cute.

Last but not least...some newborn shots. The little girl was just 7 days old and precious! She let us do whatever we wanted! The boy is Austin of course and although he is also precious, he was NOT a fan of having his picture taken. Boys are tougher? Hm. I think so.