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February at a glance

I love taking pictures. Not a 'breaking news' statement, I know. Since Austin was born I made a commitment to myself probably the hardest commitments to keep; zero accountability to print pictures every month; and blog more often. So far, complete success. I rock, for now. So, as the picture taking has dwindled a little bit, I am still sure to capture what moments are special to me and us as a family. Here are a few from the month of February around here.

Courtney loves to show up in baby items:

One of the intentional traditions I have started is baking with Courtney. We love to bake together. Probably because we love to eat what we bake while we are making it. :-) I love when Paul grabs the camera to capture these memories that I have in my heart.

It snowed for the first time this year.

Our first snow man for the year. Our very small snowman.

Austin's first tooth broke through. 

We took the kids to the park - just a week after the first snow it was 70 degrees. Arkansas.

I continue to be in love with my husband. Who is getting better and better looking. Lucky me!

On my way to bed each night I go in and kiss Courtney, tell her I love her, and tuck her in. This night I walked around the corner to this and it simply melted my heart. I love this girl. I love the innocence of a child sleeping. I love how she cuddles her cow. I love how she uses the nap mat I made her years ago. I love how random she is. I just love her.

Daddy bought Austin his first truck.

Courtney and Austin began taking baths together. He is pretty much too big for the sink but can't sit up yet. This is our solution.

 We went to Crystal Bridges for the first time. Will go back when we have more time. This is the Last Supper. It's amazing. Its upside-down, until you look in this crystal ball. And, best of all. It's all made with spools of thread. Simply amazing!

This sculpture is mostly jack in the boxes. Courtney LOVED it. She is such a goof.

Ok. Seriously. How cute is this?

Our kids love my brother. Honestly, he doesn't come see them too often, not nearly enough. But they love him. Austin does not lay on people like this. He wants his head up, he wants to see what's going on. But he laid on Blah Blah and laid his head down. It was adorable. He loves him.

So that's it. February in a glance. 29 days of us.

Austin is SIX months old!

Good golly where does time go? Our little baby boy is 6 months old today. I have been taking monthly pictures from the get go. 1 month - kinda big, "he's a month old already" I remember thinking...2, 3, 4, 5 though...not a huge deal. But SIX months old. That's a big milestone in my mind. It has been a crazy fun time having our newest addition and he is just a big (and I mean BIG...9 month clothes already) bundle of joy. He is a happy as happy can be baby unless he is sick - see previous post and loves his Dada also see previous post(s). The newest thing...drum roll please...he rolls to get things. See, to the normal world this is not a huge deal; it's what babies do. Well, Austin has refused to roll from belly to back for..oh..months now. Which means he has given the "come roll me over cry" for months. Buuuut, 2 nights ago he rolled and rolled and rolled until he could not roll anymore due to a piece of furniture being in his way. Yes, we captured it on video, no you can not see it. See, that is another part of our life that is comical. Courtney was having a naked moment (or hour) and as I viewed the video there she is, buck naked in the background. Just not ok for internet viewing. Though hilarious for when you are older video. So. Austin is wearing 9 month clothes, rolls all over, has 2 teeth, has had his first cold, is 99% breastfed - eats home made baby food every couple of days, sleeps from 7:30PM-5:30AM (usually), takes 2.5 naps a day, is on a self made 3 hour schedule, is already in a big seat (still backwards), can sit up unassisted shortly, is too big for sink baths (and we have one big sink, no divider!), says Dada and Mama but does not know what he is saying though Paul may beg to differ, and...oh that's good enough for now. We sure do love our little boy!

no sleep explained

It has been a crazy time around here lately. Austin has been one busy little boy. 2 weeks ago(ish) he says Mama followed by Dada the next day. A few short days later he cut his first tooth which happily explained his sudden lack of the desire to sleep through the night. Within the next couple of days he cut his second tooth which continued the no sleep through the night. While he was already not sleeping through the night he decided (i really don't think HE decided) to get his first real cold and stretched his not sleeping through the night to basically not sleeping at all, ever. It's been tough on baby and Mama and really Dada and even Sissy. No sleep baby means no sleep Mommy. Which means extra work for Daddy and more tv time for sissy (just being real here).  I now believe all babies are just who they are. We can some what "sleep train" them but really, they are themselves. Why do I say this? Well, we had Austin sleep everywhere when he was a newborn. In the living room on the couch, in our room with the tv on, in his room in his crib, in the truck while we went places, in his pack n play in the dining room, in my arms, on Daddy's chest...seriously everywhere a baby could sleep, he slept. Now, his bed. That is where he sleeps. That is the only place he will sleep. Sick, tired, happy, sad, full, dirty, clean...his bed is where he wants to sleep. So, we did 'what we were supposed to do' to get him to sleep wherever - oh, we even did the noise maker, no noise maker, loud house, quite house - we did it all. But, he is a little person who has a little mind of his own and a little way he likes things no matter what we do and his bed is his choice. So, two nights ago as he is congested and can't breath and has a fever I strip him down to a diaper and lay him on my chest (not how he likes to be held usually), he lays his head down and eventually falls asleep. With the moon light accenting his little chubby legs and arms (that seem to be holding me as tight as I'm holding him) tears roll down my face. What better feeling can I mom have other than her baby sleeping on her? I'll tell you. None. There is no better feeling. It's like his little soul and mine are just hanging out while he gets some much needed rest. It was what heaven is like I'm sure!

Austin and his new chompers.

the day of love - aka Valentine's Day

We all know I. Love. My. Kids. - this is no secret. But do we know I absolutely adore my husband too? Honestly, it's kind of a new thing. What?! "You've been married for 8 years!". Yes, we have, and I have always loved him but as of lately I adore him, I am in love with him and I truly think he is an amazing man. I couldn't tell you exactly when or exactly how this all came about but I don't think that matters. I think it's amazing to wake up and be as excited to see my husband that day as I am to see my kids. My kids are everything to me, this is so obvious if you know me at all and can I say it is an awesome feeling to have towards my husband too? Well, it is! So, this Valentine's Day we are celebrating - we don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day - maybe because we were in such a different place every year...maybe because it's a total hack of a holiday...maybe because we are just different like that. But this year we have a babysitter and we are going on a date and I am excited To Date My Husband Because I Adore My Husband.

On that note: Courtney would probably say she adores her Daddy too. She got to go on her first date today and boy was she excited!

She got all dressed up:

Made her Valentine a special card:

Counted down the seconds until her Valentine arrived with these gifts:

and went on her first date ever with the best daddy ever:

Austin loves his Daddy

Seriously. Austin absolutely adores his daddy. The second Paul comes home from work Austin lights up and gets SO excited. Every time he looks at him he just smiles and is filled with joy. He reaches out to him when I hold him and Daddy is near. Seriously the boy loves his daddy. Courtney does too, don't get me wrong. But we both remember it taking so much longer and as Paul says "it was just different" with Courtney. It makes my heart excited to see Austin enjoy his daddy so much. Here are some pictures of Austin 'baby loving' daddy last night...

January at a glance

I really don't like doing a "multi post" because I feel like I just miss out on really writing about each event. And each event in it's own is so special to me. But, here is January at a glance since I fell behind.  Ok, here I go. Picture 1: Courtney received a bear you color for Christmas. Love it. You color it and when you want to be done, you toss it in the washing machine and start all over again. Well. We love the bear (named Caddy Purple Bear Pursley...it's a purple bear) but maybe we failed to tell Courtney she only is to draw on the bear. Obviously we failed to tell her. This is how we found our sweet baby girl one night after putting her to bed. Colored, head to toe. Finger nails. Palms. Bottom of feet. Arms looked like Kat Von D. Legs. Tops of feet. It was one of those moments as a parent you have got to laugh. Why would we punish her? She didn't color on anything else, just herself. 

This is one of my favorite "Mom moments". 

A few days ago Courtney and I were jumping on the trampoline and she wanted a snack. So, being the rockinest mom ever, I gathered some snacks and we had a little picnic on the trampoline. We are really looking forward to summer and Austin being able to sit up as we will have lunch and snacks here often. 

Austin and his first haircut given my mommy. He had begun to look like a crazy baby who is unkempt; SO not fitting for the "rockinest mom". So I cut his hair. Not easy with a 5 month old so don't look close.

Pajama Day at school. Her class is stinkin' adorable!

Ok, seriously. Courtney is the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen. Yes, I take over 1000 pictures in an average month, so she is very used to the camera but this is not because of me. She is preciously cute!