Relaxing Weekend, Happy Baby, & Spoiled Cat!

Our weekend actually started on Thursday when we had several people visit that we hadn't seen in a long time! Al, Joni, & Taylor were in town visiting from Minnesota & stopped by with breakfast! It was lots of fun to catch up & introduce the kiddos! We took a few pictures, but mine turned out blurry (so maybe I'll steal one from Joni's blog after she posts them!) That afternoon my cousin, Jill, and her family stopped by! They live near Amarillo & were in town visiting for the weekend- they had never met Austin either!

Friday evening we enjoyed going out for BBQ with our friends Jared & Leah (along with their 4 month old, Reid!) We became friends in our childbirth classes & have really enjoyed having another couple that is going through the same things as us! And Austin loves having a friend his age!! The boys just started noticing each other & were smiling at one another a lot after dinner! So cute!

On Saturday I had a Pampered Chef bridal shower! It was a lot of fun, but hard work! Thankfully we just relaxed around the house that evening & also all day on Sunday (since it was 104 degrees outside!!)

Here are a few pictures of our happy baby this weekend- isn't he just the cutest???

And a few of our lazy cat, Max. Yes... he lays in our bed like this in the morning until usually 1pm in the afternoon. Needless to say, I usually don't get the bed made first thing in the morning...for obvious reasons.

4 Month Appointment & Call Out to Blog Stalkers (**UPDATE BELOW**)

Austin's 4 month appointment was today, and here are the stats:

Weight- 17lbs 6oz (90th percentile)
Length- 25 1/4in (65th percentile)
Head Circumference- 42.2cm (50th percentile)

Overall, the appointment went pretty well- until it came time for shots. He was already in desperate need of a nap, so the shots just made things unbearable. Of course I cried again. I didn't sob like last time though! He's fine now- taking a long nap!!

Now for pictures! I figured I'd take a few in his diaper only- to show off his cute chubby self!

In addition, I wanted to do something that one of my friends did on her blog... a call out to blog stalkers. You see, this happens to me all of the time- I'll be talking to someone and they mention something about my blog. Now, I had no idea that person was looking at my blog because they NEVER COMMENT! So, if you are reading this right now- you better leave a comment because I want to know who all is reading! You have no excuses because I have changed the settings back to where anonymous bloggers can post- just make sure to type your name after the message so I know who the comment was from! Now I'm not asking everyone to leave messages every time they view the blog (although that would be really nice), but I'm asking this special request today! :) Come on, do it for Austin....

**UPDATE: It's Wednesday, and Austin just rolled over for the first time! Whoo hoo! I was thinking it was never going to happen!**

New Blog!!!!!

So do yall love it as much as I do? Thank you, thank you, thank you to my friend Traci who did such a wonderful job designing my new blog! I gave her a little guidance, and she completely ran with it... and designed something that is just perfect! I'd checked around to other blog designers and most of them had a really long wait list or were super expensive. Well Traci designed mine in just a few days and her prices are very reasonable! I know she would love the business- so check out the link to her personal blog (Traci under "favorites") or her business blog (sweet cheeky designs under "credits")

Austin's 4 month appointment is tomorrow, and I'll be posting his stats later in the day! So make sure to check back to see how big he's gotten!

4 Months Old

Can you believe he is already 4 months old? It seems like just yesterday that we found out I was pregnant! In honor of Austin turning 4 months old, here are 4 new things about him:

*Sleeping- After GiGi spent time making him a new swaddle blanket that fits, he STILL manages to get his arms out within 3 hours and is awake because he's cold. This is not fun for Mommy & Daddy because we are getting up 1-2 times a night to either re-swaddle or feed him. SO, we are trying to transition Austin into a sleep sack. I figure this way his feet are still restricted, but his arms are free!

*Cooing- Over the last week Austin has stopped cooing as much as before. I've noticed that he only talks when he is really excited. Instead, he spends all of his time watching very intently as we talk. I know he is studying how we use our lips to make the sounds & I'm anxious for him to start trying to copy us. When he does coo though, the sounds are more advanced than before- he changes his pitch a lot!

*Movement- Austin is enjoying tummy time more than he did before. He will lay there for at least 5 minutes and lifts his head up to look around. He has started to rock a little in an attempt to turn over too! But his favorite thing to do is to lay on his back in our laps and then we hold his arms while he pulls himself up into a sitting & then standing position (all by himself!) He has SUCH strong legs!

*Eating- We haven't fed him rice cereal in over a week because he just seems to get so frustrated when he eats. I've tried feeding him at different times of the day, making the cereal different consistencies, etc. It seems like he enjoys it at first, but after a few minutes he gets irritated that he cannot get it in his tummy fast enough. So he starts screaming until we give him a bottle. This does not surprise me though, he's always been such an aggressive eater..... if you couldn't tell by looking at him. :)

So that's about it! We had an uneventful weekend- which was nice after our busy July 4th holiday weekend! I'll get Shane to scan Austin's 3 month picture so everyone can see it!

***Oh, I fixed my layout to where you can click on the pictures to enlarge them again- sorry!

July 4th Weekend

What a fun weekend we had with both of our families in town! On Friday Shane's parents, sister, and brother-in-law came over for the day. Not only were we celebrating Independence Day, but Shane's Dad's birthday! We grilled out hamburgers & my mom made a wonderful strawberry cake for Gary's birthday! Everything was delicious!

On Saturday we all switched houses and spent the day at Mat & Shanna's house! Again, we had a wonderful meal & Austin got to spend more time with his Gran, Papa Gary, GiGi, and Papa Jim! He was very tired when we got home that evening though!

Sunday we went to eat mexican food with my parents- they always try to get their mexican and BBQ fix while in town! After that we did a little shopping and then headed to dinner with some of my Dad's family! We had a fantastic time visiting with Tammy, Judy, & Chelsea! Austin had a meltdown on the way home from dinner- probably a combination of gas & being extremely tired. Of course it about killed my mom to see him get that upset. Now they know he's not a perfect baby ALL of the time! :)

Today Shane is working while we get things done around the house before my parents leave to go home this afternoon! It has been great to have everyone here this weekend, and I know Austin enjoyed spending time with his grandparents! Here are some fun pictures from the weekend!

Oh, and thanks to GiGi for making Austin a new swaddle blanket!

Gran & Papa Gary with Austin

Mat & Shanna Gary's Birthday Gran & GiGi with AustinAustin & Mommy Papa Jim & GiGi with Austin Playing with Papa Jim Family picture He's starting to chew on his toys more!Look at those chubby legs!

Cute boy

Laughing at silly GiGi This one just makes me laugh

Happy 9th Anniversary

Today we celebrated our 9th Anniversary! My parents are in town celebrating the holiday with us, so they watched Austin while we went out for dinner. We usually go somewhere nice for steaks/seafood, but this year we opted for La Hacienda Ranch for mexican food (my favorite!) It was so good! I will admit that it was weird for us to be out without Austin. Isn't it funny that we went the first 8 1/2 years of our marriage doing everything with just the two of us, and now after 3 months it's so strange to be without him? :)

Anyway, Happy Anniversary to by sweetheart Shane! I'm so blessed to have you as my husband & can't imagine anyone that I'd rather spend my life with! To many more years together! I love you!

Sleeping

I wanted to document these two things about Austin's sleeping habits:

He likes sleeping in his carseat! He usually pitches a small fit when we first put him in, but once we get in the car & start up his favorite instrumental CD- he's OUT. Of course this makes running errands great!

Austin loves to be swaddled when he sleeps (overnight and naps)! When he starts getting fussy, nothing calms him down like being swaddled! We use the miracle blanket swaddle because it's the most difficult for him to get out of- it's like a straight jacket! Anyway when you put it on, you have to lift up his legs to tuck it under his back. He's so smart and now he automatically lifts his legs at the right time when we are swaddling him. It just shows how excited he gets to be swaddled!!! He's started making his way out of it by morning (see picture below), so GiGi is sewing a bigger one when she visits next week! I've had several people comment that it's so cute that he still likes to be swaddled- is that weird? How long did you swaddle your babies?

My parents arrive this Wednesday for the holiday weekend! They are coming in early so that they can watch Austin while Shane & I got out to celebrate our 9th Anniversary on Thursday! Then Shane's parents arrive for the weekend! It should be lots of fun to all be together!!!