Shanna's Baby Shower

Yesterday I attended a baby shower for my sister-in-law, Shanna! The shower was over in Dallas at her friend, Heather's, house. The hostesses did a wonderful job capturing a perfecting theme for the shower- Mickey Mouse! Shanna is actually decorating her nursery in Mickey Mouse, so it was perfect!

Shane's mom (Sharon), Aunt Linda, Cousin Courtney, and Shanna's best friend (Kendra) all traveled up from Victoria, TX to attend the shower! We all went to lunch before the shower, and then had time for a little shopping!

Overall, the shower was fantastic! Shanna was blessed with so many sweet gifts! Baby Dusza is all set! I can't wait to meet my first little niece or nephew, and Austin's cousin!

Here are a few pictures from the shower!

Table the hostesses set up for guests to write blessings to baby Dusza

Table with food and punch (notice the colors, polka dots, how everything is shaped like Mickey Mouse- so cute!)

Mommy-to-be

Three Generations!

Kendra, me, Sharon, Shanna, Courtney, & Linda

The hostesses

Some of the gifts (I forgot to get a picture when she started opening!)


Opening gifts- fun fun!

Shane was in San Francisco all last week for training, so I didn't get many pictures of Austin (I barely got my teeth brushed everyday!) So here's a pic from last week- and I'll work on getting more in the next few days!

11 Months Old

Today marks Austin's 11 month birthday! I've put together my usual list of things about Austin (there are 11 this month):

*Austin started crawling! At first we would have to bribe him to crawl, but now he does it out of curiosity! He crawls fine on the wood floor, but is not too fond of the tile! I wouldn't either- it's hard! Austin enjoys playing with anything that he is not supposed to play with- electronics, cords, outlets (which are now covered), etc. Fun times.

*He learned to pull up on our leather coffee table the day after crawling. He had been trying, but couldn't do it without my assistance. Austin's favorite things to play with include coasters, remotes, really anything on the coffee table.

*Austin spends a lot of time playing in his crib. When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he usually spends 20-30 minutes just entertaining himself. We usually find him with his 2 stuffed animals sopping wet, with all blankets pulled into the crib (that were hanging on the railing), his socks off & sometimes on the floor, and the ultimate crib sheet pulled loose from one corner. I'm just glad it gives me a little more time to get stuff done!

*He is learning how to use his tongue a lot more. We especially notice this when we are in the car driving. Austin will sit in his car seat and babble, but you can see that he is moving his tongue around and playing with it- obviously learning how to use it more for talking. All I know is that he ends up with a ton of saliva all over his face.

*Austin is still sleeping 12+ hours at night, and taking 2 long naps during the day. One day this week his morning nap was 3.5 hrs!! We've also noticed that he moves around a lot more while he's sleeping. When he was younger he never moved because he was swaddled until 6 months old, but now we find him in all sorts of weird positions! He's also very good about going to sleep- we just lay him in there & he goes to sleep (sometimes he fusses a few minutes, but nothing major.)

*He continues to eat more solid foods! I'll pretty much let him try anything that isn't too hard or spicy. The only bad thing is that Austin eats an early dinner (just due to timing of when he wakes up, etc.) So, when we get around to eating... he thinks he needs to eat again too. So most nights Austin eats 2 small dinners. Another funny thing is that he is ALWAYS talking while eating (like between each bite.) Sometimes it sounds like he's saying "mmmm" between bites, sometimes it's fussing because he can't get the food in fast enough, and then other times he's just making noises.

*Austin sticks out tongue when doing something (in concentration.) Now many of you probably know that he obviously learned this from his mommy. Shane always teases me about it, but now I guess he will be the odd man out!

*He has learned to clap- but hasn't perfected it yet. He still doesn't flatten out his hands completely, so he doesn't make a lot of noise. Once he figures that out, he will LOVE it.

*Austin laughs a lot! The things that really get him going are peek-a-boo, daddy tickling him, and mommy snorting like a pig (odd, i know.)

*He thinks it's fun to chase Max (on the other hand, Max does NOT think it is very fun.) I've also noticed that he always stops what he's doing to watch Max eat. It's cute to see how much more he notices things like that than he did just a few months ago.

*Austin has gone to the nursery at church a few times. So far he has done better than expected! He went with the ladies without crying or even looking back, but evidently got upset after the newness wore off & he realized mommy & daddy were not there. He lasted 45 minutes the first week, and 30 minutes the second. We'll keep trying!!!

I love how he's sitting in this picture!


I can't believe that next month will be the big 1st birthday posting! I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

We have crawling!

Just wanted to let everyone know that Austin officially started crawling today! WHOO HOO!!!!!

Life is about to completely change, and I'm not sure that I'm ready for it.....

A week in pictures

I don't have much new to say, so I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures- that's what yall want anyway! :) FYI- I do change my child's clothes, but he is in PJs all the time when we are at home (comfortable!)

Big smile

Playing with one of his favorite toys- the farm! (hence the barnyard bash theme for his 1st Birthday!)

Austin is in this position ALL of the time. Since he doesn't crawl yet, he just goes from sitting to all 4s, then back to sitting, etc.

Cutie pie

How can a child get bored with this many toys?

A quick workout

What is it with boys and electronics?

Pull-up series (by the way, I helped him to his feet in the last picture- he can't do that YET!)

My new laptop- isn't it pretty? I love it!!

Have a great week!

Changes

I wanted to blog about a couple of changes in Austin over the past few days! He is doing so good with eating solid foods- which is amazing considering he only has 6 teeth! His new favorite breakfast food is blueberry waffles (along with some fruit baby food.) For lunch and dinner he eats almost entirely solid foods (unless I need to supplement more veggies or something.) Here is an example of his lunch a few days ago!

Turkey hot dog, peas, tomato, cheese, blueberries, & strawberries (thanks for the cute plate, Christy T!)

I have also reduced the amount of formula that he drinks from 5 bottles per day to 3. He only drinks one bottle with a meal (breakfast), but I'm determined to end that soon! So that would leave his night time bottle, and then one in the afternoon before his nap!

Austin is also back to sleeping really good! He must be growing because he has been sleeping 12 hours at night MINIMUM, and then an afternoon and morning nap (sometimes 2-3 hrs each.) We came in a few days ago and he was asleep like this- too cute! Notice his thumb is in his mouth- huh? He NEVER does that!

Anyway, yesterday we went in to get him and he was pulling up on the railings and in a kneeling position over the bumper pads. Yep. So last night we moved the crib down to the lowest level- it looks so weird to me! This morning he went from a laying position to sitting up without help- whoo hoo! Keep in mind though, that he's still not crawling! :)

Sorry this is all of the pics I have to post- I'll try to get some new ones this week!

Historical Day

I decided that I would quickly blog about today, as it is obviously a very historical day for all of us! No matter who you voted for, we all need to celebrate the election of our 1st African American President!

I think we all need to thankful for President Bush's 8 years of service to our country, and also in prayer for our new President. This picture shows one of the many emotional moments that I had while watching 8 hours of coverage- saying goodbye to the Bush family.... as they head off to Texas!

10 Months

Today Austin turned 10 month old... and it's freaking me out! Only 2 more months until he turns 1.... YIKES! Not only does it panic me that my baby is almost not a "baby" anymore, but I'm totally getting overwhelmed thinking about planning his 1st birthday party!

We took Austin to the doctor 2 weeks ago, and he weighed 25lbs! Such a big boy (he's beginning to outgrow his 12 month clothes!) So here are 10 new things about him:

1- Austin has 6 teeth now (2 on bottom, and 4 on top.) The top 4 came in all at once- it was miserable. I'm not sure if Austin also had cold/sinus problems during the same time, or if it was all related to the teething... but either way.. I wish that on no baby and no parents. Considering it was Austin's first time to get sick in 9 months, I can't complain. But it lasted for 2 weeks- runny nose, sometimes fever, sneezing, couldn't breathe (no paci), woke up multiple times every night, cranky, etc. HORRIBLE. But now he's better, and he's showing off those new pearly whites! Oh, and is it just Austin, or do all babies do the teeth grinding thing when they first discover their teeth? It sounds worse that nails on a chalkboard!!!

2- As of 3 days ago, he's holding his own bottle now! I know he could do it before now, as he would play with empty bottles and hold them. He was just being a little lazy and wanted mommy & daddy to feed him! Anyway, he's a big boy now- whoo hoo!

3- Austin is trying lots of new solid big boy foods! I still supplement with baby food though. So far he's had: cheerios, puffs, saltines, pears, peaches, bananas, green beans, carrots, peas, black eyed peas, mashed potatoes, hot dogs, eggs, yogurt, jello, sugar cookies, and ice cream (I know, those last few are soo bad- but it's only been a few times!) What else should I try giving him???

4- He is still not crawling, but is definitely getting closer (yes, I know I say this every month.) He spends a LOT of time on his belly! In fact, I don't remember the last time I went to get him out of the crib when he wasn't on his tummy. I think he sleeps on his tummy a lot too. Austin is also scooting forwards, moving backwards, moving in a circle, and getting up on all fours! I'm anxious for him to crawl! Mainly because I know how much he is going to love being mobile. Personally though, I am not looking forward to baby-proofing the house or chasing him around 24/7.

5- Austin has been spending more time around other children, and he loves watching them. He will sometimes play with them, but is much more interested in watching them play. I'm guessing this is all part of him learning and soaking everything in. As for playing by himself- he's pretty good at keeping himself entertained. Thanks to everyone who gave him toys for Christmas, as he plays with everything at LEAST once a day. Who knew the attention span of a 10 month old is like 15 seconds per toy?

6- He loves animals! We've always known he likes our cat, Max, but on several occasions recently he's been around dogs. He has absolutely NO fear of them- even if they bark or get close to him. At one point, one of the dogs started licking his face... and he just laughed and laughed. It's too cute to see how excited he gets around animals!

7- Austin has a VERY strong personality. He has been a very laid back baby for the first 8 months of his life (like his daddy.) But recently he seems to be much more strong-willed (like his mommy.) He's also getting very rowdy- he loves to squeal loud & bang toys around. Very rough! I can't tell you how many times he's hit himself in the head while slinging toys around.

8- He has learned how to give high 5, clap, turn pages, and roll/throw a ball. He's also working on flipping light switches, waving, pointing out facial features like nose and eyes, and learning how to do the shape sorter and simple puzzles (although right now he's rather just chew on everything.)

9- Austin still isn't talking yet- just making noises and babbling a lot. He also loves to fake cough and growl. Daddy just growls back and he thinks it's hilarious & laughs. Great Shane, way to encourage our growling baby. We are still working on saying words like mommy, daddy, max, etc... but no luck yet. He'll do it on his own time!

10- He is a momma's boy- and I love it! Granted a lot of it is the clingy stage he's going through. But I love that he still lets me hold him like a baby and rock him to sleep. He cuddles up and just looks up at me- it melts my heart! Of course he loves his daddy too, and gets this huge grin on his face when Shane gets home from work! They love playing together, and Shane is really good at teaching Austin new things.

Happy Birthday sweet boy! We love you!!!