HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!!!!

This is seriously a record post as far as pictures go and that's AFTER I narrowed it down a LOT!!!

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I've been teaching Austen to say "trick or treat" for a while now, so that he would be prepared for Halloween night and I'm happy to say it paid off.
He got the concept after one house!!!
(I thought he might just be satisfied with the one piece of candy and be done, but that was sooo not the case.)
He was such a trooper and walked all over the neighborhood braving the cold wind and even rain at times.
He would go up to the door say trick or treat get his candy and be done. He was even saying thank you!!! I was so proud.
Eventually he realized that the people in the houses had lots of candy and near the end he would go up to the door get his candy and then just stand there until they gave him another one.
The funny part is....it actually worked!!!
I can't tell you how many times he would come down from the porch with two candies when the house was only giving one to all the other kids.
I can't stop laughing about that!!!
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All in all, it was a VERY fun Halloween and Austen is ready to throw on the dragon costume again to go back out tonight.
How do I explain this is a once a year thing???

We even dressed up the dog!

Here's the soldier, cowgirl, dragon, and pirate.

Austen picked this costume out himself, and I have to say it's the cutest thing evah!

He was sooo cute with his cute witch cousins!!!

And even cuter with his daddy!

Pumpkin Carving........Err Poking?

Get ready for a ton of pics!!!

We had a blast carving our pumpkins after we picked them out at the patch.
Austen was really curious about all the stuff we were pulling out of them, but he didn't want to help once he felt how slimy it was.
We picked out our patterns and got to work.
Brian of course picked the most difficult pattern to carve into his giant pumpkin.
Let's just say I cleaned and carved two before he was done with his one.

Giving it a bite test.

This little poker was his favorite.
I thought it was better than a knife, but I got stabbed a few times.

Helping daddy

Finished product....Austen thought the lit pumpkins were very neat!

Brian's was so intricate it deserved a close up.

Happy Halloween!!!

Pumkin Patch 2010

We finally found some time to go pick out pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.
Last year was so much fun, but this year we went too late!!
Most of the good pumpkins were gone and it was freezing and muddy.
We let Austen pick out his and then I ran him back to the car where we could stay warm while daddy picked out the other two and paid.
Needless to say, next year we'll be going earlier!

The quest for the perfect pumpkin begins....

Found it

One of my new all time favorite pictures....seriously, how cute are they?

It got a little heavy, so he had to set it down for a sec.

P.S. You should hear him say pumpkin.....it is seriously cute!

Pumpkin Pie

I say "up high" to Austen quite frequently i.e. "You can't play with that, so Mom had to put it up high". That being said I still thought it was absolutely hilarious when Austen asked for piece of pumpkin up high.
He thought pie sounded like up, so that's what he calls it.

We woke up this morning to find a layer of snow on the ground and since Austen was too little last time it snowed to remember it he was very curious.
I took him outside and let him touch it.
Of course he put it right in his mouth and said "ice".
The best part is that when he looks out the window (which is a lot) the layer of snow on the grass bugs him and he really wants to vacuum it up.
Me telling him we don't vacuum snow has led to plenty of tears this morning.
(O.C.D.???)
He'd better get used to it or it's going to be a long winter.

M.O.M.

I'm not sure I should be blogging today considering Austen and I didn't get off to a good start, but since he's been napping for over an hour I think I'm actually starting to miss that little terror and might have some good things to say about him after all.
He was up all night last night with his last molar breaking free.
I'll be very glad to have all four in!
Our eventful morning started
while I was quickly putting on some mascara. Austen "mopped" the bathroom floor with mouthwash (it has a "childproof" lid) and aloe vera.
Then, while I was cleaning up that mess he moved on to the nightstand and dumped an entire cup of water on the carpet.
After those shenanigans, he broke my favorite mixing bowl while "making dinner" and he will not stop opening the fridge to get ingredients for his culinary creations.
(Anyone know how to childproof the fridge?)
And because that isn't enough he can also open the sliding glass door which in his mind, means he can go outside at will.
Needless to say this is why I ration out my showers and never wear makeup or do my hair.......it's soooo not worth cleaning up his messes.
Which brings me back to the title of this post.
I have had a small epiphany....
I have discovered that Mom isn't a name at all, but an acronym for your job description.

Millions of Messes!!!

Someone really should tell you this beforehand!!!

I'm partially kidding.....being a Mother is truly an honor and I wouldn't have it any other way. Even if I was forewarned.

Here's some random pictures of Austen's cuteness

At the aquarium

Cleaning his "dirty" horse toy

His forced smile

He found this little treasure in the basement and wanted to wear it to Wheeler Farm after he
approved it in the mirror

This is him imitating me.
(I bend down when I'm going to take his picture, so he does it too!)

A New Favorite Food

Austen's got a new favorite food and it's a vegetable!!!!
I'm constantly trying to get him to eat new veggies especially because he loves sugar so much, so when we find one he loves I get very excited.

He loves corn so much he has even been asking for it for breakfast.
I know it's not the most nutritious veggie, but it still counts.

The other night Brian was eating corn on the cob and Austen climbed up on to the table, grabbed an ear and started eating.
He loved it!!!

Also, Brian got Austen to eat lasagna and mac and cheese.
I have been trying to get him to eat these things for a year with no luck, but for some reason Brian can always get Austen to eat stuff when I can't.
I think I'll have Brian work on eggs next.

Round 2

We had so much fun on our little photo shoot the day before that we went back out today to try again.
The truth is he only lasts about 15 maybe 20 minutes and then he quits cooperating.
We needed a few more pics in a different location, so we went out for round 2 and some of the pictures turned out super cute!

G.Q. Anyone???

We were bored yesterday evening, so I took Austen out to the lake for a little photo shoot.
I wasn't sure what the outcome would be because he doesn't hold still and there was no one with me to keep him out of the water, but we managed to get some cute pics.
I think we might head back out this evening and try again.

Really wish those stupid signs weren't there.....

Getting the sand off his toes

Fearless

I think it's funny that Austen has absolutely no fear when it comes to climbing, heights, animals, and pretty much everything else except thunder.
Yep, he's decided he's scared of thunder.
It's hilarious.....sometimes he comes running to me saying thunder even if it's not raining. It's usually just a loud car, but if he thinks it's thunder he's afraid!

Add It To The List

Austen is climbing on everything!!!
He finds things that can be used as a step stool and up he goes.
He unlocks the deadbolt on the front door, he climbs onto the kitchen counter, on the office desk, and up the wall to turn the lights on and off.
Just when I think my house is Austen-proof he goes and adds climbing to his repertoire.

Here he is climbing up on an office desk shelf.
He thought this was quite the feat and was very proud.

Do you think he's seen someone playing with this before???
Funny how he know exactly what to do with it....