Fireman For The Day

Brian has a friend who is a fireman and he offered to let us stop by the fire station for the day. We knew Austen would love it, so we headed down for our family day.

Here's Austen driving the fire truck.

He even got the lights turned on for him and he got to see the fireman go out on a call.

Reading a map in the ambulance.

Sporting a real fireman's helmet.

He even got to slide down the fire pole and they gave him his own badge and fire hat. He loved it so much! Now everytime we see a fire truck he says, "look Mom, that's Josh Bailey's".

First Day Of Preschool Take Two

First of all, I just want to say thank you to everyone for your kind words, support, and excitement over our engagement! I was surprised and very appreciative of every one's love!

As I previously posted, Austen's last preschool experience was not good. He had a bad teacher and I just didn't feel comfortable leaving him there. I was thinking we'd wait until Sept. and try again, but my awesome sister made a phone call and found an opening in the preschool her girls went to, so we decided to give it a try. I'm happy to say that this new preschool is a hit! He has been three times and even though he started off the week really sad to go (he's mostly just having trouble being without me) he ended the week by running right in and not crying at all. It helps that his teacher is amazing! She has the perfect balance of play, fun, and learning and she is so sweet. She also has a really cool dinosaur book that she lets Austen carry around, so that helps too.....she found the way to his heart! She also knows that for the first little while you have to comfort the child AND the parent, so she sends me pictures of him to let me know he's happy.

He Did It!

After seven and half years together, Brian decided it was time to propose. I just have to say it was the sweetest thing ever! He told me to get a babysitter because we were going out, but he wouldn't tell me where we were going or anything. I got ready, then we dropped a sad Austen off at his Aunts house and we drove up to La Caille. I love this restaurant and the ambiance is awesome. We walked in and they led us to our table which was in a private section and had a dozen pink roses on the table. I immediately said "what is going on" because I knew that this wasn't just a coincidence that we were in this private spot on a Saturday night. He never does anything half way and went to a lot of effort getting the manager at La Caille to let us have a special room they call the alcove. Normally it's only used for parties of 8 or more so at first she thought it was out of the question, but since Brian is very good at wearing people down and since he will not take no for an answer she finally gave in. I of course knew nothing beforehand about all the planning that had gone into it, but when we showed up to our special table I was so surprised. Dinner was amazing of course and after we ate he got up, came over to my side of the table, had me stand up, and then he got down on one knee. Before he even said anything I think I blurted out "are you serious?" I was just in shock.....I don't think I was expecting something so formal and public considering we live together, have a child together, and pretty much act like we are already married. It was the sweetest most perfect proposal ever and I never want to forget the things he said. I said yes....of course!

Then we had the most amazing dessert ever! It was the perfect night and I think I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such an amazing man as my partner through life.

Driving up they had this awesome lighted ice sculpture.

I had our waiter take a picture even though Brian wasn't into the idea.

An Emerging Diplomat

Austen is constantly surprising me, but his latest personality trait to emerge has been very surprising and unexpected. I've been noticing lately that Austen is quite the peacemaker. He doesn't really have a lot of opportunities to show off his skill given that he has no siblings, but he loves to tell Brian and I to take turns if we are having a loud discussion and on the rare occasion he is around to witness his cousins fighting he always intervenes. I love that he is so sensitive, it helps to balance out his destructive side!

These pics are unrelated to the post, but too cute to not share. He got a new cash register and he loves it!

Ry Ry's Birthday

I'm a little late, but Ryann had a birthday and Austen got to go to the Aquarium with her. He was super excited......he never gets sick of going there!

He loves Ryann, but he insists on calling her Ry Ry.....so cute!


Checking out the lobster with a magnifying glass.



And seeing how tall an emporor penguin is.

I Have A New Cleaning Person

I finally have some help around the house!

And don't worry it's not some cruel punishment. He was thrilled when I said he could clean the tub and when I told him he could even use my gloves he about died from excitement.

It's a win win!

Weird Things My Kid Does

Austen is constantly doing weird things that have me wondering what goes on in his head. Like lining up his dinosaurs "for battle" and coloring a whole picture with no hands.....

The marker is in his mouth if you can't tell.

It's Love Day!

Happy Valentine's day!

I am so lucky to have the two cutest boys in the world be my Valentine.

And in honor of the holiday here are some weird things that have happened this month.

(these are totally random un-staged naturally occurring things)

Left over oreo milk and the first slice of a red pepper.

A Preschool And Potty Update

Austen went to his first day of preschool a couple of weeks ago, and sadly it was also his last......at least for now. I'm not sure that one of his teachers was a good fit, so I think I'll just wait until September and take him to a different one. (Most schools won't take new kids on in the middle of the school year and since he wasn't three last Sept, we have to wait.)

As for the pooping on the potty, well I'm happy to say that has continued! He is now completely out of pull-ups even at bedtime! He hasn't peed in the night for probably a year, but for some reason it scared me to put him to sleep with out a pull-up. I finally did it and it was fine....of course, I worried for nothing.....what's new? These are some new toys he picked out at Toys R Us as his reward for pooping on the potty.

The Birthday Gifts Keep Coming

Most of Brian's family lives out of the state, but they are all thoughtful enough to send Austen birthday gifts. This year a couple of them arrived after his birthday, so Austen has been getting new stuff for a whole month instead of just one day. His Grandpa Abarr sent him a really cute tool set with a tool belt and goggles and real tools. Needless to say, he loves it (and has already gotten the hammer taken away indefinitely).

Dr. Time

It was time for Austen's three year "well child" visit to the doctor. Our appt was today and it was full of laughs and tears.

I'm not sure why, but he was really excited to go. I had fully prepped him on everything that was going to happen, but I knew he wasn't going to be happy about the flu shot thing. He wasn't! He cried, but luckily he got over it fast....it might help that I bribed him with a watermelon candy cane that he's been begging me for since Christmas.

He weighs 33 pounds and is exactly 3 feet tall which puts him in the 60th percentile for weight and the 70th percentile for height. Definitely didn't get that from the Nelson side! The doctor also informed us that during the next year he should be putting together 3 and 4 word sentences and start learning colors and maybe some counting and should also be able to undress and dress himself. I couldn't help but laugh considering Austen was reading a book to himself when the Dr. walked in the room and was telling the Dr. the correct names for all of his tools. I think we're fine on the brain development front. He was even making the nurse laugh because he knew exactly how much he weighed and how many inches he was (he loves it when we measure him and weigh him on the scale).

When we first got there, there was some random Dr. at the top of the stairs that we have never seen before and he said hi to Austen. Austen responded by saying "Oh, I didn't know YOU were going to be here." The guy could not stop laughing and was repeating what Austen said to everyone around him.....I'm pretty sure he made that guys day!

Three Decades Have Come And Gone

It's hard for me to believe I'm 30, but I guess it's true. Luckily my family made it a really special day for me. My Mom and sisters came over and made me breakfast and then Austen got to go play at his aunt's while I went and saw a movie with my Mom. Brian of course spoiled me and got me the cutest and yummiest cake in the world from my favorite little bakery.

Austen loved the frosting circles and was trying to pick all of them off and eat them in record time.

Then he decided to save time and just take a bite directly out of the cake.

Brian also got me this beautiful necklace. It was a really memorable birthday....thanks!

Austen's Self Portrait

Sometimes Austen gets a hold of my camera and takes some weird pictures, but I thought these were actually kind of cute!

Hope you have a happy Friday and and FUN weekend.

We will be spending the day organizing toys and we might even make it to the Children's Museum tomorrow for family day.

You've Been Milk Bombed......

While Austen was at school I decided to run some errands, one of those errands was to run to the grocery store. I picked up Austen and drove home to unload the groceries. When I opened the back of the car out rolled a jar of spaghetti sauce which landed on the concrete and shattered everywhere. I hurried and unloaded the rest of the groceries into the house where I left them on the counter until I could put them away. Sauce and glass are NOT easy to clean up, but I picked up the big pieces of glass, filled up a bucket to wash away the sauce, and then vacuumed up the little pieces of glass. Austen was out in the garage with me the whole time I was cleaning up except when I started to vacuum, he decided he wanted to go inside. I went in and turned on a show to keep him busy for a minute and went out to finish the clean up. It didn't take long. I walked in the house to find milk everywhere! It took me a while to figure out what happened, but I guess Austen got up on the counter, took down the gallon of milk I had just bought and threw it into the family room where it exploded.

The picture doesn't quite do it justice.....it was all over the wall and the carpet and toys.....everywhere.

Here's the exploded milk jug.


I absolutely lost it.....not to Austen, but inside. I called my Mom and asked to borrow their carpet cleaner and in the meantime I used six beach towels to try and soak up the milk. The carpet was still soaked and I was so upset I started to cry. I knew the milk would be sitting in the carpet until Brian could get home to clean it and I couldn't take it. Just then my Mom showed up with my Dad and the carpet cleaner. I was not expecting them at all and it was seriously just what I need to prevent a nervous breakdown!

My Dad saved the day.....he cleaned the carpet for over an hour to make sure we got all the milk sucked up.

He even cleaned the whole family room and not just where the milk was.

Thank you Mom and Dad for knowing I needed you and for dropping what you were doing to help me out!

As Grandpa was leaving Austen said "Thanks Grandpa for saving my life". He doesn't know how true that statement was......

First Day Of Preschool

Austen went to his first day of preschool yesterday. He was beyond excited to go.

Here he is leading the way to his class.

The customary pics before we left home.

He wanted to show off his backpack.
And I had to include this one because I love the look on his face!


He wasn't sad or apprehensive for me to leave at all. I enjoyed 3 whole hours of alone time before I went to pick him but when I got there I was surprised to find that he couldn't leave fast enough. He was crying and demanding I get his backpack so we could leave. Apparently he hated it and never wants to go back......he even had a nightmare about it during his nap. I guess he was sad pretty much the whole time and really missed me. I'm not sure what to do now......should I take him back on Thurs and see if he adjusts to being without me or should I take this as an indicator that he's not quite ready for preschool and try again in the fall???