The Post I Didn't Want To Do

I still can't believe it happened, but Austen broke his arm. He fell right out of his high chair, got his leg caught, but eventually landed on the tile with his head....and apparently his arm. I was so concerned about his leg and head that we didn't realize for a while that it was actually his arm that was hurt. We took him in and had an x-ray and it was broken. Not the worst break ever, but still broken. Poor thing!!!

It took a couple of days for the pain to subside, but after the third day he seemed fine and was even trying to use his right hand. After about a week he realized the cast could be used to make loud noises and also doubled as a weapon, so that's what we're dealing with now. Both Brian and I have been whacked in the face pretty hard a few times.....just one of the many reasons we're excited for the cast to go. It's also pretty heartbreaking to watch him try to do stuff with that hand although he has adjusted to being a lefty pretty well. There are still a few things that he just wants to use his right hand for like eating and coloring. The cast comes off in 6 days and I am so excited for him to be able to swim again, play in the sandbox again, and take a normal bath. Also, the cast is getting VERY stinky!!!

Here's a few pics of the little guy with his cast.

I tried to do a "cast photo shoot" and I got a lot of funny faces, so I had to post them all.
(Also, he's just learning to do what he thinks is a smile when you hold up the camera.....we've seen some hilarious faces! Who knew smiling on purpose was so hard?)

The closed mouth no lip smile.


Trying to grab the camera, but notice....still trying to smile!

The posed smile.

The one eyed pirate smile.

The distracted smile.

The I'm sick of this smile that's really more of a frown.

The half-hearted smile.

And my absolute favorite big cheeser!!! You can even see all of his teeth!

More Shenanigans

Austen is still just as curious and destructive as ever!!! He's been into everything......I even had to make my first phone call to poison control after he took a rubberband off the handles, picked the lock of the "childproof" cupboard, and drank some cooktop cleaner. (He didn't actually drink it, but he did swallow some.) His toy golf clubs have become an outside toy because he's learned to use them as a tool to pull stuff down from high places i.e. the countertops. He also uses them to get ice and water out of the ice maker. I'm telling you this kid it way too smart for us!!!

Here's some funny pics of trouble he's gotten into in the past month.....enjoy!

Brian is going to kill me for posting this, but I had to. It makes me laugh every time!!

He loves to open my mascara for some reason and he usually sticks the wand right in his ear, but this day he thought he'd taste it. Notice the black specks on his lips?? That was AFTER I'd cleaned most of it off.

Here's a closer look.

He loves to pull clothes off their hangers.....we're working on it, but here's some pics of a day when he wrecked his closet pretty good.

Tulip Festival

I have been wanting to go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point forever, but it seems like the weather never cooperates. By the time it was warm enough last year, all the tulips were spent. I decided this year I was going rain or shine! Luckily the weather yesterday couldn't have been more perfect!! It was so nice and relaxing to walk around the gardens. We were there for over 2 hours and Austen was a perfect angel the whole time. Not that that's too surprising.....he's pretty much like that all the time. I got some great pictures of the little guy and the flowers too.

I'm going to enter this one into the tulip fest photography contest.

There are seriously millions of tulips blooming everywhere you look. These pics don't do it justice.

I cannot stop laughing over this one. I love that he's trying to rip a flower out of the ground while he's got his michevious lookout face on.

He found some rocks.....

and decided to put his collection IN the tulips.

He's so proud of his accomplishment! (Where do boys get these ideas?)

Love this one!

Trip To Jungle Jim's

Last month we took a family day and went to Jungle Jim's Playland. It has indoor carnival rides for younger kids. Austen was too small for most of the rides, but there were a few he could go on. He really like the carousel and a motorized motorcycle. Here's some pics.

On the carousel.

This point is always accompanied by a grunt.

I love this pic because this boat thing wasn't working, so when he figured out it wouldn't move he got annoyed and wanted to get back on the motorcycle. His face says it all!!!

He was soooo proud of himself on this one. He felt like such a big boy!

Steering the train.

Excuses, Excuses....

I know, I know......I've totally been a blog slacker lately. I have a million excuses.

It's been warm, so we've been outside.

I've been training to run a 5k.

Austen hates staying home, so we've been to Wheeler Farm, the Zoo and The Aquarium about 1 million times.

I could go on and on, but I won't bore you with that stuff. I'll just tell about my cute cute son.

Austen has grown up so much in the last month! He understands pretty much everything I say and he's really good at communicating even though he can't talk yet. He says no A LOT, that and dada. He also tries to say hello, yuck, boo, and dog, but only I know when he's doing that.....to everyone else it just sounds jibberish. He's also been doing a lot of new sounds too. He's really good at sound effects! It's very entertaining.

He loves to be outside and wants to be out there every second of every day even when it's cold or rainy. He has an obession with collecting rocks. He'll get a handful and then make a little pile on one of our patio chairs. He also really likes to dig in the dirt, but what boy doesn't???

We went to Costco last weekend for a few things and saw a super cute sandbox. It was the last one, so we HAD to get it! It's awesome, with a shade canopy, toy bins, and even a place to have sand mixed with water. It took Brian two days to build and 700 lbs of sand, but it was so worth it. Austen LOVES it more than anything!!! Here's some pics of the building process and Austen finally getting to play in it. Daddy's little helper.

When we first put him in, he wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He wouldn't move his feet or sit down.

He decided it wasn't so bad and started to dig.

He found a little rock and had to show me.

He Talked!!!

No pictures today, but I thought you should know he just said "banana"!!! YAY!!!

He actually said it for the first time a few days ago, but I wrote it off as a fluke thing because it was too perfect. He just said it again though and this time there is no denying it. He said banana in reference to an actual banana.

So cute!! I'm very excited in case you can't tell. It's his first word besides Mama and Dada.

I'm Not Normally Into This Stuff...

...BUT I have a new favorite thing to share.


I can never get Brian to eat any veggies and I probably don't eat enough leafy greens, so when I saw this recipe on another blog I thought we should give it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted considering it didn't look very appetizing. It is seriously the best thing ever!!! It gave me a ton of energy and made me feel good all day! I know it sounds gross, but just try it....you'll be as hooked as Brian and I are. (Even Austen likes it.)

2 cups fresh spinach

1 cup kale (center stem removed)

1 cup orange juice

Blend together until smooth

Add

1/2 a banana

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/4 cup frozen raspberries

Blend together with some ice

Try it and let me know what you think. I've been making it in the mornings for breakfast and I'm totally addicted!!!