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.