"Everything Happens for a Reason"

That has to be the most accurate cliche ever. Over the summer I slipped down some stairs and injured my arm. I have been in some pain ever since. I tried Physical Therapy for a month, but it just wasn't getting better. When I woke up in the middle of the night a few weeks ago with terrible pain, I decided I better go back to the doctor. They decided to do an MRI, where they discovered a tumor inside my shoulder bone. After 7 very emotional days and a biopsy, I found out the tumor is benign (whew!). It is very aggressive and has nearly destroyed the top of my humerus. I am having it removed on Wednesday, which I hope will be the beginning of the end of the pain. I am so thankful for that fall over the summer and that it led me to get an MRI. I'm thankful for the many sighs of relief since finding out it's not cancer. I'm thankful for amazingly knowledgeable doctors who were so willing to get me the help I needed so quickly. I'm thankful for my loving family (immediate and extended) and friends who have offered many prayers and words of support. I'm thankful for my health. I am so blessed.

Toddler Section?!

My sweet little boy is 9 months old, so I feel like I should still be shopping in the baby section. Oh no, I have to shop in the Toddler Section! Tonight I bought him a sweater that was 24 month size. Yikes! (He is usually in 12-18 month size. That sweater was unusally small). Even though he's a big boy, he's still my sweet, 9 month old BABY. He loves to wave hello and bye, even if no one is coming or leaving. He has been crawling since he was 6 1/2 months, but doesn't have much interest in walking. He loves pulling up on things and climbing on things - but the whole walking thing doesn't seem too cool to him yet. He loves playing chase with his dad. His two favorite things are climbing on things and reading books. He will crawl over to his books and pick up the one he wants to read. I miss him so much when I'm at work, but I'm so grateful I get to come home to him in the afternoons.

This is how he laughs when he thinks something is REALLY funny.

8 Months

I can't believe my baby is 8 months old. He is so much fun right now. I say this at every stage, but this is really my favorite stage so far. He is so funny. He keeps amazing me at what he knows and how quickly he learns things. My new favorite thing he does is playing peek-a-boo behind the curtains. It is hilarious and so sweet. He is crawling all over the place and pulling up on everything. He even couch-walked this weekend! Love love love him!

July

I know it's September now, but I have to write a little something about July. July was an exciting month, full of milestones for Austin. Within 3 weeks, he . . .

Learned to sit himself up





















He learned how to crawl!







And pull himself up.

Life Lesson

For the past few months I have been following the blog and facebook of a friend of mine from college. Her baby, who is a day younger than Austin, needed a liver transplant. I read everyday to get the update on how Ruby was doing. I was always amazed at Ani's faith. She never gave up. She would talk about how blessed she was when she got to take Ruby home from the hospital for a few days or even just hold her without her being hooked up to all the hospital monitors. When I woke up on Friday and read that Ruby had passed away, my heart just ached for her family. I cannot imagine the pain they must feel. But on her latest blog, Ani said how grateful she is for the knowledge of Eternal families. Her perspective and attitude throughout this unimaginable trial has be so inspiring for me. The past few days I have been hugging Austin a little tighter, holding him longer, and telling him I love him over and over again. I am so grateful for him. I hope I can always remember to show him how much I love him, even when life gets crazy.

Fun in the Sun (With SPF 50)

Jeff and I are lucky enough to be living in NC this summer. Jeff got an internship in Raleigh (thanks Aunt Debbie!), so we got the chance to get out of Provo for the summer. We are loving it so far. A change is always nice, and who doesn't want to live near the beach during the summer? I spent my first week here with my family at the Outer Banks. Jeff had to work most of the time, but was able to come out over the weekend. We had fun playing at the beach, eating, and trying to turn Austin into a beach bum.

First time at the beach! He'll be a beach bum soon enough

Hanging out by the Sound

Waterfront Dining

Since we got back from OBX, I have been spending my time going back and forth between Raleigh and Beulaville. I love being so close to family, and I'm pretty sure my parents are enjoying having us around - especially Austin! He has grown and changed so much since we have been here - even his hair is growing faster. He is starting to crawl - mostly an army crawl for now, but I can tell it won't be long before he takes off. I can already see I will be one busy mama once he's on the move. Hopefully I will have a video of his army crawl to share soon.

Almost!

I was getting ready to update this lonely blog when I realized I don't have any new pictures to share. Well. . .I have a lot of new pictures to share, but they are on my camera which is currently at my parents' house. So as soon as I go get it, I will update! Coming soon. . .

*We had so much fun at the OBX - Austin's first time at the beach!
*We are loving spending the summer in NC - grandparents are loving it even more I think.
*Austin is 6 months old. So hard to believe.
*He has a new way of getting around.

Rules

Austin's sleeping habits haven't been great since he was born. (He has slept for 8 hours straight for the past 3 nights -what are the odds he will keep it up?!) I have read 2 books and several articles on the internet about baby sleeping habits and how to get them to sleep longer. Here are some of the "rules" I came across:

1. NEVER rock your baby to sleep

2. NEVER nurse your baby to sleep

3. Your baby should ALWAYS sleep in his crib. (Not in your arms or in your bed with you)

4. Don't go to your baby when you're letting him "cry it out."

All of these rules have been beneficial for me in helping Austin to sleep better. However I have learned, more than anything, that every baby is different. That NEVER and ALWAYS are words that don't apply to babies. Sometimes I do rock Austin to sleep. Sometimes I nurse him to sleep. Sometimes I can't stand to listen to him cry anymore so I go in there and give him a hug. Sometimes when Austin wakes up too early, we put him in the bed with us and he sleeps with us for an hour or two. And tonight he took a nap in my arms for an hour and it was Heaven. It seems like his sleeping habits have gotten better since Jeff and I made up our own rules and realized it's ok to break them every once in a while.

Guess How Much I Love You

For Austin's bedtime story tonight, we read Guess How Much I Love You. I love that story. We read it at least once a week. Usually when I read to him, he looks at the book or just looks around the room. As we were reading tonight, he looked at me and smiled the entire time. It was so sweet. That little boy melts my heart sometimes. I remember thinking when he was a newborn that I didn't want him to get any bigger. But as he gets older, I am loving every minute of it. Every new thing he does is so fun and exciting. He is the sweetest little boy.

My Big Boy

Austin has had a busy couple of weeks - hanging out with dad, learning to sit up and taking his first bites of rice cereal. He is growing up way too fast.

Just What I Needed

I got home from work today feeling exhausted and a little stressed. The end of the school year is always crazy and tiring. Later on in the evening, Jeff was showing me the airplane he made in one of his classes. He held onto it and ran across the room and made an airplane noise. Austin starting laughing uncontrollably. So Jeff kept this up for a good ten minutes - running back and forth in the living room with his airplane while Austin just laughed and laughed. We have heard little giggles from him, but nothing like this. It was the best sound ever. I felt so, so happy. I love my little family.

Adorable

I don't know about others who have tried to find cute clothes for baby boys, but it can be a little frustrating sometimes. There's some cute stuff, but I love the classic baby boy clothing. There's not much of that out there. Lucky for me, I have a Granny who can make anything. She has made Austin several adorable outfits. He wore one to church today, and he looked so precious.

4 months

I just love this little boy. I can't believe he is 4 months old already. He has changed so much in just the past 2 weeks. He is rolling over a lot, smiling and laughing, and learning how to play with his toys. He got his shots today, and only cried for about 30 seconds. He is such a champ. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 pounds (77th percentile)
Height: 27 inches (99th percentile)
Head: 16 inches (61st percentile)

Chatter Box

Tummy Time

















Watching golf with Dad. Looks like Austin likes watching golf as much as I do.

Look What I Can Do

Some of Austin's favorite things to do:

Smiling at mom and dad















Staring at his fist
















Eating his fist
















He rolled over!

2 month stats

Weight: 13 lbs (78th percentile)

Height: 24 inches (83rd percentile)
Yea, he's a big fella.

Last week I took Austin to NC. I was really nervous about the plane ride but he did awesome. He slept almost the entire time. Most of the family came over for a cookout at my parents' house. I'm glad Austin got to meet everyone -even though he slept through the entire party. It was also nice for him to experience some warmth - it was in the 60's and 70's while we were there. We even got to take a stroll around the block! One day we went with my grandma to a fabric store to pick out fabric for Granny to make some outfits for Austin. I'm so excited - I get so tired of going in stores and having 1 little rack to choose from for boy clothes. Pictures of the NC trip coming soon.

Austin is growing and changing so much everyday. He is such a happy baby (unless he's hungry). He smiles and laughs more and more everyday. I can't believe how much he has changed in 10 weeks. We just can't get enough of this sweet little boy.

My Valentine

Doesn't my "little man" look so big? I can't believe how much he changes everyday. What he's doing these days:

*He loves his dad. He smiles at him all the time - so cute.

*He is awake a lot more- sometimes in the middle of the night.

*His gaze will follow Jeff and I when we move - it's fun to see him noticing us.

*He sleeps all night in his crib (in between feedings). He used to only sleep in his swing, bouncy seat, boppy, etc.

*We used to cover his car seat with a blanket when we were in the car. Now he likes to be able to look outside and see what's going on.

* He is such a relaxed baby. He will just sit there and look around and be happy.

*At the same time, he's a little bit of a lap baby. He loves to be snuggled, which is good since we love to snuggle him and get his sugar. (Which means kiss him, for those of you not from the south)

Uncles

Sneezes and Smiles

Lately it seems like Austin has started smiling at us, but it was hard to tell if it was a social smile or if he was just a little gassy. :) But this morning Jeff was talking to him and Austin had the biggest smile on his face - it was the cutest thing I have ever seen. So of course, I wanted him to smile at me too. When Jeff left for school, I started talking to Austin as usual and he made my day - he smiled at me. And he kept smiling and cooing. It was the sweetest thing ever. Of course when I tried to video him, he wouldn't do it as much but here is a little taste of what we saw this morning. It is amazing how one little smile can be the best part of your day.





This is him playing under his favorite toy

Sweet Baby

I can't believe he is finally here. He is such a sweet baby. I wondered how it would feel when he was born and finally in my arms. I thought it would be surreal, like it was somehow not reality. But it feels so natural and normal. It's hard to imagine him not being here. I love watching him to see what he will do next. Who knew a tiny little boy could be so entertaining? He does something new everyday. He is already such a blessing to our little family. I can't wait to see what he does next.