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.