9 Months of Austin

Guys...just three more months and my baby will be a year...how does it all go by so quickly?!

• He is definitely a Momma's Boy. He will still go to other people but he looks all around for me and gets super excited when I get him. It's good for my Ego. 
• Because of his attachment to me he isn't the greatest sleeper at night. He still gets up 2-3 times to nurse but because he is so easy during the day I have felt too guilty to do sleep training. How can I let such an angelic baby cry? 

• He is still obsessed with my face. He loves to shove his fingers up my nostrils or into my mouth. It's getting a little much so I try to hold his hand while he is nursing but he fights me the whole time. 
• He now has two teeth. They came at the same time and besides sleeping horribly he was still so sweet during the day. 

• He is starting to move around more. He gets up on all fours and rocks but doesn't quite have the arm strength to hold up that noggin of his. He is starting to roll all over the place and is working on his army crawl too. 
• Austin is learning to stand up for himself. He will cry or squeal angrily if someone (his darling siblings) take something from him. He also is really driven. If someone has something he wants he won't give up until he gets it or you can give him something better. It's pretty funny to see him climb all over his siblings trying to get something from them. 

Another selfie with the boy because he's too cute

Really Cute

Bring on the Fall!

This summer has been so good to us.

Chad and Kaisa were in Pittsburgh for a few weeks so we took advantage of that and tried to do as much as possible with them. One day we did a little hike at Cooper's Rock. Tanner thought we were nerds for taking a picture right at the beginning but we were all happy at this point so it had to be documented.

We found a Millipede on the trail. Mariah, Chet and I had just watched a video on Centipedes and Millipede's a few days before so it was so fun to get to see a live one. And we weren't even nervous because we had learned that Millipedes are just poisonous, not venomous like Centipedes and since we weren't planning on eating it we were A-OK. :)

The rock formations were so cool. There were even some fun tunnels through the rocks that the kids had fun walking through. 

After our little hike we walked up to see the view. Tanner is holding onto Seth because the other side of that fence was a cliff, and Seth wasn't nervous enough for our liking. 

The view was breathtaking! And it was fun to actually be up high enough to see far and wide. I've missed that. 

We had a little Birthday celebration for Chet the next week. That morning Mariah and Chet helped me make the cake. Chet asked for birthday hats and Mariah wanted party blowers because she had seen them at another party a couple weeks before. And that was all the prep that was made for this party. So yeah...I'm not a party planner. 

But we had chocolate cake and ice cream...the essentials. 

Chet made it clear that he wanted his "Sinds" (friends) to be there. And I couldn't think of better friends to have around than family. All of his cousins brought him a gift. It was the sweetest thing to see how they all wanted Chet to feel special. Tanner was at the hospital waiting for some babies to be born but he was able to show up in time for cake and ice cream. He has good timing. 

After Chet's little party we headed out for a church activity. Some members of the Ward own a farm and the activity was out there. We got to do a service project, eat dinner and go on a hayride. 

Sorry for the booty shot...Tanner had to leave early so he missed the hayride. Luckily our friend Serge was there to help hold onto the kids. The tractor driver liked to put the clutch in on the downhill parts. It was like a mini little roller coaster. Mariah and Chet had a blast, Serge, not so much. He has never been on a roller coaster before so he was slightly terrified. But his screams made us all laugh and he was a good sport and laughed along too. 

The local library here throws a Cinderella Ball. You have to RSVP ahead of time to get an official invitation and I was late on doing that so I didn't think she would get to go. But two days before I got a phone call saying there was an opening. Tanner said he would take her and Mariah was so excited. The day of the ball Tanner was at the hospital most of the day after a long night of delivering a baby but he was able to come home and take a twenty minute nap before he took his Princess to the ball.

 This picture just melts my heart! She loves her dad. 

She got to do some crafts, try on a glass slipper, get glitter and a crown in her hair, and even danced with a prince. After Tanner brought her home he headed back to the hospital. I'm so glad it worked out so perfectly and that Tanner made the time for his little girl. 

On Chet's actual birthday we gave him our gifts. Mariah was so sweet and wanted to give him something that was special to her. So she gave him her new princess crown and glass slipper. Chet was a gracious recipient of the gifts and I loved seeing the joy that giving brought to Mariah. 

Chet especially loved his "tippy" bike and helmet. I thought a balance bike might be a good idea, hence the title "tippy". Needless to say we put the pedals and training wheels on there the next day. 

Summer, we have loved you but we are ready to stop sweating and for the mosquitos to die. Bring on the Fall!

Chet is Three!

No way my Chet boy can be three...time slow down! I was excited to do a little birthday interview with him. There was no way he was going to sit while we did it so he stayed busy playing with cars while we chatted.  

Mom: What is your favorite color?
Chet: Um, Um…dat color…(He pointed to something green)

Mom: What is your favorite food?
Chet: Duh Cunchy tings…veggies are my yummy foods. (fried snap peas)

Mom: What is your favorite animal?
Chet: A Polar Bear (A Polar Bear was mentioned in Preschool this morning and it must have stuck)

Mom: What is your favorite book?
Chet: The Wabbit book who have Bear in it. (The Hide-and-Scare Bear by Ivan Bates. Such a cute book! He also loves the book Chester which I think is pretty cute because he was named after Grandpa Chester) 

Mom: What is your favorite movie?
Chet: Curious George

Mom: What is your favorite song?
Chet: I am a Child of God (He asks me to sing this song to him every night and every once and a while I can get him to sing along with me.)

Mom: What is your favorite dessert?
Chet: Pie (I made a super tart blackberry pie a while ago, but other than that I can't think of the last time we had pie...guess it made an impression)

Mom: What do you like to do for fun?
Chet: Play with my Birday cars

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mom?
Chet: Do chalk and paint (Mariah had a date with Dad and Chet and I played outside with chalk paint)

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Dad?
Chet: Wide my tippy bike with dad on the yoad.

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Mariah?
Chet: Play outside and ride the bike and Mariah can ride my tippy bike.

Mom: What is your favorite thing to do with Austin?
Chet: If Austin’s playing with this car and him drops it then I give it back to him. 

Mom: Who is your best friend?
Chet: Cavin and Ta-a (Stella) (Our new friends here) 

Mom: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Chet: A Pirate. When I be a pirate I’ll say, “IIII’m a pirate….” (in an epic voice)

Chet can be the sweetest, funniest, happiest boy...when he wants to be. Once he gets his mind set on something there's no going back for him. He is so calm and mellow in public so I guess he has to get out his rage and tears somewhere and we try our hardest to go with the punches (just a figure of speech, he rarely hurts people, which is a tender mercy because the boy is big.)

Here's a few gems from Chet...

"My toots are talking." He just told me this one; yep he's a boy. 

While talking about how he slept: "I slept faster and faster and faster". I think he got that from the phrase "fast asleep". 

His imagination never stops. One time during lunch he pretended that one hand was a little bird and the other hand was a monster. The monster attacked the bird and after a struggle, the bird went limp on the table with a few little twitches. 

His forks and spoons are "forkie fork and spoonie spoon" and they go on epic adventures each mealtime. 

Here he is after a little tumble with a green smoothie. That smoothie was all over the dining room. 

Once after asking if he wanted to snuggle me, "I just want to suggle myself". 

He loves to play doctor and check my "heart beep". 

We went through a phase where any time he did something he felt was epic he would say, "Mom say, 'how can you do that?'" After I would ask he would respond, "I have strong muscles!". 

He has a super sniffer. Almost daily he will say, "I smell somefing" with a disgusted look on his face. He tries to get us all to check our pants to see if we have stinkies. Another thing he likes to say is "I smell Wiyah's face!". 

Chet had an accident at church a while ago and all Tanner could find were some of Mariah's leggings so Chet got to be a punk rocker for the rest of church. 

The other day we were talking about what we wanted to be and Chet said, "I want to be a daddy and make yemon mewangue pie!". We read Amelia Bedilia a lot, maybe thats why he says his favorite treat is pie...

We were talking about his Grandpa Young so I asked him, "what do you think Grandpa Young is doing?" Chet answered, "Diving the tactor and when he's done he's making yetters on the tows (branding)". 

He loves his cowboy boots and football jersey and tries to wear them anywhere and everywhere. 

He loves to talk about playing Basketball and every once in a while he will go down stairs and shoot hoops. He even has started to work on his dribbling...right now he's looking like I do when I dribble. Sorry Tanner. 

He is officially potty trained...for the most part. We started with never going in the potty for four straight days. That was a lot of accidents to clean up after. I finally decided it was best for my sanity to take a break and come back to it later. Within a couple days he decided to go in the potty and has done pretty well since. Which we are all very happy about. 

Yes, I took a picture. I was so dang excited. 

This photo was taken on day two of straight accidents. His confidence in himself never wavered though. 

He is crazy about his dad. Anytime he does an art project he brings it into our bedroom and puts it under Tanner's pillow so that he can see it when he gets home from work. 

We love our Chet boy and will take all his lows just to experience his wonderful highs. Here's to another year. We love you Chet!