Yea! Massage Time!

We took Austin to a local elementary school on Tuesday for a Readers from Birth program. It's a once a month, one hour program for kids up to age 5 in which they read stories, sing songs, do a craft and have snack. Plus the kids all get a free book to take home at the end of the program. Austin was the youngest one there but he didn't seem to mind, most of the kids looked to be 4 or 5 years old. As someone who worked with children and parents for a living, I was a little surprised at the caliber of the program. The two ladies running the program did not know how to handle a crowd of kids who wanted to move and talk, they only did one movement activity and then read 3 stories which is expecting a lot from young kids to sit still for so long and pay attention. They made shakers for a craft but nothing was explained to the parents or kids in terms of how to do the craft. Then Allen and I couldn't believe the snack was juice, cookies and skittles! Oh well, Austin had a ball and seeing as it's a free program I shouldn't complain. We signed Austin up for the March program so we'll see how that one goes:)

Austin has actually been letting me massage him lately! I am so excited because being an infant massage instructor it was so disappointing to me that my own baby didn't like being massaged except for when he had a lot of gas and needed relief. So about 3 weeks ago I started trying to massage him again in the mornings just before I get him dressed for the day, and low and behold he loves it! He will lay there quietly for up to 20 minutes and let me massage him. He especially loves having his legs and feet rubbed. I love our little quiet time together.

Austin has been talking a lot about "his" baby recently and about all the toys he is going to share with Connor! It should be interesting to see what Austin does when Connor actually does want to start playing with his toys:) Austin has been working really hard on pronouncing Connor's name too. He does pretty good, when he say's Connor it generally sounds like "Con-grr." I love it!

A couple days ago during lunchtime Austin got some food stuck in his front teeth and he was getting really annoyed with it and couldn't get it out so I got some floss and he actually sat there and let me floss his teeth. Now he wants to floss his teeth all the time. He'll ask for floss after brushing his teeth and he really tries to get in there with the floss! What a silly little man:) Maybe he'll be a dentist!

That's about it over here. Next week should be busy with our doctor's appointments and Allen leaving for Japan. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

Slow Week

Make a Smilebox postcard

Not much going on this week. We found out Allen will be leaving for Japan again on March 7th but only for a week this time. Originally he was scheduled to be gone the entire first week of March which would have been a bad deal for us because that's when we have our next ultrasound of Connor's heart and Austin's pediatric gastro appointment. So we are very relieved that Allen is able to be here for both of those visits.

Austin is having a good old time with all his finger puppets and animals lately. He is really getting into dramatic play. He has a big cat that he named "toots" and a small finger puppet cat that he named "poop!" That's my boy! I love this age, toddlers are so much fun to watch and have conversations with!

Allen and I were talking again about how we really need to make sure Austin stays in his bed at night because Connor will be here before we know it. We just have to bite the bullet and do it, but it's so hard:) Austin does fine putting himself to sleep at naptime and usually takes a 2 hour nap but at night I still have to help him go to sleep and he usually wakes up at around 3 or 4 am wanting to come into bed with us. Austin refuses to let Daddy help him back to sleep when he wakes up and I've been so tired lately that we just bring him back into bed with us when he wakes up. I know what we have to do but I do so love that little body snuggling up to me and playing with my hair.

Enjoy the pictures of Austin having fun in his bubble bath! Once you click on play, click on each of the photo bubbles on the side and that picture will show up in the large center bubble.

Busy Weekend

We had a fun and busy weekend! Friday Austin and I were busy putting the finishing touches on his Valentine Surprises for Daddy and practicing yelling "Surprise!" for when he would give Daddy his gift. Austin made Daddy a beautiful piece of art by painting the sides of his fists and pushing them down on construction paper to make "Fist Hearts" and then we framed it. Austin also made Daddy some delicious sugar cookies with big dollops of pink frosting and handfuls of sprinkles!

On Saturday Austin was so excited to give Daddy his surprises he could hardly wait until we got out of bed! Austin loved his surprises too, he got a motorized bubble blower, colored pencils (he's always wanting to use Daddy's) and a book about opposites. Mommy finally got out for a haircut Saturday morning (I haven't had a haircut since August) and when I got back Austin presented me with a wonderful valentine pop-up card he made with a picture of him and a picture of Connor inside.

The FedEx lady delivered our new Hoover carpet cleaner on Saturday as well. We are in serious need of a carpet cleaning and after getting a couple quotes we found it was cheaper to buy a carpet cleaner than to have a service come out, and this way we can clean the carpet whenever we need to without ever paying again. The reason I mention this is because Austin loved the box it came in! He turned it into his own little house and we cut windows for him and he took his blanket and pillow inside. He even colored the box with his new colored pencils. He's been playing with it all weekend:)

Sunday we spent the morning in Flint. We went to the pet store so Austin could show us what kind of fish he wants for his birthday, and to figure out how much all the accessories cost. Austin told us he wants a blue fish, blue is his favorite color, and a boat to go in the tank. Then we went to the book store so that Austin could pick out a book since he reached his goal of 20 stars on his responsibility chart. He got The Little Engine That Could. Then we had lunch at the Olive Garden (thanks for the gift card Nana and Papa!), needless to say Austin was practically asleep in the car on the way home. After naptime Grandma and Grandpa came over to visit and Austin was sooooo excited! Grandma and Grandpa brought Austin more Valentine surprises too. He got a Little People barn set from Grandma and Grandpa and a cool train puzzle that makes sounds from Moesie and some treats of course. He was in seventh heaven! Grandma and Grandpa even got to go inside Austin's box house with him, it was a tight squeeze but Austin was having a great time!

Hope everyone had as great a weekend as we did!

Museum Fun and Potty Talk!

Austin wiping his baby's bottom after she went poo poo!

We took Austin to the Flint Children's Museum yesterday and he LOVED it! All the exhibits were interactive and everything was on his level. He was running from one thing to another trying everything out. He especially loved the submarine they had because he got to go inside and play with all the instruments and steer with the huge steering wheel, the fire engine and toddler sized grocery store and house were also a big hit. We came home ate lunch and after Austin's nap he wanted to go back to the Museum, he was not too happy with Mommy when I told him the Museum was closed and we would have to go back another day;)

Austin got two new things last week, a potty chair and a responsibility chart. He thinks the potty chair is sooooo funny, he mostly puts all his animals on it so they can go "pee pee" and "poo poo." But he will sit down on the potty to and then jump up and yell "Done!" He will even run over to his play kitchen afterwards and wash his hands! We don't plan on starting potty training till the end of the summer but we wanted to get him used to having it in the house and sitting on it. Austin also got a responsibility chart since he is gaining more independence skills now. At the end of each day if he has meets his goals he gets to put a gold star on the chart for each goal he completed. He is so proud of himself when he puts the gold stars on the chart, I love watching how excited he gets! His goals right now are: Brushing his teeth, Saying please and thank you, Putting his toys away, and taking a bath. When he gets 20 gold stars he gets to pick out a new book.

We finally reached the end of our rope with Austin's doctor and the strange BM's Austin continues to have. He has been having issues since early January and we've been in to see the doctor twice already and been emailing pictures to him (nice huh?) so he can consult a pediatric gastro. I will spare you the specifics. Needless to say after seeing blood again in the strange looking stools this past week we finally have an appointment set up with a pediatric gastro but it is not until the first week in March. Apparently it's with a U of M doctor who only comes to the Grand Blanc office twice a month. We're praying it's just a minor dietary issue or a simple malabsorption issue that can easily be fixed or better yet, nothing at all!

Allen continues to look for a new job. The building he works in has already been leased to another company so they know for sure that by June everyone will be layed off. It's pretty scary considering the state of the job market right now. And as expected none of the jobs he has found and applied for have been in Michigan. We're just hoping he doesn't get layed off before June so that he has enough time to try and find a new job before he loses his current one. And of course Connor is coming in June, everything always seems to happen at the same time. We're just praying for two healthy boys and a stable job.

It's A .................?

We went to the doctor today and found out we're having a BOY! Yes, that's right, seems I'm destined to be out numbered in our house:) That's alright with me because I love my boys! The second the ultrasound tech put the image on the screen we knew it was a boy, just like Austin he wasn't hiding anything! Our new baby's name is Connor Jackson (I guess Austin can still call him Bob). Everything looked great on the ultrasound except for a slight shadowing on part of Connor's heart. We were told that in most cases this is just a result of the shadows cast inside the womb and because the heart is still so small. But just to be sure we have another ultrasound scheduled for our 24 week visit. We have lots of ultrasound pictures to post but you'll have to wait until Monday so Allen can scan them into his computer at work and then I can post them on our blog. In one of the pictures Connor is even giving the thumbs up!

Learning to Crawl Again

Austin playing with bubbles!

It has been a tough week for me. I pulled my sciatic nerve and have been in serious pain. I've literally been crawling around the house on all fours and Allen has been helping me up and down the stairs. Poor Austin has no idea why his mommy can't chase him around and play like we usually do, he keeps saying "Mommy play" and I have to tell him I can't. He has been giving me lots of kisses and hugs though and rubbing "Mommy's boo-boo!" Hopefully it heals quickly since the only thing I'm allowed to take is regular strength tylenol and put a heating pad on and stretch of course.

Austin has been working on his Valentine's Day gifts, they are going to be spectacular! We've decided to forgo the glue crafts and instead use clear contact paper:)

Austin and Daddy actually got to play outside in the snow today since it was 36 degrees, whoa what a heat wave! They made snow angels and went for a sled ride.

That's all for now, we'll post again on Friday when we find out the sex of our new baby.