Happy Father's Day Visitors

Kristopher's family came up to spend the weekend with us for Fathers' Day. It was so awesome to celebrate Kristopher's first fathers' day! We had a great day and a great weekend. We also went and had tea at the American Girl store for Peyton's 3rd birthday! We had lots of fun, and as always, it was great for Austin to be spoiled for a few days. He really enjoyed seeing all the new faces around. We also got a short overnight visit from Nannie Michell. I think Austin thought she looked alot like his Ceci, so she got lots of smiles too! Enjoy the pictures!

The days are getting funner!

Well, our little man is turning three months in two weeks, and the changes to his precious face are abundant. It has already been an amazing journey to see how much he grows and learns, and at this point, it's clearly on a daily basis. The first picture is our morning at its finest: the moment that Austin re-discovers the fan in the living room. Still not sure what the fascination with the fan might be, but I think it has something to do with the evenly-spaced blades at 72 degrees. I think he's already figuring the system out from an engineering standpoint. He laughs because it's too easy of a problem.

Also, we bought a blow-up pool for the backyard for Austin to practice his backstroke. He has already perfected his breaststroke from his numerous daily feedings. Unfortunately, the pool had a hole in the top blow-up part, so we had to return the pool and try again. You can see the disappointment in Austin's face.

Please, enjoy the pictures and feel free to comment below.

Fans in Heaven

Ok, so I've decided that there must be ceiling fans in Heaven, as every time Austin sees the fan, he smiles so big he laughs. He LOVES the fan - not even the moving fan - just the still fan. He stares at it and coos and laughs. We thought he was just noticing the contrast, but as much as he smiles and laughs, we think there must be some place he's seen them before. The first picture is Austin dressed up for a pass by the neigbor's birthday party. Isn't he precious?!

6 weeks old...lots of smiles!

Austin is just over 6 weeks old now, and he smiles all the time now!!! He's such a happy baby, so here are some cute photos!

5 weeks old...growth spurt

We've done some comparisons to baby pictures...below are some of the people we think Austin might look like (me not being one of them)...let us know what you think. The top first two are my older brother, Chris. The next is my younger brother, John, and the last is Kristopher. Obviously the last three pictures are Austin.





So, Austin had a growth spurt at 3 weeks. He wanted to eat only 1.5 hours after his last feeding. He would start crying, and we were unable to console him. Finally by the afternoon, we figured out that he was having a growth spurt and needed to eat to catch my milk supply up to his needs. So, 1.5 hours might not seem like alot unless you realize that that's from start to start - as in I start feeding him at 7, he eats for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, then at 8:30 he wants to eat again!

Well, you would think I would have learned my lesson and figured out what was happening yesterday when Austin (now exactly 5 weeks old) could not be consoled. Is it gas?? Nope, gas drops not working...maybe he's tired?? Nope, eyes wide open. He was STARVING! So, today he's been eating around the clock - ahead of the curve and seeming to have his 6 week growth spurt a little early. He ate 4 times between 5am and 11am! So, I am loving on my sweet little man as it seems our little baby boy will be 12 pounds before we know it!

Meanwhile, I'm off to try to get something to eat before baby boy wants to eat again! Love and miss everyone!

Lately...

"Great Nana" Gale, Kristen, and "Great Auntie Marilyn"

Ceci, Mommy, and Buzzy

Dips, Peyton, Preston, and Grammy

Preston, Austin, and Peyton

Passed out after eating

1 month old

Loving my bath! Look how relaxed I am

My first Easter

Our Family

So, I know it's been a while, and you're all sitting at the edge of your seat waiting for a post!!

Well, our baby boy made 1 month old yesterday. He went to the doctor and weighed in at a whopping 9lbs, 5 oz - that is +2lbs, 2oz from his birth weight and he gained that in the last two weeks since he had dropped down so much before we left the hospital. He weighed 7lbs, 6oz two weeks ago at his 2 week appointment. He is ahead of the curve in his development - he can focus on objects and people, track things with his eyes, hold his head up quite well, and recognize Mommy and Daddy. He's also starting to coo and smile alot more. He did have to have a shot and was a bit out of sorts for the day. It made Mommy very, very sad when he got his shot and cried a REAL TEAR! Good thing Daddy was there to comfort Mommy!

Our steady stream of visitors has stopped now. We had my mom (Ceci) here for three weeks after Austin was born, then my Dad (Buzzy) flew up to meet her and visit as well. In between, we had Great Nana Gale, Great Auntie Marilyn, and Kristen come in as well. Kristopher's family (Grammy, Dips, Nanaan, Uncle Adam, Preston, and Peyton) came up for Easter. Of course, we've had a lot of local friends come to see Austin as well. We really appreciate all the visits, and we know Austin enjoys seeing all of his family and friends!

Here are some pictures from all of our visitors, a few fun moments from this past month, and Austin's first Easter. Thank you to all the great Aunts and family who sent gifts for Austin's first Easter. We love and miss everyone, and we wish you all were closer to be able to get some of all this sweet snuggling that our baby offers!

Baby Austin

Austin Michael Haydel made his entrance into the world at 5:33am on Monday, March 28, 2011. He weighed in at 7lbs, 3oz and was 19.75 inches long.

So, scheduled c-section or not, our son, Austin Michael, decided he would come on his own terms anyway! He stayed breech right until the end. My water broke at around midnight Sunday night, and we made our way to the hospital. Since my labor was not painful, they let the doctor wait and come in at 5am to do the c-section. I guess Baby Austin wanted me to know what labor was like. I had great plans of waltzing into the hospital early on Friday, April 1st with my makeup done and ready to welcome my baby into the world (and look great for the pictures too). However, he had other plans. We also had lots of family planning to come in toward the end of the week to await the debut - their plans changed too! So, drive all night is what the grandparents did to arrive around 10am to welcome Austin with us.

As I have posted before, Kristopher was sure that this baby was going to be a girl! As we waited between contractions, we were discussing boy names, as we still had none and there was still a very strong possibility that this baby could be a boy! Once in surgery, as the doctor pulled that sweet baby out (feet first) Kristopher got the first picture and peeked around the curtain at me with a big smirk on his face - we have a BOY! Needless to say, he didn't officially have a name until Tuesday!

He is the sweetest gift in the world, and we are so blessed. We are all home now and doing great!

Thank you for all of your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, and messages.

Here are just a few of the pictures that Kristopher took of our sweet boy!