18months and Baby #2

I know it's been forever since I've posted, but it turns out having a 1-year-old can keep one very busy!  Austin is really blossoming.  His personality is really coming out.  He's very funny, and so smart (if I do say so myself).  I'm still working on my tech-savviness so eventually I'll figure out how to post videos of him.
In the meantime, Austin turned 18 months old last month.  It's crazy how time is just flying by.  I've posted some of his pictures done by his Daddy, of course.  We took him to the air show and the pumpkin patch.  It was our first cold snap of the year, and it was soooo cold!  But he LOVED seeing all the airplanes up close and the helicopters too!
Also, we are expecting baby #2 in the Spring!  My due date is April 13th, but I think they will schedule a c-section somewhere around the 8th depending on how things progress.  If this baby is anything like its big brother, then he/she will come on their own time I'm sure.  We are again going to wait to find out the gender when the baby arrives.  I know that drives some people nuts, but it's fun for us.  Here is my latest "belly pic" at 14 weeks (a couple weeks ago).  We will make 16 weeks this coming Saturday.

Beach Trip

We went to Destin for 4th of July week.  Austin had a blast!!  He LOVES the water and the sand.  He just loves being outside.  He was so much fun to watch.  We enjoyed the beach, and we went to some splash pads as well.  Here are just a few of the many pictures.

1 YEAR OLD!

I can't believe we made it an entire year already! What a quick year! Austin is such an amazing blessing in our lives. We are so happy to be his parents. He is funny, smart, handsome...the list goes on and on (if I can brag a bit). He had a great party - thanks to all who came out. And here are some pictures from the party and his one year pictures as well. We are looking forward to many, many more years full of lots of fun adventures!

Cleaned out my phone

Eating an orange with the peel!

climbing...his favorite thing to do

mischief!

So, if it seems my posts are always here and there and my words are rushed, it's usually because I'm trying to post while Austin naps...along with doing the laundry, picking up toys, cleaning up the table from the last meal. Not that I'm complaining, but he is one BUSY little boy.

Anyway, I finally had to unload the 1000+ pics on my phone, so here are a few from lately. Austin is running everywhere (literally). I think he walked for 3 days, then started running. I bough him some shoes and he's doing great. He only wants to wear them if we go outside though. He'll say "shoes" and start trying to put them on when he wants to go out. He is also saying so much - I think last count was 53+++. My favorites lately are "tight tight" which is what he says when he gives snuggles, and flag. I think flag sounds more like bag, but he LOVES them. He also tweets at the birds he sees.

11 months old

Austin is growing so fast. The last month seems like the most drastic change in such a small time. He is walking so much now. He takes about 10-15 steps at a time to cross a room. He's still a little shaky at times, but he's very motivated and confident. He is about 19 1/2 pounds now. He has been to the doctor several times because somehow he caught RSV!! I've heard about it, but let me just say that IT SUCKS! That about sums it up. He was coughing, running fever, having diarrhea, snotty, ear infection, and the works. I'm sure the only thing worse is maybe the flu as far as viruses go. He had to do breathing treatments, which he was a trooper for. But he seems to be doing better. Anyway, we are so looking forward to his big birthday coming up in just a couple of weeks.

He is so much fun these days. He's talking more (his favorites are plane and please I think). The funniest thing is when we sit down to dinner, we always pray first and he is usually starving. Once we strap him in his chair, he immediately starts saying, "Amen" so we can go ahead and eat. He also had to move up to his big booster seat because he can (and does) climb out of his high chair. He's a climber, so anything he can get his leg up on is fair game. He keeps his mommy very busy every day. The pictures above are some that Kristopher took for his 11 month birthday.

Aloha Part II

Hula!

Aaahh, warm laundry

Ceci and Buzzy at the luau

Family at luau

Mmmmm, pina colada...virgin, of course

Watching the hula dancers!

Austin in the giant banyan tree

Austin and Buzzy playing

Sunrise from Mt. Haleakala

Whale right by our boat!! Showing off her belly here

Austin on the boat

Family pic

Austin loving the beach!

As promised here are some pictures from Maui. There are sooooo many to choose from so I had to just pick a few. We had such a great time there. Maui is so beautiful, and it is our favorite island so far. We had an amazing whale tour where a whale came right up to our boat and just kept bobbing her head up and playing peak-a-boo with our boat for about 30 minutes. She was rolling on her back and sticking her fins up. It was incredible. The tour guides all said that it was such a rare experience to get that close and that they ranked it in their top 10 tours of all time!

We went to the Old Lahaina Luau, which was great. We had the traditional mat seating, so we sat front and center and Austin was able to crawl around and play. He LOVED the hula dancers and all the drumming.

We also spent time relaxing on the beach, enjoying the view from our beautiful condo, and eating the local produce. I think Austin consumed at least 7 avocados in the short time we were there. We had such a great trip!