Austin Turns 2!

Here are his two year old stats:

Height: 36 in. (86%)
Weight: 29.1 lb. (50%)

Well, Austin had a birthday and he loved it. With having his birthday so close to Christmas he thought that every single box that arrived, and has arrived since is his. It was so funny to watch him when we would find a package on the front porch. He would start this little hopping dance and say present over and over. Somethings were for him, but others were not. It never went over well when it wasn't for him.

For his birthday we decided that since it was a Wednesday this year, we would just do a small little party. We had burgers, carrots, and mac n' cheese.

Lovely cheesy face!

 I decided that I would be brave and make Austin a birthday using fondant. I had never made it before, but I had had it. I knew that you could make it with marshmallows and I thought that would taste better than the regular fondant, plus Austin would like it more.

Here is the fondant!

His cake when I was done.

 His cake turned out better than I thought it would. I loved the fondant and would pick it off and eat it before he ate any cake.

 A few things about Austin:
-Favorite foods are: yogurt, bananas, strawberries, grapes, pasta, and pizza
-Won't eat: anything green unless forced
-Runs, walks, dances, gallops, and is just learning how to jump
-Favorite toy: drums, tractor, puzzles, or trains
-Favorite book: Curious George
-Loves going to nursery
-Sleeps with Gworm (his glow worm which he named Gworm)
-Loves to give hugs and kisses
-Is super ticklish
-Is always laughing at something

Austin's Bike

When we got home from Christmas with my parents, Austin had a few presents waiting for him here. We didn't load up all his presents from us, or the ones that we got from Brandon's wonderful Aunt Deborah. Also, one had arrived while we were gone from Pappy and Nana (Brandon's parents). After we got all settled, and unpacked, we let Austin open his presents.

Now, with him just opening presents at my parents' house he was a pro and wanted no help whatsoever. The first couple of presents were from us: some trains, and a few more books. Then, I noticed a shipping box on the counter and opened it. When I saw it, I laughed. I knew Austin would love it! It was a big drum. When I pulled it out he said "OHHHH DRUM! WANT IT! PLEASE!" I opened it and he happily took it to the floor to play with it.

While he was playing with his drum, Daddy put his new balance bike together, from Aunt Deborah. Austin loves bikes and he always wants to ride them when we got to the store. As soon as it was together, he sat like this on it:

Once he figured out that it moves, he got all freaked out. He wouldn't move forward or backwards. Brandon and I couldn't help but laugh at this because he loved bikes so much before this, and now he disliked it so much.

Screaming because it was so scary!

 It didn't take him long to figure out how fun it was.

 Aunt Deborah even bought him a helmet. This is how Austin decided it should be worn. If we tried to buckle it, he would flip out and refused to wear his helmet. We will get there. Maybe by the time it is warm he will be used to it.

He kept coming after me with his bike:

Have to be safe while reading. You never know what might happen.

His must haves: bike, helmet, drum, book, and vacuum parts

Christmas Crafts

For Christmas we do one sibling instead of the whole family. It works out nicely. This year we had my brother Jason and his cute family. I decided that I would make them their gifts instead of just buying something. I thought long and hard about what to do, but then I found this blog. I didn't care about the price so much, but I loved the ideas!

I made them:

 Bread in a jar! I even printed out, colored, and taped down the labels (there is one on the back). I was so proud of it. Too bad that even though I wrapped it so well, it didn't survive the trip to Arizona. They said that when they unwrapped it, it looked fine. However, once they stood it up, the glass just crumbled into pieces.

 Then I decided to make them coasters. Now, these aren't perfect, but I was so proud. I had never done anything like that before. To be honest, I was excited but nervous about doing them.

Then, I decided that I had so much fun making their coasters that I was going to make a set for our grade level assistant. It was much easier then the first time that is for sure. Now I just need to make us a set...

Walking Stick Videos

He did a funny walk with his stick, check out the next video.

Christmas Time

I get so excited every year when it comes time for me to put up the Christmas decorations. This year however, I was even more excited for Austin to experience it. Now, Brandon on the other hand dislikes the decorations. He says that we have nowhere to put them. I however disagree, since for the past 3 years I have made it work out just perfectly.

Austin was so excited after all the decorations had been put up. He was scared at first of a tree that comes out of a box, lights up, and is pokey. As I added more and more ornaments he began to see what it would look like and happily told me where I should hang each one. The tree skirt got an "ohhhhhhhh" out of him, and the lights in the kitchen just sent him over the edge. It was funny to see his reaction to every little thing.

After awhile the tree became the cool place to hang out by. Gus would lay down under it and Austin would sit beside him looking at the tree. One day I found Austin doing this:

 For the actual holiday we drove to my parents house in Washington. We were so lucky to have a great drive. If you know anything or have ever driven through Oregon in the winter you know what it can be like, i.e. icy roads, roads closed for days, dangerous levels of wind through the gorge sending semis all over the road. None of these things were a problem for us. We were lucky enough to spend the night in Boise (the halfway point) and then start up again the next day, racing against a winter storm. The way back was the same, great drive. We had missed the storm the day before and the roads were great! I know that this was a blessing in disguise.

While we were at my parents' house, we decided to go to the waterfront. The Columbia River separates Washington and Oregon, and my parents live right by it. The other side, the Oregon side, is Portland. While it was cold at the waterfront, it was still fun. Brandon skipped rocks, Austin tried to skip rocks and I just laughed. Austin wants to be just like his daddy!

Can you tell they are related? Love it!

On our way back to the car, Austin found this really cool walking stick. He loved it!

Right after we left the waterfront, the shoes came off and he passed out!

It was fun to visit my parents. We even took a day and went to Seattle. Austin liked Pikes Market and the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. On the way back home Austin decided he was ready to wear sunglasses. He had been fighting it for a while, and would never wear them. However, the sun got to be too much and he willing put on Daddy's glasses.

p.s. I have no pictures from Christmas day, Brandon left the SD card to the camera at home. I will have to get some from my parents.