State Fair of Texas

For the past 7 years or so, Scott and I go to the State Fair of Texas - mainly for the food (Fletcher's Corn Dogs, fried oreos, fried smores, etc), cars, and oh did I say food?! Well, the past couple of years, we have gone with Scott's parents - this year was no exception. It's a riot to watch Scott and his mom battle it out to see who can eat the most fried foods! This year I was so excited to take Austin to his 1st State Fair!! He did great - loved people watching and seeing all the surroundings. I was happy to report that there were three places for mom's like me to nurse, so I applaud the 'head honchos' on that breakthrough! Anyways, here are a couple of pictures:
Family picture:
Austin with the Scarecrow:
Scott and Austin in dreamland inside a F-350 Lariat:
Austin on a John Deere:
A VERY cool sculpture we came across on the Fairgrounds:
While we were there, we went to the Dallas Aquarium at Fairpark. Austin LOVES seeing fishes:
Scott and I were having fun with Austin inside the Kids Area (Backyard Circus). Here he's being 'eaten' by the Lion and made the best faces:

We met the Borden cow, Elsie, and her calf:

Tired boy:
Then on the way home Austin was hilarious! This is what he was doing as his daddy was driving us home from the fairgrounds!

Enjoying this wonderful weather!

The temperatures have been really cool here in Texas since Hurricane Ike came storming through the Texas coast destroying all in its path! For the past week or so, the mornings have been in the mid-60's and during the day it's in the mid-80's. IT'S ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL!!! Perfect weather for the Texas State Fair that's coming up at the end of the month - so hopefully the nice weather will last that long! Usually mother nature teases us with fall-like weather and then once the fair arrives it's back to blistering heat! Since the weather has been nice during the day, I have taken Austin out to enjoy the weather every morning or evening. He loves it!


Austin and I met a friend, Melissa, and her daughter, Maya, at the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco, Tx. It was a hot day at the zoo but we had fun meeting new friends!! Afterwards we went to Luby's and of course dressed the little ones up in matching Zoo t-shirts that we just had to get! It was so cute. Austin now has a girlfriend ---although she left him to move to Germany!! :-( Yes everyone, my lil man is ALREADY a "Ladies Man"!!










My niece is now 8 months and is getting so big! It's so nice for Austin to have a cousin who's 1) lives so close & 2) is close in age. They are 2 months apart (minus 1 day) and it's great to see them interact and grow up together. She just recently learned how to crawl so she is constantly on the move!! We had her over and she kept on "ramming" Austin down. She also was so preoccupied with crawling that when she got tired and wanted to sit she wasn't aware that she was sitting on Austin!!!


The other day my mom and I were out eating and that is when Austin discovered his lips! He kept pouting his lips out and cracking us up!!


I am now taking Austin to the Public Library for "Bouncing Babies" Storytime on Tuesdays. It was a culture-shock at first, especially since he does not go to daycare, but he's slowly warming up and having fun!

Austin is doing so well at eating his babyfood! Gobbling down a 2.5 oz jar within minutes. So far he has loved everything we have offered him except for the peas. His favorites are Sweet Potatoes, Green beans, Apples & Pears.

In a week or so we will be taking Austin to the Texas State Fair for the 1st time! Hmmmmm. . .Fried Oreos, fried twinkies, Fletchers Corn Dogs. . . Delish! :-) [For mommy & daddy's consumption only!!!] Also in a couple of weeks we will be going to Arizona for the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure! We can't wait to see everyone!!

Time to update!!

It's been a little over 1 month since I've updated everyone. I think from now on instead of trying to update once a month (ha!), I'm going to try to do it at least every other week. Maybe that way it won't be so long.

A lot has happened in a month! Scott is no longer a Stay-at-home-daddy. He took his Real Estate State Boards early August and is now a practicing Real Estate Agent!! He's such a people person that this seems to be such a great fit for him - he sure does love it! We're wondering why we didn't think of this sooner!?

I'm now doing the "weekend plan" at the hospital so that means Monday - Friday I'm "classified" as a stay-at-home mom. I absolutely love this schedule!! It's a win-win :-) Now I don't feel so torn to leave Austin to go to work because I get the whole week with him. I also feel that I can now have a set routine rather than working random days. Scott watches Austin on the weekends and on those days Austin visits with Grammie & Grandpa (his parents). Then on Tuesdays or Thursdays Austin and I go visit Nonna & Papa (my parents).

Austin has, of course, changed so much in such a short time frame of ONE MONTH.

He's now sitting up unsupported. He can do so for about 45 min if we let him. He's so content in his pack n' play playing with his toys.



On August 14th he got his first baby tooth!
Then on August 21st he got his second baby tooth!

We also started baby food. He went right to the spoon and LOVES Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Carrots and Bananas. He HATES HATES HATES (did I mention Hates?) peas and he's unsure about mommy's homeade squash. He liked it at first but then refused to eat it once it gave him really bad gas.




He just started to, on the day he turned 6 months, stand up holding onto something. He can't do it long but it's a start!!


Now that Austin is 6 months, we got clearance from his pedi for sunscreen & the pool! Austin was a little apprehensive at first but then started kicking away the whole time! Scott is sure that he's going to be a little fish like he was!





Last week Scott and I took Austin to the Dallas Aquarium. It was such a fun family day!!


We are looking forward to the next month to meet our Sandbox Baby friends! Next week Austin and I are going to the Zoo to meet Melissa and Maya. In October while in Arizona, we are going to meet Loressa, Mia, Danielle and Madison! Can't wait!!

Scott, Austin, my mom and I are going to Mesa to do the Race For The Cure Breast Cancer walk with family. Scott and I are really excited for them to meet Austin. I'm a little nervous about how he's going to react to his first plane ride but we'll see how well he does! We can't wait to see everyone!

Many changes. . .

Well it's been a while since I've posted on this and of course there's been many changes. . .First, Scott is still a SAH-Dad. He's currently taking the courses to become a Real Estate Agent and is finishing that up within the next day or two. It's typically a 3 month class but because he opted to do it via corrospondence he's done it in about 3 weeks. He's very motivated!!! Once he's taken the class's final exam he then he has to take the state test to become licensed in the state of Texas. So keep your fingers crossed thathe passes with flying colors!! So far on all his course exams he's made at least a 95 or better!!!!!!!!! He's really excited about this new journey and is eager to get started.

I'm still working full-time in the NICU but will be, in a few weeks, working only Saturday and Sundays. I will be a "SAH-Mom" M-F so I'm excited about that as well as the fact that we will also be saving an astronomical amount in day care fees (almost $850/mo). So we'll see how that goes. . .

Austin of course has changed so much!! He'll be 5 months in a few days - I can't believe it. It has flown by!!
- On June 12th he rolled over (back to tummy) and now everytime you put him down on his back he flips to his belly. He even sleeps on his belly at night now. Lately he's been doing the "swimming" motion and we figure he'll be on all fours soon enough. . .

- Austin's also been trying to master the art of sitting up by himself. He's doing a pretty good job at it. He can sit up unsupported for about 5 min before he topples to the side :-)

- For about 1 month now, Austin's found his feet very intriguing! They are constantly in his hands or in his mouth where he'll suck on them! (Very limber!)

- He hasn't begun teething yet but he's always chompin' on his hands, his toys, mommy's arm, mommy's fingers, etc. . . and drooling a LOT!!

- - He's a talker!!! It's amazing to hear his voice and to watch his face light up while he's telling us stories. When he's not talking he's flashing his "kil-a-watt" smile at us that just melts our hearts!!!

- He's still a swing "addict" during the day for his naps but he's finally learning to sleep in his crib without waking up every 5 hrs. Usually he'll sleep for 6-7 hrs but every once in a while he'll go 8-9 hrs without waking! Sleeping baby = happy mommy!

- Austin is still strickly breastfed and I am very proud of that. Scott and I had to purchase a deep freezer for the garage because my milk was "runneth over" I have about 300+ oz in the freezer and am currently looking into the National Milk Bank to donate. In about 1 month we will begin the exciting step of baby food!!! Our pediatrician said we could begin baby cereal at his 4 month appointment. However, Scott and I opted not to do that since it has no nutritional value, it's just for educational reasons (ie: to learn "how" to eat with a spoon)

Earlier this month we all went to the Dallas Arboretum and had a great time looking at the gardens. It was SO hot!!! Austin loved looking around but he's just like his daddy --->he get hot easily! We've also taken Austin to the nearby neighborhood park recently and he thoroughly enjoyed himself on the swings!!