Okay, my pity party from last night is over..  .. Mom and Dad made it safely home.  Austin slept all night in his new bed..  .. so here are some pics of it finished.  Well, except for the round feet.  I still need to paint them.  I’ve had either a cold or allergies, I can’t decide which, for about a week, and I didn’t feel like painting anymore.  But we moved it to his room anyway, so that Dad would be here to help Chris carry it upstairs.  Then when the feet are painted, I’ll just tip the bed up and put them back on.  So right now, it’s sitting in his room on the floor.

Okay, here is my original drawing that I showed Chris when I asked him if we could try and build it.  Thankfully, he jumped on board.. I love that guy!  We used the board that the mattress was on in the crib to put on the frame to support the mattress, and all of his crib stuff, so it’s different for him but it’s still the same stuff that he’s used to looking at and we got to use the crib bedding etc. for even longer.  Bonus!  It turned out almost exactly like my original drawing.

 And now here it is ..

Here he is posing in front of it before I finished painting the trim..

Last night we got it situated in his room and he got so excited and wound up (plus it was his last night to visit with Granny&Grandpa), he stayed up until past 10:30.  He just jumped into it, and started throwing his animals in and out and playing like crazy.  I think he thinks it’s half bed, half fort, or toy or something..

Mickey in midair..

Here it is in his room..  The board across the front sticks up an inch or two above the mattress, just enough to keep him from rolling out..  I think it will be cuter once I can get the feet painted and on, but oh, well.  It’s actually the perfect height for him right now to flop in and out of! ha

He slept all night, and then woke up this morning and came into our room to get in our bed and watch cartoons like usual.  This afternoon he took his nap in it, and when he woke up he just sat in it yelling, “Mommy!!” over and over until I came up to get him.  Like he forgot he wasn’t in the crib or something.  I just hope he doesn’t start wanting to wake up and wander at night.  He’s a pretty good sleeper though, so I hope it stays that way.

Today, Daddy (with Austin’s help) dismantled his crib.. (sniff, sniff–ha!)   Doesn’t he look tired from his late night?  (and his TEETHING!–he’s been very clingy and cranky today.)

Daddy’s little helper..

insists on doing it himself! 

Bye-bye baby.. HELLO little boy.  

(sigh..the end of an era…)

I’m sad..  Sad that my parents are leaving to go home tomorrow (in the morning, early).  It was a nice long visit, but never long enough!!

I’m also a little sad that Austin is spending his first night out of his crib tonight, in his little toddler bed that we made for him.  It turned out really cute and he loves it, but I’m kind of sad that he’s growing up so fast.   Yet, I’m excited for him…  Mixed emotions..

And seeing my parents have to tell Austin goodbye and knowing that they won’t see each other for a few months makes me sad..  It’s so sweet  to watch them hug and kiss goodbye, but at the same time it makes me blink back a tear.. so hard.  Sad..  so that’s me right now.. just a little sad.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel very blessed 100% of the time, and this is how I feel every day –> ”“.  I just wish we could have all of our family around us all of the time.  I think we will be visiting Nana&Papa in a few days, though, while Chris is still on vacation, and I’m planning to make a trip to MO to visit sometime this spring… so those things will be fun to look forward to.

Austin is talking up a storm now.  Mom&Dad have seen a drastic change just in the 3 weeks they’ve been here, and tonight he was really pretending with his stuffed animals.  And he has some of his favorite stories memorized, so that if I’m reading and stop randomly, he’ll fill in the words.  Changing all the time!  Next time I’ll post pics, but this time, too tired.. must try to get some sleep. 

To Mom&Dad:  By the time you read this, you will be home..  WE MISS YOU and thank you for coming and staying so long!!  So much fun we had, can’t wait for you to come again, and look forward to seeing you soon!

Well, today I painted the final coat of paint on Austin’s bed. . .

Tonight, we brought his mattress down to see how the fit was. . . (he enjoyed romping on it.)

I plan to use the bumper pad from his crib set to cover a 1×12 board to go across the front edge of it. . . hopefully something like this. . .

Then we went to Home Depot to get the 1×12 and some trim that I want to miter to frame out some animals on the back and sides.  After we got back and Austin was bathed and tucked into his bed, I sort of streaked some lighter paint on to make it look like a “shack” kind of.    Some might like it better before I streaked it..(like my Mom probably..ha!) but this is kind of the effect I had in my head. . .

Then I cut these animals out of the bed-skirt from the crib set and used spray adhesive to stick them on.  Hopefully when the trim is around them and they are framed out, it will be kind of like the animals are looking in through  windows. . .

So here it is.  So far, it’s turning out like I had pictured in my head and Austin seems to like it, so I hope the final stages work out as planned!

Well, here are some pics of the toddler bed progress.  We put Dad to work last Saturday.. he and Chris constructed it, and now it’s waiting to be painted.  I’m so excited b/c it turned out JUST like I had it in my head, and just like I had drawn out on a piece of paper.

Austin’s room is kind of jungle-y, so I wanted it to be like a little jungle shack, if there is such a thing.  I’m going to paint it brown and then do a couple of little things to it to make it go with his room even more.  We are still going to use his crib mattress, and bedding.  We figured that he will EVENTUALLY climb out of his crib–?–won’t he?–so we’d better be ready for it!  Hopefully the painting etc turns out like I see it in my head, too! ha  You never know….

Austin played with this tiny battery powered train in the front while his bed was being built by Daddy with Grandpa as assistant.  Nana found this train on clearance after Christmas for 50 cents!  Worth every penny!

Cutting the back and putting it on the frame..

Austin checking it out, with one of the sides on…

Here it is all complete, except for the cosmetics!  Chris used a router on the edges so they would be smoother and not as dangerous in case of future rough-housing.

Hopefully I’ll get to paint it soon!!

Austin’s first trip to J.I. Universe pizza place…  he LOVED the arcade and esp. this little train ride.  I think he thought he was really driving it.  He was sitting up so straight, so proud of himself, and took it very seriously as he turned the steering wheel back and forth the whole time…  every day since, he keeps saying, “I drive choo-choo!!  I drove choo-choo!!”

The first Sunday Mom&Dad were here, Warren & Dolores came over and we all went to dinner on Saturday night.  Then they stayed and joined us for church on Sunday and we all went out again, except this time I went and picked up my Grandma too.  It was FUN!!!!  Here is Austin with ALL of his grandparents…

And sock monkey quilt progress…. (we’ve also been working on his toddler bed while Mom&Dad have been here.. pics next time.. it’s constructed now and ready for paint and embellishments) 

And last night we went to see Thomas & Friends live onstage at an old restored theatre downtown-it’s a beautiful place to see a show.  Austin loved it.  It was so much fun watching him have fun.  He giggled alot during the show and would gasp in excitement when the engines would come onstage and blow their whistles.. SO MUCH FUN!!!  I had to blink back happy tears a couple of times b/c I’ve never seen him THAT excited before.  Sweet times…   He was one happy little guy!!  There was no flash photog though, so I didn’t take  my camera with me.  I wish I would have just to get some pics outside, though. I found these pics on the net.

That’s all for now, staying busy with Mom&Dad here!

Here are just a couple more pics from Nana’s house the other day.  She has this little tiny old book.. It’s like a tiny dictionary of Swedish to English words.. a Lilliput dictionary.. and Austin loves that it’s so small.  Whenever we go there, he always sits down and flips the little pages.  Usually he sits on the same little footstool to read it, but this time he climbed into Nana’s chair.  He looks so big in it!

Austin and his bud at home.. watching TV together..

and he has started copying us, like if we are sitting a certain way he will come and sit next to us and put his legs and hands exactly like ours.. well, this time he layed in the floor right next to Duke to copy what he was doing.. by the time I got the camera, he had gotten distracted by his nearby toys.

This is where he hangs his saxophone.. he saw his Daddy hang it there once, so now he has to do it too.. Having a snack before bed.

That’s all for now..  Can’t wait for Mom&Dad to come tomorrow, and for Chris’s parents to get here tomorrow afternoon..

(CAUTION:  LOTS OF PICTURES IN THIS POST!!)

Until now, Austin has been skiddish of lots of things.  If we rode a little kiddie-train ride, or went down a slide, he had to be hanging onto me or sitting on my lap.

But yesterday, while visiting Nana&Papa for the day, we visited Hawerth Park, a really great park with a stellar playground!!  I took Austin up to the little kiddie (short) slide, and he acted afraid to go down.  So we went up to the top, and I got down and instead of putting him on my lap, I put him in front of me, and when he started sliding, I stayed put.  Nana was at the bottom (which was just a short ways away) waiting for him and he was so proud of himself for going by himself. 

..into the loving arms of Nana..

..running back up for more..

..getting braver each time..

He did it several times over and over, and then I took him to the taller slide, and he did that one by himself.  He would laugh and laugh, and get these exhilarated looks on his face.  Like he knew he was doing something brave.  He sort of crossed a hurdle and came out of his shell a little bit there.  It was fun to watch.

..Braving the taller slide, no coaxing needed..

..every time he got to the bottom, he was ready to go again!!..

Then he saw the steeper slide that didn’t curve, but went straight down.  He kind of looked over the edge and I thought he would chicken out, but he sat right down and pushed himself over the edge.  One time, he slid so fast, he slid right off the slide at the bottom onto his rear.  He sat with a stunned look for a sec, but then got up and kept playing.. no crying. Thankfully!  He was loving life there!

..I couldn’t believe he went down this one by himself..

..waiting for the kids to move..

..this is the time he slid right off onto his rear on the ground..

Some of the other things he loved there:

..boys love driving..

..newfound playmate..

..climbing..

..hanging..

..more climbing..

..ramps galore..

..and trying to go up the slide backwards like he saw some big kids doing..

He loved the climbing, hopefully we haven’t created a monster. haha  He may climb out of his crib sooner now, now that he discovered how much fun the climbing is and with all of his new confidence.

We started building him a little toddler bed.  So when he does climb out, hopefully we’ll have that ready.  We’re still going to use his crib size matress for it..and I’m going to use some of his crib stuff like the dust-ruffle (cut up and “re-purposed”) so I think it will turn out cute.  Hopefully.  So now I have two ongoing projects that I need to finish.  The sock monkey quilt, and the toddler bed.  Hopefully I can get a lot done while my parents are here visiting/entertaining Austin.

..the plan..

..helping Daddy screw the feet on..

..the frame is done..

He has also been reading some words.  And memorizing some of his favorite stories.  He will say some of the words when you’re reading to him.  If you stop at a certain point here and there, he’ll fill in the blanks.  So fun!!  He’s talking more and more every day.  Still sounds like he’s speaking a foreign language a lot of the time, but I can understand most all of it now.  Sometimes, randomly when I give him something, he’ll say “dank ew, mom”.  My favorite is when he counts to ten.. One used to be “bah”, but now it’s evolved to “wee”, so it’s…

“wee, two, bee, foor, buh, ick, say-zoo (seven–???) eight, nee, neh”

Say-zoo?  I don’t know how seven comes out as say-zoo, but whenever he says it, I have to smile.  It’s just the best.  Possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.  Sometimes I try to get him to count, just so I can hear him say say-zoo.   So innocent.  Buh, ick, say-zoo, eight.. ???  Little kids just have the most innocent sweet little spirits.  It’s so amazing how sweet and innocent and pure they are, and on the flip side, how very SMART and cunning they can be.  It’s fascinating really.

I never really sat around picturing myself as a mother or making lots of plans of how “things would be” in the future after I had cancer.. after something like that, you just know that nothing’s a guarantee, I just figured if it happened it happened, if not then oh, well.  At least I got to live.  But now that I have him, I can’t believe how much I love him and how much every little thing amazes me.  People probably get tired of hearing about it really.  But I just love him so much.  He is a miracle to me!

Oh, and here are the pics I promised of him playing with his Einsteins bath toy.. he LOVES it.. Thanks Auntie Andrea!!

..so proud of his Rocket!..

..he likes to walk Leo across the edge of the tub..

That is all for pictures…

Whew this is a long post!!

Thanks for reading.. G’night!

My parents will be here for a nice long visit!!  Yay!!   I can’t wait!!  They were last here in July of last year so it is about time. haha  They just had their 47th anniversary last Wednesday. 

Also, next Saturday night, Nana&Papa are coming over so we can all visit, and go out to dinner for Warren’s 75th birthday.   So we are in for some good family time this coming weekend..  Austin will be in heaven with all of his Grandparents in one place. 

Can’t wait!

Here are some pics from the other weekend in Santa Rosa.. I already posted the pics of taking Skippy and Calvin to the polo grounds.. here are some of the rest of our visit.

Calvin&Skippy were there to greet us.

Calvin is a very sweet dog, too.  Though his one light blue eye can make him look a little vicious. ha And that is Andrea in the blue robe.. doesn’t her sock look dirty?? haha

Austin ran right for the coffee table when we went in the door, usually Nana has the toybox waiting for him there, but this time he found presents!

Ryan and Nana helping him get his new saxophone out of the box.

He knew just what to do..

Some books!

And his favorite present of the day.. a little RR-Xing sign with lights and very realistic train noises.  It’s so cute and he loved it soooooo much, that I actually hid it from him at one point, just so we could have a break from having it sound like we were all about to be hit by a train!  He loves it and figured out how to work it right away. It sits in our family room now right next to the TV and his DVD’s. Thanks Nana&Papa!!!  The boy loves TRAINS!

And he had another stocking.. a knit one (hand-knit by Nana when Chris was little). It had some snacks and treats in it.. and some Thomas the Tank Engine undies!  Potty training looms on the horizon.  (again, a little intimidating to potty train a human..as I had a hard time house-training my dog!)

Here he is opening a present from Uncle Dave and Auntie Andrea.. a Little Einsteins bath toy.. which he loves.  I actually have a pic of him playing with it to post next time.  It’s still in my camera.

Enjoying the animal crackers from his stocking…Skippy looks on..  hoping for some sharing.  I think Austin did actually share a few of them with Skippy.  Thank you everyone for Austin’s presents.  We had such a great time visiting with everyone too, we miss you all!! (Austin gives a special shout-out to Skippy..)

And lastly, another self-portrait taken at Nana’s house.  Usually he just gets an eyeball or the bridge of his nose or something, but this one is pretty good, a little blurry but almost got his whole face. ha!

Well, that is it for the holidays.  We’ve just been hanging around here.  Chris is on vacation, so we’re getting some things done around the house.

In other news..the fit-throwing is GONE!! (there isn’t a happy-face happy enough to insert here) .. at least for now it’s gone.  I’m sure he’ll pull it out of his bag of tricks again in the hopefully not-too-near future.  It lasted about a week-1/2 to 2 weeks.  He still has the occasional mini-meltdown but those are okay.  He’s usually tired or needing something (or TEETHING)..I can feel the molars under the surface now, but they still haven’t broken through!

Oh, tonight he had his first imaginary conversation on the Elmo phone that Uncle Bryan and Aunt Alli got him for his 2nd birthday.  Chris said he found it in the toybox, climbed up to sit in the chair and held it to his ear and just chatted for about 5 minutes.  blah blah blah Elmo, blah, blah etc etc.  And I MISSED it!!!  I can just imagine.  I had gone to my Gma’s to take her to the pharm. and grocery store and for a quick bite to eat.  I’m sure he’ll do it again soon.  He’s talking so much now..3 or 4 word sentences sometimes.  It’s so funny. Alot of it still sounds like jibberish, but I can understand it most of the time now.

Last night he saw our neighbors on their skateboards trying to do tricks (they’re in high school).. and he loved watching..They let him stand on one, and Chris held him up and pushed him a little and he LOVED it!  He loves to be outside all the time now.  Well, when we came in the house, he said “bye-bye kay-bowa” (skateboard). This is a really fun stage.. but part of me is still sad that he’s getting so big so fast!

Well, this is long enough, so if you read all the way through, THANK YOU, and goodnight..

Happy New Year!!!!

We didn’t stay up late last night..  We were going to go to Randy&Val’s but decided that Austin really needed to be in bed!  He didn’t get a nap yesterday and it was really showing!  We took him to church and he was really buzzing around there and doing all kinds of things trying to stay awake.  He’s tired today, just from having no nap yesterday..if we’d kept him out late, it would be even worse.  So we came home and put him straight to bed.  Someday we’ll get to stay out late again.

Hope everyone had a fun, safe New Year!  Here are some more Christmas-y pictures..  From Christmas eve and day.  We went to my G-ma’s both days.. the first one to go to lunch and pick up one of her prescriptions..  and on Christmas to eat with her.  She was planning to stay home alone, since she didn’t feel like getting out and travelling to someone else’s house for dinner, so since we were at home and Chris was working, we went down there for the day.. and had a hamburger from one of the few places that were open that day.  ha!  But it was fun spending time with her.  Austin actually took a nap there, so she and I worked on a puzzle after lunch.(in peace, without his little pinchers taking all the pieces apart-ha)  I took some of Austin’s toys with us and at one point she got down in the floor with him to play..  I was a little worried that, at 91, she might not be able to get up.  But she did!!  Austin was in the hugs and kisses mood that day, too and she always loves that so it was a good day!!  Here are some photos of Christmas #2.

We took the presents that Mom and Kevin had sent for her down to her on Christmas eve.  Austin helped her open them.  She said she wore the robe the next morning and she was reading the book when we got there the next day.

Sometime around this time, Austin mastered the art of the self portrait.  He knows that the tiny button on the back of my camera turns it on, so whenever he gets a hold of the camera, he turns it on and points it at his nose and takes his own picture.  He knows that the larger button on top takes the pic, and that the square button on the back lets him look at pics on the view screen.  I guess he just saw what I was doing.. I have never showed him that.  I would prefer that he didn’t figure that out actually.  Esp. if I have lots of pics on there.  I’m afraid he might accidentally erase something.

He thinks it’s hilarious.

Here she is on Christmas day all dressed up (in her get in the floor and play outfit. ha)

That’s all for now..  need to get something done while Austin’s napping!  More photos next time of Christmas #3 in Santa Rosa last Saturday.  BTW, Austin is STILL talking about SKIPPY!!  He randomly mentioned him again today…Skippy really made an impression!