Brothers

We had Chandler this past weekend. And since the kids have spring break he stayed with us for two extra days. It was great. It is a little more crazy with two kids instead of just one but it’s worth having Chandler and getting to spend time with him. Since I am at home I wanted to take him places to make sure he had fun. We went to the Natural Science Center, Monday and then Tuesday we went to the park and had a picnic.

It amazes me every time how great Chandler is with Austin. Some kids would not want anything to do with their younger siblings. Austin cannot jump and run around, have a conversation, play ball, or swing. But Chandler tries to include Austin when he is playing. Chandler knows he cannot eat anything small so when Chandler is playing with Lego’s he makes sure that all the Lego pieces are out of reach of Austin. When Austin cries Chandler doesn’t cover his ears or gets mad, he tries to help Austin. It might get ten times as loud because Chandler is trying to distract Austin, he will make loud funny noises but I just let it happen because I know Chandler's motive. Chandler likes to help me with Austin. He wants to help feed him, gets diapers, wipes, pick him up. Austin tries to escape from his gate and Chandler gets him and pulls him back because he knows Austin is not suppose to leave. lol Chandler said this weekend, "When I’m bad you have to make me change his stinky diaper" I said, OK! Chandler is a great boy. I love him like I do my own son. We had a great time together. We already miss him. Austin loves his big brother and smiles at him all the time. I know Austin makes Chandler happy too :)

Simple Pleasures

Guess where Austin loves to be...

The bathroom....

 

He loves the toliet, it is his drum.

He loves the curtian, whats behind it?!

Peek A Boo!

I wish I could find simple pleasure in the bathroom lol

New way of thinking...

I joined my sister and some of her friends last night at church. The class that we all attended was called, A Girlfriend's Guide to Stress: Too Much Stress...Too Little Time! The class was about trying to manage stress while tackling life. Learning to prioritize your life so that stress is minimized and you life can be lived with intentionality and fullness. We took notes on things that stuck out to us. One of the things to help manage stress is to make a list. Whether you are a stay at home mom or a working mom, make list of things you need to do that day. Then put them in an order of importance. The teacher told us to do the worse assignment that we dread first. She put it like,” Eat your frogs first.” If you tackle the task that you stress about first, then what else is there to dread? When you get it over and done with, a weight seems to be lifted. As the lecture went on and we dicussed what causes stress, I was reminded that I try and do everything right. I don’t want to make any mistakes and I think that I am the only one that can accomplish certain things. This was a perfect example of how you get overwhelmed and stress. All of these are the wrong way to go about your life. You cannot do everything right, you will make mistakes, and you can ask for help. I am starting a new day and trying to apply what I have learned to my life. My sister and I decided we would get together every morning and discuss a scripture that applies to what we are feeling, or want to talk about, or questions we have and talk to each other. I will struggle with my new start but having my sister for her help and guidance will make the journey a little more enjoyable.

My Diego!

When I am home with Austin during the day, I try and take him outside if the weather is nice. I want him to be familiar with the colors and sounds of nature. We have a tree in the back yard that the flowers have bloomed. I am not sure what kind of tree it is but the color of the flower is a pretty light pink. I took Austin to see this tree with the pretty pink flowers, and took a flower from it so he could hold it; I was curious what he would think of it, he just stared. Of course, the next thing he does with the flower is to try and eat it. Once he is able to walk, I know the back yard will be his place to go and explore.

When Family Visits

I have been behind for a couple of days for one reason, and that is because of family. My cousin DA and his girlfriend, Lisa came into town and stayed with Landon and me. They arrived Friday around lunch time and left Monday morning. We had a blast! Since they had been in the car most of the day on Friday we decided to stay at home and watch some movies.

Saturday morning my husband, Landon, and DA went to the shooting range for a couple hours. With the weather being so beautiful, Lisa and I decided to take Austin outside to play and take a walk around the neighborhood. When the men arrived home we all went to lunch together and went bowling. Austin loved bowling, it was his first time. He wiggled to the music and bounced and stomped his feet. We thought the bowling would be entertaining but Austin ended up stealing the show. Landon and I had wanted to show them a little bit of our downtown, and I wanted to get in some quality time so I dropped off Austin at his Grammy Lou’s Saturday evening. We went to dinner and drove downtown to play pool. Lisa and I are not that great but it was still fun and we all enjoyed it.

Sunday everyone slept late even Austin! Around 1:00pm we went to my dad’s to fish. DA loves to fish and when I say love I mean head over heels in love! DA did not carry a tackle box with fishing supplies in it, he carried a suitcase! Everyone caught a fish. We drove back home to watch some movies and relax. DA put Austin to bed and that baby slept all night!

Monday morning I helped get things together for DA and Lisa and dreaded for them to go. My cousin and I have always been close and it was great to get together with him and be silly. We really like Lisa, she keeps DA straight..well as good as she can he is wild! We made a lot of memories and I am very blessed to have such great people in my life. I love when family visits :)

Park Day

Austin and I was able to spend the day with Gracie and Christina. We drove over to the T Park. The weather was perfect. We were meeting Danielle and Gaige. Gracie and Gaige play well with eachother. They both can run around and go down the slides and then run up the stairs to do it all over again. I think everyone had fun. Austin liked the park also because he was able to crawl and pull up wherever he wanted. I put him in the swings, that was his first time! Its great getting together with Christina and Danielle today. It always makes my day very fulfiling and exciting. 

Wave hello!

Austin recently started to clap and wave! If you rewind a couple weeks ago, you would know that I started working on it with him because of a post from another mom. Her child was waving and clapping and Austin and this little girl are the same age. I had not really thought about the waving and clapping to be honest. So, when I read that my brain started turning. Now I know Austin is not behind in any shape or form, but as a mother when you know someone else's child is doing something new and they are the same age you want your child to be doing it too! haha Yes its just the truth and I am hoping most moms feel this way. Do not misunderstand I am not one of those moms that get competitive and I do not try and get Austin to "out do" any other child. I do not ever plan on pushing Austin to do things he does not want to. I just knew if her little girl could do it then Austin could too. I might have helped the process but he would have learned sooner or later. I am very proud of him and all that he can do :)

St. Patricks Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

No Beauty sleep for this Momma

For the past couple of weeks, Austin has had a really hard time sleeping at night. I had all these predictions on what it could be...maybe he is teething again, bad gas, being uncomfortable, getting cold I just wasnt sure what could be the problem. He would get up alteast ten times a night. Some nights it was every hour. I had to get some sleep and soon! I was becoming a monster to everyone! My patience was dwindling down to none. Its hard to go all night and not sleep and then get up and be there 100% for your child who needs you. I do not like losing my cool and thats exactly what was happening.

Bumpers Jumpers

This weekend the Levan family was complete. We had all the childern and daddy did not have to work on saturday. So we took advantage of this and decided to join our friends at Bumpers Jumpers indoor playground. My friend and I have been there before but the "daddy's" have had to work most saturdays and they could not join us. It was so fun. Chandler loved it! Its almost impossible to get hurt becase everything is like a big ballon. Austin likes the freedom of being able to crawl wherever, fall wherever and not get hurt. The adults enjoy it because we get to bounce around too! If funs acting like childern with your childern :)

    Daddy and Chandler playing in the basketball bubble

Austin had to stay in his little section so he wouldnt get squashed by the big kids!

                               Yes I had to go down the slide. It was awesome!

                                                 We had a great day

7 Months

Austin turned 7 months yesterday! I can not believe it. He has grown and changed so much since 8/11/09. I believe the only thing he has yet to accomplish is walking. I have seen his personality starting to show alot more. He trys to walk and gets very frustrated when he is not able to do so. He can be very impatience which he gets that from his father :). He gets into, under, around everything! When he hears music he bounces! lol Its so adorable. He is full of life and always seems to smile. I started thinking the other day..."what was I doing before Austin?" I came to the conclusion that I was just incomplete! I love his big blue eyes, his little round head, and his fat short legs! He is my eveything. I will probably cry at his one year birthday party.

He loves Milla our dog. Austin pulls at her ears, leg, nose and then giggles when Milla gives him kisses! Milla does so good with him. Recently he has been wanting her bone. It surely does not look very appetizing to me but I guess since he sees her chewing it he thinks it must be good!

Austin's first Zoo trip

Today we went to the Zoo with Aunt Tina and Cousin Grace! It was so fun. We saw all the animals and Austin was looking too! I am glad I am now able to join my sister and her daughter Gracie on fun activites. It has been a blast hanging out with my sister now that I can stay at home. We have been able to do more things together and be closer then we were if thats even possible! I am truly blessed in my life!

Pawpaw's House

This beautiful Sunday afternoon Austin and I and Landon spent at my father's house. We had a good lunch followed by a nice walk. We walked up to a couple of houses that had horses but none of the horses were out. Right before we turned around in disappointment we saw the last house on the street and there horse and pony was out walking around! It was great. Austin has never seen a horse or cow so close. All he did was stare. We had a great day.

Cool guy!

I love hats and I love it even more when Austin wears hats! I think he looks so adorable. This is a hat that his Nana got him.

Natural Science Center

This past Thursday I was able to join my sister and her long time friend Danielle at the Natural Science Center. It was really fun. Christina had Gracie of course and I had little Austin and then Danielle has a son named Gaige, which is 4. We saw alot of neat things that even the mother's enjoyed. They had a new maze and Gaige and this helpful boy tried there best to figure out how we could get out. They both ended up going under the walls lol We on the other hand had strollers and Ihad a 6 month old on my hip. We eventually found our way. We got to see tigers, turtles, sheep and wolf! It was a great day. At the end of it we were all exhausted. Id love to go again soon.

Childern's Museum

The Big Red Chair

This past weekend my friend, Ashtyn and I wanted to take the boys some where fun. We decided to go the Childern's Museum in down town Greensboro. Ashtyn had her step-son, Nathan. So we piled all three boys in the back of my CRV. They really seemed to enjoy themselfs. Chandler and Nathan are about the same ago so they play great together. Austin just looked around in amazment at all there was to see. We spent most of saturday at the museum. By the time we headed home everyone was exhausted!

                      The Market

                                             

                                                                 Exhausted!