All About Austyn . . .

  It's official, our baby girl is now 2 years old. I'm amazed once again at how fast time fly's. I can remember when I was little and my parents use to say "don't wish your life away, time goes by too fast", and thinking yeah right, not fast enough. Once again, they were right (that seems to be a pattern). Yep, Austyn is 2 and loving every minute of it. I think this is the best age so far. The things she comes up with are mind blowing sometimes. Just the other day she asked me for a snack. So I asked what she wanted and Goldfish was the answer. As I'm getting them for her she walks away. I say "Austyn I thought you wanted a snack?" her response "Nope!" I asked her again "you don't want a snack now?" her reply "just kiddin mama!". What? I couldn't believe my ears, could my not even 2 year old really be joking with me now and doing it correctly? Yes she was!

  We had her 2 year old check up and everything was perfect. The doctor asked me how 2 was going and I said perfect. He looked at me funny and said he'd never heard that before, usually people are complaining and overwhelmed with the terrible twos. I feel like that's an expected part of this age. Of course there are times where I'd like to pull my hair out, but for the most part it's so enjoyable and fun. She weighed 31 pounds, and was 34 inches tall. Still right there at the top of the charts for size. Makes me wonder if she will want to play sports and if so which ones will she choose.
  We had her Birthday party at Lone Pine again this year. It's such a perfect place for a kids Birthday. She had so much fun with all her friends. Thank you everyone for coming and celebrating with us.

I had to document this picture, because Austyn has

always been scared of Uncle Bob. I have proof that

 she gave him the time of day!

All her friends on a cow train ride

Look how spoiled I am everyone!

Happy Birthday to You

Eating cake with her buddies

Cheese

Her pink boots have rarely came off

since her party

All the little helpers opening presents

She was in heaven with her new boots and 

her stick horse

This was her on her 1st Birthday.

  We took her to Chuck E Cheese on her Birthday. I hadn't been there since I was probably 8 or so. I think she was a little young to fully enjoy all the games and rides, but she had a blast in the tube tower and the slide. After we all played and played and played to try and use up all our tokens (which we never did)  we had enough tickets for three pieces of candy, one mini slinky, and one crown. What a gimmick. 

  She still loves to ride on anything and everything. Loves to be outside doing something all the time. She is starting to get into the the T.V. watching thing. Which right now with Jordan not being home a lot and my back being so bad, I'm not fighting it too much. She can put 4 to 6 word sentences together now. She knows her colors, numbers 1-3 in order and the rest are out of order, starting to really try and sing the alphabet, and learning her shapes. She is still an amazing eater. Her new favorite thing is cereal. I think if she could she would eat it for every meal. She has done a complete swap on her attitude about being groomed. She rarely fights us when taking a bath, brushing her hair and teeth, or getting her nail trimmed. And she loves getting her toes painted. Still really enjoys reading books, and is really starting to color and draw. My favorite new skill of hers is her pretend play. It's adorable when she makes me cake and cookies in her kitchen.She is also a dancing fanatic. If she hears music, she's moving to it.Very cute! I'm also very proud of her manners for her age. Please and Thank You's usually happen on their own. We don't have to prompt too much anymore. And I love how friendly and outgoing she is to most everyone. I'll say no more she's perfect (in our eyes anyways)!
  I do have to say she has quite the sassy streak in her (not sure where she got that, must be from Jordan :) ) When it comes to me disciplining her, we can definitely go rounds (luckily it doesn't happen too often). And  sometimes I feel like no one wins when we battle. But if it's anyone else disciplining her all they have to do is look at her (literally) and she stops and is perfect. I guess I'd rather have her act amazing for everyone else and put up with some struggles along the way on my side. I feel like at this age there is less forgiveness as a parent as far as setting examples and expectations, and being consistent. This is the age that she starts molding into her own person. SCARY!!!!! Yet exciting. It can freak me out if I get to thinking about it. Am I doing everything right? Have I forgot anything? Should she be doing more of this or that? Then Jordan comes along with his laid back attitude and settles me down. But it is scary when there's no owners manual for the  little sassy pants.
  I'm so excited for the Holiday season this year. Shes old enough now to be involved and we can start our own traditions with her. Yeah, I love the Holidays and can't wait to spend them with her. That's the updated version of Austyn at 2 years old. I'm trying to soak up all the little moments before we have two running around. Our next feat is to move her to a big girl bed, but I don't think we'll have a problem.

The fastest summer I've had . . .

  Wowzers, I can't believe it's been this long since my last post. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just jump in. Jordan ran in the Dirty Dash in late July. It was an obstacle course type race. He ran with a group from the Junction City Fire Department, and they had so much fun. They didn't keep track of their times and they didn't even have to run if they didn't want to. It was really just for fun. Halfway through there was a stand set up to chug beer and then all throughout the course was mud pits, rope walls, slip and slides, and other random obstacles to cross. He had a blast. I think it might be something I will try next year.

Before the race

After the race

He was cleaning dirt out of his ears for a week

  We got to go on an unexpected camping trip at the end of July. We went to Odell Lake with family and friends. It was so fun. The weather was pretty cold in the mornings and late afternoons into the evening, but blazing hot for about two hours during the day. The water was so cold, it wasn't very fun to swim or play in. But other people (not me) tubed and wake boarded. I did tube with Reigan, but I was wearing a wet suit and we didn't go fast so no one got wet. I think the best part about the whole trip was all the kids playing and having so much fun together, and meal time was fun too. Everyone cooked one night and then we all cooked together in the mornings. Very fun group to go with!

Reigan, Austyn, and Emma taking a ride in the boat

Cool cowboy!

Fishing with daddy. Big catch of the night was

a rock :)

I was trying to catch bats with a fishing pole. I had

a few hit my hook, but no luck.

  After the camping trip we didn't do much besides house stuff. We are NOT building until Jordan is done testing in November, but we are continuing to do the permit process, banking, road, and well. I have stepped in and am now doing a lot of the calling and running around. I don't mind, it makes me feel more involved and this way I learn so much more. I'm kind of enjoying the process even though we have hit a few snags (with many more in store for us I'm sure). We are right on track for where we want to be, so that's reassuring for us.

  Last weekend we went camping with the Eugene Fire Department in Charleston. It was by far my favorite camping trip of the season. It's so relaxing and it is so beautiful. It's the perfect family camping spot. While we were there we went to the Bandon Zoo since it's pretty close. That was so much fun. Way better than the Portland Zoo. The highlight for me of the trip was watching the almost 30 kids under 13 ish years old play and running around. Everyone got along and no one got hurt. It was amazing. Austyn did get sick on Saturday with a 101+ fever. She continued her fever until Sunday night, but still is a little off. I think she is now just trying to catch up on her sleep, but I hate it when she's sick. Not too bad for only being sick three times in her two years of life. Hope she keeps it up (knock on wood)!

In the ocean in our undies!!!!

Camel rides. Austyn didn't like it too much, 

but I think it was because she didn't feel good.

All the girls! They are a kick in the pants to hang out with!

  We are getting ready to celebrate her 2nd Birthday! Woo hoo!!! I can't believe she's two. Makes me so sad how fast she's growing up. I will dedicate my next post especially for her and her 2nd Birthday!

  Jordan has been studying his tail off. This is the most stressful thing I think I've seen him go through. I hate that I can't help him. The closer it gets the more stressed he is that he doesn't have enough time. I know he will do fine, but it's hard telling him that when he is stressed out. So Austyn and I just do our own little thing and give him his space. It will all work out in the end, I'm sure of it.

  And as for me, I haven't been working too much. Work has been slow, which doesn't break my heart! I can joyfully say I am over the sick stage and painfully say onto the the back pain again. Does it ever end?! I WILL NOT have back surgery again. So if I have to double or triple time my back exercises and stretches I will. When we first found out I was pregnant I wanted to have a boy so bad. But I can truthfully say I don't care as long as the baby and I are healthy at the end. And I think (key word) we've decided to not find out what we're having. Since things aren't quite as exciting the second time around, we thought we'd keep the excitement going and wait until the end (Jordan's idea). I'm 16 weeks along right now. I am beginning to show and my clothes are getting pretty tight. It's so different this time. I can't believe how fast it's going, and sometimes I forget altogether that I should be eating and drinking and resting more than I do. I'm glad I'm not  huge during the hot months like last time, but this time I will need more clothes during the winter. It will go so fast so I'm trying to enjoy every moment with Austyn as I can.

  Next post, Austyn's Birthday Party!!!!!!