2013 Here We Come . . .

  I can say Austyn has mastered her pooping on the big potty. No more poppy diapers (for another month or so I guess). We are all very excited she decided to accomplish this milestone before baby brother decided to grace us with his presence.

  We also made it through the holidays. Like always very busy, but so much fun with Austyn this year. She loved it. It seemed like she was getting presents from someone all month long. She got into it a little more than I thought she'd be able to at her age. The cookies and milk for Santa, and him leaving presents in her stocking, turning on and off the Christmas tree was all so fun for her. I almost think the liked all the hype and people around more than the presents. She is her fathers daughter when it comes to any kind of get together. I would notice that when we would go to a Christmas party as soon as we walked through the door Jordan and Austyn would just disappear and I would find myself thinking "I know I came with a family". I wouldn't see them for the rest of the night until I was trying to round them up to leave. I would go and check on Austyn and ask her if she wanted me to play with her or get her anything and she would tell me " No Mama, I'm fine". It was really funny. New Years was also a success. We lite fireworks early in the evening for Austyn, and Jordan and I both stayed up and watched the ball drop. I love the holiday season so much, but it's also so relaxing when it's over.

Austyn in her adorable Thanksgiving outfit

Making a gingerbread house with Daddy

One of her many Christmas dresses

  Austyn is doing great. She is so amazing. I just stare at her in awe sometimes. We went to the coast last weekend and played for a few hours on the beach. She rode a quad all by herself for the first time. She did great. She refused to drive over any kind of stick or seaweed though. So Jordan had to walk in front of her and move EVERYTHING out of the way. She loves to sing and dance. She can count to 11. I'm not sure where she got the number 11 from. I have only counted to 10 with her, but she found/heard it somewhere. She knows all her colors and is pretty good with shapes. And her ABC's are coming along. She knows all of them, but will put them in strange orders. It's so cute. ABC HIJ LMNO QRS Z know my ABC's sing with me! I love how everything to her is so exciting and fun. But sometimes I think it would be so exhausting to have everything in your life be that exciting. We were eating dinner the other night and she looked over at me and said "Mommy, my baby brother hurts" as she was rubbing her belly. Sometimes I just can't believe what comes out of her mouth.

Our first snow. She was so excited to go and play in it.

I usually beat her eating breakfast, but I had to give

her seconds just to have enough time to finish

eating my cereal. I guess I shouldn't have told her 

as soon as she eats breakfast we can go play in it.

We made a family trip up to the snow, so Daddy could

play with us.

And play he did!

We also got to go to the coast with some friends. So fun.

  Baby Brother is doing fine. He is over 5 pounds now and already head down. We had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago and everything checked out perfectly. I only have 6 weeks left. I think we are ready. I can't think of anything else that we need or need to do. Besides name him!! My back is hanging in there. I think I've gotten so uncomfortable everywhere else that I have stopped noticing my back as much. I don't like to complain about being pregnant, but I can't wait to be able to move and breath again. I feel so bad when Austyn wants to play and I can't get down on the floor because it hurts too bad. But it will be worth it and it's almost over. Thankfully Jordan and the rest of my family have been outstanding with all the help I mooch off of them. I would not have made it this far without them. I can never ever express how greatful I am to have the love and support that they give me. I often think that I take advantage of living so close to my parents, but when Jordan works I need help (physically with my back) so I just mozzy on down to my parents. Sorry Mom and Dad, but it will be over soon and my back will get better again. 

  Jordan is doing great and still waiting for someone to retire so he can step into their position as an Engineer. He also is getting ready to build our house. We just have to show the bank we have flood insurance and away we'll go! Should be final in a week or so. We just purchased all of our appliances and were able to take advantage of the End of the Year sales. It did indeed save us a substantial amount. We've been making our final decisions on things and choosing colors, basically trying to pick everything out so we can just go with it and not have to hold anything up with these decisions along the way. Each time we think we've got everything picked out and done, something else comes up that we've forgotten about. But better now than in the middle of the project. MY projection for a finish date is June or July. Jordan says by September. I hope I win.

  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. We are going to start this year off with major events. Hopefully we'll have a successful 2013! New baby and new house, hopefully a promotion thrown in there somewhere. It's amazing to me when I look back over the last five years (2009 to 2013, including this year) how busy we've been. We both graduated college, got our careers, moved a couple times, got married, had two babies, built a house, and got a huge promotion. I wonder if the next five years will be as busy.