Adventures with the Austins: January 2010

Saturday, January 30, 2010

8 months old and fun in the snow!

What a day we had yesterday sweet Parker! First of all, you turned 8 months old and like I say every single month on the 29th, I just can't believe it! We also got to play in all that snow that fell!

You are really growing up and looking less like a little baby boy. :( This month you have...

* Worked and worked on teething and finally have two little ones to show for it on the bottom! It has really changed your gummy smile into a a cute little toothy smile, I love it!!

* You have really gotten the hang of eating solids, hooray! Your favorites right now are sweet potatoes, spinach, apples, pears, Cheerios and yogurt.

* You can go from the sitting position forward onto all fours and rock back and forth. I've even caught you "semi-crawling" backwards, you are SO close to full blown crawling!

* You still love your jumper and bouncer and go nuts in either one we put you in.

* We moved you from your infant car seat to your big boy car seat, another sad day for mommy!

* One of your favorite activities is to ride in the grocery cart at Walmart or any store we're at.

* Last Sunday at church you were moved from the baby room to the next one up, another sad moment for mommy. Oh but how much fun you have in that room now! You and all your little buddies can sit up and play together and even take rides in the "stadium seat buggy". Mommy almost split a side laughing when I saw you perched up in that buggy with eight other friends. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll have to post a pic of this soon!

You are more and more fun everyday and mommy and daddy love to see what you will learn next! We love you so much little 8 month old!!

8 month old Parker

Not wanting to sit still very long on the couch for his monthly pic!

What in the world is all this??

I think I have seen this before!?!

I think I'll try and crawl on it.

Burr!

Notice the nice pathway James made up to our front porch with the snow blower!

I told him he could make some $$ going door to door with that thing! He was not interested...been there done that in high school! :)

Friday, January 29, 2010

Snow!!

It's a funny thing...all during the fall I kept hearing the "old timers" around town talk about the farmer's almanac and how this is the winter for a big snow. I just thought they were crazy, who believes a farmer's almanac anyway?!? Well, let's just say they were right! The ice started falling around 3 am. Thursday morning and changed over to snow around 10 am. Then it snowed, snowed, snowed all day long and it was still snowing when we got up this morning. It was absolutely beautiful!! Schools have been cancelled and James got to work from home on Thursday and today!! We've had two cozy days inside playing games, watching movies and just enjoying being a family! We didn't get out in the snow yesterday because it was blowing so hard, as soon as my little man wakes up from his nap, we'll go outside and get some fun pictures to share! :) The wind chill was 2 degrees all morning so hopefully we can get out this afternoon.

We were watching it snow from the office window.

Parker was also practicing his crawling skills, we're almost there! Waco was supervising of course!

He can go backwards but not forward, go figure!

Family time in the floor! :)

Will somebody please play ball with me??

Parker giving his daddy a little break from work!

Part of our front yard and house

Looking down our street

The side patio

The large snow cone in the background is our grill!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Homemade baby food

Alrighty...this is for all my friends out there who think I'm "nuts" for making my own baby food. I am here to prove just how super easy it is! It's great to come home with fresh produce and in just a few short minutes, turn it into Parker's food. Not only does this save a ton of money over the course of a year, it's satisfying to know that I am feeding him fresh, wholesome food!

Now, I am not opposed to jarred baby food, so no one get offended...I'm just trying to show you how easy making your own can be!

One of the things that makes this so easy is this wonderful appliance called the "Baby Cook". They are sold at Williams Sonoma and I highly recommend getting one!! Of course this can be done without one of these, you can just steam the fruit or veggie on the stove or microwave and then use a food processor or blender, but this little baby makes life easier!

Here is a step by step look at how easy this really is...

Here it is, the Baby Cook

A steamer and food processor all in one!

Take whatever fruit or veggie you want and chop into chunks. Today I am doing sweet potatoes.

Put the veggie into the steamer basket.

Pour about 3/4 cup of water into the "steaming compartment".

I buy distilled water so it wont leave mineral deposits.

Turn the knob to "steam".

Here is the steaming in action.

Once the little orange light goes off on the knob, open the lid, use the spatula to lift the steamer basket and pour the contents into the bowl with the blade.

Here are the potatoes in the food processor part.

Turn the knob to the "blade" symbol and it will act as a food processor and pure the food.

Just pour up the potatoes into an ice cube tray, freeze and then pop them out into a tupperware container and store in your freezer. Take a cube out, defrost in the microwave and ta da, you've got dinner for baby!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Lately

Now that the holidays are over and we are back in our normal routine, things have slowed down quite a bit! Getting Parker to eat solid foods has not gone very well, so I decided to hit it hard once we got back home. We've been very consistent and I've gotten creative with making my own baby food and it's finally paying off! The little guy enjoys eating now and it's getting better by the day! Here are some pics of what we've been up to....

Parker enjoying prunes...we had a little constipation issue last week and this did the trick! :)

He loves Cheerios!!

This picture is a big deal! We started this little play group back in the summer and the girls and I would sit with our babies and chat. Now, they can all sit up by themselves and play together! It's so cute to watch them interact! Jack and Parker share their girlfriend, Blair!

This play date was at Heidi's house, Jack was doing a great job sharing all of his new toys!

I couldn't resist this picture. This is how Parker takes naps...rear end up and feet crossed, precious!

A little bath tub fun!! :)

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

New Year's at the ranch!

We spent the New Year weekend at the ranch this year. We had snow on the ground and bitter cold temps, but that didn't stop us from getting outside and having some fun! We spent plenty of time inside watching LOTS of football, playing games and eating wonderful food!!

The ranch was a winter wonderland while we were out there. It's so beautiful in the summer but it has a different kind of beauty this time of year too!

Pretty

Anyone familiar with the Pioneer Woman?? If not, you need to get to know her cookbook and/or blog. Her food is AWESOME!!! Liesl made these meatballs and mac and cheese from her cookbook and it was seriously one of the best meals ever! I'm not really a mac and cheese, meatball kind of girl, but oh you must try these! Her recipes are not low fat or healthy in any way, but every now and then you must splurge on these recipes!

The cook posing with her mac and cheese! :)

On New Year's day morning, we had a wonderful breakfast of "flinson"...a family recipe. Think thin pancake or crepe with syrup. We always have bacon with this particular breakfast. The boys cook the bacon outside because it makes too much of a mess inside! Plus, it gives them one more "male bonding" experience out there! :) And yes, the dogs are always around hoping and praying for just one morsel to fall to the ground.

Parker with his Uncle Ruben

Only four short months ago we were jumping off this pier into the lake, now it's frozen!

This is me thinking of standing up on it, but not quite sure.

The ice was about two inches thick!

I don't have any pics of the drama that unfolded after this picture was taken, but my dog Waco went out onto the ice and she fell in. All I could imagine was her going under and getting stuck under the ice. Adrenaline took over and I reached in and ripped her out by the neck! Thankfully she was close to shore. I'm kind of glad this was not documented on camera! :)

Here is Ruben "ice skating" on the cow tank. For those of you who are not familiar with ranch lingo, this is what cows drink out of! :)

Parker is sledding! Ruben pulled him all over the ranch house yard and he loved it!

My little snow bunny sitting up so well all by himself.

My boys.

Parker, James, me, Jane, Olivia and Ruben

Me and my little man

Parker and James on the tractor!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

A look back

I always enjoy ringing in a new year and taking time to stop and look back on the year we just finished. 2009 was a year that changed our lives forever because we welcomed Parker into the world in May! 2009 will always have a special place in our hearts! God is so good and we are thankful for his blessings and provision! Here is a look back on some of the highlights of the year...