Life Lately

I take a lot of pictures that never make it to my blog... I want a way to document them, so I might start doing these "Life Lately" type posts every few weeks or so... just to dump some pictures from my phone into our little family journal here...

 Austin has been all about the couch cushions lately. I think he just newly discovered they come off the couch and can be used multiple ways...mountains, forts, landing pads...

 He is also big on helping in the kitchen, no matter what we are doing. If we are making food, he wants to watch us or help (and gets mad when it involves the hot stove or knives or things he can't be involved with). If I let him help do dishes he will scrub and scrub the sink until we cut him off for fear of our water bill.

 This is just a cute picture of him and his Lincoln Logs. His playing has become more imagination-based (when he plays quietly, that is.. which isn't as often as the baseball/tennis/basketball/wrestling/jumping play) and it's cute to hear him talk to himself about situations and little scenarios he's making up in his mind.

Some mornings, everyone is up with us. Lately, Austin has been coming into our room at 5:30 am (I think he hears our alarm and has realized it means we are awake) so more often than not, he's in our bed watching a show while Neal and I get ready. Piglet joins the party sometimes and loves to hang out with big brother.

It has begun.. Owen is "into" all of Austin's business. It's hilarious. If Austin is near enough to him, Owen is reaching for him, touching him, grabbing him... he wants to see Austin's toys, what he's doing... this pic (if you can see Austin's stink face) is him being mad that Baby Owen ruined the tunnel he had set up for his motorcycles to drive through. Austin already doesn't want Baby Owen touching his stuff "cuz he'll CHEW on it!!!" Oh, the coming months and years are going to be entertaining.

I don't know what caused the change, but Austin has become a good little eater. I bought these mini bell peppers and made taco hummus and Austin ate a ton of it! He kept asking for pepper after pepper and still asks for them. He still loves his carbs and his dairy, but it's awesome to see a kid we struggled so much with, freely eat a wide variety of fruits and veggies and like them. There is hope for this one after all!

The plague hit our house. I got super sick Monday and Tuesday, and Neal was right on my heels. Both of us had fevers of 102, chills, shakes, sweating.. now congestion and coughing. This cracked me up the other day. This is what is left of our bathroom counter.

Need NyQuil? DayQuil? Neti-Pot? Cough syrup?? We've got it all, folks!!