In Maine til Sunday!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...

My sister, her daughter A, Andrew and I left Wednesday to head to Maine for my cousin's wedding and we'll be back Sunday evening!

Memorial Day weekend

I know it's over now but I took this cute picture this weekend. Ben had to work over the weekend so we spent most of our time with my parents. Here is a picture of Andrew riding the lawn mower with his Papa. And no the blades weren't running while he was on it! LOL

Long day...

Just took this picture of Ben and Austin snoozing together on the couch. Thought it was adorable. =)

Welcome to Toddlerhood

I was just sitting in the living room reading yesterdays mail and in walks Andrew with a green crayon hanging out of his mouth. He WAS coloring nicely and he usually doesn't put them in his mouth but by the time I grabbed the crayon from him half of it was missing. Ugh! Andrew's cheeks were PACKED with green crayon. So for the next 10 minutes I pry my fingers into his mouth (meanwhile being bit) and start pulling chunks and chunks of crayon out. I have to say I did get quite a bit out since Andrew didn't like the taste of it but I have a feeling I'll be seeing a green diaper sometime soon! LOL Andrew's teeth are nice and green to go along with it!

Here's a picture of what's left of the green crayon!

My Growing Boy!

Well thank you all for your prayers! My husband was able to come home early to care for Andrew and A while I took Austin to his 2 appointments. Austin's pediatrician appointment went really well. He was nervous and on the verge of tears at all times but none the less he cooperated. Before I spill the beans on Austin's growth stats here's a little background on him so it makes a little more sense to all of you.

Austin is a *very* little 6 year old. He has never been on the typical growth charts. He usually falls around -5 to -10%. Even on the RTS growth chart, he's on the lower side. Last I remember he's around the 5%. He grows extrememly slow and usually will wear one size of clothes for almost 2 years. He doesn't grow out of clothes...he wears them out! LOL I'm a meticulous charter of the kids baby books so looking back shows me that Austin gained 8 pounds in in 3 years (from ages 2-5yrs) and he grew 5 inches in those 3 years as well.

So now you have a better understanding you'll understand my shock at the dr.'s appointment. Austin tipped the scales at 34 pounds (insert a gasp from mommy here) and measured 38 1/2 inches tall. The reason I gasp? 34 pounds means Austin gained 6 pounds in ONE year!!! That's nearly as much as he gained in 3 years! He also grew 2 1/2 inches in the last year as well and that HALF of what he grew in the last 3 years! WHOO HOO!

I just finished charting him on the RTS growth chart and the percentile didn't change. =( Boo! He's still around 5% for his height and 25% for his weight.

Oh yes, and the 2nd appointment went without a hitch. The orthopedist filed his braces a bit and we're hoping it'll correct the bruising on Austin's feet!

Dr.'s Appt.s

Pray for me, I'm taking Austin to 2 dr.'s appointment tomorrow afternoon. I normally wouldn't schedule one right after the other but it was either that or wait until Tuesday.

Austin has a well child check up tomorrow after school ( I can't wait to see how much he's grown!!) but last night Ben and I noticed that he has bruises in 2 different spots on the bottoms of both his feet. My guess is his SureSteps ankle braces aren't aligned right anymore and they're hurting his feet. Poor guy! So instead of waiting till Tuesday to find out what's causing the bruises we'll be heading to the Orthopedists office immediately after his check up. I have no idea how I'll do this with Andrew and A so I'm hoping my husband will willingly come home early to care for them. I'll update tomorrow on Austin's growth!

Day 2-Part 2

Well I'm fairly certain I won't be potty training A while her mommy is gone. Day 1 went without a hitch and I'm thinking it's because she didn't realize mommy wasn't coming back. Today she doesn't want anything to do with the potty and I'm thinking it's because mommy isn't here. She definately is ready though! She told me "I pooped" so I took a look and nope nothing there. I put a diaper on her and 5 minutes later sure enough she'd pooped. I'm going to keep encouraging her but not try as hard. Besides, I have to move on to Austin now...

Another go around...

Well Austin's Kindergarten teacher called me this morning. She calls often (which is nice!) and updates me on what Austin is doing or anything she needs from me. This time she called to ask me if I thought now was a good time to try to potty train Austin again. Not that I really want to do that again but I said sure.

Austin was partially potty trained when he was around 4 years old. He would go every time we took him (except pooping). Then something happened within the family (don't remember what) and we had to stop helping him for a couple of weeks. When we got things rolling again, it was no use. He would willingly stand there and try but nothing. He hasn't gone in the toilet since. =(

Since Andrew is nearing 2 years old we had planned to try to potty train them together. On the other hand, who's to say anything when a teacher is willing to help potty train? We might as well go for it although I have to say I'm pretty skeptical.

Please pray for a small amount of success. Even if Austin went once in the toilet, it may trigger some memories for him. Nothing is impossible with God right?

Beginning of Day 2

Well today hasn't been as successful potty training A. She's been a mischievious little booger today so that's probably why! LOL We had success this morning but she peed in her pull up during lunch. =( She's napping now so we'll see how things go when she wakes up. One step forward, 2 steps back...

Day 1

Well today was Day 1 of my 4 days with my neice "A". My sister has flown to GA to pick up her husband who has been in school for the past four months. He graduates tomorrow (on her 30th birthday!)!

A is 2 1/2 yrs old (8 months older than Andrew) and is sooo ready to potty train. She's so funny, she'll go (and even tell people) when she's in the church nursery but won't for my sis. Since my sis will be gone for 4 days, I told her I'd give it a go and try to potty train her myself. What was I thinking?!? LOL

Seriously though, it's been very easy! "A" wet her pull up after I took her twice to try but after that no problems at all! I was even in the middle of vacuuming and she interrupted me to tell her she needed to go. Wahoo! Except for her morning accident, I haven't changed her pullup all day.

We'll see how tomorrow goes...

Austin's bowling party

This evening we had a small party (as small as it can get with our family! LOL) at the local bowling alley to celebrate Austin's birthday. Austin wore himself out pretty good! He ate way too much cake...his cousin set hers down so Austin took care of it for her. LOL We had a good time and Austin got lots of great presents! I posted a funny picture of Austin. Everytime he receives clothes as a present, he puts it on his head. Don't know why, he just does. He looks so little in these pictures...can't wait for the looks now when I tell people he's 6!


This picture is of my mom helping Austin bowl


A new book from some close friends of ours


Austin is displaying his new tanktop from Grandma and Papa

Pictures!

Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday when Ben and I surprised Austin at school. Austin's birthday party is tonight at the bowling alley so I'll be posting pictures of that soon as well!

Austin is 6 today!

Wow, can't believe I actually have a 6 year old! Not that it really feels like it but hey, whatever right? At 1:30 Ben and I are going to Austin's school to surprise him with chocolate chip muffins and Ben will play him "Happy Birthday" on his guitar. If you know anything about RTS or Austin you'll know just how excited Austin will be! Anyway, to celebrate Austin's birthday I thought I'd give a brief account of his birth story:

After suffering 2 miscarriages (one at 12 weeks, one at 6 weeks), Austin was conceived. I had a very easy pregnancy and gained the right amount of weight for my body type. At the time we were living in Sierra Vista, AZ since my husband was stationed at Fort Huachuca. It being their first grandchild, my parents flew from NY to AZ to be there for the birth. My mom planned on staying a month (THANK YOU!!) and my dad stayed for 2 weeks. After my dad left, my sis arrived for 2 weeks! Lots of help! Well while my mom and I were watching Gilmore Girls on TV, I went into labor. 7:45pm on May 14th...finally! Austin was due May 13th.

Well with Austin being my first full pregnancy, I did what the books said and I went to bed to get some rest before the hard contractions came. Yeah right. I was too nervous and excited! 11pm my dr. gave me the ok to head to the hospital and Austin was born at 3:59am (they couldn't just say 4am?!?!) on May 15th after 8 hours of labor and with only 45 minutes of pushing. Oh yeah, mustn't forget the blessed epidural I got once I got to 7cm! LOL He weighed in at 6lbs. 6oz. and 19 1/4 inches long. No problems (RTS related) at birth or afterward. With what we now know we thank the Lord we didn't run into problems. Austin did have trouble nursing so I fed him with an eye dropper while I was in the hospital with him. If you'd like to read a bit more you can see Austin's website and all the other RTS cuties at http://www.rubinstein-taybi.org/our/Austin

Enjoying the warmer weather

I love this picture my sis took of her daughter A and Andrew playing outside. A is 2 1/2 yrs old. The two of them LOVE to play together!

Elmo aka Clifford the Big Red Dog

Well, here's the picture of "Elmo" and Andrew that I promised. Goofy picture of me but I just had to laugh. Who would've thought Clifford would appear to Andrew as Elmo? What a nut!

Austin's birthday is around the corner!

As you can tell from my ticker, Austin's birthday is around the corner! Thursday actually! Ben and I have chosen to buy him a fish tank and fish for his birthday. Austin ADORES fish. He usually cries when we pry him away from fish tanks at the zoo, PetCo, etc.

We've slowly started setting up his tank. It's filled with water and today we purchased a few hoses and filters. The filter is running so even though the tank is empty, Austin just stands at stares at it anyway. He loves watching the bubbles that the water makes. Don't get me wrong, he has gotten frustrated with us! He'll take our hands and drag us to the tank and start whinning like "come on people! Where are my fish?!?". Every day we tell him he gets to pick out his fish on his birthday but of course, he forgets. =)

Book Fest

This morning my sister and I met a friend at our town's PBS Book Fest. The local ice arena had booths with different crafts to make, giveaways, free books, etc. I thought Andrew would just love to go to this because his favorite show is "SuperWhy" on PBS. The caracters from Clifford, Curious George, and SuperWhy came out to do pictures with the kids so what great fun for Andrew to see a character he knew! As the parents all filed together to get pictures (I'll post it later, I didn't bring my camera but my sis did!), Andrew sees Clifford (the big red dog). Well seeing all that red reminded him of his OTHER favorite show...Elmo. He would not quite yelling "Elmo"! He was SOOOO excited! He ran up to "elmo" (Clifford) put his arms up in the air and gave Clifford a big hug around his leg. Go figure.

more pictures

Ok, well I took such good pics, I decided to show a few more! Couldn't resist!

This is a pic of my and my sister-in-law at a scenic overlook

Our Time in Hawaii

Wow, where do I begin?!?! Ben and I had a wonderful time in Hawaii. We stayed on the island of Kauai on Po'ipu Beach. It was incredibly relaxing. It was hard to shift from "mom" mode! Every time someone would yell up the stairs or slam a door I was sooo on the verge of saying "be quiet!". LOL The days seemed to last forever (which is great when you're in "paradise"). We finally figured it's because it usually takes us a half hour to get out the door and kids buckled in their cars seats, etc.

When we arrived to our condo we were greeted by the island welcomers...chickens and roosters! Who would have thought?!? The story is back in '92 a hurricane smashed all the cages and they've been wild ever since. They're everywhere and don't mind people one bit!



Our first day we spent most of the day on the beach (where I fried, even with sunscreen)!



One day while we were on the beach, a Monk seal decided to come visit just feet from us. The lifeguard made everyone back up and the seal camped out on the beach for 2 hours!





Another fun outing we did was kayaking! I loved it! We kayaked to a trail, hiked 2 miles to a waterfall, and then kayaked to a rope swing (I'm not that brave, my husband did it though).



We also rented a Harley for the day and went to the Botanical Gardens which was gorgeous! We were told by our guide that the gardens were used for several shots in the movie "Jurassic Park"!





All in all, I took 130 pictures! Let me know if you'd like to see more!