In Another Month, Austin Will Be One!

This time last year, we were hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  I was about 32 weeks pregnant and just HUGE!  I was a waddler, I must admit.  We had my folks and brother over and Matt had his parents over, so it was the seven of us.  My Dad did most of the meal preparation, which he is very good at and Chris and Kirby brought pies and macaroni cheese (my request, yum!). 

Hello Austin! Thanksgiving 2010

Not sure if it was the excitement of it all but I ended up developing pregnancy hypertension and thus begun the watching and mandatory resting to make sure both you and I were safe and that you could stay in my belly for as long as possible.  The magic week to reach was week 38, if my blood pressure didn't go back down and allow Austin to stay in for a full 40 weeks.  

Well, we fell a little short.  I went in for my now bi-weekly checkup where my blood pressure was high and I was a little swollen in the face so they asked me to go ahead and check myself into the hospital.  That was Thursday,  December 16th.  Boy, I was nervous!  To be continued....

This last month, we did one of things that I had been looking forward to since you were born and that was to go to a pumpkin patch and a corn maze.  We went to Uncle Shucks Corn Maze in Dahlonega, GA and it was lots of fun.

The Maze

You really enjoy this vantage point!

It was hot this day!  In November!

Mommy, is this corn GMO?

We also visited with your cousins, Liann and Ellie @ Imagine It, Children's Museum.  It is more like a large play room but it has great props, like a John Deer tractor and a large, ball moving assembly for older children.  You mostly slid down slides and followed Daddy through a mole maze.  It was enough to tire you out!

Austin and Liann before the "smooch"!

We also dressed you up as one of the characters, "Sulley" of the movie, Monster's Inc.  You were very precious. "Sulley" didn't technically have one eye, but I didn't expect Old Navy to get it exactly right.  Nevertheless, it was a perfect costume for you, I must say.

Old Navy's version of "Sulley"

At eleven months, you are now walking behind objects as you push them around.  We have a large bucket that is the right height and you just push that around the living room.  You really love getting around that way and you look to us to make sure we are watching this amazing trick.  I created a "fort" in the living room for you to hide, play peek-a-boo or just crawl in and out of.  We often get on all four's with you and crawl in and out as well.  It is a great game and it delights you so.

The Fort

We are heading to California for Thanksgiving week to see your great-grandparents (Black side) and your grand parents (my folks) as well as some of our cousins.  Plane trip! By now you are a pro as this will be your third leg across the country!

Love, Mommy.

For Austin's Sake

When coming up with the name of this blog, I was really stuck on trying to come up with something spunky, catchy or all encompassing.  I had pondered for days.  Had things I wanted to post but as any blogger knows, you have to create the name first before you begin writing when it comes to a blog otherwise you are "out there" with "Iamnotcreative.blogspot.com" or "whoamIkidding.wordpress.com" (wait a minute, I like that one!).  Anyways, the purpose of this blog was to create an avenue that I can document Austin's first year or so for the "benefit of him" and then just simply said, "I am doing this for Austin's sake" and voila!

The very meaning has taken on a much deeper goal however, as now my purpose for almost everything I do is "for Austin's sake".  Not just this blog, but so many more important things.  Having Austin has changed the world for me: who I am, what I am willing to do, priorities, my interests, how I see world, how I view the environment, etc. 

For instance, I now cook.  Hated cooking before him.  Absolutely loathed it.  Would try and figure out a way to get my sustenance out of a bag, box, or someone ELSE is doing the cooking for me.  When my husband looked into my bare cabinets and fridge and saw cereal, milk and condiments, he knew right away what he was getting into.  The transformation didn't change right away for me but when I started understanding that I not only had a hard time carrying my ever-growing baby boy at 4 months and I also felt like I was hit by a mack truck every single day although he was sleeping better; it was clear something needed to change.  So I began my journey towards cleaner eating based on my research of hormone imbalances, fatique and stubborn toxic weight.  And if you are going to eat clean, you HAVE to cook unless you want to eat everything in its raw form.  Plus I didn't think it was fair to my husband to demand for him to change his cooking style to complement my new found directive.  Nope, this was a project of mine.

Secondly, I buy organic, as much as I can.  It is better for him and is also better for us.  Check!

Third, I am exercising again.  Now, I say again because I used be a fitness fanatic.  Running, Spinning, weight lifting (I was boning up to compete at one point).  I was about 50lbs less than I am now and not one part of my body hurt.  Now, I am not going to go down that road again, but I have a purpose that keeps me on track.  It is "for Austin's sake" that I feels better, my body doesn't ache so I can keep up with him, and that I stay healthy for the rest of my lifetime.

Lastly, I am more aware of the world around us.  I am paying attention to the government, the environment, the economy, etc.  What is happening now will affect his future.  I think it is our responsibility as parents to be cognizant of the world around us and be stewards to our children's futures. 

So, "for Austin's sake" is my purpose and I now have faith that I am no longer a mission impossible!

~J