A Day at the Beach

What a beautiful Memorial Day we had! We were invited to my Aunt's cottage out near Grand Haven and it was sunny with just the right amount of wind. We didn't waste any time plopping Austin down in the sand to check it out.

 Grandma and Austin had a blast playing in the sand

 Such a beautiful day to capture some great pictures. Austin had such fascination with the long grass.

 Sand was sure to be on every inch of Austin's body.............such cute little sandy piggies!

 Austin is still teething like crazy so we let him try some melon in this neat little netted contraption

 Grandma and Grandpa couldn't be more happy sharing the day with Austin

 So many different sounds kept grabbing Austin's attention. He truly enjoyed Beach Day!

 Austin and Daddy checking out the big boats!

The water was only in the 40s, so not a great day to jump in.....but hopefully we can do some baby swim lessons this summer and the next beach day, he won't be afraid to get his feet wet!

Sophie used her passport

Who knew that this little expensive giraffe would become an item that Austin would attach to the most right now. Since teething is running our evenings lately, Austin has been chewing on Sophie every night. So of course when we went to Grandma and Grandpa's last weekend to visit, we HAD to bring Sophie in case we had a teething meltdown. I made sure to pack Sophie before we left, but she snuck back out and we didn't realize it until we were an hour away and back home. At first, Grandma suggested overnighting Sophie since she knew how much we depended on that giraffe. I said "Nah, we'll be ok for the week...." Yeah, right is all I have to say. Two days later, I was begging my mom to send her to us.

 The excitement in his face was priceless!

 She hasn't left his sight since she arrived!

ABC Baby Shower

I couldn't believe the day finally arrived to throw my good friend Beth her baby shower. The idea of a 'bring a book' shower was brought up, so we ran with it. We asked everyone to bring a book to help build Baby Behnke's library. Then, when I saw those abc wooden blocks at the store, the light bulb went off.

Here is the invite made by Lindsey over at to a T  

Here is the beautiful mom-to-be in front of the sign

 A cute little flower box made with letters from Michaels Craft Store and some scrapbook paper for background.

 It's a BOY! These are letters from the wooden blocks that I bought Austin, only 12$ for the whole set at good ole' Wal*Mart

 Jelly Beans to match of course!

 Prizes for the games...

 More homemade blocks

 The book and stuffed animal from the Kohl's Cares collection

The favors were cookies and bookmarks. I bought cookie cutters from The Cookie Cutter Shop online.

 Bookmarks homemade from card stock and scrapbook paper. The quotes on them are all sorts of quotes about books. Then on the inside, are magnets glued to each side, so you can hold your page without the bookmark falling out!

 Cupcakes made by Beth's sister-in-law who is starting her own cupcake company here in Kalamazoo. The idea was stemmed from the ones I saw on Martha Stewarts website. 

The shower was so much fun! I had a great time planning and decorating. Now I just can't wait to meet that baby!!!

Pretty Things

I still have so much to learn about my DSLR that I got for a PA school graduation gift from the hubby. We knew that with Austin on the way, we were going to need a GOOD camera. Now the trick is learning all the bells and whistles. Slowly but surely, a few new things are learned here and there.....

So I share with you a few pretty things that I took pictures of over the beautiful weekend.

Great Grandma Ondarko

My Grandma Ondarko, whom is turning 94 this year, traveled from Minnesota this week to visit. It was so great to see her and spend some time with her, even though we could only see her for the day. She was so excited to finally meet her great grandson Austin.

It's great to see her so happy.......laughing as always

I also got a chance to get some beautiful pictures of Austin outside with all the beautiful flowers at my parents house

And a few great pics of him playing around in the grass...

First Tooth

After days of fussiness and an oddly inconsolable baby in the evenings, we have finally spotted the cause! We just had a nice break from teething the past month and as in the 6 month posting, teething of course wasn't about to stay away for good! Even though this is just the beginning, it's kinda fun to see that a tooth has broken through. Hard to see, but on the bottom right of his mouth, you see a bit of white.

Glad to see our happy little buddy is back to himself for now.....until the next one!

6 month stats

Weight- 17 lbs 10 oz - 50th percentile
Height - 27 1/2 in - 75th percentile

such a champ when he got his shots today....short cry and then talked/squealed/screamed/babbled all the way home....truly finding his voice

6 months

Say it ain't so!? My little boy is halfway to his first birthday!! I can't believe it myself.

For some reason, I was waiting and waiting to start giving Austin food other than cereal. I guess I was just nervous to try something new. He of course didn't suprise me one bit by eating the food as if he has been having it for months. My mom came over to help me make some baby food. We made applesauce and sweet potatoes and Austin sure does like them both! It's funny to watch all the different faces he makes as he eats this new and interesting substance.

He isn't sitting up all by himself yet, but there isn't a time when I try to hold Austin in my arms where he doesn't lift his head as if to try and sit up.  And all this sitting up sure does produce a lot of drool! It was nice to have a break from teething over the past month but it is back with vengeance once again. This time around Austin is at least better at grabbing things to bring to his mouth, like that beloved giraffe, Sophie. You can hear the rubber against his gums as he bites so hard to help relieve the discomfort. Although she is an expensive little giraffe, she is worth it to me, since Austin loves her to bits and pieces. Lately, the blocks have also caught Austin's attention as he tries to pick these up and bite on them as well.

Many times when Jason is working on a project, Austin and I will sit in a chair and watch him work even with the loud noises of drills and nailguns. And yet at the same time, Austin is the only baby I know that can sleep through that type of construction.

On most days, I am the first person for Austin to see when he wakes up and the last person he sees as I put him to bed. I rock him and sing to him which is one of my favorite times of the day. And even though I get smiles at each of these times, nothing is as precious as the smiles he gives Jason. These are smiles of excitment and joy, to see even a glimpse of Jason passing through a room.

This boy sure does love to splash around! The baby bath has long been abandoned not only due to Austin's size, but his love to splash and play without being confined. Even this bath tub isn't big enough for this big boy. He swings his arms around so hard, sometimes I worry the people at daycare will wonder what I am doing to this child, since he doesn't seem to mind banging around in the tub.

Today, my mom asked me if I rememberd what life was like 6 months ago, and to tell you the truth, I do, but it didn't have quite the significance. He makes it all worth it.

Dining Room Updates Continue

Apparently the dining room is getting a whole new look all around!! Jason is still working on the built-in and the bench but decided, heck, why not replace the door to the pantry too! Actually, he is planning on replacing most of the doors to rooms and closets in the house in the next few months. Most of the doors are old and don't shut all the way. So here is the first of the many door replacements!

As usual, Jason starts a project so quickly, I can barely jump in to get a 'before' picture. He already took off the door here and is starting to remove all the old trim.

 Here you are looking into the pantry and the old door is propped to the right.

 The new door is in place with new trim and craftsmen like detail at the top. The trim is MDF and has yet to be primed and painted!

We still have priming and painting to do on the built-in and bench, so my guess is that a painting party is happening sometime soon!

Dining Room Bench

Jason got started on this dining room bench with storage at the same time as the new built-in. This house lacks serious storage space, so there is always excitement from my end when there is another spot to hide things!

 Here Jason is putting together the support for the bench top.

 One super long piano hinge and you have yourself an open and close top with three seperate storage spaces!

It is only primed, so it still has yet to be painted and trimmed out. I am already dreaming of so many items that could fill those spaces!

Hands On Museum

We were fortunate enough to see some family this past weekend as they came down state for a surgery at U of M for our nephew. We immediately needed something to do for all of us. Something for adults and kids of all ages. So without much time and research, the Hands On Museum sounded perfect!

Here is Austin and I in front of an e-mail simulator! Austin and I have issues when it comes to photos together....he just never seems to look at the camera...

This photo is interesting to me in sooo many ways! Hilarious how both Shannon, my sister in law, and I are full of huge smiles, encouraging the boys to say hi to one another. Cayden here is about 8 months, while Austin is 5 1/2 months. They both happen to share the same Rogers blonde hair and blue eyes, as well as look adorable in their striped polos. Shannon and I both have our strollers jam packed full of stuff to keep the boys happy as the husbands run around with the older girls, Mireya and Samara.

Our niece Samara is just beyond adorable at times. She stood in the middle of this exhibit and pulled a string that made a bar come up to make huge bubbles all while she was on the inside! This picture just makes me smile!

I wish I had more pictures to post but with 4 kids and 4 adults and over 250 hands-on exhibits, we kept busy as it was! It was great to watch everyone learn so much and have so much fun. I can't wait to bring Austin to something like this again when he can play around like the girls did.

One Big Bath

This past weekend, we went over to Ann Arbor to meet up with relatives as our nephew is having a surgery at U of M. Even though we were only meeting up with them on Sunday, it was an excellent excuse to get a nice hotel and spend the night. I was giddy with excitement as Jason was booking the hotel because it had a pool! This meant we could use the pool floaty I already bought in getting ready for summer.....if that season ever gets here. It also meant we could put Austin in his new swim outfit he got in his Easter basket from Aunt Carol.

We had shopped all day at malls and outlets, so I think the experience may have been slightly different if Austin weren't so tired. If he were to be a super hero during this time, his name would have been "Super No-Emotions Baby". He wasn't upset that he was in the pool.....yet he wasn't thrilled about it either.

Can't you just see the immense thrill of the pool in his face?

I was definitely having way more fun than Austin, so I got out and let Jason play around with the little noodle for a while. I am sure to Austin this felt like one big bath, but at least at home he splashes around a little!

This one is by far my favorite...Austin looks like he is having fun floating around with Daddy....finally.

I am sure this summer we will get many opportunities to turn him into a little water baby at the beach and at the pool. Can't wait to watch him splash around then!