Saturday, January 31, 2009

Keepin Busy!

With Brian being gone, we have been doing our best to keep busy so we don't miss him quite so much :)  My mom flew down to help keep us company and we have really enjoyed having her here!!  She came down at the perfect time, the weather has been beautiful lately and we have been outside a ton, taking advantage of all this sunshine!!

Austin had a blast spraying the hose all over the yard...and us!!

This is so much fun!

Getting soaked!!

He loved spraying his hands and feet and would just laugh when the water hit his toes!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Goodbyes are hard...

Austin and I had to drop Brian off at the airport this morning, and it was so hard saying goodbye.  He had to be at the airport at 6:45am, so on top of just being tired from getting up so early, it was super emotional and of course I cried...a lot!  I dropped Brian off at the ticketing area and we said our goodbyes, and off he went to check in.  I started driving away and thought I got away without shedding a tear in front of him, and then the flood gates opened.  I maybe drove about 10 feet forward, before parking the car at the curb and waiting for him to get all checked in and sneaking in one last hug goodbye.  Thankfully it was early in the morning and the terminal was empty so no one bothered me while I waited.  

I couldn't help myself, even now as I type this, tears just seem to keep coming.  It's the hardest thing telling your best friend goodbye and going home without him.  We are usually used to doing this, we say a lot of goodbyes during the baseball season, but this is going to be the longest we have ever been apart, maybe up to 5 months.  And seeing him hug Austin goodbye and kiss my belly, not knowing if he will be able to come back for our daughter's birth, just killed me. We made the difficult decision of Austin and I staying behind for the sole reason that we want to have our baby here in the States.  I know the time will go by fast and we will get through it, but it still doesn't make saying goodbye any easier...

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Fun with Dad!

Brian is leaving for Japan tomorrow, and Austin and I won't be joining him there until after our baby girl is born.  It is going to be a really long time away from each other, and it is going to be the hardest and saddest thing saying goodbye.  This will be the first time Austin is old enough to really know his Dad is gone, and it's going to be devastating trying to tell him Daddy is bye bye.  They are the best buddies and have so much fun together, I just hope the next few months fly by so we can all be back together as soon as possible :)

This picture was taken last night as Austin was trying to tickle his Daddy's tummy :)  He thought it was so funny watching Brian laugh!! 

Austin hanging out with his Dad before bedtime :)  
They love to wrestle just in time for night night!

Reading buddies :)

Austin is sure going to miss his "pitcher!"  
These two love to play together :)

Probably the last photo of Brian, Austin and I before we are reunited in Japan, with a new baby sister for Austin!!


Thursday, January 22, 2009

Boy's Best Friend!

See Hunter, we told you one day you would be best friends!!  
(When Austin was born, Hunter wasn't the biggest fan!!  It took him a LONG time to open up to his new brother!!  We think Hunter was slightly jealous of having to share all of the attention!!)

...But look at them now!

It is so fun to watch Austin and Hunter play together!!  They tease each other, they chase each other and they even cuddle!!  Austin loves to "pat-pat" Hunter (which can end up either being a nice pat on the back, or a big slap which makes Hunter cringe, but Austin doesn't seem to know gentle is better yet!!)  And Hunter is quite the trooper, always there to pick up Austin's scraps from the high chair, or food flung from tantrums from Austin being "all done right now!!," providing his back as a road for Austin to drive his cars on, games of chase when Austin thinks it's hilarious to try to grab Hunter's tail, and making Austin giggle when Hunter runs away with one of Austin's toys and we chase him trying to get it back!!  Hunter even sleeps outside Austin's bedroom door when Austin is down for naps!  We knew one day these two would be buddies!!!!
 
I love this picture!!  Austin gets so excited to play catch with Hunter...it's like he's saying, "Ah shucks Hunter, you're the best!!"

Sharing a snack together in our courtyard...their favorite place to hang together and watch out the gate!

A favorite nightly game...they race each other up the stairs and Hunter always wins, taunting Austin at the top!!

Hunter loves to "plop" down in the middle of whatever Austin is doing!!  Here's Austin trying to move Hunter out of the way so he can continue kicking goals!!  Hunter loves to be a part of what Austin is doing!

Austin laughing as he tries to get the ball back from Hunter to play a game of catch!

Monday, January 19, 2009

Playing Catch!

It's been so beautiful out these past few days!  Brian has been playing catch with his buddies JJ and Thornton at the park and Austin and I decided to go play with them today!  Austin loves watching the big boys throw, he gets so excited when he sees the ball fly back and forth between them!

Austin and Dad arriving at the park!

Now this is how you kick a ball Dad!

Austin checking out the baseball field!

Wait for me guys!

Austin joining the boys for a round of catch!

I thought this was funny!  
How cute is it that they are catching with the same pose!!

Nothing like a playing catch on a beautiful day outside!

That was so much fun!!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Happy 31st Birthday Brian!!
We love you so much, 
and wish you the happiest year ahead!  
Thank you for all you do for our family, we are so proud of you!
Love, S, A, H & Baby Girl!!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Baby Girl at 25 weeks, 4 days...

Here are the latest images of our little girl!!  
We had an ultrasound yesterday and she is growing so fast! She is a big girl, weighing about 2lbs 4oz, and is already showing off her chubby cheeks and little pout!  She wasn't exactly cooperating for the photos, so they are a little hard to see, but we did manage to get a few!

So smooshed in there!!  
Her hand is up at her face!

This was a cool shot of her foot and leg playing tug of war with her umbilical cord!  The cord is looped around her ankle with her toes pointing up!

Friday, January 16, 2009

Escape Artist No More!!

Try climbing out of this Austin!!

Austin getting acquainted with his new friend, the crib tent!  Can't you tell he just loves it!!

In a well fought battle between Austin and us, his parents, we are proud to say, we have won!! It took a few days of trying to figure out how to get Austin not to climb out of his crib, but we finally found a solution that works!!  

We had to take apart his crib and replace it with one that had been given to us a while ago that we had been storing in our garage.  It has a much smaller frame than the one we had been using, and the crib tent fit perfectly on it!!  At first Austin wasn't too sure about it...(see above picture!)...but it has seriously worked wonders, Austin has slept through the night the past two nights with the crib tent on, and hasn't attempted to climb out (not that he could with this contraption!!)  

He is much safer now, and nights at the Falky house have returned to those filled with peaceful slumber!  I am sure we will battle it out once again when we eventually move Austin to a big boy bed, but at least for now, it's happy sleeping once again :)

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Escape Artist Continued...

It has been a long past few nights in the Falky household!  For some reason, Austin has decided to climb out of his crib every night the past 3 nights somewhere between the hours of 3am and 4:30am!  Once he discovered he could do it, it was all over!!  Brian and I went out and bought a video monitor because we wanted to see how exactly this little escapee was doing this.  It's crazy, without warning, he goes from being sound asleep to standing, letting out maybe one loud grunt and then he flings himself over the side of the crib!!!  He is out his door before we even get out of our room!!!  

We even went and purchased a crib tent, this huge netted contraption that goes under the mattress and around the sides of the crib creating a "tent" over the crib.  Of course the thing doesn't fit on our type of crib, it looks more safety hazard then there for safety!!  We thought that putting him in his pack 'n play last night would do the trick, maybe he wouldn't be able to climb out of that, but of course, he did!!!  So now what?!  Do we put our 19 month old in a big boy bed?  Is he ready?  Are we ready?!!  We are scared he is going to hurt himself if he continues to barrel out of his crib the way he has, so something needs to be done.  We are going to try one last option tonight...so we will let you know how that works out...keep us in your thoughts!!!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Escape Artist!!

This past week, Austin has been battling a really stuffy nose and little cough.  Because of this, he has had some trouble sleeping at night, and has spent quite a few hours in bed with us.  Which has been great for him (he sleeps way better in our room for some reason! maybe it's just his ploy to get in to our bed...the sukers we are!)  but we however, do not.  Austin is quite the tosser and turner, and quite the kicker!! We are constantly getting jabs in the face or ribs (kind of like being pregnant!!), but we always give in, for whatever reason, no matter how many people tell us it's a bad habit to get into.  

The last few days however, Austin has been feeling better and sleeping through the night again!  So when we heard him crying in the wee hours of the night/morning last night, we figured, let's give him 10 minutes and see if he goes back to sleep!  Exactly 6 minutes into it (I don't do well letting him cry it out and I am usually staring at the clock), his crying on the monitor gets fainter, yet I can hear him getting louder closer to our room.  I am thinking, "what the?," and then I realize "Oh my god, HE GOT OUT OF HIS CRIB!" 

I run to our doorway, and sure enough, Austin is running towards me, crying with his arms held up reaching for me!!  I am feeling awful for letting him cry, because obviously he was upset about something, but then I am thinking to myself, how on earth did he get out?!  Then I realize my mistake, and I hope I can fix it!!  Just yesterday, Brian and I were talking about how Austin is such the tosser and turner and sometimes wakes himself up when he hits the sides of the crib.  So we decide to put his bumper pad back into his crib, thinking this would help cushion him.  Big no-no!!  What we ended up creating instead, was a big step to boost Austin out of his crib!!  Sure enough, I went into his room and you could tell Austin used the bumper crib to push himself up and over the crib rail.  Austin 1, Mom & Dad, big fat 0.  

First thing this morning, the bumper pad came out!  Let's hope this solves the escape artist's new moves and he doesn't attempt this again!  (Seriously, not even 2 days ago we were just saying how lucky we were Austin had not attempted to climb out of his crib, boy did we knock on the wrong type of wood!)  But if Austin does do this again, I am going to need your help Kollen girls, and get the number for those crib tents ASAP!  :) It amazes me though, that once he climbed out of his crib, he knew how to open his door and run straight down our bowling alley of a hall, through our family room and to our bedroom all in the dark!!  At least he has good built in navigation!!  

Friday, January 9, 2009

Happy Birthday Grandpa Tom!

Happy Birthday Tom!!
We hope you have a wonderful year ahead!!

Here's Austin with his Grandpa Tom and Dad, getting ready to enjoy some yummy birthday cake!!  (Austin can't seem to control his urge to dive right in!!)

We had a great time celebrating your birthday Tom, thank you guys for having us over for an incredibly delicious dinner and cake!

Sniffles and Sunshine!

Austin's been sick with a serious runny nose all week, so we haven't done much but stay at home and try to get him better.  Thankfully it's been beautiful out these past few days so we have been outside trying to dry that nose up!!

Austin picking flowers!  
He loves to bring me flowers from our plants, only they never get to me in one piece, they are usually in a million little petals and all crumbled up!!  I don't mind though, I just love getting them!!

Austin loves to "sit" in his new soccer goal he got for Christmas!  He usually wants me to kick the balls at him while he is in the net, and then he just starts laughing when they hit him!! This is him right after I set it up, he ran right in it and had the biggest grin on his face! 

Hopefully Austin will start to feel better soon, but until then, we are going to keep enjoying this gorgeous weather!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Bowl Game Buddies!

Austin and Brian have really been enjoying the college football bowl games together!  Austin loves watching Brian and I yell at the TV when there's a good play or someone scores a touchdown, and he gets all excited, throwing his hands in the air and yells "Charge!"  It's so funny!

Here are the football buddies snuggled in together watching the Fiesta Bowl!

Austin and his Dad celebrating a touchdown!  They are in football heaven!

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Our Anniversary!

Dear Austin and Baby Girl on the way...
Today is your Daddy & Mommy's 5th wedding anniversary!
Here is the story of how we met and fell in love, and became the family we are today...

Way back when...we dated and fell in love...
(your Daddy called and called me in college and I finally agreed to a date with him!  We haven't been a part since!)

...your Daddy proposed...and I said yes!...

...and then we got a puppy...who we named Hunter!...

...then we said "I do!"...

...and became Husband and Wife!...

...and we became Newlyweds!...

...and were a family of 3!...

...who then became a family "expecting!"...

...and into our family came you Austin, our first son!...

...and we became a family of 4!...

...who is now getting ready to become a family of 5, with our first daughter!...

...and through it all, we have celebrated many wonderful years together and are so lucky for the amazing family we call our own!  

Happy Anniversary Bri...I love you!!
Thank you so much for everything, I can't wait for what's to happen next!!

Friday, January 2, 2009

Hello 2009!!

2009 couldn't have started out more beautiful!  We had a gorgeous day, full of 70 degree plus weather, pool time, lots of football and good friends!!  We couldn't have asked for a better New Year's Day!!

Hello New Year's Sunshine!!  
All the kids enjoying some warm weather and having fun in the pool!
Are we lucky or what?!!

Austin thinking: "Are you sure it's January?!"

Loving this weather!

Happy 2009, Arizona style!!

Austin & Lauren having fun outside with a ride in their wagon!  
These two have become the best of friends lately :)

Nothing like playing in the rocks and enjoying a beautiful day outside!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

(P.S.  Taking reservations for any one who wants to get out of the snow and come visit us ASAP!!)