Exercising New Muscles

I may have started out as a sleepy lump...


But now I'm spreading my wings!


I bundle up to hit the town...


And now I smile even when I'm not gassy!


Being a baby is the best!

Baby Blessing

Austin was blessed on Sunday at our ward here in Denver. We're grateful for those of you who were able to be there, and understanding of those who were not. The weather has been less than ideal for traveling, so we appreciate Mom, Dad, and Michael coming from Arkansas on your way back to California, and Sue, Bruce, Cameron, and Jessica braving the early morning snowstorm! Thank you also to Sabrina, Hao, and Brian, my friends from school who came to support us and Austin on this special day. We had a great weekend! Here are some pictures for those we missed.

I'm Thankful for Secondhand Turkey Feasts

Are we seriously doing this picture thing every day? Alrighty then...

I was sporting this hoodie for my first outing, to Costco.

Dad says my mouth is shaped like a trapezoid. Not cool, Dad.

It hurts us!

Grammasita and Papa are so cool! I can't wait to meet my California grandparents!

Baby Beluga

Can you believe I am almost one month old?

Meet my new friend, the whale. I like to watch him in my crib.

Check out my hand-span. I could have six fingers on these fists!

Counting Mommy's freckles (or flipping the bird... you decide)

Getting acquainted with Muttsy Jr.

Even my bathtub is a whale, how cool is that?

Giraffe vs. Frog

Austin had a momentous first Halloween. He celebrated one week of life by losing his umbilical cord and having his first real bath! He likes having his head scrubbed but he is not too keen on the body wash. Since he got two newborn-sized costumes as gifts, we decided he would start the day as a giraffe! Later that afternoon he made the transformation to frog-man! We decided: Austin as a frog > Austin as a giraffe... what do you think?

Austin's First Few Days

Day Five

Day Four

Day Three

Day Two

Day One

Day Zero

Austin Maeser Mitchell

Little Austin was born October 24, 2009 at 2:21 pm. He is obviously a very punctual individual since he decided to come right on his due date!

Friday was fairly uneventful for me as far as having any signs of imminent labor. My contractions were not too consistent, and I was in absolutely no pain. About 2:30 am Saturday I had a few cramps, but nothing unbearable. At 3 am my water broke and off we went to the hospital. I felt great for the first couple hours at the hospital and was able to breathe through the contractions. Little Austin's heartrate plummeted all of the sudden because the umbilical cord was pinched due to the way I was laying. Three or four nurses came running in and had me rotate and put an internal monitor on his head to keep track of him more accurately. Everything obviously ended up okay, but it was kind of a scary moment for us. I eventually got the epidural around 9 am - boy was that nice! The nurses hooked me up with some Pitocin for a couple of hours to help get things moving until my body took over on its own. Around 1 pm they checked me and I was 5 cm dialated. My body really kicked it into high gear and I dialted from 5 to 10cm in about 45 minutes. It happened so fast that the epidural couldn't keep up and I was back to breathing and doing whatever I could to manage the pain. I told the nurses it was time for me to push and they let me do my thing! Twenty minutes later sweet Austin came into the world - a healthy 7 lbs 11 oz, and 20.5 inches long!!

He is the cutest little guy and we just can't get enough of him. He is a sweet sweet baby and has been so easy going and mellow. Jeff has taken on the role of Daddy wonderfully and does amazing with his new little boy. He has been so incredibly helpful to me - making me icepacks, ordering my meals, adjusting my pillows, and reminding me to rest :) amongst so many other things.

We are so grateful to have this new little person in our lives and know that Heavenly Father has blessed us tremendously in letting him join our family!