Miscellaneous

Found a jar of tart peaches!

Austin can stand in his crib if we help him up

Lazy Sunday

Cousins spending time with their Great-Grandma Loucks

White Boogies

Austin had just finished nursing when he decided it was time to do a little number in his diaper.  He pushed so hard that milk came shooting out of his nose and mouth!  Apparently it shocked Ausin just as much as it did me by his expression in the picture...

Thankfully it was a successful push and he didn't go through all that trouble for nothing!  (To date, he has done this a second time, but the eruption of milk through the nose was not quite so aggressive)

California Dreamin'

This June we were lucky enough to get away and visit Jeff's family in California for 10 days. We overlapped our stay with the Larsens for a few days which was perfect because we hadn't seen them in several months, and they had not met Austin yet.

Austin and cousin Landon enjoying Grandpa's wagon rides around the backyard

Slept through most of our visit to the Santa Ana Zoo

Went swimming for the first time!

Austin loved kicking in the pool... and licking the water off of my shoulders...

Grandpa, Grandma and Michael babysat Austin for a day so Jeff and I could have a date in LA.

We went to the Los Angeles Temple and out to eat afterwards.

Hangin' with Grandpa

Three Mitchell men at the Angels v. Dodgers baseball game.

We had a great trip and enjoyed spending time at the beach, playing games and celebrating birthdays with family. Can't wait to see everybody again!

Eat, Sleep and Play

I had my first taste of oatmeal cereal on Easter Sunday. It was delicious!

I enjoy naptime. This is the face I always make when I wake up.

After I've stretched I get super excited because I know it's time to eat and play!

Meet my toes. I just met them myself not too long ago!

6 Month Stats

16 lbs 14.5 oz (50%)

27 in (75%)

I can’t believe how fast the past 6 months have gone by, or how much a baby can grow in such a short period of time – 6.5 inches in 6 months… OUCH! Talk about growing pains.

Austin continues to be a happy and content baby. He has instantly become more curious and active. His personality and interests seemed to change over night once he hit 6 months. He realizes that he can lean and reach for whatever he wants – no matter how far away or high up in the air he may be. He sits up well, but still topples over here and there. Recently he has lost interest in stuffed animals and only likes things that are relatively hard (probably because they feel better on his teething gums).

I say this at each age and stage, but we are having a lot of fun with Austin at this age! He is so interactive and smiles all the time. Jeff always tickles Austin who has quickly learned how to grab hair, ears, skin, and eyebrows to fight back. We are in a constant rotation of playing on the floor, reading books, swinging, and jumping in his Jumperoo. As long as he is awake he loves to be entertained, but gets bored of one thing quickly. We can’t wait to see how he does in the water when we start going to the pool once it warms up!

Snow Days!

Like many of you, we have had a lot of snow this year. Not snow that lingered the entire winter, but snowstorms that would dump several inches in a few hours. Jeff had 3 snow days this season, two in October, a few days after Austin was born, and one in March. The latest big snowstorm came on Austin’s 5-month birthday. He had not been out in the snow (other than from apartment to car) up to this point so we put him in his cute, puffy, blue snowsuit to let him enjoy the wondrous white stuff that covered the ground. He didn’t seem to mind it, even with cold little flecks hitting his face. He was a bit sleepy and obviously wasn't going to be playing much in the snow, so we just took a few pictures, made a baby snow angel and headed back inside.

Updates Coming Soon!

I am so behind on everything these days - dishes, laundry, projects and definitely blog posts! Austin is getting a lot more active lately and needs more attention and interaction. I love taking the time to play with him and help him learn new things, but it requires all the other things to wait. Oh well, it's worth it! I have a whole list of posts I'm working on... time permitting, I hope to have a number of updates soon!