Austin's Very Own Blog!

Austin now has his very own blog! It'll mainly be devoted to the videos we take of him as he grows up.

Check it out...

www.austinsawesomeadventure.blogspot.com

Austin Rolled Over!

Yes, last night after we put him to bed and turned out the lights, after we left the room, so that we could not see, Austin rolled over in his crib from his belly to his back.

How do I know this? Simple, really. Brett put him down on his belly to sleep (don't gripe at me all you back-to-sleepers, its the only way Austin will sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a time). Austin was almost asleep. Then, after he turned out the light and shut the door, we heard Austin talking to himself (cooing and gurgling, really, but you get my point). After a few minutes we heard him go "oh" and get really excited. Then he started fussing a little. So, I walked in to try and calm him. I turned on the light, walked over to his crib and there he was, lying on his back, smiling at me as to say "look what I just did!"

I called to Brett and asked him if he'd laid Austin on his back, very well knowing what the answer was. He came to see why I'd asked such a question, very well knowing why himself. We both stared in amazement at our growing little boy.

We pulled him out of his crib and placed him on the soft, carpeted floor and cheered encouraging words and clapped our hands all for the sake of trying to get him to do it again...to no avail.
After a little while we called it a night and finally put Austin to sleep in his crib (this time with no contest from him).

Maybe next time he'll decide to roll over in front of the camera. ;)

Christmas Pictures

We went to Tulsa again for Christmas. We had such a great time! Keith's brother, Cameron, and his wife, Alice got to come too. It was great to finally meet them. They're a great couple.

Anyway, I'm not blogging much about Christmas. I'll let the pictures do the talking...







Well, I guess these pictures don't really say a whole lot, so click here if you want to see more.

For Time and All Eternity

'Til Death Do You Part - is the famous phrase for many newly weds and families around the world. It holds a certain heart-felt warmth when they think of the lives they'll lead together. They'll come home to each other, 'til death do they part. They'll raise children together, 'til death do they part. They'll enjoy grandchildren together, 'til death do they part. And they'll grow old together, 'til death do they part.

To these families I would like to ask, what if there were something more for you? After this life, I mean. What if there were no "'til death do you part"? What if you could enjoy motherhood forever? What if you could be with your soul mate forever? Think about what it would be like to spend a lifetime making all these wonderful memories with your family and then suddenly the bonds that tie you together are dissolved. Could you stand being just friends with your most loved ones for the rest of eternity? Does it really make sense that you would be just friends after this life with your family?

Heavenly Father is our Father. Jesus Christ is our Brother. We have a mother in Heaven, too! And before we came here to Earth we were all spiritual brothers and sisters, every one of us. How could we even fathom a measly friendship with those we swear to spend sickness and health with in this life?

There IS more. Families can be together forever, through this life and beyond death. We can keep those same ties that bring us so close for eternity.

Could you imagine if everyone had an eternal marriage? The whole world would be family! Doesn't it seem like God intended it to be that way in the first place? It just makes so much more sense than "'til death do you part".

Brett and I had the very special opportunity on Saturday the 20th to make our bonds with Austin eternal. Brett and I were married in the Dallas Texas LDS Temple back in August 2001. There, we pledged our love and devotion for all eternity. Had we been able to conceive Austin on our own, there would be no need to take him to the temple. But, not regrettably at all, such was not the case. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful experience! So peaceful and serene and...heavenly. Perfect. Surrounded by close friends and family, we made Austin ours forever. He will forever be our son, the love of our lives, beyond the grave. How peaceful it is to think that, if anything should ever happen to any of us, we'll be together again as family.

After Austin's sealing on Saturday morning, we all headed to one of the closest church buildings where the Dallas 9th Ward meets. There, one of the Bishopric was nice enough to open the chapel and allow us to have a private name and blessing ceremony for Austin. His blessing was like most. Mission, temple marriage, etc. But two things stood out from the usual. One, Austin was blessed with clarity in recognizing the Holy Spirit. And two, he will be a natural leader. How comforting it is to know such things.

Now that Austin is legally(we finalized on Thursday) and eternally ours, it all feels complete. I feel like he's completely mine now. And I love and adore him more and more each day. :) What a perfect Christmas this has turned out to be!

Here are a few pictures we took after the sealing & blessing...









wanna see more pictures?

Kingrey Elves!

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The Weather

How awesome is it that the snow is clearing before we leave for Dallas and only returning after we get back home?
Seriously, I was looking at the weather forecast to see if there's any chance of Austin's sealing & blessing being delayed and...nope! Snow today, Ice tomorrow, rain for the next couple of days, some sun over the weekend, and the snow returns next Wednesday. Dallas? Same partly cloudy weekend!
Lets hope the weather sticks to the forecast. ;)

Austin Update

So, we went for Austin's 4 month check-up the other day. The diagnosis? He's a happy, and very healthy baby boy! He weighed in at 16.5 lbs (75th percentile) and stretched to 26.5 inches long (90th percentile). :D Our baby boy makes us so proud! (I feel so goofy saying that.)


So, funny story...
Brett watched Austin on Tuesday Evening while I went to Yellville to teach my Hip Hop classes. He wasn't feeling all that great (darn cold), but offered to watch him anyway. After dance, we headed to church for a Relief Society Christmas Dinner, where the three of us played Baby Jesus, Mary & Joseph in the program following the dinner. (Pictures to come later.) But that's not the funny part.
When we returned home, and I went to change Austin's diaper in his room, I noticed this smell. It smelled like dirty diaper. I have a Diaper Genie and it works really well. But thinking that there may be a hole in the bag, I changed it and turned the fan on to get the smell out. A couple of hours later, I put Austin to bed and the smell was still there, and a little more pungent. I looked around the diaper genie and around the changing table to see if I dropped a diaper & just forgot about it. But I saw nothing.
The next day, I noticed that the smell was even worse. As I went to change Austin's diaper later that morning, I opened up the top drawer, and the smell hit me like a ton of bricks! I looked over into the right portion of the drawer, and there it was. A dirty diaper...a dirty, stinky, poopy diaper in the top drawer of the changing table. I called out to Brett and asked him about it. Turns out he was a little more tired from his cold on Tuesday than he had led on.
He kind of felt bad about it, but I had a good laugh. ;)

Austin was so sleepy one evening, he fell asleep in my lap.

Daddy & Austin playing

Take a close look at this picture. Austin is doing this really funny thing with his pacifiers lately. He looks like he's trying to put the whole thing in his mouth when he does this, but I think he's just trying to chew on the hard part because he's teething. Have I mentioned that Austin is teething? Infants Tylenol & Baby Orajel are our besties right now, but we do try to limit the use of them. That's what teething biscuits are for anyway, right?


Austin loves goin to town on his rice rusks. Yes, I do know about the choking hazard these things present. But I watch him the whole time and remove the pieces that start to give him trouble.



We got a Bumbo for Austin! I've been eying these at Target for a while and finally got one on ebay for $15 less (shipping included) than they sell at Target. It took him a day or two to get used to it, but he's been sitting up a lot better ever since we got it.
A friend of mine cautioned me against getting one because her baby kept tipping over in her's. But I had already bid on it and I won. I'm not worried about Austin tipping just yet. He's hardly top-heavy sitting in it. When he exceeds the weight limit for it, then I'll put it back on ebay. Until then, I'll just keep a close eye on him. :)


Anyway, that's all for now! Hopefully, next time I post will be about our adoption finalization and sealing! Until then, here's hoping you have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

The Chicken or The Egg?

You know those questions we all have that nobody but God knows that we just can't help but ponder anyway? You know, like "Which came first? The chicken or the egg?" Or "Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?" Ok, maybe not everyone wonders about the belly button, but you know what I mean. ;)

Well, one subject I just can't help but ponder is the widespread phenomenon of increased infertility and increased unwanted pregnancies lately. Are they related? Did God make so many women have fertility problems because there needed to be women like me who would need or want to adopt? Or did He let many young ladies get pregnant because He knew that so many women like me would experience infertility? Or maybe He created women like me, because He knew that Lucifer would tempt many young ladies into certain situations.

I just wonder, if I had been born into the same family 50 years ago, would I still have fertility problems? Would Austin be there for me to adopt?

I realize that everything happens for a reason. My life is the way it is because that is the way it is supposed to be. Things are the way they are because of God's plan for us. But I just can't help but wonder...

Please understand, that I don't mean to offend anyone by my curiosity. I'm just so ... curious. :)