Spring Cleaning

I did a bit of spring cleaning today. It has been on my mind a lot the last few days; we've had the kind of sunny mornings that make your house all bright and cheery...and show you all the dusty surfaces, dirty floors, etc. that you didn't notice in the winter gloom. But it was the refrigerator that I chose to attack today. I pulled out and washed drawers, discarded some items from the back that probably should have been long gone, and in general got the thing cleaner than it's been since we moved into this house.

I also went through several areas of our home and pulled out stuff I can donate to Goodwill. The most productive sorting I did was a big box of pictures/picture frames that has hardly been touched since we moved. Some were pictures that hung on the wall in previous homes, some were wedding presents that I have never used. I was brutal: in the end I think I decided to get rid of about 75% of the frames. I also found a few that I like and switched them out with frames in other places.

Pictures of me cleaning the fridge probably wouldn't be fun for you to look at, but I do have some pictures that came out of the frames I purged today. They go waaaay back. Wanna see?

High school graduation day, with Megan

Hanging out with Christy and Megan. I think this was during Christmas break one of my first few years of college.

Zach was in the Christian fraternity for one semester...it really wasn't his kind of group...but we had fun dressing up for the winter formal.

At a Travis Avenue Baptist college retreat, my junior year, I think. These girls (Mandy, Lauren, Rebecca, Leslie, Heather, Kara, and Heather) were among my closest friends in college. God blessed me so much through knowing them.

A self-portrait we took the night we got engaged.

Crawling

Austin is finally crawling, sort of. We have seen him go a few inches in the traditional style, but mostly he moves like this:

Rolling is also a preferred method of locomotion for our little guy. Can't blame him, really, with all the wood floors in our house. I know my knees have gotten sore from trying to show him how to crawl!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks.

This is how Austin really likes to move! He wants to stand up all day.

One night before bathtime we gave him a bowl of applesause, a spoon, and a few minutes of freedom. He covered himself in applesauce, ate absolutely nothing, but did put the spoon in his mouth repeatedly. I wouldn't do it every night, but it was fun to watch him experiment with independence.

My sweet baby boy, not looking much like a baby anymore!

Austin's New Buddy

Congratulations to my sweet friend Ashley and her hubby Patrick! Ashley patiently endured 41 weeks of pregnancy and finally welcomed little Benjamin early this morning. I went to visit this afternoon. Sigh--it was so great to hold a newborn again. Austin is not a snuggly little guy--I miss holding someone who doesn't fight to get out of your arms! And he's so little--I really had forgotten just how tiny babies are. So precious!

Whew!

I just finished hosting a neighborhood coffee for the IUP Women's Club. Good thing I decided to have it on a Thursday: it took a little bit of work every day this week (except for yesterday when it took a lot of work) to get everything ready, but I managed even with Austin rolling around requesting attention. I think ten or eleven people came, including a few fellow mommies who brought their kids, and we all had a good time eating and talking. As usual when I entertain, I have A TON of food left. I am already brainstorming uses for the leftover cheese from my cheese platter (quesadillas? pizza?) and if you live in the Indiana, PA area you just might get a surprise gift of baked goods.

But now I am worn out! There are dishes all over the kitchen waiting to be loaded in the dishwasher, platters that need to be washed and put away, a very crumby (that's a word, right?) tablecloth that needs to be shaken out...but I am sitting on my bed reading blogs and facebook updates while Austin naps. Sigh. I will be sorry later if I don't get up and do something about that mess soon...

Zoo Day

Zach is on Spring Break this week. Although he always finds plenty to keep him busy during time off from class, we set aside today for a family fun day. Since the weather was pretty nice we decided to go to the Pittsburgh Zoo. (We seem to have a thing for going to zoos during spring break. The first year we were in CA we went to the Santa Barbara Zoo ; a few years later found us at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park.) The zoo was fairly empty, which was great because there was never a crowd around any particular animal. We ate our lunch on a bench overlooking the gorilla enclosure, and had front row seats at elephant bathtime--probably couldn't do that on a visit in July.

Austin, understandably, is a little young to fully appreciate a zoo; I think seeing the other people walking around fascinated him more than the animals! He really loved the aquarium, though, maybe because the fish are only a few inches in front of you. We look forward to taking him back when he's a bit older.

Baby boy, baby elephant!

Austin watched this fish swim back and forth for several minutes. Adorable!

Pictures from our Trip

Grandma saved a bunch of toys from when I was little. Austin couldn't get enough of pulling on the string and watching the bear roll toward him.

Grandpa fed Austin breakfast most mornings.

That Uncle Andrew is always doing something silly.

Now here's something I never thought I'd see: my dad playing Rock Band. If you know my dad you understand.

You might remember from my trip last September that Aunt Megan's cats were wary of the little blond creature that came to visit. Nothing changed. Can you tell from the picture that Zadie is trying to back away from Austin?

Still not crawling or walking, but Austin is getting pretty steady on his feet if he has something to hold onto.

Headed home at last. We were fortunate to have a row to ourself on both legs of the flight.