Ridiculous? I Think So.

Austin went to the doctor a week and a half ago for his 12 month checkup. Seemed like a pretty normal visit: weight, height, scheduled vaccines, etc. The diaper rash we've been dealing with on and off for months had flared up again, so Dr. Jabir recommended hydrocortisone cream again and said to call her if it didn't work.

I got my "Explanation of Benefits" this weekend from the insurance company and noticed that they were billed for both a preventive care visit and and an outpatient/office visit. I thought that was odd so I called the person in charge of billing to see if there had been a mistake. Turns out, Austin's rash (or anything else, however minor, that represents a less than 100% healthy child) that gets looked at during a regular visit gets charged like a separate visit. My insurance was charged an extra $55 for something that took less than 30 seconds of the doctor's time! Does that seem a little shady to anyone else? No wonder health insurance is so outrageously expensive.

Rough Night Update

Zach and I finally resorted to hiding in the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, we have ourselves a sleeping baby. Should have done that an hour ago, I guess. He didn't even cry. We'll keep that in mind for future travels. Anyway, we crept back into the room like burglars and are settling down to watch a movie on our laptop. (Gotta love the dual headphone jack feature.) So now...how long will Austin stay asleep?

I Think We're in for a Rough Night...

I am currently sitting on the bed in a hotel in Charleston, WV. Zach is across the room trying to pat Austin to sleep in his pack n play. This activity has been going on for approximately the last hour and a half. We've tried shushing him, singing to him, walking around with him, and just letting him sit/stand and amuse himself by pulling his socks off. Despite having been awake since 1 pm, he seems 100% awake. Zach just whispered "Austin, it's time to go to bed" in a rather stern voice. I don't think Austin got the message. On the upside, Austin also seems quite happy, even amused by all our efforts. Better than yelling his head off.

Sheesh. To think, I once actually wondered if we were crazy to contemplate a weeklong hotel stay with a ten week old. Little did I know how easy that would be compared to this!

New Skills All the Time

Two weeks ago Austin could hardly crawl. Now he can do that and more. He is moving all over the house and pulling up on everything. He would walk around all day with his push toys if he had the chance. And when Zach put him on the stairs today and he immediately figured out how to climb them...wow.

Got to throw in some funny pics from the last few weeks. This is how Zach found Austin in his crib one morning recently.

And here is my little secretary sorting some papers I was tearing out of an old owner's manual to prepare for recycling. He kept himself occupied for twenty minutes!

Finally, Austin with his beloved Grandma Susan. He was more interested in the cars driving by than in smiling at the camera, but I got this shot which I thought was pretty cute.

Birthday Fun, Part Two

Austin had a birthday party today. Five little friends (all boys, coincidentally) and their mommies and daddies came. Austin handled himself very well; he did all the things little birthday boys are supposed to do...

...play with balloons......open presents...

...blow out candles...

...eat cake......eat more cake...

...and enjoy the company of family and friends!

Okay, I have to back up and show some pictures of the cake, pre-Austin attack. I will admit, I am rather proud of this cake. I saw the idea in a book, and my mom and Megan helped it become a reality. I am so thankful for them--they came here to party and I put them to work as cake decorators! I could not have done this on my own!

Birthday Fun, Part One

Austin turned ONE yesterday. To celebrate this passage from babyhood to little boy, we decided it was time for his first haircut. Since Aunt Megan and Grandma Susan came to town to celebrate his birthday, we took quite a crowd to the salon.

Before...

During... (as you can see, some snacks were involved to keep our little guy calm)

After...

Fun Discovery

This afternoon I was looking through a scrapbook of our childhood that my sister made me for my wedding, and I found this picture of me and my Grandma Irene.

Am I the only one who looked at that and thought "wow, that looks like Austin"? I don't think I have any good pictures to show it, but he does that exact biting-the-lower-lip thing. Something like this:

So fun.

Quick Trip to Texas

Our family traveled to Texas last weekend for Zach's Aunt Debbie's wedding. We flew into DFW around midnight Thursday (remind me never to do that again with a young child) and then drove down to Austin Friday morning. The weather was springy, the wedding was beautiful, and we enjoyed catching up with some family we hadn't seen in a few years. Zach had to leave early Sunday morning to get back to work, but Austin and I stuck around with Gran and Pops until Tuesday. It was a fun and relaxing trip but over way too quickly.

Austin pretending to be an airplane the day before we left.

Austin playing with an airplane in the kids' area at the Pittsburgh airport. I tell you, every airport should have a place like this.

Technically it is still a week until Austin's birthday, but since we were with family we cheated a bit and celebrated his birthday early.

Little boy, big present.

Austin ate a bit of his cake but mostly he enjoyed squeezing it in his hands.

I'm sure this is what the hotel had in mind when they put laundry baskets in the closet!

Three handsome Collins men

We ate breakfast with Zach's cousin Josh and his family. Here are Austin and his nine month old second cousin Anthony getting to know each other.

My college buddy Heather lives in Austin so we got together for lunch.

Hands down, my favorite development of the last few weeks is Austin learning to give hugs!

Okay, this isn't from the trip...I stacked some blocks for Austin today, then he did it himself! Pretty cool to see how he is figuring out new things like that all the time.

New Trick

I put Austin to bed like usual tonight. He fussed for a few minutes, then quieted down. "Good," I thought, "He is getting back into his routine after our trip to Texas." I peeked in the door and was greeted by his smiling face peering over the crib rail. I already knew he could pull up on the futon, the laundry basket, etc. but he has never tried to stand in his crib before; he usually goes to sleep pretty quickly. Good thing I moved the mattress down a few weeks ago just in case!

Now, by the way, Austin is wailing in his room because I made him lay down again. Life is so rough.

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.