Austin turns ONE!

March 3, 2011

I cannot believe my baby is one year old today. My how the time does fly. Here is a picture of little Austin actually asleep in his crib the morning of his actual birthday. His birthday bash was the previous weekend.

The best present of all, Austin Edward Semmler. Here he is at his first birthday, he has done all his milestones earlier than what Savannah did when she was little, but he has her to follow and keep up with. He started crawling early, then straight to standing and walking by the time he was 10 months old. Cannot wait to see him develop more and see what joy he can bring to the family and become.

Even though you give your mommy and daddy a run for our money, we love you with all of our hearts. We don't mind that you are all boy and love dirt, water, running and throwing things, but all we ask is that you learn to sleep all night and on a consistent basis.Oh I forgot to mention, how Austin was not really a big fan of his cake. Prior to his birthday party we took him to get his pictures taken. We undressed him down to his diaper, placed balloons next to him, then placed a cake in front of him. I figured he would love it, but instead just kind of looked at it. Finally I took my hand and gave him a bit, still nothing. I then proceeded to take his hand and dig it into the cake. At this point, he went ballistic. He started screaming and crying, he wanted nothing to do with the cake and especially didn't like being messy. We immediately grabbed a few pics of him crying and the swept him up and got him cleaned up. Once back in his clothes he was fine. Now when we gave him cake for his birthday, he liked it, but we had to feed him his cake with a fork. Not sure about this boy sometimes.

Birthday Bash

You all know how Ricky has been dying to go to Vegas, right? Well since this year was a big numbered birthday for me, guess where he said he was taking me for my 30th birthday? You guessed it, we went to Vegas. Not that I don't like Vegas myself and to see my cousin, but do you think this was my idea? We took the kiddos to Nanny and Papaw's and to Nanny Nancy's house for a couple of days and off we went just the two of us. We were gonna spend 3 days away from the kids and enjoy ourselves. We got to hang with Andy and Christina a few days, eat lots of good food, and gamble away all our money. No big winnings for this birthday boy and girl. This was the first time that we have ever been to Vegas and actually went to a show. We went and saw the The Blue Man group, which was really awesome. We had a great time just the two of us and it was a nice little refresher away from the kiddos.

The next day we got home from Vegas, we had tickets to take the kids to see Toy story 3 on Ice. I had bought these tickets way in advance and knew Savannah would love it. When we told her we were going she was so excited and could not wait. When we got there, we of course had to browse the souvenirs and of course daddy couldn't tell Savannah no. Good thing Austin was still a bit young and didn't want a souvenir of his own.

Savannah loves "Lotso" cause she is a hugger!

Austin loved when Barbie was skating along with Ken, they were playing the music, I'm a Barbie Girl. He was a bouncing on Ricky's lap, a clappin, and a screamin. I had never seen him get so ecstatic, it was hilarious. All the people around us thought it was so cute and were laughing at him as well. I asked Ricky if that was a good thing or a bad thing, Austin liking Barbie. He stated, "it's because she is a girl and is good looking, it is a good thing."

We all had a good time at Toy Story 3 on Ice.

Long time....

Okay, so I realize I am way behind and have not blogged since October but cut me some slack. This whole second child has been more of a transition for us and we are trying to stay above water. Things are much easier and we are now in somewhat of a routine, but blogging is just not up on the priority list these days. Here are some of my favorite pictures that I will just recap.

Here is the best family photo that we could get of the four of us around Christmas time.

As you all know, this winter was bitterly cold and snowy. Here are the kids and Ricky playing in the snow. As you see below, it appears Savannah was down for the count and Bear decided she was fair game. Austin loved the snow until he was put down and had to crawl in it. Apparently, it was too cold to touch, he is a smart boy!

This next picture is one of my favorites. Here is Austin getting a bath in the sink. I believe it was one of his last in the sink because as you see, he was getting a little too big and splashing all over the place.

The Harlem Globetrotters came to Terre Haute and played at the ISU arena and guess who the special guest of honor was? You guessed it, WTHI Sports Director, Rick Semmler. He got to play with the team in the first half of the game. It was quite funny to see Ricky compared to these tall, big guys and how they made fun of him. After the game, Savannah was able to get some autographs on her basketball and even one of the guys gave her his personal wrist sweatband. Here we are all in our new Colts gear we got for Christmas, thanks to Nanny and Papaw Semmler.
This year Savannah really got into the Christmas spirit. She was always excited to see Santa and enjoyed all the season festivities. Austin, well had his moments. There were times he would sit on Santa's lap and then there were times he wouldn't. This just happens to be one of those good moments. Below are just a few of the pictures we got from Portrait Innovations before Christmas and to place on our Christmas cards.

Halloween Happenings!

This Halloween season we had lots and lots of fun. We were able to do and go to everything we wanted. It all started with going to the pumpkin patches and picking out our pumpkins. Once Savannah found the perfect pumpkin, which let me tell you she took forever finding it, we took it home. She carried it around for days treating it like her baby and pampering it. Finally she let us carve it out. Here are the kids cleaning out the pumpkin guts. Austin, however, was not a big fan. One day while we were shopping (surprise) at Toys R Us, we were checking out the halloween costumes. Savannah saw the perfect outfit and spotted a very sparkly dress. To my surprise she did not want to be a princess, but she wanted to be Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. I loved the idea and my mind went wondering from there....

Bear got lucky and got an outfit this year too. Not that he was any too happy, but he sure did make a good Bat Bear. Thanks Kermie for being to little for the costume and sharing it with Bear.Here is Savannah and her best bud, McKinley at the Indianapolis Zoo Boo event. They make such a great pair. I hope it continues and they remain friends for years to come.
The best part of this Halloween was coming up with the family costumes. I had a great time. Once Savannah decide to be Dorothy, I decided we would do the Wizard of Oz theme as a family. Usually we don't dress up, but since my aunt was having a Halloween Party and you were supposed to be in costume, I thought this was perfect. So I found Austin the cutest Lion outfit. Last was coming up with the scarecrow and the tin man. If you can imagine, Ricky was not too fond of my ideas, but being a good man that he is, he went with it. Well after a lot of thought I finally found and came up with the tin man gear. Above is Ricky the Tin Man and to my surprise, he won the best costume at my aunts party.
Here we all are as the Wizard of Oz. I really got into the Halloween season this year. Not only was coming up with the cosumes fun, but this year trick or treating was just as fun. Savannah really got into this year. Last year we had to carry her and only go to a few select houses. This year was a totally different story. We started off with a few houses in our neighborhood then headed out to the Calleja's (1 of their sitters) to do some trick or treating. Once in the other neighborhood, Savannah really took off and was eager to go. She walked the whole neighborhood and it is not a small hood to say the least. She even walked up to every door by herself, but before heading to the door, she would repeat, "are you sure?" It became more of a joke than anything. Here she is trick or treating and getting into the Halloween spirit. My little girl is growing up and Austin is not too far behind.
Happy Halloween and next year will be hard to top.

Pumpking Works 2010

Monday, we went to one of our favorite fall activities. About 20minutes from T.H is a place called Pumpkin Works. Here they have corn mazes, hay rides, and all kinds of inside mazes. There are many activities for the kids to enjoy and have fun in at, both scary and non scary. There were to many pictures to choose from so here is a slideshow of how much fun we had.

First Baptist Preschool

Well as I stated back in August, Savannah is now an official
Terre Haute First Baptist Preschooler. We thought this would be a hard transition for her since it is early in the morning, but we have had no problems. She now wakes up daily before 9:00 am, which is not always good for mommy and daddy, but we will take it. She absolutely loves preschool and has already learned lots. She comes home with something new every Tuesday and Thursday. Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to go on a field trip with the class and see how Savannah acts and handles things while in school. When I first arrived, Savannah didn't see me enter the room, which I was glad. I got to see her reactions and actions towards Miss Dawn and how she does follow instructions. When Savannah did spot me at the door, she stood up and loudly stated, Hey that's my mommy at the door. It was priceless. That day was a beautiful day. Dobb's Park is right across from the school so we walked over there and toured the park. On our travels to the park, the kids were to pick up leaves and any cool treasures along the way. There were many pretty leaves as it is starting to turn into fall.

Here is a picture of everyone in her class.They are all so cute and well mannered little beings.

Lowe's Build and Grow Clinics

Since before Austin and when I was on bedrest, Savannah got to partake in these clinics. One Saturday morning, our good friend, Lynn, took Savannah to one of these. Lowe's has these clinics for kids to make their own projects using hammer and nails. They make fun things like tic tac toe boxes, basketball goals, bug boxes, etc. Savannah has been to a few with Lynn and McKinley and Lynn has even just picked up a few for us. Several weekends ago, the whole family got to go for the first time. We had a great time.
Mommy and Savannah using the hammer and nails to put together our project. Savannah has got quite the skills for this especially since her daddy hasn't taught her anything she knows (being a handy man and all.)
Austin had to be a part of this experience. You see Savannah received an apron and goggles for safety the first time she came. They are supposed to wear these while building, but Savannah did not want to wear hers so Austin got the chance.
Here is Savannah and her final project for the week. It is a dog leash holder. It works well in the garage and she smiles everytime we use it. This is great fun and gives great experiences to kids and the best part is it's FREE. What else can I say?