18 Months and 27 Years

This month we've been celebrating!  Austin turned 18 months and Ryan turned (gasp!) 27 years old!  

So here are a few stats about our little 18 month old.

Height: 32" tall (42nd  percentile)

Weight: 23 lbs (14th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19.49" (90th percentile)

He has 10 teeth and is working on 2 more molars.  HOPEFULLY they will break through soon.

Austin is quite the climber.  Within seconds, he can be dancing on the table or standing at the top of the stairs.  He seems to love giving me a heart attack!  Austin will do anything for a laugh and loves to be silly.  He is also a total ham when it comes to pictures or video.  One of his first words (after Mama and Dada) was "CHEESE!"  Some of his other words are "Dog!" and "Choo Choo!"  Austin can eat anyone under the table.  (Given his weight stats, you would never guess that!)  Austin LOVES Sam and tries to copy everything Sam does.  All in all, he is one great little boy! 

Also celebrating this month is Ryan!  Happy 27th Birthday Ryan!  For his birthday, we had a favorite dinner...steak and veggie kabobs.  Mmmm.  And for dessert, a Tres Leches cake (at his request).  Here we are lighting the forest fire of candles.

Yummy!

Everyone seemed to like it, and the leftovers didn't last long.

This is the universal signal for, "More please!!!"

Showing off his new toys :)  New discs for disc golfing!

We love our boys!  Happy Birthday (& half birthday) to Ryan & Austin!

Disneyland Days 2 & 3

Day 2 at Disneyland!

The day started early again as we rode the shuttle to the Park.

This time we had Aunt Carly with us!  Sam was SO excited!

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And so was Austin :)

By the second day, waiting in lines got a little more interesting.  Sam & Grandpa would wrestle,

Austin would (occasionally) strike a pose,

and everyone wanted to be held.  Good thing we've been working out :)

Waking up the princess...(after knocking her down)

The highlight of the kids day?  Playing with the drinking fountains.

So glad we paid for a Disneyland trip.  So they could play in the fountains.

Later that afternoon, Ryan & I headed back to the hotel for a little nap/work break.  Sam was lucky enough to stay with Carly, Grandma, and Grandpa for some more fun!  First it was the Davy Crockett canoes.

The beautiful Grandma Susan and Aunt Carly :)

Thanks for hanging onto Sam for us Grandpa Jeff!

After the canoes, everyone went to explore Tom Sawyer Island/Pirates Lair.  Sam & Grandma got caught in a pirate trap :)

Crossing the "wiggly bridge" as Sam calls it.  

Disneyland took another victim.  After a long day, Sam insisted he wasn't tired.  5 minutes later, this is what we found.

Day 3---Disney's California Adventure!  

Toy Story Mania was a favorite!  But lets be honest, any ride with "shooters" is O.K. with Sam :)

Sam & Carly just chillin' with Pluto.

One of my most FAVORITE pictures from our trip.  Love that Sam almost disappears into Sully's fur :)

What is the perfect way to end the day?  A visit from Aunt Allison of COURSE!  Both boys were so excited to be with Al.  And so was I :)

The End!  Super early Sunday morning, we scarfed down some breakfast and headed to the airport.  It was a really, really fun trip, but we were all ready to go home and sleep!!!

Thanks again to Grandma Susan, Grandpa Jeff, Aunt Carly, and Aunt Allison for making the trip so fun!  We can't wait to go again!

Disneyland Day 1

We survived our very first family trip to Disneyland!  It was a fun-filled (and exhausting) 3 days, made even better by meeting up with grandparents, aunts, and friends throughout our stay.

[Special thanks to Grandma Susan, our unofficial photographer for the trip :)  Without you, we would not have any of these awesome pictures!]

Here's Sam just hanging out with Grandpa Jeff, waiting for the shuttle.

Running into the park!

The kids very first ride, Winnie the Pooh.  Austin's face says it all..."What ARE we doing?"

Sam loved the ride.  Half the fun of Disneyland was watching the kids' expressions on the rides.  The boys were always wide-eyed and would shout out when they saw something they recognized.  "Tigger!  Piglet!  Winnie-the-Pooh!"  

Everyone loves a train ride!

The boys wanted to sit in every vehicle they saw, especially Austin.

One of Sam's very favorite rides...Gadget's Go-Coaster.  You can tell by his face that this was his second ride and he was READY!

One of the highlights of my day, watching the kids see Mickey Mouse for the first time.  

The moment Sam saw Mickey he started running to give him a hug.  We had to hang onto him while we waited our turn.

Surprisingly enough, Austin loved Mickey too.  I was expecting him to be scared of a giant mouse, but he was super excited and tried to grab Mickey's nose.

Cheese!

While we were all munching on some sandwiches Sam spotted Goofy walking right past us.  He immediately RAN after Goofy and was so excited to get his picture taken.

We had so much fun with Grandma Susan & Grandpa Jeff :)

Getting a little goofy waiting for the rockets...

...until we got up close.  Then the rockets had the kids FULL attention.

Whhhheeeeee!!!!!

Sam the Astronaut steering the rocket.

Autopia, Sam's new favorite ride.

Grandpa Jeff was brave enough to let Sam drive.

It was SO nice to have another set of hands to hold the kids!  Thanks Mom & Dad!

Enjoying some yummy food at a "dinner-place", as Sam calls it.

After a much-needed nap & dinner, we headed back to the park for a parade,

a submarine ride, and Fantasmic!  (A really fun firework show)

Phew!  Busy, busy day but oh so much fun!

The Chore Chart

We have been trying to teach Sam (and Austin too) to help out with chores around the house.  So, we figured we might as well use our Disneyland trip as a motivator.  (Seriously, nothing motivates a kid like Disneyland. Even if he's never been there.)

Here's the lovely chart.  Love the look on his face here.

All smiles unloading the silverware.  Who knew chores could be so fun?

Ignore the large bruise/scrape on Austin's head in the video.  We are contemplating making him wear a helmet at all times :)

After the first few days, I started to notice a pattern in Sam's sticker choices :)

All Done!  Time for DISNEYLAND!!!