Thumper

This morning at 4:30 I woke up to a constant "thumping" noise. As I lay there trying to figure out what it was, I realized that it was Austin lifting his legs up and thumping them down. I could hear his diaper crinkle as he lifted his legs up. It went like this: lift up and "thump", lift up and "thump", lift up and "thump". He was wide awake, but at least he didn't wake up the whole house and he did go right back to sleep after I nursed him.

Austin still loves his baths, to be outside, music, and rocking out on his bouncer seat. He has also gotten into the habit of sucking on his hand. He loves his baths so much that he will laugh as I take his clothes off, in anticipation of the event. He kicked for ten minutes straight, splashing me with the 1/2 inch of water there was, during a recent bath. His eyes were as big as quarters and his mouth was in an "oooh" shape as he flapped his arms and kicked like crazy. Maybe he'll be a swimmer like the rest of his mom's side!

Lost and Found

On Tuesday we enjoyed going to the temple for our Stake Temple day. The kids were at the church across from the temple, with me and other kids and moms the first two hours, and with the next shift of moms the second two hours. Victoria and Karissa had a ball, Austin didn't know the difference, he was just glad to have me back to nurse him on time, and Jason and I got to go through a session together! Since we were near the only Baja Fresh in the area that we know of, we decided to eat dinner there to finish off the day (it's one of my favorite places to eat!) When we returned, we didn't see Yoda (our cat). We assumed he must have been out when we left, but we didn't worry about it. We thought he'd be home soon , or in the middle of the night, as he sometimes does when he's out on the town. When he wasn't home the next morning, we got a little worried.

Yoda is a different cat. He doesn't even jump over baby gates, let alone a fence without something to jump off of to give him a boost! He's never gone more than 12 hours. He likes to come home to rest and eat, though I prefer it that way so he doesn't get into too much trouble. He is a big cat, 13 lbs., and has his claws.

The last time we "lost" him was in Delaware. He was gone 3 days and it turned out he was "stuck" in our next-door-neighbors' garage! (He actually wasn't "stuck", just too freaked out to leave the garage when it was open.) So this time, Wednesday morning, the kids and I went to all the neighbors in our cul-de-sac and asked them to open their garages in case he was "stuck" in one of them. We had no luck, but there were two left we were going to do later when the owners returned. One of them was Victoria's friend Bethany's house. When they came back we played in their backyard for about an hour. When we left they opened their garage for us, though we didn't see or hear Yoda. The next morning I was worried sick. I thought maybe someone who didn't know him called someone to pick him up. I gave his information to the police station and found directions to the local humane society. While I was getting ready in my bathroom with my window open, I heard a weird screeching sound, a dog bark, and a scream. Minutes later Bethany's mom called me and told me Yoda was in her yard attacking her dog! When I went over there, Yoda was in the corner of their yard, (our yard was right on the other side, he could have eaten our grass through the fence!) molting and hissing at the dog. I was scared to pick him up, he was so freaked out. I helped get the dog back into their house and when Yoda calmed down a bit, I picked him up and took him home.

So he was next door, probably in their garage at first since we didn't see him in the yard when we were there Wednesday, and couldn't get home because he could not jump over the fence! We think he's a little wimpy, but we love him anyhow. The next time he goes missing, I'll not sweat about it. He'll just be stuck in someone's garage or yard again!

Correction

My husband called me on my spelling blunder of "stalker". That's what I get when I'm in a hurry!

The Stocker

There was a cardinal stocking Yoda, our cat, for over a week, before the family came (all the extra kids must have scared him away). Whenever Yoda went outside the bird would chirp and bounce around like crazy, just above Yoda in the tree or on the deck railing. If Yoda was in the front, the bird would chirp in the front tree. He even chirped at Yoda from outside where there is a tree next to a window that contains Yoda's "bed". Through the whole thing Yoda would just lay there, cool as can be, not paying any mind to the beautiful bird.

Sweetness

Here is a sweet video clip of Karissa singing "I am a Child of God" to Austin. He was cooing back at her, it was so sweet! Of course Victoria wanted to share the moment so they had a little squabble over Austin, which isn't unusual.

Cousins

It was a fun-filled week with the cousins here from Utah. We played in the front yard in the cul-de-sac on bikes and cars, in the back yard on the swing set, in the sandbox, and in the little pool, went to some lakes, parks, the library, and a magic show. And of course there was someone always eating, especially 18 month-old Calvin! My kids learned, not soon enough, to come and eat when Mom calls, otherwise all the food will be gone! They also learned to share their toys, which they did very well with.

Overall, it was a very enjoyable week. Karissa kept asking after her cousins left, "Where are my friends?" She enjoyed having a lot of attention from her cousins, especially since they thought she was a 2 year old prodigy, singing her ABC's and counting for them.

Jason and I have since decided, though, that we do not want to have eight kids!

Special Weekend

On Friday, Jason and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. To make the day more special, we welcomed my mom and my sister and her family to our home. We had fun at the lake on Saturday with everyone and on Sunday, we blessed Austin at church. He was wide awake and quiet throughout the entire blessing, as is his usual laid-back self. Here are some pictures on Sunday. This blog will be short and and sweet so I can go visit with the family.