Austin Tyrel is 2

My littlest little one turned 2 on Wednesday, May 20th. I just cannot believe how time flies. We will have his birthday party on Saturday so I will post pictures after that. I wasn't sure what kind of cake to do for him cause he didn't seem to be "into" anything in particular like Logan was into Elmo or excavators. After thinking about it for a while we realized he is very into baseball right now. I should have thought of that since I am having to throw a ball at him all day while he tries to catch it or hit it with whatever he has found to use as a bat. We bought both Logan and Austin their own glove and bats with balls since they both wanted to be like Brandon and Autumn.

He is my little Baby Bug and always has a smile on his face for me. He LOVES riding horses and will often throw a bit of a fit when its someone else's turn. It makes me a tad bit nervous since he thinks those horses love him so much he can just walk up and pat them on their head or butt or leg. They do love him cause he is the one that will bring out 2 or 3 tablespoons of grain at a time when they are being brushed down for riding.

He gives the sweetest kisses. And then wipes them off to see the reaction. Its almost automatic now - kiss, wipe, smile.

I remember the day he was born. We didn't find out if he was going to be a boy or a girl and I told the midwife and nurses present that I didn't want anyone in the room to announce it except for myself or Dave. I wanted us to be able to discover it ourselves. When he was born and plopped up on my stomach, it didn't even occur to me to look. I was just so happy to have him in my arms and to hear him cry. Of course I was sorta wishing for a girl, but at that point it didn't even matter. He was healthy and crying and here. It took me a few minutes to say, "wait, what do we have here?". Of course after discovering he was a boy, I was overjoyed. There was no regrets at all. He was perfect. He was born at 3:27 PM on May 20, 2007 weighing in at 9 lbs 4 oz.

Checking in and updates!

Its been a while and I am tired of seeing my picture up everytime I go to my blog.

I had a good Mother's Day. I told Dave ahead of time what I wanted to do and that is what we did. There was a Parade of Stallions going on that day at the fairgrounds and there was to be horses for sale there too. Since we are in the market for a horse or 2, I thought that would be a fun way to spend some time. Plus I was really looking forward to seeing some flashy stallions. It was a good time but there were only 3 horses for sale and none that were in our price range or league.

I told Dave I didn't want any gifts for mothers day, just to spend time with the kids and him. So he didn't get me anything, but Kristen had to work all day so she got me some roses the day before. There are so pretty still. Autumn wrote me a poem that was very nice:

Nanabug (Joanna)

Thanks for being the best you can be.

Thanks for being the mom that I need.

Thanks for taking care of me.

Thanks for looking out for me.

Thanks for understanding me.

Thanks for taking time off from what you're doing just for me.

Thanks for being there when I need you.

But most of all thanks for loving me.

I love you.

Oh and thanks for feeding me. :)

~Autumn~

Those are the types of things that make me believe that I am doing alright by my step-daughters.

Brandon got me a nice card, sunglasses (which I desperately needed!) and a pack of gum. After the Parade of Stallions we went and had lunch and then headed over to Home Depot to finish up designing our kitchen and picking out our countertop and then headed over to Target to get a few things. Overall it was a nice relaxing, enjoyable day.

We are winding up our school year here. Brandon needs to be done by May 21st and I will have to hand in grades on the 22nd. Autumn is done on the 21st after her 8th grade graduation ceremony. I think Kristen is the only one who will have to go to school on the 22nd, which is the official last day of school.

Brandon and Autumn are both in baseball and softball. The both enjoy it a lot and have had lots of practices (everyday!!!). I think Brandon's first game is on the 17th and Autumn's is on the 21st. Her team this year is a combined Jrs and Srs team, since they didn't have enough 13-14 yr olds or enough 15-16 yr olds to make the 2 separate teams. So they will be playing both Jr. teams and Sr. teams. It should be interesting. I am not very fond of her coach up to this point. I think he must have a terrible case of jock itch or something cause he is CONSTANTLY scratching at his butt and crotch. Its to the point where everyone notices and he doesn't even care who sees him. Its pretty disgusting. I wonder if the other parent's have notices or not??!

Our Baby Bean is doing great. We let Dozer and Bean out of their pasture just about everyday to just graze our lawn and they just love it. Baby Bean will tear off running doing crazy 8's all over the lawn and then Dozer will get all worked up and take chase. Its quite comical. If you lay down on the lawn, Baby Bean will come up and nibble on you and check you out. She is very curious. She is teething though right now, currently has 4 teeth that have come in. They are doing great. Brandy is also such a good horse. We have been riding her frequently and she does great. I had to give her a tiny tune-up after that long winter of not riding, but she is doing great now. I am teaching Brandon how to ride and he is very excited about learning.

There is a friend of the family who just recently gave birth to twin girls. It was a miracle that she was even able to have children. She is currently in remission from cancer and just recently had a scan that revealed something. Her name is Yvonne Ortiz and if you could all keep her in your prayers right now, she could really use them. Her babies were just born at 34-35 weeks last weekend and around 4 lbs each, so they are still in the hospital for a few weeks and Yvonne is very tired and feeling kinda sickly right now. Please send positive thoughts and prayers for her and her babies!