Earlier Mornings

Auggie didn't start truly sleeping through the night until he was 6 months old. Now I feel like I should relish the amount he sleeps: 9 pm to 9 am. Lately, he's even been pushing it to 10 am!  And anyone who knows just a little bit about me, knows how much I love my sleep!

But 10 is really pushing it, so this week we have started waking up between 8 and 8:30 am. Since he's been a little earlier, he's been going down for his naps earlier and even bed time has been a little bit earlier. I'm hoping we can get this schedule to stick so I can also get on a better sleeping schedule.

Auggie had his last speech therapy appointment on Monday under our old insurance. Darlene, the speech therapist, re-evaluated Auggie so she could complete a report and send it on to Auggie's craniofacial team and pediatrician. She recommended continuing speech therapy at least once a week and then another re-evaluation in 6 months. That seems pretty typical during an evaluation. She evaluated Auggie to be at 24 months for Language Comprehension, 25 months for Language Expression and 26 months for Nonverbal Thinking. She noted that there were no significant weaknesses in any of those categories! YAY! Darlene is very happy with the progress of lip closure when talking and the amount of words he is saying.

Tim and I are both hoping our work with him at home and through the speech therapy, it will keep the phrase "Auggie needs surgery soon" out of his annual appointment with his craniofacial team. We have a little more than 2 months until that appointment- 2 more months to improve! I'm also hoping Auggie will let (at least) one of his doctors into his mouth so they can see for sure if he has a submucous cleft palate as they suspected when he was born. The submucous cleft is the reason why we're sending him to therapy and taking so much action with his speech. Maybe they'll tell us in November that it'll just need to be watched and maybe we won't have to do anything until he's older. Maybe?

We've started his auditory appointments back up through ECI. We're very happy to have our regular therapist back, Melinda. We enjoyed our 2 replacements over the summer but it's nice to have her back! Auggie has grown up and learned so much since she's been gone.

We've also been taking advantage of the nice weather we've been having. Hurricane Isaac is providing us an awesome breeze today. It'd be very hot out in the sun without it! We've gone to the park a few times this week and even attempted to feed the ducks at Brother's Pond Park. They weren't too interested but Auggie enjoyed watching the turtles and small fish eat the crackers. I'm sure I would've let him, Auggie would've been right in the water with them!

Being silly during lunch

Got a few cute snapshots of Auggie in the backyard on Monday

Peeking out from the playground Wednesday morning

He's gotten so big! He can get up to the slide (and down) without any help!

Back by Popular Demand ;)

I'm still slacking on keeping Auggie's blog updated.. Sorry to everyone who reads! I'm thinking about going back to writing twice a week so I can get everything in. I'll get back on track, I promise!

Speech has been going very well for Auggie. We're down to one time a week since the therapist doesn't have any openings that work with Auggie's schedule. But Tim and I are working with him every day so it hopefully won't be a problem. Auggie's been picking up words left and right. But when I say "picking up," most of the time his words are mimics.. not exactly straight forward. He's still trying, though! Here are a few videos of him talking....

Auggie learned how to say and sign"orange." It's one of his favorite colors to say now.


Auggie going through one of his favorite books with Mommy


Auggie also learned how to say Grampa's favorite phrase! ;)


Signing is also going well. He's learning his colors- "blue," "yellow," "orange," "green," and "red." And he can point them out, too! Well, most of the time anyway! I taught him how to sign "police car" the other day because there have been quite a few around lately. He's also really using his hands to communicate and we think he's making up his own signs. 

It finally cooled down this week and by "cooled down," I mean, it's finally in the low 90's. It was hard keeping Auggie inside during the day so I finally made a little toy to keep him busy and cool when we went outside. I found this before Pinterest made its debut and couldn't wait to try it out. You take a container, fill it with water and put a few water safe toys in and then freeze it. Once it is frozen, you take it outside and have the kids play with it. I eventually got out a real hammer to see what Auggie would do with it but he wasn't too interested in the hammer. He had more fun throwing the big block of ice around on the driveway!

(Click on photo to enlarge)
First Row: Auggie playing with stickers; Auggie wearing his sunglasses
Second Row: Eating bread at Cotton Patch; Eating Gogurt
Third Row: First time in a car cart; Chilling with Aunt Kayla at Cotton Patch
Fourth Row: Milk before naptime; He loved the big red truck at the NWTF Banquet

We went to the National Wild Turkey Federation Banquet Tuesday night. Tim's a committee member so he was up there working. Auggie and I couldn't stay long because Auggie wanted to be held by Tim the whole time... Either that or getting into the games he was too young to participate in. Auggie also all about the red Toyota Tundra and glittery fishing boat on display. We left after dinner but missed all the live auction excitement. Kayla and Darren were home with their parents, Darrell and Sheila, so we visited with them for a while. Auggie was perfect while we sat at dinner with them at Cotton Patch. He actually ate a little more than half of a roll! I was super happy for him! I'm sure he was being so good because he was the center of attention. He's going to be such a ham when he gets a little older!

Well, I'll have a bit more of what Auggie's been up to next week! Enjoy your last weekend in August!

Oh, it's a WHALE of a tale!

Auggie picked up another sign over the past week or so. He's been signing "whale." He gets so excited when he signs it that it takes me and Tim a little bit to figure out what he's signing. Can you guess why he signs it so much? That's right... Finding Nemo! He's learned how to say "Nemo" so now he comes up to one of us with the DVD, signs fish and says "Nemo." I am so happy with his communication skills!

Monday, Jessica invited us down to Brenham to visit Blue Bell and to go swimming at the pool down the road. We had a great day! Laci, Ben and Auggie had fun chasing each other around. The tour around Blue Bell was very cool. I was surprised it was only $5 for adults and $3 for kids 6-14. If you love their ice cream, it's definitely something to go see. You even get a free scoop of ice cream at the end of the tour! We went to the Blue Bell Aquatic Center afterward. Auggie wanted to run around like he has in the past when we're at the pool but he had fun. He slept all the way home and then some when we got home. The aquatic center had lots of things to keep the kids entertained- slides, basketball goal, playground outside of the pool and an obstacle course over the water. We had lunch with Jessica, Ben and Laci and then we went our separate ways... That cranky period of time when it should be nap time but they're not sleeping was coming very fast! Auggie was asleep by the time we left Brenham city limits, so I had a very quiet drive home.

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First Row: Mommy, Auggie and Blue Bell the cow; Laci, Ben & Auggie
Second Row: The kids wouldn't stand still!; Ben and Laci with their ice cream
Third Row: Laci, Ben and Auggie with an old ice cream truck; Auggie wanted to ride Blue Bell
Fourth Row: (cultivated) Blue Bells planted in their flower beds; Ben, Laci and Auggie

Over the weekend, we drove up to Krum to celebrate Zoe's first birthday! I can't believe she's already one. She had a great birthday (aside from plumbing issues Jamie and Zach had to deal with). It looked like she wasn't too sure what to think about all the people and being the center of attention but she dealt with it all great! She liked her new toys and loved standing up and sitting in her Cracker Barrel rocking chair from her Gramma & Grampa and her aunts and uncles on the Rigby side.

We went to another birthday party the last weekend in July. It was for our friend's son, Cinco. He had his party at PowerSports- a gymnastics place in town. The kids had a blast playing on the balance beams, inflatable obstacle course, trampoline runway, foam pit and bouncy floors. Auggie liked crawling up the inflatable slide a lot! I didn't think he'd actually be able to get all the way up but he made it... and I had to make an incredible drive to catch him when he tried sliding down the ladder part.  Tim and I thought about having Auggie's 2nd birthday party there but figured a park would be better.

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First Row: Kids playing; Auggie and Daddy at PowerSports
Second Row: Zoe's first smash cake; Auggie hitting the piñata
Third Row: Auggie taking a break; Sliding down the slide at PowerSports
Fourth Row: Zoe and Jamie checking out a present; Zoe posing

"I Know... I Know"

I know, I have been slacking in the update department but... "I know" is also Auggie new phrase! Well, it's really the only consistent and clear 2-word phrase he has. I'm pretty sure it started from me saying it to Drake when he asked questions last week. He sounds so cute when he says it.



We've been pretty busy here lately. I knew June was going to fly by because we went out of town every weekend... but July went by just as quickly. We've had a lot of unexpected trips. I can't believe it's already August!

To recap our July:

We celebrated the July 4 holiday in Giddings and Round Top. Auggie enjoyed the parade in Round Top. What was there not to like- candy, horses, cows, cars and tractors! Auggie loved all of it.

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First Row: Playing with one of Tim's old toys; Signing "horse" at the parade
Second Row: Petting a bunny; Waving to the people in the parade
Third Row: Riding the hobby horses with Daddy; Tossing rocks
Fourth Row: Riding the hobby horses with Mommy; The family

The next week, Auggie & I were sick. Nothing serious, just a summer cold, I'm sure. Tim let me sleep it off. I was very thankful for that. I felt better just in time for us to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. Tim surprised me with a trip to Fredericksburg while Jessica and Ben watched Auggie. We had a great and very relaxing day!

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First Row: Auggie and Ben playing trains; part of Pedernales Falls
Second Row: Our sleeping arrangements; Auggie wearing large sunglasses
Third Row: Tunnel Cave for a bat emergence; Tim & I
Fourth Row: Being goofy with MawMaw; Auggie playing with a popgun

Shannon's (one of my best friends) birthday was on the 24th so I surprised her the weekend before her birthday. Little did she know, she also got surprised by her boyfriend, Cole... He asked her marry him during her birthday celebration at the beach. (She said yes, by the way!)

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First Row: Sydelle, Shannon and Me; Cole & Shannon about to be surprised
Second Row: Auggie in the front seat of the car; Playing at the pool
Third Row: New sippy cup!; Auggie LOVES stickers
Fourth Row: a pool side snack; Pretty flowers taken by Tim

In between going out of town, Auggie and I spent a few days at the pool. He enjoys going down the slide on his stomach even though the lifeguards try to keep him from doing it. Auggie has also found another thing he can't get enough of- STICKERS! His speech therapists have gotten him hooked on them. He likes to put them on his hands and then put them on me or Tim. It's pretty entertaining and luckily, for me, it'll keep him still. I've gotten through Wal Mart with him absorbed in a sheet of Thomas the Train stickers. Whatever works, right??

Things will be slowing down some more so I'll get back into the routine of updating more. 

"I Love You"

Auggie is getting more and more verbal. I don't know if it is his speech appointments at work or if it's just his age... Whatever it is, I love hearing him speak. Tuesday morning Auggie said "waffle." I stopped what I was doing because I so excited. He, however, was very excited about his waffle for breakfast! He's not using the "b" or "p" noises I try to work on but it's a new word! Tim and I have also been working on saying "I love you" more. We'll say it and then sign it and he'll copy the inflection of our voices and shake his hand at us. I shake my hand when I sign "I love you" so he recognizes that I'm trying to get him to look at my hand.

Auggie's speech appointments have been going well. He sees two different therapists- one specializes in cleft palates (Thursdays) and the other one specializes in younger kids (Mondays). Auggie seems to enjoy the lady he sees on Mondays more because he usually talks up a storm with her and actually plays with her and the toys she brings out. We'll continue to go until November or until we don't think its helping anymore... We'll see which one comes first.

Auggie and I spent the weekend in La Porte so we could attend the Microtia picnic (click the link for more information on the ear condition). It was great meeting everyone there. I met two craniofacial doctors- one from Boise, Idaho and the other from San Antonio. I really wish Tim was there to meet them because I'm awful at coming up with questions. He wasn't able to go with us (he had to stay here while our tenants moved out) but I know he would've enjoyed it and asked the appropriate questions. It rained (or threatened to rain) the whole time we were there so the kids couldn't play much. I'm hoping the picnics continue because they're a great opportunity for Auggie to meet other kids.


We'll be celebrating the 4th of July in Round Top and Giddings. I'm hoping Auggie will enjoy the parade in Round Top and the fireworks later tonight. So there should be lots of photos next week! Hope everyone has a safe 4th of July.

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First Row: Microtia Picnic Webster, TX; Pudding for lunch
Second Row: Smiling with Scout; Super happy about his Sonic drink
Third Row: Tensing up for laughs; Playing with Drake
Fourth Row: Pretending to play with trains; Sleeping at the foot of the bed

Time away from Mommy and Daddy

June is a very busy month for us and I can't believe it's almost over! We've had something planned every weekend and most of the events required us to drive to Dallas or Houston. Luckily, we have awesome friends and family so we didn't have to do any hotels.

We celebrated the upcoming arrival of Jenna & Fredy's little girl the first weekend in June. Auggie got to play with Colin during the shower. I can't believe how big both of them have gotten! It was great seeing a bunch of our friends from SFA. We stayed with my sister and her family. Auggie enjoyed playing with his cousins, too. We were also able to see my Uncle Steve and Aunt Lisa. They had just moved from Indiana!

I already posted about Auggie's first circus trip. That was a good weekend. I stayed home all day Saturday while Tim took Auggie and Jacob to Molly & Ray's. They had a great time outside fishing and gathering wild flower seeds. I'll get those pictures together for next week's post. I actually cleaned the house and got things (somewhat) organized. Of course, it's all back to where it used to be- everywhere!!

On June 16th, we celebrated the love of Liz & Kansas at their wedding! It was another day full of SFA and Rugby friends. Tim's parents watched Auggie while we spent the night in Richmond. I'm sure Auggie hardly missed us- he had a blast with his cousins, aunts and uncles, MawMaw & PawPaw and extended family. Jane and Sherwin took him to Tim's cousin's son's first birthday party so Auggie was able to run around with lots of kids his age. Apparently, he really enjoyed the kid-sized gator... I'll definitely look into one for Christmas or his birthday.

The next weekend, Auggie got to hang out with his Aunt Lindsay and cousins, Drake and Cole, while Tim and I watched the USA National Rugby team play Italy at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. It was great being surrounded by thousands of rugby fans even if it was a little hot. Auggie had a good time with them and even ate noodles and bread for my sister! How awesome is that?!

I was very nervous about leaving Auggie so much while Tim & I went out.. mostly because his tantrums are epic and long and he's hardly ever away from me. BUT from what I've heard, he's done so well. That makes me happy that he is comfortable around our family.. even without us! I know I am so grateful we have family close enough to babysit Auggie.


I'll leave you with photos from our weekends away. July will be a better blogging month... I promise! ;)

First Row: Tim & I at BBVA Compass Stadium; Auggie eating bread and noodles
Second Row: Naptime on the way home from Houston; Playing at a cousin's 1st birthday
Third Row: Playing with one of many blankets!; In the pool last Saturday
Fourth Row: Playing with a maze toy; Tim and I at the wedding

Barnum & Bailey's Circus!

The circus came to College Station during the second weekend in June. Surprisingly, the tickets were only $20 a seat (thanks, Jen, for the coupons!) and kids under 2 were free. Our seats were pretty good- I don't think there was a bad seat in the house. There were 2 "Acts" with a 15 minute intermission in between.

It seemed like Auggie really enjoyed the show... even with his impatience during intermission and towards the end of the second "Act." He kept his BAHAs on for about 20 minutes into the first "Act." It was even a bit too loud for Tim and I towards the end. But you could tell by just looking at him he was enjoying the music and watching the show.  He really enjoyed the acts with animals involved and really liked the drums from the live band. The elephants, camels and horses kept his attention well.

Dancing to the music

The in between bits were pretty funny

Signing "elephant" when the elephants came out

Next week, things will be changing up a bit.. I'm planning a better schedule for posting and changing up the writing a little bit. There should also be a new layout up(hopefully!).

Memorial Day Weekend

We celebrated Memorial Day weekend with a crawfish/shrimp boil on Saturday with some friends in College Station. Joanna and Richard bought about 30 pounds of crawfish but half of them ended up dead before we could eat them! We exchanged them for some shrimp so we boiled those, too. They were delicious. Thank you, Joanna and Richard, for having us!  

The kids had a blast with their blow up pool and little bounce house. This was the second year we went to Joanna and Richard's for Memorial Day. We missed a couple other families but  we still enjoyed the company.

Taylor started out the trend of sliding like this

Do your eyes hurt, yet? :)

Zane

Archer

HIIIII

Avery had a lot of fun posing for me

Zane

Peek-A-Boo!

Go Go Go!

Oldest to Youngest

We've had a stressful beginning to this week for the whole family- witnessing a grandparent fall and a car accident! Thankfully, everyone is okay, but we're hoping the end of the week is a lot less stressful! Auggie hasn't been sleeping well and I'm sure that won't get better any time soon- we'll be out of town each weekend in June except for one!

It's Been Too Long!

Gramma, Drake and Kristopher came for a visit last week while Tim was in Mississippi for work. It was great having someone here but man, Drake can talk... and talk... and talk! I guess Tim and I have that to look forward to in a couple of years!

Drake and Auggie

Auggie had a lot of fun with Drake around. He didn't quite play with Drake, but he did play alongside him most of the time. Auggie thought Drake was really funny. He would laugh when Drake talked and Drake would tell him "I'm not being funny. Stop laughing at me." It was kinda funny.

Thanks for the visit Kristopher!

Kristopher isn't too happy when the kids drink out of his drinks or eat his food. We had a good laugh over this, though 

Auggie saw Drake do the Sit-N-Spin a couple times earlier in the day. This was the first time I saw Auggie do it!

Tim really enjoyed his trip to Mississippi. He rode up with a fellow Texas Parks and Wildlife employee and SFA alum so they had plenty to talk about. They went to the Southeastern Prairie Symposium in Starkville, MS. If you know anything about Tim, you know he enjoyed it. I'd share some pictures but he didn't take any! 

Auggie has been Mr. Independent lately. Over the weekend, he started refusing bottles but eating pretzels and cookies and fish sticks a bit more. We've gotten him back up to about 3 bottles a day and his solid food intake has increased too. I'm really hoping these habits continue!

eating watermelon

eating fish sticks with ketchup

I'm ready for his tantrums to go away, though! When we went to Auggie's 18 month check up, his pediatrician asked about throwing fits... Haha... does he ever?! I know it is just a stage but I know it's a stage that could last for a long while. We've been approached by a few people lately that have commented about how happy he is and he seems to be "in his own happy little world," and that they could just steal him. Well, they'd give him back. Trust me, there are times when he's in his own cranky little world for about 15 minutes where he cries and pounds his fists on the wall or couch. But for all those cranky moments, he's an absolute doll!

When anyone is on the floor, he is instantly tackling and wrestling with them. He's a big fan of jumping up and down on anyone's stomach and standing on their side to see what's over the couch. He'll definitely love to run around and wrestle with his cousins when he's older.

rolling around in Mommy and Daddy's bed

Since Tim was out of town last Monday, I took Auggie to the park to update his picture. The last photo we sent out was from his 12 month photo shoot. I took him to the same place but the trail was overgrown. I was really disappointed about that. It would've been nice and green with a cute little wooden bridge. Instead, Auggie played with lady bugs. He had fun pushing them along and picking them up. One even crawled onto his finger, up his arm and up the back of his neck and hung out in his hair for a bit. He thought the lady bug was hilarious. He signed "bug" quite a bit in his own cute way.

Hello, Mr. Drooly!