Ho! Ho! Ho!

Austin just loved seeing the Big Man in Red at the mall. Chris and I took him to see Santa a few weeks back. We practiced and practiced his ho, ho, ho! and told him that he had to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. So between the ho, ho, hos and choo-choos we had rehearsed, we were certain Austin would get his message across to Santa.

When we arrived at the magical place in the mall known as the North Pole, Austin was very much in awe with all the decorations, lights and sounds. He 'Wowed' and applauded just about everything we passed. There were only two families in front of us so we didn't have to wait long.

As we walked up to Santa, Chris holding Austin's hand, the little guy became speechless and seemed to freeze up a bit. He was amazed by what was before him, the real deal, the one and only Santa Claus! As Chris lifted him onto the Big Man's lap, Austin just could not keep his eyes off him and had to face him instead of toward the cameras. There were no ho ho hos or choo-choos but Austin did take Santa's face in his little hands and aimed his chin up to the sky as if to say "Look Santa at all the pretty decorations!"

I tried to cue Austin by saying "Tell Santa what you want for Christmas." No sooner I said that and Santa handed him a small gold train. Austin let out a gasping wow, then smiled for the camera and melted everyone's heart. It could not have been more perfect in my opinion. Living with this little man is like having hundreds of tiny dreams come true every day. It's everything anyone could ever wish for. Well hope you enjoyed Austin's Santa story. And I hope there's more magic to share with you all soon. All our love, Chris, Liz, Austin & Hannah

Missing Da-da

Austin and I spent the week alone as Chris was in Colorado Springs with work. We missed him terribly, especially Austin. Anytime we would go outside and he would see Chris' car parked, he'd point and ask 'da-da? da-da?' Just breaks my heart. We're so fortunate he's only gone a little while this time!

I'm so sorry I've been so out of touch with this blog. There really hasn't been a whole heck of a lot going on and I find myself asking where the day went more and more. To catch up, we went to Maine for Thanksgiving. Had a great time visiting with all of our family up there. The highlight of our trip was most definitely Chris' grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Everything was perfect and the bride and groom couldn't have been happier.

Since we've been back there's been lots to do with Santa on his way. Decorating the house became a huge hazard with Austin being so interested and hungry for Christmas lights. Yes he actually tried to eat the lights for snack time one day. So rather than electrocuting our son, we decided to move the tree and other not so child friendly decorations to the den in the basement. Here's a pic of one of the few decorations he can play with. Call it his Christmas Wow! The penguins dance and sing and sure as sugar our little man mimics them too!

I think part of the reason why I haven't posted in so long is that Aussie-roo is getting increasingly more difficult to photograph. I think he's grown old of it and now that he's a walking man he has no problem turning his back to me if I'm pointing a lens in his face. This too shall pass, I sure hope it does.... This afternoon he was a little curious and enjoyed exploring the different elements of my camera. He's really into everything these days, very interested in how things work and how things are taken apart ;o).

Well I hope you are all enjoying the season. Hope to write again soon.

All our love, Liz, Chris, Austin and Hannah