Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Well, as we wrap up another year we are reminded of God's faithfulness in our lives. We are blest this year with our two children who bring more joy than one could imagine and family all over the country that's love we cherish! Here are some pictures from our crazy filled week or so ~ enjoy. Love ya all.



Selah with her two older cousin's Morgan & Logan. We celebrated Christmas over at NeNe's house with the Austin side of the family. The night was filled with wild games of duck-duck-goose and ofcourse football w/ Uncle Gordy.




NeNe is wise beyond her years and bought both Selah and Leah the PERFECT Christmas presents this year. The rest of the evening was spent dressing and undressing in their new "Dora dress-up" clothes!!




Oh yeah Papa, you knew we were gonna post this picture ~ couldn't resist! We had a great time with the DuRoss side over at Nana & Papa's Christmas Eve. Selah relished helping everyone open her and their presents. Something tells me this is the last year that is going to happen with Judah on the prowl!



Here is Selah and Judah Christmas morning at our house. Selah didn't wake up until 9 am to open presents, hehehehehehe, we have to enjoy sleeping in while we still can. Judah loved the paper just as much as the presents ~ but the trucks really were a hit. He's ALL boy.


Last, but certainly not least was daddy and Judah playing along w/ Selah in her dress-up efforts. Judah may not forgive us for the pink headband ~ but that's what being a little brother is all about!!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Our weekend was made complete when we got dumped on Saturday and Sunday w/ lots of snow. Derek & Selah braved the weather (for a short time) and played out in the backyard. She was frigid when she came in ~ but smiling from ear to ear to have her special time with daddy!

We have reached yet another milestone w/ Judah ~ he is able to sit up and play in the bath all on his own! Oh yeah, this makes mommy's job much easier "killing two birds with one stone". And, he tried Cherrios for the first time today ~ he ate them like a champ. Made mommy a weee bit nervous but he loved it!

Last but certainly not least are the videos made for all (especially Uncle Chris)! As Derek promised, they're hyper, hyper, hyper.

Sweet Potatoe Song

Whatever the veggie/fruit of the day is ~ Selah makes up her own song to sing to Judah. Does she have talent or what????

I'm gonna get hyper!

Family Man

Well ~ our car took a plunge this weekend and caused us to take the plunge into "MINI-VAN LAND"!! Yes, we're a true family now ~ and are honestly loving every convenient minute our mini-van (Honda Odyssey) is bringing our way. Here are the lyrics to one of Derek's favorite Andrew Peterson songs. Couldn't help but think about this while driving our van today.

I am a family man
I traded in my mustang for a minivan
This is not what I was headed for when I began
This was not my plan
I am a family man

But everything I had to lose
Came back a thousand times in you
And you fill me up with love
Fill me up with love
And you help me stand
'cause I am a family man

And life is good
That's something I always knew
But I just never understood
If you'd asked me then you know I'd say I never would
Settle down in a neighborhood
I never thought I could

But I don't remember anymore
Who I even was before
You filled me up with love
Filled me up with love
And you help me stand

So come on with the thunder clouds
Let the cold wind rail against us, let the rain come down
We can build a roof above us with the love we've found
We can stand our ground
So let the rain come down

Because love binds up what breaks in two
So keep my heart so close to you
And I'll fill you up with love
Fill you up with love
And I'll help you stand
'Cause I am a family man

I'm saving my vacation time
For Disneyland
This is not what I was headed for when I began
This was not my plan
It's so much better than

Six Months Old!

Yikers, where is the time going ~ I can't believe Judah is already 6 months old. So, to keep you current on our boy, he is now sitting up all on his own, eating lots of fruits & veggies, and weighs in at 15 lbs. 14 ounces! He is beginning to attack his sister any chance he gets ~ it's only a matter of time before she is gonna have to start running away for safety! Here is a video of him in the jumperoo ~ his very favorite pass time!

Dora The Explorer

Selah is obsessed with Dora the Explorer (what girl 2 and up isn't??). Being a mommy I was trying to help her overcome a fear she has using Dora as an example! Selah is TERRIFIED of elevators (which she happens to call alligators ~ even scarier right?). Today on Dora The Explorer they had her going up an elevator and I had a "light-bulb" mommy moment! I said "Selah, did you know that Dora loves elevators" and Selah replied "and I love stairs"!!! Alright ~ so she is a weeeeee bit smarter than me!!

What A Bunch Of Turkeys

So, we skipped the "traditional" Thanksgiving this year and headed off to an indoor waterpark in Columbus for our 1st Austin Family Vacation. Have no fear though, we still made turkeys of ourselves! I am thankful this year for so many things, but most of all my family. Without getting too sappy, Derek and I still want to pinch ourselves that God has been so good and blest us with our two kiddos that fill us everyday with new wonders. It is impossible not to see His hand in our lives through them and are thankful for the fresh view of creation in and through their eyes. Here are a couple pics to share from our crazy fun filled get-away.


Yes, Selah talked about this trip non-stop (literally) until the day finally arrived. Thankfully it lived up to her every expectation. What more could a kid want than a waterpark w/ a lazy river, basketball hoops, slides, a clubhouse that dumps huge buckets of water and even an arcade area ~ oh yeah and family time!!


Judah on the other hand loved the waterpark for entirely different reasons ~ it made him sleep and he got LOTS of quality time on his mama!


Grandpa Austin acted like a 3 year old ~ and we loved every minute of it! Thanks Dad for your youthful heart and making me go down the scary slide w/ ya (sorry for blowing your eardrums).


The only downside to being out of town for Thanksgiving is no leftovers ~ but Selah and I took care of that. She was my little helper yesterday making all the fixins to go with our turkey. As a side note ~ for those that noticed the Dora underwear, our girl has gone 2 days now going pee on the potty! Whooo hooo for us.

For those that were with us and those that weren't ~ we love ya all and can't wait to cherish more family times down the road!

Falling for You!

Lets see, what is the lastest with our two kiddos??

Well, Judah has a passion for food (just like any good DuRoss/Austin) ~ he now eats rice cereal, oatmeal, avacados, bananas and sweet potatoes. Pretty much anything that comes near his mouth is going in! His other great love is the sippy cup ~ not that he has completely mastered the sucking motion to get the water out, but he tries his darndest any chance he gets.



Selah was daddy's "helper" over the weekend and did her fare share of picking up leaves ~ or more like jumping in them and scattering them all around for daddy to gather once again! She started a church program this Fall called "Little Lambs" and LOVES to sing bible songs and make art projects while mommy goes to bible study. They keep telling me she is the most passionate singer in the group ~ you go girl!

Reading to Noel

We came in the other night to find Selah reading to Noel (our cat) on the living room chair. With a little help from mama she stayed to listen to Selah's long version of I'm A Big Sister Now!

Dorothy & The Lion

It was another great party at our friend Jen's house for Halloween this year. Looking at Judah in his Lion's outfit just makes me laugh and Selah played her "Dorothy" role to perfection. I was calling her name before we left the house and she said "Mommy, I am not Selah, I am Dorothy" ~ alrighty then!!! Hope you all enjoy the pictures as much as we do, gotta love these ages.

Happy Birthday Nana!

Selah anxiously waited all day to celebrate Nana's birthday ~ or was she anxiously waiting to eat the yummy birthday cake???

Good Times

Like any good "man" ~ Judah has taken to his food with determination! The first attempt wasn't appreciated all that much, but now he is loving the rice cereal and wants MORE!!

Each day I stand amazed at how sweet Selah is with Judah ~ she just loves her little brother so much. Here is a shot of them before heading out to the park for a play-date, too cute!

Tuesday's are Selah and Nana day ~ so I decided to take a shot of the fabulous duo before they headed off for Playground World. I am sure Nana thought those days were long behind her, but little did she know that Selah would steal her heart and convince her she "NEEDED" to go meet friends at the playground!

While they were off and about, I stole Grandma Austin for the day to go shopping with our Judah boy. He loved taking in the scenery at the mall ~ gotta take those opportunities while he is still too young to say he doesn't like shopping!

Let The Pureeing Begin

Ok, so here is the deal. Heather and I are on a mission to get our families healthy ~ even if it means being "sneaky"! Oprah had Jessica Seinfeld on last week w/ her new cookbook "Deliciously Deceptive" and we loved the idea. It is all about making vegetable purees and putting them into your everyday meals. So, we went out and bought the vegetables, got our food processors/steamers out and planned a “Sister Day”! Yes, anyone who knows Derek knows he is quite fearful at the mere mention of veggies in our food ~ so this has been fun watching him inspect everything I make for the hidden purees! But, he has been a true trooper and finding himself having to admit that he loves the dinners. Selah is none the wiser, although she loves almost all veggies, so this is just an added bonus! I will keep you posted how it works for us ~ here are some pictures from the day!

Logan, Kayla, Morgan, Selah & Judah

The swing is down, but the exersaucer is up! Seeing him in the exersaucer brings back the sweetest memories of Selah as a baby. She was just as excited as Judah to see it back in the living room and even climbed under him for some added fun!

She is getting so grown up, it's hard to remember her as my little baby anymore. Her new "thing" is to wear her Dora backpack whenever leaving our house. She is so adorable with it on! She looks like she's headed off to school, thankfully I still have plenty of time with her before that sad day (a mama's heart can only take so much growing up)!

He's a Growing!

Our boy is 4 1/2 months old and growing like a weed! I thought I would share some fun "facts" about Judah's day to day life for everyone to see how much he is growing up on us.

He, like his sister, has found his two fingers for chomping/sucking on. Amazingly ~ they're the same two fingers that Selah sucks on.

He weighed in at his 4 month check up 14 lbs. 5 ounces and is 25 1/2" long. Can you tell by this picture that he is quickly outgrowing the sink bath tub?

I have been anxiously waiting for cold weather just so I could put this hat on him. We have had ridicuously warm weather this month and everyone that knows me, knows my favorite season is the Fall ~ so I have been waiting for the cooler (not frigid) weather to come our way!

He now LOVES the walker and roams the kitchen while I am cooking. Seriously, this makes him look so grown up that I had to video to share with you all.

Besides that ~ he has finally begun sleeping through the night over the last month! Yeah for mommy!! It is great to goto bed and know I am going to get the rest that I cherish oh so much!