All before noon...

I'm just gonna say...I'm happy it's Friday. :) A little peak at our morning today...

This morning...we HAD to have our sandals on. Because you know, when it's the COLDEST, RAINIEST day of the month, it's appropriate to want to have your sandals on. :)

Here I am, sporting my cool sandals! And if you notice in the corner of the picture, I'm headed for the dishwasher. I'm a REALLY big help to mom when she's loading and unloading the dishwasher!

Let's have a look outside. One of my favorite things to do...give kisses through the door. Oh yeah, and that's my dog, Bongo - more to come on him later.

Hmmm...lets think about this. It's mighty cold and windy outside. But I suppose we can still venture out to get my blood drawn and go to the grocery store.

Let's go Mom...but first, you get dinner in the crockpot because I've got a few things to do.

Coffee anyone? Yep - I'm just tall enough to grab Mom's mug off the table! (Don't worry...Mom never gets to her coffee until it's cold!)

Help yourself puppies! You can thank me later for all that ENERGY you will have!

Sorry Bails...I got a little on ya.

I think I'll move on to the next place I can find trouble. Oven - sure, why not! (Oven was NOT on!)

Oh, and while Mom has her back turned - I think I'll find myself a roll of garbage bags! (I was literally 3 ft away from him when he decided to sneak into the cupboard!)

Alright, Mom. I think I've done all the damage I can to this house - let's head for the hospital and grocery store now...

And so we did...loaded up and got on our way. First stop - hospital for blood draw. We had to wait awhile and Zay was VERY entertaining to the other guests at the hospital...walking, walking, and more walking around the waiting room...all the while screaming and giggling. And guess what... when it was our turn, the technician came after Zay with only a finger poker (not sure that is the correct term for it) - she didn't even try to get a vein. She had to do a lot of squeezing, but Zay was a patient little boy and didn't shed a single tear. WaHoo! Success!

Next stop - grocery store. This is always fun. The rules are:

1. Zay gets to hold every item I pick up off the shelf. (Unless it's breakable, and then Mommy vetoes that rule)

2. Sometimes it's fun to throw things out of the cart.

Oh yeah and, 3. Zay gets to smile and giggle at all the old ladies who think he's cute.

So, we continue our shopping, going about our business...and my phone rings. It's Zay's babysitter, Lori. Immediately I'm thinking one of the kids at Zay's daycare has some contagious bug that she's letting me know about. NOPE - wrongo! She asks me if there is any way we would have a black and white dog wandering around the neighborhood. Oh man...really! I knew that it was a possibility. Our gate in our backyard hasn't been latching properly and with the winds, of course was probably Bongo.

I call my brother (who was at our house preparing to move this weekend). He sets out on foot after the escapee. I text Shane, because I knew he was in a meeting, better not call. Then I debate for a second...do I try to checkout really fast? I head to the front of the store...lines in all the checkouts. Oh man, I knew the day would come when I would have to desert my full shopping cart, but I really thought it'd be because Zay was acting up! That's what I did...grabbed my baby and ran out of the store. Oh, I'm sure I was caught, but my mind was racing on how I was going to find our Bongo!!

I kept thinking about him getting by Ansbourough or Ridgeway or 4th Street or Kimball and getting hit by a car...or someone might snatch him up...or someone would take him to the Humane Society and we'd have to pay 100 bucks or something to get him out of jail. Oh man...I was stressing!

Well...I found Tyler and we drove around for 45 minutes looking for him. I met some nice neighbors down the way, met some construction workers, and even traded glances with a lady glaring at me out her front window after the 10th time I drove slowly by her house. To her defense, I'd probably be leery too. But I was yelling BONGO, BONGO periodically...I think that's a pretty good giveaway what I'm up to...

Finally, I call Shane, but still no answer. He texts me back and tells me he's in a meeting...I was aware, but was hoping he'd be done! Not too long after, he calls me back to let me know he's on his way to help. I drop Tyler off at our house so he can get in another vehicle and we can spread out a little more. As I'm driving down our street, Tyler calls...Bongo came home!

Actually...he came home to our neighbor's backyard....And was eating baby bunnies - lovely! I don't think a dog's diet gets better than a cup of coffee topped off with a little baby bunny! Gross.

In the end...we are happy to have our Bongo back!

...And I'm sure the afternoon with this little guy will be just as exciting as our morning...

And my prediction proves to be true! Zay's doctor just called with the lab results...his thyroid is off again! Waiting for the next phone call from Iowa City to know what we change the dose to!

..EvErYdAy Is An AdVeNtUrE! :)

Do you know what's cool...

Husbands that are loving...Sons that are so, so cute...Friends that are thoughtful...Birthdays that are worth celebrating!

So, I know my bday isn't for a couple days, but it feels like it's today! A long time ago, my husband put dibs on our friend Bailey's camera if she were to ever upgrade to a new one. Well, the time has come, and my hubby purchased a mighty nice camera for my birthday! Yea!

We picked it up tonight, since Shane is going to be out of town for work on my birthday. I don't think I've put the camera down all night! I don't know a thing about cameras...but I'm about to learn a whole lot! Bailey gave me a quick overview tonight, but oh my...there are so many settings, I feel like I'm about to embark on a whole new world of photography!

So without further ado...tonight's pictures of my little Zay, with my new camera, thanks to my husband, with the help of Bailey. :)

Check out those baby blues!

Just eatin' a little din-din.

This is how we pray! Zay usually does a very good job with this...tonight he obviously felt like praying AFTER dinner too.

ALL DONE, Mom!

Pleeeaaase, Mom! (Notice the hand on the belly...sign language!)

Dirty little boy...needs a bath!

Wow...check out the shadows! Obviously still learning! Still couldn't resist posting the pic...those blue eyes get me everytime!

Zay has a fascination with his washcloths...not sure how this came about.

Once again...washcloth in the mouth!

Mom probably took away the washcloth for a picture...

And we've got it back!

Am I cute?

YEP!

Peek-a-boo, Mom!

Uh, Uh...

Oh Man, I'm stuck!

Uh, a little help here would be nice...

Thank ya, Ma!

And...Mom, we are DONE for tonight!

Because you never know...

When you might need your diaper rash cream..

So I carry them with me where ever I go...

And I make sure I bring BOTH tubes...

Yep. That's how I roll.

What a Wife (and Mom)

I have to tell you something. My wife is absolutely amazing. The last couple of months have been pretty hectic around the Austerman household. I helped plan Love Cedar Valley for our church, which meant weekly meetings, and many late nights spent emailing and organizing things. Jackee also was involved in some of the planning, when she wasn't taking care of Isaiah. I also am taking my first class to get my Master's right now, and travel to Chicago for work once a month. On top of all of this, I have been trying to work out just about every night (if I want Zay to be healthy, I better be healthy myself!!!). Jackee enables me to do all of this, and supports me. She takes all of this busyness in stride, which is such a blessing to me.

To most, this would seem quite normal, if one parent is busy the other one just kind of picks up the slack. Unfortunately parenting Zay isn't quite like parenting most kids. The extra time to cook his food is quite astonishing. In addition to the PKU, Zay has also been dealing with ear infections and at different times breathing problems from his Asthma. Jackee is such an amazing mom, and is the rock of our family.

The last two nights she has been even more extraordinary. On Tuesday morning Zay woke up at 5:00, which up until the last two weeks was his normal time to get up. Before I was really comprehending that Zay was crying, Jackee was already up and taking care of him. Fortunately, Zay went back down at about 5:45, and then Jackee climbed back into bed for 45 minutes. I barely moved through any of this. Then last night, Zay was so tired from being outside, that he was a bear. He went to bed after fussing non-stop at 6:30. He woke back up at 9:30. I tried to calm him down, but Zay definitely wanted his mommy. Jackee got up to help me take care of him. I also stayed up for a while, and then I tried to lay him down, and he had no part of that. I was extremely frustrated as I could not get him to calm down, eventually resolving to try to let him cry it out. Jackee ended up rescuing him, and didn't get to put him down until 11:45, while I slept. What a wife and mom!

She is continuously amazing me. Whether she is looking up new recipes for Zay, taking an extra minute at work to let me know that she loves me, or enabling me to volunteer at church, she is always making me feel loved. Jackee is a full time employee, a full time mom, a full time home maker, and a full time wife. Somehow with all of this she is also finding time to read some great Christian books, and pushing our family forward in our faith walk. Even with all of her love and care for our family, there are still times Jackee will ask me if she is a good mom; her humbleness is so honest. Right now Jackee is laying next to me sleeping. I pray that when she takes a moment to rest tomorrow as she is vacuuming, dusting, picking up the kitchen, sweeping the floors, doing laundry, making food for Zay, and raking the front yard she will read this and realize how much Zay and I appreciate her. Zay and I love you Hun, and I think you are the best Wife and Mom a husband and son could have!!!!

Doin work...

A little yardwork needed to be done tonight...

Mom, I could use a little help with this rake!

Helping my Daddy 'smoosh' down the leaves in the bin.

When you work as hard as I do, you need to take frequent breaks with your puppies by your side.

All Boy...

I'm realizing that my little man is ALL BOY! Yesterday at daycare he got to spend the entire afternoon outside with Lori. She was raking and doing some yardwork...and Zay was right there in the middle of all the dust, dirt, and digging! I picked him up and he smelled like dirt and sweat! One of the many reasons I love Zay going to Lori's. She lets the kiddos get outside and get dirty and have a good time! That's what warm weather is for...being outside and having fun! ....Then it's bathtime before bedtime, at least when you can keep him awake for that long! :)

These little hands were filthy! Dirt in the nails and all!

He couldn't even make it until 6:30 PM last night! Tired boy...

Trip to Iowa City

Zay had another PKU checkup in Iowa City yesterday!

Overall it was a fantastic day, minus a few bumps in the road.

Our doc says Zay is developing very well. She was very impressed by his sign language and his personality! He seemed to know how to turn on the charm around her and then later decided to have a meltdown in front of his dietician. No worries though, it was quickly resolved with a little snack!

Checking the patient room out...

Better check out the computer...they were showing my stats on here!

"What's this do?"

"Another pretzle please, Dad."

Have you ever wondered how they take a urine sample from a 15 month old, who isn’t potty trained? I know this is an odd thing to think about, but we encountered this yesterday. One of the first things the nurse tells us is that they will need to put a ‘urine bag’ on Zay. …….Como-say-what? My mind immediately thinks they are putting in a catheter. Oh my, not ready for that one! It seriously had never crossed my mind what they have to do for infants/toddlers to get a urine sample. Well, what our friendly nurse was referring to was not a catheter, rather a simple little urine bag. A bag that literally adheres to Zay’s skin to catch his little tinkle. Oh man, what a weird way to start our visit. Thankfully, our little man did just what we asked of him and it was a relatively short amount of time that he had to have his ‘urine bag’ attached to him. Although the removal process made all of us squirm! Ouch! …..once again, I just know my son will love me some day for talking about this. Ha…at least I didn’t take a picture! ;)

After we finished seeing the doctors we headed to the phlebotomist. At this appointment they wanted to do his full blood workup, like what we had done when he was just a wee little boy…6 days old to be exact. We are never excited to have Zay’s blood drawn, probably because of that very first visit to IC, which took over 3 hours, a team of nurses + an EMT + a NICU nurse who finally was able to get a vein…in the top of Zay’s head. Eeek! Please don’t take us through that again! We are the parents that are pretty well experienced with the difference procedures they are going to do on our little boy.

We’ve learned from all our doctor visits, therefore, we probably come across as a little defensive or over-protective…but when you’ve watched your child go through the things we have – you start making some of the calls yourself. So, after two ‘pokes’ and A LOT of digging, pushing, nudging, prodding, crying, sweating, sobbing and eventually ‘blowing’ a vein 20 minutes later. Shane asks the two phlebotomist to either call a NICU nurse or call our PKU Doctor (She had told us previously if they had any trouble we could page her). So, they opted to call our doctor back. She advised we should just wait until our next visit and try again, because Zay had been through enough for one day. Phew…a relief. Until I realize that Zay’s Thyroid specialist requested we get his blood drawn next week…we were going to just have them pull enough blood with this draw and do everything at once. But looks like we will head back to the lab on Monday and try it all again…

A picture of one of my bandages

Thankfully, this wasn’t the end of our day! Zay’s appointment was early enough in the afternoon, we decided to run over to Williamsburg and hit up the outlet mall! It was so fun to have a “family day”, even if it did start out with discussions of a urine bag and an unsuccessful blood draw! I could just see Zay’s eyes light up multiple times, just because he was hanging out with his mom and dad. Oh the joy! Another moment to treasure!

Love, love, love my daddy!

Food!

I've recently done some focusing on Zay's food. I'm continually trying to find some new and creative dishes that Zay will like! Recent things we are buying and making...

Goulash

This basically consisted of tomato sauce, cream style corn and low protein noodles.

Of course - weighing out portion sizes so we can freeze them.

Biscuits! Made with his special 'mix quick' and non-dairy coffee creamer! I think these are pretty tasty!

Applesauce muffins!

Of course the standard loaf of bread! I probably make a loaf for Zay every 2 weeks. I'm sure that will only increase as he grows!

And for fun...a couple snacks/treats I found for Zay at regular 'ol HyVee!! So exciting when I can find some food (besides fruits and veggies) that is low in Phe and it can be bought locally!

Haagen-Dazs Sorbet! I haven't had Zay try this yet, but this will be Zay's alternative to ice cream. I'm sure this will be a great summer-time treat!

Pretzels! Zay can eat the Gluten-Free Snyder's pretzels! I sometimes get questions from some of our friends on what they can have at their house when Zay comes over. When I discovered these and realized how low in Phe they are - I think this is what I'll have to start sharing as an easy snack for Zay!

LOVE CEDAR VALLEY!

The mission of Love Cedar Valley is a day to partner with area churches to extend the love of Christ in real and practical ways in order that our community would take a step in being reconciled to God and one another.

Wow...what a powerful day! A few highlights from Love Cedar Valley today...

1. 55 churches, 160 Kindness Explosions, Lots of Service Projects, 1200+ volunteers...ONE GOD!
2. We are God's hands and feet - everywhere, all the time.
3. Small acts of kindness, BIG God!
4. Are we willing to do what God calls us to? Do we have the courage to go where He leads?
5. We have the power to breath life & hope into other people simply by taking a little time and the resources given to us. This is incredible...and God smiles when we do this.
6. There are so many people right here in our backyards that could use a little help.
7. A little love, goes a long way.

The group I helped out with today. We helped the couple sitting in front with some yard cleanup. My parents came over to help volunteer too - my mom is next to me and my Dad is taking the picture! :)

Opening and Closing is held at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center downtown Waterloo. This is where Shane was most of the day, helping to make sure everything was organized. This picture is of the closing worship...always powerful!

And a special thanks to Grandma Judy, who came down to do her own kindness outreach...she watched our little Zay so Mommy and Daddy could go volunteer! :)

Nothing Specific…

Just some ramblings and thoughts from our/my life this week…

1. The past few weeks/months, I’ve been doing a Bible Study with a girlfriend of mine. It’s been so great to connect, learn, grow, stay in contact and just overall share parts of our hearts with one another! We live in different towns so we spend about 1-2 hours on the phone each Wednesday after my little Zay goes to bed. This time has been such a blessing to me! One verse that we discussed a few weeks ago…Romans 12:1-2 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. LOVE IT! I’ve been pondering it since we discussed it!
2. Zay is feeling great! Oh, how we’ve come to appreciate when he’s feeling good! He’s been quite the little guy the past few days. With all of his sickness we had begun to let him watch Sesame Street and Cat and the Hat. This might have been a mistake! While it has helped comfort our sick little guy, Zay now officially knows what the TV is! He will find the remote and hand it to us and use his sign language to say “please” and “more”. Oh man…that doesn’t make us feel like good parents! He’s usually content if we grab a book instead, so we are working on avoiding the TV right now! Bring on the warm weather, so we can get outside!
3. This weekend is LOVE CEDAR VALLEY! Yea!..…for multiple reasons. For God weaving so many people’s lives together in order to work in servant roles. For the volunteers that are able to touch the lives of complete strangers with God’s love and kindness. For serving our community in positive ways. For what God does in the hearts of every person that is involved in the giving and/or receiving of Love Cedar Valley. And yea, for more time with my husband after Saturday. ;)
4. I’m contemplating getting back on the running wagon again. I’ve taken quite a hiatus over the winter season, and it’s past time to get back at it! I used to be a runner all year around and really enjoy running. However, the past few years (basically since a little boy came into my life) I’ve found myself keeping up with my running workouts rather sporadically. I’m looking forward to some warmer weather for this reason too. Somehow being warm and light out past 7 PM, helps me get motivated for working out.
5. I attended my first Norwex cleaning products party last weekend. I have to say…I was skeptical, but I’m fairly impressed with these products! These products can kill bacteria in our home and is non-toxic for our family – sounds like a WIN, WIN to me! Plus, according to most people I talk to the products work wonderfully too! I have a friend that is selling the products, so I agreed to host a party on May 1^st. Let me know if you want to come!
6. Thought I should clarify that I’m still on the ‘no-tv-diet’. Although our TV has been on in our house – it has never once been for me. Trust me, my programs of preference are not singing and dancing with the Cat in the Hat or learning my letters and numbers with Elmo. And if the hubby wants to watch sports, I just pick up a book and read. So, my tv-less life is going well and I eventually get told about what is happening in the world… :)

Have a great weekend, everyone!