As we counted down til the New Year, I started remembering the events of last year. Waiting for the countdown to be over so that we could go to the hospital...the pain....the joy. When we were watching the fireworks at the space needle I wanted to go wake Kolton up and just snuggle him and love him and kiss him all over! But sanity took hold of me and I left him alone:) For lunch we took him to Red Robin with my parents. He was sung to and got a balloon. He was puzzled. Austen was funny though; he said,

"Can I have a balloon?"
"Sure!"
"And Happy Birthday to Austen?"
"No honey, it's Kolton's birthday today."

I think he just wanted an ice cream sundae for himself...haha. Silly boy.
It was crazy trying to get a picture with Austen smiling. This is what we got...

and...and...

I took Austen with me on a Combined Youth Activity to the mountains to go sledding. The hill was closed but I couldn't drive up there and not let him play in the snow! We took a little driving break and played in the snow for 15 min and then headed back to Bellevue. He learned how to make snow balls and snow angles. He was so cute all bundled up.When we got back to Bellevue we went ice skating with the youth to replace the snow tubing activity. I rented one of those walkers to help keep Austen up and balanced while we skated. His feet would move whichever way the ice guided them. He did the splits a couple of times and eventually at the end he just laid on the floor. He did pretty well considering all he had to do was keep his feet straight while I pushed him. All the kids liked helping him skate too.

After skating we went next door to get some lunch. It was nice spending some one on one time with Austen. It is amazing how good a kid can be when you are giving them our undivided attention. I will have to plan some more one on one time with each of our kids....make 'em feel special:) Because they are!