Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I am so excited for my first Christmas!

My mom read me a story about when Jesus was born.

I thought I could play the angel in the story and wear this halo.

Then I heard about Santa Claus and his reindeer!

I hope I've been a good boy!

A Month of Firsts

This month I went to church for the first time!

I went to my first movie in the theater, Where the Wild Things Are.

I discovered that my fingers are pretty tasty.

I had a lot of fun with my first babysitter, Grandma Sue.

And... I set a personal best with 2 blowouts and 2 baths in 2 hours!

Exercising New Muscles

I may have started out as a sleepy lump...


But now I'm spreading my wings!


I bundle up to hit the town...


And now I smile even when I'm not gassy!


Being a baby is the best!

Baby Blessing

Austin was blessed on Sunday at our ward here in Denver. We're grateful for those of you who were able to be there, and understanding of those who were not. The weather has been less than ideal for traveling, so we appreciate Mom, Dad, and Michael coming from Arkansas on your way back to California, and Sue, Bruce, Cameron, and Jessica braving the early morning snowstorm! Thank you also to Sabrina, Hao, and Brian, my friends from school who came to support us and Austin on this special day. We had a great weekend! Here are some pictures for those we missed.

I'm Thankful for Secondhand Turkey Feasts

Are we seriously doing this picture thing every day? Alrighty then...

I was sporting this hoodie for my first outing, to Costco.

Dad says my mouth is shaped like a trapezoid. Not cool, Dad.

It hurts us!

Grammasita and Papa are so cool! I can't wait to meet my California grandparents!

Baby Beluga

Can you believe I am almost one month old?

Meet my new friend, the whale. I like to watch him in my crib.

Check out my hand-span. I could have six fingers on these fists!

Counting Mommy's freckles (or flipping the bird... you decide)

Getting acquainted with Muttsy Jr.

Even my bathtub is a whale, how cool is that?

Giraffe vs. Frog

Austin had a momentous first Halloween. He celebrated one week of life by losing his umbilical cord and having his first real bath! He likes having his head scrubbed but he is not too keen on the body wash. Since he got two newborn-sized costumes as gifts, we decided he would start the day as a giraffe! Later that afternoon he made the transformation to frog-man! We decided: Austin as a frog > Austin as a giraffe... what do you think?

Austin's First Few Days

Day Five

Day Four

Day Three

Day Two

Day One

Day Zero

Austin Maeser Mitchell

Little Austin was born October 24, 2009 at 2:21 pm. He is obviously a very punctual individual since he decided to come right on his due date!

Friday was fairly uneventful for me as far as having any signs of imminent labor. My contractions were not too consistent, and I was in absolutely no pain. About 2:30 am Saturday I had a few cramps, but nothing unbearable. At 3 am my water broke and off we went to the hospital. I felt great for the first couple hours at the hospital and was able to breathe through the contractions. Little Austin's heartrate plummeted all of the sudden because the umbilical cord was pinched due to the way I was laying. Three or four nurses came running in and had me rotate and put an internal monitor on his head to keep track of him more accurately. Everything obviously ended up okay, but it was kind of a scary moment for us. I eventually got the epidural around 9 am - boy was that nice! The nurses hooked me up with some Pitocin for a couple of hours to help get things moving until my body took over on its own. Around 1 pm they checked me and I was 5 cm dialated. My body really kicked it into high gear and I dialted from 5 to 10cm in about 45 minutes. It happened so fast that the epidural couldn't keep up and I was back to breathing and doing whatever I could to manage the pain. I told the nurses it was time for me to push and they let me do my thing! Twenty minutes later sweet Austin came into the world - a healthy 7 lbs 11 oz, and 20.5 inches long!!

He is the cutest little guy and we just can't get enough of him. He is a sweet sweet baby and has been so easy going and mellow. Jeff has taken on the role of Daddy wonderfully and does amazing with his new little boy. He has been so incredibly helpful to me - making me icepacks, ordering my meals, adjusting my pillows, and reminding me to rest :) amongst so many other things.

We are so grateful to have this new little person in our lives and know that Heavenly Father has blessed us tremendously in letting him join our family!

38 weeks

Week 38 has already come and gone as now I am 39 weeks! Week 38 was rough only due to a nasty chest cold. I woke up Monday the 12th with a lot of chest congestion accompanied by a mild fever that came and went for a few days. Thankfully the fever is gone, but I'm still working on getting this bug out of my system. Unfortunately Jeff has aquired the cold as well, but it seems to be taking a milder course. Being sick is no fun!! However, after a week of intense coughing, sneezing, and blowing my nose I think my abdominal muscles may be better conditioned to help get this baby out! :) I just hope both Jeff and I have our strength back and can breathe normally by the time the baby comes.

I can't believe the baby is due in 6 days! We'll find out this week if he is as anxious to meet us as we are him, if his clock runs right on time, or if he needs a little coaxing to join our family....

Jeff's 26th Birthday

It has been nearly a month since Jeff celebrated his 26th birthday and I am just now getting around to posting about it! I decided to try and make this birthday extra special for Jeff because he would be turning 26 on the 26th. With help from many family members I put together 26 gifts for him to open throughout the day. I thoroughly enjoyed planning Jeff's birthday and know that he had fun opening gifts all day long!

34 weeks

I can't believe it's already been 4 weeks since the last picture was taken. I feel like I have grown a lot in the last 4 weeks - I don't know if I can keep stretching for another 6! :) Jeff and I went to the Dr. earlier this week and everything is continuing to go great with both the baby and I. We have an appointment again in 2 weeks and then every week after that until this little guy makes his grand entry.

Belly Bump Update - 30 weeks

It is about time for a prego belly update. This picture was taken just over a week ago when I was 30 weeks. I am now '31 weeks' which means I have about 9 weeks to go assuming the baby comes on or near his due date (October 24th).

Lately I've had trouble sleeping at night because I just can't get comfortable - however, I slept like a ROCK last night! It was wonderful. My back muscles have a subtle ache to them all day but have only really been a bother to me a few times. Jeff is great about helping me feel as comfortable as he can and treats me to regular back massages. I have had a few Braxton Hicks contractions so far which I think are pretty cool... I know you're all saying the true labor contractions I'll be having in a couple months won't be so 'cool' and I understand that. But, while these ones are pain-free, I'll continue to marvel at the occasional tightening and hardening of my entire abdomen to a flesh-covered rock.

Other than the minor aches and getting a bit more uncomfortable, this pregnancy has continued to be uneventful and has run smoother than I could have asked for.

Jeff and I are getting more and more excited to meet this little guy as his arrival draws nearer. I try to imagine this little person that kicks my insides around all day sleeping/crying/pooping (you name it) in our newly assemled crib, stroller, and carseat - but it is still so surreal. There is no rush to get him here - he still needs to cook for a while... but we are sure excited!

All Not Quiet on the Western Slope

My internship at McGladrey ended a couple weeks ago, and after getting all moved in to our new apartment (a post on that to come), Amy and I were definitely ready for a little weekend getaway. We headed out to the Western Slope, over Grand Mesa with the Loucks bunch. We all stayed at the beautiful Cedaredge house, then trekked over to Montrose and Ridgway State Park for the Woodis Family Reunion. I enjoyed some good food, good company, and several rounds of bocce before cooling off at the swim beach. The first pictures are from Friday at Uncle Steve's house, where we had a real-life Pig Roast... a few from the party/sing-along at Ridgway, then finally some views around the Cedaredge estate. Bear in mind, however, that my pictures are less than representative of the entire fun weekend. I think we'll go ahead and mark our calendar for the next reunion in five years. Florida anybody??

SNE Conference in New Orleans

During my last year at BYU I had the privilege of doing research with two of my nutrition professors. We studied College Students’ attitudes and perceptions towards cooking and pulled data from a cooking assignment they were required to do outside of class. Each of us took a different aspect of the assignment and created our own abstracts to submit to the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE). Each of our abstracts were accepted and we spent the last couple months creating posters to present in New Orleans during the conference. The Conference went from July 11th-15th. I got to attend several classes, listen to several keynote speakers, attend a workshop, and present my own research. It was interesting to hear what other professionals are doing around the country and throughout the world. I learned and re-learned a lot of interesting and useful information.

One of my professors lived in New Orleans for two years while she got her masters. This was very convenient because she could show us around town without getting lost or ending up in areas we didn’t want to be…

New Orleans is always a party - Mardi Gras float full of people going down the street in the middle of the day and it's not even Mardi Gras!

Downtown New Orleans is full of colorful, intricate French and Spanish architecture. The not-quite-so-colorful building was New Orleans' first "skyscraper" reaching four stories into the sky!

Riding the trolley car with Shannon and the others to get some dinner in Uptown New Orleans. The hot, sticky humidity does wonders to your skin, clothes, and hair.

Dr. Brown, Me, Dr. Richards, and Shannon in front of an Andrew Jackson Memorial and Catholic Cathedral.

Experiencing the heat, humidity, and smell of the city is enough for me not to get excited about planning another trip there any time soon… however, hearing jazz on every corner was a special treat.

All in all I am very grateful to have had this experience and to have gone through the tedious process of doing research to get there. I owe a BIG THANKS to BYU for allotting the funds for me to travel and spend five days 'continuing my education' and providing me the experience of presenting my own research to others from around the world!!