Austin's 12th Birthday!

Today, my sweet boy turns 12. It's hard to believe it has been that long ago that we were in the hospital on Christmas Eve awaiting the best Christmas gift I've ever received. Austin was the best baby ever. Slept great from day one, hardly ever cried. I was still in college when Austin was born & on at least three different occasions I had to take him to class with me. He never made a peep in class. He'd often watch the professors and listen so intently, as if he was trying to soak up every bit of knowledge he could. My professors would say he listened better than most of the students did!

Austin is artistic & compassionate. He notices the beauty in things & notices people who are in need & hurting. He has such a generous heart. He notices when people need a friend & tries his best to be kind to everyone. Sometimes his little heart will break when others don't do the same.

At this time in his life, Austin says he wants to be a surgeon when he grows up. He's definitely smart enough to accomplish this, if he doesn't let his flighty airheadedness get the best of him. I'm sure he will succeed in whatever he chooses to pursue. I'm not looking forward to those days when he leaves us to go to college & begin his adult life. After watching old home movies today, it makes me wish we could go back & have those sweet days all over again. Don't get me wrong, he's still a great kid, but I do miss his chubby cheeks & little voice.

To celebrate Austin's birthday, we took him to see Yes Man! the other day. He absolutely loves Jim Carrey. Then he had lobster tail at Outback Steak House. Austin said it's a good thing he's going to be a surgeon when he grows up because he likes expensive things! Then today, we took him to Build a Bear Workshop to create his penguin, Maxwell Smart. Also, the girls at IHOP sang Happy Birthday to him. That was great because he got really embarrassed. It's hard to believe this time next year he'll be a teenager. I don't want to think about it so I'm going to have to end this post before I start crying!

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone.