Austin, TX

Our trip was awesome. The food was wonderful, playing Scrabble (laughing so hard I spit food out all over our friends... I'm a real classy lady to be around.), wandering around the city and getting to soak up it's beauty and art, going on walks in lush green parks with creeks and trails surrounding it, where Conrad can play with sticks and explore the leaves and water, enjoying restaurants that are unique and talking with some of the most friendly people I've ever met who are passionate about life and their city {Austin!}, and having late night talks with some of our best friends in the world, who love Jesus with such passion inspires us. Getting to come there and share in that vision would be wonderful.

Austin is wonderful, I'm not gunna lie.

One of our fears in moving was the fear of not having that "family" feeling with friends. Here in Vegas, Conrad can come over to Avery's house to play and have breakfast any day of the week. We can go over to Sarah & Adams and Conrad feels right at home. He crawls up on Adams lap and reads books, he chases the dogs around their house. Leaving these friends feels like we would be leaving family, and my heart aches to leave this family we've got here. But spending time with the Snow's reminds us that God will grace us with everything we need. He will give us a "family" there and equip us. Fear is a sin, as Aaron reminded me. Fear is saying to God, I don't trust you. It say to god, You are not competent to give me what I need. You will leave me feeling empty and alone. I've been believing this lie for sometime now which has left me feeling scared to embrace change. Change is good. It molds our character and does things to us that staying in a "safe" place cannot do. So hearing this truth from Aaron really set me free and left me at peace.

So are we moving? We're not sure. Negotiations are in works and we're still praying. As bad as it may sound to those who think Vegas is a crap hole, we love our home. We also see that Austin is lovable as well.... ALTHOUGH running in Austin sucked ass. It was SO much more work. In Austin the heat is wet and sticky, here it's just hot and dry. I prefer hot and dry....I will adjust though.

Enough about that. Here are a few of my favorite shots of Austin, starting with the plane ride home where Conrad blew kisses and waved at the pretty ladies behind us. He flew so well, sleeping there and back. I didn't pee all over myself in the bathroom during the flight like I usually do (self high five)...That turbulence is a killer. Dustin thinks tinkling on myself is a real chuckle fest, but what do you want me to do? Sit my ass on some gross seat? No. I can't hover and pee on a plane without making a total idiot of myself. Laugh all you want to Dustin, My butt is not touching that seat! I HATE flying and every time we fly I completely convince myself that we're all going to die. Every bump feels like we're going down. Am I the only one who imagines the plane crashing while I'm flying? Does anyone else do this? It's like so sick that I do this. Anyway. I'm just blabbering now.

Sleeping was a bit of a challenge during our trip. We had the pack and play in the room with us and Conrad didn't really know what to do with us in the same room as he was in. This trip was the first time we've ever slept with our son. When I say slept, I don't mean we all cuddled up like warm cozy kittens. I mean, I suffered repetitive kicks in the boob and jabs in the face while he sweetly slept and adjusted himself every 15 seconds throughout the night. We woke up feeling hung over and exhausted. It was pretty awful. I had a greater appreciation for all of the CO-sleeping parents out there who deal with this on a nightly basis. You deserve a trophy. Maybe my kid just doesn't know how to sleep with others...Needless to say, the guys took a long nap the next day to make up for the horrible night we had.

The baby boy.

A restaurant had this written on it's wall outside:

Eliza, or "Liza" as Conrad calls her, resting on playground steps.

Looking this adorable sure takes a lot out of her.

At the park chasing some birds.

us & the Snows' at a little french bistro place having some breakfast.

This was a little park close to where Dustin's office would be.

Conrad learned a new body part. He sticks his tongue in and out like a lizard when we say

"Where's your tongue?!"

A little creek near the park where we let the boy strip down and splash around.

Me & Morgan at dinner. (Isn't she GOR-geous?!) & The boy & I at the airport.

{and for your listening pleasure: I give you this lovely tune.}

It makes me want to hang my head out the car window and let my hair blow!