Austen and I were on News 9 today. Check us out here

He's Counting!

Take me out to the ballgame

Austen and Jon Eric have been spending lots of time "learning".

Bring on Spring!

I thought it was time for a new look to our blog. I know I'm horrible at updating though. I am so ready for spring. I'm ready for golf, and baseball season. Ready to spend afternoons outside and not have to worry how cold its going to turn in the next hour!

I'm headed to Nashville this Sunday to attend a national CPS conference called Lifesavers. It's my first year and I'm super excited. I'm sure I'll come back with all sorts of information on new products and technologies. I know you will all be on the edge of your seats to hear my latest safety spill.

I'm also gearing up for the 2nd Annual Statewide Child Passenger Safety Conference.
We are coordinating that here in Oklahoma City. If you have ever put on a conference you know how exhausted I am. Hopefully, we have thought of everything! -ha.
We are excited to be hosting some of the most sought after national speakers.
Dave Long,"The Airbag Detective" to talk to us about new airbag technologies and their pros and cons. Vera Fullaway from Combi (the car seat manufacturer) International, to present on new products and installation issues. John Drees from Safe Kids Kansas to talk specifically about LATCH and misuse!
I know next month, I'll have a great report from our conference.

We have enjoyed lots of playtime with friends and family. I'm attaching some pics of our fun times.

Austen & Grant, 2nd Cousins


Austen and Ashton


Austen and Ry


For pics of Austen and his Mueller cousins visit Danielle's Blog.

Austen is doing/saying tons of funny things. I need to use this blog more to document those. His favorite phrases right now are "umm, yes" or "umm, NO". Whenever you ask him a question he almost always answers with an "Umm." I've had people tell me its because I say that, but I've never noticed it.

He also, loves airplanes, trains, helicopters. He will point to the sky and say "airplane" when he hears one even if he can't see it. Sometimes even in the house. He is starting to like watching "Moomies" aka Movies. He asks to watch a "moomie" if he's tired.

He his also starting to like coloring and painting.


Our refrigerator is covered with his creations! I love it! I always wondered if my fridge would ever look like this.



Needless to say we are having tons of fun. I have a few videos of him playing golf I need to upload! Austen will be going to Beaver to stay with Granny and Pop next week, then I will be coming on Thursday to host a car seat check up event there!
I am super excited to bring this event to Beaver and really hope everyone there realizes the importance of having their car seat checked!
I'll have pics of that next time definitely!

Whew!

We (I) have been going non-stop. I am glad to have the weekend to do nothing!
I've been working alot, teaching classes and doing car seat check-up events.
I recently completed our Loyal Action Project for Leadership Oklahoma City.
We had a great event and Awareness for Heartline 211. Check out www.heartlineoklahoma.org to learn more. We had a sucessful press conference including the First Lady, Kim Henry, and Mayor of Oklahoma City, Mick Cornett.

Heartline was able to raise more than $5,000 which was matched by United Way of Central Oklahoma! I know I should have blogged BEFORE the event, but it just didn't happen. Anyway, here is a portion of the great group of people who worked together to make this event such a great sucess. I know we will be take a great experience and great friendships from this!



We traveled to Beaver for Kael's basketball senior nite. Austen got to see my friend Kacee's little boy, Colter.




About a month ago we celebrated Austen's Great-Great Grandma's 90th birthday.
She was very excited to see everyone and it was a very special day.




After the party, Baylee was a trooper and played with Austen at one of Woodward's new parks.




We had a super bowl party and Austen loved the 3-D glasses. The other kids would not even put them on!





Austen got a balloon for Valentine's from Grammae and hasn't let it out of his sight since! He will be heartbroken when it deflates.




Well, no you know what we've been up to in the last 3 weeks.
Hope you enjoyed it!

Update...Finally!

I'm aweful at keeping this thing updated.
Our Christmas was wonderful of course and we had tons of family fun.

Austen loves brownie mix!


We got to see one of my best friends Meredith and her two boys this week...Always exciting!

Madeline and Macy came up from Dallas this weekend and we didn't get any pics, but I have to tell you how much they enjoy each other. It is so much fun to see them together. I love it.

We are looking forward to finally getting to spend some time with Hayes and Ry Howard this week!

I'm trying to decide whether or not to consign some of Austen's clothes at the JBF sale this spring. You know how I feel about being pregnant again. But in case anyone esle needs them.. It just makes sense to consign some since I always buy so much at the JBF sale!

Family Time

We are enjoying being home together and getting ready for the Christmas holiday.

I've been tagged...

Danielle tagged me on this randomness. I never do this kind of stuff, so here it goes! No secrets here.

Here are the rules:

*Link to the person who tagged you.
*Post the rules on your blog.
*Write 6 random things about yourself
*Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post
*Let each person know he/she has been tagged
*Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

1. I grew up throwing cow chips, tying goats, and showing pigs, and somehow ended up raising my family in the city.

2. I love my job. I can't believe they actually let me call it work.

3. I hated being pregnant.

4. I didn't sleep with a top sheet growing up, and probably still wouldn't if I wasn't married. I just don't think it is needed.

5. I hope to adopt a baby one day. (see #3)

6. I have a huge crush on Kirk Herbstreit.

There you have it. 6 Random things about me. I doubt 6 people even read this blog so I am not going to tag anyone. If you read it and want to post it, great!

We made the jump!

Ok so as many of you know, I have been putting off turning Austen forward-facing in his car seat. We decided to take the plunge and turn him around. Mostly because he was nearing the top height of Jon Eric's seat and I couldn't bear to turn him around in one car and not the other. This breaks my heart because I see evidence everyday of the benefits of extended rear facing. We remained rear facing until 16 months so I am considering that an accomplishement in itself. He has a very long torso and short legs! (which is good for ERF!) I think I have come to the place where I have justified it in my mind that he is bigger than some two year olds! I am still a huge advocate of ERF and I know it is safer! But it is not safer if he is within an inch of the top of the seat, because he does not have adequate head support. I've added a few videos to promote my stance on ERF. Which crash forces would you want your toddler to endure?


Happy Thanksgiving! We are looking forward to going to Beaver for Thanksgiving, watching my brothers play basketball and then going to stillwater for the bedlam game!

Trick-or-Treat

Here are some pictures of Austen this Halloween.

Only in Beaver.....

I was reminded why I love my hometown today as I was reading the weekly paper from Beaver. (I have a subscription or I would provide you a link)

This is an excerpt from the minutes of the city council meeting.

"Mayor Ford proclaimed that
Halloween will be observed on
Nov. 1, 2008 because of the
Friday night football game. All
Chamber events and church
events will be held on Saturday."

I love it! Everything revolves around HS sports and the kids of the community!

I know it has been a while

We've had alot of action in the Mueller household. Austen of course is full of life! He has almost begun to run! He loves to push his car down the street in the evenings to the park, and is VERY vocal if we happen to accidentally pass by it!

We unexpectantly lost Jon Eric's grandad a couple of weekends ago. We enjoyed fellowship with our family during this difficult time. Jon Eric has so many special memories of his grandad. I wanted to share a little excerpt of something he wrote about him. Ok...well nevermind... here's the whole thing. I couldn't decide.

That’s granddad

I am not a poet or a storyteller but I wanted to share a few things that I remember about my granddad. I have titled this That’s granddad.
When I was younger I remember my brother, Brad having a birthday party. I was very jealous and upset that he was getting all the attention and presents. So, I went into my closet and hid, upset that I was not getting any attention. 5 minutes later granddad came into the closet and offered me a stick of gum, he always carried packs of Wrigley’s gum. That was his way of saying you’re just as important as your older brother…that’s granddad.

To this day, every time I smell a piece or Wrigley gum I think about the bowling alley. Every time we would go bowling granddad would always offer me a piece of gum. I still remember as a kid going bowling with granddad at Meridian Lanes and if by some miracle I would get a strike I would look up and there would be granddad looking around as if to say, did you see my grandson…that’s granddad.

Growing up and spending a day with granddad on a Saturday meant going to a garage sale. We would take off in the Mustang that he took such good care of and loved so much. We would hit the garage sale hot spots of that weekend. If I found something I liked, granddad would look at the price and just smile. He would offer a price that was ridiculously low and 9 times out of 10 we would walk out of there with the price he offered. When we went and played golf he would pay for the green fee and then say you are going to give the boy a sleeve of golf balls to play with, right? That’s granddad.

Granddad was very competitive; whether it was pool, shooting baskets, scrabble, uno, or any other card game. Most grandparents let their young grandkids win those games so they feel good about themselves, not granddad. Granddad would win and then set the game up as fast he could so you did not have time to leave just so he could win again. I can still hear mema in the background saying… Lawrence!.. That’s Granddad.
I still remember spending Easter at mema and granddad’s old house. It was church and then back to their house to hunt Easter eggs. Most eggs had a penny or a nickel but if you found those special eggs that granddad had strategically placed, you got a quarter…That’s granddad.

The first time I took my wife Katie to meet my grandparents we met up in their apartment at Epworth Villa. It was dinner time and we did not go out for dinner or go down to the restaurant. Dinner was ordered for us and had already been brought up to the apartment by the time we got there… Before introducing my new girlfriend granddad said, oh is this Jennifer? Embarrassingly, looking at Katie, I said no this is my new girlfriend, Katie. We then looked in the living room and there sat a table with a card game ready to be played. He didn’t ask how is the job or where did you guys meet. Granddad said, let’s play partners, I get Katie! Jon Eric, your partner is mema, have a seat! That’s granddad.

I have many more memories I could share but I wanted to save, my best memory, for last. My mom shared this with me. This past Saturday night granddad passed away. Katie and I went to the OSU game and left our 14 month old son, Austen with mom and dad. Saturday afternoon mom took Austen to see the “Greats.” Mom said that Austen and his Great Granddad had a great time rolling Austen’s cars back and forth to each other. Austen is normally shy when it comes to people he does not see on a regular basis. But when Austen saw great granddad, he showed him his cars and they both started rolling the cars to each other. Austen was clapping and laughing as great granddad rolled the cars on the floor. Austen will never remember this but it is something I will never forget. That’s granddad.

Wow! Thats all I can say.

In other news, we have been busy as a family. Jon Eric is preparing for the biggest rowing event of the year. The Head of the Oklahoma. It attracts rowing teams from all over the country.
I have been busy studing and teaching to become a certified child passenger safety instructor. I am relieved to report my instructor candidacy is over and I am now certified to teach. This will be a big part of my new "position" with Safe Kids Oklahoma as the Child Passenger Safety Coordinator.
I also received word tonite I have been selected to Leadership Oklahoma City's LOYAL program. I am super excited to participate in Class IV.

So as you can imagine, our lives will continue to be busy as ever, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Watch out World!

Austen is walking! He has definately taken off. Today he was certainly filled with joy about it! Jon Eric and I looked at each other about 7pm and realized he hadn't stopped "talking" for about an hour! We are having a blast.

Purple Cow & Breaking Free

Austen got the leapfrog fridge farm for his birthday. Why do you care? Well I am here to inform you about this toy! It is hard to explain, and I have obviously not been reading my blogging for dummies book because I can't get my permalink to work and show you a pictures, so sorry!
Its a matching game that also helps them learn colors and animal sounds. The problem is that the cow is purple and the sheep is blue! Why in the world would you not just make them their true colors! I digress....

Also some girlfriends and I, as well as their girlfriends are starting a book study. It's over the Beth Moore Breaking Free book. Just a discussion and a wiki! what's a wiki you ask? Its a blog that many people can participate in! Interested? You can join us. We have 23 girls so far from like 5 states! It's gonna be fun!
Send me a comment if you are interested in participating and I'll send you an invitation.
Again, I'd add a permalink if I could figure the stupid thing out!

He's ONE!

We celebrated Austen's first birthday with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who was able to come! Since turning one, Austen has developed a little attitude. It was on display at the party, complete with hitting and throwing fits! He has graduated from using his hammer all the time to GOLF CLUBS! Hitting everything in sight with them. When you take them away, he acts like he might just die with out it!
Everything I am reading about his age and stage is him to a T. He refuses to eat almost everything he used to like. He bangs on everything, he lowers his head with his pouty face when telling you NO! I'm telling you, my sweet little Austen is turning into... A BOY!

He still likes to watch golf though. He and Jon Eric were watching the British Open this past Sunday. The camera paned toward the crowd who was clapping and Austen dropped his toy and clapped along with the gallery!

July 4th

We had a great time at the lake July 4th.
Here are some pics from our weekend.

Random Thoughts

If you haven't read "The Last Lecture". I would recommend it. Written by Randy Pausch, a renowned professor of computer science who was stricken with pancreatic cancer.
It isn't a story about dying...Its about living! He lives his life with a unbelievable optimistic spirit. His wife is amazing. The book chronicles his life and it seems every one of his experiences had a life lesson to be learned and passed on to his children.

Yesterday I was reminded why I do car seat education! We had a car seat check in South OKC. The parents were the most needy. But they we also unusually inquisitive, and thankful! Almost every seat I checked, the parent asked questions and was genuinely concerned for their child's safety. You don't even get that in affluent areas, most parents want to get a free seat and get out of there!
It was just super rewarding even in the 95 degree weather!

You'll notice a link for Haley Palmer on my blogroll. She is a little girl who lived in our neighborhood in Owasso who recently lost her battle with cystic fibrosis! They are an amazing family! Here's a link to an article about her an another girl from Oklahoma.

You all knew it was coming...

Its my passion. I believe its my calling to educate others. It's Child Passenger Safety. But really not just child passenger safety, but motor vehicle safety. The bottom line is that child restraints (car seats) and seat belts save lives. In case you need more reasons to believe this truth I am here to educate you with the facts.

*Each year 975 children die in motor vehicle accidents.
*Car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 80%
It is important to use a child restraint EVERY TRIP! But it is also important to use your restraint correctly. Unfortunately, 8 out of 10 child restraints are used incorrectly. The most common form of misuses for all child restraint system (CRS) included loose vehicle seat belt attachment to the CRS and loose harness straps securing the child to the CRSs.

Its important for everyone in the car to be restrained in every trip. Here's why:
ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEATBELTEVEN IN THE BACKSEAT

Basic child restraint use suggestions:
Infant should ride rear facing as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests until they reach the upper weight limits of a rear facing seat. Some seats that means 22lbs and some up to 35lbs. At the VERY LEAST until the child is 20lbs AND 1 year old.
Children 20 to 40 lbs should ride in a forward facing seat (preferrably a 5 point harness) and always use the top tether for optimal protection.
Children above 40 lbs should use at least a booster seat until the child can fit in a standard seat belt correctly. (Some car seat manufacturers have 5 point harnesses up to 80lbs.)
All 50 states have child restraint laws. 25 states have primary or standard laws for child restraints, meaning police can stop a vehicle soley for seat belt violations.

Ok... I'm glad to get that out. Much more info to come.
Please know I am not making any of this up. Feel free to check my information.
Visit: www.usa.safekids.org or www.carseat.org
I welcome any questions or comments!
I'll leave you with this... The reason for my passion.

Him a few months ago in his new big boy seat!

Hanging in the swimming pool... Some kids have a blankie for comfort...Our has a pink hammer!

Words to Live By

My hair has been successfully repaired. Thank you Kyla!
I'm glad to report not many of you had the privledge of seeing the disaster.

Words to Live By:
"Remind yourself that one day, you will be caught up on laundry, your house will be spotless, and your babies won't fit in your lap anymore."

It could be worse

I could be wearing a banana clip and whitewashed denim! I officially received the worst haircut of my life today. Its awful. Its something like this...
I'm the blonde guy in the middle!
Ok maybe thats a slight exaggeration. But not far from the truth. Needless to say, you will not be seeing my smiling face in pictures for a while.

It's official. I'm addicted to blogging....Not just my own blog but everyones. I even bought the book "Blogging for Dummies!" I know I'm a dork, and its kind of oxymoronish (I know, I know) to buy a book about a technology as great as blogging. I guess I should not have dropped my web design class(es) in college. Because now I think its amazing! I have read so many witty and inspiring blogs I just can't get enough. I have added some favorites to my list. The problem is I click to see another post and lose track of what I thought was so great. Hence the reason for the book. I want to learn shortcuts and options, about blogrolls and widgets, RSS feeds, the magic of search engines and more! I hope all of you reading this blog enjoy it and leave comments. There is certainly more greatness to come....
I have so many things I want to blog about, it is a great way to keep track of memories and recount old ones. And you can always go and take a look back...that is unless choose to delete something (which is a great feature!) but is anything ever really deleted from the Internet anyway...


And now I will leave you with the real reason most of you visit this site...
Pictures!!!Our little water baby trying to put his feet into the dirty Oklahoma River!
Playing "catch" with Dad in the outfield of the cowboys baseball game.