Introducing our new son, Austin Dennis Mauler!!Sorry we haven't updated our blog sooner but life has been pretty busy!! On September 1oth, just after our last posting, Melissa was out running errands and her water broke. We went to the hospital about 9 p.m. and after 13 1/2 hours of championship quality labor, on September 11th, Melissa gave birth to our beautiful son at 10:30 AM. He was 22" long and weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 13 ounces (putting him above the 95th percentile in both categories).
Austin Dennis is healthy and happy and at his 2-week checkup was already weighing in at 10 pounds, 13 ounces so he is getting plenty to eat! Mommylissa has acted like a trooper and now is slowly recovering.
Melissa's mom, Diana, came out for a week and was a wonderful help allowing us to get a little more rest and helping around the house.
Since then, we have slowly been adapting to this new exciting phase. Austin isn't very fussy and is a very calm baby. He does have one bad habit -- his favorite activity (since day 1) is to wait until we open his diaper to change it and right when we do, he showers us with surprises! He thinks it is so funny but we have held some family councils to correct his behavior and he is slowly developing more acceptable habits. 
We also love having family activities such as 'bath time' -- Austin seems to really like the water (which is good since he'll have a lot of time in the swimming pool here in Tucson over the next few years).
We also love having family activities such as 'bath time' -- Austin seems to really like the water (which is good since he'll have a lot of time in the swimming pool here in Tucson over the next few years). He is such a blessing and we are so excited to have this wonderful addition to our family. Melissa is a wonderful mother and is doing so well -- I just try to stay out of trouble. Life is so good -- we'll try to keep you updated as our little giant continues to grow.
