Austen Turns 19

Austen finally went back to school on January 19th so he got to celebrate his birthday at home with us. I'm not sure that would've been his choice considering celebrating with your friends is way cooler at that age. But, at least he got a good dinner and lots of presents!

Golfing in Mexico

It was nice having him home for a long stretch - he was home from December 7th until January 19th and only had to go back for one final during that time. I think Hailey really enjoyed having him home but it was more difficult for her to say goodbye this time (more on that in a future post). 

Austen didn't waste his day sleeping - he was up around 11amish. Grandparents came over at noon to bring presents and say their goodbyes. He watched a lot of football. He opened our presents (Illinois basketball jersey, On Cloud sneakers, jeans and other clothes) and then went for dinner at Capri - an Italian place that we hadn't been too in ages. Austen was surprised when they came out singing Happy Birthday to him with a candle in a dessert too. He thinks that's embarrassing and while I put it down on our reservation, I didn't think they'd surprise him - which they did and was nice even though he kept telling us to not sing. Ha!

So who is Austen at 19? 

• He's a kid who still loves to golf. Any chance he gets, he's practicing. 
• He still loves soccer as was evidenced by all the games he watched while on break -he's just not playing it as much although he said he'll have more time this semester and may try out for the club team next year. 
• He likes music and going to concerts (was in Mexico for one over break and has another one lined up during spring break in Chicago). 
• He does like to party - hopefully this settles down a bit after his first year of college! 
• He did pledge a fraternity and is a member of Phi Kappa Psi where he's already talking about being an officer in the house. 
• He's still pretty organized and likes to get things done. He has his own To Do list he keeps on his phone and makes his own doctor's appointments and secured himself summer employment (at a golf club) while he was home over break. 
• He's still pretty disciplined too whether it's making sure his work is done on time or getting in his workouts during the week. 
• He's a loyal friend who still makes time for his different groups of friends - which he did during both of his breaks. (And, he's not sick of his roommate whom he saw a bunch over both breaks. In fact, his old soccer coach from when they were 7-13 saw him recently and once he found out they were roommates asked him if they still like each other! They do!)
• He likes to play games and was up for any family competition over the holidays. 
• He's social and easygoing too. 

At 18, you could definitely see him changing a bit and now at 19, he's becoming his own person independent of us thanks to college life. It certainly goes quick these growing up years. I read a statistic the other day that said by 18, a child will have lived 90% of their life already with you. But, I feel like we get an extra % because his breaks are so long that we get to see him even more than we thought, which is a nice gift. 

Looking forward to more time with him this year as he comes home for his spring break and a portion of ours then Easter, Mom's Weekend and then he's home before May. We'll be relishing his last year of being a teenager (although I'm sure he can't wait til he's 21). 

Presents!