Monday, December 27, 2010

9 Month Stats

Austen had her 9 month check-up today.
Weight: 20 lbs. 12 oz. (81%)
Height: 28.5 in. (80%)

She's still our chunky little girl, but has definitely slowed her roll in the weight gain department with less than a pound in 3 months. She's burnin' it off with all that movin'!
Kaitlyn was exactly 20 pounds at her 9 month appointment, by the way.

And here is a cute picture of Christmas morning:


Thursday, December 23, 2010

9 Months!

Austen is only 3 months away from being one year old. She is definitely on the move...still "scooting" more than anything, but attempting hands and knees a bit. She's also pulling herself up on everything and getting into things. I think this is one stage I can do without, since she is still so wobbly but wants to pull up.
One of our favorite things right now is Austen's little laugh. She cracks herself up. :) She will just be sitting there and start giggling - too cute. She loves her big sister and just can't wait to be able to do everything she does.
This girl still loves to eat! She loves her fruits and veggies, and has now mastered the art of picking up "Puffs" and stuffing them in her mouth. Her two bottom teeth are both through and growing in fast.
We have her 9 month appointment on Monday, so I'll be sure to post current stats!

November/December Fun

Kaitlyn being a goofball on top of Mama's Christmas bin:

The girls reading together:
One of my dearest friends, Meagan, got back from a trip to Italy. We got to spend some time with her last weekend. :)

Silly sisters :)

Austen is into and on anything she can reach. She pulls herself up to standing, which makes Mama nervous since she's so wobbly! She's gotta keep up with that big sister!
Decorating the tree:


Wagon ride!
Kaitlyn watching the Grinch with the Grinch:

Junglegym Jeff:


This is actually the after picture:
And the before:


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Austen is 8 Months Old!

Austen is starting to try crawling...just in the past few days, she has started "army crawling" to get where she wants to go. She also has taken a few crawling "steps" and is on her way to crawling on her hands and knees. Life is about to get a bit more hectic! Even so, it's so much fun to see Austen hitting this new stage (although, I have to admit it's also a bit sad because she's growing up so fast!) and getting closer to keeping up with her big sister which she wants to do so bad!
She also has a tooth! The bottom right one cut through about a week ago, and the left is right behind it. Another exciting milestone, but we'll miss the gummy smile!
Obviously, Austen loves to eat. Her favorites are pears, sweet potatoes, and squash (well, in my opinion :)). She also has loved bananas, but we have discovered that they cause some tummy trouble, so she's banned from those for now.
She has also started to clap, and we think wave - so cute. :)

Snowday!

I got to stay home from "school" today because of the snow. It's definitely a perk of being a teacher! They've already called tomorrow off, too, which makes this a 6 day weekend because of Thanksgiving. :)
Of course I had to get the girls out in the snow. This is Austen's first experience with it, and she seemed to enjoy it. Kaitlyn is now old enough to appreciate it a bit more, so we are looking forward to this winter!
Why would both of them look at the camera at once? That would be silly.

I love this one :)

Too busy to look at the camera for Mama, as usual:
Adventure Girl:

Vegas!

Jeff had a business trip last week in Vegas, and I went and met him on Thursday. His conference was over on Friday afternoon, so we stayed until Sunday. It was SO nice to have some time with just each other. You really don't realize how much you need it until it comes.

This is the one and only picture we took...oops! I always tell Jeff that I want him to take me to Disneyland, so I said this would hold me over for another few years until the girls get a bit older:

Bouncy Playdate and Sister Fun

I happen to have access to a little bouncy house that is the perfect size for Kaitlyn and her friends. So, we packed it up and took it to Monroe for a playdate with Paige. They had a great time :)


Lately, in the mornings, Kaitlyn doesn't want to get out of bed until Austen comes in for a bit.
This may have been a bad mommy moment...I had to get a picture before telling Kaitlyn that we don't sit on our little sister. Austen only looks slightly concerned:
They "play" together well a lot of the time. Kaitlyn has gotten used to "trading" a toy with Austen instead of just taking it. We are working on it. :) Now that Austen is starting to get on the move, it's getting harder for Kaitlyn to share. There are definitely frustrated moments, and I can imagine that it will get worse before it gets better as Austen becomes even more mobile. Fun times! Overall, though, Kaitlyn does quite well.
This one got in the middle here somehow. We started giving Austen "Puffs" and she loves them. She can't quite get them in her mouth by herself yet, but she's working on it!

First sister bath! Kaitlyn made Austen some tea:


Playing in Kaitlyn's room after bathtime:

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Growing up too Fast!

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo Look!
Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
~Ruth Hulburt Hamilton


Thursday, November 4, 2010

New Table!

Well, this isn't the new table, but it's a pretty cute picture of Austen and Riley waiting for Kaitlyn and Papa to come back inside. Austen is not standing by herself yet, but can stand for a bit if you prop her up just right. :-)

Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Roger got Kaitlyn this adorable little table for her birthday. She is in love with it...she will rearrange the chairs all night if you let her. It's the perfect size!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween!

Kaitlyn had a blast trick-or-treating. At first I thought we wouldn't be able to convince her to put her costume on and go, but all it took was a few kids at our door to get her excited. She even wore her hat the whole time. :-)

Austen came, too:

These are out of order, but here is Kaitlyn enjoying her one candy pick for the night: Smarties. :)
The girls checking out the loot:
On to the next house:
She went right up to the doors, knocked, and even said trick-or-treat at a lot of them. So cute!
She kept saying, "Let's go to the next house."
Jeff's jack-o-lantern:

We went to a pumpkin carving get together at our friends' Bryan and Lindsey's. They have a 2 month old, Jackson, and Andy and Megan's little Perry (below) is 4 weeks old:
Jeff with cutie little Jackson:

Jackson and Perry:


Kaitlyn, Austen, and Kendall (Ryan and Michelle). Austen's face just cracks me up in that costume. :-)

Okay, so we have a bouncy house in our downstairs. Here's the short story: We were going to rent one for Kaitlyn's second birthday party, but it was only 30 more dollars to buy the exact same one. Who doesn't want a bouncy house in their basement?! Play date, anyone? Kaitlyn LOVES it, and Austen has been enjoying it with Mama.




Silly girls:
Kaitlyn handing the baby to Austen for a kiss:


Sweet girl :-)
Kaitlyn helping Dada with Mama's new computer:


We had a great birthday party for Kaitlyn's second birthday. We tried to keep it a bit smaller this year...especially since we'll be putting on another first birthday in March. ;-)

There was no need to convince Kaitlyn to eat her cupcake this year:
On a side note, Jeff took Kaitlyn to her 2 year check up, and she finally hit the 24 pound mark! She is just over 24 pounds with clothes on. :-)