Monday, March 28, 2011

It's the Little Things...

Today, my very own little girl sat so still and patient while I braided her hair. I have been looking forward to this for as long as I can remember. :-) I don't know if it's being a mom, or simply silly inspirational quotes that have come my way over the past few years, but I am realizing more and more that life is what you make it. No one, major occurence is what is going to make us all the way happy. I truly believe that the best thing we can do is to learn to find happiness in daily happenings, and in small things, otherwise we will spend our whole life waiting for that "thing" that is going to make us complete. Stop waiting! Embrace what you have, and depend on yourself for happiness, not everyone else. We have one life to live, and we may as well enjoy it. :-) Wake up each day, and before letting the negative overtake you, remind yourself of the positive - it's so powerful (even John Tesh says so! ;-)). Thinking negatively is a habit, and habits are hard to break. Force positivity, and it will become your new habit. Don't worry about what you cannot change, and save your strength for what you can (and then DO IT!). Learn to let things go. Create a balance between housework and what "needs" to be done, and fun and relaxation. I'm not perfect, and I have a long ways to go, but I am finding that the more I let the negative in (venting is my big "work-on" - I can't even let myself start or it gets out of control!), the less I remember about all of the good in life. Anyone who knows me very personally knows that I still need to work on letting things go, but I'm making progress. Disclaimer: This is not in response to anything going on in my life, but only a result of being on break from work and having too much time to reflect. ;-)

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Party Time!

We had a nice birthday party at our house for Austen on Saturday. Thank you to all who came to make her first birthday special. :-) It was kinda-sorta an Elmo/Sesame Street theme (as close to an "official" theme as I'll probably ever get ;-)) My adventure in cake pop making:
Cupcake pops for guests to enjoy:
Elmo cake pops for the kids' party favors:
This is by far my favorite picture of all of the birthday fun. Taken by Meagan, who was nice enough to (wo)man the camera for me to catch Austen's cupcake eating at the party. Thanks, Megs!
Paige and Kaitlyn enjoying their Elmos:
Thanks again!!

Oh, and I'm on spring break! Woo-hoo!

Bday Festivities

We went in together in the morning to wake the birthday girl up. Austen is so cute early in the morning...you walk in when she's asleep, and she bolts upright and is immediately happy, even with her eyes half closed. :-) Austen got an "Anywhere Chair" for her first birthday, just like big sister. That chair has turned out to be one of Kaitlyn's favorite things, so Austen needed one, too (right??).
Grammie and Papa got Austen her own suitcase. You guessed it, Kaitlyn got the same one, but in purple, for her first bday. It's been the perfect little suitcase for traveling, so this was actually my request so that both girls would have one. ;-) (Although, I think Grammie was already thinking along those lines...) Thank you!
Kaitlyn got a gift, too. She's been using the magnets from her Magnadoodle to listen to everyone's hearbeats, so she got a stethoscope, along with a whole doctor kit. She now gives everyone shots, too. :-)
Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Roger got Austen her very own baby doll (aka: Not Kaitlyn's baby). What a great idea - we now emphasize that this is Austen's baby, so that she gets to play with it. Her face when she first got to hug her new doll was priceless...she was SO excited. Didn't catch it on camera, of course! Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Chouinard!

Confetti cupcakes, what else?
Happy birthday to you...
Really dainty at first:
Then realized that, with those cheeks, she wasn't fooling anyone and may as well dig in!
Oh, and I was mistaken yet again on the tooth count. There was a left, upper molar popping through by Austen's first birthday. The final count, I believe, was 12 teeth by her first birthday - 4 being molars. Holy moly!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Austen is ONE!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, sweet girl! We've loved you since the moment we knew about you :)

Wouldn't you know it...one year olds don't like to sit still. This was the best I got. :-)
It does show a view of her two bottom molars. Did I mention that she is up to THREE of those?! And, my last post was incorrect, because she is now officially at 11 teeth with her new upper molar.
Austen is taking anywhere from two (most common) to about seven steps on her own, but she still isn't using walking as the transportation of choice. :-)

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Kaitlyn's First Haircut (Finally)

Well, it took us 2 and a half years, but we finally got Kaitlyn in for her first haircut. :) I found a cute little children's boutique in Country Village. Kaitlyn did great...she didn't crack a smile the entire time, but sat still and didn't freak out. ;-) She got to sit in a pink Cadillac, watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and pick a sucker afterwards. Pretty good deal! Kids also get a free ticket for the little train that goes around Country Village each time they get a cut. We are saving that for a warmer day. :)


All done! We didn't do much this time...one step at a time. :-) They just trimmed the ends and evened it out a bit. She looks pretty thrilled, huh!

Of course we had to go find the duckies at the pond aftewards. Kaitlyn is enjoying her strawberry Dum-Dum.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Zzzzzz....

Jeff and I are really looking forward to bedtime this evening...we finally got a real "grownup" bedroom set. ;-) Three years ago or so, we had a set all picked out and ready to purchase, then found out the next day that I was pregnant with Kaitlyn. We did the responsible thing, and saved our money for diapers instead. Well, we decided that it was time to treat ourselves. :-)

The bed - we need king size pillows, but you get the idea. Yes, Jeff is thrilled about the flowery bedspread I picked out. He says that it looks sooooo cute with our green walls. ;-)

The dresser:
Everything is a little plain right now, but I am just excited to have some matching furniture!
Here is Austen excited about trying on her birthday outfit. She'll be one next week!!

Kaitlyn the bath burrito:
Austen has been really getting into playing with this doll. We have dubbed this "Austen's doll," which Kaitlyn seems to have accepted. ;-)
Side view of the cheeks, which are still going strong. You can still barely see one of her first big owies: a bruise on her cheek. Not even sure what happened. :-)
Austen has yet another tooth, bringing the total to 11, I believe. She also had her very last bottle on Sunday night. :( We didn't want to buy a whole new can of formula for the next week (till she turned one), so we decided to just go to milk when the last one ran out. She is doing fine with the milk in a sippy, and we are coming to terms with the fact that we are most likely done with bottles forever.
A few new Kaitlynisms this week: Calling people "honey," drawing lugnuts on her car pictures (courtesy of Papa), using her Magnadoodle magnets as stethescopes on anyone who will let her ("Is it too cold?"), and giving hugs and saying "I love you" (my personal favorite).
I got my first blog book in the mail, and I LOVE it! Makes me feel so much less guilty for never starting baby books. ;-) 2009 and 2010 are in the mail as we speak!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Stories and Pictures

It seems that Kaitlyn has a new saying every day. She picks things up from adults and uses them frequently. ;-) Her current faves are "Okay?" after almost every sentence: "I need to go get my book, okay?" "You can go get a toy, okay?" and "Probably (more like prolly)," which is sometimes used correctly, other times snuck in randomly. Jeff asked her the other night during bedtime (when they were looking out the window) if she thought there were any kitties out there. "No, they're prolly inside...sleepin.'" Other times it's more like "Prolly I'll get my toy."

Jeff told Kaitlyn the other day that she would get to play with Grandma and Grandpa this weekend while Mommy and Daddy go to a movie. She giggled and said, "You're gonna snuggle with Mama!" Never a dull moment :-)

Jeff got up at 5:30 with Austen on Saturday (her wake up time this weekend - why?!), so Austen and I got up together this morning while Daddy and Kaitlyn slept. As I think I said in a previous post, Austen idolizes her big sister, but sure enjoys have a few moments where she can rule the roost and play with anything she wants. :-)

Austen's peaceful morning:



Sitting in Kaitlyn's chair...shh! She'll be getting one of her own for her birthday, just like Kaitlyn did. This chair has been a big hit, which is good because it's not the cheapest one in the world. ;-)
Snack time:
I had to get a picture of their outfits - we love the long sleeve under the short sleeve look over here :-)
I am in the habit of getting Starbucks oatmeal on the weekends (well, until my gift cards run out). Kaitlyn has been getting my dried fruit and loves it :-) A little sugar in the morning gets a kid goin', right?

Baking and Sliding

Jeff decided that he and Kaitlyn should make muffins the other night. I stuck with photography.




STILL haven't done a hair cut! It's starting to drive me nuts :)
This is Kaitlyn's new game: Climb to the top of the couch and slide down. What entertainment!