Saturday, September 24, 2011

Happy 18 Months, Austen!

Yesterday, our sweet Austen girl turned a year and a half old. She is our funny, smart, dare-devil, "I'll do what I want, when I want and I'll let you know exactly how I feel about it," adorable little girl. She walks in any place like she owns it - unlike her more shy sister - runs 60 miles an hour, and sleeps like a champ. She goes down for naps and nighttime like a dream, and says "nigh-nigh" in the sweetest high-pitched little voice. When you go into her room to wake her up at 6:00 for day care, she pops up smiling and laughing. She smacks people just so she can say "soooowwy." She says "peas" and "tank-yoooou" sometimes without even being asked. She LOVES slides and picking up rocks, and watches what her big sister does with wide eyes and admiration...copying everything she does has caused more bumps and bruises than anyone should have in their first 18 months of life. She says a whole bunch of words, and loves it when you tickle her chunky little thighs. Anywhere we go, people smile when they see her and comment on how adorable she is. I personally think that people are partial to babies with chubby cheeks that jiggle when they run. ;-) It's like Baywatch for chunky babies, and I'm going to miss it when it stops...

That's right, I'm bragging. She's my precious girl and I am allowed to do that so get over it. :-)


I had to include this picture. Anyone who has been around Austen knows that this is one of her signature looks (yes, including the snack on her face). This picture absolutely cracks me up; this is HER! :-) I promise she's a sweetheart...

Butterfly, Butterfly...

I already posted the end result of our butterfly garden, and here is what led up to it:








Staredown

Austen couldn't be trusted to not squish the little guy (with love, from her perspective), so she got to wear him on her back for a bit.

This was so much fun for the girls, especially Kaitlyn (and Jeff and me!). I recommend it to anyone with kiddos! We need to order more caterpillars. :-) You can get your own butterfly garden here.

The Carbonettis

My cousin, Sara, got married to John on July 31st. The wedding was beautiful; just her style with so many home-made personal touches. Kaitlyn and Austen had an absolute blast on the dance floor and playing with their cousins (well, not technically cousins, there is something removed or whatever, but who's counting)!



Kaitlyn gettin' her groove on. Seriously, Jeff and I had no idea she had these moves!
Dancin' the night away...




 If someone reading this has any idea why some pictures just do not want to stay the right way in Blogger, please enlighten me!

 Craven farms has a huge area out back with different things for kids to play on, and for mommies to take pictures on. :-)
 Austen and cousin Amanda

All of the girls. Amanda, Kayla, Kaitlyn and Austen were quite the group.

 I love how Kaitlyn is looking up at Kayla like, "You are SO cool!"











And now for my embarrassing, public confession: I selfishly took a whole lot of pictures of my own kids, and didn't get one shot of the happy couple. Oops! I guess that nobody can argue that I give my kids enough attention (well, maybe my parents could, as they graciously watched them so Jeff and I could dance a bit ;-)) You will just have to take my word for it that Sara and John were a stunning bride and groom!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Princess of the Potty

We started potty training (for the second time) with Kaitlyn the day after we got back from the Ocean (pictures to come from that trip). So, we have now been at it for about 3 weeks. Until a few days ago, it was not exactly the most fun we have ever had. Kaitlyn would get very upset when she had to go, because she would hold it so long and appeared to not understand how to get herself to go. So, imagine being in that pain that we all know when you have to pee so bad, but have to wait. Poor thing. :-( Both Jeff and I agreed that we did not want this to be a negative experience, and that we wanted it to be as stress-free as possible for her. So, we decided to follow her lead a bit more, and give her time to learn how everything works.

A switch all of a sudden flipped a few days ago, and we now have a pro pee-er on the potty...woo-hoo! And, she is very excited about it to boot. :-) Who knew that Jeff and I would ever be this thrilled about peepee, but we most certainly are, and we are so proud of our big girl who is growing up too fast! Go Kaitlyn!!

We have been reading the book The Princess of the Potty since this all started, and Kaitlyn can now "read" the whole thing by herself. I think she's a little proud in this picture. :-) However, every time I try telling her that she's the Princess of the Potty, she says, "No, I'm Kaitlyn."

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Just For Fun

I have really been enjoying playing around with our new camera, and have been known to take about a hundred pictures at once. I have some catching up to do on the 'ole blog. :-) I believe these were right after we got back from our Chelan trip. Kaitlyn and Austen were having one of those "too quiet" moments up in Austen's room, and sure enough, we had some cleaning up to do.






 I think she looks like me in this one ^^^

 Mischief!
 She still rubs her lips when she gets tired...I never want to forget this look :-)

Friday, September 9, 2011

Fly Away

We raised butterflies and got to release them last weekend. This little guy didn't want to leave. :-)