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. :-)

7 Months Old!

On Saturday :-)

Kaitlyn is TWO!!

Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Our Little Monster

I found this dinosaur (is that what it is?) costume at the consignment store for Austen. It's pretty hard not to laugh seeing her in it. :-) She is looking forward to her first Halloween!

Jeff and I tag team bedtime, and he usually ends up putting Kaitlyn down while I'm with Austen. They have developed their own little bedtime routine, where Kaitlyn sits on the edge of her crib with the window open and they look for stars. This usually triggers a round or two of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Cutest.Thing.Ever. I couldn't pass up the sneak-in picture...we'll want this documented for later. :-)

This is usually what happens at some point after Jeff gets home from work (the napping on the floor, not the blocks). Kaitlyn took advantage of a sleeping daddy:

Austen graduated to the ducky tub when she started sitting up. She LOVES baths, which is the polar opposite of how Kaitlyn was. What a relief, because bath time was not fun time with her big sister. :-)

And just for a flashback, here is Kaitlyn in the tub right around the same. This is during the week that she actually halfway enjoyed baths before going back to hating them.

Stats, Solids, and Cooking with Toddlers

Jeff took Austen to her 6 month check-up today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 19lbs. 7oz. (96th %)
Height: 26 3/4 in. (83rd %)

We gave her "solids" for the first time this weekend. As you can see, she was not a fan the first day.

Here is the next day. Hmm...I think she changed her mind.
Within about a week, she has gone from sitting up with assistance (leaning against her legs or the floor), to sitting for quite a long time without holding herself up. I forget how quickly they catch on to things. So amazing!

Watching Sissy play with her ball:

This next section fits into the category of proud parents. We do understand that you may not find this to be the "cutest thing you've ever read," but I'll write it like you will. ;-)

Kaitlyn is really into her play kitchen, and it has been so fun in the past month or so watching her imaginative play really develop. She washes her hands in her sink, cooks things in the microwave, makes sure to turn on the oven light while she's cooking, seasons her creations, picks up the pan to shake it back and forth before putting it back on the burner (you know, so it doesn't burn), blows on her "hot food," etc. It's incredibly cute if you ask her parents. ;-) I like to sneak in and watch her for a while when she doesn't know I'm there.

I thought she was cooking breakfast (peas) for me yesterday morning, but it turned out it was all for Ernie. Oh well, maybe next time! He's actually getting applesauce here:

Warming rice in the microwave:

Putting green sauce on Mama's (later to become Ernie's) eggs:

Happy Monday!

6 Months Old!

Annnnnd I can't believe it. No, I really can't this time. I'm sure it's because we are going non-stop ALL of the time, but this has flown by. It's definitely bittersweet to see our second big girl getting all grown up.
I did this one a day early so it wouldn't be late. ;-)


I took the girls into my work the other weekend, and Kaitlyn enjoyed playing school:
Big girl Austen is working on sitting up! She's gotten pretty steady over the past couple of weeks.

This would be Kaitlyn being silly and "changing" herself. She's laying on a diaper pad and putting on a diaper.

Playing horsy with Dada:

Austen has her six month appointment early next week, so I'll post her stats. My guess is that she will be over 19 pounds. Kaitlyn was 20 pounds at her 9 month appointment (now staying steady at just over 23). It will be interesting to see what happens with Austen. She's our sturdy girl alright!

Kaitlyn is just beginning to get possessive of her things around Austen, probably because little sister is now grabbing everything in sight, and is able to manuever her way around a room to get what she wants (rolling, "inch-worming," etc., no crawling). We are working on sharing. ;-)

Happy half-year birthday to our sweet Austen Girl!

5 Months Old!

These are getting later and later, but here it is :-) Austen is our sweet, happy girl.

I have to tell a quick story about the other morning. It was the weekend, so Jeff and I were both home, and Jeff got up with the girls so that I could sleep in. I thought I heard him putting Austen down for a morning nap right before I got up. As I'm coming out of our bedroom, I hear both girls giggling like crazy. I walk into Austen's room, and Kaitlyn has climbed into her crib and is running in circles around Austen, who is swaddled in the middle of the mattress. They were cracking up!
I love my life. :-)