Happy Halloween!

Taylor (Tinkerbell) had fun trick-or-treating tonight. We stopped by Jerry & Lorna's then went to Ben's boss's neighborhood for a little while. She was kind of shy at first but got the hang of it. We probably went to 10 houses total, but it was still fun. Got a couple cute pictures with her little kitty (Hailey).

Sunday Morning

Daddy and his girls.

Our Saturday

I took all kinds of pictures today so I don't know where to start. Ben went hunting so us girls played all day (and did laundry).

Here are the princesses.

"Mom, what's she doing to me?"

Hailey had her first real baby food tonight besides cereal. She really liked the peas. She really didn't drink any water but was hanging on it and chewing on it. Thought it was a funny picture.

This is what she looked like when she was done.

Garage Project

Last week we had the garage floor redone and the top half of the driveway. They also made the driveway a little wider for parking purposes. Our garage was sinking so it had to be done eventually. Here are some before and after pics.

Before



After



Look! The garage door actually closes all the way now and the mice and squirrels can't get in! Not sure if they did before, but there was plenty of space for them to.

I took a picture of this below for a keepsake I guess. Ben wrote this in the concrete when the guys did a temporary repair this summer.

ABC's

A is for Age: 25
B is for beer of choice: Gross
C is for career right now: The only career I have that I love is being a Mom.
D is for your dogs name: Cooper
E is for essential item you use every day: toothbrush, toilet paper, hairbrush
F is for favorite TV show at the moment: Army wives
G is for favorite game: rook I guess, for adult games
H is for Home town: Spring Grove IL
I is for instruments you play: Piano, Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone - not well.
J is for favorite juice: apple
K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: my boss (es), mostly his wife
L is for last place you ate: My desk
M is for marriage: Ben, going great but we don't have too much alone time anymore - imagine that!
N is for your full name: Kara Jean Papendorf
O is for overnight hospital stays: 2 Births plus my own birth I suppose!
P is for people you were with today: Ben, Taylor, Hailey, Julie and work people
Q is for quote: I never knew true love until I was a Mom ( no offense Ben :)
R is for biggest regret: No regrets
S is for status: Eating lunch and ready for a nap HA.
T is for time you woke up today: 6:00am
U is for underwear you have on now: Grey, I know.. boring
Vegetable you love: Spaghetti squash
W is for worst habit: Biting the inside of my lip and my finger nails
X rays you've had: Back and leg
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Chicken & cheese panini
Z is for zodiac sign: Virgo

Misc Pics

I haven't posted all week so here are all the pics in one post.

Taylor coloring before meeting Wednesday night.

Hailey hanging out in her exersaucer and getting sleepy.

Taylor finished her potty chart this morning and has been dry for a week! Even naps the past few days so that's encouraging.

Here are the little bugs this morning :)

This afternoon after nap Taylor and I played out in the leaves while Hailey finished her nap. We raked a big pile and had fun jumping in it, burying each other and throwing leaves everywhere. Some neighbor girl came over and offered to rake all of our leaves for $5. I should've took her up on it but Ben's dad is bringing the tractor over some night anyway to mulch them and mow one last time.

Hailey is 5 months old!

I can't believe how fast she's growing up already. People say the second one grows up faster and they're so right. You don't really realize it until you experience it for yourself.

TGIF

• I don't want to jinx anything, but Taylor is so close to being potty trained! She has finally stopped fighting us on it and we've been bribing her as best we can. She's getting there and we're so proud of her!
• I'm sick of doing laundry and I'm sick of grocery shopping. I'm sick of making supper after working all day too. Anyone want to take over those chores for me for awhile?
• It's so nice out today, I really have the itch to leave work. I did not feel like working all day yesterday because it was beautiful, sunny and 68 degrees! I'm feeling the same way today. Can't keep my mind on work when I want to be outside playing with the girls.
• Taylor just called here because she went potty and wanted to call and tell me. She said,"You're proud of me, Mommy?" What a cutie. Talking to her on the phone wants me to be at work even less. Every time she calls she always ends with,"I love you, Mommy." I swear, I need to tape-record that someday and put it in one of those frames. It's absolutely precious and makes my heart melt when I hear it.
• Hailey is growing again! She's been eating and eating and sleeping and making up all night all week. This growth spurt is wearing on me, but at the same time I just want to keep her little as long as possible :( My baby is getting big so fast.
• Hailey loves Taylor so much. She always smiles and giggles for us, but Taylor always gets the fastest, biggest smiles. When Hailey can hear Taylor and not see her, she looks and looks and gets upset if she can't find her.
• We're leaving Cooper home this weekend while we go down to Tim & Mel's! Woo hoo! I'm glad he's been an outside dog for a few months now, because it's so much easier to leave him out there and easier to clean too.
• Some construction guys are starting on our garage floor and driveway next week. They are pounding out the entire floor and the top half of the driveway and pouring it all new. Our neighborhood is on red clay and it shifts a lot. Whoever built our garage didn't do the foundation right or attach it to the house right, so yayyyy for us, it has to get fixed now.
• I think that's about it for now that's on my mind... Just wanted to post about the potty training because we are FINALLY getting somewhere!! Taylor's showed interest before but it's usually fallen off. Now, we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!

My First Baby

1. Were you married at the time? Yes
2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? Excited and kind of scared at the same time!
3. How old were you? 22
4. How did you find out you were pregnant? I took about 4 tests
5. Who did you tell first? Ben tested with me.. then a girl at work.
6. Did you want to find out the sex? Yes.
7. Due date? May 29
8. Did you deliver early or late? 4 days late
9. Did you have morning sickness? Yes, just felt sick all the time and tired, only threw up twice the whole pregnancy.
10. What did you crave? Granola bars, yogurt, ice cream, chocolate
11. Who irritated you the most? People at work and my husband because he just couldn’t possibly understand.
12. What was your first child's sex? A girl.
13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 38
14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? No
15. Where did you give birth? at St Elizabeth hospital in Appleton
16. How many hours were you in labor? 6.5
17. Who drove you to the hospital? Ben
18. Who watched? Ben
19. Was it natural or c-section? Natural
20. Did you take medicine to ease the pain? Yes, I hate some shot that didn’t work at all, just made me feel sick then dizzy. Then, I got an epidural at the end.
21. How much did your child weigh? 6lbs. 2 oz
22. What did you name him/her? Taylor Danielle
23. How old is your first born today? 2 yr 4 mo
24. Where did your water break? In the hospital by force

Okay mommies, repost this as 'My first baby' send it to all the other mommies plus the mommy who sent it to you.

Have a great day!!!

Hailey's First Cereal!

Hailey had rice cereal tonight for the first time. At first it all just ran out of her mouth, of course. But after several spoonfulls onto the bib, she did get a couple down. She thought it was pretty cool and so did Taylor!

First Bite






Taylor was cheering her on, and looked like it was the first time for Taylor to eat too.. note, spaghettios all over her face and sweatpants.



The end result.



The rest of these pictures were from Saturday.
Taylor, can't believe how long her hair is getting.



And Hailey scooting around the living room.



Taylor and Hailey (singing Day by Day)

TGIF

Soooooooooooo glad it's Friday! It's been a busy week at work and need to rest my brain for a couple days. We'll be cleaning out the garage tomorrow.. woo hoo! Here are a few misc pics from yesterday.



Hailey loves playing with her toes all of a sudden.. along with rolling and rolling around the house! Plus, she's pushing herself up now so crawling is in our new future ALREADY!



Here are a couple pictures of the girls playing in Hailey's crib together. Taylor loves it in there, goofy child. Of course, I don't leave them unattended in there together EVER.



I love this one, precious.

Finally Fall

Finally, we are having some Fall weather and loving it. Except the cold rain, I could do without that. Ben runs Cooper in the back yard every evening, and last night Taylor was "helping." She sat on the steps and was yelling,"No, Cooper. Be a good dog!" while he was running around the back yard. Anyways, I tried to get them to pose for a picture and this is the best I got.





Taylor was twirling this hat around by one side all day and saying it was her lasso. I guess she's a cowgirl at heart.