I Love Fall!

Last weekend, Taryn, my mom and I went to a pumpkin patch out in the county. I'm not sure how it worked out, but somehow Lee finnagled his way out of the pumpkin patch and ended up tailgating for the Purdue game instead. That was some fancy footwork.
I was excited to go to the pumpkin patch. I have never gotten a pumpkin from anywhere other than a grocery store or one of those random stands that pop up around Halloween. Halloween is a holiday that I absolutely love, and somehow a love for pumpkins has grown from that! I had also heard that this place had a petting zoo, a kiddie maze made of hay, a playground, etc, so I figured Taryn might have a blast as well.

I figured wrong. Taryn is apparently NOT cut out for farm living. She was scared of all the animals in the petting zoo. I mean, I can see being scared of the llama, but there were puppies in there for goodness sakes! While we were out in the field finding our pumpkins, she got quite cranky with a weed that apparently got up in her grill. She was also preoccupied with the dirt she got on her hand. When we got her a hotdog, she was none to happy that we were going to sit in the grass to eat it and kept trying to back over to my mom to use her as a couch.

However, she DID humor us with this one pic. Priceless. And, I have to admit she did seem to enjoy the tractor ride out to the field to pick the pumpkins. I didn't do a whole lot better in the pumpkin patch, ending up with burrs all over my jacket. Those things hurt to pull off!

Even though it wasn't quite the success I had hoped, it was a beautiful day to get outside and it was fun spending time with my mom and my daughter. Hopefully next year she'll be prime pumpkin picking age! Now... onto carving our pumpkins... To be continued.

Which one doesn't belong?

Can you spot the non-Old-Navy-Mannequin in this picture??? It is tough since she's fashionably dressed in skinny jeans and a layered look top...

Will the non-mannequin please step forward?

Good Weekend

This weekend was a good weekend. It was our one weekend of the month that didn't have anything written in on the calendar. On Friday we had a relaxing (and early) night at home. Saturday Taryn and I spent the day with Grandma and Great-Grandma finishing up her Halloween outfit (sneak preview below) and eating at Spagheddi's.
Saturday night we went over to a friend's house for a fish fry. They love to have people over and cook out which is SO nice because we can bring Taryn and when it is her bedtime just put her to sleep in her pack n play and keep hanging out.

Sunday (today) we went up to Lee's parents' house on the lake. We took advantage of this crazy Indian Summer and took one last pontoon ride of the year. I can't believe it was freaking 90 degrees out today!! I even got all my homework graded on the way up! Awesome!

I hope that my rejuvenated feeling can last me through the next 4 busy weekends...

16 Month Check-up

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On Thursday we took Taryn in to the doctor for her 15 month check-up. Um, yeah, but she's actually 16.5 months old. Whoops. I had a few reasons for the delay... August, when she was supposed to go entailed me starting a new job/career, Lee's job starting back up and Taryn going to a new daycare. My other excuse is that for some reason I thought she didn't go back until 18 months. OH, and the fact that I'm a bad mom. Which is what I was afraid the doctor would think. He was super nice about it though.
Taryn weighed 26lbs4oz and was 32.25 in tall. She is quickly closing in on the 3ft mark, which is mind boggling. She is still around the 90th percentile for height and weight and her head is still off the charts... Just what every mom wants to give birth to. A baby with an unusually large head. Thanks Klemme genes.

Taryn's vocabulary is still expanding with every passing day. Her longest phrase now is "Where'd it go?" She surprises us with a new word everyday though. Her opinions are also growing quickly. She knows what she wants and she will get it. Top on her list of wants is to go outside and to eat fruit snacks. And if we don't comply, we get this pouty face.

Taryn hasn't been reading her books as much lately. She is far too busy outside. She still really likes her Purdue book though. Her favorite page is the one that has the school song written out. This is because when we get to the page we sing the school song. She claps along with us and knows the precise time to put her fist up and do the Boiler UP fist pump. Taryn has started to use a pacifier. They used to be poison when she was young, but all of the sudden she found one that her cousin left at our house and has been figuring it out. In the morning, though, she knows to hand the paci to me and say "bye bye" to it as I put it in the cabinet. She tries to dress herself, but she's not really able to yet. So, she settles for helping me put her socks and shoes on.

Taryn loves to dance. As soon as a song comes on, she starts dancing. She also dances to our cell phone rings. One of her favorite times to dance is in front of the mirror before she gets in the bath... Yeah, dancing with her clothes off, that is not a habit that we want her to form... She also fake snaps her fingers as she is dancing. She's really got the moves. She also likes to run now and stomp. She thinks she is quite speedy. She is extremely affectionate and loves giving hugs and kisses, blowing kisses, patting and rubbing my back. Whenever she visits her great-grandma's house, it always takes a good 10 minutes for her to leave because she has to give her about a million kisses and waves.

Taryn really likes her new daycare and she gets good report cards from them everyday. The comments always say some combination of "happy", "playful", "independent" or "chatty". She loves to talk and she is really LOUD. (That is another thing she got from the Klemme side.) She doesn't care if she is saying real words or not, she fully expects you to understand her. She will point around at what she is talking about and look really seriously at you. Then she looks slightly annoyed like "I'm dealing with idiots here". Taryn is still very proud of her belly and loves to pull up her shirt and pat it. She also knows where her teeth are and her tongue. She immitates everything. The other day she took her sunglasses and pulled her shirt out to wash off the sunglasses. In the bath she always puts her leg up on the edge of the tub. I always thought she was trying to climb out, but then I realized she was immitating me shaving my legs. She is starting to become interested in drawing, but she cannot be trusted with the writing utensils. I let her use a pencil today, thinking that at least a pencil doesn't really get on clothing. Well, what I didn't think about was that it WOULD get on our walls... And our kitchen cabinets. Live and learn.

That is really the theme with having your first child. Every week brings something new and it is such an amazing journey.