Monday, December 18, 2006

Best gift


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Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
According to my mother, the stork brings some babies, Santa brings others...

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Lauren's in love!!

Jack's here.

He's perfect.

We are a family of four.

Awesome!

Thursday, December 07, 2006

The day before

Tomorrow is the long awaited arrival of Jack. I think we have thought of everything, but if not, we won't know until it's too late. Lauren is taken care of, we have to be at the hospital at the specified time, our parents know when to be where, I have my coach, I have Jack, I have our bags packed, I think we are as ready as we can be.

I will post a picture to my www.flickr.com account as soon as I can.

Off we go!

Saturday, November 25, 2006

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11-24-06 022
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
This is what Thanksgiving looked like for us.

Sunshine, blue skies, short sleeves. Yes, she is standing on an airplane. Yes she climbed up there all on her own. Man, can she run fast!!!! She out ran an almost 5 yr. old boy, me (which isn't hard to do) and out ran her daddy. She is so anxious for Jack to be born so she can teach him to run just as fast. My life is about to change, chasing two kids in two directions!! 13 days to go, but who's counting?

Monday, November 13, 2006

Pick a day...

Jack is due on Tues. Dec. 12. Today, my dr. said that the earliest she would induce me was the Friday before. Now comes the task of picking the day. His birthday. We picked Lauren's, now we'll pick Jack's. Seems like a lot of power...Wish us good luck!

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

10-25-06 101


10-25-06 101
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
Happy Halloween!!!

Hey, you try to get a group of 2 to 4 yr. olds to all look at one camera... Eat lots of candy, but not too much and be safe!!!

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Is it Halloween yet? How about now? Now? NOW?

So, guess what Lauren's excited about now? Did you guess Halloween? You're right! She is dressing up as a kitty per her repeated request. White shirt, black pants, ears, tail and drawn on nose and whiskers. It is a very cute and quite inexpensive costume and she loves it. Today we have a Halloween party to go to with our playgroup and she keeps calling it a candy party. Guess she's hoping for some sweet stuff. I know she won't be let down.

Sorry it's been so long between posts. I'll do my best to step it up in the coming weeks.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Testing...testing

Now that blogger is working again, here is what has been happening here.

School: Lauren LOVES it!
Painting Jack's room: It's going well
Pregnancy: He is very, very active
Work: It's work...

More later...

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Rumor has it...

There will be rides. And food. And friends. All ours for the enjoying tomorrow at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival (www.nutclub.org) during wrist band day. There will be photos, oh the photos! If you are reading this, chances are, I have already sent you an invitation to my Flickr account, but if not, leave a comment and I will. All of my family photos and friend photos are now listed as private due to sick-os out there.
More later...

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Preparing for Jack

Lauren will be a great big sister. She talks about and to Jack a lot. She is drawn to all babies, big or small. She is very empathetic when someone is sad or upset.
I just hope that after a week or two she still feels the same way.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Spelling

How do you spell...? Any word. Any word she knows, wants to know, heard somewhere, thinks she may have heard somewhere, you must spell it for her. And then tell her how many letters are in that word. And IF there is a letter "L", watch out! Her favorite letter and then she tells you every word she knows with an "L" in it (or as many as she can think of). She looked at us tonight and said, "T-O-Y spells toy" and when I asked who taught her that, she said "Woody" (from Toy Story). Glad she's paying attention. I laugh in the face of people who say TV teaches nothing!

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Minute by minute

Her moods change. In the blink of an eye. BAM! Happy, giggling, running around...BAM! Angry, screaming and yelling and then...BAM! Happy and all is well once more. Until the last couple of weeks, she has been very easy going and predictable. Now? Not so much. I don't know if it is all of the "Jack" talk or talking about preschool (By the way, we met her teacher, Miss Laura, today and she seems very nice. Lauren loved the classroom and the playground and is excited to go back on Thursday) or if it is just that she is three and I have no real reason for her actions. Only time will tell.

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Put me in coach, I'm ready to play, today

At the Otters game last night (www.evansvilleotters.com), Lauren got to go on the field and "feel the grass" with one of the players and his daughter. I was personally afraid she was going to take off and run the bases. Thankfully, she didn't. She thought she was hot stuff. John and I agree with her. It was really nice of that player to take her out there. John also made her night by taking her to hug Evan the Otter. To top it all off, she got an orange balloon dog from the clowns at the ballpark. Overall, it was a great night.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

With a bump, bump here and a kick/jab there...

So, Jack is making himself known to more people than just me. John and Lauren have both felt him moving and I can see him moving a lot during the day and feel him most of the night. Does this child ever sleep or is this a prediction of how our life will be come December? No time to think about that right now.
Lauren likes Jack's empty room. It echoes and she goes in it and talks, wears her princess shoes in there since they make cool noises, and she says 'Jessie' is in there making a lot of messes.
Scroll to the bottom of this blog to see a countdown calculator until we expect Jack to appear.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Two more examples of how our conversations go:

(After seeing a man with a prosthetic leg)
Lauren: What's on his leg?
Me: Something to help him walk.
Lauren: I think he's part robot

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(While at a family reunion, we were told to quiet down, grace was about to be said)
Me: Lauren, come here. They are going to say a prayer.
Lauren: But I'm not ready for bed.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Snippet from a conversation

Me: Hey Lauren, do you want to move your furniture around?
Lauren: Yeah
Me: Where should we put it?
Lauren: How about the living room?

Not exactly what I had in mind, but guess I need to be more specific.

Monday, August 07, 2006

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

It's over. It was great. Lauren, John and I got nice tans, had a lot of fun, loved lake Michigan and highly recommend St. Joseph, MI, specifically Silver Beach (trust me, google a link to this beach. It is fantastic!!) and about 45 minutes north of there, Saugatauk, MI (http://www.saugatuck.com/). All I can say is beautiful.
Just a cute story before I go. We got Lauren a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, but the peanut butter was crunchy. She didn't like the "crumbs" in it, so when I told her it was actually not crumbs but nuts, she said, "Nuts are for squirrels, and I am not a squirrel." Duh!

Monday, July 24, 2006

Here we go again

John is gone on a business trip until Thursday, and in case you aren't counting, that's 3 nights. I know to some, this may seem like a minor inconvenience, but to Lauren, it is MAJOR! "Is daddy on his way home? How 'bout now? Now? Now?" and I have to repeat to her how long it will be until he gets home. It's little consolation that when he gets home on Thursday night, he will be spending one night here, and then we are leaving for our beach (in Michigan, on the BIG lake) vacation and that alone is enough to send her into a Tazmanian devil-like swirling fit of excitement. But, without daddy home to watch The Simpson's and eat microwave popcorn with, the beach is only slightly comforting. We are packing (repacking actually), cleaning, straightening up, etc. so we have a somewhat clean home to return to. Wish us luck. It may be a L-O-N-G week...

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Hello from vacation land!

Click on the flickr badge on the right to see some of our pictures from our vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. Lauren loved it and even on our last day, woke up and asked to go back to the mountains. She also cried because we have to leave our "new house and my Gracie cat" (a rental house we are staying in has a black porcelain cat that she named Gracie since she misses the real one so much!). Back to reality for a couple of weeks...

Monday, July 03, 2006

Swinging with a satisfied smile

For 4th of July, Lauren got a swing set. Not really for the 4th, but it's close to then, so we'll call it that. In the sweltering heat, Daddy and PopPop built her a swing set and she loves it. Exhibit A shows her swinging on it the following moring in her nightgown and light-up Princess boots from Granddaddy and let me assure you that it is, in fact 90 degrees at 10:00 a.m. in this picture. And her goal on that very swing? To reach the tree with her feet. The very same tree that you cannot see because it is so high in the air. God help me!

Friday, June 30, 2006

Crayola outdoor paint ROCKS!!!

Update:

She LOVED to see the bands march and even "woo-hoo"-ed on her own in approval of how certain corps performed. She clapped and jumped and yelled "GOOD JOB!" and ate pizza and was very patient during the very extended intermission. We will have to go again sometime.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Hot fun in the summer time...

It has been hot and humid here, but currently we are in a nice spell. Reasonable temperatures and lower humidity. Therefore, we are going to Drums on the Ohio (www.drumsontheohio.com) tonight for a drum and bugle corps show. Lauren is very excited since she loves to see bands on TV and marching is something she does everyday. I hope she loves it! I'll post back later and let you know...

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Dancing Queen

This weekend, we went to the state Elks convention and Lauren got to go (for the 4th time in her short life!) and she loved it. She made friends with the Grand exalted Ruler (the national president) and his wife. They gave her their pins (proof of meeting them) and she was thrilled. She even hugged them each time she saw them. She also went to some of the hospitality rooms (parties) and ate some snacks and met lots of people who would all have this conversation with her:
"Hi! What's your name?"
"My name's Lauren. What's your name?"
"My name is _____. How old are you?"
"I'm three. How old are you?"
Very cute and always got a chuckle out of the person talking to her.
Then we went to the dance. There was a lot of music and a dance floor complete with a disco ball and Lauren was in dancing heaven. During the second set, the singers were dressed like Elvis and sang and danced and handed out red scarves. Only the best "dancers" got a scarf to keep, and guess who got one? That's right. Lauren. She was so happy!
Finally, she said, "Momma, I so tired from all that dancing." So off to bed she went.
It was a great time.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Sweat head

Since the temperatures here have shot up, along with the humidity, Lauren is suffering from sweaty heay. Sweat glistens on her hair line, hair is stuck to her red cheeks, sand is stuck to every available body party and she looks like an angel, though a dirty one. Kids apparently don't feel heat or cold. When do we start feeling these things? I mean, if I could turn off being offended by the weather, I would. Then I could and would stay outside all day, everyday and suffer from sweaty head myself without a worry in the world.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Lauren loves everyone

She loves Momma and Daddy and the rest of the family. She loves Daisie. She love Hailee. She loves her house and her bed. She loves orange kitty. She LOVES Gracies.

When will this love fest end? Better question: How do I keep it from ending?

Thursday, May 11, 2006

FYI

Everything's OK. Yesterday was a potentially really, really bad day, but thankfully everything is OK.

Also, baby's heartrate is 164. Place your bets ladies and gentlemen...

Friday, May 05, 2006

Sorry for no posts for a bit...

You know how it gets. Busy. Lauren is always playing with her "friends" Max and Jesse (Max is a rabbit from the show Max & Ruby and Jesse is the cowgirl from Toy Story 2). They go everywhere with her and do lots of 'naughty' things that she gets on to them for doing everyday. Max doesn't like his 'yogrit' (yogurt), so Lauren will eat it. Jesse likes to play outside, so she plays with the chalk and writes on her hands. Lauren tells her not to do it, but 'she keeps doing it anyway!'
She has an amazing imagination and it is so cool to watch and listen to and to get involved with. She invites us to play with her and her friends as often as possible. Just this morning, I heard her tell Jesse, "...the baby is coming soon".

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

New edition. Not just a group any more.

We found out on our 7th anniversary that I am pregnant. Lauren is over-the-moon excited about it and when we went to the dr. earlier in the week, she was sure that was the day the baby would be coming home. Thank goodness it wasn't. We are so not even close to ready for a newborn in this house. I am due in early December.
Must start Christmas shopping now...

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Long time, no post

Things have gotten busy in a good way around here, so sorry for the lack of posts. Easter was great and Lauren got more candy than even a good candy has on hand and she is trying to eat it all before I decided enough is enough and get rid of it. She has a while. John and I are being very good to not eat it, but it's hard. Joining the YMCA has helped both of us try to live a bit healthier.
Today is John's 30th birthday. I remember when he turned 18. He loved his birthday gift. He and a friend are going to Huntsville, AL to Space Camp (http://www.spacecamp.com) for a weekend in Sept. I think he is very excited!
More later...

Monday, April 10, 2006

Ah, the festivities are winding down...

Though today is our 7th wedding anniversary and John's birthday is fast approaching (he'll be 30!), the parties at our house are over. They were so much fun, starting with a family party, then we took her to Chuck E Cheese which is now requested daily and then she had her friend party. That's a lot of parties and a lot of thank you notes. Not to mention a lot of cool new toys. Thanks to all of you who read this and learn about our girl and our family.

More later...

Monday, April 03, 2006

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4-3-06 044
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.

Happy, happy birthday baby!!

April 4, 2003

Can you believe she's 3 already? I sure can't!!
Growing up so fast, seems like it's happening before our very eyes!!

Thursday, March 30, 2006

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

And so it goes

We haven't slowed down yet and for the foreseeable future, slow is not on the horizon. Here's the breakdown:
This weekend: Friends in town until Monday, and they would like to go to the zoo, mall, and to Pump It Up, Sunday is the family birthday party, Tuesday is her birthday and we will be going to Chuck E Cheese's, Wednesday we have an appt., Thursday is her friend birthday party, Friday we have our class and are then leaving for the weekend to see a friend from WAY out of state, but are staying with our friend who will be with us this weekend. We will come back that Sunday, stopping by the outlet malls on the way home and the next day is our 7 yr. anniversary. Whew!! Plus, John is working and I have been also, so I am off to clean the house with help from an ever growing kid.

Friday, March 24, 2006

Let me tell you about busy!!!

Over the last few weeks, busy is not even adequate to describe what's been going on here. I know I said we were going to slow down, but so far, it's not been possible. Between loan closings, dockings, insurance training, my birthday and planning for Lauren's, it's been BUSY!
Everything here is great, Lauren is SO ready for her birthday, Libby is loving Lauren growing up and wanting to play with her and I am tired.
John and I are doing great, and for my birthday I asked for a memebership to the YMCA and we've been once since Sunday and I got to exercise for 11 minutes before the child watch worker came to track me down since Lauren was crying and they couldn't calm her down. Sigh...Off to try again today. Fingers crossed for us!!

Friday, March 17, 2006

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3-17-06 041
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
We're happy

We went to a birthday party yesterday and had a ball! She played and played and laughed and ate! I love to be with her and I cannot believe she will be three is mere days. How is she becoming a little girl and not still a baby?

Monday, March 13, 2006

One fast moving girl

Running, running, running, running!

All of the time running. With her, after her, along side her, because of her, because of me.

We go all of the time and sometimes we need to STOP. That's my plan. Slow down and enjoy time. Unless she wants to go, we're slowing down.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Happy, healthy

I often say how lucky we are to have such a happy, healthy girl. She is beaming with life and makes me love each day with her, even if she is having a rotten (bad behavior) day. I hear about kids who are sick (cough and cold sick or lukemia), and it makes me even more apprecitive of her. She has had colds and coughs and ear infections. All highly treatable and short lived (thank goodness).
As you go on about your day today though, please include a little boy in your prayers named Grant. He is battling lukemia and doing well, all things considered, but is having a bad day with a reaction to some of his medication and needs the extra boost of prayers. Thanks.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

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2-25-06 035
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
Snow is so cold!

And so, we brought it in the house by the bowl full. She played, quite happily, for 45 minutes. She spooned it from one bowl to another using baby spoons, soup spoons and a play ice cream scoop.
Eventually, she started to get bored, so I suggested that we build a snowman. She wanted it to be for daddy's office, but I assured her a picture of it would be just as great. (The snowman was built last Saturday and it is still living in our freezer!)

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Batter, batter, batter, SWING!

Guess what we are doing on Saturdays? She is on a t ball team that has boys and girls ages 3-6 (big age span!) and loves it, then hates it, then loves it again, then hates it more than you can imagine. She love to hit the ball, hates not chasing it after she hits it, loves running the bases, hates missing catching the ball if she is not fast enough or not paying attention, loves the variety of bat colors, hates wearing her glove while on the field. The list goes on and on. Enjoy this picture because yesterday during pictures, she would not participate.
Oh well.

Monday, February 13, 2006

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2-13-06 066
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
Hail! Hail! The gang's all here!

We had our Valentine's Day party a day early today and Lauren and her friend's got lots of goodies to share and eat. She had a really good time. It amazes me to watch them all play, talk and share things. They are growing up so fast. Last year, we gave only cards, this year we did a craft, next year, who knows?
I love my Valentine!!!

Thursday, February 09, 2006

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2-8-06 040
Originally uploaded by The Joys of Motherhood.
Happy Birthday!

Birthdays are a hot topic of discussion at our house. "My birfday's soon!" and then I ask her when it is and she tells me. I then try to tell her approximately how long it really is until her birthday which I am sure seem like an eternity to her. It's not been that long ago since I counted down to my birthday from Ground Hog's Day on. I often blamed that Ground Hog for how long it was taking for my birthday to get here, so I understand her need for a birthday and a party.
Lauren loves to party! Her ideal day is pizza pie followed by cake. Guess what we'll be having when she turns 3?
I want to tell her to hold on and not rush, but how do you tell a child that?

Friday, February 03, 2006

T520060203174055694

My nurse is finally sleeping. Sleep well!!!
What a cute nurse!

I was sick last night. I don't mean a little sick, I mean moaning, writhing sick. And Lauren didn't like it. Not one little bit. I cried. She cried. We cried. The night got longer for me just as she went to bed. Glad she went when she did. UGH!
This morning, she came into our room, as per usual, but this morning, she brought me a big pink bunny to make me feel better. Once I was out of bed, she sat next to me on the couch and said, "Momma, I know how you feel." I hope she doesn't. She patted my leg, laid her head on my shoulder and sighed. Bless her heart. She gave me kisses and patted my cheeks. She checked on me all day. She is very caring. And so sweet! She makes me feel better even when I feel really bad!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

No more excuses...almost

"Lauren, don't throw that ball in the house!"
"But I was just gonna..."
"Lauren, please eat!"
"But I just wanna..."
"Lauren, Lauren, Lauren..."
"But I just..."

This is how almost all of our conversations have gone recently. Not that I expect her to blindly follow directions, but occasionally, that would be great. This weekend we decided that we were going to try to stop the excuses and try to just get her to listen. I won't lie. For a while it was cute. That time has passed. Wish us luck.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Sickness sucks!

About 4 a.m., Lauren came into our room and was promptly sent back to her bed. By 4:30 a.m., the crying was loud so I went to check on her and she was crying, "My ear! My ear!" Fast forward two hours and the battle to take Tylenol was in full swing. We did go back to bed for an hour and a half and then made an appointment to see the Dr. Fortunately, our pediatrician was in the after hours clinic this weekend and he told us, in addition to pink eye, she has a double ear infection. Therefore, she is getting antibiotics orally, eye drops and has ear drops should the need arise.
Poor girl. :(

Friday, January 20, 2006

Updates:

Since last I posted, we have been to two story times, one play date, cleaned the house, done laundry and watched our fair share of DVR'd programs. This is a wonderful life!
Last night Lauren fell asleep while laying across my lap. I could have left her there forever. She looked beautiful just sleeping there. Putting her to bed is only hard when she fall asleep on me. I want to hold her and watch her sleeping. I know, I know. Falling asleep on her own is a good thing (for her), but getting to watch her fall asleep is a good thing (for me) too.
My toddler is becoming a little girl. I am a little sad about it, but excited at the same time.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

New set up

Do you like the new template? I think it will work well. Let me know what you think.
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Back to normal

Thank goodness. We are getting back on a routine. Our Kindermusik classes started back up on Friday, followed by a birthday party. And thus begins the rounds of upcoming friend parties that will continue until late April. On Tuesday, we will start our storytime back at the "old library" and the "new library" storytime will begin on Jan. 23. Lauren loves going to the library. With or without her friends, she loves it. They have books, movies, music and toys. Everything under one roof, and all for her enjoyment! I'll post pictures of our adventures as they become available.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Do you wanna...?

Play with me? Play my Dora game? Play hide and seek? Watch Dora with me? Sit with me? Play with Playdoh with me? Huh? Huh? Do you? Do you? Do you?
Just a taste of what I hear each and every hour of each and every day. I wouldn't trade it, but I wish we had a live in playmate who was the same age as Lauren so I could watch. She is amazingly smart, active and talkative. More so than a lot of adults I know. She is going to be a really cool adult!

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Ah! The holiday season has come to an end

Not that I don't love the holidays, because I do, as does the whole family, but the end has come and I'm OK with that. As a matter of fact, when we walked in the door on New Year's Day, Lauren announced that, "It's not Christmas time any more Momma" meaning, "when are you going to get around to taking down the tree?" So, in the pressure that follows your 2 yr. old calling you out, the tree and all other decorations came down yesterday. Our house now looks much neater, but less decorated. I suppose I could have left the tree up and had Lauren make decorations for all holidays, but I didn't think that was the right route for our family.
So, Valentine's Day, here we come!!