11 months old!

Lauren is now 11 months old!

I can't believe our baby girl will be one in a month!  She is getting to be more fun every day!  Her playful personality is so sweet and we just love her to pieces!

Lauren's teeth decided to all come in at the same time.  She is getting four on top and two more on the bottom.  Poor little girl is miserable. The good news is she will be able to bite and chew her food better.  The bad news is that she is an extremely picky eater!  I thought her brothers were picky, but Lauren takes the cake!  Her favorite foods are yogurt melts, puffs, cheerios, bananas, yogurt and crackers.  If she doesn't see something sweet or full of carbs on her plate, she just yells until we put something on her tray she approves of.  We are in T R O U B L E with this one!

Lauren is a great little sleeper most of the time.  I dare not write that she is sleeping perfectly every night from 7 to 7, because then she would inevitably get up every hour tonight.  That's just the way life works!  She does take 2 two hour naps during day and still loves sleeping with her blankie and pacifier.

She is getting closer to walking now!  She cruises around holding onto furniture and can stand for a couple seconds on her own.  She still isn't talking much yet, but I have the feeling when she does, she will never stop!

Happy 11 months Lauren!

We love you!

Ethan's 5th birthday robot party

Last night we celebrated Ethan's 5th birthday with a robot party at Chuck E. Cheese's.  He had a great time eating pizza and cake, playing games and running around with his friends.

My mom made this awesome robot cake for him!

Thanks to all our friends and family who helped us celebrate Ethan's birthday!

My parents had fun taking care of Lauren during the party. She had her first taste of pizza and french fries.  I wouldn't be surprised if they gave her a sip of Coke too!

 The kids had a blast playing games and winning tickets.

Happy Birthday Ethan! 

We are so proud of you and love you so much!

Happy 5th Birthday Ethan!

Happy Birthday sweet Ethan! 
You are such a happy boy and we love you so much! 

like mother, like daughter

over halfway there!

Today was my
17th consecutive day
to do The Shred! 

I'm really feeling stronger and am starting to notice some changes. The workout is a killer.  I sweat, moan and pant every single time.  There are moments when I absolultely dispise Jillian Michaels, but I'm sure at the end of my 30 days I will thank her for getting my butt in shape!

and the winner is...

Rachael!

Random Integer Generator

4 - Rachael

Timestamp: 2010-01-21 18:26:09 UTC

Enjoy your scarf Rachael! 
Thanks for all the comments!  It was fun to see who reads my blog!

Lauren's favorite toys

Lauren's favorite thing to do is crawl into the boys' room, pull up on their parking garage, and chew on their cars.  Our little tomboy is not into dolls yet, which is fine by me... as long as she has a bow in her hair!  :)

need a ride?

Look at our big girl!  She has changed a lot since she last offered a ride back in August!

bye bye training wheels

Day 1

When the boys saw their friends Maddie and Tye riding their bikes with no training wheels, they wanted to try it too.  Eric took the training wheels off their bikes and gave them a push.

Before you know it, they were riding bikes with NO training wheels! I still can't believe it!  Who would have thought it would be that easy to teach them to ride?

My three and a half year old baby boy riding his bike with no training wheels!

Day 2

By day 2, the boys were riding around the culdesac in circles over and over and over again.

Just a minor crash.

Lauren needed some wheels of her own.

Listen to cocky little Austin saying he doesn't need anymore help and modest Ethan saying he is the best bike rider in the world!

scarf giveaway!

Need a hand knitted scarf to warm your neck on these chilly days? 

I started knitting this scarf on a road trip a long time ago.  When I found it in my knitting bag the other day, it begged me to finish it and give it away to a lucky reader.

All you have to do is

leave a comment

and I will pick a winner Thursday. It's easy to leave a comment and you don't have to have a blog to do so. I'd love to know who is out there reading!

Good luck!

sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Thursday my parents picked up the boys and took them home for a sleepover. They love spending the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and always beg to stay longer. 

While the boys were away, Angel enjoyed sleeping in Austin's bed. I just had to take a picture to show him because I know he will think it is soooo funny. 

I did get a lot done while they were gone, but the truth is, my youngest little sweetie keeps me a lot busier than the boys!  I'm not quite ready to ship her off yet.  She is into EVERYTHING and quite a handful! I feel very lucky to have my parents living close by so the kids can spend time with them.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

little sweeties

This picture reminds me of this post and the ones below remind me of this post from two years ago. My how they have grown!

I love my sweeties and I'm so lucky I'm their mommy!

whatcha' doing?

My favorite baby item is our video monitor.  It ranks way up there with the Miracle Blanket and sound machine as a must have for new moms.  When Lauren was tiny, I could easily check to make sure she was sleeping on her back without disturbing her.  Now that she is bigger, I can secretly spy to see if she is awake or just playing quietly in her crib. Recently, she discovered the camera hanging on the wall and just had to investigate.  Imagine my surprise when I checked on her and she was staring back at me!

 

our little snow bunny

the shred

Hello, my name is Lisa and I am committing to do the 30 Day Shred.

The truth is, I'm 20 pounds over the weight I would like to be.  I'm going for a realistic, mom-of-three-young-kids body, not some unattainable goal I can't reach.  I am going to be conscious of what I eat and make time to exercise.  That's it. 

Thanks to my good friend Erica, some other friends and I are committing to do the Shred together.  Care to join us?

higher!

How Do I Love You?

Ethan's special book is "How Do I Love You" by P.K. Hallinan.  It's the sweetest book and Eric and I know it by heart since we used to read it to him every night when he was little. 

"How do I love you?

Let me count the ways.

I love you on your very best... and very worst of days.

I love to see you laughing and dancing in the rain.

And even when you lose your shoes, I love you just the same.

I love to hear you singing. I love to see you smile.

I love the way you take each day in your own unhurried style.

I'm happy when you're happy, And I'm sorry when you're sad.

And even though it may not show, I love you when you're bad.

How do I love you? Well, no, let me see...

I love the way you act so brave when you fall and hurt your knee.

I love to watch you sleeping, tucked away in pleasant dreams.

I love to hear you whisper all your giant plans and schemes.

I love the way you wear your pants with the front part in the back,

And the way you walk around sometimes with your head inside a sack.

I love to see you deep in thought. I love to watch you play.

And though I'm sure you'll never know, I love you more each day.

How do I love you? I'ts impossible to say.

For if I had a million days and time enough for all the praise,

I couldn't tell you all the ways...

I love you."

We love you Ethan!

baseball buddies

Playing baseball with their buddie Tye

Good times!

new years camping

We rang in the new year camping with friends on David and Sharon's new land. We had a blast chasing chickens...

riding dirt bikes...

and playing on the dirt pile for hours and hours.

Since it was so cold and windy, the guys decided to put up a few walls on the workshop they were building.  It worked like a charm and we were able to enjoy grilling and hanging out all snuggly and warm.

Happy New Year!