More Pictures from Paul's Camera

June 19-After our stressful drive to SC and finding a carriage ride, we stopped by Ben and Jerry's for some ice cream. I got something called Chocolate Therapy and it really was therapeutic! Grandpa wanted to share his with the frog in the courtyard.

We went to Waterfront Park when the breeze picked up. Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed the rare moments they had to snuggle Lauren.

Of course, our trip wouldn't have been complete without a fit-pitching session.
Seconds later, look at her ability to compose herself! Turkey!

Paul got some cute shots of Lauren. I hope you enjoy these as much as us!

Paul was able to snuggle the little one as well!

And you know Lauren loves my sunglasses (upside down, of course!).

And I love snuggles and kisses from my little girl!

June 20--We took a ferry to Fort Sumter. Grandma and Lauren had a nice talk on the ride out.

Grandpa and I also had a good talk about a ferry ride that Grandma slept through (thankfully) and their friends all got ill!

At the fort, I tried to shoot some cannons. Talk about tough work!

On Sullivan's Island, we took some more pictures. (Shocking, I know!)

Notice the road rash on her face. This was from the Waterfront Park when Lauren ran smack into a wooden bench. Between the Neosporin and her antibiotic, she's healing quickly.

Someone loves the ocean!

She got brave and was taken under the water by a wave. It didn't phase her, even though she was soaked!

Paul twirled Little One around in the water. She loved the horse play.

We were collecting shells. Lauren wanted to put them in my hands when she found them.

Here was some coral that has washed up on the shore. I didn't know it was so squishy!

We loved our vacation and look forward to going again soon!

The Past Month

I need to apologize from my month-long hiatus! With the end of school, I left early on my last day to catch a plane to Las Vegas for a mini-vacation with my mother-in-law, Kay, Paul's cousin, Missy, and Missy's friend, Linelle. That was from June 10-14. I returned and my grandparents from Arizona came to visit from June 17-22. That was an AWESOME time and we went to Charleston, SC while they were here. Then Grandma and Grandpa left on Tuesday morning and I started my summer job as a "qualified professional" working the summer program at ACT as a therapist. So even though I've had a TON of fun and have done a TREMENDOUS amount of traveling, I've had minimal time to update the blog. My brother, Josh, emailed me this afternoon and asked why it's been so long between updates...you'll see below!

June 1--Lauren took a liking to her Jack-in-the-Box. She's now able to turn the tiny handle to make Jack pop out, even knowing when he's going to pop based upon the rhythm of the music! I got a double laugh as Lauren played with Jack while standing in the laundry basket. Not an unusual thing for our household, but it still cracks me up!

My poor Jinxy, hiding from all of the commotion of the house! Paul and I rearranged Lauren's room to the office, painted the walls and sanded and stained the floors, and moved in her furniture. The house was even more of a mess than usual because we're still working (okay, stalling) on the kitchen remodel. Jinx NEVER gets into boxes, and he rarely poses for a picture.
June 4--Here is Lauren's room, completed! Her walls are still purple (she picked the color!) but they are darker than her previous room. It's a little more loud, more like Lauren's personality. We've since placed the furniture and added wood blinds to the windows. I'm planning on repainting Lauren's wall letters and finding valances to put on top of her windows to complete the look. We still need to hang wall things.
June 6--Paul yells at me, "Babe, come quick and see this! Grab your camera!" As I turned the corner, I see Paul walking Lauren walking on her hands. Paul said that he picked Lauren up, she slid upside down out of his hands, and she started walking on hers! June 11--As I said, I went to Las Vegas with the girls on June 10. We took a Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon tour via bus the next day. Here we are at the Hoover Dam. It's enormous! If you look behind us and to the left, you can see the bridge that is currently being constructed. I didn't know this, but the dam connects Nevada to Arizona! How about that! There are clocks on either side of the dam showing the time in each state! While here, I bought Paul a "dam golf ball" since he isn't collecting shot glasses and doesn't like T-shirts! Enjoy the "dam" picture!

We stopped for a snack break on the way to the Grand Canyon. I looked and saw this sign for Interstate 40 (which runs through my back yard!)!! I had to take a picture of the sign!

We made it to the Grand Canyon. Look how beautiful this is! I was trying to pretend that I was falling off into the canyon, but I was laughing too hard. We were thinking that Grandma Wade would be fussing at us from Heaven if she could have seen us!

June 12--We found this funky restaurant called Peppermill on the strip. It was so much fun! The food was good (don't get the eggs!), plentiful, and worth the money. The atmosphere alone was intriguing. Kay enjoyed her morning cup of coffee (no alcohol yet!) while I simply smiled.

One of the unusual stops we made were in the casino's restrooms. We enjoyed checking out the cleanliness, opulence, and decorations. Below Kay fixes her hair while stopping at the Wynn/Encore. (This was one of our favorite restrooms! They had tiny lamps fixed above the toilets!)

The Belliagio had an indoor conservatory, free of charge. There were some amazing arrangements, especially within the animals. I loved the roses in the snail.

I really liked this ladybug. Just thought it was cool. You can see the enormous watering cans that watered the flowers to my right.

We stopped at the M and M store. It was 4 stories of shopping with a 3-D M and M movie at the top! Kay and I investigated. Red bet his "M" on the roulette table and lost it, so he and Yellow had to try to get it back. (I won't tell you if he did or did not!) As we walked in, there were the giant M and M statues.

While waiting to watch the 3D movie, there was the M and M picture frame with Vegas behind it.

Later that night, Kay and I opted to take in a show. Terry Fador, who won America's Got Talent a few year's back, had his show at the Mirage. Below is one of his new characters, The Cougar, and she was a RIOT! The show was AWESOME, family-friendly yet a little more (subtly) adult, too. It was well worth the money to see the show!

June 13--My mother-in-law, the big spender. She gambled more than the rest of us, but it was fun to watch Kay play the slots. She actually won $12.50 at a restaurant! This picture was taken at Circus, Circus which was a blast. We enjoyed playing the midway games and watching the shows. Not a bad place to take kids as the midway and amusement park were smoke free! Flights coming into and going from Vegas are strange. Our flights departed for home at 11:15 PM and 11:35 PM respectively. As we were leaving, we saw the Welcome to Las Vegas banner. A little backward, but we needed our picture!

I REALLY enjoyed the girl's weekend. We all plan to try to make it an annual event and while waiting for our plane discussed possible adventures for 2010. (I think it was Maine.) Thanks for the laughs and fun, girls!

June 16--I purchased a Ped Egg (I'd recommend this to ANYONE with callouses on their feet!) and had to try it out! I soaked my feet in the tub while Lauren was bathing and used the cuticle pusher on my cuticles. Lauren soaked up my actions. I didn't notice what she was doing at first, but she was mimicking my behavior! She's certainly her mama's girl!

I should also comment that futile attempts have been made to separate Lauren from her pacifier. She had been exceptionally whiny and we noticed that she's working on cutting her last two teeth before her 2 year molars. We've allowed it a bit more considering this.

June 17--Lauren looked adorable this morning before going to school. However, she was NOT impressed that I wanted to take her picture and cried. You can tell she was not happy with me.

June 18-I hesitated to allow Lauren to polish her own toes, but I didn't think it would hurt too much. She was actually VERY meticulous about her application. Regardless of the care she took, she still had toes, not just the nails, that were quite pink. She was pleased with her efforts and proud of her pink toes!

I allowed Lauren to attempt to polish my toes. She didn't do too badly, believe it or not! I was impressed.

We were making dinner the night before we headed to Charleston. Lauren and Great-Grandma helped make biscuits for dinner. Lauren did a great job using the biscuit cutter to make the biscuits. She got a little over-zealous, though, and we were afraid she'd marked up my new counter! (You can see that nothing has been done in the kitchen since April, I think.)

June 19--We headed out to Charleston, SC to investigate the city. None of us had ever been to Charleston, so we had thought this was a good way to go! Lauren had not been feeling well for a while, but we weren't sure what was going on. She fell asleep after our carriage tour of the city which was awesome! We checked out some art galleries and Lauren fell asleep. I took her picture by the print to prove to her that she had been in a gallery!

We went to the Waterfront Park after our gallery excursion. Lauren had a blast watching the birds and running around. She then ran into a wooden bench and scraped up her right cheek and her chin.

July 20-As part of our trip, we decided we needed some education. We loaded up early for the ferry which took us to Fort Sumter where the first shots of the Civil War took place. It was smaller than I had anticipated, but it was in excellent condition considering the amount of war it saw over an 80 year time span, plus decay.

Paul and Lauren at Fort Sumter. Paul kept Whiny Lauren busy so I could investigate and enjoy history. (I have a LOT more pictures of Fort Sumter, as does Paul, but Paul's camera's files are enormous and take forever to load. I will work on loading more of Paul's pictures later.)

The weather was quite warm for us while in Charleston. Temperatures were 99 or so each of the days were were there with heat indexes up to 110 degrees. The humidity was awful, too. After going to Fort Sumter, Lauren and Grandma played in a fountain to cool off. The fountain was between the aquarium and the Fort Sumter museum.

We drove around the rest of the afternoon looking for the key items. Here we found Rainbow Row. We loved the colors!

We left the city for Sullivan's Island to take in the ocean. It was Lauren's first trip to the ocean and we weren't sure what to expect. I was hoping that she'd love the water and beach so that we could have the excuse to vacation there more often. (Paul would rather be in the mountains than at the beach.) Her first exposure to the sand was daunting. She cried and refused to walk.

We eventually got her to the beach (while I carried her). Great-Grandma showed Lauren how to look for shells in the sand. Below, Grandma was trying to tempt Lauren with playing in the water. It didn't take long before Lauren fell in love with the water and the waves!

Grandma and Grandpa enjoying the Atlantic. They are some of the happiest, sweetest, most considerate people I know. You can tell how much they love one another! I'm so blessed to have them in my life.

Lauren, Great-Grandma Bobbie, and I collected sea shells. When I got too many that they fell out of my pocket, I put them in Lauren's shoe! Lauren was checking them out, wondering why her foot wasn't in the shoe!

June 21--My daughter enjoys drinking water from sources other than her own cups. She's a riot because she drinks from a glass like a cat or dog! Paul was embarrassed, but I had to laugh! She'll do the same as she drinks from a water bottle (sticks her tongue in and drinks around her tongue). When she sees water running or watches me drink from a glass, she'll put her hand up to her mouth and smack her lips, pretending to drink herself as she tips her head back!

Daddy and Lauren testing out hammocks. This particular model costs somewhere around $600 for all pieces. We'll pass for now...

Checking out some shops at Pawley's Island, SC, Lauren needed to lounge in this teal chair! She thoroughly enjoyed the rest and was ready to return home!

We had an AWESOME time with our grandparents Ryan. The visit was too short as often is the case, but we had a LOT of fun and special times. We had a lot of firsts as well.

Upon our return home, I scheduled a doctor's appointment for Lauren. She had some swelling in her ears and nose and some crud in her lungs, so the doctor put her on an antibiotic. That would explain her moodiness, needing to cling to me, and her lack of appetite. Since being on her medicine, she's perked back up, trying our patience and seeing how far she can get before a spank is in order! It's been so much fun having Lauren back to her usual self. She has certainly taken on the behavior of a 2 year old rather than 1...such is life!

I will post Paul's pictures of Charleston another evening.

Funny Stories

I picked Lauren up from school on Monday to hear that Lauren had had an interesting experience. She and a friend, Tanner, were playing outside together. Upon returning indoors, the teacher noticed that Tanner had something in his hair. After closer examination, they found that it was bird poo! They checked Lauren since the kids were so close together and, lo and behold, Lauren had been gifted by bird poo, too! I laughed hysterically because, go figure, it would happen to Lauren! However, I made sure that I scrubbed her hair VERY diligently Monday night during her bath!



We also discovered that Lauren will copy the things that I do and say. Paul had a really rude email from one of his professors about some questions he had about assignments. I read the professor's replies, got angry, and (in my not-so-great) moment of anger, said, "What a b****!" I usually watch what I say in front of Lauren and growl when angry, but this popped out...and Lauren repeated my phrase, verbatum, including the same emphasis on the last word! I was really embarrassed, so I apologized to Lauren for losing my temper, telling her mommy won't say that again...I just pray that she doesn't get upset at a teacher tomorrow and remember that wording!!

Pictures From Aunt Suzy! (And other things)

An ENORMOUS thank you to Aunt Suzy for the additional zoo pictures!! I had had all of the pictures downloaded and was writing the captions in when something with Paul's laptop (VISTA--I HATE IT!!) selected and DELETED my ENTIRE post!! I was a tad irrate. However, I got to school early and was able to do this post, in its entirety, before the kids arrived!

Here are Lauren, Harris, and Aunt Suzy and I posing upon entering the zoo. Cheese!!

We LOVED checking out the flamingos! However, the smell was a little unbearable. Lauren wanted to continue watching the birds as one was only a few feet from us. Talk about exciting!
It's rare to get such a nice picture with both Lauren and I looking at the same time!

Our trip would not have been complete without my little "angel" pitching a fit, right? Aunt Suzy was so attuned to catching it in action!

Lauren, Paul, and I posing on the bronze turtle.

Harris and Lauren enjoyed watching the fish in the aquarium.

All three kids chilling in front of the alligator. Lauren and Nick were the most interested. Harris was starting to wear out. He was so tired that he had TWO thumbs in his mouth!

You can actually see the alligator through the glass!

Big helper Nick pulling the little ones through the zoo. He did a GREAT job in helping us keep the toddlers entertained.

This was so cute catching Nick checking on the little ones!

Suzy got the BEST picture of me feeding the giraffe! Lauren was afraid to do it on her own.

On Memorial Day, Lauren and I hung out in the kitchen. She's been a little snotty lately, so we've had to use the bulb sucker. Just as I was getting the camera ready to take the picture, Lauren was using the bulb sucker on her own, and correctly, to suck out her own ickies! Then, of course, as I took the picture, she put the bulb sucker down!

One of Paul's old co-workers had given us some of his daughter's old toys when he found out Lauren was a girl. Lauren has just started to get interested in baby dolls and strollers, so we brought her baby stroller from the attic. However, she thought it was much more fun to ride in it herself!

Paul had a brilliant idea to put Catlyn in the stroller to see what she'd do. As long as I held the cat down, she stayed in the stroller. Lauren thought it was great fun and had a great time trying to push the cat around the house. Of course, we had to capture the moment. You see the result!

Can't get much more real, can you?

My brother stopped in Monday evening after returning from PA. Lauren and I baked brownies, so he had a blast watching us. Lauren pours in the oil...

And then we stir! It wasn't too big of a mess, but it was fun! Lauren enjoyed licking the batter off of her spoon!

All-Star Race/1st Trip to the Zoo/Planting the Garden

I have an enormous post this week, but it's well worth reading and viewing!

Lauren has sprouted her 14th tooth. She has two teeth left on the bottom before her 2 year molars begin to come through. Teething is really difficult for Lauren.

She's also been having a hard time staying on her feet without running into anything. She ran smack into a post in the kitchen first thing Friday morning when Uncle Josh was playing with her before school. Bless her, she takes it all in stride!

She's had a really good attitude, laughing and smiling often. She's become curious about Elmo, saying it often. Sometimes I think she might be saying 'animal,' but I can't be sure.

We went swimming at Aunt Suzy's on Friday night. We'll have some pictures to post from there soon, I'm sure.

This photo was taken before we went to church on April 26 for Cara's baptism. Isn't she too adorable?!

All-Star Race at Lowes Motor Speedway in Concord, NC (Most people think it's Charlotte, but it's not really) May 16, 2009

John Walsh from America's Most Wanted spoke and told about an award given out for service. It was pretty cool.

The new Home Depot driver got some tire marks on his side when another car ran into him. We couldn't believe the perfect circular marks that were left over. Fortunately, he was able to continue racing.
Paul and I were able to have someone take our picture while at the races. Yes, our smiles are SO big that we were able to go on our own! (Leah "Neigh-Neigh" watched Lauren while we were out.)

We had really good seats. Here are the racers following the pace car.

A little "rubbin'" going on in the pits! "Rubbin's racin'"

More close calls in Pit Road!

Kurt Busch also got a little close to another racer. Look at his circles!

May 23, 2009

The Toddler Zoo Crew from Abernethy CDC

Lauren's daycare set up a family trip to the zoo in Columbia, SC. We carpooled and Aiden and his Nana, Tina, rode with us. Here are our two little ones (AKA The Paci Pals) on the way to the zoo.

The sign entering the zoo

Harris and Lauren enjoyed watching the fish.

Daddy and Lauren checked out some desert animals. However, Lauren has a bad habit of kicking Daddy in a place where she shouldn't...so here is Daddy fussing at Lauren.

I really do think that Lauren enjoyed the fish most of all. We were both a little freaked out by the eel sticking out of the rock. He looked like he was really targeting us or something!

Chris, Nick, Lauren, Harris, and Paul leading our little group. Suzy and I didn't mind hanging back. We were hoping that we could slip away and have a few quiet minutes, but, alas, it wasn't to be so...

Here were our friends, the Cadwalladers, riding the tram before departing the zoo. Harris and Nick did NOT sleep at all while on our trip. Lauren was out in her stroller on the tram.

Lauren was amazed by the elephants. We liked watching them throw mud, eat and drink, all with their trunks. They aren't the same color as the elephants in our books.

Lauren loves to say, "Turtle," and pick out turtles in her books. This one could was the largest in the pen and the closest to us.

Isn't this cute?! We all took turns taking pictures on the bronze turtle.

Harris, Lauren, and Nick liked to check out the alligator. The alligator was at the bottom of the tank, just hanging out.

We were able to feed the giraffes. Lauren didn't want to get that close, but you can see the giraffe taking food from my hand. Nick and Harris each got a chance to feed the animals, too.

Lauren LOVED the tiger statue. She was getting tired, especially since we'd just eaten lunch, so she had to have her mommy!! Lauren really enjoyed the lion exhibit because she loves to ROAR like a lion!

Paul carrelled the kids (2 of whom were sleeping) together while we women took a potty break. Harris was the last toddler standing and awake.

There were really pretty gardens at the zoo as well, so we took the opportunity for a nice family shot. However, Lauren was sleeping...

So Daddy and I decided to have our pictures taken by ourselves!!

When we got home, Paul decided to plant the garden. (Yes, we've been slacking! We should have done this a few weeks ago, but, it's us.) Lauren wanted to help Paul.

Lauren helped plant the seeds.

Lauren helped Daddy plant lettuce seeds.

After gardening, Lauren wanted to "Wee." She was in the best of moods, even despite the long car rides to the zoo.

No Dates

I had attempted to get these pictures posted on the 12th of May. I have no idea as to the dates at this point in time, so bear with me!

Paul brought home Dantes Pizza (which we love). As we were getting things together, Lauren decided that she was a "big girl" and didn't want me to cut up her pizza. So she got into the box herself and got her own pizza!
My cutie was ready to go to church. Isn't she a doll? She couldn't figure out which pair of "glass" she wanted to wear!

She found a pair. Apparently they were yummy.

Suzy had asked me to help her teach Sunday school one week. Harris and Lauren joined us (Lauren flipped out when she saw me in the 2-3 year old room while she was in the nursery) with the older kids. Lauren and Harris enjoyed pushing each other in the baby doll stroller. It was starting to fold up.

Lauren broke into the new package of bottled water. She had a blast.

Doesn't she look innocent? I thought that this was an awesome happy picture of her!
She was either playing Peek-a-Boo or pretending she hadn't unloaded all of the bottles!

We went to dinner at Bennett's. On our way out, Paul spied a saddle and put Lauren in it. She wasn't impressed and wanted out immediately.

Leah watched Lauren for a few hours for us while we were at my Teacher of the Year banquet. It was 9:00 or so, an hour past Lauren's bedtime. Leah tried so hard to rock her to sleep, but Lauren didn't bite. I felt bad telling Leah that she needed to have turned off the light...

We've been very busy this week. We've been outside so much that we've not taken many pictures or been on the blog to update. Lauren sprouted her 14th tooth on Saturday! We were excited because she's been gnawing on everything. Hopefully it will end some of chewing.

Our anniversary is on Monday. We'll have been married for 7 years. Paul and I left Lauren with Leah again and went to the All-Stars Race at Lowes Motor Speedway. We had a great time (we SO didn't fit in) and met some avid race fans. Tony Stewart won.

TOY/Birthday Party

My peers nominated me as Teacher of the Year for the 2009-2010 school year at my school! On May 7, I went up against the other TOYs for the district TOY. The gentleman in back, Michael, won it for our system, but here we all are from the school level!
On May 8, we were invited to a birthday party at the Little Gym for Ava Grace who turned 2. Ava Grace lives down the road from us, and I work with her mom in our school system. We had a great time. However, Lauren was moody at first, not wanting to interact with the other kids. I had to do everything with her while holding her, including playing with the parachute.

She cried horribly when we went UNDER the parachute, so we tried to keep her occupied elsewhere. She didn't like the air bouncer until it was about time to put it down to eat. Here we are again, while we bounced!

She really enjoyed it at the end when she could jump off!

We attacked sugar bubbles that we could eat. Lauren loved the BUBBLES part, but the things would go away the harder we tried to catch them on our tongues!

Lauren fell in LOVE with the balance beam! You can see me hovering in the background.

Mommy telling Lauren not to climb all over the bars or she could fall...

Lauren scooting along on her own. Look at that face!

Lauren was surprisingly well-balanced on her feet. She probably could have gone on her own, but I feared she'd fall and smack her face off of the bars.

Lauren and the birthday girl, Ava Grace, playing on some equipment.

They threw out a lot of balls which all of the kids, Lauren included, enjoyed throwing, kicking, carrying, and hitting.

Lauren discovered the rings. She really liked to hold them and swing them together. That was about as much as I'd let her try!

Paul helped Lauren navigate the big blocks.

Paul helped Lauren roll down the mat. Once she got the hang of it, she wanted to do it again!

May 10--Happy Mother's Day to me! I begged Lauren Saturday night to let me sleep until 7! She didn't make noise until 7:04! Woo-hoo! However, I was up at 5:30 waiting for her to wake...we went to church, then breakfast, and hung around the house. We had some good family time, playing outside and cleaning up.

I had been wanting to wash the pollen off of my truck since it isn't as thick now. Lauren had other plans...

She REALLY liked the BUBBLES in the bucket and screamed out in happiness over them. I showed her how I could make more bubbles with the hose...so she didn't seem to mind playing in the bubbles...

With bubbles all over her arms, she pretended she was taking a bath!

And since I washed my truck, her tractor needed a bath, too!

Lots of Updates and Fun!!

April 15: Paul and I decided to spend some family time together before Paul had to go to school. We picked Lauren up from school together, had a slushie from Sonic ready for her, and went take a walk on the Heritage Greenway Trail in Newton. Someone was happy with her beverage!

Daddy pulling Lauren along the trail in her wagon. Lauren was so happy!
There was a small creek running along the first leg of the trail, so we stopped for our picture op.

And, of course, Lauren got to her slushie!

April 18: Lauren woke up happy Saturday morning, so she let me play dress-up with her! Look at her cute pony on the top of her head!

April 19: Daddy and Unca skipped church and Sunday school to get materials to build Lauren's "swing set". The simple swing turned into an enormous jungle gym! Lauren helps Daddy hold down the frame.

I'm such a good helper!

Unca and Daddy working on the posts for the play house.

It started to rain before we were finished, so while Lauren took her nap, we continued to work in the drizzle.

After her evening bath, Lauren wanted to visit longer with Daddy in the office. We couldn't find her and were getting worried. We called and Lauren peeked her face out from the curtains! She had climbed onto the window sill and hid from us! We couldn't believe that she was playing peek-a-book with us!

April 21: I could not get this picture to turn properly. The sad thing was that it was correct on my camera, but it came up sideways. Anyway, Lauren grinning from behind her Mr. Potato Head glasses (upside down, of course!).

April 23: Lauren had been invited by one of my students to his 9th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. I took Lauren to play. She had a good time and loved running around. I tried to take her to the kiddie toys and games, but she ran until she found the race car game with the steering wheel and HAD to play that twice! She didn't want to play my favorite, Skeeball, but when she finally cooperated, she walked up the game to put the ball in the hole because she couldn't get it to roll in!

Here was Lauren picking up tickets that Chuck E. Cheese threw to the kids.

Lauren loved the sippy cup provided for the party.

Lauren and Daniel played with the balloons. Daniel would pull the balloons down to Lauren who would hit them back up in the air.

Lauren really enjoyed the party and crashed when she got home. She was well-behaved and danced to the music. She was afraid of the Chuck E. Cheese character, even when I held her, so I didn't push it. Everyone thought she was really smart and enjoyed her sense of humor.

April 26: Baby Cara was baptized at church this day. Lauren didn't even make it through the first hymn before I took her to the nursery. I ended up helping keep the nursery after Cara was baptized because there were 5 kids and one teacher!

After the baptism, we were all invited to Golden Corral for brunch. Lauren was a little wild and ate little, so we ate, visited for a bit, and left before she lost it completely. As we exited the restaurant...(notice her chin and under her nose)

...she was running, tripped going down the wheelchair slope on the sidewalk, and scrapped the heck out of her knees (both of which were healing from the previous week's scrapes), as well as her chin and under her nose. OUCH!!!

April 26: "Miss Thang" posing for a picture. (Glasses upside down, of course!) Lauren had just woken up from a nap and was ready to go play outside.

She didn't notice that Daddy and I had worked while she napped, so her swing (in Lauren-ese, "my wee") had been hung!

She wasn't much excited as we were.

But she let me push her. Look at that grin! She'll go in the wee for a few minutes at a time now, but for some reason, she doesn't love it as much as she did the neigh-neigh's wee. We couldn't find the exact swing.

Here is more of the swing set. On the left, another 3 foot section will be added with more activities later. We're thinking we'll wait to see what she enjoys at the Cadwallader's or the park, then add on. I'm thinking monkey bars or something. Then we'll add another swing next to her's so that I can "wee" too. The 3 foot section to the right will be a platform that will take her up the ladder up to her playhouse or down the slide. And the far right will be her playhouse, complete with hardwood flooring (as per Paul).

Lauren has discovered the wonders of spring with that including insects. She has fallen in love with watching caterpillars move, espeically when we put them on sticks to observe. She's fairly gentle, trying to pet them and feed them.

We've only had one fatality, an accident, to report with caterpillars. She got a little over-zealous and petted the thing too hard.

Lauren loves to observe the Neigh-neigh's fish pond. The fish like to come up to Lauren because she feeds them their food...Doritos...nacho chips...Cheerios... Lauren also likes to stick her finger in the spray of water from the turtle and drink...EWW!

Paul has continued to work on the kitchen. In my plea to attempt to regain some of my living room floor back, Paul is adding more cupboards as he gets them built. This will be my "prep" area in which NOTHING is allowed on it but the things I'm using to cook! Behind it will be a bar with stools to help with seating. Paul also finished putting down the floors!! He will work on upper cupboards this weekend.

April 29: The day has arrived!!! Lauren has been very interested in my potty habits, watching me, getting me toilet paper, flushing, and even putting the lid down! For the past few weeks, Lauren has even grabbed herself and said, "I poop" or "I pee". She's aware of what has happened.

SinceLauren has been behaving as if she wants to pee/poo in the potty, we're going to try! I took Lauren to Babies R Us, pulled out every potty chair offered, and let Lauren pick her chair. Some of them were so awkward! Lauren picked this girly chair with the pink lid and seat. It has a built-in toilet paper roll and a spot for wipes!! Before her bath, I had Lauren try it out. No luck thus far, but we'll keep trying!

April 30: We tried to get Lauren to potty before changing her for the day. She's putting the duck potty insert into our potty first and then trying to sit on her potty. It's hilarious, but at least she has the knowledge and is understanding the purpose!

I tried to get a picture of Lauren before leaving for school, but she didn't cooperate. She got some new shoes to go with the nice weather.

Lauren is teething some more, so she eats EVERYTHING, including the wipes package I try to keep in my car...

Kitchen Remodel

Oh, can this project get any more messy? Actually, this hasn't been as bad as past projects. You saw the cat door hole at the bottom of the living room wall. Not long after, Paul and Charlie opened up the new entrance into the dining room/kitchen. We've been practicing using this opening. Truth be told, it makes MUCH more sense to have the opening here! I like it!

From this distance, you can see the opening a bit better (as well as the contents of my kitchen on the right).
Here is the new entry door from the dining room to the laundry room. Paul bought the cheapest exterior door he could find, and our friend, Tony, gave him the piece of glass with the caming inside. Paul had to rig it a bit (go figure), but he'll be able to trim it out later so that it looks better. I feel much safer with this door installed, too.

My working stove in its new place. Where the cabinets are located to the right of the stove will be where my prep bar will be. I'll have another cabinet added on and a small bit of countertop placed. It will be a great location, close to the oven and stove. Behind it will eventually be the actual bar to use from the dining room side.

My new porcelain sink, complete with bronzed oil fixtures. The sink is deeper than my previous one, and I LOVE it! The faucet is higher, too, so I can get my big frying pan in to wash more easily. Paul installed "The Insinkerator" garbage disposal system--FABULOUS! It makes relatively NO noise when running! The light switches to the right of the sink are 1-my disposal and 2-will be over the sink lighting.

My working dishwasher, in place.

A close-up of the sink.

The view entering the living room from the dining room.

I'm itching to paint the walls, but Paul is keeping me at bay for the time being. He has a lot of other work that's more important to get done, but I'm ready to see some finality come to the kitchen. It's going much more quickly than I had expected. I hope that it will be done by June 17 when my grandparents from Arizona are expected to come for a visit!

Easter Pictures

Lauren is 19 1/2 months old now! I can't believe she's growing this quickly! I neglected getting her 18 month pictures done since Easter fell closely to that date. I didn't get as many formal pictures as I would have liked, but Lauren did a great job getting some fun shots.

Here she is with a basket of eggs.

She got to love on a bunny, but she wasn't sure about it. I think she may have thought it was a cat based on its size.
She did like the chick tremendously. She tried to feed the chick and was ever so gentle with it. I was impressed!
The chick was only a day old, so when the sun started to beat, it fell asleep on Lauren's dress! We worried that Lauren may have hurt it, but we realized that the sunshine on its back was a great feeling.

Here is our family!

Lauren started to get a little ornery, so I pulled out my sunglasses (which she loves). Talk about cute!

Let's play follow the leader, little friends!

Quackers, you're too sweet! Let me pet you!

Mommy and Lauren, loving on the chick and duck.Our Precious Girl, posing perfectly

Giving the Chick a Kiss--How Sweet!!

I'm a mad woman! Watch out for me!

Too cool wearing Mama's shades!