This is the neatest video that I have ever seen. It is a little snippet (sp?) from a Louis Giglio talk. Please just take a few minutes and go to the link and watch this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e4zgJXPpI4

Christmas Time!

Lauren got a harmonica from her Uncle and Aunt. She and Paul had fun playing their harmonicas together!

Her G-Ma gave her a purse with money in it. She saw what was inside and squealed " Oh wow! Dollars! "

I thnk she was shocked that there was something inside the wrapping!

Sorry it's been a little while since we wrote on here. Life just keeps happening and we just can't seem to catch up. I am actually really looking forward to the end of this year and just getting past all of the holiday "stuff".
I realized the other day that we needed to do a better job explaining what Christmas is to Lauren. We were wrapping Christmas gifts and I asked her what Christmas was about and says " Me! ". We talked about what the true meaning of Christmas was and why we give gifts to others. I think she gets it a little better. We aren't doing the whole Santa Claus thing at our house, I was a little worried about what other kids would tell her, but she doesn't seem to care about it. She seems to see Santa Claus as a cartoon character or a story.
Lauren and I started doing "school" this week. We have some pattern blocks and some letter/number puzzles that we do together. She is having a blast. She now knows all the letters in her name and she knows what letters mommy and daddy start with. She loves learning!
We pray that you all are having a great holiday and have a very blessed new year!

What is in the box?

His name is Douglas!! And yes, he is very large and extremely soft.

And he fits nicely in an adult sized rocking chair.

Wow!

I was just watching the news and they said that Washington D.C. is expecting over five million for the Obama inaugeration. They only have 95,000 hotel rooms! Do you know how much people could make if they just rented out their guest rooms? I tried to convince my parents, but they aren't to keen on the idea!

Why is it that all of the pictures we have of our dog are the ones where she is sleeping? Hmm....maybe because that is all she does!

Watching the snow fall outside!

Getting ready to decorate our little tree. Lauren got a kick out of being as tall as the tree!

Sadness....

Sigh.....today was a sad day. We had to go buy Lauren some new clothes for winter because all of the shirts I bought a month ago no longer fit because she grew an inch! Her shirts barely covered her waist because her torso is longer now. So... no big deal you think? Well, all of the shirts I had gotten her came out of the toddler section. Now we are buying from the actual girls section! She is three years old! She is supposed to have at least one more year in little kids clothes before she graduates to the big girl section. I have nothing against tall people, but she is my baby and she is getting too big too fast. I had a tear in my eye as we bought new shirts. :( She is going to be as tall as I am by age six!

I have to apologize for the frequent change in background on this blog. I can't decide what I like. I hope you all are gearing up for the holidays! We decorated our tree yesterday. Lauren had a lot of fun. Christmas decorations were always a big part of the holiday season when I was growing up. I remember being so excited about seeing all the tree ornaments and all memeories they brought. Lauren is old enough now to have several of her own ornaments to put on the tree and she kept holding them and saying " When I was your age I got this one or when I was a little kid Grandma gave this to me.." I think Paul and I spent a majority of the time trying not to laugh!

EVERYONE pitches in to fold laundry at our house! Look how happy they are! Oh, what would it be like have a laundry service.......

Misc....

Last winter...will the snow come again this time?

Ah Ha!

It took me three hours, but we have music on here now! Yea! The Jesus Messiah song is Lauren's favorite song. She walks around the house yelling/singing " Jesus Messiah!" over and over and over and...you get the picture! It's sweet to hear her sing. Everything is sung to you now. She sings to the dogs, too! She has also been going around calling everyone "sweetheart". We have no clue where this came from.
Things are getting pretty interesting around here. I finally accomplished a goal that I have been striving towards for the last three years. I finally became a Doula. Doula means "caregiver" in greek. It is pretty much described as a labor coach/birth assistant. I have always loved childbirth and after having a great birthing experience with Lauren as well as having a doula I have wanted to look into it. I am so excited! I do a lot of prenatal massage and thought that I might as well add to what I know already. I actually am going to assist in a birth in few weeks. It should be fun!
Paul is still going strong at his job. He is looking into finishing his degree after a rather long break. This will help tremendously as he looks to get promoted within the company. Our lives will be getting busier pretty soon. We hope you all are doing well as we head into this holiday season!

I did it!

I am not too proud to admit that I am handicapped when it comes to figuring things out with this blog stuff. I am very excited that I was able to change the background on this! It's the little things in life, you know.........

She looks so sweeet and innocent doesn't she? Ha! Just kidding. She is as sweet as ever, just now she is three and with the wonderful age of three comes a whole new kind of little girl drama. I think her parents are questioning what they got themselves into. :)

I am sorry that it has been so long since we updated our blog. Life has been a bit chaotic these past few weeks, but hopefully we will be able to keep up now. The neatest thing that has happened is that Paul has been given a new work schedule . He is now home for three whole days a week! Yay! Lauren and I are so excited. His new schedule started this week and we were able to just sit back and enjoy just being together. We went to the park and spent a lot of time just playing together. Lauren has learned to play tag and hide 'n seek. Hide 'n seek with a three year old is quite interesting. When it is her turn to seek she counts to ten WHILE she is coming to find you. Then when it is her turn to hide all you have to do is ask "Where is Lauren?" then you hear a little voice say "I'm right here!" It is so funny. If you tell her that she needs to be quiet while you search for her all you hear is giggling. It makes your heart smile! She is so joyful!

The Birthday Party!

Have I mentioned that Lauren loves all things princess? Well, her party was all that and more! We had so much fun visiting with everyone. Lauren had a blast and has been talking of nothing else for a week straight!

Princess Lauren!

Lauren Discovers Dentures!

True Bulldog!

HaHa! This made me laugh. It was one of those shots that you couldn't get again if you tried. There is a lot of this in our house. Constant licking, snorting and slobbering. That's just the dogs! Anyway, life is hectic, but good. I have been working on my continuing education course the last few days and I finally finished it. YAY! Lauren is busy learning her numbers and reading books with whomever is there to read to her. Paul has been working and working and working.....the poor guy. Today Lauren and I are just hanging out on a Saturday because he is at work. Family time? I don't remember what that is! Sigh...this won't last forever. For those of you who don't know.. I started a new job a couple weeks ago. I get to work less hours and make more money! It's a lot less stress. I love being able to spend more time at home and let Paul get more rest. Instead of working with Personal Injury and car accident patients I am just strictly working in a studio. No medical insurance and no Dr's. It's wonderful! We are really looking forward to our trip to the coast next week. Lauren is excited about seeing the water and Paul and I are excited to be able to have a conversation that lasts more than five minutes!

OK, so it's been a while since our last post. Lauren is getting big, old and smart. All at the same time. It's weird how the parenting thing works. Kind of like having a garden, you do the right thing, and it all works out. (Gardening? I am not sure where that came from!) Right now we are wondering where we went wrong. Lauren, the almost three year old adult, has begun to call her parents Mr. Paul and Miss Betsy. Where did this come from? We do not know, but it will STOP. It's actually pretty funny and you try not to laugh when you are correcting her!

So, Lauren is excited about the trip to Mississippi for her birthday. Her parents are too, but we are not looking forward to the 10 - 12 hours in the car with a three year old. She doesn't sleep that much anymore! I know that I should cherish those moments of "quality" time with my lovely daughter, but medication will be needed when we get to our final destination (that is medication for her daddy, not Lauren!)

We hope you all are having a great Labor Day. We have enjoyed the rarity of having all of us home all day together. It's been fun.

I thought this was a neat picture. It captured the bubble!

I think we are getting better!

After a week of fever, vomiting and really bad tasting medicine I think we are finally on the mend! Thank God! I forget how tired you get when you have to get up in the night with little ones! I love sleep! I miss it!

Ok, for those of you who have a hard time planning meals through out the week, I found the solution. A friend of mine told me about e-mealz. You pick whatever store you want to shop at and it will make you a meal plan, give you recipes, AND make your shopping list for you. It's awesome! Just go to www.e-mealz.com to find out more.

The biggest thing going on this week is that Lauren has been sick. She had been running a fever for a couple days, but had no other symptoms. All of a sudden her fever sky rocketed to 105.4. Talk about scary! The good thing about this was that for the first time her fever went up without having a febrile siezure! YAY! I was excited! Anyway, after a trip to the pediatrician we found out the she has a bacterial infection and we now have to take an anitbiotic. No problem you think? Well, the medicine is quite nasty smelling and tasting. Try telling an almost three year old that they need to take it because it's good for them! We have been mixing it with ice cream and taking it that way. Even then, there are a few tears. She's a trooper, we will get through this! It's hard to be the mom and make them take stuff you wouldn't take!

Thought this was a funny picture. Lyla is not supposed to be on the sofa! I walked into the living room and found this!

Growing up!

It amazes me how big Lauren is. She is very excited because she knows her birthday and when she will be three. She wants a princess party. We'll see what we can do! Swimming lessons are going well. The instructor told everyone today that on Tuesday they are going under water. Lauren got a horrified look on her face and yelled "No, thank you. I not do that!" She won't even take a shower for fear of getting water in her face. I am hoping that by the end of swim lessons she will have gotten better. She can doggy paddle now, though! She got in the car after her lesson and announces that she is a very big girl and does not need to take naps anymore! She makes me laugh!

Life just keeps on goin' !

Well..let's see. Lauren started swimming lessons this week. It has been fun. She is doing pretty well with them except for the not wanting to get her face or head wet. She really wants to take "big girl" lessons in the fall. (preschool lessons) She knows that she has to get her face wet for that and she said "I'll think about it!" There really isn't much going on in lives. A lot of working and trying to catch up in the few minutes we have together a day. Tomorrow is our six year anniversary. Yay! We made it! Paul said it has been "enjoyable!" I would describe it as the best six years of marriage I've ever experienced! Haha! Seriously, it's been great. I am so glad to have gone through these years with Paul.

Good picture taking by Betsy!

This is a flower. What kind of flower? We do not know. But it is a nice flower!

Lauren and the ducks.

July 5

After the Nashville trip Lauren swore to us that she was not tired....

July 4

The Fourth of July was a nice day. Paul had the entire weekend off, so we headed down to Nashville to visit with Christian and Lindsey Griffith. Lauren had a great time swimming in their pool. She did learn a valuable lesson about staying above water.

After the pool we went to Centennial Park so we could feed ducks and swing at the play ground. Here is a picture of Christian, Lindsey, Lauren and Gracie.

Still goin'

Oh.....sometimes I feel like the little engine that could...I think I can, I think I can. Paul is still working a lot. The positive thing is that Lauren's behavior is gettting better! Maybe this won't last forever! I have begun to realize how much little ears hear things. I was talking to someone on the phone the other day and I thought Lauren was playing and not paying attention to me. I proceeded to tell my friend that I was irritated and suddenly my little girl comes up to me and pulls on her ears and says " Mommy, my ears are tated ,too! " I had to laugh! She has been so wonderful during this hard time of Daddy not being home very much. She has handled it better than I thought she would.

gravity, friction and a little blood

Well now. The bicycle training has begun. Lauren is getting the concept slowly. She know that you have to do something with your legs, and that by doing that she is supposed to move. What she didn't know was that when you turn left you do not lean right.

So gravity and friction happened (I was able to throw in a science lesson while I was consoling her). Well, the asphalt won this battle. She has a nice cut on her leg, some road rash on her arms and she'll have some nice bruising in a couple of days. She was a trooper though. After the crying, she got back on her bike and let me push her home. She didn't even want a bandage.

We are together again!

Is it common for children to come home from their grandparents and act like they are demon possessed? Someone took our sweet child! I think she is in there somewhere, but it is deeply hidden! I was very wrong. There IS something called the terrible two's/threes.... I am so tired and she has only been home since Thursday! She had a lot of fun with her cousins and keeps asking to see them daily. Their poor grandma is trying to recover! Would I let her go again...maybe, but not for so long and I will make sure that my husband has time off to spend with me!

Finally!

Lauren is coming home tomorrow! I do have to say that nine days was a little long to have her away. I also wish that I could say that I got my to-do list completed while she was away. I am proud to report that the dishes are done and all the laundry is clean, not put away, but clean! That doesn't usually happen daily at our house!

I made it!

Oh, my gosh! What was supposed to be a one day drive to pick up my friend's little boy in Sevierville, TN turnd into a nightmare! Things I have learned...1) when your friend says everything will be fine and her car is 15 years old, well.....rethink your choices! 2) Thank God for AAA! 3) Always carry a change of clothes and toothbrush with you whenever you take a road trip! We did find a hotel, but I really don't recommend wearing the same clothes for two days straight! eww! Anyway, my friend's car ended up with a severly blown transmission, so she chose not put a transmission in a car that wasn't worth fixing. ok, that's fine. Not a decision you want to make when you are five hours from home! The AAA tow truck people actually salvaged the car and paid her for it! Anyway, we managed to end up in town that had a rental car place that didn't open up until Monday! This town had no taxi, no bus, not even one nice person we could pay to drive us to the next nearest car rental place! We ended up in a hotel waitng for my friend's wonderful boyfriend to come and pick us up! So...48 hrs later my friend has no car and I can say that I have now ridden in the cab of a tow truck! My poor husband. Not only was his baby girl away on father's day, but his wife was stranded in a very unfriendly town in TN! His manager was very nice and decicided to let them come in a little later today since it was father's day! Believe it or not I actually walked in the door five minutes before he needed to leave! YAY! Now he is at work and I am here still sitting in two day old clothes sharing my adventures!

Update on Lauren: She is having a blast. She got to vist the Smithsonian with her grandparents! My heart strings tugged a little when I heard her say she missed her mommy!

Well, Stuff Happens!

As Betsy has said in the previous post, I have been working alot. Today completed my 7th day, 6 of them lasting over 12 hours. And I am going in tomorrow as well. So, Betsy was offered the opportunity to travel this weekend. She rode with a friend of ours to North Carolina. She was supposed to be back this evening before I came home. Well, guess who calls and says, "Oh yeah, by the way. We broke down." Yeah, they are stuck some where inbetween knoxville, TN. and Ashville, NC. They should, hopefully be home tomorrow evening. So thats it.

Bye

Time together? What's that?

This had been an interesting week. I was really looking forward to the weekend because I thought Paul would be off from work. I had a really cool weekend planned and then....guess who calls me and says he has to work all weekend! I know it isn't his fault, but it sure is annoying! Sometimes I don't think I will ever get used to this 2nd shift stuff. Anyway, it probably would have been a good idea to help my friend Leah paint her living room! At least I would have had something to occupy myself. Five more days and Lauren comes home! I have heard that she is having a great time and has been going swimming a lot with her grandma and her cousins!

Well......things are bittersweet around here today. Lauren is getting ready to go to her Grandma and Granpa's to visit with her cousins for awhile. I am happy that she gets to go because she doesn't see them that often, but I am sad to not have her with me. It amazes me how much activity one little person can bring to your life! I think that both of us are looking forward to some "us" time, though. Our schedule doesn't permit a lot of dates!

I just thought that I'd add this in here. The frustration of a three year old when she just doesn't get it.

Well....it's time to try a new activity. We thought maybe a bike with training wheels would go over pretty well. She loved it! We forgot how hard it was to get the peddles going. A few tears and frustrations and she almost has it!

Horses!

When you live in the area that we do, you have to go visit Churchill Downs at least once. We decided to go yesterday. It was so much fun. Lauren even got to pet a horse!

Our first major injury

This has been an exciting day! While Lauren was at the babysitter today she managed to fall off the couch and cut open the inside of her lip pretty badly. They don't stitch up the inside of lips, so...not much we could do. She started to calm down the tears when she realized that she got to eat posicles and ice cream for awhile. We all got through it. I realized that I don't really like the sight of blood, especially when it is coming from my child!

Lauren and Daddy! We can't take any pictures anymore without getting a pose with the girl!

These are our two other family members. Samson and Delilah. We call them " The Beasts" !

Gardening 5/30

We decided that we needed some color in our lives, we went on an outing to pick out some flowers to plant. Lauren wanted pink and purple flowers. She even helped plant them in our really big flower pot. We had a lot fun!