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.