The Adventures of Lauren & Emily

Future Michigan cheerleaders??

2008-09-06T15:13:00.002-04:00

Emily - Miss Chatty Chat

2008-09-05T10:56:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of Emily chatting away.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=64554528713230327

More summer pics and camping pics

2008-07-23T11:41:00.007-04:00

Grammy & Grandpa took the girls camping for a week, Mommy & Daddy met up for the last few days.

Hey, a girls gotta have her nails painted, even if she is camping right??

I think we might have a supermodel on our hands...

Lauren had her first dental check up and got the all clear. The dentist said she already has one slightly loose tooth. Where has the time gone???

Bad Mommy!

2008-07-07T17:03:00.007-04:00

I have not posted in forever. Bad bad Mommy!!

The kids are doing awesome. Emily is talking up a storm, we can carry on conversations with her. She knows her ABC's and she can mostly count to 20. She sings itsy bitsy spider, twinkle twinkle, etc. Unlike her sister at this age, she seems to love men. She's just enamored with Lauren and wants to do everything she does. She's a little imitator.

Here's what I get if I try to get Emily to smile for the camera...

The kid sure is getting a personality!!

A couple recent ones of the girls together:

Pony Rides (Emily's first)

Laurens first swim lesson (terrible picture but...)

Lauren is still such a girly girl, still loves her baby dolls:

Lauren's first school picture

2007-12-05T11:59:00.000-05:00

Could she be any cuter??? :) I had to scan it and the coloring didn't come out quite right, she's looking a little gray in the scanned pic...

Last night she was saying her prayers before bed and said "Thank you Jesus for Emily. I wish Emily could sleep in my room and go to school with me." What a sweetie. I'll have to tape this

and play it back to her when she's 13.

Happy Birthday Lauren, Happy Halloween & Fall fun

2007-11-27T21:14:00.000-05:00

Emily is in that phase where she is learning so quickly. She's practically running now. She's signing a little (milk, more..), she knows the sounds that duck, elephant, lion, dog, monkey, donkey and a few other animals make. She's saying up, down, all done (although she says this when she wants something, not when she's done), Grandpa (Ga), mama, daddy (daee), ball, no, knock knock, night night, knuckles, eye, ear and lots more. She can point to her head, tounge, teeth, mouth, hair, eyes, nose, ears... Seems like she's learning a few new things each day. It's SO much fun to watch!
She didn't laugh much when she was really young but she's making up for it now. She's all smiles and giggles and I don't think there has ever been a baby more ticklish than she is.

Lauren is loving preschool and talks our ears off all day. Mostly stuff like why, why, why, what, what, what, how, how, how, why, why, why, why, why, why, why.... She's very analytical and questions everything. She's a little smartie.
She's still an incredibly nurturing little girl. Loves to play with her baby dolls all day. She feeds them, bathes them, walks around and bounces them, tells them she's going to take care of them, nurses them...
And she loves to cuddle. I'm thrilled to have such a snuggly bear. Every morning we have "family snuggle time". Once the sun is up, she climbs in bed with us and we all chill in bed together and wake up slow. I'll cherish those times forever.

Here are some pictures from the past month. Better late than never.....

Fun playing in the leaves:

Even Grammy & Grandpa dressed up for Halloween this year.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY LAUREN!

Lauren got her first car and took cousin Corinne for a ride. Mickey Mouse is the big thing around here these days so Mommy made Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast and a big ole' Mickey Mouse cake for her party.

Video of Emily roaring like a lion

2007-10-26T13:37:00.001-04:00

Emmy roaring like a lion

Lauren Star Student

2007-10-21T19:21:00.000-04:00

Lauren is the "star student" at preschool tomorrow. That means she brings a snack and a big poster board that she fills out about herself and ads pictures. We just filled it out, here were her answers:

I am 3 years old
My Favorite color is pink.
My favorite animal is a giraffe.
My favorite food is mashed potatoes.
This is what I look like (insert pic)
This is my family (insert pic)
Great Lakes Crossing is my favorite place. (this is a mall by us)
When I grow up, I want to be a butterfly.
My favorite thing to do is play.
If I had one wish I would wish for a drink. (like father like daugher :) )

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY EMILY!

2007-10-17T23:48:00.000-04:00

Is she cute or what??

Mommy made Emily pretty pink cakes:

Go Blue!

2007-10-17T23:03:00.000-04:00

Emily turns 1 & more updates

2007-10-17T22:26:00.000-04:00

Emily turned one a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe my baby is already one, where has the time gone? She's walking everywhere and has just turned into the happiest baby ever. She doesn't seem quite as tempermental now that she's able to walk. I'll post pictures of her birthday party soon, we're having technical difficulties with downloading pictures from the camera to the computer. Emily is saying some words: mama, daee (daddy), shish (sissy), what's that, uh-oh, hi, owe, whoa and a few other things that would be unintelligible if you didn't spend every day with her. She's learning new stuff every day. I love this age.

Lauren is loving preschool. We're busy preparing for her 3rd birthday party which is this weekend.

In the meantime, the pictures above were taken in mid September.

Update on the girls

2007-09-12T21:19:00.000-04:00

Yes, again, it's been awhile, so here's an update...

Lauren started preschool 2 weeks ago. It was a bit traumatic for her the first two days and she cried a little on the 3rd day but I'm happy to report that today was day 4 and she didn't cry at all and seemed to have a blast. She loves her teachers and is making some little friends. They do 2-3 arts/crafts projects each day, play outside, have free play time, have a snack, and do group activities. They make some really cute stuff.
Lauren has never as interested in TV as some other kids seem to be but that came to an end when she was introduced to the Doodlebops, she's obsessed. She does watch a few other shows occassionaly like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Maisy but she's never made it through a whole episode of anything longer than 30 minutes. She LOVES to watch sports on TV. She would choose to watch gymnastics on TV over any cartoon (except maybe doodlebops now) any day. She also likes to watch baseball, volleyball, football, diving, you name it. And she loves to do gymnastics routines she makes up. I'll have to post the video of her doing her bar routine without a bar, it's hilarious!

If we print Laurens name out on a piece of paper, she can trace it. She's also doing really good with phonics - learning what sounds all of the letters make. For instance if I ask her what sound the letter B makes, she can tell me, then tell me a bunch of words that start with that letter.

Funny thing Lauren said: Foose me, I tooted. It was a flappy one.

Little miss Emily is learning learning learning. She's been taking random steps here and there for a few weeks but today she decided she was going to really start walking and off she went. (see the video below) She has said a few words like hi, dada, mama, whoa, no and good girl but doesn't really say any of them that consistantly yet. She cut 3 of her 4 molars in the past few days and is back to sleeping through the night again. She's a good teether, it didn't effect her mood too much and was just getting up once in the night and eating. That may have been more attibuted to a growth spurt than teething. She's a good eater and is really into feeding herself with a spoon right now which is quite messy. The girls got a temper, and yells very loud when you take something away from her that she can't have. She's full of smiles and is a very happy baby. She's doing well with a sippy cup and we'll probably take the bottle away soon, by her birthday (which is only 3 weeks away) at least. She loves to read books and turn the pages and point at pictures. I swear she said "what's that" the other day, but it may have been a coincidence. She's sleeping well 7:30-7:30 at a minimum, sometimes even up to 9:30 if she gets up and has a bottle in the night. She can point out people she sees often in pictures if you ask her to and she can point at Mommy's nose on command. She's pointed to her belly for me a few times too. One of her favorite things to do is climb the stairs and she's straight for them every opportunity she gets.

This is a really fun stage with both of the kids.

She's walking on her own!

2007-09-12T14:35:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of Emily taking some of her first steps. She started a couple of weeks ago just taking a couple of steps at a time, but randomly and days in between. Today she really took off!

Emily taking 21 steps

Video of Emily walking with a walker

2007-07-28T11:52:00.000-04:00

This kid is going to take off walking any second. She is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY. Gone are the days where we could put her on the floor to play, leave the room, and she was in the same spot when we returned.

How cute is she thought??!!! :)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2964127981104544999&pr=goog-sl

Pictures

2007-07-13T16:36:00.001-04:00

I do have some pictures on my computer I can post. These were taken around Fathers Day.

2007-07-13T12:26:00.000-04:00

It's been ages since I've updated. I'm having problems downloading pics from the camera so pictures will have to wait.

Lauren has been on a 2 week camping trip with Grammy and Grandpa. Matt, Emily and I met them for 5 days of it. What a blast we had. Lauren went jet skiing for the first time, went to her first drive in movie, learned to jump off the edge of the pool and go under, saw fireworks for the first time, got really really really dirty every day, made smores and lots of other fun things.
Emily also enjoyed her first camping trip.

Here's what happens if my Mom or I tell Lauren we don't want her to grow up. She has a different response for each of us.
Grammy: Lauren, I don't want you to grow up!
Lauren: I'll stay little for you Grammy.

Mommy: Lauren, I don't want you to grow up!
Lauren: But I have to Mommy.
Mommy: Why?
Lauren: So I can reach things.

Emily has had a big week here at the house with us while Lauren has been gone. She learned to crawl! Yay! She's also been repeating things we say. She'll repeat "Good Girl" and sometimes I think she's saying "Yay" when she claps and "Hi" (aye) when she waves. She also said Doggy clear as day after we were playing with Sunny, but I think that may have been a coincidental babble. She's also been saying "dada" from time to time and we think she's saying to to Matt, not just babbling, but it's hard to tell.
As of today, Emily also points to her belly if we ask her "Where's your belly?"

It's SO fun watching them grow and learn!!

Emily flower girl

2007-05-03T11:18:00.000-04:00

Here's Emily standing all by herself!

After this picture was taken, she took to eating flowers.

Maybe she's going to be a lawyer?

2007-04-25T15:42:00.000-04:00

Grammy just got back from Gymboree. Emily wouldn't take a bottle this morning so she was going to give her a bottle then feed Lauren lunch. Lauren said she wanted to eat first and my Mom said she needed to feed Emily first then she would make her lunch.

Lauren: It's not fair Grammy!
Grammy: It is fair, Emily hasn't eaten all day honey.
Lauren: You have to be fair and just Grammy!

What 2 1/2 year old says that?? ha ha ha

Video of Emily pulling up for the first time

2007-04-16T22:24:00.000-04:00

Check it out, Emily is pulling up! She's growing up too fast!

Emily pulling up to standing for first time 4-13-07

Mommy & Lauren's date

2007-04-10T23:17:00.000-04:00

Lauren and I had a date last week, just her and I. We went to Great Lakes Crossing and spent 4 hours doing fun stuff.

Lauren's such a little Mommy. She kept trying to help this little girl who was much bigger than her, climb up. Then she would run around to the other side and put her arms out and say "Want me to catch you?"

Lauren made some friends. They stood in a circle and talked about who knows what for about 5 minutes. Lauren kept asking the little boy "Do you want some money?"

We got huge hamburgers and cookies:

We spent lots of time with the Alligator at Rain Forest Cafe. She said that was the funnest thing we did. Ha ha.

She drove a car:

Lauren got a haircut:

We rode the Merry Go Round twice. What a fun date we had!!!

Easter continued...

2007-04-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

Emily wanted to get involved in the easter egg coloring, so she licked the eggs

Check out Lauren's new boots, backpack and umbrella. Looks like she could be going to her first day of school!

Look at Emily sitting up all by herself!

Laurens first concert

2007-04-02T21:31:00.000-04:00

Saturday night, Lauren went to her first concert. We took her to see Shawn Mullins and she loved it. She danced and clapped and even got to meet Shawn afterwards. He looks a little creepy in this picture but I assure you he's safe.

Easter Egg hunt

2007-04-02T21:25:00.000-04:00

We went on an easter egg hunt last Saturday and the girls got to meet the Easter Bunny. It definitely was not spring weather! Afterwards, we visited with some pals and cousin Brynn got some practice in on holding a baby so she would know how to hold her new baby on the way!

potty humor

2007-04-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

Potty humor is Lauren's thing these days.

A few weeks ago, she told Grammy she put poop in her birthday cake.

Yesterday she told me she likes to eat poop.

Today she was laying in bed with Emily and had her back to her and was giggling. I asked her why she was giggling and she replied, "I'm trying to toot on Emily! (insert excited, hysterical laughter here)".

Emily's growing up!

2007-03-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

Boy, Emily is growing up quick all of a sudden. She's on tooth number 5. You can see her front one pretty well in the pic of the two girls. She's rolled over for the first time. She got baptized. She's playing with toys so much these days and she's smiling like mad, but we have to work VERY hard to get giggles from her still. She's sleeping anywhere from 6-8 hours in a row at night these days. She had her first food about a week ago - rice cereal. Lauren is as silly and sweet to her sister as ever. She's saying the funniest things like "How was your day toaster?" to the toaster.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

2007-03-25T00:35:00.000-04:00

The girls baked a cake for their Grammy's birthday.

Lauren loves her Grammy. Cut and paste into your browser:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1669977646526807209

Look what I found!

2007-03-12T08:50:00.000-04:00

New pictures

2007-03-09T22:53:00.000-05:00

Momma loves her girls!

Look at that nudie cutie!

Sissy's love each other Most of the time anyways...

What a beauty:

Emily loves her exersaucer

Lauren plays dress up:

It's all about the accessories...

Daddy's birthday. Lauren put the candles in the cake all by herself.

Comparison pics

2007-01-31T18:06:00.000-05:00

You asked so you shall recieve....
The first one is Emily, the second one is Lauren - both just shy of 4 months:

New pics

2007-01-26T23:10:00.000-05:00

Look at that sweet face

Lauren's always trying to make her sissy smile and laugh.

We finally got a good snow fall and Lauren & Daddy went out to play in the snow.

Look at that belly and those rolls on her legs!

She tries so hard to get her hands in her mouth. She gets lucky with the thumb every once in awhile.

Look at those cute little teeth!

laughing and talking

2007-01-12T10:25:00.000-05:00

Lauren is saying the funnest stuff lately.I LOVE that she claps and jumps and says "I'm SO EXCITED!".

She cracks me up how she thinks Grandpaknows EVERYTHING! If she asks me something and I don't know the answer she says "Gapa will know." Or if something is broken and I can't fix it she says "Gapa can fix it". She worships the man.

Not long ago she asked Matt something and he answered her and she replied "Thank you for knowing that." ha ha ha

Oh, and Emily laughed for the first time last night. Joy to my ears!!

Christmas

2007-01-08T16:57:00.000-05:00

Well, once again I find myself apologizing for falling behind on posts. I have lots of updates since I posted last but most of them slip my mind... So I'll just pic up with pictures starting a few weeks ago with Santa visits. Since I've last posted we went through some serious sleep issues with Lauren. She decided she wasn't going to go to bed or nap. We tried CIO which was getting to the point of her crying until she threw up numerous times. Then she started climbing (and falling out) of her crib so we immediately transitioned to a toddler bed which was a nightmare. Eventually we had to take anything out of her room she could climb on and also take out the stand up light because she was knocking it over and do some serious sleep training. It took about 3 weeks to straighten it out but we are now finally back to a great bedtime routine and her sleeping through the night again. PHEW! Emily is a great sleeper but getting her to bed is a long task these days. For awhile there, her bedtime was VERY inconsistent - anytime from 9:30 PM to 2:30 AM. Now we've got it down to anywhere from 10:00 - 11:00 which is much easier but we're looking forward to her going to bed earlier. Bedtime is taking ages for me because I want her to have a routine so I try rocking her in a darkened room and I start at 9:00. Some nights I'm in there 2 hours before she finally settles in for good. But, I know this is what I have to do so I just take my book in and relax while I rock her. We'll start some sleep training at 4 months so she learns to put herself to sleep but until then, I'm nursing/rocking her until she's out cold. Lauren and Emily are great together. Lauren still adores her to death and is constantly smiling in her face, hugging her and kissing her. Emily is smiling and cooing like crazy and we're looking forward to that first giggle any day now. She cut her first tooth earlier this week. She's an early teether like her sister! Emily is 13 1/2 weeks old now. I'll be going back to work next week. :( Today Lauren looked at my wedding ring and reminded me that Daddy bought that for me. I asked her if she knew why he bought it and I explained to her that he bought it for me when we got married and that Daddy is my husband and I am his wife. She asked me if Emily was married and I said no, then she said "I'm married". I told her she wasn't and she said "I'm going to get a husband and get married." Then she went over to the chair and pretended to scoop something up in her hands off of a chair and came over to me and said "This is my husband". I guess Matt and I should start saving for her wedding. Ha ha ha. Anyways, some recent pics... The Grice girls getting ready to go visit Santa: Both girls did great visiting Santa! When Santa asked Lauren what she wanted for Christmas she said "Can I have some presents please?" Then when we left she asked "Where's my present?"

One of Santa's elf's was kind enough to take a family photo for us:

Lauren went for a Raindeer ride:

People always ask me if the girls still look alike. What do you think??
This is Lauren:

This one is Emily

Christmas continued

2006-12-30T22:45:00.000-05:00

Maybe Lauren was squeezing a little too tight??

Lauren writes her note to Santa:

The note:

Lauren puts out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer:

The best stocking stuffer: (I was brought to my Mom in this stocking after my birth)

CHRISTMAS MORNING

Emily takes a call:

Emily looking at the Christmas Tree lights:

Christmas continued...

2006-12-30T22:30:00.000-05:00

2 adorable pics of Grammy & Emmy:

Our family on Christmas day:

Lauren & Emily & cousin Corinne with Poppy:

PICTURES TAKEN TODAY:

It just doesn't get much cuter than this...

Emily has a serious case of Baby Pattern Baldness:

Tummy time: The girls:

We're getting into the fun stuff...

2006-12-05T23:56:00.000-05:00

I know I've been remiss in posting. It's tough to find the time as you can imagine. I've got lots to update but for now, here's a video of Emily cooing and showing off her chubby legs..

Click here to watch 'Emily-cooing'

Lauren video

2006-11-20T16:26:00.000-05:00

Here's a video of Lauren, just an average chatty cathy day.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5794679521442268359

The latest

2006-11-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

Emily is starting to chunk out, check out the double chin:

Emily sucks on our pinky and Lauren now offers her finger to her baby doll:

Emily's sweet smile:

Emily has really started changing a lot, especially in the last week. She's smiling now and gives us a few coos here and there. She's adorable! She's a good sleeper at night. We moved her into her crib 2 weeks ago when she turned 5 weeks old and she's doing great in there. She usually goes to bed anytime between 9:00 and 11:00 and gets up 2-3 times to eat depending on when she goes to bed. She's still eating every 3 hours. Unfortunately we found out she's allergic to dairy so I've had to cut all dairy out of my diet. I've also just cut out tomatoes and that seems to be helping too.

Lauren has been saying some pretty funny stuff lately. She was just talking away to herself in the car today.
"My nose hurts. There's a buggie in it. It's a bugar. I threw it off my hand. It's gross." What a lady.

She's also been saying some really cute things (note the sarcasm) like "I'm the boss", "It's not yours to play with", and when we tell her no "Oh yes I can!". At least 100 times a day we hear "What's that" and "I want to do it all by myself."

Here's a video of Emily taken earlier this week: (You'll need to cut and paste this link)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1691917651785224426

Rock star

2006-11-04T16:43:00.000-05:00

Emily rocks out. She's a headbanger in the making.

The girls make funny faces at each other:

Halloween and other things

2006-11-03T16:48:00.000-05:00

Emily playing:

Cutie pie Lauren:

Daddy and his girls:

We had a blast for Halloween this year. Lauren went trick-or-treating 3 times. Once at the Zoo Boo, once at the mall and once in our neighborhood. Lauren also got to carve a pumpkin for the first time.

Lauren and Emily with the pumpkin:

Emily and the pumpkin:

Lauren modeling her new shoes:

Carving a pumpkin:

Brynn and Lauren trick-or-treating at the mall:

Emily in her Haloween outfit:

Lauren at the Zoo Boo

Lauren in her Halloween costume:

Today

2006-10-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

Here is a pic of Lauren when Emily is crying.

This is the smile I LOVE to see on Laurens face.

Here are some pics of the girls hanging out together today.

Some recent pics of Emily

2006-10-24T13:44:00.000-04:00

Emily is a cutie pie. She's not doing much but sleeping, eating and pooping.

2nd birthday continued

2006-10-24T13:26:00.000-04:00

We went to Ann Arbor to celebrate Laurens 2nd birthday with Poppy, Aunt Laura, Uncle Pat & Corinne. Mommy made her a cake with Maisy on it.

Laurens 2nd birthday

2006-10-24T12:36:00.000-04:00

Lauren celebrated her 2nd birthday on October 19th! This was the first of two small parties we had to celebrate. Mommy & Lauren made cupcakes for her birthday dessert.

She started the day with a song and baloons from Mommy & Daddy.

Later in the day Mommy & Daddy took her to Gymboree and then we went shopping for more fish for her fish tank and then a trip to the park to feed the ducks.

Grammy & Grandpa & Memaw came over for dinner, cupcakes and presents. Grammy & Grandpa bought her a Dora car. When Gapa went to bring out the car, he told her he was bringing her a suprise and she said "I close my eyes!"

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Girl!!

Thinking babies

2006-10-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

Here is a picture of Emily at 2 1/2 weeks:

and Lauren at 4 1/2 weeks:

Catch up

2006-10-18T15:26:00.000-04:00

We've been pretty busy around here and haven't had much time to update. Here's a picture of Lauren's new cheesy smile as well as a few other pics.

To the park and feeding ducks

2006-10-10T14:47:00.001-04:00

We went to the park again today. A different park from Sunday. Grammy came with us and we fed the ducks. Emily enjoyed it more this time. We had a blast.

2006-10-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

Fun day at the park

2006-10-09T11:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we went to the park. Emily wasn't a big fan shortly into the trip and I had to take her home to have Grammy watch her because she wouldn't stop crying. I went back to the park and played photographer while Lauren and Daddy played. Lauren did her impersonation of a bucking bronco while on the bouncy thing, played on the swings, the slide, climbed everything she could and examined a bug with Daddy. Fun stuff!

Go Blue!

2006-10-08T19:28:00.000-04:00

Emily's first football Saturday. GO BLUE!!! Michigan beat Michigan State!

Lauren & Emily twins??

2006-10-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how much these two look alike. The first pic is Lauren at 6 days old, the second is Emily at 5 days old.

Fish tank and first bath

2006-10-06T21:22:00.000-04:00

Daddy took Lauren shopping today and bought her a fish tank for being such a good big sister. She loves her new fish! We saw lots of deer out the window today too which Lauren loves.

Emily had her first shopping trip to the mall today with Mommy & Grammy. She and Lauren got lots of new clothes! Grammy also bought her a new fuzzy blanket. Emily also had her first bath today. It was a big day!

Eat da boobie!

2006-10-06T12:09:00.000-04:00

Whenever it's time for Emily to eat, Lauren says "Eat da boobie!" LOL. Here is a picture of Lauren feeding her baby "eat da boobie" style.

Emily's first doctors appointment

2006-10-05T18:08:00.000-04:00

Emily had her first doctors appointment today and appears to be perfect! She's already regained her birth weight and then some and is now weighing in at 8 lbs 1/4 oz.

Lauren crazy eyes

2006-10-05T18:05:00.001-04:00

Here's a short video of Lauren making her "crazy eyes".

Click here to watch 'Emily-white-cap-video'

We're home and settled

2006-10-05T17:26:00.000-04:00

We brought Emily home on Tuesday, October 3rd and our whole family is together now. Grammy is staying with us for awhile and has been a GREAT help! We love having her here. Emily bought Lauren a new baby doll and loads of supplies to take care of her baby doll. Lauren has really taken to caring for her baby doll as Mommy and Daddy take care of Emily. See the picture of Lauren burping her baby as Mommy burps Emily?
Lauren also plays peekaboo with Emily as she sleeps in her pack and play.
Yesterday Lauren, Grammy and Mommy baked cookies; Lauren is quite the chef.

Emily Kate in action

2006-10-05T17:23:00.002-04:00

Here's a video of Emily. :)

Click here to watch 'Emily-white-cap-video'

Happy Birthday Emily Kate!

2006-10-05T16:58:00.000-04:00

We were blessed with the birth of Emily Kate at 3:38 am on Sunday, October 1st. She weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz and was 20 inches long. Labor and delivery were painful but quick and Mommy and baby are doing GREAT! Lauren loves her little sister and wants to hold and kiss her all of the time.

Painting

2006-10-05T15:25:00.000-04:00

Lauren decided it's funner to paint her hands than the paper.

ABC's video

2006-09-26T19:54:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of Lauren saying her ABC's. She got distracted and quit before the end but she almost finished...

Click here to watch 'Lauren-ABCs'

Peek-a-boo!

2006-09-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

New do

2006-09-24T15:11:00.000-04:00

Here's a better pic of Lauren's new hair do.

Babydoll fun

2006-09-24T12:57:00.000-04:00

This is just one of the reasons I love having a girl. It's so fun to watch her play with her babydolls. She's such a girly girl. You can get a better view of her new haircut on this video too.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1535907523448481915

First haircut and fun day!

2006-09-23T21:12:00.000-04:00

We had a fun day today! First we went to Toys R Us to do some investigating on birthday gifts for Lauren. Next she had her first haircut! Here is a before (outside), during, and 2 after shots. Then we went to the cider mill and she (well, we actually b/c she was crying so I had to climb in to the little train) had a kiddy train ride and we saw the ponies. She was too scared to ride the ponies. We went out to dinner with Grammy too and Grammy played house with Lauren. Fun Fun fun!

My first joke

2006-09-19T21:04:00.000-04:00

Do you think I'm funny? Not very lady like but hilarious none the less. (this seems to take ages to load so please be patient...)

Click here to watch 'Laurens-first-joke'

Making new friends!

2006-09-19T21:01:00.000-04:00

My online friend Marylin came to town and we finally got to meet. I look at pictures and videos of her on the computer and now we're real life friends! Heather and Brooke came with us too but Mommy doesn't have a picture of all of us together. We went to the petting zoo. I was a little scared but Marylin jumped right in to pet the animals. I prefer to feed the ducks myself. My Mommy is seriously pregnant in this picture - less than 3 weeks to go until I meet my new brother or sister!

Hanging out with my cousins

2006-09-19T20:56:00.000-04:00

My Aunt Kristin and Uncle Jon and cousin Kaitlyn came to town in mid August and we had a blast hanging out. It's not often that all 3 of us girls get to see each other at the same time!

Neglecting

2006-09-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

Hi There! Sorry I've been neglecting you. I'll give you some updates now.

Belly picture 32 weeks

2006-08-11T11:00:00.000-04:00

Shapes and Wiggles

2006-08-10T21:02:00.001-04:00

Here is a video of Lauren playing with shapes and wiggling. We are going to see The Wiggles tomorrow so we've been practicing wiggling - Lauren is quite the wiggly dancer!

(for some reason, this video is taking forever to load so just be patient, it will eventually open for you. Sorry!)
Click here to watch 'Wiggle-78'

cute

2006-08-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

Nothing much new to report except that she's a cutie.

ABC's and 123's

2006-08-02T20:25:00.000-04:00

About a week and a half ago, out of the blue, Lauren started saying her ABC's beginning to end, every letter. What a big girl!!!
She's got counting to 10 down also, but lately she's reverted to leaving out 4 and 7. I think we'll start working on 11-20 now.

Poor bub was sick last week. Mommy & Daddy went up north for a wedding and a few days in Traverse City and Lauren got a cold when we were gone. Both ears were also infected. She's been on antibiotics for 8 days now but unfortuantely, it seems like her ears are still bothering her so she's heading back to the pediatrician tomorrow to get it checked out.

Lauren got to hang out with her cousin (2nd cousin) Daniel who was visiting from West Virginia today and she fell in love. He's 14 (I think that's right) and when he went home, she asked where he was all night long. Ah Daniel going?? Ah Daniel going?? Ah Daniel going?? repeat, repeat, repeat...

She's really doing great with string sentences together. Last night when we were hanging out from 1:30 - 3:30 am (yawn!) she heard my stomach growl and said "Baby burps! I hear it!"

I had a doctors appointment today and everything looks great with Baby G2. I'm back on being convinced this is a boy. All of my recent tests (gestational diabetes, hemoglobin, etc) came back with good results, blood pressure is fine, baby's heart rate was 150 and he seems to be head down. I'm 30 1/2 weeks now, 9 1/2 weeks to go. It's getting close!! I'm including a belly pic taken today. I've compared it to a picture taken when I was 32 weeks with Lauren and I look the same. I was actually measuring a little big this time - 32.

Not a baby anymore...

2006-07-13T09:45:00.000-04:00

She's looking like a little girl more and more each day...

Baby G2

2006-07-07T11:44:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess it's time to start recognizing Baby G2! I'm 27 weeks pregnant today so we only have 13 weeks to go. Third trimester starts next week, I can't believe it! Here is the ultrasound picture that was taken on May 11th. For the longest time I was having boy vibes, but lately I just don't know. It has been a girl in every dream I've had. I just have no idea what we are having at this point.
First trimester was a bit rough but I've been feeling great through second trimester. The AFP test and all other tests have come back normal so far. I had the gestational diabetes test a few days ago and am waiting on the results. Baby has been kicking lots!
Lauren loves her baby brother or sister so much already. Every morning she pulls my shirt up, puts her face on my belly and sucks her thumb.

singing and talking

2006-07-07T10:04:00.000-04:00

This kid amazes me with her vocabulary. She says pretty much anything we ask her to.
Poppy get's a kick out of her saying "Hallelujah". It cracks me up when she says "Oh Goodness!"
It amazes me that she understands the concept of the word "too" and uses it in the correct context. She says it all the time. This morning I asked her if she was ready to go to Grammy & Grandpa's house and she replied "Memaw too!". (Her Great-Gradma is "Memaw" and she lives with my parents).
She points at herself and says "big sister".

She has finally started saying Thank You (Shank-que).

She's also starting to understand pronouns.When we tell her I love you, she replies "I love me" back. When she gives me something, she sometimes says "give you".

She just talks on and on all day lately.

She knows her last name now too.

She's been trying to sing songs. When we are cleaning up, she will sing parts of the gymboree "clean up" song. She also tries to sing "Jesus loves me"

She's starting to get the hang of her abc's. She says ABCDE all day long. If I sing with her she will get ABCDE HI P RS V X and Z and ocassionally some other letters.

Happy 4th of July!

2006-07-04T21:04:00.000-04:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! Mommy, Daddy & I went to the zoo today and had a blast.

Lakehouse fun!

2006-07-03T21:16:00.000-04:00

We spent 3 of the 4 day weekend at the lakehouse and had a fun and relaxing time! We had a blast on the beach. Bud helped celebrate Corinne's second birthday.

Lauren found a new favorite place to chill,
she and Corinne shared lots of smooches and hugs, and Lauren flew a kite for the first time!

Dress up and fun weekend.

2006-06-26T09:46:00.000-04:00

We had fun playing dress up this weekend. We also went to the zoo and went to a pool party at Ed & Lo's house. Lauren got to play with Calleigh, Brynn, Sarah and Sean. It was so much fun for her to have someone older than her to chase around. Calliegh really showed her the ropes and she loved to follow her lead.

She's making us laugh with how cute some of her words are. Some of my favorites are bumbumbee (bumblebee) and yagybub (ladybug).

She was full of kisses this weekend too. She kisses me on the lips then turns my face with her hand to kiss my cheek. This morning she was laying in bed with us and she kept leaning over and kissing my cheek. She's so sweet.

She still won't say thank you. No matter how hard we try to get her to say thank you, she always says "you're welcome" instead. Makes me smile every time.

Lauren loves Gapa

2006-06-23T10:07:00.000-04:00

How sweet is it to see a 63 year old man sitting on the floor playing dolls wtih his Grandaughter?

2006-06-23T10:02:00.000-04:00

No wonder she loves him so much!

What a fun night!

2006-06-20T21:03:00.000-04:00

We had such a fun night tonight!

2006-06-20T21:00:00.000-04:00

I rode my bike.

2006-06-20T20:57:00.000-04:00

I checked out the new flowers in our yard.

2006-06-20T20:54:00.000-04:00

Mommy took me for a wagon ride.

2006-06-20T20:52:00.000-04:00

And I ended the evening by running wild in the yard for about 30 minutes straight. I got some serious grass stains on my knees.

Click here to watch 'running-wild-in-the-yard-6-20-06'

Big girl cup

2006-06-20T20:49:00.000-04:00

Look at me, I can drink out of a big girl cup all by myself without spilling a drop!

Kepups

2006-06-20T20:46:00.000-04:00

Lauren LOVES ketchup, which she calls kepups in the cutest little voice. Tonight she ended dinner with a few spoonfuls. Yuck!

Talking in sentences

2006-06-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

Lauren is starting to talk in sentences. WAAAA!! She's growing to fast!!!

Yesterday she said "Mommy go to work" and today she said "Go Gammy's house today"

I'm cute

2006-06-14T09:36:00.000-04:00

This morning I told Lauren to go show Daddy how cute she was. She went to Daddy and said "I'm cute!"

Cleaning lady

2006-06-13T20:47:00.000-04:00

This girl LOVES to clean. I hope that trait remains through her teenage years. She sticks her tounge out when she's really concentrating on something. Ha!

Puppy Love

2006-06-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

We went to visit Grammy & Grandpas new puppy this weekend. She's 3 weeks old and will be coming home in just a few more weeks.

2006-06-12T13:05:00.000-04:00

2006-06-12T13:00:00.000-04:00

stuff

2006-06-09T09:15:00.000-04:00

Lauren really loves her little baby brother or sister. :) If I ask her where the baby is she pulls up my shirt and rubs my belly. She also puts her cheek on my bare belly and suck her thumb. She's so sweet.

If she see's an airplane in the sky she points and says "Airplane", then when it starts getting far away, she says "bye, bye. See ya."

Yesterday she went potty in her diaper and then told me "potty, missed it". She's starting to catch on. The last two days though, there have been many times where she has sat on the potty, didn't go, then got up and went in her diaper. Still, she's doing really well. She always says "potty" first thing when she wakes up in the morning, but I can never get her jammies and diaper off in time...

I've been thinking a lot how the new baby is going to effect Lauren. I get sad during bedtime b/c it's my favorite time of day with her and I know it's not going to be able to be as leisurly as it has been once the baby comes. I'm getting extra snuggles while I can. She's growing up to fast. I can't believe how big she is getting, she's turning into a littl girl....too fast I might add.

She's getting really good at memorizing her books and prayers. If we stop at the last word of a sentence, she will often fill in the blank. She knows about a quarter of "The Hungry Catepillar" by heart.

She's going through a bit of a bratty "mine" and "no" stage. Can't wait until she outgrows that one...

Poppy, Granny, Aunt Laura, Uncle Pat & Corinne are coming over this weekend. Yay!

Potty training

2006-06-03T20:50:00.000-04:00

I've been doing GREAT with potty training. This is week one and I've gone on the potty almost all day every day this week!

Hula girl

2006-06-03T20:49:00.000-04:00

I love the hula skirt Mommy & Daddy bought me in Florida!

Swiming at Grammy & Grandpas

2006-06-03T20:48:00.001-04:00

After we went camping, I spent the rest of the week at Grammy & Grandpa's while Mommy and Daddy were traveling on business. I had fun swimming!

Am I the cutest or what?

2006-06-03T20:48:00.000-04:00

My first camping trip.

2006-06-03T20:46:00.000-04:00

I went on my first camping trip ever over Memorial Day weekend. Grammy & Grandpa took me camping in their pop up camper while Mommy & Daddy were at a wedding in Florida. I had a blast! We went to the beach lots, made camp fires, got real dirty, and slept in the camper. I also discovered that I LOVE ice cream cones!

2006-06-03T20:45:00.000-04:00

Here's me taking a camping bath in the dish tub!

2006-06-03T20:44:00.000-04:00

Here's me at the beach with Grammy!