Old and New

There is a box under our stairs that has lots of exciting things in it. It's a box of clothes, toys, books and other random memories from my childhood. My mom kept her favorite outfits from when I was a baby, my favorite outfits - that I'm sure I requested to wear every day as a kid, nerdy cross stitched sweatshirts that I thought were the coolest, my brownie uniform and a host of other fun things. My favorite things in the box are the baby clothes. I was born in mid-May and Lauren was born at the beginning of June. It's been fun to dress her in some of the same things that I wore as a baby. My 1st Easter dress is a hoot.

The dress looks like a night gown.
The pink coat is actually pretty cool.
The hat...sorry...the bonnet...think Little House on the Prairie.




The ribbons were almost too much for her. There was no way she'd keep it on if I had her wear it for Easter. It was just too cute, but she ended up wearing this dress instead:



My brother and future sister-in-law bought this as a flower girl dress for their wedding this summer. However, when they decided to move their wedding date and didn't want to return the dress, I was thrilled to have a dress that was a little more up to date. For April 24th...it sure was cold and dreary. I was glad it had a cute little jacket! Lauren hasn't visited Santa yet, nor has she seen the Easter Bunny (Easter bunnys are creepy...btw). But I had a bunny puppet stashed in a box of teaching materials from my elementary practicum days that she loves!



We get this face a lot...


Happy Easter a few weeks late!

Ten AND Eleven

Oh...I am just so bad at this blogging thing. But, like any new mom, I am learning how to try to 'do it all'. I don't - would you believe it if I told you my bathroom has only been cleaned twice since Christmas? Ick...I know. Everyone always tells you to play with your baby and the dishes and cleaning can wait. I've tried to abide by that rule, but eventually you have to clean your house! Anyway, TEN months was waaaaaaay back at the beginning of April. It was hard to get good pictures, and eleven months proved the same.


She's such a little chunk!


And now eleven months. How the heck has almost a whole year passed since she was born? Month 10 was the last month she wore a bow - she just pulls them off and chews on them now.


She chews on just about everything! The sign is not safe!



This month has been SO much fun! She gets more and more fun every week. She now has 4 teeth. She's had the two on the bottom for quite some time, but the front two top teeth broke through this month. She's babbling a ton. She imitates lots of sounds. She does say mama and dada, but I'm not convinced that she knows what they mean yet. She's army crawling quickly and is pulling up on things. We've had to baby proof the house! She's started to wave 'hello' and 'bye-bye'. It melts my heart. It's so fun to go out with her. She smiles and waves at everyone - and makes instant friends with strangers. She even reached for a woman standing in line in front of us at Chip.otle a few weeks ago. The lady was thrilled to get to hold her. I was glad to get a break from holding her - the line was insane, and Lauren's heavy! She got to graduate to a big girl car seat. I'm so glad to not be carrying that carrier around anymore. I would have severe pain in my elbows when I'd lift her. She's a champion sleeper. She usually goes to bed around 7:00 and wakes the next morning at 8:00 or 8:30. She's still taking 2 1.5 hour naps a day. She's started to do a funky little head bob shake that looks like dancing! We've started to eat lots of new foods. She won't let me feed her very much anymore, but she loves yogurt! She won't eat plain avocados, but she went nuts for some spicy enchiladas we had a few nights ago. She did get SOME in her mouth!


Now I am on to planning the big birthday bash (which probably won't be that big at all). I really want to make her cake from THIS cupcake recipe. It sounds delish!

The Break

This last week was spring break. My mom, Lauren and I packed up and headed to visit with my grandma and aunts. It was our first road trip with just girls! We had a blast!

With my parents living just a few minutes from us, we haven't taken Lauren to a restaurant since she was about 3 months old. She got to experience her first 'cousin lunch' at The Breadbasket. My grandma, her sisters, my mom, her sisters, her cousins, Lauren and I all got together for lunch one afternoon. She did great!

Sitting in a high chair like a big girl. She fed herself a huge piece of bread and made a big mess. She was a happy camper.



My aunt Barb


Chewing on Grandma's straw

Outside with the sign - this is one of our FAVORITE places to eat and my mom really wanted these pictures. I'm glad we have them, too.


One afternoon Aunt Barb took some pictures of the '4 generations'. The same day she sent them to me, my cousin Kami sent some that she had taken last July. How my baby has changed!


I love that Lauren's hand is so pudgy that she has a roll around her wrist and has dimples where her knuckles are.


It was great to have extra hands around to help all day long. I got to paint my toe nails for the first time since last July and I spent hours one afternoon watching The Food Network. We don't have cable 'round these parts and I miss that channel! We spent lots of time eating yummy food and Lauren tried guacamole - and loved it! I'm not surprised as avocados are one of her favorite foods. It was a great few days! It's hard to believe it's over and there are no more breaks until school is out. Come one summer!!!!

I'll leave you with one more pic that Kami took - I just love it!

NINE

And I can't even believe it for a second. It has flown by in a blink.

The photo shoot this month was a little difficult...the sign is now VERY interesting to this little one.




She wouldn't leave it alone! These were the best I got for this month, and I'm guessing it won't get easier.

Love these little feet and toes, but they stink!!!

We had a few gorgeous days a few days ago, so we went out on the deck and took a few more pictures.


Check out that chin dimple! I love it!

She was fascinated by the screws in the wood. She scratched at them for about 5 minutes. She's super curious and starting to get into everything!

No crawling yet, but she can roll really fast and can turn herself around while on her stomach. She can get where she wants by rolling!

We've been trying lots of new foods! I think avocados and yogurt are her favorites!

Just know that Brian fed her here...I know that her mouth is the hole in the middle, bottom part of her face. :)

She's getting more and more fun every day! We went to the doctor yesterday. She weighs 18lbs 11oz (50th%) and is 27in long (25th%). She's FINALLY starting to grow some hair! It looks more blonde than red (sadness), but I'm still hoping she'll be a strawberry-blonde. She's starting to imitate things we do. Right now she does big blinks, the squint your eyes tight kind, can click her tongue and mimics a lip smacking noise. She's just content and happy all the time. We've got a keeper!!!

Bad blogger...

Yep...that's me! I'll try to give a quick recap of the last few weeks. You'd think with all the snow days and extra days off since Christmas break, there would be time to post. I've worked 1 five day week since December 13, 2010 and will only work 1 more full week until mid March. I've loved having the extra days home with Lauren, but it makes the outside-the-house job seem much more difficult and stressful.

8 Months! (and we're almost to 9!)

Her bottom two teeth are finally in. Once they came in, she took up biting her food source - needless to say she's now a formula fed girl.

My brother got engaged and Brian, Lauren and I are going to be in the wedding. Lauren will be a flower girl, and will wear this dress! It would make the most adorable Easter dress, but I'm afraid she'd ruin it! I think I might have her wear my Easter dress from when I was a baby!


We had our first 'girls only' weekend when Brian went to Florida for his uncle's funeral. We did lots of things to keep busy. We went to the park and tried out the swings for the first time!


She also got to ride in her stroller like a big girl!


She's getting better at self feeding cheerios and other foods...she still needs more practice!




And she's rolling like a mad woman! We will soon need to clear off the bottom of our coffee table and think about getting a gate for our stairs!







Don't worry, I didn't let her chew on those cords. But she will grab ANYTHING that hangs...earrings, my hair, my necklaces, sunglasses... We're enjoying her so much. She's so fun and interactive!

In search of...

I'm in search of a nosefrida. I've got a sick (well, at least snotty) little girl at home. We captured this picture. Gross, I know - but as first time parents, this was our first snot bubble.



The concept of the nosefrida sounds DISGUSTING, I mean, sucking snot out of her nose with my mouth? However, I've read excellent reviews of the product, and at this point I'd love to try something that doesn't make her scream her head off! She's been snot sucked so many times that she cries as soon as we sit down in the chair. Has anyone ever used one of these things? I looked on their website and found a place that sells them in the area. However, the pharmacy that says they carry them, has recently closed. I'm still on the lookout for one and trying to decide if I should order one from the website.

A week ago she started to be a little fussier, so as soon as my morning meetings were done at school, I headed home. I had lots of lesson planning to do yet, so I sat down at home and had a little 'helper'.



I stayed home with her on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was a nice little extended break.

Just hanging out trying to get better.



Today we are at home enjoying a snow day! Going back to school is going to be tough. I've only taught one full day since mid-December.

Christmas Break

Being a working mommy is tough stuff! Having almost 2 weeks at home has been such a great gift. There have been lots of changes for our little sweetheart these last few weeks.

We started the month weighing 15lbs and 9oz. We head to the doctor on Thursday for another flu shot, so it will be interesting to see how much she's gained.



We had a pretty laid back break. Brian's parents came from Orlando. We've traveled to see them for the last two years, and it was great to be home for the entire break.



Notice she's sitting all by herself! This was a new trick she learned during break!





After opening a few gifts at home, we headed to my parents to open gifts and eat dinner as one big family. We all made out quite well. Our families are extremely generous. Not pictured...our new freezer (thanks to my parents) and 2 new big girl car seats for Lauren (thanks to Brian's parents)



This was Lauren's big gift from Grandma and Grandpa L. And...Daddy had to put it together - something I'm sure he'll get used to doing every year.









After months of being VERY VERY sick and tired of getting up to put Lauren's pacifier back in, we decided to stop swaddling her. I'd heard it could be pretty tough for a few days, so I waited until I could handle getting even less sleep than usual. Thankfully, she's done great. She slept from 7pm to 8:45am last night - and didn't wake up once. It was amazing. We wanted to make sure she could find a pacifier if needed. How many can you count?



She learned how to drink from a sippy cup!



And...we celebrated our 7 month birthday on New Years Day!



She's also getting 2 teeth! She won't let me look at them - but I felt them one day when she was chewing on my finger. OUCH!



We're excited to see what 2011 holds.