Lauren's Chairs

Lauren has recently rediscovered her baby Einstein seat and her Bumbo seat. I of course had to take photos of her having fun in them. She will now sit in her baby Einstein seat and read a book or watch tv. :-)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

For Kraig's birthday, Lauren, Miss "creative" Melissa and I went to Different Strokes in Fayetteville to paint daddy something for his b-day! I wanted to do this so he could look back on it some day and remember how little Lauren was at that time in his life. I'm SO glad I called Melissa! I could not have done it without her...and I really mean that! Little miss Lauren would not have sat still for me to finish the project...so Lauren and I did a little...and Miss Melissa did a lot! :-) Thanks again Melissa for sharing in this wonderful experience! Happy Birthday babe from your loving wife and precious daughter. :-)

Lauren and I excited about our project!

Working on handprint #1

Lauren wondering what's going on?!?!?!

Melissa doing some of her creative writing...I tried babe...Melissa's came out much better!

Lauren and I working on the yellow lines.

Lauren holding the paint brush

more yellow lines

Melissa working on the black lines (Lauren wanted to walk around at this point)

Lauren loves the camera!

The front before it was fired

The back before it was fired

The front final...after it was fired.

The back final...after it was fired.

Pianalto's Cookout

We went to the Pianalto's Friday night for a cookout and boy how times have changed! We used to go over there to party...that was before we all had kids! Now we let the kids to the partying! I forgot my camera so thankfully Lindsey, Stacy and Casey all had cameras to capture our precious kids! I think we can all say we are very blessed to have the kids we have! They range in age from 15 months to 5 months old and they all get along great! :-) I can't wait to see what the future holds for these kids!

Stella talking to Colby about how cool his toy is!

Brooklyn is about to crawl! Go Brooklyn!

Lauren playing with one of Colby's toys. Thanks for sharing Colby!

Stacy and Brooklyn Fields.

Stella with the Pianalto's camel Smokey.

Stella looking cute as usual!



















Stella and Lauren looking for the camel and the cow.

More girl talk...




















Lucius and his son Gabe...what a cutie!

Colby wearing Stella's headband. Even with a headband on Colby you look very handsome!

Casey showing Stella the puppet.

Stella, Me (holding Lauren), Lucius (holding Gabe) and his wife Allison...she is very nice!

Stella and I discussing how much fun we are having outside!

We have a biter!

When Kraig picked Lauren up from daycare yesterday he received a Biting Report! Apparently, another child was playing with a pacifier that Lauren wanted (even though it was not hers and she should not be playing with other kids paci's...germs Lauren...germs! :-)). The child would not give Lauren the pacifier, so she bent down and bit the child on the back!!!! The kid was still there so the teacher showed Kraig where she bit her and Kraig said it was pretty bad and deep! Luckily it didn't bring blood! The teacher said she looked at Lauren and said "Lauren NO!" and Lauren instantly pouted her bottom lip, sat down and started crying! She knew she had done something wrong.

Now the second part of the story is that when Kraig put her in his car she was playing with a toy. He took the toy away from her so he could safely strap her in her car seat, and she started to throw a fit and slapped Kraig! He called me to tell me about it and I said "oh, no! She will NOT be doing that!" When I asked Kraig if he got on to her he said "no, I couldn't help but laugh!"...so not only did Lauren bite a child yesterday she also slapped her father! :-) Great! I've got a little diva on my hands! When I told my mom about the biting she said "she's just like her mommy"...apparently I used to bite as well. :-)

Two Nights in a Row!

We have a first! Lauren slept through the night without waking up at all for TWO nights in a row! This has never happened two nights in a row! I know most of you don't believe me because your children have been sleeping through the night without waking up at all for a while now...but this is a first for us! Normally she will go to bed on her own and wake up 1 or 2 times (she will either cry for just a minute or she will wake up and play with her bunnies and then go back to sleep). The last two nights, she didn't do that! I woke up the first night at 2:30 a.m. and turned the monitor all the way up to I could hear her breathing to make sure she was ok. :-) Last night I'm not sure if I ever woke up until my alarm went off at 5:45! The funny thing is yesterday and today I feel more tired than normal...I guess my body is not used to that much sleep! Hehe I just had to share the good news. :-)

Lauren Laughing

These videos were taken when Lauren was 9 months old. I had to share them. :-)

Blessed!

Hello all...I just wanted to share with you how blessed I feel today. My baby girl is 14 months and has such the personality! She is at that fun stage where she is walking, talking, singing (Itsy Bitsy Spider & Old McDonald...in her words of course) dancing and laughing all the time. I had a friend tell me a while back (Lori) that every 3 months gets easier and at 10 months their personalities come out and they are just more fun than they have ever been. Well at 10 months she was so much fun and it was so interesting to experience all her first with her...but now that she is 14 months old I just can't stop kissing her cheeks, playing with her and just enjoying her company. Lori you were right about the 10 month stage and guess what...it's now 4 months later (just a few days past...so it looks like your 3 month theory was also right) and she is so easy to take care of and just full of life! She looks at me and lifts her eyebrows now like she has something really important to tell me...she gives me hugs and kisses...it's just so much fun!

She is napping in her crib right now and I'm glued to the monitor because she is just so funny! I put her down still awake and she just sat there playing with her bunny for a while, then got her paci and laid down and went to sleep. She woke up about 45 minutes after she had been asleep (in the past I would have gone in there after 1 or 2 minutes thinking she was ready to get up...but I read the book Healthy Sleeping Habits, Happy Child while we were in Cancun so I thought I'll just wait it out and see what happens) and sat up in her crib playing with the bunny and a worm...she cried off and on for less than 5 minutes and then she went back to sleep. After about 15 minutes she was up again, but this time she just sat up and held her bunny. The cutest thing was she picked up her paci and tried to give it to her bunny! I called Kraig and told him because it was just so cute! She wanted her bunny to have a paci also! :-) She then started falling asleep sitting up holding her bunny!!! After a few seconds I guess she decided it was time to lay down again so she did and she has been out now for a total of 1.5 hours (including the short wake up times)...so I'm SO glad I read the book while on vacation because Kraig and I are such suckers and we love being around her all the time so in the past when she would wake up we would instantly go in to get her so we could play with her. I'm learning though that babies will wake up because they are afraid of missing out on something (playing with parents etc.) but their sleep is very important! I know, I know...most of you mothers already know this and you are probably saying "Lauren is 14 months old and she is just now figuring this out"? Well the truth is that Kraig and I are the issue...not Lauren. :-) We are the typical first time parents that hold their baby too much, sleep with the baby in their bed and nap with their child, etc. The truth is we just love Lauren SO much and know that one day she will no longer want that snuggle time so we are getting it in as much as we can while she is young. It is nice that she is sleeping in her crib right now so I can get stuff done or have some "me" time also...so that is not bad...I'm just saying that we have really enjoyed our snuggle time with our "widdles"! We love you baby girl!

I feel very blessed to have the wonderful husband and daughter that I have...I would not change my life for anything! I love being a mom and wife! God knew what he was doing when he brought Kraig and I together to create this perfect little child! :-)

*This photo is one of my all time favorites...she was 3 months old. :-)

Lauren Coloring

We went out for lunch about a month ago while shopping for our Cancun trip and Kraig and Lauren were coloring. I had to share the video and photos.

Lauren's 1 year photos

Before we left for Cancun, I took Lauren and had her 1 year photos made. I feel so lucky to have her in my life! It's so true that you don't know what true love is until you have a child. You would do ANYTHING for them and I mean ANYTHING! So I feel so lucky to be a mom to this wonderful child. :-) Enjoy the photos!

Walking?!?!?!

Lauren started walking while holding on to stuff a long time ago...but 2 weeks ago she took the leap and started walking on her own unassisted! Kraig and I have been having her walk back and forth to us at night without holding on to stuff and I guess one day she just figured she could do it on her own without us asking for her to do it. She was at daycare and was in the play area and the teacher said she just let go of the wall and walked across to the other side of the play area. That night, she just walked all over the place like she had been doing it for years and has not looked back since then! Her favorite thing to do now that she is a "pro" at it is to carry things while she walks. So the videos attached show her new skill. :-) They are from my phone so they might not be that clear, but I hope to upload more later from our actual camera. We are so proud of our baby girl or shall I say our "big girl"!