busy girl

Lauren is a busy girl these days! Her toys are no longer interesting, she would much rather have new things to learn about and explore! This week Jason was out of town for 2 days and to pass the time, Lauren helped me with the laundry (again) (please note that these are her CLEAN clothes that I was attempting to fold). She LOVES to pull EVERY SINGLE THING out of a laundry basket or tub/box/container! It's like 52 card pickup...but without the cards.
She takes each piece out one-by-one, drops it on the floor...smiles, laughs, and crawls away to something else. I'm just wondering when she'll be old enough to be taught to clean up her mess? :)

She also really likes opening the kitchen cabinets (note to self....get some of those little latches for the under-the-sink cabinets where the cleaners are!) She was playing with my red colanders (they're metal so they make more noise when she bangs them on the floor) while I made dinner the other night.

HAS ANYONE SEEN LAUREN??

All done investigating, she crawls away leaving a trail of destruction and chaos behind her! :)

Best Friends?

Last night our good friends Kerry and Elizabeth Mitchell stopped at our house on their way to North Carolina for a little vacation. Their daughter, Ruth Anne is 2 weeks younger than Lauren. The two girls had "met" last summer when they were about 3 months old. (well, Lauren fussed most of the meeting and RA was asleep the whole time!) However, Elizabeth and I just knew that this time they would really hit it off and become best friends. Ha! Here they are meeting each other (Lauren is not so sure about RA!)

They are both crawling, but Lauren is a little faster due to the fact that she has been crawling for about a month and a half and RA just started to crawl last week. RA enjoyed playing with Lauren's toys until my child TOOK THEM OUT OF HER LITTLE CHUBBY HANDS!! Yes, people, I am the mother of a bully!

Here is Ruth Anne happily playing on the piano, until Lauren got wind of it, and PUSHED RA out of the way to take over the piano! Lauren is also seen here not-so-gently removing her purple plastic phone from RA's grip. This was not nice!! At least there was no biting involved! (mostly because neither of them have teeth! Ha!)

We did enjoy catching up with Kerry and Elizabeth and seeing how much Ruth Anne had grown. They are the kind of friends that you might not talk to in a long time, but then you just pick back up where you left off when you do talk. Love that.

By the way, Lauren and Ruth Anne are forming a band (Look for Lauren on the piano and Ruth Anne on the drums!)

(And there is still hope for them to be best friends someday!)

Time for Dancin'

This will be the first season that I have watched Dancing with the Stars! (Yes, I've been living under a rock!:) I watched the 2 hour season premier with Susie tonight and am hooked! I love 3 couples....Ty and Chelsie, Shawn and Mark, and Melissa from the bachelor and Tony. Can't wait to see what happens next week! Are you watching?

First Time at the Park!

We have been having some beautiful weather here in TN the last few days. My Dad and stepmom are here for the week and we decided it would be fun to take Lauren to the park today for the first time. (Jason was a little sad that he missed it because he was at work)


It ended up being sunny and 80 degrees today! I dressed Lauren up in one of her spring outfits with sandals and a sun hat (I LOVE SPRING/SUMMER baby clothes!!), but she kept pulling the hat off. We let her swing in the baby swing and we went down the little slide with her on my lap. She wasn't crazy about either one! She was just busy watching all the other kids run around her. Here are some pics of our fun time.....(we'll definately be going back!)

Whiny Wednesday

I hate Wednesdays. Well, let me back up. Hate is a strong word. I really dread and deeply dislike Wednesdays. Let me explain. Weekends are wonderful because Jason is home and we get to relax and Lauren just seems more content with both of her loving parents doting on her and giving her their complete attention.



Mondays are good because it is the start of a new week and I feel recharged from the weekend.(yes, I realize that Sunday is the first day of the week, but Monday is the first day of the work week...meaning Jason goes to work and I stay home with Lauren) Tuesdays are ok because even though it is not a new week, I still feel some motivation from the weekend. Thursdays are good because they are the day before Friday- and Fridays are great because I anticipating the weekend...I can almost taste it! :)



Now, back to Wednesdays....I guess it is reasonable that Wednesday is referred to as "hump day" seeing as it is in the middle of the week. However, I refer to it as "slump day" because I feel so exhausted and in a "slump" by the time Wednesday rolls around. Monday was long ago and Friday feels like forever away, and I just don't like Wednesdays! I don't think Lauren does either. 9 times out of 10, if we have had a "difficult day" it is on Wednesday. She just seems more clingy, and whiny on Wednesdays.



We almost ALWAYS end up going somewhere on Wednesday. We just HAVE to get out of the house! Today we left about 10:30 (Lauren took a 35 minute morning nap...what?) and paid our power bill at the drive through. Then we went to Walmart and got some groceries that we needed and some Easter candy that we didn't. It was sunny out (although only in the 40's and the wind was kickin'!) and Lauren and I both felt better after walking around in Walmart for about 30 minutes. Whew! Good thing Wednesday is almost over....only 9 more hours.



Does anyone else feel the same way about Wednesdays?


Oh, and I have to mention that Lauren LOVES to be outside...so this freezing cold weather that we have been having EVERY DAY for the past 3 MONTHS is REALLY getting old! Cabin fever does not even BEGIN to describe how Lauren and I feel right now!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in 1904 so that makes today his....(hmm..let me pull out the fingers and toes) (and Lauren's fingers and toes!!) 105th birthday! Wow!!! :) I love Dr. Seuss books and thanks to Lauren's Grandpa and Nana, she is the proud owner of several of his wonderful books (in hardback, nonetheless; so we are hoping they will last for a long, long time)!

My dad decided that he would read her a Dr. Seuss books when he was here for Christmas to see if she liked it. I told him there was no way she was going to sit still during the whole story, because she is seriously wiggly! But wouldn't you know that little stinker sat on her daddy's lap (so Grandpa could turn the pages better) and listened to ALL of Green Eggs and Ham without so much as one wiggle. I'm not sure if it was because someone new was reading to her- or if she just really loved the book (I'd like to think that was it)....

Ever since then, I pull out a Dr. Seuss classic about once a week and read it out loud while she crawls around me in circles and tries to rip the pages into shreds. *sigh* I hope she will have my love for books and reading one day....we'll see!

Anyway, here is Lauren celebrating this very special day with none other than the Cat in the Hat himself! Have a great day, everyone!

By the way....I snagged this very cute Cat in the Hat from Kohl's for only $5! And since I used my $5 off coupon at checkout (I was buying Lauren some 40% off pj's....gotta love a deal!) IT WAS FREE!! :)

Back Seat Jesus

I read about this over at Angie Smith's blog. It is a series put on by Crosspoint Church in Nashville. I thought it was something worth sharing.