happy birthday, lauren!

weekly picture post

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day. After naps (for the kids) we spent some time together at the park. After walking along the trail and trying to scope out good spots for our upcoming family photos, we stopped at the playground. This girl loves to swing, so the girls hit up the swings while the boys climbed on the rocks. Both kids have gotten much more willing to try new things lately and it makes going to the park more enjoyable.

Monday evening our friend Lauren took some pictures of our family. Along the way there is some construction, so traffic is temporarily down to one lane. Some cars were whizzing past the line of cars that had moved over and it ticked TJ off. He decided to take things into his own hands, so he pulled into the middle of the two lanes to block the "cheaters." Despite his blockade, a few cars still zoomed past, so Anthony honked at them. The guy in the truck in front of us misunderstood our honks, and thought we were honking at him, so he vigorously gave us the finger. At that point the executive decision was made to get back in the lane and just let the people pass. Road rage is crazy.

Somebody really smart (me) neglected to secure the cover on our sand table. The kids didn't seem to mind. This was the first time Lauren really got to enjoy things. She has been pulling herself up on everything lately, as you will see below. 

Anthony observed recently that Lauren's arms seem to be getting (relatively) muscular. It's no wonder, when she pulls herself up all over the house. She loves the magnets we have on our fridge, and I have been finding them all over the house, as she climbs up, pulls them off, and then crawls away with them.

Lauren pulling herself up again. Both kids love our computers. Will frequently tells me he needs to check his email, and before I took this picture Lauren was banging away at the keys.

 

Friday evening our ward held the annual Soup and Bread Night. I made a white chicken chili that is pretty delicious, if I do say so myself.

The Maxfield's are here for the weekend, so we went downtown for the Fall Festival at the Power & Light District. Will and Weston posed with Big Bird after enjoying some delicious caramel apples. I tried to think of a good political joke to make about Big Bird, but my creative juices are zapped, so I'll leave that up to you.

weekly picture post

Anthony's mini-me. We went for a walk after conference and these two just happened to match. It was not planned.

Will hoards the bath toys. Luckily Lauren is pretty easily pleased.

These kids like their beverages. If left unchecked Will could drink half a gallon of milk each day. Lauren is getting pretty good at drinking out of a bottle now, which makes my life so much easier.

This is big. Will has been wanting to climb this ladder for quite awhile, but on Wednesday he actually did it!

Since I posted about 10.11.12 already, there weren't many photos to choose from this day. Will took a series of photos of our messy family room while I was reading, including this one. I know I mentioned it already, but life with Lauren taking a bottle is awesome.

For some reason it makes me smile that every time I walk into Lauren's room when she is crying she is always standing at the foot of the crib like this.

Saturday it rained a lot. The rain cancelled our fun plans, so we were forced to do lots of indoor activities, like puzzles. Lauren likes taking the pieces out more than putting them in, which is very distressing to her brother.

10.11.12

Dates like today don't come along very often, so I thought I would document our day.

The day started off with Lauren waking me up just after 7am, and me stepping on Will as I got out of bed because he was lying there waiting for me to wake up.

Will threw a fit at breakfast because we didn't have orange juice (we rarely have orange juice) so I offered to make him some scrambled eggs. Normally I don't make a habit out of pandering to him, but I was feeling generous.

After breakfast (Will only ate about 4 bites of the eggs, sigh) I turned on PBS kids while I got ready for the day and checked my email. I laid Lauren down for a nap, which only lasted about 30 minutes. I fear she is giving up her morning nap. Double sigh.

We went to playgroup at South Lake Park, and had a really good time. It wasn't too cold and lots of our friends were there. The kids all wanted to take a stroll around the lake, so the moms agreed. Personally, I like it when Will wants to go on walks because it tires him out. We ended up walking around the lake 3 times, each time taking longer than the last.

 

When we got home I realized that Lauren's diaper wasn't able to contain all that she produced, and I had to strip her down. Never one to be left out, Will took his clothes off too, crawled around, and told me he was a big baby. 

After the park we came home, ate a light lunch, and had some "quiet time." I spent some time reading this month's book club pick The Glass Castle. Will watched some Caillou and made a huge mess threw blocks around the living room and played with window clings. Lauren drank a bottle and took a brief nap.

Post quiet-time we did some shopping. First stop: Hy-Vee. Will loves the cookie club cookies, so he always behaves when we shop at Hy-Vee. Today was the first time Lauren got jealous of the cookie. The tear on her check is real. :(

Second stop: Aldi, which Will found to be an appropriate venue to showcase his acrobatic talents.

Third stop: Home Depot to pick up paint. Will was very excited they had their holiday decor out, and pointed out every Frosty, Santa, and reindeer he saw to Lauren and me. Sidenote: If you want to stimulate the economy, start a home improvement project. I have about 30 receipts (some are return slips) from HD over the past two weeks.

When we came home it was time to start dinner. Will helped TJ brown the pork chops for our Pork Chops and Rice. We have had this meal a lot since we found out about Lauren's allergies. It is simple, but still really good.

Pork Chops and Rice

Brown 6 pork chops in frying pan.

Spread 1 1/3 c. rice in greased 9x13 pan.

Pour 1 cup of OJ over rice.

Set pork chops on top of rice.

Pour 1 small can of chicken and rice soup over pork chops.

Cover and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes.

Uncover and cook for 10 minutes.

While dinner was cooking, we had a true milestone. Lauren stood on her own! Will and Lauren were playing with TJ and Lauren started to stand up. She has seemed to really grow up lately.

After dinner we bathed the kids and read some books. Both kids were asleep by 7:30pm. An early bedtime is the payoff for poor napping.

We tidied up a bit, worked out, watched some of the VP debate, watched some playoff baseball, painted, and then went to bed.

Even though the date was unique, it was a pretty ordinary day.

weekly picture post

After the drought this summer I was afraid we were going to lose most of our plants. We didn't exactly water our plants on a regular basis, and my dad informed me they looked stressed. Thankfully it's rained a bit more the past few weeks (and we started watering our plants) and what do you know, blossoms. I love the pops of color when we walk out our front door.

On Monday Tony got off work a bit early and we went to Deanna Rose. It was the first time TJ's gone with us this summer, and Will enjoyed being his tour guide. We probably spent the most time at any one thing with these bells.

Sometimes Will isn't very compliant when I want to take his picture. This photo also illustrates that he typically isn't very compliant when I try to comb his hair.

On Wednesday we visited the Louisberg Cider Mill with a group of friends. We went on a hayride, took a tour of the facilities where they make cider and doughnuts, and visited with friends. However, the apples are what Will remembers best. He kept bringing up the dump truck full of apples for days. Mmmm, those apples smelled so good.

Thursday we went to Antioch Park for playgroup, and then spent some time walking around the lake together. It wasn't crowded, so I used our camera's timer to get a shot of me with the kids. It's not my best picture, but the kids need some proof they spent time with me during their childhood. We were glad we spent as much time at the park as we did, because the weather got much colder as we got closer to the weekend.

Friday was kinda rough. I had a lot of sinus pain Thursday, so I took a decongestant that night. Well when I woke up Friday my nose wouldn't stop running and everything was making me sneeze. I get pretty bad fall allergies, so I'm fairly certain my discomfort was related to high levels of ragweed or something like that, but it was annoying nonetheless. Despite feeling a bit under the weather, we got out and ran some errands early in the day, but ended up cutting short or cancelling all other plans. With that preface, Will was very excited when Tony finished work and was able to play.

Lauren is pulling herself up on things all over the place these days. Saturday was a pretty low-key day hanging around the house with lots of conference listening, cleaning, and relaxing.

weekly picture post

We ate dinner with at my parent's house Sunday night, and after we finished eating Will requested feeding the birds. "Feeding the birds" entails: (1) taking a piece of bread (2) standing on the walkway and  (3) tearing the bread into pieces that he (4) alternates between throwing in the grass and (5) eating himself. By the way, this is a post-church outfit he chose himself. He's so fashion forward mixing prints like that.

Monday we had a musical FHE. We all have our respective rolls when we do anything "musical" together (I use the term musical very loosely). Will plays the recorder or drums. Lauren plays or chews on the cymbols. TJ plays the piano and sings. I lead the music and also sing, per Will's request.

This photo was taken at the beginning of a very long and trying walk. Will decided that he was going to push the stroller. At first I was optimistic because usually he gets distracted by sticks, rocks, pinecones, etc. when we go walking. Unfortunately the old umbrella stroller isn't all-terrain and he kept veering of the sidewalk, and either overcorrecting or getting stuck. This wouldn't have been such a big deal except he didn't want my help getting back on track, so not only did it take forever, but every time I tried to help he would get frustrated with me which made things take even longer. It was really humid outside too and after about 5 minutes I just wanted to go home. I have found that when I am hot it is a lot harder for me to be patient.

The same kid that still doesn't like to go down slides at the park is now climbing up the narrow part of our stairs. The first few times I noticed it he only went up two or three stairs. Now he is routinely going up about five, and I have seen him go as high as seven!

For some reason my computer won't let me suspend the holds I have at the library. I usually try to space them out a bit. Thursday afternoon when we went to the library I was surprised to see that half my holds list had arrived at the library. With the new fall shows starting, I'm not very optimistic that I will be able to finish all of these in the next 3 weeks, but I'll do my best.

Friday evening we spent some time together as a family at the park. Both Anthony and I got on the swing for a bit, but neither of us lasted very long. Will and Lauren can swing for what feels like hours and I remember loving to swing when I was a kid, but these days I get lightheaded and dizzy if I'm on for long.

Saturday was a full, fun day. We started the day off by taking in the parade at the Overland Park Fall Festival. I was looking forward to this for quite awhile because of Will's love for marching bands, and this parade had four (plus some strolling strings!). Unfortunately, there were also a few large mascots. Apparently the disdain and fear he has for mascots really put a damper on his enthusiasm. He enjoyed the most of the parade, but did spend several minutes in my arms when the offending floats passed by. On a side note, Lauren had her first lollypop courtesy of a local girl scout troop. Instead of throwing candy, they handed pieces of candy directly to the kids. One of the girls gave Lauren a dum-dum, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to let her hold it. While I was comforting Will I kind of forgot about it, and the next thing I know Lauren has chewed through the wrapper and was working on the candy. I concluded it wasn't worth fighting over, not to mention I was intimidated by her death grip, so she got to eat the whole thing.

lauren :: eleven months

My emotions have been very mixed this past week as Lauren hit her eleven month birthday. My baby isn't a little baby anymore! She's becoming more "little girl" every day. Of course I am excited to see her develop and transform into the sweet and friendly person she is going to be, but it scares me how fast the time has passed. It's probably because I am a procrastinator by nature, I tend to put stuff off until the last second. But my kids are teaching me that I can't do that; they aren't going to stop growing up because I want to be lazy for a week day or two.

 

Weight: 16 lbs., 2 oz.

Height: 26 inches

At her check-up last week the doctor's were much more optimistic about her "issues." They lowered the dose of her thyroid medication and believe her pituitary is normal. Thyroid function and pituitary concerns were the main reasons (other than weight loss) she was admitted to the hospital in July.  The only new "concern" is that she is officially anemic, but judging by our kids diets, if she is anemic, then Will is too. She continues to gain weight and have a healthy appetite, so we don't have to be as hyper-vigilant with her diet either.

She loves playing with Will when he is happy. She is learning that he is less predictable than her parents and that the toys he hoards are the most fun.

She loves being outside. Her eyes look so blue on bright, sunny days. She's not very discriminating about what she puts in her mouth, so we have to watch her carefully. She chews on everything these days--I'm pretty sure she's getting ready for another round of teething. She currently has 4 on top and 3 on bottom, which are quite useful when it comes to eating.

She's always on the move. I've almost stepped on her so many times when she has snuck up behind me, especially in the kitchen. She's quiet and fast. She's also started to pull herself up, but Will's doing the best he can to keep the good woman down. He's been on the receiving end of many time-outs after he's knocked her over or pried her fingers off the side of the coffee table.

She loves music and she loves her dad. She loves to be held and she loves peek-a-boo. She's our sunshine and we can't get enough of her.

weekly picture post

I recently noticed a bunch of toys that Will played with when he was Lauren's age in the corner of his room. We brought them out for Lauren to enjoy and it has been fun to see her use them. She is also learning that crawling in a dress is a bit more complicated than crawling in onesies or leggings.

This picture sums up a lot of their interactions these days. Anyone have any good tips on teaching your kids how to share?

Tuesday evening one of Will's friends had a birthday gathering at the park. Both kids were fussy and uncooperative as I got us ready to go, and then they cried for the first five minutes in the car. Then things got quiet, and when we pulled up to the park they were both asleep. The catnaps helped--both kids enjoyed the party at the park.

On Wednesday Lauren got to hang out with one of her foreordained BFFs, Gwen. Gwen's mom and I have been friends since we were twelve, so it is a given they will be friends too.  It was such a gorgeous day, the girls enjoyed lounging on the blanket while their big brothers got into mischief in the sandbox and their mom's commiserated about the exhausting side of motherhood.

 

Our special helper. Will insists on helping us do many things. Unfortunately his skills don't always match up with his enthusiasm.

Lauren is always on the move. I thought my house was fairly baby proofed, but she is showing me the error of my assumptions. We moved into this house when Will was 20 months old and walking, so our house is more kid-proofed than baby-proofed if that makes sense.

It's that weird time of year when it is impossible to dress for the entire day. You can either dress for the morning and be too hot in the afternoon, or dress for the afternoon and be too cold all morning. We tried to mix it up with long sleeves and shorts, but ended up a little chilly when we went to the park Saturday morning. #fallproblems