Where's Lauren??

Lauren has such a funny personality. She was getting ready for bed one night last week and had finished brushing her teeth in the bathroom so she decided it would be funny to hide in the cupboard. Luckily my camera is never far away. Enjoy!!

Until next time...

Happy Labor Day!

We had a fun Labor Day weekend in Wheaton!
We were excited to not have plans and just be able to enjoy the weekend. We spent Saturday morning with the Zorns at Naperville's Last Fling. It was such fun and Lauren loved it. She got to experience her first bounce house. Although it was hard to walk, she really had fun falling all over the place. Click here to watch her. She and Ashley liked hiding out in the princess castle.





Lauren also really enjoyed the petting zoo. She loves animals and can tell you what most animals say. Everytime she sees a dog she says, "Woof Woof." She knows what cows, horses, ducks, sheep, goats, and monkeys say as well. So, she was so excited to get to feed and pet a baby cow, pig, goat, duck, pony, and rabbit. She was more excited though to take her first pony ride. Watch her here.

We enjoyed Labor Day with a barbeque with the Zorns. Lauren thought it was so funny to wear her napkin on her head. She certainly takes after her Nonny and her Daddy...she definitely does not get that trait from my side. Lots of nights we'll be eating dinner and Lauren will put her empty bowl on her head and say, "hat." What a silly girl!

We hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and hope to hear from you soon!

Until next time--

14 Months!!

Little Lauren is 14 months old and is loving her new found freedom! She's everywhere and into everything. She's saying so many things now. She knows most of her animal sounds and knows where all the parts of her face are. She loves to repeat what we say...and even says "Wadoomewon" (translated: Watermelon). It's so fun seeing what new things she says each day.

We have been busy soaking in the last few weeks of summer. We took Lauren to Splash Park in Glen Ellyn a few weeks ago. She loved all the sprays and so did her Daddy, even though the water was cold.

She also has a new found love for "Baby." When we visit the Zorns, Lauren enjoys playing with Ashley's "Tiki Barber" baby, so now Lauren has Tiki's sister Ronde. She rocks her baby in its carseat carrier and pushes her in her stroller. She is quite motherly (well, sort of.)

Lauren also loves playing with her cousin Ashley. She walks around the house saying, "Ashheee, Ashheee." A few weeks ago, we spent the weekend with Asheee and Megan and Baby Caroline. Lauren played in the Zorn's pool, played in our basement with Ashley while Megan & I did a little shopping and enjoyed the French Connection market at Cantigny. It was a fun weekend, but resulted in everyone getting Lauren's little cold. Hopefully it isn't a sign of what's to come this winter.

Lauren also loves the playground. We take her to the ones near our house several times a week, but got her own little playground for our backyard a few weeks ago. A family from Newcomers (a group that I have joined in Wheaton) was giving theirs away, so we snapped it up. Although it's probably a little big yet for Lauren, she loves it and can climb right up by herself. I'm sure it will bring us many many hours of entertainment. (Watch her here.)

We spent last weekend in Grandview visiting Grandpa & Grandma. Lauren enjoyed being on the "farm" and seeing all the tall corn. We will have to get back and visit again soon!

Thanks for checking in on us. We're looking forward to the long holiday weekend.

Until next time--

13 Months and She's Walking!!

Lauren is walking all over, unassisted. Just last weekend she was taking steps but didn't quite have the confidence to go it alone. Now, she only wants to walk. It's pretty cute. Watch her walk here.

She has also learned to say "Mommy." She has been saying "Mama" for several months, but now she says "Mommy!" It's so cute to hear her little voice call out-- constantly. She also loves to say, "Hereyougo"-- all as one word. Everything she picks up off the floor, she holds out her hand and says, "Hereyougo Daddy." Too funny! She's learning new words everyday.

Summer is almost over, but we're looking forward to fall. Lauren is going to start swimming lessons in September. I'm sure she'll love it...she loves to get in the water any chance she gets. She often walks to her bathroom and tries to get her foot up over the side of the bathtub to get in. Luckily, she's still a little too short.

We enjoyed a fun weekend. On Saturday afternoon, we visited Brookfield Zoo with Chip and the kids (Jessica was doing the 3-Day walk for Cancer. Way to go, Jessica!) Lauren especially loved the monkeys. She also got to ride on her first carousel.

Until next time--

Back from the Northwoods!

We spent a great week in Wisconsin-- relaxing, reading, and meeting animals. We drove to Crivitz on Saturday, July 11 and spent the first few days at The Mead's house on Wildwood. The weather was pretty nice, although we did have a few days of rain.

Monday morning, we loaded back up in the car and drove two hours to Rhinelander to see Aunt Laurie and Uncle Denny. It was great to spend a few days visiting. Lauren had a fun time with their dog, Whitey. She still walks around the house saying, "Whiiiiiiiiitey." While we were in Rhinelander, we drove to Plum Lake and visited Camp Highlands-- the boys camp where Justin spent three of his summers growing up. Apparently it hasn't changed at all. We found Justin's paddle in the mess hall and also saw one of the bunks where he used to sleep (complete with his name marked on the rafters.) It was fun for Justin to reminisce and for Lauren and I to see one of the places that has made such an impression on Justin.

We spent the next day in Minocqua. Lauren loved breakfast at Paul Bunyon's-- they just keep bringing food until you can't eat anymore! We also went to Jim Keck's Wildwood. Lauren got to pet the goats and deer.

We spent the rest of the week back at Wildwood. Lauren got to take her first boat ride on Boppa's boat. She thought it was okay as long as it wasn't moving. And if it WAS moving, she liked it much better with her head buried in Mommy's neck. She did love playing in the sand at the beach though, so she tolerated the boat long enough to get to and from the beach. She also discovered that she LOVES summer sausage! Guess she's a Wisconsin girl at heart.

We ended the week with the big Hog Wrestle at Cauldron Falls Bar. Justin and two of his brothers-in-law and Chip's brother Lee participated in the annual hog wrestle contest. They actually got the hog on the barrel in less than 30 seconds! We were impressed. Justin came home with bloody knees, but apparently a good time was had by all. If you want to see the big event, click here. (Justin is the first one directly to the right of the shoot.)

Thanks for checking in on us!

Until next time--

Happy 4th of July!!!

We celebrated the 4th of July weekend in Grandview with my entire family. Lauren got to experience her first "Greatest 4th of July Celebration this side of the Mississippi!" It was a great weekend, with fantastic weather!! Lauren ate up the pancakes at the firemen's breakfast in the morning and enjoyed the parade, although she was a bit scared of the fire truck sirens. She met a new favorite friend...a little white puppy! (No, we're still not getting a dog.) The parade was so much excitement that Lauren fell asleep in the stroller on our way to the park for lunch.

Jim, Melissa, Nick, Steph, Mike and Maggie were all able to make it home as well. (Mike was also celebrating his 10 year high school class reunion...whew!!)

While Mike and Maggie were visiting friends on Saturday, the rest of us went to the pool in Muscatine. Lauren had a great time (as she usually does at the pool!) She is such a water baby...I hope she continues to enjoy the water.

Lauren had two huge milestones over the weekend. We got rid of her bottles! YEAH! Her last bottle was Thursday morning at daycare and she hasn't looked back. We had a few rough nights going to sleep, but she's doing great now and is enjoying drinking regular milk out of her sippy cups. It definitely makes our morning routine a lot easier not having to prepare bottles for daycare.

The bigger news is that Lauren took a few steps this weekend! YEAH! We sort of got it on video. Click here. I'm sure they will be more videos to come.

I've started my new job and things are going great so far! I will be working from home a few days a week, which is nice and saves the commute. We're heading to Wisconsin for the week next week. We'll spend a few days in Rhinelander with my parents and Aunt and Uncle and the rest of the week we'll be at the Mead's house in Crivitz. We're really looking forward to a relaxing week. (Oh yeah, Justin and his brothers-in-law will be hog wrestling on Saturday. We'll see if they survive! Justin has never touched a hog, let alone wrestled one! It should be interesting.)

Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Justin turned 30 and this is what we woke up to, courtsey of The Chaons, The Malsches, Mike and Marj...as you can see, Justin was ecstatic...