The Terrific Twos!!

My baby is two!! Sigh...I can't believe it. I can't really call her a baby anymore. She is loving life as a big two year old though...except yesterday she told me, "I'm not 2 anymore. I'm 62!!" Papa just turned 62 and Lauren likes to tell everyone his age.

We had a very busy birthday weekend, filled with cupcakes, balloons, bounce houses, family and fun! Papa and Meemaw came in to visit for the weekend and Nonny, Boppa, Gigi, The Zorns and The Simpsons came for the party.

Here she is on the big birthday morning unwrapping a few gifts. Watch her here.

Lauren was thrilled to see we had rented a pink princess castle bounce house for the Pinkalicious party! She got to jump and bounce all day long. No wonder she slept so well that night. Maybe we should think about investing in one to wear her out everyday? Hmm, not a bad idea. See the video here.

Lauren got some great gifts for her birthday-- she can now be a princess (notice the high heels), while serving tea, playing golf and enjoying a roller coaster ride! What more could you ask for?

Watch the princess video here.

Watch the roller coaster video here. No matter how many rides she takes, her face is still surprised!

And pouring tea from her new tea set. Click here. Notice the sound effects she makes while pouring the tea. Too funny!

More party pictures:

Lauren and Mommy jumping in the bounce house.

Taking a bouncing break for some water! Man, this jumping is hard work!

Baby Caroline was ready to party!

Cheese!!

Princesses get phone calls at the worst times...after eating a yummy chocolate cupcake!

Happy Birthday big girl!! Watch the video here.

Thanks for checking in on us. As you can imagine, we have a very active household right now. We are heading to Iowa next week for the 4th of July holiday. Lauren is excited to see another parade!

Until next time--

Go Mommy!!

I did it! I finished my first 5K race on Saturday in Wheaton. My time was 33:56 (under my goal of 35 minutes) and i was 950th place, but who's counting! My dad told me that I will come in for sure in the top 100 runners next time i run (at the Grandview 4th of July) because they only ever have about 100 runners. Funny dad.

Lauren was there to cheer me on. Watch her here. Often when I was training for the race, she would cheer me along yelling "Go Mommy!" It was just what I needed on the race route to get me through...hearing her little voice gave me the burst of energy I needed. She's a cute one!

The race was actually the kick off to our busy weekend of festivals and fun! We spent Saturday afternoon at the Taste of Wheaton. Lauren (and her cousin Ashley) loved the bounce houses. They bounced until they were worn out!

We also discovered Lauren has a love for thrill rides (okay, maybe not "thrill" to most people, but to me who is not a fan of roller coasters and rides). She wanted to ride on everything and wasn't afraid to ride by herself (because of height restrictions, we couldn't go with her on most things). She even wanted to ride on the little rollercoasters she isn't quite tall enough for. We snapped one picture of her at the top of the mini-ferris wheel. She loved it! I was closing my eyes, praying she wouldn't fall out or freak out.













On Sunday, we spent the morning with Gigi (Lauren's great grandmother) at Lamb's Farm. Lamb's Farm is a little petting zoo with a train and carousel. We really enjoyed the morning and it was so fun to see Gigi! (I also found a very cute puppy dog at the pet store that I tried to bring home...didn't work.)


We had a very fun weekend. Only two more weeks until Lauren's big birthday celebration! All she wants for her birthday is "cupcakes and balloons!" We'll see what we can do!


Thanks for checking in on us.
Until next time--

America's (and Lauren's) Favorite Pastime

Baseball!! Lauren loves baseball (at least right now since there is no football on tv). We bought here a little Dora soft bat and ball to try out. She's a little young, of course, but she looks like a natural! (Although I think by natural we may be talking a left-handed natural?) But I think she's just too cute to resist...no one will want to throw her out! Like Lauren says, "Just like Nick!"

Check out this cute little video

Lauren is learning so much everyday. This morning at breakfast she told me this story about the little fish and the big fish.

She's said some really funny things lately, which of course I have to write down so I don't forget. I picked her up from daycare last week and I got a work call in the car. For some reason Lauren has been calling herself Baby lately (not sure if she saw Dirty Dancing or what). So, I'm talking on the phone and Lauren says quite loudly, "Mommy, you driving Baby crazy!" I started laughing!

This past weekend I was sitting on the bed and Lauren walked in and said, "Mommy, I got a question for you." I said, "Okay, what's your question." She then walked over and pretended to hand me something and said, "Here you go. Here's the question. Don't eat it, okay?" So cute! How in the world do you explain a question to a 2 year old? I'm sure we're going to have a lot more difficult things to explain sooner than we want.

We have a fun weekend ahead. I am running in my first 5K race on Saturday morning. Pray the weather is nice and not raining! Wheaton is having a big festival so we're hoping to enjoy some bounce houses and carnival rides! Sunday we're going to visit Justin's Grandma in the morning and take her to Lamb's Farm (petting farm). I'm sure Lauren will love it.

As always, thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--

Happy Memorial Day!!

We hope everyone had a wonderful memorial day weekend. We had great weather and a relaxing weekend. We enjoyed many meals outside this weekend, did some work in the yard and spent lots of time playing with Lauren.

This morning, we went for a run before breakfast. I am running in my first 5K in a few weeks, so I need all the practice I can get. Lauren gives me moral support, riding along behind in the stroller yelling, "Go Mommy! You can do it!" I may need her to join me on race day too!! We also went to the Wheaton Memorial Day parade this morning. It's was a nice parade and Lauren really enjoyed it. When it was finished she said, "Again!?" She'll be thrilled to see the Grandview 4th of July parade, I'm sure! (It IS the Biggest small town celebration west of the Mississippi, you know!)

Lauren has transitioned to the 2 year old classroom at school now. Transition is usually a week, but it took her all of one day. She didn't want to go back to the Toddler room. She LOVES being with the big kids and back with all of her friends! I can't believe it's time already, but I know she will continue to learn and grow in her new surroundings.

Lauren's favorites right now are Chocolate and Tap Dancing!! (She takes after her mommy!) Any time you ask Lauren want she wants to eat she answers, "Chocolate kiss?" Of course I give in to her wishes as much as possible...what girl can resist a little chocolate? She also loves tap dancing and still watches the Miss America video any chance she gets! This afternoon Mommy and Lauren both put on their tap shoes and did a little tap dancing in the garage...lucky for you it's on video! (Mommy is a little out of practice!) Watch it here.

Our prayers are with the Langstaff family this weekend as they are mourning the tragic loss of Sam and his wife. It makes us remember just how short life can be. Thanks for checking in on us and hug your loved ones a little tighter this weekend.

Until next time--

23 months old!!

Once again, I am behind in posting blog entries! Lauren will be 23 months tomorrow. I can't believe it. I was just looking at pictures of her from this time last year and I can't believe how much she has changed! She finally has hair, she is walking (running actually), talking non-stop, and being so silly. What a personality she has!! (Justin may disagree, but I think she takes after me!)

As usual, we've been busy (but unfortunately don't have many pictures to account for our travels!) The month started with a trip to Des Moines for a long weekend to visit Uncle Mikey, Aunt Maggie, Aunt Lissa, Uncle Jim, Nick (Lauren's favorite!) and Stephanie. We had a great time going to Nick's baseball games, visiting friends from college and law school, and just hanging out with everyone! It was a great relaxing weekend and the weather was absolutely perfect! Lauren received many "new" toys (hand-me-downs) from Stephanie that are now new favorites in our house. One of my favorites (which i hope someday becomes one of her favorites were tap shoes!! Watch the video here. We had a great weekend and can't wait to see everyone again soon!!

Mother's Day was a great day as well! We went to church in the morning and after church went for a long run through the parks and the trails and then in the afternoon went to see Elmo Live!! Yes, Elmo Live for Mother's Day! (I'm such a giving Mommy!) I think Lauren really liked it, although she sat glued to our laps for most of the performance. We enjoyed dinner after the show with Mark, Trulie and Jessie!

This past weekend, while Justin (and his dad and brothers-in-laws) were golfing in Galena, Lauren and I spent the weekend with my parents in Iowa. She didn't want to leave Memaw and Papa's house, but I think they needed to rest their ears. They're not used to non-stop talking from 6:30 a.m. on!! We ate dinner on Friday night at the Sombrero so Lauren could have guacamole and soppapillas-- her favorites. I'm sure My Family will appreciate this video...Lauren making her own creations! (Remind you all of anyone??)

We're looking forward to a low-key Memorial Day weekend at home. We're hoping for nice weather and lots of time outside. On this Memorial Day, we especially remember Grandma McGill who past away in February.

Until next time--

Let's Go Fly a Kite!!

This year is Wheaton's 150th celebration and the city has planned many community events throughout the year. We spent a fun morning one Saturday a few weeks ago at the park near our house with about 1000 other people trying to break the world record for the most kites in the air at the same time. This was Lauren's first experience flying a kite and she loved it...mostly loved chasing it! Neither Justin or I had much experience flying kites, but we were able to get it off the ground (barely!) and I think we actually kept it in the air for the requisite thirty seconds. The record was held by a town in Germany with 954 kites in the air at the same time. Wheaton had enough people registered, but apparently we didn't break the record...not a surprise I guess-- have you ever tried to get over a 1000 kites in the air on a not very windy at the same time? It is not so easy! It was definitely a good effort and a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. Watch the video below:

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!! We hope you had a wonderful Easter. We just finished cleaning up after hosting a big Easter lunch this afternoon for Justin's family. It's been a few weeks since I blogged about the happenings in Lauren's life, so thought I'd catch up-- at least on our busy weekend.

Our Easter weekend started with dying easter eggs on Friday evening with the Zorns. Lauren and Ashley had a good time but Lauren only had patience for a few eggs. I think she was not sure why we were coloring eggs and not just eating them!

On Saturday, we had a very busy day! Lauren and I went to our weekly My Gym class, which if you've ever heard her talk about it, you know she can hardly wait for Saturday mornings just for My Gym. She spends the week asking me if it's My Gym day and also practicing all the things they do each week. After My Gym, Lauren got her haircut while Justin was still waiting in line at Honeybaked Ham for our Easter ham (he waited over an hour, but it was delicious!) Then we went to Cantigny park for an Easter egg hunt. Lauren enjoyed getting the eggs, but I'm quickly discovering that Wheaton does not know how to put on an egg hunt! All of the eggs Lauren picked up were empty!! Instead at the end, each kid got a treat bag. Huh? I guess I'm used to egg hunts in Grandview. Maybe I should volunteer to help next year. Saturday afternoon we went to Build a Bear for Evan's birthday party. Evan is a little boy in Lauren's class at school. She had a great time, but wasn't so sure what all of her school friends were doing somewhere that wasn't school.

The Easter Bunny left Lauren's filled basket in her room last night after she was asleep. Watch her waking up this morning and seeing her basket. Click here.

The Easter Bunny brought Lauren a cute apron to wear when she helps cook! She loves to stir and pour. This morning she wore her apron to help Justin make pancakes. So cute!!

Lauren was so adorable this morning all dressed up in her cute Easter dress. Click here to watch her show off her dress.

We enjoyed Easter service at church this morning and then came home to get everything ready for Justin's family to come for a late lunch. It was a great meal...ham, mashed potatoes and gravy and lots of sides! Mmmm. Lauren and Ashley had their very own egg hunt in the backyard this afternoon. They were so cute! Watch them here.

We've had a busy but fun weekend. We wish you all a Happy Easter!! Thanks for checking in on us.

Until next time--