Christmas At The End of March

I didnt expect Lauren to be able to wear her clothes from December still but we're still getting good use out of them. Who says you can't wear Christmas PJs at the end of March?!?! I personally love the Santa touch!
Sticking her tounge out at me. She's already Miss Funny Girl

Check out the baby blues. Click on the picture to enlarge. I just love her eyes!

Grammy is so pretty!

I dont think that's my mom....she looks more like a sister. I hope I look that good when I get older! These pictures were taken when my mom came to visit me last Friday night. We met Todd for lunch Saturday afternoon at the Riverside Catfish House - YUM!
Lauren loves her Grammy so much that she gets excited & smiles with her eyes closed :)

Random Shots!

So Over this trip! I'm ready to go Mommy!
My little girl showing her little half smile for the camera. Really she was just happy Belle was around her!

Girlfriend trying so hard to play in her big girl toy!

If you enlarge this picture you can see just how blue her eyes are. Just click on the picture! This was taken before our many walks

How cute is this?!?! I got it from ebay at the store tatortots boutique :)

First Food

Lauren tried pears 2 nights ago for the first time!! She was HILARIOUS!! Normally she would eat a little jar during 1 sitting but she was tired of them at the half way point sooooo we finished them tonight! She actually likes it but its so funny watching her facial expressions :)
Because she's so short, we still have to help up sit up in the bumbo. She's still not quite big enough to be comfortable in it yet. We'll move on to the high chair when she's sitting up a little bit better.

This is so funny - - - she sticks her tounge out to taste the pears first!

Wondering what the heck her daddy is doing!

Where is My Engagement Ring???

I just have to tell this story because it's just way too funny!! Todd & I searched for over an hour tonight for my engagement ring. I had my wedding band on but couldn't find my engagement ring. Here's a little background on how the night progressed:

We have a nightly routine with Lauren. She gets fed dinner at 7pm - bath at 7:30pm - bed at 8:00pm. After I finished bathing her, I always take her to the couch, put on a new diaper, lather the lotion on, and then put on clean jammies. Well, before I put the lotion on, I always take off my rings but I immediately put them back on after her clean jammies are put on. So after I finished that little routine, I put my wedding band on but where was my engagement ring????

We put Lauren to bed and then searched under the couch, behind the couch, under the cushions, etc....where is it?!?!?!

After searching & searching, we actually heard Lauren cry at around 9pm which is so unlike her. After 10 minutes, she wouldn't calm down so we both went upstairs to check on her. Todd picked her up and placed her on the changing table - guess where my engagement ring was????

IN HER DIAPER!!! Yes, IN HER DIAPER!!!! This sooo goes in the baby book....

A Day At the Park

Today could not be any prettier!! It was 75 degrees outside & absolutely beautiful. So we packed up the car & headed for Coolidge Park downtown by the river for a little picnic lunch & fun in the sun. Poor baby girl is teething so she wasn't exactly happy the whole time but we did get some cute shots of tiney hiney!


Our little Spring Sunshine Girl - Thanks Grammy for the flower!
Enjoying our day at the park

A sweet baby girl could never have too many kisses from mommy!

Daddy feeding Lauren her lunch! (Im not a horrible mom and totally know about ear infections when feeding laying down. Her bottle was almost empty & she was super sleepy) :)

Its an Airplane!

Waving at Daddy's Plane - Only Daddy wasn't driving! If you look out in the distance - or blow up the picture (just click on the picture), you will see the plane getting ready to take off!

Me & my girl waiting for daddy's plane to take off

Lauren's BFF

WHOAH! That's one happy baby with her Bellie Girl! - That ball is her favorite toy ever!! She loves it and likes to hold it!
The 2 sisters staring at each other! HA!

Lauren just loves Belle. We are soooo thankful Belle is such a sweet dog with her.

Hmmm...I wonder if Belle tastes good :)

New Jogging Stroller

We decided to get a jogging stroller for sweet little Lauren. I have been walking quite a bit downtown on a walking bridge. It has a little bit of a rough terrain so I was worried that the wheels on our nice stroller would eventually come off. We found an awesome deal on the new Jeep jogging stroller from Babies R Us that just came out. It was on sale last week & we had a 15% off coupon so we got an awesome deal. We love it so far!!
I think she likes it! She was a little upset with us at first because she was sleeping when we had to take her out of her car seat to put her in the new stroller but she was totally happy after we got moving :)

Ready to go madre y padre!!

4 1/2 month check up

Lauren had her 4 month check up Monday at 4 1/2 months old. We are behind 2 weeks because her office is very very popular so we started a little late due to scheduling. Her stats were:

Height - 23 inches
Weight - 11 lbs 15 ounces - almost 12 pounds :)

Fun facts about little squirt:

She's still super tiny but so full of life!
She is so funny and makes the funniest faces.
Her Pediatrician said she looked great & has wonderful hand coordination.
She is rolling over from back to front - the hard way but not front to back....crazy girl wants to do things the difficult way.
She is ready for solid food. YAY!! We can't wait to start that next week & see how she does. We will be starting with pears first as she tends to get a "little backed up" so the more fiber the better, HA!
She is sleeping on her stomach. Mommy & Daddy tend to not like this but you can't keep her on her back. She immediately rolls over to the tummy when tired.
Lauren slept 10 hours last night...WOO HOOOO! Why did she NOT do that for my mom when she kept her?!?!?!
She has slept in her crib for almost 1 month straight - yay yay yay!

All Smiles

Someone knows how to sit in her bumbo now!
She looks soooo tiny in her new toy! Its so fun watching her try to figure everything out.

Update on Litte Squirt:

*She goes to the doctor on Monday for her 4 month shots - 2 weeks late but who's counting

*Still currently wearing size 0-3 months or 3 months in clothes

*Talks NON STOP. Its hilarious and makes me laugh so hard

*Sleeps soooo good at night, thank the Lord!! When I think Im about to go nuts, she decides to sleep 9-10 hours at night....yessss!!!

*I can finally say she sleeps in her crib every single night now. After 2 weeks straight I stopped counting and have stopped worrying about jinxing myself - she's a big girl!

*Will not sleep on stroller rides anymore or during visits to the mall & store. She must be at home, in the crib for naptime. This makes running errands hard but in order to get a good nap in, she has to be in her room, door shut, music on until it finishes playing - what happened to my girl that would sleep on errands??

ALOHA BABY!!!!

Okay so we all know I can be frugal when it comes to money....yes, I own many Coach items but they have never been paid for in full price. Thanks to a family friend, they have always been 50% off.

A Louis Vuitton purse was purchased full price BUT thats the only big item I've bought & that's simply because I will use that purse for 20 years so indeed it was a good investment. If I bought 1 cheap purse over 20 years, the price would be equal people :)

I happily cut my store coupons every Sunday, I search google.com for coupon codes when shopping online, & have bought Lauren's awesome monogrammed things on ebay or etsy for way way way cheap. No one said you have to look bad paying cheap prices!

Well folks....the time has come where I have a bug to travel somewhere again. I do realize I've traveled quit a lot in my short almost 25 years of life, more than most folks, but I always do so on a budget. I decided today was the day to give a lesson on how you can stay in Maui at the Westin, that is $420 a night, for FREE....yes folks, FREE

Todd & I opened the Starwood American Express Card a little over a year ago & use it like a debit card & have accumulated an insane amount of points. The Westin is a Category 5 hotel requiring 12,000 points for a free night. Well Starwood is wonderful & gives the 5th night free so we have booked 5 FREE nights for July 8-13. Granted some people dont want to open credit cards but we are super super super cautious with credit, never spending what we can't afford, so the balance is always paid in full, therefore, we have tons of points.

I thought Id give my tip - - - - you can stay in HAWAII free too....and no, I'm not advertising for American Express.....just showing my favorite folks how to be frugal and smart when going on vaca....I could vacation like it's my job so I like to find the cheap ways to do it!
So Aloha here we come!

The Lobby with a Waterfall!!!

Aerial view of the many pools on property

Slide at one of the pools

Guestroom with an ocean view

Moving & A Shakin!

Dancing and groovin' to the music

Being 4 Months Old is Tough Work

I had all the intentions of doing monthly photos of Lauren with her big bear....but we'll start at 4 months, better late than never :)
Posing can make a girl so sleepy

She is sooo done

That's it...photo shoot is OVER

Lunch Date with Daddy

My little squirt & I on one of our many walks on the downtown walking bridge!

Todd was working the Chattanooga overnight so Lauren & I joined him for lunch at Panera!

She would much rather chill out laying on her stomach!

She is so over this lunch & ready to go home

Fist in Mouth = Check!

Laughs on the Changing Table

Whenever I get ready to change Lauren's diaper, I always place her on the changing table and let her "hang out" for a while. She LOVES it. She kicks her legs, shakes her arms, coos, & giggles. We decided to have a little tickling match this morning as I was dressing her for the day - she's so cute :)

Flipping Over ALL the time

So I turn the corner to grab something to drink & this is what I see.....crazy girl crazy girl

"What Mom??" Its like I should know that the stomach is the best while swinging....please note: the swing WAS swinging at the time. She's so funny. Also notice 2 fingers in the mouth :)

My funny child!

"We Be Shopping!" - My Dad's Quote

Lauren looking at me like I'm crazy as we are about to enjoy a full day of shopping - check out the new bows. I bought 14 different colored head bands on ebay for super duper cheap and they have spacers to clip on bows - talk about cute!

My funny child in her awesome Gymboree duds courtesy of grammy

Shopping can wear a girl out. She slept for 2 hours in her car seat when we got home. I didnt dare move her!