Lauren Needs a Diaper Change

Lauren obviously needed her diaper changed. Like any good mom, I took video first and then changed her.

Loving School

That's the verdict. Little Lauren is adjusting to her "school" that she goes to on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She still clings to me for dear life when I drop her off. I always stand by her door and listen for her to stop crying and it usually lasts maybe 2 minutes. She does all kinds of fun things like play on the playground, listen to bible stories, color, play in an indoor gym, eat snack, read books, etc. I would have fun too if I went there.

(I took these pictures after school today. We are not morning people and have to leave the house at 8:50am to get there on time. I woke Lauren up at 8:40am so we had a whole 10 minutes to get out the door).

(She finally somewhat smiled in the picture above. I was trying to get her to wear her backpack but she'd rather carry it like that).

(Showing me her backpack. It's as big as she is. The backpack is actually pretty small and a toddler size. I think she's so sweet carrying it around like a big girl).

("Heavy Mommy" It's actually not at all but Lauren pretends that it is).

(Close up of the cuteness. Her cousin, Olivia, has a matching one in different colors. Now if they were only at the same school....)

Giveaway

My sweet friend Shelby is hosting a giveaway to give away a lightscoop. I don't have a fancy camera yet but hope to get one soon so this gift will come in super handy. Check out the before and after pictures on Shelby's blog.

PS: Shelby is my blog friend turned real life friend even though we haven't met in person. Crazy small world as her husband's family lives near all of my family in South Carolina. She lived in Milledgeville, GA where I went to college for 2 years, and she is now good friends with a girl I went to high school with (in San Antonio) in Austin, Tx. Whoah crazy! I could talk to her forever and hope to meet soon!

Consignment Sale Finds and New Table

(Little Nicholas lounging poolside. This was from our swim date the other day and I forgot to post this picture)

(Consignment Sale goodies: Barnyard animals boutique outfit ($20) for her birthday party because we rented a petting zoo and pony to come to the house, Gymboree sweater with matching jeans ($8), and brand new pjs ($5)

(New Little Tikes picnic table that I found on Amazon. I thought this would be perfect for Lauren's birthday party so the kids have somewhere to sit. It now resides on the deck because I found another table with 4 chairs at Sams today for inside)

(Little L loves her new table and sits at it every single day now. It looks like we'll be having lots of coloring dates on the deck or inside at the other table)

(I told her to say cheese and smile at the camera and this is what she does. She looks right at Ariel on her coloring book - figures)

(Giving the "stink eye". LOVE IT, not really but it's funny. Yes, that's a bottle you see. My little one is almost 22 months and still refuses to drink milk from a sippy cup. She will drink anything else under the sun from a cup but not milk. It's a battle that I'm not fighting considering she still doesn't eat much. It's not worth it).

What's For Dinner?

Salad! How did ya know? It's amazing to me that my 21 month old likes salad, very very strange. Then again, maybe she has weird eating habits like her mom? It's almost 11pm and I just ate dinner which consisted of 1 avocado (mashed up), salsa poured on top, and pita chips. When Todd is away, I don't cook a ton as it's just me and we all know that Lauren will barely eat anything. Strange girls I guess :)

(She gave up on the fork. It's much easier to grab a bunch of lettuce and just shove it on in)

(No fork necessary)

So as I've discovered that my little one will eat salad, I have found out that she's very picky about her salad. Go figure, right? Earthfare had a coupon for a free box of organic greens. They were "earthy" and a little different so of course Lauren wouldn't touch it. I love that kind of salad but whatever little L. The next day I bought a Caesar Salad mix and she loved it! I should have know because look HERE. This was in Hilton Head where she had Caesar Salad pool side.

(Example of salad Lauren will not eat. Maybe the purple threw her off? I guess that's normal for a picky eater. I can't help but laugh)

Am I the only one with a kiddo that loves to eat salad? 

Playdate with Mr. Nicholas

Look who Lauren and I got to spend the afternoon with! Baby Nicholas! He was the sweetest little pool companion and snoozed away in the shade, only waking for a poolside bottle. The weather was perfect and overcast so it didn't feel hot at all like it has been previously.

(Rough life or what? We need to do this more often before the weather cools down)

(Look who is happy to finally be in the pool. When we got there, she started screaming Ariel and I totally didn't get why. I put 2 and 2 together and realized it's because Ariel swims. Gee mah, get with it. Lauren is a smartie)

(My little real life Ariel. She kept me on my toes for sure. She has no fear and will jump off the side even if I'm not there. I don't mind her jumping holding my hands but little one needs to learn to jump out and not straight down. That little noggin of hers is going to get bumped up if she doesn't learn)

(We did this about 80 billion times. She would climb out, run/walk over to the stairs, climb back in, climb out, run to the side, and jump in. I got the best workout)

(Lauren didn't really notice Nicholas at first. She probably thought he was a baby doll or something. He started to cry a little and then she became interested. The above picture is of her blowing him a kiss. They just smiled at each other. It was very sweet)

(I told Lauren she could only touch Nicholas on the belly or the toes. I have a fear of her poking someone's eye out, ha! She was very sweet and gentle and would say "tickle tickle" as she touched his toes. When he would cry a little, I would rub his belly and she would mimic me and rub hers and then his. She'll be a great big sissy one day...noooooo not anytime soon. Don't ya'll start thinking those thoughts. At least another year, sorry to disappoint, ha)

After leaving their house, we went to Target for a diaper run. She was AWFUL and would not sit in the buggy. I let her get down and she helped me push the cart. That worked well for about 2 minutes and then she literally took off, as in ran so fast, down like 5 aisles. I had a quick fear of losing my little one at a store. I abandoned my buggy, with my purse in it, and took off for her. Of course this is at 5pm on a Friday when Target is packed. After I caught her, she had to sit in timeout at Target. Oh yes she did. She's gotten great at time outs at home finally so we are even doing it in public. It's amazing how quick it works. Hopefully the other Target shoppers didn't think I was crazy but she has to learn that she can't do that in public. I knew that if I punished her at home, she wouldn't realize what it's for. I'm sooooo glad time outs work now!!!

Daddy Got to Come to Pump It Up

Guess who got to come to Pump it Up with Lauren and I??? Her Daddy did and she loved having him with her. The above picture is of my 2 favorite people climbing up the climbing wall. Believe it or not, little tiny Lauren can scale that thing! We have to give her little boosts here and there but I'm amazed at her upper body strength. She sure doesn't get it from me!

(Seriously, look at her go. She does 100% have my calves though. You don't want to see mine. I got them from my dad and they are man calves. I hate them, with a passion. You can see her little muscle bulging out. I'm sorry sweet pea)

(We made it to the top. It's seriously a work out. I was smart and wore work out clothes on this visit)

Videos: My wild child once again went up the big slide by herself about 100 times. She met a sweet little boy there, Nick, and they did everything together. Nick's mom was there and he has a baby sister. It was very sweet because his mom told me that he protects little girls like he does his little sister. He must think all little girls are his baby sisters. Lauren loved having the attention!

Look what came in the mail today

This would be Lauren's new Abby Cadabby pillow. I love it! I was looking for a toddler pillow for her and hit the jackpot on etsy. She has one other little pillow with girly airplanes on it but I needed a second one for when it's in the wash. I think it's so cute and little L loves Abby!

I asked her what her pillow was for and she kindly showed me :)

School Report

So we all survived Lauren's first day of "school." It's like a Mother's Day Out program at a church here. They call it L.I.F.T. It stands for something educational but I forgot! These pictures were taken when we got home. Little L would not cooperate this morning for pictures. Her class starts at 9:30 and we have to leave by 8:50 to make it on time. She usually doesn't wake up until 8:30 so we were rushed and she was not happy that we had to wake her up. I would normally have dressed her in a cute little dress or something to that nature but I was warned that they do art projects, play outside, and can get messy so I opted for a play outfit instead. She was mighty cute in her watermelon duds!

(Home from school and so happy to pose with her hip out. She looks so old in this picture).

(Being so silly for the camera).

(Taking a break from drawing on her new Elmo sketch pad. We took her to Target after school to get some goodies for being a good girl).

(Practicing so she'll get an A plus in art class).

(So so sweet in her play outfit).

(It's very clear that she missed her daddy. I think it's safe to say that her daddy missed her as he almost bawled dropping her off).

The verdict: She did okay. Her program is on Tuesdays/Thursdays from 9:30-2. We are only doing a half day from 9:30-12 to start with. When we got there, her sweet friend, Lauren, was there so I said to Lauren "look who's here" She ran over to play so I thought we were golden. After we walked out, Todd & I stood by the door and immediately heard her screaming. We went to eat breakfast at Cracker Barrel and the whole time I was just waiting for the church to call for us to come pick her up. They never did and at 11am the director called. I just knew it. I knew my child was still melting down. She actually called to say that Lauren was great and she was back in her room playing. One of the teachers took her around the church and got her calmed down. We're VERY lucky that we found such a great program. They truly care about our peanut.

Some people have asked me why we are even putting her in a program at all. Multiple Reasons: we live in no mans land and Lauren doesn't have neighbor friends to play with, we have to drive 30 minutes at the minimum to get places so we don't have play dates often because I frankly hate driving that far because of her sleep schedule, and Todd is gone all the time so she is at my feet all day long. I love it, don't get me wrong, but my sweet girl needs to play and learn to be around other people. It's only 2.5 hours so it's not all day. It's a perfect balance.

On a random note: Please keep my mom's neighbor in your thoughts and prayers. She is dying of cancer as I type this and hospice is at her house. Her name is Kelly and she is only in her early 40s (I think) and she has a beautiful teenage daughter, Stephanie. Kelly's story is unique. I'll make it short and sweet if you're interested in reading....

My parent's other neighbors a few years ago, Barton and Jennifer Corbin. Let's back up about them. Bart killed Jennifer. Yes, he did. He shot her in their own home and set it up like a suicide. He also killed his girlfriend, Dolly Hearn, in dental school about 10 years prior. Exact same thing. He made it look like a suicide. Back then, he was never charged for her murder and it was ruled that Dolly killed herself. After he killed his wife, 2 and 2 was put together and he was charged with both murders. He left behind his 2 precious boys, Dalton and Dillon. What does this have to do with Kelly? They were best friends. They lived across the street from each other, neighbors of my parents in their quaint little neighborhood. If you recognize this story, it's because its now a Lifetime movie and Ann Rule wrote a book about it.

Kelly was married to Steve. WAS married is the key word. The 2 couples did everything together. After Bart killed his wife, Steve and Kelly were distraught. Can you imagine finding out that your best friend killed his wife and having no clue that your best friend is mentally crazy? They had to endure countless interviews by police, a trial, seeing their best friend go to jail, testify against him, but most of all lose a beloved best friend, Jennifer.

Steve killed himself. Yes, Kelly's husband took his own life. He was so depressed and upset about finding out that his wife has cancer and that his best friend killed his wife. He was obviously so far depressed that he didn't think about his sweet daughter, Stephanie, that will now life her life without both her parents.

So Kelly is dying. The same Kelly that found her best friend murdered across the street. The same Kelly who found her husband dead from a self inflicted gun shot wound in the garage. The same Kelly that has lived across the street from my parents and who mowed her own grass, cut hair in her garage, and was so active. 

Please remember her and think of all she's been through. Such a sad time.

Note: Links are in red. Feel free to go read about the case of Bart and Jennifer and about the lifetime movie. I watched it but couldn't watch the whole thing.

Elmo for Dinner and Going to School

Lauren often talks about Elmo like she could care less about her mommy and daddy. Elmo is her true love and talks about him from morning until night. I sat her in her booster seat for snack time the other day (yes, in Halloween Pjs) and she wanted Elmo to eat with her. However, she was a little disgruntled that Elmo wouldn't stop laughing. That's a laughing Elmo and the way he was sitting, his laughing sensor was going off non-stop. I couldn't help but laugh as Lauren was telling him "No more, all done, mommmyyyy"

"Would you please let me eat in peace Elmo!!!!"

(Little L letting me know she went "pee pee." She is telling me these kind of things now. Do I start potty training? I don't know how to do that and I'm in no hurry. Yes, changing diapers gets old fast but I won't ever have 2 in diapers so it's cool. I can handle 1 but if she lays down for me, what do I do? I guess I should buy a kid friendly po-tay!"

(Checking out her new school. Yes, we are giving school another try. I was traumatized at the last place because she cried for 5 straight months when I'd drop her off and cry almost the entire 5 hours, with little breaks here and there. I jumped ship and left that church school and found another. The cutie in the purple shirt is Lauren's buddy and twin, Lauren. They look so much alike. Hopefully she'll do better since they're in the same class. I just realized Lauren's head is cut off. You get the idea).

***Note how Lauren is actually playing with the toys. Don't be fooled, she clinged onto me for dear life for a good 15 minutes when we got there. It was just orientation so I wasn't leaving. I wonder how tomorrow will go.....I'm dreading it***

(If all else fails, I could send her to school with a water bottle. She loves water and is crazy about the bottles. Her sweet little black eye is finally starting to go away. Who knew that falling on the stairs, barely at that, would leave such a mark)

Pouty Faces and Games

Here are a couple of photos and videos that we took when Todd was home last. Can you guess what we had for dinner for the upteenth time?

(It's a good thing that I can always count on corn for Lauren to eat. However, she is VERY particular about those little handles on the end. She won't touch the corn if she doesn't have those to hold on to. Sheesh she can be a tad high maintenance).

(Our dinner = divine. Swiss Stuffing Chicken, rice, and corn. It looks like a ton of food but I actually cut the chick breasts in half and it's so filling because of the stuffing mix that's on top).

Want to see something funny? The pictures below show how pouty my girl can get if she doesn't get something she wants. Picture #1: She wants the hanger on the couch. We have to hide them because our dog, Belle, will devour them in 5 seconds so we just avoid it all together. I had tons of hangers downstairs to get ready for the consignment sales in the area.

(Caught...)

(BA HA HA the pouty face. I shouldn't laugh but she is so dramatic that it's hilarious).

Videos: They are of "games" that Lauren and I play. She's hilarious and we play like this almost every single night. I'm gonna cry when she's too cool for her momma. To explain the last one, she screams "weeeee" when we run through the house when she's in the laundry basket. She loves it so that's where the weeee comes from.