A Couple Little Getaways

Todd and I have had the chance for a couple of fun little getaways and date nights. Our date nights are for sure not traditional. We never go out at home. I just usually tag along and fly with him wherever he goes. 

Our first little stop was to Chicago. His employer had a big event where we had White Sox tickets and lunch at the stadium. It was fun to meet some of the people Todd sees at O'Hare and to meet some other families. A lot of them had their kids with them but they all live in Chicago. Because of Todd's commute to work, we opted not to take the kiddos with us. As much as he and I fly, Lauren has still only flown 2 times. It's just a lot of work taking the babies with us :)

 I CAN NOT STOP LAUGHING at this photo!!!!! This man has been with the airlines for sweet forever. I guess he was hot so what better way to cool off than to unbutton your shirt and act like it's normal? 

 I love love love Guiliana and Bill Rancic. Their show is so adorable and they seem so normal. We found their new restaurant as we were walking around the city. We didn't end up eating there as we were in baseball casual clothes and it looked super nice. Hopefully we can eat there next time.

 Next little stop was Ottawa Canada. I just got home from there yesterday afternoon. I've always loved Ottawa and Todd fortunately gets to overnight there sometimes. It was a perfect little 1 night escape for a great night in another country. I flew out on the early bird Chattanooga to Chicago flight on Saturday morning. Todd met me at my gate and then he flew the plane to Ottawa. We got to Ottawa around noon and had the whole day there. It was wonderful. There's an incredible trail that borders the canal in the city. We ran/walked for about an hour before going out with his First Officer and Flight Attendant. 

 Rib Fest and a big music festival was going on downtown on Saturday. We walked over to Rib Fest where a ton of stands were set up to buy all sorts of bbq. It was so good!! We found a little table at a cafe to eat at with the rest of his crew. It worked out so great that they were both super nice so we had a great afternoon together.

After we finished eating, we walked all throughout the market and then to a bakery. I don't think I've ever met a bakery that I don't like. 

 Their Parliament building was behind us. Ottawa is such a beautiful city with it being the capital.

 Todd had to fly the early flight Sunday morning back to Chicago so we were up at 4:30am. I was home sweet home to my babies within 28 hours of leaving. I was greeted by this sweet little girl who was excited about her Canada cookie. Connor just smiled and smiled at me when I came home. Im glad both babies missed their mama!

Im so so thankful I can go fun places with Todd. Date nights in random cities are so much fun!

I have A 6 Month Old, Hold Me

My little Connor turned 6 months old on June 2. What a bummer! I am one of those that misses being pregnant and can't stand the thought of my little baby getting bigger. He's so sweet and cuddly that I just want to bottle him up. His sissy loves him more than anything and is still so good with him. She's so proud to have the title Big Sister and really likes to take Connor's monthly pictures with him. 

Sibling shots are always an interesting picture to get. Lauren is the best little poser and Connor just gets confused :)

 Love Love Love. Pure sweetness from my 2 loves. I still can't believe they are mine.

 On to the solo shots. Lauren was behind me being silly. Connor adores her and lights up when she is around so it was pretty easy to get some good smiles for the Big Sissy.

 This is just so funny to me. Connor loves his toes. I was trying to get a good shot with his beautiful blanket from my Aunt Sha. All you see is his sweet little booty!

 Lauren loves to get in Connor's crib to cuddle with him. She's so sweet and gentle that she really loves to cuddle with her baby brother. Connor was even sporting her old pink crib sheets so she was happy! :)

Connor, at 6 months old you:

• weigh around 13.5 pounds, maybe 14
• Went to the beach for the first time. Get ready for traveling sweet boy. Having a daddy as a pilot means you'll be taking lots of trips. You went to Hilton Head Island and Charleston for a little over a week. 
• You have 2 teeth!!! They popped through while we were at the beach. You got your 2 little bottom teeth and they are so so cute.
• Champion sleeper. You wake up around 8am (thank you!), nap from 10ish-12ish, nap again 2-4ish, and go down for the night around 7:30pm
• Nurse in the morning, take a 6 ounce bottle before nap, jar of fruit before morning nap, nurse when you wake up, more bottle, and veggies for dinner
• You haven't met a food you don't like
• If you are fussy, nursing calms you down
• Places you've been so far: Atlanta, Disney cruise, Hilton Head, Charleston, Savannah, Texas, and many more to come

You are so awesome sweet boy. We love you more than you can ever imagine!

Silly Lauren Antics

When Colton got voted off of American Idol, Lauren said "oh he's so sad. Poor golly." (where did Poor golly come from).

Lauren comes prancing out in her pretty dress that we got her in Hawaii (she calls it her Hi-why-he dress), wearing a princess crown, jewelry, and high heels. I told her she looked very beautiful. She then said "Why thank you, Prince Eric." :)

Little L often tells on herself. She came to the bathroom the other day and said "Mommy, I was ugly to Daddy. That's just terrible." She is so sassy at least 10 times a day but at least she's honest about.

Me: "Lauren, would you like a tortilla with your lunch?"
Lauren: "No thanks. Thanks for asking though."
My manners chats are slowly working.

"Let's schedule daddy's flights, Mommy." - Our girl has for sure grown up around airplanes. She hears me ask Todd if I need to check him in for his commuting flights to and from work. She now knows that we need to schedule daddy to get to work every week.

Driving up the mountain we saw people burning brush. Lauren yelled "That's a BIIIIGGGG candle."

I work with Lauren on writing her name every single day. I am constantly telling her to focus on making sure she is writing her name in one line, etc. After writing her name, she yells "I focus, I focus, I focus" :)

Flip flops = slip slops

Lauren has imaginary friends almost every single today. Today (May 23, 2012), her friend is El (or Mel, not sure). They are best friends. This little girl is coming to our house to play and they met on the airplane. I love Lauren's big imagination at this age.

Lauren came downstairs tonight (June 3, 2012) after I tucked her in bed. She knows I really don't like this because it's so exhausting constantly go up and down the stairs to tuck her back in bed over and over again. I saw her come down the stairs this time. She paused on the bottom step, looked at me, walked to me slowly and said "I just want to "sita by you." My bed. Mom. My bed. It's just not "comfort-a-bull Mom. It's just not." Sneaky.

A Busy Busy May

May was a super busy month. Connor is eating like a champ these days. He tried oatmeal and then was ready to move on to some yummy veggies, sweet potatoes & squash. Lauren continues to be the best big sister on the planet and helps me feed her little brother. She always knows just what to do and how to be gentle. We're so proud of our little lady.

 The pink bumbo is back in business. Lauren is still so tiny and fits in it perfectly. She enjoys using it as a booster seat while we eat at the table. She's so silly & just starts laughing when she sits in it.

 We made little gifts for Lauren's teachers at school. The director and a helper teacher got a plate full of cookies and Target gift cards. Lauren loved helping me wrap up the cookies and cutting the ribbon for the bow. She even let me trace her handprint in the card. She is really going to miss everyone this summer and has really loved school this past year. 

 Her 2 main teachers in her classroom got monogrammed beach towels and Jason's Deli gift cards. I sure do love a good gift card so I was hoping her teachers would too. It always makes my day to get a free dinner. 

 Her sweet friend, John, turned 2 in May. They hire the same petting zoo we do for birthday parties. The couple that runs the petting zoo are so fantastic. They visit all the preschools in the area for fall festivals and then go to multiple birthday parties every weekend. 

 Lauren has always loved chickens. They make me cringe for some reason. When she is finished holding one, she always tries to pass it over to me. Girlfriend is crazy. Her momma won't be brave enough to hold one.

 They had baby bunnies on this visit. You should have seen all of the little girls at the party holding these bunnies. They cradled them so sweetly as if they were real live baby dolls. It was so sweet.

 Todd & Connor joined in on the party fun too. This was Connor's first birthday party and he did very well. He's such an easy going baby that we can take him anywhere and he's just happy as can be. Todd is Mr. Social and loves any excuse to get together with people so it's perfect. I sure do love my boys.

 Smiling for the bunnies. Sweet baby boy. Please don't ever grow up.

 The theme inside was Milk and Cookies. Diana is the perfect party planner. Everything was just perfect. The desserts were out of this world good. She had a chicken nugget platter, biscuits, desserts galore, and a cookie making station for the kids. It was all such a huge hit.

 Whoah this picture is out of order but check out my little sweet potato face? Cuteness overload.

Last day of MDO & Mother's Day

I am so behind on posting. My google account ran out of storage space for pictures I had to purchase more space so now I can get all caught up. 

First up: Lauren, aka my little model. She is so into "strike a pose mama" and can take pictures all day long. Im so thankful because she's pretty easy to take pictures of. I can tell her laugh, pose, smile, or anything and she normally does it. Her Aunt Lindsay got her this fun outfit for being in her wedding and it's a favorite around here. She dresses up 5-6 times a day and this one is usually in the rotation.

 Lauren had her last day of Mother's Day Out at church. They had the cutest little end of year program in the sanctuary. One thing I've learned with Lauren is that she will not perform for me but she lights up on a stage. She sang, front and center, and did all of the hand motions. I was so proud of her. I'm pretty sure I even got a little teary eyed.

 Todd flies so much that the poor guy was so tired one afternoon. He and Bellie Girl took a little siesta on the couch.

 Lauren's best little friend, Meredith, turned 4 in May. She had a fun princess party at the park. They had pizza, fruit, and cupcakes and it was the perfect party. Everyone ate and then played and played on a nice playground. 

 Mother's Day came and went. We went out to lunch at Boathouse (cute seafood restaurant on the river) and then had everyone over for cake and coffee. Lauren was playing dress up once again, this time as a fairy. 

 We got everyone picture frames with a new family picture of us, books, and then my mom a scarf. 

 This is the best story of the weekend. Check out the awesome cake :) Let me just tell you the story. I have a fantastic friend here who makes delicious cakes. I usually always order from her but forgot to this time. I knew she was busy so I placed an order with Robin's Creative Cakes here in town. Robin brings her cakes to the Chattanooga Market and they are beyond delicious. They are really some of the best cakes I've ever had. I placed the order by email with her. I never knew the price until one of the last emails we exchanged. She charges $48. I think that's crazy. I didn't want to back out after I told her Id order so I went with it. 

I go to pick it up and she forgot about my order. Mind you, I live 30 minutes from town AND I took Connor with me so I couldn't just hang out forever for her to make me a cake. She said she had a lemon cake already baked but it just needed to be iced. So she put it together in about 20 minutes.

I get home and look what it looked like. Sheesh lady. I called her and asked for a partial refund because I couldn't really even take it out of the box to display. She said that was totally fine.

To top off the story, she forgot to refund me. After a "nice" little email from me, she refunded the full amount.

I think I was just in shock. Im not sure I've met someone so terrible with business skills. She's a very forgetful lady and clearly needs a calendar to keep up with her orders. She should hire me to keep her organized :) Despite the look, it was so good. Her cakes are unbelievable. I just find it funny that I was forgotten about 2 times.