Destined To Be Friends

Their dads have been friends since 1980.  I’m sure these girls will grow to be sweet friends to each other.

So glad Miss. Emily could come over for a visit!

Wordless Wednesday-Play Doh Fun

 

Sip & See

A few of my fabulous friends threw me a fabulous party to celebrate Lauren’s birth. It was a chance for Lauren to see and be seen.

The party was at my friend Amber’s house, which is beautiful when not in party mode, but all the decorations and details just made things so special. A big thanks to Kerri, Lauren, Sarah and Amber for hosting. You ladies made Lauren and me feel so very loved!

Thanks to my mom for taking the time to snap some photos!

World Cup Ready

So I’m sure most of you know that the 2010 FIFA World Cup began this past Friday.  At the Chamness’ home this is a big deal—BIG DEAL.  Bryan has actually attended the past two World Cups.  2002 in Korea and 2006 in Germany. He really wanted to go to South Africa for these games, but we decided to have kids instead. I’m pretty sure he thinks we made the right choice. 

Well, the US played England on Saturday and I had talked about making the girls some USA soccer shirts to wear to show their support.  They are obviously also HUGE fans…or will be one day.  I have seen lots of things done recently using freezer paper as a stencil.  I knew I could probably do this.  Maybe.  Perhaps.  Maybe. 

I of course put off buying the supplies and getting this done until the night before they were needed.  I obviously work best under pressure.

So here are a few pictures of how this went down.

I used freezer paper, an exacto knife, a thin line sharpie, acrylic paint, a foam brush, an iron and cheap white shirt and onesie. Print off the design you want.  Trace it on the freezer paper.  Use the exacto knife to cut out the areas you want to paint.Iron the freezer paper stencil (shiny side down) onto your   t-shirt and use foam brush to dab on paint. Wait 20 minutes or so and remove freezer paper.  Let dry completely. Squeeze your sweet 3 month old into the onesie and begin indoctrinating explaining to her about the greatness of soccer. World Cup Ready!

here is a link to the tutorial I used.

Three Months of Lauren

The last few weeks have brought lots of fun changes!  Lauren has begun to grab and hold onto things.  She enjoys laying on her play mat and grabbing the animals that hang from it.  She has also begun to be quite the little talker.  We love to listen as she coos and hums.  We are sure she is saying lots of very important things.She weighs about 15 pounds and is currently still wearing 3-6 month clothes--barely.  Our schedule is a little cattie wompus right now as she has been teething and suffering with a little summer cold. I had thought she would be sleeping through the night consistently by now, but she seems to be regressing.  She still nurses twice at night and seems to be a very early riser (like her Grammy). We are still swaddling her, but there are times when we go to get her up in the mornings that she has busted free!Lauren is a sweetie!  She is pretty content while she is awake to sit in your lap, her bouncy seat or lay on her play mat.  She is very social and will throw you some great grins!

 

We can’t wait to see what the next few weeks will bring!

Milestone-First Tooth (teeth) Week 14

Those two bottom toofies finally broke through this past Saturday (06-12-2010).  For the record the bottom right came through first followed very quickly (the next day) by the bottom left. Lauren is still drooling like a fool, but we hope she is feeling some relief!

Bring on the beef jerky!

Milestone-First Haircut

So Bryan and I have gone back and forth about Lauren’s hair.  You see she doesn’t exactly have a comb over…it’s more like a comb forward.  At birth she had tons of dark hair.  It  just seemed to start about four inches above where her hairline should be.  There has been a lot of new growth toward the front, but it is lighter and obviously very short.

Anywhoo, we’ve debated trimming the crazy stringy stuff down to make things look a little more sedate…and normal. So we did it.  And I like it. So the girl got her first haircut with Bryan’s clippers on a 4.  I of course put some in a little baggie to save.  See for yourself…

We think she is cute either way, but have decided we prefer the more even cut as opposed to the Bill Murray do. The cut has also gotten rid of the darker hair and shown that Lauren just might be a blonde like her sister.

ATTENTION: We have seen teeth nubs.

I’m not even kidding.  Lauren has two visible white toofies on the bottom.  Neither has broken through the gum, but it won’t be long! She has been a drooling fool lately and has started chewing on her hands a little.  My mom said she thought she might be teething, but I thought for sure it was too early.  She just turned three months people! Apparently it isn’t.  I got my first tooth at three months.  I suppose what goes around comes around. 

The parts of me that contribute to the nursing process can hardly wait.  Yippee…

Will keep you posted.

The Cutest Ever!

Family that is.  All Mine!

2 Years of Hayden

Oh My Soul!  Can you believe it has been two years since Hayden was born?  The collective “they” are correct when they say time passes more quickly once you have kids.  Time is flying!  Tap the brakes please.

We visited Dr. S. this past Monday and he just confirmed what we already knew…Hayden is fabulous.  She had a wonderful 2 year well check.  We had talked about seeing the doctor the day before.  She could tell us all the things he was going to do…look in her eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc. I was prepared for melt down Hayden to show up, but she was very calm during the whole thing.  I was so proud of her!

Hayden has headed up the growth charts…finally!  Weight-25 lbs. (27th %), height-33 inches (50th %), and head circumference-(55th %). Glad that we aren’t lying to her about all the vitamins, fruits and veggies she eats—they do make her big and strong.

A few highlights:

Talking.  It never stops.  We call her our little narrator.  If you aren’t sure what’s going on around you just wait 5 seconds and Hayden will tell you… “Lauren is crying, Mommy go get Lauren.” “Daddy is eating _____, me eating _____too!” “I’m _____(insert verb: walking, bouncing, spinning, etc.)!”

She is also very into “me too!”  Anything we say to or about Lauren needs also be said to or about H.  If Lauren has the hiccups or sneezes so does H. If we say “bless you” to Lauren, Hayden says, “me too!” We’ve just gotten to the point where we automatically say, “and you too Hayden.”  Saves a few steps.

Sleeping.  Hayden is still a knock out night sleeper usually going from 7/7:30 pm to 7/7:30 am.  Her nap on the other hand has been abysmal since about 17 months old.  The doctor assures us that she is too young not to nap during the day, but she seems not to care what he thinks. I’m not giving up on it yet.  We are currently trouble shooting.  Will report more on this later.

Eating.  Hayden is a great eater.  She loves quesadillas, milk, cake and cheese.  She eats peas, green beans, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes and pretty much all fruit. Hayden and Bryan still enjoy the breakfast of champions together each morning…oatmeal with blueberries, banana and milk. They are such creatures of habit. (I usually enjoy a Pepsi.)

Playing. Hayden still likes to be wherever you are during the day so she will drag some toys around, but often plays with whatever is handy.  She continues to need/love her Curious George doll and her rainbow blankie. Lately she is very into puzzles, books and her Little People toys.

Learning.  I still haven’t started much structured learning time, but we are enjoying lots of learning through play.  She likes to sing about the days of the week, the ABCs, and the numbers.  Her vocabulary continues to amaze us as she points things out and either names them or asks what they are.  She loves to read books and I hope that sticks!

Sister. Hayden is a wonderful big sister.  She loves to kiss Lauren and show her things and tell her about her toys.  She likes to bring Lauren things and put them in Lauren’s chair or swing—we call this sharing.  Hayden is relatively patient with me if Lauren needs attention as long as she can be where we are.  Bryan and I look forward to seeing them grow into friends.

Hayden’s Favorites: color-purple, person-Daddy, song-Jesus Loves Me, number-2, food-cake, fast food-Chick-Fil-A, TV show-Blue’s Clues.

Year two was filled with many challenges, but even more growth and fun.  We Love You Hayden!Lord, thank you for Hayden. We love her so much.  Please help us parent with wisdom and patience during this upcoming year. Please help our big girl continue developing a strong, healthy body, a sweet, sweet spirit and a heart for You and others. Amen

(please leave all potty training suggestions in the comments section below :)