A year ago today we found out Lauren was on her way. Seems so long ago and yet like it was just yesterday. My, what changes a year can bring.
I just might have to go get another pregnancy test for ol' times sake!
Sorry there hasn't been a post in awhile. Our Internet is down at the house and hopefully it will be up and running sooner than later!
At first glance...
this looks to be an average video of Lauren "talking". But if you watch Josh you can see how funny he is at heart. Watch him after he pushes his chair back for the second time. He's so silly when he wobbles his head! And you can all see how Lauren watches her brother's every move.
Constant motion
It's Monday evening and I'm still worn out from the weekend.
Saturday morning started off like usual. I went for a nice long walk, went and got coffee, made breakfast and fed Lauren and about 10 minutes before the timer went off signaling breakfast was ready I heard Dustin ask if he could help. Man, he's got great timing.
After breakfast I screamed at Josh to stop teasing the dog with his toy. He didn't listen; Mattie retaliated with a scratch to his eyelid.
The fact that she hasn't mauled that child is far beyond me. The other night we were reading a book together and I told him to stop shaking the bed. I moved the book and realized he was kicking her head over and over and she was just laying there. So as black and blue as his eye is right now, he deserves much worse.
After breakfast we all get showered and ready for Josh's debut at football. Imagine the 2006 Preschool Christmas program...except outdoors.
He started out fine. They got all the boys in a big huddle and passed out a sheet listing important dates for parents. As he walked towards me with the piece of paper I could tell it was going to go down hill fast.
I made him sit with Dustin on the sidelines since he wasn't going to join in the activity. And we WILL be returning every practice until it's over. Dustin gave up watching the Iowa vs. Iowa State game in order to watch his son play. And as it turns out...he didn't really miss much.
Saturday night was church. All I can say is that Josh picked out the pew and we were three rows from the front. The next closest congregant was four rows back and Lauren kept "talking" through church which meant that Josh couldn't stop laughing. Yes, we put on quite a show.
Sunday morning was Chase's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The party was absolute mayhem. Chase, Harrison and Josh all go to the same daycare and preschool. I take the three boys to school every Tuesday and Thursday. I only have them for about 20 minutes but every time I drop them off I thank God there are people like Jaime who have the patience and self-control to watch them.
Lauren's thinking..."GET...ME...OUT OF HERE!!!!"
Jaime is in the denim jacket. She is our angel of a daycare provider. Then from left to right in the back is Josh, Harrison and the birthday boy, Chase.
As if we hadn't had enough punishment for the weekend we all went to the mall for a few hours, came home and started to clean.
I'm telling you, it's weekends like these that make me glad to go back to work on Monday.
Tonight Lauren and I were playing and I FINALLY caught her giggle on video.
Enjoy!
Saturday morning started off like usual. I went for a nice long walk, went and got coffee, made breakfast and fed Lauren and about 10 minutes before the timer went off signaling breakfast was ready I heard Dustin ask if he could help. Man, he's got great timing.
After breakfast I screamed at Josh to stop teasing the dog with his toy. He didn't listen; Mattie retaliated with a scratch to his eyelid.
The fact that she hasn't mauled that child is far beyond me. The other night we were reading a book together and I told him to stop shaking the bed. I moved the book and realized he was kicking her head over and over and she was just laying there. So as black and blue as his eye is right now, he deserves much worse.
After breakfast we all get showered and ready for Josh's debut at football. Imagine the 2006 Preschool Christmas program...except outdoors.
He started out fine. They got all the boys in a big huddle and passed out a sheet listing important dates for parents. As he walked towards me with the piece of paper I could tell it was going to go down hill fast.
I made him sit with Dustin on the sidelines since he wasn't going to join in the activity. And we WILL be returning every practice until it's over. Dustin gave up watching the Iowa vs. Iowa State game in order to watch his son play. And as it turns out...he didn't really miss much.
Saturday night was church. All I can say is that Josh picked out the pew and we were three rows from the front. The next closest congregant was four rows back and Lauren kept "talking" through church which meant that Josh couldn't stop laughing. Yes, we put on quite a show.
Sunday morning was Chase's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The party was absolute mayhem. Chase, Harrison and Josh all go to the same daycare and preschool. I take the three boys to school every Tuesday and Thursday. I only have them for about 20 minutes but every time I drop them off I thank God there are people like Jaime who have the patience and self-control to watch them.
Lauren's thinking..."GET...ME...OUT OF HERE!!!!"
Jaime is in the denim jacket. She is our angel of a daycare provider. Then from left to right in the back is Josh, Harrison and the birthday boy, Chase.
As if we hadn't had enough punishment for the weekend we all went to the mall for a few hours, came home and started to clean.
I'm telling you, it's weekends like these that make me glad to go back to work on Monday.
Tonight Lauren and I were playing and I FINALLY caught her giggle on video.
Enjoy!
Can I get a 'Go Hawks'?
I think since the doctor said, "It's a boy!" Dustin's been planning and dreaming of the day he could go to an Iowa Hawkeye football game at Kinnick stadium with his son. Well, it happened on Saturday.
Dustin was thrilled. Josh was excited. And I was a little nervous. Well, maybe more than a little nervous. I've been to Iowa games before and saying that Hawkeye fans are a little fanatic is putting it lightly. Not to mention that it was a night game and most of the attendees had been tailgating since six in the morning.
First, I sat down with Josh and explained to him that he could not leave Daddy's side...EVER. I gave him a piece of paper with his name, address and our phone numbers on it and told him that if he DID get lost, that he should give the paper to a policeman. Then I lovingly told my husband that if he lost our son he didn't need to bother coming home.
Finally, I gave my boys a kiss and a hug and sent them on their way.
Once they got down to Coralridge they parked at the mall and rode the train to the stadium. That got HUGE points with Josh. He loved the double-decker train car!!
Once they found their seat he just sat and soaked it all in.
I went to church with Lauren and then went out to dinner with Larry and Toni. As soon as I left from dinner I gave the boys a call and this was the dialogue:
Josh: Mom, this game needs to be over.
Me: Why, what's wrong?
Josh: Mom?
Me: Josh?
Josh: Mom, is the game over?
Dustin: Beth, tell him the train isn't running right now. He wants to ride on the train again.
Me: Josh, the train is closed.
Josh: What?
Me: The train is closed.
Josh: What?
Me: The train is closed.
Josh: Mom, I can't understand a word you're sayin'.
Me: The train is closed, Josh.
Josh: What about the train?
Me: It's closed.
Josh: (To Dustin) Oh great, Dad. The train is closed.
By this time I was crying I was laughing so hard. So Dustin got back on the phone and we decided I should turn around and come and get him.
I told Lauren we were going to go to Iowa City to pick up her brother and this was her reaction.
Just kidding, but isn't that photo funny?
Anyway, I tracked the boys down and successfully avoided running over any drunken college students in the process. Dustin got to enjoy the rest of the game and I got to listen to Lauren scream bloody murder and Josh tell me how tired he was the whole way home.
I am a good mother. And Dustin should build a temple in my honor.
Dustin was thrilled. Josh was excited. And I was a little nervous. Well, maybe more than a little nervous. I've been to Iowa games before and saying that Hawkeye fans are a little fanatic is putting it lightly. Not to mention that it was a night game and most of the attendees had been tailgating since six in the morning.
First, I sat down with Josh and explained to him that he could not leave Daddy's side...EVER. I gave him a piece of paper with his name, address and our phone numbers on it and told him that if he DID get lost, that he should give the paper to a policeman. Then I lovingly told my husband that if he lost our son he didn't need to bother coming home.
Finally, I gave my boys a kiss and a hug and sent them on their way.
Once they got down to Coralridge they parked at the mall and rode the train to the stadium. That got HUGE points with Josh. He loved the double-decker train car!!
Once they found their seat he just sat and soaked it all in.
I went to church with Lauren and then went out to dinner with Larry and Toni. As soon as I left from dinner I gave the boys a call and this was the dialogue:
Josh: Mom, this game needs to be over.
Me: Why, what's wrong?
Josh: Mom?
Me: Josh?
Josh: Mom, is the game over?
Dustin: Beth, tell him the train isn't running right now. He wants to ride on the train again.
Me: Josh, the train is closed.
Josh: What?
Me: The train is closed.
Josh: What?
Me: The train is closed.
Josh: Mom, I can't understand a word you're sayin'.
Me: The train is closed, Josh.
Josh: What about the train?
Me: It's closed.
Josh: (To Dustin) Oh great, Dad. The train is closed.
By this time I was crying I was laughing so hard. So Dustin got back on the phone and we decided I should turn around and come and get him.
I told Lauren we were going to go to Iowa City to pick up her brother and this was her reaction.
Just kidding, but isn't that photo funny?
Anyway, I tracked the boys down and successfully avoided running over any drunken college students in the process. Dustin got to enjoy the rest of the game and I got to listen to Lauren scream bloody murder and Josh tell me how tired he was the whole way home.
I am a good mother. And Dustin should build a temple in my honor.
Annual events
A small update regarding our A/C...which I know everyone was concerned about. It's fixed and it didn't need to be replaced. Thank God!
Josh had his first dentist appointment. Besides telling the dentist that he eats diapers (Isn't he hysterical?) it was a pretty simple visit. They just looked at his teeth, counted them and made notes for his first cleaning. He did very well and wasn't really scared once we got there. He goes to a pediatric dentist that came highly recommended, Dr. Livengood. He actually explained things to me that I never knew and I've been seeing dentists for 25+ years!
Here he is just before they took us back.
Josh also started school this last week. Ahhhh....his last year of preschool. After looking at our First Day pictures, I've realized we're making an annual event of spilling Blue Juice on our clothes. Last year it was his shirt and this year it is his pants.
He has changed so much since last year. He wasn't afraid at all and pretty much acted like this was "old hat" to him. His buddies from daycare, Chase and Harrison, are both in his class. We have it arranged that I pick the boys up for school and get them settled and Dustin and our daycare provider pick them up when it's time to go home.
As shocking as it is that this is his second year of school, I really can't believe that next year he'll be in Kindergarten. Whoa!
This weekend was the Marion Swamp Fox Festival and of course every Festival has a parade. So Saturday morning we got everyone bathed and clothed and Grandma and Grandpa joined us in our quest for candy!
Lauren was pretty much unaware of what was all happening around her. This was her position for about 90% of the parade:
This was her position the other 10%:
Doesn't that face just kill you? I laughed so hard.
The sun was extremely hot and there didn't seem to be much of a breeze but that certainly didn't keep us from having fun. Nothing is funnier than watching Josh scramble around like a little squirrel looking for nuts and Dustin, Larry, Toni and I screaming, "Josh there's a piece over there. No, Josh, the other way. Get it! Get it!"
Now we have a nice big bag of candy to add to the other bag of candy we got at the Lowden parade last month. I figure, we do a couple more parades this year and I won't have to buy any for Halloween!
Josh had his first dentist appointment. Besides telling the dentist that he eats diapers (Isn't he hysterical?) it was a pretty simple visit. They just looked at his teeth, counted them and made notes for his first cleaning. He did very well and wasn't really scared once we got there. He goes to a pediatric dentist that came highly recommended, Dr. Livengood. He actually explained things to me that I never knew and I've been seeing dentists for 25+ years!
Here he is just before they took us back.
Josh also started school this last week. Ahhhh....his last year of preschool. After looking at our First Day pictures, I've realized we're making an annual event of spilling Blue Juice on our clothes. Last year it was his shirt and this year it is his pants.
He has changed so much since last year. He wasn't afraid at all and pretty much acted like this was "old hat" to him. His buddies from daycare, Chase and Harrison, are both in his class. We have it arranged that I pick the boys up for school and get them settled and Dustin and our daycare provider pick them up when it's time to go home.
As shocking as it is that this is his second year of school, I really can't believe that next year he'll be in Kindergarten. Whoa!
This weekend was the Marion Swamp Fox Festival and of course every Festival has a parade. So Saturday morning we got everyone bathed and clothed and Grandma and Grandpa joined us in our quest for candy!
Lauren was pretty much unaware of what was all happening around her. This was her position for about 90% of the parade:
This was her position the other 10%:
Doesn't that face just kill you? I laughed so hard.
The sun was extremely hot and there didn't seem to be much of a breeze but that certainly didn't keep us from having fun. Nothing is funnier than watching Josh scramble around like a little squirrel looking for nuts and Dustin, Larry, Toni and I screaming, "Josh there's a piece over there. No, Josh, the other way. Get it! Get it!"
Now we have a nice big bag of candy to add to the other bag of candy we got at the Lowden parade last month. I figure, we do a couple more parades this year and I won't have to buy any for Halloween!
Give me A/C or give me death!
Well, the title should give you a hint as to what happened this weekend.
I thought it was a little warm in the house yesterday morning and went to find the thermometer reading 76 degrees. After a short investigation, we surmised that our air conditioner had taken a dump...and we were sitting underneath its steaming, hot pile.
Anyone who knows me knows that I do not do heat. More importantly, I do not do heat with humidity and no breeze. Unfortunately, that last sentance pretty much describes yesterday's weather. However, one of the funniest parts about yesterday was realizing that after almost six years of marriage, my husband no longer does heat either.
While the sweating and irratiblity was getting to all of us, neither Dustin nor I could bring ourselves to call a HVAC repairman on a holiday weekend. Instead we invested the "would be" off-hours service call fee on a window air conditioner. So last night at ten o'clock, Dustin ran to Wal-mart to buy us all some nice cold air. I don't want to give you any horrible images, but all I can say is that installing this thing was a site.
Dustin had his shirt off, Lauren was screaming, Mattie was panting and I stood their sweating in disbelief of the day's occurrence. We installed the thing in our bathroom window and have been holed up in our master bedroom ever since.
It was actually not a bad way to spend a Labor day. We watched movies and laughed most of the day. Josh claimed his spot early.
And Dustin and Lauren had a good laugh over Lauren barely missing my wide-open mouth with a stream of puke.
In Lauren news...she has started to laugh. I had heard her laugh in her sleep about two weeks ago and a few days later she belted out a big chuckle. She has the sweetest little laugh and we are constantly looking for new ways to make her giggle. She has also recently found her hands. She chooses to use them as a chew toy for now and every once in awhile lets out a good scream because she's chomped down too hard.
As cute as it is now, any parent knows what all this chewing and drooling means...teething is just around the corner. AAHHHHH!!
She's still getting stronger by the day.
But no matter how cute she is....my favorite time is still when she's sleeping.
I thought it was a little warm in the house yesterday morning and went to find the thermometer reading 76 degrees. After a short investigation, we surmised that our air conditioner had taken a dump...and we were sitting underneath its steaming, hot pile.
Anyone who knows me knows that I do not do heat. More importantly, I do not do heat with humidity and no breeze. Unfortunately, that last sentance pretty much describes yesterday's weather. However, one of the funniest parts about yesterday was realizing that after almost six years of marriage, my husband no longer does heat either.
While the sweating and irratiblity was getting to all of us, neither Dustin nor I could bring ourselves to call a HVAC repairman on a holiday weekend. Instead we invested the "would be" off-hours service call fee on a window air conditioner. So last night at ten o'clock, Dustin ran to Wal-mart to buy us all some nice cold air. I don't want to give you any horrible images, but all I can say is that installing this thing was a site.
Dustin had his shirt off, Lauren was screaming, Mattie was panting and I stood their sweating in disbelief of the day's occurrence. We installed the thing in our bathroom window and have been holed up in our master bedroom ever since.
It was actually not a bad way to spend a Labor day. We watched movies and laughed most of the day. Josh claimed his spot early.
And Dustin and Lauren had a good laugh over Lauren barely missing my wide-open mouth with a stream of puke.
In Lauren news...she has started to laugh. I had heard her laugh in her sleep about two weeks ago and a few days later she belted out a big chuckle. She has the sweetest little laugh and we are constantly looking for new ways to make her giggle. She has also recently found her hands. She chooses to use them as a chew toy for now and every once in awhile lets out a good scream because she's chomped down too hard.
As cute as it is now, any parent knows what all this chewing and drooling means...teething is just around the corner. AAHHHHH!!
She's still getting stronger by the day.
But no matter how cute she is....my favorite time is still when she's sleeping.
