Lauren's 4th Birthday

Lauren had been telling us for weeks that she wanted her ears pierced for her b-day, so that's what she received. We took her to get her ears pierced on August 20, about a week before her actual bday. There were a few tears shed during the process, but no crying. She really wanted those ears pierced!

Bowling w/Lauren

We took Lauren bowling for the first time yesterday. She has her very own style, which seems to work for her...

She did really well (and almost beat her daddy as you can see from the photo below!) haha

Been a long time...

I realized it's been way to long since I've added to my blog. During the last week, I've been doing a lot of "cleaning house" in preparation for Baby#2. One of the things on my to-do list, was to get photos off my camera to make room for new pictures, print photos I have not added to Lauren's photo book yet, and upload the videos I've taken with my camera. Well, I'm happy to say that this completes my to-do list having to do with my camera. Enjoy!

Marco Island, FL Nov. 2008

Lauren with Uncle Brad

Christmas Day 2008- Schommer Present Opening

Twins Game- May 2009

Lauren's favorite hill on the way to the parking ramp. She runs up/down it at least 5 times before she just can't do it anymore! A person cannot appreciate the slope of the hill unless it is seen in person.

Waterpark Hotel- June 2009

Took two days off from work to have fun with Chris and Lauren

We had a great Halloween. I'll let the pictures and video speak for themselves...

Snow on October 26

I didn't believe her when Lauren shreiked, "Mom, it's snowing!" Sure enough, I looked out the window and there it was. I had to capture it on my camera. I don't know-- it seems like Fall just started and we're already seeing snowflakes. Don't get me wrong... I love the snow. I just know as soon as the snow starts flying I'll have to leave my house at 6:30 am in order to get to work by 8am. I'm just not ready for that quite yet!

The snowflakes are still falling... a half hour from when it first started. Thank heaven they are melting as soon as they hit the ground.

For those of you who live in Minnesota, if you didn't get a chance to see the snowflakes, enjoy the video. Better dust off the shovels and put the ice scraper in your vehicle.

Playing with Playdough

I had forgotten how much fun Playdough can be.

I opened up two containers of Playdough recently. Lauren just looked at me and asked what it does. I showed her all of the many things she could do with it. In minutes, she was hooked. She wasn't too exicted to roll it into balls, but she really enjoyed smashing small pieces of Playdough onto the kitchen table to make a beach (I think she's sad that summer is over).

What we've been up to...

We've been staying pretty busy. Chris and I continue to spend most of our time keeping the peace between Lauren and Hunter (our cat). Poor Hunter. For so many years he was so spoiled. Had all of our attention, without the harrassment of a little kid. I thought the more time passes, the more they'd get to be buddies. It's turned out to be just the opposite. Lauren is a bully to him. No wonder he tries to escape out the door so often!!

Lauren started swimming lessons this past Wednesday. It's a parent/child class, to get kids used to the water. This week they practiced blowing bubbles, putting their face in the water, kicking their feet and getting in/out of the pool using the side of the pool. I was "that lady," taking a bunch of pictures of my first born taking her first swimming lesson. Here are a few...

New car!

After talking about it for months, Chris and I finally decided to get rid of his Ford Ranger pickup and get a car. It was kind of weird to drive a car again, after a couple years of only driving the Trailblazer or Ranger. We purchased a Hyundai Sonata and I love it already. We'll see how I like it on my commute to work with all of the merging and bumper-to-bumper traffic. I'll get better gas mileage plus I won't (or shouldn't) have to worry about it breaking down on me. Or, for those who knew the truck well, I won't have to worry about the windshield wipers randomly going off. haha That will not be missed--- at all.

I didn't think to take a picture of the car until I started blogging so it's not the best photo.

Marie