Lauren's 1st Halloween

This year Lauren was a cow and a poodle. She was adorable in both. I wanted to keep playing dress up with her all night. Who knew how fun it would be to dress them up!

1st Birthday

Here are some pictures from Lauren's first birthday party. It was the perfect day. She had all of her friends and family over. She had a great time!

Great picture

I just had to add this picture because I think it is so wonderful. This is a picture of Lauren and her two cousins Justin and Tyler. They are sitting on the front step of my parent's farm house. If you go to our photo album you can see more pictures like this one.

Picking Pumpkins

Every year at our church they have a big pumpkin sale. This year we took Lauren to pick out her first pumpkin. I can't believe this time last year she was only weeks away from arriving!

Visiting family

Here are some of our latest pictures of Lauren with her extended family. We have been fortunate to be able to travel to visit our families a couple of times in the last 2 months.

Big changes

There has been so much that has happened since the beach. Lauren started walking around 10 1/2 months. It has been incredible to see her take steps. When we go out and people see her walking they are all amazed that she is already walking. It is pretty incredible to see someone so little walking around. The other great thing is she is sleeping so well now. We did the Ferber method and it worked wonders (sorry Kerry for not listening sooner!) It only took about a week and then she started to understand that when we put her down it was time to sleep. I also think that all the moving she does now has really helped with wearing her out so she actually wants to sleep.

The other thing is she says "bye-bye" and waves her arm. It is so great. Each day it seems like she is accomplishing more and more. It really has been a fun past few months!

At the end of this month is Lauren's birthday. I'm getting so excited. We are throwing her a big birthday party. I can't wait!

More vacation pictures

Here are just a few more pictures from our vacations. You can image how many pictures we did take of Lauren considering it was her first vacation. Please go to the link on the side title 'Our Photo Albums' to see even more pictures.

Vacation #2

Here are some pictures from our second vacation to Duck, NC with my family. We had a great time here as well. On this trip Lauren was able to hang out with her two boy cousins, Justin and Tyler. By the end of this trip Lauren really got the hang of being on vacation (or rather her parents did with having a 9 month old on vacation for the first time). We didn't want to come home. We can't wait until next year. One thing we did learn from our first vacation was that Lauren does not sleep well in a pack-n-play. For our second vacation we rented a crib and it was great (thank you Mom and Dad). Note to self...always rent the crib if it's an option. One other story from this trip was one morning Tyler woke up and Brian asked if he wanted to watch cartoons and he said "no, I'd rather play with Lauren". Isn't that just the best!

Vacation #1

Lauren was a lucky girl this year (and her parents were too) she got to go on two great vacations. The first one was to Rehoboth with all the Winterhoff's. Lauren got to hang out with her two girl cousins, Maya and Alexis. Here are some pictures from our trip. Some of the pictures are at Fun Land which is a great place in Rehoboth for little kids. Next year Lauren is going to love it. This year she was able to ride the Ferris Wheel. It is so exciting to see all the new things they get to do as they get older. There is also one of her playing with her Uncle Matt. She loved the peek-a-boo game he played with her. The trip to Rehoboth was 5 hours. The longest trip Lauren has ever been on so naturally we were worried about how she would do. Well she did terrific thanks to the wonderful invention of the famous Cherrio. Thank you Kellog's! We couldn't have done it without you!

Poppy and Granddad

8 months

So Lauren just turned 8 months old the other week. She is doing so many wonderful things now. She can get up on all fours and rock back and forth. She has also figured out how to go from all fours to a sitting position. She has four teeth and the the fifth is poking through now. The bad news is she likes to bit (only me it seems). We had to lower her crib the other day because she sits up and when I walked into the room she grabbed the side railing and pulled herself up to her knees. She sleeps through the night usually but we have had a few weeks where she has decided to start waking up for no reason. We have thought it could be a number of things...nightmares, separation anxiety, getting teeth- but honestly we don't know because talking is a skill she hasn't quite managed yet (although Brian believes the da da da noice is of course Daddy). I'll attach some recent pictures so you can see how big she is getting.

Dreaming of an escape

I think this picture is cute. I think Lauren was really hoping she could crawl so she could get out that door. Not yet little Lauren. You still have a few more months before you can get away from me.

Thanks Mark and Carrie

Thank you Mark and Carrie for watching Lauren while Brian and I went to my friends wedding. I can't believe how good she was for you all. I think you have the magic touch. I can't wait to get you all to babysit again!!

Gone fishing

Here is Lauren in and outfit her Granddaddy Heatwole got her on the way back from a baseball tournament. Dad - I wish I could have been there to see you shopping for Lauren with all those baseball players there. I don't think you can beat a pink Bass Pro Shops onesie.

Starting solids

I think the pictures says it all! Thank you to everyone who told us to capture those first attempts on camera. Check out the link on the side for more funny pictures.

New Discoveries

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but Lauren got two teeth right at Easter. Now she enjoys playing with them. Also, she has discovered her feet. It is so fun to watch her try to put them in her mouth (which she can!).

Sitting Up

Here is Lauren's latest accomplishments. She can sit up on her own! Now for how long you never really can say.

Jumping

Here is the latest toy we got for Lauren...a jumper. As you can see from the picture she uses it more to relax in then jump. I don't know if I can say I blame her.

What a big girl

Here is Lauren playing with her older cousins Justin and Tyler. She is becoming such a big girl. This is going to be a great picture to show them when they are all grown up. Thank you Justin and Tyler for playing with Lauren!

Easter

Here we are on Easter Sunday. We went to Harrisonburg for Easter. Mom...thanks for all the wonderful food! We had a great time.

Cute hat

We are getting ready to head out on a walk around our neighborhood. It was sunny this day so we put Lauren in a hat...this is all we could find. She will probably be mad at us later in life for letting her go out in this one...but I couldn't help it...she cracked me up in this hat!

On the computer already!

Here is Lauren hanging out with her Daddy playing on the computer...we are starting her early! She is very lucky to have a Daddy that knows so much about technology...she will be able to teach Mommy one day.

Happy Lauren

I had to add this picture because of how adorable and happy Lauren looks....I love this one.

Lauren just chillin

We think this is a look to the future...Lauren relaxing on the sofa with her head resting on her hand just trying to watch TV.