Who loves snow? Lauren!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post Richmond got 12 inches of snow. We came home to a house, yard, driveway covered in snow. I was not so thrilled but my three year old daughter thought it was the greatest thing to every happen. She would live outside if I would let her. Lucky for me I have a husband who loves the snow as much as she does. They were outside for hours. Brian had a hard time convincing her to come inside. I love watching Lauren when she really loves doing something. She gets a sparkle in her eye. So I guess for now I will love snow too.

Winterhoff Christmas 2009

We went to the Winterhoff's in Williamsburg for our annual Christmas. We all had to head down early because we had a big snow storm. While we were in Williamsurg, Richmond got about 12 inches and the Charolettsville Winterhoff's got about 20 inches. In Williamsburg there was just a little bit of snow. Enough to have us all stay in warm and cozy. We had such a great time being with everyone. All the children were absolutely adorable. The prize favorite was of course Winnie. We are so greatful she is such a good dog! Thank you to everyone for all the great fun and memories. It was also especially sweet because everyone thought of Gabe and included some presents for him too. I can't wait until next year when he can be a part of it all. There are many more pictures in our photo album link.

2009 Christmas tree

This year we got our tree at Home Depot. Lauren picked it out and lucky for us she didn't pick the million dollar tree. We loved the people at Home Depot. They cut off the bottom branches, wrapped it and tied to our car. It was wonderful! Lauren loved decorating the tree. If you look closely at the tree you will notice most decorations are all over the bottom half of the tree. I normally only want matching ornaments but apparently after you have children it isn't about "you" anymore.

First movie at the movie theater

Lauren was invited to her first movie date. We went to see The Princess and Frog with our friends Susan and Lilly (and one of Lilly's friends Mickey). Lauren was a little nervous about the fact that it was going to be dark so naturally she sat on an eight month pregnant women's lap for the whole show....but other then that it was great...well and the popcorn being spilled everywhere...but other then that well and the women behind me propping her coat up on my chair...it was great.

Santa

Lauren asked me to write that she loved Santa at the North Pole. I'm not sure if she thinks we went to the North Pole this day when we saw Santa but if so...I think that is great. We were so lucky this year to be invited to a fun little party where Santa came to visit. Lauren was so excited to see him and was the first to jump up into his arms. It was so much fun. She did ask a few times where the reindeers were, but luckily it was raining that day so I just said out in the back yard. When Santa asked her what she wanted she said "Dora stand-ups". I sure hope he knows how to translate! =)

Baby #2

I thought I would at least start posting a little about baby #2. So far all has been well. He is measuring about a week further along. In my mind that means he will come early like Lauren did, however a friend told me or it could just mean I'm having a big baby. I'll go with my orginial thought!

Halloween 2009

Lauren had a great Halloween this year. We painted our pumpkin (mainly b/c we ran out of time and carving it would have taken to long- and hey she is three- painting sounds better anyway.) She was able to go trick or treating with a friend from the neighborhood, Grace. It was so cute! For weeks and weeks leading up to Halloween she told everyone she was going to be Belle. At the very last minute and I mean last minute she said she wanted to be a fairy. Luckily she has a very creative Mom (not!) and I was able to pull off fairy. She wore one of her princess dresses that is a little more non-descript and I had wings that my sister had given us years before. The result...one happy little fairy!

Check out the photo album link for more pictures.

What's in a name

So ever since I found out that I am having a boy I have been struggling with finding the right name for him. When we were naming Lauren I felt it was pretty easy deciding on her name. We both just seemed to love it. Well this time around has been different. We can't come up with a good name at all. I can't sleep some nights because I can't think of the right name. Well today I think we might have found it. I'm hoping that my pregnancy emotions don't make me change my mind again in a few weeks. But, I'm not going to tell you the name just incase I do change my mind AGAIN. But I think this one is the keeper!! Stay tuned!

Apple picking at Carter Mountain

So I have been craving just off the tree apples ever since my neighbor gave us some a few weeks ago. We decided that on Lauren's birthday we'd take the trip to Carter mountain in C'ville and get more of those delicious apples. Well a few things we didn't think about was apple season. Apparently if we would have gone a few weeks prior we would have had our choice of apples to pick. We had to head out into the mountain and through rows and rows of apple trees to find our apples. It was really quite fun. Lauren loves apples. I think every one we found (which was few and far between) we'd give to Lauren and say put it in the bag. Before the apples made it to the bag she always took a bite out of them. Naturally, because Brian and I are so smart after about the 6th apple we stopped trusting her not to take a bite! (We really should have known better because this is the same girl that in every grocery store some how manages to find an apple and take a bite out of it before we can stop her. You have no idea how many single apple purchases I have made.) Anyway, back to apple picking. Once we filled our bags we decided to head back. What we didn't realize was that our whole walk to pick apples had been mainly downhill and with out apples in our bags. As we started to make our way back Lauren decided she could no longer walk. I decided that I was really pregnant and could hardly walk or carry apples. Good thing we have a good daddy/husband. Explaining the picture above! He carried Lauren and the 20 lbs of apples back to flat land. I was able to walk slowly behind. I just couldn't help thinking how funny we must look to the other people around us. We have great pictures on the photo album link of our apple picking day.

3rd Birthday

This year for Lauren's birthday we decided to have just a family birthday party and it turned out great. My parents and K,B,J,T and Brian's parent's and Matt, Anika, Maya, and Alexis all came. One lesson I did learn was that you shouldn't have the party start so late in the day. Lauren just kept asking when they were going to get here. I also let Lauren decide on what cake she wanted...chocolate with chocolate. It was really cute. I didn't even know she liked chocolate...but I guess who doesn't. Her party was also princess themed. We had the princess balloons and decorations. It was wonderful. Also, this year because Lauren is in preschool two days a week we were able to take in donuts for her to share with her class. I was so excited and nervous about this. I have never had a child in class before and she was the first child to have a birthday so I wanted it to go over smoothly. We had decided to do Halloween decorated donuts for her to take to class. I had Brian get the donuts that morning on his way home from the gym. When he brought home the donuts they were not what I thought they were going to be. Now I don't know if it was because I was pregnant or not but I almost started to cry. I was really taking this school celebration very serious! Luckily he told me to just run back to the store and pick out what I wanted. As crazy as I thought that would be...I still hopped in my car and went and got anohter dozen donuts. After the donut crisis we headed to school. I was excited, however nervous that just the few days before I had potty trained Lauren and I was so worried that on her birthday day at school she would have an accident. Well after all the worrying I got a call from preschool. The teacher said she fell and hit her head and was pretty upset. I heard hit her head and I think my car and I made it to the school in about 2 seconds. When I arrived she was sitting on her teachers lap with red eyes. It broke my heart. They had made her a paper crown hat with the # 3 on it and she couldn't even wear it because she was so upset. Well because she was upset she had a runny nose and started coughing so the teachers felt she could be sick. So from preschool we went to the doctors office. After sitting around in all the germs we waited for the strep test and all the results were negative. The doctor felt she was ok just had a cold. That was a relief. But what wasn't a relief was while we were waiting and I was trying so hard not to let her touch anything for fear she would pick up the flu- I turned my back for one second and catch her licking the bench where all the sick kids had been sitting. I didn't know what to do. By that point, I was just hoping we could make it home! (Check out the photo album link for pictures from her birthday.)

End of Summer pictures

We had a great summer this year. Here are some of the last pictures left on our camera. There are some from Lewis Ginter, Children's Museum, candy corn shopping, and the Folk Festival.

First day of preschool

Today Lauren started preschool. She was packed, ready and waiting by the door with her Dora backpack 10 minutes early. She walked into her class, hung up her backpack and didn't look back. No tears and had a great time. Mom took advantage of the quiet time and kept herself plenty busy and had fun herself.

Today and Thursday she goes in for two hours and then starting next week she will be going in for the full three hours.

Thanks Amme for her first day of preschool outfit!

Lauren posing in a tree at Lewis Ginter

Lauren and I went to Lewis Ginter the other day and she decided she wanted to get her picture taken in one of the special trees they have there. One of the last times we were there we had Brian's Aunt and Uncle Kathy and Bob pose in the tree for a picture. Honestly Lauren doesn't forget anything!

Trip to G and Poppy's

Brian was a wonderful husband the other weekend and took Lauren to Williamsburg to spend time with G and Poppy. From what I hear they did a little of everything. Here are some pictures from their trip.

Broccoli

Incase you didn't know this about Lauren...she likes broccoli. Brian planted a few broccoli plants this year and Lauren would go out into the garden and rip the broccoli off the plants and eat it all. Even the stem. Well last night at dinner she had broccoli with her meal and of course love it. That night in the middle of night I hear Lauren crying out (as if having a nightmare) only this is what I hear...."I ate all my broccoli. I have no more broccoli. I want my broccoli." Needless to say I didn't get out of bed to comfort her. I just don't think broccoli nightmares can really be all that scary.

Four wheeler ride with Granddaddy

Lauren went for a 4-wheeler ride with Granddaddy while we were in Harrisonburg visiting. She went all the way down into the field with him. She is truly becoming one of the farm kids!

Rockingham county fair 2009

This year Lauren and I headed out to Harrisonburg to see my 2nd cousins show their animals at the Fair and well of course to ride the rides too. We went to the fair with my parents and sister and her family. It was a lot of fun! Lauren had the best cousin Tyler who rode every ride with her. Thank you Tyler!!

Extra beach pictures

Here is a picture of the bike ride we took while at Rehoboth beach. As you can see we tried out one of those surrey bikes and well we won't do that again. Even with Brian being mister I run/work-out everyday pedaling that bike was hard stuff! We did manage about 45 mins and of course a stop for a donut was included.

Here is also a picture of our brave girl all the way out in the ocean with Brian. I think this year she went farther out then I did. I'm so happy that she likes the ocean and happy she has a Daddy that will take her out in it.

PRINCESS PHASE HAS STARTED!!

So we have started the princess phase. The other night Lauren could hardly contain her excitement when she learned that we had a Snow White dress up outfit. She loved getting dressed up. It was so fun to see her twirl around like a princess. Of course like all princess their first thought is I must ride my princess bike in my princess outfit. Here are a few pictures from our first night as Snow White. I'm sure there are many more to come!!


This is the pose Lauren gave us after being asked what she would do if she were getting ready to meet Prince Charming.



Here comes Snow White!

Summer vacation

Brian, Lauren and I are back from our two week vacation. The first week we went to Rehoboth Beach with Brian's family. As always it was such a great time. Brian's Mom and Dad had treasure hunts each night for all the kids. We also went to funland each night. It is exactly what the name says...fun land! It is the same place that Brian went to as a little boy. He rode the same rides that Lauren rides now. Our second week we went to Duck with my family. We had a great week. The weather was perfect and we were able to hit the beach and pool everyday. Lauren really became such a great little swimmer by the end of the week. Lauren had such a great time both weeks playing with her cousins! I'm so glad that she was able to spend so much time with all of them.

Check out the photo album link for a ton of pictures from our vacation.

Blueberry picking

So once I finally found the blueberry farm Lauren and I had a great time. This is a first time for both of us picking blueberries. The weather was terrific. We went with our neighbors/friends Anh, Jack and Michael. We didn't pick to many blueberries- I spent more on the tolls getting home then actually on blueberries but it was more about the experience then the collection.

Summer 2009

We have been having a great summer this year. We are spending a lot of time with friends and going to the pool a lot. Here are some pictures from this summer. There are many more on the photo album link.

Summer pictures

Check out the photo album link for many more pictures!

Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to Brian!! Lauren and I are so lucky to have such a wonderful man in our lives! Thank you for being so good to us!

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob visit

A few weeks ago we had Kathy and Bob come to visit and we went to Lewis Ginter for the day. It was so much fun. Lauren had a wonderful time showing them all the fun things at the gardens. I think she really just loved all the special attention. More pictures of their trip can be found in our photo album link.

Visit for G's birthday

Here are a couple pictures from our weekend in Williamsburg for G's birthday. We had a great time. Lauren of course was a big help with blowing out the candles.

Lauren and her cousins

Check out the photo album link for even more pictures.