Water Babies

Grandma took today off and went to water babies with Lauren and I today. We put her to work taking video and pictures for us. Next week we will hopefully have underwater pics from the class to share!

Ronda said that it would be good to get them use to goggles. I guess kids like it better to go underwater even though we don't have any problems there. She thought they were funny so grandma picked out some stylin' pink ones that smell like "tutti frutti" to wear! Here she is testing them out...she is one cool chick!

Lauren swimming frogger style. We had a lot of free time today while Ronda took underwater pics of each of the kids.

With the goggles on, Lauren kept dropping her head under water, but then she'd forget that she still had to hold her breath! So here we are working on bubbles. I don't think she understands the concept....but she will blow bubbles in her water cup for daddy! So maybe she gets it. But in the pool, I think she drinks more than anything else!

Here's mommy with Miss Lauren in her stylin' goggles and swim shirt! Everyone thought she looked so cute. Ronda commented how well she was doing with them because typically the little ones cry and pull at them and want them off!

Mommy's first Mother's Day

Miss Lauren is 7 months old now as of a week ago and mommy celebrated her first Mother's Day on Sunday. Its crazy how quickly she's growing. She's still not crawling, however she thinks she should be able to swim on the carpet. Instead of lifting her belly off of the carpet, it stays down and her legs and feet come up and she starts to do the froggie swim. It's pretty funny.

She's sitting on her own, but we still have some webble wobble moments. Water babies is going well. She wore a life jacket for the first time and she didn't like getting it on, but thought it was pretty cool that mommy could let go and she could still float. Her taste buds are developing. We've been eating nana's homemade applesauce that she made for Lauren. And she's starting to like squash. Bananas are fine, but better if mixed with plain oatmeal. Same with pears, but we still haven't started to like peaches.

She seems to like the outdoors more than indoors, which is good in this family. We walked to the mailbox on Monday and as soon as we came inside, she screamed! So I set up her blanket outside and she sat in the backyard just watching the day go by.

She has obviously outgrown this swing, but she wasn't going to take a nap at grandma and grandpa's...so we had to get something out of storage. She took about a half hour nap the ENTIRE day!


Here's our pretty girl enjoying the outdoors! She's a ham when she sees the camera come out! This super cute dress was a gift from Aaron and Anna Aasen. Perfect mom's day outfit!


She was so serious watching Luke. He's the grandparents big black lab, 108 pounds...definitely bigger than her Biscuit! And definitely one to keep your eye on. He's very grouchy in his old age.


Since the sun was out, we needed to make some artificial shade. Lauren thought it was a toy!


Lauren liked to take the umbrella and put it between her and the family. But then it defeated the purpose. This is her peaking around the corner at Gram Gram.

Lauren's first football game!

Today, mommy, daddy and papa took Lauren to the Oregon State Beavers Spring football scrimmage. It was raining on and off, however papa had spoke to Mr. Ken Maurer who invited us to sit in his employer's skybox! That was the only reason why mommy and Lauren went!

Daddy with Lauren in the backpack....boy was that handy to have! With the spring showers, we definitely had to break out the jacket that finally fits!

It was pretty plush in the skybox....especially for one special little girl's first football game! I think it took her awhile to realize that there was a football game being played since all of the people in the skybox were ooooing and awwwwwing over her. Plus they were all new people that she hadn't met except for Ken!

Here's Lauren sitting on the leather couches. These pics crack me up because she looks like she's crying but she's actually giggling REALLY hard!

Here's Lauren in her #1 OSU pink jersey. Aunt Jane, Uncle Jeff and Cousin Joe got it for her before she was born! Who would have thought that the top would fit her at almost 7 months, when it's a 12m outfit! The pants are a little long yet, so we opted with a different pair!

New Swing!

Last week Mommy found a Little Tikes swing and slide on Craigslist. The kicker was it was in Coos Bay. But imagine that, we have family really close to there! So Nana went and checked it out and paid for it. Then we had it delivered by Aunt Bethany and Cousin Sam on Monday! Wow, did Lauren feel special. It hasn't been very nice until yesterday, so we hadn't been able to check it out. Obviously Lauren loves it. Now, Mommy just needs to have some pea gravel delivered for the play area and we'll be all set!

Cousin Sam and Lauren....we weighed them both and there is only 10 pounds difference, but 2.5 years! Maybe Lauren will start stretching up and not out soon!


Definitely need to have her buckled in on this swing!




This one is for 1 to 3 year olds and up to 45 pounds. So hopefully it will last a few years!

Daddy's new "toy"

Sunday, Jake, Lauren and I went to Springfield to pick up daddy's new truck. That's right, we traded off the Dodge for a new Toyota Tundra. With 90K miles, the Dodge was on the verge of running out of warranty....something that we need with Jake putting 500 miles on some days!


Lauren checking out the backseat.


Lauren and Daddy checking out the front seat in the driveway listening to the end of the Beaver game.


Lauren getting ready to take it for a spin!

Lauren's likes and dislikes...so far

So when it comes to food, Lauren hasn't been extremely picky, but there are a few things that don't seem to sit well. We started a fruit yesterday, which we probably picked the worst one to begin with.

Will eat but doesn't do as well:
Rice Cereal

Typically loves to eat:
Oatmeal
Sweet Pototoes (finally!)
Carrots (our homemade ones)
Peas
Green Beans

Doesn't like:
Squash
Peaches

Water Babies update

Today was our third water babies class. We missed last week since we were in Skamania....and their pool was a little cold for Miss Lauren's liking! We've been doing "dips" since day one which is dunking them under water while moving them forward. Ronda our instructor says that when they close their eyes that is our cue that they are holding their breath. But today, we took it a step further. It was a little scary for mommy, but we pulled it off without a hitch. I actually let go while dipping her! Ronda had all of the kiddos one at a time "dip" and the mommy's let go, then she picked them up. Lauren did GREAT! Most every other kid cried, swallowed water or wouldn't even go under. However Lauren dipped, kicked a little bit and actually rolled to her back to surface which is what Ronda wants them to do. But mommy thought that was the cue that she'd been under to long and went to her rescue! Lauren came up grinning. She high-fived Ronda (with help) and giggled! Today was the first day that she splashed the water with her hands and she was also talking throughout most of the lesson! She is a fish, just like Ronda said on the first day!

A few sunny day pics......

Here are a few sunny day pics from the nice weather lately!

Lauren's first Ritz cracker. She just gummed it, then gagged on it and spit up. So needless to say she's not ready and we aren't giving her any more for awhile!


Lauren liked Karin's (her little friend at Skamania) toys that made noise. So mommy picked up a cell phone. She'd rather just eat it.


Here's Lauren watching the little kids at the Easter Egg hunt in the park.


Biscuit has been enjoying the weather as well with mommy and Lauren in the backyard!

Play Date take 2!

Today Carley and Jenny brought the kiddos to Brownsville for Play Date #2. Rachel couldn't make it.....next time though! Jake and I may not have many "big" kid toys at our house...but Pioneer Park is only a couple of blocks away and the play structure is great!

Spencer and Conner on the slide.

Allison and Lauren getting reaquainted! Mommy held Allison at one point and Lauren thought it was funny.

Mama Carley must have said something funny!

Lauren just chillin' on her blanket.

Conner decided he was a spider and Carley was the fly. Spencer decided he was going to save his mom, but never could quite get to her!

Lauren found another swing. She LOVES to swing!

Moms getting into the act!

Spencer playing bashful for the camera.....

Conner not being bashful for the camera!

Carson was a little shy with me, but then when Mama Jenny and Conner got ready to leave....he shut the door on them and thought he'd stay here!

Allison just hanging out on the blanket while the other kids ran around....it won't be long kiddo!

Thursday at Skamania

On Thursday we woke up to a beautiful day. But of course we didn't know that because it was still dark out! Daddy was down at his meeting by 7 a.m. and Lauren and I were in town by 7:45. Stevenson, WA is VERY small, but we found a little ma and pop restuarant for breakfast. The view was great.


Then we made a pit stop at the grocery store and back to the lodge. The photo opportunity on the front lawn of the lodge was too good to pass up!






Then it was off to the room for a bottle and a nap. When Lauren got up we decided to have a change of scenery and took a blanket to plop outside. On the way we ran into Heath's wife and daughter, Erica and Karin. (Heath works for AFRC as well.) It was so nice to talk to another woman that gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mommy. AND to have a conversation with another adult was nice as well!

Karin liked Lauren's toys and thankfully Lauren liked Karin's. So the girls got along great!

The view was great for the moms. It was the first time Lauren had to wear sunscreen!

Karin is 11 months (1 year on May 2nd). She weighed what Lauren currently weighs at almost 10 months! Karin toddles quite a bit, while Lauren is trying to sit up more and more on her own.

Lauren took a nap for about a half hour, but woke up grumpy. So she went back down for another 45 minute nap, which mommy had to wake her from to make it to the banquet! We had to hurry to get dressed in our fancy clothes! She was soooooo good. She sat in a highchair (that was a first for one of that kind) for most of the dinner. It was so nice of her to let us have a nice dinner without interruption!

Ross' (Jake's coworker in Eugene) wife Melodee was nice enough to take some pics for mommy.

Finally at 8:15 before the comedian started, mommy took Lauren to the room. (I didn't want to have to excuse myself during the performance.) It was already past her bedtime and we didn't want to gamble any longer! But once we got to the room, she didn't want to shut her glassy eyes! She was up until 8:45, which is late for Miss Lauren. Overall it was a good first "vacation".