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".

Wednesday at Skamania

On Wednesday, we were up at 4:30 a.m. thanks to Lauren....we figured we didn't have to be up until 5:30. So we got up, showered, ate and were on our way to the Daddy's work (AFRC's) annual meeting at Skamania Lodge by 6 a.m. Thankfully when we got there our room was ready to check in! Once the portacrib was delivered to the room, Lauren laid down for a nap. When she woke up, it was the first time she has been exposed to Elmo! Boy did she love that creepy red monster!



Happy as a clam in "jail".


It was cold and windy on Wednesday so we hung out inside most of the day!


AFRC had a welcome reception Wednesday night....so we had to put on a dress to attend!

More food!

Lauren has been testing out her taste buds lately. We first tried rice cereal which she didn't love. Dr. Davis told us to try oatmeal which she seems to like a WHOLE lot better. Her first real food was sweet potatoes that daddy "manned" lasted summer....that's what he calls men canning. She wasn't a fan. I think more was spit out than swallowed. We'll try them again in a few days. I think part of it was the fact that they aren't as "finely" pureed as the other, which we'll work on!

The most recent vegetable that she has tried are carrots. I tested her with the Gerber sample we received on Easter and she really liked it. Even though she'd pull away and tucked her chin to her chest, she always came back for more! I blended our "manned" carrots last night since I ran out of the sample jar in 2 sittings. She had a little more than 2 tablespoons of carrots, 2 tablespoons of oatmeal and a 3 ounce bottle before hitting the hay last night!

Lauren's first oatmeal.




Sweet Potatoes at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Happy Easter!

Lauren's first easter has already came and went. Grandpa, Grandma and Great Grandma came over. The Grandparental units house has been undergoing a pretty major redo with new granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms. So it wasn't ready for Easter dinner. Mommy cooked a ham she got the recipe from watching Rachael Ray....hey, I watch a lot of TV being a stay-at-home mommy now! It turned out pretty well if I don't say so myself!




Lauren got a couple of easter bags from her grandparents and Gram Gram. (She was way into the bags...good thing they didn't go with the traditional baskets!)

She got a small stuffed bunny, a teddy and a bunny book. And don't forget the tissue paper!! Lauren's Gram Gram won a couple of bunny's off the BINGO table for her which she wanted to chew on. We didn't figure that was a good idea, so here's daddy taking them away.

She is six months now and it looks like the blue eyes are here to stay!

Her new "wrinkle-nose" smile!

6 months old!

Lauren turned 6 months old yesterday. Wow how time flies! She saw Dr. Davis yesterday and got a couple of pokeys which has made her pretty tired today. She is 17 lbs 10 oz (75 percentile) and 25.6 inches long (50 percentile). Dr. Davis said she's perfect!


She's considered a "supported sitter". She tries to sit on her own but does the "weeble wobble"! We get to start vegetables this week and can introduce a new one every 3 to 5 days so we can make sure she doesn't have any allergies to one particular vegetable.


Her new thing is to wrinkle her nose when she smiles or thinks something is funny. She also does a grunt/growl combination!

Play Date

Lauren's first play date was today at my friend Carley's house. It was a very nice day and they had lots of space to play outside.

Lauren absolutely loved the baby swing! Definitely need to look into getting one!

Carley has Allison (4 months) and Spencer (3).

Rachel has Payton (8 months) and Sadie (4).

Jenny has Carson (15 months) and Conner (4).

There was lots of energy that needed expelled!


They saw the fish, fed the cows and somehow roped Rachel and Carley into pulling them in the wagon!


We had a stroller convoy to pack the little ones around in!

It was good to get all of the kids together....as well as the mommy's even if we couldn't hear each other half the time!