18 months

Our baby girl turned 18 months yesterday. I can't believe how fast that time has flown by. We are so grateful and feel so blessed to have her sweet spirit in our home. She's definitely got a stubborn streak and is pretty fearless. She loves her big brother and LOVES to play with baby dolls. Should be interesting when we have a real baby at home to love on. She's not too girly though, she can roar and play cars with the best of them. Her favorite (and continuously asked for) movies are, Pobpob (Spongebob), Gog (Clifford), and Pooh.
Here are some shots I took today...





The world in Lauren's words:
"I gotchu"...translation: "I want a piggy back ride, now!"
"Kiki"...translation: "Cookie"
"Siyi"...translation: "Silly"
"Minah"...translation: "Mine"
"Tate Doo"....tranlsation: "Thank you"

I know there's more I can't think of right now...just wanted to get those down before she's talking in full sentences and we forget the cute little things.

Our little carnivore

When Garrett was a baby he would eat pretty much anything we put in front of him. For the last few years though, he would live on cereal and chocolate milk if we'd let him. Slowly, he's added a few things to his diet here and there. Most of it some form of carbohydrate. Well a month or so ago he was watching Incredibles (the part where he's cutting steak) and announced to me he wanted some "meat". So I'm thinking chicken or hamburger....he said "No, mom, I want steak." Luckily I had some in the freezer I had picked up on sale so I grilled those up for him in our electric grill. He kept asking for more! I couldn't believe this kid, I think he had three steaks (they were pretty small) before it was over.

Anyway, so yesterday I had cooked up a roast and he didn't want anything to do with it. This morning he comes running up the stairs to inform me that his tummy was growling and it was asking for meat :) He's eating his roast beef and ketchup as I type. Like father, like son I guess. This could be one expensive kid!

Playing catch up!

Wow...has it really been that long since I posted???!! This month has flown by WAY too fast for me. I'm down to 12 weeks before our new little one joins the family and I'm definitely starting to feel like I'm in my third trimester...back aches, heartburn, swollen feet, all the fun stuff. :) I can't believe how strong her kicks seems to be getting, I'm waiting for a cracked rib or something! For those who keep asking, no we don't have a name picked out. I've come up with a few suggestions for Todd, but that was at least a month ago and we haven't even talked about it since. I think I should get to pick the name since technically he named Lauren :), although I couldn't see her with any other name!

We had Garrett's buddy Jake over for a few hours one day a couple of weeks ago and they wanted to play baseball on the Wii. Lauren wanted to join in on the fun so I gave her a controller with no batteries and they had a great time...for a few minutes anyway. :)



Wednesday I taught cake decorating (the very basics, that's all I know!) to the Young Women. I still can't make a buttercream rose to save my life, so I learned how to make one out of Starburst and Tootsie Rolls, yummy and cute! Garrett and Todd really enjoyed eating my practice ones.


And last but not least....it seems like I spent way more time in the kitchen than anywhere else this week. I canned pears last Saturday at my moms. 31 quarts and 10 pints!


I shredded and froze the two HUGE zucchinis that Chad and Jaycie gave us. Hopefully it will make some yummy bread in the next few months!


My mom and I were at Costco last week and she said she wanted to split a bunch of bananas, then took like three out of the almost dozen! So I made a double batch of banana bread yesterday :)


And here's what Todd has been begging me to make for the last couple of weeks...Buckeyes (or in Garrett's words "chocolate covered eyeballs"). We've found Garrett sneaking more than a few out of the fridge, with plenty of chocolate on his face to prove his guilt!


Whew, I think I'm done...is anyone still reading this??? :) Now I'm off to make some no bake cheesecakes for Super Saturday!

Glow stick fun and tired kids!

Well our life isn't very exciting lately...we mostly stuck around the house over Labor Day Weekend. Todd went to the racetrack with the fire department on Saturday night and as they were leaving his friend, Mike, gave the kids some glow sticks he had in the back of the car. It was only 6:00 so we had a while before it was dark and Garrett was VERY impatient. To keep them busy I fed the kids and then we went out for ice cream cones...LOVE the free kids cones at DK's! By the time we left there it was finally dark enough so I pulled out the glow sticks. Lauren didn't know what to think at first so Garrett thought he should get them both. We got home and turned off all the lights, put in a movie, and built a fort. The kids had a blast playing. I snapped a few pics but they didn't turn out the greatest.




Today I had my monthly appointment with my OB doctor. This is what the kids looked like when we pulled into the Dr.'s office...it's kind of a long drive. :)

Everything is going great with my pregnancy, by the way. I'm almost to my 3rd trimester so it's hard to get comfortable to sleep, and the heartburn definitely isn't any fun. I'm just so grateful that things seem to be going well and baby's doing great! Those kicks get stronger every day!