The Plunge!

(Above Lauren is sleeping on the floor with her crib mattress.)

Lauren took the plunge last weekend. During what should have been nap time I heard a loud thump! Yet, I didn't hear Lauren. I ran straight to her room and found her laying on the floor (not in her crib!) I knew she was hurt because she was doing the 'silent cry.' For Lauren the silent cry is the worst. She cut the inside of her lip pretty bad. That was the last night of her crib. My big girl is growing up!

The Bee Incident

Lauren has been a very busy bee lately! She recently had her first bee sting. We were at Disney (of course) and a HUGE bumble bee flew in her hand. I gasped and tried to get it out but she closed her fist. I assume she got stung when she suffocated the bumble bee. She then let go of the bee and I continued to brush it away. When the coast looks clear we found it again on her pant leg. At that point I am frantically pulling her (still strapped in) body out of the stroller. The bee just loved her and then landed in the back of her diaper/pants! Poor Lauren. I got it out and finally on the ground. We stamped and squashed that bumble bee! At least she didn't have any allergies!

This incident happened at the beginning of this month. To this day she still talks about the bumble bee that stung her. If something bothers her, she blames it on the bumble bee.

The Circus

I highly recommend going to the circus. We had so much fun!
Our seats were great.

The show was very entertaining. It kept Lauren's interest the whole time.
And, she just loved munching on popcorn.

What a great time at the Big Top!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Kobe for my 28th birthday.
Lauren was intrigued by the chef! It kept her entertained the whole time.

New Year's Eve

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!Lauren used a big girl cup to 'cheers' everyone. She drank sparkling cider.
Lauren was a trooper and stayed wide awake for the celebration.
Taking a family photo just wasn't part of her plan.

We took Lauren out for a late bite to keep her energized for the evening.

Winter Break

I just love being home with Lauren during my winter break. We are having so much fun together. It will be hard to go back to work.

Go Knights ~ Bowl Game

UCF had a great football season.

Go Knights!

Disney During the Holidays

We were very excited to take Lauren to the Magic Kingdom during the holiday season. Lauren loved playing at the Winnie the Pooh Playground.
Lauren rode Dumbo for the first time!

She cried when it was time to get off the ride!

Of course, we rode Cinderella's Carousel.

Bubbie did too!

Lauren enjoyed seeing the Cinderella holiday show in front of the castle.

Thanks for the lift Daddy!

Merry Christmas

Lauren ended up cuddling in our bed Christmas Eve. She woke up exhausted and excited. Lauren walked out to the living room to find a princess bike next to the tree. Good Job Santa! She really got the hang of opening presents.
Can a two year old have too many presents? YES! After a while Lauren actually got tired of opening presents. We had to unwrap some for her.
Daddy cooked a wonderful brunch for all of us! Then we opened presents from Aunt Jan, Bubbie, and Auntie Neh-Neh. When the gifts arrived we could barely see our floor.

Lauren played with all of her new toys and took a long nap. What a day!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner at Abuela and Abuelo's house. Lauren was spoiled with gifts. She snored all the way home......getting her zzz's in before the big day.

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Bailey turned 9 years old this year!
Bailey always receives double the treats because her birthday is so close to the holidays. Yum in her tum!

Lauren sang 'Happy Birthday' to Bailey.

Photo with Santa

Photo with Santa ~ She did it! Ok, here is the story... SO I made Lauren take some practice smile photos to prep her for Santa. The whole time we were trying to get her excited to sit on his lap, but not really sure if she would do it.

Practice Photo One: Show us your teeth!Practice Photo Two: Giggle while you show us your teeth!

Drum roll please....... Here it is!

This was a picture that Daddy took on our camera. The actual picture turned out just as beautiful!

Lauren's First Play

Get your magnifying glass ready! Lauren is the last elf on the right. She is holding down her elf hat. Daddy video taped the performance. She became camera shy in front of all the parents. Lauren, we are very proud of you!

Lunch with Daddy

Lauren's school invited parents in for a holiday lunch.

Happy Hanukkah

Lauren enjoyed celebrating Hanukkah with Bubbie, Auntie Renee,

Cousin Larry, Daddy, Mommy, and Bailey too! She started to 'read' her new books. One of the books had a musical dreidal song!

Bubbie spoiled her with Disney princess costumes. Lauren loves them! She adores looking in the mirror at herself. She spins around and dances in them. It is so precious.

Lauren did a quick costume change for this picture. She is now wearing a Jasmine costume.

Happy Hanukkah!

Our Tree

Whoa! What is a tree doing in our house? So far, Lauren has been very good with the tree. Lauren began to help us decorate it and then we had to stop. She would put on an ornament then take it off. Put on, take off........ you see the pattern. So needless to say, we finished decorating without her. Sorry Lauren. On the other hand, she was excited to see it finished when she woke up!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday to you!

Holiday Party

Lauren went to her friend's holiday party. The bounce house is Mommy's new babysitter!

We could barely get her out of this bounce house.

Lauren received a present from Santa.

This might be the closest Lauren gets to Santa this year!

Lauren was exhausted on her way home. She caught some zzz's in the car.