A Very Schlake Christmas

We just got back a few hours ago from Nebraska and what a great time we had! Lauren got loaded with toys, clothes and books. Our living room is now officially toy central. Uncle Brent got Lauren a HUGE teddy bear, which we have named "uncle Bear."

Christmas with Family

We had a lovely afternoon at Grandma Criswell's house with Tim's family. Lauren had a great time!

Toys Galore!!

Lauren had a great time "opening" her gifts from Santa. She has especially enjoyed chewing on all of her new gifts! Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas (Eve)!

We had a fabulous first Christmas eve as a family. We spent some time this afternoon with our best friends, the Coens. We also went to church for the "children's service" and it was so lovely. Merry Christmas!

A Birthday Greeting!

This was extremely difficult to capture...we love chewing on paper. Happy Birthday dad!! :)

Jumping!

This video is a little grainy for some reason, but it is Lauren jumping in her "jumparoo." She LOVES jumping up and down! I've also attached a picture of us at Crown Center yesterday, we walked around a looked at all the Christmas stuff!

Eating away!

Lauren is still not a big fan of eating food...so we decided to let her take the spoon and try it herself. Success! She ate the entire bowl and got really messy doing it. So much fun! Then last night she ate an entire bowl of sweet potatoes (fed to her by me this time!). Progress!

Best Friends!

We had a really fun afternoon! We watched Liam while Abby, Chris, and Jodi went to see a movie. Liam and Lauren were so much fun together!!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

Well...it was fun, but she will probably appreciate the "big guy" a little more next year! We had a slight meltdown at the end, but all in all it was a good time! :)



Seven Months Old!

She was really fascinated by her little Christmas tree, so this picture was very hard to capture!

I can't believe it has been seven months. Where has the time gone?

Lauren loves eating - NOT!!

Lauren really does NOT like eating food. I know...how can she possibly be our child?! Ha!

Here is a video of her attempting to eat applesauce. She keeps spitting it out and I know I shouldn't laugh, but it is soooo funny!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a GREAT thanksgiving with family! Looking forward now to Lauren's first Christmas!

The first picture is of my Grandpa with all of his great-granddaughters!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...!

We are starting to gear up for Christmas around here (yes, I know it is still two weeks to Thanksgiving, but these things take time!!).

We had Christmas portraits taken today and Lauren did so well!! She was a little scared at first, but then really got into it. Now how to decide which one to use for our Christmas cards!!

Six Months Old!

I can't believe our baby is six months old today! Where has the time gone? Even though this year has had several "ups" and "downs" - this six months has been the best in my life! Lauren is developing quite a personality. She is so funny and cute. We love her SO much!

Previous five months:

Hanging with friends!

Lauren had some fun visitors yesterday - Libby and her mom (my lovely co-worker) Rebecca. Libby is a freshman and really wants to babysit!! Good for us! I'm sure we will be calling her soon for a night out! :)

That terrified look is pretty typical for Lauren. I swear the girl is destined to become an actress. She has the most hilarious expressions!!

Oh my...

I went to pick up Lauren from daycare today and her "school pictures" were in...she was the display baby! I think you can see why from the pics below! Love it!

It's November!

Time to wear our turkey shirt! :)

Happy Halloween!!

We had a GREAT weekend...spent some time with Lauren's grandparents and then rounded it out with an evening with friends for Halloween! She is growing up soooo fast, love our little ladybug!

Getting teeth!

Well, it is happening...Lauren has officially started teething. I can only imagine how painful it must be!! She was inconsolable last night, until Tim had the great idea to put her in front of the sliding glass door. She LOVES looking outside. That helped her pain for at least a few minutes...

And then this happened...

We decided to lower Lauren's crib because she has been extremely strong lately and we were worried she might be able to pull herself up...

I put her in the crib and stood her up...and guess what?? She can stand!