The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Well, Christmas has come and gone, and it truly was my favorite Christmas yet. Christmas Eve at church was wonderful and then we had supper and opened presents with the Coens. Lauren woke up Christmas morning and was SO excited that Santa came! She loves her new doll house from Santa and has been playing with it every night.

We also had a great time with family up in Nebraska. We even got to spend a little time with little Kylie! She was less than 2 weeks old!

The big news of today is that Lauren got a big girl bed! She is sleeping in her new bed right now and so far, so good. :) She was so happy when she saw it. I got a little misty-eyed because it was a reminder that she isn't a baby anymore. :(

Lauren and Abby on Christmas Eve

Lauren with her doll house!

Special 4 Generation picture!

Lauren wearing her new apron from Aunt Denise!

Uncle Brent teaching Lauren how to write on the frosty windows. :)

Brent, Lauren, David and little Kylie!

BIG GIRL BED!!

Merry Christmas Eve and HBD Grandpa!

It is finally Christmas eve!! We are soooo excited for tomorrow morning! We had a great afternoon/evening yesterday celebrating Christmas with Grandma Di Di. It was a really wonderful time spent with family! We also had family photos taken and I'm very exited to see those!

Lauren has spent all morning playing with her new toys. The princess castle and the dress up clothes were a huge hit!

Lauren also called Grandpa Schlake this morning to wish him a happy 60th birthday!!! :)

Trying on ALL her new dress up clothes!

All ready to leave for Christmas dinner!

Playing with her new princess castle

New Cousin and Cookie Making!

After months of anticipation, we finally got to meet our new niece/cousin, Kylie! It is a girl!! We were overjoyed to get the news and rushed up to Nebraska to meet her on Friday. This will mean 3 girl cousins in a row for our family - sounds like a blast to me! Lauren was extremely excited and keeps asking me when we can see Kylie again. :)

We spent the rest of the weekend at home and worked on our holiday baking - Lauren got in on some of the action. She is also really interested in eating the cookies!

Lauren and Kylie meet for the first time!

Making sugar cookies!

Helping with the sprinkles!

Gingerbread House

What a fun family weekend! Lauren spent two nights at Grandma Di Di's house and she had the best time! She was talking about it all weekend.

We also went to her friend Nicholas' birthday party on Saturday and Lauren had a great time playing with all the kids and enjoying the party.

It is beginning to look a lot more like Christmas around our house - we are getting very excited for Santa and all of the Christmas festivities! Lauren and I made a gingerbread house on Sunday, she loved making it and was very serious about how it looked. Very fun!

Lauren and her gingerbread house!

Visit with Santa

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a really great weekend - we stayed here and had Thanksgiving at Tim's aunt Debbie's house. It was a wonderful dinner and we really enjoyed seeing everyone!

Saturday we went to Crown Center and Union Station and visited Santa! Lauren was a little scared, but she was very brave and told Santa she wanted a "doggy toy..." So far, she has told us that she wanted a doggy toy, yogurt, apple, a kitty, and a baby. :)

We also celebrated the arrival of our Christmas elf - he flies to visit Santa every night and then comes back each morning. Lauren has to go find him in the morning. She loves looking around for him!

We are so excited about the Christmas season!!

"I want doggy toy."

Riding the Christmas train at Union Station

Beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Well, not really beginning to "look" a lot like Christmas - considering it was in the 60s all weekend, but I'm starting to get very excited for Christmas! We have been telling Lauren all about Santa and she is SO excited to meet him and to find out what he will bring her on Christmas. So much fun!

We went and had Christmas pictures taken of Lauren at Target on Saturday. She was a little model child - totally different from last year and her meltdowns at the portrait place! This year, she smiled for the camera and did everything the photographer asked her to do. She loved it!!

Wacky weather!

What a crazy weather weekend! It was 77 degrees yesterday and we played outside most of the day. This morning we woke up and it was in the 30s! We went to the mall today so Lauren could show us what she wants from Santa. So far, she has stated that she wants a baby and an apple. Hmmm...not sure what we will tell Santa! :)

We are getting very excited for the holidays, it will be here before we know it! We are also getting SUPER excited for the arrival of Lauren's two new baby cousins. She can't wait!

Here are Lauren's "school" pictures - they take these every year at the daycare and they get cuter every year, I can never resist buying them!

Dancing the Night Away!

Whew! We made it through the weekend! My youngest brother, Brent, got married on Saturday. It was absolutely perfect and we are thrilled to have a new member of the family!

Lauren served as a flower girl and she did an amazing job! She walked down the aisle and carried her flowers and then danced the night away at the reception. I wish I had more pictures, but they will be coming soon. Lauren loved it, I honestly couldn't have asked for a better outcome. It was an amazing weekend.

I also got the pictures that we took a few weeks ago with Grandma Di Di - they are amazing and there are so many I don't even know which ones to print!

I'm feeling so blessed tonight - we really are lucky to have such amazing families. :)

Happy Halloween!

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect Halloween! We started the day with Lauren's class parade and then went trick or treating tonight with Abby and Liam. It was SO much fun! Lauren loved being Minnie Mouse!

Halloweekend!

Lauren got in a little practice for Halloween this weekend! On Saturday we went to "Boo at the zoo" and Lauren got to practice her new favorite line - trick or treat!"

Today was chilly, but we actually spent a lot of time outside - we went to the park with the Coens this morning and then spent the afternoon with Grandma Di Di. Lots of fun!

We are really looking forward to Halloween! Lauren is also gearing up for her big job next weekend - flower girl for Uncle Brent's wedding. I hope she does okay! She has been telling me for a few days - "no flower girl!" I think we may have to brib her with treats or something...

Lauren checking out the animals at "Boo at the zoo!"

Lauren and her Elmo pumpkin

Lauren shows Grandma Di Di her costume

Lauren and Grandma at the park!

The Three Musketeers at the park!

Fun with Grandparents!

It has been a busy and fun last few weeks! A week ago we had family pictures with Grandma Di Di - I'm so excited to see the photos, it was a beautiful fall day and I think they will be beautiful. Pictures coming soon...

This weekend Lauren and I went to Nebraska for the last wedding shower before the big day! Lauren practiced her flower girl walking - I hope that she will do it on the wedding day. Either way, I'm sure she will look adorable!

Here are some pics of her with Grandma and Grandpa and also a shot of her in front of her new doll house at Grandma's house. The house is beginning to resemble a toy store, and Lauren was in heaven! :)

Pumpkin Patch

It was a beautiful (but cold!) fall weekend. We have been REALLY busy the past few weeks and have barely had a chance to spend time as a family. So we really made up for it this weekend and had some great times.

We went to the "Red Barn Farm" on Saturday with the Coens. Lauren LOVED it. She was cold, but in heaven. She picked out pumpkins and rode a pony named "Pistol." She has been talking about it ever since. We also stopped by the Weston Applefest and Lauren enjoyed a corndog and apple dumplings!

I am really looking forward to all of the fall traditions - cool weather, Halloween, football, and family!

Enjoying the pumpkin patch!

Liam and Lauren



Lauren rode "Pistol" the pony

Our Family

Cheers!

Apple dumplings are the best!

Fall Adventures

We had a really fun weekend! Lauren and I went to Nebraska for two showers - a wedding and a baby shower. We had lots of fun hanging out with family. Lauren even got to pick out a pumpkin from Aunt Denise's pumpkin patch.

We are so excited for fall! The weather is so nice and we can't wait to start doing all of our favorite fall activities! :)



Lauren, Bethany, Ella, and Macy all get a pumpkin from Aunt Denise's pumpkin patch!



Driving the tractor with grandpa!

My do it!

Lauren's new favorite phrase - "my do it!!" She says it to me at least 100 times a day! :)

We had a nice weekend with friends and family and even got it a little football (although all of our teams lost every game.) It was so beautiful outside, we spent a lot of time playing at the park as well.

Lauren wanted to walk by herself at the park - the stroller is too "baby-ish" for her these days. We've got a big girl on our hands!

Adventures in Camping

We had a big "first" this weekend - our first family camping trip! We went with the Coens to Omaha to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo. We had so much fun at the zoo - we didn't get to see even half of it. The kids loved it.

Camping was challenging with two 2-year olds, but SO many good moments! The kids loved every minute of it!

Tomorrow night is Lauren's first night at gymnastics. I can't wait to see how she likes it!