yard work

after some fun filled days spent with cousins, lauren had lots of "chores" to get caught up on. so she and i headed outside to get some yard work done. and let me tell you she was a big help! :)

she began by pruning/picking the flowers.

next she moved on to the more complicated task of picking propellers out of the rocks.

she stopped to "examine", okay empty, the contents of her bucket.

finally, she not only watered the grass but also the patio. talk about going the extra mile! (ignore the overturned bucket in the background).

but i don't want to worry any of you who may think we are asking too much of our little daughter............yard work is one of her favorite things to do!

cousins are the best!

lauren has had a really fun week playing with and getting to know her four cousins. here are some highlights of their time together so far.

apparently elle shares lauren's love of frozen blueberries.

lauren is giving baby remi some extra pushes in his swing.

lauren really likes books, and gramps is always a willing participant.

little 3 year old elle loves bugs and frogs. here she is introducing lauren to a new "friend" she found outside.

fun with balls!

and i will leave you with this final shot of my little bathing beauty!

back home

lauren and i just got back home after being at my parent's house for a few days. my sister and her four kids are here for a three week visit. yay!! lauren loved playing with her three older cousins, and we got to meet 7 week old baby remi for the first time. (he is so sweet!) and although lauren did think the baby was pretty neat, she was thrilled to be able to hang out with big kids. she had her first encounter with polly pockets and my little pony, thanks to a very generous and patient 3 almost 4 year old elle. cousins micah and toby gave her lots of hugs and attention as well. and the swimming pool was definitely a hit. unfortunately, i didn't have a camera, but we'll going back over the next few weeks so i'll be sure to document all the fun. she had such a good time that as soon as we walked through the front door back at my house she said, "bye-bye, bye-bye!" i guess joel and i are rather dull. so to cheer her up we had some tickles on the couch. that seemed to work for now.

fun with weeds

today was a beautiful june day. so after dinner joel, lauren, my brother cody, and i walked down to the park. as always lauren had a great time, especially after discovering how fun dandelions can be.

yay for dads!

happy father's day!

hello, goodbye!

well, today was a momentous day for us. after many months of car searching we finally went for it and bought a subaru outback. we are so excited and feel like we found the perfect car for us and got a good deal. so here is the newest and nicest looking "member" (lauren excluded) of the family....

so on a slightly sadder note i say goodbye (hopefully soon) to my little dodge neon that has been taking me to and fro since the summer of '99. so if anyone is in the market for a sweet,vintage neon i know where you can get a great deal. (wink, wink!)

backyard fun

i wanted to post some photos of the backyard, but the grass is embarrassingly high. so we had to settle for some close-ups. once the grass gets mowed i'll post some backyard shots (hint, hint, joel).

home sweet home

now that i have a blog, i thought i would post some photos of our home for all our friends and family who have not seen our new place yet. so here it is! that little tree behind us is an apple tree and it is loaded with tons of little apples. yeah!

this is the kitchen, of course, and there is my handsome husband! (he just finished cleaning up the mess he made so i could take this picture. so sweet!)

this is the living room/dining room. in case you were wondering, it always stays this neat and clean. :)

this is the main floor bathoom.

this is lauren's room. i couldn't get a good shot of the whole room, so this will have to do.

and here is the basement play/family room.

i will hopefully post some more photos of the rest of the house in the near future.

friends at last

at the end of may lauren's grandpa and grandma came out to visit us. they brought her some very nice belated birthday gifts including this sweet little bath toy. well, when lauren realized that it "swam" and made a loud noise she didn't think it was so sweet. she was terrified of this duck and screamed anytime anyone tried to help her warm up to it. this went on for the entire time her grandparents were here and for a few week afterwards. however, i am happy to announce............

that lauren has decided the duck isn't so scary after all.

in fact it has become one of her favorite bath toys.

and she loves it very much!

lunch time

lauren has always been a good eater, but has had a bad "habit" of dropping her food on the floor. she has created many techniques for removing her unwanted food from her tray including a sneaky behind the head drop, a very sly and quick shove off with her thumb and the ever popular "i just don't want this, so i'm going to throw it."

but to lauren's credit she has gotten a lot better at keeping her food on her tray. i'm sure it has something to do with the m&m treat she gets if she's made it through a meal without putting any food on the floor. after every meal she always exclaims, "treat, treat"! (even if the floor is covered with food). it is then up to either joel or myself to survey her surroundings and see what damage, if any, has been done.

well, there was no treat today. bananas were not a hit, and a few ended up on the floor.

better luck next time! :)

jammie girl

i've finally created a blog! i just hope this isn't my first and last post. :) the main purpose of this blog is to post pics of lauren (and maybe a few of joel and myself on occasion) for our family and friends around the country and world. enjoy!

here is a picture of lauren in her cutest pajamas. she is extremely happy for a little girl who is on her way to bed!

she is trying to figure out how to put her shoe on. she hasn't mastered that yet, but i'm sure it won't be long.

i think she is enjoying her "photo shoot".

one last story before bed. she loves her book about baby animals!

night, night, sweet girl!!