Swimming

Lauren has made so much progress with her swimming this year! We started the pool season off slowly with Lauren being very cautious of the water and going under. She was still afraid to jump in the water unassisted. But after a few swim classes with an amazing teacher, Lauren is having a blast in the water! She will now jump in by herself with out even needing someone to catch her. She also LOVES diving for toys at the bottom of the pool. She has learned freestyle swimming and is currently working on backstroke too. We are very proud of her and happy that she has so much fun at the pool now!

Dance Recital

Lauren has been practicing all year long for her first dance recital. It was so rewarding to see our baby girl up on such a big stage with such confidence. She did an amazing job and all the girls looked so adorable! It was difficult for mommy though to have to put make up on her little girl. Lauren LOVED every minute of it but to us it is just another sign of her growing up so quickly!

She's 4?!

Our little angel is turning 4. I never knew time could go so quickly. Some days seem really long but when you look back another year has flown by. Happy Birthday Lauren!

Daddy Daughter Dance

Matthew had the opportunity to take Lauren to a daddy daughter dance. They dressed in their finest attire and Matthew started the date with a corsage for Lauren. Lauren loved every minute of it; she is in her element when she is on a dance floor. Apparently she got in every "choo choo train" / Conga line there was!

Christmas

We had Christmas at Wendy's parent's ranch. Lauren had a lot of trouble sleeping Christmas Eve in anticipation of Santa coming. Lauren asked Santa for, "a car that goes all by itself and a Tinkerbell movie". Santa must be a longhorn, because he brought Lauren a burnt orange Texas Power Wheels jeep (and the Tinkerbell movie). Connor got a little piano, like Linus from Peanuts.

TEXAS SNOW

Lauren has been away from Colorado for so long now that she thinks this is a big snow storm. We weren't sure how long the snow would last or if it would even be around in the morning so we woke her up around 11:30pm and put a coat and boots on over her pajamas so she could go play. She did it all in about 15 minutes; made a snowman, threw snowballs with daddy and made a snow angel. She keeps referring to this now as her, "Big Snow Adventure!" We told Lauren several times it does not snow in Texas like it does in Colorado so she keeps laughing now that the snow broke the rules.

Tree Farm

This year we decided it would be fun to go to a Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree!

Lauren finds Santa

Lauren was in Cuero with her Mimi (who may have known Santa would be around) and as she was walking on the street she found Santa! She got to sit by him and tell him what she wanted...a car that goes by itself (Power Wheels) and the Tinkerbell movie. Connor came too but was quite unhappy with seeing Santa.

So grown up

Our babies just aren't babies anymore.

Pony ride

This was Lauren's first pony ride.

Pumpkin Patch

We took our annual fall trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Marble Falls to select our Halloween pumkins.

This is the story of our lives right now - Connor wanting whatever is in Lauren's hands.

Texas Longhorns

We have been enjoying a great Texas football season so far and the kids have done a great job cheering on the Horns every weekend!

Homemade songs

This one is for you Kristen.

Daddy is really good at turning everything he does and feels into a song for Lauren and Connor. It seems as though Lauren is starting to pick up on this and is now beginning to form her own songs.

This morning Lauren and I walked out to the garage to get a stroller so we could go for a run. Lauren began to break into song (to the tune of Farmer in the Dell), “What stroller will we take? What stroller will we take? Hi-ho the derry-o what stroller will we take?”

Wendy and Kristen’s lyrics when we were kids went like this, “Wendy is so hungry. Wendy is so hungry. Hi-ho the derry-o Wendy is so hungry. Wendy needs a burger. Wendy needs a burger. Hi-ho the derry-o Wendy needs a burger. The burger needs some fries. The burger needs some fries. Hi-ho the derry-o the burger needs some fries. The fries need some salt. The fries need some salt. Hi-ho the derry-o the fries need some salt. The salt needs a drink. The salt needs a drink. Hi-ho the derry-o the salt needs a drink. The drink needs some ice. The drink needs some ice. Hi-ho the derry-o the drink needs some ice.”

Sarah Palin

The day McCain announced Sarah Palin as his VP was an exciting day. As Lauren’s mother I felt this was such a wonderful opportunity to show Lauren that girls can do anything that they want. Regardless of how the election turns out this seemed like such a great thing to show Lauren. The Friday afternoon of the announcement Lauren and I watched Palin’s first speech together on TV and Lauren began to learn about presidents and America. Lauren saw on TV how everyone was really excited when she came out and I told her this was an exciting part of history. Now every time Lauren sees Sarah Palin’s face on TV she says, “Hey – that is the exciting lady!” It is nice that Lauren can recognize someone on TV from government and who isn’t Dora!

Back to school

Lauren started her first day of preschool in Ms. Debbie's 3 year old class today. She is returning for her 2nd year at the Oak Hill United Methodist Preschool.

Gymnastics

Lauren has been enjoying some gymnastics this summer.

Lake

Lauren's preschool teacher from last year invited her former class over for some fun at their local lake. Lauren had a blast playing with Ms. Gwyneth and as you can see in the picture had fun riding around in the boat with her friend Reese. Mommy had enough of the lake after the fish kept nibbling at her legs.
There was also a playground area where the ducks kindly begged for food. And, Lauren got to ride on her first see saw and merry go round. I was surprised when I realized this was Lauren's first time to see those. The newer playgrounds in our neighborhood don't have those fun toys.

Tea Party

Lauren's friend Kate celebrated her birthday with a tea party. This was Lauren's first real tea party that did not just have dolls and stuffed animals as guests. Mommy is really looking forward to taking Lauren to a grown up afternoon of tea sometime soon!

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July thanks to my good friend from college, Courtney (well - really her daddy). Courtney came to visit for the weekend and her dad got a rooftop hotel room just north of downtown with a large outdoor patio that had a direct view of the fireworks. Lauren kept herself awake and patiently waiting by dancing continuously that by the time the fireworks came she sat down to watch most of them because she was so exhausted. We told her several times that she could take a break from the dancing but she said, "The music is still going - I have to keep dancing." If you are wondering how Connor enjoyed the fireworks - well - were not sure, he was unable to keep stay awake that late and slept through it all.

Swim lessons

The big news of the week over here is that Lauren will finally go under the water at the pool! Lauren is taking swim lessons at our neighborhood pool. She is gaining confidence in the water with each lesson as she learns her strokes and practices her kicking. Lauren enjoys the pool very much but has had no interest in putting her head under water. She kept saying that when she learns to swim she won't be scared anymore...and she was right! We bribed her with goggles, but in the end what really worked was Mimi coming to watch her at one of her swim lessons. Now she proudly wears her pink (of, course) goggles and will go under the water. Photo is of Mr. Matt, Lauren's swim teacher helping her swim.