Half a Year

Happy Half Birthday to my sweet sweet baby.  Lauren is six months old today!  And yes, I can believe it.
*********************************************
She weighs 17 lbs 13 oz. She's 25 inches long.

She's sitting up on her own.

She loves the water. Tonight she played in her bathtub for 20 minutes.  When she sees the shower or her bathtub she screams with delight.

She makes eye contact across the room and bats her eyelashes.

She eats avocado, pears, bananas AND nurses all the time.

She still sleeps in our bed for most of the night.

She loves her daddy and thinks her brothers are hilarious.

She still pukes all over herself and me on a regular basis.

She can put her pacifier back into her mouth while she is in her crib.

If she really wants to get somewhere she rolls.

Her jumper is her favorite toy.

******************************************

Part of me wants her to stay like this forever but most of me knows that the best is yet to come.  I love you Baby Lou!

Lula

Patrick has been babying his loose baby teeth for about three months.... On Saturday his sideways eating (that's what you do when you can't use your front teeth because your tooth is loose) caused another tooth to fall out.  That one wasn't being babied... what's the moral to the story?

Anyway, his bottom tooth fell out (look at Keith behind him in this picture, ha) and he wrote a note to the tooth fairy.... well our tooth fairy because there is more than one.  Guess what?  The tooth fairy wrote back!

Just in case you were wondering....  Our tooth fairy is a girl, she is very smart, she wears pink with red polka dots, her favorite color is purple and her name is Lula.  Thanks Lula.  Come back soon for that front snaggletooth.

Happy Birthday Keith

Dear Keith!
First of all, let me say: YAY 4!  We have been working on that for three weeks and it is so true.

We have been having a lot of fun together lately.  Especially since you decided that you are a big boy.  That turn of events has been pretty amazing.  You still ask to sit in my lap and often request cuddles but you are in fact a big boy.  You have curbed your finger sucking, you (generally) do a good job of listening and following directions and you are my little helper.

Here is what I know about you, God gave you a heart of gold.  You are so caring and sweet, it amazes me.  Your ability to make people (children AND adults) feel special is a true gift. 

You live your life like it is a gift and I love that about you.  Everything around you is "your best" or "your favorite".  You hug everyone and gently kiss your sister like an angel.


My prayer for you, my sweet son is that your spirit will always remain carefree and lovely.  I love you because you are you. 

Love,
Mama

Sleep Sleep Baby

I'm a bad mommy.  Lauren is in no shape or form Baby-Wise.....

Patrick was a horrible sleeper.  I hardly ever put him down, I was never away from him and he slept in our bed until he was 18 months.  He was still sneaking into our bed when he has 5!  Now he sleep walks (last time he grabbed a bottle of wine off the counter) and has to read a book to fall asleep.  He never learned how to self-soothe (no pacifier or anything, I was his pacifier). High maintenance.

Keith was seriously baby wise.  He slept in his own bed at six weeks.  Not only that, he slept through the night!  This wasn't "sleeping through the night" as in 4 hours, he slept for 9 hours and I would have to wake him up in the morning.  And he would take great naps.  (now we are learning that he has a ENT issue but more on that some other day). He learned how to self-soothe early and that was fantastic. Lovely baby.

Now we have Lauren.  You would think that I would have it figured out but I don't want to figure it out.  Neither of us is racing to get her to sleep in her crib.  She has no real set schedule.  She often naps for hours in her car seat.  She catnaps most days and then one day will take a three-hour nap (fat stores!).  She is our first pacifier baby and that has positives and negatives.  Bottom-line: she's pretty high maintenance.  So sometimes she falls asleep while she's nursing and I stay in one spot for extended periods. sigh.

Something Strange

Last week was rainy and long.  BOO!  On Thursday I sent Patrick and Kevin out for a little Father-Son bonding. YAY!  Patrick really needed new shoes and his tadpoles needed a new house.  So off they went....

 Patrick's New Kicks.  Nice.  But it was weird.  All of the sudden he seemed so different, so tall, so old.

 Was it the shoes? I'm not sure but Friday Morning Mommy tears are uncalled for so I just took some pictures of my big boy.

 So handsome.....

 Then yesterday he went to breakfast with Grandma and Uncle Robby dressed in crazy layers of clothes, sweats and a beanie....  Today, he dressed for church in this:

 He is still Patrick, but he has a new style.  A new attitude.  Something is definitely different about him.

 Wow.  Where's my baby?

p.s. I'm embracing his new sense of style.  Given my straight and narrow styling, I am kind of looking forward to what he will put together next.  And I actually considered taking him shopping for his own clothes!  FUN! Purely Patrick

So wrong, yet so right.

 When you're a mom, you're a mom all the way....  Look at this picture from Devre's wedding.....

 

Here, take a closer look.

   

What's wrong with this picture? 1) I forgot to put on half of my makeup! 2) Lauren is desperately crying out for help!

Three kids make getting ready for a wedding very interesting.  I would be tempted to categorize that as "not fun"

What's right with this picture?  I got time with my oldest and dearest friend (Haidee. We've been friends since we were six?!?!) at my soul sister's wedding...sigh.  When we were younger and my dad would take us out people always thought we were sisters.  biggest compliment for me.

Look at our first-borns....they could be brother and sister, no?

I'm so grateful that Kevin was there to help with kid management.  One day we will be able to take these little people out in public.  And Lo-Lo and I are both rocking the fur!  

To Devre and Steve

Here is my wedding "speech" for my dear friend Devre and her husband-to-be Steve.

I met Devre almost 20 years ago in Mrs. DeAnda's Spanish 1 class at Buchanan (go bears!).  We were Clark Chieftains and Kastner Thunderbirds thrust together onto one campus.  Knowing that I had to make new friends in this new world, I (very uncharacteristically) introduced myself to the leggy blonde with kind eyes.  We became fast friends but by Senior Year we were inseparable.  We marched right into Mr. Stockton's office and convinced him that we need all of our classes together.  Even the distance can't keep us apart.  Last night our husbands (teehee) described us as far away friends that are very close.  true.

When my oldest son was a little over a year old (he's now six and a half), Dev and I took a trip to New York City.  We spent our time doing what we do best: shopping, eating and talking.... with a splash of wine.  We might have glanced at the Statue of Liberty too.  I will never forget feeling that the trip was a turning point in Devre's life.  (it certainly was in mine, I haven't had a shopping experience like that since then!) We talked for hours about what her future might hold and who her future might hold.  She mentioned her friend Steve and my ears perked up. I knew that there was an itch and I knew that she was going to scratch it.  love.


I have been waiting for this day, Devre's wedding day, since that trip to New York.  It was immediately obvious that these two were made for each other.  I've often described Steve as the male version of Devre.  They are two of the most genuine and endearing people I have ever met.  I am so happy and proud and tickled that they are making this lifelong commitment to one another. 

To Devre and Steve, may your love grow and bloom more and more as each year passes.  And!  For your wedding gift, we give you our second born...... Love you both.

"Take me home with you Uncle Steve."