Pools open

We had a little trouble starting the pool this year but thanks to my wonderful brother-in-law the pool is ready. Lauren and the boys are of course so excited. They love the pool. Lauren just loves the water...she's my little water baby. There is so much time, work, and money that go into the pool but seeing the kids have so much fun makes it all worth it.

Bachelorette Party

Our Friend Wendy is getting married in July so we had a fun night on the town to celebrate. We started at Chevy's for Dinner then went to the WindJammer for drinks then the party bus took us to Peoria. These are all girls I went to high school with: Wendy Reed, Erin Berry, Annie Jameson, Jennie Walsh, Nikki Cox, and Katie Hill. The party bus had a stippers pole.... so of course I had to be the first one on it (sorry mom).... but I am proud to say it was my first time!!

Lauren's new favorite things

Lauren has this little chair she loves getting in and out of it. Her baby was sitting with her but Lauren decided that there was only room for her. The video is of her going down the slide. She loves it. We usually go down 15-20 times before she decides she is done.

Mother's day

I had a great mother's day this year. Craig and Lauren made me a great breakfast and then we went to church and out for lunch with all my favorite people. (Craig, Lauren, Craig's parents, Mindy, and my mom.) We tried to get some cute pictures outside before we went to church. Lauren is always on the move it is so hard to get a good one of her. Hope all you mothers out there had a great mother's day too.

saftey matters

Now that summer is approaching we need to be sure Lauren is safe. We have this little life jacket that she will be wearing whenever she is in the backyard. She seems to like it which is good. However the bike helmet she does not like so much. She now only runs away from me when I am getting ready to put it on her. Which is better than screaming and throwing it on the ground, which is what she was doing the first few times we had her in it. She wears it now but not happily. She does like taking bike rides to the park.

frogs

Our frogs now have a new home. Jay caught them and took them home to let out at their house. They live near a lake. It is so obvious that my sister is the mother of boys... she is holding the frog and I am saying "don't drop him don't let him get near me...gross". Now everyone can rest assure that there will be no frogs in our pool this summer......unless they had babies.

It's good to have friends!!

Lauren rocking with her friend Natalie in the recliner. Yeah!!! They go to the same day care. They are buds. It is so cute to watch them grow up together.

Me with my long time friends Amy and Lindsay. We always try to get together a couple times a year. This was our night out in chicago!!

more white trashness

we now have frogs living in our backyard.

can you say white trash

Ok so we have a lot of work to do in our yard and the pool. We have the trashy fence up to keep Lauren contained. I have all her toys out there and a nice foam mat and all she wants to do is play in the dog bowl. The pool room is still not done. Our weeds are out of control and the pool smells like a giant toilet. Can you say white trash!!!

17 months

Lauren is now 17 months old. She learns something new everyday. She loves to giggle, talk, run, dance, clap, and cuddle. She has such a personality and is so much fun right now. She is so smart too. She loves putting shapes in the shape sorter, take things apart and put them back together. She is into everything and it is exhausting. She loves the park and can sing her favorite song "old mcdonald has a farm". She also knows what she wants and does a pretty good job at communicating with us...most of the time. It is hard to imagine that 17 months ago she was only 2 1/2 lbs. She is 21 lbs now!! Children are such a blessing.