Her Very First Meal

Lauryn has been talking about helping more with meals and wanting to do more cooking.  She's always helped me in the kitchen with measuring, stirring, etc. but now she wants to do more by herself.  We talked it over and decided tonight, for her first meal on her own, she'd make taco salad and bean dip.  It was hard for me to stand back and let her do it, and she did ask for a little help here and there, but she listened when I explained why things had to be done a certain way, she was very careful and she did a great job!  From making the meal and setting the table to putting leftovers away and cleaning up, she really did great and she loved doing it on her own.  When I mentioned her cleaning up after, because when Mama makes a meal, Mama has to clean up, she thought it was great that she was going to do that, too!  I told her that if she'd like, we could make one meal a week that was a "Lauryn Meal" meaning she'd do it all on her own.  She was thrilled!  I love that she's showing so much interest in the kitchen and I love how well she listened and got right into what she was doing.  I'm looking forward to more "Lauryn Meals." :)

 

[caption id="attachment_5024" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Browning the burger[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_5025" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Stirring in the seasonings[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5026" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Cutting the lettuce[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5027" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Setting the table[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5029" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Lauryn approved[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5033" align="aligncenter" width="210"] Mama approved[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5031" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Helping clean up[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5032" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Drawing pictures of her recipe[/caption]

Weekend In Review

To share your weekend, please visit Jodi at:

Friday ~ Happy Birthday, Lucas Elijah!  Today my baby boy is 2 years old!  We started the day with Lucas opening his presents.  After Lloyd went to work, we got ready and then met Cary and Abri at Silk City Saloon for lunch.  We all came back here and had such a nice visit.  There's something so special about hearing Lauryn and Abri giggling together, like Cary and I have done for years!  After our visit, the kids and I went to Greenville to get everything we needed for Lucas's party on Saturday.  The rest of the night was spent cleaning and preparing food.

[caption id="attachment_4919" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Opening Present[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4920" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Future ball player :)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4921" align="aligncenter" width="300"] When they're big, you gotta climb on them to get them open![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4922" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Checking it out.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4923" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Slam dunk![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4924" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Birthday Ice Cream at Silk City Saloon[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4925" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Hugs from Cary[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4926" align="aligncenter" width="224"] Abri, Cary, Lucas (who wanted more hugs) and Lauryn.[/caption]

Saturday ~ We spent the morning and early afternoon getting the yard and house ready for the party.  We had such a great time!  Our friend, Jessica, brought her bounce house and the kids loved jumping around in between games and food. :)  Our family and friends made Lucas's birthday so special and so much fun!  We are so thankful to have such awesome people in our lives!

[caption id="attachment_4927" align="aligncenter" width="224"] All dressed up for her brothers party.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4928" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Bounce house fun![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4929" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daddy eating with the birthday boy.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4930" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pin the Tail on the Donkey[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4931" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Balloon Pop[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4932" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "Tuptakes!"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4933" align="aligncenter" width="300"] "More please, Mama!"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4934" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Getting some help opening presents.[/caption]

Sunday ~ We had a completely lazy day!  Lloyd showed a house, the kids and I ran a couple of errands, and the rest of the day was spent hanging out and playing.  After dinner, Lauryn was eating an ice cream cone when her first tooth finally fell out!  She was so excited she kept doing little happy dances around the house (she is SO my child!).  After the kids went to bed, Lloyd and I watched a couple of episodes of "Orange is the New Black."  It was a fantastic weekend, spent with amazing people! 

It finally fell out!

(Monday morning)

The Tooth Fairy was here!

My Little Ballerina

Today we took Lauryn to a sweet little shop in Grand Rapids, called Kicks Dancewear, to buy her first leotard, ballet slippers and tap shoes.  She LOVES to dance so we're enrolling her at The Flat River Dance Company.  She'll start in pre-ballet.  They'll be learning ballet, tap and creative movement.  I am so excited for her.  We discussed it, I emailed some questions to the director and had all the answers before we even mentioned it to her.  When we did, she was thrilled!  Our neighbors granddaughter, who has been in ballet for a couple of years, taught Lauryn a couple of moves, and she does them all of the time.  I think this is going to be such an awesome experience for her.  :)

I had another good day on this weight loss journey.  I did 20 minutes on the elliptical again, stepping it up with the tension to burn a few more calories, and 40 minutes on the Wii Fit.  I could feel yesterdays work out and, even though I was sore, it felt great!  I know I've got a long way but I can't wait to see some results! :)

Happy Birthday, Lauryn Elaine!

Today is my sweet girls 5th birthday!  It blows my mind that it's been five whole years since she came into our world.  I remember every single detail about the day she was born, like it was yesterday.  I'm sure I won't get all the pictures downloaded tonight, so I'll do another post tomorrow.  I think it's safe to say Lauryn had a fantastic day!  She was surrounded by her favorite people, we had one of her favorite meals, she was spoiled by everyone, and she LOVED her special surprise from me and Lloyd, a face painter.  :)  Both kids went to bed without so much as a peep!  That's rare!  It makes me so happy to know she had such a great time on her special day!

Young 5's

In a couple short weeks, Lauryn will be starting Young 5's at preschool.  This year, she'll be going two half days and one full day.  Her first day is a full day, from 9 am to 3 pm.  It's going to be so weird not having her here all day every day again.  And to have her gone for so long one day a week.  I know I have to get used to it because next year, in kindergarten, she'll be going full days five days a week.  My little girl is growing up so fast!  She's really excited to go back.  I am too!  I will miss her but I know how much she's looking forward to it and I think getting back into that routine will be good for her.  I've tried to keep her busy this summer, with fun projects and play dates, but on days where there isn't much going on, she gets bored and sometimes a little bit naughty.  Also in a couple of weeks, the reading program at the library starts back up.  We had so much fun doing that and it will be fun to get back into it.

Parent/Teacher Conference

We had our first parent/teacher conference on Valentine's Day.  It was great!  We knew we had a little smarty pants on our hands but it was great to hear some things about Lauryn that we don't get to see.  For starters, we were pretty shocked to learn how reserved and quiet Lauryn is at school.  We figured we hear that she talks too much and might even be a little bossy.  Her teacher said that at first she kept to herself quite a bit, unless other kids were playing on the slide.  She loves the slide and was very friendly with anyone else who wanted to slide too.  She also said that Lauryn is learning how to tell others "no."  There is a little boy who can be a bit too aggressive (with all the kids, not just Lauryn) and she's learning to tell him no when she doesn't want to play.  There is another little boy who is even more quiet and reserved than Lauryn and her teacher said they've become very good friends.  She said that Lauryn helps him open up a little more than he had been.  The thing we heard that I loved the most (and already knew) is that when another kid is sad, her teacher said Lauryn does whatever she can to make them feel better.  She said you can see her eyes darting around, trying to figure out how she can make things better.  My girl has such a good heart!  We saw samples of Lauryn's handwriting from the beginning of the year and saw how far she's come with that.  We knew that too, because she practices with us at home all the time, but it was neat to see the side by side comparison.  I was really pleased with how the conference went and how in depth it really was.  I figured being a preschool conference, it wouldn't have gone into so much detail.  We came home with her first Progress Report and it was filled with positive things about Lauryn.  I am so proud of my sweet girl! :)

Getting Better

Today was the third day with Lucas eating cereal and it's going so much better.  I still think the main problem before was that I interrupted his bedtime routine with it.  Yesterday and today I tried it in the afternoon and earlier in the evening and he seems to like.  Lauryn really wants to help out and she gets upset when I tell her no.  I tried explaining that eating with a spoon is new to Lucas and until he gets good at it, only Mama or Daddy should feed him.  That didn't go over well.  I told her that as soon as he gets good at it, she can help.  I love that she wants to be so involved and wants to help out with him so much.  She's such a good big sister!

It's Going To Be Weird!

I can't believe that in less than a week, we will have a preschooler!  My baby girl is growing up!  I was telling Lloyd that mornings are going to be weird around here while Lauryn is at school.  I've gotten used to her routine of juice and cartoons first thing in the morning and it will be weird to not have that.  I'm going to use the time she's at school to work out.  I figure that's the best time because Lucas is always sleeping then and she won't be here to want to be on the elliptical or help Mama with the Wii fit board, so it's the best time to get a good work out in.  Today and tomorrow  we are going to pick up some school clothes, a car seat for Lloyd's car and maybe a backpack.  I can't believe I'm going school clothes shopping for her!  Just seems crazy!

Lauryn's Pregnancy

Yes, you read that right.  The title of this post is "Lauryn's Pregnancy."  For those of you who may be reading this but don't know me, I am talking about my three year old.  If you ask her about the baby in my belly, she'll tell you we're having a boy and we're naming him Lucas.  Then she'll go on to tell you about the baby in her tummy.  The "Baby Ragged Dinosaur."  I don't know where she came up with Baby Ragged Dinosaur but that's what it's been since this all started.  She tells me all the time that her baby is giving her heartburn and she should probably have some Tums and the other day she came running in the kitchen to tell me that she had just felt her baby kick!  It cracks me up!  I think her pregnancy has been harder on her than mine has been on me!  I love my silly girl!

On a different note, I'm thinking about making a yoga mat bag for a friend of mine.  I need to get back into crocheting because there will be two new babies coming in May and June and I thought that would be a good project to get the ball rolling.  I've been looking at patterns but I think I'll probably end up making something on my own.

 

Silly Girl

I love the things Lauryn comes up with.  She once told me, after watching a toothpaste commercial, that she needed cavities!  She saw a Snickers commercial and for a week kept telling me needed "snackers" and until I saw the commercial, I had no idea what she was asking for.  Today, she saw an ad for adult incontinence products so of course, she runs up to me and asks me, "Mama, can I have some Depends please?"  I love my silly girl!

Lauryn's Going To Be 3!!!

Okay so I'm jumping the gun a little bit.  She will be turning three on November 2nd.  We teeny, tiny little baby girl is growing up way too fast!  These three years have flown by!  Now it's time to start planning for her party!  I try to keep it small with just grandparents, aunt and uncles and this year I'm going to invite her best friend too but by the time the big day gets here, I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with it's head cut off!  It's always fun in the end and as long as my girl has a wonderful day, it's more than worth it!  Now is when I start putting all my plans on paper, making lists so I don't forget anything.  I'm thinking this year I should make tacos as it's one of Lauryn's favorite foods and I'm pretty sure that will go over well with everyone else too.  I'll probably make up some bean dip and some guacamole to go with it and then, of course, cake and ice cream.  Then I have to get some kids birthday party supplies, like decorations and surprised and sweets for goody bags.  There's a lot to do but it will be fun!  I do love planning an extra special day for my sweet girl!

Roseola

Sounds pretty, doesn't it?  Too bad it's the name of the rash that Lauryn has as a result of having such a high fever over the weekend.  I was pretty sure that's what it was when I saw it this morning but I called her doctor's office to check with them.  They wanted to see her so we went this afternoon and the doctor confirmed that that's what she has.  Luckily, it's not contagious and it doesn't seem to bother her one bit.  The doctor said it should clear up in a few days.  While we were there, she was weighed and measured and she weighs 25 pound and is 35" tall.  Still on the low end of the scales but there's no surprise there!  She always has been.  I think there's only been one appointment where her height and weight was in the 50th percentile.  I was really small when I was a kid, so it doesn't surprise me that she is too.  She eats very healthy and is very active so I don't worry about it :)

She's Baaaack!

Lauryn is back to normal :)  She didn't have a fever yesterday and it hasn't come back today!  Yay!!!  I am one happy Mama!  Her gums, at least on one side, still seem to be red and swollen but they don't seem to be bothering her at all today.  I will be happy when those darn teeth finally break through.  She didn't have an easy time with any of her teeth breaking through so I'm not surprised that she's having problems this time.

Not a whole lot going on today.  The house has been picked up, dishes are done, bed is made, we went to the bank and the store.  I have two loads of laundry to catch up on but that's about all I have planned for the rest of the day.  I was supposed to have Willow today but the poor girl caught that nasty stomach bug that's been going around.  Hopefully it own't last long!  Lauryn is missing her BFF :)  I still have to figure out what to make for dinner but we have some leftovers to use up so it should be easy :)

Long Night

I ended up going to bed around 11 pm last night, figuring I should get some sleep incase Lauryn wakes up and we  have a night like the one before.  I woke around 3 am, hearing Lloyd trying to calm her down.  Around 1 am, he was getting ready to go to bed and she started to wake up.  He very awesomely went to her right away so I didn't even hear her and wouldn't be woken up :)  When I did get up a little later, I checked her temperature and it was still really high.  I gave her another dose of tylenol, stripped her clothes off her and kept putting a cool wash cloth on her forehead and neck.  Around 4:30 am she was asking for a bath so I ran a lukewarm bath and let her sit in for a few minutes.  I put some cooler pajamas on her and got her back to bed around 5:20 am.  She woke up an hours later and was standing up in her bed when I got in the room.  She didn't seem fully awake so I helped her lay back down and she drifted back off to sleep. She woke up at 9:30 this morning and her temperature is going down!  She seems a lot more energetic already.  Let's just hope this is an actually recovery, unike yesterday when she seemed to be getting better, only to end up getting worse!

Worse!

Just when I think Lauryn is getting over whatever is causing her to have a fever, it gets worse!  After she got up from her nap, the fever was back up to where it had been before, then after dinner it went up to 104.2!  She's never had a fever that high so I am one nervous Mama.  I gave her a dose of Tylenol and she went to bed but she hasn't been sleeping well.  I'm just praying it doesn't get worse andwe have to go to the ER :( 

Lloyd's parents are coming over tomorrow and were planning on taking us out to dinner for his birthday but that's not going to happen now.  I still would like them to come over but I hope they understand that I'm not taking Lauryn out.  We can order in or I can make dinner.  Either way is fine by me.

Better

The fever has finally broken!!!  Lauryn woke up around 2 am and was hot!  We chilled on the couch for three hours before I could finally get her back to bed.  During those three hours, I tried keeping her filled up on liquids.  It was a long night but at least she wasn't upset....just awake!  I noticed this morning that her gums are a little red and swollen.  I think the fever was caused from her two year molars.  Every single tooth that has come through has been really rough on her :(  All I can say is I'm glad the fever finally broke!!!

I got a call from my mother-in-law this morning.  She wanted to see if it was okay if they took us out to dinner tomorrow night for Lloyd's birthday.  Heck yeah, it's okay :)  I love cooking but I also love a break from the kitchen :)  After dinner, we're going to come back here and have some German chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream.  YUM!  This should be a really nice weekend!

Is That The Sun???

I think Michigan is confused.  Yesterday (and the night before) we had snow, ice, rain and thunderstorms.  Today, most things are still iced over, it's still really cold but the sun has been out and shining all day!  We had a little spring teaser last week and it was so nice!  It was great to get out and go on walks with the family, to feel the sun and a warm breeze :)  I can't wait for it to stay that way!

Well I got all my "Thursday cleaning" done.  Cleaned out and wiped out the fridge, changed the kitty litter, swept, mopped, dusted, washed windows, vacuumed and gathered the garbage to go out. 

Lauryn took an incredibly long nap today.  I was happy about it because I got so much done while she was sleeping but shortly after she got up, I realized she was really warm.  I took her temperature and found she had a fever of 102.1.  I gave her some tylenol and we cuddled on the couch for a bit.  After about a half an hour, she got a burst of energy.  She was running around and hollaring.  But as it got closer to bed time, she wound down again.  I checked her temperature again and it had gone down to 100.2.  I gave her another dose of tylenol and when Lloyd put her to bed she said her head hurt.  I hope she sleeps good tonight and feels better in the morning.  I never feel more helpless as I do when my girl is sick :(

Hello Thursday

Lots of cleaning to get done today, per usual.  Luckily, I think there is only two loads of laundry to be done so I won't be spending half the day doing that.  But the usual Thursday, day-before-garbage-day tasks need to be done.  Fun, fun.

Aside from all that fun cleaning, today should be an interesting day.  My sweet little Lauryn has had three meltdowns and it's not even 10 am!  I asked her, after the last one, if this was going to be "one of those days" and she assured me it wasn't going to be.  Somehow, I don't quite believe her :)

I started part two of my "Pay It Forward" project.  I can't show anything here yet because it's supposed to be a surprise but when it's all done and the recipients have gotten their packages, I'll post pictures of what I sent them :)

Sick, Again!

My poor girl!  She has a nasty cold again.  She's got a runny nose, a bad cough, she hasn't been sleeping well at all and until today, she was barely eating.  I really hope she starts feeling better soon because this has taken a lot out of her!  Also because we have a lot planned for this weekend and I want her to be able to enjoy herself!

Lazy Sunday

I spent most of my day, doing about as little as possible.  I was tired in the afternoon and even tried taking a nap but I couldn't fall asleep so I got up and got dinner going.  I'll have to post the recipe later because it was really yummy!  We had Sweet & Sour Meatballs with white rice and a salad.  I'd never made meatballs that way before but they turned out great and I'll definitely be making them again!  After dinner I was a little more productive.  I did the dishes, swept the kitchen and vacuumed.  It's amazing how nice the house looks when all the toys are put away and the floors are cleaned!  Too bad it won't last long :)

Tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun for Lauryn.  Her BFF is coming over and they haven't seen each other since before Christmas!  Hopefully I'll have more energy that I did today!  Keeping up with two toddlers takes a lot out of you :)

Advice for the day:  Never trust a man who wears bow ties!