Lauren is 9 Months Old!!

Well, now she is 9 months and 1 week old (since I'm a little late posting this). She is growing up so fast!! It's a happy and sad moment, knowing that she is my last baby. We will be entering the toddler years soon. She brings so much joy to all our lives. Her big brother and big sister do so good with taking care of her and loving her. She is one lucky little girl!

She had her 9 month check-up on Valentine's Day. We didn't do shots this time, because she was running a low-grade fever the day before. I think the cause was probably teeth, but it's better to be safe than sorry. We will do that shot at her next check-up in 3 months. She had a great appointment. The doctor said she was PERFECT!! Those are words we love to hear about our children. I know no one is truly "perfect," but I'd like to say she is pretty darn close. ;-) She is now 15 lbs, 15 oz and is just over 26 inches long. She's still a petite little girl (5th percentile), but she is growing.

What's new with Lauren...well, she got her 1st tooth peeking it's way through her gums. I can finally feel it and see where it's coming in. She is also soooooooo very mobile!!! She is crawling all over, getting into stuff and even CLIMBS STAIRS!!! I think we need to invest in some baby gates and other child proofing items - one of those items should be a new entertainment stand to hide our electronics...Lauren wanted to play the XBox 360 and broke it!! I'm actually a little sad about that, we had the new Kinect and it's really fun. Hopefully we'll get it fixed soon. Lauren is pulling up on everything, and the poor XBox was her first victim.

This last week was a little low-key. We stayed home most of it, but we did go to the park one day and a movie that night. It was nice to relax a bit. I am looking forward to some sunshine and warmer temperatures, because the kids (and me) are starting to miss going to the park. And Jacob is ready to start baseball (and I'm ready to watch him). Since we didn't do too much, I don't have as many pictures this time...enjoy the few I have!! :-)

This is one of my FAVORITE pictures of Lauren!!

I love seeing her BIG BLUE EYES and her DIMPLE SMILE!!

She's such a happy baby!!

The one day we went to the park this week, the kids were digging in the dirt and found some icky worms!! I'm happy to report, we left them there
(even though Ashlyn wanted to take them home as pets)!!

My handsome and sweet boy...and my goofy and pretty girl!!

I LOVE MY KIDDOS!! :-)

Finally Some Updates... ;-)

After a 2 1/2 week break, I'm back!! :-) We've been having gorgeous weather out here, so we've spent a lot of times outside at the parks. The kids love running around and riding their bikes.

Jacob is still doing well at school. Reading, Math and now weekly spelling lists!! He's meeting more friends all the time. I think he's been to more birthday parties this year than ever before. Next month, we'll be planning his!! He's also getting ready to start Little League. I'm pretty excited for him. He has a great coach, so I think it will be a really good year for him.

Ashlyn is really enjoying preschool. She also met a few new friends, and talks about them a lot. I'm hoping to set up some playdates for her soon. I'm still looking around at some gymnastics places to get her in, hopefully we'll start something in the next couple weeks. She also informed me she wants to do dance...and today she wants to take a singing class and tapping. I wonder if she's going to be my little performer!! She sure is a drama queen!! ;-)

Lauren is growing up so much lately. A month ago, she started her inch-worm crawl. And now she is doing the full hands and knees crawl, pulling up, and standing (for a few seconds) on her own. She gets into EVERYTHING. Last week, she pulled up on our TV stand and broke daddy's new XBox! :-( It's hard to get upset at such a sweet baby girl. Now we are shopping around for a new TV stand with doors. Her 9 month appointment is in a week. The doctor will decide at that time if she needs to get blood work done. He may want to, depending on how her weight gain is going. She's been falling behind her own curve since about 2 months old. I think she's just a petite little princess, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Keep her in your prayers.

Below are some pictures of what we've been up to. I'll update sooner next time, so you won't be overwhelmed with our activities! ;-)

Lauren LOVES swinging at the parks!!

Every Friday, we go to a playgroup (called Little Sprouts) at one of the churches. The kids get to do arts/crafts, sing/music, story-time, snack and play with their friends. It's a lot of fun and Ashlyn LOVES it!! Above is Ash getting messy!! And below is her playing with her friend/neighbor, Nico.
They have so much fun together!!

We took the kids to Happy Hollow in San Jose. It's a little amusement park/zoo made just for young kids. They really enjoyed riding all the rides. Their favorite one was the Frog Hopper.

Lauren has discovered her "twin."

She enjoys playing with and looking at the other baby.

I hope I'm not creating a little diva!!

Jacob had a Friday off from school. So he got to go to Little Sprouts with Ash. Ash was excited to show Jacob all the stuff that she gets to do. I think he had a good time!! After this, we TRIED to meet daddy at his new office location. But I didn't do too well driving in the city and trying to find parking. So we decided to just meet him at Pier 39. We walked around for a little bit, saw the sea lions and a magic show, then went home to ride bikes! I think he had a good day off.

Here's baby girl pulling up on the stairs.

She actually climbed 3 steps at the park the other day.

After I pick Jacob up (when Ashlyn is in school), we head to the park.

Lauren really enjoys big brother pushing her in the swings!

And I think he enjoys pushing her too and making her laugh.

We took a hike this weekend at a park called Water Dog Lake. This was our first time here, and I think we'll be going back again and again. It's not too far from our house and it's a nice little hike. The kids enjoyed it too. Even Lauren was happy in the stroller. We'll also be checking out some other trails to explore in the future. It was a nice family outing.

Pretty girl!!

She was watching her big brother and sister ride their bikes when we got home.

This picture shows how much Jacob LOVES to ride his bike.

Now that he can do it without training wheels, he never wants to quit.

It was time to go inside, so daddy had to carry him in - bike and all!! LOL

We went to Uncle Gary's and Aunt Kathy's house to watch the Superbowl.
We got there early so the kids can take a ride on the 4-wheeler and Rhino.
Go Packers!!

Ashlyn's 1st Day of Preschool!! 1/18/11

We finally started Ashlyn in preschool. We debated when and where for a while, and finally decided Sea Breeze was the best option. Her preschool is right across the street from Jacob's school, so this will make drop off and pick up much easier. Putting her in now is to our advantage. Since there are a lot of children on the waiting list for next year, we are now considered current students and will have priority when it's time to enroll.

She had a wonderful first day of school. Her teacher had many compliments about her. She said she seemed "older" and had great mannerism. She listened, obeyed, and got along with all her new friends. She really is a good and smart kid. :-)

Ashlyn in front of the sign for her school - Sea Breeze.
She was so excited and so ready to begin.

Since Jacob took a sick day today, he got to come with us to drop Ashlyn off.

Ashlyn fit right in. She made some new friends as soon as she walked into the classroom. She had no problems with me leaving her for the afternoon.

She looks SO BIG in this picture!! My little girl is growing up!!

Innocent little girl!! ;-)

Family Day at the Park - Saturday, 1/15/11

This past weekend was BEAUTIFUL!! Unfortunately we only got to enjoy the outdoors as a family 1 day - Jacob ended up sick on Sunday morning. However, Saturday we went to a park to play and ride bikes.

Lauren LOVED the swings. She giggled the whole time!!

Mike and Jacob played catch. Jacob will be playing baseball this spring,
so this was good practice for him. Next time we'll bring his bat.

Jacob riding his bike!

Jacob is a determinded little boy. He tries so hard and accomplishes a lot. He started riding his bike without training wheels before Christmas, this video is his first time back on his bike after coming home from Kansas City. He is now able to turn a lot better, and also start off with no help!! So proud of my big boy!! :-)

Lauren is 8 Months Old!! - And Pics of the Big Kids!!

Where have the last 8 months gone?? It's hard to believe baby Lauren is 8 months old now!! She is growing up so fast and developing into her own personality. She is such a precious little girl, who is loved by so many people. Especially her big brother and big sister. Ashlyn can really get her laughing good, and Jacob has a special touch and sound to his voice that just calms her. It amazes me when I watch her look up to them and to see that special bond.

Some updates on Lauren - She is beginning to crawl (in her own way)!! It is so cute to watch her scoot herself forward to where she wants to go. I'm hoping to get a good video of her doing it so I can post it for you all to see. Since we got back from Kansas City, she is also eating much better with her solid foods. It's so good, that she is grabbing "real" food out of my hands to eat. I'm curious to see how much she weighs at her next check-up. She is also doing MUCH BETTER with sleeping at night. She went from waking up several times a night a week ago to only once now. Mommy is loving this!! Now I can stay up until 1am posting to the blog and not be a zombie the next day. ;-)

Here is a picture of our beautiful little princess sound asleep in dreamland!!

I finally graduated her to the big bathtub! She took a bath like a big girl with her sister and LOVED it!! She enjoyed her new bath toys, and watching her sister play in the water.

Ashlyn hugging a tree on our walk home from school.

My handsome 1st grader!!

Ashlyn and Jacob walking home from school/park. They had a blast playing together!!

New Year = New Start to the Blog!!

Happy New Year!! It's been a long time since I posted to this blog, but I'm going to start fresh. I attempted to start blogging just over 2 years ago, and never really got into a routine. I'm hoping to make a change now.

We've had a lot of BIG changes this past year - Mike's new job, surprise pregnancy/birth of baby Lauren, moving half way across the country and more. I want to be able to update our life events more than what Facebook can show (if that's even possible).

This will be my longest post with some of the pictures from our first trip back to Kansas City. Enjoy looking/reading and make comments as you wish.

Ashlyn and Jacob getting ready to board the plane! They were very excited!!

We made it!!

Movie night with Grandma!! I think they were watching Santa Paws.

Our yearly playgroup at Crown Center and the Crayola Playland.
Just because we moved away we couldn't miss this.

Since Santa already made a visit to our house in California, the kids got to say thanks!!

This was only SOME of our friends there!! It was great getting together with everyone!! I'm in the middle...didn't realize how short I am until I saw this. LOL

Shopping out at the Legends...it was a little chilly!!

Poor baby girl had to visit Children's Mercy...diagnosis - RSV. :-(

We made Spritz cookies, and Jacob wanted to help. It didn't last long because he didn't like the smell. He was just creaming the butter and sugar together, but if he didn't quit...we might have had a repeat of when he scooped out his pumpkin a couple years ago. ;-)

Christmas morning!!
Santa made another visit for them and filled their stockings with goodies and left some books.

Look at all those presents from Grandma!! I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to get them all home. But we made it work out!! :-)
THANK YOU, GRANDMA!!

Uncle Pat and Ashlyn putting together a puzzle.
They had sooooo much fun together!!

Jacob and Uncle Chris working together.

Who needs baby food when you have Grandma and she has pie?!?!?!

Since we flew home on Ashlyn's birthday, she wanted to have a party at Chuck E Cheese with her friends. So we got some friends together and celebrated Ashlyn turning FOUR!! I still can't believe she's THAT OLD!! YIKES!! They aren't babies for long!!

Mike and I were able to away alone and go to a Chiefs game. It was nice tailgating and spending time without the little ones since that doesn't happen very often anymore. Even though the Chiefs lost, it was still a great day.

After the game, we had the Hendrix's over for dinner. My mom cooked an awesome turkey, and the kids had a blast running around, playing their DSs, playing hide and seek and just having fun together. They all get a long so great!!

The kids LOVED having (board) game nights!! Even though they love the electronic games, Jacob especially enjoys the board games. They got a few new ones for Christmas.

At the airport to say our goodbyes!! :-(

Ashlyn tells Grandma goodbye one last time!! :-(

This is just some of what we did. The kids got to see their friends quite a bit, Jacob was able to go to karate a couple times - once for their Christmas party and once for class when they did "marker wars." He had fun and was happy to start karate when we got home. It was just nice being back "home" - in Kansas City. The kids enjoyed waking up seeing Grandma and playing wild and crazy with their Uncles. Uncle Sean and Aunt Katherine took the older two on an overnight adventure and bowling the next day. Fun was had by all. We did not like to see the trip come to an end, but now we get to look forward to the next time!! Grandma is going to make a surprise trip to California in March - I hope I can keep my mouth quiet about it. I'm excited to see the expressions on their face when Grandma surprises them!!

Ok, I think I'm done now for now. Until next time...