Santa came a little early

Saturday we had our family Christmas. Steve's family is coming for Christmas this year so we did our little family Christmas early. The nice thing about the girls being so young is you can do Christmas when you want. Instead of an early morning deal we set up all the gifts for after the nap(much easier for Mom and Dad)Lauren had fun but we didn't get the shocked reaction that we were hoping for. Since we just had a birthday party I think she thinks gifts are an everyday thing now. She is really going to be confused when she has Christmas with her cousins as well:) As for Chloe she had fun chewing on wrapping paper, climbing on the gifts, and stealing a chocolate chip cookie from Lauren!(and proceeded to eat it- great for an 8 month old.. the video footage gets a little crazy as I jump up to get it out of her mouth)p.s.- I know Lauren's bangs are way too long, but I'm trying to grow them out.

The bigger the tree the better?

So this year we went to go by a Christmas tree and came home with the biggest one we have ever had. Steve put it up while I cleaned the mess and on Saturday we decorated it. We thought we had a beautiful tree until six this morning when a bang woke up the whole family- Lauren and Chloe included. I went downstairs to see what it was hoping it was not the Christmas tree and there it was laying in the middle of our living room surrounded by broken ornaments and water all over the carpet. I wanted to cry since I didn't get home from work until one in the morning and now I had to deal with this. So Steve and I went to work while the girls were trying to get our attention in their cribs. I thought about taking a picture but I just wanted to get it cleaned up. So now the tree is tied with fishing line to keep it up- very classy. It doesn't look as bad as it sounds and I recommend it to anyone with a real tree! My wonderful husband let me go back to bed and I slept until 10!! There was also a McDonald's coke and biscuit waiting for me. So the morning wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be(:

Lauren Turns 2

The day started out just as it should with a two year old... Make-up all over herself and her car seat. Some of you may have seen this on Sara's blog, but on Lauren's birthday we met up with Sara and Kris at the mall and on the way to the mall Lauren decided to play with a tube of lipstick. She was asking for one of my small make-up bags and I gave it to her thinking she would not be able to open it. Big mistake! Instead of attempting to start a homemade birthday cake tradition during nap time.. I was busy cleaning her clothes and car seat. She still had a great birthday filled with lots of gifts and food. My parents had us all over for pizza and they had it all decked out with princess decorations. We decided Lauren loves parties, babies and electric guitars. After being spoiled with gifts she now understands that birthdays are fun.

Another New Stage (for both girls)

Thursday Lauren was playing in her crib for a while after her nap and when she finally started to call for me I walked into her room to find her with her shirt pulled over her head in a very awkward position. So it looks like we now like to try and take our clothes off. Not the funnest game since the day before I came in after her nap and her pants were off including the diaper.. and of course she had to pee all over her sheets. As many of you other moms know (Krista) this is not a fun experience. Since then she has kept herself clothed. As for little Chloe.. She is getting busy. In these last few weeks she has started pulling herself up, crawling, and going from crawling to sitting up! Its kind of strange how it all happened at once. She was barely sitting up and now she goes from crawling to sitting? Not only that she found her way up the kitchen stair and into the kitchen. I thought we could count on Chloe being timid and calm, but it looks like we have another explorer. Thank goodness she is still mastering all of this and is still quite slow. I am hoping that she takes her sweet time until the Christmas tree is down. The picture is of Chloe and Cameron Leys who are only one month apart. We are wondering if there will be a love connection??

An everyday moment turned into a special moment

When Lauren came home from the hospital and was still a little bitty thing, I put all her micro-preemie clothes in a special little box. The size of the clothes is about the size of doll clothes and I had hopes that one day she would be like every other little girl and want to dress-up her baby. Although Lauren prefers to take doll clothes off rather than dress them, I thought it would be fun to show her the box on this rainy afternoon. Of course she loved taking everything out of the box! Her favorite items were the hats and diapers. What got me choked up was the little doll she is holding in the picture. Volenteers made these and the purpose of them is for the mother and father to put them in thier shirts to pick up the parents scent. They would then put the cloth doll next to Lauren so she would smell us when we were not there. I can't tell you how often I had a doll down my shirt..trying to do everything we could to help her grow strong. Anyways.. I thought it was neat to watch Lauren play with all her clothes and it really made me realize what a great day it is!

Weekend away with college friends

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before, Steve and I spent a night away in Michagan City with all my college roomates. It was so much fun to be kid-free and chatching up with College friends. We stayed at a Holidome which was quite an experience!! Blast from the past. We also tryed eating at the Damons located in the hotel and that only took about two hours. Breakfast was even funnier.. There was one waiter and we were pretty sure he was also the cook (we should of learned our lesson from the night before). The girls did some shopping, the boys went to the casio and we all hung out in the "dome" for the rest of the evening- how could you ask for a better weekend? No really..thanks for putting this together girls.. I can't wait for next year! Robyn..thanks for being the only one to take pictures(oops)and next year we will have to get the group shot.

Labybug Invasion

Holloween 2007 was quite exciting for Lauren. She was trying to figure out why everyone was giving her candy and of course wanted to eat candy after we left each house(we were expecting this). She also loved handing out candy to the kids that came to our door, but each time she would try and keep one for herself. So although it was a fun day, mom and dad are glad it is over. Chloe just went with the flow- can't wait to see what happens next year...

A Surprise Pulled Off!

Saturday Night was my good friend Kelly Wilbraham's surprise 30th birthday party. It was at a very cool resturant downtown Chicago(Carnival) with great food and of course fun people!! We had a very good time and the best part was Kelly was surprised- we all know how you love surprises Kelly!!(Once again quality pictures by my camera.. It is so delayed I had to snap the picture before she entered the room and I missed the prime shot!!)

Here's to Lauren

Here's to Lauren...

Tonight we took some time to be very proud of our little miracle. Lauren was featured in a photo exhibit at Easter Seals of Du Page. She was one of Thirty kids chosen to be photographed and displayed in the building. This years theme was transitions and they thought Lauren was a perfect candidate since she has become a big sister. The photographer came to our house a week after Chloe was home.. This was quite an experience.. Thank goodness for my Mom!! Some of my family was able to come to the event which made it extra special. Easter Seals is where Lauren gets evaluated every 6 months to make sure she is on target for her age. So far she looks wonderful (we just had her 18 month corrected eval). She was going to physical therapy once a week to strengthen her stomach muscles and right shoulder but she is doing so well that she only goes once every three weeks since it is not affecting her in any way. She loves going to PT and playing with all the toys (In fact tonight she had a minor fit that she couldn't go play in "her" play room.) It is amazing to think that almost two years ago she was born only 2lbs 6oz and we had no idea what her future would hold. God has been amazing and truly blessed us!!

Mina Comes to Visit

Today we had a fun day visiting with my girlfriend Abby and her daughter Mina. They live in Montana so it is so nice to be able to spend some time together. It is really great seeing all the girls interact... each visit there seems to be less of an age gap. It is funny how life changes.. In the past when Abby was in town we would go out for lunch and talk for hours and now it is meeting up at a house in the midst of toys and talking about diapers and having babies!! The funny thing is, it is just as fun (Well, O.k... I'm sure we would both enjoy a quiet lunch!)

Oh, The Places She Will Go..

Starting a few weeks ago Chloe really became mobile(via rolling around- not crawling!). The other day I left her in the family room and I came back a few minuets later to find her like this. She pretty much can get whatever she wants now but she is often getting hurt because of it. It is crazy how time is flying.. she had her 6 m check-up today and everything looks great. She is about 16 1/2 lbs and 27 inches long. Just to clarify.. she is not completely sitting up yet so don't let that picture fool you. She can sit up for a few seconds, but then falls over so we have to be fast with the camera. Now we just have to work on her sleeping-in skills..

Off to Work I Go..

Many of you know I decided to venture back out into the work field. We decided that until our money tree allows for us to do some of the fun extras in life, I would get a very part time job. We thought that waitressing would be perfect.. Short shifts at night while the girls are sleeping, I can have some adult interaction, you can make a lot of money, and you only have to work one or two nights a week. Little did I know that it would be harder to find a waitressing job than a teaching job! No one wanted someone who only works one or two nights a week and the interview process has been quite comical. Anyways, I was hired by a restaurant Zed 451 which is an international steakhouse where the chefs bring the food to the table. Last night was my first day of training and I found out that I have to memorize the mission statement, take four tests, and serve the general manager before I can serve on the floor. Not only that, lets just say Steve and Chloe were not the best of friends last night and she refused to take a bottle from him. Steve is really looking forward to this!! Maybe this was not the best idea after all???

Another First

Yesterday I bought a few books on potty training at a garage sale for when we attempt potty training with Lauren. I know this will be a long ways off, but they were cute books so I figured I would put them away for awhile (until next summer at least). Lauren found them this morning so I started reading them to her. She went to the toilet after reading the books so I thought..well why not? I took her diaper off and put her on the toilet, never thinking that she would go. She liked just sitting there and right when I was ready to put her diaper on and get her dressed..I heard a trickle!! She looked at me with a big smile and of course I started praising her like crazy. I even gave her a brownie.. I know, bad mom..a brownie at 9:30 AM. I know that was most likely just a freak thing, but maybe potty training is coming sooner than we thought!

A Fun Weekend with Cousins

Last Weekend we made a trip to Grand Rapids to visit with family. We had a great time catching up with Steve's sister Sue and Mike and their cute kids- Emily, Braedon, and Kyle. Emily was always by Lauren's side and Lauren loved it. I realized that Lauren understands a lot more than I think because she would listen to everything Emily said(For some reason she doesn't listen to me like that..I need to find out Emily's tricks!!). We also saw Steve's cousin Brad Kuiken and his family which was a great time. All the cousins loved playing together(pictures to come). Friday night we were able to get together with the a bunch of Steve's friends from college which was also so much fun(we missed you Bradi, but thanks for letting us invade your house!). That about sums up the weekend. When we got home I discovered Chloe is the new owner of a pearly white tooth!! Surprisingly she was in a pretty good mood all weekend despite her first tooth. Thanks to everyone who made it a great weekend!!

Our trip to the zoo

Before the weather gets cold we decided to go to the zoo with our friends Sara and Mark and their sons Zach and Cameron. We had perfect weather!! Lauren had a good time since she is starting to recognize animals but I think she had more fun running around with her friend Zach. Chloe also enjoyed the zoo since she likes being outside. Lauren still doesn't understand how to smile on demand and is usually too busy to stop for a picture so most of our pictures are of "stone cold" Lauren (It also doesn't help that our camera has a delay). Anyways, it was a fun day so thanks for the great idea Sara and Mark. Happy Fall!

Our first call to 911

Thursday night we were all sitting in the family room and Lauren was playing with the phone(which she often does). I took the phone away and pressed end in case her random button pressing actually called someone. A second later the phone rings and it is 911 dispatch asking if we meant to call 911!! I explained that our daughter was playing with the phone and there was no emergency. Thankfully they believed me, and after a series of questions they hung up. So I guess we will have to be more careful with the phone- Lauren's next call could be to China.

Lauren found a new hobby

Chloe was down for a nice long morning nap so I thought I would introduce Lauren to Play-Doh. It was quite a hit. As you can see we went from a nice pile of Play-Doh... to Play-Doh everywhere. Making a mess is one of Lauren's "favorite things" so this did not surprise me. She made one attempt to eat it but gave me a look like "Why did you give me this to eat? It's disgusting!" I guess it makes sense that she tried to eat it since I gave her all her play kitchen utensils to explore the Play-Doh (even though I said don't eat it). Once it stared getting flung on the floor I decided it was time to put the Play-Doh away. I'm not sure when we will play with Play-Doh again, but if Lauren had her choice I'm sure it would be soon!

Well we finally broke done and created a blog

After enjoying looking at all our friend's blogs, we thought we would give it a try. For those of you who know me you will think this is a joke since I'm one of the worlds worst e-mailers (if that's a word). So you are going to have to bare with me as I try and keep this page updated.