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!!)