Spring Cookies & Spring Showers

It has been raining a lot around here lately and April isn't even here yet! We can't wait for the sun and some time at the playground or in the backyard. We've just been wearing a whole lot of rain gear. Like this...

Poor thing ~ she needs a little raincoat. Hopefully I can find a little Hello Kitty one to match her boots. Oh and she goes through the hat/glove basket and makes her own selections. Totally not worth messing with it. :-)

It is days like this that make me wish we could put our car in the garage. Lugging kids in and out of the car when it is pouring is not fun. But there are worse problems to have so we try to make the best of it and do some baking, reading, playing and spending time with friends and hopefully the sun will be shining soon.

We baked cookies this week. I'd like to say they were Easter cookies but aside from some bunny cookies cutters I had, they were more like Spring cookies - no cross, no eggs - just butterflies, tulips and a random cupcake. The girls had a lot of fun with making the dough and tasting it, cutting the cookies and tasting them, making the frosting and tasting it and decorating the cookies and tasting the decorations. Do you see a trend here? It was really nice that Lauren could really participate too. She was a pretty good listener too except for when I told her no more chocolate chips and she kept sneaking them.

Making the Dough - Don't let Lauren's face fool you - she had fun, really she did. :-)

Rolling & Cutting

The Decorating Set Up

And drum roll please....

Lauren Turns 2!!

Today we celebrated Lauren's 2nd Birthday! She really had a great time today. We had her Elmo party at Baby Power in BH and then came back to the house to hang out a bit and open presents. She really enjoyed all the activities at her party. She loved playing in the gym...I think that was her favorite part. They also did circle time with bubbles and parachute and some sing a long songs. We had a little lunch and then it was time to eat Elmo cupcakes and sing "Happy Birthday" to our big girl.


We celebrated with close friends and family and I know Lauren enjoyed everyone's company. Even though my family couldn't be there, their creative touches and thoughtful gifts certainly made us feel their love and presence.

There are certain pros and cons to having a birthday party outside the house. I know she had an awesome time which at the end of the day is all that matters. But with 1 1/2 hours to celebrate, I do feel a little rushed and I also don't have full control over setting up decor which I enjoy doing. But all of that is minor. Lauren's happy face all day was wonderful to see. She has grown so much in the past year.

Our beautiful Lauren,

It seems like just yesterday that I brought you home from the hospital. I do miss those "baby" days but watching you grow has been even more wonderful. We are so blessed to have you as one of our daughters. We truly couldn't imagine our life without you.

Lauren, you've got a lot of spunk. You love to do things yourself - especially putting on shoes and socks and getting dressed. If there is something you think you can do yourself, you have no problems saying "I do myself". You are learning to ask for help when you know you need it. You love the outdoors and you love to climb, slide and swing. You love to color and play with your babies and strollers. You love your big sister and she loves you dearly too.

You are talking so well now. You are repeating everything we say and we pretty much can understand all your needs and wants. It is funny though that even though you try to be fiercely independent there is a total teddy bear side to you. A side that likes to hold hands while you eat. A side that wants me to hold your foots while I am driving. Seriously, you will cry so hard but once I touch your foot you are totally calm and at peace. You love to snuggle in bed with mommy and daddy and you love to rest your head on our (mommy and daddy) shoulder when you are carried. I cherish those moments. You come to us for hugs and comfort - so sweetly. You love to play with us and say "mommy pway blocks me pwease". Gosh you sound so sweet when you say those words. You love to dance and follow Jessica's ballerina moves. It won't be long before you're taking dance lessons too. Instead of putting on Jess' ballet slippers, you'll have your own.

You used to do a lot of high pitched screaming no matter your mood - happy or upset. Now you tend to giggle and squeal more with delight. You love to be tickled by your daddy. And you love when he picks you up and plays with you. You love to hear your daddy coming in through the door from work. Your face lights up so much when you see him.

Some of your favorites:

Food: pancakes, syrup, bacon, strawberries, red peppers, cucumbers, pears, steak and a few sweet treats :-P

Books: we call it the "I can do it" book, hungry caterpillar, bear hunt, brown bear, brown bear

Toys: babies, strollers, purses / backpacks / baskets - just about anything that you can put a bunch of stuff in, Dora stuff, crayons and coloring books, play doh, blocks

Activities: Playing outside and taking a bath

You and Jessica are such a joy in our lives. I can't believe we've been blessed with the privilege of raising both you and Jessica. We truly hope and pray that you and Jessica will have a lifelong bond of friendship. We love you both so much.

Happy Birthday sweetie! Mommy and Daddy couldn't be more proud of you. You truly are an incredible gift from God to our family. We love you!

Love forever and ever and always,

Mommy & Daddy

P.S. Lauren had her 2 year appointment today (3/30/10). She weighs 29 lbs. (approx. 75th percentile). She is wonderfully healthy and we couldn't be more thankful.

Is it Spring Yet?...Almost!!

This past weekend the sun was shining and it made you feel that Spring may actually arrive soon. However, it really only felt that way IN the sun. It was still pretty chilly in the shade. Regardless, it was the kind of weather that you just wanted to get out and enjoy. I pruned back some of our bushes that are supposed to be ok to prune now. I hope I didn't kill them. We also headed out to the Maple Sugar Festival at the Reeves Reed Arboretum and we actually went and got ice cream afterwards (the first visit of the year).

The festival was actually kind of small but a lot of fun and pretty informative. We listened to someone speak about maple trees, maple sap and its conversion to syrup. Jess learned it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. There was a little scavenger hunt where you answered questions related to the information we had just learned. And all of this was followed up by some yummy TASTING. It was just nice to be out together. Scott had to travel on Sunday (total bummer) so we just wanted to make the most of it...all together. :-)

I'm so glad we wore rainboots. The ground was pretty soggy.


This is Jess checking out a compass. There were different spots on the tree marked A-D and we had to determine which would be the best spot for drawing sap. The answer is the South side.


After the tasting, they offered pancakes with syrup, bananas and cider. Nobody seemed interested in taking a photo...except Mommy.



Next stop...ice cream at McCool's in Madison:

A Little Blue Dress

I just thought she looked like such a big girl...she'll be 2 in just a few week! We couldn't be prouder!

The Last Snow???

The last time it snowed we didn't go out in it. It just takes so long to get the girls dressed to go out and they only last about 15 minutes. However, this last snow, which may be our last, we decided to venture out. Scott was home due to the storm so we made it a family event.....which lasted about 15 minutes (excluding the time it took for Scott to shovel our driveway) :-)

In that 15 minutes, we attemped to ride in our sleds, swung on our swings, decorated a mound of snow that was our snowman and had a snowball fight. We made some special memories...in 15 minutes. :-)

One dressed and ready to go:


Some sledding (sort of):
Let's not think poorly of the mom photographing her crying child. Lauren really didn't like being pulled in the sled. But she did like sitting in our yellow one.


Now for some swinging:



Snowball fight:

I tried to start to make a snowman but nobody wanted to do it. I figured I would do it myself but then Jess stepped in while I was still trying to build up the bottom to do what she loves....DECORATE!