Happy 30th Birthday Mommy!!

For her 30th birthday, I got Mommy a fan and then Daddy put me in the box! Ok, I didn't really get Mommy a fan, but I sure did have fun in the box. Mommy really got tickets to a Bon Jovi concert in July from Daddy, me, and Grammie and Grandpa. She was super excited!


Mommy took me to the Botanic Gardens for a concert and picnic with her friends for her birthday. London and I ate lots of snacks.


It would be nice if I could say I was reading this story to Ainsley, but I was really grabbing the book from her and saying, "mine."



My friend Zach was at the concert too. So London, Zach, and I danced all around.


I did really like helping give Brinkley his bottle though.


After the gardens, Mommy and I met Aunt Stephie, Uncle Jon, and Daddy at the Highwood Farmer's Market for a birthday picnic. Here's a family birthday picture.


Uncle Jon was being silly and I loved every minute of it!


Then Grammie and Grandpa came to visit for the weekend and we went to the horse race track. I love horsies and having another picnic was so much fun. Especially when I stole Mommy's chicken leg right off her plate and decided to eat it all by myself.


Grandpa or Papa as I call him, let me help him pick out the winning horse in the races. I even got to go on walks with him to go place bets. I loved it when he took me right down by the track and I got to see the horsies up close.


Then when we got home from the race track, Aunt Stephie and Daddy planned a huge surprise party for Mommy's birthday. There were so many people and kids for me to play with. What a super fun evening! I know Mommy had a really good time and was surprised too because she was shaking when she saw everyone in our backyard. There were friends there from Mommy's high school, college, work, lots of family members, and our neighbors even came. I got to steal a couple minutes of Mommy's time during the party and sat on her lap.


Look at all the people in our backyard. I have never had so many friends at my house! Then a few friends even spent the night so we played the whole next morning too! Mommy sure is lucky to have so many good and fun friends. See Mommy, turning 30 isn't really that bad!

A Day in the Life of a 1.75 Year Old

Last Thursday was my first day of summer vacation 2010 with Lauren and boy was it a crazy day! As I was talking to my mom later in the day I realized I should have taken photos of the day just to document a typical day in the life of a one year old. So that's what I did today, Monday, June 14, 2010. Enjoy!

Oh and these photos don't even include our trip to The Container Store and library.


Lauren started the day playing with her new favorite friend, Dora. Our neighbor gave it to Lauren yesterday and they became instant best friends.



Helping Mommy load the dishwasher?



Taking her bags on a shopping trip.



Cheerios on the floor even though Lauren already had breakfast.



Lauren decided the window was "messy" and decided to help clean it.


Lunch time - peas, almost an entire box of Mac 'n Cheese, and apples.


Yoda or ET? Gearing up for finger painting outside.


Is it really ok to do this with my fingers?



Check it out - I'm messy and Mommy doesn't even care.



I used a chip clip on the back of her shirt to keep it tight. Lauren was so excited to be wearing Mommy's shirt.



"Playing" the Candy Land matching shapes game. Lauren doesn't really understand the concept of taking turns when playing a game yet, so she treats this more like a puzzle and matches the shapes to the game pieces. Some day I know she will LOVE playing games as much as I do.




Lauren has discovered our little landing at the base of the steps and loves to spend time there. Now that she is much better at going up and down the stairs by herself, I don't mind if she plays there. In this photo she is watching a Baby Einstein video about farm animals as I am preparing dinner.



Bath time with Daddy and of course Lauren is coloring. She would color all day long if she could.



Listening to Daddy read The Big Red Barn. Still one of Lauren's favorites.


Getting ready to give Daddy a god night kiss.

ABCs

All of a sudden Lauren is very interested in her ABCs. She loves singing her ABCs and repeating the letters after we say them. Just a few weeks ago I was thinking that I should start saying the ABCs to her and then, not even two days later she started singing them to me. Must be another wonderful skill she learned at Mariah's house!

Lauren's Own Pool

Lauren had so much fun this weekend playing in her own backyard. Grammie Sue and Aunt Stephie surprised Lauren with her very own pool. What a lucky little girl! Lauren is starting to say Grammie and Stephie now too. She calls Grandpa, Papa and gets so excited when he enters a room. In fact, this morning she was calling for him and Aunt Stephie when she woke up. It was hard to explain to her they were at their own houses now.


Putting on sunscreen with Grammie Sue. Ever since she put this on yesterday, each time Lauren sees the bottle she wants to put more on. I'm glad she doesn't mind putting on sunscreen!


Playing in the pool with Grammie Sue. Grammie and Grandpa brought Lauren an elephant watering can too. She loves filling that up and watering plants and people.


Splashing in the pool.


So happy to have her own special space. This may be my favorite summer photo, and to think summer's just starting!


Chillin' with Mommy on the couch after a busy, busy day outside.

A Few Cute Videos

A Family Affair

Aunt Stephie has been very busy volunteering for the Junior League of Chicago. One of the fundraisers this groups does is a family carnival day called A Family Affair. There were many activities for children to participate in including making Mother's Day cards, carnival games, planting flowers, and lots of music to dance and listen to. Not to mention all the fantastic food! All of the money raised went to help less fortunate families in the Chicago area.





Lauren's favorite new friend, Elmo, was at the carnival as well. As excited as she was to see Elmo, she stuck very close to Aunt Stephie.


Very busy dancing to the music. Lauren danced for almost 20 minutes straight!


Taking a little rest on Grammie's lap.


Making a Mother's Day card or busy trying to find Elmo again?

Mommy's Little Helper Take 2

Last Friday afternoon I was busy cleaning the house getting ready for Grammie Sue to visit for the weekend. Lauren has been a wonderful help dusting the past few weeks, but this time decided to help clean the floors too. I read in one of my parenting magazines a few months ago a suggestion from another mom about how to make the Swiffer smaller for children to use. Well when I saw how interested Lauren was in using the Swiffer I thought now is the time to try this suggestion. I unscrewed the top segments of the stick and just left one section. Now the Swiffer was "Lauren sized." She did a great job of entertaining herself and helping me tidy up the house.

Oh, Geoff wants me to mention that even though Lauren is using a Swiffer, it has a Pledge dusting cloth on the bottom and she is holding Pledge dusting cloths in her left hand. We need to give credit to the company (SC Johnson) that funds our livelihood!