Little Lauren's Big News!

As you can see, Lauren is thrilled to share the news that she will be having a little SISTER in early December!









Geoff and I opened the envelope as part of our pre Bon Jovi concert celebration. The note said, "Congratulations! You are having a beautiful baby girl."



Profile picture of me alongside the Chicago River.

Night Out for Mommy and Daddy!

For my 30th birthday, my parents and Geoff got me tickets to see Bon Jovi at Soldier Field! What a fantastic gift!

Geoff and I decided to make a day and entire night out of it by going downtown around noon on Saturday and then staying over night at The Wit (one of the hip newer hotels in Chicago). Aunt Stephie and Uncle Jon were kind enough to help us out by watching Lauren all day and night Saturday and even Sunday morning!

We had a blast!



As we were walking around Saturday, we saw the set for Transformers 3, which is being filmed in Chicago. I have never been so close to an actual movie set before. It was pretty interesting.



A view of the set from the top of our hotel. There's a bar up there called, The Roof (appropriate) where we had pre-concert cocktails and a light dinner.



Kid Rock opened up for Bon Jovi and while on stage he called out some Blackhawks players who showed up with the Stanley Cup! Kid Rock put on a wonderful show. I was really surprised at how talented he is.



My man, Bon Jovi! The concert lasted for about 5 hours and Bon Jovi sang for almost 2! Quite an accomplishment for a man his age.



Bon Jovi and Kid Rock even sang a few songs together.



The two of us at the concert.

Northern Michigan Fun

Lauren and I spent the past week up at my parent's cabin in Northern Michigan. What a fantastic time we had! Geoff was able to fly over and meet us half-way through the week as well. It was so wonderful to have everyone together (Grammie, Papa, Aunt Stephie, Uncle Jon, Lauren, Geoff, and me)


As I was packing our bags and getting ready to leave, I noticed Lauren getting ready to go too! The funny thing is all she wanted to wear was Daddy's flip flops and sunglasses. Notice the two different flip flops.



Aunt Stephie rode up with us so I didn't have to travel 6 hours by myself with Lauren. What a HUGE help that was. It was a beautiful sunny Friday and we didn't have to be up at the cabin by a certain time, so we stopped in many little towns along the way. South Haven was our destination for lunch and we found the beautiful park to sit in. The funny thing was Lauren only wanted to sit on Aunt Stephie's lap. Lauren was eating pizza so Steph really didn't want her to get sauce on her shorts. A few hours later I didn't notice any sauce on her shorts (good job Lauren), but she did have a berry stain from sitting on the grass. Steph was upset, but I tried my best to wash it out in the sink and I'm pretty sure it worked.



Aunt Stephie and Lauren trying to wake up before breakfast time.



All the ladies on the beach at sunset time.



Lauren was so happy to be sitting with her Papa and Uncle Jon.



Painting rocks with Aunt Stephie. Steph has the best pictures of this, as after Lauren was done with the rocks. She decided to paint her hair and head. When I look at the pictures now it's pretty funny, but at the time I wasn't so sure. Steph was a great sport about it though and took Lauren right to the shower to get her all cleaned up.



More time on the beach. Lauren loved asked an adult to go fill her bucket with water and then before we knew it she would dump the entire bucket all down the front of her. She LOVED it. I know Lake Michigan was quite warm, but I'm still not sure I would dump that much water down the front of me! She's getting ready for the dump in this photo.



Papa always either makes or takes Lauren for pancakes when they are together. He started another tradition this past week by making baby pancakes and giving them to Lauren. He usually makes the silver dollar pancakes, but see the little droppings in the middle? Those are the babies. Lauren was asking for them the next morning.



On the slide with Daddy.



For our last night in Northern Michigan we went to a little town called Empire and enjoyed delicious burgers at a local tavern before heading to the beach for a sunset. In this photo Lauren and I were singing a song about monkeys swinging in the trees and alligators getting them. Here's Lauren getting ready for the "snap" of the alligator.



So excited to be on the beach with Mommy!

Sunglasses and maybe Twinkle Twinkle?

Lauren has recently discovered sunglasses and LOVES to wear them. She usually has them on upside down, but hey, at least they are still protecting her eyes. Before we leave to go outside now she always asks for, "glasses, glasses."




One morning a few weeks ago Geoff and I woke up to Lauren singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It was the sweetest sound to start your day with. She now goes around the house singing all of the time. We are never quite sure which song she is singing though. Sometimes it's Itsy Bitsy, ABCs, or Twinkle, Twinkle. I think it's Twinkle, Twinkle in this video, but there might be some ABCs mixed in too. Enjoy!

4th of July

The weekend started with everyone up at the cabin spreading wood chips. Lauren helped for a little bit by using her bucket to dump and spread some wood chips.



In between wood chip loads, Lauren, Mammie, and I went inside to make Uncle Jon's birthday cake. Lauren loved to help mix up the batter.



Taking a break with Papa on top of wood chip pile number 2. After Lauren discovered how fun it was to play in the trailer, that's where she spent a good deal of time.



Oh yes, and a little wheelbarrow ride after the project was all done.



Geoff pulled a dead tree out of the ground and was very proud of his accomplishment.



Helping Papa hang the American flag for the special weekend.



Taking a rest with Papa, but not after trading hats first.



Lauren had her first experience playing with Play Dough after nap time one afternoon. What a success it was! I think only one handful went into her mouth and she was interested and actively playing for about an hour.




Watching the fireworks with Papa. As long as she was on his lap she was interested and maybe even enjoyed them a little bit. Notice the little doll on her lap. Earlier in the evening there were some activities for younger children, including a chance to explore an ambulance and fire truck. Lauren is currently very interested in both of these types of vehicles so of course we had to go check them out. When she went in the ambulance they were giving away little dolls so Lauren picked this one out. When she returned to the blanket and Papa asked her what the baby's name was she said, "Bob." Now when she wakes up in the morning or before going to bed at night she always needs to make sure "Baby Bob" has a hug and kiss. We laughed so hard when she told my dad the baby's name is Bob.



Checking out Lake Michigan with Daddy, Uncle Jon and Aunt Stephie.



Taking a little break on a swing with Mammie and Aunt Stephie. I can't believe how much Lauren looks like a little girl in this photo. She is growing and changing so quickly these days.

Visit to Mammie and Papa's House Take 2

Fun with Papa at the Blues concert in downtown Rockford. Lauren loves to take Papa's hat off and play with it. It's amazing that the hat actually ended up on her head this time.



An ice cream treat after the concert. This was actually my ice cream cone, but after I gave Lauren one taste she decided it was her cone. Until now she hasn't really liked ice cream too much. I guess she just needed the right flavor - Playdough.



Helping Papa water the flowers in the backyard. Sometimes this is the only hat Lauren will wear outside. I have to say though the hat makes the outfit with this cute sun dress Lauren got from Mammie.



Fun on the porch with Mammie.



Lauren loved playing at the park with Mammie and Papa. So much so that it was difficult to get her to sit still for this photo.



Sliding down with Papa. Lauren would go down any and every slide if she could!

Visit to Mammie and Papa's House Take 1

Lauren and I spent some time back at my parent's house in Michigan during the last week of June. I am so thankful for all of the help my mom gave me with Lauren and I know Lauren LOVED playing at her Mammie and Papa's house. She has given those names to my parents now. We will see how long they stick. We had so much fun and did so many things I decided to divide our trip into two posts. Here goes post #1!


One morning as my mom and I were getting ready, Lauren was busy playing dress up with all of Aunt Stephie and my old dolls. The next thing we knew she walked back with a hat for a baby doll on her head and was so proud of herself.


Once Lauren got tired of wearing the baby doll's hat, she took it off and decided to raid Mammie's closet for some shoes. She actually did a really good job of wearing these up and down the hallway.


On Tuesday my Aunt Sarah and cousin Shelby made the trip over to Rockford to spend some time with Lauren. They are always so great to Lauren and are very generous with the amount of gifts they give Lauren. It was really nice to spend the day together! We explored the Frederick Meijer Gardens. There is a really cool exhibit there right now made of blown colored glass by Chihuly. The red and yellow sculpture in the background is one of the pieces of art.



That's it for this post, see you in a couple days with more photos!