All about Lauren

Lauren is now 3 1/2 months old! She has so far been a generally easy baby. She now squeals, grunts, and more. She seems to have found her voice and sometimes can be very noisy, which we enjoy! She has been a little peanut, at least in comparison to Lincoln as a baby. I think she might be closer to 12 pounds, not sure. She smiles lots and Vance got her first real laughs on video a few days ago. She melts our hearts!!! She loves to stand, sit up, and watch others. She is pretty tolerant of her big brother as well. She doesn't cry too hard very much. Occasionally she gets a bottle, and if she is still hungry after the bottle has emptied, she will cry so high and loud it can startle and shock you.

Here she is with one of her winter hats. She likes her bumbo so she can be up where the action is. Her socks always fall off!!!

Above....her eyes are so beautiful to me. Its easy to make this little girl smile these days. Her little sounds couldn't be sweeter. At first we thought she sounded a little bit like a kitten:)

Below...this picture is a month old. I loves this outfit of hers. 

The picture below was from December? Not sure....the day she clearly found her hands after we went to a park.

The picture below was taken when she was 6-8 weeks old, not sure. She is now starting to deliberately reach for and grab things within her reach. Bumbo chairs, bouncers, swings are so nice and really make it easier for me, especially when I need to play with or help Lincoln with something.

As soon as Lauren get's sleepy, she enjoys being swaddled and given her pacifier. After a few minutes we lay her down and she naps very well. She usually naps for a couple of hours in the morning, a couple of hours in the afternoon, and one or two shorter naps in the evening. She usually sleeps from about 10 pm to 3-5 am. I feed her, and she usually goes right back to sleep until 7 or 8 am. We are so lucky. Its nice that she sleeps well because Vance has seminary. He wakes up at 5:15 am each day, and since we aren't great at getting to bed at a decent hour, he is already so tired. So I have to not rely on him to much to feed or take care of her during the nights. We love her so much. I wondered a little bit how I could love another child as much as I loved Lincoln, but it has happened. We are grateful for her and so glad she has joined our family.

Lauren's Blessing Weekend

My parents and brother Peter came to visit for Lauren's blessing weekend. I think Vance has more of the photos from her actual blessing day on his phone. I'll have to include those later.

They arrived on a Friday night and we talked until we all went to bed. On Saturday morning, February 16th (my birthday) we were going to go sledding at the most amazing sledding hill ever, but it was 1 degree outside. So we went to the local mall and found some great things there instead!!! We ate lunch in the food court and then came home for naps, Vance and Dad ran errands, reading, etc. We then all headed to the Mall of America. We went on a couple of rides at the amusement park there and then had dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory. It was a fun restaurant that really gave you the "Forrest Gump" feel. Our waiter even quizzed us on the movie, which was fun as well.  Lincoln is one of the pickiest eaters I know, and he ate shrimp!  We were amazed and thrilled, but didn't say anything to him. Vance and I recently attended a seminar given by a Pediatric Feeding Specialist. Her focus was on "picky eating and power struggles." We learned a ton and now mealtimes are more enjoyable to everyone and he is starting to eat a great variety of foods.

We then left the restaurant and exited the mall. It is so big that we were already so tired from walking so much. It was incredibly cold too. But we all headed to the ice castles across from the mall. A guy in my ward is from Utah and now makes these all around the nation for a living. They are a great family.

 My dad picked out a Lego set for Lincoln from the huge Lego store. Here is Vance and Lincoln working on it together. Thank you!

Peter at the ice podium...

 Lincoln wanted his picture taken!

 Mom and Dad sitting on the throne. They are so in love after over three decades of marriage. That makes me feel good to see their marriage so healthy. It's always been great too.

There were ice princesses that you could have your picture taken with. There were also sleds to you could be taken around in. There were so many little touches that were impressive. We have gone twice this winter and this time many of the ice castles were enclosed so it made walking through them even more fun.

We got back to our home and had cake. It was the Chocolate Mousse Tuxedo cake from Costco. WOW. This is one of the best cakes ever. I would be thrilled to have a huge piece of it EVERY day of my life!!!
I asked Vance for one gift and I got it!!! I got a brand new double jogging stroller. I am really excited to be able to take both of the kids out in it as soon as the weather warms.

On Sunday we went to church and Lauren was blessed in sacrament meeting. This was the real reason they came this weekend. It just so happened that the best weekend for the blessing also included my birthday:)  It was a beautiful blessing.  I am grateful that Vance lives worthily and is always ready to give these blessings with the power of the priesthood.  Vance has the pictures from this day on his phone, so I'll get them from him and include them later!!

It was a perfect weekend. We had such a nice time with my parents and brother in town. There is something so refreshing and rejuvenating about being with family!!! Thanks for coming guys!!!

Finally, a new post!

It has been nearly three months since my last post. It was a little overwhelming at first having two kids, at least for me. Then I just got out of the habit of blogging, at least my monthly blog post. We have been having a great winter. I love each of my children so much.

ALL ABOUT LINCOLN:
Lincoln loves his sister lots. Some mornings he wakes up and the first thing he says is "See Lauren?" It's cute. He loves it when they lay next to each other. He loves to put his face right next to hers and he smiles from ear to ear.  Each time he prays he gives thanks for "Dada, Mama, Lincoln, Lauren" and blesses "Dada, Mama, Lincoln, Lauren." He is starting to be able to say prayers, which is fun. He just needs little prompts. It is cute how he is thankful for some of the things that are right in front of him, and some abstract things. Gummi bears, cheese, bread, temple, scriptures, etc....

He is learning to talk more and more. He says 3-4/5 word utterances, and his grammar is improving.  He loves to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He watches an episode that buys me 25 minutes to shower and get ready (if Lauren is sleeping or awake/happy). I love that time too! He also loves the movie, Bolt, which is neat because that is the movie that Vance and I were watching when we first held hands.

Lincoln loves to move! He has always been a wiggly kid. He is very good at sorting by color, shape, you name it. One of the assistants at his school class commented on how he was the only child who could sort correctly in each sorting activity that day. So proud! He also can usually count correctly to 13 these days. After that everything is thirteen or seventeen:) He has been so social lately and likes to talk about his friends.

Since Lauren was born, Lincoln has wanted to cuddle more with me. I love it. He has learned to be more gentle with her (far less hitting her now). Vance and I try hard to make sure we each have a special time/date with him each week. Sometimes we'll go to McDonalds and just get ice cream there, something like that.

Lincoln has been sick this week. It's been almost a week since getting this horrible cold began. He coughs and coughs and his nose won't stop running. He has been watching more TV this week because he just wants to lay down with a pillow and blanket and cuddle. It has been a quiet week and we've tried to have fun inside and generally stay away from our friends. The picture below was before or after a major meltdown yesterday, immediately after he woke up. He wanted to see Vance, but Vance was at seminary or work, and we couldn't see him! His eyes are so puffy, cheeks and lips red (maybe needs more water) and his face is covered with his own mucus. Because I needed to get Lauren dressed, I entertained him with my phone, and it helped!

 He chose Mardi Gras beads at the Dollar Store, which he unselfishly gave to his friend Kendall, at her birthday party.

He loooves to play with my phone. We were taking silly photos. I usually have to go through my phone every few days and delete about 50 pictures of his forehead or the floor.

Lauren's one week stats

We had gotten a clean bill of health for Lauren before we went to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving (see previous post below)...and here are Lauren's one week stats!

Weight: 7.0 lbs/ 25-50th%ile
Height: 20 in/ 50-75th%ile
Head: 14 in/ 75-90th%ile

She had gained 9 ounces since leaving the hospital five days earlier. Atta girl! She shrunk in height by half an inch, and her head grew a whopping one inch! Actually I think the height measurements are pretty subjective...babies move so quickly and they can be more or less stretched out. I'm not sure her head truly grew one inch in one week, but maybe it did!
 

Lately

Lately...

Lincoln and his toy room in the background. Kind of messy, whoops!

Last week I put Lauren in this adorable yellow dress. I love it. She wasn't too happy about the photo shoot, though. Like many babies, she looooves to be held, a lot! It is amazing how she can cry and cry, but as soon as you pick her up, she  is in heaven!

This picture was taken when Lauren was two weeks old. Her hair is a light brown/reddish color. 

Uncle Jeremy (who currently lives in Miami) came to Minneapolis for a business trip. We were happy to see him for a visit. He got to hold Lauren and it was great to catch up with him. He brought a seashell from Florida that Lincoln's cousin, Kayla, wanted to give Lincoln. What a cool gift! Thanks Kayla!

 For Thanksgiving, we headed to Wisconsin, the closest place where family lives! yes, we even left for the long car ride when Lauren was only eight days old. Why not?! My mom has started this tradition of swinging with the grandkids and sings a special song to them. Lincoln loooves this. Not sure why he gave this face in this picture! Guess he didn't want it taken!! He must have found this cute hat in the basement. Rosalie his cousin and Jared (kids of Kelsey and Ken) were there too. It was great to reconnect with them and we had a great time. We all got sick with the stomach flu but it made the trip complete! The car ride to Wisconsin was amazingly easy (we only stopped once!) but on the way back (we all had the flu, except for Lauren) was so rough. I can not tell you how many times we stopped, how many bodily fluid messes we cleaned up, and how many hours of crying we heard. Boy, were we glad to be home!

Lincoln on the changing table giving a great "cheese." He has been learning to be a better big brother every day and we are so proud of him. It has been hard at times to share the attention, but he is getting better.