Sorry it's been so long!

Helping Daddy on the laptop computer.

Enjoying a nice dinner on the backyard deck.

Enjoying a new toy from Grandma and Grandpa Lucas.

Skinny-dipping already!
I had to scold Westin a few times for trying to climb into the pool with Lauren. He kept putting a paw in and then staring at me, as if to ask "Please, can I get in there with her?"
This hat makes me laugh because it's so big. Almost looks like a sombrero here!

We've been very busy around here. I've started getting my classroom ready in short increments. In fact, my dad came over this morning to watch Lauren for a few hours so I could get some organizing done at school. I think Lauren LOVED spending the morning with her Grandpa. They took Westin for a long walk and played with all of her toys. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more: Lauren or my dad :-)

Lauren officially has two bottom teeth and we think there may be one coming soon on the top. She's been fussy again lately with lots of drooling and sucking on her fingers. Sounds like teething to me!

What else? She is very close to crawling. She gets up onto her hands and knees all by herself and rocks from front to back, over and over again. But no forward motion yet~ Babyproofing the house has begun. In fact, we realized that the bars on our railing are too far apart and so we had to install a safety net to prevent Lauren from fitting through. This net is in leu of bright orange snow fencing which Chad suggested but I vetoed.

I think stranger anxiety (or maybe it's separation anxiety) is starting to settle in. Lauren is normally a very happy, friendly baby. She (usually) smiles at anybody and is almost always okay with letting anybody hold her. At a party Saturday, she even leaned forward with arms outstretched for one of our neighbors to hold her and Lauren hadn't even met her yet! But more and more often very recently, she's getting clingier to me in unfamiliar environments. She also starts to fuss pretty quickly when I step out of the room at home. Today, our good friend Rachel watched Lauren for 45 minutes while I was at a late-afternoon meeting. It sounds like Lauren cried almost the whole time, when she realized that she wasn't very familiar with her surroundings (Rachel's house) and didn't see me anywhere :-( I hope this doesn't mean that our transition back to school in another few weeks is going to be rough. I'm dreading it...

Checking out the goats at the State Fair.

Napping in another goofy position. She makes me laugh even when she's asleep :-)

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have a big day planned. I'm taking care of one of my students from last year as well as his older sister, for the day. They are the ones who experienced the death of their mom in April. She was a single mom so now the kids live with their grandma. She's feeling very stressed right now, so I offered to help with the kids this summer. Lauren and I are taking them to the zoo all day tomorrow and then bringing them back to our house for dinner. Should be fun!

Have a great day!

Love, Mindy & Lauren