A TON of new pictures!

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated the blog. We've been busy, busy, busy! So much has happened since I last posted--We had a great time New Year's Eve at Jason and Jackie's house. Most of the night was spent playing Wii. Even Lauren got in on the fun! We spent the night there, which allowed us to put Lauren to bed at a decent time. It was a great idea in theory but wasn't so great when Lauren woke up very upset at 3am and could not be consoled without bringing her into bed with us. Oh well... Chad's parents came to visit on New Year's Day and stayed for the weekend so we could celebrate Christmas with them. We had a wonderful visit with them and Lauren loved getting some cuddle time in with Grandma and Grandpa Steighner. Just hours after they left to drive home, Lauren decided to walk across the family room all by herself for the first time! She had been taking a few steps between Chad and I once in awhile but this time, she spotted Westin laying on the opposite side of the family room and she took off for him. When she got to him, she leaned down and put her head on him and then started clapping...very proud of herself! Chad and I both went back to work last Monday after taking some much-needed time off over the holidays. I wound up with either the flu or food poisoning mid-week and spent a day in bed sick :( Today, I hosted a baby shower at our house for our friend Rachel. There was a really cute little boy who came with his Mommy. He's two weeks younger than Lauren and they had a fun time playing together.

Now for the real reason you are here. Enjoy many, many new pictures of our little girl!
She received a new pair of snowboots for Christmas and insisted on wearing them for a while with her jammies. Pretty cute :)

Playing Wii with Timmy B at the New Year's Eve party. She was a party animal!

Awwwww...the first time I put a clip in her hair. She left it in!

"See my Tigger cup?"

Raiding the tupperware cabinet...

It's hard to see very well but she's sticking her tongue out at Joey at Rachel's baby shower today.Having fun playing with Joey.

Stef shared her chapstick with Lauren and she loved it!

More playtime with Joey (cute shirts, by the way!)Lauren "built" a play table and a toy chest for the family room. Here she is working on putting it together.

Reading the instruction manual...

"Hey Mom, can I borrow a rubber mallet?"

"Thanks. I've got it from here..."

Checking out her new toy chest.

Playing with her new "workbench" from Grandma and Grandpa Steighner.
They also gave her a sled for Christmas. Here she is, enjoying it for the first time!

Sledding in our yard.

Reading a book in her new rocking armchair from Gma and Gpa Steighner.Enjoying a bagel with cream cheese for the first time :-)

Tomorrow, we're taking Lauren to Madison for lunch with friends. Then we've got a very big week ahead of us--our little girl will have her first birthday on Wednesday! I think this year has been the fastest year of my entire life....

Have a good Sunday!

Love,

Mindy & Lauren