A Busy Few Weeks

We have welcomed summer break with a bang! We've been super busy around here. Chad was asked to attend a weeklong seminar in Orlando for his work and since it coincided closely with our wedding anniversary, we decided that I would go along for a few days and we'd make a mini-vacation out of it. We left last Saturday and had a great evening at Universal Studio's City Walk, had an excellent dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp House and caught a late movie before calling it a night. We spent Father's Day at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World (without Lauren, sadly enough). We felt badly not taking her with us, but with the heat index it was 105 degrees so she would've been miserable outdoors. On Monday Chad had to attend seminars so I sat by and in the pool...for 7 hours. I will proudly admit that I loved every second of it. I read a book, soaked up lots of sun, had a beverage and an ice cream at the pool bar and relaxed in a way that I haven't been able to since I had Lauren. We stayed at the Shingle Creek Resort and I highly recommend it if you're headed to Orlando anytime soon. It's very close to all the attractions and just a beautiful place. I hope Chad has to attend the seminar again next year too :)

While we were gone, Lauren had a wonderful time with her Grandma and Grandpa ("Boppa") Lucas at our house. We tried talking to her on the phone but she just cried and cried as soon as she heard our voices. My mom said they had tons of fun but she had to keep diverting her attention away from our pictures on the wall. She'd walk over to them, wave at us and start crying. Poor girl :( Lauren loves her new sunglasses from Grandma and Grandpa Steighner!

Yes, she picked out her own shoes today. I was proud of her for selecting a color that matched her outfit :)

Also in the last two weeks, Lauren was diagnosed with Scarlet Fever. I didn't think this illness existed nowadays but apparently it does. Unfortunately, she had a severe allergic reaction to the Amoxicillin and ended up with a bad case of hives all over her entire body for about 5 days. The poor thing itched like crazy! Today, they are finally almost gone.

This week, we are enjoying having my sister Holly visiting from Nashville. She's splitting her time between our house and staying with my parents but is trying to spend a ton of time with Lauren. We are hoping for nice weather so we can go to the zoo together on Wednesday. Back home in Nashville, Holly teaches turbo kickboxing (among other things). She had a new DVD that she had to watch/memorize the choreography, so she was practicing while Lauren watched and attempted to copy. Too cute!
Helping Mommy make muffins.Lauren began taking swimming lessons for the first time and is loving it! Grandma Lucas came along to watch and got a few cute pictures.

Showing her surprise at the Cinderella tea set we brought her.Enjoying her Disney Princess cup with fun twisty straw that we brought her from Disney World.

"What chocolate, Mommy?"Chad catching a few Zzzzz's in our yard.Working out her muscles with some of Mommy's family room decor.

Lauren said "Down!" before I even had a chance to. One final anecdote for you....a few nights ago I let Lauren help me bake cookies. We were watching them in the oven and she kept pointing and saying "Be, Momma, Be!" (That is her word for 'please'.) I told her that we had to wait a little longer until the oven beeps. She looked up at Chad and I and she said "Beep!". Now how cute is that?

Big Dinner Club news! Jason and Jackie welcomed a healthy baby boy on Sunday, June 14. Welcome to our Dinner Club, Braeden Allen!

Good night!

Love,

M & L

Sorry for the lllloooonnnngggg delay!

Things have been very busy around here lately. We put the house on the market a week ago yesterday and have had to keep it in "perfect" condition for four showings this week. Hopefully it'll sell quickly so that we don't have to keep this up for long!

In other news...yesterday was my students' last day of school (can I get a WooHoo!!!!). I have to work Monday and Tuesday and then I'm off for the summer as well. Yay!

Lauren is learning so many new words and makes us laugh each day. She now says "on", "down", "kitty", "doggy", "baby", "Boppa" (we figured out that that is her way of saying Grandpa), "Be!" which is very clearly her way of saying please (she does the sign for please when saying it). She also will tell you the sounds that a doggy, cow and bear each make. One of her favorite things to do is to climb up on something and say "Down!" before she gets down, only to do it all over again. What a goof.

Chad is nearing the end of his grad school days. He'll graduate July 11th. We can't wait!!
And now for the real reason you visit this blog anyways...enjoy :)

Playing tetherball with Aunt Karlee when she came to visit at the end of May.
Aunt Karlee let Lauren have her first taste of a Tootsie Pop. There's no going back now!
Reading a favorite book with Boppa.

Lauren enjoyed some time at the local elementary school playground with Grandma and Karlee.
Here she was directing Karlee where to go at the playground. Great. She's not even a year-and-a-half and she's already bossing people around on the playground!!Lately, our "dinner club" has been getting together every weekend in some shape or form. This time was a bonfire at our house. Even Lauren and Westin got in on the fun. Tonight is a big night for the dinner club. The newest member is due to be induced to our friends Jason and Jackie tonight! Check out their blog for more exciting info!! www.babymolle.blogspot.com

Lauren had her own toddler-sized picnic chair (thanks to Gma and Gpa Steighner!). She parked it next to Stef so she'd have the perfect spot to share Stef's drink :)Yes, she's licking all the ketchup off of her plate.Making music with pasta salad boxes. Who needs expensive instruments anyways?

Toting around some of Mommy's family room decor. We'll pretend those aren't breakable.

And now for an update on one of Lauren's favorite topics....shoes! Especially Mommy's shoes!

"Who says you can't wear snowboots with a skirt in June?"She must've decided her feet were too warm. She traded in the snowboots for a nice pair of heels :)Trying on another pair of Mommy's heels.

She gave up trying to put them on by herself. This was her subtle way of asking for my help. (By the way, she was saying "Be!" here. At least she's polite!)

Have a nice rest of your weekend. And to Jason and Jackie--if you read this today...good luck tonight!! We love you and we can't wait to meet your little one!

Love,

M & L