A nice Memorial Day~

I'll keep this short and sweet so I can get off to bed :) We had a great weekend in Noblesville, Indiana visiting with Chad's parents and brother as well as his grandparents. Lauren got to meet her great-grandparents on Chad's mom's side of the family for the very first time! She got tons of hugs and kisses from her "Great-Mum-Mum" and "Great Pap". Lauren slept through the night for me Friday and Saturday night but got up at 4am this morning for a feeding. Oh well... On today's return trip, she slept the whole way until we were about 10 miles from home!! That was nearly 5 hours straight. Wow, we lucked out. Enjoy the pics!
After a warm bath with Daddy~
Playing piano with Grandma.
Wearing their Michael Jordan "Jumpman" outfits together.
Aren't I cute?

A family picture after church. Lauren and Uncle Ryan.

Four generations of the Horton family~



Reading a story with Grandma and Mum-Mum.
Checking out her reflection in the mirror. She LOVES smiling at herself :)We stopped and visited my college roommates Beth and Sara in Chicago on our way to Indiana. We also got to meet Sara's boyfriend and catch up with her parents. It was a great visit!

Have a great week!

Love,

Mindy & the love bug

It's been awhile!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted an update here. Between work and Lauren...I just don't have time (or energy) to use the computer at home. Things are going well here. Lauren's Grandma Steighner was here from Sunday until this morning to take care of Lauren while Chad and I were at work. I think they had a great time together, with lots of playing and cuddles. These Grandmas are making me look bad. Somehow they find a way to stay on top of Chad's and my laundry while watching Lauren. Now how come I couldn't do that while I was home on maternity leave?

Chad's usually in charge of bathtime, but he's at grad school on Thursday nights so I had the pleasure of giving her a bath tonight. She was happy and cheerful the whole time.

She prefers sucking her fingers rather than a pacifier most of the time.

Can you tell how big her hands and fingers are? I think we may have a piano player!

Lauren is still swaddled tightly for every nap and at night. I'm not sure when to stop doing this...I'm afraid she'll startle herself and wake up multiple times if she isn't swaddled.

My smiley girl.

Daddy and his "mini-me".

Watching American Idol and cuddling together.

Work is going well, I guess. It is very hard to be away from Lauren each day but luckily the end is in sight. My students' last day of school is Thursday, June 12 and I'll be done on the 13th. So just a few more weeks until she and I can spend all of our days together again. At least until the end of August... My students definitely have spring fever. They are bouncing off the walls and I'm trying so hard to get them ready for first grade. They sure are keeping me on my toes. One of the second graders asked me the other day if I've had the baby yet. Gee, thanks. Do I still look pregnant?!?! I got a good laugh at that one :-)

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend. Lauren will be meeting her great-grandparents Mum-Mum and Pap for the first time. She'll also be seeing Uncle Ryan for the first time since she was a week old. Should be fun!

Love,

Mindy and Lauren

Four months old!

Hello! I'm so sorry that it's taken me awhile to post another message on here. Going back to work full-time has been exhausting. I'm so busy and when I get home in the afternoon, all I want to do is play with Lauren. Using my home computer is the last thing on my mind.

Anyway, Lauren is doing very well. She had a visit to the pediatrician for her four month check-up on Monday. She is now 13lbs 8oz, which falls into the 50th percentile for her age & weight. She was slightly over 25inches long, which is the 75th percentile for her age and length. The doc said she's a little thin for her length, but that's okay. My only difficulty with her lately is with her nighttime sleep schedule (or lack thereof). I know that I boasted about how well she was sleeping through the night for awhile there. Well, wouldn't you know that as soon as I went back to work full-time, she started getting up twice a night again to nurse. Ugh. That means I am now back to sleeping in 2-3 hour increments and also trying to be upbeat and energetic at work all day as I chase all of my kindergarteners around. This is more exhausting than when Lauren was first born. Back then, I could rest all day and take naps when she napped. Wow, I miss those days!

I'm just getting over a nasty cold that hit me hard on Saturday night. We spent the afternoon Saturday shopping at Johnson Creek outlets and by the time we got home, I started feeling miserable. I went to bed super early, and spent my very first Mother's Day feeling super crummy. I rested all day, spent very little time with Lauren so I wouldn't get her sick and never left the house. Oh well. My parents came over for the evening and Chad made a nice dinner for everyone. So it wasn't all bad :)


My mom returned to Rice Lake tonight because Karlee is flying in for the weekend tomorrow. Next week, Chad's mom is going to stay with Lauren for 3 days while I'm at work. Then my mom will return again to help me finish out the school year. The students are done June 12, so I've got just under a month to go. Can't wait!

Here are a few new pics. Enjoy!

A new set of wheels~

I went back to work on Friday and actually had a better time than I thought I would. Separating from Lauren wasn't too heartwrenching. I think I got all the tears out on Thursday. Chad and I had worked out a plan for how our morning would go so that we could help one another to get ready for work and get Lauren ready for daycare. Our plan worked well and we were all out the door, dressed and fed, by 7:10a.m. I dropped Lauren off at daycare, kissed her and promised her I'd be back and got a little choked up but I didn't cry! On that first day (Friday), I had NEXT year's kindergarten class for our annual "Kindergarten Screening" day. That's always a hilarious day as we watch the upcoming kiddos soak it all in, so it was a good day for me to be back. Big problems at lunchtime though. WARNING: If you are eating right now or have no interest in reading about baby poop, stop reading here...

I went to her daycare during lunch so that I could nurse her. I had warned Christa that Lauren was in a phase where she was only having a poopy diaper once every 3 days. You can imagine the blowout each time on that 3rd day. Anyways, wouldn't it just be my luck that her third day fell on her first day at daycare. Anyways, when I got there at lunch she hadn't had a diaper blowout yet but I KNEW it was coming. I was nursing her on the family room couch when I heard the loudest diaper explosion I'd ever heard. I hollered for Christa to come quick because I could tell it would be a two-person job. I was right. As Christa lifted Lauren from my lap, baby poop poured all over my work pants, the couch, the wood floor, the nice rug...you get the idea. It was EVERYWHERE. Ugh. Of all days, she had to do this on her very first day there. Somehow, Christa found it in her heart to not fire us from her daycare after that :) I scrubbed up my pants, wiped up the couch and floor and had to run back to work, leaving Christa with my daughter who had poop covering every square inch of her body. Yuck.

Thanks to Pat and Amanda for the fun Exersaucer. Lauren loves it, although she is still a little small for it. Her feet don't quite touch bottom yet.

Hangin' out with Daddy.

Look at the jealous one on the left side of Chad's legs. Poor neglected guy :(

Friends forever.

Lauren's got a new ride! Thanks to the Wolner family for her awesome new jogging stroller. We tried this out for the first time on a long walk with Westin. It was the first time Lauren had faced forward for a walk. She wasn't too sure about the breeze and about not being able to see us as we were walking with her. But I think she'll really enjoy it as she gets a little bigger.

Today was the first day back with my current kindergarten class. I was mobbed on the playground before school and was showered with homemade cards and gifts from all my kiddos. I admit that it was fun to be back with them but I really miss Lauren. She's still exclusively breastfeeding, so it was a pain in the neck to have to pump milk several times throughout the day. A teacher's day is just not designed to accommodate that very well. A 15-minute recess does not lend itself to all that needs to get done each time!!

Have a good work week!

Love,

Mindy and Lauren

Back to work...

Unfortunately, my maternity leave has come to an end and I return to work full-time tomorrow (yes, on a Friday so I can ease back into it). I originally was scheduled to return on April 7th but just couldn't bring myself to part with Lauren, so I extended my leave another month. I wish I could do that again, but I can't. Luckily, I will work for six weeks and then have the summer off to spend with her.

I am absolutely dreading tomorrow. It's not that I don't want to see my students or be at school anymore--it's simply because I don't want to be apart from Lauren. I can count on one hand how many times I've been apart from Lauren since she was born. Some people might think I should've left her in other people's care a little more often so she could get used to it, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave her very often. I wish I could bring her with me to work :)

We have found a wonderful stay-at-home mom, Christa, to watch Lauren for us in her own home. Her daughter is in my class this year and she also has a 2-year-old son who will be home with her. She'll be watching Lauren full-time in the fall and two days per week for the rest of this school year. My mom will come to our house and watch Lauren the other three days per week for the rest of this school year.

I know Lauren will be in good hands with Christa and with my mom but it's not the same as being with her mommy. I hope she doesn't feel like I'm abandoning her. My greatest concern is that Christa won't be able to comfort her if she's scared or hurting. She just doesn't know Lauren that well yet. Think of us tomorrow. There will probably be tears when we separate from one another in the morning and I suspect they won't just be Lauren's....

Lauren's 3-Month-Old Pictures :)

I took Lauren to JC Penney for her three-month old pictures a week ago. We picked them up yesterday. Enjoy!

Love,

Mindy and Lauren

A very busy week!

Chad left on a week-long business trip last Sunday evening, so I took Lauren and we went up to my parents' house in Rice Lake for a few days. Westin stayed with a co-worker of mine because there wasn't any room in my car for him. Can you believe that?? I drive an SUV and had it filled with stuff for Lauren...the bouncy seat, her Pack-n-Play playpen, her stroller, a suitcase that we shared. I can't get over how much stuff we have to take for her when we go anywhere overnight. Wow! Anyways, I took her up there on Monday and we returned on Thursday. It's a five hour drive and is NOT fun when you are doing it alone with a baby. She cried for about half the trip going up there. I stopped twice to feed and change her but that did little to make her happy. For the return trip, I took a different route and broke up the trip by visiting a good friend of mine in the middle of the drive. Being silly...

Another big 'ol belly picture.
Lauren and I visiting her great-grandpa again.
This is Lauren with Mike. I babysat him for many years when he was younger. It was so cute seeing him with Lauren.
When we stopped on our drive home from Rice Lake, we visited my good friend Danielle and her two-year-old son Porter. He is absolutely adorable. I hear he's been telling people that "Minnie came to visit" and that Lauren tickled his neck when we took his picture. I know he's been checking the blog to see his picture, so....Hi Porter! Lauren misses you :)

When we got home Thursday night, Lauren rolled over for the very first time! I tried to capture it in pictures, but that wasn't so easy. Next time, I'll have to remember to use the video camera instead.

She's about to roll!
She's also started grasping objects and bringing them to her mouth to suck on. Let the babyproofing begin...
She's actualy laying on her tummy right now, just before a roll.
Lauren's great-grandparents are celebrating their 53rd wedding anniversary tomorrow. If you happen to see this picture and talk to them on the phone, please don't tell them about this. We're sending it to their Wal-Mart one-hour photo lab tomorrow as a surprise :) They've never met Lauren, but hopefully they will soon!

Chad got back from his trip late last night. I took Lauren to our dinner club get-together at Rob and Carla's without him but we met him at home afterwards. We're glad to have him home!

Love,

Mindy & Lauren