Whatever It Takes...

Although I do not recall hearing my mother telling Anna Lauren "no" very many times, she likes to pick at me and call me the push-over mommy. I refer to it as "whatever it takes" to get out the door.

Most mornings we are dressed or almost dressed before Anna Lauren wakes up, but Sunday mornings are always the hardest to get everyone ready and out the door for church because Anna Lauren is awake during the entire getting ready process, and we have to keep her entertained so that we can get ready.

Thanks to Parker, Anna Lauren got a sticker book for her birthday, and it was very entertaining this morning as mommy and daddy were getting ready for church. I just could not resist running and getting the camera when I looked and saw what she was doing...you know, stickers can go on your belly, right? And this is just one example of "whatever it takes" to get out the door!

Slumber Party...

Last Friday, Holli Grace's grandmother had a heart attack and had open heart surgery this Friday. Most of you know that Holli Grace and Anna Lauren have been together since they started daycare (3 months old) and Holli Grace's mother and I work together...thanks to Holli Grace's mother for getting me a "dream / mommy" job! Anyway, since Holli Grace's grandmother had the heart attack, I had been begging her mommy to let me help, and she finally gave in and let Holli Grace spend the night Friday night. Therefore, Anna Lauren had her first "friend" spend the night and what fun they had together!

Anna Lauren (above) and Holli Grace (below)...they were all smiles when we picked them up from daycare and loaded them into the car. It was like they were big girls and knew exactly what was going on...they were having a spend the night party!

We went straight from daycare to Miskelly's to ride the carousel...since it was closed last week when we went for Anna Lauren's birthday, we decided to try again and thought the girls would enjoy riding it before we went to eat dinner.

They got balloons at Miskelly's...Anna Lauren "loves" to let her balloons go so she can watch them fly away into the sky. Holli Grace enjoyed watching Anna Lauren's balloon, but she was not letting go of hers.

This was bath time...it was so much fun to watch them look at each other and just giggle...and they are great at "monkey see / monkey do"...

Saturday morning play time...and notice the shoes...yes, they both wanted to wear a pair of Anna Lauren's squeeky shoes...can you imagine how loud it was at our house with two kiddos running around squeeking? It didn't matter though...they were having fun!

It was too wet to play outside Saturday morning so we headed to McDonald's to play on the "indoor" playgroud...they needed a change of scenery every couple of hours. It was a beautiful day, but the ground was soaked and it was cold and extremely windy...so we had to be creative!

Read the Labels...

We all do it...we get medicine from the pharmacy and "read the labels" but that is about it...don't pay much attention other than the fact that you "read the label" and continued on with your life.

Well, this morning, I earned worst mom of the day! Anna Lauren has been quite a challenge to give medicine to the past couple of days so when she agreed to take her medicine this morning, I gave it to her. However, she did not want anything to eat (the label clearly says take with food), which I didn't think was that big of a deal since she would be eating at school within the next hour or so. And to Matt's defense, he did say...are you sure we should give her this without eating?

I dropped Anna Lauren off at school at 7:30 and by 7:45 I had a phone call..."Mandi, this is just a warning...Anna Lauren has thrown up and if she throws up again you'll have to come get her." They assured me that after she threw up she was just fine so it was probably just the medicine. I called about an hour later, and they said she was just fine.

I failed to mention, that when Matt got her out of the bed this morning, she had thrown up...she has a terrible cough so my guess is that she got to coughing and made herself throw up. Now...did I mention I have a great sleeper? I had no clue she had thrown up and yes, the monitor was on...I promise!

Needless to say, I've felt like the worst mother all day...but this shall pass as we start another day. With each day are new adventures, right? I cannot be the "best" all the time!

"2" Year Check Up...

So today Anna Lauren had her two year check up with our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. Joe.

She said she wanted to go see Jo Jo, which in her little mind means my brother, Joey, who she calls Jo Jo. And with Jo Jo comes her baby cousin Bently...well, that is not exactly the Jo Jo we went to see today so it took a few tears to get over that and realize that unfortunately, we had to see the doctor.

She put on a good show for the nurse through the weighing / measuring, etc so the nurse felt sorry for her and told Dr. Joe he may want to enter the room with a sucker, which is exactly what he did. Now...that helped with the tears until the exam time, but he was super fast and all is well now. Other than she has the "crud" and is not feeling 100%...he gave her an antiobotic and cough medicine so maybe she will be back to normal soon.

As far as her check up:

Weight ~ 31.4 Pounds ~ 90th percentile

Length ~ 36 Inches ~ 95th percentile...he predicts she will be my height (5'8") or taller

Head ~ 18 3/4 Inches ~ 50th percentile

Vocabulary ~ Above Average ~ I do not know any different so I think she is talking just like any other 2 year old, but he said she is above average and putting phrases together, etc, which is really good...oh no...she is going to be a talker like her mom, and her siblings will pay her not to talk like my brothers did me...poor Anna Lauren!

Celebrating "2"...

We had a wonderful weekend of "celebrating 2" with Anna Lauren...it was so much fun to sit back and watch her eyes light up with excitement as we went through each "event" we planned to celebrate her birthday.

When I was uploading the pictures, they got out of order, but I'm too tired to fix it..."celebrating 2" was a bit exhausting for mommy and daddy!

When Anna Lauren woke up on her birthday Friday morning, her room was full of balloons. All of which she wanted in her bed. She had the best time playing with the balloons and was so excited to be "2"!

I made sugar cookies and iced them for Anna Lauren to take to school. At her "school party" they got to put their own sprinkles on the cookies, which I hear was great fun for she and her sweet friends.

The birthday girl is at the head of the table getting ready to put sprinkles on her cookies...

The birthday girl still working on her cookies...

Looks like all the cookies are decorated and it is now time to eat them...yum yum!

Look at my hands...I must have had some "green" sprinkles and this party was fun!

Matt and I went in to work late Friday morning so we could take Anna Lauren to Krispy Kreme for breakfast...it was so special to have breakfast with just the three of us before it got so chaotic with family and friends who we were so thankful wanted to be a part of her birthday.

She blew out the candles on her donut and then insisted we put them on mommy's donut so she could blow them out again...

And she couldn't leave daddy out...we put the candles on his donut as well so she could blow them out.

After she came home from school, she got to open some presents before we went to dinner with MeMe and Pop Pop (Matt's parents).

After dinner, we took her to Miskelly's to ride the carousel...we thought it closed at 8:00 but it actually closed at 7:00, which is what we found out when we arrived at 7:15. But...they were so nice and let her have a "birthday ride for free"...

Saturday was her "real" birthday party at the YMCA pool...and oh my gosh...it was a hit! The kids had a blast and Anna Lauren loved every minute of it! Here is a "sneak" peak of her in the pool...I only took a couple pictures before my friend Jennifer arrived...it is such a treat to have a best friend that is a photographer...she took all the pictures for me so I could enjoy the party. I have not gotten them from her yet, but I will post more party pictures once I get them.

What a special weekend it was for our family...we love Anna Lauren so much and can not get enough of making her happy and seeing her "precious" smile!

Anna Lauren's Big Day...

Well, today is Anna Lauren's big day, it is her 2nd birthday! There are many more pictures to come, but I wanted to give you a sneak peak of how Anna Lauren started her day. Matt and I blew up balloons last night and filled her room...when she woke up and we went in to get her, she wanted all the balloons in her bed. She had the best time...

After playing with the balloons, we got dressed and headed to Krispy Kreme for birthday breakfast. She loved the "2" candles in her donut and insisted that everyone get a turn of the candles in their donut...and of course, she blew them out over and over...just loved it!

Then we took her to school to celebrate her birthday with her friends. I made sugar cookies and iced them...the kids will add their own sprinkles at her party this afternoon.

After work, we'll go home and let her open some presents and then have dinner followed by Miskelly's to ride the carousel.

After a much needed night of rest, we'll wake up in the morning to her "real" party...a swimming party at the local YMCA!

Adorable...

My cousin, Carrie, is absolutely amazing! She has three little boys (4 and under) and has a heart bigger than you can ever imagine...she never complains and does anything and everything with a smile on her face...like I said, amazing!

And in all her "spare time" she still sews and made Anna Lauren this adorable outfit for Christmas. However, it was about 10 inches long due to the "adorable" ruffle so we just got the pants back from Carrie and Anna Lauren wore the outfit to school today only because I knew she would not be going on the playground, which always leads to filthy clothes. Needless to say, she was a hit at daycare and everyone bragged on her outfit...

Now...she is not into pictures these days (hence why you have not seen many of her lately)...but...I convinced her to take pictures of daddy with another camera in order for us to get a picture of her outfit. So...these are pictures of the outfit not Anna Lauren because she was not having her picture made.

And last but not least, thanks to Aunt Carrie for her "adorable" outfit...

Happy Birthday James...

I will start by wishing our nephew James a "Happy 2nd Birthday"...

Unfortunately, we did not get to celebrate James' birthday with him this past weekend because he is too far away...but...we did think about him during the time he was having his party as well as today when he "really" turned 2!

As you can see by his picture below, James is full of smiles, has lots of curls, and is so very smart!

James, we hope you had a wonderful birthday! We miss you and love you!

Now...this is only the beginning of a series of birthdays...

If you remember, Matt's sisters and I all had a babies within 4 weeks of each other what seems like yesterday but we have approached the 2 year mark...wow ~ time flies!

James turned 2 today, Anna Lauren will be 2 on the 20th, and Spencer will be 2 on April 5th. As I was looking for a picture of James, I found this picture, which was taken when the babies were 8 to 9 months old...it is amazing how much they have grown...they are each so different but "wonderful" in their own little ways. And yes, ours is the "wild" one...leave it up to the little girl!

Left to Right: James, Anna Lauren, and Spencer

And what I'm not sure if I have told you or not is that we have two more little girls (yea!) on the way to add to these three...Madeline is scheduled to arrive the end of May (Spencer's sister) and Mary Martin the end of July (James' sister). We cannot wait to meet these little girls...Anna Lauren loves babies so I know she will be thrilled to add some babies to the mix and especially little girls!

Bad News and Good News...

Bad News: Less than a month has passed since the Williams (our dear neighbors) listed their house and yes, they now have a contract and will be moving the end of the month. We are thrilled for them as they are ready to make the next step in their life, but we are going to miss them so very much. So for now, we will cherish the time we have with them. Anna Lauren? Not sure how she is going to handle her best buddy (Adam or better known as Ady) not being two doors down...the poor new neighbors...I'm sure I will have to take her over to meet them and explain that it is no longer Adam's house...they are going to think we are nuts as we welcome them to the neighborhood with our two year old screaming for Ady!

Good News: Rachel (our precious Ra Ra) is not leaving Ridgecrest! She was offered a job at another daycare, but they led her on to believe that it was going to be more than it actually was once it was all said and done. So for 30 more minutes a day and $.25 more an hour, she has decided it is not worth her changing jobs. Needless to say, I was jumping for joy yesterday! With that being said, I do have to prepare myself because her plan is to go to nursing school in August, which means there is no way she can work. But...I want her to continue her education so I think I can prepare myself for August.