Day 30: Lauren's Daddy is Crazy!

So before you think I am a horrible, irresponsible mother, please know that I in no way condoned this, and he didn't really ride (other that in front of our house) with her like that. JJ finally got the breaks on his bike fixed, which means he is obsessed with it once again. He had been out at the bike shop while I was with Lauren all morning, so when he got home I asked him to take care of her for a bit so I could get some stuff done. Well his idea of taking care of her involved strapping her to himself and testing out his new breaks in front of our house. I did aks him to wait for awhile to go ride, but he can be so impatient sometimes.

Day 29: I'm sitting up!

This is not the best picture as far as quality goes, but all I had with me at the time was my iPhone. Today Lauren reached a huge milestone, sitting up in the cart all by herself. I don't know if it's just me, but the carts at Central Market seem so much higher, and now that I think of it, I think all of HEB's carts are like that. It's usually really difficult for me to see where I'm going if I have the car seat in the basket. I have almost ran right into several innocent shoppers, several times. I like putting her in the carrier, but sometimes I just forget to bring it with me, or she's already asleep when we get there. Today was awesome! No carrier, no car seat, and Lauren loved her new view. She also got lots of attention from other shoppers, which she never minds : ).

Day 28: Daddy's Headphones

Yes, my husband still uses the 1990's style headphones, like the ones we all had with our walkmen. He hates the earbuds that come with the iPod, and pretty much any other one out there. Lauren also loves these things that not only play music, but are also fun to chew on. I just love the oh so serious look on her little face. I really hope she enjoys music as much as her dad and I do.

Day 27: She's Out

Lauren had a long day of playing, eating and trying to crawl. Here she is passed out in her pack n play, surrounded by some of her favorite "friends".

Day 26: Daddy's Girl

Yes I am admitting it, Lauren is such a Daddy's Girl. Today he picked her up from the sitter's and she apparently greeted him with smiles, giggles and excited kicks. When I got there she hardly even looked my way. Maybe it's because he was gone for almost a week, and this is how she is showing him how much she missed him when he was gone. I don't know, but she needs to remember who was in labor for 22 hours with her, with no epidural. That's right Lauren, it was your mommy, so next time I go pick you up after a long day at work I expect to be greeted with smiles, giggles and excited baby kicks : ).

Day 25: Daddy's Home

After 6 days of being a "single mom" my husband is finally home! As happy as I was to see him, it's definitely a different kind of happy now that we have a baby. Years ago when he used to travel all the time, it was so exciting when he would come home because I missed having someone to cuddle with, watch movies, or go out to eat with. Now it is totally different. I wanted him home just as bad, but this time it's more because if he were gone one more day, I could lose my mind. I hate to complain because I know lots of women do it, but I did not sign up to raise a baby on my own. Over the last 6 days it seems like this child has forgot what a nap is, and can not sleep unless she is cuddled in my arms, which means I don't get much sleep because I'm worried I will roll over on top of her in the middle of the night. As happy as I am that he's here to hold her while I brush my teeth, shower, or eat dinner, I really am glad that I finally have my hubby to cuddle with again. Oh, and Lauren is happy too. She missed her Daddy while he was gone.

Day 24: Wearing Lauren

My Moby Wrap is one of the best gifts I have received. It is especially useful when I am alone and Lauren does not want to be put down. Tonight I was able to load the dishwasher, wash bottles, cook dinner (in the Crock Pot), and actually eat my dinner while it was still somewhat warm. I love how happy Lauren looks in this picture.

Day 23: I Hate Sundays

Sunday means that when I wake up in the morning I will face another week of being away from this adorable child for 9 hours a day. As much as I love my 3rd graders who think they know it all, despite their failing grades, I would much rather be at home with Lauren. Only 4 more months and this will become a reality. I can't wait!

Day 22: Dinner With Friends

Lately Lauren has had some stranger anxiety, but we were able to get this picture of her with our friend Alex and she actually didn't freak out when he held her. I really hope this stage doesn't last long because I'm sure JJ and I will want to get out by ourselves sometime before she starts school, and she will need to be okay with a babysitter.

Day 21: Lauren and her Lovey

Lauren loves her lovey that my friend Laura had made for her. I think it's so sweet how she cuddles up to it when she naps. And of course she's got to have her paci in her mouth.

Day 20: Sleep Over

Today JJ had to go out of town for a couple days so I decided that since Lauren loves her cousin Julia, and I hate to be alone, we would invite her over to spend the night. Now I know that a 10 year old can't possibly protect me from the things that I'm scared of, which I won't reveal on here because ya'll would really think that I'm a big wuss, but I love having her around anyway. Well, we are off to bed, and yes we are all sleeping in the same bed tonight. : )

Day 19: Homemade Green Beans

Tonight I fed Lauren homemade green beans. I think this is her favorite veggie so far. When I gave her the first spoonful, she got so excited. Surprisingly, she is a pretty clean eater. The only place she got it was on her chin as you can see.

Day 18

This was taken right before bedtime, which is about the only time I am getting to take pictures.

Day 17: Lauren Facebooking

We decided that since Facebook has practically taken over the world, we would start Lauren early. Here she is checking out what's going on in the lives of all her baby friends. Doesn't she look so serious?

Day 16: Cuddling with Mommy

I didn't take this picture, but I wanted one of us together so I had JJ take over picture taking duties today. I absolutely love wearing Lauren in the Moby Wrap, but I hardly ever have the opportunity because we don't go out much during the week after I get home from work. Today I had her in it because she wasn't content being by herself, and I love having her close to me without having to carry her. So this is a picture of Lauren hanging out in  the wrap : ).

Day 15: We had a Long Day

Lauren had a really long day today. We spent the morning cleaning up the house a little bit, then we went to church with some friends. We attempted to leave Lauren in the nursery, but she had a complete meltdown. The attendant had to call us after about 15 minutes of her crying so that we could come get her. I guess the "stranger anxiety" has begun. Once we had her she continued to sniffle and cry just to let us know how unhappy she was that we had abandoned her. Hopefully she'll do better next week.

Day 14: I'm Not Sleepy Mom

I thought I had the perfect baby when at 3 months old, she started sleeping through the night, and was going to sleep at 7:30 every night. It was pure bliss, especially since I had just started back to work. Well something has changed and now she wants to stay up later, and wake up 2 or 3 times every night to play. I don't know what happened to my perfect little sleeper, but I really want her back!

Day 13: My Happy 5 Month Old

So technically I should have taken this picture yesterday on her 5 month birthday, but I was beyond exhausted and didn't get around to it. But I guess one day late isn't too bad : ). I love how happy and smiley she is in this picture. I am truly blessed to have such a sweet, happy baby. Happy 5 months!

Day 12

As I uploaded this picture onto my computer, and into the file I setup for this project, it made me really sad to see how much she has changed in just these past 12 days. While I was typing that sentence Lauren just "crawled" over to me to snuggle, which almost brought a tear to my eye. Okay, I feel like I am just rambling now, but I guess that is what happens when you only get a few hours of sleep at night, then work with 3rd graders who act like wild animals, then come home to cook, wash bottles, do diaper laundry and try to clean up a little so you don't feel like a total slob. I am exhausted, but loving this life as a mom.

Days 10 & 11

Lauren is starting to crawl, well more like creep, backwards. She went all the way off her play mat tonight and ended up scooting all the way under the TV stand. On a side note, I just love her crooked little smile.

We put this toy together last night, it was a Christmas present from one of her aunt's. Thank goodness it was one of the easier toys to assemble. Most of them have a million little pieces. Anyhow, she seems to really like it : ).

Day 9: Good Night

After reading Lauren her bedtime story, she reached for the book like she wanted me to read it again. I sat her down and she tried flipping through the pages. My daughter is so smart, I love it : ).

Day 8

Love watching Lauren sleep. She was so peaceful and sweet sleeping in her daddy's arms.

Day 7

I've always loved taking pictures, but am challenged when it comes to actually playing with all the different settings. Since we've had our digital Canon I've been thinking that I really need to learn a thing or two so that JJ is not the only one who knows how to use the thing. I played with it a little yesterday and got a couple of good shots of Lauren, but I still have a lot to learn.

Days 5 & 6

Today JJ wasn't feeling well so he stayed home. When he picked up Lauren from the sitter's house this is what he decided to let her watch. This should automatically give me all rights to what is watched on TV from now on. He is no longer to be trusted. Thank goodness she won't have a memory of that.

This was Mommy's first day back to work. I was running late which is why her hair looks so crazy.

Day 4: Lauren helping mommy with diaper laundry

After a little over a week of being in disposables, Lauren will finally be back in her cloth diapers. When I first decided to cloth diaper Lauren, I had to do a lot of research. I, like most people, imagined a bunch of flat pieces of cloth and sharp safety pins that would be sent off to be cleaned by a service. Once I started reading different mommy boards and websites I found a whole world filled with bright, colorful, easy to use cloth diapers that I could wash at home. What I didn't realize was that I was going to have to use a special detergent so that she would not develop a rash.


At first it went really well, but after a few months of washing in Tide Lauren developed a nasty rash that would not go away. Her pediatrician told me to stop the cloth and put her in disposables. Since I had invested so much money into all these cute diapers there was no way I was giving up that easy, so after some more research I realized that I needed to put them through a process called "stripping", and then switch to a "cloth diaper friendly" detergent. So that's what we did the past 2 days. Hopefully it worked and the rash won't come back. I really don't want to have to sell off all my diapers.

Day 3: PJ Day

So it's 5:00 pm and Lauren and I just changed out of our PJ's, and that's only because Lauren still can't keep her food down. She also can't hit the burp cloth, but must get me as well as herself with her lovely smelling spit-up. I really am going to miss this when I go back to work on Wednesday.


Lauren's cousin Julia came to hang out with us today since she is still off from school. We had a great lazy day of watching TV and eating Jason's Deli. Here is a shot of Lauren and her cousin, and one of Lauren on her activity mat.

Day 2 : Fun at the Zoo

Today was Lauren's first day at the zoo. I figured that we would buy a yearly membership since she has become so much more aware of her surroundings, and it will save us money when we are bored and just want something to do. I had not been to the zoo in about a year and I was really excited about the new African Forest exhibit that just opened.


When we walked in Lauren was really very excited. She got a huge grin on her face and was cooing up a storm. We went to see the giraffes first (there were only 3 animal habitats in the new exhibit), which was cool because you can get really close to them. We spent awhile there and she just stared away. 


After seeing a few more animals we wandered off to a little secluded area near the entrance and the guy manning the entrance gate said that it was okay if we wanted to hang out there for "a little love time", as he put it. I didn't really know what he meant by that since we had a baby, and it really wasn't secluded enough for anyone to have "love time" there without a bunch of people watching.


Well after talking to the man we found a pretty little spot with good lighting and JJ practiced shooting with his "almost new" Canon DSLR. He got a few good shots, but he still needs a little practice. Here and some of Lauren and I on the bridge.

365 Photo Challenge: Day 1

Day 1, New Years Day. After a few months of J.J. trying to get me to start blogging, and some inspiration from some of my "mommy friends" I decided to participate in a 365 day photo challenge that my fellow August 2010 moms started. The goal is to capture a moment of Lauren's life every day this year, and write about what's going on with her. After 4 and a half months, she has already met a few milestones like smiling, cooing and rolling from back to front. I plan to share many more with you through this blog. I look forward to a year filled with many more firsts for both her and myself.