Lauren is almost 4 years old now and has been home for 3 years. She is a pure girly girl that loves to dance and sing. She believes she has to have her nails painted just like Mommy and can out shop just about anyone! She is very loving and sassy all wrapped up in one teensy tiny bottle. She eats everything that is put in front of her. Her favorite things to do is blow bubbles, ballet, sing, play doh, and draw. She is a joy to be around. Her stats are at almost 4 is 26 pounds, right at 36 inches tall and wears 12 to 18 month pants and 2T shirts. She is considered in the 2nd percentile in height and weight. She is a little pixie of a girl but that is ok because she makes up for it in attitude. I've also included some new pictures of our little miss.

Long time no write I know...lol. Life with Lauren is always busy and entertaining. She doesn't like me to get on the computer...she believes she has to "help" me type which never works. Lets get down to some stats. She weighs 24 pounds now but she is not much taller than she was a year ago. She is definitely going to be petite. She is a very sweet and loving child but she also has a stubborn and sassy side to her too. She is sort of like sweet and spicy all in one small package. She has been real big into mimicking everything you say including "hush", which tends to get her in trouble. She is really into Dora and Mickey Mouse. We are going to go see the mouse in person in June. Hopefully she will do OK with that setting. She is still very shy around anyone new and clams up until she feels comfortable around them. She is very excited about getting to go. Its just going to be me and her on this trip. We are making a stopover in Biloxi, Mississippi to stay with my best friend for a week and her girls while her husband is over seas in Qatar then its off to Florida for a few days. We are also going to go back with my best friend and her family in February to Disney World when her husband gets back home. Stay safe over there Joshua!! Now without further talking here are pictures of my darling baby girl..:)

25 Things About Lauren

1. She will eat anything that is put in front of her- she has never turned anything down.

2. She can be very demanding about asking for things but them clasps her hands together and says "pwease". We are putty in her hands when she does this. She can be very stubborn.

3. She loves the swimming pool which she has dubbed "swimmy pool" but has developed an allergy to chlorine. (Salt water pool coming soon)

4. She still doesn't sleep through the night.

5. She still wears 12 months clothes at 2 years old and sometimes they are too big.

6. She has to sleep with 4 stuffed hippos, 1 ladybug pillow and now a rabbit. She also has to have this certain hand towel otherwise she will not go to sleep.

7. She has to give hugs and kisses to everyone in the house and tell them night night before she will lay down and go to sleep..this includes nap time too.

8. She shrieks when she is happy and when she is mad. She puts her fingers in her ears so it won't make her ears bleed just everyone elses...lol

9. She often looks through the pictures of Vietnam and says "Vietnam baby" and points to herself and says "happy people"

10. Her favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba

11. She loves to watch music videos and loves listening to music. She dances to everything and sings to them.

12. The only juice that she will drink is apple juice.

13. She loves her cats and loves to sit on one dog and terrorize the other one.

14. She loves her hair to be blow dried and brushed. She sits in the sink and watches herself in the mirror. Not a bit vain...lol

15. She is obsessed with brushing her teeth.

16. She will not keep clothes on unless she knows she is going somewhere otherwise she will wear just a diaper.

17. She LOVES shoes! She gets giddy when she gets new ones.

18. She is still very shy and will cling to me if strangers are near. It still takes her a while for my step sisters to get near her.

19. She always says "thank you".

20. She loves to have her picture taken and to see herself in the pictures.

21. One of her favorite things to do is blow bubbles. She can do this for hours.

22. She has to have her lamp on and her lullabies CD on continuous play otherwise she wakes up screaming in the night. (She can be very touchy about her routine)

23. She doesn't know how to walk...she either runs full speed or skips.

24. She loves both of her brothers but she favors her older brother, Tyler. I think its because he does anything she wants him to do.

25. She is the most beautiful little girl that has such a sweet and spicy spirit that is loved by everyone that meets her. She is our little angel and we are so very blessed to have her in our lives.

Lauren's 2nd Birthday!!

Lauren had such a great time at her birthday party. It was just family but it was perfect for her. It was so much different than last years party. Last year she had only been home for 2 days so she was still getting used to everything and everyone. She loved everything that she got. Her Nana and Grandfather got her a Dora table and chairs set and a baby doll. Her Papoo got her a Hello Kitty flashlight, bubble machine, and a big set of blocks. Her Aunt Amy got her a huge bouncy ball and we got her a play kitchen, a new pink hippo, and 2 new books. Here are just some of the pictures of her. She has changed so much in a years time.

Tons of new pics

I have become a bad blogger again....sorry. Lauren has been doing really good. She is now sporting 11 teeth, including 2 molars. Needless to say she was not a happy camper about that. She weighs just 16 pounds and is 26 inches long. The doctor says that she is in the 5th percentile in her weight and height. She has lost a little weight but she has been sick with a double ear infection, upper respiratory infection, and bronchitis. That was a fun little doctors appointment. My baby girl was not feeling good and then she had to have blood drawn and a chest x ray. Needless to say the entire doctors office heard her and was coming down the halls to check what was going on. By the way it is a 2 story doctors building. Her lungs are excellent! Other than that little hiccup she has been the picture of health. She is walking everywhere...or maybe I should say practically running. She can move so fast you would think she was a streak of lightening. She has also developed the most sinister giggle. It is hilarious. She will break out in this spontaneous giggle for no apparent reason when it is quiet. I have been trying to get it on video but she has been uncooperative. I am going to keep trying though. She has been sleeping so well and eating anything you put in front of her. She eats mainly veggies and some meats. She is Miss Independent when it comes to eating. If it isn't finger foods most of the time she doesn't want it. She will however allow her grandfather to feed her from a spoon when no one can. She has learned how to drink from a straw. I was not going to allow my child to have any caffeine of any kind but one day she was wigging out about me drinking even though she had her sippy cup. So, I proceeded to let her "try" and to my amazement she was able to do it and she took a big gulp and just shuttered and some yummmmm. It was so adorable!. The girl can take you down for some diet coke. Lauren and I picked out her new bedroom set. I got her opinion on this...really. She sat on the computer desk and we went through sets and she made it known what she liked and didn't like. We have decided on the Hello Kitty and Puppy bedroom set. She giggles and claps and screeches "cat" at the top of her lungs any time she saw it so I am guessing that is the winner. She will be moving into her new room soon. I will post pictures of that as soon as it is done. I will try not to be a bad blogger but I can't promise anything.:)) Below are a few pictures of her lately. Her hair has gotten so long.

WALKING!!

Guess who is walking?? LAUREN GRACE!!!!! She started walking today and we couldn't be more excited and terrified all at the same time. She has also discovered how to climb up on things. This would be another terrifying thing for me. She has also been sleeping a lot better these days with some of the advice from Jill. Another thing I started doing is putting in a couple of scoops of yogurt cereal into her formula at night time. This keeps her from getting hungry in the middle of the night. The pictures is of her climbing onto the sterlite box to get onto the futon. I will post more pictures and maybe a video of her walking soon.

Misc. Stuff

Well, a lot has been going on. Lauren did get her ears pierced. The lady that pierced her kept on saying "she is going to cry, are you sure you want to do this?" She asked me like 5 or 6 times which only made me more nervous. Finally she did it and Lauren cried for all of about 2 seconds before she was whisked away by her Papoo (grandfather). It was a lot more traumatizing to me than for her. She has really been trying to walk and talk more. She has been eating so many different foods. She has discovered that she likes Italian food a LOT, squash, corn, baked beans , chicken and anything else that you put in front of her. She has also learned how to use a fork pretty well. I have a picture of that below. This also means she wants to use it all the time and sometimes she just can't. She has now been sporting another tooth which brings our total up to 8 teeth. She is a real giggle box. She has the most devilish giggle. It sounds downright evil but so funny. My mom and step dad that lives next door decided to put up their pool and she is absolutely loving it. We bought her a crab that she sits in that has a sun shade and she just kicks her feet and giggles. She especially thinks its funny when her Mommy and Daddy goes under the water and gets her feet. I am so excited that she loves the water because we are a family of swimmers. It has been exhausting her to where she sleeps a little better. She is still thinking that she needs to get up 10 times a night and only take one nap during the day but we are trying different ways to get her where she is sleeping better. Thanks Jill for that advice. It will help a lot more when she gets moved into her own room. We are almost done with our master bedroom so then everyone will have their own room. Yeah!! I have learned that until she gets her own room and her stuff goes in there...there is no way I can keep house very well. I never had this much stuff with either of my boys. A swing, playpen, baby gates, jumper, and a walker, that seems like a lot of stuff in one living room. On to Lauren's first 4th of July....she liked the sparklers but she doesn't like the loud noises. We had a very low key 4th. We normally would have a huge fireworks display and a big dinner. This year we have two people with messed up ankles and feet and my husband had to have oral surgery and wasn't feeling so hot. Not to mention everyone was sick and had to work. My oldest son took off for a week to my step sisters house. She has a 15 year old too so I have had one less child all week. She is growing like a weed and has a cute little belly that I love to kiss and blow rasberries on. She is a wonderful baby and I couldn't have asked for a better daughter. She has learned how to kiss and give hugs so well and it just melts my heart every time. Even when she is trying to delay going to sleep by doing so. Well, I apologize to anyone that is still following this blog for the delay in pictures and updates.