Lauren Is One!

I truly cannot believe we are celebrating Lauren's first birthday!  Though this year has been crazy busy and we have done so much as a family of five, the fact that our baby is one is surreal to me. My peanut is definitely not a peanut anymore! She weighs in at 24 lbs 3 oz (94%) and measures in at 30 inches (75%).

This time last year we were so excited with anticipation of her arrival.  Imagining who this little girl was going to be, what she was going to look like and how our family was going to change...for the better!

Lauren has brought a whole new level of happiness to our family.  She is so sweet, silly, and a feisty little one.  She is very friendly and started waving at a pretty young age ( I don't remember exactly), but she is always happy to say high to people in the stores.  She adores her big sister and I can see visions of her following her around.  She think her brother is hilarious and is ready to stir up some trouble by pushing him right back!  And when she wants some attention, this girl can yell her head off!

Around her first birthday she started taking steps on her own.  She is also working on climbing and grabbing anything she can get a hold off..that she knows she is not supposed to!  Being the 3rd child I see how she is more adventurous and must be part of the action.  She loves playing with her brother and sister and trying everything they are, but she is also happy to have all the toys to herself too!  She can play with the toy kitchen and all that goes with it for a good 45 minutes on her own!

Lauren is full of light and full of laughs and one dancing machine.  Her theme song is "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift.  Not only does she love to dance to this song but when this girl gets all wound up some times you just got to help her shake it off by jumping or dancing around!

We feel beyond blessed to have Lauren as part of our family.  A few years ago this vision seemed like a possibly unattainable dream.  The fact that we are now living it, is beyond words.

She is obsessed with the purse just like Whitney was!

Bundled up at the bus stop!

Striking a pose in these stylish glasses.

This girl loves her Papa!  She rushes right over to him when he gets home!

This year we took a trip to Kiawah during her birthday  and all of our family was there.  It was so fun to be together to celebrate Lauren's 1st birthday!

So this is what I have been missing!!

Reflection

This past weekend marked Christine's 4th birthday.  It is overwhelming to think about that day.  Time has definitely healed our pain, but those wounds are still close to our hearts.  Time, and of course new babies in our lives, has helped us move forward.  But one element is that we have learned to live with that loss.  We cannot walk around crying about it everyday.  We have to be happy.  We have to give our time to our children.  But there is always a time for it.  The tears are easy.

On Saturday Tim and I had hoped to go out to dinner but I was still bogged down with a mild flu and fever that night.  So we ordered in Indian food and reminisced about our girl.  We both agreed that Christine's presence in our life is when we take moments to truly soak in the happiness we feel when we are with our kids.  Her loss really taught us to slow down and really be present with each other and be present even amongst the craziness that having 3 young kids brings.

Some days it feels like a dream.  Did that really happen to us?  But then I feel the tug on my heart and I know it did.  However, we will forever be grateful for how it deepen our relationship and taught us to really enjoy everyday because you never know when your life will be turned upside down.

Christmas

As always, Christmas comes with many fun events!  Here are our photos to remember them by!

The largely anticipated, Santa on the Fire Truck!! Whitney was beside herself with excitement, but I told her she couldn't talk about it because I wasn't sure if we were going to get Colin up to see him.  Mean Mom, I know!  But he doesn't hit our house till well after 8 and Colin could be in dreamland by then!  Anyway, this year we were able to track his route and around 8pm I went to see if Colin was awake and he was, so I whispered, "Santa is going to drive by on a fire truck".  I mean can you even imagine his thoughts on this!  His eyes lit up and I was so glad I got this little boy up to see him!

Tracking his route

Tim asked why I didn't have them in long pants.  I thought this was part of the fun :)

What an amazing memory.  Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Our next event this year was tree trimming at my parents.  Colin was heavily into decorating the tree this year and even got to "help" put the angel on top.  

We have decided in the last few years that my parents would give them their gift on this day.  Spreads out Christmas fun a little bit! They all got one big gift...

A super cool tent!  A cozy spot for watching movies as well as endless play!

Next up, our annual breakfast with Santa.   A shockingly good picture!

Then that afternoon we made Nanny's sugar cookies. 

A fun day spent with Auntie Ann too!

We will take a brief moment to mention Lauren's big, first Christmas event.  Burning her hand!  Placing her hand on this small ledge outside of the oven and then leaning on it to stand up.  Instant blisters, a trip to Urgent Care, then the ER who then sent us to Children's Hospital in DC.  The poor girl suffered 2nd degree burns that had to be cut open and cleaned.  She did amazing and luckily will have no long term damage.  I did my fair share of crying, but am feeling so much better that is just fine!  Tim, Lauren and I got home close to 1am on Christmas Eve.  A huge thanks to my mom and sister for making sure our house was ready for Christmas morning!

Christmas morning was magical.  The kids were ecstatic about what Santa had brought for them.  We spent the first few hours in the morning enjoying those toys.

Around 9am my family came over and we enjoyed delicious Creme Brulee French Toast.  Then exchanged gifts with my family.  

We all enjoyed some naps and finally finished opening up gifts that afternoon.  I like that we somehow have created this leisurely way of opening gifts.  We finished the day with dinner at my parents house.

A few days later we got to see the Butler side for a delicious dinner and a fun visit!

Sue arrived in town and we had a fun week with her playing with all our gifts.  

Uncle Casey had a few visits this month too!

Though on our way to Children's hospital, I wasn't sure what was in store for our Christmas plans.  We feel so lucky that Lauren was okay and that we got to have an amazing Christmas!!

Thanksgiving

We made our annual trip to Charlotte for Thanksgiving.  The kids were counting down the days! It was a long car ride, but we made it! This year we left Tuesday night and stayed till Sunday night.

  It was so nice to spend so much time with Tim's family.  We have many great memories from this trip.  Playing, doing crafts, snuggles, watching funny videos and singing a long, and eating lots of good food!

Lauren ended up getting pretty sick with croup.  A very long story, but I will say, it was nice to be there and have all the help!

We can't wait till next year!

Cozy in Grandma and Grandpa's bed.

Cousins!

Trip #1 to Urgent Care

Crafting Cousins!

I love how he is passionate in everything he does!

Checking out those Black Friday ads.

Sicky getting spoiled.

Aunt Niki Snuggles

Uncle Brady time!

Not so fun, trip #2 to Urgent Care

Loved the tool bench!

Five and A Half

Whitney is five and a half!  I love age five!  Whitney is so sweet and thoughtful and I love hearing her questions and thoughts on life.

Whitney has grown an inch in the last 6 months, now measuring 46 1/2 inches and weighs 46 lbs.

She loves her art and does some kind of coloring or creative thing everyday.  She also has excellent color choices and is starting to create pictures on her own.  She took a decorative painting class after school and loved that of course!

She also has two new, sweet friends, Elsie and Caelyn.  They are both on the bus and Elsie is in her class.  I believe they are inseparable!  Elsie is the oldest of three as well (Caelyn too) and their teacher told me they are very similar.   Whitney talks about Elsie all the time, things that Elsie likes, things that Elsie does.   For example, her favorite colors have been blue and pink, but now because Elsie likes green and pink, those are now Whitney's favorite colors of course!  We have had play dates with Elsie and Caelyn where the girls will get off the bus at each other's houses.  And a huge perk for me is I love their Mom's!  The mom's and younger kids join us after the kids get home.  It is so nice to meet these new families, especially because we are going through the same thing with three young kids!

Whitney continues to be an amazing big sister.  She and Colin are best buddies and have great imaginative play together.  I love listening from the other room.  Though working through conflict will always be a work in progress, I am very proud with how she handles Colin.  She still dotes on Lauren and is always telling her how much she loves her.

Whitney now has a chore chart that takes her about 10 days to complete.  She accumulates 20 stars and then gets a reward. Her chores are things like take her dishes to the sink, vacuum, end of day clean up, etc.  Rewards are anything from a new game, puzzle, pajamas or a trip to Sweet Frog.  It has worked out very well!

The growth in these last 6 months has been huge.  She is more confident and more outgoing and I couldn't be more proud of her!

Waiting for the bus.

Who is this old girl!

 I mean look at that love!

Patiently sharing one of her favorite activities. (For a few minutes)

Play date at Elsie's. (Elsie is in the middle)

Girl Time!

Walking to the bus with Caelyn.

50's Day at school to celebrate the fiftieth day of school.

Will have to pull this out in 10 years.  Yikes!