Growing Up

It's amazing how much your children change in personality and looks in just a few short months time. It makes me sad that before too long, they're not going to be babies anymore, but grown kids.

Can you believe this was Easton at just a little under two years old?

And this was him just a few weeks ago.

Here's Reagan at 9 months old.

And here she is at 18 months.

And little bumble B at 3 months old.

Now 6 months old!

Our kids are growing into special little people and we cherish the time we spend with them. One day, they're going to be all grown up, but they will always be our sweet babies!

Summer Daze

This summer we have a lot of plans...plans, that is, for playing, laughing, loving, swimming, celebrating, jumping, exercising, vacationing, cooking, sleeping and more of what I just said.

We've already gotten off to a great start. We kicked off the summer, or soon to be summer, with a Memorial Day cookout with JT's family.

We enjoyed some watermelon,

played with trains,

and loved on our baby dolls.

I can't wait to see what else this summer will bring!

Happy Hump Day!

Mommy and Daddy Time!

Johnathan and I recently just got back from a whirlwind trip to Panama City Beach, Fla., with a couple of our friends. We had so much fun "adult" time, and it was great to get away from the stresses of home and just long enough for me not to miss the kids TOO much!

The first day, we rode scooters. J let me drive. I was freaked out at first, but soon got the hang of it!

We visited the famous Pineapple Willy's. Great food right on the beach!

We did a lot of laying out on the beach. Here's our Sports Illustrated Swimsuit-esque picture...yeah right!

The last night we were there we went to Angelo's, home of Big Gus, the famous 20,000 pound steer...okay.

Overall, we had a blast but we were ready to get back to our munchkins.

Happy Hump Day!

Our Life Lately as Seen Through My iPhone

With the beautiful weather of spring, it's encouraged us to spend plenty of time outside. We've had plenty of hair-raising times on the kids jumpoline!

Since our baby turned four months, we were given the go ahead to give her solid foods. This is her "enjoying" her applesauce!

Speaking of food. Easton has started trying more of a variety of new foods lately. He was loving some Chinese food a few nights ago! Sorry the pic is sideways. It doesn't look like that in my preview. Oh well!

The weekend of Easter we celebrated the wedding of my brother, Jeremy, and now sister-in-law Rebecca. Johnathan and I were both in the wedding...aren't we a gorgeous couple? ;  )

Our girls love each other so much, and they love to dress the same. They are so close in age I sometimes think of them as twins so why NOT dress them alike!

And finally, just today, Easton got to go to a train show with my parents, his Gammie and Poppa! He is a big train fan. My mom said his picture will be in the newspaper tomorrow!

Life Lessons

As this blog is named "Lauren's Life Lessons," I thought it was time for me to share some life lessons that I have learned, discovered, facilitated, and given recently.

1) Don't jump to conclusions and assume the worst. I always am one to play the "devil's advocate," so to speak, and always look for the worst outcome in a situation and think that's what's going to actually happen. I need to remember to trust in GOD and know that everything happens for a reason and it will all work out the way HE planned it to.

2) I never had a sister, only a brother, and as special as he is, I really wish I had been able to have a sister to share secrets with, do girly activities, go through pregnancies together, and I could go on. So, now that I have TWO daughters, I want to help them form a loving relationship and bond that I never got to experience. Even now, with Reagan at only 18 months and Brooklyn at only 4 months, I encourage them to play together and love on each other (Reagan LOVES to hold her little sister), and they will soon share a room together. I hope they grow up cherishing each other and have a great friendship throughout their lives.

3) Easton is an amazingly little boy! Although not up to average standards in his language development, he is the smartest little four-year-old I know! He teaches us so much every day about him and what he can do, and he teaches us about ourselves and how we should be patient and understanding of all kinds of people in all walks of life. He is truly one special little guy!

4) I have discovered recently that fudge creme oreos are absolutely the greatest cookie on Earth...but if I'm gonna lose the rest of this baby weight, then I need to stop eating them every night...I do limit myself to one...okay two...a day!

5) As many times that I don't get sleep at night because our babies are up sick, or I am so tired from a long day at work and it seems like the kids are there just to drive me insane, or Johnathan and I are fighting about something really stupid and petty, I wouldn't change one single thing about my life at all. I love my kids so much; my husband is my best friend and soul mate; and GOD is a forever in our lives.

That's all my life lessons for now. On to something else for today!

Jump Reagan!

Just thought this was funny and cute!

Happy Ash Wednesday!

Look Who's Cooing!

Isn't this just precious!? Brooklyn has started cooing!

So sweet!

Bumble B's Birth Story!

Wow! The last three months have been crazy to say the least. We went from having a boy and a little baby girl, to having a boy and TWO little baby girls!

The birth story

On December, 20, 2010 at 10:57 p.m. our sweet little baby Brooklyn was born! Just a quick run down of the "labor" day. I went in at 7:30 a.m. that day with my mom to get started on the induction. Why my mom and not Johnathan? Well, dummy me had scheduled the induction on the same day as Johnathan's paramedic practical exams, but it was just for the morning and we knew he would make it to be with me well before the baby came. So, the induction was long and slow. The nurse secretly, aside from my doctor knowing, didn't give me much pitocin, at first, so that Johnathan would definitely make it on time.

Sometime around mid-afternoon and once Johnathan got there, the contractions were gettting more painful, so I requested the epidural. They had given me some kind of pain medicine right before that to help with the pain, and it made me really loopy and I started bawling and thought I was going to pass out, but Johnathan and the nurse reassured me it was going to be okay.

More time went on and soon it began to feel like the epidural was wearing off. At this point, they still hadn't checked me except one other time to see if I had dialated. I was in A LOT of pain and the anesthesiologist came in to up my epidural meds. Then the nurse was like, why don't we go ahead and check you and see where we are at at this point. So, she did and it didn't take her but two seconds and she starts yelling for the other nurses and the doctor to come in. Brooklyn was already coming out and THAT'S why I was in so much pain! A side note to this too, while all this was happening, Johnathan wasn't even in the room OR on the same floor for that matter. He had gone downstairs to meet his mom who was bringing food, so they had to call him and tell him to run back upstairs!!!

Once all the nurses got setup, I started pushing...and only three pushes later, out Brooklyn came! She was a big bundle of joy at 8 lbs. 7.6 oz and 21 3/4 inches. A full head of hair and she already had a tan, which I still believe is from when I got painfully sunburned while we were in Mexico that September.

Our beautiful Brooklyn, or Bumble B as I have nicknamed her, is such a joy. She is a good baby with an easy going personality. She looks just like her brother and already loves to watch her brother and sister. I can't wait till she can interact with them and they can play together. Reagan calls her the "bay-ba" and looks for her every morning to see where she is. We just love her so much!

Congrats!

On another note, Johnathan is officially a paramedic! We are so proud of him and all his accomplishments. He is such a wonderful husband and father! Congrats to my hubby!

Christmas is Around the Corner!

Christmas is just around the corner, and I am so stinkin' excited! Excited to see my kids faces light up when they discover that Santa has visited; excited to be around all my immediate family and extended family; excited for the yummy treats and eats; and especially excited to be blessed with a new child! Those are all the things I am excited about and all the things I really "want" for Christmas!

Yesterday, Johnathan and I took the kids photos for our Christmas card. It was a blast!

Reagan wanted to pose and smile,

but Easton didn't really want to look in the camera's direction.

He did cooperate when we asked him to kiss his sissy.

She loves to kiss on him too! It's really cute.



Overall, we got some great pictures and made an adorable Christmas card!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours!



Come here Reagan!

I'm starting to think that Reagan will be walking on her own any day now...just in time for Brooklynn's arrival. What do you think?

Updates!

It's been WAAAYYY too long since I updated this blog last....SORRY!

Some updates for you:

Reagan
Our sweet little diva just recently turned 1-year-old! We gave her a "sweet" birthday party and showered her with lots of love and gifts. Below is one of her 1-year pics I took. Isn't she beautiful!

She is still not walking, but I think it's going to happen any day now! Oh boy....just when our Brooklynn gets here. That's gonna be fun! ;  )

Easton
Our sweet boy is as precious and handsome as ever. He is progressing and learning more every day. His language has developed so much since he started school in August. We are so proud of him!

He still won't eat much of a variety of foods, but he does stick to his staple foods, which is better than nothing I guess!

Brooklynn
We are only about 4 weeks from meeting our new baby girl. She is so active in my tummy, so I am already predicting that she will be a energetic little girl!

Johnathan
My handsome hubby is nearing the end with his paramedic class. He only has a handful more of classes to attend, and then he can go on to take the National Registry test to become certified as a paramedic. I am so proud of all the hard work he has put in to becoming a paramedic. He will take the test days before we expect Brooklynn to be born, so there will be a lot going on in the third week of December!

Me
I am now 35 weeks pregnant, and SOOOO ready to have Brooklynn! I have been pregnant for almost 2 years straight, and I need a pregnancy break! This pregnancy has been a lot different than my first two in that I have had much more back and pelvic pain, LOTS of Braxton Hicks contractions, and many more mornings of nausea...even now in my third trimester!

My plan, which I actually haven't discussed with my doctors yet, is to be induced sometime in the time frame of December 17-21. I am determined for Brooklynn not to be born on Christmas...I don't want any of my children to have to share their birthday with a major holiday, especially Christmas!

Well, that's it for now! Hopefully I will have some more interesting news to share soon!

Sweet Snuggles!

Two of my loves and snuggle buddies.

Have a great Wednesday!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? I see my little Easton doing so well and it makes me happy!

Easton has been doing wonderfully in school. He absolutely LOVES it! He is talking so much more and singing songs and following directions and asking for or telling us what he needs/wants. It's so fantastic!

Something really neat he's doing now is reading. I can write a note to him or write a sentence for him and he can READ it with no help at all!

I just love my little guy so much, and his daddy and I are just so happy at the progress he's made in just the month and a half that he's been in the special 3 yr. old class.

Last night, he was so proud of himself because he remembered all the words to the Brown Bear, Brown Bear book his teacher read in class. I leave this post with Easton's rendition of the book in song form!

Baby Brunch

Today my co-worker/friend Amanda and I hosted a Baby Brunch and Photoshoot; it was for the upcoming edition of our University's magazine. We wanted to feature all the babies born to our employees since the last edition of the magazine was published.

It was so much fun getting all the babies, and their parents, together for lots of  playtime. Reagan, although the oldest, was very clingy to her mommy, but her usual diva self did make an appearance.

We had one moment of tug-and-war with her bestie Peyton:

A sticking-out-the-tounge moment at her bestie Peyton:

Several whining/crying/screaming moments:

A few calm not-noticing-her-mommy-got-up-to-get-more-punch moments:

And many this-is-a-lot-of-fun-to-play-with-all-these-new-friends moments:

Overall, we just had a great time seeing how much everyone's babies have grown. We sure do make some good looking children!

Funny Friday

I haven't posted in a while, but I desperately needed something to make me laugh -- the lack of sleep lately is getting to me. So, enjoy this really cute video of Reagan acting silly. It made me chuckle, and I hope it makes you do the same! Have a wonderful Friday!

Its a girl!

We are so excited to announce that our next bundle of joy will be a baby girl! Her name will be Brooklynn Page - Brooklynn, with two n's, because Lynn is my middle name, and Page, spelled without an i, because that's Johnathan's grandmother's maiden name.

Her due date is set for December 28th, but we have already requested to be induced at least a week before that because I have a history of having BIG babies, even when they are 7 and 10 days early - Easton was 9 lbs, 5 oz and Reagan was 8 lbs, 12 oz!

We got a 45 minute ultrasound done today, but Brooklynn wasn't cooperating for us to get a good profile shot - she stayed in a tight wad the entire time with her hands and legs covering her face. So, I don't have a good picture of her to include. We do have to go back in 4 weeks though to get another ultrasound checkup because my placenta is lower than the doctor would like, so maybe we'll get some better pics then! Overall, the doctor said she looks great!

This will be interesting to see how Reagan reacts to having another girl in the family. I have a feeling that Brooklynn will be completely opposite in personality than her big sister and hopefully be more easy going! I am not worried about Easton's reaction. He is such a good big brother to Reagan; I would only assume he is going to be that way with Brooklynn.

P.S. School is going really well for Easton. He cries to go! So far, it's only been him and one other child, sometimes two, so he is getting A LOT of one-on-one instruction/attention from his teachers. I have already seen a few little changes in him. Awesome!

675 Miles of Pure Bliss

Yea! I am so excited for our
yard sale extravaganza!

That's right! 675 miles of yard sale after antique dealer after yard sale, yard sale and yard sale...it is pure bliss.

This Friday, my mom and I are headed out to the World's Longest Yard Sale -- a sale that stretches from Gadsden, Alabama to Hudson, Michigan. Now to be honest, we won't be covering the entire 675; there is no way! We are just visiting from Crossville to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and that could take a week alone if the sale was that long. We'll just be gone until Saturday.

This is our sixth year in a row attending the sale, and I am so excited. I can't wait to discover all kinds of neat treasures and antiques. Pictures will come soon!

Tybee Island

We just got back from a fun/relaxing/stressful  family vacation on Tybee Island, Ga. It was Reagan's first time at the beach and Easton's fourth!

We went with my parents, and they were a huge help! I don't know how in the world we could ever go on vacation without two more sets of hands there to help and two more hearts to love!

The trip brought some new experiences for our children. Easton slept in a real bed, by himself, in his own room in our condo. He didn't get out once during the night, and slept great all night long each night! What a big boy!

Reagan, on the other hand, slept in Mommy and  Daddy's bed EVERY night! It was hard not to put her in the bed because she was in a pack-n-play in our room, so it was hard to ignore her every whimper and cry. It was just easier to put her in the bed with us and go back to sleep. I will say, to defend Johnathan and I, she did START OUT every night in her own bed.

Easton and Johnathan spent A LOT of time in the water. They swam, and Easton even boogie-boarded.

Reagan and I stayed mostly under the shade of the beach canopy. She loved to play in her and Easton's kiddie pool more than play in the ocean. She was the resident greeter for all those coming to and from the beach water. She would just smile and wave at everyone!

On the next to the last day, we spent some time in Savannah touring the historic area, and we stopped at Forsyth Park to let the kids play. It's a beautiful city park with a beautiful fountain and lots of things to do.

Overall, we had a great trip. Can't wait for our next one!

PS: Easton started school this week. He is in a special needs class with four other students. I think we are going to see a lot of changes in the next few months with his language development. I can't wait to find out what new things he discovers about language and about himself!