Gingerbread Houses!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we picked up our Christmas tree and decided to have everyone over to the house to kick off the holiday season.  While Stephen strung lights on the tree, and my dad and Uncle Lou did whatever they do, us girls made Gingerbread houses.

Linda worked long and hard on her "gingerbread compound" 

All the houses

It was so fun to have Lori home so she could spend some time with Laken ...

... but I am a little concerned that Laken might grow up thinking she's the center of the universe. Since she is the only grand-baby in the bunch, she gets A LOT of attention...

And She's Rolling ...

She did this over and over this morning to the sheer delight and wonder of mama and daddy :)

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Two Months!

Laken had her two month appointment on December 7th and I think it was harder on mommy than it was on Laken.  I was so nervous to take her in because I knew she had a couple of hard shots coming up and the last ones were so awful I just couldn't bear the thought of it. 

Well, she did great at the appointment.  She is growing like a weed and getting stronger and stronger.  The doctor was so impressed with how well she could hold her head up.  I think she was showing off for Dr. Struthers because she did better than I had ever seen her and... she almost rolled over! I couldn't believe my eyes.  The doctor set her up on her elbows and she just went for it.  She rolled over to her side but didn't quite get all the way to her back.  I think we're going to have a roller here pretty soon! 

 Two Month Stats:

Weight: 11 lbs 8 oz - 70th percentile

Height: 23 3/4th inches - 90th percentile

Head: 15 1/2 inches - 60th percentile

Laken cried when they gave her the shots, but she was actually a lot tougher than the last time.  I was so proud of her.  I thought I would have to nurse her to calm her down, but she was such a trooper.  It wasn't until later in the day when she really started feeling the pain.  Poor baby had such a rough day.  Her little leg hurt so bad she was pretty much inconsolable.  I felt so bad that I couldn't do anything to make it feel better.  I rocked her and sang to her and snuggled her ... I even got in the bath tub with her.  Nothing seemed to work.  It was the hardest day we've had, but we got through it ... and, even the worst day with her is better than the best day without her.  I love this little punkin so much!  

Dear Laken,

You are two months old today.  Only two months in this world – in our world – and we already can’t imagine life without you.  We love you so much. You have brought so much joy, love, and laughter into our life.  You have permanently imprinted yourself on our hearts.

We spend hours just staring at you.  People have told us you are the most beautiful baby they have ever seen and we may be biased but we tend to agree.  “I love her” is a phrase you can hear mama tell daddy … or daddy tell mama … on a regular basis around here.  It’s not that we need to tell each other how we feel about you, but the feeling is so strong we just can’t help but say it out loud.  We love you.  We love you. We love you.  We will never stop loving you.

This month you have been growing and changing right before our eyes.  You are so alert and aware of the world around you.  You want to look at everything and everyone.  You particularly like to look at bright lights and black and white objects.  You love standing and are quite a little wiggle worm.  I think if we didn’t hold you tight enough you would jump right out of our arms. You already seem ready to get up and go … sometimes we will hold you under your arms and help you “walk”.  You pick up those little legs and put one foot in front of the other like a little grown up person. 

You seem to have a bit of a “thrill seeker” in you.  Right from the start you liked the sensation of falling when we bounced you.  This month we started playing “airplane” with you.  You will hold your head up and look around as mama or daddy raises you high in the air … then, when we bring you back down, you push off with your legs to try to get yourself back up there.  Sometimes we can even stop your crying by lifting you up like an airplane.  Silly girl!

We’ve gotten tons of smiles from you this month.  You are such a happy girl.  At first your smiles were subtle and few between, but now they are unmistakable.  You give us these full body smiles where your whole body squirms with uncoordinated joy.  You pull up your legs and bring your hands to your mouth and flash the biggest, sweetest toothless grin.  It melts our hearts every time.

You’ve already grown up so much.  Your mama gets a little sad when she thinks how fast you are changing.  Your little newborn cry has been replaced with a more grown up one.  You now are much more vocal about telling us what you want.  And you want WHAT you want WHEN you want it!  You coo when you are happy and “yell” when you’re frustrated.  You almost never cross your eyes anymore.   You have a “bobble head” when we hold you upright that gets more and more obvious the more tired you get.  You hate your baths but love to be cuddled in a towel afterwards.  You grab Mama's hair and won't let go for anything.  You are constantly looking with wonder at the world around you.

You have captured our hearts and we can’t wait to watch you grow and change in the months and years to come.  We love you our little Laken Belle.

Mama & Daddy

Thank Heaven For Little Girls

Two of my good girlfriends had babies in the month of October.  Laken, Marin and Elin were all born within a couple weeks of each other and are already becoming fast friends (ok, ok, so they sleep through most of their visits and hardly notice each other right now, but very soon they will be BFFs).  It has been such a blessing to have friends going through the same thing as me.  We get the girls together and share stories, frustrations, and just talk babies.  I'm sure to most people our conversations (anything from poop to boobies ... really, no topic is off limits!) would be strange and boring, but to us ... they are absolutely enthralling.  Thank heaven for little girls ... and thank heaven for big girls to count as friends :)

Here are the girls only a few weeks after they were born.

Laken, 3 weeks * Elin, 1 week * Marin, 2 weeks

And this picture was taken just a couple of days ago

Laken, 8 weeks * Elin, 6 weeks * Marin, 7 weeks

Laken is already learning to share her toys :)

Messages to Daddy

Laken and I like to send text messages to Daddy throughout the day. He loves to get pictures and videos of what we're doing. Here's one of her doing some "talking" ... it's from my phone so the quality's not great and I couldn't get it turned upright, but I just love it so I had to share :)

"Is she your first baby?" ...

That was the first question out of the doctor's mouth when I rushed Laken in for an appointment at the first sign of a cold.  My poor little baby has been so congested and fussy the past couple of days I just had to make sure everything was alright.  According to the doctor, it's nothing that a little rest, a humidifier, and a nose aspirator can't fix ... but it sure has been rough on this new mommy and precious little baby.  Here's a picture of her after her doctor's appointment ... such a sad little face :(

A Girl and Her Daddy...

I love them so much!

Laken's First Thanksgiving

We celebrated Laken's first Thanksgiving with our families last Thursday.  We had such a big day ... starting out at my parents for a big dinner on Thursday afternoon.

 Laken was the star of the show - I love this picture of her with me and my sister

Auntie Lori finally got to meet Laken over Thanksgiving weekend.  Laken thinks she's pretty cool!

 Cousin Katie is nine month pregnant and doing so great - Baby Michael Thomas should be making his debut any day now ... so excited to have a new playmate for Laken!

 There's a photo of me in this exact chair when I was a baby, so we - of course(!) - had to put Laken down and photograph her in it.  Plus, it made a great spot for her to sit while Mommy enjoyed some turkey and mashed potatoes :)

 The standard cousin picture + 1

 All the ladies of my side of the family

After dinner at my parent's, we hopped in the car and headed down to Kelso to see Stephen's family.  I was a little nervous to make the two hour car ride after Laken had already had such a big day, but she did great! She slept the whole way and didn't make a peep.  Of course, once we got there and she woke up, she was very upset to discover that she had gone over four hours without eating.  Once she was fed and changed, though, she was our happy punkin again and ready to be passed around and oogled and loved.  

 My handsome husband

 We stayed two nights at Deb and Jeff's and had a great time.

This is a picture of my family on the first morning there - how lucky am I to wake up to this every morning!

 Uncle Jeff couldn't get enough "Laken time" - So so so cute! Laken loves her Uncle Jeff!

 She thinks cousin Matt is pretty great too - look at her staring up at him!

 I love this face!

 Pretty girl with Cousin Stephanie

 Falling asleep in Auntie Sandy's arms

 Lots of relaxation, laughter, and fun with these guys made for a great weekend

Babies, Babies, Babies...

My good friend Kristin came into town from Arizona again this year for Thanksgiving and we met up at Krisitina's house to have lunch and to get all the kiddos together.  Our get-togethers are definitely a little different than they used to be ... we're making bottles, breastfeeding, chasing little ones, and taking a million pictures.  Kristin's little boy, Hudson, was in Kristin's tummy this time last year and Laken and Kristina's boy, Jantzen, were only in our dreams.  Amazing what a difference a year makes!