Christmas in the eyes of a 2 year old

Christmas Eve, Lauren was NOT tired, however,
she fell asleep in Grandpa's arms within five minutes
of him holding her.

Reading with cousin Tara!

Quilt making

Today while I was working on making a

bag for someone, Lauren informed

me that I was not to walk on her mat

because she was making a quilt.

She got quite defensive when anyone

went near the rug!

Cooking Part II

Lauren loves to cook and bake with me-

She also really enjoys the sampling :)

Great Wolf Lodge

A while ago we were able to go to

Great Wolf Lodge with some friends -

Lauren loved every minute of it

All set to go to the water park!

No mommy, I'm not cold.

Fun outside

It has been gorgeous outside lately so we

decided to take advantage of it. There was a lot

that could have been done inside but Lauren and I

hung out outside - it was great!

She quickly figured out that she could go down the

slide MUCH faster when she was on her knees.

I don't think the pants will last long if this keeps up!

A trip to Klackles

Picking all the apples on the lower branches

Lauren and Daddy on the wagon going

to pick apples! It was a beautiful day!

Yummy! Lauren loves to eat apples

Patience

Patiently waiting for Daddy to make

the hot fudge for her ice cream. Luckily,

it doesn't take that long.

Big Girl Bed

Lauren has been in a big girl bed for quite some time.
However, we were not able to find anything to work as a quilt.
After going to the quilt store with my mom, she was able to
make this beautiful quilt that Lauren loves! She says it is "bootiful."
Now we just have to move her into her new room.

It's a.....

Unfortunately, I am having a moment and couldn't

come up with any good ideas for pictures. We are going

to be blessed with a little baby boy in a few months!

Bubbles and Blocks

Typically, Lauren is not a fan of baths.

However, with her new duck towel she is all smiles.

She was actually saying "Oh man!" as I
took this picture. Where does she come up with
some of this stuff?

"Abby come too"

We went camping at Wilderness State Park with our
friends the Lakes. Everywhere that Lauren went we heard,
"Abby come too?"

Best buddies

Either climbing a tree or hugging one!

Camping at Wilderness

See that little yellow sticker? My little pudge had to
climb 250 stairs to get it and she did it all on her own!

We have been trying to get Lauren on a swing
like this all summer. A friend of our suggests it-
she gets right on!

Smile! Riding her bike.

Lauren loves to go camping in "My camper."
She also loves being outside and her grapes.

Day at the beach

At first, Lauren wasn't sure if she wanted to go
in the water. It didn't take long for her to
realize how much fun it was.

Swimming with Daddy. She loved running out
to him and having him catch her!

Smile! I love this one!

Snow cones

While we were camping in Ludington, there was a big
family fun/farmers market one night. Lauren was
introduced to snow cones and she absolutely loved them
once she realized they were okay.

Sharing a snow cone with Daddy!

9 years and 5 kids later

Two of my college roommates from Hope came
up today with their families. It was great seeing them
and watching our kids play together! However, getting
the kids, all under the age of 3 to all sit for a picture was quite the trip.

Poor Baby II

I'm so happy we don't have to do eye drops

any more. Lauren did an awesome job with her

surgery and as you can tell, her eyes are straight!

Because Lauren had just been hospitalized
a month ago she sort of knew what was coming.
The entire morning she was very mellow and still -
a rarity!

After surgery we had to keep cold compresses
on her eyes. She was okay with this as long
as she was sleeping - otherwise not so much.

My little love bug!