Playgroup Buddies

When Lauren was about 4 months old we started attending a playgroup. The blessing in this was more for me than her at the time. At this point the babies just laid there drooling on a mound of blankets. But for me this was awesome. I had just moved to San Antonio and knew absolutely no one. So now I had mommy friends and Lauren had other babies to lay and slober with. Now two years later, we both have a great set of friends and have obviously long passed the laying and drooling phase. Lauren has so much fun at our playgroup outings and it incredible to watch a group of babies progress through babyhood, to the toddler stage and now on to the little kid stage. Each have a unique personality and it's fun to watch them interact with each other.

There is Avery, the free spirit independent who is incredibly smart.

Ryan, the sweet, sensitive boy who is going to make a great protector for the girls when they get older.

Caroline, who has become like a sister to Lauren. She has her own opinion about things, but really just loves to play. I predict she will be the class clown! She is too funny!

Iain, the explorer, he loves stepping out on his own discovering new things.

Jenna, another smarty who could hold an adult conversation for as long as I can remember.

And of course Lauren, who is best described as a social butterfly, she loves to play and talk and loves her friends!

We have had playmates come and go and we miss them, but the core remains strong. And me, well, I feel so blessed to know I've got at least 5 strong women that have my back in a pinch and are there just chat and offer the best parenting advice. They reassure me when I don't know what to do. They are willing just to hang when I am bored and need to get out of house. They are there when I need someone to watch my kid. Thanks girls for being my friend and thank kiddos for being Lauren's friend!

We've come a long way baby! This was one of the first meetings of the minds!

And this was last week!

Does this Girl know how to Dress or what?

When Lauren plays dress up, she goes all out. She puts on every piece of dress up clothing that is available and goes at.........

To Plainview and Back (via Ft. Worth)

We have been away for awhile so there is lots to write about! Labor Day weekend the three of us went to Plainview to visit with Doug's Grandma.......Ganan or Great Ganan to Lauren. We set out on Friday, stayed the night at the Ranch, went the rest of the way to Plainview on Sat. morning. Upon arriving to Plainview in true Ganan style she had huge lunch prepared for us. Then it was on to the Llano Estacado Museum, which by the way is a must see in Plainview. (And takes only about 15 minutes to view in entirety.)

(The Tee pee at the museum)

Next we went to see relatives Pat and Ron. Pat was a huge hit with Lauren. She had toys for her to play with and gave her a bag of candy! We then went back to Ganan's house were Lauren discovered various gifts around the house and her favorite......Ganan's piano. Lauren was pretty much obsessed with it......

We finished the night we a dinner out and bed. I won't go into details about the sleep, but with Doug, Lauren and I in the same bed, not a lot of sleep was had by anyone! But we woke up in the morning ready to go. We went to church with Ganan and to lunch at Cotton Patch. (love that place) Lauren was able to catch a little nap then off to visit more people. We went to see Gean and Mike (close family friends). They too had a sweet little gift for Lauren, a little plush elephant. Lauren was amazed at all the elephant's around the house. (Gean is a collector) And guess what? They too had a piano and even better yet a cat! Next on the agenda was dinner and park time. Doug was lucky enough to get to go to his favorite hot spot in Plainview.......Furr's. Yep, I haven't been to one in ages either! We were treated by Ron and Pat who then took us to the park they are lucky enough to have right across the street from them. Here are some pictures.

(Lauren and Doug swinging, the famous Plainview cows and Lauren riding a turtle)

We decided to go ahead and head back to the ranch that night for the sake of sleep and the so Doug would not have to drive over 400 miles in one day. But the drive to the ranch gave us chance to reflect on the visit and how lucky Lauren is to have her Great Ganan and how lucky we are to have our Ganan. Ganan is probably one of the most incredible persons I know. She has the spunk and wit of a teenager. She is full of southern charm and has wonderful stories to tell. She means the world to us and I am so thankful to have her in my life and to have her for a grandmother. Both of mine have been gone for a while now, so I really do cherish having her and having Lauren know her. Everyone who has Ganan in their lives is better because of it and I think they know it. She's that kind of person!

(Ganan, Lauren & Doug, Three Generations)

We got back to the ranch late, late! The next day Doug headed back to San Antonio and Lauren I went with my parents to Ft. Worth. We had tons of fun there including 3 trips to the Ranger's game, swimming, visiting with friends and family, a haircut for me, a sleepover with cousin Morgan and a trip to the park! Here is a slew of pictures!

(Mom Mom and Lauren, Lauren and me)

(PaPa and Lauren, Lauren swimming)

(Cousin Morgan and Lauren, Lauren being pushed by Mom Mom at Kidsville)

Finally on Sunday my parents brought us back home. Lauren was so happy to see her Daddy and Abby! (So was I) We had a great trip, thanks to all that helped us along the way. You made the trip what it was........AWESOME!

Goodnight Baby, I love you.

It took me longer than most to move Lauren to her crib. She slept in our room for about the first 4-5 months. She then moved upstairs where she would sleep about half the night by herself, than when she woke up, I would crawl up stairs and sleep with her in the guest room. At this point I was still rocking her to sleep for both nap and bedtime. That lasted about another 4-5 months. Finally, as it took longer and longer, to get her to sleep and I longed for a full nights sleep. I did it. I let her cry it out. It was pretty horrible. I had to go outside so I couldn't hear her cry. The first time she cried for 25 minutes. To me it seemed like hours, after all I spent the other 23.5 hours of the day playing to her ever impulse so she wouldn't cry. From there is went slowly down.......11 min, 7 min. 3 min, until it was silent. It really only took 4 days. Which had me saying, why on earth did we not do this months ago? But you live you, you learn. We had us a good sleeper.

I say all of this because I wanted to capture our current bedtime process and felt the need to have the entire history included. And I will say, it is long process. It didn't start out this long, but she is smart, she knows how to work it so bed time is pushed back just a bit. I read somewhere if your bedtime process is so long you have to actually write it down for a babysitter, then it is too long. Will ours is, and I do and oh well, my kids sleeps for 12 hours and still takes a 3-4 hour nap. I'm not messing with that! So, here is the long goodnight.

She gets a bath every night. (Doug and I switch back and forth.) Then I take her upstairs. We sit in her rocker, and read 2 stories: 5 wishing stars, then 10, 9, 8 it must be in that order. Then she thumbs through her Bible and then I read her a few verses. Usually a Psalm, because she has a King James version and honestly, The Psalms are the easiest for me to read. Then we say a prayer. She has really started to understand this and it is very cute:

Me: Dear God, thank you for this day, thank you for (whatever fun thing we did that day)

Lauren : Thank you for Momma, Daddy, Abby (the dog), Lauren (yes she is thankful for herself). Thank you forrrrrr Mom Mom, Pa Pa, Mimi, Grandad. AHHHHHHH thank you for (which she says more like thank you fer) Caroline, thank you for Avery (friends from Playgroup) (occasionally she throws in a thank you for Avery's house, kinda funny)

Me: Thank you for all the Aunts and Uncles and all the cousins, thank you for Ganan

Lauren: And thank you for Caroline and Avery (she really loves her friends)

Me: Thank you for Jesus, In Jesus' name

Lauren: Amen!

After the ever growing prayer, we count her toes and fingers and face (2 eyes, 1 nose, etc). Then one, two, three lights out. And finally I sing her a song, the same song every night. Not sure what the real version is, but we used to sing it at the end of Gymboree and I changed it to:

Goodnight Lauren

Goodnight Mommy

Goodnight Daddy

It's time to go to bed.

And after 3 rounds, I lay her in her crib. (Yes she is almost 2 1/2 and still in the crib, but as the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it.".) She rolls over, I cover her up, she grabs her baby, and I lean over and she pinches my neck, twice and then says "I'll pinch my neck now". (Lauren has a thing about my neck, that has gravitated to her neck. It started when she was nursing and I guess it is her self soothing mechanism. Hopefully she will out grow this.) I rub her back and walk towards the door with a "Sleep good baby, have sweet sweet dreams. Goodnight baby, I love you." And on some nights, I am lucky enough to hear back before I close the door "I love you too, momma." And that is worth the 10 minutes it takes to do the above.

Now I know my ABC's & 1, 2, 3's

Lauren has learned her ABC's (sort of) and 1,2,3's. Here are a couple of out takes.

Date Night

Tonight Lauren and Doug are on a date. Nothing fancy. Just a trip to the park to play and then to Taco Cabana or as Lauren says it Taco Banana. Doug told her about the date last night and she woke up this morning talking about it in her toddlerese fashion. It's great that she was so excited to spend time with her Daddy. (My Daddy is how she always refers to him, as in "What are you doing, my Daddy) I can't say how disgustingly cute I find this. But I also think it is awesome for many reasons. One, it gives Doug a glimpse into my life through one on one toddler time. But more importantly, it allows Lauren to get to know her dad and vice versa. She will get to see what I see. How much fun he is, how devoted he is and what a great man he is. Father/Daughter time is critical for a little girl. After all, her Dad is the first man she will ever love. He is her first example of what a husband should be. He is the first picture of what a father to her kids some day should be. And I want the best for her so why not set the bar high? Doug certainly has. I was blessed to have a wonderful father too, who I look up to more than he will ever know. I want Doug and Lauren to have our kind of relationship and even more. Some day, like I have, she will need the gentle touch and kind advice from her father and these little dates are the stepping stone for that.

I have to say that this all makes me love and admire Doug even more. He is a wonderful father and husband and I am deeply grateful for both. This was all his idea and I give him all the credit in the world for seeing the importance of the time he spends with her. Both quality and quantity.

So, tonight I am alone with the dog....... another bonus!

Favorite Lauren Quotes of the Week

10. "I'm not a dorks"

9. "Daddy working, Daddy working at H-E-B."

8. "I want Reagan to come to my house"

7. "Got my himsuit mommy, panties mommy" (swimsuit and swim diaper)

6. "I'm a cowgurl"

5. "It's Supermommy"

4. "Gooooood Abby"

3. "I'm big girl Lauren" (followed by me saying then you don't need your PA (passie) and can use the big girl potty, followed by Lauren saying)

2. "I'm baby Lauren"

And the the number one, heart melting quote of the week............

"I love you, mommy"