Christmas Day 2011

Christmas Day 2011 brought a host of grandparents and many fun toys to Lauren. We had a great holiday playing games and spending time together as a family.

Party time with Grandma Keren and Grandpa Jim.



Christmas Eve 2011 - Lauren opening her first official Christmas present. She is a "master" at unwrapping gifts now - hers or not.



A new book from Grandma Susie.



And for her BIG gift from Santa Claus, Lauren received a little red piano perfect for her pint size and future musical aspirations. Concerts by request only.

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

Lauren continues to rock the Christmas tree. What a difference one year makes!

What We've Learned...One Year Later

Just over one year ago, we shared our fine words of wisdom about parenthood.

Clearly we were very well educated having had two full months of parenting under our belts. LOL!

Now one year later here is our latest assessment.

#1 - The minute you make a plan of what your child will wear, the event you are going to take her too, or conjure up any grandious ideas of the perfect memory IT WILL BACKFIRE.

#2 - The baby hair that fell out, is now adorned in baby bows and barrets that spend more time in baby's mouth then on her head.

#3 - The baby that you once swaddled is now determined to be naked.



#4 - You can STILL get a lot of stuff done when forced to wake up at 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning.

#5 - Those annoying songs that play on your baby's swing, play mat or bouncy seat will stay with you forever. And once those toys are gone there are new ones to taunt you.

#6 - Children should NOT play in the refrigerator but you do what you have to do to get dinner on the table.



#7 - A parent's fear of entering a social establishment with a mobile baby can terminate Saturday date nights altogether.

#8 - The concept of keeping your child's room clean goes away at a very early age.



#9 - A ponytail holder is still a new Mom's best friend.

#10 - There is nothing sweeter than watching a sleeping baby (and her sleeping baby) lie.

"One of these things is not like the other..." Part 3

Lauren got her official 3rd measurement against her Uncle Brandon over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Clearly baby girl is growing up and Uncle "Boo" likes to sport black shirts!

November 2011



January 2010



August 2010

Thanksgiving 2011

The Thomas Family just celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday in Denver with Aunt Jerris, Uncle Michael and Cousin Sam.

We were so excited to spend the weekend eating wonderful food, playing games, and picking out the perfect Christmas tree to decorate.

Wednesday: We are thankful for our baby girl that fell asleep in front of her french fries at daycare...and then proceeded to throw them up all the way to Denver.



Thursday: We are thankful for the PERFECT Thanksgiving feast full of wonderful food, family and fun...Not so thankful for the tight pants that followed.



Friday: We are thankful for our Aunt Jerris who told us to take baby girl to Urgent Care so she could be diagnosed with Strep.



Saturday: We are thankful for the beautiful Christmas Tree that we decorated with the Smith/Knaisch/Thomas families over the weekend.



Sunday: We are thankful for a wonderful weekend to kick off the holidays. We are not however thankful for the grinch that brought our families an end-of-weekend stomach flu.



Let the holidays begin!

The Quilt

In June 2010 we knew that we were about to be blessed with a baby girl.

In preparing the perfect nursery, we knew we wanted colors that were bright (good for brain development), fun, and non-gender specific (what if our baby girl came out as a baby boy?)

So Grandma Kathy and Sydney spent endless hours at the local fabric store creating the perfect nursery for the perfect baby.

Fast forward to 2011, and perfection has been reached! Bumpers = check, Bed skirt = check, Matching Quilt = CHECK!!!!!!!!!

Grandma Kathy and Ms. Rhianna Pearl spent countless hours constructing, stitching and sewing the perfect quilt for Lauren's room complete with sock monkeys, bananas, and bright colors.

We will never begin to understand the amount of work that must have gone into that quilt but there is no doubt that our family will cherish this gift for years to come.

The perfect finish to the perfect nursery.

Love and thanks to you both!

Halloween Round 2

As a new parent, Halloween is a wonderfully exciting holiday where you have great expectations of dressing your baby up, showing her off to friends and family, and passing out candy to neighbors.

And then there is "reality".

Just over a year ago, this was Lauren's reaction to Halloween after being jammed into a puffy, oversized (and likely hot) Halloween costume...



One year later the sentiment seems to be the same.



Good thing Aunt Coni and Uncle John were here for a fun-filled Halloween weekend (well...at least for the adults).



On to Thanksgiving!

The Pre Halloween Boo Blast

Lauren came to her Mom's work on Thursday so we could try out her new costume and practice her pre-Halloween trick or treating skills.



No need to say "Trick or Treat". Just sport a cow costume, look cute and you can take whatever you want.



As it turns out, even 15 month old babies can get sugar overload from too many Rice Krispie treats. Who knew?



"How much longer do I have to be in this costume Mom?"

The Chair

Lauren got the her very own chair this weekend.



It's the perfect place for practicing her reading skills and furthering her education as she charts her path to the likes of Harvard, Brown or Yale.



On second thought...

Totally Wicked Cute!

This time last year, Lauren was the smallest pumpkin in her own lonely patch.



This year she is the GREATEST PUMPKIN of all.

These boots were made for walking

In just a few short days, Lauren has become a seasoned walker and was in need of some REAL shoes for her future 5K strolls and marathons.

So this week we took her to her first shoe store. Not just ANY shoe store but NORDSTROM's!

So many shoes, so little time.



The beginning of a long lasting relationship between Lauren, her Mom and shoe shopping.



A size 4 please!



Impractical hot red "Go Go" Boots??? SOLD!



Pink sparkles, purple accents and velcro. The perfect pair!

How much wood can a little baby chuck?

This is a picture of a baby beaver. Beavers are known for sharpening their teeth by eating bark from hardwood trees such as birch, aspen, willow, cottonwood, and adler.



This is a picture of baby Lauren. Lauren is also now known for sharpening her teeth by eating the hardwood off of her white baby crib.



As a preventative measure, her crib now looks more like a padded cell than a bed. CHOMP!

Duck duck goose!