Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year for Lauren. Okay, okay, and let's be honest, for Jeff and I too! Lauren decided fairly early on in the fall that she wanted to be Snow White for Halloween. Mind you, we didn't even know she knew who that was! So we got her a costume and she often wanted to wear it around the house. As you scroll down you may notice that she is only wearing her Snow White costume in the first picture. The day of Halloween she decided that she wanted to be  Minnie, a costume that I had picked up at a consignment shop since she loves to dress up! So...we made do with what we had and went for it! :)

Our little Snow White

Minnie and her "Punkins"

Enjoying her Lipstick!

Lauren asks for lipstick (Chapstick) several times a day. :) She puckers up really big and then rubs her lips together and sits with her little lips pursed together like in the photo above. It is so funny! I have tried to explain that it won't come off and she just continues and nods her head "yes!"

Trick or Treat!!!

Can you sense her excitement?

She loved Trick or Treating and kept asking for weeks after when we would go to Trick or Treat again. After a few weeks, she stopped asking and only asked for her "punkin and treats" that we kept put up in the pantry. :)  The only thing that she didn't enjoy about Halloween was anyone and everyone in a mask...scary or not! Guess I can't blame her!

Nana and Pops

Just some fall pictures with Nana and Pops! Gotta Love it!



 Lauren 2 1/2

Halloween 2011



Pumpkin Carving

Jeff and Lauren carved a pumpkin together for Halloween. They made one of Snow White since that is originally what she was going to be. Jeff did much of the work but Lauren enjoyed watching him and drawing on an extra pattern. We tried to get her to help scoop out "the guts" but she got one finger in there and didn't want to have anything to do with it!

Telling Daddy what to do. :)

Loving spending time with her Daddy!

Dance Class

Jeff and I decided to see if Lauren would enjoy going to a dance class. The studio offered a trial class so we figured there would be no harm in at least checking out the studio, instructor, and see if she had interest and would be able to follow instructions. The age of the group varies from 2 1/2 to about 5. When I introduced the idea to Lauren, on the way home from daycare she said, "DORA BALLERINA? OH. GOODIE GOODIE GOODIE!" :)



Butterfly Wings

Reeaaaccchhh!



March!

Silliness!

Lauren LOVED dance class so we decided to sign her up!We go every Tuesday evening from 7-7:30 with Angie. She is great with the kids and gives them a stamp on the hand at the end of class. Of course, that is a highlight! Lauren runs out saying, "Mommy, Daddy, Look at my stamp!" By Monday the following week she is asking to go to dance class again!

Build-a-Bear

Gigi Klein came for a visit in October. Lauren was so excited to have some 1:1 time with her. She enjoyed her first visit to Build-a-Bear and rode the train in the mall. The dog that she made at Build-a-Bear's name is Princess Ruff Ruff. You can see her in a few of the pictures below! :) Oh, and the story behind the glasses? It was a promotion for an insurance company. They said they would choose a winner at random who was wearing the glasses within the half an hour. So, we took our chances...although, no luck. But, we had fun with it and Lauren liked the "Monster Glasses!"

 Keeka and Lauren at Build-a-Bear.
Lauren didn't like the sound that the machine made while Princess Ruff Ruff was being stuffed.

 Giving Princess Ruff Ruff love!

 Gigi and Lauren on the "choo-choo"

Princess Ruff Ruff and Lauren on the train

Jeff and Lauren incognito :)



"Play the game Daddy?"

Lauren likes to watch sports and "play games" with her Daddy. It is so cute...When Lauren wants some Daddy time, she will go find the game controller and take it to Jeff and say, "Play the game, Daddy?" Love these pics...

Duckies?

Lauren loves being outside and continues to love feeding "The Duckies." If she is playing in the sand/water table or on the swingset and hears a bird, she will say, "Duckie?" and run to the door to go in the house and get some bread for them. We have often gotten out to the pond and alas no duckie but we have also lucked out and spent a lot of quality time together...

Precious Daddy/Daughter time.

A day off with Mommy!

Daycare was closed so I took the day off and Lauren and I spent the day together. We had gone to Washington Township Park in Avon the week before for Physical Therapy with "Crayon." She loved it and talked about it (The BIG playground) for several days. So, I decided to take her back on our special day. We played for a while in the morning. It was a beautiful fall day and it was fairly quiet which was nice. Here are the highlights...

 Playing music... She would play the chimes and sing along..."La la laaaaa"

 Going down the slide on the toddler playground.

"Cheeese Mommy"

 Climbing

 "Me take picture, Mommy?"

Pretty good, girl!

Taking a rest.



After we went to the park, we picked up Honey Baked Ham and brought it home to have a picnic in the living room. After playing for a while, we took a nap together on the couch. I just love snuggling with my little girl. She is just growing up too fast! 

A visit to Beasley's

We took our annual visit to Beasley's on a beautiful October morning. It was a little chilly but the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We picked out pumpkins, the first of which was a "baby pumpkin." Then we headed over to the play area which had a "corn crib," bounce houses, and "bale mountain" which the kids could climb on. She had a great time and didn't want to leave but after getting about half way to the costume store she started to get excited to pick out her own halloween costume.

 Checkin'  out the pumpkins with Mommy

 The pumpkin terminator

 Playing in the Corn Crib with Keeks

 LOVIN' the bounce house!!

 Climbing down Bale Mountain

Looking forward to picking out her Halloween Costume

"Look at All the Fall!"

Lauren, Jeff, Monica, the dogs, and I all headed up to Merrillville for a family get together. Grandma Braden came up and the Weller side of the family came over on Saturday. It was a beautiful day so we took Lauren and Colin outside to play in the leaves. Dad had a small rake that is used for use between shrubs so we got it out for Lauren. She LOVED helping to rake the leaves, even more than playing in them, I think!

 Nana and Lauren going to play in the leaves.

 Lauren finding Daddy in all the leaves!

 Colin having a blast with his Mommy and Daddy

 Our little helper that could 

 "These things are AWESOME!"

 Lauren enjoying the fall

Lauren "WAY UP"

Lauren has some of the most fun, unique little says. One of my favorites right now is when we are on our way somewhere in the car and she sees some trees with different color leaves. She says, "Mommy!!! Look at ALL the Fall!" :) Another is when she wants to ride on Jeff's shoulders. She'll say, "Daddy, go WAY UP?" I love this age!  

Special time with Grandma

Lauren enjoyed some special time with her Great Grandma when we went up to Merrillville. She was coloring on an app on Jeff's iPhone and often took it over to Grandma to show her her work. Gram sure didn't know what to do with the iPhone, but I know she treasured those little show and tell moments with Lauren! 

"Seee Grandma?" 

Lauren and Grandma Jane (GJ)

What's in the backyard Lauren?

Lauren got a new play set for the backyard. We went and looked at Lowe's, which was a bust. Then we went to Menard's. When we got there, there was a guy that had just bought all the plastic type swing sets and playhouses. As we were looking around, we actually found a set that wasn't even on display that was up on the shelves. They gave us a decent deal on it so we took it! We put it together during her nap and then when she got up I asked her to go and look out the window and tell me what was in the backyard. She was so excited! She was like, "Mommy, a PLAYGROUND!" She has really enjoyed playing with it this fall.

 "Thanks for putting my playground together, Daddy!"

 Happy girl!

 WEEEE

A beautiful fall day...