Lauren's First Playdate

Lauren had her first official playdate on Friday with her July birthday buddies. 

Accompanied by big sister Kaitlyn and big brother Justin, Baby Ryan was also born on July 1.
Accompanied by big sister Evelyn, Baby Lucas was born on July 5. 

Missing from all of the festivities was Baby Lavery, who was another July 1 baby (and also in the same hospital, so we had a mini playdate while us Mommies walked the halls during recovery!)!

The big kids all played and enjoyed muffins and doughnuts....

....while the babies worked on their early social skills!

Much fun was had by all and it is so wonderful for Lauren to be able to have so many little playmates her same age! 

Funny Friday

Though I have no idea what it is like to just have one child, I find this commercial darn funny! 

Hair "Jewelery"

Grandmommy stopped by for a visit on Friday afternoon last week - perfect timing for me as I had not showered in two days and simply needed a little break!

After my shower, I could not find any of my regular hair clips, and got desperate to pull my hair out of my eyes. I found myself in Ella's bedroom choosing a bow from her assortment....don't think I will be going anywhere in public like this, but it got the job done nonethelesss!

When I came downstairs, I found that I was not the only one with "jewelery" in my hair.  Ella had donned Lauren with one of her Disney princess crowns.  I thought it was pretty appropriate, all things considered!

Wordless Wednesday

Twin Talk Tuesday

Mike was trying to get the duo ready for baths. As usual these days, they come up with every excuse in the book to delay the ineveitable.

Finally, in one last ditch effort, Aidan exclaimed:

"But Daddy, no bath for me - I don't smell like a dirty foot!"!

Big Kid Fun!

Ella and Aidan received a special surprise on Sunday afternoon! 

Grandmommy and Grandaddy came to pick them up and took them to lunch where they revealed that the day's adventure would be Discovery Place!  We had a family membership that recently expired, so we have not been in quite a while, and the kiddos were thrilled!

Special time with Grandmommy and Grandaddy is priceless, and so very important, so we were also thrilled to send them off for the day for such a fun adventure!

So, what did Mike and I do with our time? 

Well, aside from caring for Lauren, we got started on tackling the mounds of clothing, shoes, toys, etc that need to be tagged and prepared for the upcoming CMOMs consignment sale!

First Bath

Lauren's umbilical cord finally fell off....and so on Friday evening, it was time for her first real bath!

I cannot begin to express how excited Ella was to help out, while Aidan was not really interested at all.

Lauren LOVES the water - we have been sponge bathing her (especially that dark hair that gets so greasy, so quickly) to date, and each time she just loved getting her hair rinsed!

But this was an entirely different experience for her, and she just loved evey minute....as did Ella!

 

3 Weeks Old

Lauren is three weeks old today.

We visited the pediatrician yesterday to have her checked out to make sure she does not have any milk allergies - all is well, but she is now on reflux medication (the same kind that Ella took when she was tiny) to see if perhaps we can calm down the crying just a bit. 

They gave her a weight check, and I was shocked - 9 pounds, 1 ounce! Definitely no weight gain issues!

Ella and Aidan have been doing really well and adore their baby sister!

Wordless Wednesday

Weekend Recap

Can you see a pattern developing? I am one tired Mommy these days and am really having a hard time coming up with anything profound to write about for this blog....

We believe that little Miss Lauren is following in her big sister's footsteps, as it seems that she is quite colicky. Everyone promised me that we would have an easy baby this time around....after all of the colic and reflux from the twins, people claimed that we were "due" a bit of a break.

Well, nothing in my life has ever come easy....and so we begin down the familiar road of non-stop crying for no apparent reason.

I bought an amber neckalce this weekend to see if that may help. They are all the rage these days, and I am willing to try anything! Despite the crying when awake...she is so sweet, and darn cute, especially when sleeping....as "cute as can bee!"!

Ella and Aidan are doing really well, all things considered. I was just cleared to drive on Friday, so at least I can get back to making grocery store runs. We are grateful for the help and meals we received both when my Mom (who went above and beyond the call of duty) was here and those from our close friends and neighbors,  but all good things must come to an end and we are now back to business as usual.

Anyway, back to our "happenings"!

The weather was so nice and cool on Friday that I attempted to take a little walk around the block with the kiddos. Skipping breakfast because Lauren was momentarily content and settled, I gave Ella and Aidan each Nutrigrain bars and told them we would have a "travelling breakfast adventure".  Needless to say this was a huge failure as Lauren literally screamed the entire time and I wound up just carrying her and pushing the empty stroller. 

We spent Saturday running a few errands, and while getting Aidan a much needed and overdue haircut, we stumbled along a little family fun fest so we took a little time for Ella and Aidan to jump around in the bouncehouse (Aidan refusd a picture)....
  

....and to get faces painted.

Sunday I wound up running errands with Lauren (boy is life easy with only one little one in tow!), while Mike took the kiddos to the pool to swim....and then to Trader Joes  - well, I should say that he took Spiderman and Ella to Trader Joes!

Foto Friday

Ok, so I am beyond tired these days, and am taking the easy way out and will just make today's post about our life in pictures from the last week:

Heading to the pool with the big kids to let them play with "the boys" (Lauren and I stayed inside the house where it was cool):

Naptime for Daddy and both of his girls:

Ella and Aidan loving on Lauren:

Meeting Mema and Aunt Pam for the first time:

New Lineup

A little glimpse into our new lineup of hungry mouths to feed!

Wordless Wednesday

Twin Talk Tuesday

While all four of us were gathered together sitting on our bed one morning feeding Lauren her breakfast:

Ella: "She is sooo cute, I hope we never lose her!"

Aidan: "Yeah, we don't want to lost baby Lauren, 'cause then we would have to get another whole baby."

Ella: "Well, I know where to go to get a new baby."

Aidan: "Where?"

Ella: "Disney World! The characters gave us Lauren!"

Flashback Friday - 1 Week Ago

One week ago, we left Ella and Aidan with Miss Paula (but not before a few hugs and cuddles with Opa):

....and headed off to the hospital for our 12:30 C-Section....

.....which turned into quite a delay due to a short staff of nurses. So, at 3:32, we finally set our eyes on Lauren for the first time....

Once in recovery, and after Mike and I got a few moments....

.... and all of the Grandparents got their turns to love on our new sweet miracle!