The New Year

Well, the New Year has been a little bit chaotic so far, but mostly we've just been trying to recouperate from December. The kids weren't happy about going back to school, but they've survived. As you can see, I've been working on my blog today but really my time should have been spent organizing. Saturday, we started re-arranging the kid's rooms, and there's a lot to be done. Lauren moved in with Tess, Zach got Lauren's queen-size bed, Ella got a new day bed/trundle that we will use to store toys, and I'm re-organizing what used to be our desk area to a new coloring/art area. We'll see how it all works out...I should be done maybe by summer, ha, ha!

Last week Lauren and Ella were sick...Lauren had Strep and Ella had Croup. Poor girls, they were miserable. On Monday I got a call from Tess while she was at school. She called and said, "Mommy, my belly hurts" and then nothing else, she hung-up. So, I called the school back and I asked them if they had Tess down in the office. They didn't, so they transferred me to her classroom. Tess answered the phone, but she was crying at this point so I asked to talk to her teacher. I asked her teacher if I needed to come pick her up, and she quickly said, "Yes, I think so....Tess' belly was hurting and she just threw-up all over the phone!" You have got to be kidding me, right? NO....that's Tess for ya! Poor Tessy, and her poor teacher who had to clean vomit off of the phone, YUK!

Well, I now need to go and get dinner started, but here are some random photos of us this past month....Love to all, Kim

Mommy and Ella (Ella had a case of the giggles)

Ella and Tess wrestling after their bath

Happy Birthday Lauren

Lauren was born around noon on New Year's Eve...we made it just in time for the tax deduction. Her pregnancy was quite a surprise, as many of you already know. Zachary was about 5 months old when I found out that we were pregnant (yes, they are 12 months apart and yes we now know what causes that). So, as you can imagine with a 1-year-old at home, the day we had Lauren was exciting to say the least. Dad stayed at our house with Zach, and Mom came to the hospital with Brian and I. My labor progressed rapidly...the doctor made it just in time to catch her. We thought she was the most beautiful baby ever! We had a hard time choosing a name for Lauren....I knew we were going to use my Grandma 's middle name, but we just couldn't find the right name to go with it. Well, we agreed on Lauren Sybella. It's hard to believe that was 10 years ago, wow! Lauren is my "little mommy", she is so good to help out, and she is very responsible! She loves roller-blading, dancing, jumping on our trampoline, swimming, drawing and riding the horses in Canada every summer.

Lauren chose to have a family birthday party rather than invite friends over this year. So, Michael, Bekah and kids, and Mom and Dad met us at Chili's for lunch and then we headed to the movie theater. Lauren picked "Bedtime Stories" and everyone enjoyed it! We came home, had cake and ice cream, and got ready to ring in the New Year. It was such a nice evening, thanks to our family for making "Lauren's Day" so special! We love you Lauren, and we hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Lauren then...

Lauren now...