The boys at Rainforest Cafe.

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Rudy loves Lauren's big bear.

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They already got a puppy, I wonder what they asked Santa for.

Magic Letter.

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Making Hot Chocolate is a Family Project

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Three cute kiddos.

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Big brother little slide

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My Biscuit Makers

I think there is more dough on those hands than in the pan. But man do those biscuits taste better when made with little hands.

Riding the Pony

I think Lauren will love when Aunt LeAnna teaches her to really ride.

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Beautiful Girl

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Now if only Lauren could learn to pump

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Summersaults!

The boys learn many things by observation. Thanks to great cousins they learned to do summersaults in the pool. Crazy summer fun.

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Adam is Quite the Artist

Adam amazes me with the things he draws. He loves to use white paper, sidewalks, driveways, not coloring books. No in the lines stuff for this free spirit. He even rejected the notebook I got him...because it had lines.


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Nine Months

In the past nine months we have changed a lot of diapers, wiped up many messy faces, tickled too many times to count, and slept all night twice.

Lauren in the past nine months has learned to smile, began to giggle, rolled over, crawled, crawled up the steps, said mama, pulled up to stand , stood up without holding on, learned to walk, and made us all fall in love with her. She is the light of the family.

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Going out to eat is never boring with these three.

Lauren loves Nathan's get well balloons

Lauren is all smiles even through she partied with Dad all night.

First broken bone

Nathan broke his collar bone last week. He is doing great and taking it all in stride. He is swimming amazingly fast even with one arm. If you ask him what happened he will tell you "I broke my clavicle on a spinning seat". "Now I get lots of milk and ice cream to help it heal"

No Tylenol for this kid. He only cries if it gets bumped. Other than that he does it all with a little extra help from best brother Adam.


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One out of three

Nathan watched every firework. Adam and Lauren had a great time, but were only really interested in the grand finale.

loving my pink sippy

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Lunch.

The boys made me lunch. The presentation was great. Spaghetti, chocolate animal crackers, and Ritz crackers. The boys informed me it was my favorite. And the spaghetti was not swirling and squishy, but hard so I can bite it.

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Adam loving on Lauren

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little girl. big ideas.

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Missed Pictures.

Third child syndrome. There may not be quite as many pictures of Lauren. But that does not mean that she is less special, or less admired. Here are a few things that I have learned since they boys were babies. Sometimes when I use camera too much to try to capture all those little cute moments, I loose moments of just enjoying my child. Sometimes I need to just forget the baby toys and sit down and play. Sometimes, okay a lot, of times I am not going to be the perfect Mom. But I love Lauren more than words could ever express.

Over the past week I have been witness to moments that are documented only in my mind. Lauren decided to try to stand without holding on to anything. And she did. And she smiled big. At me. I was so happy I could have cried. Then she did it again. Now she has entered the falling down stage. I hate it. I hate to see little bumps on that beautiful sweet noggin.

Moment two. It was crazy. She is not even 7 months yet and she crawled up the steps. No just a couple... she crawled all the way upstairs. ALL of the stairs. She did it fast and without falling once. I can't blame her though. At the top of those steps sat the two best brothers in the world. I would crawl anywhere for those boys too.

Third moment was by hands down the fourth greatest moment in my life. The boys were trying to jump up on my bed from the floor. I was hold Lauren and she was laughing like you would not believe. It was so loud I had to keep turning her around to make sure it was all happy screams. Then I proceeded to help Lauren "chase" her brothers around... and when we caught Adam he gave her kisses, and that Nathan was just to giggly to catch.

Lauren Ann. We love you. Your smile lights up our house. Your laughter lights up my world. Your determination.... scares me.

4 year physicals.

The boys were troopers at their physicals. 2 hours, 10 shots and four toys. Only seconds of tears for the boys. Baby sister was an angel. The doctor said he saw Monkeys jumping in their ears, maybe that is why they can't hear me...

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growing too fast.

Lauren is crawling all over and pulling up on anything she can.

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Blizzard Fun

The boys are posing in the path that Dad made for them.

Adam flying in the snow.

Nathan helping Dad shovel.

Beautiful Baby Lauren

The hospital had a professional photographer come in when Lauren was a mere 24 hours old. I can't believe she is already 3 months. I was going to post her 3 month pictures and realized I have not shared her 24 hour pictures.

Lauren came in to our lives at 8:37 in the morning on the one of the most windy days in Chicago history. We dropped the boys' off at Aunt Wendy's house just 1 hour prior to her being born. 1 hour after she arrived the hospital was without power. If her birthday is indicative of anything look out world. (It is just an over site that her name is not Wendy Storm).

Lauren is the sweetheart of the house. We often spend a good amount of our day trying to make her smile or laugh. She is told stories of dragons, monsters, and super heros. Adam has already bought her a batman shirt (a purple and pink batman shirt). This princess will not need a prince to rescue her because I have not doubt her brothers will teach her to fight her own way out.

Welcome to our world Lauren, thank you for having more smiles than tears. Thank you for not minding loud noises. Thank you for being my daughter. I can't wait to get to know you better.