the Swayze four

Birthday week

2010-07-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

It's birthday week in the Swayze household! Our sweet boy is turning the BIG ONE on Wednesday, with a party to follow on Saturday. This has been one fast year with Caleb. I cannot believe a year ago today I was (hugely swollen) pregnant.

He is not a still baby, by any means.. and although he is not walking yet, he gets by with crawling everywhere, and cruising on walls and furniture when he gets a chance. He still has 6 teeth, but I felt one coming up on the bottom this morning. He has been sick this past week with some sort of tummy virus (or, that's what I'm going to call it) and not once had a fever and continued to be a great sleeper.

This picture above is not of him sleeping.. although, that would have been nicer. It was his first big fit and he was upset with me because I didn't pick him up. Poor guy.. so hard being one! ;)

Lauren Lou has been great such a big ham lately, and loves to be silly. We have been re-painting our house, so she has gotten to watch more than her fair share of movies, and it is hilarious what she takes away from them. She said something about Bambi earlier at the zoo today. (I don't remember the comment, though, because I was trying not to melt.)

She was the flower girl for our friends' wedding. YAY for Chris and Melendy Jacobie! She was so shy and quiet (I almost didn't recognize her) until she wanted a cupcake! (Which, we snuck one early.. sorry guys.)

And, over the fourth of July, she played with her first sparklers. (Which, ironically, are from Mark and I's wedding reception 6 years ago.)

Water babies

2010-07-10T11:53:00.001-07:00

Both my kids love water so much. In fact, I think if they had the choice, they would both be fish.

Caleb is attracted to anything water: dog and cat bowl, swimming pools, baths, kitchen sink. If it has water in it, he will be by it.

Lauren, the more cautious of our two children, takes a while to warm up to the idea of water, but once she is in, she is committed.

I can already see their sweet, yet strong, personalities at such a young age. How different they are, yet they are still so much alike.

One week...

2010-07-07T17:47:00.000-07:00

.. from today, my sweet loving little boy turns 1!!!

2010-05-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

I had these 'thoughts' built up in my mind on what I wanted to write on this bloggy-blog about.

Then, life happened.

I forgot, the majority of the things, and well, talking about my kids only goes so far.

But, don't you just want to squeeze him? Seriously?!?

Yesterday, I downloaded my first e-book to my i-touch. "I Will Carry You" by Angie Smith. I finished it earlier tonight, and loved it. No words to describe it, just yet. Afterwards, I went and squeezed this little one below a little tighter.

Plus, did you notice her super-cute new haircut. She calls it the "Princess Tiana."

Oh, did I tell you that she actually 'played' in her last soccer game? Yep, some good old fashioned bribery, and her Daddy being on the field with her did the trick. I told her she could pick where we got to eat lunch, and then I might of influenced her decision by reminding her that she loves Chili's chips and queso. Guess where we ate for lunch.

Caleb turns 10 months tomorrow. I can't believe it. Wasn't I just in the hospital delivering yesterday? These 10 months have flown by, and it, ahem, sort of makes me sad. He is still only army crawling, but I think he is about to be able to sit up on his own. He has 5 teeth, eats anything and everything that touches his hands, and loves his sister. His new favorite thing is mimicking Mark or I, and he gets so giggly when we praise him. He can say "mamamama," and do 'clicks' on demand. He is pretty darn stinking cute when he watches you click with your mouth and then follows. I also love love love the way he will move his head and body to find something or someone that has caught his interest. My sweet boy is growing too fast.

As for me, I have been getting into a few books lately, and have enjoyed reading when I have quiet time. (which hardly ever happens before 8pm.) I am reading the Circle Series by Ted Dekker, and also 'The Power of a Praying Parent' by Stormie Omartian.

The Circle Series is not my favorite, honestly, and I am only on book one, 'Black'. I am going to finish it, and then try and get the new book, 'Plan B.'

And, I am reading 'The Power of a Praying Parent' with a group of moms that I meet up with on Wednesday mornings for playdates. So far, this book has been eye-opening in my prayer life for my children. We are only on chapters 5 and 6, but we have had some good discussion about intercessory prayer for not only our children, but also in our marriages. Funny how it all works together. God has given me the gift of Lauren and Caleb, so I will pray for them, present and future... through hardships now and down the road, for not only love and acceptance, but compassion and a heart that will follow after His Will (even when they are stinkers.)

2010-04-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

(this is for you.. Julie)

Today my baby turns 9 months old. He is such a sweet boy and so easy going. Well, unless you are feeding him too slowly.. and then.. well, watch out, or rather, put in earplugs. We go tomorrow for his 9 month checkup, so we will see how he is growing. He is a tall baby and is mainly in 12 month clothes. (almost 18 month for rompers) He has 4 big teeth, two top and two bottom, and is currently drooling enough to make a small river in his room, so I think he is working on some more. I also make Caleb's baby food, again, thanks Julie for the book recommendation, and it is going great. With Lauren, I made her food until I didn't know how... like squash.. well, because I don't know how to cook squash, but with Caleb.. I am impressed with myself. He loves carrots, peas, sweet potato and applesauce. He likes peas, peaches, squash, pears, green beans, asparagus, zucchini, potato, and bananas. And, I have a blueberry and turkey puree waiting for him this week.

My sweet, still boy has also started army crawling over this past week and our lives will never be the same. He was getting really good at rolling everywhere he needed, but now, he can go forward.. slowly, but steady. I used to be able to put him in his room with some toys and leave him for a good amount of time while doing other things around the house... but now, he comes out of the room, towards the books, towards everything that I am not ready for him to get into.

But, that is just my little boy.

Lauren Lou is getting to be such a big girl these days. She loves her little brother, unless he is trying to get what she is playing with, or coloring. She will run into his room, grab a handful of toys, and bring them to him so he will leave her stuff alone. Pretty mature of her, right? She is playing soccer now, and when I say playing, I mean it loosely. She has a friend on the team, and neither of them are very interested in the game. AND, get this... Our coaches decided that our team wasn't "getting it," so they added a Friday night practice. That means practice twice a week, and a game on Saturday. We have decided, for our family, that Friday is optional. I mean, seriously?? If she loved it and wanted to play, and was excited about practice, then we would definitely go on Friday, but she doesn't, so we don't.. most of the time.

Mark and I are doing well. We have been blessed with two great sleeping children, and count ourselves lucky since we both love to sleep. When we have free time, we have really enjoyed being outside in this nice weather. Mark has made a few raised garden beds and a trellis, and have started our own herb garden. It's been nice "going green" with our family, and Lauren definitely has a green thumb like her Daddy.

AND, finally.. GLEE is back on!!!! Sue Sylvester.. you are one offensive cheerleading coach, but, shame on me.. I LOVE YOU!!! Welcome back!

Random thoughts

2010-02-14T19:50:00.000-08:00

Would you like to know some random facts about me?

You don't have to hold your breath any longer...

1. I dislike chewing gum. Intensely. I think it is gross. I am usually the one that steps in the nasty gum that melts in the parking lots and on sidewalks. Nasty. Please throw your gum in the trash. If I ever have lunch with you, and you are chewing gum, please don't put it anywhere on the table, either on your plate, cup lid, or in a crumpled up piece of paper. YUCK!

2. While I am on the topic of disliking things, I might as well let you know that I not only dislike cats, I really do not care for them. (Sorry, friends of mine that adore your cats.) I do not like cat hair. I do not like how they jump up on my kitchen table and counters. I do not like cleaning litter boxes or cleaning up hairballs.

3. I like change. If you know me pretty well, you can see this in my life. I like moving. I like meeting new people. This will be changing now that we have kids, and they need stability. In fact, we have been in our current house for almost 3 years, which is the longest we have been in one place.

4. Mark and I have recently gotten into the the now-canceled television series, Arrested Development. Genius!! If you like the Office, I think you will LOVE this show. It is only 3 seasons long, but it was recently "confirmed" that they will be doing a movie. We will definitely be going opening night!

5. Mark and I think Ellen DeGeneres is one of the FUNNIEST people, man or woman, alive. Seriously, she is funny. And clean.(Well, what I have seen of her.) How often does that happen? I may not agree with life decisions, but I am not here to judge. Seriously funny. Can I be her friend?

6. I am a sucker for the Bachelor/Bachelorette series. I don't know why. I think the drama is hilarious. I think people's reputations are put on the line, and most of the time, they look horrible.. plus, more parents need to teach their daughters modesty, especially on national television. Seriously ladies, put clothes on.

7. I still play Super Nintendo Mario Brothers. Yes, I am that cool. Or old. You can pick.

8. I am horrible at hair-maintenance, but will start my "no-gray" look soon. We'll see how far this goes, or how long I can keep it up.. err, the highlights, that is.

9. I avoid, rather than confront, and I am okay with that. I like to spend time with Mark and the kids before going out with the girls. (But yes, I do need breaks every once in a while.)

10. Oh, I will give this one to you for free. I dislike dog poo!!! YUCK! GROSS! And, clean up after your pet.

2010-02-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

Breaking Free by Beth Moore. I started this Bible Study with the Covenant group of ladies from our church on Wednesday mornings. This is my second time to do this study. (I didn't really do the first one well, and didn't finish it.) Well, this past Wednesday, while we were watching the video before we broke into small groups, I realized that there are some things in my life, currently, that I need to be in prayer about. One of the things that Beth spoke about was obstacles in our life that hinder us from glorifying God. When breaking free from the obstacles in our own lives, there is a pattern to giving it up. It goes from being hard to hardest to easier to under my feet. Mark and I going to take this into heart as we prepare for the Lenton season. Now, I am not usually one to recommend a study, but I truly think that if you are struggling with anything in life, or just with life in general, that this study is great. I really have never liked the videos before because it is hard for me to sit and listen, but Beth brings it with these videos. Seriously, she is HILARIOUS and speaks truth into the places in your life that you didn't even know had darkness. I am meeting a lot of new women from our church, and I really enjoy that. Plus, I told Mark that I think men could even do this study. Really.

Our sweet boy will be 7 months on Valentines Day. He is out of his infant carseat, which means trying to figure out what to do with him at restaurants, the grocery store, and walking around. He is starting to sit better by himself, which means he can sits in his stroller and sits supported in high chairs and the grocery carts. Plus, I have a sling that he does really well in. (I call it my fat suit because he adds almost 20 pounds.) He is laughing, talking, cooing, rolling all over the floor, and really enjoys it when Lou plays and talks with him. He loves eating carrots, peas, and green beans, and will be starting sweet potatoes on Wednesday. He is such a blessing in our lives, and is a Momma's boy. (Which I love, by the way, because Lou has always been a Daddy's girl.)

Lou is getting to be such a big 3 year old. She is growing up to be a very opinionated little girl, and enjoys doing things by herself. One of her most recent accomplishments is using the restroom by herself. (Of course, she still needs a little help, but those are just minor details.) I have to keep a careful eye on her now because she likes to do things that she is not supposed too. On Super Bowl Sunday she found a sharpee in our bedroom and "colored" on our sheets, walls, television, monitors, desktop, and our orange cat, Tony. Yes, the poor cat runs every time he sees her now.

She will also be starting soccer in March with her friend, Avery. Should be HILARIOUS and so much fun!

oh.. December

2010-01-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

December is always a busy month for us.

Mark's birthday, Christmas Eve services at Church, Christmas, Lou's birthday, New Years.

Shew.. makes me tired all over again just thinking about it.

Just wanted to update with some pictures, both from Lou's birthday and Christmas. And a few added extras of our other little monkey.

Cinco!!

2009-11-20T20:27:00.000-08:00

Lou can count to five in Spanish! Uno-Dos-Tres-Quatro-Cinco

Amazing- thank you Dora!

Her little voice is so adorable while saying it with lisps and two-year-old speech.

Almost as adorable as her saying, "Christmas crabs," which is translated to Christmas crafts.

I think it is hilarious because way back in the day, before Mark and I dated, he used to make fun of my country accent. The way I said Whitewright (my hometown,) drawers for the dresser, etc. He would make me say them over and over, and just laugh. That is what we do to Lou,

except, we don't laugh, we say... "awww.. too cute, do it again." And she looks at us, with this look, and will not do it. She loves to make people feel inadequate. This is the face. (This was her when she was about 5 or 6 months old.. hasn't changed her facial expressions at all.)

Like tonight, at dinner. We had a great waiter at Red Robin, and he sang "Jack Frost nipping at your nose," to her.. and she gave him this "you better get away from me, creep" look. We couldn't help but chuckle a little bit... we have an opinionated little girl.

And now, I want to do a comparison of my two wonderful children. Let's see how much they look alike, as babies. Well.. hmm... if I had a picture of the two of them with the same expression. Oh, I need to get Caleb's picture of him in the towel soon, and then repost.

Oh, and I jogged again today. My heart rate was crazy, so I need to train it to be in the aerobic range, but I made it for 20 minutes today. Shew.

2009-11-19T17:42:00.000-08:00

Diary Day, 4:

Went a little longer today.

Not much, just an extra block.

Wore Mark's heart rate monitor.

(Santa may bring me my own for Christmas.)

Monitor said I was at 78 the whole time,

so I think it was off.

Well, it was definitely off.

My heart was pumping big-time.

Legs are still sore, but getting better.

Mark and I are going to sign up for the Cowtown Marathon in February...

...it's on a Saturday!

I will try the 10K, and Mark wants to train for the full.

So... here... we... go...

Jogging, slowly

2009-11-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

Diary of a (slow-moving, starting-over) Jogger:

Day 3:

Pain. My legs are hurting.

I jogged this morning and it hurt.

My whole body hurt.

When I finished, I was dizzy, and nearly passed out near the kids waiting for the schoolbus.

Embarrassing.

I feel much better.

Tylenol works wonders.

My legs are sore, but nothing a few more days won't fix.

I thought it would be hard jogging while lactating. Yes, I said lactating.

It isn't, I just have to make sure I am getting enough calories.

Buying jeans the other day kick-started my jogging.

Yes. You heard right. I bought jeans the other day, and they were the biggest size I have ever worn. BUT, in my defense, they are making jeans tighter these days, so, I bought some comfortable ones that don't show every nook and cranny.

My sweet Caleb is rolling over now, and has found his feet.

He is a precious little bundle, but growing way too fast.

Monday was his 4 month well-visit. We were at the doctor's office for almost 2 hours! YUCK!

He is a plump 16 pounds and 29 inches.

In fact, this was the least amount of weight he has gained, so he is in the 50th percentile for once.

He is a healthy little boy with a great appetite. He also spits up all the time: milk, curdled milk, and clear stuff. He is a messy little one and is already drooling all over the place.

Lauren is doing great. At the doctor's office on Monday, she received her second round of the swine flu mist, and did wonderful. She usually struggles and screams, but this time, we held her and she did it just fine. So well, in fact, that we went to HEB after and got some cupcakes. (Which, Mark and I had told her at Lisa and Steve's baby shower the Sunday before, that she would have cake, and we left before they cut it.. and being an incredibly sharp little one, she remembered.. so, hence the cupcakes.. for a reward AND for not getting it the night before.) (Yes, that was a really long run-on sentence.) Yesterday, Lauren went down for a nap, and this is what I found when I heard her come out of her room.

2009-11-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

Lauren finally decided to share something without being asked.

How sweet of her!

Too bad it was only a cold!!!

Oh well, here's to feeling better soon!

2009-11-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

Mark and I are in the middle of purging our house.

We have piles built up in our bedroom and living area of stuff. Stuff that we need to give away, throw away, sell, etc.

Mark started this process while Lou was sick over the weekend. He went through our ENTIRE closet. (This is the one place in our house we can shove things without anyone finding them or seeing them, so you can only imagine how ridiculously messy it was.) Without asking me about clothes, or really anything, he just went through the entire closet, and threw things away. I will have to post pictures later of the huge pile of clothes we need to get rid of. I feel nothing but ridiculous for having this many clothes that I don't wear, when I know that there are people that I cross every day that cannot afford this things for their families.

I also went through our "junk" closet and cleaned it out... ahh, much better, and Lou's art closet.

It is nice to get rid of the junk that clutters our house. We have made progress, but there are still papers crammed into the many drawers of our home, our kitchen needs to be reorganized(please don't look in our kitchen cabinets.. eek,) and I need to go through my children's clothing and get what doesn't fit out.

Wouldn't it be nice if our walk with the Lord was this easy. Just go through the "junk" in our lives, throw it away, and start over. It is hard to just throw it away, not look back, because we all know that there are things we would LOVE to throw out, but hold on to it.. chipped, broken, too small, too big, too many memories.

God delivers us from our "junk," He makes us whole, He makes us beautiful, and we are His children.

I always feel like I post way too much about my children, and not enough about me, my spiritual walk, my life. So, I am going to try to do that more. Get ready to learn more about Missie, it's gonna be a fun ride!

Halloween

2009-11-07T15:09:00.001-08:00

Colorado

2009-11-07T14:31:00.000-08:00

2009-11-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

It has almost been a month since I last updated... and well, not much is going on.

Caleb is now a hefty 15 pounds 8 oz. He has gained 9 pounds since birth! Boy oh boy!! He is getting too long for his 3-6 month clothes and pretty soon will be wearing 6-12 months. My little guy is just growing way too fast.

Lou is also growing.. she is wearing now in 3T pants for the length, but really wears 2T for the waist. She wears 4T dresses because she is also a tall little girl. Where do these children get their length? By no means are Mark and I tall.. in fact, we are average. Very average. Her new favorite things are the Disney Princesses. She used to just be into Arial, but not anymore. She know Mulan, Jasmine, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Cinderella, and Snow White.. she can pick them out anywhere. Guess we all know what she will be getting for Christmas! :)

She is still doing great with sweet baby Caleb. She amazes me with her vocabulary and sentences these days. She is talking like a little adult now, just out of nowhere. In fact, we are teaching her names right now, and she is Lauren Adelay, Daddy is "Mark Stephen," Caleb is "baby Caleb," and Mommy is "Mommy." She won't say my name. She is a little pistol.

Since our trip to the church's pumpkin patch, we went on a vacation to Colorado: Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder and Estes Park. We were in Estes Park the day of the downtown fire- if you heard about it. This was the first trip that I can remember where neither of the kids got sick. It was great. Lauren Lou sat in her plane seat without her car seat, and she did great. Just a little bit of bribery and she didn't move the whole time. (Mark's iPhone is a great bribe, as well as Color Wonder from Crayola, and any of her favorite snack foods.) This worked both ways. Caleb also did great, not a peep from him. On the day we left, we woke up to snow. Beautiful. In fact, while we were in Colorado, they had record highs. Pretty funny! We saw lots of elk, deer, and chipmunks. We even ran into a mountain mouse up in the rockies! Lou loved that.

After we recuperated from our trip, we had all of friends, with and without kids, over for Halloween. It is so much fun to get them all together, all dressed up, take pictures and then trick-or-treat. We had a good time eating.. we ordered 10 pizzas and only at 4... out of like 25 people.. silly us, over-ordering like that.

It has been semi-quiet since then. Lou has a cold right now. I am heading to Girl's Weekend next weekend, and then our friend, Audra, is getting married the weekend after that.. So, we are pretty much gone every weekend now in November.. always back for Sunday though! December will be hectic also, but more of a Holiday-hectic, then a crazy-hectic. We are also geering up for "The Year of Weddings," in 2010. I think we have like 10-15 already.

You know, since I don't post often.. I update most of the time, and feel like I am sending a Christmas letter each time. HA! Well, maybe I will post more often. Something more fun.

I need a schedule of postings, ramblings, especially since all of my thoughts sound more clever and witty in my head than written out.

Pray for the soldiers and their families from Fort Hood this week.

2009-10-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

We had a great time getting all the kids from our Small groups together at our Church's Pumpkin Patch. It was crazy to watch all the kids run around the pumpkins, trying to get pictures when we could. Mark sings at the patch every year, which is silly and fun for him. Then, after all the pictures, we marched all the kids across the street to Chick-Fil-A! Ohhh.. if only my littlest one didn't have a meltdown in the middle of dinner.

We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing everyone before the craziness of this time of year catches up with all of us. Mark and I are planning a fun evening for Halloween... so that will be our next pictures. Well, that, and we are headed to Denver in a few days. YAY!

2009-09-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

** Correction **

We have 2 weeks from today, and now we are looking at somewhere else to vacation. Not sure yet, Disneyland may have to wait until next year.

**************

3 more weeks until Disneyland!! Hip-hip-hooray! Lauren Lou is just now getting into all of the Disney princesses, even though she LOVES Ariel, and she LOVES Tinkerbell the most. We are also planning on going to the San Diego zoo because she LOVES zoo-time and because she will still be free! Now, that, my friends, is exciting! Then, when we get home, we are heading to Wacky Waco to Baylor's Homecoming and to see all of our friends. We cannot wait to meet all the new babies in Mark's old college group, and for everyone to meet Caleb.

Can you tell I am excited?? Well, I am! I have never been to California! Hip-hip-hooray!!!

it was great, until...

2009-09-20T20:16:00.000-07:00

That was our mini-vacation that is.

But, let me start at the beginning.

While Mark was in Costa Rica, I purchased my very first priceline.com hotel room. (Now, I have never done this before, and will never do this again, but again, getting ahead of myself.) I ended up getting a room at Microtel for $52 a night. Not sure what a Microtel was before this trip, but we were a little nervous driving down to Aransas Pass on Thursday afternoon. We got to our hotel and when we entered our room, we found the tiniest little room, with only one double bed in it, that took up the entire room. This is really funny because I was planning on the three of

us- Mark, Lou and myself sleeping in one bed... but, a king sized bed because Lou is all over the bed when she sleeps. And, there wasn't a spot for the pack and play for Caleb. So, I go to the

front desk- mind you, this is off season for the beach, and ask for a room with a little more room or with either a bigger bed, or two beds. I even offered to pay the difference. The lady was really kind, and told me they only had rooms with double beds and no rooms with two beds. So, she gave us the only handicapped-available room. I told her that if someone came in and needed it, we would move, but to just let us know. So, we pack up everything, move rooms, and it was great. Now, Mark is a very light sleeper and needs his own space and complete darkness. He saw that our room was connected to the next room, and went down to ask if he could rent it. They let him rent it for $40 a night, AND, get this.. when he opens the door, he starts laughing hysterically. The room had two beds! So, it ended up being great and we each had our own bed. (Other than the first night, when Lou came in my room and wanted to sleep with me.. Here is a preview of how she sleeps.

Now, other than being right next to the door to where people park, listening to them come in and out all night long, we would recommend the Microtel to anyone who goes down to the beach and wants something in between Rockport and Port Aransas.

We went to Rockport on Thursday afternoon, and had a great time at the beach. Lou has been to the beach before, but this was the first time she didn't mind the sand, and really enjoyed the water. This was our first try with digging a hole in the sand for Caleb and keeping him covered with an umbrella. We didn't enjoy Rockport very much this day because the mosquitoes were horrible and we didn't have bug spray at this point. (Apparently, the mosquitoes were bad everywhere we went, and we smartened up and purchases bug spray.)

That night we went to Finn's, in Port Aransas, and it was DELICIOUS! Lou really enjoyed the ferry ride across, and Mark and I really enjoyed the nachos and hamburgers. Other than a restless girl, an hour of waiting for our hamburgers, and the mosquitoes- again with the mosquitoes, Finn's was great and we, again, would recommend it.

The next day, we woke up and decided we wanted to try a different beach, so we drove over to Port Aransas. We enjoyed this beach a lot more because it had waves, lots of hermit crabs, softer sand for Lou and Caleb, and it was surprisingly clear and clean. We spent the morning taking family pictures, and playing in the sand and water. Caleb was much better in his sand-hole today, and Lou just had a blast playing in the water.

That afternoon, we headed to Corpus Christi to the Aquarium and we really enjoyed it. Lou loves animals, so we spent the afternoon observing dolphins, birds, and other wildlife that they had on display.

On our way home from Corpus, I heard our lil Caleb making some grunting noises, and fully knowing that he was having a bowel movement, did not think that anything would happen with it, and I would change him when we got back to the hotel. But, when we went to pull him out of his carseat, he was, covered, I mean really covered head to toe in, well, you get the picture. It was hilarious, and thankfully our hotel had a washer and dryer available- for purchase- that we were able to wash his carseat cover and his clothes.

For dinner this night, Mark went to HEB and bought microwave dinners for us, since our hotel rooms had microwaves. They were not delicious and were not filling, so we ventured out to this little place called the Bakery Cafe, and ate some delicious chocolate pie and cheesecake for desert.

(I am getting tired of adding pictures to my blog because every time I do, they are at the top and I have to figure out how to get them in the right spots.... so, from now on.. I won't be posting pictures with this post. Use your imagination here.)

Saturday morning we woke up and went back to the Port Aransas beach and went swimming, caught and released hermit crabs, built sandcastles, and took lots and lots of pictures. Caleb gave us some great smiles, in which I will post later, and Lou did great. We decided to hit the road around noon, ate lunch in Corpus Christi and then started the drive to San Antonio.

When we were 20 minutes outside of San Antonio, Lou started screaming, I mean really screaming and holding her right ear. I tried to call her on-call doctor at the pediatrician's office and since I couldn't hear due to the screaming, they redirected to a walk-in pediatric clinic. She had/has an ear infection due to congestion that got really bad all of a sudden, and Mark and I were in San Antonio for 5 hours before we were able to home. We went from the clinic to trying to find a pharmacy that was still open on a Saturday, and then had to wait 2 hours for her prescription. We had a delicious dinner at Chili's while waiting where Lou slept the entire time, so I'm not going to lie, it was kind of nice to not have to deal with her during that time.

Well, we made it home.

We went to church on Sunday, and Lou was great because she was feeling better.

Monday morning came, and it was now Caleb's turn to get an ear infection. OUCH.

So, right now I have my two children on antibiotics, and it is chilly and wet outside. Kind of a nice excuse to stay inside and cuddle.. except when your baby does not want to be put down. Ahhh... Love me some Lou and Caleb!

time flies...

2009-09-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

... when you are sleep-deprived.

Just kidding. We are not sleep-deprived, we are just adjusting to our new "normal."

Mark was in Costa Rica for 9 days last week with his band for a Spiritual Emphasis Week at a Methodist school. God moved in big ways and not only with the Costa Rican kids. Mark did not take very many pictures, (he only took his handy-dandy iphone,) but where Mark fell short, Ryan took P-L-E-N-T-Y! They are the most hilarious pictures I have seen in a long time.

While Mark was gone, Lauren Lou worked on potty-training. (Well, Lauren Lou with guidance from me.) She did great, and continues to do great. The hardest part was getting her off of the little potty that we had bought for her, but I (sort of) tricked her, and she sat on the toilet from then on. Which, I might add, is an accomplishment for being able to take her out in public wearing her "big-girl" panties. She is doing great with Caleb. She loves him just enough to be sweet on him, but not too much where we have to keep her off of him. She shows interest every once in a while, but mostly leaves him alone. If she hears him cry, she worries about him, but does not smother him. She, of course, is becoming more independent and has her own way of doing things. She is a little sass of a girl, and has been getting time outs quite a bit for yelling and throwing fits. She is also into TinkerBell and Ariel at the moment, and is easily persuaded to do anything I ask when bribed with one of the above. (Especially a bowel movement on the potty.)

Caleb is doing great. Growing so fast. This newborn stage is going much faster than when Lauren was this age. He is a great baby that enjoys eating, sleeping, long walks and car rides, and diaper changes. He is easy going and really only cries when he is hungry. He is a noisy little guy that grunts and coos a lot. I have adjusted to bringing two kids to the grocery store. I put him in the BabyBjorn and her in the cart if it is a big grocery day, and if we just need a few things, he stays in his carseat in the big part of the cart, and Lauren Lou sits up front. It is a pain having to take two of them, but when you need to go to the grocery store, you need to go.

As for me. I am adjusting and loving on Caleb and Lauren as much as I can. Honestly, Lauren can drive me crazy at times... she is very stubborn (I don't know who she got that from.. cough), but I have learned that she mimics my tone and attitude, so I am trying to keep my temper to toddler appropriate. When she throws a fit or gets upset, she goes in time-out, whether she is screaming or not. It also helps that Mark and I are starting PX90 (or whatever it is called,) so now I have an outlet to get out some frustration. She is a great child, don't get me wrong, just a 2 year old with a very strong opinion. And I, am a mother to this said 2 year old with a 2 month old, who enjoys to be held often.

2009-08-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sweet Caleb was one month old yesterday!

I just wanted to give you a glimpse of my "good eater."

July 14th: 6 lbs 8oz

July 16th: 6 lbs 5 oz

July 22nd: 7lbs 3 oz

August 14th: 10 lbs EVEN!

He eats so well, that I limit him to 10 minutes at each feeding!

Happy 4 Weeks... birth story

2009-08-11T13:41:00.001-07:00

Caleb came 4 weeks ago, at 5:02pm.

Four and a half weeks ago, my Mom came in to town to help me before sweet Caleb came, and to finish things up around the house. She came on a Sunday, and I was due for my 38 week OBGYN appointment on that following Tuesday. It was an early appointment, so I snuck out of the house while everyone was still sleeping, barely getting dressed myself... without a stitch of makeup on and my hair looking like I literally rolled out of bed. (I did.) My amazing OBGYN, Dr. Vanover, was not in the office this week due to going to Guatemala with our church for a medical mission trip. So, I was to see the Nurse Practioner, who was HILARIOUS! She came straight in to the room, told me I had protein in my urine, and elevated blood pressure. She wanted to get a second opinion from the on-call doctor, and I was shortly whisked away in a wheelchair to the hospital to be "monitored." They wanted to see if they could get my blood pressure down. I actually felt really silly being wheeled over and had a few laughs with the sweet nurses who took me over there. I texted Mark, who was in a meeting at church by this time, and told him the situation: a. I would be sent home with nothing; b. I would be sent home on bed rest; or c. Induced. (Although I was dilated to a 3, and effaced to 60%, I thought I would be going home.) Mark called and wanted to come up. I told him not to until they told me a definite answer since our hospital is not the easiest to get to. (Lauren Lou was at home with my Mom, thank goodness!) So, I also call my Mom, tell her to get my bag packed, just in case, but I should be home. Mark showed up at the hospital about 20 minutes from me talking to him.

Our on-call doctor, Dr. Williams, came in at noon, and asked if I was ready to have a baby. I said "yes," thinking she was joking, and just like that, she broke my water. Mark left to go get my Mom, and Lauren's other grandmother came over to the house to watch her. Our good friend, Ryan, came up to the hospital and provided company until Mark got back. About 2 hours later, the contractions were coming faster, but not hurting too bad, and I stupidly told the GOOD DOCTOR- the anaesthesiologist- that he could go give another lady one and could come back later for me. MISTAKE. Around 4:00pm, I was hurting! Badly. Crying! Not cursing, but thought I was going to die. Mark kept leaving the room to find the doctor, and would come back empty handed. Well, he came, around 4:45. It felt like FOREVER for him to get the epidural in, BUT, as soon as he walked out of the room, I told the nurse I felt pressure.. and could move my toes and legs. Well, she checked, and here came Caleb. All 6 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches of our sweet boy!

And, I did great! No passing out, fainting, tremors, throwing up with this one. I could actually walk all by myself within 2 hours of the epidural wearing off! I couldn't wait to eat though... I had skipped breakfast that morning thinking I would eat after my appointment. That hospital hamburger was delicious... no matter how meatless it might have been.

And now.. 4 weeks later. We are here. It has been tough adjusting to two kids, but Lauren Lou is doing great with Caleb.. being such a sweet and gentle big sister. She still has her tantrums, and she is not potty-trained, but we have time. Caleb is doing great, eating wonderfully, and sleeping, sometimes.

2009-07-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

You know those summers where it is too hot to do anything?

Well, I am having one of the summers.

Blogging qualifies as one of those activities that has fallen by the wayside, for the time being.

I need to update.

We have been around, inside and outside, Colorado and Texas.

Nothing exciting HAS happened just quite yet.

Baby boy blue will be joining us soon... I pray. ;)

Lauren-Lou has a good days, her great days, and her monster-like days.

Wait... so do I. I wonder if they correlate?

Will put my thoughts and pictures together and have a more complete update soon.

2009-06-17T20:15:00.001-07:00

T-minus 2 days until we leave for Colorado.

Goodbye house.

Goodbye heat.

Goodbye cats.

Goodbye dogs.

Goodbye to-do list.

Goodbye laundry.

Goodbye schedule.

Hello Lou's second plane ride.

Hello cool weather.

Hello high altitude

Hello potty training in Colorado.

Hello relaxation.

Lou and I visited the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels today. We had a lot of fun playing around in the different areas. Her favorite parts were the painting (of course,) the hospital where she fed the babies, and the train table. I took lots and lots of pictures, but will have to add them when I figure out how to upload them to Mark's computer. It was nice to be inside and playing, instead of visiting all the outdoor places, but I do not think we will be able to make it there very often, since it is quite a drive. We are going to try the Witte Museum in San Antonio next.

2009-06-15T14:28:00.000-07:00

Right now:

I am sitting on the couch with Lou, eating popcorn, watching Land Before Time.

I have a to-do list that is so long, there is no way Baby Boy Blue can arrive before his due date.

I am getting nervous about our plane ride on Saturday.

I am praying that Lou's congestion will go away so I can sleep tonight, ahem, I mean for her to sleep tonight.

I am thinking about finishing those very thank you notes.

I am thankful that Mark finished painting Little Boy Blue's room. And it's blue.

I would love it if I took a nap and then woke up to the whole house magically clean.

I am excited about the arrival of Little Boy Blue, and Lou becoming a big sister. (and anxious)

Crazy 8's

2009-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

8 Things to Look Forward to:

1. Jill's wedding in Colorado on the 25th

2. Spending time with my family this summer

3. The birth of our son

4. Lou becoming a big sister

5. The end of summer!

6. Halloween... I know, I know.. I love family-fun holidays

7. Not having cats... one day.. again..

8. Lou to be completely potty-trained

8 Things I did Yesterday:

1. Woke up and ate breakfast with Lou

2. Went to Target to pick up a few things

3. Ate lunch at Broadway Bread with Mark and Lou

4. Cleaned house while Lou took a nap

5. Went shopping for jeans with Mark, for Mark

6. Made chicken for dinner

7. Had our Bible Study group over for our study over John

8. Went to bed exhausted.

8 Things I wish I could Do:

1. Eat healthier

2. Give birth to our son with no meds.

3. Sew creative and crafty things

4. Paint creative and crafty things from Clay Casa

5. End world hunger.

6. End abuse and neglect.

7. Travel with Mark during the summers.

8. MAKE-OVER.. that would be fun!

8 Shows I watch:

1. So You Think You can Dance

2. American Idol

3. Survivor

4. Here Come the Newlyweds

5. Grey's Anatomy

6. Private Practive

7. Franklin, Little Bear, Blue's Clues, Dora, Tigger and Pooh, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Sesame Street... etc. etc. (not all together or on the same day)... (well, unless a certain someone is sick.)

8. Wheel of Fortune.. not nearly often enough

People to Tag:

Sarah

Coming Home.

2009-05-30T08:10:00.001-07:00

Mark comes home from Costa Rica today.

These have been three really long days.

Lou has urinated on the big toilet in her bathroom twice now.

She has a sweet little set-up.

A Dora potty seat, her own potty wipes, and an Elmo chart/book that comes with stickers.

I read some potty training tips on this website.

While they are great, we have a carpeted house.

We went to Sea World for a bit yesterday, and it was HOT!

So we left. That is the beauty of living so close.

On Thursday, we went to the Zoo.

We fed the ducks, saw the flamingos and jaguars, and then rode the train.

Lou came with me to the baby appointment and did great.

My sweet doctor checked me because I have been hurting a lot more than I can remember,

and there is no dilation.

That is good news since we still have two months.

She also hooked me up to monitor baby's movements.

She did this because he had not been too active the past few days.

Again, Lou did great.

She sat and listened to his heartbeat for a while, colored, and watched Little Bear on my Itouch.

Actually, she was an ANGEL for 30 solid minutes!

(And, baby is great, was just having a few lazy days... he is back to his old knee and elbow self.)

Well, off to vacuum the house.

Then, lunch at Bigz with Danielle and crew.

Maybe a little window browsing after that.

Then to the airport at 5:45.

Life. Pregnancy.

2009-05-27T19:37:00.000-07:00

The truth is...

I love reading blogs, and have found some amazing ones to follow. Yes, I am a blog-stalker.

It is so much easier to read blogs than it is to write one.

And, that is why I am so behind on updating my blog. I could say "I am busy, I have 8 weeks left in my pregnancy, Lou keeps me busy, I have growing pains, it is HOT outside and that makes me lazy," blah, blah, blah. Ehh.. I just really have not felt like updating. Until now... lucky you!!!

Lou has been off of her book-reading kick for the past couple of months, and then all of a sudden, it came back. She loves reading and doing puzzles, which is awesome to this pregnant-hot-huge-mama. Bailey actually sat still for a little bit and let Lauren read, harass her. So special.

NEXT: Mark competed and SURVIVED, I mean finished, in his first Super-Sprint triathlon! I was a first time spectator, and WOW... triathletes are amazing! It was inspiring to watch all the CRAZY people, thousands it seemed, compete in a triathlon, not necessarily to win, but to finish. Amazing! I highly recommend for you to watch a triathlon one day, not on t.v. either, but in real life.

And the final picture: 32 weeks pregnant. 8 weeks left! What in the world were we thinking?!?! I do not want to complain because every good and perfect gift is from God, but MAN... I am definitely in this certain boat right now.. And, you might have been in it with me before. I am talking about the boat where you already have had a child, so you know exactly what you are getting yourself into; and although you are getting to that hurting stage in your pregnancy, you are not completely ready for the other side of it: a NEWBORN! Yes, I am there, and it is okay if you were, too. I have realized that it is okay to be honest and real with how I feel. I have conflicting feelings about this pregnancy all the time. I am hurting, but I love being pregnant. I cannot wait to meet our son, but I am scared to death to start over. Lou with be a great big sister, but she is a handful right now. The list goes on and on and on...

I go for my check-up, without Mark and with Lou in tow, so it should be interesting, especially if there are any "checks." (You girls know what I am talking about.) But, this is only the beginning of the summer craziness that happens around the Swayze house, so I am getting used to being 3rd trimester pregnant with a 2 year old and with Mark in and out for days at a time.

Actually, Mark is in Costa Rica right now for a prepatory trip for a mission/worship week that his band is doing at the end of August and into September. Next week, annual conference in Corpus Christi, June 13th is another triathlon, we all leave for Colorado at the end of June for his sister's wedding, we get back and he leaves for camp the next day, 2 camps in July, and then baby boy is due. Shew.... but that is only the schedule for him before baby boy... the list goes on a few weeks after the due date. Ahem, the due date. So, with saying that, PRAY FOR MY SANITY, and for my patience and understanding with Lou. She is growing and learning, and I have no excuse, stupid pregnancy hormones.

That is life, for now. God is good, we love our Bible study friends and we are enjoying watching our friends become families with their children, both adopted and biological.

And with that, I leave you. I cannot promise that I will update more often, but I will try.

a new day

2009-04-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

This is a big day in the Swayze household.

Sweet Lauren has a brand new BIG GIRL room...

that comes with...

drum roll please....

a BIG GIRL bed!

Mark spent the weekend painting our old guest bedroom pink, and by Sunday night, Lauren was ready to sleep in her new bedroom. I am more sad about this than anyone. I can no longer put her video monitor on her and watch her sleep. She is no longer my sweet little baby who slept so good in her crib.

BUT, I am also elated to share that she slept in her bed ALL night last night, and did not get off. I even opened the door to check on her, and she told me to "get out Mommy." She sleeps in the complete dark, with no night-light and no noises. (The no night-light might change once we start potty-training though.) In fact, she is finishing up her nap, and once again, slept the whole time in her bed, without getting out. (Now, I know this will change, but, for now, it makes me very happy.)

Lauren has always surprised us with how easily she transitions from one thing to the next: bottles to sippy cups, nursing to milk to food, and most importantly her sleeping patterns. How nice would it be if she has a GREAT transition to her new baby brother in a few months.

2009-04-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am horrible at blogging.
No, I have no excuses.

In my very own biased opinion, (of course, right?,) I want to share some of my little girl's humor with you.

1. Ever since Mark shared his "Mommy" story at church, Lauren will now refer to me as "Daddy." But only when she is in her silly calling Mark Mommy mood.

2. She makes you look like an idiot in front of people, and then as soon as they turn their back, she does what you ask her too, quietly and inconspicuously. Example: She is learning how to move her eyebrows up and down. Ask her to do it for you, and she looks at you with that sassy face that just says, "excuse me, I am not here for your entertainment." But, as soon as you turn your back, she will do it! She is too hilarious!

3. She sits completely naked on her "big-girl potty chair," backwards. The first time she sat on it without a diaper, mind you, Mark and I were both in there. Mark told her to "push-out her pee-pee" and she started pushing her belly button. Nothing happened.

4. When you try to bribe her with chocolate to finish her food, she quickly clears her plate by placing all the food on the table, then says "finished." She will look at you with the cutest smile, and say "chocolate please."

(And yes, we bribe her with chocolate to also take medicine... it works.)

5. When she really, really enjoys eating something, she says "mmm..mm.. mm" while chewing, and then "delicious" when finished.

6. If you ask her what her baby brother's name is/will be, you will most likely get, "baby sister."

I am amazed at how my two year old is growing. Her sense of humor and her personality cracks me up, because she is an animated little thing. (That is, you have to be around her for more than 30 minutes to even get a glimpse most times.) It will be very interesting to continue to watch her personality grow, and to compare it with our little boy's.

As I am very thankful for my sweet Lauren,
I want to give you a few prayer requests.

1. http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/
2. http://www.mycharmingkids.net
3. http://www.youandmeplusthree.com

it's a rainy day

2009-04-17T12:40:00.001-07:00

Our family loves rainy days in San Antonio.
Staying home, taking naps... these are a few of our favorite things.

We also had a great Holy Week and Easter.
We went to the zoo with some friends.. the great stroller brigade, went to a tee-ball game, an Easter Egg hunt with MOPS, and an Easter party at the Davis household.

As I am typing, baby boy is moving up a storm, reminding me to include him in the post. He is continually growing, as am I, and has a great heartbeat. We have not started on anything for his nursery yet, hope he doesn't mind pink! Since we have a round crib, I need to find some fabric to make sheets with, and then we will pick paint, go through all the toys, get it ready for infancy again, and move Lauren to a big girl room. Which, is a tale all in itself. We are in the middle of looking for a bedroom set for her that we both agree on. Mark wants white so we can paint the room sage green and add wainscoting. I like this idea, BUT, we already have brown furniture and all we need is a brown bed frame. It will all come together within the next 3 months. This pregnancy is going by faster than I expected, so we might just run out of time! :)

Another goal we had for Lauren was to be potty-trained before the new baby got here, but she is completely not ready. Actually, just this past week she will sit on the toddler learning potty without a diaper. We sat on it for a half hour yesterday, and nothing, not even a drop. So, I am not going to rush anything. We will work on it and when she is ready, we will get it rolling. She is actually also starting to make choices about dressing, and I am teaching her how to dress herself.
I also found a great new website, www.productiveparenting.com, that has been helpful with every day activities for Lauren and I since I stay at home with her.

Enjoy the pictures!

2009-04-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

This week has been a great week.
Holy Week.
Usually stressful within a ministry's house.
Not this week. So relaxing, peaceful, quiet. Ahhhhh...

This is a 25 week picture, and just for the record, I weigh more now than I have ever! It is fantastic. If you want to know my weight, you can ask, but I will be sensitive to others and not post it. Baby boy Swayze is doing great, no complaints. He is growing and kicking and moving. Lauren even felt him move today.

Enjoy family this weekend and remember our Christ that was crucified, dead and buried, AND ROSE from the grave! Be blessed this Easter season.

Surprise!

2009-02-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day...

2009-02-14T09:06:00.001-08:00

... and Happy Birthday, Mom!
Hope your feeling better today!

Lauren, lately

2009-02-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

We went to the park the other day, and had ourselves a little "photoshoot." Lauren was really funny and, as you can see, had to have "Baby" in some pictures. At one point, in the swing, she would ask me to swing her high, and then say "Pictures Mommy." So much fun!

The last picture is from Chunk-E-Cheese. I brought my camera to get some good ones of her and Gabriel, and this is the only one we got. Stink!

Oh, true story: Lauren calls me "Missie" now. I have no idea...

2009-01-26T13:34:00.000-08:00

Today I saw a beam of light in the meat section of our grocery store.
It was a fluorescent beam that shone on the most glorious chicken-product:
Tyson chicken nuggets breast meat.
I quickly grabbed a box, read it over, and thought to myself, "This would be a great lunch for Lauren."

When we got home from the grocery store, (which I will talk about in a minute,) I put a few nuggets in the oven, waited 12 minutes (flipping them over at 6 minutes,) and pulled out the most yummy chicken nugget lunch that Lauren actually ATE. Lunch at our house is hard because neither of us are sandwich people, and she is in a picky stage right now. But, I found these nuggets, ate a few myself, Lauren polished off 6 (with corn and carrots on the side,) and lunch at the Swayze house will never be the same... well, until the I can find the next delicious lunch item.
Oh, and if you ask me why the breast meat chicken nuggets... well, I am a white-chicken meat kind of girl, none of the gray meat please, so I like Lauren to eat the same thing. Call me a chicken meat snob.

Okay, onto the next find of my day... HEB Plus on Blanco. Now, let me preface this by saying that Mark and I actually lived a few blocks from one in Waco, BUT, I did not realize how beautiful this grocery store was until today.
I was going to head to Central Market about 35 minutes away to get some yummy granola and already-prepared meats- yes, I am that lazy and will drive however far to get it- BUT, I wanted to try this HEB Plus out, and it was foggy out. I started in the produce section, and headed to the aisles, when, this is after the beam of light mind you, I turn a corner and see GRANOLA. Not just boxes of granola either, but the rows of granola that Central Market has that you can pour yourself. YUMMY! I know this will make Mark happy, so I buy four bags of granola, all different flavors, and finish my grocery shopping.

Thank you HEB Plus! The chicken was fantastic, and the granola is oh-so-yummy!

Prayer

2009-01-21T19:46:00.001-08:00

Last night at Bible study, towards the end, we talked about prayer.
How good intentions can lead to forgotten promised prayers.

Let me urge you to pray for a child of God, a sweet baby girl named Harper.
Here is the website where you can read and get updates on this sweet little girl.

Pray for Harper

So we thought

2009-01-15T09:34:00.000-08:00

So we thought we were all over the December sickness.
And reasonably so, we were sick a LOT.

Well, I thought my daughter was going crazy.
Now, I am not talking cute crazy, I am talking, I need a psychiatrist crazy.
You laugh or might even think about calling CPS on me for thinking a 2 year old needs a psychiatrist, but if you have been around her for the last week, you might think the same.

First, she refuses to walk on sidewalks. She claims there are ants on them. No ants. No ants anywhere since the fall. I actually think something must have biten her recently, or someone scared her, because she just has her mind made up that there are ants on the sidewalk. Hmmmm.

Second, she has been grabbing her ears and saying bugs. Now, I thought this was because she had a bee buzz around her head at the park the other day, and she just got scared. Then, it kept happening. If not in her ears, then she would clasp her hands and say bugs, or would not put on a shirt because of the bugs. Well, yesterday she woke up with a 102 temp, that quickly spiked to 104, so we went into the doctor. My sweet girl has had a double ear infection for the past few days without me realizing it. So, we have several medicines now that will help with it all.

BUT, she will not take her medicine, and if we force her to take it (two-person hold on the ground,) she screams so hard that she just spits it up soon after. So, we do not know how much absorbed, if any, and can not give her more. This goes for Tylenol, Motrin, Amoxicillon, and yes, even her ear drops. I am trying to get creative and put her medicine in things that she likes, but she has not appetite right now, so she takes one drink, and she is done. Motrin in orange Gatorade; Amoxicillon in chocolate milk. Any other creative suggestions??

I-Touch

2009-01-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

So, I did a little retail therapy with Lauren today...
And.... drum roll please... She was an ANGEL!!

I know, I know... I have been complaining about her tantrums.

Well, let me start by saying that I think Apple I-touches are God's gifts to moms.
Seriously you ask?! Seriously!

I downloaded a few of her favorite cartoons, and WHAM.. she watches and actually SITS in her stroller, all while I shop. It is amazing! We were able to hit up the Gap and Gymboree without any problems. (Well, halfway through shopping she had her mind set on a cookie, but I didn't have one, so.. she kept asking.. for an HOUR!)

Then, we went to lunch at one of my favorites, Logan's, with some of my favorite people, Mark, Denise and Jarrod, and she was great again. No fits, no screaming, she sat right down, ate some yummy bread and peanuts, drank some refreshing lemonade, and played with Daddy and Denise. Beautiful!!!

Now, for the kicker. Onour way home for nap time, I decided to make a quick stop at Target, not sure of how she would act since it was sleepy time... and, plugged in Little Bear, and she was great again.. and, kept saying please and thank you when she needed something. AMAZING!

Ahh... maybe toddlerhood isn't all about screams, fits, more of everything, and kicking with diaper changes. :)

We're still alive... barely

2009-01-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

First off, I want to start with the Swayze family New Year's Resolution: No diets, no eating habits, no unhealthy addictions to kick, BUT, we are going to plan and go on a Family Vacation. Not one with Mark's work, or any relatives, but just the three of us. We need it! Badly!

December was a rough month for Lauren and I. I think we spent 7/8 of the month sick. Twice with the stomach virus, with the last one starting on Christmas day. Thankfully, we are better now.

We have had so much fun with traveling and spending time with family. Lauren received so many Christmas and birthday gifts that will last her the year round. Her favorites so far is the Disney Princess tent, her playhouse, her Baby set with stroller, pack and play, and swing included, her table and chair set, and her many many many other toys, puzzles and play dough accessories.

Also, Lauren turned TWO on December 29th, and we had great plans of going to the zoo and celebrating with just the three of us, BUT, Mark and I had the stomach virus all day, so we stayed inside, on the couch, and since I was the worse one off, Mark played with Lauren all day.
She is becoming such a big girl, and recently has started to say I love you, without any prompting. It is so sweet! She will also say things like I love peanut crackers, or I love cookies. We are definitely hitting a new stage in life because her diet is changing. The guaranteed food she will eat: cookies, carrots, crackers, and M and Ms. Sad. I hope she gets over this stage and eats like she used too. And, we are learning how to discipline and will shortly be purchasing Dare to Discipline since we have heard many friends talk about it and love it. We will start potty training soon, and also will be moving Lauren's room to a bigger room in the house with a big-girl bed. But, those are in the near future, not anything too pressing. I need to find paint colors, storage, decorations, sheets and a bed first.

And, with that, I leave you with pictures.

Feeling better

2008-12-18T11:56:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a week and a half, and Lauren and I feel better.
Well, I still have this lingering cough I cannot get rid of, but other than... we feel great.

Here are a few pictures from the snow. Don't judge me, Lauren and I were both sick, and even though it does not look like much snow, we had to get a picture with it.
Getting ready to go outside. Not too happy with Mommy.

oh, this crazy weather

2008-12-10T07:17:00.000-08:00

Lauren is sick. Poor thing.
The weather keeps yo-yoing, and has given Lauren and I both colds.
YUCK!
I pray that all this yuck does not make it's way up to her ears!
That is never fun.
And, even though it snowed.. YES.. just a tad bit in San Antonio overnight, we will be spending today indoors.

2008-12-03T11:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks Amanda for sending me to this website! The cutest backgrounds! Now, my blog is not so blah!

The Swayze family goes about 100 mph during the holiday season, but we love it. We traveled to Whitewright for Thanksgiving and had a great time with family. Lauren fed some aggressive ducks, ate a lot of turkey, slept really well, and had fun with her three cousins. For Christmas, we will be in San Antonio, and then back up to Whitewright for Lauren's birthday and New Years.

Right now, I am planning her 2nd birthday party for this Saturday! (Even though it isn't until the 29th, but we are having a little early fun.) The theme is "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and it has been fun making everything star-like. Fudge, cookies, rice krispy treats. YUM! I made the invitations myself, and once I find the camera cord to hook up to the computer, I can show you. And, my little sweet thing can sing most of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star now. ADORABLE. I need to videotape it so you can see her and hear her, it is hilarious.

She also talks in somewhat sentences. "Where'd Daddy go?" is her favorite one at the moment because she loves looking and finding things. She loves looking at the Christmas lights and snowmen. Yesterday, we saw Santa in the mall, and although she wouldn't go up to him, she also wouldn't leave. She hid behind the stroller, found a spot to look through, and stared. It was hilarious!

And, to finish off the random-ness of this blog post, here are some pictures from Sesame Street Live, When Elmo Grows Up.

Oh, this is our ladybug family, minus Mark, for Halloween. Yes, he too, wore ladybug stuff!

2008-11-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day of work.
I will no longer be employed, and I LOVE it.

Tomorrow, I am free.

PS- I have a new respect for working parents.

VOTE...

2008-11-03T08:27:00.000-08:00

... for Eli Martin.

He made top 5 in Kiss.fm Most Kissable Baby!
Please please please vote for Wes and Amanda's little one!

Winner

2008-10-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Lauren won cutest costume today at our neighborhood Halloween party!!!
And, might I say, I think I did a great job on it all... thanks Mom for your help sewing!
I'll add more pictures after Halloween, but I just wanted to give you a little sneak peak!
Also, thank you Sarah for the cute shoe idea.. EVERYONE loved them!!

the sick edition

2008-10-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

Stomach viruses, double ear infections, and the crud have hit our family within the past week.
Thankfully, we are almost over it all!

In the meantime, we have been quite busy. I started working part-time again, teaching 4 year olds at a day care in the afternoons. I work from 1-6pm every days, and although I LOVE the class and the school, I have 9 more weeks left!! Mark and I have decided for me to quit before Christmas because I am not really getting paid much and to put Lauren in 2 days a week takes a chunk out of the already small paycheck. But, it will help with Christmas money, so I am persevering! It is hard work being a working mom! I look up to all working moms, past and present and future!

We also bought a new bed! YAY! Mark and I have been wanting a king-size for almost a year now, and we finally found one for a great price at the outlets. We didn't factor in how much bedding would cost, but it didn't come out to bad.

Enjoy some pictures from our pumpkin patch visit, Lauren getting ready for school, and our new bed.

2008-09-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have a project for this week.
Yes. Mark went to Yellowstone for an entire week without Lauren and I. (Just needed to get that out there in the open.)

Now, before you say, "awww," let me let you in on a little secret.
Alone-time is awesome when you have a little project around the house to do.
Yes, Mark will be missed, especially those days when I need a little support with Lauren; but he will be back, and my project will get done without any complaints.

So, what is my little project you ask? Well, I would show you, but he took our camera with him.
Our master bedroom, bathroom and closet have been lovingly nicknamed "the room of doom."
Let me paint the picture for you:
As you walk into our room, you will first notice a queen sized bed with a king sized headboard resting behind it, (yes, we bought a new bed frame, but not mattresses, yet.) Then you might notice the two new nightstands. Don't look too closely though, because they are still empty. The contents are in boxes piled in our room. Dirty clothes and socks have stacked up at the end of the bed, ready to be washed and sorted and ironed. In another corner sits Lauren's old walker (no place to store it,) with blankets and other junk from our guest bedroom's closet. The bathroom is housing all of the items from our closet that need to be organized. I took them out today, prepared to vacuum, then Lauren woke up from her nap. So, they are all still sitting where I left them, untouched; unorganized.
I did, however, go to Wal-Mart and bought some organization stuff for the closet. After looking longingly at the Container Store website, I decided Wal-Mart was more budget-friendly. (Mark will be happy with that one.)

On a much more fun note, I don't have any pictures to post because, well, Mark took my camera to Yellowstone. BUT, Lauren has grown into quite a little lady. She says the cutest things now and knows most common animal noises: monkey, kitty, puppy, donkey, wiggles her nose like a rabbit, owl, birds.. the list goes on. I need to figure out our video camera one of these days, but that is a future project that Mark will need to be here for.

some recent pictures

2008-09-05T12:50:00.001-07:00

2008-08-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is my new Halloween project for Lauren.
Of course, I will change some of it to make it more of "our own." For example, I would do antennas instead of the headband, but that is because Lauren will not wear headbands.
I just think this is cute. What do you think?

2008-08-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

Lauren has a high instep in her feet.

This means that shoe shopping is difficult.

This means that she can not wear the cute little girly shoes.

Yesterday, I went shoe shopping with Lauren to find something she could wear to church. (Right now, she has a pair of pink Kroc's and a pair of tennis shoes, and that is all.)

We braved the HUGE back-to-school crowd at North Star in San Antonio, and bought these:.

Cute, right? Well, I should've said no and walked out. The guy was overly friendly and I couldn't say no. Her foot fit, but it took 5 minutes to tug on. Anyone with a toddler knows that if it takes 5 minutes to put a shoe on, the chances of it fitting in a week or two are slim.

So, what did I do today? I drove with Aunt Banana back to the mall, braved yet an even BIGGER crowd, and returned the shoes. The same guy returned them for me. He was in a different mood today. He didn't even look up from the register to the 'packed to its limit' store.

As I was leaving the shoe store, I smiled. I was victorious over the power of shoes! I went in thinking I was going to be guilted in to either keeping them or buying another pair. (Which, if I didn't find 2 pairs at the Gap yesterday that slipped on her feet so easy, I might've been persuaded.) So, to you, shoe guy.. I applaud you for putting up with me. I applaud you for being overly kind yesterday and making me purchase the incredibly cute Pumas. I applaud you for allowing me to return them without any guilt or looks. Thank you, shoe guy, thank you.

---the guilt-buyer---

PS. My husband also thanks you. He did not think I would return them. I assured him I would.

I won that bet.

ready for fall

2008-08-20T11:29:00.000-07:00

I'm in a "Fall-y" mood today.

Maybe it's because this rain has made this August week a little more bearable than usual.
I have already been looking up Halloween costumes.. Yes, I know.. really early,

BUT, I love this time of year. And, we spend so much of it outside because of the nice weather.

So, I have found a few cute costumes online, and I just do not know what Lauren will dress up this year. If she could tell me, it would make it so much easier. And NO, she LOVES Elmo, but there is not ONE (in my opinion) cute Elmo costume out there for little girls. So, she will not be Elmo. (Sorry Sesame Street and co.)

Here are my top picks:(blue sky fairy found at buycostumes.com)

(ladybug found at buycostumes.com)

(fairy costume at gymboree.com)(tulip fairy found at buycostumes.com)

(bumblebee found at gymboree.com)
Two cute costumes for a RIDICULOUS amount of money: at Potterybarnkids.com:

The easy fallback costume: (doctor at buycostumes.com)

And, the FOUR costumes that would be, well, just mean of me:
(fries found at potterybarnkids.com)

Cute Raggedy Ann- just too much for a toddler (buycostumes.com)

JUST PLAIN MEAN for ANY TODDLER living in the heat of TX

Teletubbies Dipsy at buycostumes.com

AND ELMO! Hahahahahaha (buycostumes.com)

So, after all the costume pictures, My favorites are in order: the ladybug, bumblebee, fairy, and the rest of the fairies. What do you think?

2008-08-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

What does one box of crayons, a busy toddler, and a wall have in common?

Lauren's artwork!!!!!

And.. When did she skip toddler-hood and become a little girl?

The past few weeks have flown by, since we haven't had internet, or cable-- well, we got it back in time for the Olympics-- AMAZING! We have kept ourselves busy: Sea World, Landa Park, camp, San Antonio Zoo, rainy days- Praise the Lord, a small "tornado" on our block, Houston trip, weddings, watching the Olympics, and getting into the Office.. HILARIOUS!

Have to cut this short.. Lauren is awake.

let us not say good-bye...

2008-07-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

it is only "see you later, old friend."

We will be internet-less for a couple of days, maybe stretching into a week.
I will miss blogging, reading friends' blogs, and blog-stalking.

Let's hope I can read some books to pass time.

See you on the other side of our internet-less days...

2008-07-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

My house is clean... for the time being. I mean, dusting, vacuuming, mopping.. clean.

In return, my daughter has a cold. Oh, the coughing, sneezing, snot-rockets, and sleep-deprivation- this is what I get for dusting. (Since I dust about once every 3 months.) Lauren loves helping me clean the windows and she loves playing with the duster- hence, she has a cold.

I am also thinking about getting Lauren some swim lessons. She LOVES the water. Fitting the swim lessons into the budget will be the hardest part. Over the past week, she has enjoyed playing at the Sea World water park, and Schlitterbahn. She is the happiest in the water- soggy swim diaper, no food or drink, sitting in a lukewarm pool missing her nap time. She is a water-baby.

Are we dorks?

Mark and I are going to try to get tickets for:

They are coming to San Antonio in October! Yay!

I think there will be more people in their late 20's and 30's there. Hope the fans don't get too crazy.

Now, we just need an N*SYNC reunion tour. Mark may not go with me to that one.

Tonight at Bible Study we played the game, Mafia. I haven't laughed like that in a long time. It took a while for the people who have never played, but it was pretty funny. And, I made chicken fajitas for the first time. (Thank you Sam's Club for the pre-cooked chicken. Thank you HEB for the boxed Spanish rice, guacamole, peppers and onions.) It was pretty easy to make, and pretty fast. I need to start cooking from recipes, though. I enjoy cooking when I do it, it is just finding the time to actually get everything together, and to play with Lauren.

I think Lauren and I have also hit a rut. It has been so hot outside and we run errands in the morning, that, by mid-afternoon, we run out of things to do. Plus, she tries so hard to communicate with me, and is actually doing pretty well for an 18 month old, but we have the cries that come when I can't understand her. However, she now signs "more" in the correct context, and has a lot of words and even 2-word phrases. She says "up please" when she needs to get up or if something is out of her reach, and we are working hard with saying her "thank yous." When she says "please" to something, she gets it, and then once she has it, and we prompt her to say "thank you," she just gives you that sweet baby look and runs off. Still a work in progress. Although, I am having a tough time discerning (right wordage?) as to when Lauren actually can understand me and different prompts, or when she just does it because she would do it anyway. (ex: picking up something, moving herself from harms way, not touching HOT things, etc.)

Several posts ago, I mentioned that Mark and I had some things in our life that we needed discernment on. We were a possible adoptive family for a friend's friend, and the sweet baby girl is due July 21. The birth mother "thinks she is going to keep her," and Mark and I have a real peace for this arrangement. The birth mother is already giving her daughter the most precious gift of life, and we pray that they will become a great family that will glorify God, even though the birth mother does not call on His Name as of right now. I plan on going up to the hospital to her (we are sort of friends and we share an OBGYN,) because I want her to feel as though she has a support system here in San Antonio. (Her family and life was in New Mexico.)

As of Mark and I, we are not currently pursuing any adoption, and are praying about how to grow our family. We are taking everything very slowly because although Lauren is a great toddler, I am not ready.

Also, I know I am horrible at updating this blog on a regular basis, BUT, I may be even slower come Monday. We have canceled our "cable bundle" as Time Warner would call it, because it just jumped up to about $200, and to get it back to a reasonable enough price for us to keep it, we have to be new customers. So, after a 45 minute conversation today with a GREAT employee for Time Warner (he really was very patient with me, and me with him), he could not get us as good of a deal as he could if we were new customers. So, that gave Mark ammunition to give the bundle the boot, and keep it off for a while to save some money. Although, I REALLY REALLY need my "So you Think you Can Dance" show. I am addicted to it. Amazing dances, really. And, we both just got into A&E's "Intervention" show, and TLC'S "Jon and Kate Plus 8." They are all three completely different shows, but all three great, in their own ways. So, please forgive me my friends.

PS-- Bobcat, you need to start a blog to update us with pregnancy news and pictures, and then carry on to your sweet baby once he/she is born. THE BEST way to keep everyone updated... in my own humble opinion. Love you and see you this weekend!

Happy 4th

2008-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

Happy (late) Fourth of July to everyone!

Lauren was in our neighborhood's First Annual Fourth of July parade!

My sister made her dress and hair-bows.. thanks Kari! They turned out really really cute and we got lots of compliments!

Then, we went to the lake and hung out with our Bible Study group. Lauren loved the boats and the water.. she is fearless!

After a crazy, busy weekend, we are relaxing today, and Lauren is taking an especially LONG

nap!

Sigh..... and down comes the rain! Ahhhhh.. now, that is a Monday for me!

summer time

2008-06-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

San Antonio summer 08:

summer camp

too much Elmo

new swimsuits

brutal heat

kittens with ringworm

swimming

rain dances

dancing in the rain

driving to Gram's pool that is closed

a.m. Sea World trips

a.m. zoo trips

band guys sleeping on the couch

dogs barking at band guys sleeping on the couch

birthday parties

friends' weddings

visiting relatives

relatives visiting

trips to Waco

Fourth of July

summer camps

lots of Mommy and me time

new deck to play on

bubbles

trips to the lake

watching the grass wilt

being on the verge of a "watering ban"

trips to the coast

riding bicycles

my birthday

Tiago's Mexican Chocolate Cake

3 layered tanks to be modest

wanting a haircut

trips down the river

trips to the outlet

running around in a diaper

slight sun-burns (nothing horrible)

first ear infection

first plane ride

first BIG vacation

first vacation that did not go well

first pig-tails

first french braids

sun dresses

Jon and Kate Plus 8

thanking the Lord that I do not have Plus 8

missing Bible study

new pregnancies (not mine) (HA)

summer sales

seeing my version of the "Red-Hat purple ladies" (Bobcat, Lemur, Lizard, Bethleham)

and the list could go on and on and on and on and on

Pictures:

A. Our version of swimming, on the patio under the fan... with padding underneath of course!

B. One-armed monkey due to getting his arm caught at the zoo because someone tried to feed him something through the slots.

C. Stacy's graduation!!!!!

D. Our new deck AND..... RAIN!!! FINALLY!

E. Navy Pier, Chicago

F. Big John Deere tire, AND, the beginning of the dreaded ear infection

G. Lizard's wedding!

H. Sweet Lauren.

Check!

2008-06-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

Places to go, people to see, things to do:
We can now check Chicago off of our list. For good. (I will have to go back one day to redeem it as a vacation spot....... eventually)
This trip was a disaster. Let me rephrase that, Mark's conference was amazing, and our "vacation-time" was not very fun. I can write a whole book on all the mishaps that we had, but instead I'll give a few brief notes.

1. Lauren's first plane ride. Our plane was scheduled to leave at 6:30am on Monday morning. The SA airport is usually slow and you can show up at the most an hour before a scheduled flight and have time. Not this morning. The security line was an hour long, and thankfully we had a shorter one for family-use. After security, we heard our names on the last call, and we had to run to catch the plane. We caught it. The ride was smooth and Lauren did great. That was on the way to Chicago. On the way home. We got to the airport 4 hours in advance for an 8:45pm flight, our flight was delayed until 10:45, and Lauren had an ear infection. All together, Lauren cried most of the flight and we didn't get home until 2:30am. YUCK.

2. Chicago traffic is HORRIBLE! Hence, getting to the airport 4 hours in advance. Now, I am sure if I was from Chicago, I would now the back-roads, but seeing that our dear GPS named Harriet pulled up the major highways, that is what we took. And, we ate at Gino's East Pizza for the world famous deep dish. We ended up parking in a garage for $27 and when we walked to 6 blocks to Gino's, there was a valet sign for, get this, $7. HA! Things we should know before planning a trip.. parking and parking garages. San Antonio parking garages are nothing compared to this.

3. Lauren's ear infection. Lauren got her first real ear infection while up there. Nothing too bad, thank goodness, and we visited an urgent care clinic, so we were able to get antibiotics in her before the flight home. Plus, she wouldn't eat all week, and if you know Lauren, that is not her! She missed out on so many good foods!

4. Hotels! The first night, we stayed at this amazing Sheraton hotel. They had a gigantic inside water park- which unfortunately we didn't have enough time to play in; and, they had a walk-in closet attached to the bathroom where we were able to place Lauren's crib for the night. Beautiful! Now, the rest of the week, we stayed at a Holiday Inn. Now, I am usually a fan of Holiday Inn's, but I think it is always a gamble. Each one is different. The one we stayed in had different sections to it- like the original, and two add-ons. Well, we got an original room. Two beds, small dirty bathroom and sink, and just a tiny small bedroom with no room to move and relax. We didn't pay too much for it due to priceline.com, so I can't complain too much.

There were lots of good parts and funny stories to every bad part.
The Lincoln Park Zoo (advertises as free, but parking is $14.) was beautiful. They had indoor areas that you could watch the gorillas and monkeys, but you could also go outside and watch them as well. In the baboon area, there were a group of school kids teasing a baboon that was about 3 feet from the glass, trying to get it to come to them. As soon as they moved on, Mark and Lauren went up to the glass, and the baboon CHARGED her!! It scared me, and in turn, scared Lauren. For that brief moment, I forgot about the glass. The chimps were in heat, so it was funny to hear all of the comments about the "girl bottoms," and the "happy guys."

We went to the most amazing Children's Museum. Lauren had a blast. As did the rest of us. It was in Navy Pier, which was beautiful and not too crowded.
We also took a day-trip to Evanston to visit Northwestern University. We didn't spend much time there, but the University was BEAUTIFUL and so was the town. If/when we leave San Antonio, I would LOVE if God moved us to Evanston, Illinois. So pretty! Oh, we also went to this town called Long Grove, which is the equivalent to Salado, TX. Antique shopping and delicious food in a great historic town. (This was the day Lauren ran a 102 temp, so we didn't get to stay too long.)

So our trip was good... not great, not too terribly bad, just good.
The Saturday after we got back, I took a day trip to Houston to attend my good friend Elizabeth's wedding. BEAUTIFUL! I will have to post pictures when I figure out this computer.
(Yes, our laptop finally crashed with ALL of Lauren's pictures on it. Geek squad has it now, so I am praying they can somehow save Lauren's life in pictures.... I am an idiot for not taking them off of there myself.)

Well, that is life for now. I have been cleaning our incredibly dirty house since we have been back. This summer is hectic for our family, so we will be coming in and out frequently. BUT, if any of you come to SA, let me know, I would love to play catch-up!

not much to say

2008-06-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't updated in a while.

There hasn't been much to update.

Mark adopted two kittens from the local Animal Defense League.
Lauren loves them, and we named them Tony and Eva, respectively.
To say that I am not a cat-person is an understatement.

We're also in the middle of having a deck built on to our house. We have an amazing construction worker that in one day (today), placed the base of the deck all by himself, in less than 6 hours. He's super-friendly, and listens to National Public Radio while he works. Hilarious!

Mark, Lauren and I leave for Chicago Monday morning for a Willow Creek conference.
Our flight leaves at 6:30am so we are hoping Lauren will do well. Little nervous , as this is her first flight.

It's hot outside.

2008-05-21T14:40:00.000-07:00

Caught red-handed pulling leaves off

Pigtails! Already?!?!

Kissy-kissy

First bike. She can climb on and off.. that's it. Almost time for a helmet!

The absolute WORST swim-suit EVER for Lauren! BUT, she really liked playing in the sprinklers.

Getting so TALL

"Barnyard Dance," Her favorite book because her daddy likes to be silly with her when they read it together.

Another pig-tail picture!

It is hot outside down here in sunny San Antonio. hot hot hot hot hot

I can't wait until June when we get to go to the coast and to Chicago to get out of this heat.

The fall cannot come fast enough!!!

Lauren's hair is now long enough for pig-tails. I can't believe it!!! After a couple trial-runs.. here are her pig-tails! Now, this whole girl-hair-thing is going to be hard for me to learn as Lauren grows. (Other than being able to french braid, I am not best with girls' hair.) It stems from when I was little, anytime my mom or sister would do my hair, well, it got CHOPPED OFF.. All of it, all the time. I grew up with thick short hair and looked like a boy sometimes. BUT, I am trying to do Lauren's hair better.

Mark and I are in the midst of needing discernment for some things in our life right now.
I think all of the options are positive and glorify God, it is just getting to the conclusion that can be.. well, just waiting with patience. There is some paperwork we need to finish, and that will give some clarification to this process. All in all, we are leaning and trusting in God throughout.

I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe. Psalm 116:1-2

2008-05-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a great Mother's Day.
After church, we went to downtown to the SAMM shelter.
Then, we had Mark's family over and spent the day together.

Today, I woke up with a headache.

The two are not related. I promise.

Oh, I received some pink and white running shoes for Mother's Day. Super-cute! Now, I have to use them. Stink.

Samantha Who? is a great comedy. Too bad tonight is the finale. If you have time, check out the episodes on abc.com.

Need a great rental idea? PS I Love You is AWESOME! Mark and I loved it. Just all-around great and beautiful.

life, lately

2008-05-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is one of the super-cute tank tops that my sister made.

Sea World--she's ready for the day with her "cool shades"

Mark's great photography skills. "Yeah, I got a good one of you two at the bottom of the slide." Good one!

This is one of my favorites! This is my sweet girl.

Again... my lil ham!

Just being silly!

Watching the dolphins at Sea World.

Lauren loves snuggling with Elmo and laying on the pillows. But, she has also learned that she likes to see her picture on the camera.
Sidenote: Can you see her tummy???!!!

Lauren's first CHEESE picture! She actually tried to say cheese! HILARIOUS!

sometimes...

2008-05-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

... I enjoy being alone.
Putting Lauren to bed, Mark heads out to watch basketball with his friends, and I am home.
I love this time.
I think it is because I grew up with 3 sisters and 1 brother and never had privacy growing up. (Which, I would not change, even though I might've when I was younger.)

Lauren is hitting her defiant stage. Well, not even defiancy, but my girl has her "opinions." Lauren has a strong opinion. She is strong-willed. I tend to think of this negatively, and correct her in a fast manner. Our sweet friend reminded me today that my opinionated little 16 month old will have a voice and not let people walk over her.. one day. One day will come so fast.

I need to post some pictures. I will. Eventually. Lauren has the mullet-baby shag going on. You know what I'm talking about... business in the front, party in the back. Ha! But, she is keeping barrettes in her hair now.

this is our garden...

2008-04-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

... so far... much more to come.......

This is some of our flowers by our doorway. I love having a front porch that smells AND looks great. We put some potato vines in our hanging flowers pots so that we can have some vine-work on our iron-work. I also want more flowers to be hanging from the top of the porch. I love flowers.
We moved these 3 bushes from under the front windows. The far left is not doing well, the middle is half-way dead or alive, and the one on the right did the best. We transplanted them near the front door so we can see how they do with a better drained area and with a different light. Plus, we will extend our garden down the side of the house eventually...

More front porch flowers and a hairy-plant of some sort. We took it out of the ground and have yet to replant it and it's friend because we don't know what to do with them yet.

This is our front garden... Slowly slowly in the works. Lots of different things here. We took out our bushes the construction crew put in and put in some lovely Japanese Boxwood hedges that will hopefully flurish. We have lots of different flowers and bulbs planted around... But, I need to rearrange and add some more of the same flowers so it looks more pulled-together.

We went to the Minor lake-house on Friday and they have this GREAT bridge and island. Lauren loved looking in the water. Next time we go, I am going to have a photo-shoot.... and hopefully have some better pictures come out.

She LOVED looking out into the water. She found some ducks and liked to watch some of the boats. Finding her shadow.

my newest pet peeve

2008-04-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

Okay, in San Antonio, they have made drive-thru's in some of our Sonic's. (I say this because I don't know if they are doing it to all Sonic's.)

Well, here lies my latest pet peeve. You would think that people would want to use the drive-thru for "fast purchases;" i.e. drinks, instead of having to park for a drink. Well, today I got in the drive-thru line for 1 drink.... 1 drink. It took 10 minutes! (Which, if I would have parked, I would have expected.) But, the car in front of me ordered a WHOLE BUNCH OF FOOD. Instead of parking and ordering, knowing it would take a while, they went through the drive-thru. Now, I thought they would just go past that car and bring me the drink... Normally I would not complain, but the drink was not for me and I had to have it to the person before a meeting... and I was a little irritated already because I had lunch with Lauren at Chili's and she was a mess....BUT, they did not, so I waited and waited and waited and waited. (Not so patiently at all)

So, my plea... If you are going to order food at an already drive-up fast food place, please do not back up the drive-thru lane for people who are just ordering something fast.
Hahaha... the end!

New love...

2008-04-22T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have a new love of gardening and flowers!
Mark and I have started working out in our "small garden," and we cannot wait to finish up the front yard, so that we can work on our backyard.
The backyard is a little more of a challenge due to our dogs, but we will find something that works for us.

Oh, and I was tagged, so I guess I you need to learn 7 things about me. Thanks Katy!

1. My senior year of high school, I was the school mascot. AND, at cheerleading camp, I was nominated as an All-American Mascot with the National Cheerleading Association. AND, I made it!

2. Mark is musical and I am not, at all. Everyone assumes I sing with him, but I don't. Can't carry a tune in a bucket.

3. I am from a family of 5 children, and I am the very middle. Two older sisters, 1 younger sister, and 1 younger brother. AND, I do not want 5 children of my own.

4. When I was younger, I was a HUGE tomboy, AND, to make it worse, my mom and sister used to cut my hair, so there were times that I even looked like a boy... ughhh... I will NEVER cut Lauren's hair myself.

5. If I could do anything, ANYTHING, in the world, it would be to work with orphans in Africa. That is the fire in my heart, but I am waiting patiently for God's timing.

6. If I could hang out with anyone, it would be with Mark and Lauren. I have no GREAT need to always be around people and hang out. I get my fill at church and Bible Study, and I love just laughing and talking and walking with my little family.

7. Oh. I just realized that Katy put 7 current facts. Hmmm.. I can make my last one current... Let me see....
My favorite thing to do in San Antonio is go to our Zoo on days that are beautiful, bring a picnic lunch, ride the train, and then go the the Japanese Tea Gardens. BEAUTIFUL! And, fun family time!

Now, I tag people to complete this. Since my list of friends is so short, I tag Meredith, Sarah, and Amanda.

learning...

2008-04-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

... from your past.

I have realized over the past few months that I am not who I used to be. I was a flake in high school and college, and my God has transformed and grown me. Through the trials I have faced, as well as trials Mark and I have faced together, God has not left me or forsaken me. I have been the one to turn my back and walk away. God is a God of grace and love, and I rest alone in Him. Plus, He is a God of promises and answered prayers, thus, my beautiful family that includes Lauren.

today...

2008-04-12T12:14:00.000-07:00

... is a beautiful day, and I am stuck inside because of allergies. No complaints though. Lauren is sleeping, and I have some time to catch up on some things around the house.

Last weekend, we went to Dallas for our friend Staci's wedding. It was beautiful, fun, and Mark and I got to see some friends from a few years back. We drove back to San Antonio that same night, and on our way, stopped by Common Grounds in Waco (one of THE BEST coffee shops, EVER) and hung out with the fabulous Wren's for about 15 minutes.

This past week has been a little more quiet due to Lauren and I both battling allergies. But, no fever and no fussiness, so I cannot complain really.

On Thursday night, Lauren busted her lip on her "bathroom basket," but she is healing great, and once she started chewing on ice, she was a trooper.

This is her lip today... much, much better.

Lauren loves to "kiss the baby."

...we've been everywhere, man...

2008-04-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

...we've been everywhere.
Lauren's first pigtails... She absolutely does not like anything in her hair, so we had to be tricky.
Another picture with the pigtails.
Lauren with her Grammy at Sea World.. She loves the animals there.
Mark was a stud on the kids rollercoaster. Hah!
Looking at the fish.

Easter egg hunting in her dress. She had a lot of fun!
Egg hunting with Grammy and cousin Jax. This was taken before she blew...
Lauren and cousin Jax.
She LOVES dressing up for me! Hahahahahaha.. My sister made her the adorable pillow-case dress, and I just happened to have green leggings.. oh, my poor daughter!
That's better!

It's Bird-Man! Our random day-trip to Corpus Christi and Mustang Island.
Girls weekend in Salado! Lemur and Bethleham!
Lemur aka Kati, Bobcat aka Emily, Bethleham aka Beth, Lizard aka Elizabeth, Mystery aka me
Family Easter picture.
Hahahahaha.. Not a great picture, but us on Easter!

Lauren and her blanket!
The discovery of something good... bubbles
more beach pictures. Lauren does not like sand and/or the water, so it was nice to have one picture of her standing in it
Lauren and her mommy!
Us again!

...

2008-03-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

This is my life right now.
Lauren makes this certain face, ALL OF THE TIME!
My sweet daughter is one of the most facially-expressive people I have ever met.
She has quite a personality!\
And, she is a talker... let me say that again, a talker.... :)

Easter was wonderful. Our church had a Good Friday service that made me wonder and realize that I have never had a God-moment during the Easter holidays. This year was different, and beautiful and encouraging. God is good.

oh, the pictures.....

2008-03-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

silly Easter egg time
sweet baby
egg hunt
is there chocolate in there?
yummmm... cupcakes

She LOVES to walk!
who needs clothes?
this is how she carries when she crawls
Lauren loves to read!
oh.... the teenage years are gonna be rough

Lauren...

2008-03-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

... is officially WALKING!!!!
All day today!

Our lives are no officially OVER!! hahahahahah

Watch out world, our little sassy-pants is on her way!

(ps.. I'll post pictures tomorrow-ish)

hello old friend

2008-03-05T12:02:00.001-08:00

ahhh.. naptime for Lauren, and I can breathe easily for a little while.

The past few weeks have been hectic in the Swayze household and will not calm down until April, due to Easter coming up and our new building opening up at church. Shewww... plus, throw in a baby shower, surprise birthday party, Easter, weddings... and the list goes on.

Let's see... and update from when I got my stitches.

1. My finger is doing well, easier to type with because it is completely callused over and starting to peel off. Continues to look disgusting and is dried out, but I keep it covered with bandaids.

2. Speaking of Lauren, she turned 14 months old and continues to work on becoming a professional crawling baby. She ran a fever a week ago, and cut another bottom tooth. Her fever was the only problem she had, so, Mark and I took advantage of her falling asleep on us. She hasn't done this since she was a wee-baby, and it felt so wonderful! I will always cherish moments where she falls asleep on me. We also decided, through prayer and advice from some wonderful friends, that Lauren will not be participating in "day school" next year. It was a tough decision for me because I want her to be able to interact well with other children, but we are going to look into some other choices for her. Plus, Mark has Thursdays and Fridays off of work, so that is when we usually do our "family fun" activities. And, when our friends question our decision, which they do, we just tell them that if they want to pay for it, then Lauren can go. Gets them quiet real fast.

3. We threw a surprise birthday party last night at our house for our 2 girl friends that have the same exact birthday. It was wonderful and they were both equally surprised. I have started the tradition of making birthday cards... which, I might add... are HILARIOUS and a lot more personal than store-bought cards, and I started the tradition of giving "Missie's Favorite Things." (Much like Oprah's favorite things.) I try to keep the gifts around $5-10, and it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Actually, right now, one of my favorite things is the Swiffer Dusters. They are WONDERFUL, and only $3-4, depending on where you shop. (Cheaper at Wal-Mart.)

4. Mark has been in and out of town several times since the last update, but will remain in town until April, when we go to a wedding in Dallas. His work schedule has been busy due to the new building and figuring out all of the staging, lighting, sound equipment, etc. But, he loves his job and he loves the Church, and he loves glorifying our Lord through music, so, we cannot complain one bit.

well, I hear Lauren stirring.... not a long nap at all, maybe she will go back to sleep, but I need to get off and get some dishes done before my mother-in-law comes to watch Lauren so we can set chairs up in the new gym... fun fun fun times!

don't try this at home...

2008-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

...on Monday night, I was making some corn for Lauren's dinner, and I decided, "Hey, maybe I can grind it a little so it will digest better." Well, I grinded it, and then I did the dumbest thing EVER- I stuck my finger in it to get the corn out, without unplugging it or taking my hand off of the on-button. You guessed it- I got myself good. 6 jagged cuts to my left pointer finger, and 5 stitches later... I find myself typing in the most unusual way. And, to top it off, Lauren LOVES to pull at the blue gauze when I change her diaper..... so, don't try this at home.

the newness...

2008-02-04T15:02:00.000-08:00

... of when my precious LoLo took her FIRST steps yesterday!

And of course, it was during the 4th quarter of the SuperBowl at the Amini house!

PERFECTION! She hasn't taken any more yet, but we are prepared now, with the digital and video cameras. Ha! Just perfect!

I was thinking of being "made new with God's love." My attitude about my faith with God, the struggles that I have, have only made me realize that my God is loving and never gives up on me. He still sees me as washed and clean, even though I do not deserve this. I want my life to reflect a heart that has been saved and redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.

So, I leave this to my thoughts and prayers as the Lenton season is almost upon us, and pray for a renewal in my spirit. I want to lay down all of my past- hurts, sufferings, misgivings, lies, gossips- and start anew. Be made a new creation, one that will leave a legacy of God's love for my family.

And, with that, I leave you with some pictures that I have recently downloaded from the camera. Enjoy!

well...

2008-01-25T18:42:00.000-08:00

...Mark is home!
And yes, it is a Friday night, Lauren just went to sleep, and I am bored and on the computer.
Geesh! Am I that boring?

first day down...

2008-01-19T15:45:00.000-08:00

... 7 more to go.

Mark is in Waco right now, and then heads to Orlando for a conference.

I am always a little anxious when Mark leaves Lauren and I for lengthy times, mainly because my daughter has been a handful lately, and yes, I need breaks every so often.
But, so far, things have been great. I am blessed with a wonderful sleeper of a baby girl, and she slept until 9:30am this morning. Enough time for me to get up before her and get our stuff and lunch together so that we could go to the zoo to check out the new Africa Live exhibit. We went, we saw, we battled an unreasonable crowd for the attraction at hand, and left. When we got home, Lauren took an almost 3 hour long nap! Whew... it has been a while since those naps.
Tonight we are going to church and then out to eat with our friends.

Tomorrow, I am going to escape for a little while and go see a movie with the girls.
Monday, we are going to go grocery shopping and get ready for Bible study on Tuesday night.
Tuesday, we are going to lunch with the Amini's and then we are hosting Bible study- which means, I am leading and I need to be prepared. Plus, I am going to make some wheat spaghetti for everyone.
Wednesday, no plans.
Thursday, no plans. Oh, I have to cancel a dental appointment. :)
Friday, Mark is flying in, but will be busy here in town until after church that following Sunday.

So, pray for us. Pray that my sweet daughter will have a "week-long break" from an early on-set of her terrible two's. :)

a challenge to myself

2008-01-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

I have high-cholestoral. I have had high cholestoral since college.
I am 5'6" and 125 pounds, and yes, I have high cholestoral.
I love food. I don't discriminate (okay, yes I do.)
I like vegetables and fruits; but, I love chocolates and sugars even more.
I was athletic throughout high school and college. Not anymore.
Why work out when I don't need to lose weight?
I am addicted, yes addicted, to caffiene.

I have made too many excuses for myself over the past 4 years, and I want to stop.

I want to be healthy. I want my heart to be healthy and I want to live to be 50, or even better, 75-100.
I want to have more children and adopt as many as I can, and I want to watch them all grow up, graduate and get married- and have children of their own. I want to be married for 50+ years and retire to Colorado with Mark.

I want to be happy with myself. I admire those around me who take care of themselves, and I want to be like them.

So, this is my challenge to myself: I am going to eat better, live better, work out better, drink more water, and give up caffiene. I am going to live for my daughter and husband, so I can grow old with them. I am going to be good to my body and my heart.

it was...

2008-01-14T20:21:00.001-08:00

a BUST!
I spent way too much money and bought way too much fabric that I don't even like. BOO! 2 hours spent mostly waiting in lines, for nothing... not even meeting friendly people in the line and Lauren was incredibly fussy because it was during her lunchtime. Ughh... no more griping!

Mark actually told me to scrap the idea and just go shopping. I should take him up on it, but I really want my Mom to make Lauren's dress like she used to make ours.

hope I find...

2008-01-14T07:55:00.001-08:00

the fabric to make Lauren's Easter dress today.

one year later

2008-01-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Lauren had her one-year checkup today.

She is doing great! She weighs a whooping 21 pounds and 14 ounces, and is 29.87 inches long. This almost quadruples her birth weight- which was 5 pounds 12 ounces. She loves LOVES to eat table food, and eats like a truck-driver most days. We have started the weaning off of bottles and off of formula. It has not been easy at all, but it will happen eventually. She no longer has an allergy to milk protein, so we can start whole milk. She loves broccoli, meatloaf, carrots, fruits of all kinds, chicken, and water. We have not introduced juice yet- partly because our doctor is strict on no-juices- but she drinks water really well.

I need advice though, on the weaning process. How in the heck do I wean her off of bottles, especially at night? How do I wean off of the mid-afternoon bottle of milk to water in a sippy cup?

Any advice for temper-tantrums? When she gets redirected, she will throw her back out, and hit her head, both forwards and backwards. Which of course, does not feel very good. We are having the hardest time clothing her, changing her diapers, and clipping her nails. Her little nails are like daggers right now, because I can usually only get 2 at a time. I have tried when she is sleeping, but she is the lightest sleeper!

Any advice would be appreciated. Don't get me wrong, my little sass-bucket is a great baby.. just opinionated and sassy. (This is when everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her.......it explains my life with her perfectly!)

post-season

2008-01-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

Here is our past month in pictures. Enjoy!

This is "the face." She is getting good at it, and gives it to us a lot now.

She loves the slide at the playground. Absolutely loves it!
Lauren in "jail". I love stripes, so that was her outfit one day.

Lauren's first birthday outfit.

More to come..

...it's been a while...

2007-11-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

Well, Weaning is going great! That is all. I love the freedom! :) Ahh, life before nursing!

Mark and I went up to Whitewright for Thanksgiving with my family, and of course, it was drama-filled and fun, as usual. We did Christmas while we were up there, so Lauren got more than she ever needs- which means I have to get creative with Christmas gifts for her, and then her birthday 4 days later. But, I am starting to slowly tackle it all.. very slowly. I think we are finally going to decorate her bathroom for her birthday, and she is getting small things for Christmas, since she doesn't know the difference- bath toys, dvds for later on, a bow holder, maybe some picture frames for her room. Oh, the beauty of having a baby who doesn't know, just yet. She is also getting a wagon for her birthday from my parents. Yay! I am really excited about the wagon because I love to take walks with her, and we have a zoo pass, so we will be able to load it up since our stroller doesn't really have any cargo room. Stupid stroller!

Have I told you guys about my overly-friendly neighbors yet? Well, let me just tell you (oh no, I have become the nosy neighbor that everyone avoids) that the mother was on crutches last week with both feet in walking boots... and long story short, she had her TOES SHORTENED??!!! Who does that? Who has money to do that? Okay, so if you have a funny story that can beat that.... I would love to hear it.

And, our daschund has ringworm. DISGUSTING. Poor thing hates being by himself and loves to be pet, but not until he gets better. I can only imagine Lauren getting it, and then she'd be miserable. So, we are trying to keep them apart. Although, my daughter goes everywhere now. She is one fast cookie with this crawling. Now, she is standing, and taking steps while I hold onto her hands. Oh, the simple days of laying her down and not having to worry about her getting into things I have let out. She is great though, 4 teeth and 1 on the way. She is a trooper though, and we have started brushing, which is a whole new adventure I am sure. So far, she doesn't like the thimble-like finger brush in her mouth unless I pretend to eat it. Oh, I could write a book about stories around the house and my neighborhood.

Mark and I have 8 friends that are pregnant right now. WoW! 8!!!! Something's in the water.... I am staying away! I still remember all to well all-nighters with Lauren. Maybe because she pulled one on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.. Yes, you heard me.. Mark and I got maybe 2 hours of sleep combined. But, that's okay, somehow, you get through it and you sleep harder and longer the next night.

sometimes you just can't sleep

2007-11-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

My family!

Nursing.

2007-10-30T22:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it is official. Lauren has a bottom and top tooth, adjacent from each other. If you stick your finger in her mouth, you will get bitten! Ouch! Now, this may be a taboo subject for blogging but I am going to talk about it anyway.. Nursing!
Yes, I said it! Lauren is 10 months old now, and I am ready to start the process of weaning. She actually takes a bottle rather well, she doesn't discriminate where her food comes from, and no longer has milk allergies, so formula is much less-expensive now. Nursing has been wonderful, and I have loved every minute of it, but I am ready for a little nursing-independence. Let me walk you through some pros and cons of nursing a 10 month old baby girl who just happens to have a little "sass!"
Pro #1. Continual nursing bond with my babe.
#2. Cheap! No formula required.
#3. Not true for everyone: But, helps me with my baby weight.
#4. Easy, no prep-time. Always on the go!
#5. No menstrual cycle! :)

Con #1. To leave her means to pump. ughh!
#2. She can pull on my shirt now, and at times can pull the neck of it down. Accidental flashing!
#3. Sharp pointy little teeth.
#4. Now that she gets distracted more easily, she is a drifting nurser, instead of staying on until she is finished.

So, there you have it. True confessions of a mom who is going to start weaning her daughter. I hope to have her all the way weaned, including last-but-not-least-nightly nursings, by her 1st birthday... which is on December 29th! Wish me luck!

... one week down ...

2007-10-21T19:58:00.000-07:00

Lauren's First Halloween

Things can change in one week...

My sweet daughter, who, at the beginning of the week, could not: a) sit up by herself, b) crawl, c) feed herself, and d) no signs of teeth. Monday night, after a baby shower, we put Lauren in her crib for a few minutes, and when we went to check on her, she was sitting up. ADORABLE! It is fun to watch her sit up because she starts on her stomache and rolls and rocks her way up. Wednesday night, I gave Lauren Cheerio's to play with while I was getting her dinner ready, and lo-and-behold, to my surprise, she stuffed her fist into her mouth- with one Cheerio tucked into her palm. After sucking on her fist, she pulled it out, and left the Cheerio in her mouth! This is a big step for us... this means I don't have to sit and feed her EVERYTHING! She also is now able to hold her own bottle.. which is a beautiful thing for a mother or father. Free hands again! Then, tonight, Lauren army-crawled about one foot! That is one foot of wonderful carpet! When she is tired of trying and she gets upset, she lays her head down, puts her thumb in her mouth and hums to herself! She is precious! I also stuck my unsuspecting finger in her mouth tonight, and got a rigid surprise on her lower gum. Yay for teeth, and now I know why she has been FUSSY and GRUMPY all week long! Oh, I could go on and on and on about Lauren.. she is so easy to talk about.

For Mark and I... this has been a good week. We bought the rest of the paint for our house, now we just have to put it to use. I am ready to hang pictures and make our house "homey" for the holidays. I love decorating for the holidays and having the house all warm and cozy. San Antonio is supposed to get a cold front tonight, so, I am really looking forward to waking up for my mommy walk tomorrow morning. I also get to bundle my babe up because she has a doctor's appointment.. my sweet girl has acid reflux pretty bad and her poor voice is hoarse. (There I go, back to Lauren.)

Oh.. I love Private Practice.. Love it, love it! Grey's is great, but Private Practice is quickly growing up the ranks in my book. Also rising: Brothers and Sisters (although always depressing.. always,) Pushing Daisies, and Ugly Betty. I usually watch the shows online now, since I am running around or taking nice walks during the regular hours.