caroline is going to be a big sister!

We've tried to tell everyone, but unfortunately I still don't think everyone knows. If you're finding out through our blog that I'm pregnant I'm so sorry we weren't able to tell you in person...I have good excuses. I'm a little over 13 weeks pregnant. My due date is July 4th! I like to call this baby my "little firecracker" b/c I swear I could feel him/her move as early as 9 weeks, which most say that's impossible. Here's a little Q & A to get some of the questions out of the way:

1. Are you sick? With C I was sick until 7 months. I've been nausea with this baby since the 6 weeks mark. I didn't start vomitting until week 11. You can pray for me in this area b/c it's been difficult.

2. Do you think you'll be on bedrest for 2 months and induced again? Who knows...let's be optimistic!

3. Are you going to find out boy/girl? yes in February

4. Tell the name? nope...sorry Pops

5. Do you want an epidural? heck yeah...bring it on.

merry christmas

playhouse disney live

Caroline got to go see Playhouse Disney Live yesterday with her friends from playgroup. It was nice to see how much she is maturing. She was able to sit still for mostly the entire time. A year ago it would have never been possible. I think she really enjoyed seeing all the characters on stage. She especially liked seeing the Little Einsteins rocketship and she liked it when Minnie Mouse came on stage. I think she was a little bummed however that Pluto never joined the group. You weren't allowed to take pics during the actual show so I only got this quick snapshot during intermission. She was trying to show me her new shirt (that I intended to give her at Christmas). Going to this show made me see how much I think she would enjoy Disney World. I know that right now if we took her she wouldn't be able to remember it, but the cool thing about right now is that she thinks everything is real.

The only souvenir she wanted was a Handy Manny hat.

cash and dave ramsey

Can you imagine what it would be like to just use cash? Keith and I have been fortunate in that we have never had a lot of debt. I would say we were the average American family-1 car loan, maybe a small student loan, and maybe a little on the credit card. About a year ago I discovered Dave Ramsey. You can tune into him on AM radio and he also comes on the Fox Business Network at 7pmCST. It gives me such joy to look back a year later and see that the only payment we make is a mortgage payment and hopefully not for long! If you're going into this Christmas season with a big weight on your shoulders I highly suggest finding out where you can take his "Financial Peace University" class and following these baby steps:

1. $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth and give!
Invest in mutual funds and real estate

"Debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has replaced the BMW as the new status symbol of choice." Dave Ramsey

trail of lights

We took Caroline to the Trail of Lights on Sunday. Somehow I've managed to pick opening night to go for the last 2 years! I'm glad we went on opening night though, despite the crowds, because there was a parade of which included bag pipes, Santa, Will Wynn (Austin mayor) and of course magnificent clydesdales.
Caroline's favorite part was standing in the center of the big lighted Christmas tree and spinning around to make herself dizzy. Oh, and of course eating her first funnel cake. Here she is with a full mouth.

fredericksburg

Last weekend we pulled it together and managed to drive out to Fredericksburg for the day on Saturday. Fredericksburg was the birthplace of Admiral Nimitz and is home to The National Museum of the Pacific War. December 7th was last weekend and it is also the day of Pearl Harbor. Keith's grandfather, we call him "paw-paw", is a Pearl Harbor survivor. Although we only went for one day it was nice to honor paw paw and visit with the family.

Pops and Caroline looking at WWII planes


Who popped in there!

Took this one for you mom

beatrix potter

I watched the most delightful movie today while Caroline was napping, called "Miss Potter." It's the wonderful story of Beatrix Potter, the most famous children's author of all time. She was most known for "Peter Rabbit." I love old English movies, especially ones that are heartwarming and wholesome. If you're looking for a good flick let this one be your next.

moose and deer

When Keith goes out of town we really try to make sure he says goodnight to Caroline before bedtime. He's been gone to the ranch on a hunting trip for a couple of days now. This was the content of their conversation the other night:

Keith: "Hi, Caroline how are you?"

Caroline: "Bring home deer daddy."

I eventually get the phone back and proceed to put her into bed and we have a little conversation:

Lauren: "Caroline, do you know where daddy is?"

Caroline: "hunting trip"

Lauren: "What is daddy hunting?"

Caroline: "Moose and deer."

Keith is obviously not hunting moose, however, I'm sure he wishes he was. I think she is picking up on the moose from when he takes her to Sportsmans Warehouse she see all the mounts on the walls.

Then, this morning I thought I'd revisit our conversation:

Lauren: "Caroline, what is daddy hunting?"

Caroline: "Moose, deer, and elk."

Again, I'm sure Keith wishes he was hunting moose and elk.

Keith is on his way home right now with 3 doe in the back of the truck. I know Caroline is expecting to be able to see them because as you can tell she's been talking about it all week. I'm not sure however how I feel about her seeing the deer dead...this is to be determined(if I let her look.)

**PS**For all the animal right activists out there---we do actually eat the deer!

what a wonderful husband...

After weeks of not having a camera and going crazy Keith surprised me with a digital SLR that I have been wanting for so long. The funny thing is about 3 weeks ago I dropped my camera, we sent it in to Canon, and they want over $120 to fix it. We paid around $200 for it, so it didn't make sense to fix it. I'm sure Keith thinks I dropped it on purpose so I could get a new camera. :)

Yesterday we decided to take Caroline to the Cedar Rock Railroad. I mainly needed a good excuse to get out of the house and experiment with my new camera. I can already tell I'm going to have lots of fun with this! There's no doubt I have a lot to learn. Anyhow, the train ride is about 1.5 miles and it was just the right amount of time for a little toddler. I think she had a great time.

On a side note, please pray for us. As most of you know Caroline had croup last week. Last night we went to a birthday party for a little friend from playgroup, came home, gave her a bath, and then off to bed. At around 10pm she was up with a 103temp! This morning we stayed home from church, yet again, because she has a temp of 100. We'll have a day of rest today and then hopefully she'll back to herself tomorrow.

Enjoy the pics! xoxo.

i love my neti pot

Ever so often when I find something I think is awesome I really feel it is my job to let you guys know. I am mainly speaking to my fellow allergy sufferers this time. If you don't have allergies...well I don't like you. :)
Most of the time when I have allergies or a cold my nose clogs up and I literally cannot breathe through my nose. It's very uncomfortable....especially at night. I found this neti pot. You can actually buy it at Walgreens. It's very awkward the first time you use it. You take the little pot filled with water and a salt mixture into one of your nostrils and water comes out the other side...I know sounds weird.
Why have I never heard of these before? It is really a miracle for me. I can actually breathe. So as the cold/allergy season approaches try out the neti pot. I don't think it could take the place of medication, but it could definitely be a substitute for a nasal spray.

my sick child

Caroline has had croup since Tuesday. She's had a fever on and off for four days! It's odd to me because it seems like when I get a fever it usually comes and then goes. Her fever just won't seem to stay gone. She really sounds like a seal. Her cough is awful. I don't think I can even tell you how many hours of Dora/Diego she's watched. All I've heard lately is "watch Dora mommy." I've caved quite a bit on the TV lately b/c she's so pitiful.

We've been a little bummed today because we had to cancel our Halloween party...our own party! We had invited a few of our friends over that have toddlers. We obviously couldn't have people over with Caroline being sick. I'm honestly relieved we called it off b/c this morning I woke up and could tell I was getting sick. I think with Caroline being in preschool this is only going to happen more frequently. We've been really fortunate so far because she really hasn't gotten all that sick.

I'm sure that tonight we will let Caroline hit up (no not really "hit-up" :) a couple houses, just so we can get her outside for a bit. We've been trapped inside this cave since Tuesday. Stay tuned for pics....

caroline + 9 years

Keith thinks this will be Caroline in a few years,
field stripping an AR15.

dino day

At the advice of my friend Aubrey we decided to take Caroline on Sunday to the Zilker Botanical Gardens. They have a dinoland exhibit going on right now and since Caroline just recently had "dino day" at her preschool we knew she would be excited. Any dinosaur that was small (are there small dinosaurs?) was a "baby dinosaur" to Caroline.




Dinosaur stamps and markers

After we finished up at dinoland, since we were downtown, we decided what a better time than to eat at an Austin favorite, Guero's. After we finished up at Guero's there was live music(of course, the live music capital of the world!) playing outside. Caroline immediately starts to dance on her own. Keith and I are constantly amazed at her vibrant and free spirited personality. She makes our life so fun. I look back at my life before her and think what did I do? (Okay, so maybe I could answer that.:) What a blessed life we have.

Port Aransas

Despite the circumstances of our cancelled trip to Galveston, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Port A. We were actually fortunate to be able to find a place to stay due to so many people re-routing their trip from Galveston to Port Aransas. This was Caroline's first trip to the beach and it definitely won't be the last. My parents treated us, along with my brother and his family, on this trip.

I hear that some kids don't like the feel of the sand on their feet, but our little C had no issues getting her hands and feet dirty
The girls building sand castles with grandad "gan-dad"

Caroline and Elena are best pals. Most of what we heard all weekend was "Come on Elena."

Thanks again Mom and Dad for a great trip!

take a hike ike

The latest reports show that if the storm surge reaches 25ft it would basically wipe the whole island of Galveston out. The thought of losing my favorite ice cream parlor (La Kings) and Colonel Bubbies (not to be crass, but I always thought it was "colonel boobies" as a kid!) makes me very sad. I can make jokes or comments about my favorite places, but I'm definitely more fearful for the people of Galveston. I pray that all my family in Houston (Nana, Pop, Grandmom, Aunt Kathy, and all of my other aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends) would be okay and would merely have some broken limbs in the front yard.

Here's a little fascinating history for you-my great-great grandmother came to the US from Sweden. She came to Ellis Island (NY) and then to Galveston, where her family (my grandmother-"nana") would eventually be raised. She was actually in the big hurricane of 1900 that wiped out the entire island. She was found on the beach after the storm and a hero came to rescue her (a fireman), who would eventually become her husband, my great-great grandfather.....talk about romance!

My family has had a trip planned to go to Galveston for the end of Sept since May so I'm really bummed that we most likely won't be going! I bet we won't even get a drop of rain in Austin!

preschool and the coolest product ever

Caroline's first day of preschool was on Tuesday. She walked right on into her room and started playing with no issues at all. I was glad that she didn't have a melt down, but it was almost worse because I felt like she didn't need me. :( When it was time for me to pick her up I was looking in through the window of her classroom and there lay all the sweet children taking naps on their little nap mats. Oh, and there's my sweet Caroline tossing and turning because she never fell asleep (the only one). They did however say that she minded very well and never got off her mat so that was nice to hear. When we got home at about 2pm I thought I would just try and put her down and see what happens (she normally goes down at 1pm) and she slept till 3:30pm!


The coolest thing ever-
A week or so ago I went on a mission to find an insulated cup for Caroline so her drinks would be cold throughout the day, mainly used for when she is away from me for a long period of time. I found Thermos Foogo and I love it! When I was getting ready to leave the house before dropping C off at preschool (8:30am) I filled it up with all ice and water for her to have for the day. When I picked her up (1:45pm) there was still ice in the cup. And it gets even better....at 6pm when I cleaning up the gameroom the same cup from preschool was now upstairs and it still had ice in it. Needless to say, it is no lie when they say it stays cold for 12 hours. It's is well worth $15. I got the 12oz bottle with straw from Target. It says you can buy in the store, but I never found any so I ordered online.

anxiety....

Caroline is starting preschool on Tuesday. She'll be going T/Th for a couple of hours each day. Ever since I found out that she got into the program I have had anxiety on whether or not I am making the right decision. Am I starting her too young (she's only 2)? Does she really need this? Do I need a break? and the list goes on....I've really been noticing lately how bored she is at home and how hard it is to keep her entertained. I pray that God would watch over my baby as she takes this next step this week. It is our prayer that throughout this first year of preschool Caroline would gain Godly character according to Biblical truths and that she would gain more confidence in learning and being more independent.

I really feel like this will make me a better mom in a way because I'll have some time to take care of myself. I'm really looking forward to going to Smoothie King and getting my fav "island treat" and then shopping for shoes at Marshalls! Oh, and how could I forget grocery shopping (yuck).

Pray for me this week that God would give me peace as we take this next step and that I will have faith in knowing that He is ultimately in control.

"For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Pslam 100:5


Caroline has been really excited about her nap mat.

family pics

Our friend Rachel took some family pics of us that turned out great. We have so many good pics I had a hard time deciding which ones to post. I love using Rachel because she's so easy going and great with kids. She doesn't have a studio so you either meet outside or I think she can meet at your own house. The best part about her is that you just pay for the session fee and she gives you the CD with all the pictures. Enjoy the pics!

our morning swim with matthew and lance

This morning we decided it was finally time to go to Barton Springs. We have lived in Austin for over 6 years and have never been so today would be the day. We loaded up and packed some lunch. For those that haven't heard or been there, Barton Springs is an Austin favorite. It is fed from under ground springs and is 68 degrees year round, so it's super cold.

Only a few minutes after our arrival into the park we decided it was time for our morning swim with Matthew and Lance. They trailed behind us the entire time.... I guess they need to start working out.






I saw Lance in the water about to get out and I think I said "oh, there's Lance" then I saw Matthew McConaughey getting out and oh it was time for the camera. I felt like a dirty paparazzi person. I'm sure that has to get old for them. We saw a lady go up to Matthew and hug him...I would never do that!

Caroline is watching her daddy go off the diving board. He was trying to get himself acclimated to the chilly water in order to take her in.

gap adjustable waist jeans

Why have I not heard of these before?! Gap sells these adjustable waist jeans for toddlers. They have these little buttons tucked away in the inside of the jeans to adjust the waist. I know $30 is a lot to spend on a pair of jeans for a 2yr old, but I think they will grow with her well. Now that Caroline is out of diapers she's wearing much smaller sizes. The other day I got her some cropped denim pants and they were size 12-18 months!

great kid websites

I'm really into finding toys for Caroline that are unique. I get so tired of all the boring, plastic, made in China toys. Some of these websites I've known about and others I found in the latest Parents magazine. I thought I might share in case you want to start Christmas shopping early for your kids.

1. The Red Balloon Co.

2. Oompa Toys
I love this one, they have a big inventory

3. Crocodile Creek

4. Warm Biscuit

5. Land of Nod

6. Baby & Child Restoration Hardware
Apparently Restoration Hardware just came out with a baby and child line. It's very cute, but super pricey

7. Kidkraft
They have really cute kitchens and dollhouses.

birthdays

We have so many birthdays that fall this month. Keith's was last week and then mine was on Tuesday. This week has been interesting because I've been potty training Caroline. I feel like potty training has been no big deal for her. When I see her on the potty it's like she's looking up at me saying "Mom, I know what to do now close the door." Needless to say, I was kind of bummed out on my birthday because I was stuck inside potty training. I was thinking the whole day about how mad I was going to be if I didn't get a birthday cake (my sinful nature:). It wasn't till 8pm when we had our small group over that dear husband surprised me with this cheesecake-heath bar ice cream cake from Maggie Moos.
I bet you wouldn't be surprised to know that I ate this ice cream once a week when I was pregnant...no wonder i got so fat.

Last Saturday Caroline's friend, Ella, turned 3 so we got to go to "Pump it Up." The new thing is to take your kids to the inflateable play gyms. Caroline runs wild at these places.
I think Keith was having just as much fun....

As you can imagine I'm in the background saying "Caroline, get your thumb out of your mouth...you're a big girl."

Random...but look at this lizard! They seem to resignate most around the front of our house, along fence posts or in trees. I didn't just randomly see this lizard and take a picture, we literally see them as often as seeing a squirrel. It's called a "Texas Spiny Lizard." They're actually very nervous so I was surprised I was able to take this pic.

mexico

One of my best friends from high school, Kelli, got married this past weekend in Mexico. Keith and I had been anticipating the trip since around December. We flew out of DFW Thurs-Sun and graciously Keith's parents watched Caroline. Thank you again David and Janis! We had a great time reconnecting with old friends and with each other again.

Keith's birthday

Yesterday Keith turned 32! We celebrated by going to an Austin favorite, as well as personal favorite, Hula Hut. I spent the afternoon while Keith was at the office making his favorite cake, prune cake. Keith's "memommie" grandmother makes this recipe and unfortunately I haven't had the privilege of trying it, but Keith loves her recipe so I thought I would give it a try. I really don't consider myself a bad baker, but yesterday just wasn't my day. Mistake number one - maybe I shouldn't attempt other peoples recipes and mistake number two - it's hard to make a cake with a 2yr old running around!

I just had to take a picture. Here's my best attempt at prune cake. As you can tell I didn't grease my bundt pan well enough and honey that ain't powdered sugar on top...it's buttermilk that curdled!

Needless to say we ended up at Mozarts for dessert after Hula Hut.

Elliston girls

Keith's cousin and his wife are having a baby in November. We are all so excited for them! It was a special occasion to get to go to Abbey's baby shower in Dallas because they live in England and we don't get to see them that often. Another cousin in law (that sounds so weird?) lives in CA so it was nice to catch up with her as well. It's always so much fun when we get together. There's 6 girl cousins and cousin-in-laws and we're all so similar in age. I just realized that we all have brown hair as well! Keith and I always talk about how blessed we are to have great relationships with both sides of our families. Hopefully we'll be able to get together again at Christmas and see the new baby.

Somehow I'm always in the back. :)

Tea Parties

It seems like just a few months before hitting the 2 year mark Caroline's little imagination really took off. Now she will actually play by herself and with others a little better. It's nice because I'm not having to watch her quite as closely as I used to (notice that I said "quite as closely"). She talks to her babies and stuffed animals through-out the entire day.
I got her this precious tea set for her birthday and we are having tea parties all day long. My mom then got her the cute little highchair and a cradle that goes with it. This place sells the most adorable play pretend toys.





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