five things

{this weekend we dressed Lauren up in her Sunday best, a Southern smocked little ensemble.
When I put on that bonnet, my heart burst...}

{1}

Our happy little girl received her 4 month shots today. The pediatrician has been a huge stressor for me since arriving in Colombia. Even more so than the lack of seat belts {seat belts exist in very few taxis}. 

Matt and I were left feeling confident and pleased with Lauren's Colombian pediatrician. He speaks excellent English, provided her with a thorough check, and was very knowledgable. He gave us his cell phone number and a clean bill of health. 

Lauren measured in at 25.25 inches and 13 lb. 13 oz. 

{The weight has some error. He weighed Lauren with her everything on, but her pants and I am fairly sure she had a wet diaper as well. So take that into consideration.}

He informed us that she will in fact, be bigger than her mother.

{check out those long legs...}

{2}

Matt and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on Tuesday, our third anniversary in Colombia. Sometimes it's hard to believe we've been here that long. We had a lot to celebrate, another wonderful year, full of sacrifices that lead to a stronger marriage and the most amazing gift, our beautiful daughter.

We had a lovely evening out with our dolly celebrating at one of our favorite restaurants in Cartagena, Hotel Sofitel, toasting with a glass of wine, rather than the bottle. 

I also received an amazing bouquet of flowers. Matt's driver delivered them in the middle of the day, which was a sweet & beautiful surprise. 

{3}

I am quite behind on posts, however, I have backtracked and done a blog post on our Thanksgiving and our trip to Hawaii. 

Christmas is still on the to-do list. 

Click here to read about Thanksgiving and here to read about Hawaii. 

{4}

Since arriving in Colombia I've received a lot of questions as to why Lauren's ears are not pierced.

Apparently in Colombia baby girls get their ears pierced. 

That's just what you do.

I've been told that as long as it is done within a few days of birth, it does not cause them pain. 

There is a lot about Colombian culture I am willing to embrace,

but Lauren will not be getting her ears pierced.

Not for several years.

{this baby turban head band slays me. every. single. time.}

{5}

January 28th not only marked 8 years of marriage for Matt and I, but it also marked the birth of Lauren's BFF. Our dear friends, Matt & Kathleen Schroeder, welcomed the most precious baby girl, Grace Marie, into this big beautiful world on Tuesday afternoon. Gracie is so blessed to have such amazing parents and we look so forward to sharing this beautiful journey of parenthood with the both of them.

We've been telling Lauren all about her BFF and how much fun they will have together. We're hoping to get our girls together in a few months,

unless of course I book a spontaneous trip to Chicago...

17 weeks

three month pictures

I was pretty disappointed when I realized that I wouldn't be able to book one of those photography packages that follows an adorable babe through their first year. While I plan to have Lauren's six month pictures taken the next time we are stateside, I decided not to let our South American location stop us from a little three month photo shoot.
I spent last Saturday morning taking pictures of our little lady. I made lots of faces, said 'Lauren' and other baby attention catching words in a high octave voice, and squeezed Sophie La Giraffe over and over again, trying to get a smile or two.
In then end, I learned it may be easier to have daddy help with the smiles.

Smiles or not, we are happy to have some photos to remember this precious time with our sweet girl.
It's going fast...

16 weeks

house update

I posted this picture on the blog a while back and failed miserably at following up.

Here's the story...
When we closed on the house the countertops were not installed and a few other things had yet to be completed, so we had to hold off on our home inspection. One morning in December, shortly before our Hawaii trip, the home inspector paid us a visit and did his thing. And did he ever...
Mr. Home Inspector was finishing his work upstairs and in the attic. I was on the first floor with my mother and Lauren when we heard a loud noise. We took notice, but thought it was probably just part of the inspection. In fact, we didn't even speak about it. Several minutes later, the home inspector arrived downstairs covered in insulation muttering something about, 'very bad'. Apparently, during his inspection of the attic, he mistook drywall for a joist, took a step and proceeded to go through the ceiling.  But not all the way through. He was able to pull himself back up and exit the attic in the appropriate manner. Thankfully Mr. Home Inspector was all right, but the same could not be said for our master bedroom ceiling.

At this point, I was feeling quite overwhelmed with all things house and upcoming travels, but this... a home inspector falling through your ceiling... you can't make that up. After ensuring that Mr. Home Inspector was okay, I laughed about it, because that's all I could do.
They sent a dry wall man to try to put the ceiling back together again {which added to the stress since we were about 48 hours away from leaving for Hawaii} and as of now we are waiting for some paint touch ups and a few other items to be addressed from the punch list.

Thankfully Matt and I were able to spend a few days after Christmas at the house, unpacking, organizing, and getting a few things on the walls. It is far from complete and it was quite hard for my Type-A personality to walk away and leave it as is. But I knew I had to and that {massive} to-do list will still be waiting for me in April.
While it doesn't quite feel like 'our home' yet, it's getting there. Unpacking items that hold past memories while envisioning memories that will be created as a family behind these four walls leaves us feeling more than a little excited.
It takes time to make a house a home, probably more so when you aren't occupying it full-time. But after living out of suitcases & storage units for the past two and a half years, we couldn't be happier to  call a house, home.

Without further ado, our home...





{breakfast room}


{kitchen}



{the countertops may be my favorite part of the house. We started off with quartz, but when that was backordered, we made the change to carrara marble. It was one of those changes that seemed like a hassle at the time, but in the end I was oh-so-happy it happened}

{dining room}

{upstairs leaves a lot to be desired. There are 3 bedrooms and a bonus room. Lauren's room is in the process of being transitioned from Grandma's house, the guest room is full of boxes, and the bonus room will be occupied by my sister, Alysa. She is moving in to help us keep an eye on the house, a mutually beneficial situation for all.}

{master bed & bath}



{I think if you ask Matt, this is his favorite spot in the house}

So there you have it.
I'm looking so forward to April to get in there, make some changes, and put the beginning touches on taking it from house to home.

Lola

Yesterday I sent this picture to Matt at work.


Lauren is starting to play much more and has a few favorite toys.
Her dolly happens to be one of them.



Matt showed his secretary, Andrea, this picture. She proceeded to ask what we called the dolly. This is something I have probably put too much thought into. We used to name every one of Bella's stuffed toys, Ella the Elephant, Franc the Flying Squirrel, and Becky, the annoying cheerleader monkey. But I wasn't sure if we should bestow a name upon one of Lauren's favorite toys or let her do the honors.
When Matt explained to Andrea, that dolly was nameless, she explained that in Colombia every little girl's first dolly is named Lola, or Lolita.
{they add -ita to anything small or cute}

Yes, Yes, and Yes.
Lola is a very special name...

with a very special place in my heart.

Meet Lauren's dolly, Lola, affectionately known as Lolita.

15 weeks

Grandpa & Grandma Schoenfelder left Cartagena yesterday...
so our Cartagena adventure begins...
just the three of us.

weeks 13 & 14

it's been another couple of busy weeks for this growing girl…


{Knoxville, Tennessee}


{Cartagena, Colombia}

Hola Cartagena

Here's a peek at what's Cartagena looks like with Lauren Elizabeth McQuinn...