51 weeks

this is it...
my last week with a baby.


this morning we took a trip to the park
and Lauren loved it.



She ran, explored, and played with the other littles.


With a busy mobile girl, the moments of baby-ness are fleeting...


but that gummy smile.

That gummy smile still says baby girl.

more travels

I feel like we've had one busy summer with lots going on at home and lots of travel. 

We had one more big trip on our calendar, my cousin's wedding in South Dakota. Our trip started with a flight into Kansas City, a road trip to South Dakota, followed by Minnesota, and a flight home from Minneapolis. 

I told you we were busy. 

We flew in to Kansas City to meet up with my parents and my brother. 

Uncle Tyler has always had a thing for the Muppet's Swedish Chef. So he thought Lauren was pretty cool when she found his Swedish Chef Kitchen set within moments of arriving at his apartment. 

From Kansas City we road tripped it to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to pick up Auntie Alysa from the airport and then to our final destination of Mitchell.

While I was warned about a 'cold front' coming through neither me or my daughter were fully prepared for the weather so we stocked up on a few warmer weather options.

Due to our lack of pant options, Lauren and I ended up in a mother/daughter 'twinsies' moment.

We had a lovely weekend and got to see so many loving faces, including Aunt Betty, Grandpa Clet & Val, and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins, many who met Lauren for the first time.

Lauren decided to begin teething {for real this time} during our visit and battled a fever throughout the weekend. We've got some bottom teeth that have cut through, but our girl was definitely not her self.  

{there was a whole lot of snuggling with Grandpa...}

We had a lovely time at the wedding, although I spent the majority of the evening chasing our very mobile girl around...

although I can't blame her. 

She was still so excited about that Clones victory!

Unrelated Story:

Matt and I struggled with how we would decide which team colors Lauren would wear for the Iowa v. Iowa State game. A series of head to head competitions were on the table, but ultimately we decided we should allow Lauren to make the decision. So one morning, I pulled both of her outfits out, Matt got the video camera and we let her go. Matt very confidently commentated as Lauren began walking straight to the Black & Gold Hawkeye outfit until literally at the final moment, she reached for the Cardinal and Gold colors and chose to cheer for the winning team!

From South Dakota we traveled to New Ulm to visit Grandpa & Grandma McGuire before they headed up north with my parents for a fishing trip. We enjoyed some beautiful fall weather, trips to the park, and time with my cousins, James & Lilly, and our first peacock siting.

Another great trip.

Another great flight.

Another week full of memories,

big occasions & quiet moments.

While I have to admit, I'm ready to slow down for a moment

{and maybe try to move into a house and finally get settled}

I'm so thankful for all the traveling we've done lately.

Both for the memories we've made with extended family, 

but also for the moments she and I shared. 

While Lauren likely won't recall these specific travels,

someday I will tell her the stories.

From snuggles with grandparents and great aunts to the gummy smiles to strangers at the airport. 

I like making memories with my girl.

50 weeks

travelin'

Lauren and I are out of town to attend my cousin's wedding.

We've been doing a lot of traveling lately 

& 

thankfully our little girl remains a cooperative traveler.

As she get's older we encounter new challenges in the traveling arena.

Our latest is movement.

Now that she's a walker, sitting on a flight for a couple hours isn't always her idea of fun. 

So we pack new or unfamiliar toys & interactive books {flap books/touch & feel} to keep her busy in flight

and do our best to let her move through the airport before take off. 

I captured this photo traveling over Labor Day & it quickly became a favorite of mine...

Labor Day Weekend

After we realized we wouldn't be moving at the end of August, we booked tickets for Knoxville to celebrate the holiday weekend.

I came in a few days early to share some Lauren time. My aunt Betty was visiting from South Dakota and we enjoyed some shopping excursions, lunches, cocktails and a lot of smiling and clapping for Lauren.


{taking a break to ride a tiny merry-go-round while shopping}

Matt joined us on Wednesday evening and the holiday weekend began.

My parents threw a party on Thursday evening.
They rented a loft downtown and had their favorite musician Otis Gibbs play.
If you're a fan of folk music, check him out.
The McQuinn's are pretty big fans... this is Lauren's third time hearing him live.




It was a wonderful evening full of family & friends, drinks, food, great music...
but our night didn't end there.
Matt and I went along with a my siblings and a few others to the bar afterwards.
It's been a long time since either of us were hanging with the 'after hours' crew,
but we kept up and enjoyed our little adventure out.

The rest of the weekend we spent at the lake.

{this is the only picture I have of the lake itself & I took it by accident. When unloading the car, my camera dropped on the ground, so this picture was a test to ensure it still operated.
Next time my camera needs to go to the doctor, direct me to this post.}

Sometimes I forget how relaxing The Pour House is...


We ate summery foods like watermelon & cheeseburgers.
We drank beer & floated in the water.
We played Cards Against Humanity & laughed around a fire.

A pretty perfect weekend.



Lauren still loves the water.




Now that she is walking, things were a little more interesting on a floating cottage,
but we kept her busy and let her spend lots of time in the water.






We rounded out our weekend with Sunday brunch at one of our favorite spots in Knoxville
{discovered that Lauren is a big fan of brunch. BIG}
and some cheers for Good 'Ole Rocky Top.


All in all it was another amazing weekend for our family,
full of fun, love, & lots of memories.

Come to think of it, we've had a lot of those types of weekends this summer.

lucky.

49 weeks

{five- long overdue- things}

{1}
I know my blogging skills have taken a hit.
And excuses are old, but I am still working to find the balance in this whole stay-at-home mom role as well as prioritizing my duties and hobbies, outside of Lauren time.
So, this is my official statement of blogging intent... that it will get better.
It has to get better...
so that Lauren's grandparents,
who are probably
(who am I kidding with the probably... definitely)
the most avid readers can see more pictures and get the latest on her day to day activities and life in Texas.

{blowing kisses}

It has to get better...

so that I have some documentation of this time.
This blog has become our yearly scrapbook and mama needs to step up her skills.

Everyone tells you it goes fast, but it really does.
Lauren is moments away from being a year old.
How did that happen?

I already feel the guilt setting in that I haven't taken enough pictures, enough video, enough documentation in the baby book..., enough enough, enough.

At this point, I think I have learned that when it comes to your children, you can never do enough.
So I'll enjoy the moments, take pictures when I can, and preserve as much as possible right here.

{2}
One thing I keep thinking is that my blogging will get better
{speaking about quantity not quality folks}
when we move into the house.

Oh,
the house.
You mean that post I dropped 2 months ago and then never mentioned again.

Yeah, that one.

While I do think that being in a house and having more space
{and unpacking all our belongings for the first time in over 3 years}
will be more conducive to routines that include blogging, it's a pretty bogus excuse.
Even worse, I should have been blogging about the house this whole time.
For the first time in our married life, we are building a home that we plan to live in.
for more than 3 years.
So here's the latest on the house.
I mentioned that we expected to be in towards the end of August to beginning of September.
Well, we're still not in the house.
Our home is being built in a brand new subdivision within a development.
The subdivision is so new, there is no electricity or gas.
That's what we're waiting on right now.
While electricity is in and we've seen lights next door
{there were wires out in ours which means they are working on it},
we seem to be stuck waiting for gas.
The city can't commit to a date which means neither can the builder.
So we wait.
We were recently told to expect late October, but we are hoping that's conservative and to be in by Halloween.
Hoping.

Here are some pictures we've snapped of the progress...






Now that power is in we should start to see some finishing touches, so I look forward to sharing more.
But not as much as I look forward to moving in.

{3}
I mentioned Lauren is moments away from turning a year.
Yes.
Which means I am moments away from throwing my first children's birthday party.

In our apartment.
Not what I imagined... but it does seem fitting,
doesn't it?
Given our small space it will be a small party with a travel theme to celebrate our little girl's adventurous year.
I made two trips to Hobby Lobby this week.

I'd like to think that means I've begun party preparations with plenty of time,
but for some reason I'm having visions of glue guns and frosting on birthday party eve.


{4}
We've had a busy summer full of travel. We just had to weekends of travel back to back & another on the horizon.
A few weekends ago we traveled to Omaha to attend the wedding of a great friend.
It was a quick weekend, but we had a wonderful time.
We got to see so many friends and Lauren even got a visit from Grandpa & Grandma,
who were kind enough to babysit,
so Matt and I could really enjoy the reception.




{5}
Someone is our house has been waiting a long time to officially say:
It's football season!





For the first time in three years, Matt can fill his weekends with both college & NFL.
This may very well be one of the things he missed most about America.

48 weeks

11 months

At 11 months Lauren...

... is walking. 

All over the place.

She is fast and into everything.

If we have a hard time keeping up with her while in an apartment, what happens when we get into the house?

... eats really well.

We struggled with our greens at the beginning, but now our little lady will eat just about anything. And like a true Texan, she can't get enough of her TexMex. 

... remains toothless.

... doesn't sleep through the night.

... still loves her dolly Lola, as well as her shape sorter and stacking blocks. But I think her favorite thing to do is take things out of the cupboard in the kitchen.

... waves bye-bye, gives high fives, & blows kisses. She says mama, dada, hi, yeah, and Bella, which sounds like 'Buh' in a high pitched tone.

She broke her Grandpa's heart wide open last week when she began saying 'Pa-Pa'.

... puts her hand to her ear anytime she sees a person on a cellphone. 

... still squeals with happiness, wrinkles her nose to smile, and amazes us daily with her sweet silly personality.