Happy Thanksgiving

{Lauren at 4 weeks}

eight weeks

It's been 8 weeks with Little Lady Lauren and we are having a hard time remembering our lives without her.
She still loves her MamaRoo and a good ole' fashioned ride in the car.
Things that light up and make noise keep this little bird quite entertained.
Lauren doesn't love when her mom eats Chinese food.
We are starting to get to the point where we are ready for a routine/schedule. Unfortunately our calendar isn't showing signs of slowing down to develop said routine and with travel on the horizon, I think it's best that we learn the Spanish word for schedule…

six & seven weeks

Lately our little bird has…

… started smiling. I didn't think it was possible for my heart to grow any bigger after she was born. I was proved wrong by one gummy smile.
… began coo-ing. She is going to be a great story teller, I just know it.
… shown me that she doesn't love tummy time. I'm looking for ways to make this more bearable for the both of us.
… proved to be a great little traveler. Last weekend we road tripped it to Chicago and Lauren exceeded all of our infant traveling expectations.           We are keeping our finger crossed that the same goes for air travel.

Lauren's Nursery

Some finishing touches have been added to the nursery.

Most of them are coral

and help make the room a bit more Lauren.

One of the first things we added was the letter L above the bed. I had both an L and a J ready just in case we came home with a little mister. The L went up shortly after Lauren returned from the hospital, making the nursery officially hers. 

Lauren has a few personal stuffed animals in her nursery as well. Her blabla knit doll is Josephine the Elephant. I love blabla dolls and was so excited to order one for our own little one, but wanted to wait until we met him or her. Matt and I decided on Josephine together and we think it was the right choice for Little Bird. 

Her teddy bear was a gift from Grandma & Grandpa Schoenfelder and Grandma added a little bow to give it a personal touch.

Lucky the dog also received a personal touch. Her collar was replaced with a big coral bow.

Pretty sweet.

When Matt was a child he had a fascination with dinosaurs. I love this, so when I saw a little wooden dinosaur toy at Pottery Barn Kids, I bought it for our little one as a tribute to daddy. I had plans to paint it, based on gender, to add some additional color to the room. Then I had an even better idea, to have Matt paint the dinosaur. Going with the theme of the room, I saw a coral dino, but Matt took his project to the next level and here is Lauren's dinosaur. 

Before I became pregnant, I had seen the idea of keeping a maternity book and liked the idea of tracking a growing belly and the time we spent before our little darling was welcomed into the world. Each week I took a picture and wrote something about our life, being pregnant, preparing for baby, traveling. When Lauren arrived I was finally able to finish the book, choose a cover, and get it printed.

Right now the book is sitting on a shelf, adding a pop of coral.

It was fun to see it all put together and look at each week.

If it's fun now, I can't imagine how much fun it will be to look back on in the years to come.

Matt's parents gifted us with a memory keepsake frame. While we waited for Lauren's handprint and footprint to dry, I painted the matting to add some more coral.  At the time we were still waiting for our newborn images to arrive, but I have recently added a picture in the middle.

Currently this shelf is serving as a display for shoes, a world map piggy bank, and a coral L. Soon it will also display a canvas of Lauren's newborn picture, the final addition to this room. 

When I was pregnant, I loved spending time in the nursery.

Since it became Lauren's nursery, I love it even more.

It is my favorite room. 

one big weekend

Last weekend Lauren had a big weekend full of a little travel and a lot of visitors.

Last Friday we made an impromptu trip to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina.
It wasn't just another day at the Biltmore.
It was the day they put up the Christmas tree.
The 40 foot tall Fraser Fir Christmas tree.
Cue Christmas Music.

It's a pretty amazing sight.
And if the sight isn't enough to make you greatly anticipate this Christmas season,
the smell of that fresh Fraser Fir is sure to.

Lauren did a great job on our little road trip through the mountains
{the fall foliage was gorg}
and her traveling skills were rewarded with a visit from Santa.
When we pulled up to the Biltmore, Santa and Mrs. Claus were literally outside our car door.
We popped right into line and Lauren had her first visit with Santa.

Santa pulled me aside after their picture was taken and told me that on this day each year, he and Mrs. Claus are allowed to choose one child to go live with them at the North Pole. On this day, they had chosen Lauren.
I'm sure Santa didn't tell that to another mother all day.

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the estate with it's gorgeous Christmas decor and the grounds on a perfect fall day.




Our weekend continued as Lauren received a very special visit from her Aunt Marcie and Aunt Shelley. Matt's sisters made the trip from Iowa to meet Lauren and we had a great weekend together with lots of baby snuggling.
The weekend got even better on Sunday when we made a run to the airport to pick up daddy! It was pretty precious to see him and Lauren together again.



We've had a busy week filled with Lauren time, which is exactly what we wanted. It's been fun to see Lauren with her dad and watch him fall in love with her more and more each day.  This time apart has been hard, but these special visits filled with quality time together make us that much more excited for our big adventures as a family of three.

five weeks

Five weeks and our little one...

… is totally a morning person. She is so happy in the mornings. The same can't be said for the evenings. She tends to be a little hungrier and a little less patient, which leads to a few meltdowns.
… is not the most patient girl. I can't blame her for this. I don't practice patience all the time. Especially when it comes to food. We both can get a little 'hangry' from time to time.
… is still proving to be an excellent traveler. We've got our fingers crossed that it stays, but we took a little road trip last week and she was wonderful.
… is loving having her daddy around this week!

one month

I know people tell you how fast time goes by with a little one…

but it truly does.

At one month our Lauren…

… is close to smiling at us.  She gives us little peeks of that gorgeous gummy smile, but we can't quite say it's in reaction to us yet.

… is long and strong. I believe that my short genes have not been passed down to our darling daughter. She has some long legs, so here's to hoping that she doesn't have the same issues shopping for jeans that her mama does. She is also quite strong, holding her head up and she also likes to use those long legs to stand when being held. 

… has the nickname Little Bird. It just sort of happened. I don't know if it was the squeaks she made the first couple weeks or the way she sleeps with her mouth wide open, but we call her Little Bird. And I love it. Little Bird.