Christmas post to come...

Yes, I am still here. Just a bit run down from travel and I caught Lauren's cold- she has an ear infection.... My camera battery completely died when we were in Wisconsin and I forgot my battery charger, so we are a bit short on pics, but I will post some as soon as I can locate my battery charger. My camera is so dead it wont even turn on right now. I am working a 7 day stretch, and went to bed at 8pm last night- this cold is really getting me. So, stay tuned in the next few days I will post something more exciting.

Cheese curd tour

Today we went on a cheesemaking tour at Union Star Cheese, a tiny cheese factory out in the country by my brother's house.  We got to see them making cheese curds this am. They were so yummy...

Brewery tour

We also went on a tour of Stevens Point Brewery. It was harder than you think to find a brewery tour on a weekday in Northern Wisconsin- all of the major breweries are by Madison or Milwaukee, and are kind of a long driver from my parents house. Colorado is certainly the place to be for brewery tours, it seems.  But, we managed to get everyone together for this tour and had a great time. I think this counts as Lauren's 3rd Brewery tour- not bad I would say. None of us tried the regular Point beer, but some of their specialty beers were really good- I bought the St Benedict's Winter Ale- it was pretty good.

Shopping with the Girls

Kindle

Jeff bought me a kindle for Christmas. I cannot believe I have never heard of this? And that Jeff knew about it and not me- he cannot believe it either. Apparently I have spent the last couple of years living under a rock! It is pretty cool- I am still figuring it out, but you can download books onto it and carry it around and read them- it is much smaller and more portable than carrying around books. And to download the books you dont need to plug it in or anything- it just connects wirelessly. Pretty neat...

Grandparents are the best!

Lauren opened up her Christmas presents early, because we are leaving to Wisconsin tonight. How is it that grandparents always know what to buy? My mom and randy sent her a little pink rocking chair that she absolutely LOVES. I had to assemble it with her sitting on it, cuz once I put the seat on it she wouldn't get off. The next day we got gifts from my dad and donna- they got her a baby cabbage patch doll and a winnie-the-poo book that talks. She LOVES them, too. I would not have picked out either of those things for her, but lucky for Lauren her grandparents know better! She slept with the cabbage patch doll the past two nights, what a lucky girl!!
Then last night we opened up the last of our gifts and she got a keyboard from her grandma karen and grandpa bob- yet another hit. This morning while I was working, Jeff and Lauren were jamming away. How lucky is she, and it

One more thing...

One more thing that makes me happy- people who comment on my blog posts (so I know that someone actually reads what I have to say) and people who vote in my poll. Do it- vote now  ---------->

10 things that make me happy

1. Lauren. Mostly the way she smells and the feel of her little hands and her head nestled in my neck. And her sweet voice, and her mischevious smile- and pretty much anything to do with her.

2. Jeff's cooking. He does a good job with tacos and elk steaks, and I just love that he will do it.

3. Snow. Lots of it heavily falling, sticking to the trees, accumulation in feet rather than inches. And how it melts in a day or two at my house but sticks for the season in the mountains.

4. Vacations. I love to travel, anywhere and everywhere.

5. Quietly reading a book, with no place to be and nothing to get done.  Bonus if it is under an umbrella on a warm sunny beach.

6. Food. Baked stuff and chocolate stuff. Cookies my mom makes. Bread with butter. Berries and corn on the cob. SUSHI, SUSHI, SUSHI

7. Old houses with antiques and quirky details. I love our house- just wish it would grow a bit.

8. When people are cured of cancer. Nothing is more gratifying than to hear about one of our patients who is off to college and years out from therapy- getting on with life!!

9. Presents. Yeah, I said it. I am adult and I LOVE to open gifts. So much, that I almost never can wait until this appropriate time to open then (read: I am opening all my xmas gifts the day they come- I cannot put them under the tree and wait).

9.5 Christmas music. All year round- who doesn't get happy when they listen to Christmas music??

10. High heeled shoes, the higher the better.

OK, that was easy. I could do 30 things that make me happy and keep going. Did put a smile on my face to sit and think about- what makes you happy?

Frazzled

I am officially losing it. We are leaving for Christmas on Sunday and I have to work all weekend. I am no where near ready with everyone's stuff, much less ready to ship it out to everyone.  With Lauren having been sick this last weekend with high fevers (again) I didn't want to take her anywhere so I finished up my shopping online and here we sit waiting for stuff to arrive so we can wrap it and ship it back out to everyone. OMG!! I am not used to being behind and disorganized. My daughter is 1 year old- I should be able to hold things together by now- what is wrong with me?? I need to channel some strength from the super moms out there......

(PS- These days I am looking pretty close to this lady in the picture, bad hair and baggy sweats included. My baby is way cuter, though. What has happened to me?)

Merry Christmas!!

The cards are finally done- they are going in the mail tomorrow. Yikes, I usually have them ready to go and mail right after Thanksgiving. Hmmm..... I must have something new to keep me busy.

Silk Yogurt

Thanks to the makers of Silk for making this tasty product. Lauren loves the Silk soy yogurt, it is literally the only food she allows me to feed to her with a spoon, otherwise she only eats food she can feed herself. It is really yummy, and more sour than dairy yogurt. The only downsides are that it is hard to find and kinda pricey.

Printer woes

I got a new printer, and it sucks. It is an HP photosmart wireless printer, and the quality is horrible and often the color doesn't work. I am trying to get HP to take it back and refund my money- will keep you posted on how that works out. Anyone have a wireless printer that they love? I guess I dont need wireless, we can probably hook through our wireless router too.

1 year photos

Here are Lauren's 1 year photographs. It was a very challenging photo session, to say the least. I really wanted more pics that were non-Christmas themed, but we had to take what we could get. Thank you to my mom- she talked me into getting a family picture and I love it. My very favorite shot is the one of Lauren reading a book.

Deck the halls

Last night we set up the tree. Lauren had a fun time helping. This year is the first time we are using an artificial tree. We will be in Wisconsin for Christmas and didn't want to leave a tree to get dry and brittle in our house the whole time we are gone, but didn't have the heart to throw it away before we leave. The fake tree isn't too bad, it is not quite the same- but my mom is getting a real tree at her house that we will enjoy.

 

1 year stats

Lauren went to her 1 year pediatrician appointment yesterday- here are her stats.

height 30.12 inches (82%)

weight 23 lb 4 oz (54%)

In summary, we are lucky to have a healthy, happy young lady who is right on track with her development. She stood up on her own and took a few steps in the doctors office, just to confirm how great she is doing.  The allergy issues are not going anywhere any time soon, but Dr Matt assured us that she can achieve good nutrition without eggs or milk.  She also got A LOT of shots- 5 in all, plus a heel stick for lead. Poor baby, she was tough though. Everyone keeps suggesting that we give her tylenol because of the shots- I am not really a believer in medicine without a reason, and she is doing fine without it. If she gets a bad fever or I think she is uncomfortable, then maybe. Otherwise I think babies are better off without drugs (unconventional wisdom from a pharmacist, I know...)

Poor baby has had a bad cold for over 2 weeks, though. Cough, cough, cough all night long.  She is past the fever and goopy eyes, but still with the coughing and crabbiness. Her pediatrician  just reassured us that she will be fine, and that is what kids do- but it is so tough to watch, you just want to help her. Last night was a bit better and we are hopeful that she will be as good as new in a few days.

Brrrrr

Yikes- it has been so cold here the last few days. Just like last year right after Lauren was born. I thought I moved to Denver to escape this!! I woke up this morning to a temp of  -2 degrees outside- THAT is not supposed to happen here. Tomorrow it is going to "warm up" to 30 degreees for a high. Poor Lauren hasn't gotten to play outside in a whole week!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

This weekend we celebrated Lauren's first birthday. I cannot believe it has been a whole year, yet I can barely remember life without her. What a little angel she is- our lives are a million times better because she is here! I keep getting choked up remembering 1 year ago.

The little sweetie had a nice birthday party on Saturday, a bunch of our friends came over and a few kids, too. Grandma and Susie were here and helped with all of the party preparations. We had a cake (egg and milk free- didn't stand up as well as I would like) that I made and decorated in polka-dots. And I even found dairy-free ice cream for her.

The party was fun, we had many helium baloons and streamers and Lauren received all kinds of gifts! She was good at opening the gifts, and liked to share her cake with the other little boys who came over.  It was a great day- we have a couple videos to help us remember.

Grandma visit

This past weekend my mom and susie came to visit for Lauren's first birthday. It was a nice visit, and they were such a big help. On Thursday they watched Lauren while we worked, and Friday night they babysat so that Jeff and I had a night out- just the two of us. It was wonderful. They also helped with cooking, decorating and making crafts for Lauren's big party. We had a very nice weekend, and I so appreciated their help!

Hands-free advice

There is a new law here- no texting in your car while driving. Sounds like a great idea to me- I dont really text much anyway, so I can live with that. I cannot live with no talking on the phone, and that might be next. I agree that it is distracting, so I want a hands-free device for my car- anyone have feedback?? Is the blue-tooth the way to go, or should I get some kind of "in the car" thingy? I haven't done any research, so i dont know much about the options, but I would like some feedback pros/cons on any of these devices so I know what to put on my Christmas list. Thanks!