Puerto Vallarta, AGAIN!!

For Christmas our family got some cold hard cash as gifts and that sealed the deal- we are going to Puerto Vallarta again this spring, either the end of April or early May. WOO HOO!! Thank you to everyone for the dinero to help send us on our way!  We will be planning our trip soon, so if anyone is interested in coming down there, now is the time to committ!!  I always think it would be fun to go to Mexico on vacation with a group of people, but it just seems so hard to get a group organized- we would love to have more so give it some thought!!
(i will post more about xmas next week- Jeff and I have been working all weekend and are exhausted, I am off next weekend!)

Why I hate fake butter...

1. It tastes bad
2. It smells bad
3. It looks gross
4. It doesn't melt
5. It jacks up your baking (still trying to make cut-out cookies that aren't rocks)
6. It is hard to find the dairy-free kind (basically because it sucks, who would want to sell/ buy it)
7. It is fake- got it? Fake is not good...
8. It has an expiration date of like a year (actually this is kinda convenient, but still freaky)
9. It separates into several layers if you try to melt it
10. It smells funny if you try to saute stuff in fake butter.

In summary, I crave good old fashioned butter. This is the single worst part of Lauren's allergies- the gross, fake, diet butter substitute, YUCK! Guess my cholesterol is like 80, so I should be thankful, but who wants to live to be 120 years old in a world without real butter??????

Wait! Parking Lady! I'm Coming!!

There is limited parking in front of Lauren's daycare- sometimes Jeff parks in the no parking zone, I always give him a hard time. Yesterday I was in a skirt and heels and it was COLD and I sneaked into the no parking zone, because I didn't want to have to park in the next block.  We were in the playground talking to her friends and teachers and I see the parking lady pull up to my car. Oh NO!! I yell, Wait! I'm coming! Please dont give me a ticket and we bolt out of the playground and run down to the car. I have tried this before, it never works~ they just make you stand there while the finish the ticket. Guess what? She smiles at me and says, "you dont have to run, I am not giving you a ticket" HOLY COW!! That never happens to me. Merry Christmas and THANK YOU to the parking ticket lady. Guess that means I have to "pay it forward" and try to give someone a big break today. I will keep you posted about what I figure out to do....

Princess Lauren

Christmas Decorating

Tonight we put up our tree and set out decorations. She LOVED this snowman guy, and had to put him in one of her chairs and pose with him.

I love this picture, but it is so blurry. More than half of the pictures I take come out blurry because of the automatic setting on my camera. I really need a new one, I miss so much!!

Cookies

I got these cool cookie cutters of the whole alphabet, and on Friday Lauren and I made her name.  Her favorite is the E.

Guess What?

Lauren is basically potty trained!! She has been in cotton underpants, no diapers for almost 2 weeks and is averaging 0 -1 accident per day. Most of her accidents are on the way to the potty and she just doesn't quite make it. I am a proud mama, and Jeff and I are believers in the "cold turkey" method.  A bit messy, but the girl was on board and committed so we went for it.  I guess this is one instance where her "I DO IT" attitude was helpful. Now if only I could find the bright side of her wanting to dress herself.

ps- not to mislead anyone, she wears diapers to bed because I dont think she is ready for that part yet. She will probably let us know when she is, but until she minds wearing the diapers at night we are planning on keeping them.

Disney On Ice

Yesterday we took Lauren to Disney on Ice. I bought tickets with my phone when I was bored on the long drive back to North Dakota last month- gotta love the smart phone. Anyway- it was a huge hit with her. Jeff and I were not quite so entertained, I could have used a cold glass of beer and some hockey players after about 15 minutes of it. However, it was worth every second to see how excited she was about it. When she went to take her nap yesterday I told her that when she woke up she could see Mickey Mouse and that Ash (her babysitter last night) could cover over. She woke up from her nap and I hear, " I wake up! Ash! Mickey Mouse! I wake up!" it was too cute, I am sometimes in awe at what she knows/ remembers.

2 years old!

My "baby" is 2 years old!! Hard to believe, she is growing up so fast! We had nice bash this weekend with lots of friends and kids over at our house. I didn't really take any pictures, too busy enjoying the moments.  Lauren was shy and clinged to my leg while the other kids played, kinda sad. Once most of the guests left, Our Lauren was back to her silly ways.  I love this little girl so much, my heart just bursts.  What a joyous day that was two years ago :)

Santa- Strike One!

Why are kids afraid of Santa? This wasn't a huge loss, we were at The Children's Museum to play, and popped by to see him. I didn't have high hopes of her liking him, she isn't really into strangers at all. And lets be honest, to a two year old - Santa really is pretty strange.

Potty Time~

I am here, just busy livin' life this week- so no time to post.  Lauren has been potty training, so my days are filled with laundry and sitting in the bathroom. We tried just cold-turkey off diapers and she was doing pretty good, but yesterday she got fed up and begged for a diaper (which she promptly took off during her nap and peed on the floor). This weekend is her birthday party and we will have a house full of people, so you probably wont hear much more from me. I am so wishing that Lauren was born at a slower time of year, like April?? You cannot change your kids birthday on them, right??