Grandparent's Day at Primrose School

Thank you Mimi for making the extra effort to spend Grandparent's Day with Lauren! Singing songs, having a snack, reading books, and your special handprint art project...all a part of your special time together.

We love you Mimi!

18 month check up and stats

Lauren continues to flourish....and fall off the standard charts for an 18 month old! The good news is she has stayed on the exact same trajectory since she was a newborn, so she's at least consistent! :)

Weight: 29.08 lbs Greater than 95th %
Height: 34.75 inches Greater than 95th %

She did awesome on her austism screening-- very high on verbal, perfect expected social skills, etc. She blew bubbles, walked and talked, showed off her books, etc. for the doctor. She hated her Hepatitis shot and that Mommy went ahead and added in her flu shot this go around as well. Oh well! She'll be healthy!

The best part of the morning for her was when I dropped her off was her Mimi was waiting for her! Today is Grandparent's Day at Primrose, and so Mimi came by to sing songs, read stories, share in snack time, and do some art projects. What a sport!

Yellow River Game Ranch

Todd suggested on Sunday that we take Lauren for her first visit to The Yellow River Game Ranch. Here, according to their website, you can "stroll along a mile-long trail on 24 wooded acres and encounter over six hundred highly sociable birds and animals indigenous to the state of Georgia. White-tailed deer, bunnies, buffalo, sheep, kid goats, black bears and a bevy of new-born animals are waiting to be fed, admired and petted on a "nose-to-nose" basis". Lauren LOVED it!

Check out those big brown eyes!

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We were thrilled to see these little ducklings. Lauren kept trying to imitate the duck and rooster noises!

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She loved feeding carrots to all th animals, but needed a little coaching on LETTING GO of the carrot to save her fingers! ouch!

Lauren was so excited to see ducks up close that she kept veering off the trail. Where, oh where was my little rule follower??

I have never seen a white peafowl before...it was so pretty!

Sweet Blond Curls: A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Everyone always asks us where Lauren gets her sweet blond curls. While I defintely had curls (still do for all who don't know that I usually blowdry my hair straight!!), they were more of a natural wave, and certainly not as tight as Lauren's keep getting. At last we have disoovered their source: MIMI!!!

Check out some retro pics of Todd's mother:

I see some of Lauren in both of these pics (above and below).

Barbara (aka Mimi) must be about Lauren's age here! Check out Saturday Sillies
a couple weeks ago... similar expressions and hair sytlings. :)

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Mimi's 5th (??) Birthday vs. Mimi's most recent birthday....it's the same 'do' on both of these girls!

A special THANK YOU to Mimi for providing the pictures from her childhood!

Time to Get Out the Ol' Bar O' Soap...

only it's for MOMMY.

After several weeks of reminding Todd to watch what he says around our little parrot, it ends up being Mommy who taught the first cuss word: $#IT. We are in the car, taking a family drive to the local Penney's to exchange some work shirts for Todd. I am trying to update his work number in my cell phone and just quietly (so I thought) said "oh, $#it" under my breath. In the back seat, I hear, "oh, $#it, oh, $#it,$#it. $#it?" After the second one, Todd glanced at me wtih a smirk on his face. I realized what she said, as it was CLEAR AS A BELL. As my mind is racing to figure out which one of us said it, I realized it was ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh. Nice Mouth on ya, sailor.

Lookin' Good...Feelin' Great!

Hello blog stalkers...just a quick note of thanks for all your well wishes, thoughts, and prayers. Ladybug is doing just fine following our hospital visit this weekend. It's like nothing happened....in fact she's been so stinkin' sweet this week, EXTRA sweet, if you will!

Here she sits like a big girl, waiting for her named to be called for her follow-up on Sunday at one of the CHOA locations.

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A Scary "First"

Early Saturday morning, Lauren had her first visit to the hospital. About 1am we heard her whimpering in bed. After checking on her several times, Todd brought her to bed with us. She was shaking, but was cool to the touch. After some debate we went ahead and gave her a normal dose of Tyelenol. Around 3am or so her leg brushed mine and she was sooooo hot! Only minutes later, she began having a febrile seizure (ie. fever-induced seizure). Arms, legs, and head were all twitching, her eyes rolled back into her head. It was the scariest 30 seconds or so of our lives! Afterward, she was so out of it--- eyes wandering, no one home, glazed.

We called the doctor's office, who, after a series of questions, concurred with us that she had seized, and because it was her first, asked us to take her to Atlanta's Children's Hospital at Scottish Rite. Once there, she got lots of poking, prodding, and tests (much to her dismay!). After her bloodwork showed elevated white blood count, they were uncertain if the spike in temps were due to a bacterial infection, or from the seizure itself. As a safety precaution, they gave her a 24 hour dose of antibiotics and sent us home. We got home about 8am or so, after a long, scary night. After a nap or two, she was back in business.

The ER doc did tell us that she is more likely to be prone to them now so we'll have to be more aggressive about treating even low-grade temps until she's about 5 or 6 and outgrows this. Anything under a 5 minute seizure is normal for febrile seizures (Yes, folks-- 5 mins. I cannot even imagine how long that feels!!!!!!). I had them as a child, as did Todd's sister, and they tend to "trend" in families. We are taking her for a follow-up visit today to check on viral vs. bacterial infection. She's definitely a-ok today, but it was quite a scare!

Her First PIGTAILS!!!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I have been waiting so long for my baby to have enough hair that I could pull it back into little pig tails! I think her hair is still too baby fine to use pony tail holders, but I was so happy to discover that goody still makes these classic baby barrettes....I had the same ones! Lauren is kickin' it old school today with the lime green nubby butterflies!

She just looks like such a big girl in this pic...so long and lean!

The real question is whether she wil STILL have them in her hair when we pick her up at school tonight!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

Today is Mimi's 60th Birthday!

Mimi's birthday cookie cake, shared by the family at the laser show.

Last night the whole family got together for a birthday celebration. We went to the Stone Mountain Golf Club, with plans to watch the laser show later (ironically, this entire plan was my first "alone" date with Todd seven years ago!!). While we were waiting on our food, a HUGE thunderstorm broke out, and we had front row seats to watch the wind and rains pouring down over the lake. We thought we might have to rethink our laser show plans, but fortunately it cleared in enough time, and it was PACKED!

Lauren and Daddy working on a special card for Mimi!

Sweet Kaitlyn sitting on the Birthday Girl's lap after dinner.


Jonathan had had enough of the paparrazzi shots at this point, as Papa Fish looks on.

Lauren and Mimi. They look like they have matching haircuts with their blond curls....hmmm...guess we know where she gets it! She was obsessess with the flashlight in her hand, and of course Baby, her doll. She's like a bag lady with all the things she insists on carrying around with her sometimes.

Uncle Todd decided the kids all needed the lighted swords they were hawking. They sure did have fun playing while we waited for it to get dark enough for the laser show to begin.

What a fun surprise from Todd!

The "bag lady" plays with her light saber...and her flashlight...and Baby!

Jonathan (the Master Jedi of the group) shows us his moves.

In the end, the kids loved the laser show, the fireworks, and playing together outside. Two out of three crashed before the show was over, so we carried some groggy/sleepy kids back to the cars for our birthday wishes, and farewells. Lauren was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot....and up again at 645 this morning. Did I mention she's taking a REALLLLY long morning nap today??? :)

Thanks for a great night, and Mimi, may your next 60 years be as wonderful.

Saturday Sillies

Todd had to go up to his new school in preparation for the teachers coming on Monday, so Lauren and I spent the morning together, where breakfast is becoming an increasingly messy adventure for us with each "I want to do it myself!" moment. She's so happy eating her yogurt, even if more of it ends up ON her tummy versus IN her tummy. See that smiley morning face?

Todd surprised us with lunch from Moes (*Welcome to Moes!"). As such, this posting is all about messy food faces on a Saturday.

Lauren leaned over her soft taco and picked up the tortilla with her teeth ("Look, Ma...no hands!") and the proceeded to play with all the fixin's that fell out. Lovely table manners, no?


The problem may be that her antics make her Daddy laugh and what is better than tricks that make her favorite person chuckle?!

All I can say is thank God for bibs!