Lauren Elizabeth

An Overdue Update

It has been so long since I sat down and really blogged. Boy, this summer got away from me. There were a lot of trips and a lot of family time. After we got home from California we only had a few short weeks to get ready for my parents and brothers to come into town. It was a good motivation for me to get a lot more things done around the house. I painted a dresser and made new pillows for our couch. I also organized every room. I think I need to have visitors come more often. It was so fun to have some of my family in town for a long weekend. They came to see Manchester United play Real Madrid in The Big House. It was a blast. We showed them around campus, ate lots of yummy food, drove around Detroit and had an evening at the river. 2 days later Violet and I flew to Utah and Mike joined a week later. We spent a long weekend at the cabin. We played games, went to Cascade Springs, grabbed burgers in Midway and saw Fiddler On the Roof at Sundance.  The rest of our time was filled with friends and family. We hit up a lot of museums with the cousins and the aquarium. Mike went golfing a few time. We had lots of pool days at Grandma's house. We saw a BYU football scrimmage. Mike and I went on a few dates and got to see a couple movies. It was such a fun trip. Violet had the time of her life. She loves her cousins, aunts and uncles, and especially Grandma. She had someone to play with every second and lots of extra treats.

Now on to Vi girl. Every day I am amazed more and more with how smart she is. She can pick up on things so quickly. She really does listen to everything we say. I sit with her and have conversations and I am always shocked at the things she remembers. She knows so many song lyrics and is already so good with counting and colors. I am really grateful for a child like her because she really pushes me to teach her more. It has been a big motivation for me to really sit with her and work on things and I will always be so glad I have had this special one on one time with her. It can also be really hard at times. Since she is so verbal she has no problem telling me what she likes and doesn't like and what makes her sad or upset. It can be a struggle at times but each day we are figuring it out.

She loves to sing all the time. We hear her singing in her crib frequently. It's not made up jiberish either. She will sing full songs all the way through. She is also really really into babies lately. She will rock them and wrap them in blankets and sing to them. A few of our friends and family have had babies recently and Violet always wants to hold them and pet their heads. It's really adorable to hear her talk pretend to her animals. She will ask them if they are cold and need a blanket. She will put them down for naps and make them food. She also pulls out all the supplies for a good diaper change.

She has really picked up on the expression " sorry" lately. If she bumps into the couch or a chair she will apologize to the furniture. The other day my legs were propped up on the ottoman and Vi walked up to me and said " pardon me mom's legs". I just find myself laughing a lot at her daily.

She misses her dad so much when he goes to school. I feel so bad when she sleeps in and doesn't see him in the morning. She is still so attached to him. It is the sweetest. She has also gotten more into dancing. She hears music and just has to start grooving. Her aunt Kate taught her some sweet dance moves while we were home.

 We are just having to start the real disciplining around here. She is a tricky one too. She will ask to go to time out and she will laugh when we try to take things away. This has been my biggest struggle with her lately. She understands so much but she still doesn't get some concepts. It has really made me think about my parenting style and what I want my kids to learn most. 

Overall we are doing well. This is my favorite time of year. I am starting to get into the Fall spirit, which means Halloween is in full force around here. Hopefully I will be better about updating and posting pictures.