Laney's News

Laney has some news to share! :)

So, for those of you who don't understand 2-year-old, that's "I'm going to be a big sister!"

Josh and I are expecting "Number 2," as Josh has started calling him/her. We are due April 14th or so, and we're really excited! I'm about 7 weeks along, so we're telling earlier this time, but, well, we told everyone in the family this weekend because we had to (we were going to SDC, so it was going to be pretty obvious when I didn't ride any rides!), and we don't want anyone to feel left out! So, we figured if we were going to be busted anyway, we might as well do it on our own terms!

We had Laney wear a shirt that says "I'm going to be a big sister" on Saturday, and sent her out to see Grandma, and she yelled "I be a big sister!" So that's how they found out! Then she did the same thing to everyone else at the park on Saturday, and the same thing again to my family on Sunday when we went out to lunch. It was a fun way to tell everyone.

Anyway... as for the details, due mid-April. I've been feeling pretty yucky the last week or so, but it hasn't been awful- as long as I keep my cheerios handy! And I did start another blog- www.babylootwo.blogspot.com. It doesn't have as many posts as Laney's did when we told, because, well, it didn't take us 6 months this time, and we're telling earlier! But enjoy!

Video Fun

Couldn't resist these two videos, because they're just too much fun!

So, that's obviously Laney's version of "Jesus Loves Me." She loves to sing, and sings constantly. That song is one of her favorites. It is pretty hilarious that she is sitting on the toilet in our bathroom, flipping through Josh's Bible as she sings! She likes to sit there and "help" me get ready in the morning- "Do your hake-up" is what she calls it. Actually, this video is from a couple of weeks ago, and she's already better at that song now- she almost has the second verse down! :)

Second, we have undisputable evidence (as if we needed more) that Laney is a Looten... she already does voices!!

For translation purposes, she's saying "Cookie Monster likes cookies." She started doing this all on her own, I guess she learned it at daycare. Thought it was absolutely hilarious, and obviously something she got from Daddy, because Mommy is no good at doing voices! :)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed!!

80th Birthday

Well, I looked back at the blog and realized that I skipped a trip to Springfield, and a very important one at that!! :) The weekend BEFORE we went to Springfield to visit the Looten's and go to Silver Dollar City, we went down again to visit my grandparents for Grandpa Don's 80th birthday! We really spent the whole weekend just hanging out, and had a very low-key celebration. It is always nice to hang out with that side of the family, as we usually only see the whole group at Christmas!

As usual, Elena spent a lot of time "playing" with Anias, the turtle that lives in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard! We all hunted all over the yard for him, then we hunted all over to find clover flowers that she could feed him! It was kind of cool to see him actually eat a flower from her hand, though!

Grandpa & Laney, off to hunt for Anias!

Poor Anias, no hiding spot was safe!!

But at least he got lots of clover flowers!

This was hilarious- Elena literally walked out into the yard, patted her leg, and said "C'mere, turtle!" (Or teetle, which is what it sounds like when she says it). Clearly, she's not quite up to speed on the whole turtle personality!!

All that turtle chasing can wear a girl out! I love that she is sleeping in a "chicken nest," just like Yaya used to make for us. And, boy, did she sleep! She slept for several hours in there, and didn't even flinch when we took several pictures, USING a flash! She's a sleeper!

Of course, Laney helped Grandpa blow out the candles, which made for some really cute pictures! Ruth got this one, where they're both actually looking at the camera...

... but I almost like this one better!

The whole family at the party, jammed in behind Grandpa's chair! It actually doesn't look so bad, but it was a little claustrophobic! Only a few people missing- Dad, Jess & Mike, and Jeff. Not bad!

And, of course, Laney learned the joys of playing "ride a horsey" with Aunt Kim! They were really buds this trip... and Elena even managed to talk to Uncle Drew, who she is usually scared of!

All in all, it was a really fun and relaxing trip... and always awesome to hang out with that side of the family when we get the chance! Love you all, and happy birthday, Grandpa!!

SDC

Well, this is way old... and I know it. But, oh well!! :)

A couple of weekends ago we went to Springfield to SDC. We took Friday off, so we headed down Thursday evening. We spent Friday at the City, and Saturday the boys went fishing while the girls hung out, shopped, and just bummed around. It was a really great relaxing weekend!!

The girls, with matching pigtails, waiting to head to SDC! We got lots of questions about whether or not they were twins!

Last year Laney was not too sure she liked the kiddie rides. This year, she LOVED them! She rode the froggies twice, and rode the catepillars twice... and has not stopped talking about it to this day!
Last summer we stood Laney up to see how many more inches she had to grow to ride the Lost River. So, of course, we had to do it again! She certainly has grown since last time! Only 4 more inches or so until she can ride some of the bigger rides with a grown up! What fun that will be!

We went to play in Geyser Gulch, a kids/water area. She had a really good time playing in this little area that had a vaccuum tube that could suck up these foam balls- she spent forever there! She was not as sure about the little area where the water shot randomly out of the ground. She looked at it... though this technique mostly just got her sprayed in the face!

And eventually just decided that she'd rather stand on the edge and stay dry!

Both girls headed home- we took their ponytails out, and there was some seriously bad hair going on! They also both got little stuffed whales. There are some carnival games by the kids' area, and one of them had a bunch of whales laid out on the counter. Laney went through and named all the colors, so the really nice man running the game gave her one!! Then Grandpa Looten played the game and won one for Leila.

And at dinner on Saturday night, before we left... my daughter is SO talented!! ;)

Anyway, it was a great weekend of just relaxing! And it was our first trip to SDC this year... hard to believe! So we can't wait to go again and get our money's worth out of those season passes!!