Fall Fun

Well, I might as well start off by apologizing for not posting in a month!! This new baby seems to really have it in for me! I am still sick all day most days, and have had some ugly puking incidents. So, when I get home from work, I don't really have the energy to post. In fact, the only reason I'm posting today is because Elena is home sick, so I'm home with her. Gives me some extra time, between checking email for work! But we have been doing fun stuff this fall, so I thought I'd post some pics and stories to kind of catch me up! And I'll try to be better... God-willing, I'll start to feel better in the next week or so, and will get to enjoy the fun part of pregnancy!!

But on to the stories and pics...

No idea where this picture came from... but I can guarantee that it will be used to torture Miss Laney around age 15! :)

This one is from a trip to SDC, riding the trams into the park. Kind of fuzzy, but too cute to pass up! I already posted about the trip itself, but must have missed this pic!

Laney did get to go to her first football game of this season (we did make one last year), and on her birthday no less! After her party and nap, we dressed up and headed to Faurot field!

Daddy and Laney, walking to the game! Check out Josh's super-cool Chase Coffman jersey!

It was a long walk... Laney got tired! Notice we had to drag along the new baby doll she got for her birthday! But aren't the tiger ears great...

Just loved this shot of them walking through the tunnel. Laney was not too sure about it because it was so loud. But once Josh picked her up she was good to go.

We got to sit with Grandma & Grandpa Looten, which was lots of fun, even if Grandpa did keep squishing Laney!! She doesn't seem to mind!

The game was really a good time. The Tigers won (it was an early game, so not a really difficult one, but that's ok), and Laney really did a good job. There were enough people around, and enough candy and popcorn being shoved her way that she stayed entertained. And she did a really good job with going to the potty, which I was a little worried about. Of course, we had to take her SEVERAL times, and it was quite the hike to the bathroom, but there were enough of us to spread the job out! And she didn't have any accidents! So, a successful trip, all around! We're headed back to Homecoming this weekend, so I'm hoping that goes as well!!

In true Looten style, the next weekend was another busy one! The weekend after Laney's birthday party was the Roots, Blues, and BBQ Festival in downtown Columbia. It was a little different this year because you had to pay to get in, but we still had a really good time. And the rain stopped just in time for us to head that way Saturday evening. We met my family, and just wandered- smelling the bbq, listening to the music, and just hanging out.

Laney's favorite food was less the bbq, and more this watermelon we found at one stand! For $1, TOTALLY worth the entertainment value!!

Our other big goal was to find the balloon guy, because Laney saw a kid with a balloon as soon as we got there, and, of course, wanted one. So we finally found him in Flatbranch Park, and he made Laney this frog with a huge tongue, which she LOVED (and carried around the whole night, and then around the house until it wilted into a very sad little frog!).

Hanging out with Uncle Charlie, listening to a band play!

After A LOT of standing and walking, we all needed a little sit down break before the next show. So we walked up to Kaldi's and got coffee and smoothies (and a chocolate milk for Laney). It was nice for us to sit, and for Laney to get to play a little (and lay on Uncle Charlie). Not to mention how wonderful to get to use a real bathroom instead of a portapotty!

Next big event was Uncle Tim's 30th birthday!! Mallorye planned a surprise birthday party for him, and pulled it off wonderfully! We just hung out at Tim's house, ate good food, and caught up with all of the Lootens! It was a really good time, and Uncle Tim was actually very surprised!

Loved this little cake Mallorye got for Tim... complete with black icing and candles!

Blowing out the candles! Laney was helping from the other side...

One day recently the Youzeum in Columbia had a CPS Teacher Appreciation night, so CPS employees got in free (with their families). We couldn't miss this opportunity, so we headed that way. We wandered around the main part of the museum for awhile, and found some cool stuff, but not much for kids Laney's size. Then we headed upstairs to the 7 and under room and hit pay dirt! She could have stayed there for hours!!

She loved going through this tunnel over and over...

And especially loved loading up this basket with the food from the "grocery store" and "cooking" it in the fully stocked kitchen! It was funny to watch her! And, of course, she screamed like a banshee when it was time to leave!

The Youzeum was fun, but really didn't have too much for a kid Laney's size, except for the room upstairs. Pretty neat for elementary age kids, though!

So, the last big event I have to post I don't have many pics for, but hopefully I can get some more from Ruth and add them later! But, at least I have a few!

Last weekend Josh and I got to head to Southern Illinois for the Galatia Stride and Ride MDA Walk. This is a MASSIVE fundraiser that my family in IL helps put on every year to benefit MDA because of my two cousins with MD. Josh and I hadn't ever been, because we are usually in Springfield. But this year it was a week later, so we got to go!! It was absolutely amazing, with tons of Silent Auction baskets, two bounce houses, a beautiful quilt raffle, several Live Auction items, big crowds, good food, and, of course, lots of people walking!! I think we raised almost $50,000, which is just awesome! Having never been to one before, I was astounded both by the size, and by the amount of work that it took to put it on. But with such a big family, everyone seemed to pitch in to do what they could, and pulled it off! I was busy much of the day (bidding on my silent auction baskets!!) but I did manage to get a few pics...

Laney was nice enough to let Grandpa Charlie use her blankie... it was definitely cold that day, 40's and windy. We had to make a Dollar General run for gloves and hats so we didn't freeze!

It was hard to keep Laney OUT of the bounce house, every time we turned around she wanted to go jump in it. Aunt Jane was more than happy to oblige a few times!!

Lunch: yummy "hog gogs" as Laney calls them!

We were cracking up at Elena because she was totally unaware that there were people watching her, and that she was walking into the middle of the Live Auction! All she knew was that her aunts were standing around up there, so she must need to be there, too! Pretty funny...

And even funnier when she wouldn't get off this pedal tractor (which was being sold!). This little boy wanted to ride it so bad. He won in the end, though, his parents bought it for him!!

And after the walk: totally passed out! I think everyone could have fallen asleep in the car on the way home!

We really had a great weekend in IL, we stayed until Sunday afternoon so we got to hang out with everyone, go to church, get pedicures, and, of course, get the farm animal tour on the mule! I don't have any pictures from those activities, though, so I will post some (hopefully) when I get them from Ellen and Ruthie!

So there's a catch up on our fall!! We are headed to all of the Homecoming festivities this weekend (house decs, parade, game) so I'm sure there will be pics from that, and hopefully it won't take me a month to post them! As far as non-event things, Laney is doing REALLY WELL with potty training. Really, she's potty trained. Until yesterday she was having very few accidents. She did have a couple yesterday, but I'm guessing that's because she was feeling so yucky. So our next big challenge is the binky. We're down to only using it at bedtime, which sometimes is fine, and sometimes she REALLY wants it during the day. But we're hoping to get her broken of it before the new baby. One step at a time!! I look at her in amazement sometimes because she is just so big. She really doesn't look anything like a baby anymore, she is really a little girl now. She loves Disney princesses (we're being Snow White for Halloween), she loves watching cartoons (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, anyone?), and she is VERY opinionated!! Oh well, what else could we expect from our daughter? We love her very much... and are very interested to see how our family changes with this next one!!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Hard to believe, but last weekend was Laney's 2nd birthday! Last year's party was a pretty major affair (a girl only has one 1st birthday you know), but we decided to keep this year's much simpler! We let the birthday girl pick her meal (hot dogs and popsicles) and just spent the afternoon hanging out with family. It really was a great time, and a fun way to celebrate Laney's 2nd birthday in a much lower-key way! :)

I couldn't resist making a lemon cake for Laney, since it's my favorite! But we needed a sheet cake, too, to feed everyone! Both were DELICIOUS!

Laney & her Aunt Ruthie, eating some hot dogs! :)

The Looten women! Check out the baby book, done by her second birthday like I had planned!


Grandma De and Grandma Price, hanging out in the kitchen!

Daddy & Laney blowing out the candles. She was so excited to have everyone singing Happy Birthday to her, it was pretty cute. Not that she likes being the center of attention or anything...

Opening presents with Mommy.. this was a doll that Josh and I got her, and she obsessed over it the whole rest of the time. I had to pretend to be taking it out of the box the whole rest of the time or she wouldn't open anymore presents! Oh well, at least she liked what we got her!

Check out the tiara from Grandma Looten! And a cool seek and find book from Grandma Jo!

And, well, Truman had to wear the crown, too!

Playing with the really cool dollhouse from Aunt Yaya, and the furniture from Grandma Price & Aunt Ruthie. Laney was ENTHRALLED!
Gotta have a family pic!

And Laney did manage to get a short nap in before we headed to the MU football game! It was a long day for the birthday girl!

And why should the birthday girl be the only one napping? Grandpa Price...
...and Grandpa Don both joined in on the napping extravaganza!! :)

Anyway, it really was a great way to celebrate Laney's 2nd birthday. A very low-key party, just us hanging out with our family, the way we like it best. We got surprise tickets to the MU vs. Bowling Green game that night, too (thanks, Tim!), so I'll post a few pics from that later... for now, this is all the pregnant, tired, sick Mommy can handle!

But a quick update on Laney, the good news is she is practically potty trained!! She has gone a whole week without any accidents at daycare. And she's only had one or two at home. She is really doing an awesome job. We went to the doctor on Monday for her 2 year check up, and they were amazed at how well she was talking, and how good her memory was (she doesn't forget anything- including the whole story of Jonah!). She was following her curves still; she was 33 5/8ths inches tall, 24.5 lbs, and had a head circumference of 19 inches! So that's 40th percentile, 20th percentile, and 80th percentile... still petite with a big head!! She is becoming even more independent and strong-willed (not sure where she gets that from...) but, while I know that independence makes our job as parents harder now, it will serve her well when it comes to things like avoiding peer pressure and standing her ground. I just have to keep reminding myself of that every time she throws a screaming fit in the middle of a public place... the joys of parenting! :)

SDC Weekend

Well, I posted the exciting news from a couple of weekends ago when we headed to Springfield, but I forgot to post about the rest of the weekend! We told everyone about the new baby, but we also went to Silver Dollar Cty with, literally, the entire family, which never happens! We're all so busy that everyone having a free weekend doesn't happen very often. Josh and I were just excited that they all happened to be coming that weekend, when we had news to share!

Anyway, it really was a pretty typical day at SDC, we ran all over the park, shopped, ate bad-for-us-food, rode rides (not me), and played with the girls. Just a nice, relaxing time! And, of course, there were some pictures!!

Since I couldn't ride any rides, Mom Looten had to pick up the slack! Tim, Mallorye, Mom & Josh on Wildfire. They waited for the front because it was Mallorye's first time, and the front is definitely the best! Really missed riding rides, though I'm sure I would have been so sick I wouldn't have enjoyed them!

Laney has found (and loves) this huge rocking horse that is outside the wood shop. She has to ride it every time we go by. She also discovered this time that there was a walking stick living on the door of the wood shop. She immediately wanted to "catch it," which Grandpa Looten was NOT a fan of! She's not scared of anything!

And what would a trip to SDC be without riding the catepillars & butterflies?! Daddy jammed himself into this butterfly with his little girl!

And Luke did the same in this caterpillar!

Equally excited to ride the froggies!

Practicing her beauty queen wave!

Both girls had to ride a second time, of course, and Grandma & Mallorye got the nod this time! Don't they look excited?! :)

Love this pic... Laney is shrieking in excitement; Mallorye, not so much!

In all fairness, I hate the froggie ride. They jump and bounce and it makes me sick when I'm NOT pregnant! So I don't blame Mallorye and Mom for being a little nervous!

After the park we headed to Dana's to eat. It's a cool restaurant that actually used to be a car garage, so it's all windows and a big garage door that they can open for patio seating. And, of course, a horsey, which Uncle Tim was nice enough to let Laney ride... 3 times, since she kept saying "I really want to ride again" at the end of each ride! She's hard to resist...

Anyway, just a fun trip to SDC with the family! And a fun day to tell everyone about Laney's sibling! :)

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!!