Tiny Turtles Halloween Par-tay!

As most of you know, I got Miss Lauren Annie enrolled in a class at our local Rec. center, called Tiny Turtles. The whole purpose of the class is to provide stimulation through touch, sound, sight, etc... We joined when my Fancy Pants was 5 months old and while she doesn't quite understand the point of the class yet, she really enjoys herself and has a great time playing with the other babies and banging on the loud musical toys that are available. The best part is, the class wears her out and my refuses-to-nap daughter inevitably closes her eyes and catches some much needed zzzzz's on the way home. This means mommy gets to listen to adult music, rather than the Baby Einstein CD that is constantly playing in the car. Yay!

So last week was our Halloween party. All of the babies were decked out in their Halloween outfits and boy did they look scrumptious! From a cute little Lamb to a boisterous bouncing Tigger, we had a wide assortment of characters and their momma's. It was really fun to see them all dressed up...and the weird part is, I think the costumes ended up fitting our babies personalities very well.

This is Pooh Bear, also known as Blake. One of the sweetest little guys my Fancy Pants has met, and she and him get along really well. In fact, at our last Mom's Club event, Lauren crawled over to him and attempted to kiss him! It was super cute and I think the pair will end up becoming great toddler pals. Plus, Blake's momma Heidi and I have planned a few babysitting switch-a-roo's, so that our babes get over their stranger phobias...and both of us can get a nice 30 minute break from babydom!

And this precious little lamb is Miss Gracie. Grace has a way of melting your heart; she is snugly and smiley and just overall adorable. I met Grace when she was about 2 months old and she gets cuter by the day (if that's possible). Holding her young 4 month old self makes me want another newborn because she just wants to be held...and when her momma lets me hold her, I happily oblige :) Her momma Sarah and I have become fast friends, which makes me happy to have a pal that relates to having busy-body daughters like we do. Oh, and Sarah, sorry about cutting off your face...I guess it's evident that I think our babies are much cuter...haha :)

This cute little Scarecrow below is Nathaniel, who just happens to be Lauren's baby boyfriend (shhhh, don't tell her daddy!). Sure, she's older and taller than him, but he tends to like his ladies "plump" and apparently, my baby girl fits the bill :) Nathaniel, in all honesty, is the most laid back, happy baby I have ever met. He is happy to just be; whether he's sitting, laying and doing the dreaded tummy time, he is perfectly content. Nathaniel's momma, Elizabeth, happens to live on the street right behind me and we joke that because of the bond that's already forming between the two, one of us is gonna have to move because as they get older, living this close is gonna pose a problem :)

And last but certainly not least is my beautiful baby butterfly, Lauren. Sure, she's busy and constantly on the move but she LOVES to give huge, wet sloppy kisses and snuggles into you when she wants to be cuddled (just don't force her to snuggle when she's not ready because you will be sorry!). I really could go on and on about how much I adore her but if you've been reading this blog, it's probably quite apparent :)

I'm not quite sure if she was attempting to impersonate Elvis in this pic but it's cute nonetheless:

I think that's it for now...but be prepared for many many more tiny turtle photo shoots because with babies as cute as our are, it's a sin to not photograph them!

Meet Lauren!

I just wanted you all to meet our baby girl, Lauren Anne:



Yes, this is the same sweet little baby girl we called "Annie" for the past 7 months. I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to decide which name to "officially" call her but alas, the decision has been made. I mean, we chose the name Lauren, for two reasons: One, Justin's middle name is Loren and two, it's a beautiful name. So, why not call her the name we had picked (which, by the way, was decided upon when I was weeks prego) now so that she'll get used to her "official" name :)

Anyways, here are some pics I took today of my "favoritist" Lauren Anne. I can't believe what a big girl she's becoming and how she so easily sits on her own. Sure, her attention span resembles that of a gnat's and you have to be uber quick when taking pics because she gets bored oh so easily, but she is just a curious little girl! The pics below show just how busy she is; she feels the need for speed...or rather, the need to crawl at a snail's pace:


Today we ventured to the front yard where she discovered grass (for the 100th time!). It never fails, I can show it to her day after day and she is still in awe of it! If only she could sit still a little longer so that I can capture her newest "find":

I somehow managed to snap a few shots of her while she had a moment of rest (rather, a half a moment of rest):

Man, this girl gets cuter by the minute!

Have you ever seen anything cuter?

We all know butterflies are pretty but have you ever seen one this cute???

C'mon, somebody sign this girl up for "The Cutest Baby in the World" contest because with antennae and wings like this, how could she not win?!?! And these cute little butterfly buns? Irresistible!

We got some really adorable Halloween pictures done at Kiddie Kandids last week but for some reason, this dumb site won't let me load them. So instead, my Fancy Pants treated you all to a little butterfly home photography shoot. And heck, she even smiled for you all...although I'm not sure if she was just about to leave me a "present" or if she really enjoyed being the center of attention. Either one is quite possible because the girl loves to be oooohhhed and ahhhhed over...and leave her mommy "surprises" too:)

Fires everywhere :(

It's hard to be witty and funny and silly today when you look out your back door and see this:

Unfortunately, those aren't clouds...they are large billows of smoke that is engulfing our neck of the woods. That's just one of the twelve fires that are scorching Southern California. The pictures I took day are of the Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and the Green Valley fires. The air is thick and miserably hot today...I can only imagine what our brave and heroic firefighters are going through as they fight to save our homes here.

As I sat watching the news today, another two fires were reported, both near Camp Pendleton. How much more can our state take? Hundreds of homes have been lost, at least 22 people confirmed dead from the fire and multiple firefighters have been hospitalized.

And yet, in the wake of all this bad news, there have been reports that some people have been looting the homes of people who's house were semi-burned! I mean, seriously? How in the world can anybody be that cold hearted and cruel? These poor people are already down and out and then there are low-life's out there that kick them while they're down...disgusting!

I think one of the saddest things I've heard today (besides, of course, the news of people losing their lives and homes) is that news reporters are actually witnessing Bears scurry across major streets in our mountains to flee the fire. How sad is that... One of the reporters said he had covered countless fires and this is the first time he has seen Bears try to escape. All of our animals must be terrified...poor, poor things.

If you're the praying type, please keep our state in your prayers. The people, firefighters and our animals need our prayers so please, keep 'em coming.

From movie room to playroom..

After coming to the conclusion that my house looked like a toy store exploded, I made it my mission to turn our hardly-used "Movie room" into a playroom for Miss Fancy Pants. The child has more toys than she knows what to do with and my hope is that one day, she will be able to fondle each and every toy that sits untouched in her room. Anyways, here is the movie room, that got used maybe every few months:

So to keep my house looking like adults live in the home also, I began planning and preparing for the playroom. First decision was what to hang on the walls...I didn't really want generic posters because knowing my daughter, she will eventually think that the posters are waaay too generic for such a little Princess. So, I got creative and painted Crayola posters that were big enough to fit the existing frames we had hung for movie posters. In total, I painted 6 posters and added special little touches like stick-on foam flowers and glitter that made Cinderella's dress shine like nobody's business. Sure, it only took me a few hundred hours to paint every nook and cranny on the silly things, but they are unique and original and I think they came out really nice (even if Belle's dress came out a hideous orangish color rather than the dazzling gold it was intended to be!) Here is what one of the posters looks like:


But I think the hardest task of the whole project was painting the walls. Why in the world did I have to pick such a dark color to pain the movie room? It may have looked nice at the time, but after applying 3 coats (yes, 3!) of "Butternut Squash" yesterday, I was cursing myself for the deep Chocolate color that I had previously slathered the walls in! But alas, three coats later, a Princess border applied, a girly rug unrolled, and the very frilly ribbon curtain hung (that the Hubster picked out), the playroom now looks like a mini toy store.


Yes, that giant monstrosity below is a Cinderella playhouse. I know it will be a couple years before Annie Banani figures out what the huge pink thing is, but for the time being, she enjoys crawling in and kicking the fabric walls as Quentin attempts to paw at her feet on the other side. And I have hidden a few link-a-doos and teething rings in there, so she soldier-crawls inside the playhouse and begins chewing and batting at her treasures.


So, she's got a bookcase full of books that range from "Walter the Farting Dog" to "Guess How Much I Love You"and while she has trouble sitting still long enough for me to read her a few pages, we attempt to read a few new book every day. And being the oh-so-practical mom that I am, I bought my Banani a Little Tykes Vanity set, complete with lipstick, nail polish, and a blow dryer :) I mean, every little girl's gotta have one, right? And really, how could I resist the fact that it tells you how beautiful you are when the lipstick is removed from it's compartment?!?!?

As much fun as it was planning and creating this special room for Lauren Anne, I am glad it's over. And I'm glad I took "before" pics because I know that in no time, the room will look like a Tornado has hit and toys will be everywhere!

On the move!

Oh Lordy, I'm in trouble...in fact, I've been in trouble for about a week now because my Fancy Pants had decided that being stationary was so outta style. So now she's a mobile little thing that just goes and goes! It used to be rolling...but now, you lay her down and she crawls as fast as her cute little bum can take her, usually over to Ellie :)

After inhaling a few pounds worth of Ellie's oh-so-delicious dog hair, something else caught her eye. Nope, it wasn't a toy, or a dog or even lint particles that she inevitably finds and swallows, it was a shadow! You should have seen the look on her face when she couldn't figure out why the darn thing wouldn't "go" into her hands...priceless!


Anyways, with my crawling cutie's soft, pale little baby knees in mind, I went on to Etsy.com and bought her these:

They are called "Babylegs". Actually, because I am trying my hardest to be a frugal Frannie, I bought these knock off versions which are just as stylish and functional. These ones are called "Baby Leg Warmers" (original, huh?) and instead of spending $15 per pair, I got all five pairs for a bargain price of $35 bucks!!!

After her inspection of these colorful faux pants, we headed to the computer room where she was off! Our "Princess Piddle Pot" (as daddy calls her) began crawling after her toys and seemed to really enjoy that her tender little knees were no longer getting scratched up on the carpet (or maybe I'm just reading into this too far!)

Then all of a sudden, she would realize that those funny looking colors were still attached to her legs and then she's spend another good 5 minutes feeling and pulling and attempting to chew them:

She eventually caught on that Mommy had gone a little camera crazy so after she'd crawl a few inches, she'd look back at me as if to say "Hello Paparazzi?? I'm waiting!"

After the toys bored her, she began crawling over to her Jumperoo...

and then to one of her favorite toys, the nasty, stinky dog bed which she constantly tries to touch but that darn Mom intercepts:

My days now are spent corralling the Curious George and preventing her from sticking inanimate objects in the outlets (I'm kidding; I've already baby-proofed the whole stinkin' house!) And as draining as it is following the pint-sized one everywhere, I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm so proud of my crawling cutie!