Lauren's First 4th of July Parade

Now what holiday am I celebrating today??

I had to work so I loaded up the backpack with blankets, cheerios, water, and diapers for Kyle instructing him to take lots of pictures! We had to take a picture next to the new artwork on the wall first though. My grandma Lubinus found this piece of Chicago's lakefront from A LONG time ago. It is neat to see the progression of buildings. (The picture isn't crooked either, it is the angle of the camera)
On the stroller ride to the parade. What a perk of living in the downtown area!
Sipping some water on the hot morning.
She has two bottom teeth, two top teeth, and one on the bottom left and top left coming in...

Watching the Parade. Kyle said she only got scared of the fire trucks.

All tuckered out...I have an identical picture from when I was this age!

Thanks to all our servicemen/women who fight everyday for our continued freedom! We are truly blessed to be able to live in freedom and safety everyday.

Wordless Wednesday

My Cousin's Wedding and Related Thoughts

My cousin Linsey got hitched this past weekend. Although I haven't seen her in ages, it was one of those weddings that makes you cry and have flashbacks to our own big day.

I had the privilege of doing her make-up so I got a behind-the-scenes look at all the preparations and excitement. Attending David and Linsey's wedding reminded me that I have a daughter who will possibly one day walk down the aisle herself....ugh! So much about their relationship, integrity, discipline, and love for one another started deep conversations with myself about the values that I want to instill in Lauren.

For starters, Linsey and David waited until they were married to kiss!!! Can you believe it, four years of courting...that is discipline! These two honored their bodies and the institution of marriage so much that they wanted to remain completely pure until their big day. Although Kyle and I waited until our wedding night to have sex, we must certainly kissed on our 4th date!

Not only did they wait until their wedding day to kiss, but they decided not to see each other until the wedding. That meant no pictures together before the ceremony. While everyone was checking out the bride as she marched down the aisle, I was busy snapping pictures of the groom. I just love this picture of David trying to peek around all the people and see his bride. There was so much love, respect, and Godliness in this marriage.
I can only hope that I can instill values, morals, and respect in Lauren that she will want to honor her body, her future husband, and God and wait until her wedding day to have sex.

Congrats David and Linsey on your new marriage and for being great role-models and examples of a Godly Christian marriage. It isn't often that I look at newlyweds for advice on my own marriage!

3 Years...

Last week (June 16) Kyle and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary. It was much different than the past two with a child in tow but fun nonetheless. She was even gracious enough to sleep through our fancy dinner at a restaurant so we could actually enjoy our food and one another. Each year we celebrate our anniversaries with the traditional themed gifts. The first year being paper (books and tickets to the Blue Man Group), the second was cotton (a baby sling and new pillows) and this year being leather. Now before you come to any conclusions about leather gifts to one another on your wedding anniversary...I received some leather portfolios and business card holders that I have been wanting and Kyle a new leather office chair; for neither of us being employed full-time we sound like quite the professionals!

Oh yeah...I guess I have failed to mention that Kyle quit his job a few weeks ago. He has been staying home with Lauren while I picked up some extra shifts at the cloth diaper shop. To make a really long story short, Kyle wasn't happy there and some poor management and dishonesty was occurring so it was best for him to step away and look elsewhere. Hopefully he will be up and working again here shortly or else I can continue to call him Mr. Mom.

We also celebrated Kyle's first Father's Day yesterday. This weekend we worked at a fair near the city for Yoreganics and Comfy Bummy Diapers (the shop I work at) so we didn't really get to celebrate much. We are going grocery shopping later today for his present....yep, I said grocery shopping...I figured we could spend a little extra grocery money this month and buy some things that we usually don't, i.e. macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza.
Lauren truly loves her 'hubba' and I know that he is going to have a hard time telling her 'no' as she gets older....except when it comes to dating!

Our Bathroom...Redone

Here is our bathroom remodel. I was convinced it was going to be blue but obviously didn't go with that plan...

BEFORE

massive pink vanity, pink toilet with wood lid, white walls, toilet paper holder in odd spot
AFTER
pedestal sink, high efficiency toilet- white toilet, yellow walls, moved tp holder, painted window

I like it now...much more light, spacious, and airy!

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

We participated in the Avon Walk for Breast this past weekend and had a blast. There are definitely times that are difficult, boring, mentally frustrating, and physically exhausting but so worth it knowing that we are raising awareness about breast cancer.I know we have mentioned this before, but each participant is required to raise $1800.00. They have two months after the event is over to raise all their funds. If you have yet to donate and would like to contribute financially, click on the links below. The online donating process is super simple and your contributions are tax-deductible.

Kyle's Link

Jamie's Link

I will post more about our Avon Walk adventures and new house soon. We have been super busy lately!

Tuesday Randomness...

We are scheduled to close on Thursday...hopefully! I am trying not to get too excited just in case it falls through but would really like to get out of our apartment and noisy upstairs neighbors!!

I got my hair cut on Sunday. I think that I look more like my brother now. I am planning on going tons shorter but figured it would be best to go one step at a time...it looks similar to my haircut from two years ago (here). I also shed a little tear thinking about that apartment...I do miss that thing, I wish we could have taken it with us out to the burbs. But I digress....

Not easy taking a self-picture with a massive camera, can you see my hair cut??

This is as far as my arm would reach out...

Oh duh, I have a self-timer...don't mind the messy living room!

Lauren knows how to take her velcro diapers off, it looks like she won't be able to go clothes-less with a velcro diaper on anymore! Thank goodness we have plenty in snaps. She looks pretty mischievous here...

Just Another Day at the Park...

Rhubarb: A Story in Pictures

For how many interesting faces she made...she loved it! I made some homemade apple-rhubarb-sauce in the crockpot and she was begging for more.

Not So Quick...

Our closing has been RESCHEDULED...ugh!!! There was an unknown issue with the sellers that will only take a few days to get sorted out. So next week sometime the closing should take place. Good thing we have until mid-June to get out of our apartment if we keep going at this rate!

Lauren was shocked to hear the the news as well...

Our New House...

I know a few of you have been wanting to read more about our house. Sorry for the delay, we have had some minor hiccups in the closing process and I just wanted to make sure that everything was in the clear before getting too excited.

Back in March we decided that we wanted to buy a house around this area. I know some of you were banking on us coming back to Iowa but we have really come to love this area and the community of friends we have established. We have been paying $850-1025/month rent for the past 3 years and decided it made more sense to invest our money into a house instead of blowing it on rent each month.

So in March we begin the search...about 40 houses later and 4 OFFERS (yes 4 offers on 4 separate homes) we finally found our gem. Now if any of you are familiar with the house-buying process, you have to get pre-approved by a lender and they look at your debt-to-income ratio (how much debt you have compared to how much money you are bringing in). Since I am not working and have a year left on my car loan plus graduate student loans (ugh!) I negatively affected our number. So when we went to sign the contract, I originally signed it...which wasn't supposed to happen. Because the housing market is so crazy right now and houses are being bought the first day that they enter the market (we snagged this one right away), we were worried that by signing a new contract the seller can technically look at any other contracts that have come their way after our original one was signed. Therefore, we had to get an attorney to deal with their attorney and make sure that nothing of that sort happened ($500 later...). Once we finally got the contract settled, we thought that we were done...not! Come to find out, gift money that we had received from relatives for a down payment needed proof: we had to have relatives sign a letter and fax their bank statement showing that the money was withdrawn from their account. Once that was finally done, we were FINALLY ready for underwriting on our loan. Thankfully it was rushed because of deadline in our contract and we are closing this FRIDAY!! Our lease at our current apartment expires on June 15th so we have some time to paint and slowly moved without feeling rushed. I have a feeling we will try to get out of our apt. as soon as possible with the noisy family upstairs! We were originally supposed to be out of here May 15th but it was cutting too close so we had to sign an extra month (which also meant $250 extra on top of rent)!

Without further ado...here is our new HOUSE! It is a 3 bdrm., 1 bath ranch built in 1972. The basement is semi-finished and a really nice size. The house is very similar to my Grandma B's house! It needs a new roof but otherwise no major repairs. We are planning on maintaining the 70's vibe for the most part except eventually the pink toilet and sink are going to have to go! The bathtub is also pink but it is not worth the time/money to take it out, especially since you can keep it covered with a shower curtain.

The bathroom floor...I love this!
I am planning on painting the bathroom a robin's egg blue but am not quite sure yet...thoughts?

The 70's kitchen! I am really hoping we can get this oven to work, it would drastically change the feeling of the kitchen and I highly doubt we would be able to find something else to match our yellow sink. Oh yeah, did I mention no air conditioning or dishwasher...

Kitchen floor, this pic is horrible but you get the idea. Possibly hardwood one day. There is this amazing company in Illinois that makes things out of dead trees in your own yard...hopefully one day we can get some floors from that.

The piano in the basement. If anyone knows anything about pianos let me know what you think about this! Do you think it is 'tune-able'? It is an Edmund Gram Piano Co. (Milwaukee) which is not manufactured anymore.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day (yesterday) to all you Mommas out there! Although I was pregnant last year and considered myself a mommy, this year was much more special to have my little bug to snuggle up with instead of kick me silly in the insides.

Down Memory Lane...Last years Mother's Day at Olivia's Baptism, my bump wasn't very big.

Kyle took Lauren to the grocery store early in the morning to get some juice and breakfast and came home with some flowers too!After Church, we went for a walk to train some more for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. We decided to stop midway through the walk for lunch and then hit up Menards on the way home to price shop on things for the new house (I will be sure to post more about that this week).Lauren rode in our new carrier for the month (we rent them), the FreeHand. I still think I am partial to wraps but the mei tai will be amazing when it gets really hot out. Half the walk she rode on the front and then after Menards she went on my back. I wasn't feeling well after lunch and was glad to have her off my stomach for a bit. The back carry wasn't quite as supportive as the front but it could be how the weight is distributed with my body.

Cousin Comparison

I kept hearing comments about how much Cousin Ethan and Lauren look alike...I always dismissed them until I made this comparison. What do you think??

The picture isn't very big but if you click on it, it should enlarge.

Save a Place For Me...

Gramps...
I am so glad that you got to meet Lauren this past weekend! I could tell that she could feel your presence, for someone who never stops moving and jabbering, she just sat still and stared. I know that you would absolutely love her...she is SO full of life and zest and has just the silliest humor. I can imagine her tailing behind you on the way to the park, fishing pole in tow and playing the leg trap game.

We miss you but know that you are saving a place for us up in Heaven.


Save a Place For Me: Matthew West

Don't be mad if I cry
It just hurts so bad sometimes
'Cause everyday it's sinking in
And I have to say goodbye all over again
You know I bet it feels good to have the weight of this world off your shoulders now
I'm dreaming of the day when I'm finally there with you

Save a place for me
Save a place for me
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
Save a place for me
Save some grace for me
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

I have asked the question why
But I guess the answer's for another time
So instead I'll pray with every tear
And be thankful for the time I had you here
And I wanna live my life just like you did
Make the most of my time just like you did
And I wanna make my home up in the sky
Just like you did
Oh, but until I get there
Until I get there