Lauren Visits The Dentist

Right before her 4th birthday, Lauren went in for her first dental visit.  Chad and I have been working with her on brushing teeth for a while, but it was time to go in for a cleaning and get her used to the dentist.

We spent some time talking about the dentist office.  We explained that they take care of our teeth by taking pictures, cleaning the teeth, and fixing any problems.  Lauren was very excited to go and kept talking about getting a new toothbrush.

Once we arrived, we sat down in the waiting room and waited for them to call us back.  Lauren practiced some of her dance moves, but after a few minutes, she looked at me and said "Waiting is hard Mom, but I practice patience".  At that moment, the dental tech called us back.

Lauren was a little scared once we got in the room and she saw the big chair and cleaning tools.  But she bravely climbed up and leaned back.  The tech was awesome and really put Lauren at ease.  She told jokes and they giggled about how silly she looked with the light on her glasses.  Of course, Charlie kept a close eye on his big sister and finally relaxed once Lauren laughed.

And before we knew it, the cleaning was over.  Lauren did great!!  She has big spaces between her teeth, which is great for two reasons.  First, we don't have to worry about flossing because the spaces are big enough.  Second, the spaces will allow plenty of room for her permanent teeth to come in.  My fingers are crossed that Lauren has Chad's teeth and not mine.

Finally, it came time for Lauren to get the much anticipated new toothbrush.  The Dentist pulled out a bunch of princess brushes, and after the 5th choice, Lauren looked at her and asked "Do you have any Captain America toothbrushes please".  They did, and Lauren was so excited.  I was very proud that Lauren enjoys super heros as much as she does princesses and that she spoke up and asked so politely.

All in all, it was a successful trip to the dentist and I hope all of our future visits will be as nice and easy!!

Lauren Turns 4!!

Once again, March 15th has come around and Chad and I have been walking around in disbelief...how on earth is Lauren Bear 4 years old?!?!  I look at this confident, sweet, and goofy child and can't even believe she was ever a tiny baby.  It is amazing how much they change, year to year, and how fast the time as flown.  I look forward to watching her grow up and yet, I want to freeze time and snuggle up with my beautiful and amazing little 4 year old.  These emotions have made it clear that March 15th will always be a bittersweet day for me.  Happiness that Lauren is growing up to be such an incredible girl, excitement to see what will happen for her in the future, and sadness that she is growing up.

Right now, Lauren is 3 feet, 5 inches and weighs 34 pounds.

She loves:

• to dance
• to swim
• to ice skate
• to make Charlie laugh    
• to race around the house
• to play with her musical instruments
• to play with her Scooby Doo toys
• to play with her Legos
• to color  
• to sing songs
• to play dress-up in Princess clothes or Super Hero outfits

Her favorite shows/movies are:

• Mary Poppins
• 101 Dalmations (thanks Sarah & Kevin)
• Scooby Doo cartoons
• Inspector Gadget cartoons
• Any cartoons with Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, or Thor
• Any cartoons with Spider Man or Batman
• Fantasia
• Woody Wood Pecker Cartoons
• Sleeping Beauty

Her favorite foods are:

• Grilled Cheese sandwiches
• Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches
• Mac-n-cheese
• Chicken Nuggets
• Spaghetti
• Eggs & Pancakes
• Pringles
• Banana Bread
• Cereal (Fruit Loops, Cheerios, or Frosted Flakes)
• And finally Pizza!!  Woo Hoo

Once she turned 4, we stopped making a separate dinner for Lauren and she now has to try mommy and daddy's food.  She fights us every night and even though she does try a bite, she refuses to like any of the food so far.  We make sure she has fruit or yogurt along with our dinner, so that she won't go hungry, but we plan on continuing the process.  It is very frustrating, but I know it will eventually pay off.

For her party this year, I tried to convince Lauren that she wanted an ice skating party, but she was adamant that she wanted a Lego Party.  So, we had a Lego party!!

Party Prep!!

We had decorations in bright primary colors, had a "Pin The Head On The Lego Man" game, had a "Lego Bean Bag Toss" game, had Lego sets for the kids to assemble, had a "Guess How Many Legos" game (the answer was 214), and topped it off with an incredible Lego cake, from Susannah Gillespie!!  We had a bunch of our friends and family here and it really was a wonderful party.

                     

  

                     

           

After the guests went home, we settled down and opened some presents.  Lauren was especially excited for all of the super hero related gifts, and tried on ALL of her dress-up costumes.  She was especially happy to get her Captain America shield and mask.  Eventually, Chad brought her big gift up from the basement, and Lauren was so excited to finally have a dollhouse.  She received her dollhouse furniture from the grandparents, and we all had a great time decorating the house.  Mee-maw and Grammy did an especially good job at fitting all of the furniture in the different rooms.  We finished the day with a Pali/Fisher tradition...popping off a bottle of champagne!!

           

The next day, Mee-maw, Grandpa, Grammy, Grumpa, Chad, Charlie, Lauren and I headed to the Ashburn Ice House for Ice Skating class.  Lauren and Chad have been working on her skating skills and it is really fun to watch her progress week to week.  We finished the day with some chili dogs at the Vienna Inn, a little shopping, playing with Lauren's new toys, and most importantly...measuring Lauren on her growth chart!!  By Sunday evening, we were ALL exhausted.

                               

 It was a great birthday celebration, and I think Lauren had a wonderful time.  Now we have to re-organize the playroom to make room for all of her new toys, and it is time to gear up for another party.  Next up...Sarah and Kevin's wedding shower!!  Woo Hoo!!

It's Barry Manilow Time!!

On Wednesday, March 4, 2015, I was able to check off an item on my bucket list...see Barry Manilow in concert!!

That afternoon, Mee-maw, Grandpa, Sarah, Kevin, Charlie, and I went to Lauren's swim class to watch her practice floating and going under the water.  Then we headed back home, so that Chad could stay home with the kids, while the rest of us went into DC for the concert.

Kevin, true to form, dressed in costume.  He looked ridiculous and everyone at the concert got quite a kick out of his look.  Mee-maw and I made sure to walk just a step ahead of him!  ha ha ha

"Oh Mandy", that concert was awesome, and did not disappoint!  40 years ago, my parents first heard of an up and coming artist, named Barry Manilow, on their honeymoon.  And my childhood was filled with his music.  I had a blast singing and dancing along to EVERY song, and I bought my first concert t-shirt afterwards.

           

We finished the evening with dinner at Matchbox, one of my favorite places in DC.  Mee-maw and Grandpa headed back to Salisbury, and I drove Sarah and Kevin back to our place for the night.

And the fun continued, because Kevin, after exhausting himself from all of the excitement of the concert, forgot his wig in the back of our car.  So obviously, Chad needed to try it on, right before we headed out for a black tie event, and we decided to try it on Charlie, to see what he will look like with a full mullet.  I have to say, Charlie pulled off the look best, but then again, he can wear pretty much anything and look cute!!

The Dollhouse!!!

Last Thanksgiving, on Small Business Saturday, Mee-maw, Sarah, and I headed off to Snow Hill to do a little Xmas shopping.  We stopped in to pick up some specialty olive oils, checked out a few of our favorite shops, and took a look around an antique store.  We had quite a few giggles as we strolled around the store, but something caught my eye in the very far back corner of the shop.  Surrounded by random pieces of furniture, old clothes, and multiple colored glass bottles, I saw an old and VERY run down dollhouse.

                         

                     

I am not sure why this dollhouse caught my eye, or what made me immediately think of Lauren.  She had never really played with a dollhouse or expressed an interest in anything like it, but somehow I knew that I needed to get it.  We called someone over to ask about it.  They were asking $110 for it, which I thought was a little high. (This was actually a great price, because similar dollhouse kits sell for $800)  It needed a lot of work, and plenty of replacement parts.  We walked out of the store and continued shopping, but I could not get it out of my mind.  At the end of the day, we went back and I decided to go for it.  We loaded it up in the car and took it home.

A month later, Lauren was watching a show on the Disney Channel, and the main character got a big dollhouse for Xmas.  I almost started laughing, and certainly had a huge smile on my face, after Lauren told me that she really wanted a dollhouse.  Chad and I told her we would look around and see if we could find one for her birthday.  We needed a few months to get everything done!!

We bought 1200 shingles for the roof, new doors for the front porch and the upstairs balcony, new railings for the front porch and the upstairs balcony, flooring for the inside, wallpaper for the inside, trim for all of the interior doors, baseboards for all of the rooms, and paint for the outside.  We worked on it over the course of a few months and many times we had to remind each other that we were not actually moving in to this house.  But we are very happy and proud with the final outcome!!

Wallpaper!!

Shingles

 

Making the doorway bigger (so our new doors would fit)

The finished product

 

Decorated rooms!!

Kitchen (with Scooby)

Front entry

Dining Room (We left the wall on the left, under the stairs,
the same to remind ourselves what it used to look like)

Living Room

Bedroom

Upstairs Hallway

 

Bathroom

Second Bedroom

 

The Grandpa Writing Room!!  =)

I look forward to watching Lauren and Charlie play with this dollhouse.  And we plan to hold on to this so that our grandchildren can play with it, one day, as well!  (We are partly being sentimental and also because Chad and I only have the desire to go through this one dollhouse renovation)

Charlie's First Capital's Practice!

Since we used to live fairly close to Kettler Ice House, we were able to take in quite a few Washington Capital's hockey practices.  After moving further west, we have not been to any practices and decided it was time to take Charlie for a spot up against the glass.

We arrived early and were able to get a great spot. Super Hero Lauren, who was decked out in her hockey jersey and red cape, immediately loved the flying pucks.  Her eyes opened wide and she could not get over how fast they moved along the glass.  She decided that her favorite player was Brooks Laich, because he likes Jake and the Neverland Pirates too (which we learned when he walked by a toddler Lauren, while she was watching the iPad, outside the rink at Kettler.  He saw the show, stopped, smiled at Lauren, and started talking to her about Jake.  Once I told her this story, he was her hero)  But she changed her mind, and decided that the coach was actually her "most favorite" player.  She enjoyed watching him write on the big board.  After a few minutes watching the practice up close, we moved over to the seats and spent the rest of our time up there.

       

Chad stayed down by the glass with Charlie, who was a little less enthusiastic about all of the noise.  He seemed a little scared of the flying pucks and did not enjoy the speed with which they slid along the glass.  But eventually he relaxed and discovered that it was fun to bang on the glass.  From that point on, he was content to watch the practice with his dad.

     

Chad and I wanted to make sure we got Charlie to a Caps practice, because some of our favorite pictures of Lauren, when she was a baby, were at Kettler.  She was decked out in an infant Washington Capital's Winter Classic jersey and looked so cute up against the glass.  We tried to get similar pictures with Charlie, who was wearing the same jersey, and I think they are equally as cute!!

                                         

                                                   

Grumpa put these two pictures together.  Lauren is on the left, Charlie is on the right.  Pretty similar (other than the eyes)!!