It has been brought to my attention that I didn't leave up my last post on here long enough before making this blog inaccessible to you all. So, if you want the web address for the blog I'm currently using (it's not private - just a new blog), email me at laurenraygreen@gmail.com and I'll give it to you. And don't forget to change my address on your blog lists!

xoxo

NEW BLOG!

Hello my friends! I will no longer be writing on this blog. I have a new blog (it's going to be the same kind of blog, but at a different address) that I started up today. If you want the web address, send me an email at laurenraygreen@gmail.com and I will give it to you! Please remember to tell me who you are though.

Love ya'll!

The Holiday Season

Happy October Eve! We are almost to my favorite time of year. October, November, and December are always full of family, friends, parties, traveling, shopping, beautiful decorations, delicious food, and fabulous smells. The one and only drawback is that these 3 months FLY by for me. At least it gives me something to look forward to for the other 9 months of the year :)

We've been pretty busy for the past week (Aaron was in Colorado and I was trying my best to be a single working parent), so the only new pictures I have are from my phone and are of Loralye (of course). This first picture was taken on Sunday in the foyer during sacrament meeting. About 30 seconds after taking the picture those goldfish went flying all over the couch and floor during one of Loralye's screaming, flailing tantrums. Why she flipped out you might ask... I don't have the slightest idea. She is just a very particular toddler.

Napping in the pack'n'play at work.

After a chocolate malted crunch ice cream cone.
She loves her binkie (or "deeeee" as she calls it).

Baby Love

To say that Loralye loves her babies is a gross understatement. She adores them more than just about anything else in the world. She hugs, kisses, and loves on them all day long. She has one in her arms or at least close by almost 24 hours a day. She feeds them, wraps them in blankets, sets them up on chairs, wipes their faces, gives them binkies, scolds them for being naughty (complete with "no no no!" and finger shaking), and puts them to bed with a loving "nigh night". She has also been seen holding them upside down, throwing them, and sitting on them, but for the most part she is very sweet with them.

Arriving home after work with baby Hazel in one arm and Pooh Bear in the other.Sharing her milk with baby Lucy.

I have always hoped that my girls would love playing with dolls, jewelry, and makeup without me forcing any of it on them and my wish came true. She is a true girlie girl.

She has also been rapidly increasing her vocabulary as of late. She loves the word cold right now and uses it when she eats or drinks anything cold, when her sippy cup touches her skin, and when she gets into the refrigerator. She also say "boo" when playing games and she has finally started saying "Papa" again. She said it a few times several months back and hasn't said it since until this week. I even got it on video!

I love my countdowns...
1 day until Shane is in town for the night.
2 days until my mom (and possibly my dad) come to town.
3 days until we go to St. George.
4 days until Samantha is here.
5 days until Aaron leaves on his birthday trip to Colorado.

xoxo

Settled In

After 3 long weeks every box is finally unpacked, everything is finally in place, and the apartment finally feels like it's ours. We had our first guests over (my in-laws, of course) for dinner last night and it was wonderful to have a reason to force myself (and Aaron) to clean the entire house. It's hard to not be happy when the whole house is clean!

I have been bad at taking pictures since we started packing up our old place, but I'm trying to get in the habit again. I took Loralye on a walk on Saturday while Aaron was working and got these pictures of our little lady. She is growing up right before our eyes!

Balloons

Loralye got to go to her first birthday party for a friend her own age last night! Our good friends Chris and Shae threw a party for their daughter, Lucy, for her 1st birthday and we all had a fabulous time. I hope that Lucy and Loralye will become good friends as they grow up. For now I'll have to be happy with Lucy tolerating Loralye's constant poking, patting, and general lack of gentleness. At the end of the night, Loralye was given a couple balloons to go home with and she was thrilled. EVERY time we go to a store with balloons, she wants to go see them, but when I bring them down to her level, she freaks out. Last night though, she held them like this all the way home and again on the way to work this morning...

In other news, my parents were in town a bit last week. Their schedules were a bit crazy (mom flew in Wed. night, dad drove in later that night, they both flew to SLC for a reunion Thurs. night and flew back here on Sun. morning, dad drove home shortly after arriving here on Sun., and mom flew back home Mon. night... phew), but we were able to go window shopping at the Venetian and they also stayed home with Loralye on Thursday while I went to work. It's always strange to be at work without her. It's MUCH nicer, but still strange to have such a quiet office. Here's the one picture I got from the time with my parents. We were at the Venetian food court getting sandwiches for dinner and I'm guessing she had a question for the teacher?

Life is going pretty well right now. Not that things were terrible before, but they are just better now. We are kinda drowning in our debt, but had never sat down and had a serious discussion about how to get ourselves back on dry land again until a couple of nights ago. We have three credit cards, a dirt bike, a car, and a student loan that need to be paid off. We will probably just stick with the current schedule of the student loan and have it paid off by 2025 (stupid WyoTech), but we will have EVERYTHING else paid off by the middle of 2013! I can't wait. I know it's a ways off, but I can't even begin to describe how happy it makes me to have a plan in place. I always feel more at peace when I have a plan or a list or an agenda to follow. Without it I feel like my life is in chaos. Anyways, with this plan in motion I can now start counting down to retirement and Baby Green #2! Just 3 more years. Aaron and I would both love to have more kids asap, but I can't work with 2 kids and I can't quit until our debt is paid off. Plus I think Loralye will LOVE being an only child for another 3ish years. She freaks out when I even hold another baby, so I can only imagine how crazy she would go if she became a big sister any time soon :)

I love my COUNTDOWNS...

2 hours until our 3 day weekend.

15 days until we go to St. George for Jake and Courtney's wedding & baby shower.

17 days until Aaron and Allen leave for UT, WY, and CO for a week of dirtbikes.

17 days until Loralye and I get a week's worth of girl nights.

29 days until I get to throw a baby shower for Tara and Jaxson.

34 days until Loralye and I go to Clovis.

69 days until my 25th birthday.

90 days until Disneyland with my whole family (minus Elder Call).

Ahh.. A list of plans. I am so at peace right now :)

19 Months

My goodness. Where has the time gone? Loralye is officially closer to her 2nd birthday than she is to her 1st. It's so exciting. She learns something new every day. Here is a bit of what she's up to right now:

-She knows what a lion says (arrr... said in her most raspy voice), what a doggie says (woof woof), what a cow says (moooooo), and occasionally what a kitty (oww) and an owl (ooo ooo) say.

-She knows where her hair, ears, eyes, nose, lips, tongue, chin, hands, fingers, belly button, and toes are. We are working on her knees and buns right now :)

-She follows direction pretty well and likes to mimic people's actions. Aaron was coughing the other night and was patting his chest, so Loralye started patting her chest too. So cute!

-She loves all of her "babies" and likes to sleep with them, ride in the car with them, and take them to work. Her current favorite babies are Pooh Bear, her dollies (Molly, Lucy, Hazel, and Jemima - yes, I named them all), her little bunny, and Elmo. If she could she would hold all 7 of them at once.

-She also likes anything with a baby or baby doll on it. She was kissing, hugging, and rocking a memory game card all morning because there was a baby doll on it.

-She loves little kids. She giggles uncontrollably when she sees kids running around or rough housing and tries to join in too if she can (She definitely got that from her father... when I was a little girl I cried when my dad and brothers would wrestle).

I tried to get some pictures of her on her 19 month birthday, but she was being a little difficult. This is one of the ones I managed to get... She's got my work phone wedged under her jaw and is talking with her hands. She has been watching me on the phone a little too much I think!

Quick family update: We got the keys to our rental townhouse last night! We are so happy! Loralye immediately started trying to walk up the stairs, so we also bought a baby gate last night :) Aaron moved a ton of boxes over last night and will be moving more tonight and we have some guys coming over on Saturday morning to help us (help Aaron, I should say) move all the furniture and a few big boxes! I'm so happy to be out of our overpriced garage-less apartment! Yay!

Under 100!

The high for today in Las Vegas... 98 degrees! Could the summer heat be winding down? I hope so. I am so sick of the heat. I'm tired of being roasted when I get into my car. I tired of all of the cockroaches that swarm the apartment walkways. I'm tired of hearing about everyone's beach trips. I'm tired of wind that feels like a giant blow dryer in my face. I am just done with summer and so ready for fall and winter! I love getting all bundled up in a blanket and drinking hot cider. I love wearing scarves and fuzzy socks. I love making pumpkin bars and wrapping gifts. I love going to Disneyland.

Counting down...

5 days until Aaron's birthday!

9 days until we get our townhouse keys!

12 days until moving day! YAY :D