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

Ice Cream Cone

Her first of many to come, I'm sure...

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it."

-Adrian Rogers, 1931

The Secret of Happiness

We often fall into the trap of thinking a new car, job promotion, beauty makeover, or some level of fame will make us happy. And often they do—for a time. But it never lasts because wealth, power, beauty and fame simply don’t bring lasting happiness, as much as we wish they would. Rather, true happiness comes from following Christ’s example and developing Godlike attributes such as goodness, love, justice and mercy. It comes from serving others and helping them to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ. It comes from overcoming the appetites of our human bodies and instead following the promptings of the Spirit. It comes from working hard and having a healthy lifestyle, friends, family, and personal achievements.

Regardless of what you do or don’t have in this life, your deepest, most lasting happiness will come from knowing God’s plan and following it.

I love the church's websites. They always have just what I need. Do you need some inspiration, guidance, or cheer? You'll find it at mormon.org

California

Thursday: drove to Clovis after work, arriving around midnight

Friday: shopping, CB&T, Farmer's Market, Inception

Saturday: Millerton Lake (MAJOR sunburns for everyone but baby), BBQ

Sunday: church (Loralye's first time alone in nursery!), dessert with family

Monday: drove back home with a pit stop in Bakersfield

Our trip to Clovis was a little jam packed. I went to bed late every night and still managed to get up at 7am to get ready for the day before the baby woke up. It was so much fun even with half my parent's house being A/C-less. With all of the activities, I had little time to take pictures. And during the moments where I should have had time (ie. a few hours on the boat), Loralye was attached to my hip. She was such a mama's girl all weekend. So other than a few pictures of my mom and Loralye on the boat while we were waiting for my dad to jump the dead battery, the only pictures I got were on my cell phone:

Going over roller coaster-ish bumps on the way there.

Piling toys on Uncle Philly.
Playing "Fee" (aka. One... Two... Three!) with mom and Philly at the Farmer's Market.

Watching Papa's phone with cousin Kenna.

Sleeping on the way back with her new neck pillow.

Honey Nut Cherrios on the way home.

Loralye update: She had her 18 month check up yesterday. She is 29lbs 4oz, and 33 3/4inches tall which puts her in the 95-100 percentile for both. I think its funny that I have had countless people tell me how chunky she is, but she is the exact weight she should be for her height. She didn't have to have any shots at her check up. I thought she was going to have several because some of my friend's babies got lots of shots at their 18 month appointment, but Loralye didn't need any! And she won't need any until her next well check up at 2 years old :) Woo!

Gramma's "Pearls"

After my Gramma passed away her belongings were divided up amongst her children and grandchildren. My Papa, bless his heart, is no longer of a sound mind and his body is going, so he moved in with my aunt and did not take much with him. It's amazing how much stuff a family can build up in their home after living in it for a few decades. One of the items I was lucky enough to receive was a costume necklace made of fake pearls. It probably isn't worth more than a dollar, but it means a lot to me to have something that she used to wear.

The weather was beautiful on Saturday morning and I decided to put the necklace on Loralye and take her and my camera outside for a walk while Aaron was at work. She isn't the most cooperative model, but I was able to snap a few cute ones worth sharing anyways.

Not a great picture, but I had to share.
Her belly rolls are just so cute!

Because this blog is the only way I really journal, I wanted to type up a few things that I'm super excited about and thus counting down to...

3 days until we drive to Clovis!!
4 days until Loli will be old enough for nursery :)
12 days until the Pioneer Day Celebration in North Las Vegas... complete with fireworks!
27 days until we speak in Las Vegas 8th ward for the last time!
33 days until Aaron's 29th birthday!!
37 days until we get the keys to our rental townhouse!!!
40 days until we move into said townhouse :D

xoxo

What a weekend!

We had such a fun 3 day weekend! We were able to see my parents and Aaron's family and even squeeze some time with friends in there. Aaron, Loralye, and I all had a fabulous time! I have oodles of pictures too, so brace yourself...

My parents drove in on Thursday night and kept Loralye with them at the apartment on Friday. Allen let me leave work a couple hours early and we went shopping at the Venetian and the Fashion Show Mall for a while and then came home, went swimming, watched Hatari!, and went to bed.

Papa, Loli, and I freezing to death (but still having fun!) in the apartment pool. It was 100+ during the day, but the pool temperature drops like crazy as soon as the sun isn't touching it.

Trying to get Papa to take her out of the cold pool.

Once out of the pool, all she wanted to do was play along the edge of it.
Peek-a-Boo!

She's becoming such a little lady :)

Back in the pool and ordering Papa around.

Out again and ready to go back to the apartment for a bath and bedtime!

Bye bye!

On Saturday we lounged around a bit in the morning, went shopping again (the girls went to the outlet mall and the boys went to Fry's), went to dinner at Famous Dave's, and went to a Las Vegas 51's baseball game (mainly for the fireworks show at the end). Thankfully Loralye slept in 2 hours later than normal that morning because she didn't get to bed until about 11 o'clock that night!

Feeding Molly some "breakfast". She loves Molly, which I love because I've had her since I was 13 months old.

Riding on daddy's shoulders into the ball game.

Sitting on Papa's lap watching the game.

Sharing a Cherry Garcia ice cream bar with daddy.

I thought my parents were staying here until Monday, but they changed their plans so they wouldn't be stuck in too much traffic and headed back home on Sunday as Aaron and I headed off to church. We had some good friends over for dinner and dessert that night instead. We love the Jensens and are so glad that they live right across the street :)

On Monday we went to Aaron's parent's house for a BBQ and swimming. Aaron's sister Cynthia and her hubby were in town, so we had almost his whole family there (minus a little sister who is at girl's camp).

Getting into the pool with Grandpa.

After the first couple minutes out there she mostly wanted me to hold her, so I don't have any pictures of her playing in the pool. But I do have a couple cute ones from after she was done...

Touchdown!!

Applauding herself.

My sweet pretty girl.

Thank you to everyone who helped make our weekend an incredible one!

We love you all!!

Hope.

As I am sitting in the office feeling sorry for myself, as I do most days, that I am here and not at home caring for my daughter and my home as so many of my mom friends are, I decided to seek out a little help. I quickly found that help on LDS.org and thought that I should share it with all of you in case there is someone else out there who, like me, needs to be reminded that there are good things to come.

That there are always good things to come.

Good-Things-to-Come

I do belong at home. A mother's role is in the home. But sometimes life doesn't happen just as it should. I am blessed beyond measure to have a job that not only keeps us from drowning in our debt, but that allows me to have my daughter with me always. Some days are harder than others. Some days I sit here and cry because I don't think I can handle being here for one more second. But I know that through the Lord's help, I can handle it. There is hope. This time in my life is just a second compared to all that lies ahead. I have so many good things in my life now and there are still so many good things to come.

Santa's Gift Shoppe Giveaway!

One of my dear Sunday School teachers has a fabulous gift shoppe blog! She is so talented and she is having a giveaway right now for tiles with vinyl lettering on them. Love it! Check her out!!!

http://santasgiftshoppe.blogspot.com

Lasagna Recipe

I've had a request for the lasagna I mentioned in my previous post, so this is for Dyanna and anyone else who is interested :) I found this on one of my favorite blogs (For the Love of Cooking) and modified it a bit. FYI.. This makes a big ol' 9x13 size lasagna and mine overflowed a bit. I loved everything in here, so I wouldn't want to take anything out, but I would suggest using a deep dish.

Roasted Turkey and Bell Pepper Lasagna

Roasted Garlic and Basil Marinara

12 roma tomatoes, quartered

1 sweet yellow onion, in large chunks

1 head of garlic, broken up with skins on

1 Tbsp olive oil

dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Spread the tomatoes, onion, and garlic over sheet. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle basil, oregano, salt, and pepper on top. Toss vegetables to coat in oil and herbs. Roast 30-40 minutes until veggies are soft. Peel skin off garlic. Put everything into a blender and blend until smooth. Place in a pot and simmer 1-2 hours.

*This can be replaced with a jar of your favorite marinara sauce if you don't want to make your own.

Turkey Mixture

2 cups roasted turkey, shredded (I used a little Jennie-O oven roasted turkey breast)

2 bulbs of roasted garlic (Place bulbs with skins on on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil, and fold edges of foil up to make a completely sealed bundle. Put in oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes and then remove skins.)

1/4 sweet yellow onion, finely diced

3 bell peppers, finely chopped

dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Ricotta Mixture

1-32oz container of ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

dash of nutmeg

dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

Bringing it all together...

9 whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked per instructions on box and drained.

1 - 1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

3 Tbsp parmesan cheese

Layer a deep 9x13 pan in this order (I just eyeballed all of this):

• just enough sauce to cover the bottom
• three noodles
• 1/2 of the ricotta mixture
• 1/2 of the turkey mixture
• mozzarella
• sauce
• three noodles
• remainder of ricotta
• remainder of turkey
• mozzarella
• sauce
• 3 noodles
• remaining sauce
• remaining mozzarella
• parmesan
• finish with a little dried basil and/or oregano if you wish

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Lazy Weekend

We had such a fabulous weekend! We cleaned the house a bit, did some laundry, I spent 3 hours making my first lasagna (roasted turkey and bell pepper whole wheat lasagna with homemade roasted garlic and onion marinara... it was to die for! Which is fortunate because after 3 hours of working in the kitchen, I would have had a temper tantrum if it didn't taste amazing.), and I didn't have to leave the house for anything except church. Normally I like to go out on the weekend, but since our weekends for the next two months are all 100% full, I loved having a laid back weekend with my love and our bunny.

Loralye is becoming less of a baby all the time. She just needs to learn to speak English now and we'll have a full blown little girl. She loves to color, "read" books, put together her farm puzzle, talk on the phone (any phone, or anything that looks like a phone) really loudly while laughing and making grand arm gestures with her free hand, take care of her baby dolls and stuffed animals, help me with the laundry (including putting dirty clothes in the dryer if I accidentally leave the laundry room door open), and talk baby nonsense non-stop. We love our little chatter box :)

Calico Basin

This past Saturday evening we went to Calico Basin. It's just west of town before the Red Rock park. Everything in Calico is so green and there is a lovely cool breeze. I actually felt a bit depressed when we had to leave. It was almost like being back home. The air even felt a little less dry. Anyways, I brought along my camera and shot a few pictures of our darling daughter. Note to self (and anyone else planning a trip to Calico): Bring a stroller. Loralye did okay most of the time, but the walkway is made up of unsealed wood and every time she sat down she got a splinter. Anyways, here are my favorite pictures from the evening.

All along the walk way were little resting points with signs about wildlife or plants. Loralye sat down here and wouldn't come with us. We started walking away and said bye bye to her and she just gave me this smile...

Stomping like daddy.

Taking a break for crackers and milk...

It was so green out there! I loved it!

After a diaper and clothes change we headed home for bed. All that walking wiped her out!