It's a...

It's a girl, y'all!

As you can imagine, we are totally shocked and totally over the moon.

After having two of the same gender I truly, honestly just expected another boy. I had no reason to think otherwise- I've had the same type of pregnancy for all three kids, in fact I felt the worst when pregnant with Benjamin (which the old wives tales tell you means it's a girl, but now that I know him I know the real reason). And, odds said so anyhow!

However, there was one small part of me that thought that maybe it was a girl.

Why you may ask? Because my oldest son Cooper told me so, that same day he told me I had a baby in my belly. Remember that strange part of the story? During that conversation he told me "Mom, you have a baby in your belly. Like Ben, but it's a girl. We won't get to meet her for awhile, but we will when she's ready to come out." And he didn't stop there. He called her "Alex" and anytime we would read books where he saw a baby girl, he would say, "Look mom! A baby like Alex in your tummy!" Again, this all happened before we even knew we were expecting.

And since we are on the subject, can we talk about Cooper for a second? This child is such a blessing to our family. He is unbelievably kind, caring and loving. There is not one ounce of meanness in him and I'm incredibly proud of who he is becoming. So, of course an angel gave him a heads up to this baby! What perfect planning that he was the steward of this wonderful news, even though I didn't believe him at the time.

In closing, I will obviously need all your favorite shops for bows and dresses and any other information I need to know about where to get her the cutest clothing items of all times. Because that's all I've been doing, shopping for her.

*All photos courtesy of Hillary Wheat Photography.

Keep in touch! Follow along on Happy Haven Blog's Facebook page.

Baby's first birthday.

I have a three year old and one year old. 

My baby celebrated his first birthday over the weekend, which makes him one. This was an emotional day for me. Because really, as any mom will tell you, the first birthday is about the kid SURE, but mainly it's about us. The moms and dads. Mainly the moms.

We had a backyard water party to celebrate our main man, and the kids came in their suits and had a blast! 

Summer birthdays rock.

It meant so much to have our family and friends with us to celebrate. People that have supported me through this first year and who have loved Ben all together in one place is pretty special. 

Happy birthday to my toothless, handsome, fearless and happy little boy. Ben, you are such a fun personality and bring a bright, new light into this home.

We love you.

Keep in touch! Follow along on Happy Haven Blog's Facebook page.

Halloween celebrations and kid-friendly plans.

I hope you had good weekend, friends!

I myself sat on the couch with a head cold and a box of kleenex all weekend. I even had to miss a Halloween pumpkin carving party with friends. I did snap this pic of Coop on his way out It's some serious cuteness.

Time on the couch did however, give me an opportunity to make our Halloween plans for the mini.

Update. For Halloween he's going to be...

...Elmo!

I know what you're thinking. Creative, right?

Well he loves "Melmo" and it was $10 at Target. Perfect combination! While the $50 shark costume I bought him last year from Pottery Barn (which he wore for 15 minutes) was well worth the money...

...this year I decided to go the inexpensive route.

My other idea (thanks to a family member) was to dress him like a little old man- with a walker and all, but that took way too much time and energy. There are so many cute ideas out there on how to make this costume hysterical. I mean, how can you resist a baby AND an old man? YOU CAN'T.

I thought about trick-or-treating, however giving a toddler ice cream is risky enough. But candy? No bueno. My son runs, he does NOT walk. I can picture a short red Elmo running into the middle of the street in all his sugar-filled-hysteria. Again, no thanks.

So, here's our safer but just as equally fun plans for next weekend:

Boo at the Zoo (Denver Zoo) - Saturday and Sunday, October 26-27

They will have trick-or-treat stations, creepy crawly animal demonstrations and other family-friendly entertainment.

Right up our alley. And we can go first thing in the morning or after nap time. The mini is much, much happier during those two times.

Trick or Treat Street (Denver Childrens Museum) - October 25-27, 9am-7:30pm

This will also be fun - they will have a Treat House for collecting goodies, Halloween crafts, a Monster Carnival and stroll through "Pumpkin" Hill. I love it!

And pics from their website look like there will be some great photo opps. If there is one thing I love, it is trying at least 100 times to catch THE perfect photo. Lately, to no avail.

 If you're like me and have a baby and toddler around but still want to enjoy Halloween, here are some other ideas I found.

I love the idea of doing a Halloween keepsake and am on the prowl for

something that Cooper would have fun with and that, let's be honest, we would keep.

I am so looking forward to spending quality time with my boys this weekend! 

Happy week y'all!

Lauren

Hair cut horrors {PICS}.

Someone asked me if Cooper was a girl again. 

Yep, his mullet grew back; so quickly I almost missed it happening.

Anyways, we got his second haircut yesterday. Remember how well the first one went? Hah!

Is it bad that I was the mom who stopped consoling my hysterical son to grab the phone and take some pictures?

 Priorities, right? Capture the moment?

I let her have free reign this time with the only instruction being that he look like a boy. And he does! A cute one I might add. 

The after pic this morning. Real life, people.

Happy weekend friends!

xox

Lauren

Monday's musings.

It's Monday y'all. The mini is ornery as ever.

We had such a fun, relaxing weekend.

We stayed at home and cooked dinner. Cleaned house. Celebrated birthdays.

Went to the pumpkin patch:

Here's Coop at the patch one year ago; one of my FAVORITE pictures of him. It's at that fun age when everything makes them smile, they sit still and are the perfect picture opps. I mean, that face.

A little different experience this year.

Considering he throws a tantrum any time we try to redirect him to do anything (IE smile for pictures)...It was interesting.

He found this gourd and wouldn't let it go.

My favorite picture of the day- Daddy and his boy. Excuse the mullet (the mini not the hubs), it's time for another haircut! That thing just gets nasty back there...

Sunday my husband also gave me a little girls day out...to the Broncos game!  I know I couldn't believe it either.

I'll admit it, I am now a fan of the Broncos. Can I be a fan of two teams at once?

Anyways, me and my fave Meghan had a blast and it was such a treat for us. Baby free for 5 hours? Yes please!

I wrapped up the weekend catching up on my shows, Homeland and Revenge. Was pretty much the perfect weekend!

Happy week, y'all!

xo

Lauren

Mama Probs: In Flight.

It's Friday y'all, and I am almost, almost recovered from a flight I took the mini on last Sunday.

I mean, you laughed out loud, right?

I have five REALLY exciting things to share on today's Five-on-Friday and I'm once again linking up with The Good Life Blog and crew!

Remember that time I wrote some tips on flying with the littles? In case you missed it you can check it out here Flying with the Littles and throw it all back in my face here in a sec.

Well it finally happened.

After 14 flights we had the flight from Hades.

At one point I thought to myself, oh my gawd, I might snap at any. minute. Have you seen the show Snapped? There's nothing good about that show.

Here's what I (hypothetically) learned from this experience:

{one}

Early flights are not the way to go for toddlers. 

They get tired from the getting ready to fly part of traveling and by the time they actually get in the air they're awake and can't sleep. Which makes them mad.

Real mad.

{two}

They can hit you real hard when in close, contained quarters.

And when you hold their arms to stop from hitting your face they can then kick the seat in front of you. Hard and fast.

Then you gasp in horror and quickly hold their legs (which frees up their arms) and they begin hitting your face again.

Repeat.

{three}

The 'turn off electronics' rule is the devil.

When you finally get the toddler tornadoes calm and watching their most favorite episode of Curious George or Bubble Guppies, the flight attendants make you turn it off.

I'm getting a little clammy and short of breath thinking about it.

{four}

Strangers sitting in the same row don't stare so much. But they get really quite. And order hard alcohol.

At 8AM.

{five}

And when the plane is on its initial descent, the toddler will fall into a peaceful, beautiful, snuggly sleep. And you just can't remember what the big deal was in the first place.

 

Three generations and over 20 years of friendship right there. Mimosas were involved.[/caption]

Coop and I got to spend an awesome few days in Dallas with my mom, sisters, friends and their minis, which happens too few and far between.

Miller, 14 months, Betsy 15 months, Cooper and Brooklynn 19 months. Organized chaos.

 

Coopy and his BFF Miller.

And there ya have it. This week's Mama Probs.

Cheers to the weekend, y'all.

Lauren

WW: Proud of you.

Oh my goodness we have been busy since my last bloggy-post! I've finally fixed my computer and can share a few pics of life lately.

This has been on my heart lately: “I'm so proud of you that it makes me proud of me. I hope you know that.”  -John Green

Now this may sound braggy but it's really not. I ASSURE you, most the time I certainly do NOT say this to myself, but there are those rare occasions and lately, I've been so proud of Coop.

We started pre-school two days a week, and this is the first time he has consistently left me for a long period of time. Much like every change that I think will be CATASTROPHIC for my son (remember that time I was terrified to take the bottle away? Hah!), it was a breeze. Easy peasy. In fact he runs into the classroom and waves me the heck out of there. His teachers say he has an inner calm and relaxedness in the midst of upset kids. I'm proud of him. 

One of our primary goals as parents was to teach our baby how to be an independent toddler (and so on). We intentionally placed him in situations at a very young age that helped him learn that we would leave but always come back - and to trust other people. So seeing him run into preschool with such confidence is such a gift back to me and Jeff.

In other news, Coop is still pretty darn cute. Here are some pictures over the past month.

Playing the piano in Edwards, Colorado while celebrating Labor Day at the home of some of our very dear friends:

This picture has special meaning to me, as it was taken on the one-year anniversary of my Grandpa Bear's passing. My Grandpa, who taught me how to play piano and always played with joy. Needless to say, to see Cooper so happy sitting in that seat brought tears to my eyes. I see my Grandpa's love for music in my son and can only hope he's half the man that Karl Nann was. I think of my Grandpa all the time, but I know where he is.

Here are our dear friends in question, the Henning family:

This is Coop showing off his moves at dinner, dancing with the Live Band:

This face. This frustrated face handing me a washer with such intensity. No idea where he gets that temper.

And such innocence:

...oh, who I am kidding, intensity. "Mom, just throw the damn washer!"

The best we could do. Smiling pictures these days with Cooper are pretty nonexistent. Jeff looks cute though, no?

The weekend after Labor Day Jeff and I drove down to Telluride for a little getaway. Can I tell you, I have never seen a prettier part of Colorado and it is ALL pretty.

Hiking Hope Lake.

Cooper, you are ornery, independent and active. You love music, books, brushing your teeth and your monkey. You are my most grateful prayer and the reason I often pour a glass of wine at 5:01PM.

 

xo

Lauren