Merry Christmas!

What a wonderful time of year and wonderful reason to celebrate Christmas. Even though our time with our families will be a little delayed this year (due to weather) we are reminded that there never is a bad Christmas. The true meaning of Christmas reminds us what a wonderful celebration this time is. The picture above: on our way to our Christmas Eve service. You may not be able to tell, but Lauren did her own hair and wanted to wear a layered shirt like her mother...she has 3 shirts on! She also had the opportunity to sing at church again and had a wonderful time!


Oh the excitement of Christmas morning! We attempted to make a birthday cake for Jesus, but Lauren thought he would like cookies instead. Lauren loved her tent and watch from Santa:

when coming down the stairs and finds her new tent.. "That's what I like"
when finding her watch..smiles..then "Oh. That's not the right kind." then puts it on and won't take it off.
Apparently she wanted a Tinkerbell watch, not a Disney Princess watch..but I don't think it really matters.


Who knew this vacuum with Dustbuster would be such a hit! She cleaned all day with it!

Helping Dad with his new game from the girls! This is a fun one we have played several times already! (Note: the time on the clock says 6:15am..we had already been up for 45minutes by this time)

Meredith gets her turn.

After a busy morning, the girls had some cuddle time in Lauren's new tent watching a movie! Meredith loves her big sister so much and loves to watch her every move.


The snow continued to fall off and on all day. Lauren had fun playing in all the snow!

I'm 4 months old!

I have survived yet another month. I am much happier now. I gave my teachers at daycare a little trouble by not eating my bottles, but finally in the last week I finally decided that it's ok when my Mommy is working that a bottle will do. As you can see, I do love to eat from my Mommy. Today I had my 4 month check up and I weighed in at 15 lbs 1 oz. I did not like my immunizations this time at all and was very angry when they made me lie on the exam table. Once my Mommy picked me up, I stopped crying right away. I celebrated my 1st Thanksgiving this month. I have a new pink lovey blanket that I love to hug and cuddle with. I go to bed around 6-7pm and my Mommy wakes me up at 5:15am to leave for daycare. I like to put myself to sleep now...just leave me alone..do not touch me! I love my mobile and music. I started sucking my thumb. I have crazy hair! I love my activity mat and can finally grab those silly things hanging down in my face. I like that crazy thing that makes loud noise when I move it (rattle)...the louder the better! I love my big sister. She sings to me and talks to me all the time and she always makes me smile. She moves me across the floor even though Mommy asks her not to (she is pretty sneaky). I like it when people talk to me...please notice me or I will let you know! I have really BIG smiles! I am still really LOUD! I cry loud and "talk" even LOUDER! I love to hear my voice and I like to try out new noises all the time. I was baptised this month. I disovered my hands this month.

4 years old!!!

Lauren is FOUR YEARS OLD! As we were driving downtown on her birthday she was asking me if today (the 15th) was her actual birthday.
L: Is today my birthday?
M: Yes, today is your actual birthday.
L: Am I 4 now?
M: Yes, today you are 4.
L: That took a very long time.

It is amazing to me how much you have grown up Lauren. You started out as a wonderful easy baby and have grown up to become such a wonderful four year old. You have such a soft and loving heart. You want to hug and kiss everyone. You will always ask before getting into too much trouble. You love the outdoors (including wanting a pink gun to shoot little deer) but you'll play with a dress and heels on! You love to help bake. You love pancakes, sausage, celery, grapes, Lucky Charms, lettuce, white milk, rice, Mexican food, chicken, steak, mashed potatoes, pears and bread and pasta of any form/kind. You do NOT like chocolate milk, chocolate cake, salsa, hamburger and anything hot. Your favorite color is blue. You are the best helper. You are a wonderful big sister and love your little sister more than words can describe. You love to make your sister laugh. You are such a sweetheart! You could play with your dolls for hours. You like everything to be in it's place. You love to play cards and board games. You don't like to go to bed. You don't like to be left alone. You love to write everything on anything. You love bathtime. You do not like to have your hair brushed. You love all movies and popcorn with M&Ms. You surround yourself with stuffed animals in your room. Your socks have to be on with the seams lined up perfect on your toes. You like to sleep without any covers. You love the Little Mermaid. You love cutting paper with scissors. You are love Ziploc bags. You complain when anything is too tight. You don't like to wear jeans due to this reason. You love dresses. You change your clothes several times a day. You don't like to wear socks or shoes inside the house (unless they are dress up shoes). You could read books for hours. You like to read your books to your "kids" (named Melanie Sofa and Sofa). You work at "seventeen" with "Go-Ga". You remember everything. You don't like rabbits (probably influenced by your parents). You love to ride your bike. You know your surroundings and directions very well. You have wonderful vision. You don't like the corner. You love to jump and climb. You only like the red Freds (vitamins). You are very polite. I can't wait to see how you continue to grow. I few pictures from the last 4 years.

Lauren's 4th Birthday!

After Meredith's baptism, we celebrated Lauren's 4th birthday. She loves Iowa State and Cy (she isn't brainwashed at all) and wanted a Cy cake. Here she is after school where she wore a birthday crown all day and had a special birthday chair she sat in also, along with her favorite sister and all her new dolls! She had so much fun!

Blowing out the candles!




To add to her "rock star" collection, a new microphone. We have had many concerts already! Too funny!

Meredith's Baptism

What a busy couple of weeks we have had..but some of the most important! Meredith was baptised last Sunday. What a wonderful blessing and great experience for us as parents.

How wonderful to have Lauren be a part of the "baby-tised" also.

Meredith with her vintage gown (circa 1957 a.k.a. Nana Kathy's baby dress), a necklace from Papa and Nana Muller with Daddy's baby ring and a beautiful bracelet and headband from Uncle Ryan, Aunt Tiffany and Klyer.


Lauren and Celie Gardiner at the baptism.

Lauren also had her Christmas program at church on the same day. Here is a picture of her singing her songs. She did so well with them all and loved performing all of the actions. She was also very interested in watching herself up on the big screen!

Meredith's Baptism cont.

With Nana and Papa Muller.

With Nana Kathy and Papa Rich.

With Aunt Rachel and Uncle Kedron.

With Uncle Lee, Aunt Jennifer and cousin Jillian.

With Aunt Ann.

Favorite Quote of the Day!

From Wednesday:
"Mom, do you know where my pink mustache is?" Lauren asking for her pink chapstick.

From Thursday:
Clayton: "Lauren, five more days and you will be four. Are you excited?"

L: "I'm not so excited. I'm a little nervous."

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Yes we have over 15 inches of snow and it's cold outside, but we still have to have a little fun. Lauren had snow much fun playing in the huge drifts and the huge piles of snow from our driveway!

Which pile to jump in first?

Here is our biggest pile at the end of the driveway.

Sweet Meredith inside the comfort of our home.

We know it's wintertime at the Muller house when Lauren gets a bowl of clean snow!

Gobble...Gobble...Gobble..

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were so lucky to have a house full of family this beautiful Thanksgiving! We love to cook all the yummy food and we are so happy to have everyone over. This year our house was full of Great-Grandpa Muller & Ruth, Papa & Nana Muller, the Bardwell Family and Aunt Ann.

Our family of four!

Four Generations. Great Grandpa Willard Muller, Lauren, Papa Wendell Muller, Clayton and Meredith.

Can you believe we got these 4 cousins in a picture all together? Lauren (almost 4), Micah (2 years), Eli (7 months) and Meredith (3 months)...we missed you Kyler and Jillian!

Aunt Ann, Clayton & Meredith.

And a new game taught by the Bardwells...lets lie the babies on the bellies of the big kids!!!

Masterpiece!!!

All the hard work paid off..truly, a Thanksgiving Masterpiece!

Who is the one teaching the lesson?

We bought Lauren a clock for her wall to help teach her time and also to help the long process of bedtime. For example, "When the big hand is on the 5 you need to turn out the lights" Clayton uses this phrase alot with her. The other night I was reading books to Lauren and noticed that her clock was missing off of the wall.

M-Lauren where is your clock?

L-In my closet.

M-Why is it in there?

L-Because I don't want to know what time it is.

M-Well, I'll have to put it back up.

L (with the look of extreme frustration on her face)-How many times do I have to take that clock down?!
Apparently Clay keeps putting it back up when she takes it down.

L-I think Meredif needs the clock.
And she put it in Meredith's crib. I guess she was tired of knowing what time it was.



And to make you laugh...Lauren somehow fit inside Meredith's carseat and pulled the cover up all by herself. I can't believe she can fit inside there!

Who doesn't love the Beatles?!
We really enjoyed my day off by dancing the morning away to the Beatles! We had so much fun that we forgot about the cookies baking, twice, and burnt them! Oops! I had a funny video including a little air guitar bit by Lauren, but I had trouble getting it on here after several failed attempts. Lauren loves her shirt and that she can dress just like her sister! Thank you Gardiners for the shirts!

3 months old!!!

What a difference a month can make! I am a much happier baby now! I had my first Halloween this month and was "Boo-tiful". My baby acne is finally gone. I like it when someone pays attention to me and talks to me. My big sister is funny and I like to smile at her. I like to try and "talk" like her, but it's kind of hard to do. After watching people stick their tongues out at me, I finally mastered that skill also. I started sleeping through the night when Mommy went back to work. I was still getting up every 4-6 hours but when I started day care almost 2 weeks ago I didn't sleep much there so when I came home I slept 12 hours that night. I'm still trying to decide if I like day care. I don't like bottles and don't like it when someone tries to make me eat at exactly 3 hours. I just let them know that I will eat when I want to. My big sister is really excited to have me there though! I'm a Mommy's girl!I have a new favorite blanket now. I like to smile BIG smiles! I still love my swing and bouncy seat! My eyes are still dark blue/gray, but I think they will turn brown.



Best Friends!!!