Saturday Morning Fun!

We have enjoyed our past few Saturday mornings at the ball field. Lauren had her first game today and she did so well. She couldn't wait to "Get down with the Pirates" (her coach had said they were "going to take the Pirates down" and this was her interpretation). After last week's very frustrating practice..we couldn't be more proud of Lauren. She listened to everything the coach had told her and she played and hustled very well! She loves to hit the ball...

getting ready to field the ball...

running after the ball...

Meredith and Nana Kathy enjoyed the sunny outdoors.

Thanks Jillian for watching Lauren play (thanks also to Papa Rich, Nana Kathy, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Lee and Aunt Ann for coming too!!!) We can't wait for the next game.

BFF

For those of you who don't know the history, Lauren and Hayden are BFFs. They got to know each other when they were a few months old at Mercy Child Development Center. They have been in the same room with each move as they have grown. Everyone at the center knows these girls and how silly they are together. In their newest room, we all (including their past teachers when I told them) laughed when they put them next to each other at naptime...that was soon changed.

I have only met Hayden's parents a few times, but I feel like I know everything about them from all of Lauren's stories about Hayden and her family. Since we don't live very close to Hayden's family, we decided to have a sleepover. Hayden came home with us after school on Thursday and stayed overnight and then played all day long on Friday before her mom came to pick her up. Oh, the stories I heard with these girls...too funny. The top two:
1. The girls realized they had the same Tinkerbell underwear, so they each put them on. Hayden then asked, Melanie are you going to put on your Tinkerbell underwear too?.
2. Lauren--Mom if you would just buy us some Sketchers then we could run faster than everyone and the boys wouldn't catch us..referring to being chased at school..Sketchers make you run really fast
A few pics of these BFFS.

11 months old!

This month has been alot of fun. As you can see, I am very busy now and have a hard time sitting still for my monthly photos. I thought it would be fun to bounce up and down the entire time my Mommy tried to take a picture. I LOVE people to pay attention to me. I have all these wonderful tricks that gets people to look at me...clicking my tongue, giving kisses (smacking my lips together), shaking my head no (and almost falling over when I do it), waving bye and making spitting noises. If this doesn't work, sometimes I will just yell or scream really loud just to get someone to look at me. I am a super fast crawler and love to pull myself up on everything. I even try to walk around things, but sometimes I get so excited about what I am doing that I forget to move my legs and I end up on my belly. My big sister likes to "help" me walk and I do pretty well with her help. I refuse to even trying walking with anyone else.

I have 2 more teeth (total of 7). I don't appreciate it when they start poking through. My sister is my best friend. She can make me laugh like no other person/activity can. The other day (while mom was upstairs) Lauren picked me up and put me on this cool car. Then she pushes me around super fast and I laugh the entire time! Dad doesn't think this is a good game to play (but we do it anyway...they have a hard time telling us no if I smile and laugh)


I celebrated my first 4th of July. I took a trip to the Amana Colonies. I have spent a lot of time in the pool. I love to take baths. My favorite part is lying down on my belly and putting my face in the water. My favorite activity is still eating. I love love love to eat. All and any foods! The more the better. I still go to bed at 6-7pm and get up at 4:30-5:00am. I take 1-2 naps during the day. There is just so much going on that I don't really like taking naps during the day. I love to be outside. I love to watch people and older kids. I like to swing on my new swing set. I love my fridge farm. I like to rip up paper to shreds.

Muller Family Weekend

We enjoyed a weekend with the Muller Family in the Amana Colonies. Here we are in the big rocking chair. Front: Clay, Jennifer and Lee. Back row: Ann holding Jillian (1 1/2 yrs), Lauren (4 1/2 yrs), Melanie holding Meredith (10 months old)

Papa & Nana Muller with their grand kids.

What a funny family photo!


Aunt Ann!

Another funny photo!

The girls trying out some new wraps.

The flowers in the Amanas were absolutely beautiful.


Lee, Jillian and Jennifer.


There also was a water park at the hotel we stayed at and Lauren couldn't spend enough time there. She loved the water slide and wasn't scared of any water. Jillian and Meredith had a blast too!



A few rounds of bingo were enjoyed by all!

?Happy? 4th of July

The weekend of the 4th was a little challenging at the Muller house. We had great plans filled with parades, fireworks and getting together with friends. As we were getting ready for the Urbandale parade and walking out the door, Meredith felt the need to vomit. So, Clay eagerly volunteered to stay home with her and Lauren and I met some friends to go to the parade. Lauren had so much fun and was completely worn out after the long parade. Here we are at the parade.



On Saturday night Clayton went to visit some friends and took Lauren while Melanie stayed home with Meredith. They did get a chance to see some small fireworks on Saturday night. Lauren was so excited to go to the Waukee parade on Sunday and watch the fireworks from the top of her new swingset. But...it rained and rained and it was cancelled, but postponed to Monday so there was still hope. Then in the wee hours of Monday morning the flu moved on to Lauren and Melanie. Not a great day! So, we missed the parade again (and Meredith never went to one) and the fireworks were cancelled again. But on a good note, we are feeling better now but Lauren is still a little disappointed that she didn't get to watch the fireworks from her swing set (we typically can see them from our back yard)..and Melanie is a little disappointed she didn't get a picture of the girls in their adorable 4th of July outfits. Several attempts were made over a series of days and these are the best results that we have.

We just want to play mom, leave us alone.


On the 3rd day of putting the dresses on again, I thought if I just hold them they will be happy. You can decide!

Little Fish

What a rockstar!!! Lauren is taking swimming lessons and is doing amazing. Prior to starting she wasn't necessarily afraid of the water, but very cautious. She didn't want to stray too far from the security of her parents. But now (after 4 lessons) she can do a front float, a back float (with a little assistance), push off of the wall and "swim" or float, jump in by herself and touch the bottom (at 4 ft 4 in), jump in the big pool while Rachel (her wonderful teacher) catches her and find rings by "swimming" to the bottom of the kid pool. She loves her goggles and is amazed by everything that she can see in the pool. After her lesson she now spends all of her time jumping in the water and swimming under the water to explore everything in the pool. We love Rachel and she has done an amazing job with Lauren. Lauren is at such a fun age where she will do whatever Rachel asks her to do (as long as Rachel will do it first).

10 months old !!!

I am so funny! I make funny noises and faces all the time! I am LOUD! I love to be heard and if no one is paying attention to me I will yell until they do. My sister and I like to see who can scream the loudest while Mommy is driving. We both think this is really funny!
I now have 3 more teeth (total of 5) and I have figured out how to grind them! I like to do this because it seems to annoy my parents! :) I still love to wave my "royal wave" to everyone. I shake my head "no" at appropriate times. They laugh at me when I am sitting in the middle of the floor and shake no so hard that I almost fall over (that's why I do it silly)


I finally started to crawl. One day I decided to crawl across the living room and haven't stop since.
I like to pull myself up onto everything also. I like to sit by my toy box and pull all of the toys out. I like to pull all the books out of the basket at school and my bookcase at home. I love my pink blanket, my thumb, Mommy, Daddy, big sis and My Katie (her teacher at school)! I love to clap for myself and all the great accomplishments I can do! I got my 2nd ear infection this month. I went swimming for the 1st time in a real swimming pool and really enjoyed myself. I liked watching all the big kids swimming and running around. I wish they would take me more often!

I started table foods this month and can't get enough of them. There isn't a food I don't like yet. My favorite are sweet potato fries. I also love fruits and meats. I love to feed myself. I don't need help because I am 10 months old now. My mom is determined to find a food that I won't eat but good luck..bring it on! (tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, green beans, beef brisket..to name a few). I go to bed around 6-7pm and get up at 4-5am. I take 2 naps a day.