Nine months old

My little angel baby is already nine months old. I cannot believe it. Evan is already 3/4 of the way through his wonderfully precious first year of life and time is just a 'rollin. I'd love it if I could slow down time for just awhile or find a way to bottle him up, just as he is right now, for a special treat to pull out when he is all grown up and refuses to snuggle with me anymore (I secretly hope that this never actually happens . . . although, I'll admit, I'm a naive mommy). I just adore his stage right now and can't hardly believe that we'll be celebrating his first Thanksgiving, first Christmas and first birthday in only a few short months. Seems like I was just enormously pregnant for the holidays last year and here we are, celebrating them again already!

I vividly remember the day we learned that we were to be blessed with another little angel, and it seems like only moments ago. In keeping with our tradition, Dan was actually the first to find out that we were expecting (he read the result on the pregnancy test and I simply looked directly up at his face, rather than down at the stick, to determine the results). I'll never forget his expression for each of the three times that that beautiful 'pee-soaked' stick indicated that a baby was in our future. Magical moments, for sure.

Given my love for photography and my obsession with having a ba-zillion photographs documenting every move my children make, I decided that it was time to stop paying other photographers for every milestone and that I should take ownership of Evan's nine months photo session myself. So while Owen took his 4+ hour nap this afternoon (what an awesome sleeper, he is:), Drew, Evan and I headed outside on a gorgeous Sunday evening and enjoyed some beautiful natural golden light.















This is my absolute favorite . . .



























And of course, I have to taken some photos of my favorite little 3 1/2 year-old too . .







He likes to pretend that he is still my little baby sometimes too - and of course, he always will be!

Day Out With Thomas!

It was our third year in a row to see Thomas the Tank Engine. Aside from the accidental detour we took on the way there, we had a great time. It was nice to have an extra set of hands this year too - Grandma Darlene and Grandpa Bob joined us!







This picture of Owen totally reminds me of my brother Mark!











And talk about a small world! When Drew and Owen were riding this small train, Drew got off and said, "Mommy, Mommy, look! There's Brady from preschool!"

It was so sweet to watch the two of them immediately recognize each other. And just what you would expect from two little girls, I watched Drew and Brady wrap their arms around each other for a BIG, tight hug! It was soooo sweet! I was happy to watch two little boys demonstrate the behavior I thought was reserved for sweet little girls . . . I'll definitely take it while I have it. I know that my sweet little boys will be all grown up way too fast!





By the way, this picture surprised me - I seriously thought that Drew was the tallest boy in his preschool class, but apparently not! Brady has Drew beat by a long shot!

Day Out with Thomas! from Lauren Niebruegge.

Baby Evan enjoyed the day with Thomas too (check out his video)! He has officially expanded his vocabulary to include, "Uh-oh!"

Evan and Drew from Lauren Niebruegge.

Fire Department Birthday Party!

Thanks for inviting us, Hudson!

A birthday party and pumpkin painting

Drew was invited to a fantastic birthday party on Saturday afternoon! It was at the Columbia Fire Department and all of the kids got to ride on a firetruck, spray water out of the fire hose, and eat pizza and cake inside the office. It was soooo cool!



















After the party, we got our pumpkins ready for Halloween! Also, this weekend, we made the final decision on our Halloween costumes. Drew is going to be Woody, Owen is going to be Buzz Lightyear and Evan is going to be an Octupus. I thought that we could coordinate Evan into the Toy Story theme too (my idea was for him to be the cute little alien toy that Sid wins from the vending machine at Pizza Planet, for those of you familiar with the movie), but he was just too cute as an Octopus when he tried it on tonight!

Three little monkeys . . .

Check out my little monkeys jumping on the bed . . .

My Boys from Lauren Niebruegge.

Here is our other little monkey having fun with Grandpa Bob . . .

My Boys #2 from Lauren Niebruegge.

An organized mess!

That is me today. An organized mess. I have a lot of random 'stuff' in my head (are we are out of baby food? I really need to finish the lease impairment analysis before I leave work tonight - get crankin' Lauren. Not sure if all of the laundry got done this weekend. Did we really need to purchase a new sump pump - seriously, Dan? Are the boys exhausted today after the napless weekend? I need some new clothes.) Although I have a ba-zillion of these thoughts swirling around in my head, I'm confident that I can generate some sort of order, if I just take the time to do it. Sigh! Sometimes I think that I spend more time creating all of my 'to-do' lists than I do actually crossing things off!

Although I am an accountant by day, I believe that I am lacking some of the left-brained characteristics that tend to be present in others who have made a similar career choice. My closets are not organized (although I always have great intentions). I don't pay the bills - Dan does. And other than worrying about whether I have enough money for lunch, I don't even ask him many questions (much less create elaborate excel spreadsheets analyzing our spending penny by penny). And while I'll admit that a trip to the Container Store is very exciting, it is really the thrill of shopping that entices me, rather than the prospect of separating my maternity clothes from my 'regular' clothes.

I don't obsess about having a clean house, I don't 'audit' every bill we receive, I have been known to throw a towel or two on the floor without picking it up for days, and I don't even clean my car on a regular basis (only when it actually starts bothering me). I really just love to play and enjoy my boys. Simple as that. The rest really doesn't matter.

When it comes to matters of the home, I am surprising myself lately. I am depending more on the right side of my brain for guidance and less expecting the answers to be black and white. I find myself becoming more aware of the 'guide posts' that are there, if I just slow down long enough to pay attention to them. Perhaps it is God speaking to me, offering insights when I need them. Or perhaps the insights are my own - remaining there to be of service once the haze of unimportant distractions has been lifted. Not really sure. But I find joy in the smallest things and the emotions derived from these 'so called' insignificant events propel me forward . . . . .happily. And I have proactively decided to take these moments and store them. I store them so that when the flow of good recedes and the ebb of adversity that comes with life decides to show up, I can draw on all of my deposits of good fortune to see me through.

So, my state of mind today ties in nicely with the exact purpose of this blog post. I have a handful of pictures and videos on my computer that I want to share because they make me happy, but they don't individually represent anything in particular. But collectively, they represent everything! Get it??

Check out the art project that Drew, Owen, Evan and I created a few weeks ago. We decided to wait until Dan was golfing all day to create these masterpieces (Dan is truly the 'stereotypical accountant' in our family - worried about us making too much of a mess! Just chill, Daddy-O! We'll clean it up . . .eventually:)









Unfortuately, our creative skills dwindled slightly when making a birthday card for Grandma Niebruegge. I had lofty ideas of paint, stickers (foam and regular), glitter and markers, but ended up with something a bit less 'dramatic.' Still packed in with lots of love though!



Happy Birthday, Grandma Darlene!



See below for some brotherly love (and please disregard the piles of laundry and piles of crap everywhere)!

Three little monkeys from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.

#2 from Lauren Niebruegge on Vimeo.

Weekends are not long enough!

This weekend, we found a way to fill each minute. We were on the go constantly and it felt great to have a weekend so full of family, fun and heart-felt smiles. Although we were super busy, I feel refreshed and rejuvenated, rather than run-down and exhausted. I suppose that is the beauty of children. The 'get up and go' just happens - like one of nature's beautiful natural responses.

Our weekend included a 5K run/walk for a local pro-life agency, an emotional auction for Dan's grandmother's household belongings (since she has now moved into an assisted living facility), soccer games, a beautiful, prayerful and touching 'Relay for Life' cancer benefit, breakfast after church with Grandma Patti and Grandpa Dave, and visits with our cousin Greta and sweet little new cousin, baby Willa. Why do weekends have to be so short????

Check out my little soccer players . . .

















Of course, we enjoyed playing with Greta and baby Willa. Even Evan enjoyed looking at the new baby . . .







And although Greta may disown her Aunt Lauren when she gets older, I could not resist putting up these pictures that I took this afternoon. This girl cracks me up!







Love this one . . .

Willa Carmeline

God has blessed our family once again. Welcome to the world, sweet Willa Carmeline. Heaven is smiling. And from up above, Grandma Mathews' smile probably could not get any bigger.