Long time, no write...

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last. I don't really have a good excuse. The weather's been mostly crappy and we haven't been doing anything fun.

Chris and I both started new jobs. He is now working at Golfsmith, so he's starting to look for a second job to pay for his first one. Just kidding. He's been leery about getting back into retail, but it's working with product he loves and so far it seems to be working out okay. Plus he doesn't have to drive all over Ohio and he's home at a reasonable hour. I'm still at Nationwide, but I'm moving from Marketing to Sales. I won't actually be selling insurance, but I'll be developing tools and processes for our agents to use. I'm excited for a new challenge and a change of pace.




Lauren is still Lauren...happy, funny and chubby. I actually had to cut a shirt off her a week ago because I got her into it and then couldn't get it off. Why they make baby clothes without any stretch is beyond me. She's discovered that Dad makes a great jungle gym, and that the futon is a good place to practice her gymnastics. She's down to two 1 1/2-2 hour naps a day, plus a little one early in the evening. That means there's a lot of free time to fill. Now that the weather is finally doing what it's supposed to, we're able to get her outside a bit.



Speaking of outside, in his week between jobs Chris laid a flagstone patio in our backyard. We (meaning Chris) still need to put some finishing touches on it, and do some additional landscaping, but it's a great addition to our backyard. Thanks to Grandma Darke for ordering way more than she needed to do her own!

Last but not least, it's only a month till we'll be in Minnesota. Everyone put in your order for good weather so Lauren can run around with her pudgy arms and legs hanging out! We can't wait to see everyone.

Check out the Kodak Gallery for new pictures! The other baby is Lauren's boyfriend, Tenzin.

Happy Easter!

Easter morning greeted us with snowflakes. Not exactly the best weather for the easter bunny, but he still managed to bring Lauren a basket. Check out the Kodak Gallery for some more Easter pics.

If you can't tell from the pictures, Lauren is still a big girl. She just had her 6 month checkup. She is 28" tall and weighs almost 24 lbs. That's still off the charts for her age. She received a clean bill of health, along with two more shots. She also really liked Dr. Couling's stethoscope, and he had a hard time prying her death grip off of it.

In other exciting news, I had 4 teeth extracted on Friday, so I'm nice and dopey on Vicodin. Luckily Grandma Darke took Lauren Friday and Saturday nights.

We also had a wonderful visit with Grandma Bilek. Now we can't wait to visit Minnesota at the end of May.

I'll post more once I'm back up to speed.

Lauren's on the move!

I am officially the worst blogger on the planet. We went to Vegas and I didn't even post any stories. Oh well.


No news is good news, as they say. We're just chugging right along. This parenting thing has gotten easier, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time before we get thrown for a loop again. Probably when she starts walking without a frame to keep her from actually hurting herself. As you can see from the video, Lauren can definitely get around the house on her own now. It's a pretty good trial run to see what we need to babyproof. And she loves it, and it tires her out so she sleeps well. Walkers are wonderful, I don't care what the books say.

We're busy getting ready for Grandma Bilek to arrive. It's been a few months since Lauren has seen her, so we can't wait. Hopefully the weather will continue to be good. Regardless, we're going to see the butterflies at the Franklin Park Conservatory, so we'll at least be able to pretend like we're in the tropics.

Lauren also has her 6-month doctor's appointment next week. Yes, it's really been six months. I can't really remember what life was like without her around.

Stanley Cup

Sorry for the short post, but at least it includes the Stanley Cup! More to come soon.

New pictures

Finally got around to it. Check out the Kodak Gallery link on the right.

Yet another schedule change, laughs, and Vegas

Let's see, what all has happened in the last week and a half? We survived the snowstorm, and the ice that followed. We've now entered the Year of the Golden Pig, and who can forget the fun of celebrating President's Day?

On the baby front, we changed Lauren's schedule again. She's now eating 8 oz. of formula every 3 1/2 hours. Let's just say the little one likes to eat. She's still figuring out her nap schedule, but I think she's going to settle into a 1-hour nap in the morning and a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. She has a new favorite toy: the walker that Grandma bought for her. She likes to roll it down the hallway and pull the night light and air purifier out of the outlet on the wall. She also likes to pick Grandma's fake flowers out of the vase. She can also sit up on her own really well, and will throw a block back and forth with me or Chris. And the best news of all: she's finally laughing out loud. I've officially decided that it's the best sound in the world. She's always been such a happy baby, but it took her awhile to figure out how to laugh.

And the big news for me and Chris: we leave for Las Vegas in 6 days! I can't wait to have a grown-up vacation, never mind that it's in Vegas. I've never been, so I'm looking forward to eating, gambling and drinking. Oh yeah, and seeing Chris' sister, Brea, get married ;)

I'll get some pictures posted before the trip. We'll see some of you in about a week!

Yep. It snowed.

Okay, so they weren't lying. It isn't the storm of the century, but we have gotten about 6 inches of snow so far. Now we're into lovely sleet/freezing rain/grossness, and that's supposed to hang around for a few hours. Then another 4-6 inches of snow. How bad is it for Columbus? Nationwide shut down at 1pm today. Ohio State is closed, along with all the other colleges and universities in the area. We're under a Level 1 snow emergency right now, and several other counties are at a Level 2. I'm hoping for the grandaddy of them all, the Level 3. Anytime you can get arrested just for being on the roads, you know you have a good storm.
We'll try to get some pics up, but you know how bad we are with pictures.