Birthday Girl

Today my Lauren is 4! As I posted on Facebook, she is certainly made of sugar, but she is definitely more spice. Anyone who knows her knows that she is my wild child. She is not the quite perfect angel like her older sister, but rather an attention getting, independent, little devil! Well, not really a little devil. She is my Lauren. She has that look in her eye and you know she is up to no good and is not going to listen to a word you say, but she is sweet as honey. Momma...Momma...Momma, is what I hear all day long from her. The best is at night when I get an "I love you momma". "I want a hug and a kiss", she tells me. I love that she cuddles up next to me on the couch. It rather interferes with my right arm and its mobility to surf the net or check FB, but oh how it melts my heart that that is her favorite spot to sit in the living room. She is my chocolate milk drinking, cheese loving, sweet tooth little girl. Her only real fruit or veggie she eats is the occasional banana, apple slice or 2, the baby food sweet potatoes I don't know how she can eat, and the grapes that take her 10 minutes to eat for just one. She completely dissects it to get out any strange seeds or textures she has found. I can FINALLY say that she is sleeping through the night on a regular basis. Something about this saltwater, smog infused air that must be doing her some good. She no longer wakes up crying multiple times during the night and this is making mommy and daddy very happy. It also makes her very well rested and ready to take on her many activities. She does gymnastics and ballet/tap every week and faithfully attends all of Sarah's hip hop, soccer, ice skating, and Irish dance practices and cheers her on. "Now that I am 4 momma, I am going to take Irish dance, ice skating, and soccer too," she tells me! Oh my! We are already out between the hours of 3:30-6:30 5 days out of the week doing activities. Where my I ask are we going to fit all this in?? Not only does she want to try all these things, but she is my little American Idol in training. She sings and raps in the backseat of the car to all her little Justin Beiber and Shake It Up songs, and I will post (one I get it filmed) her rendition of "Watch Me" from Shake It Up. SOOO CUTE!

And somewhere in the midst of all this going on, she is my little religious child. This aspect of Lauren is one that I find very sweet, but very humorous, all at the same time. Although we do talk to our girls about God and Jesus and the Bible, they are not exposed to church every Sunday, Sunday school, and lots of religion talk. Lauren, however, going to her church pre-school amazes us and catches us off guard often with what she is learning. I was once asked out-of-the-blue at dinner one night if I was a good Samaritan? Which when I said yes, and asked her back if she was, she said, "No, I am a bad Samaritan!" Another time I mentioned to the girls that we would go to Barnes & Noble so Sarah could pick out a new chapter book, which Lauren's response was "and I can get a Bible!" She also recently drew me a picture on the Ipad of Jesus on the cross. She used to draw rainbows and smiley faces. She also sings countless songs that are the type you would learn at Vacation Bible School. She also likes to tell us about all the Bible stories she is learning. We are quite impressed and humored at the same time that she is our little theologian.

So there she is...my little Lauren...my little 4 year-old. My beautiful little child who can bring a smile to my face, melt my heart, and drive me a little bit crazy all at the same time. Tonight when I tucked her in bed, I turned on her Twilight turtle, wound up her music box, and got the sweetest hug and kiss from her. She was happy, content, and loving her star-filled room, with Beauty and the Beast playing on the music box, and dreaming of her party tomorrow. No words can describe how much I love this little child.

Recent cute words/phrases:
zizzors - scissors
"I got my bangs back" - when we got her bangs cut right before school started.

Photos: Many thanks to my friend Anna Stokes for capturing these adorable images of Lauren. GO HERE to see her website!