The Mouse Family Blog

I wanted to document some of the everday stuff that Lauren and I do. I am really grateful that Lauren was born in the spring. It's given us the longest period of beautiful weather to enjoy being outside. Everyday we go strollerin' in our neighborhood. I get Lauren loaded up in her stroller. She outgrew her carseat several weeks ago. Technically, she still came in under the recommended weight, but you try carrying a 17.5 pound baby in a carseat that itself weights about 5 pounds in one hand, with several bags of groceries (including a gallon of milk) in the other hand and a diaper bag slung over your shoulder. I made it one block like that and vowed to give up the car seat the next day.

So here's Lauren in her big-girl stroller.


Then we hit the streets. We often roll through Wicker Park. The park has a fenced in dog park where Indy gets to go with Jace on special occasions. The park also has a very busy playground (where Lauren hasn't been yet because she is still too little to enjoy any playground equipment). There are lovely flowers and landscaping thanks to the Wicker Park Garden Club and a spectacular fountain.

As you can probably also tell from the picture, I don't really bother with doing my hair or putting on makeup or even giving much thought to what I'm wearing. It's such a nice change from getting ready for the office.

We have a Ray Shade that extends the hood on the stroller to keep Lauren out of the sun.
On a side note, it's happened twice now that Lauren has been out in this yellow onsie (from Old Navy with an adorable mouse on it), that she's been mistaken for a boy. I don't get it. It's yellow...not green or blue. Does she really look like a boy?

Amanda, Vann and Charlie have gotten on the blogging train with their site...
breakingbischoffnews.blogspot.com

We look forward to keeping up with baby Charlie on her site! You can find links to our friend's sites on the right side of our blog under 'Links'. Have a look. Note: we are accepting applications for friends without kids that blog. If you are out there, please step forward ;)

In the second picture, Lauren is wearing a bandana bib that I MADE! I heard that my brother Andy was skeptical that I could make something that looks so great, but indeed I did. I've really been having fun with my mom's old sewing machine.

Lauren decided to wear her service day bandana to church.

Our church has an event every year where we go out across the city and complete service projects. It used to be called Park Service Day, but this year we teamed up with several other churches and city organizations so to call it 'Park' something wasn't really accurate. The new name is For One Chicago. Jace and I served with some friends and some strangers (friends we hadn't met yet). This picture shows Jace in action and Lauren supervising from her blanket on the grass. She's got a hold of our green team bandana. We did some work for a homebound older woman...painting some exterior house trim, repairing a porch railing, installing a new shower head. Lauren and I got the best job, we go to sit in the house and chit chat all day!

Recently we've been trying to break Lauren of some bad habits that have formed around sleep associations. I admit, it wasn't Lauren who formed these habits...it's not like we caught her mixing a cocktail before bed. I got into the habit of nursing her to sleep at bedtime and then using a pacifier to lull her to sleep for naps. The result was that she needed to be sucking on something to fall back asleep when she'd wake up at night. By then Mom had left the room or the pacifier had fallen out.

So we've done some reading and come up with the Mouse Sleep Plan, a mix of ideas that reflect what we feel comfortable with. We feel this plan will help Lauren be ready for sleep when it's time for bed and naps, create positive sleep associations and develop the ability to self sooth.

That said, I discovered that Lauren has been cheating. Either that or her self soothing has taken a direction that I didn't think was possible at her age. I put her down for her nap and went into the hallway to do some laundry. I heard one minute of crying, then some rustling, then silence. I smiled to myself and thanked God that Lauren was able to settle in for her nap with little difficulty. Then I heard music (no, not a choir of angels - although sometimes when she does finally go to sleep I feel as if it should be heralded by angels). Lauren had turned herself around so that she was able to kick her mobile and turn it on. I peeked in the door and found her wide-eyed but quietly entertained. After the mobile shuts off in 15 minutes, we'll see if her form of self soothing got her off to dreamland where she will no doubt be talking baby babble to the monkeys.

I got behind a few days in posting. Catch up on Lauren in the three posts below and be sure to watch the video of her one sided dialog with a bag of Goldfish crackers. No, I didn't give her any :)

Mommy: "Lauren how did you get that double chin?"
Lauren: "Too many Goldfish."

Labels: Movies

Lauren is looking mighty cute in her purple dress and tights. The dress and matching shirt under it were a gift from her cousins Sophie and Zoe in Arizona. Grandma Ann and Grandpa Clark bought her the tights on a shopping outing when they were visiting Chicago. They came from a store on Division called Goldilocks and Gremlins. We also got her Halloween costume there. Stay tuned for October 31 - the costume is adorable (yes we had to try it on already!) Lauren is also showing off her big smile and excitement in these pictures.

We've had some fall weather this weekend, so Lauren broke out some long sleeves. Today we went for a stroller ride and Lauren got bundled up under a blankie. Here she is, waiting on the couch for Mommy to put her shoes on. There is a street festival going on in our neighborhood, so maybe this evening, we'll take Lauren out for another cool weather ride and some music. Mom and Dad will enjoy some festival food... mmm. My favorite street festival quote: "Do you want something fried or something on a stick?" Overheard at Riley Days in Greenfield, Indiana.

Lauren is making some new sounds. Some aren't so pretty... she has a guttural grunting sound she makes. But this one, where she sucks in her lower lip, is pretty cute.

Labels: Movies

This was Lauren's first visit to the ZOO!

Lauren, mommy, Grandma Ann and Grandpa Clark went to the Lincoln Park Zoo (it's free!).


There were lots of animals, and I assumed Lauren wouldn't really be able to see any of them. But it turns out we were able to get close enough to see some animals that caught her attention.

She saw the sea lions, and the polar bears swimming from the underwater viewing areas. She also saw the leopard and tiger pacing back in forth in their indoor enclosures. Lauren got a tiger pillow that says Lincoln Park Zoo from the giftshop.

Liz and Lauren riding Coco, with Jace holding the reins.

Bryce taking his
turn on the pony
with Mom and
Dad (Kristi and
Boyd) there to
help out.



Lauren with her
cousin Taylor.










Lauren taking a nap
on Faith's bed.

Lauren turned 4 months old on Sept.2 We were in Oklahoma and didn't get to take her picture with her heifer until today. She did however get to meet some real beef. There were about 2 dozen bulls at the Mouse Ranch...and some dogs and cats and a pony! Pony pictures coming up soon.

Lauren went to the doctor yesterday so her 4 months stats are as follows... weight: 17 lbs 9 oz, height: 26 in. Both measurements are above 95%. Lauren continues to be her own kind of Mouse beef. Liz needs a massage.

Labels: Monthly Photos

Vann and Amanda welcomed their first baby on Saturday, September 1, 2007. Here's what they had to say...

Charlotte Faye (we're calling her Charlie)! Our little peanut was born at 2:40 this afternoon CST, weighing in at 6lbs flat and 18 3/4 inches long.

I got to meet her today!! She is lovely - and SO small...at least compared to Lauren :)


Pictured: Liz holding "Charlie", Lauren in her car seat and Amanda, the proud new momma!

So we're back from Oklahoma (where the wind comes sweeping down the plains...) We had a great time with family over Labor Day weekend. Lauren enjoyed meeting her cousins, aunts and uncles and many other family members. She also got to see both sets of Grandparents - lucky baby. We have lots of pictures to go through and will post many more later, but here's a teaser for now.

A long time ago (BL - before Lauren), Jace and I took a trip to New York City. We thought that we had lost my camera. But I found it today as I was unpacking from our trip to Oklahoma. Here is a picture from one of the last times we used that camera. It's the posse at Colleen Bell (now Klimek)'s 30th b-day party.