CoCoKeys

Watch out - we officially have a TWO YEAR OLD in our house now! Lauren turned TWO on Tuesday. All day long I couldn't stop thinking about how the day she was born was the best day of my life, tied of course with the day Evan was born! I took her in for her 2 yr check-up today. It's crazy how much things have evolved at the Dr's office in 2 years. They ask HER questions now, and she actually answers some of them. At least she still needs me to wipe her tears after the shots! (and there were 2 shots today, ugh). Her stats look good:

Weight: 26 lb 4.5 oz (45%)

Height: 34 in (56%)

Head Circumference: 19.8" (98%)

Her head circumference took a huge jump on the growth curve. Apparently it does that around age 2, so not only do we not need to worry, but it tells us she's had good brain growth. So basically this was a roundabout way of telling me our daughter is a genius. :) Duh!

Lauren had an awesome 2nd birthday on Tuesday. We took her to CocoKeys, which is an indoor water park here in Omaha. I was very impressed. Very clean, and lots of lifeguards. And these lifeguards take their job very seriously, which is a good thing, but wow, I don't need people watching me that closely when I'm in a swimsuit. We definitely need to go back this winter. It'll be even better then b/c I'll be white and pasty. :)

I'm honestly not sure who had more fun at the water park - Lauren or us. Chad took Callie (friend's daughter) down the big slides, and screamed like a little girl, according to Callie. Lauren also went down the little slides a few times and on the lazy river with me. I can tell I've gotten older, b/c I know I didn't look good in my suit, but I really didn't care. I vividly remember spending the whole day sucking it in at Oceans of Fun. Not anymore! I was too busy loving the delighted look on Lauren's face. :)

Sorry for the poor lighting, but here is Lauren going down the slide with Callie. Callie & Skylar did such a good job of helping and playing with Lauren. The 3 girls together were so cute!

Evan also enjoyed his first trip to CocoKeys. He spent some of it asleep in his carseat....

And some of it.......

in his own little swim trunks!

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!
They keep it 84 degrees in there, so Evan got a little warm in his carseat. So he whipped his shirt off and dipped his little toes in the water. :)

Birthday Girl & Baptism Boy

There was lots of partying in the Raymer household last weekend. We celebrated Lauren's 2nd birthday on Saturday and Evan's Baptism into the Catholic church on Sunday! It was a wonderful time, and we are so grateful that our families came to help us celebrate. Lauren & Evan were spoiled rotten, and loved every minute!

***

First, some pics from the monkey party!

This dress came with an iron-on "2" which turned out adorable. Lauren will now tell you her name is "Wauren Waymah" and that "I'm 2!"

Do you love the monkey shirt she got from Margie or what? :)

The monkey cake, which I attempted to make on my own. But ordering it from Larita was a much better idea and I'm sure my party guests appreciated it!

Lauren got some great CDs from Aunt Jeanne awhile back, and we have only been able to play them in the car, b/c believe it or not, we don't have a CD player in the house. So I thought I'd get her a CD player for her bday, and decided she needed a pink one. Laurie convinced me that she needed a princess one. And I FOUND one! It is adorable (see below) and here is Lauren singing along to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star! So cute!

It is seriously in the shape of Cinderella's pumpkin chariot :)

Lauren also received a tricycle from Chad's parents. She loves to ring the little bell, and they know me well - b/c she got a helmet too! :)

Lauren received her very own set of bristle blocks from my parents. If she is playing with these at daycare when I arrive, watch out, b/c she is gonna throw one heck of a fight when I make her put them away and get in the car. Now we have them at home - yay! Lauren also got a play kitchen from my parents so stay tuned for some pics of that.

Some party pics!

Playing with jewelry

Chad & his Dad, who is moving to China for 2 years!

***

And now onto some Baptism photos!

What a handsome little man in his Baptism outfit!

Thank you Laurie & Cody for being Evan's Godparents! He is one lucky little boy!

Raymer Family

Julius Family - minus Scott

I just love this picture of Chad & Evan. We had brunch at Granite City right before Mass and it was delicious.

Blue Eyes

I am in love with these blue eyes....:)

Being "cool" with her backwards hat and play-dough!

Hunk-a-lovin

This is too funny. This AM I was giving Evan his usual round of hugs and kisses, you know, acting silly and saying things you only say when you're home alone with your kids....:) Well, I'm willing to make myself look stupid, b/c this is just TOO CUTE. So, Lauren is watching this whole thing, and when I said "Ooohhh, Evan you are such a

hunk-a-lovin....she doubles over laughing at me. It probably was a funny sight, so I didn't think much of it. A few hours later, I'm doing the same thing and this time I called Evan a cutie pie, and Lauren corrected me,

"No, Mom, hunk-a-lovin!!!" Ha!

They are so sweet together, especially in their matching monkey jammies.

This is Evan sitting on Chad's lap, watching the Iowa State/Iowa game last weekend. At least Evan's smile gave Chad something to smile about.

One last smiley picture!

Beth's Bachelorette

We celebrated my cousin Beth's shower & bachelorette party last weekend, and it was a BLAST! Beth was adorable, as usual, and there were lots of funny moments, too many to share. I can't wait to see everyone again at the wedding in a few short weeks!

Laurie, Erin, Beth & I.

Carol (mother-of-the-bride), Marge, & Dawn

Bridge, Beth, & Laurie at Farrells

Erin, Me, & Dawn
I'm missing a few people in these photos so hopefully I get more at the wedding. At some point it's nice just to put the camera away and have fun, but I always regret it afterwards!
Chad did pretty well flying solo with the kids, but of course they were better than they've ever been.....which I was happy about.....sort of.

Two and Almost Two

This little man is TWO months old! And getting cuter by the day! He's also getting BIGGER by the day! Check out these stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 5.5 oz (63%)

Height: 24" (84%)

Head Circumference: 15" (31%)

The most striking part of this to me was his height - he's grown FOUR inches in 2 months. No wonder his 3 month sleepers are too short!

Not a lot to report from Dr. J. Evan looked great and we mostly had a social chat (I love Dr. J and he knows all my coworkers so he's fun to talk to!) He does think Evan's crying is related to colic, but he should outgrow it soon. I have decided that even though colic totally stinks, I am going to be happy that colic is the worst thing Dr. J had to report.

And this little girl is ALMOST TWO!! Here is a rare pic of her with her hair down! I would love to keep her hair down more often, but it just gets in her face. What a sweet pea. This sweet pea came down with her first stomach bug this week, and I can say that I honestly felt like a parent this week.

There's just something about little boys in pinstripes isn't there?!?

Are you guys in love with Lauren's new purse? Kim - as you can see, she already has it full!

This is Evan right before drifting off to sleep. At 2 months old, he is sleeping MUCH better at night. After a few hours of crying between 6-9PM, he goes to bed, I wake him up around 11 to feed him, and then he sleeps til 4 or 5. And sometimes if I give him a binki at 4 or 5, he'll wait til 6 to eat. Huge improvement! He really has no daytime nap schedule yet. I cannot get over what a LOVER he is!

I told Lauren to say "cheese" and this is the smile I got. I need a new tactic....:) One that will produce less-fake smiles.

Labor Day Weekend

3 day weekends are the best. There should be more of them. We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend in Okoboji! We (and by "we," I mean "my mom and dad") did lots of grilling, and even though it was only in the 70s, did lots of skiing/tubing/etc, and took advantage of the Labor Day sales at all our favorite shops. :) Evan was sooooooo much better this time around in Okoboji. He slept well, ate well, and did very little crying!

I just love this picture of Evan - it really looks like him for once!

Lauren had a blast too. Of course she was spoiled by everyone. :)

Evan with his Aunt Erin and Grandpa J!

Adorable! He may be squinting but he sure looks happy in Aunt Laurie's arms!

I love love LOVE Evan's ISU jersey (it is sooooo hard to find Cyclone gear in Omaha, imagine that, so Evan especially loved receiving this from our friends Teresa & Kurt). AND it gets better! He wore the jersey again on Saturday to watch Nebraska play! Take that Husker fans. AND it gets better! These super cute jeans are from my friend Jamie, who is a die-hard Hawkeye fan. Love it.

Evan decided to forgive Aunt Margie for the Husker shirt - and you can tell b/c he sure did love cuddling with her & Carol all weekend!

I am just noticing that I don't have many pics of Miss Lauren from the weekend. It's so much easier to take pics of a non-mobile baby than an always-running-around-almost 2 yr old. I'll work on getting some good photos of her soon. :) Have a great week!

Our Lil Cyclone Fans!

Football season is here! I love this time of year. And we LOVE Iowa State Football! They won the season opener last night and we all put on our ISU gear to cheer them on. Lauren has learned how to say "Go Cyclones," as you can hear below. Remember her very 1st ISU cheer? Click here! It's crazy to see the transformation in just 2 short years, isn't it?

I think Evan has to be the cutest Cyclone fan of 2010, don't you think? You shoulda seen the ISU jersey he was wearing. Then we had a minor diaper malfunction, so we had to go to outfit #2.

Is anyone else seeing what I'm seeing in this photo? A little Chad? :) A few days ago, I thought he looked like Lauren again. Who knows. Speaking of Chad, he is definitely NOT winning any Cyclone loyalty awards in my book. Now that Nebraska is headed to the Big 10, he thinks he needs a Husker shirt.....which I do NOT support. I will cheer for the Huskers when they play the Hawkeyes in a few years, and after that we'll see, but for now we are still rivals. Right?

Courtesy of Erin...

Last night on the phone, Erin told me she liked the new blog photos, and I told her I needed a new background but didn't have time to find a cute free one. This AM she emailed me some cute ones she found, and wha-la, we've got a new background. Thanks Erin!