Welcome Benjamin

Benjamin Paul Lauer was born at 2:38am on December 28, 2009. He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds 2 ounces, 21 1/2 inches long. Mommy and Ben are both doing well, though little man has had a little trouble eating and needs some assistnace via a feeding tube. He's doing just fine though! Everyone may get to come home Monday evening or Tuesday.

Clay & Nate are being loving big brothers, that is, until they realize that he is here to stay. Like, forever!

Busy Busy Busy!

Hello Everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. Until recently I have had no news that was fit to print. So, since Nikki finally sent me the pictures from the shower I have some news.
The party was great. All of my neighbors were here but 2 and they sent gifts, which I thought was extremely nice. My friend Sasha was here with her little girl, London, as well. Then to what to my wondering eyes should appear...Jake!! Who, some of you may not know is getting prepared to be a Daddy! (We're just a little excited!) So, all in all it was a great day and I felt really lucky to have such wonderful friends who wanted to share in welcoming the baby to the neighborhood.
This past weekend was pretty hectic as well. We had a Christmas party at the Major and Patty's house and then on Sunday we took Clay to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday. He had a great time. Our neighbors, the Wrights came and brought their 2 kids, Connor and Cayris. Conner and Clay are in the same kindergarten class. So, after a couple of hours, the kids were still going strong, but we parents were about to croak.
As for doctor's visits, up until yesterday, they really hadn't been telling me anything. All they were doing was taking my weight, blood pressure and making me pee in a cup. I could have done that at home! I know I'm fat, my blood pressure is fine and I can get pee on my fingers here as well as anywhere else. (You ladies who have been through trying to pee into what you can't see know exactly what I'm talking about so quit with the eeewwws.) Anywho, when I went yesterday they finally checked me and while I'm not dilating yet, everything is softening up. So, they're pretty sure that if I haven't gone on my own by the 26th, they'll be able to induce with no problems.
Well, now that I've written my life story, here are some pics from the shower. Hopefully soon the beached whale stage of my life will be over!

Me trying to hide the fact that my stomach is probably sticking out from under my shirt.

Nick holding London and getting a little practice for what's to come.

All the tasty food for the shower. We also had to incorporate something Hokie considering I insisted that the game be on during the shower!

Nick, Nikki, and Jake really got a kick out of my TV dinner tray!

Go Elf Yourself!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Halloween!!

Another Halloween over and done. Clay went from wanting to be a ghost to a vampire which actually worked out well. His costume was easy. Black sheet with a hole cut in it and a half hour makeup job. Nate on the otherhand, with his Indiana Jones costume was a bit more challanging. I didn't want to just go and buy him the one at Walmart because all he really needed was the hat and jacket. So, after days of looking for a brown jacket/heavy shirt, I wound up at Goodwill where I found a heavy white button down shirt. Then I walked over to Jo-Ann's and got some brown dye and ta-da! I have a faded brown shirt. The hat was found at Michaels of all places. Clay kept talking about his "loot" the whole time, so we made sure to get a picture of it. Enjoy the pictures.

The Drama Mama

Picture it. Chambersburg AppleFest. Saturday. So, there I was, walking down the sidewalk on my way to the bathroom (imagine that). I see an extension cord in front of me, I think I've picked my feet up far enough, but alas, I did not. I take a face plant right into the sidewalk and am immediately surrounded by strangers. I'll tell you now that both the baby and I are fine. I was sent to the hospital by the EMT where they said that the baby was fine and I wasn't contracting. I did however knock the crap out of my chin and knees. I think what I did was come down on my knees and hands first then inertia (big fat objects in motion being what they are) propelled me forward and that's when I smacked my chin.
So, for the rest of the day I'm sure I was known as the clumsy pregnant girl. The good thing was that AFTER I made a jackass out of myself, the extension cord owners taped it down to the sidewalk.
The good news is that both Ben and I made it just fine. The only thing really hurt was, of course, my pride.

Nursery's Coming Along

I know I just posted, but I wanted to get these up. I'm not finished by a long shot, but it's looking more and more like a nursery all the time. I finally got the crib stained last week. I didn't think it would ever dry so I could varnish it, but finally it did. Last night, I got the bedding and stuff on. I still need to put up window treatments and some more decorations, but it's getting there. I made the lampshade and the light switch covers from a crib sheet and painted the wall decorations to match the rest of the room.
Well, I hope everyone enjoys the pictures and if you have any ideas, let me know. The room still looks a little naked. Thanks!

Little Soccer Man

So, after having been fussed at by several people, I am now putting up some pics of Clay at Soccer. These are from his second game. We were very happy to see him not get angry at having the ball taken from him this time. He also had 2 very good assists and, if we had been keeping score, Clay's team would have won it's second game.
I am also including pics of the rest of us so you can all see that we are all doing well. And yes, I am a pregnant chick wearing a Wild Turkey sweatshirt. I was chilly. Sue me.

Getting Closer All The Time

Nick and I went for my 24 week check-up yesterday. Actually, I'm 24 weeks, 5 days. Still measuring about 2 weeks ahead at 27 weeks. The doctor said everything looks good, my blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. I've gained 3 pounds this month. Not too sure how I feel about that. I'm scared I'm going to balloon up now that I'm getting close to the home stretch. I have one more visit then I start going every two weeks.
We've been working on the nursery. We are going to pick up the furniture this weekend, so I'm really excited about that. I'll need to stain the crib next week, so I hope to have some nursery pictures next weekend.
Well, I've got two boys that are in their room being a little too quiet...

Lookin' For A Few Good Bakers!

Hello out there! As I've mentioned in my blog before, I am a member of Operation Baking G.A.L.S. (Give a little support...Bake!). And, I am a host this month. My soldier's name is Cpt. Jackie Buzzard. He is a great husband and father to a teenage son. When he's not serving his country in the reserves, he works in federal law enforcement with my husband. His wife is a good friend of mine, as well. This is Jackie's second tour overseas and is due to come home in November. So, I am asking all of you to make the couple of months long tour more bearable for him, because as we all know, last leg of any trip is always the hardest. I know that he and his men would love some homemade goodies, from some caring folks. These guys are tired and anxious to come home, so lets give them a taste of it now! So, if you want to join my team, you can email me at jlauer17222@comcast.net or just leave me a comment saying "Sign me up!" and I will send you his mailing info later in the month in time for shipping. Shipping by the way is the week of Sept. 29th. So, thank you all in advance for your help!

The Bakers of Team Lauer:

Erin Morey

Susan Swearengin

Michelle Dargen of http://myyeartogetskinny.blogspot.com/

Anna Scheminger of Maybe Just a Little Bite

Donna Stafford

Nikki St.Germain

Carrie Montanez

Katie of goodthingscatered.blogspot.com

Kris Smylie of http://thesmylielife.blogspot.com/

Jan Connell

Patty Stanley

Kelsey Morris of http://kelseykakes.blogspot.com/

Sasha Arnett

Elizabeth de Saint-Aignan

Cheryl Spoehr

Dolores Ferrero

Randy and Val Monday

Fran Smith

Clay's First Day

Well, I did it. I just put my little boy on the bus for his first day of school. This has been the hardest morning of my life. You know, I always think of him as being big, but as he stood down at the end of the road with all the other kids waiting to catch the bus, I couldn't help see that he's still just a little boy. Whether he likes it or not he's still my baby. Even with his SpongeBob backpack and new shoes, he still shouldn't be big enough to catch a bus by himself. I was proud of myself, though. I didn't follow his bus to school and I didn't let him see me cry. He was so excited to be going that I just put on my friggin' happy face and sucked it up for a while.
So, enjoy the pictures and be thankful that they are digital and not covered with tears and snot.

Go G.A.L.S.!!!

For those of you who don't know, I am part of a great group started by my sister. We are Operation Baking G.A.L.S. (Give A Little Support). We bake for soldiers stationed in war zones, whether we know them or not. We are so proud do be able to do something for those who are serving our country. They don't always get the credit they deserve, so we are trying to do something to rectify that.

This month I baked for Christopher Handy of the 10th Mountain Division stationed in Iraq. I hope he and his troops enjoy the cookies and brownies.

M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies

Caramel Brownies

My little taste-testers

Olympic Issues

Okay. I know I've already posted something today, but I've got a problem. If I have to look at the puny Chinese diver Wang Xin one more time, I think I'm gonna be sick. The child is 16 (barely) years old and weighs in at a mere 62lbs. 62! My 5 year old weighs 58! Since when is malnurishment a good thing to teach our young athletes? I have become a believer that if an Olympian were to be checked out by a doctor and found to be severly underweight they should not be allowed to participate.
I mean come on...62 lbs?
I'm done ranting now.

Doctor's Visit

Well, I had my 20 week check-up on Monday. The doctor said that the baby looked fine on the ultrasound. He's a little big measuring at 21 weeks and weighing in at 11oz. Apparantly, though, I'm even bigger measuring at 23 weeks. So, I don't know if I'm 20, 21, 23 weeks or if I should just say I'm 22 weeks and use the only number they didn't give me. Who knows? I have gained back 2 of the pounds I lost at the beginning, so she said that while I need to gain more she is glad to finally see an increase. And here I thought I was taking on blimp proportions. I know I can't wear my jeans without leaving them unbuttoned and tying them together with a string.
Well, better go. The longer I sit the more he moves and it kind of makes me a little sea-sick. I hope this update makes my sister happy as I'm trying to do better with my blogging!

It's a boy!!

I know what you're all thinking. How many boys can one person have. Well, at least 3. We found out today and everything looks good. He's healthy and has no desire to sit still. He moved around the entire time. The due date is still January 5th. I hope he decides to be a little early and I can write him off on my taxes for this year! Well, here he is hiding his face as best he can. Enjoy and Love to all!



Here's some profile shots and him just being cute. He's a sweetie!

We're Back!!!!

After two weeks of wonderful weather in the Outer Banks, we unfortunately have to come home. The kids were under the impression that we were moving to the beach. I can't blame them, I could happily spend the rest of my days on the beach. But, alas, we have to come back to the real world and look forward to our next trip. So, here are some pictures showing that a good time was had.

And Baby Makes 5?

Well, I guess most of you know by now that we are going to have another little one. As much as we would like for it to be a girl, we just want it to be healthy. Clay and Nate, however, want a baby sister and don't care who knows it. Sorry about the fuzzy picture, but I had to take a picture of it with my camera.

The Kids New Toy

Well, after two Saturdays of hard work, Nick, Paul and I finished the swingset. I think we did a good job.

So Close Yet So Far Away...

After spending the day inside, Kaya just wanted out to play. Unfortunately, her favorite toy didn't want to cooperate.

School's Out For Summer!!!

Well, the boys had their last day of school today. We had lunch together and played some games. In the video Nathan and his friend Tobin are playing air-guitars and Clay is with his best girl Annalise. For some unknown reason Clay had a weird fascination with his ear. You'll understand when you see it.