Computer STDs

As I mentioned in my previous post, my computer has been having some problems. It has all kinds of viruses, Trojans and other general computer STDs. Keith has been spending hours and hours on it and we are just about to get a clean bill of health. Up until today, I have been unable to post anything new because I couldn't even get to this site. I couldn't even use Google. It was so annoying. But as I said, we are almost clean so I will be here more often probably on Monday or Tuesday.
Tomorrow, Lilly and I will be driving up to Tawas to pick up Lauren from Grammy and Pa's house. Mom saw how tired I was getting and how Lauren completely wears me out, so she volunteered to take her for a little vacation. Our little universe is all out of whack now. Lilly went through four bottles last night and the cats who hate each other were snuggled up about 4 inches from each other. And, the kicker is, Lauren went to bed at 9 p.m. and didn't wake up until 11:30 a.m.! WHAT THE HELL? Why won't she do that for me? I hope she is sleeping well for them tonight, too, since they lost power this afternoon. I hope Lilly continues to sleep as well as she is right now. We are having quite a storm right now but she is sound asleep. Let's just hope this is the worst of the storm because tomorrow is the one year anniversary of the tornado that hit Fenton and we don't need a repeat of that.
Finally, I know I have lots of thank you cards to send out still. This is so unlike me. I usually get them done right away but I am a little behind right now. They are coming and we are all still quite appreciative for everything. Thank you.
Next time.... pictures!

A Little Down Time

Just wanted to let everyone know that I won't have any new posts for awhile because I was the lucky recipient of a computer virus. What a lovely gift! Keith has been working all night and day to try and get rid of it but it is really sneaky. He is letting me use his laptop right now but I don't think I will get the chance to use it too much because he uses it for work and his massive porn collection. I AM SO KIDDING. I always like to use that joke in front of my mom. She thinks he is a sicko. Again, I kid.

Speaking of kids.... Lauren and I were playing with her Busy Popping Ball (I don't know the right name) and trying to catch the balls before that went flying off all over the living room. When they did, she would start giggling and screaming yelling, "I got it. I got it!" I couldn't believe she said that. She just started saying it. So funny.

Hopefully, I will be able to update you with funnier things soon.

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

Today is the actual day of Lauren's 2nd birthday and we are doing it really low key. She thinks it already happened since we celebrated it on Lilly's birthday. Next year will be different but it is hard to believe that she is two already. So amazing! She is such a loving little girl with so much spirit, independence and a great sense of humor. Naturally, it all comes from me. ;)

Happy Birthday, Lauren. We love you.

Love,
Mama, Daddy & Lilly

Two Sisters

Sisters hug.

Sisters sing, dance and be happy together.

Sisters follow each other anywhere.

Sisters will stand beside each other and hold each other up.

Sisters will sit knee deep in... toys with you and wait until Mama gets you out.

Just a little reminder...
I went a little Blogger crazy tonight and did something like 9 new posts so put some coffee on, turn the phone off, put the kids in bed and get caught up in the life of the Swartz family!

99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

Lauren was helping me empty the coolers after the party by lining them all up on the edge of the deck. She was very focused on her work, too.

Everyone knows you need a cold one after a long, hard job!

Playland

After we purchased our camper, we took the girls to the Cass City McDonald's play land. They needed to eat and stretch their legs so we spared no expense. This was the first time we had taken them to McDonald's to eat (not the 1st time they have had McD's) and the first time at a play land. We were the only ones in there. It was so nice! Lauren had so much fun and I know Lilly really wanted to be allowed to go but maybe next year.

Lauren going down the slide.

Lauren loved the little slide. I want this in my house! This would keep her happy and entertained all day long!

She was a little upset when she realized she couldn't climb up the slide like she does at home.

How could it possibly be time to go? (Look at that flippy-do her hair does! Not to mention the attitude in her stance! Can you see it? That is 'tude way beyond her years! Go to your room for the next ten years, young lady!!!)

Someday We'll Catch That Sneaky Leprechaun

Tonight we had an amazing full double rainbow in the field behind our house. You have to look very closely to see the second rainbow because you really can't see it too well in the photos. This bright rainbow was truly beautiful. Every time we have a rainbow at our house, it seems to "land" in the field and this rainbow was no exception. If you look carefully at a couple of these pictures, you will see the rainbow "falling" in front of the trees. Lauren loved the 'bows but we still don't have our pot of gold.

Copy Cat

Kurt and Erika came over to check out our new camper and we ran out back to look at a rainbow when it started to rain. Erika put up her hoodie and had her hands in her pocket. Little Lauren wanted to look just like her Auntie. So sweet!

A New Piece of Lawn Art

Today, we bought a 1978 Coachman "Space" Cadet Travel Trailer. Don't let the 1978 scare you. It is pretty nice. We found it on Craigslist and went to Cass City this morning to check it out. It does need some work but I am excited to use it. We are going to go this coming weekend. I think we may have gone insane - camping with a 1 year old and a 2 year old! Yikes! We are hoping to go to Tawas so if they act up we can dump them at Grammy and Pa's house! Here are a few pictures of the latest thing Keith has to mow around.

This table folds into either a king sized bed or a double and a twin with a small path between. There is a twin sized bunk that folds down above this section, too.

Lots and lots of storage, a sink, exhaust vent, stove, oven, furnace and a non-working fridge. Across from this is another dinette that can fold down into a full size bed. If we add a bed rail, it will be perfect for the girls. The funny thing is that the exhaust has a lighthouse magnet on it that still has a price tag on it. Where is it from you ask? Mooney's Ben Franklin downtown East Tawas! And, the people are related to people from Tawas! Small world!

The bathroom. There is a toilet, a sink, mirror, HUGE closet and a mini bathtub with shower. The tub is the perfect size for the girls!

Look for the Swartz Space Cadet in a campground near you.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

At bedtime tonight, we were treated to the literary styling of Mr. Keith Swartz, a.k.a. Daddy. Lauren loves the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and I love to read it to her but we have never had Daddy read it. Well, from now on, I think I am going to have to share the responsibilities of reading that one because he did it gangsta style! He made it sound like a rap and gave it some flava. (Yes, he really took it and made it his own. Thank you, Paula.) I was laughing so hard but stopped long enough to add in my own mixing sound effects. I begged him to read it again so that I could record it and I promised him that I wasn't laughing at him. I told him you would all love it but he said no way. Sorry, maybe I can secretly tape him next time.

Da Plane, Da Plane

Keith is now home, safe and sound, from his latest trip to Colorado. The girls and I picked him up from the airport Friday afternoon and were very excited to do it, not only because Daddy was coming home, but we love planes! Lauren can find nearly every plane that flies over our house and will say, "Bye plane," when it leaves. We even saw Keith's plane as it went over!
When we got to the airport, Keith was waiting downstairs for us and I asked him if he had enough energy to take Lauren back upstairs to get a better look at the planes, which he did. So when we got up there, this is what she could see.

She was giggling with delight! She started to waved and then said, "Bye Daddy plane." Her first three word sentence! It was too cute!

My Lovely Lady Lumps

The girls love one particular bra of mine and it will probably be featured on this blog quite often as they get older but...
One day, Lilly came crawling down the hall and out into the kitchen with it on her head. I wasn't fast enough to catch it on her noggin but I did get this sweet smiley face photo that is even better.

Uncle Ed's Birthday Party

I don't have many pictures because my camera battery died almost immediately and maybe because I was flying solo that day, I didn't have my usual back up set with me. I should be getting more from mom and I just have to copy some from Rachel (smile).

Lilly took to Tim right away which is really unusual because she is slow to warm up with almost everyone.

Midge and cousin Bryce trying to figure out a toy. Midge spent a lot of time playing with those toys.

Tim and Lilly, again, with just a peek at Lauren who wasn't sure about Tim until we left but LOVED Rachel.

Great Aunt Twila showing Lauren and Grammy the pictures she just took. Lauren loves to look at her pictures right away.

My "Fly" & Biker Chick

Lauren loved dancing in her "Abby Cadabby" tutu that I made for her and LOVES her butterfly wings that Grammy gave her. She danced and danced around for the longest time but amazingly paused to take of pictures. These are the same wings that she has to wear when we shop for flowers. She calls them her "fly" wings. Like many compound words and multi-syllable words in general, she shortens the word to the last syllable so butterfly becomes fly or grandpa becomes pa or chipmunk becomes munk. You get it.

Pardon the laundry.

A pre-knee injury Grammy wearing the Cinderella tutu I made, FOR THE GIRLS, dancing around with little miss bossy.

Lilly loves to put things on her head. Anything that looks like it will go on her head and stay there, she will put there so I put a bandanna on her and look how cute she looks. She knows it, too. Fierce!

My Girls are Both 1 Year Old - for now

Today, our little Lillian turned one! Now, technically, for nine days I have two 1 year old girls but if you ask Lauren how old she is she will tell you, "two." We had a wonderful, sunny, warm day to have a little backyard party. We had family, friends, kids, toys, lots of food but the only things missing were Grammy and Pa. (Lauren has started to call my dad Pa.) Mom really injured her knee and is in a brace and on crutches and if that is not enough, she got really, really sick so they had to stay home. Maybe that explains why the girls were kind of in a funk? Here are a few pictures from our fun day of celebrating two birthdays in one!


We decided to give the girls their gifts this morning (except for the tricycle) and the girls were thrilled with their new dolls. Lauren got her favorite fairy-in-training, Abby Cadabby. Lilly got Eebee Baby. (It's a puppet/doll from the Parents TV DVD Eebee line. They sell the movie at Target and parts are available on demand through Comcast cable.)


Lauren got a cute dog on a leash from The Dunckel Family and her cousin, Kristian, was a good pet-sitter. He walked the dog all the way around the backyard!

A better photo of Lauren's cute new trike.


All the partying wore Lilly out. She did take a nap before the party and then she had three more. Normally, she does not nap in such irrational patterns but she was really overwhelmed by the whole day. Plus, her brand spankin' new third tooth just poked through the gums overnight. She was hurting.

Uncle Kurt and Aunt Erika interrupted their camping trip in Jackson with Erika's family to come celebrate the girls' birthdays and then drove all the way back to camp some more. They are a good aunt and uncle! Thanks guys - we appreciate it.

Look how they discover things together. I love it. They were both so interested in the new piano from Grandpa and Grandma Swartz that they looked it over and pushed every gizmo on it without fighting over the toy or their personal space. I love moments like this.


Cousin Kristian, again, quickly learned how to climb into Lilly's new toy box from Uncle Kurt and Aunt Erika. He fit inside really well. I already have visions of toys thrown everywhere as two giggling girls sit inside it having a ball.


Lauren on her way cool trike. She doesn't like to use the pedals, yet. She treats it like she is riding her scooter. I know it won't be long before she gets the hang of it.


Family photo as the girls eat their birthday cakes. Lauren, just like last year, ate it daintily. She carefully picked off sprinkles until I gave her a fork. She did not make a mess. The same can not be said for Lilly. She dove in. She was covered in cake. Her hands, her face and, my favorite, her legs. It was funny to watch her rub it into her knees. They are so different!


Lauren and Lilly's Great Aunt Evie with her granddaughter, our cousin, Jenna, who is 19 days younger than Lauren.


Jenna with her mommy, Carla, Lauren with Great Aunt Evie and Great Gram with Kristian.


Our fabulous neighbors, The Dunckel Family: Chris, Todd, Esther and Lauren's best friend, Ethan, or as she calls him, "E."


We had a terrific day. The girls received so many wonderful gifts that we are very thankful for but most of all, we are just truly grateful you were all there to celebrate with us. Thank you!