Happy Lauren

I can't believe our baby Lauren is already 3 1/2 months old. She is such a great baby and brings so much joy to our family. The last few weeks have been full of smiles from her. You barely have to look at her and she will smile at you. It is so cute. She usually only gets fussy if she's hungry or tired. Lately, she's been enjoying the bumbo seat and her play mat and loves when her big sister comes and chats with her. If I had to guess, I'm assuming Lauren will be an extrovert.

The picture below was taken a few months ago, but thought I'd still post it!

Brenna Loves Her Baby Lauren

A question I've been asked a lot since having Lauren is, "How is Brenna doing with the new baby?" Brenna loves her "baby wuaren", as Brenna would say.....she has a hard time saying her "l's" :) She is always giving her hugs and kisses and loves to hold her...

take pictures with her...

lay with her under her playmat....
read to her...
take baths with her...

She also likes to talk to her and sing to her when Lauren is in her bouncy seat. It's a blessing that she loves her sister so much, but I have to keep an eye on Brenna constantly so she doesn't smother her! :) She doesn't realize when she's leaning on her too much or bouncing the seat too high, etc. That's actually been one of the harder things for me to deal with the past few months. But I try to remember that it's only for a season and that I should be thankful that they love each other so much already. Brenna is able to get Lauren smiling the easiest. It's fun to see thier sisterly bond already.

Some Pics of the Inside of the House

Here are some interior pictures of our home. The remodeling is coming along nicely. Some nice interior decorating courtesy of Jenni Sabino. Getting somewhere now. We'll have to post some of the bedrooms and bathroom some other time. Enjoy.

On the verge of smiling

Some Video

Here is an early on video of Lauren when she first got to the nursery. Enjoy!

Welcome to the Family!

Today we get to introduce you to the newest member of our family. Say hello to Lauren Marie Van Cleave. She was born 12/3/09 at 12:28pm at Mary Greeley Hospital in Ames. She weighs 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measures 19.5 inches long. She came into the world via C-section and was delivered in less than 10 min. Stephanie is doing well despite some nausea from the medications. Already her big sister Brenna has gotten to hold her and couldn't stop kissing her and holding her hand. She's going to be an awesome big sister.

Thanks so much for everyone's prayers and support. We are so excited to become a family of 4 and are truly blessed with this gift of life. We'll be in the hospital for a few more days yet as Stephanie continues to recover.

Our Home - Before and After of Exterior

We are getting closer and closer to getting the exterior of our new home completed. Here is a before and after shot of the front of the house with the garage. Can someone say "overhaul baby"? I think Gladys would drive right by and not even recognize the place. Next Spring the plan is to do some landscaping and build a deck...can't wait for those! I'll post some interior shots once we get more decorating done and before the baby comes. Enjoy...we sure are!

BEFORE - September 2008

AFTER - November 2009

September Highlights

I can't believe it's October already! Where did September go anyway? Since I didn't post anything in September, I thought I'd give you some highlights of the month.

• We attended the first ISU football game of the season. They played great and Brenna loved watching all the people, the band, and the football players. Whenever we go by the stadium now or she sees anything with Cyclones on it, she'll say "Go Cyclones!".


• My family came to visit one weekend in September. We had a great time together. We did our regular things....garage sales, grandma Bohlen's famous cinnamon rolls, church, ate at Wallaby's, watched football, etc.


• We started up our regular ministry groups: connection group (which we host at our home on Tuesday nights), D6 family ministry (once a month at church), Jared started his men's group and I started my weekly women's bible study on Thursday mornings. I am studying Joshua right now and it has been great to be in the Old Testament, since I don't normally study the O.T. on my own. Joshua is such a good example of being strong and courageous in the Lord and also to trust in God's promises, no matter how "out there" they might seem.


• Jared has worked hard....as a real estate agent and also on home improvement projects. He is such a hard worker and I'm so thankful for that.


• We hosted our first tailgate at our house. It was a lot of fun. The highlight for the kids was riding Brenna's Dora Explorer 4 Wheeler :)


• Van Cleave dinner-Jared's family gets together the last Sunday of the month to share a meal together. We rotate homes and this month Jared's sister Anna hosted. We had a great time and Brenna & Easton always love to play together.


• I had jury duty. This really wasn't a highlight, but something I participated in. I was one of the 7 selected for the Story County Grand Juror about 6 months ago.....lucky me! :) Basically our main responsibility is to tour the county facilities once a year to make sure everything looks clean, in order, etc. So last Tuesday I spent all day touring group homes, the county prison, county hospital, and rehab facility for substance abuse. It was interesting, especially the prison, but it ended up being a long day. After the day was over, I was so thankful to the Lord that I grew up in a loving christan home and that he has granted me good health, mentally and physically.


• Brenna is talking a lot! It seems like everyday she is learning new words. She loves to dance, read her Bernstein Bear books, play with her doll house, and "help" mommy cook.

I'll end with a few pictures from the month and a video of Brenna showing off her salsa moves.

Our Little Dancer

My mom found this dance/play outfit for Brenna. As you can probably guess, she found it on a garage sale :) I love my mom's garage sale finds....Brenna does too! Brenna enjoyed trying it on for the first time and performing a variety of dance moves for us. After her water break she decided to relax for a while and read some books in her fancy attire!

Iowa State Fair

We went to the Iowa State Fair last week with some new friends, George & Raluca. They just moved to the area from Louisiana and are originally from Romania. Jared helped them find a home this summer and thought it would be a good idea to give them a feel for Iowa through the fair! We had a great time and are hoping to spend more time with them this year.

We didn't take many pictures, but here are few we snapped of the night.