& baby makes three

the past few days have been a whirlwind of excitement, learning, and more love than i ever thought possible. little bitties all throughout my pregnancy told me that you just don't understand love until you finally hold your child in your arms. and now, having experienced it, i wholeheartedly agree.
the moment millie was first placed on my chest and i was able to first really see my baby, our baby, i knew that everything was different. nothing would ever be the same. i would do anything, sacrifice anything, be anything for our little girl.
being a new mother will have (and already has had) its challenges, but those challenges are all evidence of the fact that millie mae is finally here with us--and i really wouldn't have it any other way. a wife and mother is all i've ever wanted to be, and now it's as though all of my dreams have come true!
so, now my days are filled with laughing at little hiccups, feelings of pride at wet & dirty diapers, feedings {sooo many feedings!}, lots of staring at her sweet baby face, lots of kisses, lots of cooing, and ending every conversation with the words, "she is so cute"!

our life with millie is oh so good!
xo lauren

New Eyes

i felt prompted to share this today, maybe it will help someone in the world.

The Third Eye
"Learn to see your husband through new eyes. True love has three eyes. One eye is dim, dim to his faults. A second eye sees him as the world does. This is an important perspective. Sometimes you must help him see the way the world sees him. A third eye sees him as no one else sees him, appreciates him as no one else appreciates him. Keep this eye sharply focused and you will observe many things to appreciate. Every wonderful wife has a third eye."
-Helen Andelin

 xo lauren

lovebook XVIII

1. I am so making this Carrie Bradshaw skirt! Holy heck!
2. My girl Evi made a list of things pregnant women do that they really just... shouldn't. lol
3. 10 Things that make the difference in a marriage. I thought these were very sweet, and I am all for number two, let me tell you!!
4. She may be a little naked, but i want to be her when I grow up.
5. Go to google images and type in "underwater dog photography". Just trust me.
6. I recently found Classy Confessions, and Megan may just be my new favorite up-and-coming style blogger.
7. I just wish I can be this fabulous when I'm 90 years old.
8. I Waste So Much Time
9. Pretty pretty synchro girls

10. 50 Recipes for Chicken Breast! It's as Travis always says: "You can never get enough breast."

xo lauren

Valentine

Today, Travis & I are three time Valentines! We have been romantically involved for over three years now. it may be a little silly but, that still just boggles my mind. I'm the girl that had a limit on all of her boyfriends; when two months came around i was always on to bigger & better things. But with Travis, it was different even from the beginning. No one could ever be better, not for me. I love that man of mine.
I love him, i love him, i love him.
xo lauren
ps that's us at the top there on busy bee lauren's post! hooplah!

life & lemons

t & i went on a lemon kick last week.
& because the lemony godness is just too good not to share, i've dedicated a post to it.
so far i've made:

• lemon bread
• cake with lemon frosting & filling 
• lemon pancakes 
• & lemon crinkle cookies. 

the lemon crinkle cookies are by far my favorite from that list. and guess what, all of these recipes only used up about four lemons! totally cray-cray. next on my lemon-lusciousness list are these sweet little white chocolate lemon truffles & of course, lemon bars. i just can't get enough people.

{& no, i am not pregnant. just currently lemon-crazed}

xo lauren

my husband is hilarious.

sometimes i just don't think i do a good enough job of displaying trav's personality on this blog. it's like he's just one big mystery man that i say is handsome a lot. it's selfish of me really, because travis definitely has a one-of-a-kind personality. without further ado, here's a post to better showcase my husband. 

a few favorite gems from travis this week:

one morning as i was sitting on the floor doing homework, travis pounced on me like a gorilla, pinned my arms down and began scratching my face with his man scruff. a very uncomfortable me cried out, "ow! that hurts! no! in answer to my cries he replied, in a very gorilla-like way, "grunt. no. i'm dominant. grunt grunt."

after bring play-scolded for poking me again and again, and again he said, "but you're not mad at me yet. that means i can do it a few more times" 

 when i asked our married friend blake if he is planning on teaching his future son to golf, travis intercepted the answer with, "psh. is the pope catholic?"

while i was brushing my teeth, he came up behind me while i was in front of the mirror, placed his hands around my waist and said, "you're so little right here". my day = made. 

just after a sneezing fit, "sometimes i like to think my sneezes are gunshots."

{insert sneeze-inspired gunshot noise}

in devotional this week the speaker was telling the audience about his dear sweet wife who struggles with  muscular dystrophy. my heart reached out for him and his family, and i leaned over to travis to whisper, "trav, what if one day i got muscular dystrophy?" he leaned back, concentration on his face, then replied "then i would come and talk about it in a devotional". 

i can always count on him {smile}

i love that guy. 

for fathers

to my future baby daddy: thank you so very much for loving me 100% everyday. you are funny, kind and a MEGA hard worker. i love our silly walks down the street & how your spirit molds with mine. i loved sitting with you that hour before our sealing, and praying that our little ones in heaven would be just as excited as we were. praying that we would be good parents for them. you will be the best father to our little dumplings, someday. thanks for still being a goof even when you think i'm annoying, thanks for taking these silly outfit pictures for me day after day like a boss. 

you truly are the best for me.

to my pops: i love your non-stop laugh every Sunday watching AFV. i love the way you kiss mom when you come home from work, i love when you took us kids into your office one by one for father's meetings. i love the look in your eye when you went off on a spiritual tangent during family home evenings. i love how hard you have worked over the years, to provide for your growing family.

you are the best, dad. 

don't you forget it.

to my papa-in-law: thanks for being such a kind old fart! right away you made me feel so welcome, it was easy to begin feeling like your daughter, too. thanks for being so tough on that husband of mine, you raised a real gentleman. you are the favorite father-in-law i'll ever have.

Featured: Gwen in Love

everyone! and your dogs! 

dance your way over to Gwen in Love today & view my guest post.

i've added to her collection of Love Stories. {smile} 

happy sunday, everyone!

hey guys! today i am playing the glad game.

so, i'm glad:

 we have cafe rio in the fridge

 we have brand new grown-up bedding! score! 

 i get to spend christmas in arizona in 21 days.

 i have a man to hold hands with whenever i want

i get to be with said man FOR.EV.ER.

a Heavenly Father whose loves amazes me everyday.

oh! & that trav & i have mad coloring skills.

 as you can see, trav's is a little more abstract imagination than mine. 

mine's more about love.

& boy am i glad to be in love.

what makes you glad?

peace & love

twins have to separate sometime

and boise to indonesia... is a whole lot of separation.

as of last wednesday, my twin brother is an "elder"

& i am oh so proud.

my sister, trav & i took him to a brazilian grill before leaving his presh face at the mtc

sorry about the glop on his face: the kid always was a messy eater-- to the dismay of our mother.

and friends. and civilized people in general.

luckily, Indonesian culture eats mainly with their fingers.

i know.The Lord basically knows Andrew, perfectly. {smile} 

then the big drop-off came, and went.

as we were about to pull into the mtc i said, "not yet! let's go around the block a few times!"

trav replied, "it's either now, or fve minutes from now."

under my breath i whispered, " five minutes please?"

but andrew was quiet,

and we pulled in.

he walked away with such a smile on his face.

"he was ready," said trav.

though i'm not sure that I was.

i love my very own elder so very much. he is the brother that is always there, and always will be.

he will be strong these next two years, i have no doubt. he has become the man we both always knew he would be! & i love that right now he has the chance to grow even more.

see you in two years, brovs.

peace & love

oh hey

scarf: thrifted | cardigan: F21 | dress: F21 | belt: thrifted | boots: ross

this weekend i vacayed in anthropologie

i know what you're thinking. umm.... that's a STORE, lauren. silly.

well, maybe to you. but to me it's like a summer home.

a home that my husband can only be dragged into & quite frankly, where all the candles smell weird.

BUT anthro is more than that. it is everything pretty to look at in one place.

so i have a secret.

i don't shop at anthropologie

wishes i could. but can't: teeny tiny pocket book.

no, i don't shop at anthro. i vacay there.

it's more fun & has more things to look at than Mt. Rushmore... and people vacay there!

umm... yes. it makes sense.
anyways, that was my declaration of love for the day.

{p.s. i just got a job at Pier 1 Imports. i likes home goods.}
peace & love

have you RSVP'd to my party yet?

three months

i've been married to my favorite man for three months now

& it just seems like only yesterday i met him after psychology,

and thought he was oh so weird.

glad i got over that phase in our relationship! {smile}

to celebrate our three months of marital bliss,

trav wanted to go bowling.

he rocks at bowling {learned it all from his gran}

but i'm kinda stinky.

anyhoo

here's how-to-look-good-bowling

brought to you by T-rav.

step one: be an extremely attractive male.

step two: get in the zone.

step three: the wind up

step four: the funny profesh bowling leg thing.

i don't get it, but trav rocked.

so it must help.

also, i think it helps to roll the pant legs like Danny Zuko.

it's athletic, and retro. oh, and power ranger.

step five: strike!

that's my man!

mama was proud.

oh yeah, i was there too.

 in highschool i never really liked bowling,

but it's lovely to always have a date that makes anything fun.

happy three months to t & i!

peace & love

Trav in ARIZONA!

k i haven't blogged in like.... forever & three years. sorry!
i've been home in the lucious semi-tropical paradise that is AZ
& introducing Trav to everyone & their dog that i've ever met in my life.
i have much to say of the experiences, but i'll for now i'll only share Sunday.
Cause.... i like Sundays.

We started the religious excitement with my home ward & their fast & testimony meeting
everyone who's seen me loose my zits, date pointless boys and become myself...
met Trav. & every one of them shook his hand.
Trav & i bore our testimonies. Yes, Trav bore his in my home ward's meeting.
Why?
Cause he's amazing. & hilarious. & he thought it'd be fun.
Yes ladies & gentlemen, THAT'S the kind of man i'm marrying.

Jrd then had his farewell & we made silly faces at him from the folding chairs
& we went on to eat all of carrots & veggie dip that his mother had to offer us.

& then i gave him a tour of the Mesa Temple,
where we'll be married, and sealed, and where we'll start our sweet sweet life together.
i took him to that tour of "God's Plan for Families" thing
lots of videos of family fun & explanations of the plan of salvation
it gets me everytime.
but this time, it really hit me. it hit me hard.

I'm going to be with Trav for forever. I get to be his girl, his loving wife for time & all eternity. I get to pull him close for always. Whenever I want I can listen to his thoughts of the world & make him biscuits and gravy. He is the man that I will start my sweet family with, he is the man that will make all of my dreams come true. There are only a precious few things that i have felt passionately about in my life. i love Trav with all of the passion that i am-- boy does it feel good! 
I'm in love with you Travis Whiting!
always, & forever.