My mom purchased Baby Bear the morning Lauren was born and Lauren fell in love with her when she was almost 20 months and has not put her down since. Baby Bear has been with us on every trip, vacation, and numerous car rides over the past 2 1/2 years. Last summer while visiting my grandparents on my dad's side,my Aunt Cheryl said she thought my uncle's sister had a spare "It's a girl" beanie baby so we could have a backup Baby Bear (just in case she was ever lost). Many a night we have searched the entire house for that bear only to find it in the play microwave, behind the couch, or any random place you can think of, but Baby Bear has never been lost.
Last week Lauren sadly stated that she wished Baby Bear didn't have a broken nose and was pink again so I decided it was high time to pull out the replacement bear my aunt mailed me about year ago. I have yet to find the same bear so was so thankful my aunt took the liberty to find one for us! Over the past year my mom also purchased 2 pink bears for backups so I let the girls each choose a bear.
...hhhhmmmm now Lauren has 3 special pink bears to keep track of, but an almost 5 year old does a pretty good job keeping track of their most valuable possessions :) Shannon on the other hand loves all her babies equally and sometimes has a favorite kitty, puppy, or bear every few days :)
In between putting coats of paint on the bedroom furniture...Sunday we were at our friends the Pavanos to hclp celebrate their daughter Kaitie's 3rd-bday. The girls love horses these days so they had a great time minus the heat. 
Saturday we headed up to Auburn to play w/ the Bellezas at their homestead...the kids had a good time playing in the dirt, climbing, swinging, and roasting smores...
... and Friday was Daniel's squadron picnic on base. It was also hotter than blazes but it was nice to mingle with his coworkers, meet his new boss, and have some fun as a family. 
