Tis the Season

I have to admit, I'm like a little kid at Christmas time. I love all things Christmas and now that I have an almost two year old Christmas is even more fun. I've had such a wonderful time this month experiencing Christmas through Laurel's eyes.

She LOVES Christmas trees and we have to stop and admire everyone we pass. She has "redecorated" ours about 20 times. She loves seeing people's decorations in their yards and houses as we are driving, especially Santa Claus and reindeer. Of course if we are driving at night she goes crazy when she sees Christmas lights. It is so cute to see how excited she gets every time!

We've only seen Santa five times this month. She finally sat on Santa's lap and told him what she wanted for Christmas the last time. It was so funny because she was being shy at first and wouldn't say anything. Santa asked her if she would like it if he brought her some dolls and she said, "No dolls, Thomas trains!" The whole way home she kept telling me that she didn't want any dolls only trains for Christmas.

I have been reading her lots of stories about the Christmas story and it is so great to hear her talk about the angels, Mary, and baby Jesus. I'm not sure how much she really understands, but she remembers the main characters!

Here are a few pictures of our Christmas season so far...lots more to come!

Laurel with the first Christmas tree we saw this season at the Museum of Arts and Sciences.

Running after church in one of her cute Christmas dresses.

Helping to pick out our Christmas tree!

Decorating the Christmas tree!

Dancing to some Christmas music in nursery.

Laurel and her friend Emily on a shopping trip to Toys R Us.

Redecorating the tree!

Petting a reindeer on one of our trips to see Santa.

And enjoying her favorite thing, trains!!

Giving Thanks

For Family Home Evening this week we did a lesson about what we are grateful for. When we first asked Laurel what she was thankful for she looked at us like we were crazy. Then we asked her who/what she loves and she was able to tell us the things that she loves. The more I thought about it the more I have come to understand how love and Thanksgiving are so intertwined. I thought I would take a page from Laurel's book and post about the things I am grateful for and about my love for each.

1. I am so grateful for my home. We moved in when I was pregnant with Laurel and I had many plans and projects of which we have done zip, but I still love it and I can see the potential. I love the high ceilings and the hardwood floors which are so easy to keep clean after carpet. I love the long front porch with my Cracker Barrel rocking chairs I had to get and the swing Matt built. I love our screened in back porch where I can keep Laurel contained. I love that we have four bathrooms, which I'm sure will come in handy one day! Do I love the color paint on the walls? No, but I can live with it for now. We will get to those projects one day...maybe when Laurel is a teenager! I also love how much land we have. I'm so thankful everyday that we have a huge yard for Laurel to play in, woods to explore, a creek to throw rocks in, and of course our long driveway where Laurel can run without fear of cars.

2. I'm grateful for a hard working husband who leaves for work everyday while Laurel and I are still sleeping. I love what a great father Matt is to Laurel and I know the less I try to control the better he is...I'm still working on it! It is so great to see how excited she gets when he gets home and I love how she asks about him doing the day. She will say, "Daddy, work?" and I'll say, "yes, Daddy is at work" and lately she's started answering, "awwww, man!" I love you Matt!

3. Going along with #2, I'm so happy I am able to be a stay-at-home mom. Do I love it everyday? No, but I'm so happy I have the CHOICE to stay at home and I have that choice because my husband is such a hard worker and a great saver. I'm so grateful that he has given me this chance to be there for my baby everyday.

4. I'm so grateful for my Father in Heaven and the MANY blessings that he has given me. I know that our faith will help Laurel to grow up to be a worthy and honorable daughter of God. There is nothing sweeter than seeing her bow her little head and say, "dear Heavenly Father...I love you, thank you, amen!" or when we point to a picture of the Savior and she yells, "Jesus!"

5. I am so grateful for my Dad. We have always been really close and now that I have my own child we are even closer. He is such a good Papa to Laurel and I love how excited she gets every time she sees him or calls him. He is always giving of his time and money and there could not be a more spoiled grandbaby than Laurel. I love you Dad!

6. Finally I am grateful for my sweet baby girl! I never could have imagined the love I would feel for this little person. She is amazing. Everyday is a new adventure. She has such a zest for life and lives every second to the fullest. Life is never dull with Laurel around! I try to enjoy every moment right now and I look forward to seeing her grow and experience life as she gets older.

I love you Laurel!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did!

Happy Halloween!

We dressed Laurel as Pebbles for Halloween this year. Her hair looks just like Pebbles naturally so it was an easy choice for us. My mother in law made the costume and I was really happy with how it turned out. I don't think Laurel really even noticed what she was wearing, but she did notice the bone in her hair. She kept saying, "bone? doggie food!" and probably thought we were nuts for putting a "doggie bone" in her hair.

Here is Laurel and Hank at the Church Halloween Party. They are pretty good friends since they see each other every week in nursery. As you can tell Laurel was checking out Hank's costume in this picture.

Hugging! I had so many cute pictures of them hugging, sweet babies!

Laurel playing one of the games.

Her favorite part of the night, jumping on the trampoline! The big boys were on this all night, but sat down so Laurel could jump for a few minutes. I thought that was so sweet!

Laurel checking out Arrie's costume.

Best family picture we could get...

Laurel trick or treating with Daddy while I handed out candy. She would not say trick or treat, but did say thank you to everyone who game her candy!

Running to show me her loot!

We went trick or treating with our good friends the Englands and a big group of church friends. Here are all the kids (minus a few) ready to head out treating or treating.

The first house we went to and the only time Laurel said trick or treat.

On the way home from trick or treating...Laurel's had a little too much candy? Haha!

More Pumpkins!

Here are some pictures of another pumpkin patch we went to after gymnastics with my friend Connie and her little girl Emily. The girls were not interested in posing for pictures, but they had fun picking out pumpkins, taking turns riding/pushing the wagon, and of course playing on the playground!

Laurel and Emily in a forced photo op. They are thrilled, can't you tell?

Laurel loved these little pumpkins and called them "baby pumpkin." So cute!!

Picking out lots of "baby pumpkin(s)"

Laurel was very excited to get to play on the playground. That was her favorite part of course!

Do you think she likes her swings?

Running on the playground!

Coloring her pumpkin after naptime.

Showing off her pumpkin crafts.

My cute little pumpkin!!!

More pictures to come of Laurel in her Halloween costume! Trick or Treating here we come!

Fall Fun!

The Saturday before last we made a trip to a pumpkin patch near us and had a great time. Laurel got to pick out her own pumpkin, feed the animals, play on an awesome playground, take a hay ride, and play with a table full of corn. What more could a girl ask for? Matt and I had fun watching Laurel having so much fun. She really experiences life to the fullest and although that can be exhausting sometimes it is usually such a joy to see her learn and grow everyday. I wish I had her energy! What was her favorite part? The playground of course!

Laurel on her first hayride!

Finding the lama. When she saw the lama she said, "ears!" I guess she thought he had funny ears, so cute!

And feeding the goats. She really liked it when they ate out of her hand!

We tried to get a good picture with the pumpkins but this is the best we could do. She would not sit still or look at the camera. In this picture she was looking back at the playground!

Laurel loved the playground. The tire swing was neat!

The slide was so fun! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

Playing with the corn!

I took her to another pumpkin patch last week and I'll post pictures of that soon! I hope everyone is having a good fall.

A Fun Filled Saturday!

This past Saturday we had a fun and busy day. First Laurel and I went to a cheerleading competition where I got to see my old cheerleaders I coached in middle school compete. The JV and COED Varsity teams both got 1st place and Varsity were the grand champions over all! It was so fun to see all my old girls and friends from school. Laurel had a great time just running around and climbing the bleachers. She did not want to sit still and just watch the cheerleaders, but she enjoyed dancing to the music and doing "nastics" (gymnastics) on the mats!

Here is Laurel with Brooke. She is the last girl I coached who is still in middle school and she was one of my favorite cheerleaders ever. Laurel had just given her a big hug in this picture after telling some of the other girls, "I shy". I love you girl! :)

Laurel watching the competition for a few seconds.

I really wanted to see a couple teams compete (in which my girls were cheering) so I got Laurel some fries and she sat still for about 10 minutes munching on her fries, yummy!

Playing on the mat between the middle and high school competitions.

After the competition and a quick nap for Laurel we went to Laurel's best friend Emily's 2nd birthday party. This is a picture of Emily right when we got there. Emily and her dad opened the door and Laurel said, "cute!" They are such good friends and Laurel had a great time at her party.

Emily's mom, Connie made this cake. We had been talking about it all week, but I was still amazed when I saw it. Wow!!

Laurel and Emily enjoying a little snack. They look so grown up eating here!

Laurel trying to keep her Elmo hat on. She refuses to wear the chin strap so it won't stay on!

Laurel loved Emily's slide, surprise, surprise!

So altogether a great day, just very busy. I was glad the next day was conference and we didn't have to get up early for church. Laurel and I both slept in until about 9! It was fun, but I'm glad every day isn't that busy!