Party of Three

Watch Out World!

2012-01-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Laurel got a bike for Christmas. I thought it would be a little while before she really got good at riding it, but she was cruising around like a little pro on the first ride. Looking a picture of her riding makes me a little sad. She just looks so grown! I don't notice it while she is riding though since our driveway is VERY hilly and I'm usually trying to make sure she does not go flying down a big hill and kill herself. Running after her is a good workout, I tell you!

One day I took her bike over to my Dad's neighborhood and she rode in a big flat church parking lot. That was perfect. I wish we had a place like that near us.

Before I know it she'll be going out with Matt on his forty mile bike rides. I swear, she was born, I blinked, and she is almost four years old. Crazy. As Matt and I always say, "Stay little Laurel!" It doesn't seem to be working though.

Happy New Year!!

2012-01-01T08:00:00.001-08:00

We went down to FL to visit Matt's grandmother and great aunts for the New Year. Last time we visited Laurel was 7 months old so we were long overdue for a visit. Matt's brother and his family came down for the day as well. Laurel had a great time with her Great grandma, great great aunts, her uncle, aunt, and cousins. Matt's great aunt's daughter and her husband were also visiting from Canada. We love seeing family! We had a great trip.

We decided to leave in the night so Laurel would sleep the whole trip down (7 hours). Ha, what a joke! We got her up at 11:30pm Thursday night and put her in the car. We thought she would go right back to sleep, but she was so excited she stayed awake until 4am! She slept from 4-5 and then stayed awake until we arrived around 7am. We were worried she would have a break down later in the day, but she did fine. Matt and I had taken turns driving and we were tired, but Laurel was wide awake. She was ready to have fun!

That morning, we visited with family. There were 6 adults and Laurel and she loved all the attention she received.

Later, we took her to the beach and she jumped right in the water even though it was freezing. Laurel played in the sand and we raced the waves. She had a ball; she loves the beach! Me too!

Laurel's cousins arrived and they had a great time playing together. After a few hours of playing and us grown ups talking we headed over to the nursing home to see Matt's other great aunt, Thelma. She was happy to see all the kids and I'm glad she was awake and that we got to talk to her a little.

We all went to the park down the street and over to the bayou that afternoon.

We somehow even managed to get a picture of Twyla with all five of her great grandchildren where they were all smiling, a miracle!

The kids all decided to go down to the water and play in the sand. Laurel REALLY wanted to go into the water.

I told her if she looked at the camera and smiled just one time she could go in the water. I am not above bribes!

She then proceeded to have a ball and get totally soaked.

We had a big meal with all the family and after that Matt, Laurel, and I all went to bed at 7:30pm. We were SO tired and we all slept 11 hours. We spent the morning visiting some more. I love listening to Matt's grandma and great aunt, Peg. They have led such interesting lives and they are in their 90s so they are like walking history books.

We left for home at lunchtime on Saturday, New Years Eve. Laurel was amazing in the car for the whole car ride. We got home after dark and we did fireworks right away. We stopped on the way home and bought a bunch and Mat and Laurel were excited to set them off.

We then counted down to midnight with Laurel about 8pm and sent her off to bed. Happy New Year!!

This past year has been really great and I hope this coming year will be as well.

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-27T20:43:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, we sure did!!

Ice Skating

2011-12-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

We have a local ice skating rink for the holiday season and I've been able to take Laurel twice. I'm hoping to be able to go one more time before it closes. Laurel took to it right away. She likes to skate all by herself, NOT holding my hand. She also loves to do turns, go in circles, and do little jumps. She thinks she is a pro.

Sometimes she even likes to make snow angels!

Fall

2011-12-27T18:56:00.001-08:00

This Fall has really flown by. I feel like it should still be October and here it is almost January. I'm not sure if it is because Laurel is in school, but the time seems to go so fast. It feels like every year just goes faster than the one before. Laurel is growing up and I just want a pause button every now and then!

We had a lot of fun this Fall. Besides school, Laurel is doing gymnastics and we go to story time at the library every week. If the weather is nice we like to have lunch at the park after preschool. I ran a 5K on Labor Day and Laurel had fun cheering me on. My Moms Club is always having awesome activities one of our events was to go swimming at a indoor pool. That was so fun! We even hosted a Halloween party at our house with a hay ride. The kids LOVED the hay ride! No wonder time has gone by so fast, we are having lots of fun!

Laurel waiting for gymnastics to start.

Swimming!

Sometimes Daddy even meets us for lunch after preschool!

Laurel was a Fairy Princess for Halloween, her idea of course.

Preschool

2011-12-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

Laurel started "real" preschool this Fall and it has been a huge success. Last year she went to a Mother's Morning Out program one day a week and I was a little worried about her going three days a week for three hours a day. As usual, I had nothing to worry about. Laurel loved it from day one. She walked in and couldn't even be bothered to hug Matt and I goodbye. She was too busy playing and never looked back. Matt and I stood outside by the one way mirror for a little while and watched her and she was having a grand old time. She is growing up so fast; it is sad and exciting at the same time.

She loves going to school everyday. They are always doing something fun. Besides having a real PE class in a real gym and a music class once a week they also have special color days once a month, they have gone on field trips, put on programs, etc. Everyday is something new and fun.

Laurel's school is through a local Baptist church and they learn bible verses every month and have chapel once a month. Laurel loves to memorize her bible verses.

I'm so happy she enjoys school and loves her teachers and friends and I hope it stays that way throughout her school days!

Here is a picture of Laurel on the first day of school hanging up her bag.

Laurel before "Fun with Apples" day at school.

Laurel having a ball at the school Fall Festival.

First field trip!! So much fun.

Laurel helping her Grandma with a special story time after she was chosen to take Mr. Bubbles (the class mascot) home for the weekend.

Laurel's first program was a huge hit. Matt and I loved hearing the bible verse, songs, poems, and cute little voices of a bunch of three year olds.

The school year is halfway over which I can't believe. I hope the second half is just as much fun as the first!

Bye, bye, Summer!!

2011-08-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I did not blog all summer! Just a warning, I'm going to put our ENTIRE summer in this one post, so it will be long and contain a LOT of pictures. Just so you are warned... ;)

We had a really fun and busy summer. It actually started out pretty rough. Laurel was waking up at the crack of dawn everyday, which would be fine, except she was acting tired and grouchy ALL day long. It was not fun. I racked my brain trying to figure out why she was suddenly waking up so early when she was obviously still tired. Finally after a few weeks I realized our dogs had decided to start sleeping on the front porch and were waking her up at the first hint of light each morning. It is a long and boring story about how I figured it out so I won't go into detail. The important thing was as soon as we blocked off the front steps from the dogs, Laurel began sleeping to her normal 7:30am again. Thank goodness!! We were all having a hard time there for awhile!

We did so many fun things this summer.

We swam and did a lot water play of course. It was so hot there wasn't much else we could do outside for long.

My friend took this picture at a birthday party and it is one of my favorites from this summer.

Laurel did summer gymnastics which she loved.

We went to story time at the library every week and Laurel completed all of her summer reading.
We did a BUNCH of fun activities with my Moms Club.

Like dress up like a cow for free food at Chick-fil-a!

Like meet the tooth fairy and learn about brushing out teeth!

Like reading and sharing books (Laurel was my helper)!
Like getting to tour a fire station and sit in a real firetruck!

4th of July was really fun this year and we did a lot of baking projects and crafts in the week leading up to Independence Day.
Little cutie waiting on fireworks

First sparkler!
Playing after church in red, white, and blue. :)

The best part of the summer was our vacation to Florida to visit family. We spent most of our time at the beach or swimming in the pool. We even spent one day at Disney World! It was really fun and Laurel has been obsessed with going back to the "Magical Kingdom" ever since. Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Cathy and Uncle Danny for letting us crash their house!

Disney!!
Laurel loved having a pool "right in the backyard" and spent most of her time wet.
She even started jumping in and having her head go under, something she would NOT do last year.

Laurel also got to meet her Great Grandpa Fred who is in his 90s.

Laurel really enjoyed her first putt putt gold experience.

Another of her favorite parts of vacation was walking "Carlie" (really named Harlie but Laurel re-named her) every night.

At the very end of the summer my brother and his wife and their two kids came to visit. Laurel loved having her cousins stay at our house. She had someone to play with every minute of the day and she loved it. She really liked having her three year old cousin sleep in her room and they did way better than I expected and actually slept pretty well. I really enjoyed spending time with my little brother and sister-in-law. I was sad on the way home from dropping them off at the airport. We hope to see them again soon!

Laurel and Ari were fast friends. They had a lot of fun together.

They put on the cutest puppet show.

The Doss Family, one of my favorite families!!

Once my family left I had a week to clean up, organize, and get Laurel ready for her first day of "real" preschool. Even though it is still in the high 90s, summer is over. Laurel is in her second week of preschool and loving it. She goes three days a week for three hours each day. Don't worry, her first day of school will have a post all its own.

I must say I am really looking forward to Fall. Summer is not my favorite season. I used to love it when I was a teacher (since I didn't have to work!), but I'm not really a fan now. It is so hot all the time and some times I feel trapped indoors. I can't wait for the cool Fall weather and all the fun holidays and events that will soon be here. I can't wait to spend most of our time outside without feeling like we are melting!!

Goodbye summer, till next year.

Hello Summer!!

2011-05-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

Laurel finished school last week and we are ready to have a fun filled summer. Lots of swimming (it is already so HOT), gymnastics, $3 kids movies, story time at the library, and lots of time with friends.

Speaking of school it seems like Laurel just started her first year and now she is all done.

Here she is on her first day of school last August in front of the doors to her school

And here she is on her last day in roughly the same spot. What a difference! She is such a big girl now!

I'm really looking forward to this summer and I'm praying we don't have any broken bones like last summer!

Mountain Vacation

2011-05-21T17:34:00.001-07:00

Would you believe my new year's resolution was to be better about updating my blog? Yeah, I claim an epic fail on that goal! I AM going to be better about it though, starting now!

If you have read one of the two posts I did this year then you know that Laurel was sick on her birthday in January. Matt came down with the flu really bad on her birthday and was down and out for a whole week. He has never been sick more than a day since I've known him! Then Laurel got sick again and she was sick on my birthday in February. Then I got sick. Then Laurel got sick. You get the picture. It was a LONG winter. We were finally all well by the end of March. We decided to go on a little vacation to celebrate mine and Laurel's birthdays and Matt and my 8th wedding anniversary. We went to the mountains on our honeymoon so we decided to go up to Helen since it is a pretty short drive (Laurel does not do well for car long trips!).

We had a really good time and did lots of fun stuff.

No vacation would be complete without:

A visit to the Cabbage Patch General Hospital.
I used to go all the time when I was a kid and I was so excited to take Laurel. She loved it and did NOT want to leave.

She loved watching the baby being born and even got to give "her" a middle name. She named it Laurel. :)

A visit to the bear reserve.
The bear pictured here ate Laurel's bow. It fell off into his cage and he ate it right up. Laurel was very upset and was screaming and crying. It was quite the scene we made!

Once she calmed down she fed them some treats.

A visit to the reptile house.
Laurel loved the turtle and fed it lots of lettuce.

Matt liked the snake and Laurel also petted it. I took pictures and kept my hands to myself!

Pink lemonade!

Santa Claus!
Laurel wanted to know why he was not at the North pole.

Trains!
This was an amazing model train display!

A visit to see the beautiful river flowing through Helen

A little hotel bed jumping!

A horse and carriage ride!

Laurel LOVED it!

Ice cream!
Even when it is cold no vacation is complete without a little strawberry ice cream.

Lots of goodies!
We got some fudge and it was so yummy!

Making wishes!

Pictures that we can use to blackmail Laurel in high school!

Dinner on the River!

Breakfast in bed!

Swimming!

And...one more stop to see the Cabbage Patch kids!

It may look like we go on vacation a lot (since there are two vacation posts on the front page of my blog) but that really just shows how bad I am about blogging. This is only the third vacation we have gone on since we had Laurel. The first one was to FL when she was seven months old and between the seven hour car ride and Laurel not sleeping or napping, it was a rough few days. We took a long break and have recently gone on two vacations with Laurel. She is at such a fun age and even though she didn't sleep as well this vacation as she did our beach trip, she did great. She still talks about how much fun she had and will list all the cool stuff we did. She asks all the time to go back, but does not want to see the bears again!

An Oops Kind of Day

2011-03-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Laurel and I are both sick today. She is at the end of her illness and is feeling a lot better. I'm at the beginning of my sickness and I am feeling tired and weak. Therefore all day all I have heard is Laurel yelling and running around like a little nut. I've also heard a lot of, "Mommy PLAY with me" in the whiniest voice possible. So I've been trying to play with her while I'm laying on the couch which is NOT easy.

This morning she wanted to play so I suggested that she sing me a song. She usually sings stuff like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" when I ask her to sing a song. Today she busts out with "I Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. She has heard this song in the car a few times and that is it. Regardless to say I was half mortified, half cracking up when she sings, "It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now." You can guess what came next, "What's drunk mean Mommy?" Um, okay let's play something else (and make a mental note to be more careful what we sing along to in the car).

Later today she wanted to play with her little Princess dolls. Then she wanted to draw. I look up to see that she has taken the skirt off Snow White and has her dancing on the pencil she had been using to draw a picture. She says, "Mommy are dolls supposed to dance on pencils?" I start cracking up (inappropriately again) and she then says, "What? Should she dance on the table instead?"

Here is a picture. You can't see because of her hand, but Snow White is in red underwear and red high heels, nice.

I have some days where I feel like a really good mom. On those days we do lots of fun, age appropriate activities. Today is not one of those days, but I can laugh about it at least.

A Very Un-Happy Birthday

2011-01-24T18:26:00.000-08:00

Laurel turned three years old today. We had decided not to do a big party like last year, mostly because Laurel is in the prime of her terrible twos. When she is sweet, she is very sweet, but when she is bad, she is VERY bad. I could just see her throwing a huge fit right in the middle of her party. She brings new meaning to the phrase, "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

So we just decided to do a small celebration. That quickly turned into a couple small celebrations. I would bring treats and favor bags to her school on Wednesday. On Friday we would go to the aquarium with her best friend Emily and her mom. On Saturday we would take her to ride a horse, which is what she asked to do for her birthday. Then on Monday, her actual birthday, we would have our good friends over for pizza, cupcakes, and presents.

We were all very excited about these plans. Laurel has been talking about turning three since before Christmas. So Wednesday rolls around and I take the treats and favor bags (which I had spent two hours the night before putting together) to school. Laurel goes into her class, walks up to the first kid she sees and says, "Those are my presents for my birthday. You can't touch them!" See what I mean about the terrible twos? So I explain to Laurel that, yes, she will get a bag, but so will all the other kids. She looks at me like I am crazy and says, "But it's MY birthday!" I leave and she is upset about the bags and I'm thinking, "Why did I even waste my time on those things?" When I go to pick her up from school, the teacher tells me that she has been acting grouchy and might be getting sick. I chalk it up to her being mad about the bags, but later that afternoon I notice she is a little hot. By evening she has a fever of 103 and I feel terrible for sending her to school when she was sick and probably infecting other kids in the process. She is still sick Thursday with a fever so we cancel Friday's aquarium. She is still sick Friday so we cancel horse back riding for Saturday. But by Saturday she is feeling better so we keep Monday's plans.

But today rolls around and now Matt is sick with a fever so we have to cancel those birthday plans too. I told Laurel that her friend's would not be coming over after she woke up from her nap and she burst into tears. I felt like crying with her. She was pretty upset for about 30 minutes, but some presents and cupcakes made it a little better.

I know in the grand scheme of things, this is not very important, but I hate that Laurel's whole birthday has been postponed/ canceled. We managed to have a little fun tonight with a sick Matt and a disappointed Laurel, but I was sad that she didn't get to have a great birthday like the last two years. We have moved everything to this weekend and I really hope it works out. But tonight as I rocked her to sleep I kept thinking about this day three years ago and how much our lives have changed since then. Laurel brings so much joy and energy into everyday life. She reminds me how to have fun and take it all in and I'm so blessed to have her in my life.

Happy Birthday Laurel!! I love you!!

Funnies

2010-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Laurel has been cracking me up lately. I'm trying to keep a list of the funny things she says so I don't forget. Here are a few of her latest funnies:

We were taking a walk one day and Laurel turned to me and said so seriously, "Mommy do you know that girls pee pee and boys poo poo?" I tried a few times to explain that this was not correct, but she was NOT having it. I finally just left it alone and let her be right.

Another day we were just hanging out and she asked me, "Mommy do you know what gracefully means? It means when I dance beautifully!"

Laurel takes gymnastics and a week few weeks ago her teacher had her nails painted a pretty color. Laurel made sure to tell Miss Amanda that she liked her nails and then asked, "Did your Mommy paint them for you?"

The other day I was talking on the phone and Laurel wanted me to get off and play with her. After a few times of asking me she suddenly yelled, "You're not being gorgeous to me!" Lately whenever I do something that she does not like (like brush her hair) she tells me that I'm not gorgeous. Nice.

Matt had to take a big test at the end of October for his Professional Engineering License and we had prayed for him to do well the night before. When he got home from the test I asked him if he did okay and Laurel piped up and said, "Did you get first place? Did they give you a ribbon?"

Laurel was being crazy a few days ago and crawling "like when I was a little baby" and she hit her lip. We had just talked about how Heavenly Father and Jesus made our bodies and how our bodies can heal themselves. The next morning she drank some OJ and it hurt her lip. She yelled out, "Awww, man! Jesus didn't heal my lip yet!"

I hope these made you laugh! And here is a picture of my funny little girl just cause she is so stinking cute!

Goodbye Summer!

2010-10-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

At the end of September we went on a vacation to Tybee Island. It was such fun just having a few days of family time. Laurel loved everything, but her favorites (according to her) were the waves at the beach, swimming in the pool (especially at night), staying up late, playing with Daddy "all day and in the night" and getting ice cream whenever she wanted. Here are just a few pictures of our vacation; I took over 800 pictures and these are a *few* of my favorites.

Laurel loved playing with her Daddy on the beach. They enjoyed jumping over the waves, floating in the ocean, and building sandcastles to name a few. Laurel kept telling me to go sit on the beach chair; no problem sweetie! A lot of these picture were taken from the comfort of my beach chair. It was great for me to watch her have so much fun with Matt since he is usually working and she is with me mostly.

I had to get a few traditional beach shots. Laurel wasn't big on the posing, but let me take a few.

Once I let her run free she had a great time. I LOVE this shot. It shows what a blast she was having at the beach.

A picture with my sweet baby; we had just finished doing "noses" (from Toy Story 3 in case you don't watch kid's movies).

Matt and Laurel watching the sun set on the pier. I love how relaxed she looks in this picture (that is rare for Laurel!).

Laurel swimming on our last morning. She always makes me hold her in the water, but she was swimming like a little fish (if fish wore floaties) with her Daddy.

We had such a great time and we are happy for Fall (even if it still feels like summer!)

Adventures With Casty

2010-07-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my sweet baby right after she had her super cool pink cast put on!

This blog post has been a long time in the making, but every time I started to write it I would get upset and put it off. I HATE that my baby got hurt. I HATE that I wasn't fast enough to catch her and keep her from getting hurt. As a parent you want to keep your child safe from harm and pain and when you can't it is hard to accept.

Here is our story:

In the beginning of June, Laurel was coloring at the table in her booster seat like she does every day. I was right next to her getting more paper out of the drawer where I keep the art supplies. Laurel leaned forward to get a marker that had rolled away and fell out of her seat and on to the hardwood floor. I saw it happen and I couldn't grab her in time. It really didn't look like a very bad fall, but she was crying so I picked her up and went to sit down and turn on the TV for her (TV cures all aliments in our house). I knew something was wrong after a minute when she wouldn't stop crying. Laurel is a drama queen and she always cries when she hurts herself, but she always stops really quickly.

I started to think something was wrong with her right arm because she wouldn't move it and was was holding it with her left hand. I called Matt who had taken the dogs to the vet. He was 30 minutes away and told me to just wait until he got home and she was fine (I've called him many times in a panic before). I kept thinking that she was really hurt so I called my dad who is a nurse. He told me it could be broken, fractured, or a bad bone bruise. Matt got home and thought she was fine. I told him that she has NEVER cried for 30 minutes before and she was NOT fine. So we headed to the urgent care. Laurel fell asleep in the car so at least she didn't cry the whole trip.

We got to the urgent care and proceeded to sit and sit and sit. We are still discussing if her arm is hurt. Matt thinks she is okay because she can move her fingers. I think she is not okay because she won't move her arm and (the biggest factor) she has sat in our laps this whole time and not wanted to walk around. She ALWAYS wants to, "go walk around!" Matt did carry her outside for a little bit and the Chick-fil-a across the street had a bouncy house for their kid's night. Laurel kept saying she wanted to go jump even though she wouldn't walk or move her arm. Poor child!

Finally after several hours we get called back. Laurel fights like a wild monkey when they try to X-ray her arm. The nurse tells me it is most likely not broken if she can fight like that. I think, "Lady, you don't know my kid!" She will fight you until the death if you try to hold her down. The doctor comes back after looking at the x-rays and says that is looks like it is not broken, but the radiologist will check it and call us back in the morning. They put an ace bandage on it and send us home.

So we head home. I give Laurel a quick bath, wrap her arm back up, give her some tylenol, and put her to bed. She goes right to sleep and I think everything is okay. But she wakes up every hour ALL night long. In the morning I know something is wrong for sure. All she wants to do is sit and watch TV and she still won't move her arm at all. The radiologist calls and says that her arm IS broken, in two places! I was not surprised at all. My mom intuition had been telling me that all along.

We take her back to urgent care and they put her arm in the a splint and then we go to a specialist who decides she needs a cast. Laurel has been sitting in our laps and not moving much throughout this whole ordeal. The SECOND the cast was on she jumped up and started dancing and acting like her old crazy self. We are very lucky that she did not mind the cast at all. It did not slow her down in the least. She proudly picked out her pink cast and loved to show it off and have people sign it. This was a huge blessing since I envisioned weeks of her crying and begging to have it taken off.

The only issue was her not being able to take her nightly bath. We also couldn't go swimming of course, but I let her watch lots of movies and have picnics in the living room to make up for it. She was so spoiled after the cast came off three weeks later. I've just finally finished weaning her off all the "brave girl treats" she was getting. She also totally regressed on her potty training so I've basically had to start again from square one.

I'm just so grateful that her arm is fine and one day after the cast came off she was using it just like normal again. Here are a few pictures of Laurel's adventures with casty.

This was the second day of having her cast. We were playing animal zoo which is her favorite game.

Showing off her cast before church.

Just playing in the house one rainy day.

More animal zoo.

At Red Lobster. Laurel loved the lobsters.

Laurel with her cotton candy at Sesame Street Live.

At one of her doctor's visits. We learned her cast had to stay on another week, but Laurel didn't care. She was so happy to get a sucker for being good during the x-ray

Yay! Finally the cast comes off. I thought Laurel would be scared of them cutting it off with the saw, but she thought it was cool. They asked us if we wanted to keep her cast and we were like, "No! It stinks; throw it away!"

Waiting for the doctor right after her cast came off. You can see she was still holding her arm like it was in the cast, but in less than a day she was using it like normal.

Yay for brave girl Laurel! Hopefully we will not have any more injuries for a while!

Matt and His Merry Men

2010-05-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

I've got to record this conversation that Laurel and I had at dinner tonight before I forget it.

Laurel fell down on the way to the dinner table and started crying that she hurt her knees. Matt kissed them and Laurel said she was all better. We began eating dinner and Laurel started rehashing how she fell and got hurt and how, "Daddy made it all better!" I said that Daddy must be a superhero if he could heal her with a kiss. I then said, "Is Daddy like Superman? How about Super Grover?" Laurel said, "No, Daddy is Robin Hood!"

For those of you who don't know Matt likes to shoot a bow for fun. He used to do it a lot when we were first married and just recently set up a target out back and started again. Laurel loves to watch him shoot from the window.

I thought it was so cute and smart for her to make the connection from Robin Hood in the Disney movie (which she loves) to Daddy in real life.

Strawberry Picking and the Terrible Twos!

2010-05-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite Spring activities is going to pick strawberries and then get yummy strawberry ice cream afterwards. We went this year with some friends of ours. Laurel was so excited about the trip for days and asked everyday if it was time to go pick strawberries yet.

We arrived and the girls ran right to the playground. They were having lots of fun and then Laurel threw a monster fit. It was seriously the worst temper tantrum she has ever had. It all started because her friend didn't want to do what Laurel told her to do at the playground. Laurel started screaming and then threw herself down on the ground. People were staring and I was feeling like the worst mom in the world. Finally I went and put her in the car and sat with her until she calmed down.

After that she was the sweetest little girl and had a great time picking strawberries!

After awhile she got tired of picking them and just ate them straight out of her basket.

Finally, enjoying some tasty strawberry ice cream.

I'm glad the trip ended well. I guess I have to get used to the terrible twos and be ready for when it rears it's ugly head!

We Love Spring!

2010-05-21T12:15:00.000-07:00

We have been having a great spring. Laurel loves being outdoors so we have been spending a lot of time outside doing all sorts of fun activities. Here are a LOT of pictures from the past month, enjoy!

Laurel fishing with her Daddy on her first fishing trip. She had a great time watching Matt catch fish and she only fell in once!

You've got to have a nice pair of sunglasses for spring!

Laurel enjoying some swing time with her friend Cale.

Laurel and her best friend, Emily, at the zoo. They had a great time but it sure was hot for April!

First swimming of the season, the water was a little cold but Laurel did not care.

Feeding the ducks at a birthday party.

We love to go to the playground and swing and slide!

Laurel likes swinging on a "big girl" swing!

Laurel taking her babydoll for a walk to get the mail.

First ice cream cone!

I love all the cute spring clothes I finally got to break out of the closet!

And throwing pennies in the fountain at the mall.

I hope everyone is having a great Spring. Summer is right around the corner!

Easter Fun!

2010-04-24T10:54:00.000-07:00

Holidays are so much fun and Easter was no exception. Laurel had a ball with everything. She loved all the Easter egg hunts and dying and decorating Easter eggs. She had so much fun making Easter crafts (although she still asks to make Valentines all the time too). She was so excited for the Easter Bunny to come and bring her Easter basket. She wanted a jump rope so bad (ever since she saw some at the circus) so we got her one even though she is too little to use it right. She jumps and swings the rope around crazily and is happy!

Her favorite thing about Easter was all the candy though. She is still asking for chocolate all the time. Last year she could have cared less and Matt and I ate almost all of her candy but not this year.

We tried to teach her about the real meaning of Easter but she didn't really seem to "get" it. She did so great with Christmas and could understand the whole Santa thing and that we were celebrating Jesus's birth also. She was all about the Easter bunny this year though. I did teach a lesson in Nursery about the real meaning of Easter and when I asked what Easter was about she said Jesus, but that was the only time. Every other time it was the Easter Bunny. She still talks about him (and Santa too).

I took way too many pictures and here are a few of my favorites. Like I said holidays are fun!

The first picture and the two below are pictures of Laurel in her Easter dresses. I don't know how but she ended up with three this year. The first one my mom bought for her.

This one I got for her. I love smocked dresses. They look so sweet on little girls! :)

My Mother-in-law got this one for Laurel. The bunnies are so cute.

Laurel at the church Easter egg hunt.

Making a craft with Daddy.

She found the golden egg!

Showing off her eggs.

Her Easter basket with her eggs and crafts.

Eating a cupcake. I think she liked it!

Laurel had a blast dying eggs. We did it outside so I wouldn't be stressed about the mess. Laurel was covered in dye and it took me a long time to get it all off.

Laurel's Easter basket. The jump rope was a big hit. She really wanted these princess pjs that she saw the other day. We got her a kite (that we have tried to fly twice but can't get it up!). She also got some bubbles, bathtub paint, a book, a mother and baby stuffed duck, bucket and shovel, and lots of candy of course.

Laurel when she saw her basket. She said, "I don't see my jump rope!"

Then she saw it and started to jump. So funny! We really need to get a video of it; pictures do not do it justice.

Then we had an Easter egg hunt with the dyed eggs. Matt hid them in a bunch of funny places and Laurel was loving it.

Finally we went to Matt's parents for a great Easter dinner and Laurel had another Easter egg hunt.

What a fun Easter!

Cherry Blossom Festival

2010-04-09T11:32:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun this year at the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. When I think about how Laurel was just a little thing last year it makes me a little sad though. She couldn't do much. This year she was full on big girl and wanted to do everything! She rode all the rides by herself, stayed up late to see the hot air balloons, and even ate her first fair food.

Here is Laurel at the Hot Air Balloon Glow on the first weekend of the festival. She was running around having a great time while we waited for the hot air balloons to go up.

She got to go through this jumpy house a few times and had a ball.

Finally, the hot air balloons went up. It was beautiful and Laurel loved it.

Watching two balloons near us go up. Laurel kept saying, "they are kissing!"

Trying to get a picture of Laurel...she is trying to escape as always!

Watching the hot air balloons light up. She was amazed.

Later in the week we went down the park to see the seal show and ride the rides with my dad. We all had a blast!

Here is Laurel sitting on her Papa's shoulders watching the seal show. If you can't tell, she liked it!

First ride she has ever been on by herself. She loved it as you can tell from this picture!

More rides. She called this one Nemo, as in "I want to ride Nemo again!"

Riding a pony with her Papa.

This was her favorite part of the day. Laurel kept asking to go on this and "jump like in nastics (gymnastics)!" I thought she was too little, but my dad thought she would like it. She LOVED it and the guy running it was so nice and let Laurel say on for about 20 minutes. Thanks dad!

Laurel eating her first funnel cake. She was not interested in posing for a picture and wanted to dig in. She really liked it and so did I!

We had such a great time and it was so fun to see Laurel enjoy herself so much. That girl loves life! :)

Playgrounds, Playgrounds,and More Playgrounds!

2010-04-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad the weather has turned nice and it is not freezing outside anymore. Winter and toddler does not mix well. We have been going to playgrounds like crazy lately since we have been a little stir crazy from being cooped up in the house all winter. You can tell how much Laurel loves to swing and slide from these pictures!

Wheeeee!!!

My little baby on a big girl swing...tear, she is all grown up!

We are trying to go to the playground lots before it gets burning up. We love spring! Thank you for finally coming; I thought you would never get here!

Let it Snow!

2010-04-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind with my posting but I have to write about Laurel's second snow. She enjoyed it last year when it snowed but she was only13 months old. This year she really understood what was happening. As soon as it started snowing she yelled, "Mommy it snowing! I go make a Frosty!" Which is just what she did.

Here is Laurel pointing to her snowman.

And kissing him.

She had to make a snow angel too. The snow was pretty wet though so we had to take her inside after that and change her clothes.

The next morning we went for a family tractor ride to look at all the snow. It was so pretty!

Then Laurel played in the snow some more. The snow was great for making and throwing snowballs.

I hope it snows every year, but I'm not crossing my fingers...I seriously can't believe it snowed two years in a row!

Let's Celebrate!!

2010-04-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

Everything is loads more fun when you have a toddler in the house and that goes double for birthdays and holidays. Laurel made my birthday so special this year. She sang Happy Birthday to me for weeks before and after; it was so cute. We went to the circus for my birthday and I just loved seeing Laurel so excited. She loved the clowns, juggling, and the animals. I really enjoyed it too, but I'm a kid at heart!

Here is Laurel watching the pre-show on Matt's shoulders, her preferred way to sit lately.

I have never been one to get all into Valentines day but we went all out this year. We gave Laurel a big heart shaped balloon and she played with that thing for weeks until it finally died. We did Valentines crafts for weeks leading up to the day (Laurel still asks to "make a Valentine" all the time) and we made heart shaped cookies and pancakes too.

Laurel loved rolling the dough, cutting out the hearts, and putting on the sprinkles.

Laurel enjoying her pancakes on Valentines morning.

Even St. Patrick's Day is fun! Here is a picture of Laurel dressed all in green and trying to pinch me since I was not wearing green.

Matt and I celebrated our 7th anniversary on March 31st and although I forgot to take any pictures we had a great dinner out (all by ourselves, thanks Dad!) and we actually talked about non Laurel things for most of the dinner. Amazing, I know!

We have Matt's birthday in April and then most of our fun holidays are over for awhile...of course 4th of July will be here before you know it (hopefully Laurel won't be scared of the fireworks this time!).

Playdates!

2010-03-12T11:17:00.000-08:00

I love it that Laurel is old enough to have friends. We have been doing playdates like crazy lately. At least one a week, but sometimes more. A great bonus is that us moms enjoy them too. It is great to get some adult interaction when you spend all day talking to a 2 year old. I like to watch Laurel with her little friends too. I have come to the conclusion that she is very bossy. She likes to tell everyone how to do everything.

One of the best playdates we had recently was with a mom and little girl whose parents and grandparents go to our church. They come visit every few months or so and we have been trying to get the girls together for awhile. We finally had a playdate at the Children's Museum and Carmen and I and Annley and Laurel totally hit it off. Carmen and I just talked about everything, but mostly about our girls (of course), being stay home moms, and her little baby boy who is due next month. The girls cooked in the play kitchen, colored, played with all the cool toys, and played tag. Laurel now likes to tell me, "tag you're it Mommy!" and "chase me!" I so wish the lived closer because the girls get along so great! They both love to talk and like to play the same things.

Of course, Laurel's best friend is Emily and her Mom, Connie, is one of my best friends. We get together with them at least once a week. The girls always scream in excitement whenever they see each other. It is so adorable. People are always stopping us and saying how cute the girls are together.

Here are Emily and Laurel at the park. Emily was tickling Laurel; how cute can you get?

At the Museum of Arts and Sciences. They love the monkeys and the balls!

A great place for playdates is at Barnes and Nobles. The girls love to play with the train table, read books, and play with the stuffed animals. They have story time on Fridays too!

My good friend from college came to visit during Christmas break. Her son, Cale, and Laurel are only a couple days apart. She has a new little baby girl who is so cute. Shannon and I had so much fun catching up and after Laurel got used to sharing her toys, so did the kids.
Laurel's friend from church, Hank, came over for a playdate for the first time so his Mimi could go shopping. They played together so great that I didn't even have to do anything. I could get used to that! They played trains and chased each other around the house. They were adorable!

My best friend from elementary and middle school just found me on facebook. I was so excited to get back in touch with her and find out she has three girls! We got together and had so much fun catching up while the girls played. Her middle girl and Laurel are only a few months apart. I love it how toddlers can meet and be best friends in 5 minutes.

I'm enjoying all the friends that Laurel is making and we are looking forward to more fun playdates!

Sickie

2010-02-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of posts I need to do about our fun trip to the circus, my birthday, our snow day, and Valentines Day but my baby is sick right now and that is all I can think about. Doesn't this picture just say it all? Laurel is NOT feeling well!

She seemed a little out of sorts last Wednesday, but she woke up about an hour early and I figured that was all it was. She is NOT happy if she does not get her beauty sleep (just like her mama). I put her down for a nap and she slept three and a half hours which is really, really long for her. When I went in to get her I knew something was wrong since she was just laying there in a sad little heap instead of climbing out of the crib like she normally does. I realized that she was very hot and I took her temperature which was 103 degrees. I began freaking out and then realized there was no Tylenol in the house. So I called Matt and he was almost home and didn't answer since we don't have service on the back roads close to our house. He got home and had to turn around and go back out on an emergency run to Kroger. Laurel and I got cozy on the couch and watched Beauty and the Beast. She LOVES this movie, but it was the first time she sat and watched the entire thing. Usually 15-20 minutes is the longest she sits still so I knew she must have been feeling really bad. I got some medicine in her and she seemed a little better, but as soon as it wore off she was burning hot again. We had a bad night with her up every hour and me holding her most of the night.

We went to the doctor in the morning and she still had a fever and also a double ear infection. We were on the way to pick up her medicine when she puked all over herself and the car seat. Lovely. We went home and poor Matt had to go get her medicine since I had a pukey kid and car to deal with. Thursday is a blur of puking and cleaning up which went on all day. I was thrown up on more times than I can count. We had another bad night where it seems like I spent all night rocking her back to sleep.

Friday she actually seemed MUCH better. No fever, no puking, just a little tired. We hung out all weekend in our pjs and did some fun Valentines stuff, but mostly just watched movies.

Saturday she sounded a little hoarse to me and then she started coughing. My baby has NEVER had a cough before and it freaked me out.

By Sunday her voice was almost completely gone. She sounds like a 70 year old woman who has been smoking for 50 years. So, so sad. I was planning on taking her back to the doctor, but she slept great (15 hours!) and didn't cough once. I checked on her many times to make sure she was still breathing and she was sleeping peacefully each time. I thought she was finally on the mend.

This morning she seemed all better except her voice, but then started coughing again during her nap. She woke herself up and was not happy about it. So it is back to the doctor for us tomorrow. I hope she is better soon. She is so tired of being sick. She has watched every movie we have and she is over it.

I'm definitely going to have some work to do once she is better though. She has totally regressed with her potty training. She is allowed to drag her blankey and paci around the house whenever she wants. I'm rocking her to sleep each night like I did when she was a tiny baby. She can watch TV whenever she wants. She gets treats for taking her medicine without too much of a fuss. I do nothing but hold her all day, but what else can I do? My baby is sick and all I want is for her to feel better. If you ask Laurel if she is sick though she will say, "No, I not sickie! I go outside and play!"

CAKE!!!

2010-02-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

I met a wonderful lady about a year ago at Kindermusik and we have become best friends. Her little girl and Laurel are only a few months apart and play together so great. We get together at least once a week for a play date. It has really made being a stay at home mom a lot easier. It is so nice to have someone who is going through the exact same thing as me. We can just talk forever.

So Connie makes that most amazing cakes and offered to make Laurel's cake for her 2nd birthday party. I was so excited and we spent weeks trying to come up with a theme. Finally we decided to have the cake match the pink and green pig outfit Laurel was wearing for her party. Laurel has always loved pigs and that was her first animal sound so it seemed fitting.

The cake Connie made was beyond amazing and everyone was in awe of it. I figured the cake needed it's own post so here are a few pictures of the most awesome cake ever!

Laurel blowing out the candles

Happy and excited after blowing out the candles

This is how Laurel feels about the cake. She LOVED it. We saved the little pink pigs on top and Laurel likes to sing them "Happy Birthday" all the time. Adorable!

Connie, thank you so much. I could not have asked for a better cake. You are a wonderful friend!

Birthday Photo Shoot

2010-01-30T13:20:00.000-08:00

Laurel and I were bored one day this week so I decided to do a photo shoot with some of her cute outfits and the top of her amazing cake (the cake will have it's own post!). I'm not the greatest photographer and Laurel is not the best subject since she hates to stay still, but we got some cute shots. Enjoy!

This is Laurel's birthday outfit which matches her cake. Adorable much!

I let her play with this musical horse to keep her happy.

Outfit change and still playing with the horse!

Looks tasty!

Laurel got hungry towards the end of the shoot!

Happy Happy Birthday!!

2010-01-27T17:39:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe Laurel's 2nd birthday has already come and gone. It seems like just yesterday I was driving to the hospital to have her and now she is two years old!

We started talking about her birthday as soon as Christmas and New Years was over. She was so excited to get to do "nastics" (gymnastics) and have all her friends come. Whenever we talked about her party she would say, "Papa come? Emily come" and just go through and name all her friends and family. We also started practicing blowing out candles while singing Happy Birthday to her. I just wanted to do it once or twice so she knew what to do, but Matt seriously did it almost every night in January! It was so cute how she would get so excited every time those candles came out. One good side effect of all that singing was that she learned to sing Happy Birthday on her own. It is the most adorable thing you have ever heard. One day when I was talking to her about her party I said, "and after you blow out the candles on the cake you can open your presents!" She looked at me so confused and said, "Santa Claus coming?" I guess in her mind only Santa Claus brings presents. When I explained that you get presents on your birthday too, she seemed to accept that, but every time I mentioned presents she would say, "but Santa Claus not coming?" like she was still trying to figure it out.

The night before her party she was so excited and kept saying, "I go sleep. Wake up. Party!" Just like Christmas Eve she was too excited to sleep well. It was almost 10pm before she finally fell asleep, which is really late for her. Luckily she slept in until almost 9 (I was worried she would wake up too early and then want to take a nap right when her party started). Her and Matt made pancakes like they do every Saturday. We quickly got ready and it was party time!

She was so excited when we got to Sportz Quest where we were having the party and she does gymnastics. We got the food set up while she begged to go play. Her friends started showing up and she was so sweet and greeted each one. The gymnastics teacher quickly went over a few rules and then let the kids loose to play. Laurel just ran around like a little nut, jumping and rolling, sliding and running everywhere. All the kids were having so much fun; it was just fun to watch them enjoy themselves so much.

After a good amount of play time, it was time for food and cake. Laurel blew out the candles on her cake before we had even finished singing the happy in "Happy Birthday." We lit them again to get a picture and she happily blew them out again. The kids all seemed pretty hungry and they ate their food happily. Laurel ate some of her food and then decided to walk around to the adults and mooch food off of their plates too!

After food it was present time. Laurel was adorable opening presents. She wanted to open and play with each present of course. She cracked me up with some of her expressions like, "so cute!" and of course, "oh wow!" A few times when I told her to say thank you to someone she tried to give them the gift she had just opened.

We opened presents pretty quickly and then the kids got to play a little bit more. Laurel was so sweet telling all her friends thank you at the end of the party. We went home and fed Laurel a late lunch and then she took a nap. When she woke up we opened presents again and she had just as much fun the second time as the first.

We had such a fun day and Matt and I just really enjoyed watching Laurel having such a great time. Did I say I still can't believe my baby is two!!

Here are a few pictures from her party. Enjoy!

Laurel and I before the party started.

Jumping on the trampoline!

Playing with her "boyfriend" Drew

Just having a great time while my Dad and brother watch.

She LOVED this slide so much.

Getting a ribbon while everyone clapped for her. She so loved being the center of attention.

Just blew her candles out...for a second time!

Opening presents!

Thanks to everyone who made Laurel's day so special.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2010-01-01T18:51:00.001-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. It was so fun to see how into it Laurel got. She was so excited for Santa Claus to come and asked every night for a week before Christmas, "Santa Claus coming tonight?" On Christmas morning the first thing she said was, "Happy birthday Jesus" and "I love you Jesus!"

Here is Laurel with some carrots for Santa's reindeer on Christmas Eve.

She wanted to stay up and see Santa eat his cookies and the reindeer eat their carrots. We kept telling her she had to go to sleep or Santa wouldn't come. She was so excited that she had a hard time falling asleep though. Then she woke up several times and wanted to know if Santa had come yet.

I enjoyed playing Santa Claus and eating the cookies, yummy!

Laurel got a train table as her big present this year. Matt finished the table on Christmas Eve so it was really down to the wire. He had fun setting up the trains for her while I finished wrapping all the presents.

Santa has come! Laurel had a HUGE stocking which was nice because I really got tired of wrapping around 11:00 and just shoved the rest of her loot in her stocking!

Laurel's face on Christmas morning when she first saw her train table.

She was in awe!

As you can tell she really LOVES her Thomas!

It was really hard to get her want to look in her stocking or open presents. All she wanted to do was play trains!

After a long while of playing, Laurel decided those gifts under the tree looked pretty interesting.

Throwing wrapping paper was lots of fun.

She got lots of neat toys and wanted to open and play with each one before moving on to the next. Towards the end she got tired of opening presents and gave the last few to me and Matt. She said, "one for you Daddy!" and "one for you Mommy!" It was so adorable.

We headed down to Matt's parents and Laurel enjoyed the bounty of Grandma's kitchen.

Yummy!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I know we did!

Tis the Season

2009-12-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-26T20:06:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-11-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-10-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-11T13:02:00.001-07:00

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!

Things Laurel Loves

2009-10-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

This post is all about what Laurel loves!

Her "blankey" and "paci" are her biggest loves. She cannot sleep without them! The other night her blanket was in the dryer and we tried to put her to sleep without it...well she cried until it was finally dry and kept crying for it. It was so sad. When she finally got it she buried her face it in saying "blankey" like you would if you found a long lost relative!

Babies! Laurel loves little babies and always wants to "kissy" and "huggie" them. Here she is with two of my old coworkers little babies when they came to visit us during their maternity leave.

Dolls! Here she is hugging the cutest little doll that her Grandma Ellis made. Besides hugging and kissing them she also loves to feed them, put them to sleep, push them in the stroller...and the list goes on!

Slide! Laurel loves slides and I finally got her one for the back porch. Her grandpa Doss watched her while I went shopping and she usually runs right to me when I'm gone and gives me a giant hug. Well, I bought the slide in with me and she ran right to that slide yelling "slide" and climbed right up and started sliding...I never did get that hug!

The lake and her friend Emily! We went to the lake a lot this summer with my friend Connie and her little girl Emily or "Emmy" as Laurel calls her. They really are good friends (well as much as toddlers can be) and play together pretty well (most of the time).

More dolls! She finds them every where; it is so cute how excited she gets every time!

Gymnastics!! This is her biggest love right now (besides her blanket and paci). She runs around like a nut for the whole class. She calls it "nastics" and she loves to get her stamp at the end of class.

Balls! She has so many balls and she loves to "throw", "catch", and "kick" them all the time. She has been getting really mad lately if she can't catch it on the first try! Her favorite thing to do with her balls is take them all to our long hallway and roll them with me.

Trains! She LOVES trains. Real trains, the Thomas train table at B&N, pictures of trains, TV shows with trains...you get the picture. Every time we pass B&N she yells "Thomas" or "Train" and gets so mad when we can't stop. She also yells "train" at some train tracks near our house because we have seen a train crossing several times. She always is so sad when the train is not there! She always says, "home?" because we tell her the train is at home when it is not there, lol.

Shopping in the car cart. I don't know why I haven't been using these all along. Shopping is SO much nicer when she can "drive" herself. Although she does tell me "set, go" everytime I stop!

So here are a few loves in Laurel's life. She has started saying love recently and tells me she loves me so I am very happy...she is the biggest love in my life!

Photo Shoot

2009-08-27T21:39:00.001-07:00

We did a fun photo shoot today after gymnastics and the library at Rose Hill where Matt and I had our engagement pictures taken. A girl from my church is going to school to earn her degree in photography and wanted to add some children to her portfolio. Of course anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE pictures so I was all game. Laurel was not as game as me since it was close her her nap time, but Mckensie managed to get some really cool shots of her that really show off her personality and charm. I was very impressed with her skills, especially since Laurel is a very hard subject to capture since she NEVER stays still. Here are a few of my favorites...

First Gymnastics Class!

2009-08-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

Laurel had her first gymnastics class today. I have been wanting to do something like this with her forever, but she just got old enough to do it this past month. She has so much energy and loves to jump and climb and basically just throw her body around which can be pretty dangerous if you are not in a padded room!

I put her leo on at home and she kept running her hands over the velvet and saying "cute". We got in the car for the 15 minute trip and I kept saying "We are going to gymnastics; are you excited?" and she kept saying "yeah, yeah!" She was so excited when we got there to see her friend Emily was in her class too.

We got inside and put our shoes in the cubby holes. Laurel wanted to go into the gym area right away. She was so excited and could see all the cool stuff. She kept pointing and saying "please" and pulling on my hand. She did not understand my explainations that we had to wait until class started to go in! We met the other kids and parents while we waited and Laurel was happy to be around other kids as usual. I discovered that Laurel is the youngest in her class (like always). The other kids are all closer to two, but Laurel was taller than all of them though!

Finally (after 5 minutes, but it must have seemed like a long time to Laurel) we were able to get into the gym. The teacher asked the kids to sit on a circle and I thought "uh oh". For those of you who don't know, Laurel does not sit. Of course she surprised me and sat right down on her little circle and followed all of the teachers directions! She waved her scarf and patted her knees and put her legs in a "butterfly".

Then we got in a train behind the teacher and followed her to the first play area which had a barrel to climb through, bars, a slide, things to climb on, a trampoline, and balls to throw in a bucket. Laurel was in seventh heaven! She mostly wanted to do the slide over and over, but she tried and liked everything. After a few more stations we went to the balance beams, which Laurel did not do so well on for two reasons: number one - Laurel did not want me to help her at all and number two - she wanted to run on them! She did manage to do it a little by herself and had a good time. That's all that matters right? I don't know where she gets her "I want to do everything myself" attitude, oh wait from me!

At the end of class she got on the big trampoline with Matt for a few minutes and she just went crazy jumping. She was very sad to leave. All day I kept asking her if she had fun at gymnastics and she would just say "whee!" Hope that was a yes! Here are some pictures of her first class (and a special thanks to Matt who took off an hour from work to come and take these pictures!).

Laurel and her friend Emily before class started.

Asking me "please" to go into the gym!

Following directions during circle time!

Swinging on the bars.

Her favorite part: THE SLIDE!

More following directions. They were suppose to touch their feet up to our hand.

Rolling!

Ready for more!

Forward rolls with Daddy!

I did it! Look at that happy face.

The balance beam (she let me help her for a second!)

Walking by herself on the beam!

So our first class went great and we are ready for next week!

Fun at the Lake

2009-08-08T17:20:00.001-07:00

We have been to the lake several times this summer. Every time we go Laurel just has a wonderful time. She LOVES the water, she LOVES the waves, she LOVES the playground, she LOVES the sand, and she LOVES the ducks, she LOVES the other kids. What more could a girl ask for? I don't usually bring my camera to the beach, but here are a few cute shots of Laurel from our lake trips.

In case you can't tell, she is eating the bread instead of throwing in to the ducks!

First Time in Nursery

2009-08-07T09:57:00.000-07:00

Laurel's first time in nursery came just two days after she turned 18 months. Matt and I were so excited to be able to go to class again after months of standing in the hall with her! I was not quite sure how she would react since she is rarely away from me. We took her into the nursery and she walked right in and started dancing.

Then she found the toy cabinet and pulled out almost all the toys.

She was playing happily so Matt and I made our exit. I heard her say, "Mommy?" a few times and then nothing. Matt and I went to Sunday school and were able to actually sit in class together for the first time in forever! We just kept looking at each other and grinning and saying, "Man this is nice!".

Laurel stayed in the nursery for the entire time and behaved very well according to her teacher. She was happy to see us after class and ran outside and started playing like she always does after church.

My sweet baby is getting all grown up!

18 Months Old!!

2009-07-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that Laurel is a year and a half already! Time has gone by so quickly these last 18 months.

She has gone from this...

To this in just 18 months!

I am enjoying all the new changes that Laurel is going through although she can be a handful at times!

She has begun singing the last word in lines from her favorite songs like I am a Child of God, and Pop goes the Weasel. She loves to do the motions and dance to songs like I'm a Little Teapot, 5 Little Monkeys, 5 Little Ducks (thanks for teaching that one to us Aunt Brandi), The Hokey Pokey, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Once There Was a Snowman, and many more.

Her favorite game right now is Ring Around the Rosy and she will do it forever! Every time we fall down at the end she jumps back up, reaches for mine and Matt's hands, and says "more", "again", or "please". It is so cute, but after about 10 rounds of it you get start to get a little dizzy!

She is also learning some of her numbers, colors, and ABCs and is talking like crazy. The other day I started to make a list of all the words she knows to take to our 18 month check up, but I stopped at about 250! She is learning words so fast it is impossible to keep up with her.

She can do about 30 animal sounds although her lion, tiger, bear, jaguar, etc. all sound kind of the same. Her frog sound is so funny, "lipplet" and we also love her snake sound, "hissssssssss". Haha! She can name almost all her body parts including odd ones like her chin and elbows. She likes to point to our body parts and name them as well. I'm not too crazy about "eye" (she will stab your eye out!) or "boobies" which Matt encourages her to do!

One of the funniest things she likes to do lately is make "nests" or piles of stuff and then sit on them. She will pull all the clothes down from the couch (where they are waiting for me to fold them) and then add her blankets, pillows, baby dolls, toys, etc to the piles. Just beware, she gets really mad if you mess with her piles!

She also LOVES to "color", but you have to be careful because she will color on the walls, herself, one time on the toilet, if you don't watch her. She is getting a lot better about coloring on "paper" because she knows I will take them away otherwise.

Of course she still LOVES to run, jump, and climb every chance she can get. I have to keep a very close eye on so she won't kill herself with her daring deeds. We will be starting gymnastics next month so hopefully that will give her a good outlet for all her excess energy! But probably it will just give her more ideas!!

It is so hard to get anything done nowadays. I have to watch her so closely to keep her safe and because I will be cleaning up one room and she will be in another room wreaking it! She is not happy when I'm doing something besides paying attention to her!

I spend most of my days just playing with her and reading and singing. She is growing up so fast and I'm trying to enjoy every minute!

Happy 4th!!

2009-07-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July and I loved seeing Laurel enjoy it so much. Last 4th she was only 5 months old! Our Independence Day celebrations began on Thursday when I took Laurel to get some pictures made in her cute little stars and stripes outfit. On Friday we went swimming during the day and then went to the park in the evening. That was Laurel's favorite part (not surprising!). We then went to see Fireworks which Laurel was not crazy about, maybe next year she'll enjoy them more. They were really loud because we set up our blanket right across from where they were being set off. Saturday we went to Matt's parents house and canned pickles and then picked blueberries. We picked blueberries last 4th too and it was so neat to have Laurel be able to help this year. She ate way more than she picked. When she could not reach the ones on the branches, she just stole berries right out of the bucket! We had a great weekend, but we were all very tired as well! Enjoy a few pictures that I took on Friday (I forgot my camera on Saturday)!

Laurel at the park going down the slides.

Trying to escape so she could go down more slides.

Riding on Daddy.

Watching a dog.

Playing with Daddy's phone while we waited for fireworks!

Laurel being scared at the fireworks :(

I still can't believe that it is already July. Laurel is going to be 18 months at the end of this month! My baby is growing up so fast!

We've Been Busy!!

2009-06-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy lately; it is crazy! We've had lots of company which is great because we can't travel since Laurel won't sleep anywhere but her own crib. We love seeing Laure's cousins and our family this summer.

I have so much to update on here and I'm just going to do an all in one post so I will be caught up.

Laurel is talking all the time now. She's picking up several new words each day. Her vocabulary is up in the hundreds now. My favorites are please and thank you which she says at least 50 times a day. It is so polite and sweet! She has also started blowing kisses whenever any says "I Love You", too cute!

Warning, there are over a months worth of pictures on this post, so unless you REALLY love Laurel you might get a little bored! ;)

Laurel at the Atlanta Zoo. She loved the zoo and I have so many cute pictures but made myself just post one.

Laurel blowing me a kiss! :)

Knocking down the bowling pins Matt bought home (don't ask).

Playing in Grandpa's garden. Digging potatoes is fun cause you get dirty!

Getting ready to go swimming!

Watching the kids during story time instead of listening to the story.

Loves her bath!

Trying to grab the camera strap!

Playing with her cousin Ari.

Cousins in the wagon!

Playing in the sand, her favorite activity.

Checkers! It looks like she is really playing!

Playing in the sand, again.

This was taken on Father's Day. What a sweet way to wish Daddy a Happy Father's Day. ;)

Playing in the toy store.

On the swings trying to touch fingers.

At Monkey Joes, she loves this place!

Cutie pie!!

Ummm...not much to say here.

Playing with a flashlight. It was actually dark in there but you can't tell from the picture. That girl loves flashlights!

June was so much fun, can't wait for July!

Snails, Frogs, and Puppy Dog Tails

2009-06-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

I thought that old saying, "snails, frogs, and puppy dog tails" always referred to boys, but boy was I ever wrong! Laurel can be such a girl in some ways (loves shoes, bracelets, sunglasses, "feeding" her baby dolls, etc.) but she loves to get down and dirty as much or more than any boy. Here is one story about Laurel and frogs...

We have a small pond behind our house which had a lot of tadpoles in it. Well a few weeks ago they turned into frogs and there must have been hundreds in there! Matt decided that there were too many and we needed to transport some down to the creek on our property. The beginning of the expedition was a little hairy as Laurel kept trying to jump into the frog pond while Matt was putting the frogs into a jar for transport.

Here is Laurel trying to jump into the pond. I had to throw down the camera and run over and grab her before she jumped in!

She was NOT happy when I moved her to another spot. She could not see and kept trying to climb the rocks!
Ahh...That's better.
Taking a ride down to the creek.
Matt putting the frogs into their new home.
Laurel jumped right into the creek and started splashing.
The saved frogs. Welcome to your new home. Hope you like it!
Walking back to the house after a fun new experience.
I love doing such simple things with my little family. It reminds me that you don't have to go somewhere to have a learning experience (something Matt tells me all the time anyway). What a fun day!

Last Music Class!

2009-06-01T08:53:00.001-07:00

Laurel had her last music class at the beginning of May. She has such a great time at her lessons and I hate that they are not offered during the summer! This is something we have been doing since she was seven months old! She started out in the baby class and has since graduated to the big kid class. It has really helped with her sharing and following directions and of course she loves music so it is just a great activity for her. It has been great for me too; I made friends with an awesome mom who has a daughter a few months older that Laurel. We get together at least once a week and let the kids play and we just talk about everything and anything. I'm still trying to decide if we will do this again next fall or I might put Laurel in gymnastics classes instead. She loves to climb and jump and I think that she would really enjoy something like that. We'll see, right now it is swimming all summer, playdates, and story time at the library!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from her last class...

She loves anything with a stick that she can beat with!

She just loves this little boy, but he could care less about girls!

Trying to give a scarf (wow, she's sharing!)

Laurel is not the best during story time (she does not like to sit still) but she really liked the butterfly hands they were making to go along with the story.

They are supposed to sit on our laps during this part of class, but Laurel usually decides to stand in the middle of the circle and be a ham.

We will miss you music class!

Berry Pickin'

2009-04-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

I took Laurel to Lane Packing and she loved picking the strawberries until she realized that she could eat them! We had a great time berry picking, playing on the playground, and eating peach ice cream. She was so messy when we were done!

Laurel Update

2009-04-29T12:34:00.001-07:00

Here are a few photos of Laurel taken over the past few weeks.

Last Sunday morning Matt found a puppy running around outside. Laurel had a great time playing with him until Matt found his home.

Hello doggy!

He's gettin' on me!

Laurel loves the sides and swings at the park!

Wheeeeee!!!

Higher Daddy!

This is not a pretty picture of Laurel, but it was just to funny to pass up. We call this look "pig nose" and she does it all the time with windows and mirrors.

Peek a boo!

I love seeing her so happy! :)

I love playing with balls!

This is how Laurel likes to greet Matt when he gets home.

I love my Dada!

I hope everyone is doing well, we are looking forward to summer around here!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-04-24T11:09:00.001-07:00

Matt had his 31st Birthday on April 14 and here are a few pictures of the celebration...

Laurel helping Matt open the card she "signed" for him.

Laurel loved the cake!

Yummy, milk after cake!

Music Class

2009-04-15T10:34:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from Laurel's music class taken a few weeks ago. She has started going to the "big kid" class and this was the last time she attended the baby class. She just loves the babies and likes to hug and kiss them. When we go in I always ask her where the baby is and she points and says "baby". It is so cute, but my baby is all grown up and is too big for the baby class!

Where's the baby? There he is!

2009-04-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here are few a few random shots of Laurel being her normal crazy self...

Laurel being a big girl and using a spoon.

No more pictures Mama!

Laurel in her booster seat. This thing is a life saver when we are not home becuase she WILL NOT sit in our laps and eat.

Laurel practicing for the circus!
She is such a nut!

This picture was taken during the one second she was still!

My little cutie pie!

Outdoor Girl!

2009-04-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

I have never met a child who loves to be outside as much as Laurel. She has taken to going around to all the doors and banging on them and yelling "out". Beware if you do not take her outside when she wants to go! Here are a few pictures of her playing around in our yard, woods, and creek.

Laurel loves playing in the woods.

Our creek is normally just a trickle, but after all the rain we had a pretty good flow of water and Laurel just loved it. Matt had to hold her to keep her from jumping in!

Look at the water!

Laurel loves pulling and being pulled in the wagon.

We have a tire swing and we put Laurel on it for the first time the other day. Matt let go and I almost freaked out but she just held on like it was no big deal. When did my baby get so grown up?

We have a little pond right out our back door and Laurel loves to sit and throw rocks in. It is one of the few times she will sit still for more than 10 seconds!

Laurel loves Matt's tractor. She loves to sit on it and to ride it with Daddy.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

I tried to get some cute shots of Laurel in her easter dress but she was too busy hiding from me and playing ball with the dogs!

Laurel loved her easter basket. She took everything out and put everything back at least 20 times. She was still playing with it this morning. She loves to just carry it around the house. I was trying to get her dressed while she was holding it; not easy!

Laurel had one last easter egg hunt at her grandparents' house. Grandma Ellis hid the eggs and Laurel had a great time looking for them. She kept looking even after she had found them all; it was so cute!

I hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Easter Egg Hunts!

2009-04-14T07:31:00.001-07:00

Laurel had such a great time hunting easter eggs. I couldn't believe how quickly she took to it. She didn't need any help at all. She just started running around grabbing eggs and putting them into her basket.

Here are some pictures of an egg hunt we had in the front yard at our house. The dogs kept trying to get the eggs before Laurel could!

Laurel loved the easter egg hunt at church. The little kid egg hunt had kids up to age six so I didn't think Laurel had much chance, but she got about ten eggs all on her own. After all the eggs were gone she just kept wandering around trying to find more eggs. When she realized that there were not anymore she started trying to steal other kids eggs. Finally we just kept dumping out her eggs and she kept putting them back in over and over.

Wear Your Own Clothes!

2009-04-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

Here are just a couple shots of Laurel being her cute little self. In this first picture she is wearing one of Matt's hats. She loves Matt's hats and likes to take them off Matt and put them on her own head. Too bad she won't wear bows in her hair, just men's hats! In this second shot she decided to put on one of my shirts that she found on the love seat (where all our laundry pretty much stays - by the time I get around to folding it there is a new load!). I thought she looked so cute in this huge shirt I had to take a picture.

My Little Monkey!

2009-04-08T09:24:00.000-07:00

Matt and I were trying to clean up our office/junk room the other day. Laurel was running around and dancing to some music we had on. We turned our backs for one minute and Laurel was standing on my little TV I had in college. We ran over and grabbed her off. Of course then we let her climb on their again while I took pictures and Matt spotted her. What a little monkey!

Cherry Blossom Festival

2009-03-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Laurel had a great time at the Cherry Blossom Festival. She really enjoyed the 20 minute walk from Matt's office to the park (she rode most of the way) and the swings and slide of course. I'm really glad we went early in the week though because it has done nothing but rain the last three days.

Why does my baby look so big??

There were all these pretty flowers but Laurel WOULD NOT pose or even look up so I didn't get any good pictures of her with the cherry blossoms!

She wants to slide by herself, but I'm still a little scared she is going to fall off the end!

Laurel loved the slides and swings more than anything else we did!

Every time Laurel is on a swing she just smiles like crazy the whole time.

I love to swing!

I can't wait until the Festival next year when Laurel will be old enough to go on some rides. She kept pointing at the Farris Wheel, like she really wanted to ride it!

Learning Every Day!

2009-03-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Laurel has been very busy lately, going on hunger strikes and throwing fits...just kidding! Well she is doing those things, but she is mostly being her sweet, crazy self. She is learing at an amazing rate. I can teach her something and she will pick it up after just two or three times. She loves songs with motions and I've been teaching her a new song almost everyday.

Here is Laurel showing how old she is. ONE!

She loves playing in her kitchen that Grandma Ellis got her.

We say, "raise your hand if your name's Laurel" and she shoots them up every time. She had just put a handful of food in her mouth when I asked her and she still had food clutched in each hand, but she still did it!

One lesson that is not going so well is eating with a spoon. The hand is just as good I guess!

She loves rocking on her riding toys and I finally taught her how to get on and off without falling.

A Party at the Park!

2009-03-28T12:52:00.001-07:00

Laurel went to her friend Hank's Birthday party at a really cool park. She had a great time on the swings and slide and playing with the Birthday boy!

Hank saying "hello"

It's Laurel!

Laurel loved this tunnel, inside and out!

We were trying to clean off Laurel's hands from the cake and she got so excited when the water came out. What a cute little girl!

A Trip to the Zoo!

2009-03-28T12:36:00.001-07:00

My friend Connie and I took our girls to an animal resuce zoo called Noah's Ark. It was a REALLY hot day for March, but the girls had a great time. I think the girls enjoyed playing together more than they did the animals, but they really liked the "petting" area with pigs and deer. Laurel was making pig snorts the whole time she was playing with the pigs. It was so cute!

Laurel petting a deer.

She loved the pigs and was trying to jump out of my arms to go pet them.

Laurel looking at a zebra.

Laurel really wanted to pick up this rock...don't ask me why, but it was pretty funny how hard she was trying!

Emily and Laurel thought the sticks were also very cool (here is Laurel not sharing which is very common)

Come get me!

I love this picture...the girls rather play with each other than look at the monkeys.

Looking at the animals.

Awww...how sweet, holding hands.

Snow Day!

2009-03-03T10:51:00.001-08:00

We had a snow day on the first day of March (who would have thought!). This was the first time Laurel has seen snow and she loved it. We played outside so long that her nose turned bright red, and she got mad when we finally brought her inside!

Laurel Update!

2009-03-03T10:38:00.001-08:00

Well Laurel has been a busy girl lately. She is learning so much everyday and she NEVER stops moving! I am having such a great time watching her grow and mature.

Laurel is learning to eat with a spoon. Messy!

One of the rare moments when Laurel is being still. It happens so rarely!

I have never met a child who loves the outdoors so much. She could stay outside all day if I let her!

Doesn't she look like a little doll when she is asleep?

She loves the chair Grandpa Doss got her for her birthday.

And she loves her rocking chair!

Here are a few pictures from music class. There are some new babies this semester and she loves watching them.

She loves the drum at music class.

Here are a few pictures from story time. Laurel loves to listen to stories with her friend Emily.

I bought this for Laurel a long time ago and she didn't like it at first, but she LOVES to jump now.

I hope everyone is well!

Laurel's 1st B-Day!

2009-03-03T10:22:00.001-08:00

Laurel's 1st Birthday was alot of fun. We had a party for her and she loved opening her presents and playing with the other babies. Right before the party started she got into the guest bathroom which one of the kids left open and got into the potty and we had to change her shirt. Then after the cake she ended up with no clothes at all, just like when she came into the world!

Enjoy the pictures - warning there are a lot!!

She did NOT like her hat!

Yummy party food!

She had no problem opening presents after all the practice at Christmas!

Hmmm...Cake!

We had to hose off her high chair outside! Yucky!

This is how Laurel treats her guests!

This was the biggest hit of the party for the babies.

Christmas Update!

2009-03-03T10:13:00.001-08:00

I finally found a little time to update my blog. Here are some pictures of Laurel on Christmas day. All her cousins on Matt's side came for Christmas and Laurel had a great time playing with them. They were also so kind as to help Laurel open her presents!

Here are a few pictures of Laurel enjoying her Christmas presents!

Long Over Due Update!

2009-01-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can't believe it has been two months since I last updated. Laurel, Matt, and I have all been sick on and off since before Christmas. Laurel had a virus and an ear infection which lasted for a few weeks. Then Matt and I got sick with bad colds and we have both been so tired lately that not much has gotten done.

Laurel has been up to so much lately. She understands so much now. We can ask her where her belly is and she pats her belly with this huge smile. You can just say bye or hi and she will wave. Or you can say clap and she will clap her little hands. She also loves to dance and we can say "dance baby" and she will start shaking her butt and hips.

Here are a few pictures from the last few months...Beware there are a lot of pictures!

Here Laurel is trying to steal the camera from me. This is how all her pictures look lately.
(Give me the camera!)

Here is Laurel at music class. She loves the drums!

Laurel is wearing one of my shirts. Don't ask me why!

I love the way she walks with her hands up in the air.

It looks like she is playing football here. Hike!

Laurel looks so cute with a hat or hood on, but...

She hates anything on her head. No bows for her!

Laurel playing with Abby.

Here is Matt playing around with Laurel.

Laurel at storytime. She loves the big teddy bears.

Laurel playing on the slide. She had the best time; I hated to leave!

I will put up some Christmas and Birthday pictures soon (hopefully). I am realizing that nothing much gets done with a baby! Hope everyone is well!

First Steps

2008-11-27T10:41:00.001-08:00

Laurel took her first steps a few days before she turned 10 months. It was pretty cool, but a little sad too. My baby is not a baby if she can walk! She is really funny about it though, because she refuses to let Matt or I help her walk. She wants to do it all by herself, thank you very much! She is so independent it is not even funny (I wonder where she gets that from)!

Matt trying to get her to walk. She loves remotes!

This is what she does whenever she sees the camera. She crawls over to me at super speed and crawls on me and tries to grab it. It sure is hard to get any good pictures lately!

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. I'm at my in-laws today so I actually have a little bit of a break from Laurel and what do I do? Post about my baby, what else! Happy Thanksgiving!

A Fall Day

2008-11-27T10:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Laurel playing on a lovely fall day.

Mommy Wow, I'm a Big Kid Now!

2008-11-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

9 months has brought so many changes to Laurel. She is really beginning to become a big kid. She started clapping (she did this all day in music class today) and besides smiling and laughing this is the cutest thing she has done.

Laurel is saying all kinds of words now. I don't think she really understands what they mean, but she is getting really good at copying what we say. She started saying hey and waving at 6 months, but she hasn't said anything else until now. Lately she has been saying dada all the time, but I think she thinks it means man because she is calling all men dada. She has also said dog, bye, no and other simple words like that. I can't wait until she looks at me and says mama!

But the biggest change is that she can stand all by herself! She has been letting go while she was standing for awhile now, but she would always grab back on or sit down. This past week she just started standing like it is no big deal. I've only been able to get a few pictures of her standing and they are not the greatest, but it is just awesome to me to see her standing like a big girl.

I guess walking is going to be coming pretty soon. She has been cruising around the house for awhile now, but I don't know if I'm ready for her to be walking. She is still my little baby!

A Few Pictures of My Sweet Baby

2008-11-05T08:55:00.000-08:00

Is this not the sweetest baby in the world?

This was taken while Laurel was playing chase with Daddy.
Laurel eating her first pancake. Yummy!

Cold Snap!

2008-11-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

We had a really cold week recently. Laurel loves to go on her walks in the morning and afternoon down our driveway, and I had to put a hat and jacket and on her. I'm sorry, but she is just too cute with her little poms. I had to post a few pictures of "winter" Laurel.

By the way, trying to get her in her jacket, hat, and shoes to go on the walk almost took longer than the walk itself! She kept crawling off into the hallway. She has just learned how to play chase and she loves for us to chase her around the house. It is super cute expect when I'm trying to get her dressed (well, okay it's still cute then too).

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

Laurel was a Bumble Bee for Halloween. We went to two Halloween parties and she wore her costume to music class and to get pictures taken at the mall. She had a lot of fun and she was SO CUTE!

Laurel with her "boyfriend" Drew. Thanks for the candy!

Hey we match!

All tired after a fun night at the church Halloween Party.

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

I took Laurel to a little pumpkin patch at a local church yesterday and she was so cute. I couldn't get any good pictures because she was having such fun playing on the pumpkins and with the hay. She wouldn't look up at me at all; she was so involved in the new experience. It was really fun to just watch her play.

Quick Update

2008-10-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

Laurel is getting so grown up. Matt and I just watch her every night and and look at each other in amazment. She is starting to stand by herself and she will just sit down after about 5 seconds instead of falling. Today in music class she was standing holding on to the teacher and she let go and just stood there smiling at us. Everyone clapped for her and I tried not to be too proud.

Here are a few pictures from the past week.

Laurel playing on the swing that Daddy made.

Let me out of prison!

Yummy!