Cherry Blossom Festival

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!

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!

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!!

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!

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

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!!!

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!