Cousins!

This past Sunday through Wednesday we had such a wonderful visit with Dad, Mom, Anne, and Kate. It was a blast to spend such a nice amount of time with my family (I only wish Mike and Dave could have come)! Having the little girls together was SO much fun. We had a great time going to outlet shopping, eating out, playing games, watching a movie, chatting, playing with the girls, and eating some more! I am so blessed to have such a Dad and Mom and sister who I respect so much and who are such a joy to be with!

For the most part the girls got along fine, they did have one significant altercation! See below:

The stage was set when we put them on the same chair close together. If you add together:

one little girl very interested in her cousin

the same little girl needing to work on hand/eye coordination

one mom needing to trim the before mentioned little girls nails

the little cousin in close proximity

what do you get?

Look closely at poor Kate's forehead. That's right...a huge scratch! Laurel is currently making every excuse in the book..."her head is huge", "she moved toward my nail", "she hit me", etc.

(side note: observe that they are almost the same size!)

"hmmm...I'm glad my forehead doesn't have a big scratch!"
"I'm never coming back here again!"

"ahhhhh...save us from each other! Pick us up! We never want to see each other again"

We walked them through some of Ken Sande's Peacemaker material and they responded very well. They are back to being friends :-)

Here the sweet little cousins are going out on an adventure!

Granni and Kate

Pop and Laurel

Eating lunch at Cracker Barrel in Pigeon Forge while Outlet shopping.

The girls were great, little outlet shoppers, but were pretty ready to come home!

The Food Chronicles

It is hard to believe that baby Laurel is already 6 months old! Everyone tells you about how quickly time flies with babies, but it sounds cliche until you experience it for yourself. Will and I just couldn't be enjoying our little girl more! She has such an enjoyable personality and we just can't get over how cute she is! She is constantly learning new things and enjoying exploring, but her favorite place is still being held by her parents. These days she is enjoying patty cake (she holds out her hands to hit mine...very cute), getting tickled, peek-a-boo, getting thrown in the air (carefully!), and lots of other things. We have begun taking her to Children's Ministry at church, which seems like such a big milestone. I guess I should clarify...when I say "taking her to Children's Ministry", I mean dropping her off, coming back to my chair, listening to the message for 5 minutes, seeing her number go up on the screen, coming back to a screaming baby! If any of you ladies have suggestions, I would be grateful, but I'm not really concerned about her since 6 months is pretty young to be in a class (although the other children seem to be enjoying it a lot!). Probably the 2 biggest things she has done are SITTING and EATING! Here are the pictures to prove it:

For a while now Will and I have been putting Laurel in a sitting position and seeing what she does, topple over. The day before her 6 month birthday she didn't topple over and has been sitting ever since! Somehow, instead of making her look like an older baby she looks even smaller! She can already stand up if she is supported by something (like holding onto the ottoman). Next thing I know she will be crawling around!

This is the beginning of the food chronicles! She is ready to go with her Rice Cereal and 3 spoons!
"hmmm...I guess I will give this a try!"

"I'm not so sure..."

"Mom, I'm not really sure what to think."

"What are you trying to do, gag me!"

"I deserve better than this...I am miserable!"

"What part of gross don't you understand!"

"I guess I will try one more time."

"AAAAAAAAAAA...GET ME OUT OF THIS STUPID HIGHCHAIR!"

So, as you have no doubt observed, Laurel's first taste of food wasn't "love at first bite". We have the whole thing on video which is hilarious to watch. We were cracking up the whole time at all her faces. By the end we wouldn't even have to get the food to her mouth, when she just saw the spoon coming she would blink her eyes and grimace! We love our little drama queen!

Update: Later in the week I tried again with a different brand of rice cereal mixed with water and she enjoyed that A LOT more! I think she didn't like the particular kind we made and I really don't blame her, because it smelled horrible!

Tomorrow I take Laurel for her 6 month well visit, so percentages, etc. will be posted shortly.

Happy Times in January

Some updates from January! My next post will be for Laurel's 6 month birthday...including her first taste of rice cereal...will she like it? will she spit it out? We will find out on Friday!!!

Poor Laurel scratched her little face in the night. I know I need to cut her nails when this starts happening!We had the wonderful surprise yesterday of tons of SNOW! I think we got 3-4 inches. We had so much fun sledding as well as being warm and cozy inside watching it fall.

I'm afraid Laurel wasn't as big of a fan as the rest of us were. Give her a couple more years...

Laurel and her friend London Oldacre enjoying time together at a Super Bowl party. Little London is such a doll and I am excited about Laurel being friends with her (and her baby sister!!!) for many years to come.
Will took Laurel and I on a great family date/day to the mountains this past Saturday! We had so much fun seeing the wildlife (including a coyote!) and just spending time talking, drinking Sonic drinks, and being together. I am so grateful for Will planning special times for us to be together. There is nothing like having a whole day just to talk and hang out.

Wow! What a blessed girl I am...my favorite person holding my second favorite :-)
My cutie!

On a recent Monday Laurel and I joined the Kittrell family in taking Chick-fil-a to Granny (Bill's WONDERFUL Mom) at her assisted living home. It is always a joy to see Granny and it is especially fun to see how much she enjoys Laurel. The times with them together are priceless.