Summer Days with my 11 Month Old

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted Laurel pictures! She is doing great and Will and I just continue to grow in our love and enjoyment of her. She turned 11 months last week and is seeming so much more like a little girl to me and less like a baby. She is eating different kinds of table food now which has been lots of fun. She has turned into a really good eater after getting off to a rather slow start! She doesn't seem to care about learning to walk yet, being very content to crawl around very fast and cruise around on the furniture. Will and I try to lure her into standing by offering her favorite toys just out of reach! Dada is still her favorite word and is used for most people and situations. Even so, when she says it to Will we get excited and think she is figuring it out :-) We have recently discovered that her favorite music is classic rock with her favorite song being "Sweet Home Alabama"...very interesting. When it comes on she will get very excited, wave her arms wildly, and "dance"! She is such a joy to take care of and spend time with!

Here are some pictures from the last month:

Our sweet Laurel Anne

Looking SHOCKINGLY like Will when he was little!

"Pick me up, Mama!" I still love it when Laurel holds out her arms even though she has been doing it for months and months.

A couple weeks ago, I was in the bathroom getting ready for church when I came out to discover Laurel "getting ready" as well! The eye shadow container was actually IN her mouth when I found her!

She looked like the Tin Man!

A recently family outing to Dunkin Doughnuts. My kind of outing! We let Laurel get a doughnut hole which she loves.

Poor "Uncle B" after getting his wisdom teeth out a couple weeks ago.

Gainesville

Will and I had a wonderful getaway/trip to Gainesville this past weekend! We got to visit the church, find an apartment, see the campus, and get acquainted with the area. God was so kind and we are extremely encouraged about living there starting in August.

Here we are in a National Park area called Payne's Prairie. We saw an alligator (as well as tons of lizards, birds, some wild horses, and a turtle)!

I cut bangs! I am enjoying having a new style. I get bored with the same one if I keep it to long.

We are very pleased with the apartment complex we choose! We looked at 3 different places that got consecutively better. You gotta love being able to sunbathe in winter!

Kitchen and Dining Room (the front door is to the left). They won't be furnished like that...I was taking pictures of the model.

View from the front door

Our room on the left and Laurel's on the right.

I really like how small the buildings are. Only 4 apartments per unit.

Home Sweet Charlotte

Will let me and Laurel go on a wonderful, last minute trip to Charlotte this past weekend. Although I hate being away from him, it was so great to spend some time at home with my family. We packed a lot of wonderful times into 2 days!

Laurel and Kate's favorite game is grabbing toys from eachother! See the progression...

I sure love my little "Kate-ums"!!

Dave, Anne, and Kate (Anne and Kate are visiting at the end of July. I can hardly wait!)

Me and my two favorite babies! They are less than 3 months apart.

Studious Laurel in Pop's glasses

Studying

I know I have missed MANY interesting events in the past couple months and I apologize. Every time I sat down and thought about posting I just didn't know where to start! I just decided to forget about all those pictures and start afresh. If you really wanted to see an event just let me know :-)

9 months old and Overdue update

I looked on my blog and the last post was April 16! It looks like I have some catching up to do!

Laurel is 9 months old today! It is hard to believe that she has grown so fast. When Laurel was an infant 9 months sounded so old, but she still seems like my little baby to me. A little baby who is learning a lot of new things! As of this past week she has learned how to climb stairs and pull up to standing while in her crib. I love seeing all the things she is discovering with her new found mobility! One of her favorite bits of mischief is to climb on to the bathroom scale which is below the toilet paper roll and start unrolling all the toilet paper. It is hilarious to me, because that is such a classic baby thing to do and I don't know how they all discover it! I took her to the doctor for a cold last week and discovered that she is 16.5 lbs. I'm not sure what percentage that is, but I will find out at her doctors appointment coming up soon. All is all, she is just such a delight to Will and I. We laugh about her little antics everyday! She is a happy, bright, fun loving little girl!

Here Will is teaching her the finer points of juggling. She is enthralled!

My little bathing beauty!

(this is before she tried crawling in the tub and got a mouthfull of water...poor girl)

Good times with Granni and Pop. In this picture she is "flying through the heavens like a cherubim". Dad used to sing this to us when we were little too!

Laurel is a big fan of her sippy cup of water! She gets maybe half of it in her mouth and the rest on her clothes and has an absolute blast!

Recently we had our friends Josh, Sarah, and Lucy Andrews over for dinner. It was so cute to see Lucy (2 months) and Laurel interacting together!

Playtime with Dad wearing nothing but a diaper, a strawberry hat, and a smile.

What else could you need?

Laurel has developed a deep and abiding love for her "Lambers". This lamb sits on a chair in her room and when we are carrying her by the chair she will crane her neck and make noises and reach out her hands when we bring her near it. She will grab it and hug it and make happy sounds. It is SO cute and fun!

Kittrell ladies annual shopping trip to the outlets in Pigeon Forge. A highlight of the year :-)

Shocking sight I know! Lauren (exersizing amazing patience!) is teaching me how to play tennis. I actually really enjoyed it and would love to keep "playing".

Easter and One More Month of Law School!!!

Another great and encouraging Easter has come and gone! The morning started with a very encouraging message from Tony Carter about the Facts and Fruits of the Resurrection. We came home to a delicious Easter dinner graced by the presence of Bill's Mom, Granny, which makes anything and everything more special!! The afternoon was spent consuming large amounts of candy from our Easter baskets and watching the masters. To finish everything off we had the Annual Kittrell Family Easter Egg Hunt! Will was this years winner (although I think Laurel and I came in second).

It is hard to believe that Will graduates May 8!!! Classes, work, GA work, etc. are coming to an end making this an exciting time! I am beginning to look towards August when we are moving to FL. I am really looking forward to all the good things I know the Lord is going to do when we are there, but I am certainly anticipating come home to Knoxville and settling into our new life.

Here are some pictures from Easter in reverse order:

Our Easter basket!

"um...can I eat these?"

"get me off of this grass...right now!"

Our winner (12 eggs)

Before the hunt!

Laurel enjoying the Easter basket extravaganza!!

Fun at the Beach - Vision Quest!

We had a really wonderful time hanging out with the VFC'ers at Vision Quest 2009! We were staying at a vacation home with the Kittrell's about 15 minutes away from the retreat center which made for a nice mix of vacation and conference. Here are some pictures from our time:

It looks like she is all alone! Gotta love the beauitful, clear Florida water!

Laurel eating sunglasses in the cafeteria while we enjoyed delicious lunch...I must say I have a weakness for that food! I was sad to leave it behind :-) On another note, look how huge Laurel's head looks and tiny her body looks. I didn't notice that before.
One of my favorite highlights from the trip was getting to spend the whole afternoon with Will on Wednesday! We left Laurel with some of her adoring fans and headed out for lunch after which we hit one of the local beaches and then went to Seaside for some ice cream. It reminded me of being on our honeymoon for some reason. I love, respect, and enjoy Will so much!

I think he is squinting, but I like to think he is winking at me :-)

Laurel was tired out from all that fun in the sun. I love it when she falls asleep when I am holding her. She does it less and less as she grows up!

Family picture (minus Uncles Dan and B) as we enjoy a famous Laguna Beach sunset!

One of Laurel's enjoyable pastimes...biting. Here she is taking a small chunk from Aunt Lauren's shoulder! Don't worry. She doesnt have any upper teeth so the damage and pain are minimal (also she isn't angry!).

I like the cute expression on Laurel's face. She loves her Aunt Lauren with good reason :-)

Will in his super cool dodgeball headband. His team made it to the championship but then lost.

You win some you lose some! (Also, I just noticed that I am wearing the exact same thing in almost every picture...I really did have other clothes that I wore!)

So the big question is, Did Laurel enjoy the beach? The answer:

no

and

yes!

She really enjoyed sitting in the sand and moving it through her fingers, etc. and she also loved being in the pool (I knew she would because she loves her baths). The only thing she didn't like was the water. I set her in the wet sand and let the waves come up to her, but I think it was just a little too cold and unfamiliar. I think she will enjoy it when we go in August and the water is warm.

Heated pool...hurray!

Laurel and one of her wonderful friends from Care Group...Uncle Hallerin!

Laurel and Grandfather! This screened porch made me want to have one of these at home.