Ashford Adventures

1 month!

2011-11-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

Alexa and Lindsey were 1-month on Sunday! It's hard to believe 1 month has passed! It feels like just as big a milestone for us as it is for them!

Alexa at 1 month

7 pounds, 12 ounces

Lindsey at 1 month

7 pounds, 6 ounces

Little sisters at 1 month!

I'll do an individual post on each of them soon, but for now, here are the things the girls are doing at 1 month:

-We were told the girls would "wake-up" around their due date (November 7th) and they certainly did! In the past two weeks, they've been a lot more alert and having more awake time than they had in the previous weeks.

-They eat every 3 hours during the day and had been going between 3 and 4 hours at night. Last night, however, they went about 5! Praise the Lord! (We keep them on the same schedule, so when one of them wakes up to eat, we wake the other up as well).

-We're starting to get some smiles out of them. At 4 weeks, I know that they both definitely smiled.

-They tolerate tummy time pretty well.

-They're starting to enjoy looking at their mobile and the things over their play mat.

-At 2 weeks, their umbilical cord stumps fell off.

-They are now both on medicine for reflux. We are anxious to see how much better they will feel with it!

-They LOVE to be held!

October 13, 2011

2011-11-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

I want to write out about Alexa and Lindsey's birth day before I forget! I have been typing this up in small increments as I have had time! What a sweet, sweet day it was and the Lord was so gracious to us! After the girls' growth scan at my 35 week appointment, the doctors thought it best to schedule a c-section at 36 weeks, 3 days since they were concerned about Baby Girl B's size the the blood flow from the placenta to the girls. We had to report to Duke at 6 since the c-section was scheduled for 8 and I couldn't have been happier about getting up at 4! I wasn't sleeping much anyway and I was so ready to meet our little girls! When we got to the hospital, there really wasn't much going on in the L&D unit. At that point, we were the only ones in a triage room. Triage rooms are private and they also serve as your room for recovery. Another great benefit was that the same two nurses were with me in triage, in the operating room, and in recovery with me. Surprisingly, the time went by really fast. I watched 18 Kids and Counting reruns on TLC as nurses were monitoring the girls and I, as I was signing paperwork, and as OB and anesthesia residents were coming in to talk to us.

A little before 8, they rolled me down to the OR to start getting everything ready for the c-section. Since there was some extra time, the anesthesiologist did a lesson with his resident as they were prepping me for my spinal. I loved being at teaching hospital, but because the spinal was one of the things I was least looking forward to, I was just so ready to get it over with! After they gave me my spinal, it took a little while for it to take full effect, so we were just waiting for a good 20 minutes for that to happen. . I didn't see all the staff in the room because I was already laying down and the sheet was up, but the anesthesia resident by my head (who was awesome about letting me know what was going on) said there were at least 7 pediatric residents and nurses there for the girls in addition to the nurses and doctors there for the surgery. Finally it was time to bring Peter in. And just a few short minutes later, I was being told they were getting ready to pull the girls out!

Miss Alexa Elizabeth (our Baby A) was pulled out first at 9: 07 AM.

Lindsey Madison (our baby B) followed after at 9:08 AM

They brought each girl around the curtain for me to see before they went to check them out and I just remember thinking how beautiful they were and how great they looked! I was just so uncomfortable during the surgery from having to lay flat from so long with all the pressure on my belly and I was shaking from the anesthesia. I couldn't really concentrate on much of anything because I just couldn't wait until the surgery was over, but it was so good to catch a glimpse of my girls. Peter went over to be with them as they were checking out the girls and he would come back every now and then to give me updates! It was music to our ears when we heard their weights announced. Alexa weighed in at 5 pounds, 15 ounces and Lindsey weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces. Lindsey had been measuring much smaller in utero and the concern over her size was one of the reasons my doctors wanted to take them early. Oh what a gracious God we have! Peter and I with our two youngest daughters!

After the c-section, I was taken to recovery and the girls were taken to the nursery for observation. At first, Lindsey was just laboring a little to hard to breathe and Alexa would be able to come with us to recovery, but then Alexa started laboring to breathe a little harder as well. Another praise is that both girls were taken to the full term nursery to be observed! The NICU and Special Care nurseries were full, so the girls were taken to the full term nursery! Also, since it was such a light morning for delivering babies, Alexa and Lindsey were the only babies in the nursery so they were WELL taken care of! The physicians and residents that look care of the girls were absolutely phenomenal!

Alexa

Lindsey. That Styrofoam cup was used to blow oxygen in her face. We are thankful to the Lord that was the only intervention that was needed.

Laurel came to visit me in recovery. She was unsure what to make of seeing me like that. She thought the bed was my crib and she asked Peter out loud in the lobby why I didn't have any clothes on! Ha! (Although I will say about two weeks after the girls were born, Laurel talked some about the hospital and she talked about my blue dress.) While I was in recovery, the girls were in the nursery. They were still laboring harder than they wanted when they were breathing so they stayed in the nursery. Although I hated not being able to see my newest daughters, I was feeling so rough after the c-section, it did give me a chance to rest. Since I wasn't able to see or hold them yet, Peter took lots of pictures for me and went back and forth to the nursery updating me on their progress. My nurses were also great about going to get updates on the girls for me.

After lunch, I was taken to my post partum room and I was finally able to see the girls! They brought them around 2:00 to do kangaroo care to see if that would help with their breathing. It did, but then they started up again and needed to go back to the nursery.

I have to rave about my nurses now. I had been praying for the doctors and nurses that we would have and God answered! I loved every single nurse I had and hated when I would only have them for one shift. Thankfully, I ended up loving each nurse that came! They were so knowledgeable, cheerful, encouraging, and took such great care of us! This is a picture of my first nurse in post partum. She has 3 kids and was 35 weeks pregnant with her 4th here!

The girls ended up being in the nursery for about 24 hours, with a break for us to hold them and introduce them to family. They did a few tests on them and everything looked good. The next morning they were not laboring to breathe and they were able to finally be in the room with us full time! We were told that it just look them longer to transition (they said it usually is about 4 hours).

By God's grace, Alexa and Lindsey were discharged on the same day we were!

We are praising the Lord for our newest blessings! Oh praise Him for how He grew and sustained these girls and the pregnancy! We are excited to see the Lord's plans unfold for their lives!

The Girls are Here!!

2011-10-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

October 13, 2011

Alexa Elizabeth Ashford
9:07 am
5 pounds, 15 ounces
18 inches long

Lindsey Madison Ashford
9:08 am
5 pounds, 9 ounces
18 inches long

The One You Need

2011-10-10T07:03:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that Shane & Shane is one of my favorite bands. Love their stuff! Well, they had a concert at our church last night! I didn't go to the concert (not the best timing for this very preggo mama), but thanks to everyone's posts on facebook that did go, I knew I just had to listen to this song! I'm so glad I did! Oh how timely it is! Love, love, love it!

And here are Shane & Shane talking about the story behind it. What a message for our daughters: Jesus will not fail you!

Juan

2011-10-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

Meet Juan. Laurel has been enamored with the idea of an animal "talking" since her preschool orientation night! Many days, the preschool pastor stands outside the doors with Juan greeting the kids. Juan also helps when they have chapel. Every morning, Laurel sprints to the door to see Juan and pat him and wait for him to talk to her. It just makes her morning if he's outside! If he's not out there, she will ask the pastor where he is. Usually on Wednesdays (chapel days), the pastor will tell her that he's not out there because he's "reading his Bible before chapel." So on other days when Juan isn't out there, Laurel will say that "Juan's reading his Bible" or "Juan is resting" before the preschool pastor even has a chance to answer!

And a funny quote from yesterday when we were asking Laurel about Juan and what kind of animal he is....

Peter: Is Juan a monkey?

Laurel: Nooo! He's a puppet!

6 days!

2011-10-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we are 6 days away from the little girls' birthday, Lord willing! We are so excited to see them and meet them!! I had an appointment today and the girls looked good. I've definitely hit a wall physically. I've been so swollen and I've gained 10 pounds in a week from all the swelling! Thankfully, my blood pressure was fine and I didn't have any protein in my urine. It's just uncomfortable more than anything else, so the plan is to take it easy before their arrival! On Tuesday, I have, Lord willing, my last appointment for biophysical profiles and doppler checks for the girls and I will also get all my lab work done then for the c-section. Thank you for the prayers and encouragement and please keep praying that the girls would continue to grow strong and healthy and that the delivery would be safe and free from complications for all of us! Also, please pray that the girls would be good eaters and get to come home with us! We are counting down!

We Have a Date!

2011-10-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

My OB office called me this morning to let me know that we have a date! So, Lord willing, we will get to meet the girls NEXT Thursday, October 13th unless they come on their own a little sooner. :) Their arrival has always seemed so far away. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it being 8 days away now. :)

35 weeks!

2011-10-04T07:15:00.001-07:00

Right now, we are at 35 weeks! We are getting close!! At my appointment today, they did a growth scan to check on the girls since it had been 3 weeks since the last one. Right now, Baby Girl A is estimated to weigh about 5 pounds, 7 ounces (32%) and Baby Girl B is estimated to weigh about 4 pounds, 5 ounces (less than 3%). So Baby Girl B is our little petite one! Other than that, they checked out great. Their biophysical profiles looked great, fluid levels looked good, and the doppler check on the blood flow looked good. The only "issue" is Baby Girl B's size. So, the doctors don't want me going all the way to 38 weeks.

So what this means for delivery...
The doctor wants to schedule a c-section somewhere between 36 and 37 weeks. They're pretty selective on inducing for a VBAC and between having twins that share a placenta and one baby being smaller, I'm not a very good candidate! If they decide to come on their own before then, they'll let me try to vbac as long as the girls are handling it well. If not, we'll proceed with the c-section. We are so thankful that the girls look great. Please join us in praying for a healthy arrival whenever and however the Lord ordains!

I don't have any pictures of the girls. It is so crowded in there and they are in crazy positions! But here is a belly pic of their mama at 35 weeks!

Yes, I am very "large and in charge" right now!

Some funny things I want to remember about being pregnant with twins and the large belly it entails...

-Yesterday, I totally missed a huge hole in my jeans until Peter pointed it out to me. I have no clue how long I had been walking around with a big gaping hole! I just can't see past my belly, so unless someone tells me, I have no clue if there are stains or holes!
-Peter teases that I am not as clumsy right now because I have a lot more to lose when I drop something. It is a chore to squat down and pick something up or to get down on the floor and then get back up!

-I definitely need help getting dressed in the morning. If Peter is not around, Laurel is definitely a good second choice.

My next appointment is on Friday, so I'll update after that!

34 week update!

2011-09-28T05:12:00.000-07:00

We are at 34 weeks!! It is definitely a big milestone for twins and we are so excited!

How far along? 34 Weeks

Total weight gain: 50+ pounds...just stopped paying attention now! I'll get weighed again at my appointment on Friday.

How big are the babies?: According to the BabyCenter email, about 4 and 3/4 pounds. I'll have another growth scan next week or the week after to get more specific estimates of the size of our girls.

Maternity clothes: In the final stretch, we are down to the last few. I have my few going out shirts and then I have raided Peter's t-shirt drawer to help out.

Stretch marks?: Oh yes!

Sleep?: It's been rough. A lot of times, I'll wake up around 2:00 and not be able to get back to sleep because I just can't get comfortable. However, I must say last night (probably from pure exhaustion), I was able to get back to sleep somewhat easily every time I woke up and I got a decent night's sleep. I am thankful that it's helping prepare me for when the babies arrive though.

Best moment this week? Seeing the girls on the ultrasound and hearing that they are doing so well!

Movement?: I feel them off and on a lot during the day. Laurel was never really head down so these girls' movements are fairly different than what I felt when I was pregnant with her. It's been fun! Also, generally around 4 am, Baby Girl A is awake and starts moving for the day.

Food cravings?: Depends on the day...but right now, icees from Target and chocolate covered pretzels.

Labor signs: I guess some braxton hicks? I haven 't felt any real contractions that I know of.

Belly button in or out? Not in, but not quite out yet either.

Names: We have them decided, but are keeping it a surprise! :)

What I’m looking forward to: Finishing up the babies room! It is just about done, just working on some finishing touches for the wall! I'll post pictures when it's all done!

The past two weeks have been pretty rough for me. On top of not sleeping well, I'm definitely just feeling it more physically. I can never seem to get comfortable and it's never cool enough for me! I just felt like I hit a wall physically and am just so ready for the babies to be here! But, those are just the realities of a twin pregnancy. I am so thankful for this humbling privilege and I would gladly experience this 1000 times over for these precious blessings. At my appointment yesterday, everything looked really great with the girls! They both got 8 out of 8 on their biophysical profiles and the blood flow from the placenta looked good. Right now they are still both head down and I am praying they stay that way! Baby Girl A is turned toward my back and has her head pretty far down in my pelvis (according to the ultrasound tech), so between her position and all the baby limbs, a picture of Baby Girl A was just not going to happen! However, the ultrasound tech managed to get a picture for us of Baby Girl B! We haven't had any pictures since 26 weeks, so it was so neat to see how much bigger she looked!! The Lord knew that having a picture of one of the girls was JUST the boost that I needed right now. We want these girls to stay put for at least 2 to 3 more weeks because it's best for them! 36 weeks is our big goal and any extra time after that is great! It is our prayer that these girls will be healthy and we will be able to bring them home from the hospital when we go home.

And here is sweet Baby Girl B at 34 weeks

Preschool

2011-09-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm just now blogging about this, our sweet big girl started preschool this year! Laurel is going to preschool 3 days a week this year and she absolutely LOVES it. We are so happy with the preschool and we just love her teacher! She is such a good fit for Laurel. It is so neat to see what Laurel is learning and just to hear what stands out to Laurel when she talks about her day.

Here are some pictures from her first day!

It was a little chaotic with all of the parents and kids on the first day and my girl was ready to go, so a picture in the class wasn't going to happen as you can see. :)

Some things I want to note so far...

-Now, a lot of the time, she'll pretend she's reading a book to the class and hold it facing outwards for people to see. :) I'll hear her say things like, "Can everyone see?"

-I'll hear her sing little songs, but I had no idea what they were until I saw in her class newsletter that they have songs for lining up, colors, calendar, shapes, etc.

-For a while, Laurel would hold up a book and say (in a very teacher voice), "This is a Biiiiiible." (She said it so drawn out and so slow! It's so cute!)

-One of her favorite things about preschool is this animal puppet "Juan" that the preschool pastor uses when they have chapel and is often outside with it to greet the kids in the mornings. Ever since the preschool orientation, she was so fascinated that the"animal was talking." If "Juan" is not outside in the morning, Laurel runs up to the pastor and asks where he is. Thankfully, Laurel is pretty satisfied with any explanation.

33 Week Update!

2011-09-20T12:15:00.001-07:00

We are at 33 weeks!! Praise the Lord for such a great report on these girls!! What a great appointment today! The girls looked soo good! They were asleep but woke up when they started the ultrasound! We have some busy girls! They were moving a TON and doing lots of practice breathing! I got to see Baby Girl A have hiccups (she has them a ton!) and see that they have a little bit of hair! And for the best part...the blood flow from the placenta to each baby looked GREAT! Praise the Lord! I still need to go in twice a week to be monitored since we need to keep watching Baby Girl B, but they are looking great!! Praise the Lord! He is our Sustainer!

32 Weeks and A Bump in the Road

2011-09-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

How far along? 32 Weeks

Total weight gain: 50+ pounds

How big are the babies?: At our growth scan today, Baby Girl A was estimated to weigh 4 pounds, 5 ounces (45th percentile) and Baby Girl B was estimated to weigh 3 pounds, 10 ounces (10th percentile). More on their growth later.

Maternity clothes: Oh yes. I have my few going out shirts and then I have raided Peter's t-shirt drawer to help out.

Stretch marks?: Oh yes!

Sleep?: Not happening as much recently. I sleep 3-4 hours straight and then I'm up a lot the rest of the night or have trouble getting back to sleep. I guess this is the Lord's way of getting me prepared!

Best moment this week? Seeing the girls on the ultrasound, and even though we're having some issues, the girls are "happy."

Movement?: I feel them off and on a lot during the day. Laurel was never really head down so these girls' movements are fairly different than what I felt when I was pregnant with her. It's been fun! Also, generally around 4 am, Baby Girl A is awake and starts moving for the day.

Food cravings?: Depends on the day...but right now, icees.

Labor signs: Thankfully none yet.

Belly button in or out? Not in, but not quite out yet either.

Names: We have them decided, but are keeping it a surprise! :)

What I’m looking forward to: Getting the babies' room ready!

So the bump in the road...
I had my 32 week checkup yesterday. I had a lot to chew on at the appointment yesterday (which I wasn't expecting), so I think I'm explaining the process right. The girls looked good and Baby Girl A was estimated to weigh 4 pounds, 5 ounces (45th percentile) and Baby Girl B was estimated to weigh 3 pounds, 10 ounces (10th percentile). Because Baby Girl B was in the 10th percentile, they did a doppler check on the flow of the blood from the placenta through the umbilical cord. I don't even know what I'm looking for, but I heard (especially heard) and saw a difference on the screen in the way the blood was flowing so I was wondering if something was up. The OB explained (I was so happy it was my favorite OB that day) that the flow was impeded (like a water hose scrunched up) so Baby Girl B isn't getting as much from the placenta. She was explaining that the placenta was "compromised" so we're needing to keep an eye on making sure that the girls are getting what they need from the placenta. So I will go in two times a week for a biophysical profile on the girls and one of those times they will do a doppler check of the blood flow from the placenta. I was told it can wax and wane so it may look better the next time but it's something they have to watch. If they are not getting the oxygen and nutrients they need at all from the placenta, then they will deliver. Right now I've been put on bedrest, so that my blood can be focused on going to the placenta. My OB decided to give me a steroid shot for their lungs yesterday (and I go back today for another one. She was debating it, but decided to go ahead and do it since she said it's not as effective after 34 weeks. For the good news, my OB says they are doing well and they are "happy" in there. If their biophysical profiles at some point aren't good and they are showing distress, they would deliver. Their biophysical profiles were great yesterday. So right now it's just a lot of watching and waiting.

So what this means for delivery:
The OB was so upbeat about it saying that we're at 32 weeks, so that's great, we just have to watch it. I was starting to tear up when she was explaining the issues to me and she says, "I'm jealous. I was on bedrest at 23 weeks with my twins. You're at 32." The goal is 36 or possibily 37 weeks, but even at 34 weeks and after, twins tend to do really well. As far as a VBAC, it's still a possibility. The girls are both head down. Obviously if they need to take the girls earlier because it's better for them to be on the outside than on the inside at that point, then it will be a c-section. The Nurse Practitioner was telling me that if I went into labor, they would probably still let me try a VBAC, but the girls would be more likely to experience fetal distress due to the placenta situation, that a VBAC may need to turn to c-section which I am totally fine with because we just want these girls here safely! So right now, I'm just adjusting bedrest and what that means (which is so hard!) and am so thankful we have lots of family jumping in to unpack the boxes from moving and setting up the babies room!

So please join us in praying for wisdom for the doctors as they monitoring these girls and the placenta, that the girls are getting what they need from the placenta, healthy girls, and a safe delivery for the girls and their mama however and whenever the Lord has ordained for their arrival!

28 weeks!!

2011-08-16T12:58:00.001-07:00

As of yesterday, we are at 28 weeks! The third trimester is finally here! Woohoo!

How far along? 28 weeks!

Total weight gain: 40 pounds so far

How big are the babies?: At our growth scan today, Baby Girl A was estimated to weigh 2 pounds, 12 ounces, and Baby Girl B was estimated to weigh 2 pounds, 10 ounces. We are thankful that our girls are growing so well!

Maternity clothes: Oh yes...and the selection is dwindling with this growing belly.

Stretch marks?: Now they are coming out! However, a lot of them are below my belly button, so I can't even see most of them!

Sleep?: I am up a lot at night either from changing the side that I'm sleeping on or to use the bathroom. I've definitely gotten used to it as the new normal for me.

Best moment this week? A great growth scan today and finding out that the girls are both still head down! We are praying they stay that way!

Movement?: I feel them off and on a lot during the day. Laurel was never really head down so these girls' movements are fairly different than what I felt when I was pregnant with her. It's been fun!

Food cravings?: Depends on the day...but right now, cheeseburgers and cinnamon rolls.

Labor signs: Thankfully none yet.

Belly button in or out? Not in, but not quite out yet either. Laurel told me today that "it's sticking out"

Names: We have them decided, but are keeping it a surprise! :)

What I’m looking forward to: Seeing the girls' movements more and more and a family baby shower this weekend!

We are praising God for another great appointment today! Today I took my glucose test (don't know the results yet) and had growth and fluid checks for the girls! The doctor today was really pleased with their growth. No pictures today because Baby Girl A wouldn't even show us her face and Baby Girl B's face was blocked some by her hands and other things. We were warned at our last appointment that it gets harder and harder to get good pictures of twins at this phase and we are just fine with that. We are so thankful for these growing girls! It's hard to believe they could be here in 8-10 weeks! Please join us in praying for continued great growth for the girls, a safe and healthy rest of the pregnancy and a safe delivery!

Papa's Birthday

2011-08-10T12:36:00.001-07:00

On Friday, we went to Peter's parents to celebrate Papa's birthday!

The birthday boy insisted that he and Bibi eat in the kitchen with their three granddaughters, while the rest of us ate in the dining room!

They all seemed pleased with this arrangement :)

Enjoying dinner with family and some of Papa's friends! Although it wasn't quite the same without Jason, Joy, Jacob, and Elijah! Missed you guys!

Papa and Bibi

Laurel loves birthdays and was a little too eager to help Papa blow out his candles!

Happy Birthday, Papa! We love you!

25 weeks!

2011-07-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

How far along? 25 weeks!

Total weight gain: As of my 24 week appointment-- 30 pounds! I had gained 13 pounds in 4 weeks and the nurse that weighed me had me get on the scale again after I was already in the exam room to make sure she got that right. Ha! When she weighed me the second time, she said, "You're having twins, right?" Everything I've read about multiples talks about how important it is to gain weight, particularly in the beginning, so I'm happy about it, especially since the girls are growing well and I haven't heard a thing about it from the doctos!

How big are the babies?: According to my weekly babycenter.com email, about 13 and 1/2 inches long. At my 24 week growth appointment, they were both estimated to weigh about 1 pound, 8 ounces!

Maternity clothes: Oh yes.

Stretch marks?: I think what's leftover from Laurel, but bring 'em on if it means we're growing!

Sleep?: Depends on the night. Some nights are great and I only really wake up to use the restroom. Other nights, I am constantly switching sides which also means moving my body pillow, which makes it more of an ordeal. Occasionally I'll wake up around 2 or 3 and have trouble getting back to sleep for a couple hours. Then all my tossing and turning wakes the twins up and I start feeling them move around! I will take it as preparation for two precious newborns, so I really can't complain.

Best moment this week? Peter being able to feel them move for the first time over a week ago, a great report at the doctor last week, and getting to see them today in 3D at the ultrasound!

Movement?: Lots and especially in the morning! The ultrasound tech confirmed their positions where I thought they were, so most of the time I think I can tell their movements apart!

Food cravings?: Pretty much the same-- Orange juice, blueberries, peaches, cheese, mint chocolate chip ice cream, Moes, and I've never had one, but I really want an orange smoothie.

Labor signs: Thankfully none yet.

Belly button in or out? In and getting flatter

Names: We have them decided, but are keeping it a surprise! :)

What I’m looking forward to: Seeing the girls' movements more and our ultrasound next week.

We are praising God for what He is doing and how He is sustaining us and these little girls! We are praising Him for our great report from the doctor last week! At my last appointment, Baby Girl B had less fluid than Baby Girl A. It was not at a worrisome level, but being that my ultrasounds every 2 weeks are to check the fluid and growth because of the risks of twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome in monochorionic twins, it was something to watch. Everything looked great last week! The fluid levels hadn't changed any more and the the doctor said that the girls' growth was beautiful and spot on! Thank You Lord! I loved the doctor I saw yesterday and she was really encouraging and basically was saying that there is a range of normal for fluid levels and even though they are twins, they are still two different babies. So I'll go back next week for another ultrasound to check on fluid, and then again in 3 weeks for a growth check and the glucose test!

We were able to get some good 3D pictures of the girls yesterday. It's so fun watching them move around on the ultrasound! They are always in each others' way! The way the ultrasound tech was explaining it to me...even though there is a membrane between them and they can't touch skin to skin, the membrane is very pliable and they can feels the bumps and kicks against it. At the appointment, Baby Girl A was head down on my lower right and Baby Girl B was breech on my left side.

Baby Girl A with her hands against her face as Baby Girl B's bottom is against her

We finally got to see sweet Baby A's face!

Baby Girl B with her hands on the sides of her head as she's getting kicked by Baby Girl A

Baby Girl B with her hands on the side of her head and her own foot in her face!

And a belly pic for 25 weeks taken yesterday We are growing!

VBS 2011

2011-07-25T11:27:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of trying to catch up on posts about our sweet, sweet Laurel (including a post about our big 3-year old!) But in the mean time, I just had to post about Laurel's week at VBS! Last week, Laurel went to VBS at Peter's parents' church! The youngest age they had classes for was age 3, so Laurel just made it! Laurel had an absolute ball! She loved it and looked forward to it every evening! Peter's mom was helping out in Laurel's class and so it was so fun to hear all the details about what Laurel was doing and what she liked the best! One of Laurel's favorite activities there was the music time! She absolutely LOVED trying to do the motions to the songs and dancing to them!

On Friday evening, there was a family fun night and the age groups sang a few of the songs they had learned that week. Laurel did great! When they were doing the opening ceremony (before they got on stage) with the pledges and a few of the songs they all did together, she got so into it! We were a few rows over and it was so fun to watch her sitting with the other 3 year olds, just dancing away and trying to do the pledge! After that, the 3s,4s, and 5s, sang 3 songs they had learned that week. She had never been on stage before so I was unsure of how she would do, but she stayed up on stage and did a lot of the motions. She also did a lot of looking around too!

Here are some pictures from it! There was so much light on the stage and I didn't want to miss pictures of the performance as I was trying to play with the settings to fix it.

And here is a video. We had thought to do a video on the 2nd song and she probably was most into the 1st song. Be sure to be on the lookout for how she ends the second song!

22 week update!

2011-07-05T14:11:00.000-07:00

We are at 22 weeks!

How far along? 22 weeks!

Total weight gain: I think about 22 pounds

How big are the babies?: As long as Spaghetti squash this week and almost a pound! I go back for my next ultrasound in 2 weeks and they'll measure their growth then.

Maternity clothes: Oh yes.

Stretch marks?: I think what's leftover from Laurel, but bring 'em on if it means we're growing!

Sleep?: Depends on the night. I am constantly switching sides which also means moving my body pillow, which makes it more of an ordeal.

Best moment this week? Getting to see my littlest girls on the ultrasound today and first time getting to see one of our girls in 3D!(Baby A wouldn't let us see her face, so we didn't get to see that sweet girls face!)

Movement?: Starting at about 19 weeks, I have been feeling them a lot during the day! I thought I could tell them apart after I knew their positions at our 20 week ultrasound, but now they're right on top of each other and I have no idea who's moving most of the time!

Food cravings?: Orange juice, blueberries, peaches, cheese, mint chocolate chip ice cream, and york peppermint patties.

Labor signs: Thankfully none yet.

Belly button in or out? In and getting flatter

What I’m looking forward to: Feeling the girls' movements more and our next ultrasound in two weeks.

I have loved getting to see our girls more frequently! At our 20 week ultrasound, they did an anatomy scan on each of them again and it was so great to see how they were developing. The tech kept saying how busy they were! At our ultrasound today, the girls were right on top of each other and moving and kicking all around, so I could barely follow what the ultrasound tech was doing because it just looked like a bunch of baby parts! Baby Girl A wouldn't let us see her face, but we could see Baby Girl B's face and the tech gave us of 3D picture of it! Here is a picture of Baby Girl B's face with Baby A's legs in her face!

22 week appointment update!
So right now, we are having ultrasounds every two weeks to check the fluid levels and growth of the babies. Since the girls share a placenta, the big concern is twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome. Looking at each of their levels of amniotic fluid in their sacs is a way of seeing if one baby is getting more from the placenta than the other one. After each ultrasound, one of the high risk doctors comes in to talk to us about the findings and they often look for themselves when they are there.
At our ultrasound today, the doctor told us that Baby A had more fluid than Baby B, although it is not at worrisome level. It may just stabilize at these levels and that will be that. That is what we are praying! We pray that their fluid levels will stabilize and that they will both get what they need from the placenta. At my next ultrasound, they will look at the fluid levels and check their growth,so I will update after that!

Hopefully I'll add a belly pic too!

The Babies Are....

2011-05-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

IDENTICAL TWIN GIRLS!!!

We are so excited for the addition of these two sweet girls to our family!

We had such a great appointment today! The ultrasound tech was wonderful and described everything she was doing and the measurements she was taking. We got to watch it on a flat screen while she did the ultrasound and it was just amazing. Oh how fearfully and wonderfully made they are! Thank you Lord! Oh how I just loved seeing their little hands and feet and I just can't wait to kiss them! The ultrasound tech was able to see the genders and we saw that they were girls!! We were pretty surprised! I was totally thinking that they were boys, but what a fun surprise! The girls were measuring well with one measuring 16 weeks, 1 day and the other measuring 16 weeks 2 day. They both weighed 6 ounces! Praise God!

After the ultrasound, we received a wonderful report from the high risk specialist and are hearts are so full! I was starting to get a little nervous because he said something like, "Ok, how do I start?" He said that first of all, they looked great and looked really healthy from what he could see. They both weighed the same (6 ounces) and they were measuring great. He told us that they are identical twins and they are monochorionic, diamniotic twins. That means that they have two separate sacs, but they share a placenta. He said that it puts us in more of a moderate risk category for twins because they share a placenta. (A little lower "risk" would be two separate sacs and two separate placentas and a higher risk would be one sac and one placenta). He said that they looked great, but their growth would need to be monitored a little more frequently. We are just beyond thankful to the Lord for these healthy girls and their healthy big sister! We are humbled by what God has chosen for our family and our hearts are so full! Please join us in praying for the continued health, growth, and development of these two girls and for a healthy and safe rest of the pregnancy and delivery.

And without further ado, some pictures of our two youngest little girls:

Baby A profile

Baby B profile

A cute little foot of Baby A! How adorable is it that this little foot

is 1 inch right now?!

And a belly shot at 16 weeks, 2 days. We are growing!

15 weeks!

2011-05-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday, we are 15 weeks! It has been great to be in the second trimester! In the past week and a half to two weeks, I have felt so much better! I am definitely getting my appetite back and I am feeling so much better. I still get sick every now and then, but the key for me has been to eat often and to sit up for awhile after I take my vitamins at night.

I had my 15 week appointment today! I was happy to see that I had gained 7 pounds! With the reading that I'm doing, I'm learning how important it is to gain a lot of the weight in the beginning. That has been really hard for me with being so sick in the first trimester, but now that I'm feeling better, it's nice to see some weight coming on. The doctor just planned to measure me and to listen for the heartbeats today. She found one heartbeat (155 bpm), but she was having trouble finding the other one. She said that was totally normal at this stage, but we would just go ahead and look at them. I told her that I didn't mind getting to see them. :) So I heard one sweet little heartbeat and got to see two precious babies and two precious heartbeats. The doctor said she was just looking in the wrong place. She said that one was just a little lower than she was looking. I was sad this was my last appointment with my doctor. She has been absolutely phenomenal.

Being the awesome doctor that she is, she actually suggested and had her nurse call and move the big ultrasound up to NEXT WEEK since we're moving and would have missed our appointment. That was such a fun unexpected surprise! I'm excited to see these two little ones, see how they're growing, learn more about them, and hopefully learn if they are boys, girls, or one of each!

Hopefully, I'll get a belly picture posted and taken one of these days. We are growing!!

Our babies at 11 weeks!

2011-04-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Finally some pictures of our babies! I had my second appointment today and my first appointment with the OB GYNS (more on that in my next post) and we were able to get some pictures of the babies! They have grown so much in 3 weeks! Baby A is on the bottom and Baby B is on top.

In this one, Baby B is kicking Baby A!

My doctor had to really zoom out so we could get both of them in the picture at the same time, but she zoomed in some here on Baby A and you can see a lot of Baby B too!

We got to see them moving around a lot and it was so much fun to see!

OKC Zoo!

2011-04-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we decided to take advantage of this nice weather and head to the zoo! I opted out because I'm fighting a cold in addition to the nausea, but I heard they had so much fun. I was sad to miss it, but they came back with fun stories! Here are some pictures from their time at the zoo!

Riding a Horse!

2011-04-19T15:32:00.000-07:00

We have visitors this week! Peter's sister Joy, her husband Jason, and their two boys Jacob and Elijah have come out to Oklahoma to visit during their spring break! It has been so much fun and Laurel is just having a blast with her cousins!

On Sunday, we got one of the boys to saddle up and walk a horse around for us so that the kids could ride!

Meeting Lucey

First up..Jacob!

Elijah's turn

Laurel's turn

"One more time." We couldn't believe how much Laurel loved it. We think seeing her big cousins ride the horse first made her realize that she wanted to do it too!

Aunt Joy took a turn! She was a pro.

Daddy shared his turn with Laurel since she wanted to ride again so bad.

Love this picture of Elijah with the horses

Baby #2 and Baby #3

2011-04-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

So the story on our twins... :) We found out that we were pregnant at the end of February. Since I hit 6 weeks, I have been so nauseous and sick. I felt like it was so much worse than it was with Laurel. I'm getting sick most mornings and staying nauseous the rest of the day. The only things that I can really stand to eat right now are grilled chicken, cereal, oatmeal, french fries :) and some types of bread. I have to stop here and say that Peter has been AMAZING. He's had to take on so much with me being so sick, but he has cheerfully loved me and served me well. He's been an amazing encourager and supporter and I am praising God for my man! :) I was starting to wonder about twins because I've been so sick and it was just a feeling, but I just thought I was being silly and pushed it out of my mind. I had my first appointment a little past 8 weeks with one of the midwives and her student midwife. I went by myself because I knew it was going to be a long appointment, but what an appointment for Peter to miss! When she went to do the ultrasound, she told me that she was going to look first, and then once she saw what she needed, she would turn the screen to me. The machine was small so I couldn't see too much before she completely turned the screen to me, but it looked like there was more going on on the screen than when I saw our first picture of Laurel. :) The whole moment is just a blur to me but I remember her immediately saying she saw more than one and her saying something like "there's one heartbeat...and there's another heartbeat." I was so excited and surprised, but not as surprised as I thought I would be! It was just an amazing moment just seeing these two little ones! The sad thing was that they didn't have their shipment in of ultrasound paper for these little machines so I didn't get to take home any pictures! There would have been some good ones too! At the end, she was just got it positioned just right so we could see both babies hanging out with their little hearts beating. Praise God, both babies are measuring well! Baby A was measuring at 8 weeks, 1 day and Baby B was measuring at 8 weeks. Now I am transferred to the care of the OB GYNs and I couldn't be more excited and thankful for the reason! I have my appointment with them in about two weeks and hopefully I'll get to see them again, get to hear their heartbeats this time and find out if the OB thinks their identical or fraternal! (From my very untrained eye, I thought they were identical because they appeared to be in the same sac, but we'll see what the OB says).

As far as Laurel, she'll tell you that there are two babies in my mommy's tummy and she'll rub my tummy. I am not sure how much she really understands, but she understands the concepts of little brothers and sisters because of her cousins. On a funny note, she thinks that the babies are boys and that we should name them Sarah and Abraham. :)

These babies have been long prayed for and we still can't get over how God has chosen to answer. We are just in AWE of what God has done! Please join with us in praying for these two new blessings and for our almost 3-year old blessing as she adjusts tothe changes! Pray that they will keep growing and developing well and that this will be a healthy pregnancy. We thank God for these indescribable gifts!

TWICE the Surprise!

2011-03-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that we are expecting Baby #2....and Baby #3! That's right!! We're expecting twins!! My dute date is November 7th! We are so excited and so thankful! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!!! More details to come...

Quote of the Day

2011-03-22T14:52:00.001-07:00

I've been laughing about this all day, so I just had to post.

Laurel has a little Leapfrog Laptop (aka Leaptop) that has little fun educational things on it and just little fun activities on there.

Today Laurel was playing with it and it said, "I like to play games, what's your favorite game?"

Laurel: "Umm.....basketball!!

Now that is Daddy's girl.

First Haircut

2011-01-07T20:33:00.001-08:00

While we were in North Carolina over Christmas, Laurel got her first official haircut. (I say "official" because when she was a year I snipped just a little bit off some hair that was getting in her eyes.) Laurel's hair was just getting so straggly and stringy that I was really itching to just even it all out. Over Christmas, I was definitely ready for it to be cut and so we recruited Peter's sister Joy for the task. (Thanks, Joy! :) )

Before

What is the secret to getting a 2 and a half -year old BUSY girl to remain relatively still while her hair is being cut you may ask?

Give the precious candy-loving girl some M&Ms and gummy bears, of course!

However, the joke was on me because once she figured out that we were giving her candy to occupy her during the hair cut, she started SHOVELING them in so I would have to keep refilling her plate, well napkin.

When I couldn't possibly bear to give my child any more candy, Bibi came to the rescue and started to do "Where is Thumbkin?" with Laurel (a new favorite of hers).

And the finished product...

A cute little bob for our girl. I love how her hair just flipped out!

I am just loving her hair short, except for the fact that it makes her look older! Now if I could only get her over her fear of the hair dryer, I would have so much fun styling it!

Back to Blogging!

2011-01-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've last blogged! One of my new years resolutions is to get better about it! Until I catch up with some posts , I'll leave you with a picture that has become the classic Christmas picture for this year. :)

Deep and Wide

2010-11-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

There are a few songs that Laurel loves for us to sing together and "Deep and Wide" is one of her favorites. She likes to do the "wide" part of the song. One of the reasons I love doing this song with her is because I love how she says the word "wide!" Here is a little clip of us doing "Deep and Wide", although she's more interested in the camera, than sitting still and performing.

Our Newest Niece!

2010-11-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Our new niece is here!! Anna Katherine Ashford made her grand entrance into the world at a little after 2 this morning weighing 6 lbs, 12 ounces and measuring 20 inches long. Praise be to God for this new little one! From what we've heard and seen, she is absolutely beautiful and we are so sad we can't meet her until next month! Congratulations to Bruce, Lauren, and big sister Riley! We love you!

Thanks for posting the picture, Joy!

Laurel Feeding the Camels

2010-10-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

Laurel asks every day to go see the animals. Usually she'll ask to go the horses, but then she'll start listing them all. I'll have to get a video her listing them, it's so cute! Just recently, we've started bringing carrots to the horses and camels sometimes when we go see them. Laurel just thinks it's hilarious! I didn't get a video of her feeding the horses, but I did get a clip of her with the camels.

Quote of the Day

2010-10-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

A little piece of our conversation last night...

Me: Thank you God for...

Laurel: Six!

Laurel at 2 years, 3 1/2 months

2010-08-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, our Laurel. We just love her to pieces! She is a ball of spunk and energy! She is changing so much these days, that I've been wanting to document all of the fun things she is doing and all of the funny things she is saying!

-Her favorite things to do right now are read books, color, do puzzles, jump, and play outside! As much as she has to be busy and keep moving, she surprisingly will stay fairly still to do puzzles or to color. She loves going to different playgrounds and so glad that we have a few different options around here for her! She likes going to look at the animals.

-Laurel's speech is really starting to take off now! I can't even keep track of all the words she says anymore and she is putting words together and she gives us phrases and little sentences every now and then. Sometimes she'll say phrases that are as clear as day, and sometimes she gets close to me and is having a whole conversation with me and I have no clue what she's talking about. There are words that she doesn't say correctly and some of them are just too cute! My favorite is that right now she says "buck" instead of "milk." I try to get her to say milk and she just enunciates "buck" all the more! I also think it's so neat that there's a clear difference between the way she says "buck" and the way she says "book." "Cheese" is one of my favorite words that she says. She draws it out, it's usually in question form, and she has the most innocent little smile when she says it.

-It's been so neat as we're starting to have little conversations with her. I get so excited when I get something out of her about something that she did or saw when I wasn't around. Like this past Sunday, she told me that she had cookies and goldfish in Sunday School.

-She's always telling us to "sit." She wants us to sit down with her in certain spots in her room to play or often it's to tell us to sit by her when she wants to read a book or color.

-There's still some frustration with figuring out what it is that she wants sometime. She will say something so emphatically, but I'll have no idea what she's talking about.

-Laurel is so observant and just loves order just like her Daddy. Laurel likes things in a certain places and she likes things done a certain way. If I put something away somewhere (even something of mine or Peter's) and I didn't put it in the place that she's used to seeing it and thinks where it should go, she'll move it to what she thinks is it's proper place. I was in her Sunday School room one day and there was a a spatula with the play dough toys that kids could play with when they were playing with play dough. For Laurel, that is not where that spatula was supposed to go. She got up from the table and put it in the box on the shelf that she thought it should be in. She's so observant as to where things go and how things are done. She's always surprising me by putting something away without being asked and I had no clue as to how she knew where it went. Laurel is big about what items belong to whom and making sure it goes to the right person. Her Sunday School teacher tells me that she always knows when she brings something new into the room and she'll go up to her and say "play."

-Laurel is just a precious little imitator right now. It's really making me take notice of what I'm doing! She's likes hanging out in the bathroom with me while I'm getting ready and she pretends to put on my deodorant, put lotion on, brush her teeth, and brush her hair. One day, Peter was laying down and I rubbed his calf before I went out of the room with Laurel. She goes back to him rubs his calf and then comes out the door with me.

-Laurel loves giving hugs and kisses! If Peter and I hug, she comes up to us and says "hug" so she can hug too or she'll say "fug" for family hug. We started having a little bedtime ritual. After I put her in her crib, she'll want me to kiss each of her hands and feet through the bars of the crib. I did that one time and so now she thinks it's just part of her night time routine.

-Eating is always one of the more challenging areas with Laurel. She LOVES fruit and so she would eat that and not much else if we would let her. Grapes, strawberries, bananas, and mandarin oranges are her favorite. The past few months she's grown more picky and what she'll eat just depends on the day! We're working on it though. She's still not a big meat eater.

-Potty training hasn't officially started, but we've introduced Laurel to her potty seat and she loves sitting on it while we read her a book. She loves sitting on there and I have a hard time getting her to leave, but she has yet to use the potty. One day she told me "pee pee please" and so I took her to the potty, but she just enjoyed sitting there while we read a book. We'll get there though!

-Laurel is really social. Sometimes she needs a few minutes to warm up, but after that, you're her new friend. Laurel loves going to church and is often running to her Sunday School room. She just loves her teacher and she has some little friends in there. There is a little boy her age here and they are just little buddies. She just loves him and they have so much fun together.

-Her favorite songs are "Miss Patty Cake theme song," "Wheels on the Bus," "Mighty to Save," "ABC song," "6 little ducks," and "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She likes her Miss Patty Cake DVD (well we only get through the first two songs) and the Letter Factory DVD (we usually only get through letter C).

-We're starting to work on colors, counting, shapes, and occasionally letters, thanks to her bathtub letters and the Letter Factory DVD. Laurel knows more colors than she can name. If you ask her what color something is, she'll usually say blue. She'll usually just say number 2 or number 6. She seems to think every letter is the letter C, although she picked out the letter T the other day in the bathtub. She also surprised me the other day by drawing a circle and labeling it as she drew it.

-Laurel has definitely seemed to have grown up some and these "Terrible Twos" are a little less overwhelming for me than it was a couple months ago. She is definitely still a toddler and obeying right away seems to be the focus of a lot of our discipline right now.

That was really long, but I just can't get over about how much Laurel is changing these days. It seems like she's been growing like a weed, talking more and more all the time, and just doing so many new things!

Miss Priss

2010-08-18T13:38:00.000-07:00

We've had a rough week at the ranch (which I will explain in another post), so I definitely had to post some light hearted pictures of Miss Laurel. It's been so hot recently, that we've been getting a lot of our outside time at night when we're watering the plants and the grass. So here are a few fun pictures of our Miss Priss.

This one just makes me laugh! To her, this statue is a "baby." She kept wanting to sit beside it

Chasing Ducks

2010-08-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Boys Ranch Town

2010-07-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

I realize I haven't posted about life here at Boys Ranch Town! Hopefully soon I can do a FAQ post about what life looks like for us here and have some pictures up of our cottage and the ranch! Summer is flying by for us because we're staying so busy! But until then, here is a video created by the Creative Media group, which is made up of staff and boys from Boys Ranch Town. It's about a half-an-hour so it will take some time to watch, but it's a really neat video and it talks about the OBHC and Boys Ranch Town and what we do here. So hopefully, that will give you a glimpse of the organization that God has called us to be a part of and why we're passionate about it!

Give Me A Chance Documentary from Creative Media Group on Vimeo.

Cousins!

2010-07-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

While we were in San Antonio with the boys, we got to meet up with Peter's cousin Andy and his son, Drew. (We missed seeing you, Kelly!) Drew is two and a half months older than Laurel and he gave Laurel a run for her money on seeing who could be the most active! But, Laurel was so fascinated with watching Drew and what he was doing, that she wasn't as busy as she normally is!

It was so funny to watch them play together! Laurel was so entertained by Drew!

Someone suggested that they hold hands and Laurel was just so stuck on the fact that she and Drew should hold hands. She would grab his hand whenever they were walking. Drew didn't always want to, but he was such a good sport about it!

The best picture I could get of two active two year-olds! :)

Here's a flashback to about two years ago when they first met!

Laurel, the 2-year old

2010-07-16T13:16:00.001-07:00

Laurel has entered the "twos" with full force! Laurel is so full of energy, so fun, says and does the cutest things. However, Peter and I would both agree that we are in the "terrible twos" stage and it is tough! Laurel can be oh-so-cute, but this sweet little girl also knows how to throw a tantrum (in public too, of course, :)), test her boundaries, and exert her will! We are challenged daily to seek wisdom from the Lord and His Word in how we correct and train this sweet blessing of ours! If you have any suggestions of books about training little ones at this tough age, PLEASE share them!

But along with the challenges come such fun and sweet moments with Laurel and seeing her emerging personality! Laurel is happiest when she can be active and be active and when she can be around people!

Some cute stories and fun things about Laurel at this age:

-Sometimes I just can't get over how observant she is and how she just picks up on things. She's always labeling what things are mama's and dada's. Peter usually drinks out of a NC State cup, but all of them were in the dishwasher, so he had to drink out of a glass one meal. Once we put it on the table, she said "mama" and pushed it down to my place. She knows where things go and she's generally pretty good at putting things back exactly where they go. She likes to grab my lotion and pretend to put it on and she pretends to put on deodorant.

Grover is an important part of our family these days. Laurel talks about him, brings him with her, and loves reading her Grover books and watching her Grover DVD (well the first five minutes of it anyway.). I find myself saying the phrases,"We don't brush Grover's teeth," "Grover doesn't go in the bath," "Grover doesn't drink your milk," and "Grover doesn't eat your food" more often these days.:) Grover also has to be in the crib at nap time and at night. Occasionally, we'll have forgotten to check that Grover is in the crib and we'll be scrambling to find him we're trying to put Laurel down. I even had to call Peter when he was out with the boys one time to have him ask the boys if they knew where Grover was! We even have a little ritual when Laurel's going to bed where Laurel will say "shh" and hold her finger up to her lips as we're going to her bedroom because Grover is sleeping or "peeping" as Laurel says. The funny thing is, Laurel will talk so loudly!

-Laurel had such a fun 4th of July weekend a couple of weeks ago. She did so well!! She got a little antsy when nothing was happening, but she really liked watching most floats and loved waving to the people on the floats. Her favorite was the marching band from one of the local high schools. She was just dancing and jumping all around. I so wish I had gotten a video of it because it was so funny! We also kept her up late so we could go watch some of the boys shoot off some fireworks on the property here and she did so well. She didn't get scared at all and had a good time watching them. She even surprised us all and stayed still in one of the boys' laps for about 20 minutes at the end of night as she was watching the fireworks.

-Laurel is not a very good traveller and she doesn't take very long naps in the car. Each time she woke up from her nap, she would wake up perky and ask for Grover! On the way back, she only took a 30 minute nap, so I pretended to be asleep in hopes that she would go back to sleep! Well, Laurel was quite awake. Well while I was pretending to be asleep, she said "What's this?" really fast about 30 times in a row to me. Peter told me later that we had passed by a field with a bunch of horses in it and Laurel was just going crazy with "what's this?"

-When we were in San Antonio, we decided to not take Laurel on the Riverboat cruise because she would not do well with not being able to move around on there. Peter walked around with Laurel on the Riverwalk while the rest of us were on the riverboat. Laurel loved waving at everyone and she kept saying "Is it?" to everyone because she was looking for the ducks.

-And this is one moment that I feel really sums up Laurel at this age... Peter said that Laurel was trying to sit down where there was a puddle with some algae in it so he told Laurel that she could not sit down. Well Laurel got mad, went a little ways ahead, and plopped down somewhere else, and gave Peter this look like she was trying to say that she could sit down. It really didn't matter that Laurel was sitting down; Peter just didn't want Laurel to sit in the puddle. Peter said that Laurel sat for about 20 minutes (she moved spots a couple times in the same area) basically to show Peter that she could show Daddy that she could sit. While she was sitting, she was waving to everyone on the riverboats. Peter said that one of the riverboats was filled with ladies that just ate it up! They were waving to Laurel and blowing her kisses. A family passed by and one of the ladies wanted to videotape Laurel doing it! Peter said she got a little shy when they pulled out the camera, but she did some for them.

-Also while we were in San Antonio, we went to a really big waterpark called Schlitterbahn. They had a neat kiddie area for Laurel and she just had a blast going down the slides in it. She was so content to go down the slide over and over again for about an hour. That's so Laurel. She just has to be active and she's so content when she can just play and run!

I know that this post was really long, but I wanted to make sure I noted these funny things about Laurel because I really want to remember them! We just love our girl to pieces and she just keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing!

Fun at the Pool

2010-07-16T12:40:00.001-07:00

Since we have a pool here, we're able to go to the pool often and Laurel is loving it! It's been so neat to see her progression of getting used to the water again this summer, having more fun, and getting more and more confident with her vest on! Here are a bunch of pictures from some of our time at the pool!

A tired out girl after an afternoon at the pool

Catching Up

2010-07-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

Since I'm so behind in blogging, I'm going to a few posts to try to catch up on this busy summer so far! I can't believe it's the middle of July. We're staying so busy at the ranch and with the boys that the summer is flying by!

Father's Day 2010.
Peter is such an amazing father to Laurel and I am so blessed that the Lord chose him to be my husband and to be the father of my daughter.

One day last month we went to a little theme park around here called Frontier City with the ranch. It was a hot day, but so much fun! I went with some of our boys earlier in the afternoon and Peter met us later with Laurel. This was Laurel's first experience with anything like this and she had a fun time! There was a little kiddie area at the park so Laurel was able to go on a couple rides that were just her size!

On a little train with Daddy. She didn't know what to think at first but she really liked it!

Laurel really got into it and started pointing at everything and asking her famous "What's this?"

Next, Mommy joined Laurel on a little dragon ride. You could made the dragon go up and down as it went around in a circle and Laurel thought that was so neat! As soon as she found buttons to press, she was happy as could be. She didn't seem to be scared at all. She didn't want to get off of the ride when it was over and since there was no one else in line, the ride operator let us go again.

Next, we went on a little "kiddie" roller coaster. We're all ready to go!

Coming down the hill. It was a little wilder than it looked. Now, I love roller coasters, but I did not think that this was a "kiddie ride." It was short and didn't have big hills or anything, but I thought it was much more jerky than bigger roller coasters.

My mama instincts took over once I realized how jerky it was! Notice that my dear child no longer as a hat. It fell off during the crazy ride (I should have thought to take it off) and the ride operator wasn't allowed to go get it until the end of the evening when they closed down. So now, Laurel's little hat is sitting in the lost and found at Frontier City.

Laurel didn't seem scared and didn't cry, but she certainly wasn't begging to go on the ride again.

Next, we went on the carousel. Laurel liked it OK I suppose, but I don't think it was exciting enough for her. The hardest part was holding her off until the ride started. She wasn't interested in the ride at all when it wasn't moving.

"What's this?"

We rode it a few times and were thankful for the little bit of a break from the heat!

Rewind: OKC Zoo with Grammy and Granddad

2010-07-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

I am going to attempt to start catching up on my blogging! At the beginning of June, Grammy and Granddad came to visit! While they were here, we visited the OKC Zoo again!

Laurel's all ready for another fun trip to the zoo!

When we went to the zoo with Bibi and Papa a month before this trip, we were all wearing long sleeves and jackets. This day at the zoo was HOT!

Of course, we had to make our first stop at the children's petting zoo! She's loved being up close to the goats!

I'm not quite sure what Laurel is doing here!

Cooling off inside

Other than the petting zoo, Laurel's favorite animal were the gorillas. She was fascinated with watching them for a couple minutes, especially the one that was sleeping right beside the glass.

Laurel and Grammy

And no OKC zoo trip would be complete without a trip to the playground. We made sure to revisit the net for Laurel to climb up!

Even though it was a hot day, Laurel tolerated it really well and we had such a fun time at the zoo. We love having the zoo so close!

Laurel's 2-year pictures

2010-06-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

I have so much blogging to catch up on, but I wanted to go ahead and post Laurel's 2-year pictures that our new friend Jennifer had taken a couple weeks ago at the ranch! Being the busy girl she is, Laurel stayed moving the entire time, but I love the precious pictures she got of our girl a this sweet age! Thanks, Jennifer!

Our Two Year-Old!

2010-06-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we took Laurel to our new pediatrician for her two year well-check. The Lord provided such a great pediatrician for us and he's also fellow believer and a member of our church and small group! So neat how the Lord works!

Her 2-year stats:

Weight: 28 lbs (between 50th and 75th percentiles)

Height: 34 and 1/4 inches (between 50th and 75th percentiles)

We are so thankful to the Lord for our healthy, growing girl!

Warning: This post will get long! I'm trying to document all that Laurel is doing at this stage!

Here are some things Laurel is up to and that we want to remember about this sweet age:

TALKING! In the past month, we've really seen a big jump in Laurel's communication. She talks all the time and she knows what she's saying, but we have no clue a lot of the time. We love it, though! It also seems like she's picking up new words every day, repeating us a lot more than she used to, and we can even get her to say more things on command! Last month, she started to say "please" and that has made things soooo much easier for both her and us! We're enjoying the fact that she is so eager to say it! It only gets a little frustrating when she says "please" over and over again, but we can't figure out what it is that she wants. She's saying a couple phrases such as "What's this?" and "Where is it/he/she?" but she's been saying those for a while. We think we hear her say "I did it" sometimes too. We're loving that we're starting to not be able to keep track of all of the words she's saying. The cutest words she says are "Grover," "Big Bird," "buffalo," "please," "ta-da," "uh-oh," and "napkin." I'll have to get a video of her saying some words! We love hearing that sweet little voice of hers! A favorite "game" of hers is the "What's this?" game. She asks "What's this?" about EVERYTHING, but she always seems to do the things we know she knows over and over again as well. Right now, we can count on Laurel asking "What's this?" about the vacuum cleaner and dishwasher every day. It's also her favorite game to play with the boys and they're very accommodating to the very repetitive game. We're also always amazed at what she "gets" and understands of what we say.

SO ACTIVE! We are always getting comments about how busy Laurel is! She is constantly going from one thing to the next! She has started to settle down A LITTLE bit because she's been very interested in books recently and really starting to get interested in puzzles. Laurel LOVES to be outside running around. She loves any sort of playground and loves going down the different slides. Laurel is really enjoying being in the pool too! With having a pool here, we're able to get there most days and it's been so neat to see the progression that she's made so far! She's getting a lot more comfortable in the water and having a blast! She also likes to climb, walk backwards,can and twirl in circles.

Eating: Mealtimes are always interesting (well, a nightmare) with Laurel. Ever since she was a baby, she has not been known for being very patient! If she's in her seat, she expects to have her food, RIGHT THEN. Laurel always wants what's on our plate, and if it's exact same thing, we're trying to convince her that it's the same! She's generally a pretty good eater, but she does have her moments where she'll eat something one day, but the next day she won't. She is the most picky about meat. Sometimes she'll eat chicken or hamburger, but she's not too big of a fan of meat right now. Her favorite foods are black-eyed peas, mandarin oranges, bananas, raisins, pancakes, applesauce, and goldfish. She loves milk and would drink it all day if we would let her.

Personality: It's so neat to see Laurel's little personality unfold. She usually needs a couple minutes to warm up to new people or a new situation. She'll observe, be very quiet, and not run around. Once she warms up, she is good-to-go! She'll grab a new person's hand and take them around to show them things or bring her toys and books to them. Even as active and adventurous as she is, she can be very cautious about certain situations. Our neighbors have a little kids' tent with tunnels and Laurel has yet to go in it. She'll point at it and play around it, but won't go in! When we're out, she waves and smiles at everyone. She doesn't seem to know a stranger when we're out! Laurel LOVES when the boys are here. She just thinks that they are here for her and to be her entertainment. The boys are really good with her and will read books to her, play with her, and chase her around. She loves it! Laurel LOVES babies. I think Laurel can spot a baby within a mile of her and then she is just drawn to that baby. :) She's so interested in what they are doing and will bring them toys, their pacifiers, their bottles, etc. She likes to play with kids older than she is and she just thinks that she is one of them!

Terrible-twos? Laurel's sinful nature is clear. :) The past month or two, tantrums have started. When she doesn't get her way, she'll flail her arms and legs, get on the floor, whine, hit etc. Discipline and training her to obey is our big focus. "You need to obey" is one of our most commonly used phrases these days. "No" has also entered into Laurel's vocabulary and she's having to learn real quick that saying "no" to mommy and daddy is not making it go well with her. :) We are praying for the grace we need as we are parenting this precious little toddler.

Fun things:

-Laurel LOVES Grover! Elmo has taken a back seat to Grover. She loves pointing out Grover in her books and now that she has a Grover doll, she is loving life. :) Grover goes with her around the house a lot and she wants Grover in her crib for her nap and for bedtime. We've caught her trying to feed Grover her milk and she's wanted to take it to the bathroom when we're brushing her teeth. We have a Grover DVD and I'll sometimes put on Sesame Street so she can see Grover, but that doesn't hold her attention for very long.

-Laurel's gotten into puzzles within the past couple of weeks and she's really good at them! She gets frustrated easily when she can't fit the piece in right on the first or second try, but we're trying to encourage her to try again. As busy as she is, I love that she'll sit and play with puzzles for a little while.

-She has really gotten into reading books. She loves to take her time to flip through them, but she still doesn't let you get through very many pages before she takes it away and gives you a new one! She asks, "What's this?" about different pictures. She loves books with animals in them and her Sesame Street books. She will look plop in your lap and look at books for awhile. I LOVE that time with her.

-She is still scared of the vacuum cleaner. She will point to it all day and talk about it, but as soon as it comes on, she's scared and will cling to you.

-We're seeing signs of potty-training readiness, but we're not there yet and we're not in a hurry! She will point to her diaper and say "pee-pee" and will say "poop" when we ask her if she has. About a month ago, she was coming up to me and saying "poop" she she needed her diaper changed or getting out her changing pad, diaper, and wipes, when her diaper was dirty,but she hasn't done that recently. She is all about talking about the potty, but she is scared to sit on it.

-She doesn't like food on her hands

-She is so sweet and loves to give hugs and kisses!

-This age is so fun with seeing how she wants to do what we do, especially what mommy does. If we're vacuuming, she gets out her vacuum. If we're wiping up a spill or wiping the table, she wipes the table with us. She follows me when I'm doing laundry and takes things out of the dryer or puts things in. (I do have to be careful because she'll put wet things in the basket and dirty things in the dryer sometimes if I'm not looking!)

-She loves the "Wheels on the Bus." "Itsy-Bitsy Spider" and "Ho-Ho-Ho Hosanna"

-TV or DVD doesn't really hold her attention, but when it does, she likes to watch her Miss Patty Cake or Hide Em In Your Heart DVDs

-We love how Laurel will laugh when Peter and I are laughing like she knows what we're laughing at

-She likes to stall drinking her milk at night. She can make it last 20 or 30 minutes by looking at books while she's drinking it and just being cute!

I've smiled as I've typed this because it's so neat to see how Laurel is developing and all of the new things that she is learning! Even though we're already seeing how the "2s" can be a trying time, we've also seeing the precious age that it is. Laurel is always keeping us laughing with the cute things she is saying, the fun things she is doing, and ending the day with the sweetest hugs and kisses!

Birthday Flashback

2010-06-10T19:03:00.000-07:00

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

So similar, but yet so different :)

Laurel's Birthday- The Cake!

2010-06-06T19:29:00.001-07:00

Recently, Laurel has been LOVING Grover and hasn't paid a bit of attention to Elmo. Sesame Street barely gets her attention, but she started loving Grover since we pointed him out in her books and she realized how much she loved saying his name. Aunt Lauren and Uncle Bruce gave Laurel a Grover doll before we left for Oklahoma and so Grover has become an essential item to Laurel.

Well, finding Sesame Street party supplies, let alone anything with Grover on it, was much easier said than done! My mom and I went from store to store trying to find some Sesame Street birthday plates that I liked. I gave up on the idea of trying to find any with Grover on it! After our search at Party Galaxy, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, Target, and Walmart, we were successful at Dollar Tree! I was happy with that!

For the cake, I decided to do a cookie cake with Grover on it instead of a cake or cupcakes in hopes that the icing wouldn't be as overwhelming for her, plus we knew she already liked cookie cake!

The Grover Cake. I realized it was success when Laurel was able to identify him when we first showed her the cake. She pointed out Grover on the cake a lot during the day and we were hoping seeing it over and over again would help get her used to it.

Laurel's reaction.
We're still not sure if it's the icing or candle or what!

So Laurel spent the rest of the time on Daddy's lap. She didn't want any of the cake at first, but she still kept pointing to Grover and saying his name.

We broke up some pieces of the cookie cake in hopes that it would encourage Laurel to have some of her own birthday cake!

Laurel took her time, but she finally tried some and enjoyed it!

Laurel even touched some of the icing. The icing wasn't so sticky so she was able to tolerate it a little bit better.

"Ok I admit, this is pretty good. I'll have some more."

So after a rocky start to the birthday cake celebration, Laurel finally ended up eating most of her slice! Our little princess just does not want food on her hands!

Laurel's Birthday- Part 3

2010-06-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Laurel received a little slip-n-slide from Aunt Joanie for her birthday, so Daddy decided to surprise Laurel by setting it up for her! Laurel had a blast with it! Such a fun way to cool down on a hot summer day!

The best part about it to Laurel was the little pool area at the end. It didn't hold much water at all, but it certainly kept her entertained!

Laurel didn't understand the sliding part, so Daddy showed her by pulling her down part of it. Laurel thought that was great and wanted Daddy to do it over and over again.

Laurel got the idea and thought she would sit down and scoot her way on down the slip-n-slide!

Trying to drink the water. Silly girl!

Daddy was spraying the grass off of it and Laurel decided that playing with the hose looked like more fun, so Daddy let her have her turn.

Playing outside in the water was such a fun addition to Laurel's birthday. It's amazing how long the hose and the slide kept her entertained. The only reason we went inside because it was time to eat. Thank you for the slip-n-slide, Aunt Joanie! I'm sure we'll be playing with it tons more this summer!

Laurel's Birthday- Part 2

2010-06-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

After lunch, we gave Laurel a couple gifts to open so she could have some more fun before her nap.

Bibi and Papa sent Laurel a doctor kit!

First things first, let's put on the stethoscope and then continue to go through the rest of the kit.

It was so cute watching Laurel examine each item in the kit!

The bag might have been one of the kit's best features. Laurel loves to put the items in the bag and carry them around.

Trying out the "boo boo" (aka bandaid).

We called Bibi and Papa to thank them for the doctor kit!

Laurel will say a couple words on command into the phone, but she loves for people to talk to her on the phone!

Cute little doctor girl!

Daddy showing Laurel how to use the stethoscope

Trying out the the blood pressure cuff with Daddy

After a full morning, this birthday girl took a much-needed nap before the fun continued!

Laurel's Birthday- Part 1

2010-06-05T12:48:00.000-07:00

Laurel had such a big day yesterday celebrating that she is two years-old! As extra bonuses, we are off duty this week and Grammy and Granddad came to visit!

After breakfast, we started off Laurel's day by going to Bouncin Craze, a local inflatables place! It was the perfect place to take Laurel. She loves inflatables and she loves to go anywhere where she can run and jump around!

Helping Laurel climb up the slide one of the MANY, MANY times. She got where she could climb up by herself for the most part. She wore herself out doing this over and over again.

At the inflatables place, they had this neat little toy that you ride down a ramp. Laurel loved it and wanted to do it over and over again!

And they had a little ball pit too. The first time we put her in it, she didn't like it and got right on out. The next time we put her in, she warmed up to it and had a blast!

The ball pit also had these things that blew air so you could put a ball in front of it and try to get it in the basket.

Sliding down the slide!

The happy birthday girl!

After Bouncin Craze, we took Laurel to her birthday lunch at Cici's! It's been one of our favorite places to go eat with Laurel. Plus, she loves pizza and we love that we can get in and out quickly with our busy girl!

...And we let her have some of the brownie. It was her birthday, after all!

Laurel Turned TWO!

2010-06-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

Our sweet girl turned TWO yesterday! Oh we can hardly believe that it has been two years! We have been praising the Lord for her life! What a blessing she is and what a humbling privilege it is to be her parents! We can't get enough of her spunk, her smiles, her laughter, and her sweet, fun-loving nature. Laurel Faith, what a precious treasure you are to us. We love you!!

Thank You, Aunt Sue!

2010-06-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

My Aunt Sue sent Laurel this adorable outfit as an early birthday/welcome to Oklahoma present! It looks so sweet on her and Laurel was in the mood to pose for the camera, so I had to post them!

Thank you, Aunt Sue!!

The "Sises"

2010-05-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Laurel loves to go see the horses or "sises" as she likes to call them. When we have family time, we love to take a golf cart down to the horse barn to petsome horses or ride around some to see some.

This was her time seeing and petting the horses at the ranch!

As much as she likes to go see the horses, riding in the golf cart is just as fun to her. She will play in there and get in and just sit and wait for you to take her some place new!

This was last night when we went to go see the horses. This girl has no fear of them. She will just go right on up to them and wants to pet them on the mouth. We find ourselves saying a lot, "Gentle, Laurel. Be gentle."

I had published this post earlier this afternoon. This evening, we were playing in another cottage's backyard and I took Laurel over to pet one of the horses that was by the fence. She was petting them and somehow I turned around for a second and the next thing I know she is on the other side of the fence in the horse pasture!! Thankfully, the horse we were petting had moved on a little bit and no other horses were around. Petting them is just not enough for her, she has to be in the middle of it all!

First Pigtails!

2010-05-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

Since Laurel's hair has been getting longer, I decided that it was finally time to try to get
Laurel's hair into pigtails! I have been waiting for this day!

And how did I get this adorable little toddler to sit still long enough for me to put her hair up?

Why I let her sit on the bathroom counter and play in the sink, of course!

I'm glad I got a few pictures to document it because she took them out several minutes later. Her hair is so fine that came right on out!

First Trip to the Zoo

2010-05-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

On Mother's Day, we took Laurel to the zoo for the first time! We love having the Oklahoma City Zoo only 15 minutes away from us as opposed to the 2-and-a-half hour drive we would have had to the North Carolina Zoo. We definitely plan on going back a lot! We go to church on Saturday nights, so it was nice to be able to get there right after it opened. As an added bonus, mothers got in free on mother's day!

The zoo has a new children's area with a petting zoo, so we made that our first stop. There were different animals in pens to pet, but the best part for Laurel was the sheep that were running around.

Once she petted them a few times, she really got into petting them and following them around.

Coming in on a goat for a hug.

There was also a neat little slide in the kids' area that Laurel loved.

Looking at some animals with Papa

A snack break with Daddy.

Even though she's not a big fan of being confined in a stroller, Laurel did pretty well in it. She would ride for awhile and then we would get somewhere that she could walk or run around, and then she was content to climb back in and move on.

The sheep or "baaas" as Laurel calls them! One of Laurel's favorites!

We went back to the petting zoo later in the day because Laurel loved it so much! She liked seeing the other animals in their cage or behind the glass, but it just didn't keep her attention like these goats did!

Laurel and Daddy

She was getting a little too comfortable and was all over the goats giving them hugs. She even tried swing her leg over one to ride one. I can assure you that we disinfected and washed her hands A LOT! :)

Laurel and Bibi. Laurel got such a kick out of sitting on these log benches in the petting zoo.

Oh that sweet little face!

Hugs for Papa

Before we left the zoo, we made a stop at the playground area for Laurel to run off some of her energy. The little toddler area wasn't cutting it for Laurel.

So...we went to the bigger playground with a bigger slide.

Laurel going up the net to the slide.

It so special to have such a fun family day on Mother's Day. Laurel really seemed to enjoy herself and we can't wait to see her interest grow for seeing some of the animals.

Bibi and Papa's Visit!

2010-05-23T11:57:00.000-07:00

We were so thankful that Bibi and Papa could travel with us to Oklahoma and could stay for a couple weeks! It was a huge blessing to have them here as we were getting settled! A majority of the time was spent unpacking, cleaning, and preparing to have the boys, but we were still able to get some good quality family time in too. :)

We are so blessed to have a playground at the ranch. Laurel loves whenever we get a chance to go.

Laurel has mastered climbing up the ladder. Going down the slide is a huge motivation for her to get up the ladder quickly. :)

Her favorite slide is the tunnel slide. It was so cute to watch how she decided to go down it. She would go to it, sit down, and think about it. Then, she would change her mind and go on one of the other ones. She did this a few times and then one day she just decided to do it. She loved it! Since then, there's been no turning back. She'll go the tunnel slide almost every time now.

Running off to go down the slide again :)

Laurel LOVES giving and getting hugs! We love seeing her walking with her arms open wide waiting for her hug! Sometimes after she hugs someone, she'll keep her arms open and look for anybody else that wants to hug her! :)

Hanging out with Papa before bed

More hugs for Bibi

One day, we went to this really neat park nearby with walking trails, playgrounds, and a cute little duck pond! It's becoming one of our favorite places in Edmond.

With Bibi and Papa by the pond. Laurel is in this phase where she will squat down, put her hands on her knees, and give you a cheesy smile. She's not looking, but that's what she's doing here!

Going with Bibi to see one of the ducks!

Walking with Papa at the park

With Bibi and Papa before church.

"The babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah..." Every time we got in the car, Laurel wanted Bibi to sing wheels on the bus. Laurel just loves it and has fun doing the motions! Bibi was a good sport as she probably sang that song hundreds of times!

"The mommies on the bus go shh, shh, shh..."

A family picture before taking Bibi and Papa to the airport. We were so thankful that they could come! It didn't seem like we were far away from North Carolina when they were here which helped to make it such smooth transition for all of us.

Big Girl

2010-05-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally got my new camera cord! I am sorting through pictures and hope to post some from our visit to the zoo and our visit with Bibi and Papa! Until I get those posts ready, here is a little video of our big girl! When we were at the zoo, there was a playground with a net to crawl up and we were so impressed with how Laurel just went after it and mastered it! She loved doing it and over and over again! Although I didn't get it on this clip of video, the best part was when Laurel's leg kind of fell through one of the holes in the net and she pulled herself back up and kept on going! She is getting to be such a big girl!

The Proof Is In The Icing...

2010-05-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

It has to be the icing that Laurel doesn't like. For Mother's Day breakfast, we had doughnuts and Laurel got so upset when we first put the doughnut on her tray! We broke the doughnut up into a few pieces and eventually she ate about half of it. The little lady just doesn't like her hands to get too messy!

We're Here!!

2010-05-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, we arrived in Oklahoma! It has been a whirlwind two and half weeks since we left North Carolina!

The week of the move was a rough one for Laurel. She wouldn't eat much, didn't sleep well, and her tummy seemed to be upset. We really think she realized that something was up as we were packing and she was getting nervous. That was the hardest thing for us about all of the preparations for the move. Peter and I were hurting for Laurel knowing that she couldn't communicate what she was feeling or if something was wrong. She got hives the day before the move and I ended up taking her to the pediatrician on moving day (a Saturday) because she was broken out in hives ALL over her body and we wanted to get her checked before we were on the road for a few days. Praise the Lord, Laurel was fine and we came away with a referral for an allergist and instructions to start her on Zyrtec again (which we later learned is recalled!).

The Lord was so gracious to us as we prepared for the move and as we travelled. We can't even thank our family, small group, and friends enough for loving us so well by watching and loving on Laurel, helping with packing, loading up the truck, and just covering our family in prayer as we travelled and settled in at Boys Ranch Town. We left on Saturday the 24th and spread out our driving, and arrived in Edmond, Oklahoma on Tuesday the 27th. Peter and his Dad drove the moving truck and Peter's Mom, Laurel, and I followed them in the car. The Lord was so gracious and we missed the stormy weather as we drove. When it rained, it rained at night after we got to the hotel for the evening. Laurel did so much better in the car than we ever could have imagined. The Lord heard our prayers! Thank you to those who prayed specifically for Laurel as she travelled and for her adjustment. Despite the rough week she had, Laurel really adjusted well to sleeping in the hotel for a few nights, being in the car for a few days, and just really being thrown off schedule. Her hives also cleared up by the day we got there. Thank you to Bibi for the countless hours of entertainment you provided! Unfortunately, Peter got food poisoning and was sick the last two days of our trip and the first couple days in Oklahoma! He was not feeling well at all and I can't even imagine how he managed to still drive even though he was feeling so bad, but the Lord gave him strength and endurance to finish out the trip like we had planned. Peter started feeling better by the weekend.

We have now been in Oklahoma for two weeks and we are loving it! It has been very busy around here as we've been cleaning, unpacking, and settling in. Bibi and Papa just left today and we were so sad to see them go! Having them here was a huge blessing to us as we were unpacking, settling in, and doing some training for Boys Ranch Town. Thank you Bibi and Papa for generously giving your time to help us move and settle in. I don't think we could ever express how much of a blessing that was to us! We also cherished that time with you!

Laurel is doing extremely well. She absolutely loves it here! We praise the Lord for how well she has adjusted! She loves running around outside and she absolutely LOVES going to see the animals. So far, we think the horses have been her favorite but she also loves seeing the cows, goats and camels. Being the social butterfly that she is, Laurel has loved meeting the other houseparents and staff, the boys, and the houseparents' kids. She has been wearing herself out with all of the running around she has been doing!

We are getting settled, learning our way around Edmond and Oklahoma City(well mostly me, since Peter's been here before), and discovering all of the neat things to do around here! We have been welcomed with open arms by the people here at Boys Ranch Town and we just love them already! We found a church that we LOVE and reminds us so much of North Wake and are looking forward to getting more involved. We start having boys in our cottage a week from tomorrow, so life will start to get much more interesting then! :) Until then, we are soaking up the wisdom of the staff and other houseparents, finishing some training, preparing for the boys, and just enjoying time together as a family.

I hope to have some pictures up soon of what we have been up to and pictures up of our apartment, cottage, and ranch so you can see what life is like for us here! Of all of the things I can't find from the move, I can't find the usb cord that connects the camera to the computer! We just ordered a new one today, so hopefully we'll get that next week and I can start loading pictures!

Please be praying for us and we are settling in here and preparing for the boys. We are so excited, but are totally needing the Lord's strength and grace!

An Early Birthday Celebration!

2010-04-22T13:45:00.001-07:00

The week before we moved, Aunt Betsy sweetly decided to throw Laurel an early birthday celebration! Uncle Bruce, Aunt Lauren, and Riley came over to help celebrate too!

Laurel looking cute in her new NC State outfit from Aunt Betsy

I had a get a little more cuddle time in with Riley before the move!

It's neat to watch Laurel and Riley start to play together more. However, a lot of the "playing" consisted of Laurel teasing Riley with a toy!

Best picture we could get of the girls in their UNC and NC State outfits. And to top it off, it wasn't even planned that Laurel and Riley would wear their outfits!

Getting some play time in with Uncle Bruce and Aunt Betsy

Kisses for Aunt Betsy!

Anxiously awaiting the birthday celebration to come!

Riley was so excited! She was having a blast playing on the table!

Riley and Laurel's expressions as the cake is being brought over to the table...

Laurel wasn't so sure about the whole birthday celebration. She seemed so confused about what was going on!

Poor little Riley wanted to touch the cake so badly!

Laurel first touched the cake and then it went all downhill from there for her...

As much as Laurel can make a mess, she HATES

to have food on her hand and wants you to get it off immediately. Since Laurel was unhappy about the icing, we couldn't even get her to try the cake.

Laurel was D.O.N.E. She wanted nothing more to do with the cake. She wouldn't even try it! We know she would have LOVED it if she would have tried it. We couldn't believe this was the same girl that dug into her first birthday cake!

Although Laurel refused to have any cake, the rest of us couldn't get enough of the yummy strawberry cake that Aunt Betsy made! Thank you Aunt Betsy! Needless to say, this was not the best rehearsal for Laurel's birthday coming up in a few weeks!

Sweet Aunt Lauren, Riley, and the newest Ashford baby! We miss having them less than 10 minutes away!

Our little princess eventually recovered from the traumatic experience of us encouraging her to eat her own birthday cake! :)

Even though Laurel missed out on eating her cake at her own birthday celebration (which we later discovered that it was probably due to her not feeling well that week), it was such a sweet time spent with family. We definitely miss living so close! Thank you Aunt Betsy, Uncle Bruce, Aunt Lauren, and Riley for making it such a special time!

Cousins!

2010-04-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

We went to visit Riley last week and we thought that Laurel might be ready to hold Riley! It's been so neat to see their interactions together since Riley's been born because it will be about the same age difference as Riley's little brother or sister due to arrive in November!

Riley: "Um, are you sure she's allowed to do this?"

My favorite of Laurel and Riley from the visit. So sweet together!

Laurel would get a little overly excited about Riley and pat her head at times. Riley wasn't too sure what to make of it!

Laurel just loves babies and is so excited every time she gets to see Baby Riley (or "Iyee" as Laurel says). When we saw Riley another day last week, Laurel kept giving her hugs over and over again and Riley loved it! Can't wait to see what sweet relationship these girls will have as they get older. :)

Laurel's Language at 22 and 1/2 Months

2010-04-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here is an update of Laurel's language at 22 and 1/2 months! Laurel is starting to say more and more words and we are just so excited for her! We know she understands what we say and what we mean and we feel like she has just been storing it all up until she decides she wants to say it! I didn't really realize how much more she is saying now until I compared it to my list of what she was saying at 19 and 1/2 months here. It's amazing how much development there can be in 3 months! So encouraging!

Words:
dada
mama
shot
this
hot
sock
shoe
baby
yes
cracker
ketchup
cup
trash
yuck
applesauce
milk
juice
goldfish
dog
Grover (our favorite word that she says; it's sooo adorable)
Elmo
book
Bibi
Papa
Riley
Betsy
Hadley (one of our friends' daughters)
flower
bubbles
look
church
pee pee (well, it's true :) )
cook
sit
seat
ball
block
box
teeth
sweep
uh-oh
jacket
Bible
bye bye

Phrases:
- Don't touch
- What's this?
-Where is it?/Where is she?/Where is he?

Other:
-"baa" for the sheep sound; "woof" for dog sound; "roar" for lion
-does motions for Wheels on the Bus song and Itsy Bitsy Spider

Bibi and Papa's!

2010-04-15T06:12:00.000-07:00

Last week, we also made a trip to Bibi and Papa's house! Peter's spring break fell at a really good time as we were able to spend a larger chunk of time with both sides of the family before the move. We had a great time! We were again blessed with really nice weather so we were able to play outside a lot! Bibi and I also went to a few yard sales on Saturday and came away with some great finds for Laurel at great yard sale prices!! Here are some fun pictures from our time there.

Papa was on the couch reading the paper, so Laurel decided to get up on the couch and read her books right beside Papa!

Laurel and Bibi. It was fitting that she finally said Bibi's name while we were there!

For a few seconds one day, Laurel was in the move to pose for the camera. It's nice to have a few pictures at this age that aren't action shots. :)

Aunt Betsy came one of the days while we were there, so Laurel got in some good play time with Aunt Betsy!

Laurel and Aunt Betsy

We even had another little egg hunt for Laurel on Saturday! This game never gets old for her. Although, this time, we had to be a little more sneaky when we got the eggs out of her bucket to hide them again. She caught on that we were taking her eggs to hide them again.

On Saturday night, Peter's parents had a goodbye dinner for us with some of the family's dear friends. Here is Laurel with Mr. Bill and Ms. Marilyn. They were another set of grandparents for Peter and the two people you can credit with introducing him to NC State Athletics. :)

On Sunday we went to church with Bibi and Papa and then spent a little time playing outside.

A quick family picture after church!

Laurel and Papa. Laurel is not making the prettiest face, but I still thought it was a cute one of them!

Playing with Bibi in the yard

Our favorite picture of Laurel with Bibi and Papa.

More Pictures from the Visit to Grammy and Granddad's House!

2010-04-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

Laurel with her Grammy and Granddad

Grammy and Granddad have a park across the street from their house. We were so glad the weather was so nice while we were there so we could take advantage of playing outside a lot! Laurel learned how to sit on a big girl swing! Although she doesn't know how to pump her legs yet, she loved the big swings! However when she was done, she didn't let you know; she just let go and hoped someone was there to catch up! Thankfully, Granddad was right behind her!

Granddad with Ashley and Laurel. Whenever Caleb or Ashley was being held, Laurel wanted to make sure she was right there with them!

On the way to park near Aunt Catherine's house, Laurel got to ride in the wagon with Caleb. That was her first time in a wagon and she loved it! When we played outside another day, all she wanted to do was ride around in the wagon!

Cousins!

Laurel read books with Granddad. Although if you know how Laurel likes to read books, you know that you should have a few ready and you shouldn't plan on reading more than the first few pages. :)

Laurel also played with the doctor kit at Grammy and Granddad's house. At Christmas, she loved playing with the shot-which also became one of her first words. This time, her favorite was the stethoscope!

Thanks for having us Grammy and Granddad! We had fun!

Egg Hunting

2010-04-12T12:53:00.001-07:00

Later that day, we had a little egg hunt at Grammy and Granddad's house for Caleb and Laurel. It was so adorable to watch! Caleb knew just what to do. Laurel picked up on it quickly and had an absolute ball! She needed a little help finding eggs, but she LOVED looking for eggs and putting them in her basket!

Eggs kept falling out of Laurel's basket (and she didn't always realize it), so she would pick them up like they were new eggs! The egg hunt never ended for her! Oh how I loved watching her!

Caleb got into helping Laurel find her same eggs over and over again :)

Once we realized how much fun Laurel was having with egg hunting, we started taking eggs out of her basket and "hiding" them again for her to find! Egg hunting kept Laurel entertained for about 30 or 40 minutes!

"Where is it?" I should have known how much Laurel would love to have an egg hunt. She LOVES looking for things!

Sweet Ashley just hung out with her Daddy while the bigger kids looked for eggs!

Our attempt at a cousins picture. Nice, huh? :) Laurel wanted to still be looking for Easter eggs, Caleb didn't want a picture taken, and Ashley was not a fan of the grass!

More Easter pictures

2010-04-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from Sunday:

Why walk when you can run?

Laurel and Granndad. Granddad works in the toddlers room in the church nursery, so Laurel got to be in Granddad's class!

Catherine, Greg, Caleb, and Ashley came over that afternoon too!

Me and Catherine

Me and my love!

Easter

2010-04-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

He is Risen!

This year, we celebrated Easter while we were at Grammy and Granddad's house. Before church that morning, Peter and I attempted to get some family Easter pictures.

Laurel in her beautiful Easter dress, courtesy of Aunt Betsy

Our little lady! :)

I love her little baby face!

Laurel and Daddy

Laurel and Mommy

Our first attempt at a family Easter picture after church....

Second attempt. Laurel gives you about a 5 second window to take a picture with her looking before she's off doing something else!

Still Here!

2010-04-08T05:37:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I last posted! Time just got away from me! But I will be back to updating soon! It has been busy in our household. We put our house on the market and we're trying to keep it ready for showings with a busy (but adorable :) ) toddler running around. Also, we've been visiting with family, Peter's been finishing up two of his last three Master's classes, and we're somehow making our preparations for the big move to Oklahoma! We leave in about 2 and 1/2 weeks! So until I post more updates, here is a picture of our little lady to tide you over. :)

It's Official!

2010-03-04T05:49:00.000-08:00

Did you hear the news?

"Ok-are you ready for this?"

"We're moving to Oklahoma!"

Go Sooners!

There is definitely excitement around here! We will be moving to Oklahoma to be associate houseparents at Boys Ranch Town (part of the Oklahoma Baptist Homes for Children). This has something that has been on our hearts since before we were married! Peter worked at Boys Ranch Town for a year as a semester missionary when he was in college and also went back for a couple summers after that. This ministry is so near and dear to Peter's heart because of his experiences there and the work that is done there, and it's become near and dear to mine as well. Before we were married, we had talked and prayed that we would be open to the Lord's leading, whether that would be Boys Ranch Town, overseas, or anywhere else. We spent some time praying this summer about going to Boys Ranch Town and we applied for a houseparent position in August. There wasn't an opening at the time and we prayed that God would open the doors for this opportunity in His time if this were His will. After a sermon by a church planter at our church's missions conference a few weeks ago, God really put Boys Ranch Town on Peter's heart. He really started praying about what we would do if we got the call that there was an opening. We wanted to be obedient to God's call. Well we didn't have to wonder long because we got a call the next week about an opening! We knew it may not make sense to people since it's the middle of the school year and he's in the middle of finishing up his Masters degree! We also knew that we had been praying for the Lord's timing and not our own. We spent time praying and we decided to make a trip out to Boys Ranch Town that weekend. Peter definitely wanted us to go before we made a decision because I had never been there, but we also felt it would be really helpful for us to see a typical day as a houseparent and to be able to get a chance to really talk with the administrators and other houseparents. We prayed and sought godly counsel and we had our small group and family praying for us as we went on this trip that the Lord would make His will clear. Our trip really confirmed the Lord's timing and the Lord's hand in this. After our trip, we were offered a position and we accepted! We will make the move out to Oklahoma at the end of April! We've been blown away by the Lord's faithfulness and we're definitely excited for this new season in life.

Our Laurel

2010-03-02T05:56:00.000-08:00

Oh, Laurel. She is just so much fun and is getting so grown up! Here are some fun pictures about what Laurel has been up to lately.

She is such a little helper! Usually, she loves helping me with laundry. Once I fold them, Laurel is generally so happy to help put them away--most days. She's really good about putting socks, washcloths, dish towels, dish rags, and a few other items away! Sometimes she'll confuse the the sock drawers, but she mostly gets it right.

Don't get me wrong, Laurel has plenty of days where she would rather make a mess with the laundry, than help. However, I am cherishing these times of doing laundry together that are becoming more frequent.

Oh, the ABC book. Laurel will actually sit still for most of this book, unlike giving you a book to read and letting you only read the first page before she gets up and gives you another one!

(However, if she's looking at books by herself, she'll take longer). At the end of the book, it has all of the letters on one page and we'll point to the letters as we sing the ABC song. Now every time we sing the song, Laurel will run and go get the book and start pointing to the page with the alphabet on it. She thinks that we can't sing the song without that book! It's so funny!

Laurel is just getting so grown-up! 21 months on Thursday!! I can't believe it! Another post coming on that.

Laurel loves waiting for Daddy to call to tell us he's on the way home for the day. If I even mention that Daddy is going to call or that Daddy is coming home, I hear "Dada" about 1,000 times in the sweetest little voice. This girl loves her Daddy! :) Before and after he calls, Laurel will walk around with my phone to her ear and pretend she's talking to Daddy. She'll say "Hi dada" and then babble some and there are a bunch of "dada"s intermingled in her babbling. I love watching her do this! It's so precious! Also anytime the phone rings, she thinks it's "Dada" or anytime I call someone she thinks it's "dada." Most of the time she's right! :)

Another fun Laurel story: So clearly Laurel is in a "eager to put things away"stage. I am loving it! I had just brought the groceries in from the car the other day and I was starting to empty the bags and sort through them. As I was doing this, I saw Laurel grab a box of freezer bags from one of the grocery bags and put it in the right drawer! I was so surprised! I didn't prompt her to do this at all! So of course I praised her over and over for it! I love how she notices everything! It also is a good reminder to be aware that she is picking up on all the things that we do (both good and bad habits), even when we don't think she notices.

Hanging Out With Aunt Betsy

2010-02-23T12:23:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we made a fun visit to see Aunt Betsy! Shortly after we got there, we walked to a fun playground nearby to take advantage of this warmer weather! Laurel had a blast exploring the new playground and having it all to herself!

Laurel decided she wanted to swing like a big girl, so Daddy helped her up.

Laurel didn't really get the idea of holding on in order to stay in the swing, but she did enjoy it. :)

There was this fairly steep ramp that would take you to the top of the playground and

Laurel was a pro at it. I didn't get a picture, but a couple of times she tried to slide down it. Silly girl!

After the playground, we went to Moes for lunch and then went to Chick-Fil-A for some ice cream! Although she was too distracted to eat much at Moes, she was all about some ice cream! She ended up taking the spoon from Daddy so she could start spooning in the ice cream a little faster. :)

After that ice cream, we headed back to the playground to run off some of that sugar!

Beautiful girls

After the playground, we played at Aunt Betsy's again before it was time to head home for a nap! Laurel is holding her Moes cup here. She absolutely loved drinking out of her big girl cup and straw. Water just seemed to taste so much better to her that way. :)

About 10 or 15 minutes before we got home, Laurel just couldn't hold out any longer and took a little snooze in the car.

Thanks for having us Aunt Betsy! We're looking forward to doing it again!

Love That Face

2010-02-19T14:03:00.000-08:00

You Tube and Elmo

2010-02-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

Laurel just recently discovered that she can get up in the kitchen chairs and computer chairs all by herself! Now that she knows this, she just thinks that she is such a big girl. :) Well now that Laurel can easily get into our computer chair, she is much more interested in the computer. She's not really into watching videos all that often, but she has found that she likes watching videos on the computer. So, sometimes, I'll put on some Hillsong videos or Elmo videos for her to watch (and dance to :) ). She'll usually watch one or two before she's ready to move on or I'm ready for her to move on because she's starting to get a little distracted by the "don't touches" on the desk. :)

Laurel looks SO old to us here! :)

Here's one of Laurel's (ok-mine too :)) favorite Sesame Street video. Whenever she sees Elmo come on, she either goes and gets her Elmo or wants me to to get it. Anticipating this, I'll usually get out Elmo if we're going to watch it.

Here's a clip of Laurel watching it :)

The Least Important Person in Your Marriage

2010-02-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, our pastor gave this awesome message from Philippians 2:1-4. It's definitely one I will be listening to more than once. He took this passage and made applications toward marriage. It is convicting and so challenges me to look at MY sin and and lay down my pride. If you're interested you can listen to it here:

Or go to this link: https://www.northwake.com/external/mediamodule/MSvidPop.php?file=&loc=https://www.northwake.com/#

Another Snow Day!

2010-02-15T05:50:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning, we woke up to about 2 inches of snow! It really only lasted for the day, but it was so nice to have a snow day with soft, fluffy snow and no sleet! It definitely made playing in the snow much more fun! Here are some pictures from our morning in the snow!

We finished up our morning with a walk to a nearby park

A Mommy-Laurel Outing

2010-02-13T18:04:00.000-08:00

One day this week our power was scheduled to be out for the morning, so we ended up making it a special morning out for us! We haven't been to Triangle Town Center since the summer and I don't think Laurel has ever just "played" there, so we went there for a morning of some "free" fun. I wish I had gotten a picture of Laurel in her stroller. She hardly ever rides in her stroller anymore since she has never really been a big fan of being in the stroller and she would rather just walk. Since she hadn't been in the stroller for so long, she actually enjoyed being in there for a little while.

After strolling around for a few minutes, we went to the Barnes and Noble kids area to play for a little while! We spent the majority of our time there.

So many books to look at and pull out! Thankfully, Laurel did pretty well and only pulled out a couple at a time.

She took turns sitting in all of the little chairs

Of all of the books to choose to look at, Laurel only really wanted to look at two Baby Einstein books...one of which we have at home! I tried showing her neat Elmo books and pop-up dog books, but she was so set on these two Baby Einstein books! So silly!

Next, we went to Pottery Barn kids to look around and briefly play. She enjoyed sitting in all of the little chairs and pushing the stroller the most.

After PBK, we strolled around a little more and played at the Play Area for a little while. It was her first time playing there and she loved it! She really just loves being where all of the kids are! I don't have any pictures from the play area because she was just so busy!

We finished up our morning by sharing Chick-Fil-A and a cookie from a cookie place! It was so much fun just to change up our normal routine and have an good excuse for a special, little Mommy-Laurel morning out!

Giggling Girls!

2010-02-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

For part of the Superbowl Sunday, we spent time with some dear friends, who happen to have a daughter and son-in-law about our age and a granddaughter, Elyse, who is just about 6 weeks older than Laurel. This is the second time they have gotten to play together and they had so much fun!

It took them a little a bit of time to warm up to each other and to stop being so possessive over their mommies, daddies, and their food. :) But after that, they just had a ball! They would imitate each other, follow each other around the house, and run around giggling! I wish had taken more pictures, but here are a couple of these little giggling toddlers! These pictures were taken just after they were chasing after and giggling at our friends' dog! Oh it just made my heart melt to hear such hearty giggles and belly laughs as they were running around!

It was so neat to see Laurel playing with another little girl who was so close to her age! I can't wait to see how their friendship grows!

Granddad's Visit!

2010-02-09T06:01:00.000-08:00

Last week, Granddad came down for the day to play! We had such a good time and Laurel loved having company! Laurel had a good time playing with Granddad and showing him her toys.

He brought Laurel a Valentine's present: a new puzzle! Laurel's been having fun playing with it, but right now she thinks that as long as the pieces are on the board, she's completed the puzzle. :) We still have some work to do. :)

Granddad showed Laurel some of the pictures of the snow from Virginia

Laurel showed Granddad how she vacuums

Playing blocks

Laurel loves her Elmo! That's her "kissy" face when she loves on her stuffed animals and Elmo.

And of course they gave lots of hugs!

After a bunch of play time, a couple quick errands, a lunch at Cici's (a great place for Laurel!), Laurel was exhausted and ready for her nap! Thanks for coming, Granddad! We had a great time!

Back on Facebook

2010-02-09T05:34:00.000-08:00

After a nice little hiatus, I am now back on facebook. I posted here about my desire to simplify and get rid of distractions in my life. That is still my aim. Seeking God, loving Peter and Laurel well and intentionally, and homemaking are still very much my main priorities. However, after being without it, I have realized how much communication and updating really takes place on facebook among my friends and family. I have missed that and I have so missed that connection with friends! As much as facebook can such a good thing, it can be such a distraction and time-waster for me, so I am aiming to keep it a good thing by practicing discipline and self-control. I am thankful that I have a husband that loves me so much that can help keep me accountable and focused on my true priorities. :) So, there you have it. Facebook friends, I am back. :)

More Fun in the Snow

2010-02-02T11:51:00.000-08:00

We took Laurel out in the snow again on Sunday and it was a lot more fun for her! It was sunny, not quite as cold, and she wasn't sinking down as much into the snow because of the layer sleet on top of the snow. She was much more confident in the snow and had a fun time walking around and exploring.

Laurel was more than ready to go out in the snow! She was very patient as I was putting all of her layers on again and just waited at the door until I was ready to go outside too.

I can't get over how cute she is in her winter gear!

Laurel started cleaning off the car, just like Daddy was doing.

Although Laurel did really well walking around in the snow, she still preferred for us to hold one or both of her hands a lot of the time.

A little walk around the yard with Daddy

The lone picture from Snow Day #3 on Monday. I was inside working on dinner while Peter took Laurel outside to play. Peter hardly had to hold her at all. She just took off all on her own around the yard.

Currently it's Snow Day #4 and it's been raining today. We're getting a little stir crazy from being inside so much, but thankfully we were able to take Laurel to the Factory today to run around to get some energy out and we went out to get a little lunch. It did us (well me :) ) so much good to be able to get out!

First Time in The Snow!

2010-02-02T11:20:00.000-08:00

On Friday night and Saturday, a good sized snow storm came through NC! I think we got about 6 inches! Although, this isn't Laurel's first snow since it snowed a couple times last year, this was Laurel's first time going out in it!

All bundled up and ready to go out in the snow! We put tons of layers of her, complete with little boots from Aunt Joy that were the perfect fit for this winter! Thanks Aunt Joy!

Laurel and Daddy in the snow!

Mommy and Laurel

Laurel wasn't quite sure what to think about it at first, so she wanted to stay close by to Daddy.

Warming up a little bit more to it and taking it all in

Laurel kept sinking down in the snow, so she had a little bit of tough time walking around in it at first.

Laurel found refuge underneath the deck for a few minutes

Don't let her face fool you, she was enjoying it!

Although, she wasn't a big fan of falling down in the snow, poor thing!

Much better!

After about 20 minutes, Laurel was about ready to head back inside. Saturday probably wasn't the most fun time in the snow for her because it was the coldest day and it was still snowing and sleeting when we went outside.

Laurel's Language at 19 and 1/2 months

2010-01-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

This past week, Laurel has added a few new words to her vocabulary, so I wanted to make sure I was taking note of these new words in addition to the words she already says." Laurel has also started to repeat us. She'll sometimes repeat a word at the end of a phrase we say. And of the many words to choose from, of course, she'll decide to repeat a word like "gross" :) Also with her language development, we're constantly amazed at what she understands. I feel like we'll say something complex and she knows exactly what we mean and goes and does it. It's really neat to see Laurel's language development really take off!

Words:
dada
mama
shot (although we haven't heard it since Christmas time)
this
hot ("ha")
sock
baby ("bebe")
yes
cracker ("cack" or "cacker")
ketchup ("ketch" and sometimes she says "tup")
trash

Words we think she might say:
yuck
bear
applesauce

Phrases:
- Don't touch! (Sometimes it sounds like "don't touch" and sometimes it sounds like "dutch")
- Where is it? (Most of the time, you'll hear the inflection for where and then "is it?" with the right inflection)
- What's this?

Other:
-Makes the pretend sound for eating
(we both do it together when we're pretend we're drinking out of her tea cup)
The other day, Laurel was flipping through a book in the car about babies at bed time and saying "baby" a few times in a row. A few seconds later, she was making the eating sound. I looked back and saw that she was on the page where one baby was eating a cookie and the other baby was drinking some juice.

It's so fun to hear her say more and more. It's amazing how much change there can be in a month and a half!

Silly Girl

2010-01-22T06:06:00.000-08:00

Table Time

2010-01-22T05:27:00.000-08:00

Last month, I started having a little "table time" with Laurel. She's so busy and is constantly moving around, I wanted to set aside some time where we could work on coloring and other little activities together. At first, she wasn't really into coloring, but did like playing with stickers when I pulled them out. I couldn't keep her interest for too long. I was encouraged by my sister and a friend to keep at it, and it has been really neat to see Laurel's interest for coloring grow! Now in the mornings, she will point at the drawer where I keep the crayons and coloring books so we can go color. She still loves putting stickers on paper the best, but she really has started to enjoy coloring!

At first, I had trouble with her putting stickers and crayons in her mouth, but she's gotten a lot better about it.

Since she's started to enjoy this time, I'll also sneak in puzzles and books to try to keep her there longer. :)

Miss Independent at the Playground!

2010-01-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

We were to thankful for the couple of warmer, sunny days that we had so that we could finally go out and spend some time outside! We went to different parks during these past few days and Laurel absolutely loved it! It's also been awhile since we've been to a playground and I couldn't believe how much more Laurel could do! She barely needed me at all! I walked beside the playground as she was going up to the slide to make sure she didn't get to close to any open sides and to make sure she went down the slide feet first, but that's all I needed to do! She could go climb all on the playground and come down any slide she wanted to all by herself! You could tell that she loved that she could do it on her own now! What a big girl!

"Alright, Mom. You can go now." :)

Miss Independent

2010-01-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

Laurel just keeps getting more and more independent these days! She does really well with a spoon and now can feed herself applesauce, yogurt, etc. with no help from us! We used to have to help dip the spoon more in the bowl for her, but not anymore! Last night, I was cleaning up in the kitchen while she was eating her yogurt. By the time I turned around to look at her progress, it was about gone! While her face was a mess, there was barely any in her bib and there wasn't any yogurt on her clothes! Oh how I praised her again and again! Such a big girl!

So proud of herself!

Marbles Museum

2010-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, we took Laurel to Marbles Children's Museum for the first time! She had a blast, but it was a little overwhelming. It was really crowded on Saturday (which we were expecting) and everything was new to her, so Laurel was kind of torn between watching/trying to play with other kids and playing with all the neat things there! We were really impressed with all the activities that they had there for her age. We didn't get to experience everything because it was so busy, but it definitely was a good first experience for her!

Laurel spent a few minutes moving the big chess pieces around!

Playing a big game of connect four with Daddy! Well, she wasn't really that interested. She just liked when Daddy made all the pieces fall out.

A learning area, although I think she's learning not to eat the bark in this picture. :)

Playing in a car

I think one of Laurel's favorite things there was the cash register! She stayed here playing for awhile!

We took a break from the crowds for a few minutes to play with some big foam blocks at the front of the museum. Laurel had a good time carrying the blocks around and knocking down the towers that Daddy built!

Laurel had a good time people watching! Kids could push packages down a little conveyor belt into the back of this little truck. Laurel was content to sit up in the front seat and watch a couple kids push the packages down.

We're looking forward to the next time we go to Marbles! Next time, we hope to go on a weekday. :)

Family Time in Virginia

2010-01-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

I'm finally coming to the end of the Christmas posts! Soon, I'll be all caught up and blogging about 2010 events! Here is a mix of fun pictures from our time in Virginia over Christmas!

Just being silly for the camera!

My parents have a popper from when we were kids, so Laurel had a good time pushing that around the house.

My sister had some cute Santa hats at her house. We put one on Laurel to see if she would wear it and she took it right off. Caleb put a Santa hat on and then Laurel decided that she would keep hers on! What a silly girl!

I just thought this one was cute! It looks like Caleb and Laurel are having a little conversation

Another cute outtake of the cousins!

Laurel and Ashley holding hands during lunch one day. Don't you love how Laurel just looks so into it? :) The poor thing was so tired and was needing that nap that she was about to have!

Sisters! I think we have a picture just like this taken about 10 years ago.

Grammy and Granddad have a little rocking chair that Laurel just loved! When we got home, she kept trying to rock in her new (non-rocking) chair. Basically, now she tries to rock in any chair she sits in. :)

Sisters and nieces

Grammy and Granddad got this car for Laurel. Laurel was so funny about it! She didn't really want to get in it at first. When she discovered (well, shown) that the horn plays music, she would stand outside of the car and press the horn to hear the music. Then, she would get in it, but not really sit down. She really just wanted to get closer to the horn to play the music. Finally, after a few days, she actually got in the car and had a ball just sitting and playing the music. Even though she hadn't quite gotten the hang of moving the car with her feet, she had just as much fun sitting and playing in it!

Look at that face! You would have never known it took her so long to warm up to that car!

Playing with the kitchen set at Aunt Catherine and Uncle Greg's house

Caleb and Laurel spent a good amount of time playing in the kitchen together. That was definitely a plus as we were trying to get dinner ready!

Notice something a little different?

Laurel saw Aunt Catherine setting the table for dinner, so she decided on her own that she would help out and set another place! What a good little helper! I love seeing her do stuff like that. She always amazes me about how much she gets!

Jumpin' Monkey!

2010-01-15T18:43:00.000-08:00

While we were in Virginia, we went to this fun place called Jumpin' Monkey with Aunt Catherine, Caleb, Ashley, and Grammy ! It was just the perfect place for Laurel! It had all sorts of inflatables, an inflatable for kids 2 and under, and a little toddler area with all sorts of push toys, little houses to play in, little cars, and slides. There were also a couple other little rooms with toys and dress up clothes, but Laurel was already so busy, we didn't need to go to those! It was such a fun morning and Laurel wore herself out!

Such a big girl! We hadn't been to an inflatables place since this summer. It was amazing to see the difference in Laurel's stability and balance! She looked like a pro!

Caleb enjoying the inflatables! Laurel jumped with him on the inflatables for little bit, but since it was starting to get crowded with bigger kids, Laurel just ended up sticking with the smaller inflatables and the toys

She loved being around all of the other kids. If there were already a couple of bigger kids in one of the little play houses, Laurel would make her way on in there and just join right in! Thankfully, a couple times there were a couple bigger kids that were really good with her and wanted her to come play with them!

Parker Christmas

2010-01-14T04:54:00.000-08:00

We arrived at my parents' house Christmas night, so we all saved the Parker family Christmas festivities for the next day!

Before Aunt Catherine, Uncle Greg, Caleb, and Ashley came over for our family celebration, we opened our stockings from Grammy and Granddad. Laurel got some cinnamon goldfish grahams! Her favorite!

A Cousin Christmas Picture!

Getting some time with my girl in the few seconds she wasn't quite so busy!

Laurel really got into the festivities and enjoyed handing out gifts and tearing off the wrapping paper!

So cute!
My mom got this cute picture of Laurel getting excited over a Mickey Mouse ornament!

Helping Daddy open his present!

My loves!

Looking at a memory book of my grandmother that Catherine made for my parents and for us.

Laurel and Aunt Catherine. Aunt Catherine was Laurel's buddy while we were in Virginia! She always wanted Catherine to play with her and hold her. Anytime Catherine was holding one of her kids, Laurel would want Catherine to hold her too!

Caleb and Laurel had so much fun together! This was just the beginning of all their fun during the week! Laurel liked to follow Caleb around and play with his toys and Caleb was really patient with her.

I'd never thought I'd see this: Laurel staying still for a few minutes! Uncle Greg was holding Caleb and Laurel of course wanted up too! She stayed put for a few minutes! I couldn't believe it!

Checking out Baby Ashley! I think Laurel thought Ashley was her personal baby doll for the week! Ashley was really tolerant of Laurel's fascination with her!

A common sight: all three kids on Catherine's lap! If Catherine was holding Ashley and/or Caleb, Laurel

Typical family holiday picture, with Grammy behind the camera of course! Do you notice anything missing? It's the kids! We conveniently planned our meal during their naps! We did enjoy having a quiet, leisurely meal!

Our little family

Christmas With the Ashfords

2010-01-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

After our family time on Christmas morning, we headed to Peter's parents' house for an Ashford family Christmas! Laurel was immediately ready to jump into all of the fun! She loved having so much going on and so much attention!

Aunt Betsy gave Laurel a huge bear that is almost as big as she is!

Laurel loves this bear and always goes to hug it and kiss it

By this point of the day, Laurel was definitely into unwrapping gifts!

Bibi and Papa gave Laurel a banana for one of her gifts! Do they know her or what?

Getting some sweet time with her Aunt Betsy

Uncle Bruce was Laurel's buddy that day! She kept going to him to be picked up or just wanted him to play with her!

We had a fun time getting to play with our newest niece, Riley! She's such a cutie and we loved seeing all her sweet smiles!

Peter and Bruce with their nieces!

Peter and Riley

Cuddling with Aunt Lauren and reading Riley's new book!

Laurel getting in on a family picture with Uncle Bruce, Aunt Lauren, and Riley! She loved it!

Sweet Riley :)

Cousin picture! As usual, Laurel was definitely fascinated by what Baby Riley was doing.
Family picture

A couple of attempts at a picture with Bibi and Papa! I learned on Christmas that it is not a good idea to wait until the end of the day to start getting family pictures! Laurel is beyond sitting still at that point!

And that's our girl!

Another family picture! Laurel's not smiling, but just getting her to look at the camera is the main goal these days. :) And again, I waited until late to have a family picture taken!

It was so much fun having almost all of the Ashford family all together! It was such a sweet time! We left Christmas night and decided to go on ahead to Virginia to see my family instead of waiting until the next morning to leave. In true Laurel fashion, she fell asleep the last 15 minutes of the car ride!