Crawling, Not So Much

This is about as far as our technical skills in crawling have gotten. She can get up on her knees, but she isn't real sure what to do when she gets there. I'll keep you updated as events progress.

On the lighter side, Will and I are thrilled to be back online. Though, as a plus, my house has never been so clean.

The Bombers

Dada finally got to play with the Bombers against the Media team in their annual match up at the local baseball stadium. It is pretty impressive to see Will and Uncle Charles and all our cousins playing on the nice field. I am pretty sure Will won MVP for the game. Laurie and I had a blast playing with all her little cousins, they provide more entertainment that Mama is able to give.

Biter Biscuit

We have started on the next step in the world of fine dining. The Biter Biscuit. It may be over the moon wonderful to Laurie, but I am not a fan. She could spend all day long chewing on it, which is not in my planner, and the thing makes a horrible, nasty mess. The next thing we need to work on is not smacking our food.

Jumpy Land

While I was fixing myself a little lunch, Laurie used that time to practice with jumpy land. I am sure jumpy land has a real name, but that is what we started calling it and it stuck.

Don't you think she has excellent form? She is laughing so hard because I was bobbing up and down with her. Mama, you so silly.

Tiny Little Fingers

I enjoy watching Laurie flex her tiny little fingers. She works so intently, manipulating her latest conquest. Today a magazine met its doom at her hands. We really had fun flipping the pages and ripping them up. You get after it, girl.

The Grand Hotel

After we had our own little family vacation, we headed up to Fairhope to The Grand Hotel for vacation with Will's family. It is quite the snazzy spot. We had a blast and loved all being on one floor. We were only disappointed that we were a little absent for a lot of the time. Poor Laurie, she really struggled with napping and being out of her routine. She is looking much more forward to next year when she will be a cruising terror.

If you haven't been to The Grand, you must go, if only just for the pool. It had attractions for everyone from babies to adults, which is just perfect for our huge group! Laurie was fascinated by the geysers in the baby pool, she really wanted to grab and drink from them. And all the kids loved the slide, even Will went down it once.

Difference Between Mom and Dad

There is a distinct difference between moms and dads and it was brought home to me during vacation. Mom was very careful to barely get Laurie in the waves, made sure none of them came up higher than her knees. Dad dunked her right in and let them slam into her. Mom will be safe and Dad will be adventurous and fun. Don't worry, Dad, next year, Laurie will think you are awesome. I warn you, viewer discretion is advised.

I really don't like the sound of my own voice.

Perdido Beach

With Will's Family Vacation coming up, we decided to take advantage of already being near the gulf. So, we took off a few days early to enjoy some time at the beach with just the three of us. The drive down went better than I thought it would, but Daddy disagreed. Ha! We may have driven 30 minutes further than Laurie wanted to, next time we'll bring ear plugs.

For it being Laurie's first beach experience, I was so proud of how much she enjoyed the sand, the waves and the sun. She got the biggest kick out of stomping around in the sand and loved seeing the waves come in. We made sure to stand far back so the waves just barely splashed around our ankles. Laurie was the most beautiful babe on the beach in her pretty pink tankini! All total, it was a sweet vacation for our new family of three. We were thrilled to all be together for so long.

Welcome Home!

We had so much fun on vacation, but as Laurie says, there is no place like home. The poor child was such a trooper, she tolerated sleeping in the pack and play, erratic schedules, lots of time in the car seat and late nights. And we played so very hard. The minute we got home, she was all smiles and laughter. Like she was reunited with a long lost friend. Our girl loves her routine.

Grama and Grampa

Will and I had an announcement party for our dear friend Margaret this weekend. My folks were more than happy to come stay with us and entertain Laurie for a few hours. They didn't flee the moment we returned, so I am judging it was a successful visit. They fed her supper AND gave her a bath, Laurie was only barely awake when we returned at 9. I am always afraid we are going to wear out our babysitting welcome, thanks Mom and Dad for your help!

Six Month Check Up

Though it was more like her six and half month check up, we went to see Dr Phillippi today and received rave reviews. I believe I heard her say she had never seen a more wonderful baby in her life! Laurie was so much better about her shots today, but I guess it helped that we only got 2 this time (there were 4 last time). I was almost hoping she would throw a fit so Dada could see just how she feels about them.

On to the technical details, 28 inches (97 percentile) and 15.7 lbs (50 percentile) and a big ole 42 inch noggin. Our girl is a lean, mean, squirming machine!

Ok, so maybe not squirming all the time.

Pool Time, Take one

Daddy came home for lunch today and couldn't leave without getting Laurie up. So we were finally able to swim in the pool. I have to admit that I was afraid she would hate it and scream bloody murder, you never can tell. Which would really not bode well with our vacation next week. I won't say she loved it, but she didn't hate it either. She really just wanted to sit there and chew on giraffey ears. Uhm, we do that every day already. Jo, on the other hand, was really concerned about the whole affair.

All for the Love

The things you do for love. We bought a little baby pool for Laurie. It's blown up, I have a space in the yard for it. I am in my swimsuit. Eagerly anticipating playing in the pool. And Laurie has been napping for 2 hours now. When is that kid going to wake up??

Pump It Up

We made it to the Pump It Up today. (Pump It Up is a kids play land filled with space jumps. Very in with the under 5 crowd.) I was so happy to see my friends, Kim and Peggy, from the Christ United days. I have been reminiscing all day about youth group and beach trips and bible studies. Those were such care free, fun days. Though I wouldn't give up not one day with my girl and guy to have them back.


Laurie and Sophie, I know they will be fast friends.

Laurie and Josie

It's raining out today, so I took pity on poor Josie and have let her inside. She's snoozing at my feet right now. I am king, or atleast until Will comes home, then I am back to chopped liver.

Laurie was thrilled to have her inside and at arms reach. She wants to touch everything these days, she stretches her little hand out sooo very far. Whatever we walk past, the pictures on the fridge, the lamp on the table, the clothes in her closet... And if she can get her hand on it, next is straight to her mouth. You better get out of here, Josie!

Riding Bikes with Liddy and Genevieve

It rained yesterday, everything cooled off so much, we had no choice but to go for a walk in the dog park. We even thought to invite our cousins, Genevieve and Liddy to bring their bikes and come with us. We have so many friends from the dog park, everyone commented on our extra company! The girls are so cute, they brought snacks and we had a picnic mid-outing. They were a big help too, offering to push Laurie in her stroller and throwing dummies for Josie. I am sure we all slept really well last night! Thank you, girls, we hope you'll come with us again soon!

They don't look like they love their cousin, do they?