Laurie's News

Laurie has some news she can't keep secret any longer. She is thrilled to announce, come October, she will be a big sister. She is so very excited, or really...she could care less. But Will and I are overjoyed to add another little Barbour baby to our mix. We've been calling him/her #2, I hope in 6 months we can come up with something better. Any suggestions?

Baby for Sale

Any takers. Must be here in 5 minutes.

Laurie is getting worse and worse about throwing a tantrum when she doesn't get her way. Our current fit is because Mama was ready to come inside before Laurie was. Which is why we are putting on this little show right by the door. I don't think she really appreciates me taking pictures of it.

Hi Ho, Silver, Away!

Our sweet cousin, Parker, gave Laurie this pink riding horse for Christmas. In the past, Laurie has been happy to push it, pet it, and play the fun music. Any time I tried to get her to sit on it, she would have none of it and immediately got right back off.

This morning, she was pushing it around again, so I plopped her on and started pushing her down the hall. She was pleased as punch and smiled so big. She would love to sit and push with her feet, but can't quite get the hang of it. So, in the meantime, she just straddles and walks with it. We are getting there! I am such a pushover, I am thinking of rolling back the rug to give her a better playing field.

She had a little trouble figuring out how to get back on.

Laurie's First Trip to the Zoo

We spent the morning at the zoo with a few other families. It's been a good 20 years since I've been to the zoo, and it was Laurie's first trip, so we were both excited! Boy, we've seen lots of animals lately! She was mildly interested in the animals, I felt bad that she was trapped in her stroller and not free to run like the big kids. But as soon as I let her down, she took off flying through a big group of school kids, definitely not ready for freedom! I bet if you asked her, Laurie would say her favorite part was playing with the big kids in the play area. This little cave was a hit. What a fun morning, Laurie was asleep looong before we got home. We will have to do that again soon. :)

Weekend in Franklin, AL

Will's friends from college have some wonderful property in Franklin, AL and were kind enough to invite us over for the weekend. We had a wonderful time introducing Laurie to everyone, relaxing, catching up, playing, and of course, turkey hunting! Dada was thrilled to bag a bird and Laurie wishes she could have gone too. She was all ready in her camo! But I think she was just as pleased to have dear Betty entertain her for hours riding on the golf cart. She may have a future in Nascar.

It is always great to find an opportunity to show Laurie the things we talk about in her books. She loved seeing the cows and knew immediately what they were. We were so proud of her Mooing abilities.

Fun at Laurel Park

MOMS had our end of the year celebration today, our small group decided to head over to Laurel Park to visit while the kids played. This was Laurie's first park experience, we may have to go back every day. First, we ran around and played in the wood chips. Then we sat in the mud, swirled it around, and tried a few nibbles. We played on the swings. Ate a little lunch with our mud. Chatted with Aubrey and showed her how filthy we were. Then we played on the swings some more and more and more. If you want to see Laurie throw a fit, take her off the swing. I hope she takes a looong nap today.

Something is Up With My Easter Bunny

Natchez for Easter

Will, Laurie, and I loaded up and headed to Natchez for Easter. Will got in some turkey hunting and I was delighted to see Laurie and Bebe play and bond. Laurie has always preferred me over anyone, but there were several instances where she chose Mother over me. They have both found their new best friend. For Laurie, it really helps when your friend always does exactly what you want.











































Easter is always an amazing reminder of what Christ did for us, for me, a hopeless sinner. And now I wait expectantly to see Him work in our little one's life.

With all her Carter cousins.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Governor's Mansion

Laurie was graciously invited to the Easter egg hunt at the Governor's this year. There were so many other children and so many fun activities. Laurie loved every minute of it, even if she didn't care about the eggs.

We tried several times to introduce her to the Easter Bunny. She was very interested, but a tad bit leery of the guy in the big funny costume. But I was really proud of her for being this close, several kids were very afraid, but not my little social bug.














There were so many fun things to see and do, the bubble machine was a huge hit, Laurie loved chasing the bubbles. Mommy loved looking at the sweet baby chicks and baby bunnies.

Another huge attraction for Laurie, the blow up duckie and egg. She really wanted to bounce on them. But any balloon is good for a few punches. It was such a fun day, we were tuckered out!

Easter Egg Hunt with the Barbours and Hursts

Aunt Laura and Uncle Charles were kind enough to invite us and the Hurst girls over for an Easter Egg Hunt this morning. Laurie was really looking forward to her very first hunt! It's been a while since I have hunted eggs, so I was pretty excited too.

First we decorated all the eggs.















Then we helped Uncle Charles hide all the eggs for the big kids. She was really happy to be outside on such a pretty spring day, she ran and ran around the yard.

Laurie was really impressed with the hunting skills of all her cousins.

But we looked hard for our eggs too. We looked high and we looked low. What fun to find our very own egg!