I've been trying to balance the workload lately so that I'm not "gone" all the time.  Of course, I'm not really gone when I'm sewing, but I might as well be.  (Off in Siberia...aka the dining room) So lately I've been trying to reserve the time between coming home from work and putting the kids to bed for family time.  Then once I put them to bed I can get back to work.  But last night, Laurel ended up being ugly and got sent to timeout.  While in timeout she curled up on her ottoman and fell asleep like a little curled-up bug.  I couldn't help but take pictures.  Of course, once she woke up it was well past dinner...so she wasn't tired at bedtime.  Since school is out for the holidays I figured I'd let her stay up a little longer to finish watching her Christmas movie.  Jon and Luke were fast asleep and it was just us chickens hanging out.  I was sewing, making tutus, packing shipments....etc etc.  When I finished my products I figured I ought to take some pictures.  I've been so busy sewing lately that I've forgotten to take pics of my new creations..and therefore have no record of them.  (Not easy to sell them if I have no pictures of them! )  In any case, I needed a model...and Laurel was just the right size to show off my bird hat and bulldog hat.  Not just any bulldog hat...a UGA one.  Complete with UGA fabric lined ears.  This was a special order from a friend for her daughter.  I'm pretty proud of both.  It's taken me a little while to get my bird hat design the way I like, but I think I've settled on a final design.  In any case...we had a good night.  We had some giggles about fingers-in-bellybuttons and dog poots (not fingers in dog poots, just dog poots themselves), and when it was time for bed she simply said "mommy I'm ready for bed." 

More pictures and video.  What can I say, my kids have been extra cute lately.  That's no lie either.  Laurel calls me honey now.  Before and after everything she says to me.  "Honey, let's have lunch."  "I love you honey." "Honey, can you take me potty?"  I'm not sure if it's because I call her honey or because Jon calls me honey.  

Luke is his same happy self.  He is quite possibly the worlds sweetest baby.  He was product testing some hats for me this morning so I could test out sizes.  He doesn't complain about it like Laurel does.   (That's potato on Laurel's face.  She also painted her brother with mashed potatoes last night...face, hair and arms.)  

Life is so crazy.  I don't know that we've ever been so busy.  So busy we don't pay attention to what's on TV.  So busy we haven't cooked dinner more than once a week for a month.  And it isn't the "usual" holiday rush of parties and things  In fact we really haven't done anything Christmas-y other than decorate our tree.  Between Jon's school, work, union and teaching, plus my work and this new little business on the side it's been insane!  Our dining room (aka my shop) is an explosion of fabric.  Occasionally it blows out into the main areas and we have to keep shoving it back in.  On a postive note, business is steady...and I stop taking orders Monday...so life should slow down a little bit.  (Not too much because I have to do my own Christmas projects then!)  It being such a lean year for everyone, there is no Christmas bonus from my work.  So we've decided to really tone down Christmas.  (which is funny because we've never really spent that much anyway)  BUT, this year there will be little to no bought gifts.  So far I'm really enjoying the simplicity of that.  Unfortunately it makes for more work, and since time is in short supply right now I'm not sure I'll be able to do everything I want to do.  

But, amid all of this craziness normal life continues.  And on the top of that list is that Laurel's very first Christmas pageant ever was yesterday.  She was the little mouse in the Night Before Christmas.  She was hilarious.  After her part (which mostly included laying in front of the fire place) she got up, walked across the stage and wiggled her tail (ie booty) at the crowd.  We couldn't believe it!  Our shy little thing wiggling her booty on the stage.  Then of course she decided she didn't want to go back up on stage to sing and cried when we tried.  So we stopped trying and let her sit out the rest of it.  I think the mouse routine was plenty for her very first show.  

The Thanksgiving festivities have begun.  Laurel had her Thanksgiving feast at school today, and apparently had a great time.  (I haven't heard the details yet)  She got to wear her turkey shirt and she was excited about that.  

I had no idea it had been so long since I posted last.  I've been so preoccupied lately it just kept slipping my mind.  But, since the holiday season is upon us now I need to remember to post all of the season's activities.  So here are some pictures from pumpkin carving last night and the Halloween parade at school.  I will make sure to get the trick-or-treat pictures up soon too.  

Happy Birthday Aunt Coco!

These are some pictures that Corey took a few months ago of the kids at the fire station.  They're just too cute not to post.  

The weather has been so nice here (unseasonably of course) so we've been trying to take advantage. We've been taking more walks in the evening, and we've really been wanting to do some hiking. Since we've never hiked with Luke before I thought I ought to try it somewhere near home first. So after some other errands this morning we set out for the Yellow River Park, which is a lovely park about 20 minutes away that has paved and non-paved trails for walking, mountain biking and horse back riding. (Lucky for us the equestrian trails are separate...no horse poop for us!)
I put Lukers in the back pack and Laurel and I headed out to find leaves, acorns and Bambi. (No, not just deer, we were looking for Bambi himself) The trip started out interestingly enough because she had to potty right when we got there. (No bathrooms yet, but the cinder block frame of the bathroom-to-be taunted me) So I taught Laurel how to do the lady-potty-squat. I know you female campers out there know this one. I think the exact body position differs slightly from woman to woman, but once you learn how to do it you never forget. Unfortunately, the position wasn't right and Laurel ended up wetting the entire back of her pants. But as prepared as I always am...stop laughing everyone...I somehow had a pair of Nemo PJ pants in the car. This explains the odd outfit my daughter is wearing, she looked much more put together before I set her pants up as a potty-target. But, if her pants were the target, Laurel really hit the bulls-eye. There is something to be said about that, if you're going to pee on yourself you might as well do it right!

Don't stop after looking at these videos...there are more videos and pictures that are newly posted below.  (Sorry it's taken me a little while to post AGAIN)

Here is a personal message from Laurel to Uncle Skip...

This weekend was crazy.  We went to Alexis' wedding in Louisiana, having to drive 10 hours directly towards an oncoming hurricane.  Of course we had no intention of putting ourselves in danger.  The luxury of driving is that we just watched the weather and could have turned back at any time.  Plus the hurricane itself was making landfall about 300miles away, so we only had the outskirts of the storm to contend with.  In the end it didn't mean much for us, a little rain and a lot of wind.

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun.  Laurel couldn't wait to dance, that's all she's talked about for days.  She danced with me and Coco and Erik and Hallie and Abby and even by herself.  At one point she even joined a line dance, though I'm not sure she meant to.  I've attached some pictures and video, including a photo-slide show of the many faces of Abigail.  (I swear this is the same face in every picture!) 

  

This year for the very first time we braved the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain. I have seen the line of cars waiting to get into the park and had never wanted to do it. But this year, armed with a plan to go on Sunday to avoid SOME of the crowds, we headed out. We actually had a lot of fun. There was an unbelievable amount of vendors, and some of their crafts were amazing. We didn't buy much, but we could have. There was a kids corner with face painting, and hair sculpting and a Backyard Circus. Laurel enjoyed the show but didn't want to be in it. She also chose not to get her hair done or face painted, maybe next year. But she liked walking around and seeing all the kid-related vendors. She bought a little spider puppet and tried to scare people walking down the path with it.
Between the heat and the walking we were exhausted, so after that we went home and didn't do much. Laurel and Luke played together for a while, she had him cracking up. I caught some cute video and pictures of them playing. Of course, when she knew the camera was on she hammed it up a little too much which annoyed Luke. (As Laurel would say, he was frust-er-rated)
This was Laurel's third day in preschool and seems to be really liking it. I had only hoped that she wouldn't hate it, it never really dawned on me that she'd love to go. I couldn't be happier. Though it's somehow sad to see her happily hop out of the car every morning and walk away with someone who isn't me. But I'm proud of her, and I'm so glad she's having fun. She talks about her friends when she gets home, and tells me what she ate for snack. It was her snack day today and she was very proud and excited to bring in the muffins we made last night.  

(Picture and video coming soon...)

Today was the very first day of preschool.  The whole thing was a little disjointed since we didn't know the ins and outs of how this all worked.  But it seemed to go smoothly enough.  Laurel sensed from the beginning that this was different than orientation, and she was a little testy this morning.  By the time we pulled onto the street that the church is on she already started telling us she didn't want to go to school.  In the parking lot she started crying.  I picked her up at that point and used a big voice and told her to stop.  (This was dangerous on my part because it would either make her stop, or turn crying into bawling and wailing)  We lucked out because she stopped at that point.  I carried her in and down the stairs.  When we got to the classroom I put her down.  We walked in, hung up her bag and showed daddy the play kitchen.  Around that time her teacher asked her to go with her to look at something, and she did.  Then her teacher asked her if she wanted to sit and do a puzzle, again she agreed.  At that point daddy and mommy gave her a quick kiss and made a run for the door.  Apparently she never cried or anything.  There was a small issue with her not being able to climb onto the big potty...I guess that's my fault for not anticipating that.  I assumed a preschool would have the preschool sized potties to use.  Not so.  So we'll need to work on that.

Yesterday was Laurel's preschool orientation.  We got her all gussied-up and went to meet her teachers and see her classroom.  She's pretty excited at the prospect of being in preschool, but we'll have to wait until Wednesday to see how she actually likes it.  Her class is the fun frogs and her teacher is Ms. Donna.  The picture is of her right before we left the house.  (She had to have a backpack...even though none is required.  It's filled with all of her "guys.")

The video is of Luke in his Bumbo chair.  These things are amazing.  He's enjoyed sitting and playing in this thing since he was 3 months old.  Now he enjoys showing off his new tummy strength by bending backwards and then twisting back up.  

This weekend was Laurel's 3rd birthday. She and Luke have both had a cold, but despite that we had a lot of fun. Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Schieres have been in town all week to visit and be here for the birthday festivities. On Saturday we all went to the Yellow River Game Ranch to see and pet all of the animals. I had no idea how big it was and all the different animals they had. It was quite an adventure, starting with having to go to the bathroom in a stall with no door using Laurel as my lookout. (Now there's a mother-daughter bonding experience.) It rained on us off an on while we were on the trail. We had to hideout once in a small barn space with a bunch of goats, sheep and donkeys. Another time we got trapped under some muscadine vines until the rain slowed. And the last time we got caught under a little covered bridge where Laurel found and chased some new duck friends. (We also watched a deer kick someone...that was funny)
After the petting zoo we went back to Grandma's for the party. We put up the decorations and made the cakes. It was an undersea party complete with a family of fish cakes.
Laurel got all sorts of great presents, she got a tent and a bike and I think the favorite of all were the horses that are the exact same as Abigail's horses that she isn't allowed to touch at Grandma's house. All in all she was pretty excited.

This has been a crazy week for us.  Daddy's been out of town since Wednesday, and Laurel has slept at Grandma's house twice.  As I was lying in bed last night with Luke I kept worrying about forgetting that Laurel was with me and not at Grandmas, and accidentally forgetting her in the morning.  (Not that that would ever happen, but still I worry about such things)  

Luckily, I didn't have to worry for long because Laurel woke up crying hysterically about a "scratchy monster" in her room.  She asked if she could sleep with me...how could I say no?  In the morning I got up to get dressed and this is what they looked like.  SO cute.  

But then after the flash went off they curled up together like this...even cuter.  I had to share.

Potty training has been a great success.  If anyone would have told me that halfway through Friday I wouldn't have believed them.  But last night at 9pm I took Laurel to the store to buy her reward for pooping in the potty.  The potty part she had down by Friday night...no problem.  But the poop part was a little harder.  After an accident on Friday and Saturday I wasn't looking forward to Sunday.  But after staying at home all day and not getting dressed...poop never came.  Monday was Daddy's turn, but by the time I came home from work, still no poop.  

Laurel and I played in her room while Daddy was at the store, and all of the sudden she decided she had to go and ran off.  She emerged a few minutes later to come and get me and show me.  In celebration we ran around the house screaming, and then when Daddy came home we showed him.  

That's not to say that she's perfectly trained and we'll have no accidents, but she gets it and that's a great start.

Update on Kaitlin and Julia; the girls are home. I just can't believe how healthy they are! Kris, you're my hero...really. I had to post the new pictures of the girls. I'm waiting on one with all three girls now! Laurel is so excited, she can already tell from the pictures which one is which.

These pictures and video are actually from a few months ago. Laurel reminded me today about her horse friend Maggie. (Every brown horse she has now is named Maggie) So I went in search of the pictures we took at the Medieval Festival at Hallie and Abby's school.

The party was a success, the actual potty training remains to be seen. I'll update that one later!! The party involved a diaper cake complete with potty and poo, a water balloon diaper game and diaper party hats. Fun was had by all!

Update #1: It's 3:20 PM on the first day of potty training. It was a long morning with no potty in site...at least no potty IN the potty. There was potty on the floor, potty on the carpet, potty on my office chair that I sat in (not kidding). Then there was the poop. (also not in the potty...but I got plenty on my hand) Anyone know a secret for getting poop filled underwear off with out getting it down the kids legs?
Success seemed unattainable. Then, like a miracle, after lunch she decided she really wanted the Hershey bar in the treat-bowl. So I told her she had to go potty for it, so she did. Filled the whole stinking potty up! (I guess I should have given her two treats for that!!) Hoping it wasn't just a fluke we tried again about an hour later. Not nearly as much potty this time, but there was potty. Whew...it isn't a lost cause. I'm off to wash some more underwear.

Update #2: So far we have 4 potties in the potty. I think she's realized that she can go just a little bit at a time, thereby creating more potty trips and getting more treats. Oh well, potty trained is potty trained...I don't care how we get there.

So no potty training yet. We had to push it back to next week. Grandpa and Grandma went on an impromptu trip to NYC to visit Erik (and have a nice romantic getaway I hope). So the rest of the Thurmond clan was at our house this weekend.

The weekend went by pretty fast. We went and saw the 3D Journey to the Center of the Earth, we played Tennis, we swam, we had Guitar Hero and Wii tournaments. I'm not sure I've ever done so much playing, but it was fun. (And I'm now I need a vacation)

As for potty training, I think the plan is to have the party Wednesday and start Thursday, but it really depends on Jon's schedule. (he's been really busy lately, so it's hard to work around) We need a couple of days of mostly uninterrupted time so that we can just be at home and potty train. I didn't think it would be that hard to find that time, but so far it has.
(We did have the party, here are the pictures)

Big happenings in our house this week. We took Laurel and Luke bowling on Sunday. And learned that one game of bowling is plenty for a 2 year old. (Though as she will proudly tell you she's "Laurel Dorman 2 years old, be three in August") Bowling was a lot of fun. Not only did we use the bumpers (best score I ever got), when Laurel got tired of pushing the ball down the lane there is a ramp they can use. I just have to aim it, load the ball and she can walk up and push. When she got tired of it by the second game I let Luke push it. (It's that easy) Luke sat propped in his chair for most of the first game. Every time Laurel bowled and knocked over pins she would jump and hoot and holler and offer up high fives. On the rare occasion that the bowling ball still managed to miss the pins despite the bumper she would smack her head and say "oh man." But every time she cheered, Luke would smile and laugh and bounce.

After bowling we went the church. Odd combo I know, but that's what we did. Anyway, during church Luke was sucking on my hand and I realized it was a little scratchy. So I popped his little chin down and to my extreme surprise, he had two bottom teeth! Not swollen gums where teeth were coming in, actual teeth. I couldn't believe it. No more gum-only smiles, my baby is growing up.

Lastly, we've decided to make a push for potty training. On Thursday we're having a no-more-diapers party. Complete with diapers for party hats and special cake with some kind of diaper decoration. (Haven't quite figured that one out yet, I was thinking maybe fruit roll ups tied up like diapers? I'm open to suggestions) And we'll begin the actual potty training on Friday morning. So wish us luck. I'll post pictures of the festivities later.

Our nieces have arrived! Julia and Kaitlin weighing in at 3lbs 15oz and 5 lbs 5oz. These two little beauties arrived in the world about 2:30AM early this morning. It makes me wish it were Christmas so that we could see them. Talk about a house full of kids! By Christmas Jessie will be 4, Laurel will be 3, Luke will be almost 1 and the twins will be almost 6 months. I'm so excited but I can't do a thing about it. (Not fair)
Congratulations Bob and Kris, we can't wait to see them.

Luke changes daily. It's so exciting to watch. On Saturday both Jon and my mom were out of town, therefore I had the kids alone all day. When I write it like that it doesn't seem too abnormal. But it's rare that I have a day when I don't see another adult. That being the case it's rare when an entire day goes by and I'm the only one holding Luke. Consequently we played a lot of games, giggled, talked, sang. It was great. He learned how to stick his tongue out and blow bubbles. Every time he did it he'd laugh and laugh.

The video is of Luker's very first meal. It was fed to him almost entirely by Laurel.

Times have seemed rough lately. Gas is so high that we're short on money. My employer has done their first round of lay-offs due to financial problems. And of course Jon has his ongoing issues with his work situation. Everything just seems stressful. Of course, on the other hand we're both still employed and we still have enough money to live, which is more than some people can say these days.

My point isn't to depress anyone, though it is a little cathartic being able to voice some of the frustration. My point is that through all of that, gas prices, lay-offs...through all of that, we have these two beautiful children who just don't care. They don't care about money issues, they don't know about the stress we've been under. They just want to run and play and laugh. (Or in Luke's case, wiggle and play and laugh) There is something so calming in just sitting down and playing a made up game with Laurel. Or watching Lukers play with a new toy for the first time, or learn to roll. I love my kids so much, and I know Jon does too. Our morning isn't complete until we hear the pitter patter of Laurel's tiny feet running towards our bedroom. Or until she says "Good morning Mommy, good morning Daddy." And there is nothing purer than Luke smiling for no reason other than he's just happy to see you.

We're really lucky.

The other day Luke was able to roll over using my legs to push against. But today, he suddenly got it. I didn't get the first one on video, but I got the second. As Laurel would say "woo hoo hoo, hot chocolate!"
Look at that boy roll, it's like he never couldn't. He evens gives this "too easy" look at the end of it!

This has been Jon's birthday weekend.  Grandma and Grandpa came down from Dunkirk to surprise him and Laurel.  She and Luke have been having a blast with them.  Here's a picture from Sunday, Daddy and Grandpa were fishing and managed to catch fish at the same time.  

On Saturday Daddy and Grandpa put up our new fence (in the back).  I honestly didn't think that would ever happen, but it's up and it looks great.  

Luke is almost 4 months old now. Time seems to be going by so much quicker than I remember with Laurel. It's a little bit scary actually. It makes me realize that in no time they'll be in school, then teenagers, then all grown up. But I suppose that fact makes the little things that much more precious. (Like video taping Luke sucking his thumb for the first time, or Laurel singing her ABCs) Life has just been really good lately all around. Laurel has really made this jump into a big sister. It used to be we had to worry a little when taking her into stores, or out to eat. That's not the case anymore. Suddenly she's old enough to behave AND even try and calm Luke. And Luke (when he's not hungry) is just a really easy baby. He smiles at anyone who talks to him. It's just been one of those weeks when you can't seem to say enough nice things about your kids.

Today Luke woke up from his nap crying. As soon as I picked him up though, he started cracking up. Everything I did he'd laugh. (Bear in mind that his laugh doesn't sound much different than the poop-grunt, but a mommy knows the difference!)
I've been trying SO hard to get some video of Luke laughing or smiling. He is quite possibly the smiliest kid around, but when the camera comes out Laurel is right in there, and it distracts Lukers from smiling. She's doing a great job with him though. Always right there to try and help calm him down, or play with him. Of course, sometimes it's that toddler-kind-of-help that does more harm than good. (But her heart's in the right place and that's all that matters.)

Spring has been a blur.  One day it's beautiful and you can't even remember what the cold weather felt like, then the next day it's cold again and it feels like the warm weather is gone forever.  Sun or cold or rain has not stopped Jon and I from running though.  We're in week three of our couch-to-5k program.  Our first 5k is scheduled for May.  The kids have been great, they both sit in the double stroller and enjoy the time outside.  Laurel especially likes finding the landmarks as we go.  Our neighborhood lawn ornaments are a treat for her to find.  There's the family of plastic deer, the cement duck and the ceramic owl to name a few.  

Last night we took them out, but it was a little too cold.  By the time we got back both kids had blankets over their heads to keep the wind and drizzle off of them.  This was a video we took after we got back from our run and were cuddling on the couch.  (Ok...so it's really a walk/run...and it's mostly walking.  But we're getting there!)

This weekend was Easter. We really had a great time. Corey, Rob, Josh and Gabe got to come down for the weekend. Plus the weather was really nice, so we all spent a lot of time outdoors. The kids played and played. They played on the playground, they skated, they fished, they kayaked. There was a brief moment of non-fun when Josh took an accidental dive into the lake Saturday night...but he recovered very well. He also got two fish, plus Jon and Abby each caught one...not too shabby. Fun was had by all. I'm posting pictures and video of the weekend. Including some lovely video of an egg-war that involved our not-so-cooked hard boiled eggs.