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.

Yesterday we went to Abigail's birthday party. It was a skating party. When we first got there Laurel didn't really want to do anything. But after she got some pizza in her she decided it was time to try skating. We thought she'd be really cautious about it, so we let her try out skating on the carpet. (We never thought she'd get out on the floor) Instead she took daddy by the hand and lead him out there. She had a blast. Here's some video of her after one of her many "falls." (She'd fall on purpose...but they were planned gentle falls. She made daddy lower her to the floor while she pretended to be falling)
The funniest part of the party was after the cake had been eaten in the party room and all the kids had gone back to skating. I stayed behind with Luke to feed him. All of the sudden this little boy, about 3, came up and sat at the table and started eating the leftover cake and pizza and drinking the leftover drinks. He then went from chair to chair drinking and eating what the kids had left. Of course there were no parents in sight. Nice, huh?

Finally a new post. Sorry guys, it's rough over here. I've been sick twice in two weeks, Laurel has been sick twice in the same two week period...we're just pitiful. I'm slowly making my way out into the world with two kids in tow. It's hard, but frankly it's harder because I'm nursing. If I wasn't I could just feed him a bottle wherever I went. Not that I would choose not to nurse because of that, it's just a lot less convenient...especially with a toddler. I'm glad I am nursing, otherwise I'm pretty sure Luke would have been sick these last two weeks as well. Anyway, enough about me...more about kids. Laurel is still doing well with her new baby brother (with the exception of the occassional slap on the head disguised as a loving pat). Life is good. Maternity leave is ending soon, the two week countdown has begun...then Jon gets to test his skills with two at one time. We'll see how that goes!

Baby Luke is two weeks old now. Things are going pretty well. Laurel has had her ups and downs, mostly at bedtime. She's decided she doesn't like sleeping in her bed anymore. (She wants to sleep in mine) Likewise, Luke doesn't really like to sleep in his bed. He prefers to be in my arms. So consequently Mom hasn't gotten much sleep lately. But we're working on it.

It's been a busy week for me since Jon has been gone, so if I haven't posted or responded to any emails, I'm sorry. One day I'll get the hang of it all. For now I'm just happy if I have groceries and both kids are bathed.

Here's some pictures of both of them from over the last few weeks.

So it snowed here on Wednesday, can you believe it? It was really pretty. It was gone by the next morning, but when it was coming down it looked like a real snow storm. When Laurel woke up from her nap we went outside to play for a few minutes. The first trip outside (picture) she was a little dumbfounded and didn't really know what to do. On the second trip outside she and Daddy threw snowballs until her hands got too cold and then we came in for hot chocolate.

On a different note, today is Erik's 19th birthday! Happy Birthday Schmunkle! It took a couple of takes but I finally got Laurel to say it.

We're home. Ok, so we've been home since Friday, but give me a break I just had a baby! This is my first morning alone with the baby...so we're being lazy. We're hanging out, playing, and now that he's resting I thought I'd post some pictures. The labor and delivery went smoothly and we were released from the hospital the next day. Luke Michael Dorman was born at 3:32AM on January10th. He was 7lbs 8oz and 19 inches long.

Laurel seems to be adjusting well. She asked to hold him yesterday, and today before she left for church she came back on her own accord to give him a kiss good bye. So far so good! (Laurel doesn't use a pacifier...she just liked the one they gave Luke in the hospital. She said is smelled like cake, and sure enough it was vanilla flavored.)

It seems like today or tomorrow will be the day that Luke arrives. I've spent the day (along with some helpers) cleaning, decorating, etc. Now that the baby's room is complete I've attached some video of it. It took some effort, but it came together nicely in the end. If we have wi-fi in the hospital...and I have some energy...we'll post baby pictures soon.

Happy New Year everyone! The holidays are over for us. Christmas is packed away in the attic already. Now we're focusing any extra energy on getting ready for the new baby. We've split up the tasks. I spent yesterday priming the bookcase to paint, my mom was sewing his baby quilt and Jon and my dad were installing their gas logs. (Ok so that isn't a baby thing, but I didn't want it to look like Jon wasn't participating!) It was actually a productive New Years day for all of us. (Except Laurel who is skating with her Aunt in the video here) It was however unbelievably cold. We did a very small handful of fireworks in the evening, all of us totally wrapped in blankets.



Once the baby's room is done we will post some pictures. (Or at least mostly done. I'm not sure everything I planned will get done before he comes) The current wager between Jon and myself is the 4rth/7th which are both rapdily approaching. Feel free to place your bets.

Yesterday we finally stopped to see if they had the big-girl bed we wanted from the store. (Mind you we've been meaning to do this now for several months...so this is amazing progress for us) And AMAZINGLY, they did have it. So we brought it home and I put it together with a little "help" from Laurel. As soon as the mattress went on it she jumped and played and pretended to sleep. So we went ahead and moved it into her room and gave her the choice as to which bed she wanted to sleep in. She chose the big girl bed, so we moved over the puppies, the blankets and the aquarium music maker. (All essential parts of Laurel's bed time ritual) We read our books like normal, but when it was time to actually go to sleep she started crying and begged me to read more, which of course I did. (Sucker, I know) Then after I read those she started crying and climbed out of bed. What do you do then? So we struck a deal and I lay on the floor next to her until she fell asleep and then quietly snuck out. Neither Jon or I slept the rest of the night. We listened to every creak of the new bed, every shuffle of the new mattress. She did fine and slept the whole night through. Jon and I on the other hand are very tired. It doesn't seem like Laurel's transition to the big-girl bed will take long, hopefully ours won't either!

It's Christmas day. After a long (but fun) night last night, Jon woke up early to go to work. I managed to get about 30 minutes sleep after he left, but then got up and went to my parents to open gifts. The kids were waiting on us to open gifts, so we were trying to get there early-ish. After a couple of false starts (losing the keys then realizing that they were locked IN the car, and then having to take the unheated truck instead) we headed out. This picture of the unhappy child is right after I woke her up and put her in the cold car. She actually was in a good mood despite her look in the picture. The rest are pictures of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas everyone!!

It's Christmas Eve, but for us it's Christmas Day. Since Jon has to work tomorrow we have to do everything today so that everyone can be together. We went to church, had dinner and opened gifts. We had a lot of fun, despite having to shop at three different grocery stores on Christmas Eve. (which was insane!) Anyway, we wanted to post some pictures and video over the next few days so that everyone could see Laurel's third Christmas. (It was definitly the best.)

By the way, all pictures and video were taken with my new snazzy camera that Jon bought me for Christmas. Woo hoo! I dressed Laurel up with the intention of taking a nice Christmas picture, but all she would give me were fake smiles and goofy faces. But this is definitly my kid, what can I say?

I love love love the ability to put video on here! I've been watching the last clip a couple of times a day myself when I'm at work because it makes me feel like I'm with her. It was a bit of a surprise to find out that there was sound though. After I uploaded it I played it back and I could hear noise coming from the computer. I picked up the headset and WHOA, there was my voice. (It is torture to listen to your own voice) BUT, at the same time I can't wait to start catching the little things Laurel says on video clips that I can watch from work. The potential for cuteness is staggering. (Like the "stink so bad" and the "I think so" that grandma and grandpa taught her)





Speaking of cuteness...Halloween was on Wednesday and Laurel was a kangaroo. She was excited to trick-or-treat, but mom or dad had to carry her to every door and hold her during the process. She's not big on strangers. But she got some good candy. It was hard to get a good picture that night because of the action, and the darkness. So this was actually taken a few days later. We decided to re-enact the trick-or-treating process. The funny thing is, we could only get her to do it from the inside of the house....like reverse trick-or-treating.

Jon took Laurel to the office today. He left her in his office while he went to another to get something. When he came back Laurel had a surprised look and quickly hid her hand in her sleeve, then looked at Jon and asked him "what are you doing daddy?" (Very sly that one) So Jon asked her what was on her hand, and she showed him the one that wasn't hiding in the shirt. Eventually he got her to show the hidden hand, which she had covered in pen drawings. Clever little devil.



Tonight we practiced a little trick-or-treating. I sent Laurel to the office door to knock, then daddy opened it, Laurel would say the magic words and daddy would give her candy. She thought that was pretty great. Other than that we made some more Halloween cookies. I took some video of it. So this is my first attempt to post video on the blog.

Here is a picture of Laurel digging out the pumpkin guts.

This weekend didn't turn out exactly as we planned. There was no corn maze, or pumpkin picking, or boo-at-the-zoo. But, don't feel bad yet. We still had a good weekend. Though from the parents' perspective there was an awful lot of cleaning...we got to have some fun too. We went to a party on Saturday night and Laurel was an absolute nut. (In a good way) She was funny and cute and charming. Then today we decided to carve and paint pumpkins. We set up a sort of impromptu Halloween party and had Hallie, Abby and Cody over. Laurel painted a pumpkin, and then proceeded to paint her arms, feet, toes, legs and then face. The funniest was watching her carefully paint the skin in between her toes. She was determined to get every little piece of bare skin. We ended up going right into the bath. By the time the bath was over, the water was brown. Then we carved pumpkins, colored them with markers (then colored our arms with marker)...then for a finale we ate a big jack 'o lantern cookie cake and watched the Charlie Brown Halloween special. Then mommy and daddy got to clean again...it seems like that never ends. (But we are making progress)

Here is a picture of the aftermath of the painting. She left paint footprints and handprints all over the bathroom.

Jon was on liberty day today. We spent the majority of last night and today cleaning and organizing in anticipation of the days when I won't have the energy to do either. After about a half a day of that we decided to take Laurel to look at big girl beds. Laurel brought Bagel with her to try out all of the toddler beds. She laid in them, stood in them, kissed them. In the end she seemed to like a white bed with little dots on the comforter. (she kissed it goodbye)

During all the cleaning I decided to start pulling out some stuff for the new baby. Laurel decided she wanted to be a baby. So she put the pacifier in her mouth and laid on the boppy pillow for about an hour.

We actually had a pretty busy weekend. I took all the kids to a fall festival on Saturday, and then we did the Stone Mountain Village on Sunday. I'm hoping this weekend will be as exciting. We'd like to do pumpkin picking and a corn maze on Saturday, and then possibly Boo at the Zoo on Sunday night. But we'll have to wait until next Monday to see if that all pans out. (In the meantime I have to figure out what Laurel is going to be for Halloween) I thought she'd have a real opinion about it, but instead she keeps giving me random answers. She's told me she wants to be everything from a bear to a ball.

This picture is from the fall festival. Laurel got to go fishing (for pretzel fish), she got her face painted (that's a pumpkin if you can't tell), she decorated a cookie and made a necklace out of pixie stick sugar. After the festival we went to visit Daddy at the fire station so that he could see the face painting. I swear she had more fun playing with the kids at the fire station then she did the rest of the weekend!

Today was a very blah day. Laurel and I are both a little bit sick. We even went all the way to the park to jog, and didn't have the energy to play on the playground later. Sad. So instead we came home and slept and did a whole lot of nothing. In fact, this picture is the most excitement we had all day. (which is why I decided to take a picture of it)

Laurel made her very first craft yesterday. Sometimes she goes with Grandma to the nursery so that Jon can get some work done, and while she was there she made the Crocodile from the Nile. (It's from a book apparently) As smart as she is, she isn't used to the preschool setting so she's been slow to join the activity. (Apparently she watched out of the corner of her eye from outside the circle. That way she could keep an eye on the fun without actually having to participate) But after a while of watching the other kids make their crocodiles she decided she wanted to make one too. So here it is.

Since I was at it, I figured I'd also send a picture of some of the cookies we made (There is still another new blog below...so don't forget to scroll down). They were all kind of an experiment since I've never really painted or glazed any cookies. But, experiment or not...they still taste good. ( I would send a picture of the water painting...BUT it might spoil a surprise for someone, so I won't do that yet)

It's October here, but it was still 90 degrees yesterday. I don't remember it ever being this hot in the fall. But, regardless we decided yesterday was the day to make Halloween cookies. Abby and Hallie helped paint and glaze the cut out cookies. Laurel didn't show much interest in baking or decorating cookies at first...just eating them. But after a while she climbed up on the stool and watched me for a minute. Then she took a clump of dough, a cup and some cookie cutters and spent the next hour rolling and cutting the dough. The dough was too squished to make anything with, but she had fun with it.

After that we all sat down to water paint some cards. This is the first time we've water painted with Laurel. She had more fun dipping the colors back and forth then anything else. She also enjoyed painting her arm as you can see in the picture.

The weather has finally cooled a little thank goodness. We've been able to start going to the park and the playground again. I think we were all starting to feel a little cooped up over the last month. It's made us more active in general. We've played at the playground, fed the ducks at the park, we even went bowling. That was Laurel's first attempt to bowl. We also took her to a movie for the first time. (Technically it wasn't the first time, but it was the first time we took her to see a movie as opposed to taking her with us so WE could see a movie) We went to see Shrek 3 at the dollar theater. We thought that was a good choice, that way if she threw a fit and wanted to leave we'd only wasted three dollars. She didn't though. She ate M&Ms and watched the whole movie. She even sat in her own chair for most of it. I guess she really is growing up.

(That's our campling headlamp/flashlight just in case anyone was wondering. She likes to put it on, turn off the lights in the bathroom and pretend to be a monster. That's my girl!)

Laurel is officially two years old now. The Dorman family got to come down and spend the week with us, and we were so happy to have everyone. We had a jam packed week. We had Laurel's party, went to the aquarium with Jessie and rode a train with grandpa at Stone Mountain park. (Of course everyone was there...but she really associated seeing the fish with Jessie and riding the train with grandpa)

This is a picture of the three of us at the Aquarium. We're too cheap to pay for a copy, but there is no reason why I can't pirate it off the website!

To Granmda, Grandpa, Grandma Schieres, Bob, Chris and Jessie...we are so glad you could all come and celebrate Laurel's brithday. We had a lot of fun with everyone.

This is too cool. Laurel and I were coloring this morning, and she suddenly turned to me and said she colored a fish, and then pointed right to this drawing of a fish!! It's a fish. An actual fish. Now, granted I'm a mom...and I'm biased...but you can tell it's a fish can't you? Genius I tell you. Artistic genius.

Apparently this is animal week in our household. Last night Laurel and I went to watch Abby at her horseback riding lessons, which we've done almost weekly. Prior to last night however, Laurel wouldn't go anywhere near the horses. She wanted see them, but from a distance. Last night something changed. Ms. Tammy (Abby's teacher) asked Laurel if she wanted to ride the horse, and Laurel responded (very enthusiastically) "YEP!"

So she walked over to the horse, Ms. Tammy put her on and she sat there posing and smiling for the cameras (yes, cameras as in multiple...it was too cute to miss). It was hard to get her off the horse. She talked about it all the way home and then told Daddy about it on the phone before she went to bed.

Laurel's in the doghouse now. Literally. She's taken to getting into Roger's house and acting like a dog. This was the first time she did it, and Jon couldn't get her out for the longest time. I believe he finally bribed her out with the promise of donuts. (But not before he snapped these pictures)

We lost our camera for a little while...so we didn't have any pictures to show, sorry everyone. We lost it in May on Jon's birthday, and we found it again this week inside of his birthday present. We're so pathetic sometimes. Here's a picture of Jon and the baby from his birthday fishing on the dock behind my parents' house.

I think everyone who reads this blog already knows that we're expecting another baby, so this shouldn't be news to anyone here. We had our first ultrasound this week. It turns out we're about a week further along then we thought. What's neat about that is that the ultrasound is at 11 weeks, instead of 8 like it would normally be. At 8 weeks the baby looks mostly like a peanut, you have no idea what is what. But on this one you can definitly tell the head and the body, the arms and the legs. It looks like a little teddy bear. So for now we're calling it Baby Bear.

Laurel has been able to say "I love you" and "I'm sorry" for a little while now. But suddenly she's using them more freely, and of her own accord. Today at the store she dropped some dish soap that spilled on the floor. When the lady came to clean it Jon asked her "what do you say?" and she answered, "I'm sorry daddy." Then he said, don't say sorry to me. So she looked at the cleaning lady and said "I'm sorry."
As if that weren't enough, yesterday she came up to me and hugged me and said "I love you mommy." There is nothing better than that.

Happy Mother's Day! Laurel wanted to take this chance to give a shout out to all the other mom's in her life. So Happy Mother's Day to her two grandmothers who love her and would do anything for her. Also, Happy Mother's Day to the little mom's, Abby and Hallie who help take care of her and play with her every week.

Today we went plant shopping. I know it's late in our season to start planting...but we do everything late. That's just us. One day we'll get it together, but today is not that day. While we were at the Lowe's buying plants Laurel fell in love with the fountains. She ended up soaked by the time we got back to the car, but she had a good time. She especially liked this one because the little bamboo part moved up and down. (She "moved" it so much I thought we might end up with a "you break it you buy it" scenario)

Daddy had an award ceremony on Tuesday night, so we got to dress him up. I figured it was a perfect picture moment. Laurel wore her toddler hat proudly through the entire ceremony. The second it began she tried to run down the aisle, when I caught up with her she started screaming. We then spent the rest of the ceremony in the back of the room trying not to be too loud. (Of course then she found the search & rescue dogs and had to talk to them, pet them, kiss them, etc)

I had to take this picture. Laurel looked so big, so old. I can't believe how much she's changing. She talks so much and has her own sense of humor. She will only play on the big jungle-gym at the park, the baby ice cream isn't enough for her. And unfortunately, she's started cursing. (Didn't think we'd have to deal with that for a while) Luckily, it's not because she's imitating us, so for that I can feel good. She's learned to say the work fire-truck...but she somehow skips the "ire-tr" part of the words. (Get it?) And she says the letters that are left over with perfect clarity. The guys at the fire station thought it was particularly funny as she's pointing the fire truck saying "big "f&%k, daddy f$*k." Nice, huh? What can you do? She's learning, I'm not about to tell her not to say something that she thinks is right. I'll just listen and nod and quietly giggle in my head if we're at home, and be silently mortified if we're in public.

I've let time slip away again. It's usually related to misplacing the camera. This time we found it in the car. But in our defense we found it in time for Easter events.
Laurel's cousin Jessie came in town for Easter. Unfortunately she wasn't able to stay long, which led to several days of Laurel asking "Where Jessie go?" But at least they were able to have fun while she was here. We dyed eggs, made Easter cookies and even had an Easter egg hunt in the front yard. (Jessie found them a little faster then Laurel and had to keep donating eggs back to the cause) But she was a great sport about it.

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. 2007 is here. Laurel can walk, she talks much more. Her hair is getting long. Essentially she's gone from being a baby to being a toddler. The transition happened so quickly that we didn't realize until after it happened. She suddenly has an opinion about what we do and how we do it. More importantly, she has an opinion about what she doesn't want to do.

1) She doesn't want to put on pants.
2) She does want to put a clip in her hair, but she doesn't want to keep it there.
3) She doesn't want to leave the playground.
4) She doesn't want you to get her grapes, she wants "apples" even though they're really grapes.

Of course this all makes her sound like a demon child, which she's not. She's wonderful. Sweet and funny and lovable. But she does have her moments (as all toddlers do) when you're trying to shop and she wants to walk. Or when you're at the park and she wants the duck. (She doesn't want to see the duck...she actually WANTS the duck.)

This is a picture of Laurel and Daddy on Christmas day. She looks like such an angel, it's hard to picture her throwing a fit in the Wal-Mart.

I realize this is two posts in one day, but I couldn't resist it. There are so many cute pictures from Halloween, I didn't want to have to pick just one. So I'll keep the writing short and sweet. This picture is from the pumpkin carving. Laurel had a good time pulling the pumpkin-guts out of the bowl and onto the table.

Last night was Halloween. We had a whole day of events planned...but it was one of those days that didn't turn out quite right, and we ended up rushing around to do only some of the things we had planned to do. We DID get to buy and carve a pumpkin. I DID manage to finish Jon's costume. And we DID go to a Halloween party, and of course we trick-or-treated.

The nice thing about having a young toddler, is that they don't really care about the trick-or-treating part. So we didn't have to spend all night walking from house to house getting as much candy as possible. She can't even eat the few pieces we got...so instead they sit there on the counter staring and me and Jon tempting us to eat them. (I swear a Kit-Kat woke me up last night and begged me to eat it)

I found a monkey costume at Old Navy a few months ago, and couldn't resist it. But rather than just be a monkey, I figured I could jazz it up by making her Curious George. What did I do to jazz it up you ask? Absolutely nothing. Her costume is the same as when I bought it off the rack. Jon however had to dress like a Miami Vice wannabe with a giant foam hat. Luckily a lot of people got it. He was the Man in the Yellow Hat. Sadly a few people didn't get it, and though Laurel was a bear and that Jon was just strange. (He didn't appreciate that) But he was a very good sport about it.

This weekend we headed up to Cloudland Canyon for a camping trip. It was the perfect fall-leaf weekend to go up there. The leaves we're bright red and yellow and orange. However, we didn't realize how cold it was going to be. When we got there at 3pm it was already 46 degrees. I don't know what it ended up dipping to in the middle of the night, but it was cold. (The kind of cold where you hold it all night because you can't bear the thought of having to leave the safety of the tent)

Not that the tent offered any protection from the cold, but it did offer a little against the wind. And somewhere between 10pm and midnight the air mattress completely deflated, leaving all four of us on the frigid ground. (Yep, all four. Jon, Me, Laurel and Roger) The funny part was, although you are on the ground, the bed isn't really completely deflated...so every time any one of us would shift the others would get popped up like popcorn.

On top of all of this the baby (who went to sleep very quickly around 8pm) woke up screaming at 10:30pm. Then again at 10:40pm, and again at 10:50pm. I tried everything. Sitting up, laying down, putting her in her pack-and-play. I even tried nursing her. (Which was a miserable failure. Laurel has been weaned for 3 weeks now. Only three weeks. So I assumed even if she couldn't get anything, she'd at least be comforted by it. Not so much. She looked at me like I was crazy. She wouldn't even try it!) After I got her back to sleep she slept on and off until about 7:30AM. I slept NONE. So when daylight hit I tried my hardest to wake everyone else up so we could get off the ground and go start a fire and have some hot coffee.

Once we had warm breakfast in us the weather mellowed out and we packed up and spent the rest of the afternoon hiking before heading back home. The hike was beautiful, but tough, and the waterfall at the bottom of the canyon is the picture posted above. And I learned a good lesson about not camping in the cold weather with a baby.

This weekend we had all of the kids. It was crazy, but fun. Laurel has really grown to enjoy her time with her aunts and uncles. She can even say Abby. Of course she calls both of the girls Abby, but she'll learn.

We all went to an organic farm on Saturday. The event was pretty laid back, but fun at the same time. The kids were good about trying most of the things. They had everything from gourmet foods to pomegranates to fermented beet juice. (Apparently fermented beet juice is supposed to be refreshing. It isn't.) There were arts & craft, organic chocolate and plenty of plants and animals to see. The kids loved being chased around by a duck.

Laurel just likes being free to roam around. She stays in the backpack as long as you need her to, but once you let her out, she doesn't want back in. This is a picture of her and me on the grass listening to one of the bands.

Laurel has been growing and changing so much lately. It's scary. She's almost walking, she talks constantly and she has an unbelievable temper. We've also been introducing her to a lot more recently, hiking, camping, etc. Throughout the fall we have a lot planned, more camping, pumpkin picking, Halloween, and two Thanksgivings. (Yep...twice the turkey for me this year) So even if I don't have time to write that much, I will try to keep up the pictures.

The picture here is from Laurel's first official hiking trip. As you can see she found it very tiring. We didn't know how she'd do, so we started with a fairly short 2 mile hike. We first tried the jog stroller with the big fat bike tires...but that didn't go well (too bumpy). So we heaed back to the car to try her in the snuggly. (too small) We hadn't tried the snuggly in months, not realizing that she had outgrown it. So, finally we tried the good-old Maya wrap (just right). At first she was mesmerized by the sun coming through the leaves, then she was irritated by the leaves brushing into her, then she was lulled by the constant rocking motion...and before we knew it she was out like a light.

Since then we found a cheap hiking backpack at used it camping and hiking, and she loves it. (I'll put those pictures in later) We have also taken her to some dirt trails around town and let her play in the mud and the creeks. It turns out she loves mud. Loves to play in it, loves to eat it, pretty much loves everything about it. Mud has lots of minerals, right?

Today's blog is not for the faint of heart. But still, I thought this picture and this event needed to be recognized. (If only to show how gross...and funny parenthood can be)

So, a few days ago Jon and I were playing with Laurel on the floor of her room. Being the regular little scamp that she is, I realized it was about that time in the day for a dirty diaper. Now, bear in mind I didn't smell anything, so while it should have been dirty, I didn't really think it was. So without hesitation I reach to grab the back of her diaper and take a little peak. But when I did, I realized my finger sank into something warm and squishy. And when I pulled my finger back out..."warm and squishy" stayed on board.

Being the calm and rational person I am, you would have thought my first inclination would have been to go wash my hands. Instead, I ran and grabbed the digital camera so that I could savor this mommy-baby moment in time forever.

It's been so long since we've posted again. Laurel is a crawling fool now. She can get from her room through the living room to the kitchen in about 60 seconds. (Which means watching her just got a lot harder) Although, it's more fun now. She'll come find you wherever you are, and when she does she's smiling from ear to ear.

She can also pull up to standing on just about anything. At first it was just her crib. Then it was the coffee table. Now it's cabinets, your leg, the dog...or anything else she can get a good grip on (Unfortunately for Roger, he does not appreciate his ears being used to hoist Laurel up).

Last Saturday I brought Laurel out to see her daddy at work, which is where the picture came from. We rarely go visit him at work, since it's so far. So I thought it would be a good chance to get some fire truck pictures of Laurel and Daddy.

Tuesday was an important day in the life of Laurel Dorman. It was the day she said her first word.

What is it you ask?

Was it momma? (The one that gave her life?) No.

Was it Dadda? (The one who takes care of her day in and day out?) Nope.

Maybe it was bye-bye, this seems like a pretty obvious choice. Wrong again.

It was Roger. Yes, I swear...Roger. We didn't believe it at first. We had to hear it half a dozen times before we finally believed it. For those of you that don't know, Roger is our dog. Our big black oaf of a dog. Of course the word comes out something like 'Ah-jeu' but you definitely get the drift of what she means when she says it. So here's a picture of the Rog to commemorate this occasion.