A Crawling Cutie

This little cutie is a master crawler! She crawled over most of our house this evening, giggling and laughing the entire time! We have to tuck her dress into her panties so she can keep moving.
"Catch me if you can!"
"You coming?"
"Are you talking to me?"
Here's our little girl's room with her new curtain...finally!
Laurel and I share some giggles.
I love this sweet thing!
After all that crawling, she earned her bath!

Fourth of July Weekend

Laurel and Poppy catch up on the porch at the camp.

Our sweet girl

Laurel finds Poppy's cross necklace.

Laurel shows Poppy that she's "so big!"
Laurel and Poppy have a heart to heart.

Daddy and Laurel head over to the Meldrums' camp for a visit.

Laurel loves the swing, and gets to try it out after breakfast our second morning!
"Wee!"

Laurel takes a few steps with Daddy's help.

Daddy, Uncle David and Laurel swing on the porch together.

"I'm ready to swim! Wait, where's the water?"

This is fun!
Laurel finds her swimsuit and tests out the slide.

Our cautious little girl isn't so sure about it.

This water's cold!

Laurel and Ethan take a turn in the golf cart.
"Watch out, Mr. Trey! I've got the keys!"

Laurel tries to love on Ethan, but he's not so sure.
We had a great time!

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we headed to the Roberts' camp just outside of Shreveport. Betsy, Ron, David and Michelle met us out there, and we had a relaxing and fun time. Their next door neighbors at the camp are their good friends, the Meldrums, who hosted a wonderful dinner the first night. It was great catching up with them.

The next night was the big Fourth of July celebration, with a great cookout at the Roberts' camp, parachute games and a fantastic (and legendary) fireworks show. So many of our friends joined us and there were so many children! It was a really fun evening. Somehow, Laurel slept through all of the fireworks!

We had such a great time being with Trey's family and catching up with all of our friends. Thanks, Betsy and Ron, for another wonderful weekend!

The Sprinkler System Installation, plus Laurel and Christopher

The front of our house during the sprinkler system installation. What a wet, muddy mess!
Chris and Trey bury the sprinkler line under the sidewalk. Ron, covered in mud, figures out how to repair a cut to the water line. The back of my dirty, dirty husband.

This weekend, we tackled the installation of our new sprinkler system. I say "we," but I really mean the boys- Trey, his dad Ron, Patrick, Chris, John, Will and Scott. I knew our yard would be a mess, but the rain didn't help! It is muddy everywhere! I've swept my house more this weekend than I have in the entire time we've lived here, just trying to keep the dirt out...or at least contained.

Luckily, I had Betsy and our good friend, Leslie, helping me. Together, we kept those working boys fed, the laundry going, and Laurel and Christopher entertained. And we had a great time catching up. Christopher and Laurel had a fun time playing together. Laurel loves Christopher and hugged on him all weekend. Saturday morning, Christopher and Bebe were watching cartoons together, and Laurel was busy climbing on and hugging Christopher. Check out her moves in the first video...so funny!

The second video is of Laurel crawling. She is fast! Her signature move is to crawl a little ways, then turn and look back over one shoulder before moving on. It's too cute.

Thanks to everyone who help install our sprinkler system, especially Ron, who designed and worked the hardest, and to Betsy and Leslie for helping me keep it together!

Little Christopher

This precious little boy just had major brain surgery and, by the grace of God, came through beautifully. I'm no doctor, so please forgive me if I don't get all the details right. Sweet Christopher had been having awful headaches for awhile, and his tuned-in doctor recommended some tests. These tests showed fluid collecting in the base of his brain, and surgery was necessary. He had surgery while Trey and I were in New York, but we quickly got word that everything went fine.

Christopher is such a sweetheart. He will need several follow-up MRI's to ensure that everything is still looking good, and will have to rest quietly for a few weeks at home (which, I'm sure, is torture for a 5-going-on-6 year old!). We are so relieved that the surgery went so well, and that he is on his way to feeling better again.

A Trip to NYC

Checking on Laurel the moment we landed! Trey and I met my sister Ann and her husband Andrew at Ann's church.

John, JB, Rebecca, Heather and I stand just outside the Tavern on the Green, where we had dinner before going to see the play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Our friends, JB and Rebecca, on a walk through Central Park. John and Heather enjoyed a stop in front of a pretty lake in Central Park.

On our first night, we ate dinner at BLT Prime, a wonderful restaurant, and even spotted Derek Jeter!
Our crew, minus the photographer Trey, smile for the camera after seeing our second show on Broadway. We all loved the musical Wicked.
Trey and I had such a fun vacation with our good friends!

Trey and I are lucky to have such great friends. We travel with two couples each year, Heather and John and Rebecca and JB. This year was our third trip together, and Trey's and my first time to leave Laurel for several days. Trey's parents were so sweet to keep her and let us enjoy our trip.

We had an action-packed trip, as usual. We toured Rockefeller Center, walked through Central Park, visited the Museum of Natural History, checked out the NYSE and the Statue of Liberty, caught a comedy show, saw two great Broadway shows, and ate some really fantastic dinners. While we were there, Trey and I were able to rendezvous with my sister, Ann, and her husband, Andrew. Ann is working at St. James Episcopal Church for two years and is having a great time experiencing big city life with Andrew. We ate lunch with them and got to see their apartment. It was a short visit, but we loved seeing them.

We had such a great time with our good friends, and can't wait for another fun trip together next year! Thanks, Ron and Betsy, for keeping Laurel for us!

Such a Big Girl!

Laurel crawls towards the side of her bed...

and begins to pull herself up...
into a standing position!
She is so proud of herself!

When we got home from the beach today, we put Laurel in her crib to play while we unpacked her bags. She was thrilled to be out of her carseat, and played happily in her bed. At some point, she decided to try and pull herself up! Trey and I were amazed that she'd come back from the beach with this new trick, and she was so proud of herself! Of course, we had to take her crib apart and lower her mattress right then and there. With her standing up now, we didn't want to take any chances that she might fall out. Way to go, Laurel! You are such a big girl!