the right leg gets with the program!

She's now a mover and a shaker....and won't have anything else! Our backs are sore from bending over all day. But she loves it!

the laurel update!

In my flurry of travel postings, I've forgotten to make my little update on the new things Laurel is doing.

Laurel loves "walking"! She looks for your hands and twists out of your hold so that she can stand and do her little dance-march walk. Her left leg seems to have the walking bug, but the right isn't with the program yet:).

Laurel is really enjoying grown-up food. She loves to eat whatever you're eating. She will eat her food if there's nothing else around, but wants to sample ours if it's out. She really likes rice, potato in any form, fruits especially banana, and has gotten into some of the baby snack foods like the puffed cereal. She hasn't yet figured out that she can feed herself with all foods. If it's a long french fry, she will put it into her mouth because she is used to sucking on a straw or her spoon. She can hold small pieces with her thumb and first finger but then doesn't understand that she should put it into her mouth. yet!

Her hair has really grown and lays down nicely instead of sticking up:).
She is getting interested in crawling but doesn't really understand that she can move. Laurel pretty much dives for anything she wants, so we have to be very aware of her in our laps. If she's sitting and playing on her own, she has no qualms about diving forward and getting onto her stomach. But then she's stuck and doesn't know what to do after that:). She can pull herself so that she rotates around on her stomach.

Laurel still has the 2 teeth, nothing new coming in. Her clothing size is fitting nicely at 9 months and even some 12 months are sized for her. We've been putting more shoes on her since she likes to stand. Keeps her socks and feet clean:).

A few more New Orleans pics

The New Orleans summary

We traveled immediately from NYC to New Orleans for a wedding over Memorial weekend. Alex's long time friend, Jason married Jennifer Chappell. They met in New Orleans when they both generously donated their time for hurricane katrina relief efforts in Baton Rouge. They decided to return to Louisiana for that reason, and gave us a reason as well to visit! The parts of the city we saw weren't the ones touched by the hurricane, but had experienced several feet of flooding. All damage has been repaired, so life seemed to be back to the norm for the most part. We stayed at the reception site, Maison DuPuy. Very nice! A lot nicer than NYC:). http://www.maisondupuy.com/

We arrived in the afternoon on the 22nd and immediately crashed in the rooms! Alex, Ryan and Ryder got in a few hours after, so we had some nice down time. Again, Laurel did very well with the travels. Thursday was very chill and we ate at the restaurant at the hotel. Thursday was also very wet, so we didn't walk about. Friday started out with rain but dried up a bit. I wandered the French Quarter area while Alex and the guys took care of getting tuxes. Friday evening was the Rehearsal Dinner with 5 courses! Turtle soup....that was new...tasted like ground beef. The restaurant was wonderful, but was in the midst of Bourbon Street - aka the Red light district! Nothing makes you feel older than pushing a stroller past unsavory areas and frowning while people stumble about drunk.

Saturday was the wedding held at First Presbyterian Church of New Orleans. A very nice older church. Laurel was "flower baby", sitting in a gorgeous old wagon that Jennifer's family has found and repainted. Ryder pulled the wagon down the aisle as a ring bearer and everyone clapped for them as they walked down. It was very sweet...and went so well, much to my relief! Laurel also remained content and quiet during the ceremony...sedated a couple of times with her new favorite sweet potato puffies. We then returned for a quick afternoon reception (the wedding was at noon) back at the Maison. After the reception and naps, we wandered the streets and the promenade "Moon Walk" off of the river. Several of us gathered at The Gumbo Shop for dinner and I had my first Jambalaya. Yum!

We took off for LA late afternoon yesterday, the 25th. Beforehand, we did a little more strolling and went to Cafe du Mond to sample the french donuts which were dumped on by a powdered sugar truck:). Double yum!

The flight back went just fine again. Laurel's bedtime was due about half way through the second flight and Laurel actually fell asleep with her blankie on the floor in front of my feet. We luckily had the bulkhead seats.

We're all recovering today, Memorial Day. Laurel quickly switched to east coast time and then has slowly changed to central. With the little sleep she had in transit yesterday, she slept for a 3 hour nap and a 2 hour afternoon nap today! Should be an easy transition back to west coast time. We're still exhausted, but nothing we can do - we're the parents! Lots to do with Copper Willow still as we assemble wedding books, print some custom orders and package the orders from NYC.

The NYC summary

Well, it's been a whirlwind trip, but lots of news, goings on and exhaustion!

Laurel, Leora and I left for NYC on the 16th and got in early evening. Laurel was sooo well behaved. She didn't sleep well for her naps, just cat napping here and there, but she hardly complained and was easily entertained. I did buy a few new hard books for the plane and an elmo dvd - which is now well loved! Our hotel room in NY was ok...see the lovely bed spread in the photo. We were all quite smooshed in there with my mom and Tracey, but it worked out fine for the purpose - sleep!

We were busy with Copper Willow each day we were there of course. Set up was on Saturday, full show days (9-6) the next few days, but 9-3 on Wednesday with breakdown to follow. Copper Willow did well considering the economic crunch that was definitely evident with the buyers at the show. Not as much money being spontaneously thrown about like last year. But we did make 50% more than last year and our wedding album did very well. Laurel spent her days with Grandma back at the hotel and made afternoon visits to the showroom. Laurel was admired by all, as usual:).

We left NYC for New Orleans on the 22nd...not too hot, but humid!!

getting ready for nyc!

Next week we'll be leaving for New York for the National Stationery Show! Copper Willow has been a crazy whirlwind and I've been working a lot of long hours. I spend my week days with Laurel, but have been at the shop at night and all day on the weekends printing. I'm pretty much going on sheer will power at this point! About a week and a half left and then we can get to New York and finally have everything out on display. Right after, on the 22nd, we will then travel to New Orleans for a friend's wedding. A much needed break. I'm just hoping Laurel transitions and adapts to the new surroundings smoothly! Not to mention the time change. While she stayed on pacific coast time over the xmas holiday, she will have to change to east coast or at least central. We leave on the 16th and the show is the 18th through the 21st. We're wishing for another successful show! Last year went very well for our first time:).

Copper Willow is also featured in an LA magazine!
http://www.la-confidential-magazine.com/article_1.html

Laurel has been a busy body lately. She's more curious than ever and is constantly crawling all over us to get to whatever she wants. What she wants is always keys, the computer, phone or remote control:). She's not crawling yet and really hates being on her tummy, but she may crawl yet. When we push her into a crawling position, she does rock back and forth, which is supposed to be the precursor to actually crawling. But her preference is to stand, so who knows!

Laurel was sick for the first time 2 weekends ago. We thought she was just running a fever because her second tooth was on the way in. Plus we had a heat wave out here in CA and maybe it worse. But the Monday she had a rash all over her body. The doctor said she probably had a virus that gave her a fever and then a lot of babies break out in a rash afterwards. It took her several days to feel back to normal, lots of whining and complaining and crying. Poor baby:(. But while at the doctor, she did get weighed and was 16 lbs, 1 oz! A big girl! Her jumparoo gym was set on the lowest level, but we've had to move her up a size range, so I know she's really grown.