Laurel is one!

Well, it's officially a year since we became parents. And what a busy, wonderful year it was. We are so very grateful for our baby and everything that has come with her. So to celebrate, we had a fun picnic at our local park! We invited some friends and local family (plus grandma o.) over for a barbeque and some cake and socializing. It was a beautiful afternoon and Laurel was so very cute as usual. And to top it all off, she is officially walking on her own! She's been practicing and is now confidently toddling about all by herself.

For the party, we made a character cake shaped like Elmo's face. Each child also got a cupcake with a candy Elmo on it and their name. We barbecued hot dogs and burgers, ate potato salad, deviled eggs, chips and dip, shrimp cocktail, and fruit salad. Laurel was very excited to eat her own cupcake. She took some huge bites and got a decent amount of frosting on her fingers and mouth:). With the party came some great gifts as well. She's well stocked on wardrobe items, lots of cute things came from the grandmas! She also received lots of Elmo-themed gifts. We are now the official owners of a Tickle-Me-Elmo, which is funny because I can remember the craze for them when they first came out 10 year ago! She also has a toddler-sized basketball hoop, a tea set, a musical drum, an elmo purse with Elmo-themed contents, a small rocking horse, and some money in the college fund.

Overall, a great success, exactly what we wanted to have for her! Happy Birthday to our little girl!

One year photos

Here's a couple of pics from our photo shoot in honor of Laurel's first birthday. She was so cute and happy during the session, we couldn't have asked for better shots! I'll try to put the rest up online when i can:)...

August quickly passing

We're over half way through August! Nothing makes time fly faster than when you're watching someone grow. Laurel will be 1 year old in just 2 weeks. I can't believe it! Of course with that milestone, we took some professional photos of her and of the 3 of us. We hired Holly Port again, the same photographer who took our maternity photos and Laurel's newborn pics. She is does such a great job and makes it all so casual and relaxed. Her photos should be to use by the end of this week, so I'll pop some of the best shots up on the blog!

My 29th birthday was this past Wednesday. Last one before 30! We had a nice day, just doing the usual with the biz and Laurel. In the evening, the girls the live next door came and sat at the house while Laurel slept. Alex, Megan, Anne, Leora, Ryan and I went up to Gyenari, where Megan hosts a few times a week, for dinner. They have great food and it was sooo nice to get out of the house and have an adult dinner:). Several of my gifts were clothes, which I sorely needed. Most of the money I spend is on Laurel! I also received some money which I put towards the purchase of a nice digital SLR camera. I found an excellent deal on ebay. I can't wait for it to arrive!

Alex gave me a trip to Disneyland for my bday. We went yesterday. On our way, we stopped at Alex's parents' house and left Laurel with them for the day. It was a very nice visit for them. Usually Alex and I are around and Laurel would prefer that we hold her. Without us around, she was much more comfortable and actually preferred Grandma, which I think was much to her delight! Cyndy and the cousins stopped by too, Sierra just loves Laurel. It's very sweet.

Disneyland had gotten even more expensive. It's really ridiculous. $94 for a 1-day park hopper. Fortunately, I belong to a discount club and got the price down to $68 per ticket. Oye. But we had a great time! We're not as young as we used to be though, we were just exhausted by 9! But overall, it was a great day. Soon, we will always bring Laurel with us, so this was nice to have a grown-up day of adult rides.

Laurel updates:
-She has increased her vocabulary. She says "go, go" to walk. She loves to walk as usual and is getting much faster. She really took off in her gymboree class the other day and walked across the room without me! I don't think she meant to let go, but once she was going, she didn't know how to stop. So there was a small crash at the end, but she walked so far! She still says "nigh, nigh" for sleep. "Na-na" for banana, "mo-mo" for Elmo. She can say "Jake", Alex's mom's dog.
-Laurel likes to go for walks and push her own stroller. The stroller has a basket underneath and she can hold onto the rear bar and push. She also thinks it's funny to tilt her head to the side and have you do the same. We've gotten into the habit of having "chase" sessions at night when Alex gets home. We chase eash other around the house and she just squeals! If you crouch down and say "I'm gonna get you!", she squeals and runs the other way.
-Laurel's body is really changing. She's gotten much leaner, eventhough she eats a ton! She's going to be a long, skinny person. Her feet are larger too, she's moved into 3/3.5 sized baby shoes.

couple more vacation pics!

back from Georgia

Grandma O. was out for a wonderful week recently. She spent lots of time with Laurel and we got some good family hang-out time. Mom, Megan and I also went and saw Julie Andrews at the Hollywood Bowl.

We took kind of a last-minute trip to visit my aunt and uncle in Georgia last week. Mom was planning on going there from her visit here and so Laurel and I tacked on a trip too! We got back Monday night and left the previous Monday. They live about an hour outside of Savannah in the glorious country. I tell ya, it was a break that the doctor ordered! We relaxed by the pool, played with Laurel, ate amazing food courtesy of my aunt and just did a lot of nothing! Couldn't have asked for a better time away. Laurel was as usual a real traveling trouper.

Going, we took a red-eye and she slept for the few hours we were on that flight. She also got her first kiss from a little boy sitting in the row infront of us:). She thought it was the best thing to stand on the lap tray and hold onto the seat in front and just flirt her little heart out. He was grabbing at her arms to play and his mom said he was being too rough and to give her a kiss. Well he did!:) It was very sweet. Upon arriving in DC, we had to catch a connection to Savannah. The airline troubles are definitely causing a lot of confusion and delays. After sitting for a bit, an attendant announced that our flight was down-sized and that we had to line up to see who got the seats. What?! So mom got in line and came back to say that she had a seat, but Laurel and I did not. That is just not ok! I had a baby with me and mom had a dog, so it's not like we could just hang out for hours. Then, they changed our gate, so everyone hauled their stuff down the corridor and got into lines again to find out about seat assignments. Mom once again went up and was told we'd have to wait to see if a seat became available. Luckily, someone did give up her seat and so we were ready to go! The flight back was similarly troublesome. Upon checking in in Savannah, I was told my flight became delayed and I might not make my connection DC. Once again, I played the baby card and got us transferred to a flight on Continental. FYI, the troubled airline was United. Anyway, we got back and forth and that's what matters in the end!

Laurel was cute as can be on her trip. She's popping out teeth like mad and actually handles it very well. She has her cranky moments, but she doesn't complain as often as i surely would! I give her some tylenol and we have some teeth gel...oh and she loves to chew on the rubber cap on the tylenol bottle. Soon, she'll have 8 full teeth. Just before Georgia, her top two broke through. While away, the two out from that and the next two in line on the bottom made their way through. Laurel also loved having animals around. There were 2 cats and a dog to catch her attention constantly. She's very gentle and just holds out her little index finger for a lick and them moves on. And yes, she does move! She now walks confidently only holding onto our finger with one hand. This leaves her other hand available for touching and digging and throwing, etc. Laurel likes to pick up a ball and throw it, then chase it, pick it up and throw it again. She is now "speaking" by saying just the first letter of things. The dogs were "Duh" and she called for them loudly all the time:). She loves balloons and they are "Bah"s. Her blankie is "Blah" and Elmo is "mo-mo". Love that last one.

But now we're back and getting to be on west coast time and back to work. August though is shaping up to be busy! We'll be visiting Alex's family in OC this weekend. The following weekend, we are going to a barbeque. We have family pictures scheduled for the 17th. Alex and I may be going to Disney on the 16th for my birthday. I know we have something on the 23rd/24th weekend which is currently escaping me. And then Laurel's birthday party on the 31st!

some other recent pics

We went to the pool last week and here's a photo of us. Aunt Megan came along and we did a little swim session. Laurel was a little cold, so we were in and out. She had more fun touching the tiles on the side and making hand prints with water on the floor than actually being in the water. We kept telling her it was a "big bath". :)

The other picture is of Laurel giving out "kisses". She knows what a kiss is and will kiss you back if you ask her for a kiss. She will also give you a kiss at random when she is particularly happy with you:). Her kisses are all open-mouthed, but they used to include tongue, so we're getting better!

Oh and side-note, Megan and I went to see Wicked...fantastic! Highly recommended.

The video is bath-time. She finds spashing most interesting when we do it, not when she splashes.

Happy 4th of July!

Last night, our little family of 3 went with the Bradley family to the Culver City High School to watch fireworks. We had so much fun! The stands and football field were filled with people and we brought blankets and had a picnic. Laurel just loves her little friend Lauren (16 months older). And Laurel wasn't frightened by the fireworks, actually quite fascinated. It was a great show. Laurel also went down to OC during the day to visit and attend a street fair with Grandpa and Grandma Velez.

We also got great news that my business partner Leora is expecting a boy! She is due in very early January and just found out the gender. Our godson, Ryder, will be a big brother before we know it!:)