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.

da-da & ma-ma

here's some late easter photos...better late than never!

Laurel is starting some actual "talking"! About a week or so ago, "da-da" became quite recognizable and directed at Alex. Very exciting and he's eating it up! At the end of the day, I think Laurel remembers that he returns from work and starts chatting about him. We look out the front window and she babbles, "da-da, da-da...". Ma-ma is starting to come out as well, much to my delight:). She says it mostly when we're in the car and she's tired of sitting in the back alone in her car seat. But oh well. Laurel also says what I think is "no"...she says "nah, nah". Mostly when she's unhappy. When she is happy, she gurgles and it's almost like baby purring:).
Laurel's little tooth is still trying to come up. Not much further along. I think the tooth just next to it is about to break the surface as well.

Copper Willow is getting some exciting press. We've had attention from a couple of important online sites and will be expecting a few in print as well!
Online:
http://www.dailycandy.com/los_angeles/article/36272/
Maid+in+the+Shade
http://www.la.com/shopping_and_beauty/Copper_Willow.html
http://sprig.com/home/invitations-and-announcements/
We're also expecting write ups in InStyle magazine and LA Confidential. We also had some nice attention in a couple of industry magazines. We had a nice large article in Gifts and Accessories magazine and will be on the cover of Stationery Trends Magazine! All great press and our business is slowly growing!

Laurel sending emails

Lot of events!

Megan pointed out that I haven't posted in a while and I looked at the date, and yes, it's been way too long! But for good reason, we've been really busy! Lots going on for everyone and some big events for Miss Laurel.
At the end of March, we had a visit from Grandma O. to help get ready for the baptism, help around the house, babysit and spend time with us. The biggest help was getting Laurel on a good schedule! She is now, finally adjusted to 2 longer naps per day! Yay, thanks Grandma! Laurel's schedule now flows so easily that she goes down to sleep on her own, with little to no fuss. She wakes at 7 like usual, has milk and then cereal and fruit at 9. Nap from 9:30-11:30. Play until noon and then we have lunch. Sesame Street is on at noon and she just adores Elmo! She goes crazy when he comes on and grins and chats with him . That is at 12:30. More play and milk around 1:45. Nap from 2 until 3:30 or 4. Play until 5, break for a snack. Dinner at 6:30 and milk before bed at 7/7:30 depending on how the naps went. So much easier!!

Sierra's 5th Birthday was at the end of the month as well. We went to Orange County to an indoor play gym. Lots of bounce houses and inflatable slides. Lots of fun and Laurel seemed to enjoy the bustling kids. She drove a large plastic car! It was fun to see Amber and Laurel interact. They were the tiniest kids, and both sat together in high chairs when lunch was served.

Easter was held at the Velez home in Orange Country (alex's parents). It was a lovely day and Laurel wore a super cute dress!

Laurel was baptized on April 6th at the 6 pm service. Megan and I joined Bel Air Presbyterian church in February and the service was held there. The "ceremony" was really short...the the sermon was way too long...but it was a nice service. And Laurel was SOOO well behaved! Very content and even when the hour ticked to her bedtime, she hung in and smiled for all of the pictures! Grandma O. spent hours upon hours sewing a beautiful dress for Laurel out of the train from her wedding dress. The front was smocked as well as a bit on the bonnet. A very sweet dress, lots of pictures were taken! One of the biggest highlights of the day though was finding a new little tooth poking through Laurel's gums. Its the left lower front tooth. It's made a little bit of progress surfacing, but it's been a week since it's appearance and is taking a long time coming out. For the most part she has handled it really well. Saturday, the 5th (day before the baptism), she seemed to show signs of a small fever and was quite cranky. But when the tooth appeared, we understood why! Laurel is rarely cranky for no reason! She's has some moments of the same this week as well, but seems to be all teeth related.

Grandpa O. is out with us right now. He arrived on Tuesday and has been helping with Laurel as well. Grandma O. baby sat a lot so that I could be at the shop printing. We're working on our wedding album for the stationery show in May. We have also had some great PR opportunities come up for our company, so lots of prep for that has taken priority as well.

What else is new with Laurel? In addition to tooth, being baptized...hmmm...she's definitely getting the chubs. She sits up so well on her own, she can be plopped down like a sack of potatoes! She's a very good eater now and goes through entire jars at eat meal. She used to just sample out of the jars in the beginning, then worked up to half jars...now entire jars! and she loves it, lots of agressive and excited "mmmm"s :). Her hair is getting longer on top and is starting to lay down a little, at least in the front. The spikey hair was so cute though! She is also getting a hang of mimicking what you do and is trying to give kisses...open mouthed or with her tongue stuck out, but kisses non the less. Oh and her blanket is officially the pink knitted blanket with the open weave. She won't go to sleep without it. She loves to cuddle with it and just rolls around her crib with it. I feel more comfortable because it's a huge weave, so it helps me sleep at night knowing I don't have to worry about her. She is capable of rolling onto her stomach, but she hates it. She just rolls from side to side. She may never crawl! Laurel has also decided she doesn't need her pacifier anymore. I might bring it with me for comfort when I take her out some where. But no longer necessary and not needed for sleep at all!

check up!

Laurel is about 50% all around...for now:).

She had her doctor appt. yesterday and measures 26" long and 14 lbs, 14 oz. Pretty good! She's slightly under weight for her length, but the doctor isn't worried and attributes it to the body type she's gotten from her parents:). ha.

We reviewed all of her abilities to make sure she's on track and we're all good there too. She has a few more 1st foods to make her way through. She's done:
peas, carrots, squash, sweet potato, bananas, peaches, pears, applesauce, and beef.
rice cereal, oatmeal, and barley cereal.

We have to do the mixed cereal, chicken and turkey, and green beans. I had a lot of trouble finding green beans in the starter size, but finally found it last week.

Laurel has also tried bananas in the hand-held strainer...it's a little pourous fabric pouch attached to a ring, so she can hold it and chew and squeeze on the food through the fabric. The doctor said that in a month or so she can start to have tiny pieces of mashable food and also the little puffy baby cereal, when she can pick tiny things up with her hand.

6 months and growing fast!

(The video at the end is of my mom feeding Laurel - she was out here for a lovely visit at the beginning of the month)

Whew, I had no idea it had actually been so long since our last post! It didn't seem that long!

Anyway, I've been busy at Copper Willow. We're developing our wedding album for stores and I can't remember the last time I had this much to do. I know I was super busy in grad school working and going to school-both full time. Add a baby onto that much and that's what I do now. Laurel and I do it all! I do my calligraphy at night and Laurel and I go to Copper Willow, run errands, play, and nap (well she does) all during the day...oh and laundry, lots of that:).

I think Laurel is going through a growth spurt. She seems much heavier than just a few weeks ago. She has a bouncy baby gym at the shop. (Kind of like the walker I had as a baby, but they don't make those anymore for safety reasons.) Anyway, the gym is all based on weight and at the end of February, her little feet could barely reach the floor, and now she's so heavy that she can bounce up and down, pushing off with her feet!

Laurel is also loving her baby food now. We've done carrots, sweet potatos, squash, peas (her face was quite disgusted at her first taste of peas, but ok now!), bananas, peaches, pears, and applesauce. Her poops have really changed. Much more adult like and yes, stinky! In the morning (9am) she has oatmeal with Mommy (I eat oatmeal too!), but I mix prunes into hers to help her out a bit. She just started a lunch meal. She was having breakfast and dinner but has been just starving constantly lately and whenever I get our food, she wants to eat too! So today at the shop, I had a banana and she went crazy, so I mashed some up and gave it to her. She loved it! So we will now do lunch. Her dinners are at about 6:30 and she has a veggie and some fruit. Tonight it was carrots and applesauce. She's eating so much better. She's excited to have the food and I can hear her swallow. She does make a huge mess though...I really should take a before and after picture. We go through one bib each meal! Refer to the lots of laundry comment earlier.

Laurel is still napping 3 one hour naps per day, not much change there. We had a little fluxuation when we had to adjust to the one hour change last weekend. But back to normal now. She goes to bed very easily and completely on her own. I put her down awake. She is also addicted to having a blanket. I started giving her a loose stitched knitted blanket so that it's not super thick and easy to breathe through. (found that tip online!) I think it may be her "blankie" now...she has to have it. She still uses the pacifier, but I think it's not a big deal if that's not there. Thumb and blankie like her auntie megan.

Laurel has spent some nice quality time at Grandma and Grandpa Velez's house. I did work all day at the shop a couple of weekends ago, we were getting press kits ready about the biz for magazines. And then this past weekend, I went for some much needed R&R with Megan to Disneyland! Alex took Laurel to visit both times. It's good for her to be with family and be passed around. She went through some serious mommy attachment not long ago and still get freaked out by strangers.

Laurel also got her 6 month picture taken on the 3rd. We will get photos back on the 17th and i'll post some...in the meantime, here's one (at the top)! It's a low resolution, stolen from the sears photo studio site:). As you can see, she's sitting up quite well on her own! She's had a couple of times she tipped over and bonked her head and cried, but she's fine:). She's also into everything! I'm actually starting to fear the day when she crawls and walks. My house is no where close to prepared! But now when she sits with you she has to have everything you have or anything within reach. The phone, remotes, love the computer...and it all goes in the mouth:).