Lawrence Fam

Few....This Year is almost over

2011-12-29T15:13:00.002-05:00

I must say, this has not been an easy year for Lawrence Family,

but we have definitely learned a lot a long the way.

Kevin is still on the job search,

and in the meantime I am doing what I can to get us by.

The Lord has a plan....if only he would share it with me!

At least it brings us to our knees ....a lot!

Well, now on to the bragging of my children....

I got a video of my kids today,

which I believe is a accurate depiction of their personalities...

Here are some pics from Thanksgiving...

And to end on a high note....

Were 12 weeks...due July 10th!!

Fall Festivities

2011-11-06T23:05:00.000-05:00

Fall has come, which is Kevin's favorite time of year. I would say maybe it's the color of the leaves, or the brisk air in the morning, or maybe the hay rides and apple picking that he looks forward to....however I would be lying to myself if I didn't it admit that it is football season.

I am also a fan of the fall, but I am missing my summer days with the kids at the park, and not a care in the world and no schedule to follow.

Annalise is in preschool four days a week this year, and loving every minute of it. I get to visit her once a week to do a music class, and her school is so great to let me come and do that. She is such a great big sister to Jonah and she begs me everyday for a baby sister, she even has names picked out for her. I often ask myself...."who is in charge here"? Annalise definitely has a mind of her own! She is already counting down the days until Kindergarten, and she is always devising new plans to move to New Jersey with her favorite cousin, Caitlin. I also chopped her hair off a couple of months ago....and it is so wonderful for everybody!

Jonah is one week away from going to Nursery during church (YAY!!), which Kevin is very grateful for. I am in Primary every week while Kevin gets to chase him through the halls so it will be a well deserved break for both of them. Jonah has also had a rough month, getting every illness under the sun. He currently has the Hand, foot and mouth virus which I am hoping will pass quickly so we can all be back to good healthy state in our home! Jonah is also getting very talkative and his two favorite words to say right now are Pumpkin (bumpbum) and Backpack (bapap). He is a busy little guy who likes to climb everything, and jump off of things he shouldn't!

Kevin continues to look for a job in our country's lovely economy. We have had many interviews but no luck on the job front, we will continue to search and pray for the opportunity that is right for our family. In the meantime our family has been blessed in many ways to keep ourselves afloat on minimum income. On the lighter side, Kevin also turned 31 this year......and he did not get his birthday wish , which is of course for the Phillies to win the world series, but it was an amazing World Series nonetheless.

As for me, I have been keeping busy with my Mommy and Me music classes at home, teaching at Anna's school, and babysitting in the afternoons, doing my primary calling, singing in choir, getting trained in Music Together and all those other motherly things. Luckily Kevin has been amazing picking up the slack that I leave behind. He takes Annalise to her ballet and tap class every week, and regularly takes the kids while I babysit in the afternoons. I am hoping to start my own Music Therapy business in January, but we shall see what life dishes up!

We of course enjoyed our fall festivities...

Apple Picking

Pumpkin Patch

and our own pumpkin patch that we grew this year....

Halloween

We made our pumpkin soup, and ate it out of our pumpkin bowls

(made from the pumpkins above)

Then of course, went trick or treating!

Happy Fall to you all!!

THE SUMMER SUMMARY

2011-09-09T16:13:00.000-04:00

It has been a crazy summer!

With weddings,

birthdays,

activities,

vacations,

family time,

and outdoor fun.

So here it is

In Pictures:

MEMORIAL DAY

BALLET RECITAL

GRADUATION

ERIC'S WEDDING

4TH OF JULY

PLAYGROUNDS & POPSICLE'S

COSI, ZOO & LIBRARY

DISNEY WORLD

MORE TO COME.....

(when my kids aren't yelling at me to get off the computer!)

BIRTHDAYS

LABOR DAY

Our Grad Dad

2011-06-23T15:37:00.000-04:00

He did it!

Kevin finished his MBA

at THE Ohio State University!

So, Tressel and Kevin

will be leaving the Buckeyes

at the same time....

Just on different terms.

We are so very proud of all the hard work

he has put in these last two years.

Many missed dinners

lost sleep

and late

nights

the

basement.

Now,

we are on to

new adventures and

re-learning

how to

live a non-student life!

Wherever that may be.....

M&M&M

2011-05-25T05:33:00.000-04:00

I believe there are three M's that define my life.

I am a Mother

I am a Mormon

I am a Music Therapist

Those three things just happened

to come together a couple of months ago,

and I thought I would share it........

CRC brings generations together for musical event

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF
Published Monday, April 11, 2011 4:02 PM EDT

Children and senior citizens can be as natural a pairing as peanut butter and jelly.

In recognition of this, the Clntonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center recently brought together eight little ones, ranging from one baby to 5 years old -- and 10 of its monthly Breakfast Club and coffee klatch seniors.

The March 29 event was the first of what will be an ongoing intergenerational program at Clinton Heights Lutheran Church, 15 Clinton Heights Ave.

The goal is to have interaction between the generations, said Kelsey Lawrence, board certified music therapist and CRC volunteer.

One of the common threads of the event, besides the smiles, was music. Participants of all ages were encouraged to enjoy music as they interacted.

"Music therapy has many benefits, especially for older adults," she said.

That's especially true for those affected by Alzheimer's disease and dementia. It's also helpful in physical rehabilitation and improving the quality of life, she said.

SNP photos by Jeffry Konczal (2)
Rex Treseder (center), 4 months, of Upper Arlington gets attention from his mother,

Jamie (right) and Virginia Wright of Clintonville during the

Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resource Center's Kids Club musical intergenerational program

March 29, at Clinton Heights Lutheran Church.

In addition, music therapy can promote wellness, manage stress, alleviate pain, help express feelings and improve communication, according to information from the American Music Therapy Association.

For the seniors and children, the therapy intervention and fun included familiar tunes performed by drums, maracas and bells. All were welcome to use and enjoy, Lawrence said.

Planning for the next intergeneration session is under way for summer, said Heidi Evans, CRC Senior Services supervisor.

SNP photo by Jeffry Konczal
Children and senior citizens sing songs together during a musical intergenerational program

March 29, at Clinton Heights Lutheran Church, part of the CRC Kids Club.

For more information about the CRC, and its programs for children and seniors, call 268-3539 or visit online at clintonvillecrc.org.

More information about music therapy and its benefits, visit the American Music Therapy Association website musictherapy.org."

It is great to be able to serve with my sisters

in Relief Society every month,

and even better when there is music involved.

(And it was fun to have an article written up about it!)

My Monkey is 1!

2011-05-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

That's right!

A year has passed

and Jonah thinks he is

as big as his sister now!

This handsome devil

loves to get into trouble.

But most of all

he loves to laugh!

Here are some of his favorite things....

climbing

(on anything, and I mean anything,

despite the steadiness of the object)

jumping

digging in the dirt

following Annalise

sticks

dolls

cars

running away

eating anything

(rocks, leafs, toys, food, you name it)

talking

sliding

swinging high

clapping

dancing

and tackling Mom

Happy Birthday Jonah!!!

Three Peas in a Pod

2011-05-10T11:38:00.000-04:00

Annalise just had two of her

really good friends move away,

and she misses them dearly...

Now she says she is moving to

New Jersey...

Only time will tell!

Spring Things!

2011-04-24T23:01:00.000-04:00

Traveling

Playing, and Parties..

Walks and Sunshine

Our Climbing Monster

Pretty Princess

Fun at COSI

Easter Fun

Snoozin and Cruisin

2011-04-17T23:07:00.000-04:00

Well Spring Break has come and gone....but my mind is still on vacation.

A couple of weeks ago Kevin and I took a cruise

with Corinn & JC (my sister and her husband.)

It was their 10th anniversary, so they decided to take a cruise,

but I told them that they could not go without me....

So they listened!

We left from Ft. Lauderale

had one day at Sea

Then we spent a day in Labadee, Haiti

(A part of Haiti that is "dressed up" by Royal Carribean)

Then another day at Sea

full of eating

trivia

eating

sleeping

eating

swimming

oh, and eating.

Next was Jamaica ....

We went to Ocho Rios

where we floated down a river in tubes

Ate some Jerk Chicken

Then climbed Dunn's River Falls

Another day at Sea

we spent our time learning some new

napkin folding skills

JC only got attacked by animals a couple of times...

The Ship was Awesome!

It was so wonderful to sleep in for a few days!

And eat without having to pick up food off the floor

And play card games with out anyone eating my cards

And spend time with Kevin...without communicating through the kids!

But, I missed my kiddos.....

And my mom could only take care of

five kids for so long without going crazy!

So, Happy Trails to our cruise...

And of course

Remember to eat on more time...

Let that be a lesson to you all!

If you ever decide to go on a cruise,

I may choose to tag along!

We had some extra time on our hands the day our ship got back in to port

So we got to go to an MLB spring training game also.

Yay baseball season

Go Phillies!!!

So long Florida

and so long warm weather

until next time....

Teeeen months!

2011-03-17T10:26:00.001-04:00

Yes! I am 10 months old!

Jonah is getting closer to one....

and he is all boy!

As shown above,

he loves to put

anything in his mouth,

especially when he finds stray licorice!

He loves playing with his sister,

even if she

doesn't always want him to play with her.

He loves to

destroy her toys that she just got set up perfectly.

Always a

big

helper with the dishes!

And many other chores

Favorite things...

Climbing anything

(especially the stairs)

Destroying

Dancing to any beat

(including his own, sometimes he just goes in

and pounds on the toilet seat and starts dancing)

Unrolling toilet paper

Escaping out any door

Playing the drum

Walking

(with help,

He is close to

walking on his own,

but a little scared, it will be soon)

Dislikes...

Vegetables, he has never been a fan

Annalise stealing his toys

Being fed

Being left with other people besides mom

I also love his new goofy teeth!

He has 6 teeth now,

2 up top

4 on the bottom!

I must say

Having a little boy

is really growing on me!

Abu Dhabi....Finally!

2011-03-14T00:03:00.000-04:00

WARNING!

This is a picture overload!!

Finally! I am taking the time to post about our trip to Abu Dhabi , and it only took me 2+ months. My parents moved to Abu Dhabi in May of 2010, so we quickly planned a trip to go see them. We were able to spend two weeks in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) right before Christmas. (We had to take advantage of Kevin's last long Christmas break as a student).

Surprisingly, the kids were really good for both of our flights out to Abu Dhabi and back to the US, which is good because 13 hours is a long time to deal with misbehaving children. I must have prayed hard enough to have mine sleeping most of the time. I have now decided they were both at a good age to be flying, because Jonah wasn't crawling yet and Annalise could entertain herself well. Now, three months later, I would have to consider whether or not Jonah would last that long without driving us all crazy. To summarize, I am glad we went when we did.

If you are like me and don't have the time to read long blog posts, feel free to scan through the pictures below, but if you want the long version, keep reading!

So I thought it would be really weird going somewhere warm and sunny right before Christmas, especially living here in Columbus where the clouds rule the sky. I also thought there would be very few Christmas decorations, or Christmas celebration in a country where Islam is the largest and official religion. (However, the government follows a policy of tolerance toward other religions and activities of non- Muslims.) Luckily, I was wrong on both of my assumptions, being somewhere warm was wonderful, and there was plenty of Christmas celebrating to be found.

The first couple of days we spent adjusting to the time difference and taking it easy. I have never experienced jet lag like that before......

(somehow my mom got this picture of me?)

I think the kids adjusted better than I did!

The first few days we spent at the beach and hanging out at my parents house.

(This is their house, no address though

So good luck finding it!)

Flat Stanley also got to hang out with us!

(If you have never read Flat Stanley, you should!)

The view from the roof...

From the top floor

(3 floors worth of stairs)

I asked my mom for some sunscreen when we went to the beach,

and all she could find was this blue stuff.

Obviously Annalise thought it was pretty cool!

Visiting the Abu Dhabi Historical Village.......

We decided the easiest way to see the city was to do a Big Red Bus Tour....

The bus was perfect because we could get all the fun historical info

(that Kevin loves),

and see everything without having to navigate or worry about parking.

Among all these buildings I also found this handsome guy....

It seemed that most of the city was under construction,

there are buildings going up everywhere (huge buildings).

There are cranes and construction workers all over the place.

We stopped for lunch at the mall and had some Italian food.

Surprisingly, there are all kinds of

american chain restaurants everywhere......

with a little twist!

Dinner that night in a spinning tower thing

(much like the one in Seattle.)

Annalise loved that part of the floor was moving,

she stood next to the window and waved goodbye to us

as our table was moving away.

We also did the big red bus tour in Dubai,

and saw a lot more buildings!

This one happens to be the tallest in the world...

Mall in Dubai

There are mosques on every corner, and every one of them

has a large speaker so all can hear the call to prayer five times a day

We also went to see the Grand Mosque,

it was gorgeous, the detail was indescribable.

This was our tour guide....

and I wish I would have gotten a picture of her shoes,

because they were the tallest heels I have ever seen....

the shoes people wear there are amazing.

She is wearing her Abaya,

as all women are required to wear one in the mosque

to be modest while inside.

An awesome serious shot of me holding Jonah before he ripped the scarf off of my head ten times....I finally had to hand him over to dad, he was driving me crazy! (he was probably just curious, but it was not easy keeping that thing on....I don't know how the women wear them all the time and handle their children at the same time?)

The clock looking thing above is all the times that the call to prayer is sounded.

This happens to be the biggest carpet in the world, and all hand sewn!

Khalifa Park

This park seems to have everything,

a train,

a museum,

a playground ,

four person bikes,

a fountain, and a lot of foliage

(which is pretty weird being in a dessert,

but there is grass everywhere.

I think they said that 97% of the water there

is taken from the sea water and desalinated.)

There were a lot of women with their kids at the playground.

They had all packed their dinner, blankets,

and chairs to spend the evening at the park.

(as you can see behind Annalise)

Al-Ain

My dad had to work the first week we were there,

but the second week he got to join us on all of our excursions.

Our day trip was the zoo in Al-Ain,

but first we went to top of the mountain to check out the view...

If you look hard you can see the border to Oman (the country that borders the UAE)

The Zoo in Al-Ain

Chasing Cheetahs

(eating toes.....)

Dessert Safari Excursion

Kevin and I got a night to ourselves while my parents watched the kids.

We got to ride with 4 other people in a Land Cruiser

while the driver drove like a maniac up and down the sand dunes....

it was awesome!

We never got a good video of the ride,

but here is clip for an idea of our back seat view!

(Sorry it is kind of a lame video,

but we were busy enjoying ourselves)

The sand was amazingly fine...I wish you could feel it through my picture!

These pictures below were taken at the same time,

the Sun setting on the left, and the moon rising on the right.

It was a gorgeous view!

Our evening entertainment, and dinner....

(I think Kevin may have even been a little bored

without children to chase while eating dinner....

I on the other loved having a break)

More Beach time, and swimming...

The last Supper...buffet style...

.Annalise did not waste her time getting to the good stuff!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as we enjoyed our trip!

We had a blast, and I hope we get to go back sometime to see them again!

Love you Mom and Dad!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year....and Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

Okay, obviously I have not been juggling my blogging life very well lately. I still have my fall background and only one short post since October, but I promise we are not dead! (which is of course what you would assume.....because when I don't hear from Kevin and it is getting late, and he hasn't called me, I tell him that I assume he is dead. He then tells me I am assuming the worse for nothing. )

Anyway...I hope to catch up on all of our busy holiday excitement, such as our separate Thanksgiving trips (I was in Utah with Jonah, and Kevin and Annalise were in Maryland), our trip to Abu Dhabi to visit my parents, Christmas in New Jersey, and our growing, busy, crazy Children.

For today I would like to say Happy Valentines Days to my two boys!

First to Jonah.....

He turned 9 months on Saturday, and he has been nothing like Annalise....

He Started to crawl the beginning of December and hasn't stop moving since then.

He then started pulling himself up to stand when we got home in January, and now he is cruising around, and learning how to balance....which only means he is going to be walking Way Too Soon!

I know this is not amazing to most people, but compared to Annalise it is all happening way too fast. She never crawled and didn't walk until she was 13 months, so this is all new territory for me. He gets into everything, and loves to put anything that could possibly fit into his mouth (or not), into his mouth. (which is also not surprising, but once again, something that Annalise never did.)

He was an awesome sleeper for the first four months, slept through the night after two days of being home. But then he decided it would be fun to get up in the middle of the night hungry, and then did it more and more, until I was becoming delusional from lack of sleep. Then I decided enough is enough, he is fine without a bottle at night now, got him to sleep though the night, and then he started teething....Ahhh! The never ending sleep deprivation! Oh well. I can't complain, Annalise didn't sleep through the night until......oh wait, she still doesn't. (She likes to sneak into my bed at night, and has an occasional trip to the bathroom...which for some reason always has to include me?) However, Jonah is a waaaay better sleeper than Annalise ever was. Even as an infant Annalise's naps never lasted longer than 45 minutes until she was almost 2, and Jonah will easily take at 2-3 hour nap during the day. Yay for sanity time!

So that is how I came to the conclusion, not all children are the same....I know, a huge epiphany.

Jonah has his nine month appointment on Thursday, so I don't know what his measurements are yet, but according to our Wii Fit Board, he is close to 18 pounds, but not quite there. He has pretty consistently been in the 25th percentile every time we go in for his well check ups, so I have a feeling it will be in that range once again. Kevin measured his height recently too, and I think he was 27 inches? But I could be wrong. (Don't you love all of my accurate information?)

Well enough about Jonah, onto my real Valentine....

I know, isn't he handsome.

I don't know if I have any serious pictures of Kevin....but these are the most accurate depiction of every day life with Kevin. Getting him to be serious is like trying to get Annalise to eat her vegetables....usually not even worth the fight.

Well Kevin spoiled me today with breakfast, flowers, chocolate and most importantly a clean house. If only everyday were Valentines Day....I can deal with being spoiled.

Kevin has about 4 months, and then we are done with school (for real this time....I think.) He graduates in June, and we are still on the job hunt. So anyone who wants a man as handsome as those pictures above working in their office....look no further! I know we will find a job....I just hope it is sooner than later, so I can plan my life in the meantime. But even if he doesn't find a job, there is always modeling....but he will have to regrow the mustache? Hmmm.

Well, Happy Valentines to my Handsome Husband, and to all the love birds out there!

And,.......
I really do hope to catch up on all of our holiday festivities soon, I promise.
I will at least put pictures of Abu Dhabi up on our blog
(I know you can't wait...you are sitting on edge of your chair holding your breath!)

Till Next Time!

Joney Bologni

2011-01-12T16:38:00.000-05:00

j so somehow my baby is 8 months old...crawling...has two teeth and is pulling himself up on everything. and somehow i havent posted on my blog for months. i have a lot of catching up to do so bare with me the next month as i catch up. in the meantime here is my ghetto post from my phone. happy 8 months jonah!

Fall Festivities

2010-10-30T22:49:00.000-04:00

Fall has come upon us, which means it is Kevin's favorite time of year.....

Football Season

We finally made it to a Buckeye game,

and are looking forward to the rest of the season.

Annalise also got to go to a game with daddy....she mostly was concerned about

"Brutus Buckeye" and the "Marching Vand"

(as she calls them)

As for the rest of our fall festivities....

Pumpkin Picking

Circleville Pumpkin Show....

This Festival has been around for years, and they have pumpkin everything.

Pumpkin chili, pumpkin pizza, pumpkin soda, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin brownies, pumpkin pie, pumpkin donuts......I think you get the idea!

Here are the girls waiting for their pumpkin donuts......mmmmmm

Jumping in the leaves

Carving Pumpkins

Getting ready for

Trick or Treating

my families tradition,

eating hot soup out of a pumpkin....

We followed the yellow brick road all night to find our candy...

And yes....I know I look super scary,

but Kev makes a handsome scarecrow.

None of the kids would talk to me all night...

and it took Annalise a couple of hours to warm up to me,

so the next night for our ward Halloween Party

I made the makeup a little more kid friendly.

But my kids looked super cute....

Happy Halloween!!

Thirty years of excitement.....

2010-10-05T22:35:00.000-04:00

Kevins birthday is today! Happy Birthday baby! He is officially out of his twenties....and I think I am feeling the age more than he is.....because after today I am exhausted.

First I want to say thank you to everyone who emailed me with thoughts for Kevin's book. It turned out great....but I got really rushed at the end so the beginning was looking all cute, and then the end was pretty ghetto with markers and tape. But the message was the same, so thank you for all of the love!

Looking nice..

Cute little things to back the pictures...

Nice....

to....ghetto marker version....

It is so hard to get anything done anymore with two kids around, chances are one of them are going to need my attention every minute of the day.

So I also made an Awesome cake! Okay, so I didn't end up having enough time to do what I wanted for Kevin's cake, so I threw together.....like I said an awesome looking cake, that happened to be shaped like Kevin's head.

But my favorite part is the little bald spot in the back....

Annalise was very excited about Daddy's Birthday too. So much she couldn't stop running around and screaming and driving mommy crazy. Yay Birthdays.

Happy Birthday Kev!!!

We Love You!

"Who is in charge here?"

2010-10-01T18:15:00.000-04:00

If you lived in my house you would hear this phrase often, because there are many times during the day that I wonder who is really in charge. Now, most of the day it is two kids versus one parent (me).... and I usually get outsmarted by Annalise. That is why it is so wonderful that she started preschool this month! Because apparently one at a time is all I can handle.

Annalise has really began to use her imagination, thanks to her friend Mckade who is dressed up as a different character every day.

But when she is at home it has been movies and computer games lately (thanks to the mold downstairs in our basement....which I am not going to even get into, but all of her toys are down there which means we have to find other forms of entertainment)

So I am glad she has some outside sources, such as preschool and friends to use her imagination and creativity in other ways than the computer.

So of course Jonah is only getting cuter by the day!

He took a trip out to Utah with me, for my cousins wedding (while daddy did an amazing job taking care of Annalise and starting school.)

And he unfortunately got a cold, pink eye, and a diaper rash.....the poor thing. But he is doing great now, and feeling much better.And he got to play with his cousin Lucas....who looks a lot like him, they are so stinkin cute together.

He has started to roll both ways now,and he is very close to sitting up on his own. And he also loves to suck his bottom lip.

Oh and another great thing he does, is feed himself a bottle....Priceless (at least to me, it gives me so much more time to get things done)

I love these kids...

4 months...

2010-09-12T22:55:00.000-04:00

Yes my baby is four months, and I couldn't even think of a clever title for this post. But I must say he is pretty stinkin cute!

Jonah hasn't been to his 4 month appointment yet, so I have no stats for you, but I know he is around 13 pounds and 26 inches, or so (shorter than his sister was at this age.) This is by our home measurments though, not by the doctors, so we will see when we go in this week what the official numbers are.

So what has Jonah been up too........?

Well he spends most of his day watching his sister run around the house, and laughing at her when she falls over, tickles his chin or just pays any attention to him. However, instead of a little baby laugh he really just has a grunt laugh, but I love it, I think it's adorable.

He easily entertains himself in his jumperoo, and would much rather be sitting up then laying down.

Despite all my efforts to keep up the breastfeeding, he is no longer nursing, but most importantly he is getting enough to eat ( and he will soon start on solids....which is so weird because he still feels like my little newborn.)

Jonah also loves to put anything in his mouth, which is new to me because Annalise never did that (I know she is the exception), so anything that he sees that he can grab goes straight into his mouth......oh and he slobbers like crazy. He drenches all of his clothes, just with slobber, so when he spits up it is definitely time for a new shirt!

He recently began to realize there is a difference between mom and everyone else. I used to be able to hand him to anyone at church, but now when I hand him off to a stranger he screams as loud as he can until mommy comes back. Who knew that they could start so young? (But you know as a mom I secretly love it.)

It really amazes me how two of my own children could be so different....but Jonah is also is a little cuddle bug. He loves to cuddle pretty much anything. Every time we lay him in bed he either needs a blanket or soft toy to hold on too. And when he is falling asleep he loves to smoosh his face right into your arm, or anything soft and fuzzy will do. I love it, especially since Annalise has never really been cuddly, and don't get me wrong she loves to be held and hugged, but enjoy it while it lasts.....because it won't last long with her.

I could go on and on, Jonah is adorable and my little GQ model baby. I love to dress him in his sunday clothes, and spike his hair up (especially since Kevin won't let me dress him up and do his hair....I guess that is what the kids are for right?)

I must say, it is not easy having two kids around, and I don't get much rest....but I love every minute of it!

Lightning McQueen Cake

2010-08-29T22:29:00.000-04:00

So I got really ambitious this year, and decided to make a Lightning McQueen cake for Annalise. She said she wanted a Cars birthday, so she got a Cars birthday. More pictures to come, but here is the cake:

Thank you to Nana, and Eric for helping put it all together!

It only goes down from here......right?

2010-08-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

Well it was my birthday last week, and I can't even believe how old I am.

At least I am still in my 20's....but not for long. Next year I turn 30, but then I am going to count down from there, so the following year I will be 29 again.....how great is that.

My husband and daughter put together a wonderful cake for me......and for some reason neither one of my children have clothes on in this picture (don't ask me why???? I don't know.)

It is nice to get pampered every once in a while, thanks to everyone for my birthday wishes!!

Next up is Annalise, she will be three in a couple of weeks....

yay for preschool!

Dearest Mommy,

2010-08-12T22:29:00.000-04:00

I am 3 months old today!

I am getting bigger and learning new things all the time. I can roll over, hold my head up like a champ, and defend myself pretty well from my big sister. I found my hands and feet this week, and they are pretty cute if I don't say so myself. I learned how to sleep through the night since I was 2 weeks old, and now I share a room with my big sister, that should be appreciated! I have learned to laugh and smile, which is your favorite, and I bet you can't wait until I can tell you jokes, then I can make you smile too.

Sorry I am not very good at nursing, but those bottles are soo much easier.I know I am only 11 pounds now, but I am an awesomely handsome 11 pounds, and at least I am an easy going baby, that should make up for the few times I am fussy.

Well, I am getting tired now, I think it is time for my nap.....goodnight mommy, sweet dreams.

Love, Jonah

The Nursing Nightmare

2010-07-27T16:01:00.000-04:00

So having Jonah home has been a lot easier than Annalise.

It helps that I know what I am doing now,

and he is a very easy going baby.

That being said....

nursing has really been hard with him.

To start off he was tongue tied, so we had his tongue clipped,

but he still has had a hard time nursing.

I have had to supplement from the first few days he was home, and I pump whenever I can,

and I still can't make enough milk because he gets too frustrated if the milk is not coming out as quickly as Niagara Falls.

So now I am counting down the days until he starts on solid foods,

and hoping I can keep up this

pumping, feeding, supplementing schedule.

Rollin'

2010-07-25T16:06:00.001-04:00

Yes, that is right. Jonah is rolling over already....I don't remember when Annalise started rolling, but it definitely was not early. He rolled over this morning for the first time, and I thought it was just a fluke, so I tried it again...and again, ....and again.

He is so stinkin cute (sorry, I am the mom, I must say such things):

Sleeping peacefully after working hard this morning...

Jonah's personality is showing more and more everyday, I love it!

And I had to share this picture....he has the scrawniest little legs I have every seen, but so cute.

I Love To See The Temple

2010-07-18T22:41:00.000-04:00

I had to share this story about Annalise ......

Kevin and I went to the temple this week, we asked our neighbors to watch the kids and I told Annalise that she was going to go over and play with Luke while we were at the temple. She was so sad that she could not come with us. Every week when we go to church she gets so excited to see the temple,(which is right next to our chapel) and she tells us about the angel Moroni on top, it is very cute. We could not take her with us, but she ended up having fun over at our neighbors, and we were blessed enough to have two well behaved children while we were gone.

So today Kevin and I had our temple recommend interviews and we each took our turn to go in and talk to the bishop. I went in first, and then Kevin took his turn. When Kevin came out Annalise popped up out of her chair and walked right into the Bishops office and said "Okay, it's my turn." Luckily the bishop was very kind and let her sit and talk with him about Nursery and church activities. It really warmed my heart to see her desire the things that I believe are so important, and it was adorable at the same time.

It is days like today that I remember that I have wonderful children and a wonderful husband.

Stott Family Vacation 2010

2010-07-12T23:04:00.001-04:00

My family got together last week.....yes the whole family, and we all have Tyler to thank for getting us all together. Tyler (my sisters oldest son) got baptized on the third, and we were all there to support him. In the meantime we also had a lot of fun.........

Rafting....

Poker...

Smores...

Tylers Baptism.....

Eating and hanging out.......

Family Pictures......

4th of July....

In the meantime Jonah is also getting bigger and more aware of the world around him. He is two months old today.....

Jonah Explosion

2010-06-29T22:36:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posts....but we have been busy having fun for the last month. So I thought I would share some of the few million pictures we have taken of Jonah.

Oh, and some pictures of the rest of us.

I am going to start with the most recent, so I hope you can think backwards!

Jonah galore.....

Blessing Day......

Park of Roses..

The Zoo.....

Kirtland, Ohio.....

Strawberry Picking.....

2 Weeks and Were Still Kickin!

2010-05-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

Today Jonah got to go on his first outing to the zoo! He was so good, which I appreciate, he slept most of the time while Annalise played with her friends.

This week Jonah gained a whole four ounces, so he is slowly fattening up. He is not quite up to his birth weight but he will get there.

Annalise made a pinata this week, it is a monster pinata. All the red dots are eyes.....she is getting excited about filling it with candy!

Daddy and Jonah taking a nap.

Unfortunately Annalise and I got sick this week. I was finally feeling recovered from having a baby and then I end up cleaning up after Annalise and feeling gross for a couple of days myself. But the good news is, now we are all doing well and we have both of our mothers and Kevins sister here this weekend.

I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!

1 week

2010-05-19T13:38:00.000-04:00

It has already been a week since Jonah has graced us with his presence.

I can't say it has been easy,

but I also cannot get enough of this little guy.......

We have already had three visits to the pediatrician,

and he still is not gaining weight....

but I think he will get the hang of it soon enough.

(Maybe he can take some eating tips from his sister.)

He has spent more time awake the last couple of days,

but I love to watch him sleep!

Welcome Home Jonah

2010-05-16T22:26:00.000-04:00

He is finally here!

Jonah Patrick Lawrence was born on Wednesday night at 8:29 PM. Weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches tall.

So you could say this has been a busy week. My mother drove up on my due date to await the arrival of Jonah, and then on Sunday morning my sister, Corinn, showed up really early to surprise my mom for mothers day.....and to tell Jonah to come out already.

Unfortunately Corinn had to be back in New Jersey by Friday, so after 41 weeks of being pregnant, I was done waiting. We scheduled a time for an induction for Wednesday morning, and after 12 hours of labor, Jonah was here.

On the way to the hospital:

Early in labor (obviously, because I was still smiling):

Here he is....fresh slimy baby!

Awesome after labor picture....

Annalise was so excited to meet her new baby brother. I thought for sure she would come in and say "Hi baby Oscar, it's me Annalise." However she was a little timid and when we asked what his name was she said it was Jonah. Ever since he was born she has not wanted to leave his side, she changed his diaper as soon as she could, and helped get him dressed. She refers to him as "my baby".

Welcome to the world Jonah........

40 weeks....and counting....

2010-05-04T17:22:00.000-04:00

Well tomorrow is my due date, and I am sure it will come and go just as it did with Annalise. For those of you who are unaware of how overdue I was with Annalise....I was nearly two weeks over. She was due on August 17, and she came on the 30th (after a little help.)

So tomorrow I have a doctors appointment and we will see how everything is looking. I was dilated two centimeters last week, so hopefully I have made some progress this week.

Annalise has been showing me her tummy a lot, to compare to mine....I think mine is a little bigger though....

Well among preparing ourselves for our new baby, my parents have been preparing to move Abu Dhabi, which means packing up half of the house for storage, giving away some stuff and shipping the rest off to the UAE (United Arab Emirates). We are very sad to see them go, especially since they have lived so close to us for the last 9 months (in the Cincinnati area.)

However, it was very nice to see my family this last week. Two of my brothers, and their families, came out to help mom an dad pack up the house (and claim some furniture in the meantime.)

Here is Greyson and Annalise hanging out at Momom and Papa's house.

Here we are at dinner last week with Steve, Ellie, Lilly, Matt, Lauren, Greyson, Mom & Dad.

We went out to dinner to, of course get together, but to also celebrate Matt's Birthday. However that same night (actually while we were there eating dinner) we got to celebrate a second birthday, because my brother Brandon and his wife had their baby that night.

Here is Lucas......

Heather was due on the same day as me......so she won the race!

We are very happy for them, and hope they are enjoying their brand new little baby!

If Lucas is anything like William he will look exactly like Brandon (all these little Brandon's running around....kind of crazy!!)

Well if that picture doesn't get you baby hungry, I don't know what will. I can't wait until little Jonah comes, and I hope it is sooner than later.

We will let you all know when he arrives!!

And The Winner Is......

2010-04-26T22:12:00.002-04:00

Jonah

Thanks to everyone for voting for the last few weeks.

We have had a lot of fun involving all of our friends

and family in choosing our babies name.

We made a final "postgame" survey if anyone

wants to suggest a middle name or leave any comments.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KJGLTRK

I have about one week to go until my due date ......May 5th.

We will let you know when Jonah gets here!

Nightmares

2010-04-22T21:48:00.000-04:00

So Annalise has been having a lot of trouble sleeping.

She has been waking up a few times a night....

scared of something different every night.

She wakes up crying and comes into my room.

Sometimes she will go back to bed,

but other times she just wants someone to hold her.

She has started to close her closet every night because it's scary,

and she say's there is an eye in her bed?

Sometimes she remembers her dreams,

but most of the time she starts to explain it,

and it sounds like nonsense to me.

I honestly don't know what to do,

but I hope we can resolve this....

before I have another baby keeping me up at night.

April Fun....

2010-04-20T22:33:00.003-04:00

Spring is my favorite season!

No matter what your favorite time of year is....
you have to love the flowers,

and the perfect weather,
and the sports that come along with it.......

We went to a Cincinnati Reds game last weekend

with my parents

for the opening week of the baseball season.

I still wore my Phillies Shirt!

We also had a great time when my sister and her family came here to visit us in Columbus a few weeks ago. They were able to be here for Easter,

...and the kids all had fun being together.

This year Spring also brings babies for our family....

My sister in law Heather is due the same day as me,

so we are on a race to the finish line.

I think she will make it there before me.

I was two weeks overdue with Annalise, and I don't expect a miracle this time either.

I am 38 weeks now, so I suspect it will be another 3 weeks.

See you soon baby Oscar!

Baby Naming Final Vote

2010-04-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

We're down to the championship- a week late, but hey, the baby will probably be late anyway. Thanks to everyone who voted in the extended Jonah vs. Daniel battle this week. It was a really hard decision, since I am a a big fan of the name Jonah (not to sway any votes or anything.) I guess the one advantage that Kevin has is that he is a boy, so he knows what it is like to have a boy name, but I would like to have something that is a little different. So our conversations about Daniel vs Jonah came down to me saying: "Okay, we can go with Daniel, but if we go with that name I am going to call him Danny, and if I am going to compromise on Daniel I also get to choose the middle name, and I choose Oscar. Kevin was not cool with Daniel Oscar Lawrence, so Jonah is now in the final two.

So go on and vote for your favorite.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/96PXXLZ

Baby Naming- Final 3?

2010-04-12T13:24:00.002-04:00

Ok, here's what's going on. We are stuck. Nathan has defeated Nicholas and will be moving on to the championship. The other side is not so easy. Kevin prefers Daniel and Kelsey prefers Jonah. The general public has picked Daniel, but Kelsey really likes Jonah, and is also really pregnant. These factors combine to increase the power of her vote.

We have decided to open up a survey for one day only. So go on and send us you best argument why we should name our son either Daniel or Jonah. This will close Monday night at 9pm EDT.

Thanks for Voting!

http://www.facebook.com/l/c5da6;www.surveymonkey.com/s/W22RV72

Feel free to just leave a comment on here if you would rather do that........

Anna the entertainer

2010-04-09T13:45:00.002-04:00

Lately Annalise has been making me laugh almost as often as she tests my patience. As her vocabulary grows she becomes more entertaining.

This morning Annalise and I were in my room when she started to "discipline" me. She said the following to me in a strong tone of voice:

"I am going to leave, and I am going to lock your door. If you want to be happy you need to be nice." as she proceeded to close the door and leave me in my room. She came back about 30 seconds later and asked me: "Are you ready to be happy?"

I think it is more a reflection of me more than anything, but it was still funny!

The other funny thing she has been doing lately is making up her own words. Her favorite new word is Bonique. I don't know how to spell made up words, but I imagine that is how she would spell it? She puts the word into many of her sentences. She will describe something as being bonique, or say she wants to bonique something, like...I would like to bonique down the slide. This morning was pretty funny when she was getting mad at Kevin and she said:

"No, no, no daddy! Bonique!"

So apparently it can be used as an angry word also? Either way, it is very funny listening to her express herself, and the way she puts her sentences together. I think she is smart anyway, and I brag about her "skills" all the time, but I am her mom so that is my job. I have started to teach her how to read, and she can do small three letter words, which I think is so cool. My little genius.

However, I know in a few weeks she is going to get less attention than what she has gotten used to over the last three years, so I think I should do all I can in the next few weeks to let her know she is still my favorite daughter.

Speaking of baby number two. I had an ultrasound this week to see what position the baby is sitting...and thankfully he is finally head down. So hopefully no turning, or c-sections are going to be needed. Yay! (The ultrasound pics are below. They may not look like much, but the one on the bottom is the most important, the picture of his head at the bottom of my belly, the other two are his face.) All I really want is a normal birth.......is that too much to ask for? By Wednesday I will be 37 weeks. So all I have to say to you "Baby Oscar" is,..... I am ready when you are!

I am ready to be done with back aches, heartburn, muscle cramps, ill fitting clothing, exhaustion (which will actually come in another form soon), being hungry and full at the same time, rolling in bed all night long, being so emotional, not being able to keep up with my two year old, hot flashes, reaching my toes without holding my breath.....and other things that should not be mentioned in words on my blog. Don't get me wrong when I complain about the "joys" of pregnancy. I feel very blessed to have another child join our family very soon, but after 37 weeks of being pregnant....I am also very tired. I am honestly very excited about having a little boy join our family soon, and I know Annalise can't wait either. Almost every day she comes up to my belly and says to the baby "come out, come out baby!" But until then.....we are here waiting!

The FINAL FOUR!!

2010-04-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

Thats right....we are down to four names, so I hope at least one of your favorites has not been knocked out yet!

It gets harder every week for me as I have to choose between the names I really like, but I hope it is fun for you!

These are the final four names: Nathan, Nicholas, Daniel, and Jonah.

Here is the link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F65NGQ6

Happy Voting!!

Elite 8

2010-03-28T23:15:00.000-04:00

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/KH7KFQ9

It's down to 8......make your vote count!!!

Sweet 16

2010-03-22T21:15:00.002-04:00

Here we are .....down to 16 names!!

Vote here:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y596XF8

Spring has sprung...

2010-03-16T16:00:00.000-04:00

From Jan-March 2010

We have flowers in our front yard!! Yay!

I am so excited and ready for warm weather!!

Round Two.....

2010-03-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

Round Two begins!!
Now that we are in the second round it will be a little bit harder to choose between this list of names, and hopefully we won't vote down your favorite!!

Here are the results from this week:

Here are the links, start voting:

East side: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T929CTM

West Side: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/T9SXQ2Z

Baby Bracket.....

2010-03-07T22:54:00.001-05:00

We have put together the bracket....

Here is where you can vote:

(each section of the bracket has a different link, so remember to do all four!)

NW Region- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BY9DYHG

SW Region- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BYDCMWR

NE Region- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BYDHKVF

SE Region- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/35PNCBJ

If you missed my prior post and you are wondering what is going on click here.

32 weeks.......only 8 to go.....

Chili....Chocolate.....and Chuck E. Cheese

2010-03-05T23:31:00.004-05:00

Apparently my nesting instincts are already beginning to show, because I have had the energy to clean a bassinet and the babies car seat (and many other things that you could care less about), and put up three posts this week.

Well we had a a ward activity a couple of weeks ago, the Annual Chili Chocolate Cook Off. We actually were not planning on being there, but then our plans fell through the day before and we were able to attend. So we made a Chili dish and a Chocolate dish. Apparently people liked it .......

And if you look closely Emeril Lagasse and Gordon Ramsay approved!!

For play group we went to Chuck E. Cheese this week. Annalise had a blast. I let her take her coins and play whatever games she wanted to. She loved a popcorn game that spit out ping-pong balls and then gave her 4 or 5 tickets at the end. However, her favorite thing was the picture machine which (as you can see) we did several times.

I guess she can't get enough of herself...............I wonder where she gets that from?

As requested by Heather.....(sorry it took me so long)

White Chicken Chili

1 medium white onion

5 cloves garlic

3 chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs.)

Chicken rub (optional, instructions below)

4 tbsp. butter

6 tbsp. flour

½ cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup milk

2- 15 oz. cans butter beans

2- 15 oz. cans navy beans

16 oz. salsa verde

4.5 oz. chopped green chiles

1 white chili flavoring packet (McCormick)

Monterrey Jack cheese

Cilantro

Sour Cream

1- Sautee onion in butter and oil over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, then add crushed garlic cloves, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Transfer onions and garlic to soup pot, leaving behind as much oil/butter as possible.

2- Cut chicken into ¼ inch cubes, and cover with chicken rub consisting of 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. of each of the following, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. Cook chicken in remaining oil/butter. Add to onions and garlic in soup pot.

3- Melt 4 tbsp. butter and slowly add 6 tbsp. of flour. Once it is even, slowly add in cream and milk until it reaches an even consistency. Transfer into soup pot and turn stove to medium heat.

4- Add in beans, salsa, chiles, and flavoring packet. Mix together, and simmer for a few hours, or until you can’t resist.

5- Serve with shredded cheese, chopped cilantro and sour cream.

Play School

2010-03-03T13:54:00.000-05:00

When we moved to Columbus Annalise and I joined a play school group with some of our friends here. Annalise has loved it, and it has been heavenly for me. Once a month I have all 5 kids at my house, and we learn about a letter, have some snacks and then some free time.

Today we learned about the letter U, and all of the kids were being so cute I had to snap some pictures.

Here they are Under their fort~

Then they decided to start their own band~
(we had a Ukulele, but it was upstairs)

Seth on the Ocean drum, Annalise on the Bongo, and McKade leading the group while Halle was dancing.

Halle and Annalise sharing the princess blanket~

It has been so nice having this play school group, especially since I get to go grocery shopping by myself every week .......time to myself.....what is that........(and it won't last much longer, so I better enjoy it!).

Annalise and I are very lucky to have such good friends!

The sweet sound of silence

2010-03-02T14:08:00.001-05:00

Annalise has been struggling with nap time lately, which means some days she doesn't even get a nap....... and neither does mommy, which can make for two very cranky people.

However she sometimes requests to sleep in different places, which usually is my bed, and as long as she decides to sleep, I honestly don't care where it is. Today she asked to sleep on her little couch in her room. I thought it was very precious.

March Madness Baby Naming.....

2010-02-28T22:01:00.004-05:00

That’s right, it’s once again Lawrence Family Baby Naming March Madness time again. For those of you who are new to this, here’s how it works. We make a baby, and you get to help name it. In honor of the NCAA basketball tournament, we will put together a list of 64 names, and then play them against each other to determine the winners that will advance. There will be online voting each week, so everyone gets some input; Kelsey’s vote = 33%, Kevin’s vote = 33%, Online vote = 34%. Each week there will be a new round. Here’s the schedule:

First Week (ending March 7)- everyone submits names to go into the bracket. Last time we had over 300 submissions, so we’re counting on you for some good ones. On Sunday, March 7, we’ll select the 64 names, and publish the bracket.
Round One (ending March 13)- names will be narrowed down to 32
Round Two (ending March 20)- names will be narrowed down to Sweet 16
Round Three (ending March 27)- names will be narrowed down to Elite 8
Round Four (ending April 4)- names will be narrowed down to Final 4
Round Five (ending April 11)- down to the final 2
April 18- a winner is declared!
May 5- due date!

So send in your names right now! Submit as many as you like!!

If you would like you can email them too us also
lawrencekelsey@gmail.com or klawrenc@vt.edu

To see how it all worked out last time here was our website from three years ago:
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/nameourbaby/

PS- We are having a boy, so boy names are preferred.

10 weeks.....and counting!!

2010-02-22T21:41:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the horrible picture.....but it is a lot harder to take a picture of yourself than you think!

I have been thinking for weeks how I need to get a belly picture, but I wanted to at least have my hair or makeup done......so much for that.

Only 10 weeks to go and baby boy Lawrence will be here!

In the meantime here is my baby girl.....

Pictures say a thousand words...

2010-02-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

So I have a been a huge slacker when it comes to updating my blog. It has been nearly two months.....so I figured I can at least put up some pictures.

Annalise and cousin Caitlin spent a lot of time together in January since my sister and her family just moved back to New Jersey. Here they are playing at indoor play area at Graeters Ice Cream.

Snow!!!! Must I say more?

Hiding under the sink....

Warming up after time in the snow.....

she must have:

her princess blanket

her hot chocolate

and her computer after snow time

no she is not demanding...

Talking to her friends on the phone (at least she likes to pretend)

Annalise's friends at our valentines party for play group....

I know I have been bad about updating on my pregnancy too! I promise I will get a stomach shot up soon.....I haven't taken a picture of my belly in at least three months, and I only have three months to go, so I better get on top of things here!!

Merry Christmas......oh, and were having a...

2009-12-25T18:34:00.005-05:00

Boy!!
I know, I can't believe it. I was totally convincing myself that we would have another girl, and they could be best friends and go shopping together, etc, etc. But apparently Annalise knew all along....It's a Boy! Many people have already asked....does that mean you are going to name him Oscar........only time will tell. Maybe we will have to do another baby naming bracket, because Kev and I have a hard time agreeing on boy names.

Well I wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone!!
It has been an exciting year for us as we moved to Ohio for Kevin to begin school again, and now we are getting ready to welcome a new baby into our family.

This week we got to celebrate Christmas with both of our families, and it has been very, very busy. My brothers wife had her baby a week ago (the 17th), at 9 lbs 4 oz, 21 inches. And the amazing thing is that Lauren is only 4'11'', so Greyson was a huge baby compared to her.

Matt was able to bless the baby in their home on Sunday with everybody there, Grayson is already loved by many people. My mom had to take advantage of having all of her grandbabies together, so we took pictures with all of them (as seen above). The 1 year olds were not happy about it, but I think it is a cute picture.

Kevin was in Nicaragua last week doing a project for school. He had a great time in the warm weather, and it was a huge shock when he flew into Salt Lake with freezing temperatures and snow covered ground. I asked him if he wanted me to write anything about his trip, and he says "It was indescribable."

I hope you all had a wonderful year, and that you have enjoyed celebrating Christmas, and the birth of our Savior.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

The Spirit of Christ

2009-12-13T14:05:00.000-05:00

As the holiday season is quickly coming upon us I am becoming more frantic getting my house cleaned, presents purchase, and bags packed. I have created a long to-do list that I have emailed to myself, so I can be ready to fly out on Wednesday and enjoy my time with my family friends. I have been preparing for traveling and social time with my family,however, this year I have been trying to refocus my Christmas on Christ.

As many of you have experienced before, being a poor student around Christmas time can be a struggle. Even though I generally make homemade gifts, they still cost money and this is something we don't have this year.So I have been thinking long and hard about the gifts for family and friends. I haven't come to a conclusion for all of my gifts this year, but as I was pondering why I am going to all of this trouble I couldn't help think of why I am celebrating Christmas.

For those of you who know my family, we have had one tradition that has held out strong over the years.......Christmas caroling. Yes, if you know the Stott Family you know we like to sing, and I looked forward to it every year growing up. It may not be much, a couple of traditional Christmas songs,........ and probably "Santa Your'e Too Fat" (a family favorite), with a warm ball of caramel corn; But it was a good reminder to me to take the time to focus on Christ, and take the time to love others as He has done for us.

So this Christmas season I hope we can all remember why we celebrate Christmas, and bring the Spirit of Christ into our homes.

This video inspired me to remember what Christmas is all about......enjoy!:

It's a ........

2009-12-11T16:33:00.001-05:00

Still going to be a surprise. However we had our ultrasound yesterday and it was so good to see my baby. I really wanted to bring Annalise to the ultrasound so she could see "baby Oscar", I know she would have loved it, but the hospital is not allowing any children under the age of 16 to visit because of flu season. I was sad, but it was Annalise's nap time anyway, so it worked out just fine. I am to lazy to decide which pictures to show you, so I just made a video describing all the pictures. I hope you can see them okay!

We had the ultrasound tech write down the sex of the baby and put it in an envelope for us, so we will open it on Christmas and let you all know!!

The adventures of potty training part II

2009-12-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

So I thought it would be a good idea to give an update on our potty training adventure. First off, thank you all for your suggestions (and sympathy.) I tried the sticker chart, which worked well for about three days, but then Annalise decided that she didn't like me telling her when to go potty.......she is way too independent to have any one telling her what to do. So at that point I had enough of our two heads butting together and decided to take a little break. I put her back in diapers for two weeks, and in the meantime got her a little princess potty throne, and some children's books about the potty from the library.

We borrowed "Everybody Poops", and "A Potty For Me" which Annalise loved. I ran out of diapers last week and decided there is no time like now! So we tried our "big kid underwear" again, and apparently it worked. The first day she had two accidents, a few days later she had one accident on Thanksgiving (but it was kind of hectic and she didn't know where to find me before it was too late.) Now she is sleeping and running around diaper free.
It is funny the little things you get excited about, but the second day she came to me and told me that she needed to pee, it was the happiest moment of my day. Now she is a pro.....and I don't have to buy diapers anymore (well at least for another 4 months or so.)

Speaking of more diapers, my ultrasound is coming up on the 10th! And.....I finally convinced Kevin to let me find out if we are having another little girl, or a whole new world of boy. The deal is, we are going to ask the tech to write down the sex for us, and we are going to put it in an envelope and open it on Christmas. What a great Christmas present!! (So hopefully we can tell if it is a boy or girl in the ultrasound.) It is amazing how fast the first half of pregnancy has gone, but that is easy to say now that I am out of my first trimester and feeling human again.

Well, while I am rambling on I might as well tell you how close Kevin is to the end of his first quarter of school at OSU. All he has left are finals, and then I get my husband back on Wednesday......Yay! Then he is heading to Nicaragua next Saturday to party (well work) for a week with some of his peers from school.

Sorry for no pictures, but we are getting a new camera soon and then I can finally fit my camera in my purse! TTFN

Annalise and her new friends

2009-11-22T20:52:00.000-05:00

I know I have been really bad about posting lately......but I am so stinkin tired I am just glad Annalise is alive by the end of each day. (I also posted about Halloween below if you would like to see it.)

I have really been enjoying my days at home with Annalise. She is so darn cute now that she talks so much, and shares her opinion every second of the day. She has also made some good friends with our neighbors here, and she especially talks about her friend Seth all day long.

I have been meaning to write down all the cute things she say's all the time, but I still haven't gotten around to it. I especially love when she says words backwards, (which she does often.)

For example-

Mommy: How are you today Anna?
Annalise: I am doog, not bad.

Mommy: What song do you want to sing?
Annalise: I Am a Dog (I Am a Child of God)

Mommy: What are you doing Annalise?
Annalise: I am upisdown.

I love watching her learn.....and she teaches ME new things everyday. She also enjoys sitting with daddy on Saturdays to watch football, and she now is becoming more of a Buckeye fan than a Hokie fan (don't tell daddy.)

Here is Annalise singing, which she loves to do all the time now:

A ladybugs Halloween.....finally

2009-11-22T20:26:00.000-05:00

Halloween was nearly a month ago and I am finally getting around to posting pictures. Sorry for all of those people who have been sitting on the edge of their chairs waiting for the latest Lawrence Fam update.

Here in Columbus they do trick-or-treating a little different. There is a beggars night for all the the different neighborhoods instead of going on Halloween. Ours was the Thursday before Halloween, which worked out great since our ward trunk or treat was on Halloween. (I don't have very many pictures because our good camera (with a flash) no longer works.)

That night for trick-or-treating we just went around our complex and knocked on doors with some of our neighbors, which was perfect......just enough time for Annalise to get enough treats, and just in time for Kevin to get back for the Virginia Tech game.

We also had some fun carving our pumpkin that week and making cookies.

I don't have any pictures of Kev and I, but for our ward party Kevin wore his Phillies shirt and I wore a shirt that said Future Phillies Fan, with a little arrow pointing to my tummy. Not quite everyone knew I was pregnant yet, so it was fun. Unfortunately that did not bring enough luck to the Phillies this year to clench the series,.......but there is always next year!

The adventures of potty training

2009-10-27T16:21:00.001-04:00

For about a month now Annalise has been potty training, and who knew it takes so long to get a child to want to pee in a toilet?

She was very excited when we first started, she got some new princess underwear with Ariel on it, and all the other lovely princess'. She was trying really hard to do well, and she even started telling me when she needed to go.

And then it all went downhill...

She stopped telling me when/if she needed to go
When I ask her to go she says "no" most of the time, and I have to beg her to go, and usually by the time I get her to come to the bathroom she pees in her pants
She seems to stay drier when she has her pull ups on vs. underwear
After she does go potty there is no way she wants to put her clothes back on.....because she loves "nakey time" (as she calls it)

The best was when we went to the pumpkin patch and she was sitting on my shoulders and, yes.....she peed all over me (my hair, jacket, shirt, and anything else that gravity could handle.) So needless to say potty training has been an adventure. We started off by giving her a single treat every time she went successfully in the potty. We slowly phased the treats out, but apparently I did it too quickly. I don't know. So today I have started a sticker chart, and I think she is taking to it quite well, but only time will tell.

Oscar....

2009-10-21T11:28:00.000-04:00

Yes it is true, Annalise is going to be a big sister!! We are all very excited, .......and I am very exhausted. Today I had my 12 week appointment, and all is going well. I had an early ultrasound 4 weeks ago, and after measuring the baby the doctor took over two weeks off of my due date, so as of now we are due May 5 .......a Cinco De Mayo baby.

Here is my baby bump:

Annalise enjoyed going to the appointment today and she wanted to do a video of herself, so I asked her some questions about today, she says the baby is a boy......but only time will tell, and in fact we haven't decided if we are going to find out or not. We shall see.

Annalise also named the baby oscar, which I think is so funny, she also likes to read and sing to the baby. I think this is going to be a long six months for Annalise as she waits for her sibling to come.

29.....26? whatever age?

2009-10-07T08:51:00.001-04:00

It was Kevin's Birthday on Monday, and like every year it is right next to General Conference, which makes it hard to celebrate, but I think he is probably used to it by now. I think that Annalise was more excited that it was Kevin's Birthday than he was, and every morning that he leaves for school now she says that it is daddies birthday.

Well,despite Kevin's load of school work and General Conference, we did fit it in a dinner out. Kevin found a Mexican grocery store/restaurant that actually had some great food.

We haven't had good Mexican food in a long time, like..... since we were in Mexico, so we were looking forward to it. Philly just has nothing to offer when it comes to Mexican food, so I am glad we were able to find something here in Columbus.

Annalise is pretty good at remembering how old daddy is now, but when I ask her how old mommy is she says 26, so I just go with it. If she wants to take a couple of years off of my age I am just fine with it. For Kevin's "cake" we made a peanut butter cheesecake. He loves cheesecake, so I thought I would try something he would like, and it turned out very delicious, and very rich. Here is a video of us singing to him, I thought the candles were pretty cool because I put them in the shape of a 29 and you can kind of see it in the video.........Happy Birthday Kev, enjoy this year because.......next year is the big 30.

The eating machine

2009-09-20T21:00:00.005-04:00

Yes I have an eating machine, and her name is Annalise. Ever since she started eating solid foods it seems like all she does is eat, but today she ate more than I have ever seen her eat before.

This morning for breakfast she ate three bowls of cereal (and I am not talking small bowls)

Then for lunch she had a slice of apple bread, a hot dog, two pieces of ham, a piece of turkey and some string cheese.....oh and blueberries, and of course her "agua".

Then a couple of hours later she was begging for a snack so Kevin made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich which she gobbled down and asked for another, which she also scarfed and asked for more. Then she finished off the blueberries and enjoyed some juice.

An hour later Kev and I sat down for dinner, at which point she asked for "some"......"I Some" she said. So she had some pasta and more juice.......and a chocolate chip cookie!

I don't know what has come over her, but she better be going through a growth spurt, or else she has some sort of bottomless pit that we have not discovered.

Happy Birthday Anna!!

2009-08-30T20:28:00.005-04:00

Today my little girl turned two, and she couldn't have been more excited that it was her birthday. We sang Happy Birthday at least three times this morning, by request of Annalise, and this was before we even got to church. Needless to say, she loves birthdays. But it turns out that I also love birthdays, so I made here a princess cake, (that we are actually saving for tomorrow), it turned out pretty cute.

Annalise has been talking about a birthday cake for weeks now, so I hope she is not dissapointed tomorrow when she eats it, since all it really is.....is cake.

Well enough about cake.

Annalise has grown up so fast over the last couple of years, and her independence never ceases to amaze me!

Here she is......

2 Weeks old~

6 Months~

1 Year~

18 Months~

2 Years~

Happy Birthday Annalise!