Flashback Friday

Hard to believe this will be us again soon....

Ten on Tuesday

1. No I still have not edited Kelsea's birthday pictures, but I promise there will be a birthday post by Sunday.

2. I got the BEST gift at my shower on Sunday! I was wondering why Megan didn't say where she was going on her solo vacation or tell me when I asked! So sneaky! But truly, I am so thankful for the wonderful surprise. It was amazing having you there...in fact I'm still in shock over it! I should probably thank your husband for taking care of your three little ones while you were here...only wish it could have been longer! And the cake, have to thank you for making that yummy chocolate cake we love!

3. Alissa was quite crafty with this pretty pink diaper cake. So sad to have to take it apart...

4. My girlfriend Cathy who is also pregnant took & edited these baby shower pictures (thank you)! This one makes me laugh. Hard to believe that my belly is three weeks ahead of hers. She has the pleasure of knowing that her baby Jimmy will be arriving the morning of February 23rd!

5. Thanks everyone for making this second baby's arrival feel just as special. An extra special thanks to Alissa & Kristina for putting this all together. I'm blessed to have you all in my life!

6. Besides my shower there was another special event on Sunday! It was my parent's 40th Anniversary! Congratulations--we love you!

7. Kelsea is a recent graduate of the Torrance Memorial Sibling Preparation Class. What a fantastic class. I almost want to take her back a couple more times it was so good!

8. Kelsea is 38.5 inches tall (75%), 30 lbs (50%) and 48 cm head cir (25%). I find the head measurement a strange one...I wonder how long they continue to measure it?

9. So my girlfriend Sara let us borrow a bed railing to try with Kelsea's big girl bed. No success. Kelsea still wants to sleep in "her baby sisters crib" because, well "she's not here yet."

10. My work took Cathy and I out to breakfast this morning at Martha's in Hermosa Beach for a little baby shower celebration. I dined on French Toast stuffed with strawberries and cream cheese, with a little hot chocolate to wash it all down. Check out her #10 for the group photo.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Somehow I took 201 pictures starting at 1:01 Friday morning, so I have a feeling it won't be until this weekend before I post any Birthday pictures.

2. What a great inaugural speech this morning! Sure is nice to listen to Obama speak versus what we've had the past 8 years. I'm sure SNL & Comedy Central writers are wondering where they are going to get most of their material these next few years.

3. Now that I'm considered full term, this weekend is packed with getting ready for baby. Here's a snippet:
- Carpets professionally cleaned (Fri)
- Car professionally detailed (Sat)
- Sibling prep class for Kelsea (Sat)
- Put car seat in car (after car is all clean)
- Find pacifiers and any other baby essential items that have been packed away in boxes (Sun)
- Try and remember what are those "baby essential items" (Sun)

4. I do have a couple things done. The bag is packed (sort of) and "our birth binder" is updated (well almost). Hmmm, at least the birth plan is done and printed-just have to remember to give it to my doctor.

5. I don't know how my friends blog and watch TV at the same time. I just can't do it. I watched the entire episode of 60 minutes and have no idea what I just watched. And I only have five of my "ten" done.

6. Kelsea picked this out for her baby sister. She was so excited about it. I'm in awe of how much she loves her baby sister already.

7. Kelsea and Grandma attempted ice skating on Monday with Kelsea's school. Neither of them made it past the entrance onto the rink. Kelsea has been repeating to us over and over again "Mommy/Daddy I don't want to skate, it's too slippery".

8. Wallis took Kelsea to a swim meet in Long Beach on Sunday morning and she has now decided she wants to be a swimmer. So I've been getting a lot of, "Mommy I want to do swimming and ballet" these past couple of days. I'm certain the desire for ballet is purely for the outfit, but we'll give it a try.

9. Lost premiers TOMORROW--woohoo!

10. Gosh I hope Lorelei arrives late. I need more time! Kelsea does too, because she is not in the least bit interested in sleeping anywhere except "her baby sister's" crib. She did tell me that her baby sister is going to share it with her, so they must have worked out some sort of an agreement.

Your Second Year

January 2008: Painting on your new art easal that Grandma got you for your Birthday. An activity you loved until Mommy put it away after your decided to color the carpet with markers. I guess it's probably time for me to give you another chance and bring it out of hiding...

February 2008: Running up and down the lifeguard tower while the grown-ups watch the sunset
March 2008: Playing at Veterans Park.April 2008: Napping on the couch with Daddy, which doesn't happen very often.
May 2008: Swinging in the Henning's backyard and having a wonderful time with your friend Ava.June 2008: I wonder what you are thinking in this picture?
July 2008: Riding your big wheel. One of your favorite weekend activities (besides My Gym of course!)
August 2008: Cooking in your kitchen (wearing one of your favorite outfits).September 2008: Relaxing in Maui.October 2008: Trying to get that perfect Christmas Card photo...November (Thanksgiving) 2008: Giving your Mama face hugs and kisses
December 2008: Playing with your new board game, and looking so much older...January 2009: And this picture says it all. Outside in the sun, riding your bike(s) with your hair all crazy and in your face, wearing a fancy pink dress with your favorite beaded necklace and pink flip flops on your feet.

Hard to believe in 90 minutes you will have been born three years ago. Hard to believe how much you've grown and changed this past year. Although it's hard for us to let go of your "two's" we look forward to all your adventures this next year will bring. We love you so very much. Happy Birthday Kels!

Ten on Tuesday

1. I'm 36 weeks pregnant. How did that happen so quickly?

2. Kelsea turns 3 in 3 days! How did that happen so quickly? But more about that later this week.

3. Go see Slumdog Millionaire. You will not be disappointed.

4. I FINALLY found an eco-friendly dishwashing detergent that actually works. I've tried them all (trust me), and this one leaves our dishes sparkling clean. Woohoo!

5. Kelsea went to the dentist on Friday, and got her teeth cleaned, polished and treated with fluoride. I'm still in shock that the dentist was able to do all that?

6. I had to choose between 90210, Scrubs, and American Idol. 90210 lost. I feel like I'm a letting down my Alma Mater, but I'm sure there's enough tweens watching the show to keep it going, oh ya and my friends Cathy & J.J.

7. Speaking of J.J. it's her BIRTHDAY today! Happy Birthday my friend, hope you had a wonderful day!

8. So after hearing from several people what a great show Dirty, Sexy, Money was we DVR'd the series and watched it during the Holiday TV break. Totally got hooked on the show, and found out this week (after watching the last episode) that it's being canceled. The same thing happened to us with Arrested Development. Ugh!

9. Somebody from Stone Mountain, GA decided to get Wendy's, gasoline and some items at Walgreens on the Laughreys. Thankfully our bank will reimburse us for the charges, but how in the heck does somebody in Georgia end up with our account information?

10. This is where the video of Kelsea on Christmas morning was suppose to be posted. Left it uploading all night, and no luck. Will try again later. Off to work, which is really too bad since it's suppose to be 78 at the beach again...

Christmas Wrap-Up

A friend of mine gave me this idea when asking Santa what to bring for our little ones:

Something she wants
Something she needs
Something to wear &
Something to read

At the top of Kelsea's list was a pink bike...
she must have been good this year

Something she needs:
Bedding (pink) for her big girl bed(s). We have a video of her seeing her new bedding on Christmas morning, but I need to figure out how to edit it down since it's 4 minutes long, in addition to needing to cut out the part where she's running around naked.Kelsea, also got a crib from Grandpa Mike for her baby. It took some convincing that Lorelei will not be sleeping there when she arrives.Something to wear:

A princess dress counts right? She ends up spending most weekends in some sort of dress up outfit anyway...Something to read:
You'll have to take my word on this one. Santa did bring her 3 new books to read. You'll see one later in the post.

Kelsea also got this cute pink guitar from her friends Adam & Jake. Uncle Steve is going to have to teach her how to play!
After a whirlwind of opening presents in the morning, we headed over to Grandma & Grandpa's for dinner. Kelsea discovering what Christmas is all about: GOOD food and family of course!
Two days after Christmas we headed up to Bakersfield to spend the holiday with my Dad's family. With over 20 people it was quite a feast, especially with my uncle Dinato as the Chef. Kelsea also got spoiled from her Love relatives! This was definitely one of her favorite gifts.
This baby & basket belonged to my cousin Daniella when she was a little girl. I am impressed that her Mama saved it for that many years! Kelsea played with her baby the entire evening to include reading one of her new books, Merry Christmas Curious George.
The next day we stopped at Kelsea's Great-Grandparents home, where she surrounded herself with singing Christmas dolls. This year we brought home a non-singing doll.
Kelsea creating her masterpiece with her Color Wonder gift from Great Aunt Julie & Uncle Bruce
The magic of Christmas certainly returns with a little one around. Hard to believe that this year we will have two girls opening presents on Christmas morning!

First Boo-Boo

Well, at least her first significant one...

Kelsea had a falling out with one of the small wooden doors that divides the different spaces at her preschool. This one happened to be the "imagination" door. Looks like the door won...

Not to worry friends and family, she is doing just fine. She did amazing at the doctors office, to include doing exactly what the doctor asked her to do. Proof to her Mommy & Daddy that she can listen and do what she is told to do...at least when she wants to. She was very brave and didn't make a peep when they cleaned it out and poured the glue in her gash. There's a chance she may still need stitches but we thought we'd try the glue first, and hopefully prevent a three hour wait in the ER (and a long needle being poked in her head).

I think she thought the whole ordeal was great. She got to stay home with Dad, rent two movies (Cinderella II & Dora), suck on a lollipop, and skip bath tonight!

Hopefully tomorrow is a little less exciting...

Happy New Year!

Our first day of 2009 went something like this...

Eat breakfast, drink coffee, read paper, wait for Torrance Float so we can wave and say hi to Grandma.

Look Kelsea's there's the float...hmmm, where's Grandma? Oh wait, there's the back of her head and her hand waving...and she's gone.

Kelsea head down, lips in a pout...but I didn't get to see Grandma.

I' know I'm sorry hon, the camera was on the other side of the float, but we saw her hair and her hand. We'll see the rest of her soon.

Then Wallis and I spent about 4 hours cleaning the house (sadly no Eva this week) before Uncle Steve & Jennie came over to watch the big game. I know, pretty exciting morning, but I did feel much better starting the New Year with a clean house!

Big game was not so big, and a little bit boring, so we played a few games. None of which Kelsea saw through to the end. In fact, she was one cherry away from winning Hi Ho Cherry-O when she quit and was ready to play something else.

The rest of the day was spent doing what Jordan does best: laying around, snacking & watching football (okay so Jordan prefers napping to football...but is there really that much of a difference between the two activities?)
Reilly trying to soak up the last bit of sun before it's dark. I don't think he likes the time change either.Our special yet incredibly sweet dog, Emily snuggling with her Uncle.
Hope everyone's New Year was as exciting as ours! Come back later for Christmas photos...might even have a video or two (thanks to Wallis)!

Reflections on 2008

2008 was a pretty good year for the Laughreys.

Our daughter turned 2, and we learned, no scratch that, we are learning the art of compromise and negotiating with a toddler.

Maybe this is what helped Wallis and I get promoted...whatever it was we are greatly appreciative of the people we get to work with and those that helped make our promotions happen.

My brother got married to Jennie who we just love and adore.

We found out that Kelsea was going to have a baby sister.

Kelsea got out of diapers and just recently her crib.

Wallis graduated from USC's School of Engineering.

We took a family vacation to Maui, and thanks to my wonderful parents I got to read and relax by the beach and pool while Kelsea chased waves and built sand castles.

We had some lovely friends come and visit in the fall...although they really feel more like family than friends.

And in November my childhood friend of 31 and half years, welcomed their baby boy Landon into this world. Looking forward to Landon and Lorelei playdates in 2009!