To Grandmother's House we go...

I love these pictures!

This little guy cut his 1st tooth yesterday! He woke me up at 4:15 in the morning and would not go back to sleep! I couldn't figure out why or what to do and finally felt his gums and there it was! He got a heavy dose of tylenol and finally went back down at 6 am!

We went to Grandpa & Grandma's house yesterday and spent the night! Thanks to Grandpa and his awesome camera, we have pictures to document the visit! I'm getting pretty bad about taking pictures when we visit the grandparents! Piper loved being there and stayed B.U.S.Y. the entire time! She loves to go, go, go! Anytime we say "Grandma & Grandpa's house..." she corrects us and says, "and Sandy's house too!" On the drive back home both kids did so good! Briggs wasn't feeling well and he slept from the minute we left their driveway all way home and then an additional 45 minutes in his carseat after we arrived home! Piper slept for 2 hours also. Ahhh, peace!

Look what have been doing!

We are staying extra busy, trying not to go crazy during this turn-around! Ugh! I'm ready for Michael to be home at night and on the weekends with us! However, his first day off was last Friday night and we hired a sitter for the very first time!! I went to a wedding and he got the kids bathed and dressed for bed! Then after they went to bed the sitter came and we got to go out to eat and to a movie! It was fun. Now, we are looking forward to his next day off which should be in about a 10 days!Daddy loving on little man!
This past Saturday I took Piper on a little field trip with our OPAT (Oklahoma Parents As Teachers) group to the fire station. She liked it a lot! I was so proud of her for not being a afraid of the big trucks and loud noises!

My friend Kristen and I are starting to do 'school' with our girls once a week. We started this week with the letter E and the number 1. Claire knows all her letters pretty much and Piper is just now learning hers. We read "Ella the elegant elephant" and I made these elephant trunks and ears for them to dress up in and they were necklaces to be "elegant!" (Dollar tree did not have grey felt so that is why they are white and red!) I also made scrambled eggs as part of our lunch and we exercised! The school stuff only lasted 30-45 minutes and the girls played the rest of the time! They had a lot of fun!

5 month comparison

Piper & Briggs at 5 months. They look more alike than I thought at this point than I thought. But I can definitely see some difference too!

5 months!

Briggs turned 5 months on March 15th. Where has the time gone? Isn't he big?? He's doing so much; Eating his 3 meals, rolling over, playing with toys, being very vocal, teething...Actually, his first tooth has broken through but then his gums have become so swollen that and the tooth went back in so I'm waiting for it to truly break through the skin. He's handling it like a champ! His two favorite toys are the jumperoo and the activity mat but he's pretty content wherever. He's not too fond of the bouncy seat anymore b/c he's a bit big for it now. I'm guessing he weighs 20 or 21 pounds! He loves his sister and squeals with delight when she is being silly with him. He pretty much loves anyone right now! Briggs is full of smiles most of the time. His schedule is all messed up b/c we have been pretty busy so his napping isn't consistent right now but he is sleeping 10-11 hours a night! He doesn't like to travel in his car seat for long distances but I'm learning the best time of the day to travel with him. He loves being on his belly and is pushing up with his arms. He lights up when I sing to him. Oh, I love this little man so much! Next month, he'll be 6 months old, Michael will be turning 33 and Piper will be turning 3! We are going to have a lot going on around here!

Children's Museum

Last week was Oklahoma's Spring Break so all of our regularly scheduled activities were cancelled. My sister invited us to join her and her two youngest at the Children's Museum in Seminole. Basically, it is a big warehouse sized building with tons of centers to play at and a whole lot of outdoor stuff as well, including a train ride. It was cooooool! And, I want to go again and again! Piper had a blast and Briggs was so content hanging out. There were a lot of kids b/c of Spring Break but we still enjoyed it!They had self face painting.
A real fire truck along w/the dress up uniform!
A surgery center complete with operating room attire!
Can't resist a sleeping baby photo!
My favorite center...the mechanic shop! So cool! This is Anna, my 9 year niece!
A news anchor desk. You could see yourself on the television screen.
Me going crazy...not really...just me being silly!
A dentist office!
Piper's snack break and one of the few smiles on camera I could capture!
Mechanic Piper!
My 5 year niece, Olivia, ringing up groceries at the "Homeland." It was the most popular center!
Piper posing with her veggies she is going to purchase!
The employ helping Piper type her name in Braille. Cool, huh!
Briggs just hanging out.
My sister, Sheryl and her two girls.
Like I mentioned, we had a blast. They had so many activities that I didn't even photograph like a mock courtroom, building block center, a real airplane cockpit that the kids could pretend to be a pilot, bubble blowing room with life size bubbles, jungle gym, a real ambulance, and even a classroom that you could pretend to be a teacher or a student, etc, etc! So fun!

Big Boy Food!

Look at those cheeks! He has his daddy's cheeks I think!
This is Briggs eating peas for the 1st time about a week ago. Since then he has begun eating 3 meals a day in addition to nursing. So, for breakfast he has baby rice cereal; lunch he has one veggie; and dinner he has 1-2 veggies and rice cereal. He is really doing well. He loves his 'homemade' peas better than the store bought baby food. So far, he has tried green beans, peas, and butternut squash. I'm going to get busy on the baby food making process this week and have a lot stored up in the freezer. I forgot how easy it is to make! And, in the next week or two he'll get to try fruit!

All Tuckered Out!

March For Babies!

It's that time of year again and I'm asking you to consider helping me raise some money for Team Laughlin in the annual March of Dimes Walk that we will be participating in on May 7th! This is the 2nd year for me to be involved and I'm so glad that I can be able to support our friends!

In 2009, my friend Mendy gave birth to her twin daughters, Renna and Regan, at 28 weeks premature. They are now healthy and happy little girls that are about to turn 2. We are walking in honor of them to help raise money to support programs and fund research that help moms have healthy full-term babies! If you would be interested in helping us please visit my page on the MOD website here! (the donation tool is located to the right of your screen) Or mail a check to my home address!

My goal is only $50 so if I can surpass that it would be awesome! The team goal is $2500!

You can visit Mendy's blog here!

Thanks for considering helping us out!

Piper's Funny Sayings

I know I've said a million times that Piper has been saying some funny stuff. I need to write a weekly post about her funny sayings but I don't have a catchy post title for it. Any ideas??

So here's the 2 funny things I heard today!

"Piper do you want sauce or parmesan cheese with your pasta?" "I want the farmer and cheese, please." "What did you call it?" "Farmer cheese. I want the farmer cheese." "Oh, right. Farmer cheese. Gotcha!" (she was so serious too as if she was saying parmesan correctly!)

"Piper, mommy is going to go lay Briggs down for a little nap. You stay down here." "Okay, Mommy. You be safe."

Sweet Cheeks

Happy Friday Everyone!

My Little Pups!

We went to a birthday party last month for a one year friend and it was a Puppy Party! That is Piper and her friend Connor dancing to the music that accompanied a short picture slide show of the birthday boy. They were hilarious to watch b/c they were definitely grooving! My friend made these adorable puppy ears for all the kids to take home. Isn't she creative!! Piper loves her ears! She had so much fun at this party b/c she got to help the birthday boy open his presents. I had to remind her as she was getting started that the toys were not for her to take home; they were his toys and she was only helping! Don't my kids look so cute! Piper Poodle and Boxer Briggs is what I call these 2 photos! Sommer Maytubby took all the pictures at the birthday party. She is the same photographer who took our family pictures after Briggs was born. I think Briggs' blue eyes are so beautiful in the photo!

And, the party ended with a sleepy little guy! I love pictures of sleeping babies, especially mine!

Bathtime Buddha!

I just switched Briggs from this inclined seat we have to this froggy bath seat we owned w/Piper and I LOVE IT!!!! It's the best and he really enjoys bath time. In the other seat, he was about to roll out of it and into the water. This keeps him in place and up higher where he can watch and smile at Piper.
Check out the thighs!!Obviously this pic below is not bath time. Just wanted to show you how he's constantly chewing on something! He can really grasp things now and has been reaching for my shirt, necklaces, and face as much as he can! I'm sad he's getting so big!!!

Sunday

Grammy & Papa John came for a last minute visit on Sat/Sunday. They were here for about 24 hours and then went home. It was nice to see them and Piper said, "Don't go!" Ha!

I loved the kid's outfits on Sunday so I'm showing them off! Chandra got Briggs this sweater vest and I love it. It is 12-18 months and I think he'll be able to wear it for Easter too! Yay!
Piper has her backpack on in this pic b/c we were about to leave for 'Big' church on Sunday night. It was her 2nd time to sit in service and she did great. I talked to her about whispering to us and not talking, etc. She kept saying on the way there, "I will whisper okay?!" Luckily, for her, it was the kids musical that night so she got to listen to music most of the time, which we all know she loves!
She was really into it...See this serious face! That is her picking at her lip, which has become a really bad habit of hers. I don't know how to break it. She's also started biting her nails to the nubbins...not good! She cracked us up at one point because we let her stand up and she did this real quick booty shake that was straight off of a J-Lo music video or something. Michael and I were trying to contain our laughter but it was hard! I don't know where she gets her moves but it's not from us!
Daddy surprised her with ice cream at Braum's for being so good during church and she hasn't gone a day without telling someone, "I was good at big church so I got ice cream!" Makes me smile! The Lord has really been showing me some great lessons lately with Piper. I can get really frustrated with her constant disobedience in a certain area and be thinking to myself, "Why does she keep doing that? How many times do I need to go over this? etc., etc. and then the Lord so gently whispers, "Shelly, how is that any different than what you are doing to me in this area (fill in the blank). Ohhhhh, (big sigh) He gives us children to teach us so many lessons and allows us an itty bitty glance into what our sin does to Him. I've got a lot to learn and a long way to go! But, praise Jesus that I don't have to carry that burden on my own!

Catching Up!

Our life continues to be crazy...can't you tell?? (I'm writing this after we had to deal w/a few flames in our oven tonight!! Crazy is just the beginning!)
We are enjoying our last few days of 'normal' around here. At the refinery where Michael works they have a scheduled Turnaround, which means that some of the units, if not all, are shut down and maintained. This particular turnaround is a long one....40 days give or take! So, Michael has the night shift and he'll be starting that later this week. He'll work 6 pm-6 am everyday 7 days a week. He'll get one night off after 14 or 15 days and then does that again for another 14 or 15 days straight. The good news is that he'll wake up in the afternoon around 2-3 pm so we'll get to see him in the middle of the day each day instead of at 6 pm. But, 40 days is a long time and he won't have the weekends off. Pray for us during this time if you think of it! Piper does not like it when her daddy is not here at bedtime...and neither does mama!
Briggs tried the swing outside for the first time last week. The occasion did not seem to phase him! He's soooo laid back!
He does love his sissy! Do you see that grin below as he looks at her. He lights up like that any time she gives him attention or even when she talks in his general direction! They both love each other a lot!
Piper is into "toe jamming" now. Gross I know! But, remember I'm documenting the 'memories'!!
Briggs can sit in the bumbo chair now. He always seems to find his feet while sitting in this chair! Piper's thighs can fit in this thing better than his!! Ha!
Daddy went skiing a couple of weeks ago in Angel Fire and brought Piper and I t-shirts back home.
Piper is now up to 30 lbs. She's gained 2 in the last month! She's eating like a horse and loves her meat most days! At Briggs' 4month checkup he weighed 19 lbs even! It is getting challenging lugging him around!