Tim & Laurel's Blog

I have always liked dill pickles, and they're a common craving for me in early pregnancy.  While I have been sick since Thursday, they're one food that I can reliably stand to eat.  Seth has also developed a taste for them, and I guess seeing me eating them reminded him, so he has been eating quite a few lately.  A couple days ago I offered a taste to Ruth, who is always trying to eat our food, thinking she would pucker her face or do something funny because of the vinegar.  Instead, she began chomping down, sucking all the juice out, and eventually learned how to chew off the meat and eat it. 

Unfortunately, with so much competition for the pickles, we are now out of them.  Maybe it's time for Tim to make a midnight run!

Despite having infection in both of her ears, Ruth has been doing lots of new things lately.  2 days ago was the first time I noticed her playing peek-a-boo with me around the shower curtain.  Now she loves hiding around doorways or other obstacles, to peek back out at us.  Today she really started clapping in earnest and giggles with glee every time she does it.  It's pretty fun to watch.  Today was also the first time I am positive she signed "eat".  Tim saw it, too, and it's pretty undeniable.  We thought she was signing milk before (and she might have been), but she has stopped doing that.  Of course, the ear infections may not be helping.

I forgot to mention one other important thing that happened while we were in Texas last week.  Saturday night Grandma and Grandpa watched both kids (and Abby) while Tim and I had a date.  We tried out a great new steak place and saw a movie.  Despite the fact that the theater was full of giggling teenagers and even a noisy toddler, we had a good time.

This morning, Seth came into Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen and announced that he is a princess.  Then Abby informed everyone that she is Superman.  At least we can say that they are not locked into gender roles.

We had Christmas for almost a week this year.  Monday we headed down to Texas, watching Wall-E on our new dual-screen DVD player.  Tuesday, we went to visit the new cousins, Theo and Theron, at their house and let Seth and Abby run wild at McDonald's.  Wednesday we had lunch at Chick-fil-A before Tim and Anna's family came over that evening for dinner and presents.  We were sad that the Livingstons couldn't come that day, but we were so glad that they were feeling better Thursday.  Seth and Abby had a great time "helping" everyone open their presents. 

Thursday morning the Livingstons all came over for Christmas dinner along with stockings and more presents.  We had quite the full house with 8 adults and 9 kids.  When the kids went down for naps, we had our traditional "dirty Santa" bingo game with prizes for all (even me, finally).  The Livingstons had to head back home that evening, but we were glad to get to see them.

Friday, Grandma, Grandpa, Tim, Anna, us, and all the kids headed to Ikea.  We love going there at every opportunity, plus we needed a new dresser and some girly things for when Ruth moves into Seth's room.  We stayed about 15 minutes too long for Seth (it's quite the over-stimulating place), but after we got him out of the store we went to the fire station, which made everything better.

Seth and Abby were on their best behavior while they toured the station and then got to thoroughly investigate the fire truck.  I think that Tim was a little jealous that I got to go for a ride around the parking lot with Seth in the fire truck.  Seth loved it!  Uncle Tim put on all the bunker gear for them to see, too.  Even though he had a rough day at Ikea and was past nap time, Seth enjoyed every minute at the fire station.  The kids all slept well on the way home.

Saturday we all went to the Children's Museum.  Ruth found some great stuff to play with there, and Seth and Abby always have a good time.  They played until lunch time, after which we headed back for naps.  Tim and Anna went home that evening, but Abby got to spend the night and go to church with us on Sunday.  Seth led the way into their class, saying, "Come on, Abby, over here!"  After lunch, we headed back to Tulsa where we stopped at Grammy and Grampy's for the last of the gift exchange.

Now the kids are fast asleep, and we hope to be soon!  Tim has most of the pictures on his camera, so hopefully he will upload them soon.