Laurel is a ham!

Laurel's teacher at church, Brother Cliff, gave a talk today on reverence and music. He shared with the congregation that last week, he was trying to get his CTR 5 class to quiet down and be reverant. One of the students said, "but, but it's hard to be reverent Brother Cliff!" I spoke with Brother Cliff afterwards and found out that that student was Laurel. Dale and I just knew it when we heard the story. She is such a funny kid! She thinks about everything on such a deep level.

Laurel's also a sweet and caring little person. She just came into my office as I've been typing this, grabbed my arm and kissed me multiple times saying, "I just love you mommy." We're not sure what we'd do without Laurel. She is definitely a ray of sunshine in our family.

We took Laurel and Andrew to JC Penney yesterday for pictures. They turned out great. The photographer thanked us personally for bringing Laurel in that day. She'd had so many kids come in who didn't want their picture taken. Then Laurel shows up, ready to smile and pose. Laurel did whatever the lady asked her to do. She had a blast. The lady is looking for a part-time employee . . . if Laurel was just 12 years older, she would probably have a job!

Andrew turned 4 months on the 23rd. I can't believe how quickly 4 months has rolled by. He's just a really cute boy with such a ready smile and laugh. He's doing somewhat better, but we still have bad days with his allergies. I'm still pretty convinced that he's allergic to a third item. In addition to soy and dairy products, I've decided to avoid all green beans/legumes/peanut butter, etc. I've read that they can also be problematic to infants who suffer from food allergies. Since doing that, I've noticed that he's been doing better. I've only had to use suppositories 4 times this week, which isn't as bad as it's been. I have to admit that I'm nervous for him to get on regular food - I just don't know what to expect. Will he be one of those kids allergic to peanuts? Will he forever be intolerant of dairy products (poor kid)? A lot of children outgrow these allergies, so I hope that's the case with him. From October to December, Andrew's life was really difficult. Dale's mom can attest to the hours and hours of screaming he would endure on a daily basis. Looking back on that time, I don't know how we did it. We certainly couldn't have done it without Grandma Christensen's help. I'm just so glad that we finally discovered what's primarily been bothering him.

After all we've been through the past 6 years to get these two kids, I feel pretty blessed to have 2 cute kids who are great. Andrew's crying again so I must run.