The Nitty Gritty

Will is becoming a chatty Kathy! I suppose there's a name for chatty boys besides Kathy. Does anyone know what it is? Here are my favorite phrases coming from his drooling mouth: In the morning when I get Will out of his crib he asks "Daddy seepin?" I say "No, Daddy's at work." His friend Micah (Will calls him Might-ney) loves to say "Oh no!" when he's playing with cars. Now Will says "Oh no! Car!" when he plays with cars. When we return the Elmo's World DVDs back to the library Will shakes his head and matter-of-factly says "No Elmo" meaning no more Elmo. Instead of saying "Oh my goSH" he omits the "sh" and says "Oh my gah!" Yesterday he said "Oh my gah car Keen (McQueen) oh no!" He loves to push his belly button and say "Ding dong doh" because I usually say "Ding dong doorbell!" when I push his belly button. At night when we finish reading he shouts "Da...

Day 6: Slave Quarters in Baton Rouge We tried two times to go on a swamp tour, but like Dana said, it wasn't meant to be. They closed down the awesome gator farm. I was really hoping to see a gator in its natural habitat. We did see this at a plantation: Too bad it's fake. We even touched it to make sure and when the head bobbled, we knew it was just a piece of decoration. Darn! Grandpa and Will hangin out while we toured the slave quarters. The cabin where the slaves resided. It was about 50 yards from the house. Inside was a display with some slave advertisements, shackles, and stories about slaves that lived on that plantation. A depiction of the slaves' sleeping quarters. After we toured the slave quarters, we went on a nature walk through the bayou. Earlier in the week Will saw a snake in Grandpa's yard so whenever we were in the yard or in grassy areas he'd shout "Nate!" We did get to see a snake on our walk and there were some in the nature center...

Day 5 of our trip: The Tabasco Factory On Thursday we went to Avery Island to see where Tabasco Sauce is manufactured. They gave us a tour through the factory and showed us a video about how it originated and how they make it. It was the best smelling tour by far. A display of Tabasco sauce products They get the barrels from Jack Daniels because Jack Daniels can only use the barrels once. Instead of wasting a perfectly useful barrel, the Tabasco people use them again and again. After the perfectly ripe peppers are picked, they're mashed up, stored inside the barrel with poured salt on top, and several months later you get a nice aged mash. The mash is stirred over and over for about a month until all the seeds and stuff are strained out. Then it's bottled! Here's some mash in the stirring machine. The holes in the glass allow you to smell the deliciousness. We couldn't leave without buying a few bottles! The store also had samples of about ten different kinds of sauc...

Day 4 of our trip: St. Francesville When Isaac and I asked the passengers on our flight to Baton Rouge what we should see, the one thing everyone got excited about was St. Francisville. It's the second oldest city in Louisiana and has a few plantations to tour. We toured the Cottonwood Plantation first. The tour was okay. We got to see a lot of original furniture. The second plantation was the Myrtle Plantation. It's haunted by a slave named Chloe. Unfortunately I didn't see her ghost like I was hoping. Outside the Myrtle Home. Check out the swamp behind us! Since we've been home Will loves "Froggies!" Three generations! Waiting on the porch for the tour to begin. If you take a picture of this mirror, you might see a ghost. Liars. The Myrtle Home. After the tours we checked out other parts of the city and ate some heavenly chocolate. One of my favorite things about the south is how friendly people are. Strangers were always saying "hello!" or strikin...

Day 3 of our trip: NEW ORLEANS Tuesday we went to visit New Orleans. We saw the 9th ward where Katrina hit hardest. It's so bare now. They've demolished most of the homes and discarded the debris. The homes that were left have been remodeled and look really nice. It's devastating to think that people have had to relocate and leave behind all their memories and friends. When we drove past the Superdome I thought about how crowded it must have been with the hurricane victims and the hopelessness they felt. I just hope I'm never in a natural disaster! Later we walked through the French quarter. It was very European-like with the architecture and the shops on ground level and apartments above. I found some sunglasses for five bucks in the french market and devoured my beignets. YUM! Will and dad dancing to the music A fun band playing outside of the cafe Finishing our lunch: alligator nuggets and red beans and rice. Tasty! A courtyard that reminded me so much of the court...

Day two of our trip to Louisiana: Toured the LSU campus and the LSU stadium. I loved the stadium. We also got to see the real Mike the Tiger up close as he slept. We then headed to the state capitol where we learned some facts about Louisiana's government and got some awesome views of the Mississippi. That night Grandpa invited some young families over for family home evening. He grilled some hot dogs for dinner which I was thrilled about because we used to do that all the time when he lived here and I miss that. The kids had a blast playing in Grandpa's bug.

It was fun to spend most of the morning in our pjs partaking of Will's Easter candy and Grandpa's delicious dairy free pancakes. The rest of the day was spent watching General Conference and visiting. My favorite talk was the one given by Elder Uchtdorf on LOVE. Chillin with mom Playing with grandma Dana Wearing Grandma's glasses Conference nap One and a half year old heartbreaker

Will found a new friend this year--the Easter Bunny (aka grandparents Bickmore) and a new word--"candy!" Also included in the basket were some cars, mini dinosaurs, cards, and MIKE. I told Will he better enjoy this Easter basket because it may be the best one he'll ever get. It was the perfect beginning to a fabulous week in Baton Rouge.

Will finally got his first haircut on his 18 month birthday. I noticed he was scratching his neck really hard where his hair was tickling it and that made the decision for us. Our friend Ryan cut Will's hair and did a marvelous job. Their son's haircuts always looks professional so I knew he'd do a much better job than me. Before the hair cut. Sweet curly locks. During the hair cut. All we had to do was turn on the movie Cars and Will was completely mesmerized and sat still through the whole process. AFTER! Bye bye curly locks. Hello handsome toddler of mine.

On Monday we got to do some fun Easter things. My ward did an egg hunt for the kids Monday afternoon. We had to fill ten eggs, bring them and then each child had to find ten eggs. Poor Will only got two. We're not very skilled egg finders. Plus, who wants to go romping in the thorny bushes with a pregnant belly? Not me. That night the Leasure's invited us to an egg dye party. The boys loved it and I loved it too! You can't have Easter without dyed eggs! Will loves Aunt Sophie. She always thinks of fun activities for the kids and makes delicious dairy-free dinners! Thank you! The best part about Easter this year is we get to visit Will's grandparents in Louisiana! We've had their picture on our desktop for two weeks so their faces are familiar to him. He is so excited to fly on a plane. Whenever he sees one he points and says "Pain!" With the crappy weather this week, I can't wait to get in the sunshine. Mostly, we're excited to have fun and spend t...