Fall 2009

Well sorry it has been so long!! Life has been busy, as you all I'm sure are familiar with! Hunter will be two years old in just two weeks. I am in disbelief that my baby is going to be two years old. It's also strange that I can actually have conversations with him. It's so much fun watching him learn and play.

Hunter was Thomas the Train for Halloween. He found the whole concept of Trick or Treating weird at first, but then when he saw that people would just put things in his pumpkin he ran from house to house. It was so much fun watching the look on his face!

Jebb is home from Alaska!!! We are so happy to be home as a family again. We will have some of Jebb's family here for Thanksgiving, so we are looking forward to having a week with family.

My teaching job is going great, I really am loving what I do. I'm also sponsoring Student Council, which has kept me pretty busy! But I know that teaching is what I was meant to do, I truly enjoy going to work everyday. Some days the kids are more rambuncious than I would like, but that's life!

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.”


(I realized after the picture Thomas was turned around...oops!)

The Latest Update

I have hestitated writing, because I was waiting to find out if my journey home was "fruitful." Finally, this week we received the news we have been waiting, ever so patiently, for. I was offered a Business Education job at Judson High School (JHS, ironic huh?) for this upcoming fall. Hunter and I will be heading home in three weeks, after a brief visit to Portland.

To update you on our trip, Hunter was wonderful on all flights. We were both tired when it was all said and done, but I am so fortunate that our son is as easy-going as he is. He was great! The job fair went well and it was great being home and seeing grandma and some of our other friends. Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes!

We had a great weekend. Jebb was off for a couple days, which was great. He has been working nights the majority of the time, which has been really hard on him. On Saturday we went to our "lake" near the airport. Hunter and Chevy enjoyed playing in the water. On Sunday we went to Pioneer Park, where Hunter was able to play on the playground and we went on a train ride.

Hunter's daycare is closed tomorrow, so Jebb and him are going to spend the day together. I hear talk of a golf course visit, so hopefully more pictures are to follow!

We hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July weekend, and remembered all of those who fight and have fought for us to enjoy the sweet freedoms we do. At times it may feel like we have a mess on our hands, but the one thing we have in common is we are Americans, and Americans always rise to the occasion. God Bless our Beautiful Nation!

"If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Ronald Reagan

The Journey Continues

It's amazing when you are living with an 18-month old...how much they can change in just one short week. I just sit in wonderment watching all of his new tricks.

If any of you have ever been in a car I am driving you probably realize that I am a cautious driver, according to my husband I am too cautious, but if you ever have rode in a vehicle with him...well...that's not saying much. :) It's often that when I'm driving with my husband in the car I have a "backseat driver." The majority of time I am told when to go or to speed up, etc... Since Hunter has really begun to mimic everyone he has picked up the go, go, go that daddy likes to say to mommy when she's behind the wheel. So now, not only do I have my husband to contend with, I have my son who likes to tell me how to drive. No sooner do I turn the car on, and the boy shouts "GO, GO, GO" My favorite is when I'm approaching a stoplight (red nonetheless) I get "GO, GO, GO!"

Another funny thing that the little man has started doing is calling me Wrara (Laura). He doesn't do it all the time, but when I'm in the other room he will yell out my name sometimes, as opposed to mommy...

Some of you know that I am going back to Texas this week for an Exclusive Job Fair for the district that I worked in this winter. Jebb and I are hoping that something pans out from this, as I have always wanted to teach and haven't had the opportunity. I'm very excited and nervous about the event as they will be interviewing here as well. I'm also taking Hunter with me, so I'm dreading the trip from here to there (Alaska is far away for those of you that are geographically impaired and think that Alaska is down my Hawaii. Believe it or not there are those people out there..) But we will get to see Gramma and sleep in our own beds for a couple of nights which will be oh so nice. Oh and by the way, any suggestions on keeping myself and Hunter sane on the trip would be much appreciated. I haven't flown with him by myself since he was 11 months old...boy have things changed!!

So say a little prayer for us, for our journey and that something positive does come out of this trip. We'll keep you posted!

"By learning you will teach;by teaching you will understand." Latin Proverb

The Best 18 Months of Our Lives...

How is it that something so little can grow so fast?

Hunter celebrated his "18 Month Birthday" this past Saturday. A year and a half old already, it's going by too fast!

We went to Hunter's Well Baby Check-up today.

The bad news is another ear infection has come along. To top it off, his tubes have both fallen out and we have to see an ENT again to most likely put tubes in for the second time.

The good news is that Hunter is the smartest, cutest 18 month old baby she's ever seen!! (well she didn't say that, but I know she thought it) Just to keep everyone informed, Hunter can now count to three. Of course mommy or daddy has to start him off with the number one. Hunter follows with tuuuuuuaaa, treeee, go! (We'll have to formulate go into four next weekend) Also Hunter showed Dr. Medford where his nose, mommy's nose and his belly were. Hunter weighs 29 lbs 8 oz and is 34 inches tall (anyone say string bean?)

Another development...Cheez-it's. Hunter has discovered the wonderful, cheese filled cracker. (So much for all health food all the time) He's obsessed with them and only wants them for snack. We have gone ahead and hidden the cheez-it's box. (Out of sight, out of mind I suppose) so that has helped to curtail his cravings.

We've had a few very early mornings these last few days. (4:45 am...YIKES) Hunter has had a cold. Now that he is on his antibiotic for his ear infection we hope to get to sleep to our alarm at least :)

Jebb and I are so thankful for the little boy that God has blessed us with a year and a half ago.

"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."-- Elizabeth Stone

Happy Mother's Day

A little Poem for all of the mom's out there.
To Jessie, Dana and Melissa, Happy First Mother's Day! (since your little ones are still growing inside you)
To Johanna, Julie, Lindsey (was Ashlyn here last mother's day?) and Erica Happy Official First Mother's Day!
To Lauren, Laura and Jennifer, congratulations on another addition to your family, enjoy the extra hugs this Mother's Day!
To Beth, Sheryl, Mom and Grandma Shirley: Thank you for being the moms you have been and enjoy being the grandma's you are and (are going to be:)) (that was for Beth, no we're not pregnant :))


A little Poem sure to make you tear up...(Aunt Linda)

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations


Before I was a Mom, I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.



Before I was a Mom, I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.



Before I was a Mom, I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.


I never knew I would love being a Mom.





Before I was a Mom, I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body..

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.





Before I was a Mom, I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom .

Terrible Two's...Already??

So I've had a "bad mom day." Before anyone jumps to conclusions, Hunter and I are both fine, no one was hurt or even bled I promise.

Look at this sweet face!!

But here's my question to all the mom's out there, when do the terrible two's begin?? Ok, I know that may seem that the answer is OBVIOUS..Terrible Two's would probably mean they start at TWO. Ok I got that part, but it seems that over the past few weeks Hunter has developed this habit when he doesn't get his way. He screams and arches his back!! If we are walking somewhere he will just throw himself on the floor and SCREAM!!

An Example of "The Face"

So today was one of those days. It was beautiful outside and he was playing outside at the office, when I went to put him in the car he fought me tooth and nail...And we were going to the PARK of all places! I don't know, I hope it's a phase because it is exhausting, but every little thing is setting him off..We'll see! I don't feel like we are at the "Supernanny Phase" yet, but you tell me,

Any Advice is welcome...

Oh the Places We Have Gone...Again

Well we are back up in Alaska, and this is the reason I haven't updated for awhile. You see, every year that we come up I get into a "funk." It's one of those things I expect every year and just have to work my way through it, until finally I feel like myself again. I am getting there, though am struggling with a little bit of homesickness (I'll get over it eventually)

We had a heck of a time getting back up here though. We left San Antonio on March 28th. I was actually looking forward to the trip, because the first leg of our journey was to be on Frontier Airlines, which Jebb has never flown but I have. I love that they have TV's on the back of every seat. You can pay (of course nothing is free anymore) to watch live TV during your flight. WONDERFUL!! Well, we got to the airport at 4:45 am. Dog, bags, baby and all, boy were we a sight. We get up to the counter and low and behold they won't let us fly! We had all of the same documentation that we have always had for Chevy to fly, however Frontier wouldn't let him fly unless we had documentation stating the exact tempatures that Chevy could fly under. Well this set Jebb off, telling her over and over that Chevy flys to Alaska and 30 degree weather in Denver is nothing for him. Well they wouldn't have any of it, without these exact tempatures written by the vet they would not allow the Lauingers (b/c Chevy is one of us) to fly. So we barely were able to find a flight that afternoon, and it wasn't even a flight to Portland, we had to settle for a flight to Seattle (4 Hour Drive for Jebb's Dad).

We got the correct info from the Vet, and were back to the airport that afternoon. While checking in we found that there were still no flights available to Portland, so we still were heading to Seattle.

We made it to Denver, and checked again on a Portland flight. They had two seats on a later flight, yea!! So we informed them that we had a dog that needed to get off the Seattle flight. They took him off and told us not to worry, "all the pets stay under the airport until their flights board." Great, so all of our headaches from this morning were unwarranted, as the pets aren't even left out!!! Oh well, we all made it on the Portland flight, all of us except our luggage that is, it ended up in Seattle!!

We really enjoyed visiting with Jebb's family in Portland.

We made it to Alaska, no Volcanic Eruptions disrupted our flight thank goodness. There was plenty of snow on the ground to greet us.

It's starting to melt now, it's almost gone in fact. We still had plenty around for our Easter Egg Hunt though!

Hope Everyone is well!

Too Long!

I'm sooooo sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. (Brittney just got on to me :)) It's Wednesday March 25th and we are preparing to head to Alaska. We actually will be leaving this Saturday and flying to Portland to visit Jebb's family for about a week, and then fly on up to Fairbanks the following Friday. Jebb and I will both be starting work on Monday, April 6th. I'm really looking forward to seeing all of our friends, but as always it is hard to leave home.

We just got back from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina this past weekend. We were able to visit many of our friends and Hunter was able to play with our Godson Louis, and my friend April's children, Baydon, Landon and Dylan. We also ate lunch with friends from Ocean Ridge. It was wonderful seeing everyone. It's really the people that you miss the most! It's great to see that hardly anyone has changed. It's getting tougher to fly with Hunter, he just wants to run around and doesn't like having to sit in our laps at all.

Jebb and I will be celebrating our 4th Wedding Anniversary tomorrow. It's hard to believe it's been that long already, it goes by so fast! But I have a wonderful husband who is also a great daddy so I sure lucked out in that department!

I will try and do better!!! I hope you all are doing well!

The Things They Learn

I am amazed at the things I observe Hunter doing on a daily basis. For instance, my cell phone was laying on the couch the other day when my dad called. Hunter walked right over, picked it up , and flipped it open pulling it up to his hear. The child answered the phone!!!! I was shocked! The other thing he is into is going outside, that's all he wants to do anymore. He will also grab my car keys or Jebb's and walk to the door trying to place they keys into the handle.

It's amazing to me the things they pick up, just from observing you on a daily basis!

Hunter turned 15 months old on Monday and went to the doctor for his Well baby Check yesterday. He now weighs 26.25 lbs and is 34.5 inches tall!!! Can we say string bean??? He is in the 100th percentile in height and the 75th in weight. I think he gets taller every day! It's been great spending all of this time with him this winter. We'll probably be leaving in about a month to head back north, so I'm dreading starting daycare again, it's so hard leaving him :(

Hawaiian Vacation

Ok, I've been SLACKING!!! Well not really, it's been really busy around here, but I just haven't gotten to post to the blog.

I am so sorry that I haven't gotten more pictures from our vacation out, I will work on that! We had a wonderful time in Hawaii, Hunter would be a fish if he could. We couldn't keep him out of the water, which could be interesting with the pool in our backyard. We arrived back from Hawaii on January 22nd, and Jebb turned around to fly to Florida on the 24th to help his mom drive back to TX. Yes, we convinced her to come back. It's working out well though, she's going to house-sit for us this summer while we are in Alaska and it's nice to have an extra set of hands to help us chase after Hunter!

Jebb has been "babysitting" as he calls it, while I do some substitute teaching. I think he's enjoying his time spent home with Hunter, but he does miss his golf!

We drove down to Corpus Christi this weekend, it was only a 2 hour drive (with Jebb driving) and it was nice to know that such a nice beach was only a short drive away...(we still miss our Myrtle Beach) Again Hunter wanted to play in the water, we had to carry him away!!! After a late lunch on Water Street, we turned around and drove home.

I will try and do better, so sorry!

Bullies and Billfolds

Well it's offical, I do believe that Hunter may be a bully. Of course he didn't learn these "tendencies" from me, as I've always looked out for the underdog. The worst part is he is bullying kids in Sunday School (God forgive him, please!!)







Hunter has not made it through a whole service in Sunday School for weeks, but today we had a pep talk. I asked him if he would make it the whole time in Sunday school and he nodded yes... and he did make it indeed. However, when he caught a glimpse of daddy at the door to pick him up, it was all over. He tore across the room, knocking over anyone or thing that was in his way. In fact, he went so far to push another child out of his way by placing his hand on the boy's head and propelling himself off of him. I don't believe there were any hurt children, as I didn't hear any crying, but I do find myself slightly appalled at this behavior. How do we teach him that it's not nice to push other people???







So this brings me to my other topic, billfolds. Jebb lost his for a few days this week. It's such a pain to lose this item that can easily be taken for granted. You really don't realize how much you rely on this little leather thing until it's gone...







So we literally tore the house apart, no billfold. Drove around the neighborhood (as we had been on a walk before he realized that the billfold was missing) and looked through both vehicles. By Wednesday we were resigned with the fact that the billfold was gone, so we called the bank and reorderd our debit/credit cards, Jebb went to the SS administration (I know you aren't supposed to have that in your billfold, but it was) to get another Social Security card, because he couldn't get his driver's license without it. Then he had to go to the Department of Public Safety and get his Texas Driver's License...he was very upset about this, as he has proudly displayed his Alaska Driver's License since I've known him. Of course, I've mentioned what Jebb has gone through, but I've had some problems with this too. My cards had to be reissued as well, and you don't realize how big of a pain that can be until you are without the plastic. I'm telling you, remember the days when all you did were write checks...well those days are over. You're lucky to find places that will accept checks anymore. It's crazy. So I found myself going to the cashier before going anywhere and asking...Do you accept checks?????







So we are now sitting here hoping that we get some form of plastic card in the mail tomorrow, as we are leaving on vacation on Tuesday morning. We haven't been able to rent our car or reserve our carseat and crib that we are renting. And the idea of traveling with traveler's checks and cash is so unappealing...







As I mentioned we will be taking off on Tuesday for a vacation to Hawaii. We are both looking forward to our trip over there, especially since it will be Hunter's first experience in a pool and at the beach. We'll take plenty of pictures and fill everyone in on the details when we get back!!!

Meal of the Week

Ok so needless to say I haven't been keeping up with my meals of the week, but I'm sure as all of you know we've been traveling quite a bit, so I haven't been able to keep up with this "tradition" Last night I did get to try a new recipe, which was fairly easy.

The recipe is as follows:

Fiesta Casserole

1 lb. extra lean ground beef
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 jar (16 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed
12 corn tortillas (6 inch)
1-1/2 cups KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, divided


PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Brown meat with peppers in large skillet; drain. Return to skillet. Stir in salsa, tomatoes and corn; bring to boil.
SPOON 1 cup of the meat mixture into 13x9-inch baking dish; top with 6 tortillas, overlapping as necessary. Cover with half each of the remaining meat mixture and cheese; top with remaining tortillas and meat mixture. Cover with foil.
BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Let stand 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

**So I tried to follow the recipe, but instead of multiple layers of tortillas I crumbled the final six tortillas and made a "crust" It worked out good though, Jebb liked it. Hunter ate the rest of the leftovers for lunch today too :) Yum!