The Day Continued...

And, as I am holding Sadie, she just puked on me.

Back to the story...

So, we all got a nap until about 2:30. Morgan woke up and immediately insisted on "bumping Sadie", who was sleeping peacefully on the floor, with her shopping cart. I convinced her it wouldn't be in her best interest, so Sadie didn't get run over (thank heavens!).

I decided maybe we all needed to get out of the house for a bit, so I was getting the girls ready to run to JcPenney to pick up Sadie's pictures (to be posted later), and Sadie PUKED all over...herself, her carseat, everything! So, I changed her, and covered her carseat and off we went. About 2 minutes down the road, she puked again. I stopped and checked to see how badd it was. Not too bad, but now, Morgan is constantly repeating, "Mommy, Sadie crying, Sadie sick," over and over. But, I figured, we are already out, she's not getting out of her carseat and I just need to pick up the pictures. So we did, but Sadie puked again...either on the way there or the way home...it's all a blur. Anyway, we made it home.

It's now dinnertime and, since Brian is gone, and my day is going so well, I'm not cooking. Morgan wanted a peanut butter sandwich. Easy enough, right? Wrong...we only have black raspberry jam in the house, so by the end of dinner, she has peanut butter AND jam all over, like a typical 2-year old would. Into the bath. Luckliy, pretty uneventful for both girls. Sadie doesn't smell like puke (for the time being), and Morgan is jam and peanut butter free!

Desperate for a minute to eat something myself (lunch was 2 choc. chip cookies--didn't make the chicken salad I had planned), I let Morgan play outside. Morgan decided it would be more fun to dump out all of her bubbles and "paint" the patio (translation: make it slippery so she, or someone else, could fall down and get hurt--fortunately, it didn't happen), than to actually blow bubbles. So, into the house for timeout we go. Well, running around the house for time out we go. Eventually, she stays, I feed Sadie, and all is well.

Until I got puked on a few minutes ago, the rest of the evening went well. Morgan went to bed without too much hassle and is now sound asleep. I just need to pick up my house so I don't kill myself when I get up in the middle of the night to feed Sadie. Then, hopefully, I can get at least 6 hours of sleep tonight!

Pray for a better day tomorrow! We miss you, Brian! Come home!

I'm Just Venting...

...so if you don't want to listen to me complain, just skip this post.

I can't believe I haven't cried at all today. It's barely 12:30 p.m. and Morgan is FINALLY asleep, after 3 terrible 2-year old meltdowns! I mean, meltdowns! She was kicking the wall, throwing things out of her closet (luckily, she can only reach blankets), and screaming at the top of her lungs. Then, because I was trying to take care of Morgan, poor Sadie kept getting set down, right in the middle of eating her bottle, so she would scream. Yikes!

I think the only reason we all made it through alive is because I remember that Brian comes home tomorrow morning, my sister is currently on her way to Denver (she'll be here tonight), and eventually, Morgan will grow out of this (only for Sadie to reach 2 years old and I get to start all over)!

So, Morgan is asleep now, and I don't dare move her.

The only reason I got a picture of where she is sleeping is because Sadie was crying, so I had to go into their bedroom to get her and I bumped into her trying to open the door.

So, that's life today. I had originally planned to take the girls to the library, but, seeing as how I didn't even get a shower, that probably won't happen.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Oh, and I'm not posting this so people can feel sorry for me. I truly am posting this so I can vent and look back and think, "It could be worse."

Morgan just woke herself up and is crying again. It's only 12:44.

Sleepy Sadie

Here's an update on our sweet little "Sadie Lady", as my friend Kelley calls her. She's definitely eating better. At the doctor yesterday, she weighed in a 9 lbs, 13.5 oz! I can get her to eat a 4 oz. bottle in one sitting about 50% of the time before falling asleep, so that has also improved!

However, she is still a sleepy baby. I guess coming from Morgan as a newborn who didn't sleep, Sadie seems to sleep too much! Morgan assisted me (with no luck) in trying to wake her up from a nap today. The doctor told me not to worry about her hearing until her 6 week hearing test, though. I guess she already has selective hearing!

We Have a Fence!!!

We finally gave up on waiting for our neighbors, and forked over the money ourselves to put up a fence...why didn't we do that the day we moved in??? It's so great to have OUR space, and not feel like everyone is watching yus in our backyard. Especially when we're the ONLY ones on the entire block of 8 houses that actually uses our backyard.




So, to try it out, Morgan wanted to blow bubbles. I didn't know she had mastered blowing the wand because I've never let her try it. She only ate bubble soap twice before she figured out it's better to blow, not suck it in.

This is my favorite thing about fences. Notice I am taking the picture from indoors. I can FINALLY send Morgan outside and stay inside. She's not too keen on the idea yet...I think mostly because she's never had this freedom, but hopefully she will learn to enjoy it as much as I am...and soon! Oh, and I don't know if you remember this Logan, but Morgan has her rock collection in her "yellow car" just like you used to keep yours!

We're Going on a...Purple Lion Hunt?!?!?

Yes, you read that correctly. We went to the Zoo today, and while we were there, we went on a Purple Lion Hunt. Here's how it all began...

As we were walking into the zoo, Morgan said she wanted to see the lions first. So, that's where we went. When we got there, she looked at the lions, and immediately said, "Purple lion, Daddy?" Perplexed, Brian said, "No, there aren't purple lions, but there are brown (tan) ones." To which Morgan responded, "Oh...Purple lion??" Thus, our Purple Lion Hunt had commenced.

Having absolutely NO IDEA what she was talking about, we looked at the real lions. Morgan didn't seem to be satisfied.

Then, we found an information booth and Morgan actually went up to the volunteer, all by herself, and asked where the purple lion was. Confused, the lady didn't quite know how to respond. Well, neither did we.

Trying to distract, we visited the rhino...

...the elephants (by the way, the trainers have them do "step" aerobics to get some exercise)...

...and the hippos.
But we had no luck in finding the purple lion.

Well, until.... ...we walked by the "purple lion". It was right at the entrance/exit and Morgan had seen it from the very start. I guess we, as adults, miss out on some of the finer things in life because we are too busy to slow down and enjoy the "purple lions". So, today, my two-year old taught me a lesson that we've all heard a million times. Slow down, because if you don't, you will miss something.

Thanks for sending us on a Purple Lion Hunt, Morgan. We love you!

We survived a week without Grandma! Morgan's nursery leader (a young grandma herself), mentioned to me on Sunday that my mom must have left...I looked much more tired this week than I did last! She couldn't be more right! I still managed to get some pictures taken of the girls--enjoy!

Long legged, Super Sweet Sadie

I promise, I put her into the swing straight!

The site of the attack--Morgan bit Sadie on the head yesterday, while telling Daddy she was giving her "kissies". Needless to say, Sadie screamed and Morgan went to time out. If you zoom in, you'll noticed she tore skin...my poor baby! She's been grounded from Sadie all day today. (Oddly enough, I just checked my email: "Your 2-Year-Old: Biting Strategies‏" from Baby Center)

The rough life of a newborn...oh, to be young (and sleep) again!

I think we have a future Paula Deen on our hands! Watch her mouth closely...she's chewing chocolate chips that she should be putting into the cookie dough.

Many of Morgan's days are spent building block towers these days, while I feed Sadie. She's a good sport about it, and is starting to create some pretty original pieces.

This is our family night that was prepared 2 weeks ago, but, obviously, didn't come to pass until tonight. We learned about music.

Five Fabulous Years!

And many, many, more to come!!!

Feb 21, 2003—We meet on a blind date at BYU, and are holding hands before it ends. We kiss the next day.
Feb. 23, 2003—My mom starts planning the wedding, despite Brian and I both trying to convince her not to. (Note: this is only 2 days after we met)
Memorial Day Weekend 2003—We decide to get married; no proposal yet.
June 19, 2003—With the date set, and plans already under way, we get engaged!
August 16, 2003—We were sealed in the San Diego Temple at 8 a.m. (that makes for a very long wedding day)
September 2003—We head back to Provo for school.
May 2004—We move out of our horrible basement apartment and into Wymount.
Summer 2004—We meet some of our best friends in our Wymount ward, who we will always keep in touch with. Brian adds a second major and Mackenzie gets accepted into the BYU Marriott School of Management (i.e. 2 more years of school for each of us)
Fall 2004—School starts up again
Summer 2005—We move to San Diego for the summer at Mackenzie’s parent’s house; Brian decides to drop his Electrical Engineering major and take the first actuarial exam, which he passed with a 10!!!
September 2005—Back to Provo for our final year of school, plus we’re expecting a baby!
November 2005—Brian accepts a job in Denver, CO with Watson Wyatt, starting in January 2006.
December 2005—Over Christmas break, we move Brian to Denver, and Mackenzie stays behind in Provo to finish her last semester of school.
January 2, 2006—Brian starts his first real job!
April 2006—GRADUATION!!! We move to Denver, CO.
May 2006—We started building our house
June 18, 2006—Welcome Little Miss Morgan!
January 2007—We move into our house
November 2007—We’re expecting baby #2!
July 27, 2008—Welcome Sweet Baby Sadie!
August 16, 2008—It’s been 5 wonderful and amazing years!

Here’s Why I Love Brian So Much:

1. He’s a HUGE helper! I think I would be looking a very long time to find a man so willing to fold laundry after a long day at work. In fact, I could be looking forever if I hadn’t found him!


2. He’s a Brainiac!!! He’s been studying for school or an exam practically every day since we’ve met! He took summer school classes while we were engaged and he starts studying for his next actuarial exam just hours after he takes one!


3. Brian is dedicated to everything he’s involved in. He always puts 100% into his activities and it definitely shows!


4. I must admit, that as much as it annoys me, I think it is so adorable that Brian is still so dedicated to BYU sports (especially football). It’s so fun to see him pass on his enthusiasm to his girls…Morgan always chooses to wear her “rah rah” shirt, regardless of the day of the week or time of year.


5. After 5 wonderful years, he still loves me and puts up with me. I’ll admit that emotionally, I am high maintenance and it takes the sweetest, kindest, most loving and perfect man to always be so supportive of me.

To the MOST WONDEFUL MAN IN MY LIFE, I love you and thank you for just being you!

Love,

Mackenzie

Binky Baby

Brian and I have few things that we are super particular about as soon as our kids are born. However, one of the particular things is the pacifier (binky). Both Morgan and Sadie were born trying to suck their fingers, and we had to "train" them to take the pacifier. Our reasoning behind using the binky: You can take it away when you're tired of it, but you can't chop your kid's fingers off!

So, Sadie is 2 weeks and 1 day old, and she is officially a "binky baby"!

Oh, and an update on her. She went for her 2 week appointment today, and the doctor told my mom she did a FABULOUS job getting her to eat this past week! She's up to a healthy weight, and my mom is headed home to catch up on sleep! Thanks, mom, for all your help! We really appreciated it and are thankful that we had one more week of sleeping at night!

What a Week it Has Been...

...and it's only Thursday!

Sadie refused to eat all day Monday, so I panicked when she hadn't eaten hardly anything by 5 p.m. I called the pediatrician and they sent us to the ER for observation. So, we dropped Morgan off at a friend's house and went to the Children's Hospital. The doctors poked and prodded for a few hours, and came to the conclusion that they weren't quite sure what to do. So, they sent us home, but her pediatrician wanted to see her the next day to make sure we shouldn't do any tests. (Oh, and as if this wasn't a hectic enough night, my mom's flight came in at 8 p.m., so Brian had to leave the hospital to go get her from the airport!)

Tuesday morning, I dropped Morgan off at a friend's house for playgroup/preschool, and she wasn't there 10 minutes when I got a call that she had thrown up. So, I went back to get her. My mom took the responsibility of feeding Sadie every 2 hours (or at least trying to feed her), and I got sick toddler patrol. Morgan laid down for a nap and wanted to come with me to Sadie's doctor appointment, so we all piled in the car to go to the doctor. We weren't more than a mile from home and Morgan puked more than I think I've ever seen a kid puke! (And remember, she didn't have much to eat all day because she had already thrown up and we were playing it safe!) So, Morgan is crying on the way back home because she's "yucky" and her flower carseat needs "clean". Then we get back to the house and mom and I are on either side of the car, looking at each other, saying, "I don't want to touch her, do you?" Poor Morgan. We did get her out of the car, though, and put her straight into the bathtub. And the rest of the day, she spent with the "big white bowl" next to her.
Since we missed the doctor on Tuesday, we went in Wednesday morning. The consensus on Sadie: she is just a little bit slow to welcome herself into the world, so I have the joyous responsibility of feeding her every 2 hours--round the clock! Luckily, mom is taking the night shift this week (thanks, mom!), but I'm on patrol when she leaves. Other than this small (okay, large) inconvenience, Sadie is doing well. The doctor is hoping that in the next couple of weeks, she will begin to initiate eating on her own. Until then...
The girls took a bath on Wednesday night. Here's a cute shot of Morgan "washing" Sadie's hair. The rest of the night was a completely different story...Morgan didn't fall asleep until after 11:30 p.m.! She was in her room, throwing a fit for 3 1/2 hours! Mom was tempted to give her Tylenol with Codine(sp?) because it makes you sleepy! We still have no idea what her deal was!

Today, we went to the zoo, and we took lots of pictures, but they're on "Damma's" camera, so they'll have to wait until she gets back home.

So far, it's been a HUGE blessing that my mom has been here this week, and not last week. Who knows what the rest of the week will hold!

We Survived the First Week!

It wasn't that hard to do. This is pretty much all Sadie did:

Occasionally, we could get her to open her eyes for a few seconds:
But, then, she'd fall right back to sleep!
She started practicing holding her own bottle (Morgan NEVER did this):

We went on walks, and guess what? She slept!

Sadie and Morgan are definitely night and day when it comes to their newborn personalities! It seemed as though we couldn't get Morgan to sleep, and we're lucky if Sadie remembers to wake up to eat!

Morgan is adjusting very well to being a big sister. She hasn't thrown any major fits (other than the usual 2 year old ones) and Sadie's only been smothered a couple of times. All in all, we're doing quite well.