I was tagged with…The Five Lists!!!!

5 things on my To Do List
1. Buy more Prilosec!!! Heartburn during pregnancy is miserable!
2. Take the car to get a tune up
3. Dishes (is this not the never-ending task??)
4. Clean Bathrooms
5. Make a grocery list and go shopping

5 jobs I have had
1. Foothill Chevron (my dad's gas station in CA)
2. Old Navy
3. BYU Mechanical Shop (secretary)
4. Baby Gap
5. J8 Equipment Accounting Assistant

5 places I've lived.
1. Sacramento, CA
2. Oceanside, CA
3. Provo, UT
4. Littleton, CO
5. Denver, CO

5 favorite snacks
1. bagels and cream cheese
2. oatmeal raisin cookies
3. a salad I DIDN'T make
4. a bowl of cereal
5. apples and peanut butter

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Pay off our house!
2. Buy a second car
3. Buy a vinyl lettering machine to make phrases for crafts and my house
4. Get a new bedroom set
5. Finish the basement

5 things you may not know about me
1. I really am NOT a crafty person--I'm good at copying ideas
2. I was in a car accident my first semester of college and "died" 3 times. (i.e. cardiac arrest, no pulse, not breathing for several minutes)
3. I'm not a big reader, despite teaching myself to read at age 3
4. Brian and I have moved 3 times since last ordering a box of checks---think we don't have to write many??? We figured we wouldn't need to buy more for at least 4 more years.
5. I insisted on getting married after my birthday in August 2003, so I wouldn't be a teenage bride (i.e. another "statistic" as I thought). So, we got married exactly 2 weeks after I turned 20.

5 things I LOVE
1. My husband, Brian
2. Morgan and our soon to be new baby
3. Snuggling
4. My Honda Pilot
5. Tulips (springtime in general is nice)

Now I tag 5 friends--Melissa, Aubrey, Ashley, Nikki, and Court!

I Love Being a Mom!

No pictures or videos today, so sorry for those of you that love to watch Morgan. I thought I would actually write a serious post tonight. And, due to the fact that I am pregnant, I will likely cry as I type.

I love being a mom! There aren't any big, exciting things that happen most days, but it's all the little things that add up to the great joy I experience as a mom. For instance, we went on a family walk after dinner and Morgan asked if Rock could come. At first, Brian was a little bit hesitant because Morgan wanted to ride on his shoulders and he didn't want to get hit on the head. But, Rock came along. And, here's the little moment that made the trip worthwhile. Partway through the walk, Morgan said, "Rock cold," and cuddled up to Brian's head and shoulders while snuggling Rock. Cheesey, I know, but so precious.

There isn't anything that replaces the "Love you, Mommy!" or the "Love you, Daddy!" when you least expect it. It makes those days when you get peed on in the middle of the Sacrament seem so insignificant because you have a child that loves you, and unconditionally at that!

I also love to see Morgan apply the things we teach her. "Please" and "Thank You" are very important words at our house and it's been really exciting to see Morgan begin to remember on her own to use them. While a toddler doesn't have the best of manners, it's such a sweet attempt at trying!

So, I may not get a monetary paycheck for being a mom, but the pay is phenomenal and I wouldn't trade it for the world! Who would want to pass up the opportunity to eat a chili pepper, pineapple, lemon soup everyday? (oh, that's what Morgan made for me to share with her tonight--thank goodness for plastic food!)

Home Again, Home Again...Jiggety Jig!

Where to begin??? Morgan and I went to San Diego for a long weekend trip so Brian could get some good studying in before his next exam on May 13th. Hopefully we'll be done with exams this time next year, because 2 kids will be MUCH harder to travel with alone!

Here's a quick recap of some of the things we did over the weekend.


A live band played music at the BBQ, so, of course, Morgan wanted to dance. Well, she wanted Mommy to dance, while holding her. It's a lot of work out there in 90+ degree temps!


At the neighborhood BBQ, Morgan envied all the kids on their scooters. She was so cute, one of the neighbors brought one out just for her!


My parents just got some new office furniture and saved a box for Morgan to play in. Grandpa cut out a couple of windows. Morgan also had to make sure to say hi to everyone who passed her way... in this video, it's the dog ("Hi, Madison!") and Grandma ("Hi Damma!").

Grandpas are such good sports. Morgan siad, "Papa, house! Papa, house!" So my dad climbed in her box house. Next thing you know, Morgan squeezed out of the house, with my dad exclaiming, "I got hosed!" But, Morgan didn't leave her grandpa just yet...here she is, coming through the window to give him a kiss! How sweet!

Madison is such a good sport. Morgan was insistent on playing catch with her, and, even when she threw the ball straight into Madison's face, she still kept playing. Listen carefully as she tells Madison what to do with the ball..."Drop Madison!"

By Sunday afternoon, Morgan was pooped! I kept checking on her all 3 hours of her nap, and I don't think she ever moved!

How can this possibly be comfortable? This is how I found Morgan in bed Sunday night. I guess the important thing was that she was finally asleep!

An Update on "Rock"

So, Rock is still here. (Ashley, I read what you said and decided I shouldn't be a terrible mother and Rock will stay for awhile.)

He's been sleeping since after Morgan's bath on Monday night. She was so cute in the bathtub. She was playing with her bath toys, and then, out of nowhere, she said, "Rock awake! Morgan All done!" And then she started to put her toys away. Then, when she got out of the bath, I asked what Rock was doing and she said, "Sleeping." So, he's still asleep.

Morgan plays "Rosies" (Ring Around the Roses) with Rock, and he watched Wheel of Fortune with her last night (he's sitting on her lap in the picture). Bunny even holds him sometimes.

Well, just thought we'd let you know what Rock has been up to. If only my life were that simple...

Gardening

As it turns out, Brian and I don't have black thumbs. And, despite Morgan dumping out half of our seeds that we planted a couple weeks ago, they have all survived!

Here's a few pictures of our garden in progress. Brian faithfully takes the trays outside in the sun every morning, and brings them back inside to stay warm at night. What an awesome guy!

Morgan showing off her garden. She loves to look at her plants everyday. We've only had one incident of a plant being uprooted. Brian was so upset with her, I don't think she dares to even think about trying again!

Morgan always makes sure the plants get adequately watered.

Brian was digging a hole to plant a rose bush and Morgan wanted to help. Luckily, she didn't fall in!

My daffodils are finally blooming and the plants along the front are my tulips! It's only the 3rd or 4th year I've tried planting them, but they've finally come up! I'm so excited!

Pet Rock

Morgan and I (Mackenzie) went to the Children's Museum this morning. For Toddler Time, the museum hosted "The Re-Invention of the Pet Rock". So, we listened to a story about this little girl that went to her grandparents' house and met her Grandpa's pet rock. Then, Morgan got to make a pet rock of her very own, complete with a bed and house to live in.

Of course, she had to show Daddy when we went downtown to meet him for lunch. So, on the car ride to his office, she sang it a lullaby (Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star). By the time we got to his office, her rock was sleeping, so everyone had to be very quiet when they looked at it.

If you ask Morgan what her rock's name is, she says, "Damma...Oh Dear! Bubbles..Damma's house!" Translation: The Grandma in the story always said, "Oh Dear!" when she saw the pet rock, and we got a special bubble blower for her to bring to my parents' this weekend and she won't stop talking about it! So, I guess her rock doesn't have a name. Oh well. It will likely disappear (oops!) within a few days anyway.

It's My Naptime...

Church starts at 11 for us, and Ward Council Sunday is especially rough for Morgan. With only one car, and being a good 10-15 minute drive from the church, we all go together and Brian entertains for an extra hour before church. Needless to say, by 2:00, Morgan is exhausted. Today, we were quite impressed! She made it all the way to Airport Road before falling asleep! (What is that...like 3 minutes from the chapel??)

Anyway, I need to go wake her up right now so she will go to sleep tonight, but when I went into her room, this was too precious to not grab a picture! Why can't she always sleep this soundly and look this cute? I especially love her pigtail and her foot poking out at the end of her blanket.

Mismatched, Messy Morgan...

Okay, I have to preface this post by saying that I wouldn't take Morgan out in public like this!
However, we were staying home all afternoon, and she had already spilled milk and ranch dressing down her shirt at lunch time (we were out and I didn't have a bib--oops!), so I didn't really care when she wanted her pants rolled up (they are a bit too long) and to wear her "hat" while she played.

I found a book of vinyl window stickers in a box the other day and she loves to decorate the TV stand with them! I figure that a few fingerprints on the TV stand aren't going to hurt anything!


These particular stickers are colors and shapes. Morgan has the idea of a circle down, but doesn't always differentiate it from an oval. And rectangle is too complicated of a word for her to say, I think, so she just calls them all squares.

Planting the Garden

The weather is finally becoming somewhat bearable during the day, so we started our garden on Saturday. However, it's not outside to stay yet...our "garden" is currently on the coffee table in the living room--the place where we decided was least likely to be intruded upon by Morgan, and the place that gets the most sun (i.e. all afternoon).

Here are a few pictures of planting seeds on Saturday and Brian and Morgan watering the lawn (it needs to be watered weekly now, but it's still freezing at night, so we can't turn the sprinklers on just yet).

Mackenzie showing Morgan how to plant the seeds.

Morgan planting a few seeds on her own.

Morgan and Brian pause to smile for the camera.

Needless to say, we were all quite messy before the project was over! Hopefully we'll have something to show for it in a couple of months!

Courtney, Afton, and Madelyn's Visit

This past weekend, my sister and her two girls came to visit us from Nebraska and we had lots of fun! Maybe Courtney will post some pictures from the zoo. We forgot our camera...oops!

On Thursday night, we told Morgan that Afton was coming to visit and asked her to help get her bed ready. After we took the crib rail off to make it a "bed", Morgan wanted to make sure Afton was comfortable and felt at home. After we put a clean sheet on the bed, I asked her to get a blanket for Afton and she came back with two. Then, without my mentioning a thing, she looked everywhere for a pillow for Afton and finally decided that she could have Daddy's. Don't worry, we switched it out and Brian got a pillow.

Next, Morgan asked if she could put some books on Afton's bed. I said yes, and she didn't just put a few. Afton's bed was covered with about 15 books! Then, Morgan proceeded to bring ALL of the stuffed animals (except Bunny) from her bed to Afton's. What a fabulous hostess! I'm sure Afton felt right at home!

Friday morning, Morgan was behaving exceptionally well while I combed her hair, so I thought I would put in 2 pigtails. They actually stayed in until our guests arrived, but not too long after. Here's a picture.

Sunday night, we all had ice cream for dessert. Notice we stripped them down to avoid chocolate all over their clothes. And, notice how much Afton likes ice cream. I think it was gone before Morgan had even taken a bite!

Morgan didn't get enough ice cream, I guess! Watch the video as she LITERALLY licks her plate clean. Brian is trying to teach her how to pick up her plate to lick it, but apparently she found it more successful to eat off the floor like a dog! Too cute!

This picture was too precious to not get on camera! Brian and Madelyn cuddling on the couch--probably watching sports!

We had so much fun when the girls came to visit. Thanks so much for coming! We hope you had a fun trip, too!