Easter Weekend!!

Long story short, but last Wednesday, we decided it was time to say goodbye to diapers (for now) at our house. Brian and I are both tired of fighting Morgan, so we started the great adventure of potty training. It wasn't fun, that's for sure, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected. There were only a couple of days that I was ready to give up, but now, I'm glad we've done it. (Doesn't the "big girl" underwear look enormous on her? We already had problems keeping her pants up and now the problem is worse!)



Anyway, so we were a little bit hindered on our Easter activities this year. To make up for Morgan missing the play group egg hunt, we had our own in the backyard. So, here's a couple of pictures and videos from her little hunt. She will definitely need som training before she goes to a hunt with other kids--she was quite pokey in her search, but still had lots of fun!

Morgan and Mommy (and Bunny) before the hunt.

Brian thought the picture from "behind" was too cute to not take!

Morgan showing off her goods at the end of her hunt. Notice Bunny had to come along in her basket to enjoy it with her.

The Alphabet Tag!

Thanks Court! I actually think this one will be kind of fun, and I need a little "me" time right now.


A-Attached or single: Attached.

B-Best Friend: Brian is by far my best friend, but there are many girlfriends out there that rank high up on my list too!

Cake or Pie: Not a particular fan of either, but I tried the Sara Lee Dutch Apple Pie a couple of weeks ago and it's quite tasty!

D-Day of Choice: Friday--that's my day that I can heave a big sigh and NOT cook for dinner! Plus, Brian usually tries to get home early!

E-Essential Item: These days, it seems to be tissues. Morgan's nose is runnier that a leaky faucet! (But, Courtney, baby wipes DO have a million uses!)

F-Favorite Color: Yellow

G-Gummi Bears or Worms: For anyone who knew me in high school (which I think it's only Lauren who will read this), Sour Gummy Worms ALL THE WAY! The yellow and green ones can dance!

H-Hometown: Denver, CO is home today, but I grew up in Oceanside, CA

I-Indulgence(s): Lately, it's been fruit. That seems to be my pregnancy craving.

J-January or July: Do I have to pick? In January, it's like 10 degrees outside in Colorado, and in July, it was over 100!!

L-Life is incomplete without: the telephone--how did people live without this wonderful invention???

M-Marriage Date: August 16, 2003

N-Number of Siblings: Biologically, 1 brother, 3 sisters. In-laws, 5 brothers, 5 sisters

O-Oranges or Apples: I am always up for a Gala apple, and when you dip it with peanut butter, it's amazing. Cara Cara oranges are super sweet and super yummy!

P-Phobias or Fears: I will go on some rollercoasters, but WILL NOT go on the tower kind (the ones that shoot you straight up really fast, then drop). Ask Brian about our honeymoon sometime and he'll tell you he won't let me on one again!

Q-Quote: My quote for now is the one on my blog--"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain." Boy, isn't that motherhood in a nutshell!

R-Reason To Smile: Sunshine!

S-Season: Spring--I can't wait to wear short sleeves, capris and sandals! Goodbye snow!

T-Tag Someone: ASHLYN!!

U-Unknown Fact About Me: I have two. #1: I won't eat a salad that I prepare. Don't ask why, but Brian has to make the salad for dinner, and I have no problem ordering a salad when we go out. #2: I always have to have a box of cookies on hand. Right now, it's Girl Scout Cookies. I have 3 boxes in my basement freezer that will likely not be eaten until next year when I can replenish them, but if I ate them now, they wouldn't be there if I REALLY needed them. I actually kept a candy bar in my pantry for 2 years in case I ever needed it. If I did, I wouldn't eat it because it would be gone. So, my mom ate it one day and told me she'd buy me another one.

V-Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: Occasionally, I am in the mood for some really good meat, but since my dad lives in CA, I don't get it very often.

W-Worst Habit: Folding laundry--it gets washed, but Brian folds 99% of the time. Thanks, sweeetie!

X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Both have their plusses-- X-Rays helped heal my severely broken arms after my car accident in 2001, and Ultrasounds are fun because I've gotten to see my babies before they are born!

Y-Your Favorite Food: I'm a pretty big fan of the mac'n'cheese at Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation.

Z-Zippers or Zebras: Both. Morgan loves to see the Zebra on her animal puzzle and in her alphabet book. Zippers are also a necessity at our house--if your jacket has one, Morgan won't let you leave until you've zipped it up. However, she'll gladly undo the zipper on her pajamas and her jacket and take them off!

Morgan the Adventurer!

Morgan loves to ride her bike and now that it is starting to warm up (a pathetic 45-55 degrees is FABULOUS for us), we are starting to spend time outside. Last week, we brought Morgan's "bike" outside. For those of you that want a reminder of how fast kids grow, this time last year, she could only sit on it...her feet couldn't even reach the ground!

Anyway, Morgan discovered how fun it is to ride her bike down the driveway. We don't exactly have a flat driveway, either. So, I took the video, as Brian stood at the bottom, fearful for Morgan's life. Oh, and she only crashed once. In fact, she was so upset that Brian picked her up to check on her that she kicked him until he put her down and she ran right back and got on her bike! What a brave girl!

Let's hope baby #2 isn't quite as daring!

Parenting Dilemma

What do you do when your fish that would never get OUT of the bathtub now refuses to climb in?

Here's the story:

Morgan used to insist on a bath EVERY night. She would play for the longest time and she often continued to play, even after the water drained out. Now, since she went to AZ for Brian's grandma's funeral about 3 weeks ago, she SCREAMS and starts climbing out even BEFORE she's all the way in the tub.

In fact, it's turned into a 2 person job. One of us has to keep her in the tub while the other washes her up quickly before she climbs out again.

Any suggestions??? We miss our little fishy in the bathtub!

Brian and Mackenzie

Did We Mention We're Having Another Baby???

Without beating around the bush, it was kind of hard (and awkward) to announce that we're expecting baby #2. I don't know exactly why, but for some reason, it just seemed odd to call everyone up and announce the news, so we decided to wait until the ultrasound for the big announcement. Some people that we see regularly have asked, and I've told them, but for all of you that we don't get to see often enough, here's your announcement.

We have taught Morgan that "baby" (as we have yet to agree on a name) is in Mommy's tummy. If you ask her where baby is, she says, "Mommy tummy." Then you continue with, "Is baby in Morgan's tummy?" and she replies, "No" with a big head shake. "Is baby in bunny's tummy?" which she again replies, "No" with a big head shake. Then, when you ask, "Is baby in Mommy's tummy?" She says "YES!" and gently pats my stomach. She's going to be a good big sister!

We had our ultrasound yesterday and I'll be 20 weeks on Saturday, so we're almost halfway. Here are some pictures, and as they all look the same, I'll describe what's "featured" in each of them.





This one is of our Acrobatic Baby. You can see a profile shot, and right above the head is baby's foot. The ultrasound tech couldn't get the whole baby in the picture, but basically, the baby is in a V shape with its feet over its head.





This is a blurry picture of the face. If you look carefully, you can see to black spots on the head (L). Those are the eyes, and then try to distinguish the rest of the facial features from there. Oh, and for the record, this baby has a big head, just like Morgan. The head measures at least 3-4 days ahead of the rest of the body, so that must mean it's big! Lucky me!

This one is where you get to guess what it is. The first "gender" shot, I didn't want to believe what I heard, so I basically diregarded the information and requested a better shot later in the ultrasound.

Here's the typical baby profile. You can see the nose poking up, and that's an arm bone just beneath the chin.

So, there you have it. We're expecting another girl on August 2, 2008! Note: What I was hoping I saw in the gender picture above is actually just the umbillical cord deceivingly placed and bunched together.

Bad Hair Day

You'd have this look on your face, too, if you woke up with hair like this every morning!

But then again, if you are as crazy of a sleeper as Morgan, you might!! Imagine trying to comb it out!

Bedtime

For all of you out there that have listened to me agonize over Morgan's poor naptime sleeping, I have finally found a solution that works for her. Even though she went to bed really well despite not wanting to nap, she insists on using this new "idea" for all of her sleeping. That's fine with me because she naps!!!

So this is our approach to naptime (and bedtime). Morgan gets to pick a couple of books to sit on her bed and read (in the dark), and most of the time, she is asleep within 5-10 minutes. It's fabulous. She reads her book to her bunny, sings a song to herself, and then she is asleep.

Earlier this week, I was visiting teaching, so Brian put Morgan to bed by himself. When I got home, he told me to look in her room because she INSISTED on bringing something other than books to bed. I guess Morgan wanted to build a tower in the dark with her stacking blocks but decided it was too much work and she'd rather sleep. Oh well, there's always tomorrow to try again...

Our Daughter, the Genius

So, Morgan's probably not going to win a Nobel Prize or anything like that, but we think she's amazing. She's 20 months old now and can do lots of different puzzles. Brian gets a little bit frustrated because she's not perfect at them, but we still think it's advanced to be able to match the letters to different pictures. (It's not on the video, but she can pick up a letter A anywhere and she immediately says, "Airplane!")

Here are a few excerpts from her alphabet puzzle--if you watch all of them, they are a little bit long, but she's learning and loves to do puzzles. Now if you were to give her a doll to play with, that's a whole different story (she likes to be carried by her feet, right?)...

Morgan's Latest Hiding Place

Morgan was playing hide-and-seek today. Every now and again, we would hear her knocking on the door, which meant she had locked herself in her bedroom or our closet. At one point, she had been in her room for a while and was pretty quiet. I went into look for her and didn't see her. Her room is not that big and there isn't anywhere to hide, so my first (and right) guess was to look inside the closed closet. So, I decided to grab the camera to see what she was up to. There she was, sitting on her pack'n'play, reading books (in the dark) to her bunny.

Silly Morgan!

Morgan has a fetish for sunglasses (see picture below from last summer). She also has a magnet on the refrigerator of sunglasses that she likes to "wear" every now and then (see picture #2 below).






Morgan also discovered that she fits perfectly in one of her toy baskets. She worked so hard to get in here and situated just right to have a drink of water, that I couldn't help but take a picture.