Husbands and Home Depot...

...when combined, will likely result in some sort of mess (see below).

First, we made the trip:

Later that evening:

Now, when you hear the story, it's not that bad.

In a nutshell, when our home was built, the electricians put a cable outlet in the wrong spot (we got to pick where we wanted them). We brought it to their attention, and instead of leaving the outlet that was misplaced, but already hooked up, wired, etc., they took off the faceplate and left all the wiring in the wall and connected to the main electrical box. Then, they put different wires to the correct location. We know this because our basement is unfinished and we can follow the wiring to the original (incorrect) location, as well as the other (correct) locations.

So, we knew that if we ever wanted to put the TV in the front room, all we needed to do was find the wires in the wall. Pretty easy, right? Yeah. Brian didn't want to make a big mess, so he spent over 30 minutes measuring precisely where the cord went from the basement into the wall, how far it was from a few key points of reference, etc.

Then, he bravely cut a hole (the biggest one on the right). Then, he pulled out the insulation. Then, he pulled out more insulation. Then, he called my dad to make sure he hadn't missed a step (which he knew he hadn't, but he wanted to make sure). The conclusion--the cables obviously aren't in the wall at that point, so they could be anywhere, along any stud on the wall.

Great! Now I'm imagining an entire wall full of little holes as Brian searches for the wires. That'll be attractive.

So, Brian cuts hole #2. As he pulls out his first handful of insulation, I say to him, "Wouldn't it be funny if you found the wire right here, on the other side of the stud? I would just laugh." His response: "Start laughing," as he pulls out the cable. Poor guy.

Then comes hole #3. Directly above hole #2, this is the location that we actually want to put the outlet. So, Brian cuts the hole, makes the necessary connections, and voila! We have another cable outlet that the utility company wanted to charge us $100+ to put in!

I decided to make this post to show my dad the end result of Brian's efforts, and also to publicly remind Brian that I am fully aware that a trip to Home Depot will likely mean a mess and possibly another trip in the near future (to get stuff to repair the wall). It's okay and I'm way impressed in his ability to move our cable and internet lines to another jack in the house. Plus, I'm the one who asked him to do it when we have a 3 day old baby. I can't get mad if something goes wrong! Thank goodness it's fixed now! Love you, sweetie! Thank you!

"Happy Birthday to Baby Sadie!"

Sweet Sadie Pearl made her debut early Sunday morning. After less than 3 short hours of labor, she arrived at 4:15 a.m., Sunday, July 27, 2008.

Her stats:

*7 lbs, 14.8 oz (exactly the same size as Morgan)

*19 1/2 inches long

We are all so excited she is here!

Morgan decided to sing a welcome song to Morgan during our walk of the hallway on Sunday. Our question to any hospital architect...why can't they make the hallways longer? It's gets really old pacing back and forth!

Mommy holding her precious little one.

Daddy, big sister Morgan, and Sadie--Morgan was so excited to meet her little sister!

Morgan helped feed Baby Sadie her second bottle. She was such a good helper--she shook the bottle, wiped her if she "spilled" (i.e. drooled/spit up), and made sure she was satisfied after her meal.

Morgan insisted on taking Sadie for walks. She did pretty well and only bumped into the wall a couple of times.

Even at such a young age, Sadie insists on keeping her feet out of the blankets...for temperature regulation. I guess she learned from her mom, who gets it from her dad.

I needed a quick spot to set Sadie down this afternoon, and this was right there...she fits in a laundry basket! (Note: this is a basket of CLEAN laundry--Brian had just taken it out of the dryer)

Here's Sadie being introduced to her "lovey", Sadie's Bear, as Morgan calls it. We have yet to come up with a name, but it will likely be Pearl, because Morgan's bunny is named Rae.

Busy as a Bee!!!

This is going to be one long post, wrapping up one of our last weekends as parents of just one.

Friday Afternoon:

Brian's company, Watson Wyatt, hosted their annual family picnic at the park. We all enjoyed delicious food, entertainment by a clown, and squirt guns! I think many of Brian's co-workers were surprised at how good Morgan's aim is! She was squirting everyone!

Brian and Morgan coming back to the picnic tables after a tough game of Bocce ball.

Morgan and Acella(sp?) playing "Ring Around the Rosies"

I didn't expect to get such a great action shot of Brian playing volleyball!

Morgan and Isabelle playing on the See Saw...she's becoming such a big girl!



Saturday Morning:

Morgan has wanted to ride the bus like Daddy for a long time. She sees him get on and off at the bus stop, going to work, and we thought we'd take her for a ride on the bus. We went downtown to the PBS Kids Fun Fest (a madhouse of way too many people in 95+ degree weather!!).

Here's Morgan looking out the window on the bus!

Morgan chose to sit right in the very front--here she is with her daddy.

She's such a big girl, she wanted to get off the bus all by herself.

Of course, we didn't take many pictures at the Fun Fest, so here's Mackenzie trying to convince Morgan it's okay to pet the rabbit. She never did, and I think she thought the goats might eat her!

Saturday Evening:

Sorry, no pictures--I was too busy relaxing at the Ward Luau. Call me crazy, but I put together 3 ward activities, all within the last month (and my last 6 weeks of pregnancy), and I decided to enjoy myself at the luau. We have a handful of Polynesian families in our ward, and one in particular actually provides entertainment at Luaus all over Denver. Because they're in our ward, we can book the show for free--provided everyone brings a potluck dish to share! We had a great time and Morgan loved watching all the dancing!

Well, that's all the exciting news we have to share. Stay tuned--the next thing exciting enough to be posted on our blog better be a new baby! Less than 2 weeks to go!!!

Daddy's Wallet...

This post is two-fold. One, to congratulate Brian on passing another exam, and Two, to respond to Ashley's comment from the last post (Daddy's shorts).

So, Morgan discovered Brian's shorts, and Ashley commented by saying: "I love it! Morgan, next time you should find the shorts that have Daddy's wallet in them. Then call me. I'll tell you where to go buy you and your Momma something fun."

You won't believe what we found Morgan doing, not more than 10 minutes later:

She had found Brian's wallet on the counter and apparently decided to take Ashley's advice. But that's okay--because Brian just passed his 2nd EA (Enrolled Actuary) exam (results came out this morning), and that means he's only got 2 exams left until he's COMPLETELY DONE with all of his exams/credentials/studying, etc...!!!!! I'm so proud of you and am glad that you're so dedicated! Way to go, sweetie!

In Daddy's Shoes...(Shorts)...

Here's how I caught Morgan the other day...



I guess she's ready to try and fill Daddy's shoes (shorts)!

Swim Lessons

Morgan took her first swim class this past month. We all had a lot of fun because it was a parent-tot class and we took turns with her in the water. The only downfall to the swim class has been the potential for the great flood in the bathtub. She now lays in the bathtub and practices her "big kicks" and blows bubbles--really the only 2 skills she got out of the class. But, she had a blast. Here are some pictures and videos.

Morgan and Mommy all ready for class--she always insisted on carrying her swim bag into the pool. (Please excuse the belly--only 5 weeks to go in this picture!!)

If jumping into a pool were a career, Morgan would be all over it! This is the #1 thing she does at any pool!

The other tot in the video is Morgan's friend, Spencer. We think Morgan definitely wins for being the braver one to jump into the pool!

Morgan and Brian hanging out in the water. Poor Morgan always seemed to come out of the 1/2 hour swim lesson with blue lips--I don't think the water was really the 84 degrees like the thermometer read.

Fixing the Bike

Brian's bike got a flat tire last week (so sorry you had to ride home with it), so he attempted to patch the hole this weekend. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful and it needs a new tube. Good thing they're pretty cheap.

Anyway, when Morgan heard Daddy going to the garage, she asked him what he was doing. He told her he was fixing his bike, at which point, she determined that hers needed to be fixed also.

Morgan insisted on turning her bike upside down, just like Daddy's. Here she is "fixing" it.

This was the best shot I could get of both of them fixing their bikes.

Two, Going on Attitude!

Tonight, we read Morgan her birthday cards to celebrate. Since she didn't have any gifts to open because we already set up her kitchen, this was really all we had for her. She doesn't really understand anyway, so it worked out fine.

We finished reading all of them for the 2nd time, and Brian wanted to read her his favorite bedtime book, "No More Kissing." It's cute--you should check it out sometime.

Anyway, we asked her if she wanted to read it and she said, "No. Cards Again." I questioned her to make sure by asking, "Are you sure you want to read them again?" She confidently said, "Yes." Then, I asked, "Morgan, are you conceited?" Her reply: "Yes."

We had to laugh! It sounds conceited if all your 2 year old wants to do is read her birthday cards that people tell her how much they love her! So, she's starting to develop her little 2-year old attitude!

Here Come the Terrible Twos!!

Actually, I think they've been here for awhile! So, last night, we celebrated Morgan's birthday--11 kids (all under age 4) and their families were here! (Note: Morgan's birthday is actually tomorrow, June 18th) We seriously didn't think we were popular enough in our ward to get 25+ to turn out for a toddler's birthday. Well, I guess Morgan has that charm...



Here are a couple of pictures of the cake that I decorated for her and from her party. It was pretty funny to watch her as we sang, because the moment she was close enough to the cake, she started trying to blow out the candles! She didn't even wait until the end of the song!

Morgan didn't want to sit on Mommy's lap or Daddy's lap. Instead, she chose our friend, Marty's lap to be sung to. We thought it was kind of funny.

Just a cute little pic of a very content (almost) 2 year old.

New Day, New Adventures...

Last night, just as we were going to bed, Morgan woke up. We weren't surprised at all because she had chosen to sleep in her fleece footsie pajamas and wouldn't budge! So, when she started to cry, I checked on her, and she was sitting up in bed, sweating! She, of course, wanted to come sleep in mommy's bed, but last night, I put my foot down.
I told her she had to sleep in Morgan's bed. She didn't want to, so, I did what you're supposed to do with a toddler, gave her an option. I told her she couldn't sleep in mommy's bed, but she could sleep in Morgan's bed or on the couch. Basically, I figured she wouldn't want to sleep by herself in a new room, so she would likely choose to go back to bed. Nope.
It took her all of about 0.2 seconds to decide she wanted to sleep on the couch (well, actually the floor), and she proceeded to get her blanket, bunny, and a pillow off the couch and lay down. And, that was the end of the battle.
When I woke up at 5:30 this morning, here she was:


Morgan's 2nd birthday is next week. I bought this kitchen for her way back in January, thinking I might give it to her for some big event that may happen in the interim (i.e. potty training treat, easter, etc.). Needless to say, the motivation to actually put it together didn't come until Saturday night. So, ever since then, this is how we find Morgan probably about 90% of the time:

In fact, when she woke up this morning, I asked her what she wanted for breakfast, and, of course she replied with her usual, "Oatmeal, please." So I went into the kitchen to make her oatmeal. When it was done, I asked her if she wanted to come eat her oatmeal. Her reply: "No mommy, cooking." So, about 15-20 minutes later, she ate cold oatmeal for breakfast.

I made the chef hat for her today out of tissue paper and posterboard. She's having a chef birthday party on Monday night, and I thought I'd see just how easy they are to make for all the kids. Here's the link if you'd like it: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10587