I changed my mind.

Kelly, you can start laughing now. So, last week I kind of got freaked out, but after talking to Brad and a couple of friends about it, I've decided to go public again. I was informed about a little setting to control search engines, and turned it off. So, all of that to say, I'm back and I'm public!! Brad will be relieved. Last week he said, and I quote, "Does this mean I have to sign in every time I want to see your blog? I don't have time for that." You're welcome.

***Edited to add: I don't know if it completely takes care of the creepies out there, but here's how to change your settings (apparently I'm not the only one who didn't already know about it!!). Go to your settings page after you sign in. Scroll down to "Let search engines find your blog?". Switch it to "off". That way, creepies can't "crawl" your blog. Not exactly sure what that term means, but it sounds bad!!

Haste.

I just did it. I went private. It already lets me breathe a little easier.

Torn...

...between the purpose of blogs (reconnecting, keeping up with friends) and the creepy part of the internet that I keep in the back of my mind. I just "google imaged" my kids, husband and myself. Almost a whole page with pictures of Mallory. Freaking. me. out. I think I may need to jump on the private bandwagon.

I was tagged!

My sister-in-law tagged me, so here it goes. 6 random things about moi!

#1 I use spell check for everything: important things, not-so-important things, emails, blogs, Christmas lists. This isn't necessarily quirky, but I really enjoy it when "No spelling errors found" pops up. It's like a little pat on my back from a typing teacher:) That might be a little prideful. Oops.

#2 I am addicted to Coca Cola. I used to joke with other pregnant mommies that Mallory and Morgan's amniotic fluid was Coke. I'm not really that bad, but I do need (okay, want) one everyday. And, I especially like the Coke from Chili's, McDonald's, Taco Bueno and a can that's been in the freezer for about 20 minutes (thanks Kara!).

#3 I am the worst about finishing things. I start projects, have great ideas, run out of time and there is sits. Incomplete. Ugh. It's really annoying to me...and to Brad. I moved some pictures in our house to another wall with a really pretty decorative shelf thingy. Too bad 3 of the 5 frames don't have any pictures in them...and it's been almost a month! Several people have seen the frame with the married couple and looked closer to see if it's us. It's not. Ugh.

#4 I love brownie, cake or cookie dough batter. LOVE it. I will bake brownies just so I can lick the bowl...and spoon...and scrape the bowl again. I know I'm not the only one. I called my sister one day to confess, and she said she does the same thing. Sorry Kelly! I had to make myself feel better on this one:)

#5 When I am bored or nervous, I will peel my nails. I don't ever bite them (unless there is a really crazy break), but I do peel them. I really enjoy it when I can split them. Okay, this is sounding really strange, so I'll stop talking about it. I think I peel them because they don't grow very long, and when they do, they start to break in the corners. Maybe they would grow longer if I put some hardening stuff on them when they start to break instead of peeling them. Hmmm.

#6 I talk/walk in my sleep almost every night. When I had my first job at Tom Thumb, I was a grocery sacker. I would wake up at the foot of my bed sacking groceries in my sleep! Then, I would realize what I was doing and tell the person I couldn't take their groceries out because I had to go back to sleep. The same thing happened after I became an RN. During orientation (when you do everyone's everything...IVs, catheters, dressings on wounds, you name it, you did it!), I would wake up so distressed because there would be a patient needing something, and I didn't have any of my supplies! What a dork!

Now I tag Kara, Karen, Shannon M. and Laura...and anyone else who wants to be a little introspective!!!

EIGHT months!!!

Yesterday Morgan turned eight BIG months old! It's getting harder to take her picture in her chair (we had a little mishap in the shoot yesterday!) because the theme of this month is "moving"! She's not crawling yet, but she is a wiggle worm. The girl has some moves. Here's the progression of her fall off the chair yesterday:

Wow, that is perfect. Now, just hold that position and let me take a few more...

This is where she gets herself in trouble. She rolls over her leg and leans/reaches so far that it lands her on her belly...

And then, the leverage from her noggin landed her on her back (with my hand on her chest trying to break the fall!). No tears, just BIG eyes!

And, in honor of her 8th month, I decided she needed a skirt on her crib...finally! I'm so mad that I didn't do this when I made her bumper pads. Oh well. I guess I wouldn't have found the cute yellow ball fringe on sale if I had tried to do it back in November!

We brought home the Tigger from my parent's house. Mallory wasn't a fan (at all), but Morgan loves to bounce, jump and move around. She's been in 2 Jumperoos and goes crazy! This is similar, but not quite as fun. She makes the most of it. Mallory likes to "help" her jump!

We are officially ending breastfeeding. I started weaning her late last week, and we are already down to 2 feedings a day! I'm pretty sure we'll drop the morning one this week and and then drop the bedtime one shortly after. I'm sure I could have persevered, but it was getting really hard. She has become quite distracted with everything around her. It was frustrating me and her a little too. She's still a little distracted with her bottles, but not as much as with me:) I remember after I finished with Mallory, I realized how nice it is to bring bottles and stay in a room for a conversation, not have to leave church, giving me a break...I could go on. I really enjoy it while I'm doing it, but then I really enjoy the bottle stage just as much:)

She's still kind of funny about baby food. She always makes a face for the first bite. Seriously. Even if she loves squash, she'll make a face first. We know for sure she doesn't like green beans, applesauce or mixed vegetables. Favorites are the orange/yellow veggies, bananas, oatmeal cereal and puffs. She's tried crackers, small pieces of cheddar cheese and water in a sippy cup!

Morgan has learned how to project this month too! She's always been more of a screecher than a babbler, but it has gotten LOUD this month. Like, blood curtling screams. Wow. The really neat part is that Mallory likes to copy her after she does it.

She's still a great baby. Easy to distract when she gets bored (she loves to sit by the back door and watch Connor, loves it!), sleeps great (2 solid naps now), goes with the flow while we're out and about, has the best smiles, is so ticklish and still LOVES her sister!

And, just for fun...Here is Mallory's 8 month picture in the chair. I am positive I birthed them both, but some days, I really wonder...

Mallory the un-Olympian

Today we headed to a gym to play! They put out all sorts of toddler friendly gym equipment (very low balance beam, tunnels, tons of mats and cubes to climb on, a rope swing, a running trampoline, hula hoops, stuffed tigers and pooh bears..random, I thought), played music that reminded me of pep rallies from high school and had a fan that blew semi-cool air for the mommies sweating to death! Mallory wasn't sure of it at first (no, really??), but once she saw the other kids having fun, she decided to as well! She obviously isn't quite ready for the Olympics yet (see video below), but she sure had fun pretending to be a gymnast for the day! She asked for a kiss immediately after this:

Speaking of the Olympics, it took all I had not to pull out my mad gymnastics skills from 8th grade and try a round-off right there in front of everyone. Those darn gymnasts make it look so easy on TV. I'm pretty positive an ambulance would had to have been called if I even tried to attempt it!!!

And, Miss Morgan wanted in on all the action too. She's getting closer and closer to crawling. Just in the last week, she's started rocking back and forth almost on all fours. She just squealed and bounced at all the big kids running up and down the trampoline! Check out those knees! Somebody needs to feed that kid!

Tuckered out after a day of playing and eating her first crackers!!

Summer vacation is o.v.e.r.

We spent this past weekend at my parent's house. It was a lot of fun for several reasons.

#1 STRESS FREE!!

It's the last free weekend for Brad for a LONG time! His soccer season starts this Friday, so basically, the next time we'll see him is November. Okay, maybe that is tad dramatic, but the fall is super busy for our favorite guy around here!

We swam, ate and relaxed ALL weekend long. It was perfect! I got to get away with my sister for a little fabric shopping and yummy lunch at Matito's. No luck with the fabric, but it was still fun! Brad got to run several times, which for some reason, is fun to him.

One word. Grandparents. It is so nice to be around the grandparents.

#2 THE OLYMPICS!!

Back in November, we gave up our Dish Network for rabbit ears. Yes, it was a hard decision...and one that was prolonged for about 6 months!!! So, to watch the Olympics on a big screen HD tv that was Tivo'd, was a blast! It really makes me want to call up Dish and get our satellite back just for the next 2 weeks! Seriously though, it was really fun to watch Michael Phelps' first swim with my entire family while we cheered and high fived each other.

#3 GOOD FOOD

There is always good food to be eaten when we visit the metroplex. To say that restaurants are lacking where we live is an understatement. It's not horrible, but there are only so many times that one can eat at Texas Roadhouse or Chili's! Anyway. I think I set a record for myself too. Mexican food for 3 meals in a row! Chipotle Friday lunch, a local place Friday dinner and then Matito's Saturday lunch. Mmmm! Then, on Saturday night, my mom went all out. Ribs, grilled chicken, hot potato salad (sounds weird, but it was good), grilled corn on the cob, baked beans, fruit salad, and yummy banana pudding my sister made. Mmmm!

#4 BIRTHDAYS!

We got to celebrate 2 birthdays over the weekend. Brad's and Wade's. And, I got to give Brad a fun gift. His birthday was really back in July, but since I knew we were celebrating with my family later, I saved one present for him.

First, a little background. In college, Brad and his buddies (there were probably about 10 of them) would frequent the Chili's in Abilene every Friday night. Literally. I knew this from the beginning, so I never got my hopes up for a Friday night date! They went so often, that they were seated in the same booth and had the same waitress almost every time. Until recently, the Chili's in Abilene was decorated like the old ones (i.e. Chili cook off pictures from the 80's). So, one crazy night, the guys got an idea to switch out one of the pictures with one of their pictures from a camping trip. That framed picture from their camping trip stayed nailed on the wall of "their booth" for almost 10 years. I would always giggle when I went there with friends and sat in that booth. Well, fast forward to June 2008. My friend Kara was eating at the same Chili's. She noticed that they were redecorating the inside. She knew about the picture in the booth. Well, while she was walking to the restroom, she noticed a couple of framed pictures laying on a table by the kitchen. IT WAS BRAD'S CAMPING PICTURE!! She called me immediately to tell me she asked her waitress for it, and she gave it to her! So, when I went to Abilene back in June, Kara gave me the picture to give to Brad. It was a great moment on Saturday night. He couldn't believe I got the picture. So fun!!

I don't have any pictures from the weekend because I forgot my memory card. I did remember to charge up my camera battery before we left, but a charged battery doesn't do any good unless it has a memory card to go with it. Bummer. Maybe Kelly or Wade will put pictures on their blogs...

Weekend fun!

Morgan is making a lot more sounds lately. Nothing even close to words, but they are entertaining for sure! I was making lunch the other day while this was going on. It was forever before I realized they were copying each other.

Someone got a haircut! Not the best pictures, but I tried!! She's a wiggle worm on our bed (or anywhere if you are trying to take a picture), so it was hard to get a really straight shot of it.

Before: The crazy backpacked shopper!

After: The crazy wiggle worm after church this morning.

It was time. The back was looking a little rough and mulletish. I think all toddler hair looks like that unless you are Noelle! The kid was born with a full head of thick blonde hair!

It will be a long time before this cutie needs a haircut!! And, Kelly, I think she totally looks like your baby pictures here! Crazy!!

**Clarification from the last post. The movie we saw was DARK Knight, not Black Knight. Thank you Tim! I laughed at myself for that one!**