Morgie!

Well, I am a month late...but, better late than never!! I am afraid Morgan's December birthday will get the best of her. I tried to make a point not to let the holidays interfere with "her" day, but in the blog world, they did. Oops!

So, Morgan is 13 months old now. It is crazy how much has changed in just one month. There wouldn't have been nearly as much to talk about back in December.

Her final chair picture. Not the best, which is probably why I won't be continuing the monthly photo op. She is a wiggle worm and would NOT sit still. The other picture is of her backside and holding her bottle. I think I got the timing wrong. Bed time + photo op = Bad pictures!!! Oh well. Once again, I think she looks like her first picture, a frog!!

Morgan at 12ish months:

And, just for fun, Mallory at 13 months:

I don't think they look ANYTHING alike!! It's so strange to me. Kelly and I didn't look anything alike until we were in college. It may be the same for Mallory and Morgan.

Morgan is such a cuddle bug!! Occasionally, if I forget to put up her blankie after a nap, she will crawl around with it while she plays with her toys and make pit stops like this. I think it is adorable. She also loves to sleep while she is being held. Unfortunately, this happens quite a bit during her afternoon nap. Part of it is that I don't want Mallory to wake up from the crying (2 grumpy kids is not any fun) and I want her to get a good nap. So, usually right when I lay down to take a snooze, she wakes up. We'll just finish up the nap together on the couch. I'm not proud of that, but I've just come to realize each kid is different. I love how affectionate Morgan is! Brad was holding her last night and she just sat up and kissed his cheek! She'll give you a hug and loves for you to hold her. If she sees you coming, and is sleepy or needs some love, she'll look up at you with pitiful eyes and just hold both of her arms up until you pick her up. Most of the time it's inconvenient, but secretly, I think it's so sweet!

This picture cracks me up. She watched Praise Baby like this for about 10 minutes before I took the picture! And, I love this picture because this is how Mallory and Morgan are most of the day...right beside each other. 90% of the time, they love each other. Lately, there has been a little more pushing and tattle-taling, but most of the time, Morgan adores Mallory and the same goes for Mallory.

Another picture that cracks me up. Morgan will find anything to put in her mouth and crawl around with it hanging out. She'll read books, play with toys and all the while this teething ring, a piece of play fruit or an animal is in there. Turkey.

Morgan seems to be much more active than her big sister. She will climb all over us, up the steps on the stool in the bathroom or onto her rocking horse. She cruises everywhere, but isn't brave enough to let go and take any steps yet. One of her favorite things is to be thrown up into the air or thrown onto a big pile of pillows. Over the holidays, we were shopping at a mall and there was some rap music on in a store. As soon as we passed it, she started moving side to side with the beat. The girl LOVES to dance!

This month Morgan has added a few new words. Mow-Mow (like cow without the c) for Mallory, Oh no! (she still puts her hands over her ears, Jason), Uh-oh, Hi (it sounds more like "I"), Bup (for cup, just like Mallory did) and Allllllllll done! (with the hand motions in the picture below). She loves to "read" books, talk to herself and make animal noises (she's added mooing, barking, oooing like a monkey and baaing). She also shakes or nods her head when you ask her questions. Most of the time, she is answering appropriately! During a trip with Daddy to Sam's tonight, she learned how to sing! She can do the chorus to Beyonce's "Put a ring on it". No, not the best music for kiddos, but certainly fun to dance to...and sing!!

I still can't believe she is one. I still can't believe she has blonde hair (that is getting thicker!!!). I still can't believe how much I can love 2 girls this much.

What good is an appendix for anyway?

Doesn't it seem like the appendix is just a waste of space? There is no use for it, and it usually gets inflamed at the most inconvenient times. Don't you think?

I was supposed to leave today to be the "IV nurse" in a clinical trial in the metroplex. Unfortunately, the patient that was lined up for the trial, ended up in the ER with appendicitis. Our plans changed drastically and I'm actually okay with that. Brad has the weekend off and we'll get some quality time with him instead! And, maybe, just maybe, I'll get around to those blog posts I've been putting off for...forever!

Christmas #2

So, my blogging "projects" have taken a back burner to the real life projects around the house. I am happy to say that I have been sticking to my New Year's resolution in that regard. Pictures will come, but we have been busy bees over here!

Finally, here is our second Christmas celebration. It's more for my memory than your viewing pleasure (obviously).

After our family pictures with Brad's family, we headed to my parent's house. It was a quick weekend, but full of fun times!

Saturday, we did our gifts. Kelly, Wade and Tate came over and we attempted (and succeeded!) another picture of the grand kids for my parent's holiday card. You should go over to Kelly's blog to see her recap. My mom turned into Daffy Duck to try to get the kids to smile. It worked, and was slightly odd at the same time. Sorry mom:) If I were pregnant, I would have peed my pants from laughing. Kind of like the time in California...

Anyway. On to the pictures.

Mallory, Tate and Morgan

It was unfortunate lighting in this picture, but I thought Mallory looked like Minnie Mouse with her gloves on! She attempted to wear them for the rest of the gift opening...but learned really fast it delayed her efforts!

I think our gift to Tate was his favorite:) Actually, it was everyone's favorite. Even on a Little Tykes basketball goal, I am still not an athlete. Sad, but true.

Another favorite of Mimi and Grandpa's house! The kids love to play on the piano...or play with cars on the cover. Whatever makes it get some use!! No, Brad does not play the piano. He is only a booster seat in this picture.

And, that is all the pictures I have. Either my camera battery died (which is always a good assumption) or I was lazy letting my sister and dad snap away (another good assumption!). Mom made a yummy meal of chicken parmesan, caesar salad and sourdough bread later that night. Mmmm, mmmm!

After dinner, Kelly and I bolted out the door (literally, we ran) to go see Marley and Me. We got to the theater in plenty of time, so it was just lovely sitting there chatting away without a care in the world. And, the movie was great too. We left the theater with red, puffy eyes. Then, we hugged all of the dogs when we got home. Yes, we are dorks.

After IHOP breakfast on Sunday, we headed to home, sweet home. We prepared all night long for yet another Christmas. Boy, I am glad the holidays are over! It wore us out this year. Sooo busy and tons of traveling. Even through all of the stress, I wouldn't have changed any of the family time we got to share. It was a blessing being able to see both families this year.

Okay, coming up next on my blog "projects":

*Morgan's 12 month post*

*My 10 favorite things about Mallory right now*

*Some before and after segments...hopefully!*

Spontaneous and sweet

That would be the word to describe yesterday. I came home from running errands to find a vase of beautiful flowers on the table with a note that read, "Shannnon, Be ready to go at 6:15, a sitter is coming to our house at 6:00. Dress nice. Love, Brad" What??????!!!!!! How fun!

The sitter came over and after a quick run through of the nightly routine we were off! We never spend lots of money on nice restaurants (not really our thing and would usually rather spend it on something else), so to have a reservation to make was HUGE!! We ate dinner at a very nice steakhouse. We were stuffed with yummy steak, baked potato and caesar salad. Mmmmm!

I figured that was it, but Brad had more up his sleeve. He told me I had a certain amount of money and could go shopping!!! I can't remember the last time I went shopping for myself and without kids. It was heaven...even if it was only 40 minutes since the store closed at 9. I guess my whining about not having anything to wear on Sunday mornings (or anyday) was getting old:)

I definitely thought we were done after that, but we headed to Cheddar's and had a Cookie Monster to finish the night. Heaven again!!

What a night! It was so fun to be by ourselves for 4 hours knowing our girls were taken care of and we had time to ourselves. I know we won't always be able to eat so grandly or drop cash shopping on every date, but last night was so fun! I am so thankful for Brad. He and I both know that recruiting season is hard. I appreciate him taking a night out to remind me that he knows and cares.

I can't decide if this beats his other random act of sweetness though:)

We interrupt this blog...

I'm interrupting my Christmas posts, but for a good reason. I just made gravy for the first time last night...and it wasn't awful! Sure, the color is off and there is probably 5 times as much as there should be, but Brad said it wasn't too far off from my mom's. I'll take that as a compliment! Here's a picture of the soup...I mean gravy. The dish is called Chicken Tarragon and it's super yummy!! It should be darker and you should be able to define the chunks of chicken in it. Oh well, it was my first time! (Mom, you should have seen how much we threw out...almost a full 5 quart ziploc container!!!)

I also completed another "project". Okay, so it's not really a project, but I did finish reading a fantastic book. It's Redeeming Love by Francince Rivers. I HIGHLY recommend reading this. It's a great love story and something that will make you think. Go out and get it today!

Christmas #1

Even though we were sooooo ready to be home after our Christmas road trip, I am sooooo glad we got to be with both of our families over the holidays.

We left the Monday before Christmas to head up to Brad's parent's house. We were there for 5 days, so grab a snack, sit back and relax!

On Tuesday, we drove up to Oklahoma to play at the farm. Jason, Jenn and the kids met us there that afternoon. Brad's Nanny and AO have a real life farm with cows, cats, dogs, compost and lots of hay bales. It was fun to see Mallory "work the farm". She got to call (aka yell) at the cows, feed the cows...and that was about it. It was pretty chilly and windy. We did manage to take some pictures on the hay bales. This is a tradition that Brad and his siblings have been doing for forever. The last picture we all took on a hay bale was before any of us had kids. I can hardly remember what it was like back then:) We made some good memories at the farm and I'm thankful we were able to make it up there. We missed you, LaShay and Steve!

Inside the farmhouse: Mallory, Julia, Johnathan and Morgan
An attempt at a picture of the grandkids. Julia has been trained well. Anytime the red light comes on from a camera, she smiles! My girls on the other hand...

Sisters

Julia and Johnathan

Cousins!

It was CHILLY!!!

Trying to call the cows.

Wednesday afternoon, LaShay and Steve made it in. We headed to church for the Christmas Eve service. Jenn bought the girls matching dresses. They looked adorable, but you can't tell by the purple marshmallow coat! After the service, they had snow in the courtyard. It was a little less dramatic than what we thought it was going to be. If you stood in the corner, right by the snow machine, you could get sprinkled with (very) small snowflakes. Oh well. It was fun anyway! Side note: Mallory has a chocolate mouth because I totally bribed her with a cookie if she sat still and smiled for pictures after the service. It worked!

Sharon bought color tablets to put in the kid's bath water. It was a lifesaver on the late nights when there was many a meltdown! Another side note: This is the first picture that I think the girls look alike. Not the best picture, but I cracked up when I saw them making the same expression!

Christmas Eve night, we all got Christmas jammies. Morgan and Johnathan were just chilling out in their diapers waiting patiently.

So excited about the jammies!

Christmas morning, we opened gifts from our immediate family. Then, everyone else came over for lunch and we had another round of gifts. Sharon surprised us all with a Wii (well, not all of us, just one for her to keep at the house to make us come home more!)! It was a hit, and I will admit I was sore after 3 rounds of bowling...which I beat Brad 2 out of the 3...I'm just saying that my days on the bowling league back in 1987 payed off a little.

Brad won't let me post the only picture of him I took. So, just know that he was there too!

On Friday, after breakfast, we all headed to a photography studio to get family pictures made. Then, we all had lunch and the four of us headed to the metroplex to have Christmas with my family. It was a fun-filled week at BMom and Pop's house!

For the grandparents

One of my New Year's resolution (the only one I've come up with so far) is to complete projects. I have so many undone projects lying around in our house, it's ridiculous. So, with that in mind, I will blog about our Christmas(es) soon and very soon. But, for now, it's all about the grandparents. I know they have been anxiously waiting to see the girl's reactions to the gifts they gave them. So, this is for you Mimi, Grandpa, BMom and Pop!

A couple of weeks ago, while we had the recruiting Yukon (aka the "brown car" to Mallory) in the metroplex, we took advantage of the extra cargo room and took home the girl's Christmas gifts. I'm sure the grandparents weren't thrilled with that, since they wouldn't be able to see the reactions, but we obliged them by guaranteeing video coverage for the big reveal. Unfortunately, we didn't quite get the squeals or screams we were expecting. We think Mallory was squealing on the inside...maybe.

We got home from all the Christmas festivities with family on Sunday. Brad and I both got to work after the girls were tucked in bed. We were up until 4am and the girls woke up bright and early at 7ish. They must have known it was "Christmas".

First up, the dollhouse from BMom and Pop. We also assembled some of the gifts they had already opened, but hadn't taken out of the boxes. Under curtain #1, a giant dollhouse (complete with a modern doll family, thanks Steve and LaShay!), a pink ride on horsey that neighs and plays music (for Morgan) and a new baby doll with her very own stroller, high chair and pack n play (for Mallory)! Both of the girls just rotate between all of the toys. Morgan loves to overturn the furniture in the dollhouse. It always looks like a tornado has been through!

Next up, the kitchen from Mimi and Grandpa. There were many hours spent searching the internet for the perfect kitchen. And, I think Mimi found it! Kelly and Wade didn't disappoint either with the Melissa and Doug cutting fruits/veggies and ice cream cone set. It didn't take long for our entire living room to have pieces of fruits, veggies, bread and ice cream decorating the floor. It was/is a hit!

I don't think we even had to get them any gifts for Christmas. In fact, we may not ever buy them a Christmas gift again. Everything that we get them is trumped by the grandparents. I guess that is how it should be. Thank you again BMom, Pop, Mimi and Grandpa! The girls LOVE their gifts and love you!

Wrapping up

We had a fabulous Christmas (week) full of food, family and traveling...what more could you ask for? I've got Brad home for a week and we have a LONG list of things we've been putting off. Just call me slave driver! I'll be back next week...maybe even with some pictures of FINISHED projects!!!

Merry Christmas

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

Buy someone's dinner, it will bless them.

Tonight, after we played at the mall play area, we ate dinner at the Cotton Patch. Because that is where I cook when Brad is gone. The girls were very well behaved. They ate well, smiled and waved at strangers, talked to the police man and were just great to be with. Our waiter came by to ask if we needed anything. I asked for the check and he said it was taken care of, and "Merry Christmas". Wow. "Seriously?" was all I could say. I loaded the girls up and headed out before I started making a scene crying. So, to the couple that was at table 21, thank you for buying our dinner. I hope that is blessed you as much as it did me.

Success!

Well, after 4 tries at seeing Santa (and sitting on his lap for a picture), we finally succeeded tonight!

The girls got to see Santa at Brad's Christmas party for work. They have a fun tradition of reading the Christmas story to all the kids and then while they sing Jingle Bells, Santa comes out and passes out gifts to the kids. Mallory was still a little young (and way freaked out) last year, so this was our first year to participate. It was a hit! I think it helped (her, not us) that her gift was almost the last one picked up. She had a lot of time to stare at him and watch the other kids. When he called her name, she walked right up to him, turned around for a picture and told him "thank you".

Yesterday, we spent the day celebrating Morgan and finishing up some Christmas shopping. We tried Santa at our mall 2 different times and each time he was on a break! So, we made the trek to the next closest mall. We were talking it up and Mallory was super excited. But, all of that changed when she got within of foot of the guy. She would not sit on his lap (and he didn't do a great job at trying to get her there) and barely even stood next to me while I sat on the edge of the chair. So, mom was in the picture with Santa. Not exactly what I had envisioned forking over $15 for...so, we took our rubber ducky reindeer and continued shopping!!

We were really proud of Mallory tonight. She was a little timid at first, but after a couple of minutes, she got the nerve up to stand by Santa. Then, he slowly picked her up and put her in his lap while she talked to him. And, even more of a bonus, she smiled for the picture!! Morgan of course sat in his lap without any problem. No smiles from her, but she wasn't nervous or scared...just more curious about the hair growing out of his face!

Waiting...and waiting...and waiting. I think we are done with small bows on Morgan's head. After our trip to the doctor this morning, we found out her head is in the 90th percentile...I think you can tell!!

Our neighbors came to see Santa also! Mallory is obsessed with them. One of my new year's resolutions is to reach out more to our neighbors. It was 2 years before we finally met them!

A picture of the picture. With our laptop now, I don't have easy access to the scanner.

Birthday weekend!

Last weekend we headed to the metroplex to celebrate Morgan's first birthday, Sharon's birthday and to run/walk in the White Rock Half Marathon. All were a success!

Saturday was Morgan's party. We had it at my sister's house since we were going to be up there for the half marathon. The theme was "Winter ONEderland!" It was lots of fun and Morgan was a champ through it all. The poor thing did not feel very good the entire weekend. By Sunday she had a fever and then on Monday double ear infections at the doctor's office.

The invitation (the inside has the info):

"Snowy" cupcakes, brownies and sugar cookies.

I printed out all of her "chair" pictures to hang on the chandelier.

Those are snowflakes, not white spiders!

She was a fan of the cupcake. I wasn't surprised. We can't eat any sweets in front of her without her screaming for them! Mallory had NEVER had sweets until her first birthday. Ah, the life of a second child!!

Birthday party kisses!

I'm sure she felt like this on the inside, but luckily didn't act like it the whole time:)

It was mostly a family party (especially since it was out of town), but we had some special party guests come from Abilene! Kaylee, Brooke and Sydney got to come play! This is the first birthday party that Kara has gotten to come to. Usually one of our children is sick. This year was a first! Mallory and Morgan's cousins were also at the party. Julia, Johnathan and Tate helped celebrate the big day!

Baby Sydney hanging out.

Cousins...or sisters??

Everyone knows the tissue paper is much more fun to play with than the toys!

Saturday night we headed to Johnny Carino's to "carb up" and celebrate Sharon's birthday. Jason, Jenn and the kiddos met us there with Sharon and Larry. Jenn and I combined our creative efforts and made some aprons for BMom (aka Sharon). They turned out really cute and were a hit! There was one for each grandchild with "BMom's lil helper" on the front. We also made one for BMom. I'm sure she'll get some use out of them at Christmas!

My dad and Brad were the runners in the half. Both finished very well...especially considering the weather that day. My sister, me and my mother-in-law all walked the half. We all did pretty good too! Kelly has a great recap of the day here.

Tomorrow is Morgan's official birthday. It will be the last chair picture. This time last year, I couldn't believe I was about to be the mom of two girls. And now I can't imgaine life without them!

The tradition continues!

Hope you enjoy this as much as Brad and I have tonight!!

Behind again!

I have a feeling December will be crazy for the rest of our lives. Between recruiting, birthdays, Christmas and general busyness, we have been going, going, going. So, here is a sneak peek of what we've been up to. I'll give more details next week.

We picked out the tree! It's officially decorated and ready for a pj picture of the girls soon.

Someone turned 2 over the weekend! Tate's party was at Gymboree. It was the perfect place for a group of 2 (ish) year olds to hang out together!

I love it when the girls wear matching outfits, but not so much when I match them. I didn't realize that I was matching Mallory until I was putting her shoes on her this morning. We were in a hurry to get out the door, so I just made sure to leave her jacket on in the stores!!

She may look really sweet and cute in this picture, but shortly after it, all you know what broke loose. There was no playing after her bath, no milk to drink and no using her Dora toothbrush tonight. It was straight to bed for the grump.

This might disturb some of you

When I was pregnant with Morgan, I always heard the funniest stories about older kids mimicking the mom breastfeeding. I waited and waited for Mallory to do it. It didn't happen for several months after Morgan was born. But, when it did happen, it was hilarious! She would put her baby (or dog, or whatever stuffed animal was conveniently there) up to her belly button and just hold it there for a couple of seconds. So cute...and weird, I know. Then, she started using my nursing pads and started pointing at our chests saying, "Morgan's food". I thought the obsession would be over in August when I stopped breastfeeding. It was...until last weekend!

My parents got a treat on Friday when they watched the girls for a couple of hours. Mallory was holding this stuffed bunny and acting like the bunny's mommy. All of sudden, she stopped and asked the bunny if he was hungry. She proceeded to lift up her shirt and "latched" the bunny on. Mom and Dad were rolling when they told me the story. I don't know where this came from. Her little memory is amazing.

So, it didn't surprise me this morning when I looked over and saw her doing this:

I think she has a future as a Lactation Consultant!

Thanksgiving 2008

Well, it started out kind of iffy (is that a word??), but we made it to my parent's house on Thursday without any more puking incidents. There were poop incidents, but I'll spare you descriptive words!! Poor Morgan was not herself for several days. Between low grade temps, a decreased appetite and poor sleeping, she was a mess. Friday was the first day she ate normal and acted like herself. So sad!!

Since Morgan wasn't feeling great, we spent Wednesday kind of low key. We took a picnic to the train park and then played for a while. We love this park. It's right beside a working railroad and trains go by every few minutes. The girls love it!

The "pb&j face" aka "the joker":

The girl loves to swing!:

My sister had the great idea to head to the Fort Worth Zoo for a few hours Thanksgiving day. It was great for the kids, great for the parents and great for the cook...my mom! You can read some of the recaps here or see a funny video here. It was a fun trip.

I know none of the kids are actually looking at the camera, but this picture cracks me up. It looks like Mallory and Morgan were posing and Tate just happened to walk up like, "Hey guys, I didn't know you were going to be here too!!"

Thanksgiving dinner did not disappoint. There was plenty of yummy food. Stuffing (that is what my family calls dressing...those west coast people!), turkey, fruit salad, pumpkin pie, deviled eggs, apple pie. Everything was so good and even better leftover!

Two (of three) of my favorite turkeys:

Friday morning Brad left way too early to head to Austin. Every year there is a showcase soccer tournament the weekend after Thanksgiving. It's great recruiting for him, but kind of a bummer that he has to leave the festivities. We drove separate cars so we could stay a little longer. Wade came by to pick up Mallory for a doughnut date with him and Tate. To say that Mallory was excited was an understatement! She was so cute waiting for Uncle Wade to come and pick her up. I heard they had a blast and rubbed their glazed hands all through their hair. Better you than me, Uncle Wade!! Kelly and I met in Southlake to do a little "coordinating cousin Christmas picture outfit shopping". We enjoy shopping for our mom. It's fun spending someone else's money:)

Friday night we celebrated my dad's birthday. It was over a week ago, but the first time we were all together. After dinner we headed to the Gaylord Texan with the intent of getting a picture of the grandkids in their super cute (and on sale!) Janie and Jack outfits. What we didn't account for is everyone and their dog thinking the same idea!! It was INSANE trying to find a spot that wasn't in the way of the crowds, had a Christmasy background and getting all 3 to look at the camera and smile. Why is it so hard? And, will it ever be easy??? Morgan wanted to crawl everywhere, Tate was fascinated by the big train display and Mallory looked at the camera, but didn't smile. We're trying again this weekend. We'll see how that one goes!

Saturday, Kelly and I met up again to do some miles for the half marathon. It's so much better walking with someone while you train. The weather was perfect and we got 8 miles in. We "celebrated" with leftovers from Thanksgiving. Mmmm!! After naps, we loaded up and headed home. It was a great time with my family. I am thankful for each one of them and that we all live so close to be with each other during the holidays.

Brad made it home right before naptime Sunday afternoon. The girls went crazy when he walked through the door. I love it!! He loves it too:)

I still can't believe it, but as I made Morgan's birthday invitations last night, it started sinking in a little more. ONE. She is about to be ONE!!! Crazy.

We went to the tree farm to pick out our tree tonight. Such a fun tradition, but Brad and I agreed we'll try to get an artificial one when they go on sale this year. It's such a mess, and kind of pricey when you add it up every year. I think we'll still take the girls to the tree farm to cut down a small one for them to decorate. We love the idea of picking one out together as a family every year, but maybe on a (much) smaller scale!!