Random Update

Happy belated Valentine's Day, President's Day....and leap year!

I don't have any specific stories for the blog today as Morgan does so many cute things each day it's hard to pick one or two. She's talking constantly and is quite the little parrot. Recently, she has started putting together 3 word sentances which is fun. I am now "Mama" instead of "Mommy" and the sweetest things I hear mutliple times per day are "Hi, Mama" or "Mama, look!" She still adores Cleo, has discovered the joys of hugging Darwin, and points out every trash truck, yellow bus, and plane she sees or hears. Last Saturday, Chadwick and her built planes from legos which she has been flying around the house, the car, and Albertson's store. There is always a fly that needs smacking (stemming from shooing flies last August outside), twirling to be done, and dancing to do, or carting around one of her stuffed animals. Last week I caught her with her stuffed cat in the bowl of dog water...I guess the kitty was thirsty. We had water everywhere! Morgan has also recognized when she passes gas, and thinks it's rather funny. "Toot?" she'll say and then laugh. "More toot?" while she makes a face. Not something I'm trying to encourage, especially at the dinner table, but it's so funny!
I'm working at the clinic more hours this week than usual while the other vet is at a conference in Las Vegas, and these weeks make me appreciate the blessing of being able to stay home more often than not. We're also getting ready for a visit from my mom and step-dad this weekend who are flying into town to celebrate Morgan's second birthday. Who'd have thought I would have a two year old!? We'll have dinner with family on Sunday and since Morgan loves M&M's, I'm making an M&M cake for her. And natrually, we will eat said dinner and cake on plates covered with Elmo.

Enjoy what is rest of this short month and I'll post pictures from her birthday next week. Oh, and the Hunt sign was made my my office manager at my old clinic in Caldwell. I had her design it for Chadwick for our anniversary last year. It's taken this long to get it hung outside the front door...but we love it!

So Many Words

The last month plus has Morgan speaking in almost constant two-word thoughts. Daily, sometimes multiple times, I hear, "No, I do it!" She talks about her feelings ("Baby? Sad?"), describes what she sees outside, tells me she wants to color or dance or sing, has asked for pancakes for breakfast and to wear her Elmo shirt. Luckily, she is still not real picky about what she wears. I managed to find some rubber boots for her to play in the mud and help with Steve's horses, and she loves them! Until they were officially let outside, she would wear them all over the house. An example of her fashion statement:She gets lots of use out the tutu her uncle David sent for Christmas....

Two weeks ago we had the opportunity to drive to eastern Idaho to attend the Temple marriage and reception of a dear vet school friend, Todd. He lived with Chad and Milo one year of school and the boys have remained close friends. For a while, Todd was living in Caldwell and came over every Thursday night to play chess with Chadwick. He has since moved to Cardston, Alberta, Canada and met Ruby, his now wife. From what I am told, they make a good match. The drive over was wet but road conditions were good otherwise. It was fun to catch up with friends, meet a few new babies, and get out of town for a while. The newlyweds headed out to New Zealand for their honeymoon and should be back home about now, I think. The trip made me realize how thankful I am for good friends and friendships that have survived state and country boundaries. We don't all keep in close touch, but getting together is easy and we don't miss too many beats. I love that!

And I have to share this picture of Morgan and her froggy potty. I bought it several months ago but brought it out at the beginning of January. This is her first day with it, and she got the biggest kick out of the whole thing! She has not totally given up diapers, but each day she says a few times, "row row potty?" You should know that in our house, frogs say "row row!" with a guttural feel to the words. More of a growling, actually. I haven't been pushing the issue to hard and she's getting the idea. She gets an M&M after each successful urination. She always asks for a yellow M&M, though yesterday she didn't want yellow. "Circle?" she said. Yes, I had plenty of circular M&Ms! No prob.

Next challenge.....breaking the binky habit. Elmo has a great song about saying byebye to the binky I might have to find. And there is the trick of cutting a hole in the end so the suction is gone....wish us luck!

Boys Will be Boys

Proof that no matter how old the man, inside is always lurking a boy ready to pounce.

The back of the Old Spice "Game Day" deodorant, at the top of the label in caps:

CONTAINS ODOR-FIGHTING "ATOMIC ROBOTS" THAT "SHOOT LASERS" AT YOUR "STENCH MONSTERS" AND REPLACES THEM WITH FRESH, CLEAN, MASCULINE "SCENT ELVES."

Really??

22 Months....

Today marks 22-months since Morgan Marie's arrival to us. It has been a wild and amazing ride to have her in our family and she's becoming such an amazing little person!

Here are some of her "stats" -

• Favorite colors to name: yellow and purple


• Enjoys eating her bread butter side to her tongue


• Movies she asks to watch, over and over: "101 Dalmations" and "Lady and the Tramp" What is the common theme? Puppies.....


• Favorite Sesame Street character: Elmo


• Loves her baby doll, blankie, and binkie


• Carries around a purse on her arm


• Constantly moves around her little stool so that she can "see"


• Favorite songs to sing: "Old MacDonald," "Row Row,", and "The Wheels on the Bus"


• She loves to spot buses and tractors from her back seat in the car


• Refers to herself as "Baby"

The other morning en route to Nancy's, she asked, "Bus? Poop?" When I told her no, she asked if tractors pooped. Fortunately for us, they do not. We then listed all the people and animals in her life who do poop...quite educational. In church on Sunday, Chadwick was changing a stinky diaper. During the activity, Morgan was asking "poop? Poop?" A friend was there as well and he commented that her saying "poop" was the cutest poop he's ever heard. I'm sure these stories will embarrass her at some point in her life....

We love you, Morgan!

Merry Christmas!

Oh, how the time flies when one is busy making cookies, shopping, wrapping, delivering goodies, eating goodies delivered, singing Christmas carols each afternoon with Josh Groban or the Chipmunks....

This really is the best time of year. I get so excited even pulling out my Christmas decorations! And as Morgan gets older, her enthusiasm will continue to grow. She loves the Christmas lights on the tree and around the house and wants them turned on all the time, she loves the bows on the presents, and has basically left the tree alone. I dressed her up and took her to the mall with a friend to visit Santa. Let's just say that she was less than enthused about the meeting, but we got a nice photo of Santa, a timid Morgan with her blankie, and myself! Maybe next year he won't be so scary.

Tonight while sitting on the couch looking at books with me, Cleo started a grooming session, licking her paws and wiping her face, proceeding to her belly, etc. Morgan looked at Cleo and started licking her hands and wiping her own face. Then she bent over and tried to lick her belly as well! She thought she was pretty clever.

From our family to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We pray that 2012 will be good to you and your families!!

p.s. I took 37 pictures of our tree one evening trying to get a good shot. And this was one of the best...turns out I need lessons!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday was the start of my favorite season - Christmas. And as much as I enjoy the lights, music, and festivities, the fact that it starts soon after Halloween is a little disconcerting.

To celebrate, the three of us and Darwin joined Steve and Nancy, James and family, and Chadwick's cousin and family for a few days at the cabin up in Garden Valley (north of Boise). There was just enough snow on the ground and road to make for some wonderful sledding! In typical Thanksgiving tradition, we ate too much, saw the Macy's parade, went sledding, watched some football, played some games, put together a puzzle, watched some more football, ate a little more, and had a good time. The kids all got along really well and aside from a cut in Darwin's paw from chasing the sled, there were no accidents. Side note: Chadwick took the dog into the clinic this afternoon to sedate, clean, and place sutures in his wound. He's gonna be fine. =)

I am thankful for so many things, and I wish it were easier to remember to be grateful year round. One of the things I love about this time of year is the fact that many more people remember to be nice to one another and feel more charitable.

Here's to all of my family and friends, who make my life so much better in so many ways!!

Happy Birthday, Bop-bop!

Bop-bop was the name I gave my maternal grandfather when I was learning to talk....and it stuck. Chadwick, Morgan, and I flew home along with 2 of my 3 brothers to celebrate his 80th birthday last week. It was so much fun! Sunday night we had dinner at a restaurant with cake and celebrated again Monday night at Mom's house with yummy dinner and cupcakes. Mom was determined that there would be 80 candles lit for the occasion. So she made 20 cupcakes with 4 candles each. It was an impressive blaze and then a large amount of smoke. =) Mark's parents were also present for the festivities.It was a great visit. David, Chadwick, Morgan and I accompanied Bop to the aquarium and to Wendy's for lunch on his birthday, which was a real treat since I can't remember a time going out with him and not Nana as well. Morgan was a hoot as always and enjoyed the extra attention provided by grand and great-grandparents.

Chadwick had to leave after 4 days but Morgan and I were able to stay for the rest of the week. We played, she took Nana's walker for many laps around the house, I ran in the park several times, we ate out more times than I care to count, she got a black eye on Coach's coffee table corner, and saw my dad on several occasions as well. Never a dull moment!

Going down we decided not to purchase a ticket for Morgan since she can still ride on our laps for free....and we were exhausted by the time we arrived at the ABQ airport! She flew well, but she is a busy little body that was hard to contain in the small space allotted to us. I did buy her a seat for my solo-parent ride home and that was much easier!

It was depressing to have to leave and come home, though I was glad to get back with Chadwick, Darwin, and Cleo. I walked in to find this little sign waiting for us!