New Year's Eve 2010

Well, to wrap up this year, I'd like to make this short and quick (since I'm supposed to be cutting veggies for the veggie tray for our party).

What a wonderful year. 2010 will definitely go down as a good one - Adam finished his MBA...Morgan grew and astounded us with all the things she has learned to do in the past year...I finally feel like I'm me again and have officially shed my baby weight as well as feeling like I've got a handle (mostly) at my job...I'm sure the new year will have its challenges but we will take them in stride and I anticipate it being another amazing year.

Happy New Year's, everyone. Be safe, enjoy the company of others, and much love and hugs to you all.

Christmas in WI 2010

Ok, so here's the real post about Christmas 2010 back in WI. It. Was. Wonderful. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful family members to spend out time with and while it gets a little crazy with so many Christmases to attend, we love seeing everyone and sharing in the good cheer that is Jesus' birthday.

I am so glad we decided to go a day earlier (had originally planned going Wed and went Tues night instead) b/c I woke up Wed with the flu Morgan had had Sunday night. Thankfully it wasn't the vomiting kind (or my stomach was stronger than hers or something) but it had me down and out most of the day. We went up to Steph & Patt's after discussion and feeling better (I hope they never got it) and had a nice time. Christmas #1, check.

Thursday (I have to check the #/date...oh my) we didn't have much going on that day. Adam took his turn with the flu and I went to my mom's to bake and decorate cookies while the two of them slept. It was a really nice time and I loved it. I hate missing time with my mom...it happens too much. That night we did something...waiting until Adam gets home to ask/remind. He told me we just sat and didn't do much. If we did something with you, I'm terribly sorry it slipped our minds.

Friday - We had a LOVELY brunch with my family (Dad & Susie) at Ross & Kristen's house outside of Valders. Morgan and her cousins got these creepy Sing-a-majigs which are actually quite funny. After some serious X-Box skills were displayed, we went to church (holy moving child - we sat in the way back and Adam found a tiny chair during one of their walks that saved us the rest of the service). We then headed to Schmidts' for Christmas eve night and had another lovely time with wonderful gifts.

Saturday - We had Christmas morning with Adam's parents and brother/gf before heading to Appleton for the Seefeldt family Christmas. Another good time was had and back to Adam's parents we went for more fun, food, and festivities. Morgan's gift pile by now had accumulated to a small mountain.

Sunday - Another lazy-ish day before heading to my mom's that evening for dinner and gifts. We had a really good time and awesome "mom's lasagna." Seriously none better (although my version of hers might be winning soon).

Monday - No morning nap for our little diva. :( She was supposed to nap on our way to Chuckie Cheese but failed miserably. She was more into mommy & daddy's McDonald's breakfast (she had her own earlier before leaving, don't worry) so she ate a good portion of my sandwich and then just had too much to see to sleep. We had a great time at CC with Adam's family and Morgan thoroughly enjoyed the cars to ride in and skeeball (sp?). We headed home for a nap (which of course was only 40 minutes long that day) before going to Smith (my step-moms side) Christmas that evening. YUM - the fettuccine alfredo that we always have was again a huge hit; especially with Morgan who ate almost as much as I did - I'm not even lying. More gifts and up until 1.5 hours past her bedtime...on a single 40 min nap...holy trooper of a kid. She had a few "moments" but they were short-lived and manageable. Part of this is her age...boy oh boy she's starting to have some lovely fits.

Tuesday - Breakfast with Adam's family, Morgan's nap, quick lunch, and the road we hit. We had SUCH a great time with all of our family but it's always good to be home in one's own bed and surroundings. I think I've got a handle on where all the new toys and things are going to go...but we left 1/2 of it in WI for lack of space and will be bringing that back with us on an impromptu trip to WI Jan. 13th. Sigh. More space to find...

So that was our trip home to WI. Again, it was great to have so much time there. It makes me excited for my trip back this summer sometime for a week with Morgan while Adam travels somewhere. :)

In other news:

• Morgan took a giant header into a door jam today with her face. No more slippery jammies and running on hard wood floors past 9am. Poor baby...it was awful. I almost cried it looked like it hurt so much.
  
• Morgan answers "no" for almost everything but has random appropriate "dess"es in there too. She gets really proud of herself when she says yes. Silly child.
• She's growing again. She is now full-fledged 18-month clothes and pretty soon will be in 24 month ones. :( My baby...where are you going??
• She's imitating tons nowadays. Today she kept saying "up!" when going up the stairs for her slide in the basement. I responded 'yes, you're going up the steps' to which she replied "deps!" SO cute esp given my SLP background... ;-)
• Over break we've been working on using the potty...she's pretty good with her own potty chairs (little and soft insert one) but not so much with me holding her (although sometimes there too). I'm going to try to convince Mary that Morgan can bring her own potty seat since Mary usually just holds the little ones which is why, I think, that Morgan decided to be done with it (or less reliable) after Thanksgiving break. Today she's gone in the potty all but once. Sweet. We are not pushing her hard but ask her often and she rolls with it. Sometimes she goes into the bathroom and yells. In WI she'd sometimes take her potty chair insert to the bathroom door (closed for puppy repelling) and yell more. She's on her way foh sho.
  
• Speaking of potty things, she's back to cloth diapers. LOTS of leaks yesterday. Hmm.
  
• Tomorrow night we host our annual New Year's Eve bash...but this year it's kid-friendly and there is a pack-n-play set up in the guest bedroom instead of actual beds (although those are there too). Things are a'changing, folks. :)

If you're still with me, sorry this was the longest post ever. Lots to catch up on. I'm sure I missed some but this will have to do. ;-) Off to Iowa City for some shopping and dinner with my little fam once the monkey wakes up from nap attempt #2. SIGH.

Home - Christmas 2010

I'm exhausted.
We had a BLAST at home in WI.
It's well past my adjusted bedtime for tonight.
Our daughter was a delight and such a trooper.
We are so blessed.
Morgan has more toys/books than Santa on Christmas Eve.
I can't wait to go shopping with all my gift cards.
More later, I'm almost asleep with my eyes open.
The end.

Few more days, please...

I could really use maybe 1-2 days before we have to leave for Christmas and it's strictly for my comfort. I will get everything done...but it would be nice to have those extra days. Perhaps that's what part of Wednesday will be while we're at home. I'd just like to have it done to have it done.

I called the kennel where we board the dogs yesterday to firm up our dates over Christmas and find out if there was a cancellation fee as 8 days suddenly sounded like an eternity to be away from our fuzzy babies. Turns out the reservation I KNOW I put it wasn't in their books at all! She said she could still squeeze us in but that just confirmed that we were supposed to bring the dogs home with us for Christmas anyway. I'm fine with it except for the ride home. That should be interesting considering all the wonderful things Morgan (and us, but let's be real) will be bringing home. ;-) We'll make it work. Anyone want to come visit sometime the first two weeks of January?

Adam came home yesterday and it was lovely. I got even more Christmas shopping done and am essentially done save for one item we're going to get when we get home and another that just needs a little something more. I just finished up a project that was taking forever but turned out really nice. I'm glad to have it done. Two left and I'm set. Those are fun ones that bring out my inner Martha so we shall see where they go. I feel less stressed about these two last projects than the one I just finished.

I have splendid news I'm dying to share (nothing of ours, don't worry) but can't b/c it's not time. SO very excited though. Isn't that quiet enough, friend? :)

Adam is off hunting again. Tomorrow is his last day of being gone a full day. Then Monday night it's pack like crazy b/c we are heading out of town Tuesday after we all get home from work. My students get out at 1:20 (early dismissal) that day so as soon as my paperwork is done and things are ready to go for the new year, I'm outtie. It really doesn't pay for me to be the last one in the school on the brink of winter break if all of my work is done. ;-) Yeah!

Tomorrow night we're supposed to go to Mary's (sitter's) Christmas Party in the Quad Cities. I wish it were closer but thank you Muscatine for being a fine town with nothing in it. I have to get my Usborne books tomorrow in the QCs anyway, so we'll just plan the pick up to coincide with the party and voila. Good times in the afternoon (involving pizza, of course).

Last night Adam and I were lucky enough to find a last-minute sitter and went out with some friends. It was relaxing, hilarious, and just a really good time. We were only out for about 2 hours but there's something about doing that sort of thing that just resets a person and brings you back to ground zero so you can be "mom" all over again the next day. Speaking of, Morgan, my dear, darling, Morgan, decided to sleep until 7:40am this morning!?!!! That allowed me to get an extra (almost) TWO HOURS of sleep today. I love her. And am laughing (mean) a bit b/c Adam got up extra early and missed the sleep in.

Well, it's off to wrap Morgan's daycare presents and check the "hot fire." That's how Morgan refers to it (signing) so we'll go with it. It's more fun to say 'hot fire' than just plain ol' fire, anyway, no?

First Real Snow

So I've been back and forth a lot today. Love this, don't love this, then love it back again. Here goes:

Love: pretty, untouched snow outside that we woke up to this morning
Not feelin' the love: No 2hr delay for my school but Muscatine (where I am 60% of the time) had one.

Love: I still got to do my "Speech Christmas parties" with all my kids today (no late start).
Not feelin' the love: it wasn't as fun as I thought. I don't think we'll be doing this next year. The kids, however, loved it. Hmm.

Love: coming home to a child that can walk so we could start shoveling before dinner and break it up.
Not feelin' the love: It takes 10 minutes to get a tiny child ready to go outside in winter. Thankfully she can't yet say "Mommy now I have to PEE!!!" as soon as she's set to go outside. :)

Love: Not having to make dinner, really.
Not feelin' the love: I'm sick of leftovers and boring dinners. Can't wait to make something yummy and complicated for dinner this weekend as a result of (gasp) time!

Love: Shoveling when it's not windy and low/mid 20s outside. SO peaceful.
Not feelin' the love: She made me go in b/c she was fussin' all over.

It takes a long time to get a child ready to go outside in winter.

I'm ready to go outside, Mom!

Woops. Fall down in snow #24

Mommy's helper (or walker arounder/moral supporter)

Skyping with Daddy during her bedtime snack. She
LOVES to wave and give kisses to the camera for him.

Skype

Of course tonight would be the night that Adam texts me from Montreal to say he's all signed up and ready to go with Skype on his end. On the Iowa end, we have a camera in the box and everything else all set to go on my laptop. After quick scrambles to relieve the box of its camera and get things going, the internet is down. Quick call to the internet provider reveals there is an "internet outage" and "they" are working on it right now. Bah humbug. No Skyping tonight.

So I checked a few times while Morgan and I were playing and nothing...and then during bedtime snack, I checked since we were sitting there and sure enough, internet!! So I quickly called him up and there he was, right in front of us. I positioned the camera so he could see Morgan best and it was great. I can't BELIEVE we haven't done this sooner and I could just kick us for waiting. Adam was a little emotional which I didn't find odd, but wasn't expecting. Then later I was talking to Sherri (Adam's mom) and I broke down b/c it was actually really hard for me (tearing up now again) to see him sitting on that hard hotel couch and knowing that we're here in our comfy, cozy house with everything we want of ours at our fingertips...so while this whole week and a half of two weeks I've been having a mini-pity-party in my head while carrying on with life, it's nothing compared to what he must experience missing us and home. (Well, maybe not nothing - it's still pretty hard here too.) Anyway, thank you God for giving someone the wisdom and ability to invent Skype and share it for free. You are making my family closer and stronger.

PS. I also thought it was great that when I was talking to Sherri and telling her how easy it was, that she was ready to go buy a new computer tomorrow (theirs isn't always reliable) so they could also Skype with us (Morgan). :) Ah, the power of a grandchild. We will be setting them (and whomever else wants to know!) up over Christmas. Fun stuff!

I also must say that it is super splendiferous that I have a clean house that took me about 8 minutes to pick up after Tornado Morgan went to bed. Sitting here, relaxing, ordering my Usborne books was just the ticket after some hectic evenings of cleaning like a crazy person. My show last night was SO nice...relaxing, people could mingle and I hope it was a low-pressure situation. I don't like feeling pressured that I need to buy something at parties so hopefully people didn't feel pressured at mine. Anywho, the books should be here before Christmas which means lots of fun new reading!!

Well, it's time to finish my hot apple cider (left over from last night) that is sort of helping my mild/mod sore throat and maybe work on a Christmas project. I know, I know, I'm sick of hearing me say that too. :) Here's to hoping that Morgan is able to sleep since she can hardly breathe (more boogers) *clink*

1/2 way done with Operation Missing Adam

We are 1/2 way done. Half way done with glimpses of Adam here and there for 2 weeks straight. Last week he traveled M-Th, then all day hunting Sat/Sun, now to travel M-F, all day hunting Sat/Sun next weekend...UGH. To say this is unpleasant is an understatement. Thankfully, Morgan was rather well behaved all weekend which is not always the case so now it's girls' week take 2. I have promised myself that a missing Adam is not cause for sirens to go off until after the new year. Then it's family time.

I was a machine today. Vacuumed, mopped (gasp - I think it's been months and months...don't judge), dusted, played, cooked, cleaned more, did dishes, 4 loads of wash, bathroom spotless...the list goes on and makes me feel like "super mom/wife/housekeeper/book party thrower/etc." As much as I sometimes loathe all of those things I have to do, when I do them like that it makes me feel awesome productive.

Today was awesome all around. More on this later, but it's amazing how one phone call can make a girl so dang thrilled. Nighty night, folks. Good luck Wisconsinites on your digging out adventure. Blizzard #1 2010 commences.

Christmas Baking 2010

This morning Morgan and I went to a Christmas baking "party," if you will, to join 7 of our Muscatine friends and three other kiddies to make as many goodies as we could fit into about 4 hours and then take home our stashes. It was wonderful. We were lucky the kids were so well behaved (even though Morgan gave me about 80 heart attacks going up/down the 1/2 flight of stairs on her own almost constantly throughout the duration. Only one small missed step, few tears, game on. Thanks to Olivia who gave Morgan her juice and made her feel better. :)

Morgan's been up early lately. Today was no exception and the child didn't realize it was Saturday and that we DON'T get up with Daddy when he goes hunting. Better luck tomorrow, perhaps. Adam has to leave around 4:30am to go to tomorrow's hunting extravaganza with his group of guys he goes with so I can legitimately let Morgan cry a bit to go back to sleep b/c honey, we ain't gettin' up THAT early. I mean it.

I have tons of cleaning to do to get ready for Monday night's book party. I'm not sure how much I really want to do today with a WHOLE day tomorrow for it to get dirty from the dogs and hunting husband. I've decided to have the party in the kitchen/dining room (basically 1st floor) instead of the basement to save on cleaning time/space just in case it doesn't all get done. I had good intentions, actually, to hire out my cleaning for this one but I sent an email, didn't get a response, didn't have time to pursue it further, and decided since it's so late I'll just do it myself. Morgan might be a little more bored tomorrow with a crazy cleaning mommy but meh...she'll be fine. :) Off to clean. Oh joy.

PS. Huge winter snow storm? Current blizzard warning? Funny...I see rain. Thank you mother nature for making it nice and muddy for my puppies' feet while I'm trying to get/keep the house clean. Good call. :-/

dop boodit!!

Which totally means STOP BARKING, duh. Morgan's said "dop" and "dop ba!" when the dogs (usually Jessie) bark, but today she really let loose with the 2 word (with -ing!!) utterance and said dop boodit all the way back to our house from helping a neighbor down the street take their Christmas picture (with horrible holiday sweaters - it was great!). Silly speaking like a crazy person child. :)

Adam's home. House is complete once again. And we really need to attempt Skype this weekend so next week is more fun while he's gone.

I'm eager for tomorrow - we have a guest speaker at the AEA for the speech dept and on paper this guy knows his stuff. His name is Dr. Ken Bliele (sp?) and several of our SLPs have had him as a professor during their grad and undergrads and loved him. I always enjoy learning new things and feeling like my time is well spent when I'm away from my students/paperwork.

Ok, now it's later than I thought it was going to be so I'm going to bed. In the same bed as my hubs which means I won't be freezing tonight. Sweet.

Poo

Tons and tons of poo. Poor Morgan has a stomach bug or something and has had diarrhea for about a day and a half (2 days??) now. She's drinking and eating fine and not running a temp, so she went to daycare today with the understanding that I'd be at my phone at all times. She's has multiple costume changes the past few days so hopefully she's feeling better tomorrow so I don't have to miss work. I have a hard time missing work so close to Christmas break...realistically I only have three more sessions with my Tues/Thurs kids so I really need to be there. Unless Morgan needs me. Then there's no question.

Speaking of stinky hinders, one of the dogs is trying to beat Morgan in a stinky dairy air contest. Gross, Maddie or Jessie. Gross.

I have had The Sing Off on in the background the past few times it's been on and I must say, it's positively LOVELY. It makes me miss singing in a group with a few solos thrown in. Hmm. I should really consider church choir, shouldn't I? Although I don't know if there is one at the moment b/c of our new music director. I'm in no position to LEAD a choir but I could sure help one sing the pants off of Jesus' music! :)

So sad, we had to miss Baby Lap Sit tonight b/c of Morgan's tummy bug. Which of course meant the dogs were going to be extra up-in-my-face and annoying. It's only b/c they are attention-deprived with Adam gone as I'm busier maintaining the house and child. Sigh. Poor pups.

I finally used a gift card from last Christmas and my new Badgers sweatshirt arrived in the mail today. I had forgotten I'd ordered it so it was LOVELY getting something in the mail for ME rather than the she-child. :) Merry Christmas to me!

Ok, I suppose since we only have 13 days until we're heading to WI that I should probably hurry my own self up and work on other Christmas projects. They're not so bad anymore...I don't have to worry about anyone else's deadlines (thankyoupostalservice/ups/fedex) so that helps. :) I really only have...three left, I think. This Saturday Morgan and I are heading to a friend's house in Muscatine for a baking day...and will be heading home with tons of goodies - SO excited! Unless I have to step on the scale afterwards... ;-)

Wait.

So today at work I jotted a few things down so tonight I wouldn't be so forgetful. 1st and 2nd nights of Adam gone this week? Success. Thankyouverymuch. We even had a dance party yesterday.

Few things I remembered not blogging about this weekend that I wanted to:

Wheel of Fortune is one of those shows I don't mind having on in the background so one night this weekend it was on while the three of us were playing in the living room. Of course I knew the puzzle before the contestants (Adam always tell me to try out for the show...I could handle the extra cash I suppose) and yelled out the answer. Two seconds later, Morgan is also yelling out the answer. Hilarious. It happened again on the next puzzle too. :) She kills me.

Morgan is now learning (and not really liking) the word WAIT. Since the "poor" child almost always has someone to give her attention, this increased independence on her part is not her favorite. However, yesterday morning when I took the first load of items out to the car (usually resulting in crying/yelling), she was standing at the door quietly waiting when I got back in. We're on to something people. :) I don't anticipate this one being 'mastered' any time soon though. What toddler is cool with waiting for almost any amount of time...? Ha. Not mine.

Ugh. I just remembered I have a report I have to finish for work tomorrow. Ugh Ugh double ugh. I suppose. I should do that if I'm going to peruse through the Usborne books catalog and start my list for the party on Monday. The party I'm not even close to ready for. The party that I'm likely not going to be able to have someone come clean my house Monday while I'm work for. The party I'm really looking forward to and hoping some are coming... ;-)

A Dusting...

What a fast weekend. Rats. I hate it when they feel like that. We worked on team Christmas projects all weekend BUT we had Adam around all but 2.5 hours this weekend so it was GREAT. Today I got to do some things just that I wanted to get done and I was so thankful to have been able to do so. Anywho, it was great. I can't believe all we accomplished this weekend. But if I have to look at that project any more in the next 3 months, I'm going to die. (or scream)

Weeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Potty update (I'm losing the obsession, trust) - I think Morgan is over it. Or getting there. She maybe used the potty 3x this whole weekend. She sat on it several times and even went in the bathroom to ask to sit on the potty, but hardly anything. She still wants her M&Ms as she asks for them...but apparently it's cooler to have a wet diaper. Sigh. We shall see. I still hold the fact that I didn't expect her to be potty trained anytime soon so this is still ok. Hopefully by the time she's 2 though, seriously.

Crawling through my princess tunnel

Adam's traveling again this week (only til Thursday - WOO) so we are working on projects to keep us busy. Monday or Tuesday we have a special Christmas present to buy and then Wednesday night we'll go to BabyLapSit at the library. Adam flies in late Thursday so we'll likely just hang out at home until he gets here. Was thinking of maybe meeting Adam at the airport but we'll see...likely not this time.

Ready to go for church!

So we now officially have a dusting of snow. I'm super jealous of friends as they are only about 25 miles away and they got INCHES. Nothing for us to play in just yet...all in good time, I'm sure. I had lots I was going to blog about but in all the bustle of the weekend, did I write any of it down or can I remember any of it now? Nope. :( More this week, I'm sure. Not only did we get a monster Christmas project done, I also completed a different Christmas project tonight that was a HUGE weight lifted from my shoulders. It's awesome, but super time-consuming. Thank God I had a partner in crime. ;-) You know who you are. G'night kiddies. It's already Monday again tomorrow. :-/

These are super fun, Mama!!

Ah, Friday.

So it's Friday. This week went relatively fast especially considering we went from a 2-day week to a full, 5-day week. Let's see...recap...

Morgan is talking like a crazy person. Not that she wasn't before, but seriously - I was writing the daycare check when I picked Morgan up this morning b/c I had forgotten to put it in her backpack when she left this morning, and all of a sudden Morgan said a THREE word sentence. Loudly. I stopped, turned to Mary, and said, "Did she really just say that?!" (bad mommy moment - I was so excited about a 3 word utterance that I later forgot exactly what she actually said.) She's said things like "I got it" (a favorite) but this was a clear, specific utterance...very proud SLP/mommy moment.

Peeing on the potty at daycare was a no-go this week. 1x/day for two days and then nothing. She went 2-3 times each night at home, but again, it's not a big deal to me...although I wonder why she is a little less apt to go there...anywho, we'll see how this weekend goes.

We have a jumper, ladies and gents. A few days ago I told Morgan to jump mostly to see if she understood the verb...and she bent her knees and tried! So we tried a few times and then went on with our evening. Tonight I had her show Adam that she could jump...and she went bonkers. She crouched super low (and fell over 1/2 the time) and *may* have actually left the ground for the teeniest of seconds. It was really cute to watch her try so hard and then get tons of "yay!!"s for her efforts.

Tonight after Morgan went to bed, Adam and I took advantage of the lack of snow (we were supposed to be in the middle of a ton of snow right now but nary a flurry in sight) and brought up another truckload of wood to the house from the creek behind our house (the wood is next to, not in, the creek). I guess that's one way to get a workout in, right? We now have two full rows of wood up by the house and typically go through 4-6 per winter. Hopefully the snow holds off (even though I was relatively eager for it) and we can get another 1-2 truckloads up tomorrow/Sunday. Once the snow comes, his truck (even in 4wd) cannot make it up our back hills. Trust me - we've tried. And then driven through our neighbors' backyards. :)

Ok, I have a headache (thankyouverymuch stupid day of caffeine) and I'd like to just lie down for the rest of the night. I don't even think I'm going to work on Christmas projects. Deal.

Thanksgiving Recap

How do I even begin to describe such a wonderful hiatus from the norm? Our 6 day (well, 1 hour of one of those days and then all the rest) trip home was fabulous. I may never work the Wednesday before Thanksgiving again if I can at all help it. We left Tuesday night after work and some scurried packing and had a relatively uneventful trip home. Morgan was NOT happy from about 0.75-1.5 hours into it but that was likely due to hunger (despite being given crackers, milk, and whatever else she was given) and being stuck in a car seat in the dark (hate being dark so early!). Dinner solved the problem followed by jammies and another (quiet) 4 hours or so in the car. 6 hours? No problem.

Wednesday was relatively low key although we were able to pack it full rather quickly. We had breakfast out with Adam’s grandmothers (who are just tickled pink every time she signs even though it’s Morgan’s norm) and later met Grandma Sherri for lunch (after some showing off around the clinic, of course, while Adam and I waited). Thursday was filled with Thanksgiving meals and fun. Morgan, by the way, was not much into long naps during this trip. I think her longest might have been an hour 15 or something…and every time someone was over to visit at nap/bed time, she’d lie down and then a few minutes later remember that someone fun was just playing with her and she’d cry and cry and then go back to sleep about 5 minutes later. It was sad though – she was SO mad.

Morgan had a great time playing with her cousins Thursday night and quickly learned to follow them around and do what they were doing. I can see how this little group of three (and more in the future) might get to be a handful… ;-)

Potty update – Morgan never ceases to amaze me. Wednesday she used the potty 5x. Thursday – 4x. Friday – 6x. Saturday – TEN times – no wet diapers the whole day save for a messy one). Sunday – 4-5x? That’s a tough one with traveling. She goes anywhere too. She’s not as “comfy” on public seats without her cushy potty chair, but she’ll totally go especially if she can see her mini M&Ms (she gets 2 for going). I think I might have wrecked her and now whenever she sees a red container of mini M&Ms, it wouldn’t shock me if she peed her pants. That child will do anything for candy/chocolate. So anyway, we’re not ready for panties or anything yet but I think some pull ups might be in order…she didn’t even pee during her naps. Overnight is a whole other story but I’m not worrying about that any time soon, nor with messy diapers. She did well at Mary's today, I guess...sort of. She only went once on the potty, tried several other times, but just the once. I told Mary to have the M&Ms in plain sight and she seemed eager to try that tomorrow. Oh, and while we were on our way home from WI yesterday, Morgan was NOT happy on several occasions b/c she had a wet diaper. I think we’re really on to something this time…

So I finally got Morgan’s cold she’s been having. It’s awful. No wonder I had to stay home with her a few weeks ago. Thank goodness it waited for the worst of it until after Black Friday. I had a bad sore throat that day but after 10 hours of some serious shopping, list crossing off, and Visa transaction burning, I’m about 75% done with Christmas shopping and going strong. I got to wrap a bunch of them to leave in WI as it didn’t make sense to haul them to IA, wrap them, repack them, and bring them back to WI. OhmygoshIloveChristmas. Can’t wait to see the looks on people’s faces when they open their gifts!! And note to self – nieces are wonderful but stop spoiling them and finding more “perfect” gifts. ;-)

I feel like I haven’t updated on Adam in a while so here goes. He’s officially done with his MBA. He’s got his cholesterol levels FINALLY under a bad level and his good levels are getting much better (it’s hereditary). We’re working on getting him back into a “normal” diet of healthy “I’m-not-on-the-go-constantly” eating so we can all get back into that groove. He’s pretty busy until the end of 2010, but after that, I see some smoother sailing in his future. Still traveling, but not so crazy like it’s been for the past…I don’t know…few YEARS.

Morgan’s talking…a lot. She frequently attempts to repeat 2-word phrases and the other day I’m pretty sure I heard her say a three word utterance (here you go/there it is…can’t remember which one). She’s so funny…I started saying, “daaadddyyy” in a tone indicating “what did you do now” and within a few days Morgan was walking around saying “daddyyyyy” in a very similar tone. Kills me. This morning she went in the bathroom and yelled “buh tee!!” b/c she thought it was time to brush her teeth. So we did early. Morgan also continues to make up her own signs that baffle us. Over Thanksgiving, she invented one where she puts both wrists on her upper bum with fingers trailing behind while she’s walking. I got all excited b/c I thought it might be an indication of her needing to use the bathroom, but nope. Just a Morgan sign. She doesn’t sign or say that she needs to use it but I’m not entirely sure she knows when she needs to go…I think we just have her on a timing schedule that allows her to be successful. Who knows. PS. After hearing it several times from Jessie being naughty, Morgan now says, "Dop!" appropriately when she wants someone or something to "stop" what they're doing. Uh oh.

TV – Morgan is getting more and more into TV and we’ve decided that it’s time to make sure we bring the DVD player in the car for trips. Which also means that we need to get her some DVDs to watch…she’s been into Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse since that’s what’s on in the morning. Morgan also stops what she’s doing and looks to the TV whenever cheering or music with a good beat are on so she can join in and cheer or dance along with it. I don’t know how I feel about this interest in TV…unless it keeps her from screaming in the car… ;-)

Now that I've used entirely too much time to blog, it's time to get going on things. More soon...it's time to finish those Christmas presents!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I will likely not even be close to a computer that has working internet (or want to be) while on vaca from the norm to head home for Thanksgiving. Pray for us that the rut (deer hunting, for you non-hunting folk) holds off so we can stay in WI an extra day. I'm almost giddy with excitement to leave. Family, good food, SHOPPING, family...what a great combination. We have so much to be thankful for this year...off to finish up the day so we can head home. Happy Thanksgiving!! (pictures of the festivities to follow next week!)

PS/PPS

Potty update - Morgan also went on the potty yesterday after Friday's antics. :) But nothing since. She's terribly interested though, especially when she sees me using it (I'm not too modest with her at this stage of the game). She tried at BW3s today when we went for lunch and it turns out sitting her sideways on a big public toilet makes a tiny hiney feel much safer and not like she's going to fall in. ;-) Waiting for the fold-up potty to come on Tuesday! Just in time for a long trip. :)

Off to work on the cleaning/to-do list. Gearing up for another fun-filled trip to WI!! (and Adam thinks we might stay 'til Sunday instead of coming home Saturday for him to hunt - yeah!)

PPS. Morgan's on to something - she totally peed on the potty TWICE tonight within an hour and fifteen minutes of each other! And today we started giving her 2 tiny M&Ms each time she went on the potty and it only took one time before she immediately started signing "please" and was very excited to get them. Can't wait to tell Mary tomorrow!!

Breakfast with Santa and a Holiday Parade!

This morning we went to Breakfast with Santa and the Quad Cities Holiday parade. It was a good time and I couldn't believe it but Morgan actually (finally) took a 1/2 hour nap in her stroller. I thought she was going to tough it out but it happened. Whew. We were just getting to the parade when she woke up and bundled her all up in her snowsuit. She might have been the only kid in snowpants, but by golly she was warm enough. :) She also got to try popcorn for the first time but don't worry, we gave her "hull-less" pieces (no choking here!). As you can see by the picture, Morgan was not thrilled to meet Santa and has not imitated "ho ho ho" as hoped. :)

Mary's "girls" - kids that have either gone to Mary's or are currently going.

Christmas-plosion 2010 is complete. When I was done, Adam said, "That's ALL we have!?" I took that as a complete invitation to buy many more Christmas decorations. I win.

She left Frosty hangin'. Poor guy.

I'm done and tired. Enjoy the pictures. :)

You must laugh when you see this picture. It's the epitome of a toddler's picture with Santa.

Morgan was not initially happy to be at the Holiday parade after Breakfast with Santa. She enjoyed it though - first parade ever!

Enjoying her first popcorn with Daddy during her first parade. :-D

13 months

It's still hard to believe I have a YEAR old child, much less a 13-month old one. She's so great and every day is a new surprise with what she knows, learns, and now (continues to, really) says.

Her verbal skills are really taking off now. Mary said today a dad came to drop off his son and he said hi to Morgan. She surprised him by saying "Hi" right back. She's also saying a few (likely) two word phrases like a version of thank you and here-a-go (here you go - I realize it's 3 but it sounds like two when she says it...but who's counting?). :) She says so many words now either imitatively or on her own that it's hard to keep track of anymore. Morgan is answering yes/no questions. It's cute b/c you can ask her a question and she goes "Yep!" like it's nothing or that she's been saying that for-ev-er, Mom. Duh. Mary and we all think that she's saying much more than we understand at the moment. She tells us things in such a matter-of-fact way that all you can do is say, "Really!? That's SO interesting!" and let her finish telling you the rest of her story. She imitates like a crazy person and has new sounds emerging each week. Tonight on our way home from dinner, I was entertaining her by fake (obnoxious) sneezing (which seems to delight her to no end). I did it once and sure enough, she said, "Achooo!" right after me. The mommy part of me is so happy. The SLP-mommy in me is positively DELIGHTED. :)

Tomorrow morning we are getting up bright and early to head to the Quad Cities for Breakfast with Santa. Mary told us about it and she has 2.5 tables worth of "Mary's kids" attending. Afterwards, there is a holiday parade that I hope Morgan enjoys. It will finally be her first one since every other parade we wanted to/attempted going to have fallen through. We need to grab her snow pants though b/c it's going to be COLD! Pictures to follow...

Adam's home. Our house is whole. It's amazing how much easier life is when there is another set of adult hands. I can't imagine being a single parent constantly with no end in sight. Toughest job ever.

Tonight Morgan walked around Walmart with us and didn't have much trouble keeping up physically...distractibility may have played a bigger issue. :)

Tonight when we got home from errands/dinner, it was immediate diaper time since she hadn't had a diaper change since Mary's (who's so great about changing her right before we show up). I had been "monitoring" the situation and she didn't feel overly wet or anything...so I put her on the potty and within a minute she totally went. Her diaper had been completely dry. Yeah!! So then 10 minutes later she totally pooped her diaper. I have to laugh - one battle at a time. I was pretty excited for a second go of it. We are also getting tiny M&Ms tomorrow for a reward. Sometimes clapping and making a big deal just isn't enough. ;-)

That's all. Enjoy the pictures below. We have to get things ready like it's another work day (ugh. That's early.) so we can actually be somewhere on time. :) Nighty night, folks.

Woops...product built in error. Let the dad do these things, mom!

Taa Daaa!! Finished (correctly) product!

I love my new rocker!! Thanks mom & dad!

300th Post

It's a little hard to believe this is my 300th post. It seems like I just started this blog not so long ago but really it's been just under two years, since February 2009. Carry on!

Last night Morgan was up 2x but it was fine b/c they were for 5-10 minutes each. Nothing major even though I think it's obvious I would have rather slept. But maybe a hug from a teeny one was better. :) She hasn't had Tylenol since 1am last night and we're good to go! Her diaper rash looks better and we're back to disposables since she's got multiple butt creams and now pure corn starch baby powder. No need to wreck such pretty diapers...although I'm not sure if she's ever going to get to a point where she doesn't need all these "extras" on her bum. Her doctor thinks she's just super-sensitive and we might have a long battle until she's potty trained...

Which brings me to our play date tonight. We hustled after we got home, ate, and headed to Davenport to my work friend Abbie's house and had a great time playing and holding other kids/babies. Morgan saw Abbie's daughter, Cammie, use her little seater potty and sure enough, Morgan was banging down the closed door when they were done for her turn. :) She tried but nothing happened. I told Adam that I think we need to get her a tiny potty instead of just the insert on the regular toilet. I think she felt more secure with her little feet on the floor instead of dangling there crossed at the ankles. We shall see! Still just taking her lead on it but I think if she has something at her level, she might be more interested. Now we just need a bigger bathroom. Tiny potty = bigger bathroom? I'm in.

New sign to add to the list - cracker. The actual sign is a fist tapping the opposite elbow. Instead, Morgan taps a fist on the other open palm. Close enough for me! She also attempted to imitate "toilet" when I asked her if she had to go potty at Abbie's house. Almost had it...

Tomorrow I get to present on a specific approach to treating articulation therapy/kids and I'm eager to do it. Not so much about staring 50 other more experienced/brilliant/knowledgeable SLPs in the face, but I'm eager to share and contribute to the incredible amount of knowledge that will be in the room between these women (and a few men). Wish me luck that I don't fall on my face. :)

I suppose I should go wash sippies so the child can drink out of something tomorrow. So hard to get up...c'mon...and for the record, I'm SO excited for Adam to come home tomorrow. More than usual. No specific reason. Just miss and love the guy. :)

Home sick today

So I got up, did the normal morning routine (starting at 5:38am ugh), and was unfortunately correct in my assumptions that Morgan would wake up with a fever. I called Mary and we decided I'd stay home with her today. Thankfully, Tylenol has been her friend and she's been relatively ok the whole day. Before her morning nap, she went to the door and made up some sign that could only mean "Time for Mary's please" and was sad she wasn't leaving.

We've done some playing, napping (she's actually taking a 3rd one right now so she must not be feeling 100% for sure), and ran a few small errands seeing as how she kept getting her shoes and walking towards the door. I must have taught her that it's impossible to stay cooped up in the house all day long unless you're really down and out.

I also put together her pink rocking chair. I had a little mishap when I realized I'd put the bottom pieces on backwards (nice, huh?) which resulted in some minor damage. Woops. Nothing she wouldn't have likely done herself along the way...darn wood glue working so fast. :) It's cute. I'll put pictures on later. I'm a bit tired myself and now that I know what dinner will entail, I'm going to go relax and watch some TV. I'll clean the toy disaster that was today later after it's complete. :)

Some pictures...

Here are some pictures. I'm pretty sure I'm going to learn how to post pictures the way I want to on here (in an album on the sidebar) on Thursday night so hopefully that will help things out. For now, here are a few cute ones I couldn't stand not sharing...and then it's off to make Christmas bows!! :)

Helpin' mom clean

CUTE outfit that thankfully we tried on early - it fits perfectly and is an 18-month outfit!

Gift from Grandma Sherri & Grandpa Al

I love this peacoat. Tons and tons. :)

Hangin' with G&G before they head home to WI.

Congrats on the MBA, Adam!!

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my husband, Adam Paul Schmidt, on the completion of his MBA evening program after 3ish long years of hard work, sweat, and tears (I think just mine (they were few) - I don't know if he ever had any). :) He's given up so much to achieve so much...and it's made him a better person and employee because of it. Congratulations, honey. I'm SO proud of you and words cannot begin to tell you how I really feel.

My Joes...oh dear out of this world expensive denim jeans...how I love you so. I felt more confident in a pair of jeans that felt like they were tailored for my dairy air only which is a feeling I haven't felt in just under 2 years. I felt so GOOD. I will be slowly but surely expanding my awesome denim collection. Very slowly. :)

Funny...Adam and I get a tiny bit of a blog post even for such a momentous occasion as completing a MBA program and then it's on to the she-child. :) Come on, are you shocked? Really? I didn't think so. It's not my fault that she's the greatest thing (well, person) to have ever walked the planet. But hey, that's just me. And Adam. I know that.

I found Morgan's tiny furniture!! We were looking for Adam on our way to the hunting section when I saw it. A tiny pink rocking chair. I'm so eager to put it together one night this week or with Adam Friday night when he gets home. It's adorable. She's going to LOVE it. Hopefully as much as me. ;-)

Morgan has pretty much mastered going down stairs on her own. I still am right behind her no matter what just in case - I'm not ready to watch her go flying again in the near future. She does, however, continue to need assistance to get to the "go down" position. She still thinks she can just walk down the stairs. Once she's sitting and turned around, she's golden. Baby steps. And she knows what up/down stairs means. I asked her if we should go downstairs and play and she went to the "upstairs" stairs. Easy redirection and down the stairs we went! She never ceases to amaze me.

Few cute/interesting things - This weekend Morgan would run from one grandparent to the other. Gparent pick up child and make fun noises/tickle/laugh. Morgan squirms down and runs to other Gp. Noises/laugh/tickle. Rinse, repeat. About half way through her antics, she starts signing (you football fans know what I mean) "holding" (hand around wrist, pull down). NO idea what this means. She did it once tonight too but I have no idea. Don't like that...I like to know what's going on, child. On a different note, around 6:55pm tonight, Morgan (I swear) said "nai nai" and went to the bottom stair (gate's in the way) with her thumb in her mouth. So sweet...but too early. Nothing a snack won't cure. ;-)

I love Christmas and the holidays. I do not, however, love scheduling them with everyone when schedules don't work. I know it will all work out. And I'm really excited for them...just wish I could snap my fingers and have them complete. Thanksgiving is almost set so that's nice. I'll take it.

For the record, Morgan had her last bottle last week. And she should have been off even sooner as she didn't miss it at all. New bedtime routine - bath, last drink of milk, brush teeth/hair, kisses/hugs, up to her room, drink of water, prayers in the glider, bed. I would read her books up there, but she is all business when it's bedtime - she'd push it away for sure. We make sure to read her lots of books during play time and she's fine. I can ask her to bring me a book and she does, comes back over, and scoots her tiny hiney into my lap. Bliss.

One tree is up and lit. No ornaments yet as I wanted to see how Morgan did with it. She hardly even cares it's there. Perfect. Ornaments soon after time-sensitive Christmas project(s) is/are complete.

I need to go do a few things as Adam's on his way home with turtle sundaes from Culver's. He's bringing sundaes, I've got the wine ready. Again, so proud of him...we're a lucky family but now lucky with a smarty pants husband-daddy!!

Daddy!! Daddy!!!!

So Thursday night, Morgan and I went to get pizza from Papa Murphy's b/c Adam was going to die without pizza that night. :) Morgan saw a worker power washing the front of the strip mall and started yelling, "Daddy!! Daddy!" with perfect, clear articulation. (It's been Dada for the most part until now.) I told her that Daddy was still at work and she kind of let it go. THEN she was at the front door and Adam came in the side door since I was juggling 10 balls and couldn't take her out to him like I usually do when he gets home from work, and she started screaming "DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!!" and RAN at him from around the corner and yelled it the entire time until she got to him and he scooped her up. Cutest. Damn. Thing. Ever. I'm not even kidding you. You want to see a daddy melt into a pile of goo? That was my husband Thursday night. He couldn't stop talking about it for days. :)

Adam's parents are in town this weekend to visit and it's fabulous. She has so much fun with visitors (after the first few minutes of pretend shyness) and we're uber grateful for the "alone time" we're getting tonight with free babysitting. Yeah!

Sherri, Morgan, and I went shopping in the QCs this morning since I needed to pick up a time-sensitive item (will get to that in a minute) and there were some good deals going on...oh, and Adam and Al were hunting. I finally got my Joes jeans. They were so ridiculously expensive and I almost hyperventilated all the way out of the store (secretly so I wouldn't look like I didn't belong there :) and contemplated taking them back. But I didn't (thanks for the words of reason, D & A) and hopefully they will make me feel as awesome as they look sitting on my bed. Another awesome moment - at Kohls, the cashier took sympathy on me for not getting my usual %-off coupon in the mail and totally offered me her 30% !!!! off coupon for my own use! I was SO excited and practically skipped with glee out of the store. Happiest. Shopper. Ever. Yeah!

Wednesday night, Adam took his last final of his MBA. Ever. Second-last class = complete. Monday night he has to give a presentation for his last class and we are a family with NO MORE GRAD SCHOOL EVER!! All we'll have to worry about is Adam traveling and while that may increase initially to cover what he's missed during classes this semester, things should (hopefully) even out and we'll be back to some sort of normal again. I can't even begin to tell you how proud of I am of my husband. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to complete his MBA through so many things - lock out at work that continues to this day (over 2 years now :-( boo), birth of a fussy baby, growing child, etc. The list goes on. He is my rock. But now he is my "more genius" rock. ;-) Love you, baby.

Morgan's receptive language continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This week we started spelling things to each other so Morgan wouldn't start signing them or running off to get something...among other things. ;-) She can now follow one-step directions (child-willing) without difficulty. Two-step ones are a ways off yet. She continues to imitate us when prompted and unprompted and has a great /s/ in isolation and Vs/CVs syllables. Sweet! One less sound her future building SLP will have to work on if Morgan ever needs speech. ;-) I would imagine she won't.

We can't wait until Christmas and need to buy Morgan a piece of tiny furniture right now. I want to get her a wooden rocking chair like her cousins have in the worst way. When we were at pictures last weekend (still trying to figure out how to post a link to these - sorry), she fell in LOVE with the tiny chair she sat in and would not leave it to save our lives. Now, she sits on the bottom stair and kicks her feet and is the happiest camper in the world to have something "her size." Makes me feel terrible! She should have tiny furniture for her. I don't want a princess rocker which was all we found at TRU today when we were there. :( We didn't have time to go elsewhere but we might have to hit up Grandma Susie to find out where she got my nieces' chairs last year. Poor deprived child...riiiight. ;-)

Morgan is still fitting into her 12 month clothes and she has some that just run a bit bigger that she's fine wearing now...but her 12 month jammies have seen their final night (tonight) and I'm putting them away tomorrow. :( The 18 month ones are a bit big yet b/c the feet come off and she runs around with an extra 3" of feet which is yet another reason to trip and fall...which reminds me that she now thinks it's hilarious to fall down sometimes. (It may have been parent-induced...oops) Last night she was running around like a crazy and I thought she was going to fall. She didn't, but I had already said, "Oh no, the baby's falling!" so she purposefully tried to "trip" and "fall" but it wasn't working so she just collapsed, started rolling/wriggling all over, and laughing hysterically. Silly child.

Ok, I think that's enough for one naptime post. I need to go shower and get ready for our "date night" which actually includes dinner ALONE/OUT and bowling with friends for a birthday. We were originally going to go to the QCs and shop/eat/movie but then the par-tay came up and we decided that there had to be a way to do it all. So off we go!

PS. I'm REALLY getting excited for Christmas and am making/helping Adam get decorations down tomorrow so the festivities can begin.
PPS./PSS(?) - I miss home. Good thing there's a cute little girl here to play with and help keep me occupied. ;-)

Rough two days! Poor kid...

So Morgan had a great weekend but it ended on a bit of a sour note...let's do this post in the form of (what we girls on the track bus so lovingly called...) "Yay/Boos."

• Yay!! Morgan practiced going down the stairs backwards and WITH ASSISTANCE is pretty good about getting her foot down to the next stair and figuring out how to descend the stairs.
• Boo. Morgan attempted the stairs alone last night and as I was running to her (knowing what was happening) she barrel rolled down the stairs and got stuck/stopped by the baby gate at the bottom. I, unfortunately, got to see about 90% of the fall. She was fine after some crying, nose wiping, drink of milk, and hiding momma (to play). Poor kid. Stupid momma.
• Yay!!! Morgan is now 1 y/o and that means she gets to go in for her 1 year checkup! Her new stats are : Height - 30" (69th percentile) (even though she was 30.75" at her last visit a week and a half ago); Weight - 23 lbs. 4 oz (79th percentile); Head circumference - 18.5" (92nd percentile). That's my growing girl!
• Boo. She got FOUR shots and BLOOD DRAWN for lead and anemia checks. Huge dislike.
  
• Yay!!! Morgan is functioning at a 15 month level per Dr. Frye. (Duh. Like we didn't already know.) ;-D
• Boo. She's got to go back when she's 15 months for real to get more shots.
  
• Yay!!! Morgan had her 1 year photo shoot at Portrait Innovations this weekend and was a PEACH for it. She took a ton of perfect pictures that made it oh so hard to pick and choose. :)
  
• Boo. She was NOT a peach for dinner afterward. I'm so glad it turned out the way it did and not the other way around. :) (half yay)

I think that's all. We love her. She's amazing. Her antics crack us up. The end. :)

Peein' on the potty!!

SO ... we didn't plan on potty training Morgan anytime soon. However, with this horrendous diaper rash she fought for the past 3-4 weeks, Mary suggested we try it just to see what happened. So last weekend we bought her a potty insert to put on the big toilet and set her on it right before she took a bath...sometimes I'd put her on if she saw me using the bathroom and just made it a fun, very no-stress time. Seriously - I thought this was just for fun and wouldn't get us anywhere for some time.

Which of course means she peed on the potty tonight!! :) I set her on right before her bath and thought hey, what if a little puff of air happened to come across Morgan's way...and while she was playing with her phone, voila. Peed on the potty. She had no CLUE what she did even though she got lots of praise and was quite happy about the whole thing. We'll keep up this low-key baby on the potty thing as it comes and completely let her lead.

Fun things!

Bye bye birdie

Sooooooo...tonight during supper (of course) I was feeding us when I heard this scratching noise coming from the bedroom/office area. I thought I was a little nuts so we kept eating. I heard it again and thought maybe it was a tree against the window...until I saw a small BIRD perched on the trim of the basement door, staring me in the face. WAAHHH!! A BIRD in my HOUSE??? So it flew back into my bedroom and I closed the door. I went back in and opened the window and screens hoping it would fly out. Morgan was freaking out that I was out of sight so I went back to eat and give our friend (stupid) bird time to fly out. Finally I went back in and it flew out so I could see it. Nice bird. Thank GOD I saw it fly out or I'd be lying in bed all night wondering if I would have my closed eyes pecked out.

I took Morgan to her first Baby Lapsit tonight at the library. It's a 1/2 hour event where there are lots of kids, a book read, songs sung, toys played with, and fun had. It's one of my favorite things in the whole wide world to watch her interact with other kids. I know she gets plenty of this at daycare on a daily basis but to see her now be able to walk/run around with the other kids and have so much fun while coming back to me for an occasional hug/kiss before running off to play again is a new favorite for me. Can't wait to share that with Adam next week.

Off to be crafty for a much shorter time tonight. I have had two late nights in a row since Adam is 2 hrs behind us so we talk later, so I'm going to try to be in bed at a more reasonable time so I don't wake up 3 minutes before the alarm goes off and think/feel like I have another three hours to sleep...PS. Thank you, my dear daughter, for STTN the past few nights while it's just us girls. xo

Easier this time

So it turns out that Adam traveling has been tremendously easier this time around (thus far). It very much helps that Morgan is thoroughly enjoying her new walking skills and being busy as ever so she's much less crabby than she has been as of late. I really think it's partly to do with this 3rd tooth working its way in and (I'm guessing) being past the "this really freaking hurts!" stage. Whew.

Correction to last night's sign list (she added a new one today...that's one yesterday and one today...yeah!): eat, milk, more, please, help, all done, go, bath. We were looking at a book where a baby was taking a bath and I mentioned this fact out loud. Morgan immediately started signing it. I didn't realize she had picked it up expressively after all the receptive input she's gotten with that one. Verbally, she's saying more and more words now that I'm becoming even more "in touch" with her speech patterns and her environment. She now says "uht" (up, out - they sound the same but she means two different things), daddy (her FAV), momma (2nd rate citizen), Dehdee! (Jessie!), no (usually after we say it), and a few others I'll remember tonight at 2:30am.

Morgan had her first real live time out tonight. We made it easy, there were no real tears, and I think I got through to her. We were in her room hanging out while I put laundry away and take summer clothes out of her dresser and she became obsessed with her nightlight. After what felt like a million "no touch!!"es (real consistent, right?), I made her sit on the floor. It didn't go well so after a few attempts, I picked her up, "explained" to her why she was there, and told her to go play. Sure enough, a minute later she's touching that dang nightlight. This time I took her over by the door/corner (we weren't aiming for the corner, but I needed less escape routes. I had her sit for a minute and she tried to get up 2x but sat fairly well with a verbal cue only. After about a minute (1 minute = 1 year old), she could get up after another "explanation." Low and behold, no more nightlight! Just taking all the books off the shelf instead....and DONE playing in her room while mommy tries to get something done. :)

I really want to post pictures and/or talk about my Christmas projects but the recipients may read this and it would wreck everything. Sigh. I'll post afterwards. :)

Off to start a new Christmas project I've finally gotten all the materials for. However, I just found another thing I can add to it but that can be done at the end so I'm going to concentrate on a solid base with which to add the finishing touches to. For serious - I'm REALLY going to start this one tonight unlike the last 2 nights I promised...

PS. I've been meaning to follow up on the tantrum post...we haven't had one in quite some time. It's SO BORING to tantrum when no one pays attention. :)

Full on walker

Few quick things b/c I'm supposed to be working on Christmas projects...

• Morgan learned how to sign "eat" (FINALLY!!!) today. I've been trying to teach this kid to sign "eat" since the day we started signing to her and all she needed was one hand-over-hand sign for eat, a model from me, and viola - she got her raisin. Happy toddler (almost wrote baby...sigh), happy momma. Signs to date: eat, milk, more, please, help, all done, and I think that's it unless I'm forgetting one.
  
• Morgan is a full-on-walker. Oddly enough I've been waiting and waiting for this day and wondering when it would happen. It was today. :) I took her out of the car after picking her up from daycare and put her on the ground. She walked all around while I got the mail and brought the trash can in and then walked in the house (with a bit of help up the giant stairs). BIG girl pants. :)
  
• Morgan now sits on the potty whenever it works out (ie. bath time, not in a rush to be elsewhere) for a few reasons - she pees in large quantities as evidenced by a dry dry dry diaper FULL diaper, her diaper rash (99% sure it's due to teething) is not getting 100% better, and Mary has faith that she might be ready. We're definitely not pushing the issue but just having her sit there for a few minutes playing with something to get used to the idea. I think it's going to take a time or two of her actually peeing, seeing a big (praise) reaction for it, and I could see her taking off with it. She just seems to have the capacity to understand things so well now that she might just get it. But I'm not banking on it any time soon. She likes routine (don't we all? No? Just me? :) so if we get this started, who knows.
• Morgan is going to be babysat by some friends here in town for the first time on Friday. Adam doesn't fly in until later that evening (drive into Musc around 8:30pm) and I made plans with some friends that can't be rescheduled so off she goes! We're swapping babysitting so fun fun fun!!
• Adam's traveling to Vancouver this week for the whole week. He hasn't been gone for a whole week since this summer. It's been a while to say the least. Coming into this week, I was pretty nervous b/c it's a gamble if Morgan's going to have a good night, sleep through the night (although it's rare that she doesn't - ah! I'll be up all night now), dogs will behave, things in general will go smoothly...but a productive, low-key day at work followed by a wonderful evening with friends and Morgan? Sounds like a great start to the week if you ask me. Dear God - help us keep up the good work. :) Amen.
• I'm getting most ecstatic for Christmas. Can hardly curb my enthusiasm.
• Morgan went to the doctor late last week b/c her diaper rash came back with a TERRIBLE fury. She couldn't even sit. It's since become much better but not gone entirely. Mary and I are convinced it's teething. Doctor is ruling out a reaction to the high fat content in whole milk. We shall see. Giving formula a last go of it. AGH.

Gotta run - it's already 9:30 and I have to at least get something started before falling into bed. More next time. :) And pictures...ah. If you can see Facebook there are lots! :)

3rd Tooth!!

Few quick things before some minor furious cleaning since my dad is almost here from WI...

1. Hooray!! The child actually has more than 2 teeth! I picked her up from daycare today and Mary informed me that Morgan's 3rd tooth had broken through around lunchtime. I can't feel it but I caught a glimpse...yeah!
2. The poor, poor baby. She had a diaper rash that we finally took her to the doctor for a week ago Friday. We were given two creams to use for one week and then stop - should have cleared up. So we gave less the following Saturday (this past Sat) and then a little Sunday morning and then done. Back to cloth diapers. Adam thought he saw a little rash last night but we thought we'd wait until the morning to see if it changed. It was a bit better so off to Mary's she goes. I picked her up today and she cried, cringed, and wouldn't let her bum/area touch anything. Once Adam was home we checked and her poor little area/bum was ALL red and swollen. We put some of the creams on and she screamed and screamed and we needed to hold her down to change her diaper. The rest of the evening was ok, and her bath went surprisingly well although we broke my cardinal sin of standing in the tub. Poor thing. Doctor in the morning. Sigh. Hopefully this goes away soon. The poor thing did everything in her power to NOT sit tonight. :(
   

Now I'm tired, running late on chores, and lost my train of though (thank you very much, Modern Family). And my dad just texted me that he's minutes away. RUN!!

I walk therefore I tantrum

So last night Morgan decided it was time for some serious walking and started wandering around the house. As in, get up in the living room, walk (with sippy in mouth) to the hall to see where Jessie went (after a ball), and walk back without stopping. Today she walked like a champ to me at Mary's and then tonight was the last straw - she walked EVERYWHERE and repeatedly. She walked around the table strictly b/c she could, I swear. It's great. Thanksgiving is going to be a "Nike's" holiday as we're going to have to be wearing them to catch her. :)

Morgan now throws herself on the ground ALL OUT when she A) doesn't get her way, B) can't get a toy to work the way she wants it to, or C) when something is taken away from her after her second chance at something unacceptable fails. We're making sure she's safe (tantruming on the floor away from sharp wood, on the floor if she's on the edge of the couch) and then completely ignoring her. It hasn't sunk in yet that she's not getting what she wants by tantruming but I'm sure it's not too far off. I do, however, realize that this doesn't mean it will stop any time soon. I'm realistic, people.

Off to cut Adam's hair and decide which Christmas project to work on. I wish Muscatine had more choices for shopping. Walmart's "craft section" just doesn't cut it. Sad to admit - I even thought about when we're putting up Christmas lights tonight...

It's time...for Christmas projects!!

I'm devoting the next few weeks of weeknights to Christmas projects. I'm so proud of myself for getting an early jump start this year and am much more excited about this Christmas than the last. That sounds terrible, as we had a brand new very special HUGE blessing to be thankful for. However, that wonderful blessing had (has) very large lungs and an endless appetite which made Christmas last year rather stressful while equally happy.

This Christmas, there is a little girl who can now walk from room to room (albeit gingerly and a little teetery), knows how to open presents, and can playplayplay and then stop to ask for a drink of water/milk without skipping a beat. Lucky us.

Off to projects I go. I'm so very excited...:)