For some reason I'm feeling a bit frazzled tonight since Morgan went to bed. I think it was b/c any and everything was making the dogs bark and thus, waking the baby. One can only be doing chores to finally sit for the day so long with dog barking interruptions before one goes a little crazy.

Dawn & Paul had their baby - a girl - Claire Elaine, after our grandmother (middle name). We had thrown around a version of Elaine for Morgan at one point but nothing stuck and it turns out she was a Morgan. :) I'm so thrilled for them and know they're going to make great parents for that little girl. Now if only my other cousin (Dawn's sister) would post baby pictures...!!

Morgan and I went to late SS tonight at 5:30 instead of our usual 9 or 9:30am sessions and it was fun. We went early so she could eat supper at 5:00pm since it would have been impossible to feed her at 4:15 before leaving and waiting until 6:30 could have been a significant disaster. She did fine. At the end I had to bribe her with cheerios but meh, I'm game. She shared with her friend, Cammie, who's hair is getting so long and who's getting smarter and smarter every day. Not sure how many times we'll do nighttime SS b/c morning seems to be easier, but the company is still all fun and we enjoy it.

Morgan went swimming again this afternoon once her pool was in the shade of the house, which she enjoyed. That reminds me...yesterday to get out of the house, we went to her swing and she swung for a while. I gave her a little piece of tree bark and that little girl clung to her new pet bark for the next half hour even while walking through the grass. Today in the pool, I gave her a little clover flower and it was her favorite. She put it in the water, out of the water, tried to eat it (over and over with more hesitation the more she heard "no"), and had some serious love for the tiny flower. She also thought it was hilarious when I would throw water to Jessie who tried to and did catch it. Tons of giggles. I like those.

Tomorrow I have the morning with Morgan and then she's going to Mary's so I can A) mow the lawn and B) (more importantly) go get a mani/pedi package that I found this morning on my dresser that I forgot I had! Yeah! Then one more night and Adam's home. SO excited about this. :-D

Ok, that's it for tonight. I'm tired. Morgan was up for a 1/2 hour last night for who knows what reason. The crying made her runny nose go crazy so that was the final culprit. The thing is, I actually enjoy getting up with her once in a while so I can snuggle and hold/rock her to sleep. There's something so peaceful about a child sleeping on your chest while sucking her thumb and clinging to her bunny that really melts my heart.

Ugh...

So today was our first day of this week with Adam gone but it was great b/c he was home in the morning and it was like he left for a normal day of work. Thursday he comes home relatively early so it will really be like he's only gone for 3.5 days instead of 4! Love that.

Today I wasn't feel the greatest. I can't put my finger on it other than my stomach kind of hurts, I am and still get hungry, but I just felt off. Morgan was still experiencing a runny nose a little bit and she was somewhat fussy throughout the day, but overall it was a good day. We just did a lot of vegging, playing, and resting. I wish I would have done 20 million more things but have to remember that this is what summer's for - some days you just don't leave the house and don't put makeup on. :-D

Today my cousin Dawn was induced and as far as I know is still in the process of bringing little Miss Claire into the world. Her sister reported that Dawn's water was broken for her at 2:30pm but she was only dilated 2cm...ah, that brings back memories. Hopefully things are going well and Claire is here already and I just don't know it. Morgan took until 7:30pm to get here the day I was induced...sorry for all you other Linsmeier girls who haven't had babies yet!! Prepare for the long haul! Congrats in advance, Dawn & Paul!!

That's all from me tonight, I think. Wait! (I always do this...geez) Towards the end of the night, Morgan was fussing and bored with me so she wanted to play with her table. She used me (lying on my side playing with her) to pull to a stand!! All by her big self!! I thought she was sit-to-kneeling, but I looked at her and sure enough she had figured out to get her foot under her and push up into a stand! Uh oh...Adam didn't put the crib down yet. I have two options: 1. lower it myself or 2. Make sure I get her relatively quickly after she wakes up talking. :-) I'm guessing it will be option 2 until Adam gets home Thursday. ;-)

Ooo, ouch. And ouch again.

Poor baby. Poor poor baby. She looks like she went through the ringer. And she kind of did. I think she's coming down with something (slight runny nose, just not herself) OOORRR perhaps it's the first signs of a tooth (laughs hysterically, yeah right) so she was a little off of her normal bubbly self. Then, she was standing at her activity table with both of us right there next to her playing and somehow she took a HUGE digger right into the end table and got a large knot on her head. Screamed and screamed...we both just froze as she was falling. Adam thought I had her and I thought he had her but had a bunch of aloe in his hand so over she went. :-( So to make her feel better, I got her a Popsicle to share with me and (in case this is teeth) help her mouth/gums feel better. She liked it until she got a chunk in her mouth and then scream scream scream some more. She couldn't figure out how to spit it out. I swiped it out and then we said "bye bye" Popsicle. Then Adam bonked her in the head with her favorite bottle of lotion before bed...sigh. It's amazing the child made it to bed in one piece. All of this happened within an hour and a half span. Yet she still smiled at us for bed.

Morgan now rocks the sippy cup. She gets water with every meal and knows to tilt it up higher when she's getting air (98% of the time). I might try eliminating her 1st thing in the morning bottle and giving her formula with breakfast instead this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Another reason I think Morgan's getting sick/teeth - she took 3 decent naps today. She typically only takes 2 naps a day but sometimes 3 if they are shorter ones. At least if she's going to get sick it's this week instead of when we are in WI Dells next week. :-/

It was so muggy out today that Morgan's diaper's (well, the inserts, at least) wouldn't dry outside. They were a little dryer when I went to get them but they are still hanging for the 8th hour or so now. It's so much less muggy in WI than it is here. I miss that about back home, among other things.

Speaking of, being home this past week with the baby made me homesick. Just a low/moderate amount. I really like it that Morgan got to spend time with her family and get to know them a bit more. Plus, I enjoyed their company as well. Sigh. That's all I'm going to say about that.

I'm rambling so I'm going to put this down and pick up a book, I think. I really need to restock Morgan's frozen food supply but I feel like we're in such limbo b/c she's eating her food but lots of our food too...I'll get to it this week. I'm going to have Morgan go to Mary's for 2 1/2 days this week so I can get some major things done around the house and she can have some time with her friends. We also have SS on Tuesday night instead so we can see Abbie & Cammie (& Ellie too, who should be here soon-ish!) and swimming lessons Thursday. Adam gets home on Thursday afternoon this time so that's VERY exciting for us. We will also likely be going to Iowa City on Tuesday to drop off a gift to a friend. Ok done now for real. For REAL!!

A Week Of WI

Wow, what a great week! The only thing that would have made it better was if Adam would have been able to join us. Recap - Morgan and I went to WI (back home) from Monday-Friday this past week as Adam was on travel to Oregon and Vancouver (Canada) the whole week. Instead of hanging out here being sad/bored/waiting for his safe return, we decided to go home for the week and make rounds visiting in a slightly less crazy fashion than we do when we're just home for the weekend - and it was GREAT. Maddie and Jessie stayed at a boarding kennel here in Iowa which was really nice since I would have had to juggle two (crazy) dogs and an infant if I would have brought them.

So much to say...how to recap? Morgan had several firsts again this week and seems to be really taking off on her gross motor, fine motor, and receptive language skills (understanding us). She still talks up a storm and plays with sounds all the time, but her expressive language didn't move much this week other than just regular practice. Here we go...hang tight. It's a LONG one. :)

Monday -

• Morgan and I headed out early after she went to visit Mary for a while so I could drop the dogs off at the kennel (45 minutes of driving/dropping off) and pack the car. She only took 2 - 1/2 hour naps the whole way home...but was rather pleasant and only fussed when she was hungry or had pooed...which happened every HOUR the first 3 hours of the trip. Sigh. That child can poo.
• We stopped for the most pleasant lunch in Verona at Culver's. She ate all her baby food and then ate 1/3 of one of my chicken strips and 1/3 of my mashed potatoes. The child had to be stuffed...but then YELLED at me (she could see me in her mirror and the rearview mirror) b/c I was eating ice cream and she wasn't getting whatever I was eating. What!? So I gave her a few tastes of my mint ice cream...and she LOVED it. I totally broke the dairy before 1 rule. Don't care. She's fine.
• We stayed with Al & Sherri (Adam's parents) this week. Morgan talked and talked the whole way home but when she saw Grandpa Al, she got all sorts of quiet. By the time the week was over, she went to anyone and gave kisses to those who wanted one and also those who were not prepared for a giant, open-mouthed, wet, baby kiss (right Uncle Ross?). Fantastic!
• Monday night we went to Great Grandma Skwor's house for dinner (again, she ate like a crazy) and then to the ball park for Paulie's game (Adam's little cousin). Morgan must have been good luck b/c Paulie got 3 hits while she was there. Go Paulie!!
• Baby got to bed late Monday night. This was to be the norm for most of the week.
  

Tuesday -

• Oh no...what did we do Tuesday? Oh yes. We started the day at Grandma Susie's nursery with a visit and some showing off of Morgan's walking skills. She had a good time with Grandma Susie. :)

• Then we were off to Great Grandma & Grandpa Smith's house for a short visit. Grandma had a GREAT time playing with Morgan and Grandpa was pretty sweet on her from what I could tell. Morgan was SUPER while there.

• Then we went home for lunch and a nap after a quick visit to Shopko where I found a pair of leather storage ottomans for Morgan's toys in the small living room instead of just shoving them all off in a corner somewhere. WAY excited about this purchase.
  
• After she woke up from her nap, we went to Grandma Jackie's house for a few hours and had TONS of fun there. She visited with Grandma, Kyra, and Kyra's bf Gaelan. She even dipped her feet in the neighbor's swimming pool before leaving and loved it - thank you Grandma.

• (This was a busy day!) Then for supper, Grandpa Andy, Grandma Susie, and Great Grandmas Schmidt and Skwor came over and visited with Morgan. She tried a pickle at dinner. It was hilarious. And then she wanted more. Go figure. :-/ Then, finally, the child went to bed. Late. Again.

Wednesday -

• Today I decided we weren't going to get everything in that we wanted to and leave Thursday so Friday it was.
  
• We got up and went to Brillion to see Great Grandma Seefeldt. We hadn't seen her since Christmas so I was super eager to go. We visited for a while and then went out for brunch at a cute mom & pop place in town. It was fabulous to see her.
• We then raced back to Two Rivers b/c Grandma Sherri had an appointment to show off the she-child to her work friends. Morgan loved it. Go figure...at this point, the child had grown quite accustomed to having an audience for her every move.
  
• We then met Uncle Tommy for lunch and made a quick stop at Kohls where Morgan got her first pair of big-girl sunglasses (among some other cute on-sale outfits). We then headed home for a nap. Grandma Sherri, who had taken the afternoon off of work to hang out with us. Well, hang out with Morgan. I'm just the chauffeur, you see. :) JK, we had lots of good conversation while the child was napping.
  
• Then, Morgan got her new tutu swimsuit on for some swimming in her tiny baby pool. She loved it and was a fish for quite some time. She even tried out her sunglasses...until she pulled them off to taste them. :) Tonight was quiet and she went to bed relatively on time per her "request."

Thursday -

• We decided to take the morning easy and allow the poor child to take her morning nap in a real crib. After her nap, we headed to Sheboygan to see Morgan's Uncle Travis and his girls, Tatum & Talia. Tabitha came home from work for lunch and we visited with her after she got home and Trav left for work. Grandpa Andy came for lunch as well since he works close(ish) to their house. Fun times!
• We debated going home for Morgan's afternoon nap but she went down relatively easily in the girls' play room (after she rolled and got stuck behind the door resulting in some serious screaming...yikes!) and slept for almost 2 hours! We didn't head home until about 3:30 or so and by then, we. were. tired.
  
• We had all intentions of a few quick visits but both Morgan and I were SO tired I decided we were just going to veg the rest of the night before the long ride home Friday. I could hardly talk to Adam on our way home to Sheboygan b/c I had finally used up all my words. (shocker, I know)
• Morgan took ANOTHER nap when we got home (for just over an hour!) so I took the opportunity to organize, wash diapers, and get ready for the trip in the morning. We then had a lovely dinner with Al & Sherri and took a nice walk around the block. Morgan played with them for a while before heading to bed.

Friday -

• We got up and Sherri did a fabulous "job" of hanging out with Morgan while I got ready and packed the car. We got on the road only about 20 minutes late (shocker - we're always late) and after a quick stop at Grandma Susie's nursery to pick up a dress for Ross' wedding and visit with him, we were on. our. way. We were VERY excited to get on our way as the end result meant time with Adam and the pups!
• Morgan took some great naps on the way and overall did very well again. (I'm so lucky.) One funny note - she was ALMOST asleep for her first nap and so I gave her her bunny (which she grew VERY attached to this week during sleeping times) and she all of a sudden popped wide awake and started chatting up her bunny like nobody's business. The child is hilarious with that thing. Then...finally...a nap.
  
• We made it home and beat Adam by about a 1/2 hour (thanks to a short delay in Minneapolis). After initial hi's, hugs, and kisses, I went to get the dogs while Adam played with Morgan. I was much more excited to see them than I thought as I cried a little when I first saw them! They are now clean and brushed and we're all under the same roof until Monday when Adam leaves for a 4-day travel.
  

We had a GREAT week. I am planning to make this routine at least once every summer with the kid(s) while Adam travels.

I know, I know, longest post in the history of posts, but there are several developmental items for Morgan to note (some of them are big ones!) and a few other fun things not so developmental:

1. Morgan now LOVES walking everywhere. She needs a pretty steady hold of her hands to do so but even towards the end of the night tonight when she was walking b/w Adam and I, she started needing less and less of a grip on her hands/wrists. She goes faster and faster each day and tonight she went back and forth b/w Adam over and over again. It even got to the point where she was falling to her knees before she got to the next parent but wanted to do it again and again anyway.
   
2. Morgan now enjoys eating with a fork when she's in the mood. All by herself! (well, once we put the food on it) She had an audience that clapped for her each time so she was confused without the audience once she got home. :)
   
3. Tonight, Morgan was having such a good time with Adam that when he called his dad to find out how his golf tourny went today, Morgan became rather upset and did everything she could (walking, of course) to get to him. He had to call his dad back later. Can you say Daddy love? (heart melts)
   
4. Morgan is not crawling yet in the traditional sense. However, she is starting to pick up a knee here, hand there, and can actually move forward on her own with lots of time and effort. She's using the rolling technique a little less since this forward motion is working for now.
   
5. I'm almost positive that Morgan still has thrush. It comes and goes and sucks. We still have some of her Rx left that we use, but I wish it would just go away completely. At least it doesn't appear to hurt/itch her and she has none in her mouth like when it first started.
   
6. Today, Adam put together and installed her big girl car seat. Sigh. I took pictures (obviously) and it made her look TINY. She looks huge in her other seat. She's getting so big so fast. :-/
7. Morgan can now go from tummy to sitting. She did this for the first time while I was gone to pick up the dogs yesterday. Adam was thrilled.
   
8. Lastly (that I can remember for the moment), Morgan is attempting to creep along furniture. I know. This is new as of today. She's not great at it and falls easily, but she knows what she wants and attempts to go for it often. I'm eager to see what I'm posting just before we go on vacation to the Dells next Sunday (July 4th). She's right on the cusp of all this movement!!
9. No teeth yet. The end.
   

Ok. That's it. Whew. Longest post ever. Thanks for sticking with me if you did thus far. It was just best to get it all out now. PS. We're so excited for all these new things she's doing. It never gets old!! Tomorrow Adam's golfing in the morning since he didn't golf this morning. Morgan and I are going to go to church and hang out at home. We had a great visit in WI but there's nothing like being under your own roof and just hanging out after a long trip.

It's a Morgan-in-a-box!

8 months old

She's 8 months old today. Didn't I just write that she was 7? What? And to top it off, (I forgot to put this in last night's post) she's getting even bigger! My left (baby-carrying) arm is not crazy. She is now:

Height: 28.0"
Weight: 19lbs 14oz. (almost 20!!)

Those are both around the 76th percentile from an online calculator I used since yesterday's height/weight check were not an actual doctor appt. Adam and I are discussing car seats today after he's done with class and likely going to get her big girl car seat tomorrow if he so chooses. It IS Father's Day, after all, and he should be able to dictate the schedule for the most part. ;-)

PS. I don't know why she's suddenly getting up around 11pm every night (last night was for almost an hour!!) but she can stop now. I liked it better when she slept from 7:45pm-7:00am. Thank you.

Happy 8 months, baby girl! 8 months ago today was one of the greatest days of my life!

"more"

Alright, I'm not crazy. Tonight at dinner, Morgan signed "more" over and over again for more noodles. (She's definitely OUR kid...we love our carbs!) I also think she might be working on signing "all done" and we've been working on it for many things when she's all done with that activity, food item, bottle, etc. This COULD get interesting! :) I'm not putting all my eggs in one basket though in case she decides this signing thing is for the birds in the morning.

Sigh. I ended up working an hour and a half today trying to clean up messes not caused by me along with a meeting with my boss to see why I wasn't given more 0-3 time. I got my reasoning and a flat NO, it's NOT going to happen, now quit asking. Of course, she said it a bit nicer than that, but that's the gist of it. I'm still pretty upset about it mostly b/c she made me feel like an idiot that doesn't know how to manage my time or caseload, both of which are untrue. I'm not claiming to be amazing but I can follow a deadline and adhere to it. I'm done talking about this. It's just frustrating to know that I'm out of contract days at the moment and working. At least it's not a lot in the grand scheme of things. :-/

Holy roll-a-potamus! Morgan now sees something out of her reach and instantly starts rolling as fast as she can. She does a few rolls, realizes that she's going the wrong way, and rolls in reverse. If she can't get to it, she starts yelling. :) Then we work on using big girl crawling and it's all fun.

That's all for tonight. I hear some popcorn calling my name and I've been on the computer WAY too long updating the budget (I was a few weeks overdue...it was a lot of work!) so popcorn and a Bud Light Lime it is. That stuff is liquid gold, btw. It came out while I was preggo and since I was scared that beer would make me lactate like a crazy person (it happens!! I've heard stories!!), I've finally been able to enjoy a beer without worrying. Cheers.

Firsts!! I love these posts!!

Ok, I'll start with "old" firsts (meaning new things since my last post) -

1. Morgan will have her first babysitter (non-Mary style) this Saturday night while we stay/go back to a wedding here in town. Current plan - dress up the baby and take her to dinner at the reception. Call the sitter (Danielle) to meet one of us and Morgan at home and she'll put her to bed. Adam and I party like it's 1999.
   
2. Morgan started rolling to where she wants to be now. And she's serious about it. :) Last night, Adam was putting her to bed and went upstairs to get her jammies. Let me preface - Morgan was sitting on the far side of our smaller living room. Adam goes up the stairs. Adam comes down the stairs. Baby = gone. (PS I'm outside gardening.) Turns out she had rolled like a crazy person and was up against the recliner (across the room) chewing on the remote. Not the remote we bought her to chew on all she wanted. The regular remote. Sigh. She's. Mobile. Scream. She continued this new skill into today and almost rolled off the bed (I was watching). :)
   

New firsts from today (these are pretty great, get ready!) -

1. Today was our first day of the next session of baby swimming lessons. We were SUPER disappointed with the instructors. Natalie (last instructor) was great and at least talked to the kids...these two sat in the corner and threw out toys and balls and didn't do ANYthing. We'll try one more week of that before I call and complain. I didn't pay for free time at the pool. I get that with my membership, thank you. But anyway, the first! Last session she just kind of existed in the water and if there were toys, great! Something to chew on. Today she got all excited and started seriously kicking to "get places" (ie. mom move over there) and splashing a little. She also tried to imitate me blowing bubbles by blowing at the air and then another try to dip her tongue in the water. Close, baby, close. :)
2. After swimming today, I got her all cleaned up/dressed in the locker room. There is a handy crib in there so I plunked her down with her keys toy and proceeded to try to get myself in order asap. I turn to see how she's doing...and she had pulled herself up to a kneel in the crib. Adam's first order of business tomorrow night (he was at class tonight) - clearly is to lower the crib. No thunk of baby on the floor in my house, please (although I'm sure it will happen some day).
   
3. Ok, now we're getting into the good stuff. ;-D Morgan was a lucky little girl and received a package from her Aunt Steph back home yesterday but we didn't get a chance to open it until today. I started ripping the paper and she had no idea what to do. She didn't even grab the paper (shocker - my child PPHs paper) but eventually we got it open. I finally open the box and pull off the stuffing and say Yay! To which Morgan responds by CLAPPING!!! Yeah!! I've been trying to get her to do this and today she did it! I've been trying to teach this to her but she never quite got her hands to midline for the "smack" sound of a clap. Today she nailed it. And then showed Daddy when he got home from work. Sweet.
   
4. Last one (this is the best). Morgan officially says "mama" to call for me. I thought I was crazy for thinking she might be doing this so soon (I've been thinking this for about a week now of serious "this kid says mama" talking). However, today I went to pick up Morgan from daycare and Mary asked if she's been saying "mama." I said you know, I thought so but being the ever-eager SLP mom that I am, I didn't want to run around saying "My daughter started talking late in her 7th month" if it weren't true. So it's true. How do I know this? She called Mary mama when she went to get her from all her naps today (this is common, no worries; some of my work kids even call me mom/mama). She said mama 2x while waiting for me to get all of our dinner to the table b/c she was mad and hungry n.o.w. She started crying in her sleep again while I was cleaning the house before and by the time I got up there, she was screaming mama. And it's not mamamamama, it's a clear, CVCV "mama" with meaning. I'm so proud of her. My little talker. :) Adam asked about dada. She says dada all the time. It's her go-to babble when she's hanging out or when I ask her to say mama. :) She's pretty close to knowing that one but I'll keep you posted. :) Morgan says MAMA!! :-D
   

Ok, that's it. I'm starving and need a snack. I'm pretty dang proud of my little one today. When I was giving her her nighttime bottle, I thought my heart might burst a little from how proud I am of her and how much I am in love with this little being. It's a different love than I have for Adam and they're both amazing. I'm so blessed. SO blessed. And happy. xoxo

SAHM

Today made me really think that being a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM for you non-acronym folks) could work. I'm swamped. We're always on the go. There's always something to do, places to go, people to see. I still don't think I'd want to do it full time, but so far, this is GREAT. She's SO funny and was so especially today.

Funny thing (to me, these are, at least) #1 - Morgan was playing on the floor with her toys. I had been running around doing diapers, folding laundry, etc and decided it was time to play with her instead of just talking/watching/etc. I got down on the floor and she was SO excited that she grabbed my face (literally! good thing I wasn't wearing earrings!) and pulled me in for the hugest, wettest, open-mouthed kiss EVER. And it didn't stop there. She pulled back, looked at me, and went in for another...and another! Finally I was laughing so hard she stopped, let go, and looked at me like I was making her upset and she might cry. This made me laugh harder and I scooped her up and told her how great she was. Then I put her down and we repeated. At least 10x more until my shirt was soaked from wiping my face. PS. She's an open-eyed kisser.

Funny thing #2 - Morgan LOVES standing at her activity table (duh, read every post this month) and is now beginning to do some serious stepping (ok, like 2 or 3 at a time) towards it when I put her on her feet too far away to reach it. So she's standing there and (we did this a few times yesterday so it was fun that she remembered) since she took a digger into the TV tray this weekend, I'm really protective of her falling to the right (towards said tray). Anyway, she sat/fell on her bum a few times and then must have remembered yesterday's game. When she fell even slightly to the right (picture tuck right shoulder, baby falls on purpose - no lie), I would scoop her up and say something fun in a crazy high-pitched voice "I got you I got you I got you!!!" or something similar. Well, she suddenly thought this was the BEST thing ever and would no longer stand at her table. As soon as I put her on her feet, she'd instantly tuck her right shoulder and fall down so I could scoop her up and rock her to pieces. THEN she just wanted to be held and rocked like when she was just a tiny baby so we just kept doing that and it was so great I almost cried a little. PS. This was right before bath/bed time and with minimal naps today (she had lots of opportunity this afternoon!) so I think she was extra cuddly as a result. I. Loved. It. And. Ate. It. Right. Up. :-D Let's see if she remembers this game tomorrow. ;-)

Well, Adam's home with my ice cream so I suppose I should go so I can "help" take care of that. :) He didn't even do it this readily while I was preggo!! Go hubs!

What?? Another picture post!? So soon!?!

I just like this one. Drool included.

I couldn't resist. There were a few cute ones that had to be shared. To all you facebook fans, I posted several if not more on there too. Enjoy. :-D

The child now yells and yells if we take her away from her activity table.
She love love LOVES it. Now if only she could stand at it alone reliably...

Today, Adam had the second half of his city tournament so since Morgan (and I) were up early, we did the church thing (my arm almost fell OFF without having someone else to hand her off to now and then and she's SUPER wiggly in church now) and then headed to the Quad Cities for some shopping. Father's Day is coming up, you know. :) We had a GREAT time and she was SUCH fun. She wore this beautiful pink dress with matching hat (see picture) and I can't even tell you how many comments she got about how cute she was. One of these days it's going to go to her head...

Daddy, are you serious? You want me to PLAY? OK!

Go Brewers!

Looking forward to a semi-relaxing week. I have to work Wed/Thurs (ugh) but then it'll be almost a month before I have to work again (yeah!). We're going to SS in the morning and then nothing the rest of the day. We may have a visitor/potential sitter to see how she does with Morgan b/c we are hoping to have a sitter with her here Saturday night after dinner at Brad & Pesey's wedding so we can hang out as a couple (gasp! shock! awe!) for the rest of the evening. I think we're both really looking forward to that. Hopefully all our potential sitters don't have grad parties...

Silly baby who loves her legos

I'm too TIRED to read the book, Mommy.

That's all. Enjoy the pictures. One more thing - is it odd that each day I can't even stand how much cuter/great/amazing/smart/quick/funny/etc this child is? Seriously. I don't think there's ever been anyone like her. Even Adam and I weren't as (see list above) at her age. I know it. B/C she's just that much greater. I'm over the moon for this kid. :-D

Momma loves the baby.

Baby loves the bubbles (unless Jessie is popping them in a frenzy around her).

Morgan's version of crawling...Hmm. I don't think that's how you do it.

I LOVE this headband/flower!! LOVE it!!

I think this one might be a new favorite...she was looking up at Adam here.

Morgan loves Daddy's hats. Seriously. She takes them off, eats them, all sorts of hat love.

I just love the look on her face here. So matter-of-fact.

Isn't this the C.U.T.E.S.T. dress/hat duo EVER?!? Seriously! She's OOZING cuteness!!
(click on the picture to make it bigger)

This is her laughing hysterically for no apparent reason at the end of this tiny photo shoot.

Rain rain rain

Well, we had big plans to go to SS while Adam did the Saturday portion of his golf tourny, but it was a no-go due to rain/lightning. Adam's golf was delayed but they just started a few minutes ago...but more rain is coming. We shall see how far they get. Morgan is napping at the moment, I don't have ambition to do work (although I will after this post), and I think we'll do some shopping/errands around town once she wakes up from her nap.

Bad mommy me. :( Morgan is doing really well standing at her activity table and is almost always sitting when she goes to fall back instead of just tipping over like a big stick. Well...Morgan was standing at her table this morning and I was sitting on the chair semi-observing and Adam asked if she should be that close to the TV tray. I said meh, she's fine...crash (while I was looking at Adam). She fell b/w the activity table and TV tray and sure enough, banged herself all up on her face. Poor baby. She kept saying "mama" and crying while I was holding her. She laughed at Adam's antics to distract within 45 seconds so she was fine. I still felt bad though. Poor baby. :( Note to self - baby does not yet stand reliably when there are sharp-ish objects within any sort of distance of her. :-/

Speaking of talking, it is almost safe to say now that Morgan is getting "mama" and "dada" down. The other day, I modeled "Hi Daddy!" for her and I SWEAR she said it - She looked at him, waved, and said "Ha Da." Ok, could be wishful thinking, but she's getting really close. Last night on our way home from the QCs, I was giving her a snack of mum mums (baby crackers) and whenever she ran out of the current piece, she'd yell "mama!" and get mad until she got more. We are close to a talker, ladies and gents. I know it. :)

I think we are almost ready to put the activity pad away for good. I don't remember the last time I took it out for her to use. It could probably be put away today, but that's where she played first when she couldn't even hardly see. Sigh...baby is getting SO big. :-/

Morgan. Loves. Bubbles. I just got some this week and we play with them in the house (oops). She gets a funny look on her face at first b/c she doesn't know what to do with these odd floating things but then she starts to reach for them and really enjoys me saying "pop!" in all sorts of funny tones/pitches. I also think she began signing "more" for them for a minute yesterday but then stopped b/c she lost interest. Reason? Jessie came in and kept popping all the bubbles for her in 10 seconds or less. Apparently Jessie likes bubbles too.

I finally ordered the bed rails that go with Morgan's crib to make it a toddler bed. They came yesterday. What? She's going to need something other than a crib? Not my baby....

Morgan is becoming more mobile every day. As in, this is going FAST all of a sudden (kind of like I figured it would). We might be able to call this kid a crawler at 7 months...but I doubt it. Looks like 8 might be the ticket. This morning she went from sitting to all 4s twice. And easily. And then she did the "rocking" baby crawling motion. She's picking up one hand to reach for and manipulate things while on all 4s. Funny thing is, when she's on her tummy, for some reason she thinks that crawling involves her toes and she goes on her hands and toes. No knees, no legs, TOES. Her bum goes up high in the air, and when she gets tired, then she thinks about going on her knees again. NO idea where she got this from. It's funny to watch and I have a picture of that to post...sometime soon. :)

Ok, enough procrastinating. I have to work 2 days next week (Wed/Thurs). I am 96% sure that Morgan and I are going home to WI while Adam travels in two weeks. We were going to go at the end of July too, but with Ross' wedding at the beginning of August, that's a lot of traveling so I think the June visit w/o Adam will be it until August. Ok ok!! I'm getting up!! Fine!!!!

PJs to daycare? Daddy must be in charge...

Few things b/c we're leaving for the QCs shortly...

• Morgan wore her PJs to daycare today. Adam was in charge. Need more be said?
  
• Morgan is playing with her toys as I write this. I gave her a choice of two. She has since went BACK to her drum toy (that I turned off) and began to bang on it to turn it back on. Love seeing this growth and development of her remembering how to work something after it's done and played with.
• We love Morgan sleeping. She sleeps really reliably now. Lately she's been up somewhere b/w 6:00-6:10am, big discussion with the bunny, and back to bed until 7ish. Love this.
  

Gotta run. Maybe more later. SS in the morning. Busy busy busy!

Run, run, and run some more

I think I'm getting a runner's mentality. AH HA HA HA HA! I don't think so. But I am almost desperate to do some form of aerobic activity every day now in an effort to get rid of this baby weight. And since starting this thought process, increase in activity level, and decrease in caloric intake, about 1.6 weeks ago, there has been almost no change. It's frustrating. People ask if I'm still nursing. Nope. Quit about a month ago. A friend told me tonight that it took about 2 months after she quit nursing for her body to do anything back to normal. I hope that's my case. I look at this foreign body every day and just wonder when and IF I will ever get close to my old me. I'm not even asking for my super great old me (ie. middle of track season in shape old me); I'm asking for the normal me the summer before I got knocked up. Ok, I was relatively in shape that summer too...but at least it wasn't so dang hard to watch all these changes on the outside (caloric intake, exercise, etc) and see no results. Perhaps part of my problem is I want it done NOW and it's only been 1.6 weeks. Either way, come on and hurry up!!!!!!!!!!! (PS. I still thank God every day for the reason behind this foreign body...)

Morgan and I went to see the new Women's and Children's Health Clinic today in Muscatine. I think that I wrote the name incorrectly. Either way, it was their open house/grand opening and Morgan LOVED seeing all the kids. And eating all the snacks. Seriously, this kid will eat and eat and eat and I've had to "cut her off" at dinner last night and then tonight. Tonight wasn't really a cut off at dinner but definitely for snacks at the open house. Oh, and will someone please tell this kid that it's ok to eat something in puree form AND in small bite form? She will NOT eat plain kiwi puree but ate a huge bunch of it at the open house in small baby-sized pieces. :-/ I'm not sure how much more puree I will make. We're nearing the end of several kinds, but it might just be close to the end of that one. Unless we're in a hurry. Then it's puree for sure. :)

Today was the first of my two day conference on 0-5 y/o kids. It was interesting, but definitely a long day. We get out early tomorrow so that's exciting. :)

Father's day is in a week and few days. Eeeek!! Morgan and I are officially going shopping on Sunday while Adam is on his second day of the city golf tournament.

Morgan can no longer see herself in the mirror without waving. She also waved bye to the dogs tonight before we left. She does not like to wave to groups of people yet, but loves to wave to familiar people (and dogs!).

Ok, I'm done. Adam just got home from class, my throat was semi-iffy today, and the hour of 5am comes awful quickly after being up past 10pm. Nighty night!

We have a waver, folks!

Morgan now waves when prompted by me saying "Say hi/bye!" and she waves furiously. She did so to the lady at Motherhood Maternity (we were there with a preggo friend, not for me, ha!) and Adam when he got home. And the baby in the mirror. And me. It's SO fun watching her "get" things and have her receptive vocabulary really grow.

I'm really struggling with my weight. Still. This is week 2 of me closely watching calories in, doing something exercise-like every day, etc. And guess what. I'm still right where I started. I moved a little here and there (up AND down) in the process but am essentially in hte same place. :-( I'm really hoping it's just taking a while to kick in or I'm doing something really wrong. Sigh. I hate this part. And I want this weight gone by the time we start trying for #2, which isn't for a while yet but the way this is going, who knows if this goal will work out. I truly think I can do it. I should have no problem, actually. If it doesn't work, I'm really scared that I completely lost touch with my own body and I traded mine for a foreign one when I had the baby. That scares me a lot. It's worth it b/c I have that amazing little girl sleeping soundly upstairs, but for someone who takes pride in being relatively comfortable in a bikini on vacation (with a little prep work), that's a tough pill to swallow. Chin up, moving on.

1st day of summer break

Morgan and I had a lovely first day of summer break. We went to stroller strides this morning b/c I didn't feel much motivation to go running later today and we had a good time. The poor kid ended up taking FOUR naps today. I interrupted her first for SS, she took a shortish second on the way home, 3rd one this afternoon for only ~35 minutes, and then a GREAT 1.5 hour nap before heading out to dinner with my SLP friends and families, Abbie & Denise. All in all, a wonderful day.

Morgan is now officially waving hi/bye to Maddie, Adam and I, and especially the baby in the mirror. After her last nap today, Maddie was so anxiously waiting for us at the bottom of the landing (steps) when we came out of Morgan's room. I got all excited and said "Look! Maddie's saying hi! Say hi, Maddie!" and waved my hand...Morgan started waving furiously and got all excited. She's waving on a rather or semi-rather consistent basis for familiar people (and dogs). She's a little shy around others yet, hence, no waving performance at dinner this evening. Although the kid could have eaten half of my french dip sandwich (it was sooo good) if there had been enough hours in the day. And bread. Father's child? I think so.

I now have three books that I'm very eager to get reading...2 Jodi Picoult books I'm borrowing and another called "You'd be so pretty if..." that details how to teach your daughter to love her body even if you don't love yours. I think this will be essential to raising Morgan to use and mean things like "I feel healthy" instead of "I feel fat/skinny/etc." Kind of like I feel right now after a rather indulgent dinner. :-/

That's all. I was really tired today before Morgan's 4th nap so I laid on the floor next to her and rested my eyes while she played. Guess how long that lasted? :) She started pretending to crawl up me (which really consists of hands pushing on me and rocking on her bum/feet) until I gave her the attention she was seeking. Silly boo baby. I could just eat her all up. Sometimes when I put her to bed at night I get sad and wonder if I really lived every moment I could have with her that day or if I missed something. I don't know why I get that way with her sometimes.

Now that's all for reals. I'm tired. Want to read. Want to sleep. Not sure who's going to win yet. :)

A Staple of Childhood

Morgan LOVES mac 'n cheese. I had some for lunch today and would she eat the nutritious squash I lovingly made for her? Nope. Cereal? Yup. Mac 'n cheese? Huge hit. Daddy's tomato soup? Another hit. I think we have a few winners on the list of childhood food staples, folks.

PS. Thank you God for this absolutely LOVELY gorgeous splendid perfect weather today. Sunscreen on the baby and we're heading outside. :-D

She signed "more" today!

This is only allowed to be a positive post b/c of the amazingness that is Morgan today...she finally signed "more" at lunch b/c she wanted more of my pizza!! And she did it FOUR times! I thought the first was a fluke. Second one might have been a fluke...but then she did it two more times and I was convinced!! Coolest. Baby. Ever. And a very proud SLP mommy. Very. Did I mention I think she's the greatest thing in the world?

We had a full day planned but then only did 1/3 planned events. Meh. I blame the weather for the first one and laziness (and a little aversion to social banter with those I know by acquaintance) for the second one. But actually Morgan just went down for the second half of her second nap after an extensive discussion with her bunny so we'll blame it on that for event #3. We helped Pesey get ready for her wedding in 2 weeks by making peanut butter/chocolate buckeyes (they're from Ohio) as her wedding favors. They were quite tasty. But I wouldn't know...yeah right. :) I had one. Ok one and a half. But seriously, that's all. (salad and celery for the rest of the day on my end!) If it's not raining when Adam gets home from day 2 of the bachelor party he's been attending, I'm going for a run. I'm actually kind of excited about that now that I think about it. :)

I got several comments today about me losing weight and how it looks like I've done some of that from the Muscatine/GPC girls. I really haven't lost any more than the last time they saw me, but I think that working out and toning up has made a big-ish difference. Thank goodness. :)

I've got some serious fruit to cut up so off I go. I LOVE summer for its fruit selection. There is a watermelon, cantaloupe, celery, and perhaps a few others waiting for me...anyone else see a fruit salad in our future? :) PS. I know celery isn't a fruit but it still needs washing/cutting.

PS. This morning, Morgan was being "particular" about having her pureed breakfast of bananas and strawberries mixed. I then cut up a strawberry and she loved it. :-/ If only she ate faster than the rate of 1/2 meal an hour and we could skip purees all together. Nope. Not yet. :)

**Edit to this post**
I think her signing might have been a fluke. :-( She wouldn't sign at all while we were playing or at supper when she was super excited about cantaloupe (first time she had it). Sigh. I'll keep you posted.

Ran today. Went well. Headache after. Feeling frantic to get this weight off.

Morgan was fussy tonight. I almost wrote fuzzy instead of fussy. :-P She was just tired so at least I knew why. Would the child take a little cat nap? Nope. So extra attention to a cute fussy baby who had a permanent thumb-in-mouth thing going on.

I finally "graduated" from the mentorship program at work after TWO years of working there and FOUR (what!?!? It's been 4!?!) years as an SLP. At least I'm still new-ish to the profession and they didn't make me go through it when I was 5o.

I can't wait to get to SS this weekend. Bye bye calories and hello tone. And socialization. :)

That's it. Still have a smallish headache and a diaper bag to pack. Mary (sitter) seemed a little quieter than usual today. I wonder if it's b/c several of her kids have educator parents and are going to be gone for the summer. Morgan will still be checking in weekly. :)

2 days left

There are only 2 days left of my school year. I know I still have to work 2 days in June (16 & 17) but to me, those are summer hours. The conference late next week doesn't count either in my mind. I don't know why. Either way, woo hoo!

Not much to post about. I know I said I was going to post about the weekend but all I know is that it was fun, the rides to/from were too long, and it went too fast as always. At one point Adam and I went golfing and it was rough b/c I was hot, didn't have my clubs, sucked (badly, esp at first), and for some reason, I felt completely lost without Morgan. That worried me a bit, but by the end of hole 3, I was feeling more like Melissa again and a little less like only Morgan's mom. I need to do this more often. I'm looking forward to doing that some this summer - the Melissa minus baby but not working part.

Today was fabulous. All my kids were there, I didn't have to qualify a new one (although he's a recheck in the fall), and Morgan was more than a peach to play with. It's amazing how different she is when she's healthy. She's a pretty content sick kid when it happens, but she was just the most fun today. Our friend, Melanie, picked Morgan up from daycare b/c I forgot until Mary called late last night that Morgan had to be picked up by 3:30 so Mary could get to the dentist. Adam couldn't take off and I had a kid scheduled that couldn't be r/s so Melanie came to the rescue. After some visiting, Morgan and I ran to Walmart for some supplies after her bottle. Again, more comments about how cute she is (of course) while there. Then home to play with Adam while I made dinner. Off to a walk while Adam had a phone conference, then bath time with Daddy. No poo in the bathtub like last night while I was home alone. :-/ She's just so happy all the time.

Morgan's receptive vocabulary is suddenly going through the roof. She's understanding LOTS more now and I told Adam that we are on the edge of having to watch how we react to her antics (ie. laugh when she does a naughty cute thing) or we could have a terror on our hands in no time. Back to receptive language though; she understands "kiss" and proceeds to give big open mouth kisses that she leans in for. She's got "up" down pat. There are several others that I can't think of at the moment but those are two major ones. I feel like she's just spurting development this past week and it's SO fun. I heart 7 months old.

As for me, I'm still struggling to lose the last of my baby weight. This is ridiculous. It's also totally my fault. I'm eager to get things going after work is done for the summer although I've started with some serious portion control this week in prep for next. I HATE this part. I'd rather have huge portions and work out for an extra hour...not so easy with a munchkin so smaller portions it is. I'll let you know when I'm back to me. All the way. :)

That was longer than I thought. The end.

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

This Memorial Day Weekend looked lots different than the last one. :) There was a cute little girl accompanying us this year! Morgan took another bunch of leaps with her development and since it's late and diapers are going to be dry soon, I'll make this quick (yeah right). Enjoy the pictures below!

New developments since last week:

• Morgan figured out that when she does something funny, other people laugh. Morgan makes a funny noise, audience laughs. Morgan pauses and does it again. More laughs. Big baby smiles. :) Repeat.
  
• Morgan accidentally went from sitting to hands/knees at daycare today. Mary said Morgan was quite upset when it actually happened. Ha ha baby!!
• Today Morgan tried climbing me several times. Premobility. Yikes.
  
• Morgan now makes this cute little toothless s/sh sound. She thinks it's the greatest thing and will do it over and over again to imitate others.
  
• Morgan started waving her arms all over the place when she's excited today. It made me all nervous b/c it sort of looks like hand-flapping (popular with the spectrum kids sometimes) but I know it's just b/c she's excited and learning a new motion. I just saw a baby do it on a Lowe's commercial. She's normal.
  
• Morgan started lifting her feet every now and then when standing. It's super preliminary yet so I wouldn't even really consider it steps. I think it's accidental when it happens.
  
• Morgan is starting to imitate physical actions now too. This is terribly exciting and we're still waiting for that first sign. Now that we're signing to her more consistently, I'm hoping it will happen soon.
  
• Stranger danger - SIGNIFICANTLY reduced this weekend. Yeah!
  

I think that's it for development at the moment. The weekend was great. We took Friday off so it was a 4-day weekend which was much needed since we hadn't been to WI since Christmas. The ride home went well as Morgan did some sleeping, some playing, some bottle time. It's late. Enjoy the pictures and I'll write more about the weekend tomorrow. :)

Morgan and Jessie at the window.

Morgan and her vibrating piggy. She loves this piggy.

Last day of swimming lessons this time around

Morgan loves her grandmas :)

Babies playing in the pool; Morgan and her friend, Ellie

Morgan swinging with Grandma Sherri

Morgan with Grandma Jackie

Uncle Travis and Morgan

Morgan and her cousins, Tatum (3 y/o) and Talia (20 mos)

We had SUCH a good time! Can't wait to go back!