On (to) WISCONSIN!!

Ok so here's the deal. I am 20 minutes away from leaving work for the week and I'm checked. out. So I thought I'd quick post (don't tell) before the weekend since it's been since Sunday (!) since I last blogged.

News this week:

• It's our 4th anniversary today. :) Good thing I've got packing, baby, and two fuzzy dogs to worry about or I'd be sad that we're spending it ~ 1500 miles away from each other. I blame Adam's work and class, one of which will be gone in 6.5 short weeks (if you could hear me squeal with delight through this post, I totally would) so it's ok. He's so lovely. He got me an iPod nano (I know - stone ages - last one to get one) and his is still in the works. HATE that. I pride myself on timely gift-giving. Missed the boat here.
• Morgan's walking has improved significantly this week. She walked almost an entire length of the living room at Mary's the other morning when Adam dropped her off. Two steps for me this morning. Sheesh.
• Morgan ate like a champ last night and was VERY interested in attempting to "poke" her own food onto her fork. We've had corn a few times this week and she's HILARIOUS when she eats it...she eats 1-2 pieces at a time with her fingers and will do this: look at corn. pick up corn and hover just above her tray. fast-as-she-can shoves it in her mouth. repeat. She looks like a chipmunk who just hit the jackpot. Silly child. Oh and she totally spontaneously signs milk when she wants it at the table. SO lovely to have a sign instead of a scream or thrown food.
• Morgan now tries to put her piggies in her hair by herself as well as put shoes on when she has access to either. She also is practicing taking her shirt off before bed/bath. One night it went right in the tub (while filling). Woops. Aim, child, aim.
• Morgan now knows the following body parts: toes, belly, and mom's nose. She just can't seem to find her own but DEF knows where mine is. And goes for it like a crazy when mentioned. I think she's getting hair too, but I'm not holding my breath for that one yet.
• I have some REALLY cute pictures of our invitation photo shoot we did the other day but that's for another day. :)

I think that's all for now. We're off to WI today for my cousin Ryan and Tiffany's wedding. This couple is one of those that could have been married years ago but for them the right time is now. They are an excellent match and we're very excited to have Tiffany in our (crazy) family! :) I'm oh so very eager for tomorrow as we're shopping for birthday party supplies in Green Bay...although hopefully the tears remain at bay. Sunday we're stopping at an apple orchard on our way home and I can't WAIT. For some reason this year, Macintosh apples and I just can't seem to get enough of each other. SOOO yummy. And I'm eager to share such a fun time with Morgan for her first apple picking.

More later!! Fun weekend!!

Boooooooooooof

I feel like I have SOO much to say, so if I actually do get to post as long as I'd like, it might get long. What?! Melissa get long winded?! Ha...

This first picture if so Morgan's first piggies. I saw a picture of her from daycare with all her little friends where she had her "unicorn piggy" since that's where all her hair collected, and Adam was right. In a picture, she does look a little...silly. So the very next morning I tried her with two, and after a little fighting (she's just about to be a toddler...and it's showing), this is what we got! SO cute...and she came home from daycare with only one. It was hilarious. :) At least her hair's not in her eyes. I'd like to NOT cut bangs on her if I can help it. One less thing to keep up with. And growing them out is a pain. I may or may not know from experience, and until she can actually decide, I'll play hair-God. :)


(I'm jumping, I know) Today, I participated in the Quad Cities Marathon and did a leg of a 5-person relay - Team Stroller Strides. My leg was 4.8 miles long and I (unfortunately) trained almost nil for it. :( I meant to - really I did...but it just didn't happen. I figured though, if I could run the Bix (killer course) for 7 miles on a week's "training," that I could do 4.8 with minimal difficulty. I was pretty proud of how I did, as Adam guessed that I was about 45 minutes total for my time. I think it was more like 50-55 minutes, but either way that was my target time so I'm glad. FUN stuff!! I don't know why but I really like racing like that. I don't need to be super-racer or anything, but it's really fun. That's all. :)

I got a little excited and sprinted in...almost lost my team. Oops.

Team Stroller Strides (Denise, me, Jen, Brandy, Amy)

My runner-in-crime: Denise and I with our huge medals.

Morgan and I after the race. And then she ate almost my whole hot dog. :)

So on to the title of this post...Booooooof. So a few days ago, we were looking at her books for the 11 millionth time, and we came across a picture of a cow in her baby animals book. As per usual, I asked her what a cow says. Before I could even think and say "moooo" myself, Morgan goes "booooooooof." I was a bit surprised, so I praised her and we kept looking at the book. We came across another cow and sure enough...it says booooooooof. Hilarious!! At the end of a different book, the animals in the book all look at the reader and say "It's quiet now, what do YOU say?" And today I read that line and Morgan, apparently, also says "booooof." Maybe that's what Iowa cows say? Add it to the word list. :)

Let's see, what else is going on in Morgan news. She's throwing things on the floor from her highchair. It's driving us almost insane as that is NOT acceptable behavior. Thank God for facebook to help me raise my kid ;-P but it was nice to be able to see what other people have done that's worked...we'll try some new things this week but apparently it's just a phase.

Signs to date: more, please, milk, all done.
Words to date: mama, dada, no, boof, and all the other ones I've listed...and she's starting to really imitate us often. She told Adam "thank you" (dee doo) after I told her to after he gave her something she wanted. She now signs "please" like a crazy person if we have something she wants. And she doesn't want to hear no as a response.

Thursday night, Morgan and I went for a run...but it was almost impossible b/c I was pushing what felt like a parachute into a 20+ mph wind so I ran as far as I could and then we turned and ran with the wind instead. Much better. We then went on the swing and she cried and cried when we were done (it was 5 minutes to bed time). You've never seen a child sign 'more' with more vigor...and ps. Don't park the lawnmower in front of the front window. You'll get lots of yelling, signing, and overall whining until she gets to go for a ride. :)

Ok, it's late and there's work in the morning. Saturday morning, it was 5:43am and I looked at the clock and was just about to get upset but asked Adam why on earth he had turned off my alarm...he told me it was Saturday. Best. Husband. Ever. I'm so lucky. G'night!

WOO HOO!

• Pending supervisor approval, Morgan and I are leaving Thursday afternoon instead of Friday afternoon next week to go to WI!! My TH/F schools are both out of session for conferences and the like, so we're heading out of dodge early. Yeah!

BOO

• Morgan's stupid awesome formula was recalled b/c there were beetles and larvae found in the lot hers was made from. I found out at 10:05pm last night. Adam left at 4:30am. I had to leave early for work to make an early IEP meeting. Morgan's first try at milk today resulted with minimal difficulty...will let you know how the night goes. She did not go down well. New formula, milk...big tummy day for the poor thing.

WOO HOO

• I couldn't take waiting until Saturday to get clips to make bows. I bought a small pack for $2 at Walmart so I could do a few as soon as Grey's is over and my chores are done. Yeah!
  

BOO

• It's not Friday yet (but it almost is!!!).
  

WOO HOO

• I just had a small brownie sundae and loved it. Off to make bows!! (after a few chores) Can't wait until tomorrow night at 10pm when Adam gets home...7.5 weeks of classes left!
  

2 word utterance?

So today I picked up Morgan and Mary announces to me that Morgan said a two-word utterance. What?! A two-word utterance? For a brand-new 11 month old?! I asked her what she said and Mary said she told her little friend, Adelle, "No Adelle!" (she said Adelle 2 other times today too.) I totally believe it too, as we've been working on telling Jessie "no ___" (insert anything, such as licking, being crazy, barking) and she's been doing pretty well imitating or attempting to do so. Today I told Morgan to tell Jessie "No barking!" and I heard, "No bahbah!" So anyway, I was pretty proud that I was able to post this since I usually ask my parents in the 0-3 program if their newly 2 y/os are putting two words together. Hee hee!!

Off to see the hubs who just walked through the door and will be traveling tomorrow through late night Friday. Very eager for next week but that's for another day. :)

Bows. BOwS. BOOOWWWWWSSS!!!

So tonight I learned how to make bows from the "experts" - my friends Abbie & Heather. Sarah (another work friend) was there too and had a better learning curve than I did, but in my defense, there was a little monkey signing "more" and trying to crawl up my chair half the time so I claim mommy on that one. :) I've got lots of work to do, but not until chores are done. :) So far I have two plain pink ones (that will have something added), a large bow-y rainbow colored one, and a Halloween one in the works. I thought I could get the last one done, but giant crocodile tears and a looming/past bedtime called it quits before I had the chance. LOVE this new hobby!! In my (pre) defense, Adam's been telling me to get a new hobby...now we just need more baby girls in Muscatine so we can have bow-making parties on a more regular basis. :)

Off to find a healthy-ish snack...and not dread tomorrow's craziness that is work. :-/

Locker Room Antics

So last night we decided to take Morgan to another Muskies football game since it was gorgeous out and she loved it last time we took her. When we got there, the game was about a 1/2 hour behind so unfortunately, we were only able to stay through the 1st quarter. Morgan had been "sensitive" (Mary's so kind with her words) all day at daycare, hadn't slept the greatest the night before or for naps Friday, had a minor runny nose, and was filthy (=bath night) so I didn't want her home too late...so anyway, we get there and forget to change her diaper at the car so I took her to the bathroom just before the game started to take care of business. Well, the bathrooms had no baby changing stations or counter top so I decided we'd quickly take advantage of the empty locker room I saw on our way to the bathroom. JUST as I realize Morgan's peeing everywhere and I catch it with her new diaper, I hear the click-click-click of cleats...and in comes the VISITING team. Poor Morgan. She didn't care, but the poor thing had her pants half on and all items were stuffed into the bag as we bolted for the door...but couldn't get out from all the padded teenagers making their "mean gruff yelling" way in. Nice. Then she threw her car into the sea of smelly boys and thankfully one of them picked it up and gave it to her. Not what they planned to see when they came in, I'm sure!

Our college friends Luke & Sarah spent the night since they had a Scottish Games Festival in the Quad Cities. It was great to see them, but much too short. Next time we'll plan better than 36 hours in advance. ;-)

Today, Morgan received a new friend into this world, as our good friends Nick & Melanie had their very first child, a boy, Carson Douglas, this morning at 8:11am. We're VERY eager to meet Mr. Carson tomorrow and see how the little family is doing. I got the text that it was a boy JUST as I was leaving the baby clothes dept. at Kohls...perfect timing to whip around and get some goodies. :)

They had Christmas stuff out at Kohls today. :( Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas. LOVE IT. But this is too early. So I promptly bought Morgan her Christmas jammies since I had a great coupon and they were on sale. :-P

Morgan never ceases to amaze us. She's now ducking her head to peek into/around things. She is almost able to go from a 1/2 kneel (one knee down, one foot down) to a stand but juuuuust isn't quite there yet. Tonight I was talking through this tube/stacker toy and tried to get her to imitate...and she did. Neat to watch her think through it. She signs 'please' on command with no difficulty to request. She also signs "cracker" but uses her other hand instead of her elbow...I don't know if she actually knows this sign yet or just thinks it's a cool one to imitate. I'm hearing some really close almost words that she's imitating. She's working hard on "no no Jessie" and is really good at the 'no no' part. She says 'ah dah' for all done. There are several more but I can't think of them right now. Mary thought that Morgan was trying to say "patty cake" yesterday at daycare. Doesn't surprise me. And to think at one point a long time ago I was petrified (we both were) that she was behind. Smart smart baby. :) Tricked us both.

I'm SO excited for Monday night. Morgan and I are heading to a friend's house to learn how to make bows for her hair. I bought (too much) ribbon today along with some feathery-boa material to contribute to the already tons of ribbon that will be there. FUN!! ::prays Morgan is good so I can increase productivity::

Obviously, it's now football season and just like last year, the child LOVES watching football. Not in the Adam-sense of it (sitting, staring, minimal movement) but when the crowd gets loud she stops, looks at the TV, and either claps or puts her hands up for 'touchdown.' And we have an athlete, folks. ;-)

Last thing. Then laundry and budget. Blech. I wonder if Morgan's top teeth are thinking of making an appearance. She's been up a tiny bit more than usual, a little more "sensitive" around the edges, and (the kicker) drooling like a crazy person. As in almost as bad as tiny Morgan who went through 8 bibs a day. I'll keep you posted.

PS. I now love my hair. LOVE it. :-D

Ooo...it's DARK.

So I got my hair and toes did tonight...and it's daaaaaaaaarrkkk...and reddish!! And blondish!! So I walked in knowing I was going for my fall color but skipped it and went right to winter coloring. Morgan's going to be shocked in the morning. But I loved my stylist's color so much I asked her if she minded if I had something similar/same. Off we go! It was really gross when she was putting all the red in, but now I really like it! And of course, it's so soft after having someone else do it for 2 hours. Yeah! Will let you know what Morgan thinks tomorrow....

Bonus pic...so tired that she went "nai-nai" on the pillow on her table instead of throwing it off in typical Morgan fashion. Aw. Cute bebe'.

Pops and more - grab your ice cream. I did.

Our family at the Riverfront Pops Concert Sept. 11, 2010

This might get to be a longish one...so what better to help than a bowl of ice cream? I've got one. :)

So Adam's parents were here for the weekend before heading west to a condo they had in Pandora, IA. All I have to say is thank goodness they were here b/c the Lopez (Casey, Joe, and JoJo) send off got a bit out of hand and I really appreciated their help Sunday morning. And into the afternoon. 'Nuff said. :)

SLPs galore! Abbie, Denise, me, and Sarah

Cammie was so great at asking for help with the puzzle

So anyway, on Saturday, we (Adam, me, Al, & Sherri) took Morgan to the Riverfront Pops Concert in Davenport. My good work friend, Abbie, has had this be tradition in her family for quite some time so I was excited to get to go and begin exposing Morgan to other things - especially music - she danced a fair amount of the time.

Dancing low...

Dancing high!!

There were three Broadway singers and they were magnificent. Morgan held on until 9pm (!!) and even tried singing with these talented people...at the top of her little lungs. Thankfully we were able to quiet her relatively quickly and only got a few laughs instead of stares/glares. :) It was too cute anyway. She also had fun with her friend Cammie before hand and Morgan did a nice job of sharing her bus driver toy. It was great and I'm pleased that we will make this a family tradition as well. Morgan also got to witness her first fireworks which she enjoyed...before curling up against me in the middle of them b/c she was SO tired.

Morgan and grandparents by the Mississippi

Takin' a ride with Daddy

Ok, what's next. Sunday was all about recovery and then errands and gearing up for the week. Adam was crazy busy with processing all this venison we'd had accumulating in our freezer to be smoked and since I finally went crazy enough, we've (well, he's been more so) been working our tails off trying to get it done. Lawn was mowed by yours truly with the help of a tiny peanut and then it was off to the races for the week. Monday was the kickoff to the 9th last week of Adam's classes. I knew it was going to be a long/tough week b/c he's busy with class, but it still was difficult last night. Geez. I'm so sick of feeling like I'm out of control emotionally. Maybe it's really just the normal me b/c I was a crier before Morgan, but sheesh. Sometimes I'm a little ridiculous. :) But I'm feeling good now so here we go!

In Morgan news (which is really why any of you read this, I know, so sorry for all the "fluff" above), I was worried that she'd forgotten how to say the word "mama." She hasn't said it in forever and a day but must have heard me say that to Mary yesterday when I picked her up from daycare b/c guess what I heard all night? Mama! Fine by me. LoVeD it.

Morgan is now standing all the time. She gets up, free stands, and then will creep along whatever furniture is holding her up or sit back down to play. She's bringing toys along when she goes to another room - typically her phone, but also other small toys. She's also playing catch with any ball she can find that someone will throw back to her. Sometimes it's funny to watch her try so hard to let go and have the ball seemingly "stick" to her hand until it finally falls out. Morgan and I, while she was swinging tonight, practiced putting her hands over her eyes...so instead of putting two hands over two eyes, she put one hand over her right ear. Silly kid. She knows the body parts nose and belly button, but only on me/picture/baby doll - not herself. I take that back - she attempts to find her bb, but the angles are all wrong. :) Big ol' baby belly.

I weighed Morgan with me and then figured out her weight yesterday and she's sitting somewhere around 24lbs. What!? I asked Mary if I'm overfeeding her but she said no. Morgan doesn't look too chunky monkey or anything - definitely a healthy baby who does not miss a meal though. ;) Just like her momma.

Quick funny - Morgan was squatting at the open door of the dishwasher while I tried to load it and keep her from crawling in at the same time...when it happened. She was squatting at such an angle that when she pooped, it came out the bottom of her diaper and shorts and made about 5 piles on the floor. Which she then put her feet in. Right after Adam left. What to do? Well, grab feet while trying to convince her not to move so I could crazy-fast grab paper towel to attempt a clean up. It all worked out fine, but whose kid poops on the floor fully clothed!??! Mine. Thank God she was wearing shorts or we'd have had a different atmosphere to this paragraph.

Sorry for all the randomness that was this post. At least there were pictures, right?

Please and Blown Kisses!

Apparently, a bunch of neurons have connected in our daughter's brain b/c it's been 48 hours of firsts!

In the mornings now, when there is time for me to have cereal, Morgan has taken to coming to me and practically mauling me to have a few little pieces. I've taken such opportunities to teach her how to sign "please" to request this cereal. So model, hand-over-hand, model, HOH, and guess what. This morning, I got her first "please" sign!! It was great!! It was also really funny b/c instead of making a circular motion with a flat hand on her chest as is the sign for please, she began tapping the side of her belly/ribcage area which was close enough to me!! She did it probably 2-3 more times and then I was done eating and she was off chasing a dog. :) Woo hoo! Signs to date: more, all done, please.

Then...Adam's parents are here this weekend before heading to a condo for the week in western/northwestern Iowa. Adam was still on his way home from Madison and Al, Sherri, Morgan, and I were hanging out outside talking and walking Morgan all around. Al was off doing something and Sherri, Morgan, and I were talking. Morgan suddenly stuck her hand out in the air in such a way that almost looked like a song leader at a Catholic church mass. I looked at her and imitated that movement, and all of a sudden she put her hand to her mouth and then stuck her hand out again. I understood and blew her a kiss back. Back and forth blowing of kisses ensued and I almost teared up but was too excited. How great to have your daughter blow you her first kiss. So very sweet.

One more thing - tonight, Morgan adopted what we now call "crazy baby." She crawls fast, stops, turns around, hands up, hands slam down on the floor, and crawls fast, repeat. Sometimes she's too excited and just sits, swivels, hands up/down, crawl two steps, sits, swivels...and so forth. She really gets going when someone's saying "crazy baby! crazy baby!" in a high pitched voice...but I don't know who would do such a thing. :)

That's all. I'm very very tired. I'm still working on getting into the mindset of FT work and constantly thinking on my feet and hoping it's not obvious that I don't always feel like I know what I'm doing. That said, I need to finish making up the guest bedroom so I can go to bed in mine. :)

PS. Morgan went to bed somewhat difficult last night...come to find tonight when I went to get something from her room, that she had gotten sick a little. Odd, as I felt on her sheets b/c I had suspected that had happened...UGH. Which means it was not boogers on her bunny after all... :-~

Straws and puzzles

More firsts! I have a feeling with a little more practice, Morgan will be drinking reliably from a straw. We were on our way out the door this afternoon so Morgan could go back to Mary's and I could go to class while Adam's out of town. My water bottle with a straw was full so I thought it might be a good time to give straw drinking another try. I made a kind of sucking sound while she had it in her mouth and all of a sudden up came the cold cold water and shock! Morgan gets water. She swallowed and kind of looked at me like, "did that really just happen??" and went back for round 2. She needed a few more tries but then got more. I had to get going so we didn't practice any more, but woo! I see sippy cups fading from our futures when we go out to eat. :-D

So last night Morgan must have spent at least 20 minutes working SO hard to get her letters that are on the fridge into the little "hub" (for lack of better term) that, once said letter is in and pushed, sings the song about what sound the letter makes. Morgan could have cared less about the sound, as she wanted to figure out how to get the letter(s) correctly back into the hub once she pulled them out. She did this over and over, and finally realized that when she had had a hard enough time, she looked up at me, yelled a little, I modeled the sign for "help," and I sort of helped her get it in. By the end of this little time, Morgan was able to get the letters in on her own with some reliability. Today I walked in to get Morgan from daycare the first time, and the first thing Mary asked me was if we'd been working on puzzles at home. I said no, but then told her about what I just wrote about the letters. Apparently, Morgan had taken a GREAT interest in the puzzles at daycare, especially a NINE piece puzzle that a 4 year old had been playing with. And she was trying to use the puzzle appropriately!! I thought that was pretty great for a 10 month, 3 week old baby. :)

I'm so super tired today. It's just lack of sleep, don't get all excited about pregnancy or anything. We're not there yet anyway, so no worries. So now I'm going to post the pictures in the previous post I'd promised, have a cookie, let the dogs out one last time (and pray they don't bark like they're trying to at the moment at nothing), and then crawl in bed as early as possible and try to touch base with the He-man today. Enjoy the pictures, and TG(tomorrow)IF.

Labor Day Weekend in WI

Oh a good time doesn't even begin to describe it...and there wasn't anything sogreatoutoftheordinary that made the weekend so fabulous, but I think it was the just being HOME part of it that made it so lovely. (PS. The picture above is from Bay Beach.) Adam and I have really been missing home lately so it was good to just get back to our roots and get right back into the swing of things, even if it was just for a few days. (PS. Come back and check this post either later tonight or tomorrow...I'll be adding pictures but have too many chores to do very late now to post them all)

This is Morgan saying "hello" on the phone, btw.

Friday night, we went out for dinner with Adam's parents and my Dad & Sue. The service was fine but the kitchen and seating were terribly slow and really tested my temper that seems to have come from nowhere the past few months. (I think I've mentioned this before...more on that later.) Morgan was a trooper and handled it rather well until the end. I think she might have even held it together better than me. :)

Bay Beach with Aunt Steph is FUN!

Saturday was busy but so fun. It worked out to do it this way best, even though we would rather have had Adam join us in the morning. Instead, Adam went golfing at Whistling Straits in Kohler with his dad, brother, and my dad. This course is on his bucket list, I swear, so for him to have the opportunity to go (my dad was his in since he works for Kohler Co.). He loved it, did rather well, and was very happy to go. I took Morgan to Green Bay to visit my friend, Steph, and her family and we ended up taking the girls (and a work friend's family) to Bay Beach in Green Bay. Greatest, cheapest place for kids, I swear. I almost had a heart attack letting Morgan go on RIDES alone and/or with a tiny little friend, but she LOVED it and had a great time. She only almost fell over/out of one, and she slid off the seat into the bottom of the airplane just as I was getting to her. All the rest of the rides went well and there were smiles all around. And a dirty sleeve b/c SOMEONE wouldn't get her hand off the race car tire while it was moving. I won't name names, but I think we know. ;-)

First ride ever!! What a big girl!!

Hooray for the purple car!

Morgan hogging the wheels.

Woah! The train goes fast!!

Morgan and I then trekked up to Sturgeon Bay to visit Adam's Aunt Cherie and Uncle David at their cabin on Sandy Bay. We had a nice time visiting and Morgan enjoyed seeing our extended family. She had SO much time outside that day. Adam and his dad met us there later in the afternoon and then we headed back to my parents' house so Morgan could get to bed sort of on time since the night before and all day of naps in the car were likely going to catch up with her at some point. She also slept much better the second night so that was fab.

Standing around at the cottage.

Hanging out with Uncle Tommy.

Cousin Paulie is hilarious.

Choosing movies with Grandma Susie.

Sunday we hung out, did some shopping, did lunch, had Morgan take a (huge!) nap in her pack 'n play (non-carseat naps are super important at some point!), and then we got to see my brother Ross' new house. It's lovely...I'm glad they are so very happy there. Morgan was hilarious chasing their kitty under and around the table and could not figure out how to get to him through the chair legs. Silly baby.

Walking, flying, and learning at the cottage.

Monday we left a bit early so we could stop in Sheboygan to visit my other brother, Travis, and his family since it was my and Adam's goddaughter, Talia's second birthday. What a big girl!! She was so cute (as was her sister, Tatum) and seemed to like the presents we got her. We had to leave before the party even started since we left the dogs at a kennel here in Iowa and had to pick them up by 5:30. The ride home went well and it was nice to have it be a little shorter since we sort of started in Sheboygan and usually we're going through there around 45 minutes into the trip.

We are happy campers at BB.

We love WI - have I mentioned this yet? We are going back the first week of October for my cousin's wedding, then two weeks later for Morgan's WI birthday parties, and then before we know it it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think we'll have plenty of opportunities to see all our family in the coming months so that should help the "WI-sickness" we might be feeling a little bit.

Happy with Grandma Sherri...

I'll give you one guess what she's saying...yup..."DADADADADA!!!"

I think this is the last thing (what a not-fun thing to end on!) I wanted to mention before heading to laundry, packing for tomorrow, and general cleaning up chores. I've always had a temper. It's the Seefeldt temper (don't deny it, fellow Seefeldt-ians) and I've usually been able to manage it so it's not really that big of a deal. The past few months, I've been going from fine to searing hot angry almost instantaneously and have a really hard time getting past it without obnoxious words, actions, or something coming from within. I've been working hard to control it, especially in front of Morgan, and sometimes I'm successful. Lots of others, I'm not. Adam's been a trooper and helped me sort of deal with it, but it's getting to the point where I think I need to talk to my doctor. I don't think I have any post-partum depression by any means, but this anger is getting out of control. Morgan, actually, doesn't trigger it or if she does, it's significantly milder in form and not that bad - totally manageable. So anyway, once I make that appt we'll see what happens. There are some other things I have questions about and while it really stinks that I SO don't feel like me at times and literally feel like my chest might explode if I don't freak out about whatever is making me angry at the moment, it's worth it for the gift I have upstairs sleeping with her bunny in the crib. :)

Ok, can't end on that note so here are a few other quick highlights...Adam's in Madison, WI, for a training with 2 other work friends this week. "Class..." ::scoffs:: in Mad-town? I don't think so. It's class, out for dinner, have a GREAT time, sleep, repeat. Lucky duck, that's all I have to say. ;-) I had another but I forgot it so off to laundry, packing, and chores. At almost 9pm...totally my fault! :)

Another video...Talking on the phone :-D

Sorry. Now I'm all video happy. It's just so fun to share the new things she learns and does. Video preface: Morgan LOVES my phone almost as much as I love the child herself. If she gets a chance to even TOUCH it, she's in some sort of heaven. Since she first showed an interest, I've been showing her here and there how to use it - up to your ear, that is. For whatever reason, tonight it clicked. And then to top it off, she started putting the phone to my ear, but then to her baby's ear! Pretty neat stuff. :) (keep reading below the video - there's more!)



So I go to pick up Morgan from Mary's house today, and Mary's eyes were all twinkly and she said, "Morgan said PLEASE today. Clear as day. She said please when she wanted to come up." VERY cool!! She hasn't said it anymore today, but that's typical of children learning language at her age. I don't know if I mentioned this one, but along with waving, she also SAYS "bye" when someone is leaving. Current consistent words to date: mama, dada, bye, no. Inconsistent words to date: up, please. 6 words by 10 months? Happiest. SLP. Ever. :)

Packing for WI has started in earnest tonight, especially for Morgan since I'll be gone until 7:15pm for class tomorrow night (2nd last one...and we're in a pickle next week b/c Adam's out of town!) and I can't pack her clothes if she's sleeping. So I pull out a pair of really cute jeans for her since it's going to be cold (60s) in WI and thought maybe I should try them on her. Good thing I did, b/c three pairs of jeans later, it was confirmed that the child can't even MOVE unless she's wearing a size 18 months. Not 12-18 months, as she can't crawl or even hardly move in them. Sigh. Good thing her cousins lent her their 12/12-18 month jeans and I bought her several pairs...that she'll never wear. :( I guess we'll be going shopping this weekend for jeans for the child. Shoot. She's 10 months old and I'm going to have to buy her 2T or 24 (aren't those the same?) jeans. I blame her BG diapers about 30%. But the 18 month jeans are the right length! Not even close to too short...What a big girl. But dang, my wallet!

Ok, too many chores and packing to do before Adam gets home in an hour or two. PS. Did I mention that we're so excited to go to WI this weekend? :)