One of the best weekends ever

Wow!! Did we ever cram in a TON of stuff into a busy, but not quite crazy, FUN weekend. Recounting...

Friday
Adam took off work at noon and we were on the road by 12:15pm to head to Stevens Point for my 5 year graduate school reunion.

Backing up...Morgan and I had to drop off the lawn mower earlier in the morning at the John Deere place b/c after many sweaty hours, Adam couldn't get to a specific part that needed fixing and the lawn was getting close to retaliation if we didn't get on it. SO...we pull in and Morgan sees all the mowers and is in heaven. She takes an extra 30 seconds to walk 20 feet b/c there are tractors on either side of her flanking the sidewalk. We walk in, a nice older gentleman said hi to her, she waited, looked at him for a bit, and finally said, "tatuh boten!" (tractor broken!) It was the cutest dang thing ever. She got a sucker and then the nice guys got it off the truck...we leave...and devastation. Morgan was soooo upset we left the tractor behind. I promised her we'd pick it up on Monday and after all the distractions of Walmart (ugh) she forgot about it - until Adam got home and she had to tell him we dropped the tractor off b/c it was broken. :)

Fast forward...Morgan only took a HALF HOUR nap on the 5 hr trip to Point. Yikes. I prayed, crossed my fingers (knowing she'd be up late), and hoped for the best (lucky us, we got it!).

We checked into the hotel (on which Morgan could get on the bed alone...yikes) and got ready for dinner. We met our friends Luke and Sara and their two lively boys for dinner and had a good time catching up.

Then we headed to our other friends', Noah and Amber's, house to visit with them and see what they were all up to - and meet their son, Orien. Another great time (too short!) was had and off to the hotel for rest, sleep, and Toppers for us (if you're in a WI college town, get Topper's sticks. Our fav is taco stix, but even just plain cheese stix are amazing). Too bad I was sooo full from dinner I could only eat a few small stix, but it was totally worth feeling like a small whale.

Saturday
We were up by 7am (thank you tiny monkey who didn't go to bed until 9pm!) and off to breakfast. We swam for a bit with Morgan who took all of two seconds to become reacquainted with the water with her floatie on. When we got back, Morgan was kind of tired already so she took a nap while we showered, relaxed, and packed up.

We then headed to the reunion and had a GREAT time. All three of us. Adam fielded Morgan most of the time while I visited but really, it was fun, easy, and like jumping back on the wagon I got off of 5 minutes ago and not 5 years ago. There were 11 of the 21 girls in my class there and I have a feeling that after we make it an annual event (I proposed it after all the fun we had!), there will be more ladies joining us. It was lovely - the food, the friends, all the new babies...I loved it and can't wait until next year.

Then we headed back to Iowa and made good time - 7:30pm and off to bed for Morgan. We relaxed and got ready for another busy day...

Sunday
Morgan slept until...7:45am this morning. It. Was. Awesome. And I'm hoping she carries this over until it's August 15th and I have to go back to work full time (insert collective groan). We got up around 7:30, scrambled like crazy people to get everything ready for the day and off we went to Ries' (Eric & Sarah) for a day of golfing while Morgan played with their three girls and two sitters.

We made it just on time and after a goldfish crackers "bribe," we left with no tears from our tiny peanut gallery. Off to Sterling, IL we went (we had cheap passes through a QCs website) and got on the course around 10:30am. It turned out to be one of the longest rounds I've ever played (b/w sending faster groups through, hitting a bucket of balls to start, slow idiot groups of six on the course - who plays in 6s?!!? - etc, and it was hot hot hot outside but honestly, it was one of the most fun rounds I've had. They're a great couple to spend time with and I loved that we had a couple with a wife who likes to golf.

I was shooting for under 120 since I was A) being realistic and B) haven't been out this year at all even though I'd love to break 105 at this point and sure enough - I shot a 115. I was pretty happy with that and could now go golfing weekly. Too bad that's not in the cards this summer...but it was SO. Fun. And my new golfing shadow is quite hilarious. :)

Morgan did very well while we were gone (for 9 hours!). I was very pleased we decided to have her come play with the Ries girls instead of having her stay home with a sitter alone. I have a feeling Morgan felt the same way. ;-)

All in all, what a great weekend. It was BUSY but oh so good. I don't want that busy of a weekend all the time, but it was lovely. And psstt...we're half way to meeting Baby Girl #2 tomorrow...yippee! (eek)

So when Adam's right it costs money. :-/

And by costs money, I mean thousands of dollars. :-( When we bought this house, we were aware that sometime soon (and by soon I mean 5 years) we'd likely be buying a new furnace-a/c unit for the house. Well, shocker, we've been here for 5 years (this is our 6th summer...wow, that's a lot!) and this summer the a/c started leaking water and making a general mess in the laundry room. Adam worked some awesome temporary fixes, but finally we had to concede since the water was getting out of control and after the a/c-furnace guys came today, it's a done deal. We have to replace it.

Negatives -

1. Holy hell these things are EXPENSIVE. 
2. I don't like being home when people are servicing things at my house without Adam around. I have no idea what to tell them even if he writes me a script b/c the worker bees never follow the script and I have to punt. 
3. I don't like spending money. Well, not like this or on this sort of thing, that is.
4. Mess. At least before and during.

Positives -

1. We will be "super up to date" with technology in comparison to the 29 y/o system we have now.
2. Instead of running at 60% efficiency as the current one is, the new one will at a minimum, be running at 95% efficiency (lowest grade). 
3. Maybe, just maybe, the second floor will be warm/cool like the rest of the house and we won't have to have fans and/or space heaters to keep tiny humans comfortable. 
4. We will be saving money on utilities and be more green in general. 

Sigh. What can I say. It's the summer to fix things, I guess!

Little Miss Smarty Pants

After spending the entire day with Morgan (Adam golfed in league after work), I had lots of time to process all the things she's now doing, saying, etc. so it's time for a bulleted "my Morgan can do..." post. Here goes. I will also add Little Sister "can dos" too...(hee hee hee it's so fun to finally KNOW!)

Big Sister

• Morgan now walks up and down the stairs on her FEET. She will either hold the railing, put her hand on the wall, or ask to hold a hand. Woah. 
• She now sits on the "big girl potty" (what you and I sit on without an extra tiny hiney seat) as of today by herself. I showed her where to put her hands and she had the confidence to try it. During one potty, I sat her down and she said, "sit down, Mommy" so she could do her business on her own. 
• Morgan routinely spouts off 3-4 word utterances. Her grammar is by no means beautiful, but boy that kid can get her point across. What's even more fun, she's now starting to realize and use other words to help get her point across if she's not understood. Case in point - we were in the car and she kept saying "bite" and when she finally stopped, thought, and said, "sun!" Little smarty was trying to get us to understand she was saying it was BRIGHT outside. I love hearing all her new vocabulary and how she puts things together....
• After seeing the baby on the ultrasound this morning, I was getting her ready for her nap when she started saying, "baby sister! baby sister!" (I can't remember what might have prompted this, but those were her words). It melted my heart and made me happy that she can hopefully start putting it together  that we're having another real person coming into our family soon instead of just talking about some baby she doesn't understand. She also put her hand under my hand on my belly today when BG2 was being particularly active (which of course she immediately stopped doing) but soon...hopefully soon Morgan can feel her too!
• Morgan is obsessed with her "Morgan CD" (has her name in the songs). We can hardly even get in the car (where it's located) before she's asking for it and having a toddler-fit if it's not on soon. :-/
• She's suddenly eating like a crazy person. She's worn this adorable yellow dress often this summer and today when I put it on her, I noticed that it's suddenly a bit shorter than it was last time. It's not like it would have magically shrunk this time in the wash after at least 10 other times...
• I think she's growing again. (see previous bullet) Tonight she ate half of a venison steak, a good amount of peas...and THREE helpings of broccoli/cheese rice. Woah. 
• She also is beginning to recognize items in terms of numbers. When there are two of something, she says, "two moons!" or "two dogs!" That's fun for me watching her figure all that out. :) Until she asks for two cookies...
• We can't help but love her more and more with each passing day. We are soooo blessed...

Little Sister

• She's becoming quite the kicker pants. Not hard, not tons, but now that I can feel her well, she's movin' and shakin'. LOVE THIS part of pregnancy. 
• I have to pee all the time. GAH.
• I'm having Braxton Hicks contractions and have for the past 2-3 weeks or so. They are worse when I have to pee or am dehydrated or whenever really, but I'll have to look back and see when these started with Morgan. I'm not worried but I'll ask about it at my next appointment. 
• Ugh - I'm up about 12-13lbs already. Whatever. If I have to do another 40lb pregnancy, so be it especially if I get another healthy, beautiful baby out of it. :) 

Mom & Dad

• We're doing well. We're enjoying sharing the new movement we can feel from BG2 on the outside. I'm enjoying this lull in his travel but realize it will likely pick up in the fall (but be done just before Thanksgiving! I will die if I go into labor while he's on travel with a toddler and two dogs!!). 
• We are so. blessed. I thank God every day that we're in the place we are and on the path of life we are on. xo

And Baby Schmidt #2 is.............

Today was the big day...and we couldn't believe the outcome! Morgan will tell you below...

 We were kind of stunned, I think! I was ready for either boy/girl and didn't mind one way or the other. Adam, on the other hand, was a bit surprised, I think at the thought of another girl in the family. Now I'm getting excited b/c I don't have to buy a whole new child's wardrobe since the girls (whoa that's weird to say) will be in rather similar seasons since there is a really good chance that they will be exactly 2 months apart (Oct 19 - Dec 19) (26 months total...get my drift yet?). I don't have to buy new bedding if I don't want to but I'm thinking lady bugs for the baby...so we'll see on that one. But either way, I'm very excited for (as my friend, Abbie, says about her two daughters - thanks for letting me borrow your reference, btw) twogirls. Yippee!

Baby Girl #2 Pregnancy Pictures

Another fun thing to make note of is that last night, I was sitting on the couch watching TV and talking Adam's ear off (which he loves while we're watching TV sometimes, right honey?) and she kicked my hand pretty hard. I told Adam to come over quick and sure enough, he got to feel her kick him twice at 18w6d. That was earlier than with Morgan, although then it was only 19 weeks (I can't remember the days) but I'm guessing it was about a week later. FUN stuff!

Next hurdle...figuring out what size Morgan's new bed really is (I think it's a full whereas my stepmom is pretty certain it's a queen) so we can order her new "big girl bedding." I'm excited to start moving forward with a few things (paint, new nursery, etc.) and getting Morgan used to the idea of the newest family member coming just before Christmas.

One more hurdle...names. She needs a name!! I had a boy name I was pretty in love with but now that we don't need it (for THIS one, that is), I'm on the hunt for a girl's name. Here's the deal - we'll take suggestions, but I have odd requirements. Her name must be one that I will find respectable and able to be up on a sign or something somewhere in case she ever decides to run for office. That said - no Brittanys, no Candys, etc...I think you catch my drift. There are lots of awesome names out there but I want to be able to see her using the name as an adult as well as a tiny human. Gee - so helpful, aren't I? I figure it this way - we were able to find Morgan's name so there has to be another one out there somewhere that will fit her perfectly as Morgan's did. Also - can't end in 'S'. It doesn't go with our last name if you say them together. From an SLP's perspective, just trust. Say Chase Schmidt. Mouthful, isn't it? So no final /s/.

Forward ho! Wishing there was an extra month of summer to do some of these things...but alas, I work tomorrow and Wednesday and then hopefully not again until Aug. 15th which is the official kickstart to the school year. Sigh. For now, I'm in denial mode and fully enjoying the rest of our summer. xoxo

We're having another girl!!

We know!!

We know we know!! And I'll post pictures and hopefully a video soon but I have to wait for it all to come together. :) Give me some hours...and besides - most of you that read this already know. ;-)

Jump! Jump!

I just have to document that Morgan is now jumping. As in leaving the ground, air between her feet and the floor jumping. She's not ready to jump over anything but a few strings, but she's there. And she likes to randomly practice this new feat anywhere. :-D

Kicker pants

So last night we were up for one reason or another - get the dog set up for the storm so she didn't whine and cry the entire time. Pee. Think there was another storm coming. And then...while waiting to fall back to sleep from said "not close enough to do anything but make silent flashes storm" I put my hand on my lower belly just to say hi to the baby when all of a sudden s/he let out a HUGE kick and I felt him/her on the OUTSIDE. I immediately woke up Adam (poor kid) and made him put his hand in the same place as the baby had been moving around a bit and either he fell asleep and couldn't feel kicks b/c he was sleeping or the baby just wasn't kicking hard enough. Oooo...soon! And T-43 hours until we find out who that is kicking around in there...pending some cooperation and prayers, of course. ;-)

For now, though, it's nap time, shower time, and 1st birthday party time for my good work friend, Abbie's, daughter Parker. Morgan's going to flip when she realizes all the kids that are going to be there - at least 8 per my knowledge. Throw in a little cake/sugar and heat and there will be some sweaty tiny ones running around northern Davenport this evening.

My First Nights Away...ever.

I'm back from three whole nights of being away from my house...without my family...alone. Well, not alone b/c I was with my other family (yes, Steph, you are of COURSE my family). Monday night I stayed with my mom as we had my Great Grandma Marie's funeral (see prev post - she was 103!! That's amazing!) Tuesday morning. It was a lovely service and the Priest did a very nice job of capturing what a truly wonderful woman my Great Grandma was. One thing that struck a cord with me was that she waited 55 years to be back with my Great Grandpa, as he passed away in '56. Anyway, it was nice to see family again and actually get to meet my cousin, Dawn's daughter Claire, who just turned 1 y/o in the past few weeks. I also liked that the funeral was more of a celebration of her life than a mourning. She was a wonderful woman and I hope to keep her attitude as I get older.

Afterwards, I headed up to Green Bay for some BFF time with Steph. We haven't done "just us" time in a very long time and with both of us having bellies (she totally wins, though. Hers is 36 weeks along whereas mine is a measly 18) :) it was a good idea to do it now before more tiny humans came into the picture and made it harder for this to happen. It also happens, obviously, that this was the first time I'd ever been away from Morgan overnight...and I went for gold and did THREE nights. It was surprisingly easier to leave than I thought it would be and I did well without her (I quickly digress - I'm used to being away from Adam so know that I missed him too...but it's easier to be away from him right now) for the first days. We Skyped Tues and Wed nights (which I guess was a disaster after we hung up Wed night for poor poor Morgan) and that also helped. Then Thursday morning came and I could not believe I had HOURS to wait until I got to see her again. Finally I was home and she woke up from her nap at Mary's. I went to get her and it was great. I missed her so very much and I think once a year is plenty to be away from her for nights on end. Well...for now. ;-)

While I was there in GB... ;-)

• I spent awesome time with Steph which included talking/catching up
• laughing a lot
• relaxing
• shopping
• eating my weight in ice cream (and other things I probably should have skipped...meh)
• watching a chick flick and bawling together
• sleeping
• sitting without having to get up for dogs, potty time, milk, etc.
• enjoying watching Baby Girl Christie beat the daylights out of Steph's belly...from a couch away
• watching FRIENDS (no competition from NickJr or ESPN - score!)

It was great and while I was super eager to get back and see Morgan, I had a GREAT time with Steph and was so happy it worked out for us to have this visit "pre-babies." I heart her and am so glad to have her in my life.

Odds and ends - Adam is still having issues with coughing and inconsistent night fevers. A chest x-ray was negative today which was good but I'm still concerned that he's in the 4th week of this now and still having symptoms. At the very least, his rash is almost non-existent now although it's peeling (so. weird.). Morgan's doing well with learning and growing and being an all-around genius monkey toddler person. I'm doing very well with the baby and am feeling him/her (I think it's a him) a little more each day but mostly when I'm sitting/lying down and quiet. It rained this evening which may have been the 2nd or 3rd greatest thing about my day since it was much needed and our grass is yellow.

All that said, I'm tired and you're probably hungry since you've been reading for 2 hours. Enjoy your snack. May I recommend ice cream?

103 years

It's been a busy weekend but I have to dedicate this post to my Great Grandma Huiting (maternal grandmother), who passed away Friday after 103 years on this earth. That day she got up, went to church in the morning, had lunch, laid down for a nap/rest, and peacefully made her way to heaven. I'll remember her as always being so happy when we'd get to see her, even if it was few and far between, and I'm so glad to have known her. RIP, Great Grandma. xo

I heart summer.

What a great week!! Well, minus the working, however, I really feel that working is why this Friday feels so awesome (at least to some extent). I worked Monday and Tuesday and it was some sort of almost brutal. It really didn't help that there was almost no one at the office and I knew most of my other coworkers were enjoying their summer days in some way or another. But they're done and on to the rest week. Morgan and I had a great Wednesday with a walk on the riverfront with friends, a picnic lunch with Adam, and a long nap that afternoon. Thursday was something similar except instead of the walk, we tried out a new mommy/me play group with a friend and met some fun new friends. Adam came home for lunch and then Morgan took an even longer nap which allowed me to make 13 new bows for several little ladies coming into the world in the coming months. (Wish I knew if I was making bows for OUR family...grr...sick of waiting). Morgan was a delight the rest of the day and we all had a really nice evening playing, getting some things done outside, and relaxing.

Today (Friday), Morgan and I decided to hit up an awesome rummage sale (again, would have been nice to know if we were having a boy so I could have stocked up!!) that involved some shoes, clothes, and a few toys for Morgan and quite a few maternity clothes scores! for me. After that haul, we ran a few more errands around the QCs and she was rather well behaved the entire time. Our last stop was to Toys R Us for a few things that lovely Muscatine just doesn't offer a family who likes to play and Morgan was a small mess when we left. Giving her credit, she skipped a morning nap (which is relatively ok to do now, just not all the time) and was rather tired by then. She got over it and we drew, sang, and talked to Grandma Sherri on the way home. Adam took the afternoon off and we're just hanging out, finishing up a few things, (I'm secretly waiting for her to wake up so we can swim in her kiddie pool), and then waiting for Uncle Ross and Aunt Kristen to get here for an impromptu overnight visit on their way to a spontaneous trip to St. Louis.

We have a pretty great weekend on tap which will include - R&K coming to visit (and lose badly in the world's longest game of nertz), Adam in a softball tourney Saturday (which Morgan and I are skipping b/c it's going to be SO miserably hot/humid outside, and it's far away), Morgan and I may be going to the Aquatic Center to beat the heat, napping, playing, church, more playing, water time, etc.

I heart summer. I'm wondering when it will be time for me to stop this full time working business and start staying home a few days a week. I can't seem to get enough of Morgan every day as she grows and learns and says more and more each day. She is now repeating 4 word utterances pretty easily and saying them on her own as well. Yesterday we were all outside playing and getting things done and Morgan yells, "Look at me, mama!!" and takes off running in a giant circle around the driveway. Earlier she yelled to Adam, "Daddy! Watch!" I think it's great listening to all her new things...however, some of them (mine! my ___! Look at me!) will likely be overused at some point...but all in all, she's amazing (of course - she's ours) and I am loving every minute with her. I won't doubt me becoming an emotional wreck as we near August 15th (first real day back to school year days)...I cherish this time with her and am so glad I was able to get into a school schedule(ish) before we had kids. Feeling oh so blessed!

Emotional roller coaster - holla!

(sorry, FB fans - this is a very similar repost from my post on there tonight)

Me - reading a hilarious blog - http://www.jennepper.com/ - and laughing out loud so hard I started crying.
Adam (cautiously, mind you) - "Are you happy crying or sad crying?"
Me - "Happy!! HA HA HA!" (crying still)
Adam - goes back to watching TV...
Me - continues laughing and crying and all of a sudden...full on crying. Sad crying. No reason. The blog continues to be hilarious as I'm reading through tears. Pause reading to figure out the stupid crying.
Adam - cautiously glancing..."Still happy laughing?"
Me - "No! Stupid crying! (laugh/cry/snurp)"

My oh my. That was a fun roller coaster ride (leans over side and barfs).

Gender Jealousy

I'm having "gender finding out jealousy" and yes, it is a diagnosed condition. (I'm awesome and can diagnose myself, much like a pediatrician thinks s/he can diagnose a speech delay.) We have exactly two weeks (minus almost 13 hours) until we find out the monkey that lives within me taking all sense out of me really is. That said, EVERYONE ELSE knows the gender of their babies!!! NOT fair. We have issues with naming this time around although if I remember correctly (and find motivation to look back and find out the issues we had with Morgan's naming fiasco) we did with Morgan, too. I do remember she was Mackenzie for a while (not for a girlie this time around, mind you, which would violate the "we are not sharing names until the baby is here" rule). So anyway, we're the last ones in the whole world to find out and I can't wait!! Ahhh! (straw that broke the camel's (mommy's) back - our friends, the Lopez family, found out their little girl will be coming a week or so before our kiddo in December - WOO HOO!) Gender jealousy over (well, until July 25th, that is, when we hopefully find out too!)

Addendum - I'm only allowed to be about 90% jealous b/c my cousin, Jenny, and her husband Kirk, won't find out their baby's gender until August 3rd. So maybe not EVERYBODY knows their baby's gender before I do. ;-)

WI? Again? Sure, why not?

Off we went again for another weekend in WI. My sister's graduation party was Saturday and we weren't missing it. :) I'm so glad we made it back and it was nice to see family we haven't seen in a while. One of my favorite things was watching Morgan play with her cousins. They spent so much time playing outside in the grass, in the driveway, and doing the Hot Dog Dance with their Mickey Mouse toys. It made my heart fuller to watch them.

Also, there was a tiny bike with training wheels at the party. Not just a plastic bike that other kids Morgan's age ride/have, but a real full on bike. Believe it or not, that kid's feet reached the pedals all the way around and had both of us had an extra half hour of patience, I'm willing to bet she would have been pedaling (maybe not stopping, though) up and down that driveway. Sigh. Big girl getting bigger. Not only do we need to hunt down a playground/swing set by next summer, but now a tiny bike with training wheels, too!

Off to eat fresh peas from the pod from WI. Seriously one of our favorite snacks...we bought at least a 5lb bag. Mmm...

Poll

In case you didn't notice, I put a poll up on the right side of the blog to see what everyone thinks I'm having. Cast your vote and (hopefully) we'll find out on the 25th. :)

PS. I also made an addendum to the previous post. 

16 week appointment

All is well!!! I took Morgan to my appointment this morning b/c I changed it last minute from tomorrow so she and I could go on our much looked forward to play date with the other SLP mommies in the morning. So anyway, the baby's heartbeat is in the 150s which is normal, everything was in its proper place, and we're good to go to...find out the baby's gender on July 25th pending s/he cooperates!! I can't tell you how excited I am and Morgan will be coming along to that one as well to see him/her. It should be a family event. The only thing we're doing is checking my thyroid b/c I'm still losing hair like a normal, non-pregnant person does instead of the "loses almost no hair while pregnant" person does. I don't think it's a big deal, my midwife didn't appear to think it was a huge deal, but we're just ruling it out to make sure. Either way, forward, ho!

Belly Comparison

Pregnant Belly with Morgan at 16 weeks

Pregnant Belly with B#2 at 16 weeks

Pretty similar?! Yippee! I was worried I was bigger already, as apparently did Adam when I mentioned this fact (similar bellies) to him this evening - stinker. ;-) With my first pregnancy though, I grew a LOT b/w weeks 16 and 17 so yikes...Oh, and still not directly feeling baby yet which is also normal. Can't wait until I do!

I also forgot to mention that Morgan got to "help" with the heartbeat monitor which thrilled me. My midwife is the best ever. I was going to have Morgan wait in her chair on walk around while Dr. Kim checked for the heartbeat, but she told Morgan to come on up, helped put her in a good spot, and then had Morgan squeeze goop on the doppler (I think that's what it's called) and basically told Morgan the heartbeat and what was going on. :) It made my heart smile and almost burst a little. I loved it and while Morgan didn't really know what was going on at the time, she seemed very quiet yet eager to help and participate. I'm so very excited to see what she does with the u/s on the 25th...

Now, as I type this and have been whining that I'm not feeling the baby yet, I'm 89% sure s/he just kicked me in the front/left side. I poked him/her a little more wait! there s/he goes again...but anyway, no response to the pokes. Oh fun!! Adam will be so thrilled when he gets home from his games to hear that I'm pretty sure I felt the baby. Sigh. What a great day. ::heart bursting font::

Happy 4th of July!

It's the 4th of July!! And what a great long weekend it has been. Thursday and Friday were spent unpacking and cleaning the house for Tommy, Carrie, Al, & Sherri's arrivals Friday and Saturday (so basically, Adam's entire immediate family). I was pretty pleased with how things turned out cleaning/organizing-wise, and it was great to see them all here.

Friday night we had dinner with C&T when they arrived, played, and relaxed. Saturday, Adam didn't have his first tournament game until 1pm, so I stayed back with Morgan while the rest of the fam (A&S had come by noon) went to Adam's game in the QCs. Morgan and I caught up with them after a hefty (and much needed) 2-hr nap (highly sparse occasion for Morgan as she usually naps about an hour and a half at best). Morgan and I headed home by 8pm since it was past her bedtime, she was a sweaty/sunscreen mess (my favorite kind of summer kiddo), and was in bed by 9pm...causing an 8am wake up (squeee!) the next morning. T&C left after lunch and Adam and Al went golfing. Sherri, Morgan and I stayed back and gave her new, bigger swimming pool a whirl (after I hauled out probably 30 of our biggest bowls of hot water to counter the freezing cold hose water) and our fish swam. She was in there for almost 2 hours and LOVED it. Her friend, Cooper, came down to visit and go for his first swim (he's 5 months old) and I was uber impressed that he tolerated the (not even close to bath temp) water. We plunked him in the bumbo seat and as long as he had as many toys as he could hold at once, he was a pretty happy camper. We had dinner at home that night after the guys got back from golfing, and had a relaxing night with ice cream. Monday we had a most lazy morning with Morgan asking to go swimming in water that had turned significantly colder over night but still loved. After a lunch at the Button Factory in town, A&S left for WI and Morgan, who didn't even make it home awake from lunch, took a nap.

What a great weekend so far! We have lots to do around here so honestly, I'm not sure if we're going to make it to the 5pm parade in Muscatine or not. :-( I'm hoping so. But the lawn is long again (ah! if we mow today, it will be the 4th time in a week! Ok ok, catching up from vacation still...) and the a/c is completely broken now instead of just leaking so hopefully Adam can figure it out after Morgan wakes up as the banging he was needing to do was making her wake up a bit.

Baby news - I am now, today, 16 weeks pregnant which means I suppose I could almost say I'm 4 months along. This scares me that I can now talk in months instead of weeks b/c it means we are that much closer (who am I kidding, we're still a ways off) to sleepless nights and TWO kids. Eager yet nervous...which I'm assuming is rather normal. I'm feeling fine save for the horrendous acne that has recently taken over and made me feel 14 again. Awesome.

Morgan news - She is now a regular 2-3 word utterance talker. Sometimes there are more and sometimes there are LOTS more but I have no idea what she said save for 2 or 3 of the words she spouts off. The other day I asked her to do something and, in her best teenager voice tone, she replied, "O-tay" and went and did it. Yikes. What else is she doing...she now can catch, and loves to, a soccer-sized ball. Smaller ones? Not so much yet. She asks for golf and tennis (thank you Wimbledon) on TV along with Dora, Diego, and Bubble Guppies. When asked if she wants something and she does, she usually replies, "Oh, yes." When asked what she wants to eat, she responds "tooties" (cookies). Instead of saying "Hm-hmm" for excuse me, she now says "tu me" or "tu me, Maddie" (when she's trying to get around the dog). She loves to tell, "here go, Daddy" and "see you soon, ___." She now knows "what do you say?" is followed by "please" (which is probably the only sign she still uses with the verbal word) and what do you tell should be followed by "thank you" which really sounds more like "saynu." Her vocabulary and understanding grows by leaps and bounds every day which never ceases to amaze us.

Off to hang out with the monkey (since she woke up nice and early from her nap, awesome) while Adam attempts to be the most handy husband ever and the house works towards 80 degrees (one degree to go). Wish us luck that we don't need a whole new system even though our current one might be as old as we are...or at least 15-20 years old....ugh.