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'.