Where'd My Baby Go?

In a matter of days, Morgan has been army crawling, rolling, pulling and using any means she can to get from point A to EVERYWHERE.

Baby on the move...she covered every square inch of this corner in a few minutes!

Last night, as I was about to give her a bath, I laid her in the center of the Queen size bed just long enough to turn the water on in the tub.  This was a whole 3 steps away from the bed.  By the time I turned back around, she had somehow thrust herself upright -- and forward -- and was hanging off the edge of the bed, head first!  She's become very daring in the past few days.

Yesterday, while she was playing on the floor, I heard a strange noise.  "Whoosh-whoosh.  Whoosh-whoosh".  I peeked up from my computer to see she has figured out how to open and close the sliding drawers of the media console.  Awesome.  Guess we will be doing some baby-proofing this weekend. 

BUSTED!!  She pretends to be playing with her pillow pet....but Mom knows she was getting into the drawers!

She has figured out that if she's sitting and gets me to come stand next to her - or walk by - all she has to do is grab onto my pant leg and I won't/can't leave ; )  Little stinker.

She SCREAMS when she doesn't like something.  Such as wiping her face after eating. 

Devouring a cheese puff.  Leave me and my dirty face alone!

It's just SO bizarre to think this was a teeny tiny little preemie baby whose personality hadn't emerged yet.  She used to be content to be placed wherever we plopped her down -- and she'd stay there.  Ha!

Lately when she wakes up from a nap, she begins babbling immediately, as if she were in the middle of a conversation.  It's pretty cute!

I don't know what's up with her sleep, but lately, it's been terrible.  Up multiple times at night...difficult to put to bed.  It's frustrating, but she seems to wake up happy and at the same time every morning.

She's also going through a phase where she only wants Mommy.  Especially at night.  There are times she doesn't recognize Daddy if he takes his glasses off or if he tries to comfort her in the night and it's dark.  She reaches for me and grabs on tight.  I admit, it feels great to be needed, but I feel really bad for the Hubs!  She still says "Da-da", but no "Ma-Ma" yet.

I know this is all normal and I'm so happy she's developing and growing.  But it is a little sad to think that sweet tiny baby is growing into a little girl.  Tonight I AGAIN went through her dresser and weeded out the too-small clothing.  I found several 3-6 month sized items...(hello mom fail).  We've been hitting some MAJOR online sales lately and she's gotten a ton of new clothes up through 24 months.  EEEEK.  My baby.  24 months?  I can't even imagine, let alone think that far ahead!  Plus the new baby will be here then and I'll get my baby fix all over again ; )

We are laying low this NYE...Daddy's on call and we plan to stop by his cousin's house for a small gathering, nothing too wild.  Tomorrow, I plan to finally put my Christmas decorations away, ha ha!

We want to wish everyone a Very Happy and Safe New Year.

I hope 2012 brings you all the joy, health, blessings and happiness you need. 

Christmas!

Christmas came and went.  It was SO busy and filled with friends and family -- just what I needed.  I'll maybe post more later, but wanted to remember these highlights:

• Morgan started WAVING and CLAPPING - so cute!
• She CRAWLED for the first time today!
• She got WAY too many presents (from Aunts, Uncles, friends, and grandparents.  Stingy old Santa mom & dad only got her 3 or 4 things)
• Despite all the new toys, she spent the most time these past few days playing with....what else?  Mommy's new mesh splatter screen and large gift tags, lol!  But it sure is great having new toys to play with - especially those that stimulate her in new ways because we were getting bored with the old stuff.
• Mo was such a trooper with the late nights, crowds of family and new friends, and having to give up her crip for 4 nights.

"Hmm...I think this one has MY name on it!"

"Get this ridiculous hat OFF ME NOW"

"In my Christmas Costume...Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la"

I just love her SO MUCH!!

Standing, though it's hard to tell!

So happy the Hubs caved and let me buy this 2nd Christmas dress....so PRESH!

This singing and dancing snowman/doggy combo was a big hit!

I hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did.  I only wish I could've spent it with my Minnesota family too -- it's especially hard at the holidays being so far away from them.  I will say this Christmas was the best though with Morgan.  Kids make Christmas 10,000x better!

Daddy's Girl

 Our weekend was nice and relaxing.  We needed that.  Morgan got to spend a lot of time with "Da-Da".  I kept calling him the baby whisperer, because every time he laid her in her crib, she was out like a light.  Ummm...usually for me there are tears and lots of crying if it's daytime naps.  But for him?  Slept like a baby!

 They bonded over the Wii and Morgan was trying to show him how to get past the next level in Super Mario Brothers.  Old School.  That's my girl.

We went out to lunch with the hubs' co-workers and their wives.  Mo fell asleep in Dahlia's arms.  Poor Dahlia held her throughout her entire meal and ate one-handed.  Luckily, she has two boys of her own, so she is a pro and didn't mind at all.

All these other people holding Morgan meant free arms for me and extra naps.  Which I needed.  Because this pregnancy is kicking my rear end.

I feel bad because I sometimes forget I'm pregnant, what with being so consumed with Morgan.  And I am CONSUMED and totally IN LOVE with this little girl!  It occurred to me that I hadn't even filled out the infamous "Pregnancy Survey" and I'm almost to my 2nd Trimester already!  Bad Mommy!

So I can skip the survey and sum up this pregnancy so far: 

• Nauseous and tired.  Nausea is finally waning. FINALLY.
• Haven't gained any weight.
• Don't really like sweets (what the?!?!).  See point above. Huh, so that's how that works?  I've actually said "NO" to dessert.  MULTIPLE TIMES.  OMG WHO AM I?
• Drinking V8, because it is SOOOO good.
• Chicken tastes like liver.  Me no likey.

We are talking about where the new baby will sleep and are thinking we will convert hubs' office to a nursery.  The only problem I have with that is that it has this "faux-finish" painting on the walls, complete with matching window treatments.  It's a beautiful room.  For a 65-year old.  Despite it not really being our style, we were never going to do anything with it because I'm sure it would be better for resale.  We'll see....the only other problem is there are 3 windows that get a lot of light, and even with the shades pulled, it gets pretty bright in there.  Might not be ideal for napping?

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get the house in order and stuff done in time for Christmas.  We are expecting our dear friends from Minnesota for a 3-day visit next week and I can't tell you how excited I am!  Like a kid on Christmas morning, lol!

Did Hell Freeze Over?

No.....BUT, I did join a gym today.  One with on-site daycare, meaning me & Mo can go get our workout on.  We need to get out of the house, especially with winter approaching.  It will be good for her to be in a new environment and around other kids.  I realize there is a risk to her health, but her Pediatrician encouraged us to do this.

I've been ordering some photos from our family picture sesh back in October to frame around the house - I can NEVER decide on how many/sizes/etc.  So then I just order a bunch and they may or may not every make it to a frame.  I feel like when I pay good money, and the photos are great quality - I just want to plaster the walls with them, lol!  But my dear husband disagrees.....*sigh*

Here is one I just love...captures Mo to a "T":

My Workout Buddy

In other exciting news, I have some new lil' booties on their way to me.  Now before I get judged for buying myself Christmas presents, these were purchased with a recent giftcard from Madewell from some dear friends.  So they were practically kindalmostsorta free!

Morgan has taken to screaming & yelling.....just for the fun of it.  She is seriously finding her voice and it's usually hilarious.  She also fed herself a puff yesterday and today.  This is a BIG DEAL!  And she is THISCLOSE to crawling.  I put a beloved toy in front of her for motivation and she gets it, one way or another.  I love that little monkey!

9 Months Old

Wow, where does time go?  I'm only a week late with this!

Getting bigger....soon I'll be big enough to hop on that Giraffe!

This is the face of a baby who lost interest in this photo shoot....long ago.

I can see the rebellion setting in already.....Lord help me!

This cracks me up -- she looks SERIOUSLY MAD here, ha ha!

I highlighted Morgan's growth in her Dr. Appt. post, so I won't rehash all that.

I will mention what she's doing and how her little personality is developing though:

• She's eating 3 meals of solids every day.  Breakfast is almost always bananas + oatmeal/cereal mixed in, plus diluted apple juice/water.  Maybe a few cheerios thrown in to work on her dexterity.  Lunch and dinner are a vegetable + ground turkey (that's the only meat we've tried so far and she loves it!) + a fruit. 
• She takes maybe 4-5 bottles per day, anywhere from 4-8 ozs. at a time.  Usually 4 ozs. though, I think I am really filling her up on the solids!
• She's working on drinking diluted juice (50/50 apple juice or prune juice with water) from a sippy cup.  Finding a cup she liked was the hard part.
• She still needs to drink more liquid with all the solid food she is eating because it's making for some hard little nuggets in her diaper (and a painful experience for her, poor thing!)  We're doing prune juice and her Ped also recommended Karo syrup in her formula once a day.
• She loves her puffs and freeze-dried yogurt bites.  I've also given her bits of cooked egg yolk, toast, and blueberry pancake.  Girlfriend loves to eat ; )
• SLEEP:  She usually goes to bed around 7:30/8:00 and sleeps til about 7am.  I am SO LUCKY, I know.  One night, she slept from 6:30pm - 7:30am.  13 hours!  Her naps, however, aren't as lengthy.  I've been staying home more during the day to get them regulated.  They are usually 30 minutes - 1 hour in the morning and again in the afternoon.
• She is THISCLOSE to crawling.  She can scoot & roll around pretty good so I have to keep my eye on her.  She is often on her belly, kicking her legs and looks like she's about to go mobile any second.  Yikes!
• She babbles constantly.  Some of her favorites are "Heeeee", "Tss Tsss Tsss", "Naa Naa Naa", "Buh....Buhb Buhb" and what SOUNDS like "Da Da" and "Ma Ma", but I know it's just random right now.  I also swear she sometimes says "Hi" to me.  On purpose!
• In the grocery store yesterday, she was yelling out "Ninneee ninn ninn ninnneee".  It was hilarious.  She was saying it so matter-of-factly too.
• She has really started grabbing things - usually my face/nose/mouth or hair, lol!  Also when I hold her or carry her somewhere, she has started wrapping her arms around my neck and really hanging on.  It's SO cute.
• She rubs her hair as she falls asleep when she's sucking on the bottle.
• She arches her back and throws her head back (very dramatic) when she's mad/crying.  She has also started doing this when I put her in her stroller, and she slides under the bar and almost out of it completely before I can get her buckled.  Little stinker! 
• There are no teeth in sight, according to her Ped.  I asked if I would have to buy her dentures, lol!  He said no worries til she's 15-17 months.
• She watches me like a hawk.  If I leave the room, and if she sees it, she lets me know I've forgotten her, ha ha. 
• She lights up when her Daddy gets home from work and is all smiles for him.
• She is fascinated with Dakota and is always reaching her hand out trying to touch her.  Today, Dakota let her.  It was sweet, but I of course was a milimeter away the whole time.  You never know how a dog will react and I don't want to find out the hard way.  Morgan giggles SO HARD at Dakota when we tell her to "speak" and she barks.
• She could have a diaper chock-full of poo - and the kid has never once cried that she's wet or poopy.  I think she could sit in it all day long and not care....weird.
• She loves her bath time, especially now that we've added some fun toys that she can practice grabbing.
• I just know she will make a wonderful big sister.  We love this little turkey SO MUCH!!

Thankful this Thanksgiving for....

This little turkey, plus one more on the way!  That's right, Baby Kremer 2.0 due in June 2012.

I've been trying reaaaallllly hard to keep this in for long enough as I've known for nearly a month now...

I thought SOMETHING was up...my skin was a nightmare and I kept getting so dizzy and lightheaded to the point of nearly passing out.

I kept thinking in the back of my mind "Could I be pregnant?"  Nah.  No way....could I be?  

So was this planned?  Sort of.  We had TALKED about STARTING to try.  I felt like I now have a good handle on things at home with Morgan and amnesia had officially set in a while ago from my first near-death birth experience.  We were thinking it would take a few months to conceive.  But......as my husband corrected me "All I had to do was walk into the room." 

Holy Fertile Mertile. 

Again, I do not take this for granted because I know some people really struggle with conceiving.  I thank God that we are so blessed.  I know in my heart I want more children and if this is God's plan for me, then so be it.

I saw my OB this week and as suspected, I will be very closely monitored this time around.  I will also be taking a baby aspirin daily.  My chances for recurrent Pre-Ecclampsia are 1 in 3.  Higher than I'd like, but it is what it is.  My chances for recurring HELLP Syndrome are roughly 10%.  I'm praying these odds are in my favor and am going into this cautiously optimistic.

So my babies will be 17 months apart.  I'm totally excited and terrified....EEEEEK!!!  I've had some pretty awful nausea these past few weeks, so between dealing with that, the tiredness that comes along with growing a human and chasing my 9-month old human around....I'm kinda tired out, lol.  But SO SO grateful!

I'm also thankful for my hardworking husband -- and his job.  Because of him, I am able to stay home with Morgan and give her my undivided attention and not miss a thing with her.  I am also thankful for our health - we've all remained in good health and I feel like we've dodged some big bullets there.

I'm thankful that I hit the jackpot marrying into my husband's family.  They are my family and have been there for me  when I needed them (or have been too chicken to ask).  I'm thankful for my family back home in MN that I miss dearly, but am still able to talk to at least one of them every single day.

So many blessings!

Mo has a Question

"Mom, do these pancakes come with a side of bacon?"

I had to laugh when I snapped this pic at IHOP last week....we went to breakfast with some friends for what was supposed to be a surprise bday gathering for our friend Perla.  Well those sly ladies also surprised ME and celebrated my birthday since I was gone around my real birthday.  We enjoyed food, conversation and the girls were SO generous -- they gave me a gift card to Madewell!!  Can't wait to use it!!

Morgan was FASCINATED with the other little kids there, especially the little boy sitting to her left.  But once he started talking to her, she was over it, lol.  She was pretty good, sitting in her high chair for most of the time.

I sure do love my little outing companion!

Lil Turkeybutt

The Hubs goes a little crazy online shopping sometimes (I secretly love that but try to pretend I'm going to be all strict about it, ssshhh, don't tell him).  Especially if there's a sale.  He bought Morgan a whole bunch of new PJs recently, including these "My First Thanksgiving" jams.

They have a turkey on the butt, so I call her "My Lil' Turkeybutt"....they are SO cute!

And tonight I accidentally scared lil Turkeybutt REALLY bad.  I was taking some trash out, so I got the garbage bag out and ya know how you fluff the sack to get it to open up?  I'm not sure how to properly describe this, but it makes a loud smacking noise when the sack smacks itself.  Make sense?  Good. 

So I do this once or twice and Morgan SCREAMS.  Like out of nowhere SCREAMS a bloodcurdling scream.  I immediately drop the bag and run to hug her to make sure she's OK.  She doesn't cry, just looks at me in disbelief.  So after calming her down, I go back to my garbage bag, which I have to fluff all over again.  I try to look at her and smile and say "It's OK...mommy's just opening the garbage bag, see?"  But she wasn't going for it.  Again she starts screaming.  So I gave it up til after I put her to bed.  I felt so bad for her because she had a look of sheer terror in her eyes!  Poor girl.

9 Month Well-Check

Morgan had a fantastic 9 Month Well Check today... She now weighs 17.4 pounds (I overstimated a bit at 18 pounds) and is in the 25th percentile.  Yay Mo!  Her doctor was THRILLED with her growth!!  Her head is gigantic (aren't all babies' heads big, lol?) and her gross motor skills are on target.

Her fine motor skills are something we will continue to work on.  I suspected she might be slightly behind because she has not developed her pincer grasp yet and rather than pick up her food to feed herself -- she will stick her head out and open her mouth as if to say "Feed me.  I'm ready!"  So we'll work on that.  Her doc said he's not worried until she hits 1 year old, then we might have to get an OT on board.

So here we are BEFORE her flu shot, final round of Hep B and the finger stick they do to check her hemoglobin level (which was fine).  She was not happy about being undressed, but my girl was all smiles as usual:

I love how she smiles now anytime I whip out the camera....little cheeser

And then the shots started.  She was SOOOO MAD!  Poor baby...  Necessary evils.

And speaking of shots that are necessary evils, our insurance company DENIED her approval to get the Synagis vaccines, which helps build antibodies to RSV.  If Morgan were to get RSV, it could easily land her in the hospital -- it's very serious for babies, especially those born prematurely.  So her Ped and I are working on an appeal because each shot is $1500 and she'll need one a month through the end of the RSV season (sometime around March-April).  Yowza.

In other news, when I described what's been happening occasionally at night (when Morgan wakes up screaming & is unconsolable for 20-30 minutes and then goes back to sleep), the doctor suggested she may have night terrors.  Yikes!  It's funny because she doesn't really seem to wake up or notice us when we are trying to comfort her.  And it's only happened a few times...so hopefully it's just a phase.

We got the green light to start meats.  Her diet is about to get a whole lot more exciting, ha ha!

It's so weird to think that as long as she stays healthy (big prayers!) the next time we will see Dr. H is at her ONE YEAR appointment.  Time is flying by WAY too fast for this suddenly sentimental mama!

Christmas is Coming...

The kids' catalogs have our number. Or rather, our address. We have been inundated by toy catalogs and it is SO hard to not spoil this little munchkin!  I've dreamed of becoming a mommy since I was a little girl and now that I have my sweet baby girl, of COURSE I want to spoil her!  I've been reading a lot on traditions other families have begun, so as not to let the gift-giving (and expectancy) get out of control.

I know growing up, my parents always tried to make Christmas special, no matter how much or how little they had. But it was definitely about "quantity" for us kids. The bigger your stack of presents, the better. I hope my kids never have to go without anything, but I also hope they never take anything for granted. I don't think my brother, sister and I grew up to be spoiled brats - and I see them as parents trying to always make Christmas special for their children too.

I think our generation of parents just want to give and show our children EVERYTHING. We can't bear to think they might go without something. I don't want to get caught up in that. I read an article (a blog somewhere, but can't remember where to give proper credit) about a family that gives their children 4 gifts every Christmas: Something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. It's catchy, but practical and that's what I like about it.

Speaking of getting crazy with Christmas, maybe its the Hubs I have to worry about....he ordered these from Pottery Barn recently...something about personalizing things makes them WAY cuter:

I just know I am looking SO forward to Christmas this year now that Morgan is here. She won't really know what's going on, but she will have a blast. There are so many things I can't wait to do with her, like take her to meet Santa (which I fully expect her to cry and not to get a good picture), get her a holiday dress, show her snow, watch her marvel at the lights and start to teach her all about Jesus, just to name a few.

As for me, I've been trying really hard to force myself to WAIT. WAIT to start playing Christmas music, WAIT to start decorating and bring out the tree, and WAIT to start any sort of goodies baking.

But one thing I'm not waiting on  putting off is Christmas shopping this year -- I can online shop like nobody's business yo.  I am really excited about the gifts I got for my husband. He's the best gift giver I've ever known and I usually always feel lame about the gifts I get him. Mostly because if he wants something, he just buys it. Real fun :(  

But NOT THIS YEAR! I think he's going to be pleasantly surprised this year!! (Let's just for now ignore the fact that since I am a SAHM now, I am technically using his hard-earned money to buy him gifts, mmkay?)

I just ordered our holiday card and will share once they arrive. Hmmm....I think being a SAHM makes me a little more on the ball! Or I just have a lot more downtime to obsess about such things ; )

Guess I had a lot to say for not blogging in a while...

Time for a Hair Cut

November has been a bad month for my poor lil' blog.  Ooops.  I've been a tad under the weather and haven't felt like reading blogs, nor writing much on my own.  Nor cooking dinner.  Or getting off the couch.  Or going places.  More on all that next week (wink wink)...

Morgan, however, is as active as ever!  We have her 9-month well check tomorrow and I know her Pediatrician is going to question WHAT THE HECK I'm feeding this girl.  She feels SO heavy these days!  That's a good thing!  I am excited to see the curve on her growth chart make a sharp increase....I snooped and looked at the CDC's growth chart for healthy TERM infant girls.  I'm predicting 75th percentile....  Amazing, considering she was in the bottom 2% when she FINALLY got on the curve at a few months old!

I gave her a lil' haircut again this week. The wispies were getting out of control and her bangs were poking in her eyes. And I was tired of combing out the snarls that seemed to nest in the top of her hair every day.  The rest of her hair (the back) is apparently on strike from any sort of growth. 

BEFORE...

AFTER...good thing she has wavy hair to hide my hack job.  Poor Girl.

So now she looksa little less like Harry and a little more like Lloyd...ha ha!!!.....I'm a mean mom!

She is grabbing things like crazy these days.  Mostly, my hair (OUCH!!!)  I usually always have it in a pony tail, but sometimes I like to let my hair down!  She's also babbling away and is a total chatterbox.  And a new thing she has started is arching her back and throwing her head back, in a tantrum-like fashion, whenever she doesn't like something.  WHERE did this come from??  She's smacked her head on more than one occasion.  She gets the biggest kick out of the dog and will giggle endlessly at her.

I love this little girl to no end and get such great joy out of seeing the person she is turning into every day.  She has brought so much love and light to our lives.  We are truly blessed.

Game Face

Despite the fact we're not huge football fans....Someone had her game face on this weekend:

WHO DEY!

 And was flinging her arms about so wildly, the camera couldn't even capture them.  So it looks like she doesn't have any arms, lol.  Catching her sitting still is nearly impossible these days.

And I had to snap a cell phone pic of her in the hat my Grandma Edith knit for her...it is just too precious! I plan to get a much better pic to send to Grandma...

Morgan is growing and changing so rapidly these days.  I realized she didn't get the memo for Daylight Savings Time on Saturday night.  Oh well...I love any opportunity to snuggle with her and lately she has been waking up at midnight, crying.  Then again at 6am.  Maybe a growth spurt?  I've been trying to give her more solids throughout the day because she's been drinking SO much formula.

She loves watching the dog, examining her feet, Sweet Potato Puffs, falling asleep in her Jumperoo, hanging out in the kitchen with mom, pureed corn, and bath time.  I've noticed lately that she has really stinky feet, lol!  You know how some people do and some don't?  Well...she does.  Must've got that from her dad ; )

There's been a lot going on these days in our household....lots of excitement.  I've been redecorating (thank you Pinterest + Craigslist) and am almost done.  Or rather, the spending window has officially closed, according to the warden.  For now.  Hee hee ; )

We had a fantastic weekend and got together with friends.  On Sunday, I attended a Baby Sprinkle for a friend who is pregnant with her second baby girl.  Her babies will be somewhere around 17-18 months apart.  I think I'm going to need her advice ; )  Anyway, I think I am a curse for Sunday Baby Showers.  At 2:30am this morning, her water broke.  We're still all anxiously awaiting baby's arrival.  After my Sunday Baby Shower, I ended up going into the hospital and having Morgan.  Coincidence?  Probably....I just like to dramz it up a bit ; )

Happy Halloween!

We didn't go too overboard for Halloween this year, even though I do love this holiday (if you want to call it that).  OK, really I just love pumpkins and chocolate.

Speaking of Pumpkins, last week I had a love affair with pumpkin muffins.  Or maybe more of an obsession, trying to concoct the perfect (Weight Watchers friendly) mini-muffin.  It was grueling, but mission accomplished ; )  And topped with Fat-Free Cool Whip?  That -- altogether might explain why I didn't blog much last week, lol.

Morgan dressed up as a Lady Bug.  And a wee bit of a grumpy lady bug at that.  All of the action was happening during what I now deem as her "Fussy Time".  That time where she likes to sneak in a nap and turn into a little monster.  Just for a lil bit.


"You want me to do what Dad?"



"I'm not smiling.  This is ridiculous.  I think you and mom are on drugs."

Joe was able to finish up with work at a reasonable time (before 8pm!  That is a rarity these days!) and come with us.  I didn't really have a plan as to where we were going.  It's not like Morgan needed to go door-to-door asking for candy, lol.  And there are ZERO children where we live -- I know, super fun for Mo, right?

"OK, OK, I'll fly like a Lady Bug"

So we went to Joe's Aunt Anita's house.  It was Halloween-a-palooza in their neighborhood!  Her 3 kids were out trick-or-treating when we arrived, but soon everyone started to gather at the house for snacks and a big old pot of probably the BEST chili I've ever had!  It was SOOO good ; )  And Morgan got to be with the people who love her the most - family. 

She cheered up some when she got to be with Nana:

I realized something funny tonight - we have NO pictures of Morgan with other kids -- except her cousins in Minnesota.  Aw...I think she needs some friends, besides me, lol!

All in all, it was a fun little Halloween and a sweet memory for our family.  I sure do love my little Lady Bug!

Random Stuff

Morgan has started a new habit:  Taking a nap at 6:00pm.  She would still go to bed around 7:30 or 8:00.  But everytime my poor Mother-In-Law would stop by for an after work visit, I'd have to greet her at the door whispering that yes, once again, Morgan was asleep.
This went on for, oh...the past 3 weeks?  And suddenly -- as of last night -- the 6:00 nap is gone in favor of a LATER bedtime.  What gives?

I learned a new trick:  I yanked her nightlight out of her room and *VOILA!* she doesn't wake up in the night anymore, and if she does, she goes right back to sleep.  I read that on a blog somewhere and thought I'd try it, so I can't take credit for it myself.  But I guess the thinking behind it is if she wakes up and it's completely dark, she's confused and doesn't really wake fully.  Buy-bye nightlight, it was fun.

Morgan learned a new trick too:  Removing her own pants.  I think we are in trouble! (sorry for the blurry pics, but I fully expect every single picture from here on out to be blurry.  The kid cannot keep still!)

Morgan is sitting up pretty well on her own now.  I still put soft things behind & around her because occasionally she will still flip back and bonk her head.  I'm trying to teach her to wave and I thought this was HILARIOUS!

Makes me laugh every time I see it.  I heart her.
I finally hunted down the 3rd mirror from Target that I had been searching for.  I still have a love/hate relationship with Target.  Oh Target.  I wish I could quit you. 

The rug has been ordered (a week ago now) and still keeps showing up with a status of "Awaiting Fulfillment".  The empty sad little foyer is almost complete!!!  I'll post pics when it's done!

I'm excited for this weekend, we have a Halloween party we are going to and I'm REALLY pumped about our costumes.  They aren't that original, per se, but they will be fun.  I'm a little nervous, but Morgan will be going to a sitter -- that is not her Grandma -- for the first time ever.  Hold me....

I think I'm having a Bad Week

So Friday it was the ER. 

Today?  I locked myself out of the house this morning. With the baby inside.  I was in my PJ's, for the record. 

Thankfully, the 4th neighbor I tried was home and let me use their phone. 
Thankfully, said neighbor was in her pj's too, lol. 
Thankfully, my Mother-in-Law had a spare key and was able to leave work right away to rescue me.
Thankfully, my baby didn't even notice I was gone (for probably a good 30 minutes) and just fell asleep on the floor after playing with her feet.
Thankfully, she didn't get near the stairs, which I worried about the entire time.
Thankfully, it wasn't winter!

A Tantrum? Already?

Is that even possible -- at 8 months old?  I think it just happened.  For Realz.

Morgan had scooted herself under her swing.  She was gnawing on her hands and anything else she could get her chubster little hands on, so I knew it was time to feed. 

I picked her up to feed her a bottle.  Holy Meltdown. 

I don't know if I startled her, or she was just overly tired and hungry.  There's a fine line between getting hungry and ANGRY HUNGRY with her.  Apparently she had crossed over and I didn't get the memo. 

She was SCREAMING and KICKING me.  And then?  She started swinging her arms, hitting me.  I'm such a victim ; )

So I fed her and put her in her crib for a little time to cool down.  Or nap.  Little stinker.

8 Months Old + a trip to the ER

Hard to believe my little Morgan Pie is 8 months old!  Wow.  Even harder to believe we managed to avoid any trips to the Emergency Room in that 8 whole months, but we broke that streak on Friday. 

I am calmed down now, just for the record.

Mo loves to stand, holding onto something for support.  So yesterday she was standing holding on to the metal bar of her jumperoo.  I always sit with her when we do this because she's not strong enough to set herself back down gracefully.  I turned my head away for a millisecond, I swear, to move a pile of books out of her way.  And she lost her grip and fell face forward into the metal bar on the floor that supports the jumperoo.  The sound of her face hitting that metal bar was like a punch in the stomach for me.  I can't even describe how frantic I became.  She started crying immediately (a good thing since this meant she didn't lose concsiousness). 


Pre-fall.  You can see how happy this makes her!  She gets so proud of herself standing & balancing there.




You can see the bar on the floor near where she hit.  Ugh.

After comforting her to calm her down (and trying to get MYSELF to breathe and stop saying "OhmyGod, OhmyGod, OhmyGod") I was brave enough to look at her face.  With her face all scrunched from crying her nose looked a little crooked and like it had been smashed in a bit.  It was starting to swell. 
And don't all accidents/illnesses occur around 5pm on a Friday afternoon?  So I called my Ped's office and they asked me some questions and then said there's not much they can do if it is broken.  They can't even XRay to confirm it, since the swelling would prevent getting a good look.  I waited a bit, then decided to take her to the ER of the Children's Hospital anyway.  Heck, we'd met our insurance deductible 5 minutes after I was admitted to the hospital when I had her, so why not?  I needed peace of mind.  And maybe to be medicated.  Just kidding.  No, I'm not ; )

So we went, they checked her out and basically told me the same things as my Ped's office said.  Although they inspected her thoroughly, looked up her nose and in her ears and in her throat.  That made me feel better that they couldn't see any bleeding inside.  They suggested I have her re-evaluated on Monday, in case she developed a hematoma inside over the weekend.  If one were to develop, they usually don't appear for 2-3 days and I wouldn't know it.

I learned a few valuable lessons here:  I need to get all emergency numbers in one place that's easy to access.  I fumbled on my computer for I don't know HOW long to find the phone number to the ER.  (And when I called, you get a menu of options that basically tells you they won't give medical advice over the phone UNLESS your child has already been seen in the ER in the past 24 hours).

I even had trouble finding the hospital and had NO idea where to go (I've been there once before).  I was in such a panicked state.  Thank GOD for the navigator on my phone. 

On to the 8 month photos:

She is obsessed with her feet lately.

This picture captures her drool perfectly.

And then there is the storm of baby hair I now have to detangle every morning:

Happy 8 month birthday Morgan Pie!  Your Daddy & I love you SO much!!