NICU Visit and Ahh....it's Friday

Yesterday Morgan and I went to visit her old home:  the NICU at University Hospital.  I distinctly remember saying to my husband the day we walked out of there "I don't care to ever see this place again!"  But when a NICU grad turns one year old, it's tradition that they come back in for a visit.  I was looking forward to this, strangely enough.  I wanted to show off my baby girl and let those nurses see that because of their hard work and love and care, I now have a perfectly healthy one year old.  It was a little emotional for me.  We didn't know if our brand new baby girl would even SURVIVE at the time...let alone that she would go on to spend her first 35 days of life there.

I know as a nurse myself that you don't always get the "Hey Thanks" or "Great job"...and that's not why we do the job.  But it's also hard to send patients home and never know what happens to them.  The majority of them you never see again.  So I feel like this was gratifying for both sides.  I tried to remember to thank each one I saw yesterday for the blessing I was holding in my arms.

I wish I had pictures to share, but I'm waiting on my Mother-in-law to send me some that someone took with their cell phone.  I might have had the foresight to whip my camera out if I hadn't been consoling a VERY cranky little girl.  Her teeth are REALLY bothering her and in my excitement of showing her off, I forgot to medicate her with some Tylenol before we left.  Can you say momfail?

Anyway, it was a wonderful visit and so good to see those familiar faces again.  They all noticed my belly and we had a good laugh.  I said "We liked the first one so much, we decided to do it again!  But we hopefully will NOT be coming to see you guys again!" ha ha ; )

In other news, the photographer that came to Morgan's bday party last weekend posted 2 sneak peeks on Facebook of her post-edits -- I'm so excited to see the rest of them!!

I'm amazed Michelle was able to capture one of maybe THREE smiles we got all day out of the overwhelmed birthday girl!

You know I couldn't have a post without a picture of my girl!  We hired a different photographer this time around because our regular gal wasn't available.  So far, I am so pleased!  She was really sweet to work with too (if you're in the Cinci area, her name is Michelle Hanavan.  Check her out!)

I need to play catch-up with documenting this pregnancy too....oh my goodness time is flying.  I think I am 22 weeks today?  I had THE BIG ultrasound last week!  Everything looked perfectly healthy on our little one.  My doctor teased me "Are you SUUUURE you don't wanna know what you're having?  Because I know!!!"  I told him "Don't mess with me!  I'm pregnant.  And weak!  I will CRACK!" lol!  So for now, I've remained strong and baby #2 will stay a surprise!  Belly pics to come.  And the cutest ultrasound picture I've ever seen, once I can figure out how to get it scanned in.

And lastly, today I'm running around packing for Florida.  Have I mentioned already 347 times that we're going?  Ha ha... I don't want to say exactly when we are going -- I feel like that's just asking for someone on the interwebz to track me down and break in my home.  I might be a little paranoid, lol. 

So today, I've been trying things on and I even picked up a few new pieces of clothing to fit my ever-expanding waistline.  Is it just me, or does anyone else love to get new clothes for vacation?  In my defense, I did not have any summer maternity-friendly clothes since Morgan was due in April (but arrived in February, so I never even got that huge 8-9 month preggo belly).  I got brave and ordered a maternity bathing suit ONLINE from Old Navy (can you say sexy? OR NOT ha ha).  I was very pleasantly surprised at the fit...I think it's gonna work just fine!  I'm finding a lot of cute staples at Old Navy for maternity wear -- long tanks, long skirts, a few pairs of shorts.  Everything else I am just buying a size or 2 bigger so that I can wear it after this baby is born, because let's be honest -- I will be rocking baggy clothes for at least 3 months post-partum.

Now if I can just do something about my glowing WHITE skin ; )

Random Wednesday-ness

I would say I'm STILL recovering from the birthday party, but truth is?  I'm just plain tired from being pregnant.  I whined to the Hubs last night that I am feeling incredibly pregnant lately.  Like, can't get comfortable at night -- despite buying a body pillow from Target last week.  And BTW? That thing is pretty darn amazing, how did I live without it?  I really like wedging it along my side and then I can fake-lie-on-my-back (though stay tilted to the side).   Feels so good! 

Anyway, I feel like the world's lamest mama lately because all I do is encourage naps -- so I can nap too.  Every. Single. Day.  I've been religious about taking my prenatal vitamins and trying to eat more red meat, but I am still anemic.  The mere thought of packing up baby & me and getting out of the house tires me out.  I REALLY hope this passes soon, but as I continue to get BIGGER and BIGGER, I think it might just get worse?  The Hubs keeps reminding me I have FOUR months to go.  Sounds like forever!!!!

We have been having some fun nevertheless.  Last week we had an impromptu piano lesson from Auntie Jennifer (my Hubs' cousin, but we'll just call her Auntie):

 We worked on our kissyface:


Mo was cracking me up making this face for a few days last week....now it seems to have disappeared :(

Smiling through the tears of teething -- we have another one coming through on the top!  So Mama had to give us a little ice cream to cheer us up.  I figured it usually works to change my mood for the better, why not?  ; )



Giving Mama the skeptical look.  "I know you at the last of the ice cream Mama!"



Wearing birthday party hats the day after, just for fun.



Lately she's into stuffing her mouth full of food and not swallowing it.  Just letting it sit there.  Ew?



Pounding on the new piano Nana got for her birthday.  My little Mozart in the making!

Anyhoo...now I can focus on our upcoming trip to FLORIDA!!  I'm SO excited for HOT weather and SUNSHINE I can't even stand it!!!  I'm such a list person -- I'm working on packing lists and trying to brainstorm ideas for what to do with a 1-year old on our nearly 3-hour flight.  Any suggestions??

I'm also excited for Girl Scout Cookies.  Where the heck are they when a pregnant woman NEEDS them??

Morgan's 1st Birthday Party

The big 1st Birthday Party came and went.  It was a success!  We are still recovering, lol!  Meanwhile, the girl of honor, whose birthday is actually TODAY, has been having a rough time with teething.  So I've not had much time to be near the computer.  She cries and crawls around after me, grabbing onto my leg whenever I stop long enough to let her.  It's really sad :(  She just wants to be held and comforted.  Poor baby.

I didn't get many pictures on my camera.  My mother-in-law walked around before everyone arrived while we were still setting up and snapped a few.  Luckily we had a photographer come take a BUNCH of pictures, so I wouldn't have to worry about that!  I should have the images in about a week and will post some then.

I ran around like a crazy woman the days leading up to the party -- picking up a last minute item here and there.  On Saturday night, the Hubs and I worked til about midnight and then I crashed.  We were up bright & early Sunday morning - party day - and went non-stop until the last guest left. 

Morgan did great, considering she did not nap in the morning.  Despite my desperate efforts to make that happen -- I tried THREE different times!!  I think she might've snoozed once for about 20 minutes, but that is not enough for her.  So of course, after the first guests arrived, she zonked out on her Nana's chest up in her room.  I let her sleep for a while, but people were getting antsy.  You can't make children adhere to your schedule, no matter what, ha ha!  I tried to keep her routine as normal as possible that day, but she sensed something was up.  Maybe it was mama running around like a maniac that tipped her off?

She was in a very serious mood all day -- with all the people in our house, the decorations, the commotion.  I asked people to sing "Happy Birthday" when it came time for her to dig into her smash cake, but I asked them to sing very softly so she wouldn't be frightened.  It worked ; )  She didn't really cheese it up for pictures, like she normally does, so we'll see what we get.

Everything turned out great -- the decorations were a hit.  The food was great; I didn't cook, but instead wandered into Kroger and said "I want party trays".  We did meat/cheese/crackers, a fruit platter, a veggie platter, and a crostini/hummus/tapenade platter (which was a HUGE hit, btw).  I made a raspberry sherbet punch that was DELICIOUS.  I might've made my own water bottle labels...people might have thought "You have way too much time on your hands Tammy" ; )  The usual soda & beer were available.  And then we had candies, cake and of course, ice cream.  I always worry it won't be enough food, but there was SO MUCH leftover.  I'm still stuffed just thinking about it!



Mama getting the party girl's party dress & accessories ready

The monthly photo banner I made lined the foyer hallway as guests entered

This was Daddy's idea; everyone got to write in a wish for the birthday girl

Another Pinterest-inspired idea:  This was my brilliant 'mock Polaroid photo booth' setup.  Only we FORGOT to have ANYONE pose for pics in front of it!  I had hats and props and EVERYTHING!  I guess I was just so busy...oh well.  We did put Morgan in front of it in her high chair for her smash cake.  I plan to use that fabric and make a simple blanket for her out of it.

The birthday girl in her party dress with Daddy just before everyone arrived and she decided to take a big fat nap, ha!



The Birthday Girl with her 2nd cousins, who adore her!  She had smashed her bday cake and been bathed and changed by this point.

Opening gifts and reading cards with mama.

Test driving the new car from Mommy & Daddy.

Playing in her pile of new gifts.  Yay for NEW books to read and NEW toys to play with!!

Examining the baby doll Mommy & Daddy got her.  So far, she is NOT a fan.  I hope this isn't a reflection of her motherly instinct, lol! 

Speaking of the doll, I've been trying to introduce the idea of "Baby" to her.  I hold & rock the doll, I even tried giving her a little of Morgan's bottle.  Um, rookie mistake.  This is probably why all Morgan wants to do is poke her eyes out (they close when the baby lies down and open when you pick her back up).  I'm hoping in time she comes around and will love on her baby!

I can't believe I have a one-year old.  It's been the best year of my life and we love our Morgie Moo!

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Day late...but this little lady has been keeping me BUSY.

I would blog more, but my little Monster of Destruction, aka Morgan, is into EVERYTHING.  And any time I try to get near my computer, she is crawling all over the tower of my PC trying to shut me down.  So we've been playing a lot and I've been pulling her out of everywhere she's not supposed to be (stairs, the dog's water dish, the TV & stereo equipment, the bathtub, etc.)  She is wearing me out!

Our Valentine's Day was very low key.  We made a big dinner at home.  On the Menu:

Valentine's Day Menu

Grilled Ribeyes

Orange Peppers + Onions

Wedge Salad

and for Dessert:

Warm heart-shaped chocolate chunk cookies with vanilla bean ice cream. 

MMMMMmmmmm.

The Hubs and I don't usually do "gifts", but I got him a few small things and a card from Morgan and me.  Morgan picked out her own card and would NOT let it go the entire ride home.  It was so cute!

This card is for my Daddy!

I gave him some of his favorite little things:  A new Starbucks travel mug (because he's lost the previous 3 I have gotten him.  Somewhere in the hospital there's an orphanage of "Mugs Left Behind", I just know it).  Our new favorite coffee, VIA from Starbucks, and some Ferrero Roche chocolates. 

He gave me a card.  About 2 weeks ago, he also gave me a new Slate, which is like an iPad on steroids, lol.  So that was my early VDay gift.

After dinner, we worked on birthday party preparations.  We spent a lot of time putting together her little car/cozy coupe thing -- and it's still not done.  I also fluffed a few poms and wrapped her birthday presents.  I figure if I do a little bit each night, then this weekend I won't be so overwhelmed.  Oh, who am I kidding.  There's still a ton left to do!  So excited!!

All in all, it was a lovely little evening.  We used to try to always have dinner out somewhere - which rarely happens anymore.  I did check on reservations at a restaurant near our house and the only openings they had were 5:30 (I WISH he got home that early, ha!) or 9:30 (umm, no thanks) so the decision to stay in was made.

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day and got to spend it with the ones you love!!

Thursday Randoms

This post is gonna be alllll over the place....sorry

Good Wife
I was a good little wife last night and helped the hubby by proofreading a big presentation he had to give for work this morning.  It was 44 slides long on NEPHROLOGY.  Then I listened to him run through it.  I love him.  I do not love Nephrology like he does.  Did I mention it was 44 slides long?  That's LOVE ; )

I'm happy I can be here for him in a way other than take care of the baby/house/laundry/dog/shopping/etc. kinda way, ya know?  I miss thinking about medicine and studies and evidence-based practice and standards of care.  We were up until 12:30 (waaaaay past this pregnant mama's bedtime.)  And then?  I'm up at 4:30am to use the bathroom and cannot get back to sleep.  So I went to the grocery store.  I had soup on my mind.  (Thank you pregnancy insomnia.)

Sleep
Morgan is sleeping wonderfully since my last post on the subject.  No problems whatsoever!  (I hope I'm not jinxing myself by talking about it!!)  I think since we figured out it's her teeth, whenever she seems fussy or like her head is warm, I give her some Tylenol and it seems to help.

Me, on the other hand...sleep has been rough.  I think I'm sleeping through the night (with routine bathroom trips included) 1 out of every 3 nights.  Ugghh.

So now that sleeping's going great for her, she won't eat and has become SO picky.  I don't think a vegetable has entered her mouth for 3 days.  Oh well.

Red Jeans
Had I known the colored denim trend was coming back, I would've hung on to the few pairs I had from 7th grade (Guess? jeans anyone? Or am I the oldest blogger alive? lol!)  On second thought, no way they'd fit me now.  So I ordered a pair of RED jeggings - maternity no less -- and am super excited for them to get here!  Should be arriving today!

UPS Guy
I love my UPS Guy.  I really do.  We get a lot of stuff delivered and he is dropping something off almost every day.  And he ALWAYS rings the doorbell.  Usually it's around Morgan's dinner time, so no biggy.  AND if it's something heavy and I come to the door right away, he always helps me lug it inside. However ------ today?  The morning I was up at 4:30?  He delivers and rings the doorbell at 10:00am.  Nap time for both mommy & baby.  We're going to have to have a lil' talk.  And sadly?  It wasn't my Red Jeans he delivered :(

I'm thinking about hanging THIS on the front door:

Found VIA Pinterest

Do-Ta!
Yesterday Morgan was crawling around after the dog.  Nothing new there.  I thought she was saying "Da Da" as she usually does, but as I listened closer, I could hear something different.  She was excited and saying "Do-Ta! Do-Ta!".  I'm pretty sure she was trying to say "Dakota!" as she chased after her!!  Too cute!  I read somewhere that babies start talking much earlier than we hear -- we adults just assume it's babble and it takes us a long time to pick out actual words, even though babies know what they are saying.  Huh.

VDay Craft
I attempted THIS yesterday with Morgan, thinking it would make a cute VDay gift for Daddy:

VIA Pinterest

Ours, however, turned out like this: 


Artwork Via Morgan

In case you're wondering, crafts with an almost 1-year old are impossible.  Oh, and the paint evidently is made of acid (or one would have thought the way she carried on after I painted ONE hand. *Sigh* Maybe next year...)  Shoes also have this same effect on her - they must just BURN the skin on her feet the way she screams when I attempt to put shoes on her.  Good thing summer's coming if she's gonna be little miss barefoot!

Soup
So I mentioned I had soup on the brain -- I also had a lot of other things on my mind today, such as, if you wanna get to the store, gotta do it before hubby leaves for work because he is taking my car today.  Garbage day, including the 50,000 boxes we have to be taken out for recycling, phone calls to make, etc.

This is the soup (Corn, Bacon & Potato Chowder) that drove me out in the wee hours this morning and I can't wait to make it today.  (Thanks Ashley at The Domestic Wannabe, thanks a lot!, lol)  Since preggo again, I haven't gotten too fired up about recipes.  But this I have high hopes for!

Hope you all have a fabulous Thursday!!

Countdown to the 1st Birthday Bash

This birthday party has kinda consumed me - in a good way.  I didn't want to go "over the top", but kinda feel like it is? 

I have a week and a half left.  Many poms to fluff -- those suckers take longer than I thought!  Balloons to fill & pick up.  Pictures to go through, get printed, and worked into my various little crafts.  Tables to set up & dress.  Banners to hang.  Snacks to finalize. 

With all this looming, I told the Hubs I am NOT making ANY food.  I just do not enjoy cooking for a large group of people (like more than 4) because I'm not good at it.  No really, I'm not just saying that -- I totally botched a good dinner for 5 people one night and it still haunts me.  And there is nothing worse than serving your guests bad food.  Hubs suggested "Let's do burgers on the grill!"  I shot that down and even took it a step further by making the party start at 2pm (nobody expects a meal at that time, do they?) and wording the invitation "Come have cake with us!"

Because you see.....I am ALLLLL about the cake.  We are using the bakery that did our wedding cake because it was just the best darn cake I've ever had.  In my life.  No joke.  No grocery store sheetcake here!  Although I'm sure in years to come we will be having plenty of that... 

Anyway, I may be being a little lazy on the food front of things.  But I plan to have snacks in addition to the cake/ice cream/punch.  I also needed to plan the party for between Morgan's nap times, so this time slot seems to work right now.

I just secured a photographer -- there must be something going on that weekend because our favorite photog, Ms. Christina Littleton, is out of town then.  As were the next 2 photogs I contacted.  I locked someone down last night and mailed her my deposit today.

We are trying not to go overboard with gifts either because 1) She's probably going to get plenty of gifts and 2) We don't have room with a new baby coming for tons and tons of toys.  So far we've gotten her 3 things and I'm really excited about each of them!



{VIA} Little Tikes Princess Cozy Coupe

 The little car came yesterday.  I updated my Facebook status to say "SOMEBODY just got a brand new car delivered!  EEEEKKK!  It's a Princess Cozy Coupe, only seats one.  SSSHHH!  It's a secret!!"

{VIA} Corolle Mon Premier Calin Baby Doll

 Her first real baby doll!

{VIA} Small Stroller for Corolle Baby Doll

I think I mentioned before that Hubs was adament about Morgan's bday dress.  It came and it's really cute.  I had in mind to do a cute personalized shirt with a fun tutu, but I just couldn't resist his enthusiasm, so I went along with his dress pick.  Here it is:

And speaking of his enthusiasm, last night he said "I'm just SUPER excited for her birthday party!!"  This, coming from the guy who NEVER gets excited or lets it show.  I went all Monica Gellar on him and squealed said "MEEE TOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" 

Suddenly he stops smiling and says "Oh my God.  We're turning into "THOSE PARENTS", aren't we?"  And I agreed "Yep.  But I'm OK with it." ; )

OK, I better quit blogging and get to work!

Our LOVE story

Linking up with From Mrs. To Mama (if I even DID THIS right?)...I thought this would be fun.  Some people might be curious, some might be bored to tears by this (ha ha!), and my kids might think it's neat to look back on this one day.

1. How long have you and your significant other been together? 
Together for 8 years this year (OMG!)

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
We met in the hospital.  I'm a nurse.  He's a doctor.  Cliche or what?  I was actually in nursing school at the time and he was a few months into his residency in Internal Medicine at the WFMC (World Famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for those that don't know). 

 

The first time we ever met, I was working as an EKG tech and had to do an EKG on one of his patients.  I was still training and pretty clueless.  He asked me what I thought about the patient's heart rhythm.  I was like a deer caught in the headlights.  I knew I kinda liked him right then & there.  (It took a lot for a guy to get me flustered like that.)

 

The next time we bumped into each other, same scenario.  I did the EKG.  We made small talk while we waited for his consultant to show up. Where ya from, where ya been, etc. It dawned on me during this conversation that 1) He wasn't wearing a wedding band -- and I know this doesn't mean crap in a hospital because jewelry is not permitted in many areas and 2) I started to wonder if he had a girlfriend or wife?   If so, I wanted to know about her NOW. 

 

I knew I REALLY liked him then. This was the first time we exchanged names and formal introductions. 

And then he paged me back to do ANOTHER EKG just a few minutes later on the same patient. I thought "Boy this guy isn't being obvious or anything, he must like me too!" 

Ummm...wrong. Patient was having chest pain, silly girl.  

I sent a co-worker to go do it because it was my turn to take over covering down in the Emergency Room for a few hours.  She told me he asked "How many of you EKG techs are working right now anyway?" when she showed up.  I took this to mean he was wondering where the heck I went ; )  In my little mind he liked me too!  (Yeah, I'm crazy)  Oh, and the patient turned out just fine ; )

After that, he made me so nervous whenever we ran into each other that I just got really good at suddenly disappearing.  I was all business with a little small-talk.  It was quite an act.  I'd hop on an elevator mid-conversation, slip into a side door to my lab, turn a corner at the last second.  For some reason I just got really shy all of a sudden!  He even commented on my Houdini performances.

After a couple of weeks of this hiding game, I came in on a Friday night at 11pm to work a night shift.  It had been raining and my shoes were wet and squeaking down the looooong hallway I had to walk to get to my lab.  I remember thinking to myself "Hopefully I don't see that guy.  It's late, he should be off work by now.  God my shoes are SO loud". 

There was nobody around down this long dark hallway.  And suddenly, from behind a dimly-lit little nurse's mini-station, HE pops out.  He catches up to me and starts walking beside me. 

He doesn't speak right away.  Neither do I.  We are just walking side-by-side.  I don't even look at him.  (Pretty sure my face was allllll hot & red right about then.) AWKWARD.

Then says to me "Don't worry, I don't think every patient is asleep yet, so your loud squeaky shoes aren't waking EVERYONE up!"  Ba ha ha ha ha!  I was mortified but laughing at the same time!

I said "What are you STILL doing here?" 

He said "I'm leaving right now...I have a date!"

I. Was. Crushed. 

I'm sure my face didn't hide it either.  (I tried to sound positve...)"Oh really?  Awesome!"

He said "Yep.  In about T-minus 5 minutes.  With my bed and my pillow.  It's been a long day!"

All I could think was "Thank GOD.  YES YES YES!"

And then I ducked into my lab ; )

About a week later, we ran into each other in a bar (classy, right?) and I approached him.  OK, not really, the first time I chickened out because he started talking to another girl.  But the NEXT time, I totally went up to him and said "Hey!" and we started talking and talking and just didn't stop.  He ended up asking me out.  (FINALLY!!!!)  The rest is history!

**Are you still awake after all that? ; )**

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}  We've been married for 2 years this coming May.  I think I'll keep him. 

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding? If not, where would you like to get married? And will it be big or small?  We were married in a beautiful historic hotel in downtown Cincinnati.  It was a pretty big wedding.  Best. Day. Ever.

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!  Umm....just "Honey" I guess.  We use that more than we use our names.  Otherwise he calls me "Tam".  If I use his name, he thinks he's in trouble for some reason? 

6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey. 

1.  He has a wicked sense of humor and can always make me laugh. 

2.  He has a very generous and kind heart. 

3.  He is an amazing problem solver and hard worker.

7. Tell us how he proposed?  

He proposed over a nice dinner while we were on a mini-vacation in Hilton Head Island.  We were overlooking the bay, late at night, very romantic.  He disappeared after the meal to "the bathroom", but really was giving my engagement ring to the waitress.  She brought out a platter with a bottle of champagne and 2 champagne glasses.  My ring was in the bottom of my glass.  Meanwhile, there was a drunk man who had just entered the restaurant, probably in his mid-60's who kept talking to us and yelling things at us the entire time my hubby was trying to propose.  Since my date had been gone so long in the bathroom, this guy kept trying to invite me to sit with him at his table (Eww!).  I politely declined.  He was saying nasty things like "This guy must be a loser to leave you alone for so long..." He was such a jerk!  We laugh about it now...but I'm pretty sure my husband was ready to strangle the guy.

Ring in glass. 

The waitress took this pic -- he is actually asking me to marry him here!

The jerk who tried to ruin the proposal.  You bet I snapped a pic.

8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?  I have gotten flowers and a teddy bear in the past.

9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?  I would LOOOOVE a sunset dinner on the beach!  But at this stage in our lives (kids, jobs, etc.) I am now perfectly happy with a movie and relaxing on the couch ; )

10. Tell us one thing you'd like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere? So many things!  We love to travel and have been lots of cool places together.  So I guess it would be to continue seeing amazing places once the kids are grown.  South Africa is some place we've always talked about.  I'm obsessed with Capetown.

On a little adventure in St. Maarten

11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.  I will probably cook his favorite meal (Rib Eyes on the grill + Orange Peppers + a Wedge Salad) and maybe attempt to bake a heart-shaped cake.  Or we'll order Mexican food and I'll bake him chocolate chip cookies (his fave).

12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?  Nope.  Got everything I could ever want!  Although if I was forced to pick something -- he always gives GREAT FUNNY cards.  I'm not into the sappy ones and I always look forward to his hilarious cards.  I don't know how he finds 'em!

13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.  This isn't original, but it's all about Respect.  Appreciating the other person.  This is something we both struggle with at times.

14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.

If you're still awake, I hope you enjoyed our little love story.  I had fun walking down memory lane ; )

Our Weekend

We laid low this weekend.  Morgan and I were given strict instructions to let Daddy work as he has a big important talk to give at work this week.  So we girls were on our own. 

Two buddies.  This is how we rock a Saturday afternoon.

Oh and if I look "glowing" in that pic above, I got my hair colored slightly darker last weekend and tried a new self-tanner in preparation for our trip to Florida, ha ha ; )  While I looked a little too Snooki-ish at first, I really liked it -- AND it didn't stink!  It smelled like almond-scented lotion!
On Saturday we went to Hobby Lobby and out to lunch at Chik-Fil-A.  They are so nice there!  I always forget, if I take her out to eat and it's a place I have to go back & pick up the food, I have to make the choice to a) Leave my baby at our table (not happening) or b) leave our stuff/diaper bag/etc. at the table.  At Chik-Fil-A they saw my dilemma and brought the food right to us!

We ate dinner topless and read the paper afterward -- what, you don't do that at your house?

We made lots of big messes with scrambled eggs and toast with jelly:

On Sunday I forced a Daddy break and ran to Michael's alone (because it was during Mo's nap) to pick up a few more things for Morgan's bday party.  I am getting my Martha Stewart on, let me tell you!

When I returned home, my baby was dressed like this, but with the addition of a fleece hooded jacket that is black with white polka dots (that would have just completed this picture, darnit for not getting it!):

Seems Daddy had taken her down in our cold basement with him while he did some more work and he wanted her to be warm.  It was a sight, lol!!

We missed Daddy -- it's back to work today for him, then he's on call this upcoming weekend.  So basically it means we will be missing him for 24 days straight by the time his next day off comes.  I can't lie, those get to be some loooong days alone.  I am not whining (OK, maybe I am a little bit).  I know it could be worse - I don't know how single parents and military spouses do it!!

I did a lot of crafting and preparation for crafting, addressed and mailed out Morgan's birthday party invites, ordered some warm weather clothing for our upcoming trip to Florida and made blueberry pancakes ; )  All in all, not a bad little weekend!

19 Weeks (and 2 days...)

Not much new to report.  I knew it would be this way since it's my 2nd time around, hence the reason for not doing weekly updates.

Of noteworthiness -- I think I finally have started to gain some weight, 1-2 pounds! Yay! (The ONLY TIME  in my LIFE I will ever say Yay! to THAT...jeeesh!)

I've still been extremely tired.  I pretty much always crawl back into bed when Morgan goes down for her morning nap.  I rationalize that this won't be an option after this baby gets here, might as well enjoy it now!  But then I also get terrible bouts of insomnia at night, which I NEVER had before pregnancy.  The heartburn is back now too.  Oh ye old familiar pregnancy symptoms, how I've missed thee...

And last night, a new symptom:  A jump-up-at-4am-because-it-hurt-so-bad LEG cramp.  Holymoly.

I'm liking sweets (and fruit, more fruit please!) a lot more now.  Still don't care for chicken.

So here we are at 19 weeks & 2 days.  The pic doesn't look like I'm much bigger, but my belly is DEFINITELY popping more.  It's so weird to think we're almost at the halfway mark?!  But at the same time I feel like I've been with child for FOR EV ERRR.

And the best news of all?  I finally felt this little nugget move...I LOVE it!!

PS: I picked up some maternity leggins from Target (BeMaternity brand?) and they really are AH MAZING. 

Morgan 11 Months

Oh Morgie Moo... You are 11 months old now.  I started writing this post a few weeks ago...ya'know, when you were closer to 11 months old than you are to 12 months old like you are right now?  My intentions were good.  It's just that every day with you is even better than the one before.  You are doing SO MANY fun, new things and are communicating with us.

You are turning into quite the little personality!  I love your little voice that babbles on and on, like you are full-on conversing with someone.  Anyone. 

Wonder where you get that from?

You're crawling and pulling up to standing when you aren't sleeping. You often will crawl over to me and grab onto my leg. I can't help but pick you up! And you know this ; ) Favorite places to stand right now are hanging out at the glass coffee table (we GOTTA get rid of that thing before you smack your head on it!!), the media center, the tub whenever you get away from me and the bathroom door is left open. I yank you outta there pretty fast though, I can just see you falling on the ceramic bathroom tile -- ouch. Oh, and your crib, you loooove to stand in there.

 You're eating more new foods but getting pickier. I still give you some packaged baby food, make some in the Baby Brezza, and I've recently begun giving you small chunks of foods such as: Cheese, turkey, blueberries, grapes, peaches, avocado, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti-os, scrambled eggs, toast with jelly, pancakes, crackers, goldfish ..... You've come a long ways in picking things up and feeding yourself in the past week or so. A favorite is graham crackers. At least I don't have to worry (yet!) about you sticking random objects in your mouth, ha ha!

Note to self:  FIX HER HAIR before you start snapping away, gah!

 Your first tooth (bottom middle left) has poked through. You have been VERY cranky at times and I don't blame you :( I was so excited for you to FINALLY get teeth, though now reality has set in and it's not fun for any of us.

 You've become VERY curious about everything around you and love to explore every nook and cranny in our home, no matter how dirty it is ; ) Thankfully, you LOVE your baths. And the dog. And she puts up with you so well. You are really enjoying books, puppets, and pictures right now, which has been so fun.

 You are still clapping & waving either prompted or on your own. You wave both hands at the same time and yell out "Rarr Rarr Rarr Rarr!" You tilt your head to try to get a smile out of us ; ) Works every time!

Up until recently, you laid still for diaper and clothing changes. That is NOT the case anymore; I can barely keep you in one spot for more than a few seconds unless I distract you with something. Sometimes I hand you something as lame as the tube of Desitin and say "Hold this for mama!" and you do so, happily. But usually you are well on your way to taking off...dive bombing off the bed or changing table with me there to grab an ankle just in time. I used to feel sorry for those parents that would talk about this and think "Thank goodness my baby doesn't do that! She's SO good!" Ha ha...joke's on me. I have learned now that whenever I think "My baby doesn't do THAT" to remind myself to add in the "YET" part. Because you always come around to doing everything you're supposed to do ; )

UPDATE: Changing your clothes and diaper is an all-out battle now and consumes every ounce of energy I have. OY.

Last weekend, your daddy and I stayed up late working on planning your birthday party and ordering your birthday presents online.  Your father was ADAMENT about the birthday dress that he picked out for you and it was so cute to see him so excited about it.  We can't wait to see you in it!  You've made us so proud and filled us with so much joy and love.  We are blessed to be your parents!