toothless

I know, I know! I abandon this poor little blog for weeks at a time and then all of a sudden you get a whole bunch of posts with pictures at once! That is pretty much the nature of our life right now...everything all at once!

Last night, while Morgan was dreaming about the Easter Bunny hopping his way to our house and leaving a basket of goodies, he somehow lost his very first tooth! He came bouncing into our room this morning, baby tooth in hand and hole in mouth,

"My wiggly tooth came out while I was sleeping!"

As soon as I acknowledged it he wanted to go directly back down to his room and write a note for the tooth fairy to put with his tooth. After watching the Super Why episode about the tooth fairy, he has been determined to have the tooth fairy leave his tooth instead of taking it, so he wrote her a note:

Toth Fere I wont to cep my toth (translation: Tooth Fairy, I want to keep my tooth)

The Hole: that permanent tooth is already poking out to say hello.

 Even with a hole in his mouth, this kid is still pretty darn cute...and $5 + a baby tooth richer 

(the tooth fairy only leaves that much for the first tooth...setting tooth fairy rates is complicated)!

P.S. Oh, how much I am LOVING the sun! I am finally feeling inspired to pull out the camera and capture our lives again now that there is light streaming through the windows most days! My lack of pictures with previous posts was not due to laziness, just due to the fact that I have been lucky to pull out the camera once a week around the house because it has been so so dark!

Almost 2

I can't believe my baby girl is almost 2 years old, but when I look at this darling little face I don't see a little baby anymore, I see a grown up girl who can do so many things!

I took this a few weeks ago when she was playing quietly in her room with all the "big girl toys" aka Petshops and My Little Ponies. She is quite the beauty and so silly and warm and cuddly, but very shy, so she only shares all of that with the select few friends and family that she knows well. I love you sweet baby girl! I love how you tell Morgan to "have great day - yuv you!" every morning as he heads out of the car to school! I love how you yell "I'm A-wAAAKe" with perfect clarity when you wake up from your naps! I love how you can peel a clementine all by yourself! I love how you cleaned up the wrapping paper piece by piece before you could unwrap anymore! I love how you snuggle with momma while you suck your thumb when you feel nervous! I love your sweet smile and your contageous giggle and your little mischeivious determination!

xoxoxo!

-mommy

First day(s) of school

Chloe has been anxiously awaiting the beginning of preschool. After watcher her big brother do the preschool thing for 2 years, she has had her backpack ready and her outfit picked out for weeks!

Since we went back to school shopping she has been asking every day

"Do I get to wear the dress that looks like pants?"

It took us a while to figure out that she was talking about her new denim dress for back to school!

So, the day finally came for the preschool open house.

Backpack on, dress that looks like pants on, and a few quick pictures

and we were off to school!

When you make faces like this...
you need to know they will end up on the blog!

Princess backpack, of course!

She made her placemat...

Played pretend...and took ownership of a baby doll...

She didn't want to leave and was so excited to go back the next day for her official first day,
I told her that mommy would not be staying with her but that I would be back to get her...
"Ok, bye mom!"

Little sister missed her...

And big brother wished her luck...
"You don't need to be nervous Chloe, school is fun!"

Not sure that I am ready for all of this growing up,
but so happy that she loves school so much!

Well,

today I took little miss Chloe to her preschool open house

and I have 2 things to say

1. heaven help me not to go completely crazy this year dealing with her super disorganized teacher

2. heaven help that teacher to be able to deal with Chloe's big personality

That's all!

torn

as I add all of the pictures to the project 365 blog and kick myself for all of the picture filled posts that are not making it onto this blog in a timely fashion, I keep asking myself "why?"

Well, friends, I have the answer!

So in my real life, I am a mommy, wife, friend, woman, daughter, sister, -in law, etc.

...and now a photographer.

And that's great! I have happy clients who keep on coming back, and I LOVE what I do!

BUT, with that comes pressure.

Pressure that every picture I post on here is supposed to be "professional quality".

And, as a result, I feel torn - torn between two identities.

Confused about which hat I am wearing when I post on my blogs

(probably because I have too darn many - blogs, and hats)!

So, this is my declaration

(and as I type this I am reminded of a certain episode from The Office

where Michael Scott declares bankruptcy - so feel free to imagine that tone)

 mostly for me because I seem to need permission for things like this:

I declare this my professional photographer perfectionist free zone!

The pictures on this blog are taken by Jen - a mommy, wife, friend, woman, daughter, sister, in-law, etc. Sure, I also happen to be a professional photographer, but I just don't have the time to professionally photograph and edit my life the way I do for my clients! Of course, I am still me and my pictures are my pictures and that doesn't change because I am not out on a shoot. Of course I am still going to be applying my knowledge of shooting in manual and composition and lighting. But my life isn't perfectly planned to have the wonderful moments of our lives happening only during the perfect light in the evening, and my house doesn't have nearly enough windows or big enough rooms, and my kids quite frequently have goobies all over their face and messy bed-head hair, and I occasionally get my camera settings wrong or my focus off (gasp!), but that doesn't mean I shouldn't share those moments, right (and yes, please feel free to reassure me that this is ok)!

So, with that, I share some back to school pics...

not beautifully edited or painstakingly selected...

just my favorite shots as they are!
Maybe I will edit them at some point and post the more wonderful versions of them,
but for now, this is it! Enjoy!

the actual first day of school - after school when the sun came out!

the second day of school - before school - notice the big gash on Morgan's

forehead from falling down the stairs in the picture above - such is life!

(sorry about the watermarks - I changed some settings on my upload process

and didn't realize it and I am too lazy to reupload)

Hail

This morning at 6:30 the hail was beating down on my house forbidding me from sleeping those last 20 minutes before I really had to wake up and get everyone in the house ready for school. Some people would think...I hope my tomato plants survive this torrential rain, or why can't this hail shut up so I can go back to sleep, or too bad the hubs is already up and getting ready for work because morning rainstorms are the best for cuddling...but not me, I was thinking...

dang, this is really going to screw up all of my fabulous plans for today's first day of school pictures...

please clear up by the time we need to leave!

It didn't, and all of my hopes for first day of school excitement photos were shot as I juggled two little hands, an umbrella and a little lady on my hip as we got soaked walking across a puddle-ridden parking lot taking Morgan into school for his first day!

Luckily we caught a few cute pictures after school before Morgan decided to

bif it down concrete stairs and get a giant ding on his forehead...

I promise to share the pictures soon, but just thought I'd share the update in the meantime!

today...

Every time I open internet explorer and my blog pops up on tab #2 (to remind me to update it) I stress because I haven't updated in forever...and then I feel bad that I have been posting business stuff and no family stuff...and then I feel bad that I haven't read anyone's blog in...well, ages! So, I took the evening (because it is Sunday and I don't do any of my "work" on Sunday) to catch up on blogs! Love catching up with everyone's lives - sorry I didn't leave comments - dozens and dozens of blogs with numerous posts each meant a lot of reading on my part!

So, that brings me here...lots and lots and lots to share and say and show, but I am just going to brain dump and tell you what is on my mind today...
- This semester is going to be rough. Lots of changes happening in Seth's department, so everything is a little disorganized, but the expectations are going to be pretty high and the workload is heavy. If it is even possible, we will see him less this semester than any one before. Feel free to send your prayers our way ! :)
- My little baby boy starts kindergarten tomorrow...what? He is so excited he can't even stand it! The new school clothes are in little piles in the living room waiting for excited little bodies to fill them in the morning. The backpack is by the door and the camera is ready! :) Mom is not so ready...deep breaths!
- Also tomorrow - preschool orientation for my baby girl...another what? She is also excited and I am praying for her teacher's sanity! ;) She will do so wonderful, but I hope she takes sweet Chloe personality and not feisty Chloe personality to school!
- Brynn is such a climbing daredevil. Yesterday she fell off a picnic table and scraped up her whole forehead on the cement below. Why would you let her get on a picnic table, you might ask? Well, it all happened in a matter of seconds!
- I have eaten so much this week. So many family birthdays are in August, and I think I can safely say that I ate out (a giant meal) just about every day last week. It was so fun to have multiple date nights with Seth along with some other fun activities with friends and family! Sadly - this also means I am 27..which is frighteningly close to 30.
- I am planning a few weeks of "bookkeeping and personal time" into my "work" schedule soon because I feel so behind! I love my job and I can hardly even call it that, and I am so blessed to be busy with it!
- I love my little family like crazy! I have been reminded this week how blessed I am to have 3 sweet, smart and healthy children and a husband I love so much! I say this a lot, but I mean it!

So there you go! A POST! More to come (hopefully) soon...including 1st day of Kindergarten pictures and thoughts!

"This is my best birthday ever"

said Chloe this afternoon at her birthday party!

And, ya know, when you only have 3 to compare, it is pretty easy to make a statement like that!
Three is the golden age at our house...the first year you get a "friend" party
and we like to make it a big one!

It was a fancy tea party birthday...

we made jeweled and sparkly placemats

ate lunch of tuna and cucumber mini sandwiches, jelly rolls, little cheese cubes, strawberries and bananas...with fancy toothpicks of course! And lemonade "tea" to drink.

(which we really called lemonade so we didn't cause any worry

for little people whose families don't drink tea)

A LOT of tea was spilled on the floor (mostly by the birthday girl herself)

and "I need more tea/lemonade/another spot of tea" was heard
pretty much constantly throughout the meal.

Then it was on to cake...but petit fours are better than cake because

they are mini and cute and "tea party" sized. Love!

Did I mention they were yummy? Mmmm! Thank you bakerella!

the kids just loved the mini umbrella toothpicks too.

And then there was dancing, and Morgan dressing up in a princess dress

(which was very amusing for the girls) and opening presents,

which is a very hands on activity at a 3 year old birthday party!

Everyone "helps" open the present they brought and then they all want to play with them! Fun!

(yes, friends, that is Morgan in the green dress!)
Chloe loved her new pettiskirt that she got to wear with her birthday shirt too
(I miraculously finished it yesterday afternoon...cutting it a little close)!

Finally they each got to pick out a ring pop, candy bracelet and real bracelet and then
it was time to play until the moms came to get them.

It was a blast and her comment made it worth it...
sticky floor and all!
That said, I need a very long nap!

Sick Day

All of us girls were feeling under the weather today, so we stayed home from church. (I wonder if we will ever get to go to church as a whole family again...this is week number 4 that 1 or more have been working or home sick/taking care of a sick child).

I decided to seize the moment while there were no napping kids to fold clothes and actually put them away in their drawers, so the girls were left to play together on their own.

My mommy heart melted when I saw this...

Sweet little sisters, side-by-side, sharing toys and laughs and fun times.

Just a sweet moment to make everything 100 percent worth it!

And in other news...Brynn has been standing without holding onto anything since early December, and yesterday she decided to stand up right in the middle of the floor with nothing to support her. And, lucky for me, she did it again today while I had the camera out snapping away!

And then she took a lunging step toward the bench (thus the lean in the above picture).

She also cut her 5th tooth this week and is jabbering away like crazy.

Her favorite words are Morgan, "no, no, no" (with head shake, of course), more, baba, bye bye (complete with wave), mama, and dada.

She also really really likes to sing...if there is singing happening...she is singing right along...not such a good thing when listening to musical numbers in church.

My baby is really not a baby anymore!

All She Ever Wants To Do Anymore

is stand up.

to play, to eat, to explore, to hang out.

And to be perfectly honest...I am not so sure I am happy about it!

She is supposed to be my baby, but at this rate she will be all grown up in no time!

Been There, Done That

Preschool. No nostalgia...no tears...no emotions of thinking my baby is so grown up as he walks right into the classroom, hangs up his bag, puts on his name collar and finds a seat without a glance back to see if I have left the room. Nope...we've been there and done that and this is just a continuation after a little break.

But...

this year is different and special and wonderful in a whole different way. Morgan has Miss Fidge. Wanna' know who else had Miss Fidge for 4-year-old preschool? ME! 22 years ago a little curly haired girl - most likely wearing a dress - walked into Miss Fidge's classroom (in a different school building) holding her mommy's hand, placed her bag in her cubby, put on her name collar and found her seat without a glance back at that mommy.

While I can't remember a whole lot about the details of day-to-day elementary school, I remember everything about Miss Fidge's preschool class. I remember Thanksgiving dinner dressed up like an indian, I remember the Easter Egg Hunt with my basket made of a milk carton, I remember performing 5 Little Ducks Went out to Play in the graduation ceremony wearing my graduation cap, I remember bossing all the other kids when we played house (with the same wooden kitchen set Morgan gets to play with), I remember my Mom coming to help on her co-op days and getting to help her serve the snack. I remember singing Alligator Soup, Tiny Tim, Wide Mouth Frog, My Name is Stegosaurus and all the other wonderful songs we learned. Most of all, I remember feeling so loved by my wonderful teacher. I am excited for Morgan to experience all of this for himself...and I know he will, because Miss Fidge is just the same!

And of course...here are the pictures of Morgan the " Stud Muffin" on the first day!

Chloe helped to calm any nerves Morgan may have had with big hugs before he left for school.

Miss Fidge, Morgan, Miss Allyson - Morgan got a little timid when we walked in...

But with some fingerpainting, song singing and puzzles...he warmed right up! And he got to answer the question about siblings...he was excited to tell about his 2 sisters, Brynnie and Chloe.Then we played on the playground for good measure before we left to pick up the girls.

They have a Class Family Photo Album in their reading center that they can look at during their free choice time. We were asked to create a page showing our child and their favorite things. Here is Morgan's page.

(Note: This assignment was given to the parents...not the kids...I don't do his homework for him. I did make him help me pick out the pictures though, and he listed off the things he liked, wrote the signs and posed for the pictures!)

front

back

Ahem. Houston, we have a crawler

And, not only that, but today when I set her down on the floor on her tummy, the next thing I knew she was sitting up. That's right...from laying to sitting all by herself!

Yay for our sweet little Miss Bean!

Seven Months of Sweetness

I can't believe that my little Brynn is already 7 months old. Every time I turn around she has learned something new and looks more grown up and I wonder where my little baby girl has gone!
At her 6 month appointment (which was actually closer to 6 1/2 months) she was 17 lbs. 8 oz. (68 percentile) and 26.5 inches long (64 percentile). Those of you who held my other kids when they were little are probably asking, Really? Yes, really. If she didn't have those big beautiful blue eyes like Chloe I might wonder if she were actually switched at the hospital (anything is possible when you don't have your sharpie marker ready to mark your baby as it comes out - hehe - I am getting kind of excited for the new season of The Office). Just in case you don't remember...Morgan was 22 lbs. at his 6 month appointment, and Chloe was just under 21 lbs at her 4 month appointment. Apparently, my body has decided to make 2% milk instead of ice cream!

Brynn is just a little spark of light in our home. She has the sweetest giggle and the greatest belly laugh (which reminds me so much of Morgan at that age). She is so happy and easy going and loves to observe the world around her. All you have to do is smile at her and her whole face lights up and smiles a big giant grin back at you! She says “dada(dadadadada)” and I am pretty sure she has said mimicked some other words quite clearly, but since has only said them once I don’t think they count. She loves to play with her turtle book/toy, Chloe's My Little Ponies, her Jungle ball activity center, and my laptop keyboard. She could spend all day giggling back and forth with Morgan or laughing excitedly as Chloe puts on a dance performance for her. She doesn't hate her car seat nearly as much as she used to, and she will finally take a bottle every once in a while to give mommy a break.
Her 1st tooth broke through on Monday and she has been having all sorts of fun chewing stuff up ever since. She does a great job at picking up finger foods and feeding herself but she always wants to eat whatever I am eating. She grunts/screams for a bite of your food until you give it to her (just like Chloe used to do...I am sure my family will know what I am talking about if they think of Chloe's first Thanksgiving dinner.) She especially loves freeze-dried fruit, fresh fruit, cheerios, goldfish crackers, yogurt and potatoes. Her fuzzy head is actually growing some hair and I am getting my hopes up that I may be able to start putting bows in her hair by Christmas time (fingers crossed).
She is a fabulous sleeper and sleeps from about 8:30/9:00 pm to 7:00 am most nights and then goes back down for a long morning nap after breakfast and some playtime with Morgan and Chloe. She still sleeps on her tummy, and loves to suck her thumb. She will take a binki if you give her one, but she prefers her thumb. She has been sitting up for over a month now and is rocking back and forth on her hands and knees in preparation to take off crawling for real instead of just army crawling all over the place. Despite her good nature, she is starting to show some serious spunk and I am starting to get really worried about my capacity to handle 2 little girls with so much spunk!
I still don't feel "adjusted" to being a mother of 3. I never have enough hands, patience, time or sanity, but I can't imagine our family without Brynn. She is such a joy and a beautiful girl. She has such a great capacity to love, and I am in awe as I observe the amount of love she shows to each and every member of our family, despite her very young age. It is hard to imagine that a 7-month-old child can make so many individuals feel that they are the most loved and special person in the world, but she does. I love to see the relationship between Chloe and Brynn evolve and I know that they will not always get along, but they are going to be the best of friends like only sisters could be. Thanks for being a part of our family Miss Brynnie...we love you more and more every single day!!!

To my baby girl...

Brynnie,

Every day I wonder to myself how we ever lived without you in our lives. I feel so blessed to be your mommy! Yesterday morning when I was feeding you, I kept falling asleep, so you decided to play peek-a-boo with me. You would say "Boo!" to wake me up and then giggle like crazy! The little things you do each day bring sunshine to our home and family! Thanks for opening your mouth as wide as you can and diving toward me when you hear the word "Kisses". Thanks for sucking your thumb nonstop...despite my best efforts to make you stop. Thanks for being totally content to lie on your back and look at the ceiling fan. Thanks for sleeping through the night. Thanks for looking at me with those giant bright blue eyes and making me wish I had your eyelashes! Thanks for loving your turtle toy sooo much. Thanks for the giggles and coos and cuddles and sweetness!

There is no shortage of adoration for Brynnie at this house...your brother and sister think you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to them and you have your Daddy wrapped around your finger already...even though you don't work it like your big sister...yet, I'm sure you'll learn though. I love you from your mostly bald little head to your teeny tiny toes and everything in between!

love Love LOVE you forever!

Mommy

Overtaken by Monsters

For any of you who have shared a recent playdate with my children, it is no secret that they like to be monsters/lions/{insert name of anything else that growls here}. And while this behavior is extremely annoying to me, and most other adults, they love it and their friends play right along, so apparently they like it too. In an attempt to not sweat the small stuff/pick my battles/attempt to not yell at my kids all day long, when used on a playground or in the backyard and not in the middle of church, at the library, or directly into an unsuspecting face, I have decided to let this one go. That seems harmless enough, right?

Wrong! Yesterday, all the kids were sleeping when I heard a growl coming from the portable crib. I must be hearing things, I think to myself...and then I hear it again and again and again! Later in the evening, after the big kids were in bed, Seth and I were watching a (crazy and very weird) movie, again comes a little growl from the portable crib. "Was that a growl?" Seth asked...and what could we do but laugh?! So yeah, our dainty little 5 month old girl is a fluent babbler, roller and now growler! I guess it will be funny in a few years when I tell Brynnie's handsome date that her first word was "grrr" (pretty much identical to the sound Lion makes before it pounces its oponent), but for now, I feel as though my house is being taken over by monsters of the growling variety. It is true that babies are sponges...and when they have older siblings...that isn't always a good thing!

"HOORAY for Underpants!"

-Elmo, in Elmo's Poty Time

Yes...we are officially to the point where I can tell you with confidence that Chloe is pee-trained! YIPEE! My favorite thing these days is the sound of the potty flushing from the other room and the sight of a naked (or crinkled and bunched underwear-laden) Chloe bum wandering the house! She has been doing really well for the past couple of weeks, but suddenly this week it clicked. She goes on her own...with no help, promptings or reminders from anyone...pretty amazing for a little girl who is barely 2, if you ask me. Even when she was playing in the McDonalds playland, she took a break to come tell me she had to go potty! So great! I am sure there will still be accidents and we still have the pooping on the potty to conquer - the barbies are on the table just waiting for a successful poop to be played with - but until her next bowel movement, I am just going to bask in the joy of potty TRAINED! :)

4 Months

Brynn hit the 4 month mark last week and had her check-up yesterday. She is such a delightful and beautiful little thing, but I feel like it has been the longest 4 months of newborness yet! Between the ear infections, conjestion, reflux, tubes, and constipation from her reflux medication, we have spent way too much time at the doctor's office and pharmacy! Here's what's happening with our little Brynnie at 4 months old.

15 lb. 8 oz. (84th percentile)

24 inches (35th percentile)

16.3 inch head (62nd percentile)

She love love loves her brother and sister - they can always get a smile or laugh out of her!

She started rolling from front to back about 2 weeks ago and is quite proficient at it, but figured out that she doesn't like being stuck on her back so she doesn't do it as often.

She has also been army crawling - yep, you read that right, army crawling - for about 3 weeks now. Not your typical infant getting mad and scooting herself backward crawling, this is full fledged crunching her knees under her to push off and scooting forward with her arms. CRAZY!

She sleeps through the night (10:30 pm - 7 or 8 am)

She loves to giggle and smile.

She loves it when you make her "run".

She HATES the car...which made our road trip awesome! Every time I put her in her car seat, she starts screaming and we have all learned to tune her out in the car until she wears herself out and falls asleep.

She is such a sweet little cuddler with everyone except me - I must smell too much like ice cream to her.

Her favorite position is still lying face down on your lap while you pat her back.

Her favorite thing is watching the ceiling fan in our bedroom.

She is definitely the sensitive one in our family - she gets this little pouty look on her face when she gets upset and her lip gets all quivery before she starts crying.

Even though it has been a bit of a rocky road these past 4 months, I feel so lucky to have this sweet girl in our home! I am so excited to watch her grow into the beautiful woman that I know she will be. I love you Beanie!

A Tribute to my Little Boy

I was such a slacker about posting for Morgan's birthday, so here is my tribute to him for his birthday...better late than never! Every day, I am more and more amazed by this little boy! He is hilariously funny, caring, sweet, conscientious and so so smart! He asks hard questions, has the sweetest faith, and loves everyone!

Here is a snippet of Morgan right now...

He gets up around 7:00 am - every morning - bubbly, happy and filled with energy (which is more than I can say for myself)
He is so good at entertaining himself - and Chloe - while I am busy with other things (showering, cleaning, cooking, blogging...)
He knows everyone by name...still...and never forgets about them!
He loves to sing. We sing disney songs, primary songs, random silly songs, made up songs, the name game, Jack Johnson and more all day long. We gave him an MP3 player for his birthday filled with all his favorite songs and pictures of him with his sisters. So cute!
He is such a boy and loves to play in the dirt, with cars and trains, with action figures, with bugs, with balls, with tools, etc.
He loves playing with Chloe, and is such a good sport about playing girly stuff...dolls, ponies, tutu dances, pretend play with the kitchen, tea parties, etc.
He knows and can recognize all of his letters and numbers up to 9 by sight and sound. He can count to 20 and is starting to sound out words. This has absolutely nothing to do with me...we do not work on any of this at home, other than me answering questions he has. I am a little worried that he is going to pass me up intellectually by the time he is in 1st grade! :)
The kid has an amazing memory!

He is still an amazing eater...he will eat just about anything (with the exception of cookie dough-odd, I know) and LOVES his veggies. A typical snack around here is yogurt, carrots, string cheese or fruit.
He giggles about everything and has the cutest little laugh! He is always saying, "You silly goofy!" to me and Seth.
He has a sweatshirt fetish! He is always wearing a sweatshirt...even when it is really hot. He especially likes the ones with pockets, zippers and hoods. I am sure his preschool teachers think he doesn't have any cute clothes because they are always covered by a sweatshirt! Hopefully summer will cure him of this!
He is very independent...he gets in the car by himself, buckles himself, pours his own drinks (usually without spilling), salts and wraps baked potatoes, loves to help in the kitchen, makes his own toast with butter, gets dressed by himself - shoes, socks and everything, does his own hair, sorts the laundry, cleans his room, starts movies all by himself, and the list could go on and on!
He loves to color, draw and write!
He has a watch fetish! He got a couple of Hello Kitty watches from McDonalds and he rotates wearing them - all the time! Grandma Colleen gave him a very grown up watch for his birthday and now he wears it all the time!
He never lets us skip scriptures or prayers...even when it is way past bedtime!
He is very conscientious of matching - he always picks shoes that match his clothes and tells Seth "That doesn't match" when he picks out the wrong outfits! :)
He still loves puzzles and is really really good at them!
He loves books. He "reads" to his sisters and tells the stories almost verbatim. He could sit through 20 books in a row and still want more!
He is so sweet and caring...he wants to include everyone and makes people feel special and loved. It used to be that if someone was crying it was probably Morgan's fault because he was definitely a hitter/pusher, but now, it is almost never him and usually he is the one consoling the crying kid! What a relief as a mother!
He LOVES his family! If Chloe sleeps upstairs, he wants to wake her up first thing in the morning, he always wants to cuddle and hold Brynnie, he gives the best hugs and kisses, he adores all of his grandparents, he adores all of his aunts and uncles and even their significant others!
He says the sweetest prayers and always wants it to be his turn. In fact, when it isn't his turn, we say 2 prayers so he can have a turn!

A couple of random stories about Morgan...

The other day, Morgan said, "Mom, I want to have 5 sisters!" I know your a great big brother, but keep dreaming buddy!

When I asked him what kind of birthday party he wanted to have he said a princess party...eventually I talked him into Dr. Seuss instead!

Any time we start going faster in the car, he asks, "Are we on the freeway mom?"

We were driving down the street the other day and "Gives you Hell" by the All American Rejects came on the radio. Morgan piped in from the backseat and knew every word of the chorus...Seth and I laughed pretty hard as we changed the station and he kept singing. He said, "Mom change it back to the "gives you L" song. I know it...but I didn't learn it in Preschool." I sure hope not! Turns out he thinks the song is about the letter L! Note to self: it is probably time to modify my radio listening!

I could go on forever about the wonderful things about Morgan, but I will stop there. I am so glad that I get to be his Mommy and watch him as he grows up! I look forward to the years ahead and am enjoying him so much right now!

Thanks for being my little buddy Morgan - I love you!

Rolling Over

Monday and Tuesday, I found Brynn on her back when I went in to get her. She sleeps on her tummy, so that means...she can roll!

WooHoo for Brynn!

HELP!

After a total of 3 hours sleep last night - and not in a row, I am officially seeking serious help from anyone out there who has successfully combined a toddler and preschooler into the same room. What did you do? How did you do it? Will the waking each other up thing ever end? Any resources you suggest? If you haven't, do you know anyone who has? I am getting desparate!

For the sake of letting the kids get enough rest to get over their colds, I have been letting Chloe fall asleep in Brynn's crib while Morgan does the flop game to go to sleep and then moving Chloe down to their shared room when he is sleeping soundly. The problem is that if anyone wakes up at night, they don't know how to go back to sleep with each other in the room and Brynn is sound asleep in the crib. Also, I realize that this is not teaching them to fall asleep on their own and it is creating interrupted sleep for Chloe and it is a giant pain in the butt!

HELP!

On a positive sleep note...Brynn slept 7 1/2 hours in a row last night! Yay Brynnie! Now, if only I could get the older kids to go to sleep and stay asleep...