Jesus Wants Me For a SunBEAM!

Morgan loves to sing. About a month ago, I was singing primary songs to Morgan while I picked out a few notes on the piano (very slowly) and he got all excited about music. Since then, we have tabbed his favorite songs in the songbook so he can turn to them and "play" them on the piano while we sing along. We marked Give Said the Little Stream, I am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple and his very favorite of all...Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam.

Thursday I was working on a project in the backyard while Chloe took a nap and Morgan was out there with me riding around on his cars. He was babbling to himself the whole time, but then he started singing "Jesus wants me for a sunBEAM -to shine - for him - each day..." He loves to repeat the first line over and over and then go on to sing "In every way try to pleeease HIM, at home - at school - at play" and back to the first line.

Yesterday, Morgan wanted to call Grandma Tate on the phone, so Seth dialed the number and handed Morgan the phone. He talked to Grandpa first, and then Grandma got on the phone and he burst into giggles! He talked to her for a minute and then started singing, "Jesus wants me for a sunBEAM..." I know it made Grandma happy to hear him sing, but from the other room I was just beaming knowing that my little boy has developed a love for one of the most special things in my life - singing!

Mobile Baby

Chloe is getting to be such a mover. She is constantly rolling and scooting around - which is quite impressive since she is only 5 months old and she is gigantic (22 lbs.). Here is a cute little clip of her scooting around to play with some toys.

And some stills of my little sweetie...

Makeover

For anyone who is not aware, I serve in our Ward as the Mia Maid Advisor in Young Womens and Seth is the Scoutmaster in Young Mens, so Wednesday nights can be a little tricky for us.

Yesterday, both Seth and I happened to be in charge of our respective activities which meant both of us were trying to juggle kids and run an activity. Near the end of the activity, I had both Morgan and Chloe in with me and was trying to help some of the girls finish up their craft project, so Melanie (the Mia Maid Counselor) was holding Chloe and Morgan was digging through my purse - slightly unattended.


Morgan loves to go through the pouches in my purse, and decided to dig through the one with my lip gloss. Since this is not out of the ordinary and he knows that lip gloss goes on lips and not on carpet or clothes, I figured he would be alright and it would keep him busy for a minute. Unfortunatley, I forgot about a sample tube of mascara from my Clinque Free Gift that I had recently put in there.

Being the smart little observer he is, Morgan knew exactly what to do with the mascara! Words can't really describe how funny this moment was, so here's a picture that is worth more than a thousand words! His eyelashes were STUNNING!

And check out those kissably glossy lips!

Time Out

I have a little secret - I love time out! Don't get me wrong, I wish that Morgan would behave better and refrain from hitting, eating dog food and other obnoxious behaviors, but our time out ritual always leaves me smiling. You see, when Morgan has "done his time", I go in his room to end the punishment. I get down to his level and talk about why he had to take time out and how he could have handled the situation more appropriately. Then comes my favorite part - we "try again" and I get a kiss and a hug before he goes to apologize to whomever he as wronged. This hug isn't just any hug - it is a leap-out-of-the-time-out-chair-and-tackle-mom hug complete with endless giggling! Just another simple moment that makes my life so sweet! Sure love my little buddy!

Titling the Blog

I have been thinking about titling our blog and updating our profile for a while now, but when I finally took time to sit down and do it, I realized just how blessed we are. Our life is nothing special - just a collection of errands, playtime, sleep, poop, diapers, bills, owies, church, work, family, and friends. But somewhere in the midst of all these sweet and simple things that I find true satisfaction. My life is everything I could have hoped for - constantly changing, growing and getting better every day!

100% Boy

Yesterday Morgan came into my room to say good morning and I asked him to come and give me a kiss. So he snuggled up into our bed and gave me kisses, then put out his fist and said, "Bones, Mom!" After I gave him 'bones' and finished laughing hysterically, he put out his hand and said, "High five, Mom!" Good morning kisses have really changed since Morgan became 100% boy!

The Sweet Serenity of Naptime

Sleep. I never really realized how much this little thing mean to me until I had kids and it became a rare commodity. Now that I have two kids, its value has increased even more. Sure getting a night of uninterrupted sleep would be nice, but sleep's real value lies in naptime -- that most blessed when Morgan and Chloe's naps overlap while the dogs sleep lazily on the floor. The overlapping naptime can last 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on the day, but this fleeting time is the only time for me or Seth to think, read (something other than Dr. Seuss), watch TV (other than Sesame Street), update our blog, or just relax! I truly dread the day when Morgan gives up naps...let's hope for my sanity's sake that it is after he starts preschool!

Little Milestones

I think that second children get jipped. When Morgan was little, Seth and I would sit for hours watching him look at his toy or listening to him giggle and coo. Chloe is equally cute, and much more talkative. She is constantly gurgling and cooing and all happy grins, but her cuteness is often overshadowed by her big brother lerning how to put his shoes on the right feet by himself or saying "bless you Chloe" when she sneezes. It isn't that we love her less or are less interested in her little milestones, but they just aren't quite as loud and exciting as our energetic little two year old. When Morgan is taking a nap, I do try to spend one-on-one time with my baby girl and take lots of pictures of her sweetness!

Chloe and Morgan have gotten to be kindred friends (I watched Anne of Green Gables yesterday on PBS...can you tell). The other day, Chloe was in her infant car seat on the kitchen table and she started crying. Within about a minute, Morgan was in the kitchen rocking her car seat and saying "ssss Chloe, ssss" (he hasn't quite figured out the "sh" noise yet). The greatest part was that Chloe calmed right down knowing that her big brother was there to take care of her and help her feel better! The new thing they love to do is smile at each other and giggle. Chloe is very interactive now and loves to giggle at Morgan. Morgan is a total mimic and loves to make whatever sound Chloe - or anyone else - is making.

Morgan doesn't just mimic what other people say. He is starting to mimic everything we do. You really start to realize what you do and say when you have a two year old copying you every second. The other day Seth found him "washing" his toy car. He had the squirt bottle and a rag and was washing his car inside and out! Cute!

Today Chloe ate her first real food. Morgan wanted to be just like his baby sister so he made me feed him rice cereal too - the yucky part - he really liked it!

Well, all of these little milestones combine to compose our life - happy, sweet and extremely amusing!