Wall Letters

I finally put up Morgan's name letters in her nursery. They've been done for a while, but I had a hard time finding a time to put them up. I was finally motivated yesterday. They were made with letters bought at Michel's, scrapbook paper and beautiful ribbon and bows tied by my Mom.

Mom, I couldn't have done it without you! Don't they look great?!

This nursery might be finished by the time she's in preschool!

Busy, Busy Bee!

We had a VERY busy weekend! Saturday night we went to the Shock game where the Shock clinched the Division title with an exciting last "second" win over the Central Valley Coyotes.

Sunday morning we had the privilege of attending the dedication of our favorite young man, Elijah. His Mom and Dad, Migdalia and Adam are great friends and we are loving watching our little ones "grow up" together. We spent some time at their home afterward and Elijah and Morgan had a great time playing together. They are both sitting up well, so they actually interacted a bit.

Wow, Elijah's got some cool toys!

What have we got in here?

It was HOT on Sunday...about 100 degrees! Later in the day we thought it would be fun to blow up Morgan's baby pool. Well, it's not really a pool...but it has lots of inflatable parts that you hook your hose up to and water spurts out all over.

Mommy, is it a dolphin?

Unfortunately the water was REALLY cold...so Morgan was not happy with us. Doesn't she look cute in her swimsuit though? And Mommy's striking a glamorous pose (totally unintentionally) in her new sunglasses.

Daddy, that water was COLD!!! I don't care how hot it is outside!

Da-Da, where are my Raspberries?

Every day Morgan is discovering new sounds she can make. The last few days she's been making a sound that is very close, but not quite...to Da-Da. Of course she doesn't actually say Da-Da, it's more like da-da-da-da-da...and so on. And naturally, she's not old enough to understand "Da-Da" as her Daddy. Up until now most of the noises she would make were using vowel sounds like, oooh, ahhh, oh, etc. Now she's starting to make consonant sounds. It is just fascinating to hear her progression and watch the learning process.

We also suddenly noticed that she has stopped the constant wet raspberries she was doing. We are glad to have a break from being spit and drooled upon so much, but we miss it a bit because it was so hilarious. Who knows? It may come back again!

Wordless Wednesday: Do you like my hat?

Proud Parents

Is Morgan too young for us to start saying how "proud" we are of her?

I made my usual mid-day call to the daycare yesterday and the woman I talked to just gushed about what a "delight" Morgan is. She commented on how smiley and happy she is. This was not the regular "teacher" from the infant room, but someone who handles the paperwork end of things as well as filling in where she is needed on teachers' breaks. Morgan has a new teacher in her room and she always checks off the "cheerful" box on her daily report. Its so nice to know that she is doing well there, especially the days David is out of town and she spends an extra hour or so at the center (because of my commute time to Coeur d'Alene).

I don't know if we've done anything to make her such a happy girl, or if that is just how her temperament is developing. We are just so proud of her!

Daddy's Girl

Leading up to my first Father's Day, Meg kept asking me what I wanted to do. I had trouble coming up with good ideas, and spent most of the day just hanging out with my two girls. The manliest thing I did was cooking up my famous Rib-Eye steak recipe for dinner. (A guy cooking - pretty manly!)

As I look back, the day really isn't about me. I'm a dad because of this amazing blessing that's come in to my life. The feeling of the day was one of gratitude rather than any sense of appreciation for my efforts. My hope is that all dads out there take the time to do the day-to-day duties: diaper changes, feedings, bathing and soothing a fussy baby. I would feel like I was missing out on a big part of the experience without these things. As I said in a previous post, one of my favorite memories is the time she threw up all over me.

I recently attended the funeral of my best friend's father. What I was struck by was how each of the kids recounted specific instances of how their dad influenced their lives. It had very little to do with big, significant events and revolved mostly around him being involved by always being there. For the first time, the Hagge's (my friend’s family) spent this very same Father's Day without dad. I can only hope that I measure up to him and my own father some day.

I thank God for this amazing opportunity to experience this adventure with Morgan and Meg, and ask Him to receive Big Walt into his loving arms.

More Bathtime Fun

We play a little game before Morgan's bath each night. David does the goofy part most of the time as it's my job is to get the bath ready while he undresses Morgan and gets her ready. As soon as David hears me finish filling the bathtub and turn off the water...he starts speaking to Morgan in a frantic voice "oh no, your bath is ready, we've got to get there before the water gets cold." He then carries her into the hallway and starts running down it, passing by the bathroom several times, naked baby in his arms...pretending he can't find it. I hear him saying to Morgan "where's mommy? She's waiting for us so you can have your bath and we can't find the bathroom, oh no, where is it?!"

We just crack up everytime. The person in the bathroom gets the best laugh watching the cute, naked baby flying by the bathroom door. We do have to admit, this is really for our entertainment more than hers. From the several times I've played the other part, running up and down the hallway with Morgan, she sort of looks at me blankly, like she's saying, "geez, they're doing this again. Just get me to my bath already." Also, lately she's just much more interested in getting her toes in her mouth. David and I laugh so much, I think we are still convinced that she's going to laugh along with us someday. It's really quite hilarious. Anyway, here's a few shots of bath time:

David running past the bathroom door. Notice naked baby with her feet in her mouth.

Now that Morgan is sitting better on her own, when we finish the washing part of her bath we "flip" her to the other side of the bathtub so she can play a little. She loves her princess ducky!

She's also learned to splash with her feet/legs. I tried to capture the splashes, but really just got some ripples. Check out the baby fat! She's got some rolls!

Green Beans

Morgan ate all her green beans...then I guess the rice cereal just didn't taste so good. I kept expecting to get a funny grimace or a face full of pureed beans, but no...she just ate it right up. In fact, she been so "nonchalant" about this eating thing. The spoon comes her way, she opens her mouth and she sucks in the food from the spoon, then repeat. There is no rejecting of the food or any excitement about the food. I think she's still confused about why we're making her do this. When I've taken her picture, and you can attest to most of the ones I've posted, all I get is the same sort of blank look. We'll see if fruit has any affect on her next.

Cranky Pants

One of my only frustrations with new motherhood so far (and I knew this would be difficult) is figuring out what is wrong when Morgan is upset. Much of the time it is obvious. She lets us know when she is hungry (she eats around every 4 hours during the day), has a poopy diaper (the stink comes after the big red-faced grunts) or gets bored (she'll "whine" when she's been doing something too long, like the jumperoo, playing on the floor or in her play yard). But... there are times when she's upset and we have no idea why.

So...our little Boo Boo Girl has been a cranky pants the last few days and I just can't figure it out. On Tuesday night David was feeding her some rice cereal and squash and she'd suddenly start crying with the big tears coming down her face. Yesterday I made my usual mid-day call to the daycare and they said she was fine now, but she'd just had a brief screaming episode that sounded like she was in pain. It started, then abruptly stopped and now she was playing on the floor and smiling. Huh?

Last night I got her home and she was just fussy no matter what I did with her. I put her in her high chair while I did some things in the kitchen...whine, whine. I held her on my lap...wiggle wiggle, whine, whine. I put her in the jumperoo...same result. I finally decided she must be tired as she hadn't napped much that day. We did her bath and her bottle as usual. She got all sleepy, but when I got her in the crib she woke right up and started screaming hysterically. I let her cry it out a bit, but finally went in and rocked her until she got sleepy again. As soon as I put her in the crib and left the room she started screaming again. Luckily she was so exhausted this time she fell asleep within a few minutes.

There is always the "teething" question. This has been a question since she was 3-4 months old. I check her gums and there is no redness, swelling or bumps to indicated any teeth are iminent. She's been on her second antibiotic for a week, so maybe that's making her feel "off." I'll be glad when that's done in a few days.

Sometimes I have to chalk it up to a "phase." Everything is a phase...once you get the hang of one, they move on to another. Anyone else have some ideas for me? I'm open to suggestions...

Wordless Wednesday: Mommy, I swear...I don't snore!

Sick Day

We had a busy weekend! Unfortunately I was not feeling so good for much of it. Monday morning I made the call that I needed to get some sleep or I wasn't going to get any better. There is one good thing about having your child in daycare. She was feeling just fine, so she went to daycare for the day and Mommy got some uninterrupted sleep.

On Saturday we attended a Black Rock event. This was the open house for the season at the Club at Black Rock which was held at the new Kid's Camp, Kootenai Camp. It was so much fun! This facility is decked out with tons of fun kids activities, pool with waterslides, a lake for fishing, basketball, tennis and volleyball courts, computers and video games, rock climbing wall. I could go on and on. I needed to do some interviews with the Club Members for PR/Marketing use, so I enlisted David and his interviewing skills. We got some great quotes and everyone just LOVED our little Morgan. Of course we enjoyed hearing how beautiful she is. She did great too! She spent a lot of time riding with Daddy in the Baby Bjorn, trying to grab his pen while he was writing. Towards the end of the party she even started to fall asleep in the Bjorn...it was time to go!

Father's Day was nice too. David will post more about it soon. It was a good day filled with love for the Greatest Daddy ever!

Butternut Squash

Or as her Daddy's calls it..."Butt" Squash. Obviously he is not a fan. Well, little boo boo girl was a fan! She either really liked it, or she's finally getting the hang of this eating thing. I didn't get any pictures of it, but last night we also tried out her new sippy cup with some water. She'll need a lot of practice before she can hold it herself, but she was really fascinated by it. Every time I took it away (as water dribbled down her front), she wanted it back. Like the food, she'll get the hang of it soon.

This afternoon we tried some rice cereal and sweet potatoes again. She just gobbled them up! It's fun to watch the progression of her eating "technique." During the last week...when she actually opened her mouth...she'd push her tongue out when the spoon went in. We just weren't sure how much she was actually eating. Now she's progressed to sort of sucking the food off the spoon and she opens her mouth when she sees the spoon coming towards her. So cute!

In a few days we'll try something new...maybe some fruit this time? Bananas? Possibly some avocado, if I can find some good ones?

Sitting Pretty!

Look who's sitting all by herself!? The first picture is from Tuesday night...still a little wobbly. The second picture is from this afternoon, more stable, but right after I took this picture she fell over. Oops! It's amazing how quickly she can "get it" though.


BTW - Morgan's fever came back yesterday. We took her to the pediatrician and the doctor said that her ear still looks infected. They were surprised by the antibiotic the Urgent Care doctor had prescribed. Ugh. Now we have a new one. Let's hope this one takes care of it.

A Mind of her Own

Here is some clear evidence that our sweet baby's temperment and personality is emerging:

*Diaper changes have now become a wrestling match. In fact, we've moved them to the floor of her room. As soon as we put her down she tries to turn over, many times quite successfully. We are constantly pulling the package of wipes out of her hands and sometimes one of us has to hold her down by her shoulders so all the appropriate cleaning and re-diapering can get done.

* We think we need some waterproof gear for baths now. She's started kicking vigorously once her body hits the water. Since Mommy usually washes her "lower body" area, she gets the brunt of the onslaught of water. Once she can sit up well we think one of us will join her (in a swimsuit - for possible photo ops) in the "big" bathtub.

* She has definitely learned how to get our attention. Well-timed, rather fake sounding coughs happen frequently when she is in moments of "distress" i.e. when she wants us to see her do something in her jumperoo and if we can't get her bottle in her mouth fast enough. Last night we were visiting with David's Aunt Trudy, Uncle Dan, Aunt Chris and Uncle Mike and Morgan started letting out these funny little "yelps" while we were all talking...and not talking about her.

* Her raspberries are often now signs of frustration for her. When she is put in her crib to nap or sleep for the night she plays around for a while. We listen to her on the monitor and are bound to hear lost of "raspberry-ing" before she nods off.

Overall she is so much fun!! We love watching her grow and learn...but can you slow it down...please?!

Sweet Potatoes!

We decided to give some sweet potatoes a try this evening. Get this, I'm actually making an effort to make her food myself! She only eats a new food every three or four days, how hard can it be? I cooked up a potato last night and used my new "Magic Bullet" to puree it to a smooth consistency. One potato made enough to freeze a full ice cube tray worth! Today I thawed a few cubes for "dinnertime". She'd been less than excited about the cereal the last few days, so we wondered how the sweet potatoes would go over. I also used the lighter skinned, white/yellow fleshed sweet potatoes instead of the orangy colored yams. I figure I can try those later.

She seemed to be interested and actually opened her mouth as the spoon came towards her. She did seem to eat a few bites, but she's really still getting the hang of what to do with the food once its on her tongue. It must have been tough work, because she all of a sudden let out a sigh and put her head on her left shoulder. She did this a day or two ago too...we haven't quite figured out why she is doing this, but it's pretty cute.

We'll try the sweet potatoes for a few more days, then we'll be on to some squash next!

Fun with Rice Cereal

We've finally started some solid foods!! Rice cereal is the most common food to start with (and least to cause any possible allergic reaction), so we decided to jump in last Thursday after work. We've been thinking Morgan was ready because she's been very curious about what we eat and she often imitates us eating. Here's how the first attempt went down:

Here comes the spoon!

What do I do with this?

Morgan and Mommy

We think more came out than went in

Daddy gives it a try

We're done for now

We've tried again each night and she seems to be slowly getting the hang of it. Of course, the rice cereal is about the most bland food ever, so we're looking forward to trying some sweet potatoes on Sunday night. We hope that she might be more excited about something that tastes good!

Happy Half Birthday!

Happy 6 Months old Sweet Baby Girl!

It's hard to believe that she's already 6 Months Old. Take a look at a few photos from our "photo shoot" this morning. She's such a wiggler now that it was hard to get her to sit and smile. Her smiles mostly showed her sticking out her tongue as well!

We also had her 6 Month check-up at the Pediatrician today. Here are her stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 3 oz (50-75th Percentile)
Length: 28 inches (90th Percentile)

As we knew, she is very long. She is already filling out (lengthwise, not width) a few of her 6-9 month sleepers. I've been rolling up the sleeves because her arms aren't as long...though you would be fooled by the long reach she has developed!

The doctor said she looked great! She even sat by herself for a few seconds on the exam table. The ear infection is clearing up nicely. She had her vaccinations and cried during them...but quieted very quickly when they were done. It probably helped that she already was on some Tylenol for the ear infection. We'll keep that going one more day in case she has any residual soreness.

We hope you enjoy the new pictures! We will have some more fun ones from our adventure with rice cereal the last two days. She hasn't been too thrilled with it yet, but the rice cereal is pretty bland. We think more came out of her mouth than was actually being swallowed. We got some really funny pictures. Check back soon!

Wordless Wednesday: Rubber Ducky, You're the One... I Want to Eat!

Roly-Poly Baby Girl

Yes, Morgan is our Chunky Monkey...but she's also been getting increasingly "roly-poly." In just the last few days she's really been figuring out how to roll easily in both directions, back to tummy and tummy to back. In fact, today she propelled herself all over our bonus room floor. As you can see in the picture, she got held up by that annoying ottoman. She just kept trying and trying! Mommy had to rescue her from this situation. If she'd been able to continue she might have ended up under the couch!

She also maneuvered herself in the opposite direction and ended up next to a basket of toys. Then she managed to tip over the basket and was surprised to see there were goodies inside. It was only when she started to chew on the basket that I took it away.

We think Morgan is feeling better since she started her antibiotics. At least the Tylenol is helping any residual ear ache. She's still a little more fussy that usual at times, but that's to be expected. I managed to make her giggle a few times today with some strategically placed kisses and silliness while she was playing in her jumperoo. If she doesn't have a fever tomorrow morning she'll be back to day care.

Morgan's Birth Story

In celebration of Morgan's "Half" Birthday this week (Thursday), I thought I'd post her "Birth Story." A few days after she was born I posted this on a few message boards I'm a part of, but I had not yet started my blog. This weekend I was telling my Aunt the details of Morgan's actual "Birthday" and I realized some people might be interested to read this. Now, it was a long day and some details are a bit "graphic" so please skip it if you are squeamish.

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Wednesday, December 5th

At 6:00 am I woke up to a warm gush of fluid. I had just been to the bathroom, so I was pretty sure I hadn't had an "accident." I hurried back to the bathroom and there was no doubt that it was amniotic fluid as it is was clear. I let my husband know what happening and we both sprang into action to get the last-minute things together for the trip to the hospital. We arrived around 7:45 am. I was not having any contractions at this point. I told them my water broke and the nurse in triage gave me a slide to let the fluid drip on…she took one look and said to another nurse, “I’ve got a direct admit.” They showed us to our labor and delivery room which had a really great view of downtown Spokane. We couldn't believe it was the day! I was due 12/16 so I was a bit early at 38w3d.

The nurse checked me about 8:30 am and I was 1 cm dilated and 75% effaced. My Dr. wanted to start the Pitocin right away. I chose to walk the halls a while to see if we could get things going. It helped a little as I felt more and more tightening, but no real pain. The nurse told me that if I didn’t progress they would start the Pitocin at 10:30. That is what happened, so at that point I was monitored in bed as they started the drip in my IV. At Noon I started having more painful contractions. My Dr. arrived and checked me at 12:40 and I was almost 3 cm and 90% effaced. At 2:30 pm the contractions were painful enough that I asked for the epidural. After the last check the doctor had said I could get it at any time, but I wanted to hold out a while to see what I could handle. I was having a lot of hip and back pain as well as the contractions so I got the epidural about 2:30 pm.

For a while after things moved somewhat slowly. At 4:50 pm I was still 3cm, but now fully effaced. The epidural did not ease the back and hip pain so they tried to adjust the dosage. The nurses also kept repositioning me to get the baby’s head to move down further as she was still up pretty high. More waiting…I was checked at 6:40 pm and was now 6cm and then at 8:20 pm I was suddenly fully dilated, but baby’s head was at 0 Station, still pretty high. The back/hip pain became really excruciating, but the “top offs” the anesthetists kept giving me where only making my legs more numb.

At 9:50 pm they decided to let me start pushing. That actually felt better than lying there in pain. I pushed for about a ½ hour and made some progress. The Dr. checked and at this time realized that baby’s head was face up instead of down and all the pushing I was doing helped, but she was stuck under my pelvic bone. The nurses tried more positioning to get her to turn without luck and the Dr. tried to turn her himself without success. I was grateful my Dr. was tying to avoid a c-section and he encouraged me to start pushing again (I was feeling more of the urge now). He was really determined that I could get her out on my own and was such a great cheerleader, as were the nurses.

At 11:10 pm I started to push again…and after lots of perineal massage and unfortunately an episiotomy as well as the vacuum/suction thing…she was born at 11:48 pm, just under the wire for the 5th! Her daddy said when her head popped out was the single most amazing moment in his life. Since she was face up he saw her little face right away and immediately fell in love.

Because of some "repair work" it was a while before I got to hold Morgan, but when I did I was so in love too. I still can’t believe she’s mine. Her Daddy had cut the umbilical cord and helped trim it again when she was being cleaned up. Before, he said he wasn’t sure he could handle seeing everything, but he surprised himself by watching it all and wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Because she was born so close to midnight…and I also needed a little more time to recover from my tear/cut, so we didn’t leave the hospital until Friday evening. We are so glad to be home and are adjusting to our new life and little “love.”

My Mom arrives tonight and my Dad and sister will join us before Christmas…we can’t wait to celebrate this year! Last year I had my miscarriage a week before Christmas, so this year we are feeling so blessed to have our Morgan here.
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Here's our sweet girl's first picture...taken by her Daddy.

Visitors and a Surprise

We were so glad to have my Aunt Anne, Uncle Bruce and cousin Sara come to visit from Portland this weekend. We had a fun-filled time with a tour of downtown Spokane, getting rained on in Riverfront Park, a Spokane Shock game (we won!) and we topped if off with...surprise! Morgan's first ear infection. I think we did pretty well to make it to almost 6 months without one, especially since she is in daycare.

Back to the visitor part. Uncle Bruce is my Dad's brother. He and Aunt Anne met in college and have been together ever since. They have two daughters, one who also lives in Portland and another, Amy, who lives in San Diego. Sara, Bruce and Anne are recent transplants in the Portland area (Sara first, then Bruce and Anne a few years later). Sara and Amy grew up in the central valley of California. My family lives a few hours north and we got to see them a few times a year. In fact, I remember meeting Sara when she was about Morgan's age. Sometimes I see Morgan on the floor on her tummy with her head held high and I recall an old photo of my sister, Sara and I on that first visit. Sara was lying on a blanket with her head held high and the same proud smile on her face. My sister and I were probably about 6 1/2 at the time. It has been great to "grow up" together. Though we are now adults we are still enjoying "growing up" together.

As for the ear infection, Morgan has had a cold for a few days. She had a runny nose and a little cough, but her last cold was so much worse that I didn't think about it much. Thinking back, she was pulling on her ear some (wrote this off as "teething) and on Friday night she vomited (David was doing Daddy duty when I was at my Girl's Night Out and he first thought she'd leaked through her diaper, but on further examination the sleeper was more wet "up top" than "down below"). She was also a little more fussy that usual, but that was explained by the fact that we'd had a really busy day and kept her out past her bedtime.

So this morning she had a temperature of 98.7 and a few hours later she felt VERY warm to me. This temp check came in at 102.3. Yikes! So we made a call to the pediatrician. Also, at that point I discovered some orangy ear wax on her bib below her left ear. Further inspection revealed more ear wax and some wet discharge. Uh oh, the dreaded ear infection. Off we went to Urgent Care where they confirmed the diagnosis (the Dr. actually said there was so much "stuff" in her ear that he couldn't confirm the eardrum rupture, but we suspected that it did). Luckily that meant that if she was in some pain, the ruptured eardrum would relieve that pressure, thus no more pain. We just have to be careful with her baths the next few weeks and put some cotton and Vaseline in her ear to keep the water out.

So, that's the story of our great weekend! It really was nice to see family even though we ended the weekend in Urgent Care (not that the two are related at all). Below is a picture of Morgan taking a looong nap this morning in her crib. Her Great Auntie Anne rocked her to sleep all cozy in some blankets. We usually don't have blankets in the crib, but I knew she wasn't feeling well and she needed all the sleep she could get. We kept an eye on her on the monitor and she was so deeply asleep that she never moved at all. She is now asleep in her crib for the night sans blankets, but her sleep sack should keep her quite cozy.

P.S. At the Urgent Care appointment, they weighed Morgan. She was fully clothed, but weighed 17 lbs, 11 oz....our Chunky Monkey!!