Go Shock!!

The Shock won another one on Saturday night! This was the second playoff game. One more to go that will decide the conference champions and who will go to the Arena Cup on the 22nd in Vegas. Next week's game will not be easy, but luckily it will be at home again. Here are some pics from the evening.

Morgan really likes her friend Ella

An example of the kid craziness that goes on in the suite. Morgan is climbing on the couch among the chaos.

Watching the game with Daddy

Mesmerized

The "aftermath"

It doesn't look too bad in this picture, but Morgan took a tumble down the two small steps in the suite that night. She had been navigating the steps well until she got gutsy and tried to take a "real" step down (instead of crawling backwards like usual). We're lucky she only ended up with a bruise under her eye. Expect for a few skinned knees, this is one of the first visible injuries she's had. We figure there will be more where this came from the bigger she gets.

Kisses

Morgan's friend Elijah and his Mama, Migdalia came over on Saturday night to watch the Shock game. They were playing in Boise and we planned on watching the game via streaming video on the computer. We had a great time! We barbecued some burgers and Morgan and Elijah played while we gathered around the computer monitor.

Elijah loved the "popping" toy. It is similar to a lawn mover toy he has at home. Morgan is holding her favorite book of the moment, "Moo Moo Brown Cow."

Don't you love Elijah's Shock jersey?! It has his name on the back.

David and Migdalia glued to the monitor. The Shock won!

The highlight of the evening. The kids in their jammies. They were showing each other how they can blow kisses!

It looks like Morgan is kissing Elijah's hand...but most likely she is licking it. Yuck!

First Day Home with Mommy (and Daddy)

Though I stopped working last Tuesday, I consider today my first day home with Morgan. We kept her in daycare last week as we had already paid for the full week. Then she had time to play with her "friends" and "say goodbye" to her teachers. Though the daycare center we chose was originally our second choice, it really turned out great for us. She was really happy there and all the teachers loved her. They even made a goodbye present for her with a few pictures on a sheet of paper that all the staff signed. I'll put it in her baby book. They said she was welcome back any time. This is nice to hear as who knows when we'll need childcare again...possibly not until she starts preschool, but if a great opportunity for me comes up sooner we have options.

Today we took a trip to my former workplace (boo). I had to go in to pick up my last paycheck and sign some paperwork that was not prepared for me on my last day (boo again). I will miss my co-workers though, and they were really happy to see Morgan. I felt bad for them as they are all pretty scared because they've heard that more lay-offs are coming. I'm glad I'm gone now and able to move on. It's so un-nerving to wonder if your head is on the chopping block.

Next we headed to the grocery store. This was Morgan's first big trip to the store where she got to sit in the shopping cart! She loved it!! Everyone commented on how cute and sweet she is. She was so good. This trip also cleared up a dilemma for me. I have one of those shopping cart covers, but when I was laid off I decided I was going to return it because it seemed somewhat unnecessary. Well...I changed my mind. Morgan was too interested in sucking on parts of the shopping cart. Yuck! I kept trying to get her to stop, but you can imagine how successful that was. Next time I'll bring the cover. It also has some spots you can place toys as well. Then maybe she'll play with the toys and not try to constantly grab (and eat) my shopping list. We did have a fun time there. I was proud of her for being so good.

She's actually napping in her crib right now (shocker!) and she's been there for about 45 minutes so far. I think this has something to do with being tired from a busy morning, and she has herself wedged in a corner with her WubbaNub in her mouth (see pic below). She's just at the right angle so it hasn't fallen out yet. Don't worry, I keep checking to make sure she's breathing. Tonight we're headed to the "Coach's (radio) Show" for the Shock as a local restaurant. Morgan will have fun seeing her buddy Elijah and we'll see our friends too.

One other great thing about today is that Morgan got to see her Daddy quite a bit. He fed her this morning and let Mommy sleep in a bit (can't seem to get rid of a lingering cold). Then when we got back from the grocery store he fed her some lunch, then he gave her kisses before her nap.

I promise you won't get a full synopsis of every day from now on (though I know the Grandparents would love that!). I just thought this was a significant day worth the details.

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!!

Friends

Now I couldn't do a post with pictures and not have one without pictures of the adventures of our little Morgan.

We are happy to report that the Shock won again on Saturday! We beat the Austin Wranglers 62-42. Still undefeated! Below is Morgan's friend Elijah who's daddy is the head coach. Elijah is about 3 weeks older than Morgan. Elijah's Mommy, Migdalia, is already teaching Elijah that he needs to "protect" Morgan when they start school together. I'm not sure what she needs to be protected from, but we like that she's already making friends. They actually acknowledged each other this time. Usually they barely look at each other. There might have even been a little hand-holding!