... and many more!

Happy Birthday to You...

Happy Birthday to You...

Happy Birthday dear Morgan...

Happy Birthday to YOU!!!

Celebrate Good Times

I think I've finally recovered from the multiple second birthday celebrations so now it's time to post some of the pictures. For Morgan's first birthday, we had a 40+ person celebration complete with fajitas, a stunning cake made by my uber-skilled friend Kara, hay-rack rides, and even fishing out at my in-law's beautiful ranch in Fredericksburg, Texas. I wasn't willing to repeat that feat for year two so I determined to go small-scale. And for the most part I achieved my goal. However, I ended up going small-scale three times over.

The first mini-celebration was at Morgan's MDO class. This was pretty simple - I just made dinosaur-shaped rice crispie treats for the kids' snack time. The teacher graciously allowed me to come and snap a few pictures as well. And just so you know, I gave M the option between star shapes and dinosaur shapes, and she picked dinosaurs. She's very into them right now.

This is what M's hair looks like after she pulls out both her pigtails :(

The next mini-celebration was also pretty effortless. I just brought cupcakes to one of our semi-regular playdates at Dynamoze, a really great indoor play place here in S.A.




Finally, on Morgan's actual birth date, we had Jonathan's parents and sister and brother-in-law over for our "official" celebration - if you could call it that. Morgan was showered with many awesome gifts, including a 42-piece tool set from Aunt Jenny & Uncle Brian (I'm sure she won't lose any of the pieces :). Jonathan and I also gave her a little play kitchen. However, her favorite gifts were those of jewelry. She received multiple necklaces and bracelets. They have been worn EVERY DAY since. And EVERY piece must be worn. It's super cute. However, Jonathan is a little worried that she may have scrapped her enjoyment of golf (a game he loves) for something more girly.

This was the first time Morgan actually showed any excitement over receiving and opening gifts. Makes me excited for Christmas with her!

Strategery

As usual, I'm a bit behind in my blogging. Easter for us was a bit of blur of a weekend as we had a lot going on. I helped host my fourth baby/bridal shower in five months the Saturday before. Then Easter Sunday morning our church held its service at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, the property that we are in the process of purchasing. It was an awesome service and cool glimpse of what things will be like in the future! From church, we made a quick trip up to Fredericksburg to celebrate with Jonathan's family. At Great Grandpa and Grandma Schlueter's, we set up Morgan's first egg hunt in their back yard. We thought this would be a better location than out at the ranch house where Morgan may have picked up sheep poop instead :) I was a bit skeptical that Morgan would catch onto the gist of the egg hunt, but the girl got it from the get-go and wasn't ready for it to end ... until she discovered that there were treats inside the eggs! Thankfully, this year she was satisfied with animal crackers, goldfish, and raisins as her treats. I get the feeling next year she'll be demanding candy :) Daddy was already disappointed that there wasn't candy in her eggs ... poor guy wanted a part of the action!

After that, I had three days to get the three of us packed up - for Morgan to head to Grandpa and Grandma Schlueter's and for Jonathan and I to head to NYC to celebrate our fifth anniversary. More on that to come...

Our Little Easter Bunny

Before the Easter holiday passes, I'd better post Morgan's Easter pictures. I went with my friend Kristi and her kids, Audrey and Connor. Morgan and Audrey had matching dresses, a by-product of one of our previous shopping trips together. Naturally, Kristi and I couldn't resist getting a few pics of the girls together. Overall, this was one of Morgan's better professional photo shoots of late. How can I tell? Well, frankly, she's smiling in the majority of her pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Here are a few pics from Easters past. The first is Morgan's picture from last Easter, her first Easter. As you can see, the bunny ears have become something of a tradition - mostly because I think they are stinkin' adorable on the girl. One day she'll really hate me! The other two come from a treasure trove of old pictures I received at Kel's wedding. I'll post more soon; they're just so funny.

2008

1987
How I hated this haircut. I was never meant to be cool...

1985
Okay, so after reading Mom's caption to this picture,
it wasn't taken at Easter after all.
Oh well, it's already uploaded so you're getting it anyway.

I do love this man...

Family Pic from Kel's wedding last weekend.

Five years. Today Jonathan and I celebrate a half decade of marital bliss. It's so hard to believe because it has gone so fast! We've been blessed with many great times together over these past years ... and what's even better is that I feel equally blessed for just having his partnership and presence through the everyday mundane times.

Here are a few things I love about my man:

• The boy has enough A&M t-shirts that he could wear a new one every day for two weeks straight - often though, it is limited to about five days a week.
• He loves to eat my baked confections even though he is (mostly) committed to his no-carb diet.
• He makes a mad homemade pizza and is the grill master.
• He likes things clean - even cleaner than I like them.
• He hasn't given up the military crew cut that was mandated in the Corps of Cadets, even though it's been ten years since he was part of the Corps.
• He loves to spend money like I love to horde it; it makes us a good pair ... and lends to some nice "discussions".
• We both place a high importance on family - our's individually as well as our parents, siblings, and grandparents. And we each genuinely love each other's family.
• He's a great dad who enjoys making Morgan laugh and smile.
  
• He is an awesome provider for our family and has supported me unconditionally in my role as a stay at home mom.
• He asks for my opinion and advice because he honestly wants to know. And he even tolerates my unsolicited opinions (often tirades)!
• He laughs at my goofy jokes and sense of humor. Praise God for that.
• We can talk "legalese" and enjoy ourselves.
• We both love his parents' ranch and my family's farmland.
• He still thinks I'm beautiful and tells me so.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I tell you I am a darn lucky lady ... though sometimes I need to be reminded of it!

Love you Babe! Here's to another five years of "bliss"!

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The tree is put away...

...but the warm feelings of a fabulous Christmas season spent with our awesome families remain. We have so many great memories of this holiday season! Unfortunately, I didn't capture nearly as many of them as I would've liked on camera (and after seeing the ones I did catch, I'm wishing for a better camera or better knowledge of my current camera). Nonetheless, I've attached a few pics for your curious eyes.

As you may have read in my last post, our Christmas celebrations were kicked off by a family flu. So much fun... As a result, our Schlueter family Christmas was postponed to New Year's Day. Thankfully, all three of us felt fine as we left for Chicago the Monday of Christmas week. We spent two days up in the Windy City where we enjoyed single digit temperatures, falling snow, beautiful holiday lights, Chicago-style pizza (twice!), and, of course, family!

Christmas Eve was spent in a Hyatt Hotel in one of the suburbs. Kel and Jess joined us there, and we celebrated our Walsh family Christmas (minus the Polites' who were with Matt's family). Christmas Day was spent at the Kilmer Farm with a crowd of 37 people (all family!!). It was so much fun to be back with everyone after taking last year off. The day after Christmas we were able to visit with Grandma Walsh, and then Saturday we dealt with the nightmare that was Midway Airport (long story...). On the upside, we made it home on our originally scheduled flights and Morgan was angel!

My cute little family

Morgan and Daddy enjoying one of their favorite toys - Legos!

I swear you can bribe my daughter with a box of raisins these days.

My adorable niece Maddie

Matching Cousins

New Year's Eve we headed up to the Schlueter Family Ranch and celebrated that holiday with Dad & Mom Schlueter. No New Year's is complete without Mamma Mia and smore's :) (I must admit I now find I keep singing Abba songs). I was also proud of the rest of the fam - everyone actually stayed awake for the New Year this year!!

New Year's Day, Jen & Brian and Grandpa & Grandma Schlueter joined us at the ranch for our belated Christmas celebration. We had a great lunch of honey-baked ham, rolls, mashed potatos (I made 10 lbs. worth - it was a bit much), and a chocolate trifle. Then it was onto the gifts! By this point in the season, Morgan was a pro at opening gifts and went to town on her packages and everyone else's. Jen & Brian were the givers of this year's tacky gift - a pastel pink, prelit, four-foot Christmas tree! Sadly, I don't have pictures. Brian claims if we had had Christmas on the originally scheduled date, we wouldn't have received it since he found it in a post-Christmas sale. Darn flu...

Happy with Grandpa & Grandma

Teaching her right...

I love the bows!

Hope you all enjoyed your holidays as well! I look forward to seeing you in this new year. Like Kara, I refuse to make resolutions because I hate to be disappointed and am too realistic to think I might actually keep them. Accordingly, I don't make any promises to get better about blogging more frequently. If you really want to keep tabs on me, join Facebook . I'm on there all the time!

Christmas Emotions...

Santa Torturing Morgan

While I normally love this time of year, I must confess that this year's preparations for my favorite holiday have left me feeling frazzled. Part of this may just be that my entire family is currently recovering from a nasty flu or stomach bug and we leave for Illinois tomorrow. All of the "things" - shopping, gift wrapping, baking/cooking, decorating, writing cards, celebrations, and other "obligations" - have served to steal my joy on a few occasions this Christmas season. I'm hopeful that our travel up to Chicago (which is currently buried in snow and enduring single digit temperatures) will go smoothly and that once I'm with my family, I will experience a fresh wave of joy.

I don't think this was what God had in mind for me... or for any of us as we celebrate the reason for Christmas: the coming of his Son to save us from our sins. After this holiday season ends, I need to sit down and re-think what I did wrong this year and what can be cut out next year so that I don't miss out again next year. Particularly as Morgan gets older, I want her to know the true joys of Christmas ... and get to experience it with joyful parents!

All that being said, I wish you, my dear friends, a Merry Christmas filled with joy recognizing the blessing we have in the Son who came to bring our salvation! I value each of you and am grateful for the friendships you have blessed me and my family with this past year.

With love,
Barb

Morgan's Christmas Portrait

My Thanksgiving Meme

So I'm already thinking about food in anticipation of Thanksgiving!! The whole giving thanks thing is great and all, but isn't everyone's focus really on the food anyway? Okay, and maybe some football too...

I do love food, but more than the food at Thanksgiving, what I also love about the day is that it ushers in the Christmas season in such a nice way. But in an effort not to brush aside the importance of Thanksgiving and rush onto my favorite holiday, I've decided to stop and reflect - on food ... and a little bit on Thanksgiving :)

1. Which do you like better: Cooking at your house, or going elsewhere? Going elsewhere is certainly more relaxing – though I’ve never cooked Thanksgiving at my house and would like to give it a try.

2. Do you buy a fresh or frozen bird? Again … never cooked a turkey but would like the opportunity.

3. What kind of stuffing? Good old fashioned Stove Top – sometimes people get a bit too “creative” when they make it themselves. I don’t want any giblets in my stuffing (Mom!).

4. Sweet potato or pumpkin pie? Do I look like a Southern girl to you? I don’t want no stinkin’ sweet potato pie – bring on the pumpkin!

5. Do you believe that turkey leftovers are a curse, or the point of the whole thing? Modest amounts of leftover turkey are okay. I hate when it gets reintroduced as other dishes though – i.e. Turkey Surprise, Turkey Goulash, Turkey Casserole, Turkey Ice Cream.

6. Which side dish would provoke a riot if you left it off the menu? If at a Kilmer family event, it would be the dinner rolls…

7. Do you save the carcass to make soup or stock? Ewww… carcass.

8. What do you wish you had that would make preparing Thanksgiving dinner easier? A babysitter ☺

9. Do you get up at the crack of dawn to have dinner ready in the early afternoon, or do you eat at your normal dinner hour? We’re noontime Thanksgiving meal people in our family. However, I’ll be making the pies (my contribution this year) ahead of time!

10. If you go to somebody else's house, what's your favorite dish to bring? The rolls (so I know that they’re good ☺).

11. What do you wish one of your guests wouldn't bring to your house? Freaky canned cranberries – you know the kind that come out looking like the can it was in…

12. Does your usual mix of guests result in drama, or is it a group you're happy to see? Good group ‘cause we have a good fam.

13. What's your absolute favorite thing on the menu? Tie between mashed potatoes and rolls.

14. What are you thankful for this year? As always, I’m beyond grateful for the life God has blessed me with. It is filled with my wonderful husband and daughter, awesome parents and sisters (mine and JD’s), a job I love, the good fortune of living in the best country on the planet, and a God who provided it all!

I'd love to see your responses. Fellow bloggers, here's an easy post for ya (especially my NaBloPoMo friends)...

Kel + Jess = 4EVER

My baby sister Kelly got engaged yesterday to an awesome guy Jess Heugel. I'm so excited Kel finally met "the one" for her. I feel like I've been praying for the right person to come along for her for a long time, and I truly believe that in Jess that prayer has been answered. He'll make a great addition to our family; I just hope he knows what he's in for :)

Oddly though, for my sisters and I all having such a nondescript maiden surname of "Walsh", we all are ending up with crazy weird married surnames - Schlueter, Polites, Heugel. Who do you think got the worst shake of the three of us?

Anywho, CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN TO JESS & KEL!!!

Morgan's Second Halloween

Sorry for the very belated posting of Morgan's pictures in her Halloween costume. Obviously none of them turned out very good. Even after three attempts, these are still the best I could come up with. You'll just have to take me at my word that she was one mighty cute ladybug :)

Even Sasha had to dress up this year -
Not a very heroic firefighter, but she'll work for treats.

My Kind of Town

JD had a legal education conference in Chicago last Thursday and Friday which Morgan and I accompanied him on. We stayed at the Fairmont where the conference was held. When we arrived, we received an upgrade to a suite with great views of Millennium Park, the Museum Campus, Soldier Field, and the Yacht Club.

We woke up Thursday morning to beautiful Midwestern fall weather - cool and crisp. While Jonathan attended his meetings, Morgan and I went out to explore Millennium Park which I had never seen before (it opened in 2004). The Park was so cool. Below are some of the pictures:

Cloud Gate (or known to resident Chicagoans as "The Bean") -
It's a three story steel sculpture meant to resemble
a drop of mercury hovering at the point of landing.

The butt crack of the Bean replete with reflections of the city's skyline.

One of two 50 foot LED towers-turned-fountains.
Faces of resident Chicagoans are projected on them and change every five minutes.

The faces play on the gargoyle theme and spout water from their mouths
right before the towers change to the next face.

Thursday JD joined us for lunch in Millennium Park and then ducked out of his conference early that afternoon to stroll Michigan Avenue with us. That night we enjoyed Chicago-style pizza at Pizzeria Due (the kid-sister to Pizzeria Uno).


Friday my sister Kel and her boyfriend Jess came up to the city to hang out with us. This was the first time we met Jess, and he received our stamp of approval :) He and Kel even watched Morgan for two hours while JD and I went on an architectural tour of the notable buildings along the river. Unfortunately, it was drizzly so the tour wasn't as wonderful as it could've been. That night the four of us enjoyed even more Chicago-style pizza - this time at Pizzeria Uno. And no, I don't ever get tired of it!

Friday night SIX inches of rain from Hurricane Ike drenched Chicago. So after all that hype in San Antonio about Ike, they saw not a drop of rain and we, in Chicago, got six inches. Go figure. Saturday morning we drove into Dwight (my hometown) and celebrated Morgan's first birthday (which was that day!) with my parents, Kel & Jess, my grandparents, and several of my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was a super way to celebrate Morgan's big day! I was so glad we were able to share that with them. Morgan loved eating her own personal birthday cake made by my Grandma. However, she decided to "blow" out her lone candle by snuffing out the flame with her palm.

Grandpa and the Birthday Girl

The rain poured all day Saturday and more Saturday night. Sunday we made a quick visit to my Grandma Walsh (where we also visited with my Aunt Jill) before braving the wet roadways back up to the airport. What a whirlwind!

All in all, it was a great trip. I love Chicago and I love my family. Maybe that's why Daniel asked me upon returning home, "So are you guys moving to Chicago?" Some days, I wish...