Halloween ideas

No, Morgan is not going to be paying tribute to Heath Ledger's depiction of The Joker for Halloween this year. But she does really love blueberries!

I'm TWO!

Courtesy of a free portrait package at Picture People, I took Morgan last week to get a few second birthday pictures taken. Unfortunately, she had flatly refused to eat breakfast that morning so she was in no mood to cooperate an hour later at the studio. The photographers nearly gave up on her until one of them whipped out a balloon that captivated her attention and got a few smiles out of her. However, I don't really mind the lackluster experience because (1) it didn't cost much, and (2) I'm waiting for my talented friend Bre to do her Christmas photo sessions which will produce infinitely better results (plus maybe Morgan will have more hair by then!).

... 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!

Button Goes to School

The day I waited a year for finally arrived last Tuesday - the beginning of Mother's Day Out 2009-10. Last year Morgan didn't qualify for MDO because she missed the age cutoff by 12 days ... a fate which will likely follow her her entire school career (sucks being a September baby someimtes). Needless to say, I was beyond stoked a month ago when it was announced that MDO would be starting a few weeks earlier than anticipated and even more elated when that day made its long-awaited arrival last week. I was one giddy mommy last week as I dropped off Morgan for her first day. I'm sure my smile was so wide I could've been in a toothpaste commercial.

Now before you go berating me for not being sad over my daughter's first day of "school" or wanting a few hours away from her, let me just remind you that the program is called Mothers Day Out - not Kids Day Out. So yeah, in a way, it's all about me :) But honestly I feel that my entire family ... and potentially all those in my little life ... benefit from this lady feeling happy, refreshed, and well-rested. I'm pretty sure my other stay-at-home mom friends will back me up on this.

But alas, it isn't all about me. I really am excited for Morgan to have social time around other kids her age as well as be in a structured environment where she can both learn and have fun. She now has two weeks under her belt. Her teacher's comments so far have ranged from "She's a good eater" to "She loves to dance" to "She might speak Spanish" (because Morgan mimics EVERYTHING anyone says and the teacher has to speak Spanish to one of the other students). One thing she hasn't mastered yet is the nap time concept. I'm sure napping on the floor with seven other kids might be a bit distracting. But at this point I don't mind because it means I score an additional two hours of quiet time while she naps once she gets home.

I know she's settling in though. This morning when I dropped her off, she went straight to the table to color, turned to me and said "Bye", and set off to her crayons letting me leave with no show of sadness or fear. On the flip side, I have begun to love returning to pick her up in the afternoons because she is always so excited to see me. What a great feeling.

I already wonder if her teacher knows what a gem she's dealing with in my daughter, but then I'm a little biased. And so begins the next sixteen years of schooling...

Morgan's first First Day of School picture ever.

A few nerves for Morgan and Annabelle -
both expressed by sucking on their fingers.

Morgan next to the ladybug with her name on it.

A hug goodbye for Mom.

What I Love About Summer

Summer just has such a special essence about it - one that I think kids just breath in the moment they wake up and fuels them through each day. I have such fond memories of summer days when I was a child, but as I grew older, summers lost a bit of their glimmer as the time was filled with employment or studying. Thankfully, having a child of my own has revived my senses to summer's essence. And how sweet it is to savor the joy anew with Morgan. Even sweeter still to present her with some of the quintessential summer experiences, like...

POOLS!

POPSICLES (WHILE IN THE POOL, OF COURSE!)

SPRINKLERS PLAYED LIKE A HARP

SPRINKLERS USED AS A WATER GUN

DRINKING FROM THE HOSE

ICE CREAM

Father's Day Photos

Yes, yes, I'm aware that it's been quite awhile, but hey, here I am so give me a bit of a break please :) Again, if you really want to keep tabs on me, I would strongly encourage you to sign up on Facebook.

I thought I'd share with you Morgan's latest pictures taken for Father's Day. At that time, she was 1 year and 9 months old. So as you can calculate, that puts here on the fast-track toward the Treasured Two's. I hope we're ready!

Summertime Ritual #2

Popsicles. Enough said.

Granted for now it's just Pop Ice, but we have to start small (and relatively clean) before graduating on to the real thing - Bomb Pops or Itzakadoozies. No surprise the popsicle was a hit with Morgan.

Also, before you go reporting me, the girl is next-to-naked only because I expected a much larger mess. And because I followed up the popsicle with another frolic in the hose. Good times. Makes me wanna be a kid again too -- oh wait, I get the joy of living it through Morgan. Thank you Lord.

I'm pretty sure I have the cutest kid ever. (No offense to your kid who I'm sure is just cheek-pinching adorable as well.)

Summer is here!

Now that the thermometer is consistently registering in the 90s and our grass is nearly crispy-fried, I have to relent and admit that San Antonio's six months of summer have arrived. The Midwesterner in me really does try to pretend it isn't here for as long as possible, but there's no denying this sweltering heat anymore. Jonathan even knew I had given in when he came home a few weeks ago and said to Morgan, "Wow, Mommy's wearing shorts. I haven't seen that in awhile." So it's time to stock up on sunscreen, tank tops, and deodorant ... lots of deodorant.

This will be the first summer Morgan is actually old enough to enjoy summer and all its richness. I am going to try to fulfill as many of those required childhood summertime "must's" as I can -- though maybe not all this year. She checked the first one off her list last week - playing in and drinking from the hose. While I was watering flowers, Morgan couldn't keep herself from the appeal of the hose. Although I initially tried to keep her from getting wet, she would not be deterred and I consented to the summertime ritual. She and the dog had a fabulous time drenching themselves in the cold water. I couldn't help but smile and take it all in.

So Jonathan chose a camera angle that makes it
look like I'm urinating in this one. Excellent...

Wickedly Cool

So here's a nifty little follow up to our NYC trip a few weeks ago ... remember how we had our credit card information stolen while we were there (which was discovered when we went to purchase our Wicked tickets)? As we had narrowed it down to one of two vendors who possibly perpetrated this offense, we decided it would be um... fair to let them know that they were potentially employing someone with this capacity to defame their business. One of these two vendors was the hotel we stayed in. When notified of said possibility, the manager on duty acted like "Yeah, so? You can't prove it was us. What do you want me to do about it?" Honestly, we weren't jerks about it ... really. When I got home, I posted a review of our hotel on TripAdvisor, my favorite of all travel forums, recounting our experience. No kidding when I tell you, the VP of their Property Management emailed me the next day to inquire further and then asked if he could call and speak to me as well. It took a few weeks but finally last week, he did call. Mr. VP was super cool and very apologetic. AND ... to make up for it, he offered to let us stay at either of their two NYC hotels "as his guest" whenever we want! Cool, huh? We currently have no plans to go back, but I promise you if the right airfare comes along, we'll be heading back to the Big Apple ... and leaving Little Miss with G&G again :)


Also, in the wake of NYC, I recently checked out the Wicked soundtrack from our library and am loving it just as much the second time around. Sadly, I feel like I have forgotten significant parts of the plot already that occassionally shake lose while I'm singing along as Glinda or Elpheba. In fact, I'm really starting to get the itch to suck it up and purchase tickets for one of the June performances of Wicked here in S.A. as part of Broadway Across America. I'm going to start praying for this little gift :)

In further pursuit of my own personal Wicked Mania, I additionally checked out Wicked (the book) by Gregory Maguire and have to say that so far I am whole-heartedly disappointed - nearly to the point where it is ruining the musical for me and I'm tempted to quit reading it just to perserve the integrity of that experience. Can anyone else offer me their thoughts on this?

What's new with Morgan? Well, I'm glad you asked. Her latest obsession is her "puppies" - the two pictured below. She loves to take them everywhere - as seen here eating lunch with her. She also takes them in the car, wherever we go running errands, and gives them rides in her little toy stroller. It's pretty amusing.


One is a husky like our real dog, Sasha. However, she insists its name is Roxie, like our cat. Whatever. Not a fight worth fighting. And the other is Tramp, from Disney's Lady and the Tramp. It does feel a little weird to tell my daughter that her dog's name is Tramp and then to hear her call him that. Does anyone know if this dog has another name?

Okay, so maybe we are related...

I just recently learned that Morgan's hair is now long enough to be pulled into these little pigtails of sorts. Jonathan actually calls them antennas because they stand straight out from her head. I don't care; I love them :) AND I'm tired of people not knowing whether Morgan is a boy or a girl when her hair is down.


So I sent this pic and another to our family members to show off the new 'do. After receiving them, my sister Kel promptly called me and proclaimed that I could no longer allege that Morgan and I don't look alike. After seeing the pic of me below, I think she may be right. Morgan definitely still favors Jonathan and his family, but no question about it, she's my girl :)

Me at 22 Months. Morgan is almost 20 months old right now.
I wonder if she'll get this much more hair in the next two months
or if she just got bad hair genes.

My recent favorite pic

We just got some of the digital images from Kel & Jess' wedding, and so far, this is one of my favorites. The photographer, a friend of Jess', snagged this shot of Morgan and JD as they arrived. And here's a pic of the happy couple for good measure...

The Golf Pro

But which one is it?

Nothing Like The Feeling...

...of the wind in your hair. One of Morgan's newest thrills. Love it. Love her. Love the smiles and giggles that accompany it.

Look at that tornado of hair!