MM's Ninth Month

We can hardly believe how fast time is going by...is our little princess really almost 1 year?! She is growing up so fast is learning so many things. We had her 9 month check-up and she is right on track for her age! Here are her stats:

28.3 inches long (69%) ~and~ 19 pounds 12 ounces (63%)

At 9 months:
We celebrated our first Mother's Day and it couldn't have been more special! We went to pick out some flowers for the pots and vegetables to plant in the garden. The day was beautiful and filled with lots of family time. Morgan watched as Brad and I did the planting, but seemed to enjoy the outdoors. She and Brad also picked out a new pair of shoes for me...black and white ballet flats with jewels...absolutely love them! Morgan also came home from daycare with a special Mother's Day card she hand made for me...brought tears to my eyes.

5/19/2011 was certainly a day to remember ~ Morgan crawled for the first time! I was lucky enough to be home the day she started the child proofing of our house :) There is no stopping this little one now! She giggles as you crawl behind her and she tries to go faster as you tell her "I am going to get you!" Too stinking cute!

Now that it has finally started to warm up outside, daycare has been making many trips to the Ankeny Splash Park and Morgan loves to splash in the water! She seems to really enjoy being outdoors. Daycare also heads to the park often for picnics and playing on the playground equipment. Morgan loves the swings! Jenny snapped this photo of her unconventional swinging style...guess whatever works ;)

I did a little home photo shoot of little M to get some pictures of her for the blog and this is what I ended up with...look at this face...I can just see the attitude we have in store come the teen years...yikes ;)

We celebrated Brad's first Father's Day! We is such an amazing husband and father! I just love seeing Morgan and him together and just smile at what a wonderful family we have. I see the future of the two of them and she will be daddy's little girl...following him as they head out to the driving range or out to do yard work. He is so sweet with her and you can just tell that she adores him. For Father's Day we went on our very first family picnic to Hawkeye Park in Ankeny...I know I know, why in the world would you go to a park with that name...turns out the park name must have been a mistake...the park is actually really nice and peaceful. ;) We sat on a blanket by the fishing pond under a shade tree and ate chicken salads, fruit, and for dessert, graham crackers with frosting. Morgan picked out a new baseball hat and golf shorts as gifts for DaDa.

Another picture from a day at daycare...this was lunch time...I sent with mixed vegetables and turkey dinner baby food for lunch...guess we chalk this one up to a dislike. Jenny said she cried the entire time she had to eat it. Jenny finally gave in and gave her something else she would eat.

Morgan is such a big girl! (6/26/2011) We went to the grocery store and she rode in the shopping cart for the very first time! She really enjoyed being able to sit-up on her own and look all around. We only had one crying fit when she threw her head back and hit it on the metal cart. We now put her changing pad behind her head to prevent that incident from happening again. Before we know it, she'll won't want to even be in the cart...oh boy!

7 and 8 Months!

Miss Morgan has been one busy little lady...
7 months old:
Morgan experienced her first Easter! We had a very nice time celebrating with family and even did an egg hunt. Next year Morgan will be able to participate a little more ;)

April 27th, 2011
Miss Morgan had her first day of swim lessons and really didn't have much of a reaction to the water. However, as the weeks have past, Morgan is now kicking and splashing in the water and really seems to enjoy our sessions every Wednesday. We have been working on floating on her back, which she still isn't a big fan of, but have introduced a rubber duck that she kicks while floating and therefore, she seems to relax her head back a little more. Lessons last 5 weeks and then we may try them again in the fall.

8 months old:
May1st, 2011
We made a trip back to LaCrosse to see celebrate Meg's Christening and Trev's 5th Birthday Party! We had a wonderful time and all the Aunties and Uncles were back in town, which made the weekend even more special!

May 2nd, 2011
Morgan learned how to go from the lying position to sitting up! Jenny at daycare sent me this text picture of Morgan during naptime...prior to this picture, we had no idea she knew how to get to the sitting position on her own, but apperently felt this position would work well for napping :)

May 10th, 2011
Nana has been trying to get Morgan to do "so big" for many months now...and she finally does it all on her own...sometimes even when you don't ask her :) We were so delighted to see her hit this milestone and would start clapping for her right after she did the "so big" and therefore, she now claps for herself...too stinking cute!  

Morgan is also able to eat finger food puffs and shovels them in as fast as you put them on her highchair tray. 
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Our daycare provider has been gone the past week, so between Brad, myself, and Nana, we have been taking turns enjoying one on one time with Miss Morgan and today she has decided to officially crawl after doing the army crawl the past couple of weeks!

Morgan's modeling career has begun...da da's words when I sent him the picture of the wall at Dejong Photography..."Sweet Jesus...we're in trouble!" LOL...I can only imagine :)

So as a recap of Morgan at 8 months:

-has her two middle bottom teeth

-waves "hi" and "bye"

-claps her hands

-plays "peek-a-boo"

-loves to do "so big" and squishes her arms against her cheeks when she does it

-crawls

-favorite expensive toys are the cell phone and remote

-favorite toys of hers are the leap frog school bus, stacking cups, Elmo phone, and sing-a-majig

-favorite book is Sesame Street Beginnings "At the Zoo" (she loves pointing to the giraffe)

-eats baby food with cereal and drinks baby milk

-takes a bottle without fussing

-takes two naps a day and has recently started going to sleep without rocking, but rather we lay her down on her belly and rub her back for a few minutes

-most nights she sleeps through the night (bedtime about 7:30pm and wakes about 6:00am)

-loves to cuddle and snuggle

-has started to take interest in Baby Einstein Videos

-says "da da" all the time and every now and then will say "ma ma" (we are still not quite sure she knows the correlation though)

-is one happy baby and only fusses when she is hungry or tired

We have Morgan's 9 month check-up in a few weeks and are looking forward to hearing her stats! We will keep you posted!

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Morgan is 6 months old today!  
Happy 1/2 Birthday Princess!

So hard to believe that it has already been half a year...where in the world does the time go? We have been trying to decide since birth who you look like, mommy or daddy...here is a picture that mommy found of herself at 6 months next to you at 6 months:

 













At 6 months Miss Morgan:

• wears a size 3 diaper
• rolls from her back to her tummy
• coos, smiles, and giggles
• eats breastmilk and cereal
• loves jumping in her rainforest jumperoo
• favorite toy is her rings and giggles and smiles when you jiggle them above her head
• always smiles at her sing-a-majig
• loves to watch her daddy while he is in the kitchen and she and mommy are on the couch
• puts everything in her month, but seems to enjoy her toes the most
• likes to drop things on the ground and then picks them up...this never gets old :)
• is wearing size 6-12 month clothes
• her hair is spikey, soft, and fuzzy...seems like it is a blondish brown color
• her eyes are on the verge of turning hazel...or maybe brown
• still does not sleep through the night and actually is up pretty much every 2-3 hours :)
• loves to pet her puppies
• favorite books are Sesame Street because of the bright colorful pictures
• is a great napper at daycare...9-10am and 12-3pm...but an entirely different story at home :)
• you go to sleep around 7:15pm every night after bathtime, eating, reading a book, and rocking and without much fussing
• love to play patty cake and listen to mommy sing songs

Mommy and Daddy can't wait to see what you have in store for us! We  love you so very much!!! As I was just typing this...one more thing to add to the list of your accomplishments...you are now able to roll from back to tummy and then back again to your back! Way to go little Miss thang!!!

Top Producer

 Nana and Papa Al were here this past weekend and were given a good laugh when they saw our poor attempt to organize Morgan's food supply in the freezer. Is it possible that one can really make this much milk?! Papa Al likes to call this mass production "the top producer"...Papa Al lived on a farm when he was a kid and says that the dairy cow that made the most milk in the month was given a "treat" (i.e. some extra hay) for doing such a great job...turns out Mommy is now considered the top producer! We have been trying to work out a system to organize and rotate Morgan's daycare supply...several failed attempts later, this is what the kitchen floor looked like as we tried to figure out something else. We really need to plug in that second freezer :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Here are some photos from Morgan's 1st Valentine's Day!

Morgan and her daycare friends exchanged cards, candy, and brought home a card for Mommy and Daddy.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

XOXO

Miss Morgan

Our evening was spent making homemade BLT pizza, watching some American Idol, and opening gifts from one another. Morgan got 6-12 months Iowa State shirt, Daddy got some socks and an ISU t-shirt, and Mommy got some running shorts, pants, and a running shirt! We had a wonderful night  filled with lots of playing and cuddling! Morgan also received some very thoughtful gifts from her grandparents...thank you so very much!

Let the good times roll!

Well, it's official...as of Tuesday 2/8/2011 Morgan is rolling over from her back to her tummy! The "first" time was accomplished at daycare, but Jenny was so sweet and sent me two text of Morgan in action:
Before

After

Miss Morgan has not yet figured out how to roll back on to her back, so after a few minutes of tummy time, she gets mad and will start fussing. We have found her in her crib laying on her stomach a couple times now. Morgan has also found her toes and thinks they are the best thing in the world! They offer hours of entertainment! She also must be working on some teeth because she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth and jabbers and drools like crazy! We have been giving Morgan rice cereal before bedtime and she is really getting the hang of it. It is so funny to watch her..she lunges at the spoon :) Oh, and FYI, we have found the wives tale that the cereal makes babies sleep longer is completely false with this little one ;)

We had a great weekend! Nana and Papa came into town to visit and to help do some work in the basement. The boys hung the cabinets behind the bar and they look fantastic! Us girls did a few paint touch-ups and spent quite a bit of time playing :)

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! Stay tuned for tomorrow's post of Morgan's super cute outfit!

Baptism

 Sunday January 9th, 2011 Morgan was baptized at The Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines. We were so blessed to have our families make it to Iowa to share in this special day for Miss Morgan. Morgan is one very lucky lady to have both Auntie Sara and Auntie Katie as her godmothers! After the church service and baptism, we all came back to our house for lunch, cake, ice cream, and gift opening. Morgan received wonderful and generous gifts, which included an engraved snowglobe, a ceramic cross keepsake holder, a crib cross, a personalized "Morgan" frame, saving bonds, a nativity scene, cash,
and silver set.
Here are a few pictures from Morgan's baptism: